I grew up in a small town. A smaller town than we live in now. Growing up we had neighbors who watched us every time my sisters and I went outside to play. If we were in the front yard the neighbor on the left would sit in his livingroom window and watch us instead of television. Who knew that watching kids play kickball, hopscotch, or "hot lava" could be so entertaining. If we were playing in the back yard, then to the right of our house we had an elderly man who would watch us. He would sit outside, beside his house and smoke his pipe and throw marshmallows at us. At the time we didn't think it was weird that he was throwing marshmallows at us, but we did dislike how the marshmallows smelled like pipe smoke. We ate them anyway. He would throw the marshmallows over the peonies, that separated our yards, and we would scramble to grab them. Other than that, he would watch us weed the garden, climb trees, or once again play kickball.

I kind of forgot about the neighbors who watched us from afar, until yesterday. After church yesterday morning we were talking with some people from town, one of which happens to live just a few houses down from us. She told me that she loves to watch the boys scooter and play outside and that she finds herself standing at her window watching them for a period of time and laughing as they do their silly boy stuff. I'm 100% sure that she will not be throwing marshmallows at the boys, but it still reminds me of when I was little.

Both boys have been LOVING having a yard and space to ride scooters/skateboards. They rush outside after breakfast and they come in to eat meals, but other than that they spend all day outside exploring and getting dirty. They were hesitant, when we first moved here, to play outside alone. They always wanted us to watch them from the porch, but they are comfortable now to play without us watching them, and we too, are comfortable letting them be outside alone.

We are fairly settled now. There are still some boxes around, but the things we need are out and have been given a new home in drawers or closets. We have spent a lot of time with our great friends who live just across town, and finally got our library cards today. This weekend my mom and dad are coming for a visit and next week we register the boys for school.

More to come...

We are alive and well!!

We had an uneventful trip back to the midwest, but I suppose that is a good thing. 

Changes are brewing for all of us, but everything is working out well. R.C. is busy working, I start a new job next week, and the boys will be enjoying a yard and tons of kids in the neighborhood, when they return from Wisconsin. 

Today I sit in a small coffee shop in town using the free WiFi until our internet gets hooked up at home. We are back to small town living and it is STRANGE!!!

I know it has only been 2 years since we lived in a small town, but it seems like an eternity ago! We are able to open our front door and leave it open all day long and not worry about it being unlocked. We have a yard!! We can sleep with windows open and not worry about break ins. I have only heard 1 siren in the last week!!

We are fortunate to have FANTASTIC friends here who have made this transition easier than it should/could have been.

Last weekend we spent time in Wisconsin with family and this next weekend we plan to head south to spend time with more family. We are taking advantage of being near family.

We will begin exploring the area more in the coming weeks, but with both R.C. and myself working blogging could be less frequent than before (gasp! or maybe a relief to some...) The boys will attend public school in the fall, which will be exciting. We've heard only good things about the school here, but it's still strange to think that I will be away from the boys for so long and have little say in what they learn, or how they learn it.

There is our update, just so everyone knows. More to come...there may even be a new blog coming...since we are no longer "Ocean State Saylers".

Max is still working on keeping dry all night long. He's only 4 so I'm not concerned about it yet. He has grown to like some night time pullups that feel a bit softer than the normal pullups. He did not like the crinkly noise that the normal ones make. They made him feel like he wasn't a big boy.

Well, with lots of things going on right now, I guess I lost track of how many of his special pullups he had left. Tonight, after his bath, I went to ask if he had brushed his teeth yet, and I found this:

That, my friends, is Max wearing a pullup bag. Leg holes cut out and everything. Apparently he ran out and so he was going to take matters into his own hands. I asked him if I could take his picture and he agreed. He also wanted to make sure that I posted these on the blog for all to see. This just might be his proudest moment to date. Although...in 12 years or so he might not like these pictures so much.

No, he did not sleep in this, and no, this is not a common occurance here. Never have I cut holes in a bag and asked my kids to wear it...although it would cut down on laundry. After we had a good laugh, he took this contraption off, and was tucked into bed with comfy cotton underpants on. Now if only I remember to wake him up around midnight so he isn't in a puddle come morning.

Just to keep things accurate, I forgot to mention a story that makes us ready to leave also. R.C. reminded me that I forgot this one...

