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Cutting the Tree


Dave had the opportunity to cut down our Christmas tree this year. I did it last time because he had left his snow pants at home accidentally (a likely story).

Trevor sledded and Gavin gaped at the white stuff falling on his face while Dave and I picked the tree and sawed it down.

This time, we have a truck with 4WD and we were able to bring it down to the cutting area. Quite a difference from that long trek up the hill dragging a heavy tree behind us to the parking lot the last time with our Kia.
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Gavin's First Snow

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A Chef and his Lobster



The boys won an award for their tandem costume at the Mason's annual Halloween party.


But you can't forget the butter!
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This Family Climbed Mount Washington


We took a trip to New Hampshire in order to drive up Mount Washington (and spend some time in Littleton). And yes, we got the little "This Car Climbed Mount Washington" bumper sticker.

What I want to know is: How is it more people have not died going up this mountain?!

No guardrails next to a hundred-foot drop. Steep hills, smoking brakes. Barely room for two cars on the road. Unpaved portions of roadway. High winds. I could go on.

We absolutely loved the experience, but there was no small bit of terror involved. Both on the way up and the way back. I'm just thanking my lucky stars that the mountain closed the day before I was going to take Trevor up there alone in our little Kia last year. I think I would have had a panic attack on the ascent.
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The Last Boy Scout


Dave and Bob McEwen at the Isle La Motte Teddy Roosevelt Day celebration. Dave ran some of the logistics and apparently found that being in uniform helped his credibility. Any uniform.
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Bikers


This is lovely and pastoral, yes? Except if you're a car coming around the corner of this barely two-lane dirt and gravel road.

Sometimes I wonder if the bicyclists realize that people live here on our island. They ride three abreast in the road while we sit behind them in our cars, waiting to go to doctors appointments and jobs.
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Balloon Festival


The balloon festival at the Shelburne Museum was amazing. We watched the balloons launch, then Dave and Trevor took a ride in a tethered balloon. Gavin and I stayed on land.

But my absolute favorite part of the evening was the nighttime balloon walk. The four of us claimed a spot on a big rock near the lighthouse and watched the ground crews return from their flights. They unrolled the balloons, tethered them, and lit them up like lanterns.

We were in a spot to see five of six, but toward the end of the night, we took and walk in the dark around Shelburne Farms to see the others. It's always a little creepy to wander empty museum grounds at night.
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Feeding Sheep


Trevor wanted to take home a sheep from the Champlain Valley Fair. I draw the line at chickens.
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First Day of Sixth Grade


Sixth graders are the oldest kids in the school and they get to sit in the back of the bus. It's hard to be so cool.
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Photo Shoot


We had a catalog photo shoot at the Bebop Baby Shop in Essex Junction. We love the Bebop!
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It had to be done...

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Gavin's Birth Announcement

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The four Liloias.

Gavin Victor, born June 13, 2009 - 2:20am.

Gavin Carseat


He loves eating, sleeping, and road trips. He must be a Liloia.
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Mr. Tomato Head


When you're in the hospital with a new baby, you can get a little stir-crazy. Especially if the little guy is sleeping like a... well, a baby and your roommate wants the shared tv off.

It was excruciatingly boring. Gavin's birth was fast and fairly textbook. I felt ready to go home the next morning, but someone's blood sugar was staying too low to go home, and that same someone failed the car seat challenge for preemies so we stayed an extra day.

I was up with the sunrise on the second day, just wandering around, and snapped a few pictures of the little guy in his hospital garb. We started calling him Mr. Tomato Head because of the red, round nature of his head.

(When the roommate finally went home, I watched marathon amounts of Dirty Jobs and The Deadliest Catch.)
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Raw honey from our hive

Finished Raw Honey


Our Lola beehive died over the winter. On first glance, it looks like they made honey too far away from the center of the hive and they never ventured up to the higher boxes to eat. Not good for them, but we took apart the top deep box and found a few frames full of clean, capped honey for us.

We haven't harvested enough honey (and probably won't until next year) to make the purchase of an extractor worthwhile, but using cheesecloth and a lot of patience, we extracted eight jars of raw honey (no heat applied) for the family. Trevor especially enjoyed chewing on spoonfuls of honey and beeswax like bubblegum.
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WeTutor: Powered by real teachers

WeTutor
This month we had the opportunity to test out WeTutor -- an online tutoring service that's just launching. Not surprisingly, when I let Trevor know we were going to try tutoring, he was horrified. "But I'm doing well in school!" he protested. I assured him it would just be a few sessions, and that everyone can use a little work in some area.

