Moving

I've been so busy packing and cleaning in order to move. What a job.. I've been in my apartment for 11 years. Boy the junk one accumulates. My landlord wanted me to move downstairs so he could renovate my apartment. I could later move back upstairs but in the meantime he is putting the building on the market to sell plus he plan to jack up the rent. So Sue and I are moving in with Joleene and Jason for the winter. In the spring we will look for a place closer to them. We're trying to get everything done by Sunday. Hopefully we can get it done. I don't want to pay anymore money if I can't help it.

I took some pictures of our little guy. He is growing up so fast. He's getting ready to crawl. He wants to be in constant motion. We had his 6 months pictures taken yesterday at Kiddie Kandids. They did an awesome job. They were ready in 10 minutes after they took his pictures. You have to watch for their sales. We got a good deal on them. Joleene will be posting them soon.

In Loving Memory - Eveline Beaulieu

It's hard to believe that my Mom has been gone for four years. I wish she could be here to see her grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. She was Grammy to my kids and Meme to so many others. She lovingly made quilts for each of her grandkids and kids. They were made with so much love. She is still sorely missed by so many. Sue and I made a slide show of with her some of her family. This slide show is in celebration of her life. Her birthday is on September 19th. She was a very special woman. We put some of Grammy's pictures of herself when she was little. I thought I would put eight interest facts about her life.

1. She moved from Canada when she was eight in the middle of the winter of 1925. They traveled from Canada to Maine by horse and buggy. She told Sue and I it was so cold. They were bundled in blankets. Some of the kids got frostbitten. It was a long and cold ride.

2.She came from a very large family. There were 16 children of which two died as babies. Among the 16 children were a set of fraternal twins, Ernest and Mathilda. She was the youngest, thus she was the baby of the family. She had eight brothers and eight sisters. Her father took off when she was little and her Mom had to raise her family on her own.

3. Her older sister Adelia was 24 when Eveline was born. There was a huge difference in age. Some of her brothers and sister stayed in Canada since they already had jobs and their own families there.

4. Family was very important to her. She always made sure that her children and grandchildren receive a birthday from her. She stayed in touch with all of her brothers and sisters, either by phone, cards, and letters. She flew a few times to go visit them in Canada.

5. She was a very hard worker. She carried in work and oil for the house to keep it warm. We didn't have furnaces like they do today. She had an old oil burner stove that heated up the kitchen which held a small tank. She had to filled this at least twice a day. We had a wood stove that heated up the other rooms. She would carried in wood. O course we help her but she did a lot of this on her own.

6. She always had a apron on as she cooked. She made many cookies such as sugar, molasses and peanut butter. Aunt Jeanne especially made her new aprons every year. She would wear them out as she used them so much.

7. For Thanksgiving and Christmas she would make her homemade stuffing from mashed potatoes, fried onions, hamburg and seasoning. She would put it all together and stuff the turkey. She always made homemade lemon meringue pie. She sure knew how to cook.

8.One of the hardest decisions she ever had to make was to sell her little yellow house and move into town but once she made that move she loved it. She made many friends at Barker Mills. She would go downstairs to visit her friends several times a day. They would all hang out and talked.



We are all here because of her. Think about how many children, grandchildren, great-great grandchildren there are today. What a lasting legacy she left to all of us. I'm so thankful that she was all part of our lives.

Love always to my Mom for everything she was to all of us. Love, Joan

Monday with Ben

Well my little buddy and I had a quiet day. Ben played in his room with his musical ball rolling and trying to get it. He little legs are constantly moving. I took some pictures of him playing with the ball. Ben sat in his bumbo chair while I tried to load the dishwasher. I kept giving him his toys and he kept pushing them off his tray. So Grammy kept picking up his toys while trying to load the dishwasher. It took my quite awhile to get it done. Wow, how in the world did I ever get everything done with three little ones when my kids were little. Later in the day I washed down his highchair and tried Ben in it. He look so little in it. It's hard to believe that he is almost six months. Where oh where does the time go! I do so enjoyed my Mondays. They are so special to me. Here are some pics that I took of our little man.

Hmmm, things about me

Well it looks like my cousin Mary tagged me and since I don't have a blog of my own, I've stolen my mom's. This is Sue by the way.

1. When I was little, my nickname used to be SueSue. I guess I was called that because I also had an older cousin named Sue (Susie). People didn't want to get confused by 2 Sues. I hate that name. To this day if anyone calls me that they get the evil eye. You know who you are!

2. I've been to Europe twice. The first time was when I was 17 during my senior year of high school. I went to Paris, France for a week and absolutely loved it. Everything was wonderful because it was so old and I loved going to the art museums. Monet is my favorite. The 2nd time I was in college and spent 2 weeks in Ireland. It was a beautiful country and the people were so very friendly.

