Babies!

Both of my sisters are pregnant! Jessica is having a little boy in July and Rebecca will be having twins - a boy and a girl - in May! It's all so exciting, my parents are going to go from one grandchild to four grandchildren in just a few months. Here's Becky with her baby bump!

I am a slacker

So...what have I been up to? Here's the last week or two of my life in pictures:

Jay, Hank, and I took a nice walk at Massasoit State Park last weekend. This weekend I am leading a hike for folks and their dogs at that state park. I did it a few months ago and it was great.


Jay and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary! Jay got me the most beautiful flowers!

And we went to the New England Aquarium. This was good and bad. Good because we both love the aquarium and the big tank is so cool. Bad because it was school vacation week and the aquarium was full of crying, screaming, and snotty-nosed kids!

We've done a lot of cooking lately. I think it has something to do with getting our new chest freezer. Here's a german pancake that I cooked for breakfast - it was yum.

I've led a lot of hikes! I took 45 people (below) on a 3 mile hike discussing the Pine Barrens. I had a Valentine's Day Hike at Wrentham State Forest and 108 people showed up!

I did a winter hike for kids during school vacation week at Freetown State Forest. It was a grey and drizzly day, but about 20 people showed up for the hike and roasted marshmallows at the end.Jay went on a snowmobiling trip at the beginning of the month and he's leaving again tomorrow for four days to go way north into New Hampshire. Next year, we are going to sell my motorcycle (I don't like riding it) and buy me a snowmobile so I can go with him!

We've spent a lot of time with Hank and reading in front of the fire. I even took Mr. Hank to the vet. He was such a brave boy - had to have blood taken and get three shots! The vet said, and I quote, "He is perfect." I agree!

A (Cold) Day at the Park

We spent the morning at Demarest Lloyd State Park in Dartmouth. It was a georgeous day, although a bit cold. Here's the ocean! Hank ran right in - he only got his feet wet though. And he, like always, was afraid of the tiny little waves!

We also explored the marsh area - you can see it through the trees below.

There are my guys on the marsh!And me in the marsh.

The love birds ---

This pink seaweed or algea had iced over and was so pretty.

Mr. Hank found lots of fun (yucky) stuff to smell. And try to roll in - so gross!

The ice created little waves on the beach

Sorry for the Delay

Haven't posted in a gazillion years. Feeling rusty, but here goes...

Last night I went to a meat raffle for the first time ever. It was very interesting and I came home with at 10 pound pork loin! Good thing Jay and I just bought a chest freezer from Sears! Now I have to find some good recipes....

This morning I led a hike at MSSF. It was all about the history of the area - glacial and forest fire history. Although it was wicked cold and snowflakes were falling, about 45 people came out for the hike!

She's Baaaaaack!

My favorite blogger is back after a hiatus! She is so frickin' funny. Check this sh*t out:

Click here for the funny.

Went to the Zoo Today

I had an awesome adventure today and I didn't have my camera. Boo-hoo! I'm running a professional development workshop for teachers along with another environmental educator, Jason. Jason just happens to work at a zoo. Yea, a ZOO!!!!! So we had a meeting this morning to discuss our workshop and we decided that I would come to his zoo (his ZOO!!!) for the meeting. So off I went thinking we'd be sitting inside, poring over the activity guide, talking shop all morning. Little did I know I would be getting my own personal tour of the zoo (the ZOO!!!!)! I got to see the back areas and hear all the stories and anctedotes about each animal, but the best, best, best part was that Jason had arranged for us to go to a training/feeding session with the Canadian lynxes! So, so, so cool! Next time (and there WILL BE a next time), I'm bringing my camera!!!

Rock & Roll!

Merry Kissmas!

Drew's Visit

Drew had his very first sleep over ever with Auntie Amy & Uncle Jay! We had a blast. We played guitar, radio-control cars, built a ramp for the cars, played shopping with a cash register, explored all of Uncle Jay's tools, sat on the motorcylces, sat on the tractors, sat on the snowmobile, watched Uncle Jay use the snowblower, help Auntie Amy clean the snow off the car, went out to dinner at Friendly's and got an ice cream, had a pop, slept in Thea's bed, colored, played fetch with Hank, played with blocks, ate red soup and grilled cheese, and had an awesome, awesome time! I hear that once he left, he slept hours (I'll admit that I took a nap, too! We were just having so much fun!)

My 2009 New Year's Resolution

Last year my New Year's Resolution was to read 52 books in 2009. And I did it! Actually I read 55 book! I think it was the only New Year's Resolution that I've ever kept! Here's the list of my books:

'Water for Elephants' by Sara Gruen
'At Home in Mitford' by Jan Karon
'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger
'The River King' by Alice Hoffman (my 52nd book of 2009!)
'Taps' by Willie Morris
'The Weight of Silence' by Heather Gudenkauf
'Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow' by Faiza Guene
'The Dogs of Bedlam Farm: An Adventure with Sixteen Sheep, Three Dogs, Two Donkeys, and Me' by Jon Katz
'The Good Life: Helen & Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living' by Helen & Scott Nearing
'The Kommandant's Girl' by Pam Jenoff
'The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness' by James Campbell
'James Herriot's Dog Stories' by James Herriot
'Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu' by J. Maarten Troost
'In The Woods' by Tana French
'Vanishing Acts' by Jodi Picoult
'Running the Amazon' by Joe Kane
'Barefoot' by Elin Hilderbrand
"The Difference Between You and Me' by Kathleen DeMarco
'The Book of Dahlia' by Elisa Albert
'The Good Earth' by Pearl S. Buck
"Kindness of Strangers" by Katrina Kittle
'Out of Season' by Robert Bausch
'Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America' by Barbara Ehrenreich
'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
'Prior Bad Acts' by Tami Hoag
'So Far From the Bamboo Grove' by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
'Hide' by Lisa Gardner
'Shoot the Moon' by Billie Letts
'The Answer is Yes' by Sara Lewis
'The Nursing Mother's Companion' by Kathleen Huggins, R.N., M.S.
'In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unkown Country' by Kim Barnes
'A Speck on the Sea: Epic Voyages in the Most Improbable Vessels' by William Longyard
'Dick Raymond's Gardening Year' by Dick Raymond
'Gone Too Far' by Suzanne Brockmann
'Promise Me' by Harlan Coben
'The Little Giant of Aberdeen County' by Tiffany Baker
'The Buffalo Soldier' by Chris Bohjalian
'Handle with Care' by Jodi Picoult
'Serena' by Ron Rash
'Your Heart Belongs to Me' by Dean Koontz
'American Wife' by Curtis Sittenfeld
'Remember Me' by Trezza Azzopardi
'You Remind Me of Me' by Dan Chaon
'Love, Greg & Lauren: A Husband's Day-by-Day Account of His Wife's Remarkable Recovery' by Greg Manning
'Sometimes I Dream in Italian' by Rita Ciresi
"The School on Heart's Content Road' by Carolyn Chute
'My Side of the Mountain' by Jean Craighead George
'Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, And the Language of Love' by Myron Uhlberg
'Change of Heart' by Jodi Picoult
'When or Where' by Anita Shreve
'A Star Called Henry' by Roddy Doyle
'The Innocent Man' by John Grisham
'Ya-Ya's in Bloom' by Rebecca Wells
'Marley & Me' by John Grogan
'The Bonesetter's Daughter' by Amy Tan