And if you (like Trevor) are sitting there thinking, "My kid does great in school -- he doesn't need a tutor!" Let me mention that Trevor is an A-student in the 5th grade who is taking 6th grade math, 7th grade spelling, and reads at a high school level. Even he has areas he can work on. I guarantee that your child would benefit from an in-depth look at one area of study.

Trev's trouble spots are in math and writing. I spoke with Trev's teacher to get specifics on what we could work on, and he lent us a copy of their classroom math workbook. Don't overlook this step if you use WeTutor; it's very helpful to work jointly on the same topics at home and at school.

In total, we had four WeTutor sessions over two weeks. Despite his protests, all of the meetings ended with Trevor feeling energized about his work and smiling about his progress. After the first writing session, he asked when they would get to meet again. What a turnaround!

Signup is simple. Create an account for your child (there are slots for multiple children) and choose a tutor from the listings. You can drill down by grade, subject, topics within a subject, and keywords. This is where it helps to know where your child's teacher wants you to focus. It's much easier to find a good tutoring fit if you know to look for help in pre-algebra or geometry, versus simply "math." And every tutor appreciates being aware of specific trouble spots like strategy, memorization, or visualization.

Every tutor's profile page has grade levels, areas of expertise, qualifications, and availability listed. It's very easy to find a teacher to fit your schedule, as well as your subject needs. Hourly fees are also listed on profiles. Choose someone within your budget without the awkward, "How much do you charge?" conversation. Immediately after ending the tutoring session, parents click thorugh and pay via PalPal. I was relieved to be able to take care of payment instantly and electronically -- and I'm sure the tutors appreciate being paid right away without waiting for a check.

After picking two tutors, we wrote each a quick email via the message box on their profile. We requested a meeting time and heard back from both within a day. It's important to communicate with your tutor from the start to determine a few details so you aren't scrambling for supplies at the last minute and using up your teaching time. Some things to work out beforehand:

-- The time, date, and length of your meeting. Sessions default to an hour, but if your child needs more or less time, let you tutor know beforehand. If you know you only need one session for pre-test prep, now would be a good time to let the tutor know. Likewise, if you're hoping for weekly sessions at a set day and time, arrange that early in the process.

-- What items should you have on hand before the session starts? Paper and pencil are basics, but you may also need a calculator, workbook, textbook, etc.

-- How will you be communicating? WeTutor offers the option of calling your tutor and speaking via phone, text chatting in the Virtual Classroom, and audio/video within the Virtual Classroom. It's important to know which combination you'll be using beforehand to ensure you have the phone number, microphone, or webcam ready.

The two tutors we selected were both excellent. All tutors are qualified classroom teachers -- and it shows. They were keyed in to where Trevor should be for his grade and had a great handle on how to relay material in an understandable manner. I recall my high-school geometry tutor who was barely a year older than me. She tried, for sure, but without classroom experience, her lessons jumped around the topic and never really sunk in.

Our reading tutor zeroed in on Trevor's trouble spots within minutes of speaking with him. She noticed that he had great creative writing ideas, but his lack of speed with writing and typing made him dread writing assignments. She recommended a voice recorder for speaking his essays and typing them afterwards. She also suggested he keep a journal at home to practice the flow of writing -- which has since turned into a novel about a medieval knight who is a "mall cop" at the local marketplace. Whose kid didn't like writing?

Our math tutor also clicked instantly with Trevor. He was quick to praise good work and patient when Trev got stuck. His tone was casual and approachable, and once he found out they shared a similar interest in science fiction, he created some Artemis Fowl and video game-based math problems for our second meeting. You should have seen the dawning of comprehension on Trev's face when the tutor explained that magical resistances in Diablo II are actually complex percentage problems. It was one of those, "I've been doing this math in my head all along!" moments.

We were so impressed by our tutors, that I would love to share our findings in a recommendations/comments area on teacher profiles. We gave our tutors positive ratings, but it would be great to be able to convey their strengths to other parents. As a parent searching for a tutor, those subjective comments would go a long way toward informing our decision.

With our math tutor, we used a speakerphone and the Virtual Classroom. With our writing tutor, we tried chat-only and audio within the Virtual Classroom. The audio and phone worked seamlessly, but we were unable to see webcam images. It was easy enough to proceed without video, and I'm sure with a little practice we could have gotten it up and running.

