Monday, October 31, 2011

It happened again!

Well, we've been here for a few months and really a lot, but not so much, has happened (if that makes sense).
As some of you know, we moved back to CT to be closer to Beau's mom who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of June. It also gives us a chance to be near our little niece, Isabella, whose birthday is just 3 weeks from Finn's! Beau's mom was given a 6-12 month diagnosis, then a 3-6 month diagnosis. We made the decision, at the beginning of July, to pack up or sell/give away what we could and be in CT by July 21. That gave me 2 1/2 weeks to get it done!! We got most of what we wanted done, but left too much undone, which happens with quick moves. On Aug. 28, Hurricane Irene hit the east coast and took not only our electricity, but Grandma Helen Kennedy, as well. She fought to stay with us as the rains and winds whipped angrily around outside. As the storm calmed down and settled to a slow drizzle, Grandma Helen took her last breath and left this world. Her kind heart and loving spirit will be forever missed. We went w/o power that week for 5 days. I finally got Beau to "rough it," but I think that is about as close to camping as I will be able to get him. He was NOT a happy camper :-P Fast forward now a couple of months (almost to the day), and I am writing this blog from a storm shelter (that blocks FB and all e-mail...grrr).

An early heavy, wet snow that dumped about 10-12 inches on our lovely homestead, has downed trees onto power lines (due to the trees still with leaves that allowed the weight of the snow to drag them down) and we are AGAIN w/o power, and this time the governor of CT is saying it could be at least a full week before power is restored because MORE people are w/o power this time. Hmmm, I seem to remember a blurb in the newspaper where a CL&P rep announced to the world (okay, maybe just the state of CT) that they are ready for the storm this time. They really stink if this is "ready." Makes one think about switching to solar-if it wasn't so expensive to retrofit, of course. Needless to say, Beau is again not a happy camper-especially since we weren't prepared this time. We didn't fill our humongo bathtub with water so we can flush the toilet, even! We won't go into details on how we're dealing with that issue...lol. I will say one thing though, I actually like the kids having a technology and screen "down" time. They have been getting along better, playing games together, doing more craft projects, and we even started a family reading time in front of the fire before bed, by candlelight. It's a bummer that I can't get on FB, but c'est la vie :-) Even though Beau says he is ready to jump ship, I know that he and we will make it through, and God is providing this down time for us. Some might even say, a calm before the (next) storm.

Which brings me to our next little piece of news- Beau got a job!! Hooray! He starts his new position on Nov. 21 and we are very excited for him. Each of us has a different reason of course...lol. I love his continual help around the house, and will miss that when he starts to work, but I know that he is going stir-crazy, so I am very happy that he is back at work. Okay, not to mention the fact that we have been running on money fumes for a while now, so that will be extremely helpful.

On the home front, we are going to get chickens and would like to get a couple of dairy goats. I've been looking up how to make cheese-which is where I learned about rennet . That's a whole different blog post! I would like to get a couple of alpaca and learn how to spin the fiber to make yarn. They are a bit expensive, so it may be a while for them, but it's on the list. I can't wait til we can plant a huge garden and learn to can next year. Angel (my SIL) and I have been going to some pottery workshops, and I think it would be fun to have a throwing wheel and pottery workshop set up in the barn, so that's on the list too. So many ideas!!

That's about all for now. I'll have to do a separate post just to catch up with the kiddos. Unfortunately, not long after we got here, my camera broke!!! So as soon as I can, I'll try to post pics of the kiddos and the things that they've been up to.

Love you all!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Back in the Nutmeg State!

It has happened! The Kennedys are back in CT. Didn't think it would happen did you? Well it has. We've traded in the hot and dry for the wet and cold.

I have decided to start the blog up again, so I can share about life in New England in a more detailed way. With so many "friends" on Facebook, I know that some of those people aren't interested in everything that our family does, but I hope that some of you will able to keep more up-to-date with the kiddos and maybe I can share ideas and thoughts in a way that Facebook doesn't support.

Love you all! Can't wait to see what this new adventure brings. This time with an extra family member. Wonder what Finn will think of the snow when it comes...lol.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Posting Slacker

Hello all,
I see that I haven't been on our blog since June of last year. Having joined Facebook, put a different focus on where we were sharing our information, but I know that not everyone has a Facebook account to see all the pictures and happenings going on on a daily basis, so I thought that I would try and pick up on the family blog again. So much has happened between last June and now, but I will have to go into that later. Just wanted to put a note in here saying that I will be back to update on the goings on of this gypsy family :-)

Love,
Maria

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Finally Finished a Project!!!




I am on a roll with these posts, so here's the last one for tonight (DesignStar is on and FoodNetwork Star comes on next). I am sooooo excited because I finally FINISHED a crochet project! It's a little blanket that I have been working on for Luke. I started it at the end of March and with a few minutes here and a few minutes there. It's finally done. For my first project with a new stitch, I think it looks pretty good. What do you think Auntie Leona? Now I hope it doesn't take me 3 more months to send it down there...hehehe!
This pic shows the stitching: It's a V-Stitch with a Picot edging...pretty impressive terminology, huh :-)

Rock Cats Baseball


Okay, I know I totally did this out of order, but this is the follow up to the earlier "Birthday Preview" post about what we did on the actual day of Emma's birthday (June 11). After we went strawberry picking and bowling, we went to the Rock Cats game. It's the Double A team for the Minnesota Twins. The kids love going in the "Fun Zone" where they have a bunch of inflatables. Aidan did the hitting one, while Emma went a few times on the slide. We also paid to have Emma's name announced over the loudspeaker at the end of the 5th inning. They also put it up on the big board. She was soooo surprised. It was nice and the money goes toward the Rock Cats foundation so that's a plus.

It wasn't too warm either, in the 80's...fabulously warm! And it was also Polish night, so there was a polka band before the game. That was cool. So I think that we made up for last couple of
years of not celebrating her birthday. She's good for at least 3 years...lol! It became kind of a birthday week celebration, too because Beau felt bad we didn't have a cake for her, so we got one the next day to have after dinner. Aidan had to stick his finger in it, of course :-)

Emma's Birthday Party



Hi All,
Here are some pics from Emma's birthday party that we had on the 14th of June. It was a Strawberry Shortcake theme, so we had personal strawberry shortcakes and strawberry cheesecake instead of cake. I kept going back and forth about canceling the party and postponing or changing it to an inside venue since the weather report said isolated thunderstorms. No good for a bounce house and water fun. But, it all worked out. I decided to move up the time of the party and the storm started just as the last guests were leaving...so awesome! I think everyone had a good time, which is always the goal :-)

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Birthday Preview











Hi all,
I know that I have to catch up some stuff from the end of March til now, but I thought that while I was at the computer I would add a few pics from Emma's birthday today. It's about 4 p.m. and so far today we have gone strawberry picking, had lunch with a few of Emma's friends, and gone bowling (Emma won, too). We are leaving in about a half an hour to go to the Rock Cats baseball game where we hope to score some free stuff. More details to follow :-)