John's Weekend

What a great husband- it is Sunday evening and John is installing hardwood floors in Mike and Tom's room instead of watching the Giants vs. Green Bay. You know I will owe him all sorts of favors for this one!

Sushi Master

Madeline treats us to a New Year's Eve sushi dinner with her new Christmas gift- a sushi making kit. She is impossible to buy gifts for- she is the only 16 year old girl who abhors clothing and jewelery (as evidenced by her stylish sweats- of which she has many varieties)- her only gift requests were Harry Potter books in spanish and sushi making supplies. We are definitely the beneficiaries of this gift- the sushi was deliciious!

All the Casey Cousins 2007

And now, all the Casey cousins together at Christmas-Tom, Madeline, William, Bobby, Matthew, Sarah, Mike, Mary, Caroline and Caelyn

Casey Cousins 1993

Here are Madeline,Will, Bobby,Matthew,Sarah, Mary and Caroline on Christmas 1993.


And here they all are 14 years later.

Tom

Tom seems to take after Madeline in his love of soccer. He loves nothing more than chasing a ball down a field for an hour, routinely getting kicked in the shins. And so this is how he spends his Saturday mornings.

Privacy at Last

We built our deck ourselves, 5 years ago when we had a kooky but charming old woman living next door. Her garden was wild with plants, untended but beautiful. Our deck overlooked the riotous color that filled her yard each season. Then she moved. A very nice family moved in and proceeded to take out everything alive from the back yard. In one day, the chainsaw destroyed all that was beautiful back there. Gone were the tall specimen evergreens. Gone were the beautiful maples, whose fall colors were awesome. Gone were the prize azaleas. Even the koi were buried alive in the pond as they filled it in with dirt. All in the name of "neatness". It made me cry everytime I looked over there. Not to mention my pleasure when we sat on the deck eating dinner and the little ones next door would lean out the window and say "what are you having for dinner miss judi?" John has now solved the problem with this wonderful privacy screen he built. Now all I have to do is paint it white. And, the best part is that it made me realize how perfect this part of our deck is for a hot tub!

Lusty Larry

With 48 years of living behind me, I didn't really think of myself as naieve , but now, with the press from the Larry Craig bathroom debacle, I am finding myself wondering where I have been all these years. I have always just used the restroom, not paying any mind to the people in the other stalls. Not once in 48 years did it cross my mind that there was a whole other world out there, people using restrooms for completely different purposes. I guess I should have figured it out- people use most other venues to find sex partners-but I just never thought of the restroom in that capacity. Live and learn.

But now I am wondering, if sending signals for sex solicitaion is illegal, what happens to the whole bar scene, whose primary purpose is sexual solicitation?

white mountain fun

after a week on the cape, we picked up sarah from logan airport and drove up to the white mountains in our 10 year old minivan with 175,000 miles on it. our mechanic just shook his head in disbelief when i told him we were taking it. my version of walking on the wild side.



the mountains were as breathtaking as i remembered- and the hikes as punishing.
in the foreground are lakes of the clouds and the lakes of the clouds hut, in the distance are mt. monroe, franklin and eisenhower.



sarah and madeline on their hike up to mizpah springs. the plan was for the girls to hike up to mizpah and stay overnight in the hut and then hike along the ridge to lakes of the clouds in the morning, where we would meet them and all continue to the summit of mt washington together. unfortunately, freezing temperatures, thunderstorms and 99mph winds undermined our plans and the girls hiked back down in the morning and we had to wait a day to climb mt. wahington.


we spent our rainy day hiking mt. tom, shrouded in fog.


taking the ammonoosuc ravine trail up mount washington. everyone looks exuberant ot the start! looking forward to climb waterfalls.


closer to the summit, but not quite as lively.


and finally at the summit of mt.washington. an amazing day with 100 mile visibility- a far cry from the previous day's storms.we can see canada and the atlantic ocean.today, the mountain is not earning its title of "worst weather on earth".
a 4.5 mile hike with a 3800 ft. vertical climb- not a bad morning's work.

whale watching

we went on a phenomenal whale watching trip where we were lucky enough to visit with a humpback who was in a breaching mood. she breached at least 12 times right in front of us. her size was impressive! unfortunately, the camera batteries chose this day to die, so all we got was this picture from the trip.

cape cod

the cape is an amazing place to camp. bike to beaches. bike/walk to fresh water ponds to sail and swim. awesome seafood.
and you can make your own sandcastle in your tent every night after the kids look like this at the end of the day.

keeping it simple

leaving the modern "comforts" behind, we set out for two weeks camping in massachusetts and new hampshire.
not much for privacy, but this tent is our home for now

