So Long, Farewell 2012

This will more than likely be my last post of the year.  I hope it finds everyone grateful for what has transpired this past year and looking forward to the opportunities in store for the next.  Alexandra and I sang together with the Lapeer County Concert Choir for the Christmas concert the first weekend of the month.  It has been nice to have her be a part of it and for her to be singing with a group once again.  We had a decent size audience on Friday and a packed house at the Sunday performance.  She is planning to sing with us again for the spring concert as well.  Sweet!

I met the challenge and completed 50,206 words of a novel in November but continued to work on it adding about another 3,000 since the end of the month.  In fact I'm so geeked about it I'd like to continue to edit it and possibly format it to sell as an ebook.  Alex has agreed to be my editing partner, reading it when I'm ready and giving me some feedback for tweaking.

Fox has continued to train with the North Branch Community Run Club twice a week that is organized by the cross country coach plus runs 6 miles on Kings Mill, which is filled with several killer hills, twice a week.  He has noticed a marked improvement in his 5K times due to this.  Ethan has been staying after once a week for the Ruth Fox Run Club and does 4 or 5 miles there.  Last week he ran his first 5K at the Santa Shuffle in Lapeer.  Below is our Bronco group that participated in the Shuffle, picture is a bit blurry but it doesn't lessen the fun.  I have also begun a running regimen, going out every other day, started the weekend after Thanksgiving, going twice around the loop on the property, six times around is a mile, and adding on in small increments.  This week I am now at 1.5 miles.  Benjamin usually comes out and runs with me when he's home.  My goal is to run the North Branch Spring Fitness 5K in April.

Got Fox's first trimester report card: Accounting I - A-, Algebra II - A-, AP Prep English - A, AP Psychology - B, AP World History - A-, Seasonal Activities - A.  Nice job.  We had a meeting with the principal about amending a couple bummer grades from last year to help keep his GPA in check plus inquired about dual enrollment and some virtual classes for his Junior and Senior year.  Mr. H was most accommodating and encouraging and I very much appreciate that.

Had auditions for a production I am directing at the Pix Theater for Schoolhouse Rock Live!  The group I had is made up of many kids I've worked with before in either the schools or drama classes but with a few new faces thrown in.  Still need to recruit a young adult to play the teacher but have a couple prospects in mind.  Ethan is going to be in the show and I'm trying to get Ben to be in it too since he is such a good singer and memorizes things easily but he is not budging at this point.  Ugh.

Saturday Ben, Ethan and I helped with other folks from our 4H Swine Club at the Holiday Depot pick-up in our community.  This is a great service project and it is always a good time to be a part of it.  When we homeschooled we would go and help them get the boxes of food items packed up for the families but now the process is streamlined and the boxes are prepared elsewhere so we just help carrying things out to people's car for them.

I've also been making final preparations for the fourth year of After School Choir which will start when we come back from the Christmas break.  I'm doing two groups again, 2nd to 4th graders in one, and 5th to 8th in the other, hopefully we'll have a good turnout and the kids will like the songs I've got planned.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. 

Mine will begin with a New Year's Resolution 5K Walk while Fox does his first 8K Run. 

Giddyup Broncos!

Three's Company

November has been enrichment month for the boys and I, since ending our homeschooling one of the things I miss most is our field trips.  Then it hit me, we can still do field trips whenever we want!  So I decided to schedule an outing each week of the month to broaden our horizons, explore some landmarks in Michigan and just spend time together learning. The boys have been very appreciative of my efforts and most of them were a big hit.  First we went to a Friday evening performance by the Oxford Community Theater of "Who Remembered My Soul" a fabulously written play about the stories of Holocaust survivors.  It was done in a Reader's Theater format but all the actors did a great job of memorizing their script and relaying it as if it were their own.  This sparked some great discussion on the way home.

Our next outing was to Midland, the boys had a Friday off of school so I made reservations for tours of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio plus the Herbert H. Dow Home.  We went through Alden's home first and were the only ones on the tour other than a gentleman from the Bay City area who shared with the docent that his father had been on the planning commission for a church in Dearborn that the architect designed.  This caused much giddiness from the various employees at the landmark and when we went into the archives they pulled out the files on the project and found the man's father's name on some documents and showed us some Polaroids of a craftsman making the huge wooden cross that hangs in the sanctuary of the church.  While all the cupboards were open the boys and I were reading all the labels fascinated by the projects Mr. Dow designed.  Much conversation was had about how cool the house would be to play hide-n-seek and have Nerf wars in.  The Dow legacy was also of interest.  Fox wished he could see some of the movies that Mr. Dow had taken.

