Banter Blogging

Holiday Greetings

2011-12-20T20:57:00.000-05:00

Since I purchased a ridiculous number of Christmas cards and have sent most all of them out I decided to post this and give a shout out to Shutterfly for the nice job they do on their work. They had a lot of business from me for projects for myself and others all year but a huge increase recently. The discounts offered were worth it. Now if the designer of the card could do a better job of thinking through picture placement...I should have switched Dan & Sam's heads on the bottom pictures but Oh well. I could also scan the image better and not have a white strip down the left side. The things I obsess about are silly. Now the next problem is to figure out how to go back to the old version of blogger so that I can control my pictures better. I wanted them left/right but the option no longer appears. Sometimes I really despise change!

12 reasons

2011-12-17T23:30:00.001-05:00

This could be our backyard! But its not, yet.

Two weeks are left of this year and one week until Christmas. This month has been significantly different than last year in December. Last year I was burned out in many ways, over-committed, sleep deprived and definitely trying to run faster than I had strength (so to speak). For someone who loves December as the grand finale to my favorite season, autumn, last year just didn't cut it! I was tired, ornery and couldn't see clearly enough for the things that make me happiest to become the highest priority. Depressed is a good way of summing up the effect that had on me. It wasn't all bad, especially when I look at Christmas day pictures, but was bad enough to make me consider a change very early on this year. I re-evaluated my life and felt like I could make some adjustments. I made plans early on to commit to things that would make this year better. I have had to let go of some things for other things and the adjustments have been good. So here are my 12 reasons this December is better than last. Not all inclusive but things I probably failed to do or recognize last year. These are also in no particular order.

1) Ornaments on my tree!

2) House was decorated early.

3) My Smooth Jazz Christmas station on Pandora is fantastic and on often.

4) New to us, comfy couch to curl up on and enjoy the lights on the tree.

5) No post Halloween sickness with traditional lingering chest congestion junk and persistent cough!

6) Appreciating my family more and taking the time to truly be mentally with them as well, instead of thinking of the million other things I think I should be doing.

7) The abundance of great people I'm surrounded by.

8) There hasn't been a single snow day or sick day yet this school year, so everything has been on schedule. This of course was totally out of my control but so appreciated. Now only 2 days of school left and Nick is off work for the rest of the year and groceries are stocked. So bring on the snow!

9) I used my china for the first time in years. It is no longer packed in boxes, well some of it isn't.

10) Albert is MY dog, he likes me and wants to curl up by me when I take the time to just sit and relax.

11) Less busy-ness to clutter my life, even though I'm still plenty busy.

12) Deciding this year I was going to just take this month and really enjoy it. Smart choice! NO REGRETS!

Disclaimer - please do not think that life is fairytale every day! Today I would have gladly turned in all 3 boys even for a few hours to eliminate unnecessary emotions. But overall it is turning out to be a nice month.

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-14T23:04:00.007-05:00

Whenever someone asks what are your traditions my mind goes blank. Its not that we don't have traditions but my family is not deeply tied to a lot of unique traditions. For Christmas the house looks festive and we do what a lot of people do. But what is unique?

When a request went out several weeks ago, before Thanksgiving to consider being recorded sharing family traditions, that would then be shared at our church Christmas party I began to wonder, if we participated what would we say? Surely everyone else who participates will have some spiritual family togetherness or heart warming tradition. That would just not fit us. Ours would need to be more on the entertaining side.

Since I hate to be recorded and I didn't think Nick would really want to we decided the boys would have much more fun. So one night we made an activity out of it and asked the boys what they like most about Christmas time. We thought a top 10 "Letterman style" might be fun. The video link below will show you the results. Enjoy our family Christmas traditions, brought to you by Dan & Sam Cassavaugh.

Cassavaugh Family Christmas Traditions Video

What's Up With Dan?

2011-10-30T15:38:00.003-04:00

Dan has had a good start to his 7th grade year. It is a big deal to be at the Intermediate School. Maybe more so for me than him. I did NOT adjust well to 7th grade but I am happy to report he is doing much better than I did! He is on student council and is getting to know his teachers a bit which has helped the beginning of the year anxieties! For the first marking period he pulled all A grades and worked pretty hard for that. Dan's greatest interests, besides computer games, air soft guns, boy scouts and making you-tube videos include the cello. He is going into the 3rd year of cello at school. In 5th and 6th grade it was taught early morning twice a week. This year he gets it daily. He is also the only cellist currently in strings for both 7th and 8th grade... NO pressure! They had their first concert on Oct 18th and I must say for no formal one on one training I think he did well. The day of the concert he had his first private lesson and really likes the teacher who is a CMU student. Here are links to the three pieces performed.

Mariachi Waltz

Wraggle Taggle Gypsies

Double Trouble

He also finally got to participate in a court of honor where he received recognitions. There was a bit of catch up to do. So he along with a couple of his friends all earned ranks from Scout, Tenderfoot, 2nd class and 1st class! He has the patches and I have the parent pins. He also received four merit badges which include First Aid, Fishing, Fingerprinting and Orienteering.

Three Dollars And A Dime

2011-10-18T16:18:00.002-04:00

So what does three dollars and a dime buy these days? Well depending on your perspective, not a whole lot. But perspective comes from life and to an eight year old that can be a lot of money. So let's back up to this past summer. Sam's CD player stopped working. This was a big issue not only for him but for me as his nightly routine is to listen to a CD. After hours of not being able to go to sleep I began to think I wasn't going to get any either. Silly me forgot there is always the radio. We must insert thanks to Nick for thinking of the obvious. I wasn't so sure it would work. But we found the local public radio station WCMU which came in quite clear and was playing music that was acceptable. Sleep!

The radio then became a new fascination for Sam and he would check it out during the day. I remember posting the following Facebook status around this time. "Sam just discovered how cool the radio part of his CD player is and informed me that his favorite station plays music and has news! After investigation I realized just how smart he is. He is listening to NPR! I love this kid. Thank you WCMU/CMU Public Broadcasting."

The new fascination turned to basic dependency. He would turn the radio on any time he would notice it was off. It now has to be on all night. He never turns it off. If I do, it doesn't last long once he notices.

So now fast forward to last week. My new routine is to listen to WCMU as they play some great classical music during the time I'm driving to the school to get Dan. I usually get there early and wait. It occurred to me as I heard WCMU working on their fund drive that maybe Sam should send a donation since he likes the station so much. I too figured it was time to step up to the cause. So the rest is history. You can listen to see what happened. (the clip below is 5 min 20 sec)

Listen to Sam on the Radio HERE

Another enjoyable autumn weekend!

2011-10-09T22:45:00.008-04:00

Nick and I were finally successful in taking a very short getaway. We headed North or as some would say to the gateway to the north. We didn't want to go too far but found the best little cabin nestled into the middle of nature on a weekend where colors are peaking and the temperature was warm. I could have handled cooler weather to make it even better but won't complain about those extra days of warmth we have had. I know the cold will be here plenty soon. So taking every bit of this colorful treat in while it lasts.

I woke up without an alarm to plenty of mist and fog. That didn't stop me from stepping out to enjoy the crisp cool morning. As I relaxed in the comfy Adirondack chair I watched the seemingly black and white misty view change to hints of color in the distance as the sun lit the leaves and burned away the mist. Ahhh happy belated 20th anniversary! I think we should celebrate 6 months late every year! The world is much more colorful and breathtaking in October vs. March!

