Happy Birthday

My mother had started a tradition that once the kids were past their 9th birthday they could travel with gramma. Alex went with her to Kentucky and Mammoth Cave for her first trip, then she and Fox went with gramma to Mackinaw Island, and Fox got to travel with her to a family reunion in up-state New York then to historical sites in Philadelphia. Because of mother's quickly declining health and subsequent passing, Ben and Ethan got gyped on the deal. So I decide to pick up the tradition myself .


This past weekend was Benjamin's birthday so he and I took the train to Chicago and went museum hopping. We left out early Thursday morning from Lapeer, arrived on time to Union Station and walked over to the hotel to get a feel for the hustle and bustle of the city. Along the way we checked out the Model Chicago exhibit. I intended to catch the hotel shuttle out to the Lincoln Park Zoo but was informed they do not shuttle you out that far and was given bus instructions instead. We made our way up to the Magnificent Mile but when we got off for our transfer the weather started to look rather omnimous so we opted not to not get stuck in the rain and instead decided to explore the Mile and have a marvelous meal at Big Bowl. We decided to take some culinary risks on this trip too so Ben tried the Chicken Thai Lettuce Wraps from the kids menu and found them quite tasty. We also had the chicken/veggie potsticker combo, and I did the signature Big Bowl buffet with shrimp, noodles, and tons of fresh veggies. A delicious raspberry lemonade was shared and our desserts were delish: Mochi ice cream (orange) with rice wrap for Ben and the Banana EggRoll with brown sugar and chocolate sauce for me. After that we walked down to the Chicago Children's Museum and explored the Navy Pier which we both agreed would need further adventuring in the summer months. Although most of the exhibits in the Children's Museum are geared for preschool and early elementary students Ben did find several that were intriguing. We met the skyscrapper challenge, built with giant wooden erector-set-type pieces, and did some physics experiments. Caught the #29 Bus back to 9th Street and State then walked the last 2 blocks back to the hotel.

Friday was fabulous and jam packed with good times! We woke to our own internal alarm clocks, grabbed some continental breakfast and took the hotel shuttle over to Shedd's Aquarium. Bought the CityPass which covers your admissions and shows to five attractions around Chicago, well worth the price and ease. Arrived right as it opened to virtually no line, by 10am the line looked like one from a Cedar Point attraction. Took our time purusing the upstairs tanks, watched the Aquatics Show which was a phenomenal production and very interesting. They explained some of the training techniques used with the Beluga Whales and dolphins, very cool. From that show we zipped into the theater for Pole to Pole 4-D which consisted of footage from the Planet Earth production with effects of blowing air and seat rumbling thrown in, eh. By now we were hungry, and Soundings Cafe was just the ticket, the meal was the best: Fish Sliders, with organic apple sauce and fresh carrots sticks for Ben and a 1/2 chicken flourentine panini, spicy oriental vegatable soup and a superb salad of fresh greens for me. After lunch we headed down the Beluga Trail to watch some more training up close, then made way to Wild Reef to spend some time gazing into the huge shark tank.--

A little past one we walked down the way to Adler Planetarium, it was a beautiful, clear, sunny day much better than the cold and overcast yesterday. Journey to the Stars was the feature we watched first, picked to skip the second traditional planetarium show and explore as per Ben's request. Fine by me, and good thing we did because they closed at 4pm and we wouldn't have had much time if we sat through it. Since it was nice we walked back on the Water's Edge Walkway to the Michigan Ave. underpass then up to the hotel.

It was such a clear day I thought we should take advantage of it so we quickly left our museum goodies in the room and hailed a cab over to the SkyDeck on Willis Tower (fomerly Sears Tower). We Fast Passed in because of our handy dandy CityPass and got in line for the elevator wait quite quickly. By the time we hit the deck the sun had set and the city lights were all aglow. Far Out! The new feature "The Ledge" is a total trip and a bit freaky. The wait to get back down was a drag but I struck up a conversation in line with a couple from Saugatauk and a mom with two young kids from outside the city. Finally made it back down by 7pm, hailed another cab and went for some Chicago-style pizza at Lou Malnati's right near the hotel. Mmmmm, yummy. Pool - Sauna - Nighty Nite!