After a satisfying lunch we then went over to house Alden grew up in. The Herbert H. Dow home, built 1899, is a beautiful structure in general but the most surprising tidbit to me was that Herbert and Grace Dow had the forethought to plumb and wire the house for electricity even though these advancements were not being used yet.  The coat bench in the entry foyer was an heirloom that had been in Grace's family beginning with her grandmother, knowing she would inherit it, the space was specifically designed for the piece.  However it is not the oldest piece of furniture in the home, this is instead a lovely Asian tea cabinet with intricate carvings and all sorts of hidden doors and drawers.  It was nice being the only ones on the tour that day because the docent let the boys and I ask questions all the way through the home and was very forthcoming about the Dow family and her experiences working with the organization.  She was interestingly an entomologist by trade employed by the Dow Gardens but loved the home so much she eventually began doing tours as well.  I highly recommend a trip to Midland to see these marvelous landmarks as well as the full garden.  We've also made a mental note to return and visit the Alden B Dow Museum of Science and Art plus the Herbert H Dow History Museum.

The next week we headed out in the evening after school to Saginaw for their Heart of the Holidays event.  In the literature I found it said that the Children's Zoo was open for free and lighted, plus they were lighting several other buildings that evening. There were to be horse drawn carriage rides and a gingerbread house contest also.  Well, the zoo was not lighted much, it was a very dark night and you could not see the animals at all, the paths weren't even lit very well.  It was quite pointless, we never did find the building that had the gingerbread contest, the wait for the carriage ride was ridiculous, and there really wasn't that much going on over all.  We did stop at the living nativity display in front of the church to pet the sheep, goats, and donkey, admired the Clydesdales from the sidewalk and quickly took our leave.  That evening was truly a bust other than giving Fox some driving time taking us out there.  Oh well, can't win them all.

There was no school for us the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so we took the opportunity to head over to Farmington Hills for some adventure.  As luck would have it my daughter Alex and her boyfriend were able to join us after they got off work which was a real treat.  Our first stop was the Holocaust Memorial Center. I had read about this some time ago when we homeschooled but the kids were to young at the time to make it a field trip, then Alex went into school and things got crazy from there so we never visited.  This was good timing since Fox has been studying the time period in history and the younger boys have touched on World War II as well.  Being that we are coming into the holiday "gimme gimme" season it was also a wonderful sense of perspective as to how good we have it.  Even in tough times I can say we have never known true suffering to the extent that Jewish families did during this horrendous effort.  They really did a wonderful job planning the museum. I liked the display of three quilts, each square designed by a survivor and an audio story accompanies their square.  Also the interactive stations at the end of the tour that give you scenarios regarding tolerance and humanity asking what would you do, was quite poignant as well. 

After such a hard hitting excursion we needed to follow it up with some fun.  Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum just two miles up the road was definately the ticket.  The place is packed with coin-op machines, from quirky to tricky, antique to modern, funny to frustrating.  Alex and Paul had fun in the photo booth and got "married" via coin-op license.  Fox tried every fortune telling machine there was.  Ben and Ethan pretty much did a little of everything but mainly stuck with the pinball machines.  I took a trip in the wayback machine having a go at PacMac and Asteroids, then finished out the night at my old standard - skee ball.  There was so much crammed into the little space, from things hanging on the ceiling, pictures of celebrity visitors, old signs, and the machines themselves.  Marvin should really consider upsizing to a larger space!  Good times, could have easily gone through $20 in quarters a piece!!  Consensus was this stop was the best of the all.

Not sure exactly what we'll do for next week, I've got a couple options.  One is the attendance of my community choir concert but I feel bad counting that as enrichment since they are pretty much subjected to it twice a year no matter what.  I'll come up with something though. 

Trimester One ended before the Thanksgiving break, Ethan already got his report card, all As and one B.  Ben hasn't received his report card yet but I know from the school website he has all As (pretty much has all year).  Fox's grades are the ones still outstanding since Finals had to be scored before the grades were compiled.  

At the Fall Sports Banquet the Cross Country team was recognized for having 100% Athletic Scholars which means everyone on team maintained a 3.2 grade point average or above.  That's nothing to be sneezed at!  Keep up the good work Broncos!

In between (an sometimes during) my substitute teaching days I am still working on my novel for National Novel Writing Month coming round the bend to 40,000 words out of a total 50,000 to win the challenge.  My concept has been one in the hopper for many years and although it came into print a little different than I anticipated the result is still pleasing to me.  That's about what's been going on in our neck of the woods.  The little white snow flakes have been starting to blow but I am by no means ready for winter.  Hope all is well in your world.