We really just relaxed but did go to several Amish stores. A new one for us was the bakery. For some reason I loved the long set of aprons on the line to dry. Nick says they look like huge panties. I still love this picture even though you can only see a fraction of the panties, I mean aprons. :)

While relatively not far away our dear friends Becca and Steve spent the weekend with the boys. They took them to Uncle John's Cider Mill and had a great time doing everything from apple chucking to laser tag. They picked out pumpkins that look great on the porch and the pictures tell it all. I have included just a few.

We feel very blessed to have such great friends that we consider family! Thank you Becca & Steve for making this a fantastic weekend for everyone in the family!

Teachers make a difference!

2011-09-30T11:08:00.004-04:00

Dan has 8 elementary teachers before he moved onto West Intermediate this year. Sam has now had 5 teachers since beginning elementary school. Every one of the teachers (including long term subs) have been fantastic. Each have had different strengths and personalities. Each one has given their best to what they are doing. Each one has made a difference in the lives of many children and I am pleased to say mine are among those.

We have a tradition of inviting school teachers to the annual church primary program. Some years I'm more on top of that than others. I admit to failing a few times at extending the invitation. For those unfamiliar this is an opportunity for each child to share something they have learned through the year in their church class (primary). There is a new theme each year and the songs they learn go along with that. They then get to present their program to us during the main meeting (Sacrament meeting). It is one of my favorite Sundays each year. Even before I had the opportunity to be the chorister for many years, teaching the songs to the children, I loved this event. It was natural for us to want to share with others. Dan has since moved out of primary and is no longer one of the "little kids". Sam has struggled with much during primary and yet he was more than willing to share his talk and sit up front and even attempted singing some of the songs (which he finds challenging because he can't keep up).

At the risk of sounding like I'm playing favorites I wanted to share a recent picture of Sam and his current 3rd grade teacher. This year as in a few previous years, teachers have come. Sam just lit up when he saw her walking through the parking lot toward him, where he had been waiting. Fortunately I was smart enough to remember the camera and captured a quick picture before we went inside. Sam was not without his challenges that day but made it through and did a great job with his talk. The best part was seeing many children come say hello to Sam's teacher and see the smiles on their face because she had been their teacher as well. There is no question in my mind as to the value and positive influence a teacher can have. So to Mrs Nowicki and to all the many other teachers who we personally know and care about and the many who we will never meet - we say thank you for caring about our children!

Soup, Applesauce and Beans

2011-09-25T00:39:00.007-04:00

This was a stay around home weekend but I think there were some fun parts. Sam had the joy of harvesting a little from his late planted green bean plant. That was the extent of our garden this year. Too bad he doesn't like green beans. I don't even recall where he came home with it, school, church? He also informed me that he is going to own a green bean farm when he grows up.

Today also marked the return of Dan's Soup Saturday. Today was September's soup of the month Bountiful Chicken Noodle. I dare say that he could completely make this one on his own now. There are many steps but when you break it down it's not too bad and the end result is worth it. Thanks to all of those who purchased and hopefully enjoyed the soup. Next up in October is Creamy Tomato Basil. Dan is most excited for November because his favorite is Chunky Beef Stew.

We also couldn't stay out of the kitchen long and made applesauce with our friend Becca. We used apples that we picked last week, with Becca & her husband Steve. Sam had the best time turning the crank to peel the apples. I tried to race him by using a corer slicer and then slicing off the peels. He always won but sometimes it was close. I think we will definitely be investing in one sometime soon. I've looked at them for years but could never justify it. If it adds some level of excitement about it for the kids then there you go! Thanks to Becca for bringing it and making it a fun afternoon.

Camel Ride Anyone?

2011-09-17T19:21:00.007-04:00

I can't think of riding a camel without think of the painfully long and occasionally funny movie Ishtar. Really how often does one get to ride camels. Well today Dan & Sam each had the chance so we took it. I don't recall the camel riding from previous years and the boys both enjoyed. Our annual apple picking trek to Anderson & Girls turned out to be a lovely day. Perfect temperature. Fun ride into the orchard to pick apples. We finally got to see the pig races. They were so cute. My favorite was the slowest that had the goal in mind and ran as fast as they could but never made it to the prize as the others ate up before it got there. :( Then they raced pot belly pigs which was a hoot to watch them walk along like they were on parade. We of course came home with a lot of crispy apples, fresh cider and some doughnuts. We always enjoy this tradition with friends. Fun times!

New Driveway!

2011-09-10T13:39:00.002-04:00

Well it took almost 5 years but we finally have a driveway that isn't dirt full of ruts, pot holes and heaves! Two thumbs up for Central Asphalt for a job well done. I reserve the right to remove that opinion if it rains and ponds somewhere. That will not make me happy.

Some days you just gotta have lemon!

2011-08-19T17:58:00.009-04:00

UPDATE 8/25/11!!! So I had to try these again. It bugged me that the meringue didn't form stiff peaks. Plus they were too good and the boys wanted me to try with lime curd. SO, made another batch today. Smaller is better. Also managed to get the meringue into stiff peaks in 1/4th the time it took me to get the last batch to even take a form. Don't use packaged egg whites. It says egg whites BUT they don't whip up nearly as well as fresh egg whites straight from the egg. Still no torch but they browned more evenly in the broiler as well. Overall much better. Still prefer Lemon over Lime curd. I also have a recipe from a friend for lemon curd that I just might try one of these days

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(Original post 8/19/11) I saw these Lemon Meringue cookie gems through a Facebook feed. After going to the link, reading the creator's story and seeing the pictures I could not stop thinking about them for days. Last night I made them in between playing You Build It Monopoly with the family. We had a fresh made treat at the end. The only downside was a late bedtime as unfortunately it took awhile to get the meringue to whip into stiff peaks. :( I gave up after 15 min of beating on high with two different mixers. So mine don't look quite as fancy.

I really wasn't sure if my family would enjoy these. But everyone loved them, including Nick who I showed the recipe to and his initial response was "I'd make them but not eat them". HA I win!

Thank you Kristan of Confessions of a Cookbook Queen for inventing something so delicious...I think. Now to only make them for special occasions.

My description - the base cookie is like a shortbread that rivals my favorite Panera shortbread! The lemon curd is as good as you want to go with it. I have a favorite bottled kind and do not make my own. The meringue is as good as your beaters, eggs and patience I guess. Our torch is not working so I had to broil. But it still worked. Result - the perfect mini lemon meringue pie only with a tasty shortbread cookie instead of a yucky crust! (not a fan of pie crust)

FINALLY...Cub Scouts

2011-07-28T23:49:00.003-04:00

Today was an exciting one for Sam. It was the much anticipated, long awaited, first day of cub scouts. Sam has wanted to have a shirt with patches, like his brothers, for years. Well the big day came. He loved it and his den leaders are pretty cool too. They used to be his primary teachers and Terrell plays Minecraft (that is very important to Sam and he tried to spend significant effort today trying to get me to play). You can see Sam doesn't have the full uniform and the shirt is pretty big. I'm determined he will not grow out of that so I don't have to do another shirt with patches until he turns 11.