The only session in which commnuication was a little difficult was the typing-only meeting. Trevor is a quick reader, but an excruciatingly slow typist. After a few frustrating minutes of him hunting and pecking, I took over and typed his verbal responses. Teachers have access to a practice classroom -- the same kind of practice area might be helpful to students and parents who are trying to set up audio and get used to the teaching environment.

During our second writing session, we made extensive use of the Virtual Classroom whiteboard. Our tutor walked us through a PowerPoint presentation, then did a brainstorming exercise using free-form shapes and text. Using the drawing and shape tools within the classroom, we created a brainstorming web very easily, then flipped between our web and a text document to write a short essay. We figured out the tools quickly, and appreciated the ease with which we could copy text from the brainstorming page to the paragraph page instead of retyping it.

We did find that the tutor's pointer didn't always match up with where we saw it. Our writing tutor pointed to a spot on the page and asked, "Can you put a better word here?" Trevor would move his cursor over hers and she'd say, "Not there... here," though to us it looked like the same spot. It wasn't a huge inconvenience, we just changed to more specific directions instead of relying on the cursors.

Overall, WeTutor was a very positive experience. Trevor enjoyed having one-on-one time with a new teacher, and in just a few hours he had some new strategies and tools for approaching his work. Dave was home for a couple of the sessions and was very impressed at the enthusiasm of the teachers and Trevor's exciement for the material. We'll be keeping our tutors bookmarked for future sessions and test-prep!
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Fire, fire!

Trevor Glassmaking


The coolest thing to do when you're ten years old is play with fire... specifically, a blowtorch. I think making a bead out of a stick of glass was just gravy.

Trevor's Glassworking Bead


I highly recommend the glassmaking classes at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. It was a long drive for us, but well worth the trip. Interestingly, my flower-pulling class cost $25, but a finished flower in the gift shop cost $35. I got the experience plus the flower for $10 less.

Note that we went in winter when we had the place to ourselves. From the number of seats surrounding the glassblowing area, as well as the computerized scheduling system, I'd imagine it gets pretty packed in there during the summer months.
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The DTV Debacle

I find myself outraged on behalf of people in poverty these days. (And poverty not just of money, but of resources -- like the ability to hook up wires or get out on a roof.) There are assumptions being made that people who can't hook up to DTV are stupid, or lazy, or waited too long. (Quotes: "And millions of these Americans don't have converter boxes because they are too stupid and/or lazy and/or cheap to rectify the problem." "He's a lazy, lethargic, procrastinator that will not be ready in June either!") I am none of those things, and my DTV still doesn't work acceptably.

Our family, while on a budget, does have means to upgrade our equipment, as well as a fair bit of technology experience. We have chosen not to purchase cable or satellite service, and we currently receive five analog channels via antenna. Here are the issues that were an annoyance for us, but for someone in poverty could prove insurmountable.

1. The coupons do not cover the total cost of converter boxes.

Even with two coupons, our family paid $50 for two converter boxes. Not a challenge for us, but certainly for someone on a low or fixed income. We, as a country, have culturally deemed that television is where all important annoucements and emergencies will be dealt with quickly. Because of this, it's critical that free network broadcasts remain accessible to citizens. If radio were used to the same extent, we wouldn't be in this predicament.

2. There were not enough coupons for everyone.

Let's just think for a moment who might have been more likely to apply for a coupon before they ran out. Do you think it was the at-home mom with ample money and leisure time to apply for the coupons well in advance of the deadline; or an overtaxed family of six living in a trailer without Internet access?

3. The antenna issue was ignored for months, and is still being downplayed.

We dutifully hooked up our converter boxes and waited for the cornucopia of digital programming to stream into our living room. What we got was... ABC. Sometimes. Turns out, our huge roof-mounted antenna is insufficient for capturing digital programming and has to be replaced. Not only do we get far fewer channels than analog, we're also forced to see the lipstick on our favorite male actors' faces. Disappointing.

Our family has the ability to throw money at a problem to make it go away, but that doesn't make the additional cost of an antenna any more pleasant to bear. We were lied to. "Get a DTV converter box and a world of television will be yours!" Riddle me this: Who is most likely to have antique antennas that need replacing in order to get a DTV signal? Do you think it might be grandma, who is still watching tv on a console as big as a Cadillac?