The Outer Limits

Time has once again gotten away from me since I returned from Italy.  I meant to do one more post about the trip but the excitment as faded since getting back to the normal school routine.  Cross-country season has ended, it was not my favorite year by any stretch.  Adjusting to a new coach was interesting.  Some changes I liked, some changes I didn't.  Thankfully the old coach has a young son who is in Ethan's grade and runs the elementary open races so he was a great encouragement to Ethan in his runs even when I was out of town.  Next year the boys will all run officially on team.  Three galloping Broncos, yeeHaw!

Big brother Fox and Ben get Ethan pumped up for the Marlette Elementary Open race. (above)

High School XC member Fox Parton cheers on Middle School members Austin and brother Ben,

complete with Subway Italian in hand post HS race.  (below)

Fox muscling through at the 2012 Division 2 Regionals. (below) 

20:10 was his finish time, not his seasonal best or all-time best.  Last year at Regionals he squeaked in just under 20 minutes.  Total plateau this year but he's staying in training and looking forward to breakthrough in the 2-mile and 800 meter during Track.

I had a birthday since my last post.  It fell on a Monday but we had a day of fun the Sunday before.  The boys made a delightful brunch then we headed over to Lansing to see an MSU student production of 'James and the Giant Peach' featuring a North Branch High School alumni.  It was a technically savvy production and very well acted.  Afterwards we stopped at the Anthony Hall Dairy Store for cones all around!  It was a gorgeous day for a ride, I just wish my daughter could have accompanied us but was unable to because of her work schedule.  We did get together that Friday though to see Ben Affleck's lastest film 'Argo' about the Iran hostage rescue.  Awesome Flick!

Currently I am engrossed in the challenge of NaNoWriMo also known as National Novel Writing Month.  The challenge is to write a novel or more specifically 50,000 words in 30 days.  I've done the challenge twice before, the first time I won, the second I fizzled out.  So far I've started out like gangbusters, have a solid idea and a plan for it's development which is usually half the battle of writing....anything.  I've also been working on some independent article subbmissions for various family magazines.  AND add in some days of substitute teaching here and there plus preparing for a production of Schoolhouse Rock that I'm directing at the Pix Theater in Lapeer, auditions to be held December 3 and 4.

San Marino Italy, a view of the castle from the fort.

an artist in San Marino

View from the plane heading back to Rome.

What's coming up?  Well, November has been deemed enrichment month by this homeschooler at heart mother.  Last Friday the boys and I went to see a wonderful production about survivors of the Holocaust called "Who Remembered My Soul" put on by the Oxford Communtiy Theater.  This Friday the boys do not have school so we are heading to Midland to tour the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio and his parents home as well that is still full of it's Victorian era designs and furnishings.  Also on the upcoming agenda are a trip to Saginaw, Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, a 5K Run and 1.5 Mile Run/Walk on Thanksgiving and a 70th Birthday Party for my dad.  Yippee!  Have a Nifty November and don't forget to be creative!

A Different World - Part 2

Rimini is a beach town, a tourist destination. Although it was the beginning of the off season when we got there the water was still a pretty happening place when the sun was shining.  Contrary to what Americans perceive, not everyone goes topless.  You pretty much do whatever and wear whatever, from swimsuits to skives to business suits you see it all down at the beach.  Many locals come by after work for a walk, bike or run along the shore before heading home to make dinner.  The variety of shells is amazing and you find lots of pieces of stone and terra cotta that washes up as well probably from some ancient ruin or shipwreck.

Amongst my perusing of hotel tourist literature and a by chance sighting during a bus ride I was delighted to find the Ceramic House also know as Casa Ugolini, a private residence on the Via Flaminia owned by Cesare and Susanna Minelli Ugolini.  Cesare was an antique dealer and ceramics collector who created a masterpiece using tiles and ceramic pieces set to be discarded from local sites around Rimini.  Although this was not open to the public for tours it was quite the sight to behold from the street.  If you'd like to find out more click HERE for a great video tour and description plus some other photographs.

Another very cool find was an archaeological dig site.  Years ago when Rob was here for previous training this particular spot was a construction site with the usual orange net fencing surrounding it.  Apparently when they went to begin a new structure they discovered the ruin of the Surgeon's House, plus an even older development underneath that.  The Museo della Citta oversees the site now and it is part of the museum admission.  They've covered it and built walkways across so you can see everything quite well.  Unfortunately my photos do not do it justice in the least.  I did however find a couple videos on YouTube should you care to know more. 
Click and enjoy!  LONG VIDEO  -  SHORT VIDEO

My visit through the museum was quite interesting.  I went on Wednesday morning which was the free admission day only to find the place virtually deserted except for myself, two art students, and a couple museum lady guards.  They are quite particular about the order you go through the museum, or maybe they just want to make sure you see everything.  If I started to drift off course one of the ladies would come down and "scuzi" me into the section I should be at first.  They did not speak English other than "photo ok, no flash" again contrary to what I was told that "everyone pretty much speaks English".  Not the case my friends.