Finally Mrs. Casey

Well, this afternoon, I finally became Mrs. Judi Casey, after 26 years of marriage. I thought I had changed my name 26 years ago, but this morning I found out that was not the case.
I went to renew my driver's license this morning, being expired for 6 months, I figured it was time. After waiting an hour in line, I was told by the clerk that the name for my ss# was my maiden name from 26 years ago- it had never been changed and that he, under no circumstance, sould issue me a new license unitl the situation was rectified.
Now, I clearly remember changing my name on that ss form and bringing in the marriage certificate 26 years ago, but apparently, the computer does not have the same memory. So, I have been living a lie all these years. Of course, the IRS was perfectly happy to take tax money from Judi Casey, who did not really exist. But now, with the new anti- terrorist laws in place, the MVA can not issue a license to anyone whose name on their license does not exactly agree with the name associated with their ss#. So off to the social security admin. office I marched and sat for yet another hour, after which I was told the the MVA was absolutely correct and I would have to produce our original marriage certificate to right this wrong. Now, I am not the most fastidious of record keepers, in fact anytime I have to find any paperwork, I end up with a bedroom full of strewn papers,old drawings, locks from first haircuts, old stamps, and various other sundry items- usually unearthing the needed paperwork after an hour or two of cursing and vowing to visit the Container Store soon. Today was no different, and the original marriage certificate was found sandwiched between Will's nursery school graduation certificate and Mike's birth certificate with imprints of the tiniest feet ever seen.
Back to the SS office, with marriage certificate in hand, I waited another hour, when the clerk finally called my number. Satisfied that the marriage certificate was original, he asked for identification- I handed him my driver's license which he promptly said he could not use because it was expired. I handed him an expired passport for yet an additional source of identification. He did not find it amusing. Finally, he accepted a health insurance card (which thankfully has NO expiration date on it) as proof that I am who I say I am. And I changed my name!!!! So, I am now officially Mrs. Judi Casey! I think I should register at Tiffany's all over again!
And I happily drove up to the MVA with proof of name change in hand, received a new license and can drive 90 miles an hour without trepidation.

No More Bleary Eyed Mornings For Me!!!

Madeline passed her driving test, is licensed and now drives herself to 4:45 am practice! I am a happy woman!

A Sad Farewell to Shadow

We sadly bid farewell to Shadow, our beloved dog of 11 years. We picked up Shadow, an unwanted product of an illicit rendezvous between a prize winning Old English Sheepdog and a neighboring Black Lab, a year before I became pregnant with Mike and Tom. She became the twins' protector and never left their sides. She spent many years running beside them, up and down the court, as they rode thier bikes for hours on end. And she was the only member of our household that ever listened to me.
She will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Madeline's Garden

We are beginning to harvest tomatoes and have had a great harvest of green beans this year from Madeline's organic garden.
We also seem to be keeping the woodchucks happy and well fed.

Hummingbird Central

We have had a steady stream of hummingbirds to watch outside the family room door this summer, thanks to 3 mandevillas that must be very sweet.

The Fondest of Memories

This weekend we lost a guiding light in our lives.

John's mother passed away on Saturday night after a long struggle to recover from a knee replacement operation.

She taught us about simple pleasures in life. She was never too busy to find an opportunity to sit and read to the children, watch a movie with them or find a topic they loved to talk about. Time stood still when she was present. She felt no compulsion to be a slave to the dailiness of life, choosing rather to invest her time in what she treasured most- her family and her love of books and music.

Mary's generosity was boundless- she would spend an entire day in the bookstore looking for just the right book to bring to a friend or family member. And it was always the perfect choice. When she came to visit, she would come with an entire car full of groceries and clothing- as if we lived in the wilderness, not the suburbs of Washington DC. And she had the insight to know just what it was that each of her children/grandchildren needed. If it was time, not money- then time was what she gave. If it was space, not advice that was required- she gave room to think. Mothering was instinctive for Mary. Her love was, and still is, unconditional.

Mary, you gave us more than you could know. Each step of the way, as we go through our lives, we will remember your love.

Mothers Day

The kids kicked me out of the kitchen and created this masterpiece for Mothers Day.




Not only was it beautiful, but delicious too!

This Great Nation of Ours

How many deaths will it take to convince our government to pass gun control laws?

I can not imagine the profound sorrow of the families affected by the Virginia Tech killings. My heart goes out to them.

Passover '07

This year was a youthful Passover with kids outnumbering adults 4:1 (sorry Will,Dan, Melanie,Bob and Danielle- you are still kids from our perspective). But, the older kids have finally reached the point of no longer dying of embarassment when we sing "If I Had A Hammer" and were even seen singing along with their aging hippie parents.