so kev told me that all he wanted on his birthday was comfort food. So I made him a homemade mac n’ cheese, caesar salad, some boston baked beans, and garlic bread. All his favorites. Then for birthday cake I made molten Lava cakes, with chocolate chip ice cream with fresh raspberries. It was a good birthday night!

so the saturday before Kev’s birthday me and amy kidnapped him and took him to Saugus to a screen printing warehouse so he could get some new supplies for his birthday. He was very surprise and I hope excited because its exactly what he told me he wanted. The we headed into boston with the intention of renting bikes and riding all along the freedom trail. We didnt get bikes but we did walk the entire trail. It was a lot of walking but it was alot of fun. Amy was our excellent guide and she read us the history from the pamphlet we later realized you were suppose to pay for. Kev had never walked the freedom trail before. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. Boston is one of my favorite places to be!

the statue looks like she is ready to finally cath the bird that has been pooping on her all this time…

even the superheros were enjoying the freedom trail

when we were there we turned the corner and found ourselves in the middle of a massive antiwar protest. It was a little crazy. I dont want to be in the war but the things they were shouting and screaming at everyone was a little over the top- not to mention that it just smelt like a giant cloud of weed coming down the road.

in front of paul reveres house

me= paul revere, Amy=horse

ok so as we near the election I have to say a few things. Everyone is allowed their opinions- and I would love to listen to anyone who disagrees with me as long as they are not attacking me- which I find is impossible in the teachers lounge. Thats another story though. I am not going to talk about either one of the candidates because 1. i cant vote and 2. I dont like either of them. BUt what I do want to talk about it the 3 questions that are going to be on the ballot for MA this Nov. 4. So if you are living in MA and are going to vote and havent thought very much about them yet- I ask you to do some research so that you will at least make an intellgent vote and not be surprised last mintue when you go to cast your presidential vote because they are very important. THe first question is what is most important- this is because I am a teacher in a subject that is not tested on MCAS which means could be cut if there was not enough funding. The threat is there- we already had a freeze put on our budget for this year. I being what I thought was a smart budgeter had only spend half of my budget for the year thinking I would spend the other half after january so that i could asses what we needed. Now that the budget is frozen i have lost everything that I had left and now am left with no more supplies for the rest of the year. So now lets talk about question 1:

Question 1 on the MA ballot is to get rid of state income tax. I hope that you will all do your own research to find what will happen if this takes place and vote NO on this question. This will be devastating to already hurting school systems. The Schools here in Lee will lose a minimum of $2 million. Check out your own towns lose at www.votenoquestion1.com. You may think this is going to solve problems and give us tax breaks by getting rid of the income tax but taxes are just going to show up else where. State services have to be funded somehow. You may say well NH has no income tax and they seem to be making out fine. Well they also have the 3 highest property tax in the USA. The only states that have no income tax and dont have higher taxes else where are states like wyoming and alaska that have minerals that are taxed for revenue. So its very scary sitting here as an art teacher thinking about the amount of money this school and other schools around the state will loose if this gets passed.
VOTE NO

Question 2- these last 2 questions I wont spend much time on. I feel like they are easy answers although I am sure some will disagree. Question 2 is to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. This is just a terrible idea- As a teacher of high schoolers I feel like this will just be a downward spiral and send the wrong message for the youth of today. Maybe I think that because I am very against the use of it- to some people I am sure its not a big deal. People for it say that this will help first time users from getting criminal records and losing student loans for just one mistake. I have sat here time and time again listening to students who have been caught and most not just once but over and over again and they get off free with no criminal record so the already set rules for offenses are lenient enough. Honestly I feel like its just stupid. Sorry to offend.

Question 3 is to make dog racing in MA illegal. Please vote yes. There are many more gambling vices out there that dont hurt and kill dogs.

that is all. Please if you disagree with anything I have said I would love to hear- I like debating.

so last weekend was full of fun fall activites. We went to frightfest with Hannah and Sean and got season passes to sixflags that are good for the rest of frightfest and all next summer. Sweet!! We had a great day- the weather was beautiful and it was awesome to spend some good quailty time with them. It wasnt too busy and we got on a lot of rides. We rode that giant wooden one- the one that is on the complete opposide side of the park than superman like 6 times- One time without even getting off. Oh man I love that ride. Then on sunday we went pumpkin picking with Mike and Erin, which was fun but the website of this place was a total lie because it said take a hayride to a pumpkin patch where you pick your own. It was a hayride to a field where they had lined up already picked pumpkins, its was dumb. haha oh well. The place did have a farm with animal and tons of tiny barn kitties (best part!!) we very much enjoyed this little black one we found- well rescued from the squeezing children around. Then we went up Mt. Greylock and enjoyed the beautiful view!! Then we went home and made a batch and delicious sweet potato stew with homemade cornbread, pumpkin spice beer and apple cranberry pie for dessert- it was amazing!!! MMmmmm I love fall!!!

if only I could always have a tiny kitty in my hood…

frightfest…

so its been a long time since any post- sorry. Things have been crazy around here- we work all week and then the weekends always seem to be booked up with stuff everyday. Not that any of that stuff is bad- we enjoy all the things we do, it just seems like there is never any down time. So here are the pictures from StART on the Street. We shared the table with our friends Ben and Amber. Ben sold some of his amazing prints (check out his site/blog www.benjaminburrows.net/blog) and Amber was selling of this great bottle cap necklaces that were very unique and very cool. Then of course I had journals and stuffed creatures and screenprinted tote bags. It was a great day. I think the best part about it was seeing some old friends and the people watching. Carrie and Joel were able to be there because they were visiting for the weekend. We go to see Amanda and her son Parker, and Deb and her daughter Maddie.I was so so excited to see them. Both of them are doing an amazing job at being a mom. Erica came out to see us, Casie was there, Joe and Lina came out, I saw Somer, Michele and Nicole, I saw my old high school art teacher and Lesley and Phill came to see us too!!! I guess all I have to say was that is was a really really fun day!!!

Our Table

The creatures (my mom wanted me to name them scaffies which just sounds like a terrible disease that you would not want to have)

my screenprinted deer tote with some yoyos I made…

amanda and parker

ben and amber

carries creature pick

erica, me and kev