The exhibit about the Surgeon's House had descriptions in English and were excellent.  As I toured the upper floors I quickly discovered that was the only exhibit with English explanations.  There was an amazing display on the Crucifixion of Christ with art ranging from oil paintings to ceramics to wood carvings, paintings on wood, stone/marble, and metal work.  Then, bam, a retro advertising lithograph display!  Another area of marble and stone carvings and pieces, lots of mosaics, tapestry, furniture, all incredibly old then....hello....a contemporary photography exhibit, which was fascinating!   From there I headed over to the Piazza Cavour to check out the open air market, which is basically the Italian flea market where all the shops have someone out selling off overstock for cheap.  Not exactly the second-hand shops I was hoping to find and due to their crazy sizing I didn't purchase much.

One day I took an extensive bike ride that went along the canal and totally tripped on kitchen gardens.  I live in a rural area and people have all kids of gardens and crops but I was just so enamoured with these plots.  I watched in fascination as an elderly man came out of a his garden gate across the canal and trucked down a good 20 meter incline with a couple watering cans to fill in the canal.  They do not use heavy gardening equipment like we do in the states, at least not on a small scale. This guy had to be at least in his 70s if not older.  He probably jumped on his bike later that day and pedaled to his favorite local hangout to converse with friends as well.  Elderly people in Rimini are in great shape!  Loved seeing old ladies in their skirts and sensible shoes tooling around on their bicycles.  That's one thing I wish was more feasible to do in my little town, get around by bike.  There's plenty of places to go and bike ride but to conduct your day to day business that way just doesn't work.

One other thing I'll tell you about Italy.....it's got some great knockers!  From antique to modern, great style and designs.  Super fun.

That's all for now.  Next time I'll share a little about San Marino and of course a few more photos.

A Different World - Part 1

Ciao amici!  I have returned safely from Italy and had a wonderful time but it is good to be back home in the USA.  Life in Rimini has a very different pace than in my little Michigan town.  I thoroughly enjoyed going everywhere by bike and that there was so much to see so close to where we stayed.  Below is the Arco D'Augusto which used to be the entrance way through the wall that surrounded the city.  It was destroyed during an attack years ago but much of the wall still remains.

Seeing all the ruins around the city makes you realize how "young" a country America is.  There are buildings that have been there since 200 A.D. and others that pre-date Christ's arrival.  Instead of making everything a tourist attraction or tearing the structures down they instead just built new architecture around them.  I saw school buildings, apartments, malls, and playgrounds that had ruins as part of their structure.

While people do have cars, the vast majority travel by bicycle or motorscooter.  The main streets have dividing lines but the side streets do not, those on 2-wheels do not follow any set side or direction so it can get pretty hairy sometimes.  Everyone is out and about in the mornings taking care of their errands or going to work, then about 12:30p everything shuts down except for a few restaurants and cafes.  Most shops open up again around 3:30p or so but should the owner feel so inclind they may not return at all.  In the evenings everything comes alive again as families come out to socialize until 11p while the younger set stay out in the clubs.

There are three different section of Rimini, one as in the photo above is refered to as the historic section as you can tell by the old style row housing, one home may have very old brick, doors and shutters, while the next one may have been currently updated and modernized.  At the end of this particular street is a pretty amazning piece of a castle wall which I left some of my DNA on when a car came up as I was coming around the corner and I swerved to get out of the way!  Near the hotel there are larger houses and apartment buildings which is like the West Bloomfield sort of area and then going toward the outer rim of the city is the more middle class.

Below is photo from the Piazza tre Martiri. There are two main piazzas that are very busy, with music and open air markets and festivals going on several days a week, plus a few smaller ones intersperced among the neighborhoods.  I had a most fabulous lasagna from a little "fast food" place near here one day for lunch.  Whenever you order something you have the choice of getting it warm or cold.  Things we usually take warm in the US they eat cold and visa versa.  Ice is rarely used in drinks and there are no ice machines in the hotels.

There is no lack of churches and they are all stunning.  The Tempio Malatestiano below is one of the older structures. Off the streets of the piazza there are these little pocket prayer rooms with candles and such where people stop in and give honor to whatever saint that shine is set up for.  Church bells are constantly going during the day to announce a service starting.  I did go to mass at a church around the corner from the hotel. It was a very traditional service, I enjoyed following along with the readings and tried to say the reponses with them but they go really fast.  Their little 10 person choir was just wonderful.  People are very friendly and happy there, lots of laughter can be heard on the streets.