Saturday was Super and So-so. Woke early and hit the pool again, Ben likes to go when there's not a crowd of people. He swan, I had another sauna, then we got dressed and did a light breakfast at Starbucks. Caught the #6 Bus out to the Museum of Science & Industry and ran into the couple from Saugatauk at the stop. We had a fun chat on the way over but got separated once we hit the attraction. Ben wanted to take the U505 Submarine tour so we bought tickets for that and tickets for the Hubble Omnimax movie was already included with our City Pass deal. The Hubble movie was our second favorite thing of the trip (Shedd's was the best). This museum is a bit overwhelming, it is huge and there is a lot to see. I would have prefered to have two days to split things up because after 4 hours or so you're just tired of pushing buttons and reading plaques. The Smart Home was closed which really bummed me out and the food situation completely sucks! Next time I will definately plan on brown bagging it for this venue. The Brain Food Court is very poorly run and the food was cold and nasty. Jumped on the #10 Express back to Michigan Ave. and Balbo, chilled at the hotel for a bit then boogied up the block for some Sushi at Izagaya. It's been a while since I'd had real sushi having only California Rolls from the Meijer deli on occasion so I sort of over bought not realizing how big these things really are. Ben tried a few but got discouraged because he couldn't bite through the seaweed outer shell and his mouth was to small to shove them in whole. He loved the seafood rolls and his salad though. Ended up taking some with us. We were going to do a walking adventure again and investigate the Buckingham Fountain and Hyde Park but it was too bloody cold and windy so back to the hotel it was to watch one of Benny's favorite shows, Wipeout. I must say I got a few good chubbies out of it myself. Went down to the pool later; there were too many people for Ben's taste so he went back up to watch "Over the Hedge" while I got one last sauna in. Organized and packed our belongings then had a sushi snack before lights out.

Final Day was fine but rainy. It was just a slight mist as we sauntered down to Yolk for a birthday breakfast of Strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes for Ben and an Irish Benny for me (Eggs Benedict with corned beef hash and roasted tomato with big potato browns, and fruit for me. Yummo! Checked out of the hotel and rode the shuttle with backpacks and activity bag in tow to the Field Museum (formerly the The Natural History Museum) as the rain began to come down steadier. Kinda sucked to check our stuff there at $2 per item but worth it to not have to lug it around all day. This attraction can be a little confusing and irritating with all the separate prices and tickets for various traveling exhibits. We navigated through 'Gold,' 'Evolution of Earth,' 'Mammals of China,' 'Tibet,' 'Ancient Egypt' (complete with way-cool tomb), 'Hall of Dinosaurs' (an amazingly extensive bone and fossil collection), a Miori meeting house from New Zealand, and more. But honestly by now we were both getting museumed out. The food choices at Field were also a disappointment, there was a McDonalds and a Corner Bakery and they both hosted tremendous lines. The final vote was to collect our bags and hail a cab to Union Station as it was now officially raining cats, dogs, and small ponies. Since last night's experimental meal was so out there Ben was ready for a good ol' fashion chicken sandwich from Mickey D's so I obliged; we ate, checked out the train station street people, grabbed a Yoga Journal and Sudoku book from the news stand then waited until the chaos of boarding began.

Played a game of Garbage, then Ben played his DS while I listened to my iPod, he read his Percy Jackson book, I read Yoga Journal, did Sudoku, he inihilated me in War, then finally crashed out about 9:30pm. We pulled in to the Lapeer depot around 11:30pm, a little late due to a freakin' blizzard! The drive home sucked bad, since they hadn't done ANY plowing at all. I barely could find a two-track on Lake Pleasant to follow and never went over 30 miles an hour the entire way home. But, we made it and were so happy to be snug in our own house and very own beds once again. Ben is a great guy to travel with, he likes planning, setting a schedule and sticking to it, he is organized with his belongings, and has unexpendable energy. He is even getting better about the waiting periods. This will definately be something I remember and cherish. So sad mother missed out on this experience but very blessed to be able to have precious time with my bestest Benny!

Great Show!

Did a little blog bouncing before posting today, every once in a while I peruse the Blogs of Note to see what's out there and believe me there is some stuff that is really out there! It is amazing the variety of things people blog about from food to fashion, human rights to gay rights, creation of art to critiquing of art, wrestling to writing, travel to tatoos, homeschooling to hand made items, it's all out there to read or click the 'x' and leave it for someone else. Viva la difference and how cool is it that we can literally travel the world from our cozy home and see what's going on.

What's going on here in notable North Branch is our Choir Program which was a big hit! Not quite as big a crowd as the December one perhaps because it was Valentine's Day or winter, but it was a great success never-the-less. Below is a picture of the elementary group preparing to sing and under that the final moments of "Dive" where we really 'got down.' I've said it before but I'll say it again, it has been such a blessing to work with these kids, yes, there are those that test your grace but if they keep showing up I'll keep working with them. Many parents and grandparents came up after to give me hugs and encouragement. Everyone is excited to come together again next year and I am as well. I've already started doing music searches and have some selections ordered.

