The Guimond Family Tree

Last weekend we bundled up the kids and headed out into the Maine forest (okay local tree farm) in search of the perfect tree for this year's holiday. For the past several years we have been perfectly satisfied with our non-needle shedding artificial pine accompanied by a good pine scented candle for effect. This year, what with Maxie being old enough to start to appreciate the the tradition and ceremony of it all, we decided that we should go out and cut our tree like the true Mainers that we are. All in all it was a nice outing at Mason's tree farm. The kids really seemed to enjoy it even though they really didn't fully understand what we were doing. I think the highlight of the event for Maddox was the machine that they put the tree on to shake off the excess needles and the bundling machine thatwraps the tree in the netting.My intent with my picture taking on this day was to follow up with a picture of the tree nicely decorated, standing in our living room all fragrant and beautiful. Well, in the week since putting it up the dog has knocked it over once. (We think it was the dog......may have been Mimi.) It has shed more needles than I ever thought it had to start with, and Mimi and Emmy (boxer) are having a daily competition to see which one of them can undecorate it in the quickest and most creative way. Mia's method seems to consist of grabbing one end of the bead garland and pulling. This usually gets her the garland and whatever ornaments it manages to snag along the way. Emmy on the other hand seems to prefer the "grab the end of a branch and shake" method! This works kind of like the harvesting cherries from the trees only instead of cherries she gets rewarded with needles and ornaments. I have given up putting whatever comes off back on at this point. We currently have about 4 feet of bare tree at the bottom. I'm learning to choose my battles............. I will re-beautify it on Christmas Eve after the kids .......ummm I mean dog have been crated, and the kids are in bed. Maybe then if it has any needles left on it I will take my picture to post!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Hagatha Lotsawarts

This is my latest doll. She was done in honor of Halloween. She has quickly become the favorite doll that I have done so far. Her hands, head and feet, and walking stick are all sculpted from polymer clay. Her clothing and hat are all made of various fabrics. She is approximately 21 inches tall and took me about a month from start to finish since I was only able to work on her on weekends and days off.

Here she is fresh from the oven before being painted.

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Introducing Emmy

This is our new baby. She came to us in a round about way, but she is here and she is ours never the less. Her name is Emmy. She is a 3 month old boxer. Jamie happened to see her a few weeks ago at the same place where she and Josh got their male boxer . Knowing how much I liked their Bentley, she called to ask me if I wanted her to get the pup for me. I declined at the time feeling that it was the wrong time for a new puppy. Besides, I really wanted a male boxer if I were ever to get one; she wasn't really the exact coloring that I had in mind and so on and so on........A few weeks went by and I didn't really think about it any more. Then we got a call from Jamie saying that she and Josh had just bought the pup and that they had decided to keep her. They stopped by our house on their way home and I instantly fell in love with her; the rest is history. I know that they really did buy her for themselves, but I think that a little part of Jamie knew that once I saw her...................Thanks Jamie! She is a little quieter than your average boxer, at least she seems to be based upon what I have read, but she still has the quirky goofy boxer personality.

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Fall Happenings

If anyone were to ever ask me why I love living in Maine, "October and November" would easily be my answer without hesitation. There is nothing like this time of year in Maine. Even a simple ride to the grocery store becomes a scenic tour. We still get those amazing days of full sunshine, but the air is crisp and cool.......it just makes you feel good. One of my friends at work always says that the weather this time of year makes her feel frisky. Here are some photos that we have taken over the past several weeks. If I were a better blogger I'd get them up as things happen, but days go by and, well......you get the picture.........eventually!

Mimi & Papa at the apple orchard. I love this picture.


Who needs a ladder when you have Papa!

Showing off their haul.

Bringing in the firewood. I wonder if they will be as willing to help when they are teenagers??


The Pumpkin Patch

Budding Artists........such concentration!

Halloween Costumes

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Furry New Grandpups

We have new furry members of the family. Jamie and Josh have acquired two new pups; a pug (Bayla) and a boxer (Bentley) They are going through the usual pains of training and housebreaking that always accompany a new puppy. I'm sure that Both Josh and Jamie would say that doing it with two is double the pain! They are both so cute and are giving me puppy fever in a big way! Al, on the other hand seems to have gone and gotten himself immunized against this particular strain of the "fever." Maybe he just needs to be exposed to those eyes a few more times.....

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The Wild Bunch

The girls decided to take a quick shopping trip to Freeport to exchange a few items that Mimi got for her birthday. As we have come to expect, her clothes were all too big. We keep trying to get her some “Big Girl” outfits but the typical toddler clothing tends to be short- which works in her favor. Unfortunately, most of it is also wide- which doesn't.

The plan was to head south with Maddox to York’s Wild Animal Kingdom after the shopping, depending on how he was holding up. I had not been to York’s since I was a child so I decided to take a quick look at their website to see what they had to offer. I was reading down their list of typical zoo animals and came upon their ad for elephant rides. I thought to myself how much Maddox would love seeing a real live elephant. I leaned back in my chair and pictured him standing safely behind a very high, very sturdy fence excitedly pointing and jumping up and down as he watched the elephant do it’s elephant things. I breathed a sigh of relief, confident in knowing that there was no way that my girls would ever think of putting my precious grand baby boy on an elephant. After all haven't we all read the headlines about the elephants gone crazy? Not to mention the fact that we are a family who does not agree with wild animals being kept in these kinds of conditions. Have we not boycotted the circus for years as our own way of protesting the wild animal acts for goodness sakes? Nope, my girls would never approve of this, let alone support it......then comes a jingle of my cell phone and up pops this:

Yes, that would be Amanda and Maddox sitting atop that enormous beast. Okay, I admit a small part of me was just a little amused at the sight of it. I like it when my girls are able to shake off the shackles of their overly cautious mother and go out and do something that I would never dare to do. (Within reason, of course!)

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Funtown Splashtown Adventure

Last month Al, Jamie, Mandy, & Maxie went on a Funtown / Splashtown adventure. As it luck would have it, they chose the hottest day of the year. Not surprisingly I opted to remain in the air conditioned comfort of home, content to review the photos and later blog about the experience through the eyes of those brave enough to face the blistering sun and unbearable humidity!

Not too sure about the whale!

Taking Mama for a ride.

They had fun and a good time was had despite the heat. Mandy wasn’t sure how Maddox would take to the rides since he hasn’t really been on too many, aside from the little bouncy ones at the mall and grocery store. As it turns out, he was quite the little soldier and was game for just about anything that he was tall enough to get on! He especially liked the log flume, and the frog hopper ride, pictured here with Auntie Jamie.

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Happy Birthday Mimi!

Mimi celebrated her first birthday last week. We had a quiet little get together at home. Mia wasn't too sure what to do with her gifts. Thank goodness Maddox was at hand to show her what to do. With a little direction she soon learned that those bags and boxes held some fun things!

Once the gifts were opened our sweet baby girl managed to turn this......

Into this.........

Well, maybe she at least learned that mixing yellow and blue frosting makes green.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL!!!!!

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Heads Without Bodies

Here are a couple of things that I have been working on. Well actually Santa has been standing on my bureau for a few months now waiting for some clothes. His head, hands, and boots are all sculpted from polymer clay. I want him to be dressed as a very traditional Santa and I have get to the store to pick up the fabric that he needs. The young lady below I puttered on today for a while. She still needs some smoothing and touch ups before she gets baked. Not really sure what I have in mind for her yet.....she may end up in the bin with several other bodiless heads if I don't get inspired by her soon!

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