The Ponte di Tiberio was built in like 240 A.D. and they still use it which is incredible. I rode an extensive bike/walking path from the bridge through the Parco XXV Aprile which ran along the canal to the outskirts of the city.  I liked getting away from the touristy area and seeing how the "regular" people lived.  There isn't any regulation about where you can do business and I found many people had a mechanic shop, cafe, retail, or computer business out of the lower level of their home throughout the residential areas.

Kids get out of school at 1:30pm, I don't think they have lunch at school but rather meet their families at home for the noonday meal.  Grocery shopping is done in small increments, buying fresh items for the meals of the day, as much as you can carry in your bike basket or hang in bags off your handlebars.  There's no loading up the van with a "big shop" like we do in the US.  However, their food choices are much more limited, not as much chicken, I don't think I saw turkey there at all.  Lots of ham, salami, promescuitto, cheeses, breads, and veggies.  I'm not even sure if it was beef in the lasagna I had, it may have been ground pork.  That's it for my first installment, more to follow.

Square Pegs

So the school year started out with a bang.  Ethan and Fox had a half day at the public school on the first day and all went well there.  I dropped Ben off at Chatfield for his first day but when I picked him up afterward things did not go as anticipated.  I could tell it was a rough day when I saw him pass through the hall as I arrived.  Once we got out of the building and had a chance to talk he finally broke down.  He HATED it.  The open classroom was extremely distracting, the kids were pretty clicky, and he just didn't feel like he fit in.  I felt horrible, he is not a kid who takes to change easily and I appreciate his giving an effort to try. I suppose I could have forced him to stay and try it longer but somewhere in my heart I knew that wasn't the investment to make at this time, much as I had hoped it would be a great experience for him. The next morning we made a trip to the middle school office and reenrolled him, he had a schedule and was in class by 2nd hour.  I lost him in the crowd as the kids changed classes when he spotted one of his buddies.  He even stayed after for cross-country practice and was MUCH happier when he came home at the end of the day.  It certainly has made our life easier around here having eliminated a LOT of running around and I am enjoying having all the boys involved in the same sport for the fall.

Buyer pictures arrived, we got them delivered and the boys have deposited their checks.  We spent the weekend before school started getting the pig pen and barn area deconstructed so we can begin getting a better layout in before winter.  The boys also helped get the chicken pen and coop cleaned out and the chicks have been shifted over, still not sure how many hens and roosters we have.

Cross-country season had a good start, Fox had a tough run at the first meet in Cros-Lex but picked up his time at the second Brown City meet.  Both Ben and Fox ran at Bad Axe this year as well as the Caro TVC.  Our county meet was a bit of a disaster due to a change in the course and addition of an electronic timing system which did not meet expectations.  This week Ethan will run the Marlette Open Race and the older boys will travel to Garber with the school team.

It's funny how you can have a plan and an expectation for how your life is going to be and suddenly things just change but you know it's all ok.  I have been involved with helping a friend get her neice and grand nephew (who are currently homeless) into an apartment in town and get him enrolled in school.  The young man has been staying with us and going to the elementary school until they get settled in the apartment.  The mom lost her hearing due to a surgery not long ago and does not use sign language yet so communication is challenging plus she operates at a remedial level at best.  I purchased a copy of The Joy of Signing for her and have been encouraging her to learn plus I've been learning and using the signs myself.  I don't know why but I've been very compelled to help this young man get in a safe home situation and receive a good education.  In addition to helping his mother learn how to be a good parent.  I'm not saying or doing this out of judgement, fact is she had a pretty crappy upbringing and really just doesn't know or think about things the way "normal" people would.  She does love her little boy though and I'm hoping that she will understand the importance of making sure he is cared for and educated if they are to stay together, otherwise the choices may be taken out of her control, which would have nothing to do with me.

We've had our first tasting of spinach from the late season garden, bean plants are flowering, and the tomatoes have recently shot up.  Since zucchini is coming in full force the farm market I buy from has huge ones for $.75 each! We've been grating, bagging and freezing some for the winter.  I pulled out mom's old recipie box to find the zucchini bread but stumbled instead upon Zucchini Chocolate Cake to try instead.....yummo!  It was funny to see all the old cards and papers she had in the box, some were made on the old ditto machines from school, you know the ones you'd crank and they had purple ink.  Maybe I should do a Julie & Julia thing and bake my way through mother's recipie box.  But that will have to wait because this week I will be traveling to Italy with my husband.  Oddly, I have absolutely no "plans" for when I get there.  The hotel we are staying in is along the water and they provide free bicycles so I'm just going to take each day as it comes, hanging on the beach, riding through the town, maybe explore a cathedral or two.  I'd really like to find a vintage or resale shop in hopes of discovering some authentic gems for cheap.  Who knows what the future holds in store.

You can't always get what you what.

But if you try sometimes, you just might find...

you get what you need.