Speaking of shirts with patches...Dan will head to his first boy scout 8 day encampment this weekend. I'm heading to the scout office tomorrow as I decided last minute that his shirt should be larger and I should get all his patches on. More on that in a future post. It will be very strange not having Dan around for an entire full week!

Have Typewriter, Can Go Anywhere!

2011-06-13T14:29:00.004-04:00

Sam's typewriter has been tucked away for a few months, but surfaced as I cleaned his room last week to make way for a new desk, perfect for typewriting I might add. When he asked to take the typewriter to the ball field for Dan's game my first thought was NO WAY. But I had just asked him what he wanted to take to entertain himself. It was just a bit larger than I had in mind. It was also the hottest day yet of the year, in the mid 90s, and sitting in a hot car so he had a place to type didn't sound fun. These pictures show the typewriter on Dan's seat while Sam sat on his seat, his favorite setup. Of course the doors were open to give a breeze but he had to be careful not to let the important papers blow away!

Some of his typing gems:

"your awsome m.r.s. lunsted" (his 2nd grade teacher that he misses)

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"I love the earth my name is Sam just to let you know lets recycle."

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"THE UNIVERSE"

"Chapter 1 THE SUN"

"THE SUN is a giant burning gasses and dust. Juipidir is so big. Not even earth can escape its pull and we would get crusht."

Sunday Solar System

2011-05-29T21:08:00.004-04:00

Sundays can be a real challenge for Sam. We attend church for 3 hrs. That is hard enough for adults let alone a kid who is on the autism spectrum and bothered by noise, crowds and who knows what depending on the moment.

The first meeting (sacrament & talks) is with everyone and is supposed to only last 1 hr 10 min. The remaining time he spends with the kids (primary) where half is spent in a class setting with kids his own age and the other half is spent with kids ages 3 - 8 learning songs and doing fun things as they learn more lessons about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I always ask what he would like to bring with him, that is quiet, to keep his hands busy for the first hour. Lately his response has been "I don't know, I will tell you when I get there". Sigh! Today on the way to church he found a roll of masking tape in my basket. It never left his hands. The end result was a solar system across the back of the bench in front of us. I had no clue that our 2nd grader knew the order of the planets, including asteroid belt, kuiper belt (and knows that Pluto is actually part of this) and then for this masking tape masterpiece he added stars at the furthest outer area. I helped hang some planets and he would correct me if I put it in the wrong spot. Some may think it was not the best thing to be doing during such a meeting. But hey, I was happy that he sat with us the entire time without having to "take a break". Thank goodness that cell phones have cameras now. Not the best pictures and they overlap some but I had to capture the impromptu project. Thanks Nick for taking the pics.

Left: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroid Belt, Jupiter
Center: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
Right: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto/Kuiper belt, Stars

Hurry Up!

2011-04-22T09:30:00.004-04:00

The two mile stretch of dirt road I drove on the other day to get Sam to piano lessons brought back a memory of a favorite game I once played when I was Sam's age. I remember spending hours practicing the skill required to win "Hurry Up". In this game you are required to balance a marble on a plastic edge while you dodge various size holes. When playing against others the winner was the first one to get 5 marbles, one at a time, up the wall and into a tray. This game brought out my competitive nature to its fullest and I always won.

Who would have thought that decades later that marble skill would have translated into a driving skill! It sure came in handy as I dodged the ruts and huge holes that looked so familiar to that blue "Hurry Up" wall of holes. The only difference was instead of navigating one marble I had 4 wheels to maneuver around the mess. I also found myself wanting to hurry up to get off that stretch of road. However, increasing ones speed would likely result in damage to many parts of the vehicle. It's clearly spring in Michigan! Pure Michigan!

Happy Earth Day.

Who got the better deal?

2011-04-17T15:53:00.004-04:00

The schedule for the rainy overcast day (my favorite) included the last day of swimming lessons, Dan's baseball scrimmage (which ended up being cancelled), Nick going back to work to catch up on grading and I my long list of things I knew would not all get done. At swimming I made a deal to swap kids. After lunch I took Sam to his friend Liam's and I took Liam's two cute little sisters Kailey and Maddie home with me. As we left their dad said "I'm not sure who is getting the better deal here". I believe he was thinking he was getting the better deal. I don't get a lot of "girl time" at my house so I needed to make the most of this. Kailey was more interested in Wii Sports Resort, the dog and what Dan was doing. But Maddie was my little buddy. She was so excited to make little Easter treats. I had all the equipment and stuff to make more chocolate covered marshmallows. So we did pink and green with Easter sprinkles. Nothing real original but we had fun and the time went by quickly. I think I got a pretty good deal. Now to attack the list. Actually I didn't accomplish more than 2 things off my list but that's OK...life goes on whether the list is done or not. I at least have a fun memory from the day!

TV Dinner Anyone?

2011-04-01T19:00:00.003-04:00

When I woke up this morning I really didn't think about it being April 1st. I didn't have plans to make something fun either. But after running across a link on facebook that lead me to THIS, I had to make it! The fun thing is that we took dinner tonight to a family that had a new little baby boy last week! OH he is so little and cute. Daniel proudly delivered the following line "our budget has been a little tight lately and we could only afford one TV dinner for you. But there are three chicken legs, some mashed potatoes gravy and butter, peas and carrots and a dessert." Then Sam said "April Fools" and we delivered the regular food.

FAT Tuesday...on its way out

2011-03-08T23:28:00.005-05:00

Fat Tuesday, a day I will admit to have never really celebrated. Until moving to Michigan I had no clue what a Packzi is, or of its significance. This marks my 5th Fat Tuesday in Michigan. The first two years I simply wondered what on earth the stacks of Packzi boxes were all about. I mean, really a prune filled heavy looking doughnut? Then after trying it each of the following 3 years (NOT PRUNE FILLED) in hopes it might taste better than last time I’m hoping I have learned the lesson. Packzi are NOT for doughnut snobs. They are heavy, tasteless and one SHOULD in fact fast after eating them, just as intended. I hope all my Michigander friends enjoyed their Packzi (oh for those of you as confused about the pronunciation as I was it is pronounced PONCH-KEY or PUNCH-KEY depending on who you are listening to). So here is my written note to self for 2012. DO NOT EAT ANOTHER PACKZI! Lemon filling or cream cheese filling does NOT help them! They are still disgusting and not worth it and they cannot be on their way out any time too soon. (no offense intended for those who enjoy this tradition or use them as part of a religious experience)

Valentine's Day - what does it mean to you?

2011-02-14T13:36:00.009-05:00

I'll ask this at the beginning so it doesn't get lost in my lengthy post. Happy Valentine’s Day to all. I realize that today means different things for different people. I’d love to hear what your traditions are on Valentine’s Day. Leave me a comment.

For me Valentine’s Day has lost much of its appeal. When I was little my favorite part was decorating our “mailbox” (container) I’d get to take to school and anticipate all of my valentines from all of my school mates. No one had to tell us to write a valentine for everyone, that is just what you did. You even gave a valentine to the boy who drove you nuts or didn’t smell so good and not because someone handed you a list of names. As I became a teen and even into college days Valentine’s Day became more anticipation that someone might surprise you with something to brighten my day. Of course getting something was much more exciting from a guy than any of the girlfriends.