North Branch Elementary After School Chorus - Feb. 2011

After the program I skidattled over to our first LCCC practice for the spring concert (it's always refreshing to get to sing with the big people). Once again we received quite a stuffed envelope with a variety of pieces. The biggest hoot will be our second half which pays homage to musicals past and present with a collection from "The Wizard of Oz" and "Wicked." What fun!

My exciting conference call while initially boosting quickly took the wind from my sails but didn't completely deter me. The call was with a regional manager from CYT (Christian Youth Theatre) to discuss starting a group in our area. What I found out is it's like buying into a francise and it's not cheap. While I believe there is a need for this here I don't think CYT is the umbrella to work under because of all the costs involved and they kept pushing me to be a Flint CYT because it's a 'big city' but I really don't want that connection. Plus my goal is to keep costs for family/students extremely low or without cost at all. So I'm still at the drawing board but haven't given up hope. I will continue to work with groups as I have been and wait for the right time to take it to the next level. It's all good.

Our bags are packed and ready to go...... check in next week to see where we're off to!

Feel Better When ...

Excruciating, Exceptional, Exciting

Last week we had two snow days because of all the snow that arrived, the first day was rather excruciating for the boys and Alex as well because they really did not want to stay home. It was like they were being punished. I can't believe we homeschooled all those years and they adamently did not want to be in regular school and now they hate to be away. They drove me nuts going from screen to screen (tv, computer, video games) at first but then I finally killed all electronics and pulled out some toys that had been tucked away and they got busy being inventive with wooden blocks, lincoln logs, playmobil, and army men. Alex kept busy working on the assignment for her screenwriting class that the instructor asked them to email in by midnight to still receive credit for the day. The second day they jumped right back into their creative endeavors and did not have so much screen time in between bouts of going out and playing in the snow. Fox started out to shovel his running trail but gave up before completion, it was just too much this time. His training has slowed and he's really jonesing for a thaw so he can run regularly instead of just walking it.

At the end of the week I saw a sad post from some high school friends of mine, one of which also worked with my mother at Fraser schools. Their mother had passed away after many years battling COPD. I attended the service on Monday and was touched as I sat in the row behind the family and observed them throughout the proceedings. They have five kids in the family, four girls and the youngest a boy, all have children, and they are a very tight knit group. At one point during the service the family came and circled around the casket, Pastor said a prayer and then asked everyone to show a sign of peace to each other. It was so cute to watch the cousins, their aunts and uncles, and Grandpa intermingle with each other, hug, and joke around. What a blessing they have in each other. As I drove back home afterward a wave of sadness came over me as I realized once again the pain of how my family handled my own mother's passing. We're coming upon the one-year anniversary and although I feel that I worked through many of my emotions, I still feel some anger. The Pastor invited people at the funeral Monday to share a word or thought that described the departed, the first said was "tolerant" and he expounded on that be expaining that Mrs. S excepted everyone without exception, another word was "loving" she loved the Lord and showed that love in all she did, one of the grandchildren said "strong-hearted" and he connected this with a strong faith and conviction to reach out to people. This woman was married for 55 years, raised an amazing family, and touched many people through her personal outreaches. God bless her precious soul.

I was not able to participate in the processional or go to the luncheon because I needed to get back in time for our choir 'tech rehearsal' which although was a little harried went fairly well overall. A couple boys from the high school came over to help me get the sound issues worked out and this time we actually have a real monitor on stage which made a world of difference. My sound man dad also showed up after the kids were done to make some last minute tweaks in mic placement and settings. Although six weeks was not a lot of time to pull this one together I think it will be a good time and I'm really looking forward to presenting it publicly next Monday.
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Lately I haven't been taking a lot of sub jobs but I have been working on my editing stuff. This afternoon I have a conference call with an organization based out of San Diego, which could lead to a huge opportunity. Since I believe this to be a God-driven endeavor I know he has already gone ahead to make the way for all that needs to happen....and there is a lot that is going to need to happen. When everything comes together it will greatly expand my musical/dramatic/artful outreaches to children not only in my town but to all the neighboring communities. If you are a prayer warrior I ask you to lift this up as He directs cause even though His yoke is easy and His burdens light I will be dealing with some situations far beyond my normal realm which will require great favor so please, I'll need all the spiritual uplifting I can get. Updates will be forthcoming.