3. Genealogy is my most favorite hobby. I could spend all day researching family lines. On my mom's side, I've gone back to the 1600's in France. Researching my dad's side has been much harder as the records in the United States are not as good as they are in Canada. I've met quite a few cousins online doing my research and we've shared information back and forth. It's amazing to think of all the thousands of people that we're related to.

This is my grandmother's family circa 1918-1919. My grammy is the baby sitting on her mom's lap.

4. I love anything old and antique. Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong era. My mom and I like going to antique shops and checking out all the old stuff. Old pictures are so much fun to look at. I once found an old singer sewing machine in the wooden cabinet. My mom said grammy had one just like it. Even though I don't sew, if I had had the money, I would've bought it.

This is great-aunt Mathilda. Isn't she pretty?

5. Some of my best memories were from the times our extended family went to visit the Elys in Linconville. They were such wonderful people and they also welcomed us into their home. I loved the picnics with watermelon, the walks in the woods and even the trips to McDonald's for happy meals.

6. I love to read. I was in 3rd grade when I starting reading chapter books. I started out by reading the Little House on the Prairie books. My mom said that once I got started, there was no stopping me. I have so many different kinds of books and I can't imagine my life without them.

7. I have curly hair and most times wish I could have straight hair like everyone else. Whenever I get my hair cut my hairdresser always straightens it out for me. It only lasts a day or two but it's nice for that short while.

8. Being an aunt is more wonderful than I ever imagined. It's so awesome getting to hug and love my little buddy. His smiles and laughs just make my day. It is such a joy being around him.

Eight interesting Facts

Stacy tagged me and I guess I will try to think of 8 interesting facts about myself.

1. When I was a teenager I got pulled over on Riverside Drive for speeding. I was driving in a 25 mile zone. The officer stopped me and let me go. Later that some night my brother Raymond got stopped in the same area, He got a ticket. Boy was he mad!

2. Joleene and I both graduated the same year. I graduated from college in 1995. Joleene graduated from high school in 1995.

3. When I was 12 I got mad at the one of my older brothers, Roland. He keep teasing me and I threw an apple at him. He ducked and the apple went through the window. I was scare that I would get in trouble with my Mom. She was in town grocery shopping. I hid behind the workshop all day untial she came home and my brothers found me.

4. I was 2 1/2- 3 my Mom had my younger brother Raymond. Being two I was a little jealous of my brother. In these days I only spoke French. I then told my Mom in French that if my brother could (ca ca) poop his pants then I could (ca ca) my pants too.

5. English is my second language. I only spoke French when I was little. I started learning English just before I went to kindergarten.

6. I use to be a tomboy. I loved climbing trees and playing outside in the woods. Once day I fell out of a tree onto a corrugated roof of our wood shed. I cut the back of my thigh. In those days you didn't go to the doctors or hospital unless it was an emergency. I have a large scar that should have had stitches.

7. I was very, very shy as a child, especially at school. The teachers would mispronouce my name and I would never correct them. My name is Joan but it is spell differently. So instead of calling me Joanne (Joan) they always called my (Joan) like Joan of Ark.

8. Carmen is my middle name. My Mom named me after my godmother, Aunt Carmen. She was a sweet little short french lady. My Mom would go into town on Saturdays with my Uncle Vital. My Mom would spend the day at my AUnt Carmen after she did her errands.

A Quiet Day with Ben

Joleene & Ben hung out with Auntie Sue & Grammy for the day. We went to a few yard sales but it was too hot and humid. We ended up going to his Grandma's to use their swimming pool. Ben hasn't been in the pool for a couple of months. He didn't mind getting his feet wet but he didn't want to lay down in his float. I guess the water was a little too cool for him.



We came back and hung out at my house. Auntie Sue got Ben a excersaucer from one of her friends at work. The girl needed a microwave one and we had one. She had a excersaucer that her baby outgrow so she traded and gave it to Sue. It's has little cars and people on it. I gave it a good cleaning and scrub the stickers off. It came out looking real nice. Best of all It didn't cost us anything and Ben loves it. I'm trying to find things for my house but not spend too much money for it. I love buying Ben things he needs but it senseless to but two of everything.





I feed Ben bananas. Here are a few pics of Ben making a mess. He grab the spoon from Grammy. He's just so cute. Every day I'm so thankful to have this precious little boy in our lives.

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Grammy's Little Man

I didn't have to babysit today as it was a holiday and Joleene didn't have to work. But of course I still spent time with my little guy. He's such a special little boy. He laughs and giggles so much. He is such a sweet little boy. He's adjusting to daycare and so is Mommy. Mommy looks forward to no school days already so she gets to spend more time with Ben.

Here are a few pics that I took of my little man. He's the love of our lives. It hard to believe that he's 20 weeks old already.