20 years ago on this day Nick was driving west to move out there before we got married. He missed arriving on Valentine’s by a day. At first I was really disappointed that we wouldn’t get to spend that day together. But I wanted him to arrive alive and determined then that Valentine’s Day wasn’t nearly as important as our wedding day would soon become to us. This was emphasized on our first Valentine’s Day a year later when I realized on our meager budget that I’d much rather Nick not spend any money on me when he could get twice as many flowers for the same price, in 6 weeks for our wedding. YES I love to get flowers and will never tire of them. So the tradition began. There have been a few times where we have gone out to dinner or this morning, to breakfast. But I do not anticipate anything more and I’m completely fine with that. I know that in 6 weeks we will celebrate being married for 20 years and although we aren’t going anywhere exciting just like our 10^th and 15^th (when we were poor grad students), it’s OK we are simply happy to be together.

Now Valentine’s Day is much more for the kids. Dan is on his way out of the pass a card to everyone stage! Sam has a few years left. Honestly they really don’t care about it either. I live in a house of boys. So it becomes a much bigger deal to me. I have also never been one to buy a box of traditional Valentines cards, anyway. I have this deep inner drive to be different and since the boys don’t care too much they usually go along with whatever I come up with.

This year it was all about chocolate. For Dan we took sucker sticks and put a marshmallow on the end. The store just happened to have pink ones! He isn’t into pink but that’s OK, we covered them in melted milk chocolate. Then dipped them in colorful sprinkles (do you know I had a hard time finding valentine sprinkles that weren’t just colored red sugar?). He also did half with chopped peanuts, his favorite and he knew several kids at school who would like them. I was surprised to learn these really are much faster to do that one might think. I am going to remember this concept for other things. I found the idea here. However, the ones I found were made with two marshmallows on a stick. I have to say that is a lot more work, hard to get the marshmallows not to separate and honestly eating a single dipped marshmallow is MORE than enough sugar for a treat!

Sam’s valentines were a little more time consuming but not by much. We took pretzel rods and broke them in half. Then dipped each end in colored dipping chocolate and wrapped with valentine sentiment crayon labels. I have to say they are really cute. I found the idea here.

To sum up my view of Valentine's Day, I'd have to say that for now its simply a venue for me to do something different and creative that the kids will enjoy sharing with their friends. I don't love my family and loved ones any more or less because of this day. It is simply just another day in anticipation to a better one in 6 weeks.

The Best Gifts

2011-01-08T12:38:00.004-05:00

Each of the three boys in my life gave me a gift that didn’t come wrapped in any package. None were received on Christmas day but came before and after.

As part of a traditional 2nd grade art project Sam got to make a fresh pine center piece that has adorned our kitchen for a month now. It’s still beautiful but starting to lose some needles here and there. He even carried it all the way home on the bus, which made it even more special considering I know all too well how he loves to fidget with things and he was so careful. It was clearly made and delivered with love.

Knowing that I hate certain cleaning chores (all of them) Nick offered another gift shortly after Christmas. He cleaned our wood blinds in the house. They have collected so much dust and grime because my cleaning service (me) doesn’t dust them weekly, or even monthly for that matter. Yup, I’m real and there are some things more important than others. I have tried to clean them but they take forever. He found a faster way and in what seemed to me like no time he had our bedroom done and has been moving through the rest of them methodically. To some it may seem like no big deal but to me it makes me smile every day when I open them and don’t have to turn them the wrong direction so I don’t see the dirt.

When Dan turned 8 almost 4 years ago he began a little program that our church does called Faith in God. There are things they are to do on a regular basis and about 6 projects or tasks each year such as a service to someone or developing a talent etc. The final year he has extra things to do beyond the 6 and also must memorize 13 articles of faith which summarize our religious beliefs. It is no small task to make this a priority. I only know few children who find the motivation at that age to take this all on by themselves. Dan loves doing the things but it takes reminders or encouragement by his mother to seize opportunities. Last night he proudly finished memorizing his last article of faith and had finished every other requirement with enthusiasm. This is also a gift in my mind. Four years of prompting, now complete. I am proud of him and also get a 5 month rest before starting the process from scratch with Sam.

Conclusion, my favorite gifts, that bring me the greatest joy, don’t come wrapped in a package with a bow and don’t cost much money.

Goodbye 2010 --- Hello 2011

2011-01-01T02:34:00.005-05:00

I’m happy to see 2010 come to a close. Many good things happened but there were also challenges. I will ignore the challenges and leave them unlisted. Here are some positive highlights:

Dan turned 11 and crossed over from cub scouts to boy scouts.

A year of exciting progress for the children’s museum.

Sam turned 7 and began taking piano lessons.

Fun trip to New Hampshire for Britt and Marcel’s wedding in a beautiful setting!

Dan and Sam continue to have fantastic teachers at school.

Got the museum website updated and a bit easier to navigate. Phase 3 yet to come and to be done by someone else, not me!

Still learning more and more about autism (START is amazing, glad to be living in Michigan).

Nick is still employed and I’m still alive.

Here is what I look forward to in 2011:

Commemorating the 13^th Angel’s Day and sending the 13^th blanket to LDS Hospital.

Dan turning 12, moving into Young Mens at church and receiving the priesthood.

Celebrating our 20^th wedding anniversary (and actually get to do something more than go to dinner a week or two later…maybe?).

Sam turning 8 and getting baptized.

Getting to visit my family just for fun and celebration and NOT for a funeral and not while mom is in rehab after a broken neck. It will have been well over 3 ½ years since a normal visit. Please NO major life events to spoil it!

Celebrating mom’s 80^th a bit early and getting to hear a bit of the bagpipes.

Dan entering middle school/7^th grade, YIKES.

Finding more activities for Sam to give him a sense of accomplishment and social opportunities.

Another beautiful autumn in Michigan.

Hopeful groundbreaking of the museum.

Completing a few classes and visiting more lighthouses.

Continuing to hear lovely music from the boys on the cello and piano.

Celebrating the end of a great 2011 with a healthier family.

CSA Time again…

2010-06-10T13:24:00.006-04:00

This year we signed up to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture plan again. Last year was our first and a very positive experience overall. I admit though to being challenged as to how to cook or what to do or even identify properly some of the goods in our crate on occasion. I questioned our signing up again this year but opted to do so because it just seems like you can’t go wrong exploring with food that is grown so well and is so good for us. I determined I would need to be prepared each week to properly clean and store the goods and then be sure to try new recipes. I also determined that if we can’t get through all of the produce that I cook and freeze what can be.

This week was our first pickup which included salad mix, spinach, baby cooking greens, radishes and oregano. I used to love radishes as a kid but can’t eat them anymore. A recipe was provided in our newsletter for a radish dish so I tried it thinking that maybe cooking them might take away whatever it is that gives me problems. It worked and was tasty! It was also very easy to make. The kids didn’t like it so much but Nick and I enjoyed it along with a little bit of garlic chicken, fresh fruit and a salad from more fresh greens.

Hawaii Five-O wherever I go…

2010-05-23T18:07:00.007-04:00

Recently I have been reminded of some of my favorite memories of college days. I went to BYU in the early 80’s. It is by far a conservative school and is always #1 in the Stone-Cold Sober Schools list that comes out each year. When my sister first attended BYU in the mid 70’s the dress code had loosened to allow girls to wear pants or pant suits. Just before I arrived on the scene in the early 80's they had just started to allow jeans on campus.

