Sweeping the Steps

"I hate stripes and orange ain't my color

And if I squeeze that trigger tonight I'll be wearin' one or the other

There's no crime of passion worth a crime of fashion

The only thing savin' your life

Is that I don't look good in orange and I hate stripes." - Brandy Clark

Squiggly Lines are Good

The girls of the OHCHS Vikings cross-country team!

The boys of the OHCHS Vikings cross-country team!

Homecoming Dance

Homecoming Meet

This afternoon they ran at Roberts Farm and showed the other teams how to dominate on a  rough course! Our team is tough! It was our oldest daughter's first chance to race this season and she was ready for it! She was the first Viking girl across the line and 9th overall. Big brother was the 2nd Viking boy and 6th overall. Little brother was 29th and improved his time from last year. What a great team!

Unusual Tastes

Food like this is why I keep going back to Cafe Nomad. Today I had their PiggyBack sandwich - apple, cheddar, bacon, & homemade red onion mayonnaise, on an Italian bread panini. Who else would combine these ingredients? And yet, they taste amazing together!

3D Printer Design Project

Introducing...

This year's Oxford Hills Middle School Vikings cross-country team!

They ran in their very first meet today. They were so nervous before it began, but once they crossed the finish line they were smiling and so proud of themselves and each other. They all did great!!

He's so glad to be back!

Dash for Dogs 5k

This morning Amber & I ran in a 5k race, along with my friend and lots of other doggies! It was so much fun and a beautiful cool fall morning, which was perfect for running.

My Chevy

Big brother & his little sisters!

They were able to be there to cheer him on during his cross-country race today!  Woohoo!!

It makes sense to me!

He's started riding again!

Curled up with a good book...

'Archers'

"Mom, I can't believe I can do these now!" I can. He's been working hard.

Happy 15th Birthday!!

Open for Interpretation

She autographed it for him!

XC Meet @ Lawrence

The weather wasn't quite as hot as it has been for previous meets, but it was wicked muggy today from excessive humidity. Regardless, the boys raced hard on the fast, flat course at Lawrence High School in Fairfield, Maine. Big brother paced himself too well throughout the 3.22 miles though (20:31.32) and had enough energy for a huge rush at the end of the race, where he passed several boys during that final stretch. The boy you see pictured beside him was laughing when he crossed the finish line because he sped up and tried hard, but had no hope of  holding off my son at that point. He was rollin' like a freight train...

Little brother is continuing to show massive improvement in his running this season! He also had a tremendous charge at the finish line, but didn't pass all of the boys he had planned to because he tripped. Thankfully he didn't fall though, and his time on this course was almost 2 minutes faster than last year. 23:52.48 vs 23:42.50.   Nice job, buddy!

Team dinner at our house tonight!

And, they are having so much fun hanging out, singing, eating, playing, running, climbing, etc!!

Some people must get confused?

It's so hard to choose!

Happy to be climbing mountains!

Anniversary Weekend Getaway

XC Meet @ Maranacook

This afternoon they raced at Maranacook High School. That course is TOUGH. But, they are TOUGHER! Big brother ran 1 minute faster this year, & little brother ran 4 minutes faster this year!! Woohoo!!!!

With those performances, they helped the boys team WIN the meet! GO VIKINGS!!!!

This girl impressed the heck out of us tonight.

This evening she asked me if she could run in the 8.5k Nomad Trail Race at Roberts Farm Preserve. She had heard all the stories about what a tough race it is, the weather was extremely hot & humid, she was tired from her first week at school, and yet she was excited for an opportunity to get out and run! I was going up there anyway to photograph the event, so I was more than happy to sign her up.
She was nervous at the start because she's never run a race without any of the rest of our family with her, but tonight she was on her own. 

It was a long time before she reached the first point where I would see her, so I was starting to get worried that the trails were taking their toll on her. They were. She was walking instead of running, and crying. When I ran up to her, she started telling me how awful she felt. I was horrified, but not really surprised since that race course made me cry too. I told her that there was no shame in quitting if it hurt. Nobody wanted her to hurt herself running a race. She asked how far she had gone, and how much further she had to go. I didn't know, but informed her that I did know that the water station wasn't much further ahead. She said that she would get there and make her decision. When she reached the water station, she guzzled 3 glasses of water and decided to keep going! I am so proud of her for showing such toughness and gumption in the face of adversity. Those trails are tough, and long.

As it turns out, they were even longer for her. She took a wrong turn and ended up being out there in the woods for so much longer than expected. She has never run that far before! Fortunately, she had found another young girl out there who was also hopelessly lost, and they helped each other find the correct trail back to the finish line. We adults were just heading out to find them because it was starting to get dark, when they came RUNNING out of the woods! Those girls sprinted and chased each other to the finish line; laughing as they finished a crazy adventure together!!

1st Day of School

They are now a Junior and a Sophomore in High School.

Ice cream? Nope!

It's an absolutely delicious concoction of frozen bananas, peanut butter, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Just puree it all together in a food processor and enjoy on a hot summer day!