I googled to find acceptable DTV antennas and the DTV Answers site directed me to antennaweb.org, which told me that "Indoor antennas are not included in this mapping system, because many variables impact the quality of indoor signal strength." So I'm already looking at going out onto the roof. Standing outside in two feet of snow, staring up at the behemoth 10-foot antenna mounted on our roof, no one in my family is willing to undertake the task.

I forged ahead for an outdoor antenna, and this is the page I reached. They want all of my information, plus permission to spam me. Only the web-trained will notice that all you really need is a zip code. Which I entered, and was promptly admonished, "If you did not enter your full street address along with your city, state or ZIP Code, please return to the Address Entry page and enter your full address." That sentence, at the top of the results page, makes it seem like the search didn't work. But when you scroll down, there are results. I'm disgusted that DTV answers is sending people to such a blatant data-grab of a website.

And then the results... I apparently need an antenna type "yellow uhf," "green uhf," and "red uhf." I clickde through the antenna types to see a list including: small multi-directional, medium directional, large directional with pre-amp... no explanations. Just jargon. Let me say, I'm no luddite. I can wire a phone board and whip up a little PHP here and there. But I am not an expert in DTV-ready antennas, nor do I want to be. How many people do you think got as far as I did in their research? Did your mom? Your grandfather? The single mom who gets Internet access for 15 minutes at the local library?

4. No middle ground for fuzzy channels.

It's no secret that we live in a rough climate. We're battered by frequent snowstorms, subzero temperatures, and constant high-speed lake winds. Every time our antenna moves, the visibility of our tv channels changes. With analong, it's barely noticeable. Maybe some fuzziness or static, but they're still watchable. With digital, the picture skews into a bargello quilt (lovely, but indeciperable), then it stutters, then it freezes. Then they're gone, sometimes for hours, sometimes forever. At this point, I can tell you the speed of the wind outside by the amount of DTV programming I've lost that day.

5. The federal switchover date has been extended, but states apparently can choose their own adventure.

Vermont television stations have been running smarmy ads that say: 'Even though the federal government is allowing us to hold off the switchover until June, we here in Vermont know that you've been diligent and you're ready for the switch (I'd like to see stats on that), so we're going ahead in February.' What I read from that is, 'We invested money in a February switch, so to hell with you all, we're doing it.'

And I don't believe pushing back the date alone is the solution. You'll just have another few million people in financial or resource-based poverty without converter boxes in June. There needs to be more coupons, they need to cover the cost of the boxes fully, and local communities need to be mobilized to provide volunteers to go to neighbors' houses and help them convert.

This is not about entertainment. If our family wanted television to be recreational, we would have bought cable. It's informational and helpful for emergencies. The websites of our local tv stations aren't quite up to posting video of their broadcasts, so it's important to have a few networks on tap for those big Vermont storms. Or for the day an armed gunman was on the loose in our county and schools were locked down. Our local channels don't update the web fast enough to be useful.

So what are we going to do? Dave just started a new job with a fair bit of travel and I'm having a baby; so no one's replacing an antenna right now. Frankly, I'm disgusted with the entire process. Our family is going to shrug off the networks, keep digital ABC around for emergencies, and find something else to do with the 2-3 hours a week we watched television together. (We also happen to be tech-savvy enough to know where to find a few favorite shows online.)

Networks will lose viewers due to their own hubris in charging forward with the switch, some people will be tricked into buying expensive cable or satellite packages, and some people will be sitting at home when their town is evacuated because they have no access to quick tv-based updates.
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Celery Salad

Dave's family serves celery salad on most holidays and special occasions. I was having an intense salty craving the other day and I tried finding the recipe online. Turns out, it doesn't exist anywhere in the form I'm used to.

Sure there's something called Italian Green Olive Salad, but it's a much grander affair, with anchovies and capers. This is a simple thing, with just olives and celery. I'm suspecting ours is the "home" version that evolved in Italian homes on a budget.

Celery Salad


It's very simple, diced celery with olives in their brine. You can also dice the olives if you like, but I think gathering a spoonful of celery with a big burst of olive flavor is part of the fun.
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Someone is Growing

Baby Liloia had his or her first photo taken on December 5th, and we thought that was the last picture until the 20-week ultrasound (typically when they tell you the gender). Here's the little one at nine weeks:

The Newest Liloia


But at the most recent appointment, someone decided not to cooperate with the hearbeat-checking doppler device and insisted that his or her photo was taken again instead. Here's the sneaky babe at 13 weeks:

Little Liloia 2


Head on the left, two legs curled up on the right and arms above and below the tummy. See you in a few weeks for another picture, baby!
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