Imagination Eli - What a Mind!

This past weekend we stayed at Colin and Nancy's (Jesse's bosses) camp in Falmouth on Highland Lake. It was beautiful. The cottage is cozy and the views were fantastic. Eli, of course, thought it was magnificent. He has been talking about the camp and going back to the camp since we came home on Monday.

So this morning he asked me if after I picked him up from school if we would go back to the camp. I tried to explain to him, in terms that he would understand, that we had just "borrowed" the camp for the weekend, and that we had to give it back to the owners because someone new was going to be "borrowing" it now. Well, this was not satisfactory to my little creative genius. Instead, he told me that he wanted to go to the camp and pick it up and bring it home.

This made me chuckle a little, as I imagined us putting a camp in our pocket and carrying it back to our house.  But this was not at all what Eli had in mind.  I replied to Eli, "Honey a camp is a type of house and that is too big to just pick up and bring home with us."  To which Eli responded, "Mom, lets get a bunch of cars and put it on top of the cars and the cars can drive it to our house.  This is a good idea, Mom?!"

What a genius little mind he has.  And what a funny vision that is, a camp on top of a bunch of cars driving down the road.  It is a good idea, Eli.  Maybe we should give it a try.  It is a nice camp...I wonder if Colin and Nancy would mind if we "borrowed" it just a little bit longer...?

Exciting Updates and Random News

So, this entry is just a chance for me to catch all of you up on what's been happening around the Stenbak household for the last few weeks.  I have been working an evening job, five nights a week, so needless to say, we have been super busy.  So here's whats been happening at our house:

Iris and Esme are growing like weeds.  They are now 9 months old.  We just had their well child checkup and the doctor described them as super healthy!  Both girls are almost 30 inches tall and are around 25lbs.  I think they outweigh most of their friends by at least 6 or 7 pounds!  In the last month they have started sitting very steadily and moving around the house.  They are not crawling yet, but they certainly get around.  Both girls can get up on their knees, but haven't tried yet to move forward.  It wont be long now and they will definitely be crawling.  Also, they can both clap their hands.  That is really cute to watch.  If I clap my hands they will mimic me.  They are both starting to move away from bottles and on to more foods.  Their formula intake has dropped dramatically and they are eating more and more table foods.  They can both eat finger foods now, like cheerios, black beans, bananas, and small vegetables.  They also really enjoy playing with toys and have even started stealing toys from each other.  I can't believe how big they are getting!

Talk about getting big, Eli started preschool this month.  He is attending Prides Corner Nursery School in Westbrook.  His program is Monday, Wednesday, Friday Mornings from 9-11:30.  He really loves his new teacher, Mrs. Philbrook.  We have already received the Scholastic Book Order form and received our first group of books.  It is so fun to see the projects he brings home and to see how excited he is when I drop him off in the morning.

Jesse celebrated 10 years with Portland Magazine this month.  He first started working at Portland Magazine just before we were married in October of 2000.  I remember when he was offered the job.  He was so excited, but a little nervous to tell them he would need his second week of work off because he was getting married.  His office threw a party for him with take out from Beal's St. BBQ and Ice Cream Sundaes.  Myself and the kids went in for the party.  He was then given the rest of the week off and Colin and Nancy, Jesse's bosses, graciously offered us their Lake Cabin in Falmouth for the weekend.  It is from there that I write this entry.  Also, Colin and Nancy announced that to celebrate 25 years in publication they would be taking Portland Magazine's full time employees plus one guest on a trip to Bermuda this coming March.  That's right folks, this March, Jesse and I will be taking an all-inclusive vacation to Bermuda WITHOUT our children.  My mom has already offered to babysit!  Let me tell you, I am all over that passport application!