Planet of the Apes

The summer is quickly wrapping up, as the boys spent a relaxed week in Port Austin with their grandparents soaking in the final days of freedom before they return to their school routine.  Even Alex and the BF made it up to spend a night camping with the crew.  These are the weeks that bring a multitude of emotion for me as a former homeschool mom while I read posts from friends about their preparations for homeschool and their choices for curriculum.  Those choices are now out of my control and although part of me wishes I had that power again it is very clear that the boys need to be in charge of their own destiny when it comes to performing in the academic arena. 

Being a creature who enjoys and requires regular change I am grateful to have the opportunity to learn and experience being a charter school parent and add that to my extending list of educational endeavors.  Benjamin and I went out to Chatfield last week so he could take his math assessment test but the school was still in disaray as teachers were getting their classrooms prepared for the year so we did not get to see his teacher or classroom yet.  While he was at the Tiger game with his grandpa and uncle I attend the new parent/student orientation and was happy to meet a go-getter mom rounding up people from our area to car pool with.  I am not the only one who has been concerned about the time and gas required for transport to Chatfield.  So with four of us sharing the duties it will be a relief to us all.

Fox had the first cross-country meet of his sophmore season at Croswell-Lexington this past week.  He had a legitimate run but did not reach his time goal.  The course was seriously cross-country, most of it was through the woods which was full of rugged, rooty terrain, and lots of hills once they came out of the woods and through the meadow then into the final straight-away.  He commented that his quads and the top of his knees began to hurt about a third of the way through the course causing him to losing significant positioning but he pressed on and finished strong with a 21:23. 

Sophmore orientation was also this past week.  Fox has a pretty intense schedule for next year with AP Prep English, AP Ancient History, AP Psychology, Algebra II, one trimester of Biology, Chemistry, and Accounting.  Yowza!

Friday we fit in one last field trip to the Detroit Zoo before our membership expired.  It was an incredibly busy day, so much so that we had to park on the very roof of the parking structure!  Inside wasn't so terrible as we got on the second train heading toward the back of the zoo and held a brief conference to determine which animals were a "must-see".  Fox has been intrigued by the monkeys and apes so we spent a good deal of time there and had some great sightings.  Ben wanted to go through the Outback area to check on the baby joeys.  Ethan was all about the prairie dogs.  My only requirement was our traditional photo by the bear fountain.

The Arctic Circle is always big time fun as the boys got silly by the ice wall, this time trying to leave a mark with their rear ends, the imprint did not work after quite some time all they ended up with were frozen a**es which showed up in blue on the heat sensor in the polar shack!  Certain places will always remind me of my mother: zoos, gardens, and choir concerts in particular. As we walked around the boys shared several memories they had of gramma when they were really little and we used to get together with her for field trips when we homeschooled.  I was amazed at some of the things that came to their minds.  My emotions are not so much sad now as they are grateful that they have good memories and can share them freely. 

Coming up: Ethan's Open House, Brown City HS Cross-Country Meet, and learning Italian!

Final thoughts: No plant can live if the root is cut away.....where are you rooted and grounded in your life?  Are you in a place where you can thrive and grow or do you need to cut the roots of resentment, bitterness, doubt, or self-loathing in order to be refreshed and renewed?

To deep to dig....I think not.

Be well my friends.

Green Acres

What a week we had at the Eastern Michigan STATE Fair!  Our first time raising and showing pigs turned out to be a satisfying and successful endeavor and although we talked about taking the next summer off the boys are gung-ho to get at it again with a new strategy to improve on what they've already accomplished.  While I knew that the chance of winning in the market categories was pretty slim I put out an incentive to the boys that if they both placed in Showmanship I would purchase their ride tickets for them.  They both had money saved to buy their own ride bands.  Benjamin placed 6th for Showmanship in the Pre-Junior class up against some very good showman who already had a few years under their belt.  His barrow (Rocky) took 5th in his market class and his pair came in 3rd, he also got 2nd Place for his Record Book.

Ethan really surprised me by receiving the Champion Beginner Showman award.  He had great energy in the ring, stayed by his pig and kept her off the fence, and what the judge like most when he spoke with him in the holding pen was his confidence.  Great job, buddy!  His gilt did not receive any recognition in market class but she was great to work with for showmanship and the friendliest of all three hogs.  Ethan also won an iPod Touch for getting the most trophy sponsors and ads for the program book, which probably meant more to him than any other ribbons he could have won.  Auction was the other unknown going into this adventure.  The day was rainy and they started earlier than they had in past years so the buyers trickled in.  Ben went up 11th and was lucky to get $2 a pound, more buyers came in by the time Ethan, who was 68th, got up there and his went for $2.40 a pound.  These are both legit prices and from what I'm told our county is very blessed by the support of families, farms, and businesses in the area; at many other fair auctions the kids are lucky to get $1 per pound for their animals.