One evening, I was in the kitchen cleaning up after supper when I heard someone walking in the back parking area (it is gravel and so you can hear people walking or cars pulling in and out). I looked out the window and saw a police man. R.C. came into the kitchen at that time and he noticed him also. We kept watching, wondering what he was doing, and right behind that police officer, there was another, and another, and another! They were combing the back parking area and the neighbors yard below us. They checked under our back deck and in and under our car. R.C. then decided to look out the front livingroom windows and found several police cars parked out front, and MORE officers. We watched for quite awhile as police walked and drove slowly up and down the streets surrounding our house and took several more walks through our back area. It was creepy. They were looking very hard for someone, but soon it began to rain and the search was canceled.

We are unaware as to who was being looked for, or what this person did to be looked for, but the thought of someone roaming the streets, and hiding, (near us) that the police felt needed to be found, was weird. Who knows, he could still be out there...

Friday we part with our homeschooling materials and all our hard work. It feels weird to have it all boxed up, never to be seen again. I now have a bankers box neatly organized with all our work, and maybe they will see and and say, "we only need a sample of the work completed, not all the work", but I found it impossible to pick out only a sample of the work. So, they are getting the whole shebang. I didn't realize until today just how much work we had completed over the year! Now I understand how we were so busy each day! On Friday Russell and I are taking our box of binders, folders, notebooks and papers downtown to the school office.

On another note...

We are preparing for a change.

A pretty big change. (NO! There are no new additions coming into our family! Stop thinking that right now!)

We feel we must leave this area we have been living in.

Over the course of the 2 years we have been living in this house we have always been aware that this is a less than desirable neighborhood. We chose to live here though because we had been told by several people that the neighborhood was changing and it was becoming safer and cleaner. For the first year we believed this. Sure we would hear an occasional fight, or hear a distant gun shot, but we were hopeful that good things were going to happen here. We have good neighbors who made us also believe that the neighborhood was changing for the better.

When my sister was visiting last week, we were sitting in the living room one evening when we heard the sound of fireworks going off. My sister jumped, and thought that it was gun shots. We laughed and assured her that it was not, and that if it was gun shots she would be able to tell the difference, but there was nothing to be worried about. Not 1 hour later we heard 5-6 VERY loud pops accompanied by squealing tires. My sister once again jumped, and this time with good reason. On the corner, just one house away, someone was shooting at someone. The neighbors saw the car and someone running, but that's the last we heard. Since this incident we have heard several more shots at night, and one of the neighbors has told us of a new gang that moved in across the street from her that is rowdy and dealing drugs heavily.

No more sugar coating. I'll explain it like it is...

For 2 years we have been putting up with, and witnessing, some pretty crazy things. On any given day I can watch a drug deal from my kitchen window. I have had to stop and wait behind a car who was stopped in the middle of the road finishing a deal. I watched a deal go down right in front of our house in the middle of the day (this was the most shocking to me because it was the first time that I had seen drugs in close proximity to me. I know, how naive of me, but honestly I had never seen baggies of white stuff and baggies of green stuff, except on TV, until this day. Not something I want to see from my living room window.) We have listened to fights, loud parties, and squealing tires. Let us also not forget the car bomb. I know not to buy pizza from Dominos because the Domino delivery guy is not selling pizza. I watch him park his car on the next street down from us and people come to his window. Things get passed through the window...and I've never once seen a pizza box passed through the window. I know what you're thinking...call the cops. Call the tip line. THE COPS ARE NO GOOD HERE! They know this area is bad, but they don't do anything about it. I even watched as a police car pulled over the Domino delivery guy one night at around 1:30am in front of the house. I'm fairly certain that no ticket was given out. No lights. No sirens. Hmmmm.....

It's funny, but even with all the stuff that goes on here I would not say that I feel "unsafe". I get very angry and annoyed that these things happen close to me and my family, but I have never been afraid here. I still walk to the library and allow the boys to play outside (with supervision). I hope everyone knows that we would not put our children in danger. I have never thought that they were in danger or we were putting them in harms way. But, in recent days/weeks we have been feeling uneasy about living here. The "activity" seems to be picking up and so we are leaving. We have realized that we don't have to stay here. There are neighborhoods out there where this stuff doesn't happen. The world is our oyster! And boy, I love oysters.

Where are we going? We are preparing to check some options...Stay tuned.

I have been behind in blogging for no reason other than I have not been in the mood to sit at a computer and write. Well, I am hoping I am out of my non-writing-funk, and will catch this blog up on our happenings.