This past Friday, I had my first night off from everything (work, kids, life in general), since my girls were born.  I had to take a business trip to Calais, Maine, which is about 4 hours from Portland.  Calais is located in Washington County, which is the down-east section of Maine, right on the Canadian border.  I drove up on Friday and stayed overnight at the Redclyffe Shore Motel in Robbinston, Maine.  The Motel sat right on the shore line.  I had a beautiful view from my room and from the restaurant.  I treated myself to a delicious dinner, a couple drinks, and chocolate raspberry cake for dessert!  I watched whatever I wanted on the TV and went to bed at 8:00.  But the best part was that I slept until 10:00 am the next morning.  I haven't had that much sleep in months!  It was WONDERFUL.

Lastly, I am currently discussing with my former law firm returning to practice after the first of the year.  What a wonderful year it has been being home with my kids.  I don't want to give that up entirely, so returning part-time will be perfect!  I don't know all of the logistics yet, but I am definitely excited by the prospects.

September has been a big month in the Stenbak Household!  And despite all of these goings on, I have managed for the first time ever to get all of my kids Halloween costumes figured out and ready before October has even fallen upon us!  I feel so organized.  I can't wait to see what October will bring!  Hopefully, I will be able to post some updated pics soon.

Potato Harvest

Jesse and Eli Harvesting Potatoes

This summer, we once again took a try growing our own vegetables.  We don't have a traditional garden, as our backyard is almost completely shaded.  In fact, the only really sunny area in our whole yard is our patio which is paved with concrete.  So we plant in pots.  This summer we planted potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli (which was completely eaten by the groundhogs who live under our shed), green peppers, and tomatoes.  Truth be told, we haven't really had much of a harvest.  We either have black thumbs or we just don't have a yard for growing things.  But, a few days ago, we harvested the potatoes.  We had planted yukon gold variety.  There were less than I was expecting, but the ones we got look fantastic.  So that night for dinner I made a Sheppard's Pie, with the potatoes from our harvest.  It was delicious!

Eli and Jesse Harvesting Potatoes

Our Potato Harvest

The Homemade Sheppard's Pie

Apple Season is Early, But Upon Us...Don't Miss It!

Typically, I think of apple picking as a mid to late fall activity. I definitely don't think of August or 90 degree weather. But the apples are early this year, thanks to a very early spring. So last weekend, we took the kids to McDougal Orchard in Springvale to pick our own apples. This is a great farm! (Thanks Amanda and Ed for the tip!) It has many different fruit trees, including apples, nectarines, plums, and peaches. There are also pick your own rasberries. Additionally, they have some beautiful flower gardens, goats (and fresh goat cheese) and a playspace for younger kids. We packed a lunch and headed over. The drive is about an hour from our home. It was a truly great time, even if the weather made the whole experience a bit odd. It is definitely a weird experience to pick apples in very hot weather but we came home with a bag of Cortlands and a bag of fresh nectarines.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Nectarines

Plum Tree

Sunflower Eli

Eli Picking - The apple trees are really small and low to the ground.  Great for small kids!

The Goats!

Esme and Iris Enjoying Some Lunch

Swinging Under the Black Walnut Tree

Esme

Iris Thinks Feet are Great Fun

Fun in Stockton Springs

We were recently on vacation.  Although we didn't take a big trip this year, we took it easy, made some progress on some projects around the house, and took a few fun adventures around Maine.  Our first adventure was a trip to Stockton Springs, Maine, to visit one of my closest friends, Heather.  For those who don't know, Stockton Springs in on the Midcoast of Maine, next door to Searsport.  It is only about 40 minutes from Bangor.  Stockton Springs is a sleepy town, sporting, as far as I can tell, one or two small convenience stores and a diner.  But, it has a beautiful beach.  We took a walk down to the beach the morning of our second day.  Stockton Springs is also about 15 minutes from Fort Knox and the Narrow's Bridge Observatory, but of course, our camera died the minute we entered the elevator to the observatory.  But here are some pics from our walk on the beach.

Wanna Buy Some Railroad Tracks?