I remember rushing to my M,W,F morning class in the fine arts building. Depending on what time I left I might in fact be stopped for a daily tradition. The national anthem would play and the flag raised by the ROTC. I believe the same happened to lower the flag in the evening but I rarely remember being on campus during those hours. Everyone within listening distance would stop in place and wait for the anthem finish.

Another tradition happened late at night sometime shortly before the library was to close. A different anthem would play – the theme song from Hawaii Five-O. In such a quiet place that was still laden with card catalogs, it felt odd to hear such upbeat music playing over the loud speaker. We would joke that it was to wake everyone up! It was the anthem for library closing time. I cannot hear the song today without thinking of those late nights at the library decades ago.

Last week CBS announced that a new “reimagined” version of Hawaii Five-O will begin to air fall 2010. I’m not always fond of classic things being reinvented. Time will tell if this remake of the series will live up to its legacy.

Two nights ago it was Nick’s pick for movie night. He chose a fascinating show I had never heard of before called “The Dish”. It is all about the Apollo 11 mission but from the perspective of Parkes Australia (with some license to make the story better than the real one) where they housed the southern hemisphere satellite dishes that produced the first images of men on the moon. I recommend it as a good movie. But here is a spoiler. In a scene where the town was welcoming the US Ambassador, a teenage band was asked to play the Star Spangled Banner. When it was time to play, the song that came out was the theme song to Hawaii Five-O. I'm guessing it didn't happen that way in reality but to me it was classic.

Becoming a Maker [Geek Warning]

2010-05-13T15:04:00.005-04:00

I've always been interested in electronics, but have never been very good at it. Lately I've gotten into working with the Arduino microcontroller system and I was looking for a project. Here my work life and my hobby life intersected:

This project was born out of necessity. We needed a way to interface our DriveSafety DS-600c simulator to our MindWare Technologies BioNex system.

While the BioNex can receive TTL signals via a 9-pin D-sub-miniature connector, there was not a good way to get at the serial port of the simulator's host machine while it was running. At least, not one that I could work out in a reasonable amount of time. However it was very easy to open a TCP socket from the simulator while it was running. With that socket open, we could send commands.

This suggested writing a program to run on one of the existing computers in the rack (there are eight of them right now). However, they are all pretty taxed during a simulator run, and space and temperature constraints suggested not adding another computer. This project, therefore, suggested finding a solution which met the following requirements:

a small footprint
low power consumption
easy programming
easy to interface with components etc.

Enter the Arduino: For this project I've used:

Aruino Duemilanove
Ethernet Shield
a small proto board (Radio Shack)
project enclosure (Radio Shack)
PCB-mount 9-pin D-sub-miniature connector
6 resistors (5 22kOhm for TTL pins, 1 560 Ohm for the power LED)

Currently, this is *very* primitive. There is no acknowledgment of a correct or incorrect command. Also, after powering up the system from the USB connection, you have to hit the reset button or the network connection won't work. I understand this may be common to the Ethernet shield.

On the other hand, it seems to work very well.

If you're a geek, read the full post here.

This is what happens when you go the extra mile

2010-05-10T11:20:00.004-04:00

PP Manual

Nick asked me to make him a list of what I wanted for Mother’s Day. He knew it would include cleaning because the reality is a clean house put s me in a good mood. Doing the cleaning myself does not put me in a good mood. Getting it cleaned and then having everyone else undo the work puts me in a bad mood. So keeping with the saying “if momma ain’t happy nobody’s happy and if daddy ain’t happy nobody cares” he took my list.

Well Nick and the boys did most everything on my list on Saturday. Ahh it felt great to wake up to a cleaner less cluttered home! Then Sam had to stay home from church as he threw up again early Sunday morning (oh that part of waking up wasn’t so nice). Nick stayed home with him. Upon returning home with Dan we found Nick had cooked up a nice lunch (but more like dinner as it was a big meal). But he strayed from the list and tried to go the extra mile. He decided to turn on the self cleaning oven while we were gone so the oven would also be clean. As I’m looking at the good food he has cooking on the stove I notice my cute Tastefully Simple collection of various spice mixes that sit across the top of the stove ledge. They looked like they had fallen down and not been put back carefully. But on closer inspection they were melting! OK I know it’s just spices but they look so good lining it and honestly there aren’t any other good places to keep them all. The bottles don’t stand up right and some can’t stand up at all.

I was a little sad and trying to resolve what felt like unnecessary sulking about spice bottles -kind of like don’t cry over spilled milk. I didn’t cry but knew I couldn’t replace all of them as some of the spices are no longer available. Then purely by accident I ran across a solution online. I found this cool set of glass spice jars and they were on a great sale. Even though I really didn’t feel a need for a mother’s day present where money was spent I still ended up with a little gift. I can’t wait for it to arrive so I can transfer my spices and come up with some way to label them.

So sometimes when you go the extra mile things don’t quite turn out as planned. We never had a problem with the bottles melting in previous uses of the self cleaning…or when was the last time we did it? But it all worked out. I’m now getting an extra present.

Autism Awareness Month

2010-04-01T22:20:00.006-04:00

So I have so many things I want to blog about but I guess this one will trump the others for the time being. Hopefully a blog of some spring break activities will come...if I can make the time.

So I posted several things on Facebook today which makes some of this duplication. A year ago we knew relatively little about Autism. We knew some and weren't totally unaware. However it really wasn't where we expected Sam to fit in. Honestly we had observed some odd behavior for a long time. He had even been observed at the daycare to try and figure out why he had biting issues. The only thing that came of it was that he loved using his entire body for play, would lay his body over a table for things, etc. If I knew then what I knew now about sensory issues! I remember pulling out the play dough one day, having to leave the kitchen for a minute and coming back to find he had another full-body experience with it. Play dough was everywhere, in the clothes hair, floor and anywhere it could stick. WOW I wasn't going to try that again!

Finally in Kindergarten his teacher knew he would benefit from Occupational Therapy. Yeah, someone who wanted to pursue what she observed rather than brushing it off. Now a year later we still have plenty to learn but feel like we have such a better picture of autism. We understand Sam better and even after 19 years of marriage, I'm beginning to find validity in many things that explain behavior I have long ago accepted in Nick. I'm convinced that if he were put through the battery of evaluations that he would be on the spectrum.

April is Autism Awareness Month. I feel motivated to share in part what we have learned. Autism Speaks hosts Autism Awareness day on April 2nd. There are many groups who bring awareness to autism. Its hard for me to comprehend the estimated statistic that one in 110 children are on the autism spectrum. The question in my mind is, have we simply gotten better at recognizing it or is there really an increase in rate of occurrence?

I decided that I don't have enough filling my time (that is a joke) and that it would be fun to post a tidbit about autism daily on Facebook. Not sure I will go so far as to post daily on the blog. However I will post the notes I'm including on Facebook with resources we have found to be helpful. That will come in a later blog. Below I have included just a few of the many symbols people have chosen to represent autism or efforts to increase awareness or promote research. I hope you will learn something about autism this month that you didn't know before. I learn things all the time that are fascinating.