There was a bit of disorientation in the indoor open project area this year due to new people being in charge of various categories.  I honestly think my paper articles and plastic articles didn't even get judged.  They didn't get ribbons and yet I saw no other projects in those categories.  One of my photos from the capitol building got 2nd Place and a wildflower arangement got 3rd.  Besides watching my own boys show I always enjoy watching some of the dairy and beef showmanship, this year I watched the Cloverbuds who are all kids under 9 years old that work with mostly dairy calves.  The woman who oversees this program deserves super kudos for her time, patience, expertise, and the fact that all the kids did great.  Happy, confident and so proud to be in the show ring was the vibe they exuded.  Silly to some, but my other Fair week highlight is always watching the elephants get washed.  This year I chatted with some tough, burly guys that help run the fairgrounds, who were just as fascinated with the task as I was.  Ethan enjoyed watching the Super 8 race Wednesday evening too.  Four calves were born in the FFA tent and a very uncomfortable sow finally began to deliver on the last day, two piglets were out this morning but more were still to come as they carefully relocated her in the farrowing crate back to the Ed-Tech Center.

It is so fun to see everyone at load up time heading out with new animals, we came home with 6 chicks, another family from our club brought home a goat to be a buddy for their mini-horse, I saw lots of chickens, geeseand rabbits being put into trailers and they didn't even have enough quails for all the people who wanted some.  We were hoping to add another rabbit to our menagerie but I didn't win one in the silent auction, however, in selling off some of our rabbit cages I hit it off with a family that is breeding Holland Lops and will stay in touch to purchase a baby when they're ready.  Ethan wants to show rabbits next year in addition to swine and we found a club to join for that.  Benjamin is VERY interested in working with cows so we're seriously discussing him getting involved with FFA (Future Farmers of America) to learn about them at their facilities without having to have them on our property yet.  I told him if he continues to raise hogs and sell them he can have a beef steer when he has enough money to purchase it himself and gets a set-up on our property that is adequate to take care of it properly.  We'll see how it goes.

As soon as the pigs were trailered off to Fair I got busy and rototilled the field area. My three sons helped me get it raked out and put down boards for paths and I planted a late season garden on Monday.  Just went back to check things out once I got the van unloaded and chicks settled in.  After several days of rain followed by warmth I already have beans, peas, rutabaga, spinach, and lettuce popping up!

So Robert is still in Chile for work, the boys are off for a week of camping in Port Crescent State Park with their grandparents, and I am going to tackle some more house projects and enjoy the quiet.

Hope you're enjoying your August days as much as we are!

On the Road

Last week I got a few days out with some lady friends for a little fun and adventure.  First up was a trip to Midland, Michigan to tour the Alden B. Dow House and Studios.  Alden built his unique house in 1935 after studying under Frank Lloyd Wright, there is definately an influence in style although Alden branched out in creating an original cinder block shape that was only used in 11 structures, all of which are found in the mitten.  The patent for the design was sold twice but oddly the idea never took off.  The house has been inpeccably cared for and when Mrs. Dow passed away in 1991 the three children took little from the property and it has been a wonderful historical site since.

We also had a chance to walk through the 110 acre Dow Gardens designed by Alden's father Herbert Dow owner of the Dow Chemical Plant.  It took years to create and was inspired greatly by Japanese horticultural design.  The home Herbert and his wife Grace lived in is also on the property and open for tours however we did not fit that in on this trip.  The color garden was absolutely amazing and I loved the various red metal bridges throughout the grounds.

The Children's Garden had lots of things to get young people involved in daily up keep of the grounds, from watering troughs to brooms for keeping walkways tidy, a huge bubble pool, an army of scarecrows, and the hit for me was by far the massive bronze hog statue!  It was incredible to see the work of both father and son, all of which took extreme care and consideration of children as they developed their ideas.  This was a time long before television and Gameboys, cell phones and iPods.  A time when imagination was cherished and being outside and active was a normal and expected part of everyday.  I was truely inspired by the visit in more ways than I can express.  Just placed my Burpee seed order for late start veggies that will go in as soon as the pigs go to fair this weekend, so excited to have fresh food growing on my own property again.  From 1999 to 2009 I always had a pretty extensive garden but eventually lost time and energy for it, looking forward to a renewed spirit in celebrating the simple things.

Another surprise trip was a chance to travel to Stratford with a friend, her son, and granddaughter to see a matinee performance of "Pirates of Penzance" which I haven't seen probably since high school.  It was a stellar performance and I was amazed that many of the cast were also leads in the 42nd Street production.  On the way home we stopped at a great cafe/coffee house in Port Huron, The Raven which was soooo cute, the live music was excellent as well as the lobster bisque!  Great way to end a great day, even got home in time to watch the opening ceremony for the XXX Olympics in London.