The beach was littered with mussle shells, little pebbles, and seaweed

A Little Late, But, "Happy Birthday Tyler"

Yesterday, Jesse and I were talking about how fast time seems to fly.  Next month we will have been a couple for 15 years and in October, married for ten.  Jesse commented that as we are moving through time, the future seems so far away, but looking back, the years past seem to have passed so quickly.  This is so true.  It doesn't feel like it has been 15 years since I have graduated from high school.  It doesn't feel like I have been married for 10 years.  And 33 doesn't really feel all that much different to me (aside from a few more aches and pains when I first get up in the morning) than 23 did.

Another reminder of just how fast time flies, recently, my nephew Tyler turned four.  I cannot believe he is four already!  It feels like he was born just yesterday.  This means that in just a few short months, my first baby will be four too.  Amazing how much small children accomplish in such a short period of time.  I have watched as these children have grown from helpless infants to independent, funfilled, adventurous, learning machines.   Tyler and Eli both start preschool this year.  My neice Kaylee starts Kindergarten.  So Happy Fourth Year Tyler and many great adventures to you, Eli, and Kaylee as you all start new school adventures!

Here are some pics from Tyler's birthday party and from a family gathering at my parent's home the next day:

Tyler Opening Presents

Bubble Party Fun

Tyler Checking Out his Thomas Birthday Cake

  Eli on the Tire Swing

Kaylee on the Tire Swing

The Horr Family

Dalaney

Moving on Up

Yesterday, Iris and Esme had to give up the baby bucket car seats and move to big girl seats. I have truly mixed emotions about the move. First, I am glad that we won't have the bucket seats taking up space in our house any longer. It seems that they are always in the way. But, neither girl is really sitting up very well, so it makes it very difficult to bring them into a store. I have to take a stroller, which means I cannot push a cart, which makes it a struggle to get more than one or two things at a time. But the girls had exceeded the weight limits of their infant seats, so we had to make the move.

It is hard to believe that this month the girls will be eight months old! Hard to believe that they have now been out of the womb longer than they were in it. The last eight months have certainly gone by so much faster than the eight preceeding them! The girls are now rolling over regularly. You can no longer set them down and leave the room for a moment and expect them to be where you left them. Both also really love the exersaucer and the jumperoo. They have started to play with toys. And recently, Iris figured out how to play Peak-A-Boo. Both girls are now huge! For girls who were born six weeks early, they have caught up and then some. At their last doctor's appointment both had reached 27 inches long and are now 23+ lbs. Whew, they are big babies! Eli, who is 3.5 years old is only 10 lbs heavier than his not quite eight month old sisters!

To get the car seats, we went to the Falmouth Fire Department's car seat program day. Falmouth does free inspections the first Thursday of each month to ensure that car seats are installed correctly and that parents know how to properly install them. All you have to do is show up and they will inspect your seats installation and double check that there have been no recalls. Additionally, they have car seats that can be purchased at wholesale prices, which is much less expensive than purchasing the seats at a store. However, because the girls had actually exceeded the weight limits of their infant seats, we were given car seats for free. That's right, FREE! They also checked Eli's seat to ensure that it had not be recalled. Had it, or had he no longer fit into it correctly, they would have also provided him with a free seat as well. Their main goal is to make sure that all kids are safely secured in the car, not to sell seats. They do not want any child to be in an unsafe seat because their parents cannot afford to purchase a seat at the time of inspection. These inspections are done in many local towns, not just Falmouth, and if you are a resident of Southern Maine, you may want to call around to your local fire departments to see if a program is being held near you.

We made a donation to the program to say thanks for the car seats! And thankful we are! When you are buying for two babies, the costs so quickly add up. Two copays at the doctors, double the amount of baby formula every week, twice as many diapers, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on. I am very thankful that this service is offered to the people of Southern Maine (and maybe other parts as well) and so are my baby girls, who now have comfy, new, safe, big girl car seats to ride in!

Big Girl Esme

Big Girl Iris