Peacemaking: an outward expression of Choosing The Right

2010-03-24T19:55:00.009-04:00

When the mail comes it is always exciting to get something different than junk mail, solicitations and bills! Last week when a surprise envelope arrived from the school superintendents office addressed to Dan and his parents, I wondered what was up. We were pleased to learn that Dan had been nominated by his teacher to receive a Peacemaking Award. The letter indicated there were approximately 200 awards being given and we were invited to attend an event where the awards would be presented at the High School. Tonight we were in good company with many people we know. As we began to look over the program we found 9 children from church. There were also many other great kids we know from simply being a part of this community. One of the 4th graders assigned to help Sam at the beginning and end of each school day was also nominated. What a significant moment for each of these students. I think it is a fantastic way to reward noteworthy behavior.

At our church when the children are young they learn the acronym CTR for Choose The Right. I couldn’t help but think of that tonight. It makes me happy to see so many students who are making great efforts to live that concept at school when there are pressures to do otherwise.

A day for good luck...

2010-03-17T11:47:00.004-04:00

My shortest blog entry to date! This is how we started off St Patrick's day.

Museum open for business

2010-02-20T19:36:00.006-05:00

Some people have asked what the bright yellow sign on our front door is all about. (yes I know its crooked)

Last week on Wednesday it was a snow day. Before moving onto a new activity I wanted Sam to pick up some of his toys off my bed and his bedroom floor. At the time I was in the middle of working on something for the Mt Pleasant Discovery Museum. I knew just saying Sam clean up your toys would result in a meltdown because that task is not specific enough. Creativity can be important at this point. The first thought that came to my mind was “Sam I have this great idea, why don’t you take all of these creations you made with the kid connects and turn your bedroom into a museum!” Then I suggested that all of the pieces on his floor could be piled into like piles so that customers (probably a poor choice of words in hindsight) can easily locate the pieces they want to use to build new creations. He totally bought into it – IMMEDIATELY! I have never seen someone clean up so quickly. But he played for real. “Mom now we need signs – 2 of them, one for the front door (he placed this one and I don't want to ruin his careful placement) and one for my bedroom door”. Our front door now has a sign that reads “Sam’s Awesome Building Place of Fun”. I was the first “test” customer and later that night Dan’s friend became the first real customer. Sam decided though if Dan's friend had fun, his first visit was free (instead of 5 pennies). The next morning the first thing he said when he woke up was “did we have any customers?” I have also been told I need to work on coupons good for 4, 3, 2 or 1 penny off getting in.

I was in a seminar with his teacher the next day and I told her about Sam’s new venture. Two days later Sam had two more museum customers, his teacher Mrs Auker and her daughter. He was so excited to see them come to the house and I had fun observing. He is now considering a second exhibit with space in the basement…Hmmm what a creative kid.

I never thought I'd be working on two children's museums at the same time.

Drawing on other's words - updated links

2010-02-13T22:44:00.015-05:00

Because of the deep impact I have felt over the passing of our dear friend's husband Phil the brave I have wanted to write something and share it on our blog. I have been contemplating this but nothing seemed right. Then I gratefully noticed several other blogs with tributes and other feelings posted. Some share much more personal experiences with Phil and others share the feelings I too am experiencing. Because of the sweet friendship we have had over many years with his companion Heidi, Phil has become important to us as well. Our children enjoy listening to Voice Male CD's and thus enjoying Phil's great voice. Hearing his voice always makes me think of Heidi and her beautiful voice that I admired so much when we were mission companions. Then I think what will Eden's voice be like. She is one lucky gal to have such gifted and talented parents and more importantly parents who love her so much. I pray for her to always feel that love but have no doubt Heidi has enough love in her for both.

Because I love everything that has been shared by others including Heidi I am sharing links to these posts as well.

Obituary
Prayer and Peace
Phil the Brave
Shared Tears
Another Angel
It Stays With Us
Remembering Phil
Sing Out Strong
Voice Male In Memorium
Jacksonville State University News (and a poem "FAITH"by Phil)
Forever
Each Life that Touches Ours for Good
Utah Services
Phil's Testimony
Testimony of a Friend
Phantom Pain
Answered Prayers

This is where peace comes from knowing that families are eternal and that all will be together again.

Once in a Blue Moon...

2009-12-31T01:08:00.004-05:00

There are common words or phrases we hear this time of year such as “resolutions”, “this year I will…”, “it’s going to be different” and many more you might be thinking of right now. These things happen regularly or at least annually on a regular basis. Other things only happen once in a blue moon. That would be what we will get on New Years Eve this year, a blue moon. I like to be different so I’m torn. Over the years I have come to dislike the all too dead common resolutions ritual. With all the hype one can easily feel pressured into being a bit overzealous in their resolution selection. The resolution is soon tied to guilt and shame for unfulfilled expectations in being able to carry out the unrealistic. This just leads back to status quo. So a few years ago I resolved to not make new years resolutions but find other ways to set goals for my life. It works better for me. However, this year is my chance to say I only make them once in a blue moon. Now I will need to come up with a really good resolution worthy of only being made once in a blue moon!

On a different note I am just curious. What does this year’s blue moon (2^nd in the month and 13^th for the year) falling on the last day of the year mean to you?

1) I’m superstitious so 2010 holds a bleak outlook.

2) I’m optimistic so things must be aligned for a great new year.

3) I could care less about the moon so what is the big deal.

4) I thought a blue moon was something Smurfs do.

5) I’m really lost, what are you talking about?

Weigh in with your response. I would love to hear it.

BTW I read an interesting definition of superstitious that I have never heard before. It says “A person who is superstitious is a person who doesn’t require evidence to believe in something.” Hmmm

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2009-12-05T23:19:00.008-05:00

In light of the first word REDUCE, I’m trying something new – a shorter blog post with reduced text.

I found a cool idea on a website for a fun advent calendar. I have several advent calendars and haven’t had the need to make one. But this was too fun and loved the idea of reusing and recycling. I wasn’t sure how on earth to fit it in with everything else going on but somehow squeezed it between other activities (minus putting #'s for each day yet) and the kids help cut the square pictures out of old Christmas cards for our Monday night Family Home Evening activity. I simplified the holder for each square a bit and would be glad to provide info on how I made them out of lunch sack bottoms if anyone is interested. The kids LOVE it!

All in a day

2009-11-21T22:38:00.006-05:00

Today’s task list:

Paint hall bathroom

Cook dinner for missionaries

Cut boys hair and a bunch of misc. things.

Today’s events:

Raw egg flying around the kitchen while bowl flips out of hand making a huge mess. Didn’t know one raw egg could cover so much space and in so many places.

I Realized I didn’t have all ingredients to make dinner so great husband offers to go to the store for me (I HATE shopping on Saturdays). However, the 48oz glass bottle of salsa that I left in the back of the car, along with other things I picked up at Sam’s Club yesterday, rolled forward during a turn and smashed into the metal of the middle seat and spilled its guts all over the car and into the little well of the seat connector.

Sam was also swinging in his hammock and managed to do what we knew he would eventually and put a hole in the wall. We have been trying to come up with a solution for this but now we really have to before the hole gets bigger. Anyone know of a good place to get a padded mat with hefty solid backing?