Is this photo gorgeous?  Many of the farms around our area grow sunflower crops, this one is just down the street from our house and we drive by many times during the week on the way to activities and errands, always makes me smile.  Alexandra and the BF got approval for a one bedroom apartment and got moved in earlier this week.  They were a little stressed about it but very excited at the same time.  I'm glad to have her finally settled in somewhere and not living such a nomadic lifestyle. 

Next week is the Eastern Michigan State Fair so the Partons will be busy showing pigs, auctioning, doing barn duty, riding rides, and having a downhome good time with some folks who truly know how to keep it real. 

Remember to always broaden your horizons

and stay inspired!

7th Heaven

Zoomania Day Camp turned out to be a big hit. Fox did a nice job with the young kids and had one boy who was a huge Fox fan.  The second day we had Thumb Reptile in for a presentation and I was lucky enough to go down and see it.  I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to see how comfortable Fox was with the large Burmese Python they had brought in.  He held it and carried it around for the kids to see.  I even held a few snakes myself, the presenters made everyone feel very at ease around the animals and were glad to let the kids hold them, pet them and pass them around.  Another highlight was storytime, I chose Animal Action ABC by Karen Pandell and Art Wolfe, however as opposed to having the kids sit down and me reading it, I used it more as a creative movement exercise and we got active!  From arching, to growling, to pouncing, and kicking, they had a blast!  Great way to end our time together.

Next up was overnight camp. Although Benjamin didn't attend as a camper he did come with me Wednesday evening when I dropped Ethan off and got clearance to stay for the Whispering Pines presentation which included bullfrogs, hedgehog, sloth, a ferrel fox, and a huge lizard to name a few.  My first day in science we made plaster casts of animal prints which went better than I could have expected. We then discussed five groups of vertebrates (mammal, reptile, amphibian, birds, and fish) and played animal scategories where they had to come with an animal for each category that started with a particular letter that was chosen by rolling the alphabet die from my Scategories game.  It was quite a challenge at first, then I let them use some animal books that I had brought for reference and the game really picked up from there.  My second day of Science didn't go as well as I had hoped, my idea to use some multimedia ie: websites sort of backfired so I went with plan B which was making part of a lapbook that focused on four invertebrate groups.  This was not so well received but they muddled through.  Wish I would have gone with something more active.  Live and learn.  Ethan had a great time although I sort of regret putting him in a cabin with two of his buddies because he didn't really branch out and make new friends like he did the year before, but no biggie, just mental note to self.

The Sunday before 4H camp week was our second weigh-in for the piggies. Rob, Fox and I rattled up the road in my new beater truck to pick up the scale then Ben and Ethan helped me hustle them on and off.  Happily we are back on track for making weight at Fair.  The smallest was Chew-porka at 190lbs, next was Rocky Hogowa at an even 200, then 50 Cent still livin' the largest at 210lb.  We're hoping to enter Rocky and 50 Cent as a pair so they need to be within 10 pounds of each other, which it looks like they will be.  We put about 50 pounds on each one in 3 weeks so if we can do a repeat of that gain we will be looking good!  Since it has been unusually hot in Michigan this summer it has been very time consuming to make sure the hogs are watered down regularly, have plenty of mud holes, and still continue to eat.  They are more social than one would expect and like to have someone come back and visit often which always prompts them to get up and take a turn at the feeder.  We've had a few crazy escapes too, when they start to feel neglected they take it upon themselves to find some way to occupy their time, which usually means, scooching under a fence and heading down to the pond for a dip.  One night they got out and really went exploring, ending up in the neighbors yard.  Thankfully Fox was still at home and noticed they got out or our investments may have been long gone by the time the younger boys and I had returned.

We had our final Pig Club meeting before Fair this past weekend which was the annual showmanship clinic.  They had a great presenter in from MSU that was raised on a pig farm and has been very successful in showing and judging.  The kids really learned a lot, hopefully they can put it all together come show time.  Just 11 more days to go and the three not-so-little pigs will be moving along to Fair.  Hoping Ben and Ethan both get a decent price at auction plus looking forward to having a freezer full of good meats to eat ourselves and share with friends and family.

Tomorrow is a day out with some choir friends. We're heading to Midland to tour the Dow house and gardens.  Then I'll spend the next week getting my indoor projects together for Fair.  Ben and Ethan will be finishing up their swimming lessons.  AND I just found out I am going to be going to ITALY!!!  Rob has a business trip coming up and I get to tag along.  More details to follow......

May life always continue to amaze you.  It pretty much blows my mind everyday!  :D