Easter Eggs

We had a grand time with Finn dying Easter eggs today. We only cracked two in the process, so not too shabby. He really got into it! You will notice the mess gets progressively worse as the pictures go on.

Getting set up:

Okay, so you put the eggs in here:

Let's just put them all in at once:

Oh, wait, I was supposed to use the dipper:

Oh, that isn't worth it, just dive in:

It's blurry, but he was just too cute and happy to not put it in:

We waited for the eggs to dry and then put face stickers on them:

Lumberjacks

Sean borrowed his Dad's chainsaw and we have been clearing out the overgrown areas of locust and sumac and we want to open and clean up the stonewall area. Sean has been having a grand time cutting and we have a lot of brush to clear. Luckily, Finn is always ready and willing to help.

C is for Cookie

Its a rainy day in NH so Finn and I made oatmeal cookies. He loves pouring flour into the mixer and sampling along the way.

Splash Splosh

Finn is already an outdoors man through and through. The other day I put his shoes on and he immediately ran to the door ready to go outside. We have been spending hours outside everyday in the beautiful weather, and I still have to come up with some enticement (like getting Lily a treat) to get him inside lest a full-blown tantrum occur. I am so happy he loves it so much.

This weekend, we went over to his Nana and Papa's. They have a lovely brook running through their yard and Finn couldn't get enough of the water. He has some little galoshes, but those quickly filled with water as he dived right in. He is fearless and completely oblivious to the cold water. He is just busy exploring and picking up rocks and sticks. Too much fun.

Spring

We are seeing a lot of signs of spring in Deerfield. We have a nice patch of snow drops that have bloomed and all of our bulbs are popping through the soil.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Finn made sure to wear his green!

Cousin Construction Co.

On Wednesdays, Finn and I get to hang out with his cousins during the morning. Last time, the weather was so beautiful, we spent the entire time outside and Finn learned a lot about construction and excavation from his big cousin.

Baking Bread

We love to bake all of our own bread and Finn is really getting into helping. He likes to help pour ingredients into the bowl and he likes to pretend to help with the kneading process. On this day we were actually making homemade pita bread (which was awesome). Finn spent a lot of time shoveling flour into his mouth. I don't know if that is really good or not, but he had fun.

Playground

Just a trip to the playground in Deerfield center.

Dying Tree Farm

Sean was really excited when he discovered a bunch of chestnut trees growing in some of our neighbors' yards. This fall he collected a bunch of nuts to plant so we can have our own chestnut trees. We also have a couple of Elms in our yard, so Sean has joked that we will have a dying tree farm. Here, he and Finn are planting the nuts and as always, Finn is a big helper.

Dissertation Update

I have been meaning to do this post for a couple of weeks now and I just haven't had the opportunity. I fear, even now, it is going to lack a lot of the details I had originally planned on including, but I want to get the blog up to date. And really, in the end, mostly you just want cute pictures of Finn anyway, right?

So, the big news was that I went back to Akron to give a departmental seminar on my research. This was the last big requirement to complete prior to the actual defense of my research. I was really nervous having been away from academia for over a year and not doing any public speaking in that time. I was also nervous because it was the first time I would be away from Finn overnight.

It turned out to be a really great trip. It was wonderful to see everyone and I had some good meetings with Professors involved in my projects. I really enjoyed working in the lab a bit and looking at those cute little clam shrimp again. It was really nice to chat with my advisor face to face and come up with a game plan for the next few months. I feel very much renewed and motivated to push through this last bit of analysis and writing. I also gave a pretty good talk and got a lot of good questions and feedback. I was a nervous wreck, but apparently it didn't show and my advisor was exceptionally pleased with my performance. So, big yay for me all around.

And, really, Sean and Finn did exceptionally well in my absence. Frankly, I don't think it was that big of a deal that I was gone. They had a great time going on hikes and other outings during the day and Finn's sleeping habits remained the same. I missed them so much and I was so excited to see Finn when I arrived at the airport. He just looked at me and started pointing at the fun things he was seeing at the airport as if I hadn't been gone at all. It was a good feeling to know that he can do so well without me.

So, now I am running some DNA analysis and plugging away on the writing. It is going to be tight, but I am still trying to shoot for the summer deadlines. Wish me luck!

Evel Finnevel

Finnbar is quite the dare devil and I fear he is going to be really into extreme sports when he gets older. We are constantly catching him trying to trick ride his bike.


I keep meaning to do a big update blog post with everything that has been going on. I have been very busy these last couple of weeks, but I will get something up soon.

A Snowy Walk

Sunday morning was gorgeous. It was snowy and foggy, but really quite warm. We went for a lovely walk on an old logging road just a bit up the road from our house. It goes back into the woods feels like no one else is around. Finn had a great time in the pack. There was a lot of running water from all the rain and it was wonderful to hear it trickling as we walked. We hiked up the hill to some beautiful views.