In the middle of this we were taping and prepping the hall bathroom for paint, did the primer and then made some progress on the paint. I was also preparing some pulled BBQ pork, cole slaw, fresh pineapple and grapes and baked beans. The crowning piece was a lemon cheesecake, my first ever attempt to make real cheesecake! It turned out great (ignore the grand canyon in the middle) and is so smooth. The recipe will be posted on Facebook or can be requested.

Overall it was a good day, just frustrating in parts. OH and I did get the boys hair all cut as well (all 3 boys). Yeah!

Halloween 2009 Recap

2009-11-01T10:16:00.011-05:00

I have been given a strong urging by my husband to NOT go to church today and to use that time to get some extra rest. I have been fighting off a chest cold and haven’t had much time to rest and after a chilly breezy time outside for trick or treating I really began to feel awful last night. I’m sure I will end up at the Dr tomorrow but rest is always good. However, I promised that I would not sit at the computer during that time but would actually rest. Therefore I’m trying to write this blog before church starts so I can keep my word. OK I didn't quite make it but close.

I wanted to give a Trick or Treating recap. Of course although not trick or treating directly, we have to begin the day before Halloween. Sam’s school has a traditional dress up parade. It has become an anticipated event to find out what the entire staff dresses up as. Last year the principal and secretary were Mini and Mickey mouse with all of the staff as Mouseketeers. I think it was one of my favorites. Although I must say this year still gave me great entertainment. The principal, he dressed up at Snow White and the secretary, she was dressed as the wicked witch. All of the teachers were dressed as the 7 dwarfs but of course more than 7 of them, just lots of duplicates. Still, very cute. Because the parade was indoors and I have yet to find a good setting for a good picture inside at a distance I don’t have much to show for this event. However, I did help in Sam's classroom for their class party. They packed in 7 different activities or crafts in a short time along with lots of goodies.

Dan’s school doesn’t have a parade but they were supposed to parade to areas relatively close to the school to visit some care centers. However, due to the flu concerns here that was cancelled for them to simply have some class parties. Just as well considering we had 4” of rain that day (see picture of neighbors back yard).

This year we only had Sam with us for trick or treating. Dan went with his friend Andrew around Andrew’s neighborhood. We have had a 3 yr tradition now of meeting up with our friends the MacKenzie’s to go around their neighborhood. The kids were off like lightning. Again my favorite stop is at the home of therapy dogs Boomer, Baxter and Murphy. Their neighborhood gets crazy busy and reminded me last night that just because its Halloween doesn’t mean rules of the road don’t apply anymore. Signaling ones intent would be particularly helpful to navigate the cars stopped in all parts of the road for who knows how long as well as people crossing in and out without much regard to these large heavy motorized vehicles that could cause great damage even at extreme low speed. We also all went to a club house where a group of Senior’s gather to enjoy the fun. The kids are to parade in front of them and then there are little bags of goodies for the kids. After this we hung out with our friends the Lowrances where they had the perfect little spread of veggies and dip and my favorite tortilla chips and warm cheese dip. That hit the spot. Yeah for something that didn’t have sugar in it. They also had fun things for the kids including this funky little brain. It’s not edible and maybe the size of a large rat brain? But it’s kind of sticky and Sam took his out after we got home. Bindy, the Lowarnces dog was staying at our house so she didn’t have anxiety over the door activity. Well, she looked pretty cute with Sam’s little sticky brain stuck to her, nestled into her long hair. A very good Halloween look and too bad I didn’t get a picture.

Before we headed home we then went to pick up Dan and see what kind of fun he had. Now the neighborhood he had fun in I guess is well known for the loot you get. His bag weighed 4 pounds and this of course after I’m sure much was enjoyed. There were plenty of empty wrappers in there too. But the biggest surprise of the night was his news about one of the more lucrative stops. The story goes that the guy was handing out envelopes with money in them. They were told to pick an envelope and that there were $1, $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills and that one envelope had $100. When they got back from gathering their loot and opened the envelopes Dan once again proved that he has better luck than anyone in this house. He had a $20. What kid goes out trick or treating and not only comes home with 4 pounds of candy but $20 cash as well? I guess someone probably came home with $100 or a $50 but the $20 Dan got will long be remembered around here! I’m sure this guy will have plenty of people knocking on his door next year. The question, will he do the same?

I Love My Husband!

2009-10-25T01:16:00.002-04:00

I know that I have a great husband but sometimes things happen to remind you just how great a person is. So this week has been a little rough for me. You would think it would have been great but for some reason it just didn’t work out that way for me. Tuesday afternoon I get a call from Sam’s teacher between school letting out and the bus arriving home, warning me that school had been closed until this coming Monday due to the high absentee rate. Of course it is being assumed as H1N1. (Note: we were just one of maybe 10 or so districts in the area to close at some point last week) Anyway, Sam was really upset about it and his teacher was worried and wanted me to have a heads up. Turned out OK, he must have let it soak in on the short bus ride. That was the first cancellation in a series of additional cancellations and changes in expectations that continued through the week. I began to dwell on what could have been with a completely open 5 day weekend, even though I didn’t learn until 2 ½ days into it that it could have in fact been completely open. I couldn’t help but think of the lost potential to take off and visit my mom who is now doing so much better from her broken neck injury from June. That among other little things just seemed to get to me more than I expected. The week should have been full of energy and productivity. But I found myself more and more tired. On Thursday I found myself so tired by later afternoon that I actually sent Nick an email at 5:15 pm and said “I’m exhausted and I’m going to take a nap, wake me up when dinner is ready”. I really didn’t expect him to do what I was asking but guess what, he came home and did just that. His sweet and sour pork from scratch was is a favorite and I really enjoyed it!

Then today I spent several hours at The Story Festival on campus where we had a museum presence. I was able to help since our other event for today at Make A Difference Day was cancelled due to its highly hands on nature with so many children. During those several hours I felt I had made some great contacts and the time was well spent. But my feet were tired and I just wanted to sit down and relax for a bit. Arriving home I open the door to the house and what do I smell by a lovely wafting of fresh homemade bread. Sure enough Nick was baking two loaves of French bread. He found this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it is AMAZING. Of course he let us try some when it was hot out of the oven – the BEST I have ever had. He usually makes dinner on Saturdays but again, a lovely meal is waiting for me and we are having fresh homemade bread with it. What a guy - I love my husband!

A Birthday Drive

2009-10-07T15:09:00.007-04:00

Inspired by the latest “Pure Michigan” travel ads (see all four of my personal favorites here-1, here-2, here-3 and here-4 but don't forget to pres the BACK arrow to get back to the blog after viewing) I had one big wish for my birthday. I wanted to take in a bit of Pure Michigan. I knew the best I could likely do is take a drive somewhere but not too far. I fall asleep too quickly when I’m driving - especially when I’m on my own and since the family would all be in school or work I knew it would I would have to stay close. I tried keep the day unscheduled so I could not feel guilty and give myself permission to do any of those things that I normally feel guilty for, if I take time during other days. Among other things this would include leisure reading and shopping for myself. Although the day filled up with some fun and not so fun morning activities I still had the afternoon to spend as I wished. The drive was top priority. It was a perfect fall day as well, crisp and a bit overcast. I took the camera and got in the car with little plan other than to explore. I admit I didn’t get too far from home as time was a small issue. But I had a lot of fun paying attention to the fun scenery. I took pictures that journaled (is that a word?) the variety of things I saw of interest. My pictures might not be nearly as moving as my favorite Pure Michigan ads. But sit back, turn up the volume (if you didn't already to that to view the links above) and enjoy my birthday drive by following the link below. However first I will add an apology as to view the slide show it requires an account on Snapfish (which you can setup for free if you don't have one). It was what I had at the time and will try to make a different slide show but not sure how soon. I will post pictures on my shutterfly photo album. Sorry to be so complicated.