Here's a quick update:

• Before dropping Shane off at the airport last week we went to Beavertail State Park. It was such a nice day and we had a great time jumping rocks all morning and afternoon. We enjoyed a picnic lunch and dropped Shane off with time to spare. As we were saying our good-byes outside of the airport we noticed some men starring at us. They looked familiar to us, but couldn't put our finger on who they were. Soon we realized they were the guys from Ghost Hunters(Grant and Jason). R.C. went to say hi and as he approached them, they said they were just checking him out on their I Phone. Sure enough, there was birdman.com on their phone screen. 
• We spent a day at Walden Pond. Yes, THE Walden Pond. All I can say is BEAUTIFUL!!!! It is easily one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I have ever been. The parking lot was semi full, and we sometimes came across other people on a hiking trail, but everyone was quiet. It was a place where you could sit all day in quiet meditation. We walked 2+ miles around the entire lake stopping often for breaks, to watch birds or to talk about how cute a chipmunk was. We found an area where the crystal clear water was visible and we were covered by the trees from the few raindrops that began to fall. We sat there for 45 minutes as the boys played with ants and we watched rain fall on the lake. We talked about how great it would be to swim in the clean water, and R.C. finally threw caution to the wind and quietly slipped in. I read the book Walden when I was pregnant with Maxwell and working a crumby job. I would sit and read on my lunch breaks and dream of what Walden would look like and think of how peaceful it would be to get away from all the cranky customers I was dealing with that day...it was everything I imagined. When I first saw the lake, I immediately thought to myself, "yup, that's just how I pictured it." I recommend it to everyone!

•   The boys and I went to the Providence Children's Museum. I had been telling them for 2 years that we would go, but it just never happened. We would get busy with other things and it would be forgotten about. Well, I finally made good on my promise and we spent an afternoon exploring the museum. The boys loved it. I must admit that I feel bad it took us so long to get there!! We also attended the kick off to the summer reading program for the library. It was held at The State House where there were activities to do, books being given away and an author of one of the books was there to speak and sign the kids books. They also got balloon swords, a balloon hat, and a balloon belt, which they wore as they ran through the beautiful yard of the state house.

• My sister, Chris, is on a New England vacation with some friends and we were able to see her for a bit. While her friends toured Boston and Newport, Chris came to Providence to visit us. We had her for a day and a half and didn't do too much. It was nice to just hang out and have her around. During this visit I found out that my sister is quite the baseball player. On her first night here we took her to the park so the boys could show off their ball skillz (yeah, that right. I spelled it with a z.). We were all shocked when Chris took the bat and stepped up to the plate. She said, "I only need 2 or 3 pitches. I'm no good since I haven't played since high school P.E. class". I grabber her camera (I forgot mine) so I could document her taking a few swings, but didn't get a good picture. On her first pitch I held the camera up to capture the moment, but saw the ball on the camera screen coming right at my head. I quickly got out of the way and watched as Chris took pitch after pitch and sent each on sailing over our heads. I couldn't get a good picture because I was too busy fielding balls. Who knew??!
• R.C. is out of his studio. Where did he put everything from his studio? Oh...in the livingroom, kitchen/diningroom, bedroom, anywhere there is a little spare space. We have zero space in here now. R.C. has been setting up a table outside so he can use the saw and work on his piece for his show in NYC. Tomorrow he will head to NYC to install his work, attend the opening, and visit some friends. He will stay for a night or 2 before coming home. The boys and I will stay home and come up with something fun to do...and by fun I mean something that we can do in an air conditioned building. It is supposed to be in the 90's this weekend...yuck!
• And, sometimes things happen here that I just can't explain...

Oh...the RedSox game!

The plan was for R.C. and Shane to go to a Boston RedSox game on Thursday as a graduation gift to R.C.. Well...when I caught word of this I was really excited for them to go, but I TOTALLY wanted to go also, which is just what happened. They allowed me to tag along and boy was I every HAPPY that they let me!!

We left Thursday morning with plenty of time to find parking, which we assumed would take forever. We could have easily parked in a parking lot close to Fenway, but I'm a cheap-o and refused to pay $40, let alone $50 to park my beat up little car. Luckily, we were all willing and able to walk, so we parked about 1 mile away and it cost us $0!

We ended up arriving 2 hours early for the game, but decided to go find our seats anyway. As we entered the stadium we noticed that people were down on the field. We thought that since we were there we too would take a walk on the Fenway field. Little did we know that it was "meet the players day"!! This might not have been a big deal to most, but for us it was AWESOME!!!! We were rushing around the field (I was rushing/running more than Shane and R.C.. They were a bit slower than I would have liked.....:) ) trying to find all our favorite guys. I felt like a little kid in a candy store! I was even shaking when I put my arm around Jeremy Hermida. What!?