The featured mandala for this post is called 'New Promise' - don't we all need one.

Didn't See It Comin'

So last Monday I get over to the middle school for choir practice like I always do and the door to the room we use was locked so I peeked into the room next door and motioned the teacher to open the door again as I've done many times before. She meets me with "how's Fox doing?" "Fine, I guess why," I responded with slight bewilderment. "The kids told me he got in a fight today," she says, "the only reason I know is because they used it as an example for one of their vocabulary words, malicious." Needless to say I was shocked, the principal came down shortly after and had a word with me before we got rehearsal going. Apparently there was a kid who had been verbally harassing Fox during lunch for several weeks. During lunch that day the kid finally pushed it too far and basically made the comment "oh, what are you gonna do punch me? C'mon punch me." The kid got what he asked for, Fox gave him one to the gut and one to the face and took a firm 'ready stance' as used in martial arts. The kid immediately backed down. A little later in the day the kid came up from behind and initiated a sneak attack assault on Fox in the 7th grade hallway as he made his way to band, another kid quickly got a teacher who broke them up before it escalated. Both boys got a 2-day suspension, one in-school and one at home.

My reaction to this whole incident was rather mixed. Fox explained to me that he went through the gamut of responses over the weeks, at first he ignored him, sometimes he fired insults back, and even went to the 'dude, what's your problem, what'd I ever do to you' mode. He opted not to take it to school officials so wouldn't be labeled a tattler or have anyone think he couldn't handle his own battles. Although getting physical wasn't exactly initiated by him I do respect that he wasn't afraid to stand up for himself and did do his best to turn the other cheek and not get into it with this relatively friendless kid. The principal was dissapointed that Fox didn't bring it to someone's attention sooner. The thing that gets me is the whole suspension thing in general, you did something wrong so you .... get a day off of school!?!? I'd rather they gave both boys a bucket and a sponge and made them wipe down lockers, (goodness knows nobody else does) or have them empty garbages, write a paper on how to handle conflict, something other than not having school. Well, one thing's for sure, kids will think twice before messin' with Fox and he will instill greater consideration before taking matters into his own hands. Since the incident the kid hasn't said a word to him during lunches.

Saturday was the perfect sledding weather so Rob and I headed out together, dropped one car off to get new tires and loaded in the van over to the watertower hill with the younger boys and a buddy of Ethan's. The boys had a great time; Rob and I even took a few runs ourselves although we kept tipping over plus I went down a few times solo. I certainly got my exercise in that day climbing back up the hill. Fox was at Birmingham Groves High School with the Forensics team to observe so he could get ideas for his competition piece. He is pretty set on sales but wants to come up with something that can be fun and interesting.

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Ethan is doing really well with his guitar lessons, I love listening to him practice and Ben has quite memory for music (and other random facts), many times he'll run through his stuff on the piano without even having his music book out. My friend's son (and the boys' buddy) has been coming over on the bus after school one day a week and the boys have been trying to 'jam' a little bit. The friend takes guitar with Ethan, loves playing the drum set, and can really rock. They are now starting to work on chords as well as picking songs plus Ethan has ventured onto making up his own melodies which is such a blessing to hear. Ben makes things up on the piano often times as well.

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Alex has also been receiving top marks in her guitar class. She's loving all her classes and is actually working ahead on assignments for Screenwriting; her classmates were really impressed with her story ideas and the instructor has been very encouraging. Today she took the first step in getting things in place for the college she wants to attended in the Fall. I'm not going to let the cat out of the bag yet since she still has a process to go through but I am beyond excited that she is taking the initiative. PTL! Breakthrough in the employment department as well, after talking to her manager about working at two different locations she is now on the schedule more days and longer shifts!

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Sunday I went with Ethan down to the Open House at FlipSpot in Orion Twp. It is a great facility and I am so happy for Coach Shawn and his new business adventure. We're going to do drop-ins at open gym for awhile until the weather breaks and soccer/baseball/track season is done. I must be getting wiser because I know not to add something to the schedule at this point. Shawn was very understanding and workable. Ethan is excited to get back into gymnastics and we were there for over an hour as he did roundoff-backhandsprings, pit drops, high bar swings, some ring work, and got kooky in the bounce house. He would've stayed longer if he wasn't so sore from all his sledding acrobatics the day before. We had a nice mother-son lunch together and then headed back home.

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Getting ready to hunker down for the big snow storm that's supposed to be coming....hope everyone has an enjoyable February.