My Birthday Drive

FYI - the pictures were of whatever I happened to notice and although rough roads in need of repair aren't particularly lovely I couldn't help but make you all think that all roads in Michigan look like the one I showed you. I'm thinking that this might be why we have so many dirt roads, they are often in much better shape than those that have been patched 10 times and are still in bad shape!

Inner Beauty

2009-09-25T14:49:00.009-04:00

Tree update 10/12/09, the tree that was blooming color from inside first is now so beautiful on the outside (see picture on right).

The leaves are changing which just puts me in the best mood. Not far from home is a tree that has been fascinating to me. I drive by it multiple times a day. It has become a reminder to me of things we should not forget. Normally it seems that the cold air creates leaf changes beginning with an outer branch here and there and then the color works its way through the whole tree. Well the tree I have been admiring this year (so far) worked slightly different. The color started from inside the very center closest to the trunk and has been slowly working its way out. The affect is lovely, definitely inner beauty. I wish my photograph did it better justice but it was kind of gray and misty out the day I took this.

Yesterday I went to the farmers market and bought a bunch of peaches to freeze. I love peaches and although hated the fuzzy outer skin as a kid I have grown to like it too. But for freezing I of course did not want peach skins left on. So I was going through the process of blanching the peaches and then pealing back the skin. I love when it just falls off. Anyway, each peach was this gorgeous reminder once again about inner beauty. Have you looked at the colors of a freshly pealed peach lately? The colors are so rich and blend in and out of these beautiful hues of yellow, orange and red. These aren’t even my favorite colors but I couldn’t help but marvel at how beautiful these colors were when blended together like that.

At least 2 frogs have taken up residence on our front porch. They come and go but when they come I find myself really wondering just why they picked that spot to sit all day! One frog is smaller than the other and is more green. The other is a bit more gray. They each have their own spot, not even near each other. They are curious little guys. I was beginning to wonder if I needed to find an inner beauty story from them as well. Hmmm still thinking and I don’t think my 8th grade dissecting experience counts! Is anyone looking for a prince charming? Maybe he is waiting on my front porch for you.

NOTE: The smaller, slightly more green frog has the bubbles on him. Think of it as a bubble bath. Sam had his bubble blower out and thought it would be fun to blow bubbles onto the frog.

It’s just a pair of glasses…

2009-09-11T00:17:00.004-04:00

First day of school: I forgot to be sure that Sam had his glasses

Second day of school: Remembered the glasses and they were still on him, albeit quite dirty, when he got off the bus! But, still just so happy to see them!

Third day of school: Emptying backpack, realized he wasn’t wearing the glasses (or had his lunch box) when I saw the glasses in his outer pocket. OH are these his glasses they look different. Yup, no lenses (they were in the pocket too – just loose) and the frames, well they have seen better days…and worse. Although not sure both lenses have been popped out. It is hard to tell from the picture but the oval part of the frame is actually not true to its proper shape. Also if you look closely at the bridge one lense is pushed back further than the other.

Fourth day of school: Do I send the expensive pair of glasses on him or not…..?

UPDATE: Took glasses to WalMart today. They took one look at where the lenses are supposed to fit. You can't tell in a picture but in person - its really not true at all. He said "um WHAT HAPPENED?!" I simply pointed to Sam and said - who knows, I have heard three stories. I have seen them in worse condition but the lenses were still in tact. He pulled off a new pair of frames to match and simply replaced them under warranty! On a saturday afternoon I was in and out with a new pair of glasses, free in less than 15 min! I give WalMart a bad rap for MANY reasons. But honestly I didn't pay for a warranty, this is just their standard service. Darn you WalMart, you are making me have to appreciate you - but thanks! Ahh, next week its back to Pearle to get his first pair refitted so they are backup. They were lots more expensive and so we don't use them as much. But the warranty I have on those were well worth it as well. I have lost track of how many times we have had both pairs repaired so far this year.

Gems from Sam

2009-07-29T17:15:00.007-04:00

I decided to document a days worth of gems from Sam. He comes up with so many off the wall comments. Actually I know I missed some as the idea to keep track of them occurred part way through yesterday. I’m still laughing about the last one and will for a VERY long time. Although I must say, what an ingenious idea! I hope he figures out how to make it happen and then keeps it a family secret.

Mom, mom I'm going to tell you the number between 5 and 6. DERF!

Someday when I grow up I'm going to make a Cheerio sandwich. It will have salami and eggs too!

Hey, don’t you wish you could have a scoop of ice cream as big as this? He was pointing to the 9" white balloon he was playing with.

Mom, I made a new website today called nowork dot com slash robots, you gotta check it out. It will show you what types of robots can do all your work so you can get enough sleep!

Mom, mom do you ever wish you farted money?

OK this just in: Dad, some day when I grow up we are going to make chocolate cheese together, out of chocolate milk!

24th on the 25th

2009-07-27T14:31:00.006-04:00

Again a beloved holiday has come and gone. One of my favorite celebrations and one that brings back fond childhood memories is the 24th of July, Utah’s state holiday celebrating the arrival of pioneers. The memories are filled with parades, chuck wagon pancake breakfast (that we would stand in line for a LONG time), fireworks, the rodeo and family celebrations. Besides family and friends it is one of the few things I miss about Utah. Since moving away we have tried various ways to celebrate. Some have been more grand than others. This year we celebrated the 24th on the 25th because Dan and I both had other commitments. Our celebration this year was not super grand but was simple and enjoyable. We saved up some fireworks that we bought on the way home from our trip out west. Then our friends Becca and Steve (not to be mixed up with my niece Becca and her new husband Steve) who are probably the closest thing to family here came over. Bindy came too! Bindy is our part time dog. We love to watch Bindy while Becca and Steve go places. So this is kind of her second home.

We had BBQ, corn on the cob, fresh fruit all typical summer fare. We then made homemade sweet cream ice cream. Steve picked some black raspberries and made some topping from it. WOW was that a great combo, fresh ice cream and black raspberries! Then came the fireworks. We did sparklers that don’t have the nasty hot metal at the end! There were some loud fireworks and some that went pretty high - did those really leave the ground? My favorite was a fountain that shot bright red that reminded me of lava. It was a red white and blue combo alternating between the colors and then doing all three at the end. Aside from my 20 mosquito bites, despite the 2 coats of bug spray, we had a good time.

As a side note we didn’t have a rodeo. However, this past week we enjoyed our own wildlife show. We had some cute fawns play in the backyard at lunchtime and also went to a fun new petting zoo, Martin Family Fun Ranch in Clare County. Rodeos were kind of interesting the few times I went but I think going to a petting zoo with the kids or watching our backyard wildlife can actually be much more entertaining than watching people getting bucked off fast moving animals!

Happy 24th, celebrated on the 25th, written about on the 26th and blog posted on the 27th.

MARTIN FAMILY FUN RANCH

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