The game was GREAT! Boston lost (by 1), but it was a great game! I was yelling so loud and much that it's possible that I embarrassed those other 2 guys...I even noticed that the girl who was sitting next to me moved shortly after the game started. Could I have annoyed her? Hahaha! If so, I love it! I had a great time and left with a sore throat and sunburn (I forgot my hat.). This will definitely be something that I will always remember!

This will be of interest to some of you. 

(It's about graduation)

The Sayler family got here safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon! We had a great time during their visit! Here's some of the highlights:

• Thursday Grandpa and Grandma took the boys to Plimoth Plantations and The Mayflower. They had a fantastic day from the sounds of it! Here are a few pictures to prove it:

•  Thursday R.C., Shane and I went to Boston to see a RedSox game. This will need it's own posting, but here's a picture to tempt you to come back later to read about the game:

• Friday we went to the convention center to see the Thesis Show and also to the RISD museum to see the piece that R.C. had in a show there also. 

• Friday night we went out to a Mexican restaurant and then headed downtown to Water Fire. It was a beautiful night and we got there early enough to get perfect seats right by the water. We watched the boats go up and down the canal as we sipped our free samples of iced coffee.

• Saturday morning we all woke early so we could get ready for graduation!! When we woke up it was storming but cleared up just before we left the house. The graduation ceremony was actually very good. Usually graduations are not too fun and the speakers are boring (sorry, but it's true.). RISD was the best graduation I have been too. It's not everyday you hear a president of an ivy league school (Brown's president) give a speech and think..."hmmm...I think she would rather teach at RISD" and "Boy, she sure wishes Brown would spice up their graduation ceremony...." These were just my thoughts. The other speakers were all entertaining to listen to and I have never left a graduation ceremony with a Katy Perry song stuck in my head because one of the speakers broke into song during her speech. I could not have been more proud. I know I've said it a million times before, but it's so true. I'll probably say it a million more times too...

These are the 7 sculpture grads who spent much of the last 2 years together.

 R.C.  after he was hooded and greeted by the president.

We are all so very proud of him!

• After graduation on Saturday we spent time relaxing at home and then grilled and had smores before getting to see Shane's pictures from Israel and watching the end of the ball game.

We had a great few days with the Saylers celebrating R.C.'s accomplishment! Mom and Dad Sayler left today, while Shane gets to stick around until tomorrow evening. Just enough time for us to sneak a beach trip in with him. 

1st GRADE IS COMPLETE!!

Today we finished up the last of our tests and I am proud to say that Russell passed 1st grade with flying colors! Now all that is left is to organize everything and get it sent in so Rhode Island can decide if he passes or not. Although I am confident that we completed the necessary work, covered the appropriate topics and logged enough hours/days, it is still nerve wracking to think that after all our hard work we could be denied and I could be told that we did something wrong and Russell will not be going on to second grade. Until I have the final OK from the state, I will be nervous. It's just how I am. 

While I am excited to be finished with the school year, it seems weird to think that this is the last time I will home school the boys. I understand (and am willing) that in the coming months both R.C. and I will be working and the boys will be off doing their own thing either in public school or daycare. The thing that makes me the most sad is thinking about Russell, who has worked so hard learning these last 2 years, sitting in a classroom with kids who don't care about school, and have horrible attitudes about learning, and teachers who have given up. I hate to think about this, but this is how RI public schools are. I have talked to many mothers at parks who voice their opinion about the school systems here (and who are almost in tears themselves when they tell me about it.) and how they are good for nothing. I have heard the new reports on how bad the schools are (academically and violence related), and heard as my neighbor told us that 50 kids in her daughters 8th grade class will not be promoted. 50 KIDS!! SIGH! More on that later...maybe. 

Anyways...

Today, after Russell's final test in which he received an A+, we had popcicles and talked about the previous year. Russell became teary eyes and said how much he loved school. Yes, we had our days (more than I would like to have had...) when it was a struggle, but we had a fantastic year. I'm happy that Russell has a love for learning that he is passing on to Max and that they will both hopefully keep for many years to come.

Today Mom and Dad Sayler and Uncle Shane are coming! We will get to spend time with them until Sunday! Tomorrow R.C., Shane and I are going to Boston for a RedSox game!!

EVERYTHING IS DONE BUT THE WALKING!

Yes, that's right. R.C. has finished up his final project/paper/defending of paper!! He is completely done! 

Done. Done. DONE!!

I am very confident that he is able to walk across the stage with very little trouble, and he will receive a diploma, so I am 100% confident in saying R.C. is a MASTER of Fine Art!! 

I'm really excited. All morning as R.C. was gone to school for his final day, I was on pins and needles. I knew his paper was awesome (since I read it probably 500 times and proof read it and tried to convince him to change a few minor things), but for some reason, as he was away defending all he had written and all the work he has done, I was nervous. Sure enough, this afternoon I got a call from R.C. saying he was done! He had received all the signatures he needed in order to graduate. I squealed with delight as the boys gave fist pumps and ran around the house saying, "he's a master!"

Russell immediately thought that since dad was done, he was done. I had to break the news that he is not in fact done with school. The boys have 3 days (really all those days will be half days because all we have left is testing. Fun!) left before summer break. They are very excited to be done because they know that the day they are done with lessons, that is the day Grandpa and Grandma Sayler and Uncle Shane come to town! A perfect way to kick off the summer!

Last weekend we made a trip to Lincoln Woods State Park, which is just up the road, for a bit of hiking. We had a great time, Russell fell in the water and then had to walk around all morning/afternoon with wet pants, and we did some bird watching and hiking.

There is plenty I could tell about our trip, but this was the best part. They really like each other. It's nice.

Tonight Russell went outside to play some baseball with some friends after supper. They play out front. One is the pitcher and throws the ball across the street to the batter and several other kids are standing around ready to catch the ball before it rolls down the hill. It's a pretty scrappy game, but they all have fun. When Russell went out tonight, Max was finishing his supper. There is no one on the face of the earth who eats slower than Max. I was cleaning up some things when I walked past the front room and glanced outside and saw a police car parked outside. A police officer had stopped to ask the kids if they could throw a knuckle ball and other baseball talk. No big deal, he was just being friendly to the kids. Well...this was no big deal to everyone but Max. He ran to the window and yelled, "HEY WUSSAL, I HEAWD YOU GOT BUSTED BY THE COPS!" (that's how he talks...R's are still difficult for him.) He said it just as the officer was pulling away, so I don't know if he heard or not. Russell thought it was hilarious though...as did R.C. and I.

*One week left of classes for the boys!!*

When I said in the previous post that, "I fully plan to go back next week to see everything again and it should be less busy so pictures can, and will, be taken", I guess by "next week" I meant yesterday. I received a call yesterday afternoon from R.C. saying that something had happened to his piece and I should meet him at the convention center.

Giant R.C. had fallen!

When I was first told that he had fallen I was very concerned that all our hard work had been shattered on the floor and no one would see the giant again. Although, R.C. was very calm when I got there and he had decided to leave him laying on the floor. He had recieved good feedback already on how great the giant looked sprawled on the floor, and after seeing it, I could not agree more! After all, in my opinion (and my opinion only) this is an accurate portrayal of how R.C. (who the giant is made to look like) is going to be once school is finished. He will collape into a heap on the floor starring blankly off into space. I fully expect to see my husband in this position in one week. (I will not take pictures of him like that though...you'll have to use your imagination.)

While we were there to help, we also took advantage of being there during a less busy time, and took another look around.

A blurry R.C. fixing the feet of "Giant R.C.".

The boys really liked this grassy area that someone created.

This was a room built and had bright pink lights inside that turned the entire room pink. The night before, it was also filled with fog from a fog machine, and when we walked inside we disappeared into a pink fog. The boys didn't like the fog part of it, so when we went back yesterday they loved going in.

When Russell first walked in he was preparing himself for the fog, but quickly realized there was no need to cover his face for the fog machine was turned off.

One of the boys favorites. (Made by a friend from the sculpture department.) Russell was inside the tent and Max was dancing with these cloaked figures.

One of my favorites (aside from R.C.'s! But it is done by a friend so that makes it OK for me to like so much, right?)! It's beautiful and huge. If I had a home (and probably lots of money) that had walls that could hold this (it's SUPER heavy I was told) I would snatch it up in a second!

Just more stuff.

These were done by other sculpture students/friends.

It's a really great show! My pictures don't do it justice and I am a bit bias because it seems I took pictures of only people's work who I am familiar with.

After the show/graduation we will have to find a home for this guy.

We barely have room in this apartment for ourselves, let alone a giant, 7 foot tall (although he has never been measured...this is just a guess.), man.

Once again I am feeling so proud of R.C.!