Parton my Dust

Good Mornin' 2012 !!!

2012-01-18T17:01:00.007-05:00

My how times flies, for my first post of the new year let me bring things up to date from the old year. Fox ran his first non-school 5K this December coming in 7th overall and 2nd in his age range at the Santa Shuffle in downtown Lapeer, hosted by Elite Feet. As you can see from the photo, this was no fashion contest, the boy was there to run. His AP History teacher was in the race too! I had fun helping with the pancake breakfast that all the runners come to afterward.

Starting the first Saturday of the year we now have basketball games every weekend (plus two weekday practices in the evenings). Ethan is not the strongest player but does the best he can. He's having fun learning a new sport but doesn't think he'll stay in it next year, but instead try archery, which is what Ben is doing every Wednesday after school.

Number 22, Parton puts one up but sadly no points made, nice try though!

As if life isn't crazy enough, we've also added a new puppy to our family. A friend of Alex's dog had a litter and they were ready to go to new homes so we went to check them out and fell in love with a very sweet, mellow, mutt. They called her Wonder Girl but we named her Sunny. She and Jake are starting to warm up to each other and have their daily morning play time but then pretty much go their separate ways for the rest of the day. She has become Rob's new couch buddy, much to Jake's dismay.

Holidays still feel a little awkward without mom but we got through it without any major emotional upheaval. Glad to be done with all the hype and on with my life.

Alexandra met the challenge by receiving two 3.5s and two 4.0s which means I will forgive her car insurance payments for the next semester. This week she was back in classes, this semester she has Spanish, English, Acting II, and Sociology plus she just took the manager test at the BK Lounge which will mean a raise....finally. The only drawback is she probably will have to change locations once she finishes training, hopefully it won't be to far to drive.

Had some great conferences with Fox's teachers, he's doing really well in AP Prep English and AP History which I'm glad to hear.

Ben made it into the challenge math group for choice time math which will keep him on his toes and Ethan was selected for a special choice time called 'Destination Imagination' which will entail the kids taking their projects to several competitions.

I am still doing my after school choirs at the upper and lower elementary plus will start back with the adult choir on Monday nights at the end of the month. Lately I haven't been subbing much but putting time in on several house projects, tiled the kitchen counter, trimmed in window and doorwall, still need to do some painting, and a little electrical.....love seeing some progress around here again!

Hope your year is off to a stellar start!

N112211

2011-11-18T21:59:00.010-05:00

Where have I been? What's going on? Nowhere. Not Much. But a lot.

Finished up XC season. Fox got his record best time at Regionals, Godells State Park. I just happened to get up to the finish in the first group and got close enough to catch a picture of him coming through the finish! Sweet. 19:55 is a great time but when we went to the Fall Sports Banquet and got his stats the official time came in at 19:49, even better! He also received the "Rookie of the Year" Award for his consistent improvement and dedication.

We actually got a couple windows changed out before the snow flies. This should help our heating bills tremendously as they were hideously old windows that didn't even stay closed properly. Very glad to have that off the to-do list, now I'm looking forward to a full-gut reno on Fox's bedroom, probably won't happen til summer though. For the time being I just got the wall patched up around the new window. I'll also be working on some projects in the kitchen over the winter break, drywalling and retiling the counter tops using some salvage tile I got from my dad.

Does this look gorgeous and delicious!? Been trying to eat heathier. My new rage lately is Watercress. Read an article about adding more vitamins and nutrients to your diet with greens. Watercress I like because it doesn't change the flavor much, you can throw in with anything (as I did on my nachos above), and it has a ton of nutritional value. Looking forward to trying Krispy Kale.

We're at a lull in our activities at the moment. Ethan is doing 5th/6th Grade Basketball. Fox is laying low. Ben is waiting for Archery Club to start up after the first of the year. My school choirs are off to a good start with about 40 kids at the lower elementary and 12 at the upper. Next weekend is the Lapeer County Concert Choir performance which I am looking forward to and then a short break before we begin rehearsals for the Spring concert. We've also been invited to sing at the Festival of Choirs in March and at a Ladies Luncheon for a church in Caro. My online class is done, I learned a ton, now I need to try and put it into action and look for some grants. Going to hold off on taking another class for a bit.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

O1011011

2011-10-19T17:33:00.007-04:00

Usually when I take the boys to soccer I bring either the dog or my bike. Last week, I don't know what came over me, I brought both. The bike trail is not paved for very long before it turns into a wooded one-track trail. I kept the dog on the leash on the black top because typically I pass very few people during that time. However on the wooded trail I've never encountered anyone so I took off the leash so Jake could run along beside me, freely. I took it down to second gear, still got a great workout, and gave Jake a fantastic workout as he kept a good 6-8 mile an hour cantor for nearly 4 miles total trip.

We've had some great warm fall days lately but they are getting colder, fast. Starting to make my last rounds around the property with the mower. At the moment it's rainning so that will have to be put on hold until things dry out again. Rob (and helpers) got a huge garage project finished, straightened it and repaired the roof. Still hoping to get a couple windows changed out before the snow falls. A deer jumped out and hit Rob's car last week, that was pretty exciting. He calls me semi-panicked, more concerned about me bringing the van and some tarps down to get the deer than the condition of his car! Unbelievable. It wasn't dead and was still moving around so he didn't mess with it. Thankfully. The car is drivable but the passenger window is toast and covered with plastic for the meanwhile.

The boys' soccer game for Saturday got rescheduled to Friday night so they were able to do another elementary open race in Reese. Usually this meet has a gorgeous sunny day for it but not so this year...it was chilly and super windy. The Dream Team ran like (with and against) the wind for another 2-mile course and everyone placed in the top 20, Dylan was 10th, Ben 12th and Ethan 13th all with times in the 16 minute range.

Permission slips are approved and copied, ready to be distributed next week. Music is ordered. Hoping for a great turnout during after school choir. I'm thinking of asking members of the community choir to help us out on a couple songs......

O101011

2011-10-11T16:13:00.009-04:00

The last few weeks have been consumed by cross-country practices and meets as I unofficially became the "coach" of the elementary XC team. Coach's son had run some open races the first year Fox was in cross country so the next year I volunteered the younger boys to run as well. This year they invited a friend, then another younger sibling saw them running and wanted to give it a try, she invited a couple friends, and one of the friends had two younger siblings, plus coach's other son started running as well. I began meeting with the kids after school a few times to walk, stretch, run some distance and time some sprints. The boys who had been practicing all along have been performing really well. The girls however have a ways to go but at least they are willing to show up and try, still working toward 'running' the entire course without any walking. Everyone has been very supportive and encouraging especially parents who have older kids in the sport. Next year we may even take it to the next level and make it an official sport for the school which would be great to have a 'feeder program' to draw students into running before they get to middle school. Love this year's motto.

Since I haven't gotten clearance from our newcomers I'm holding off on posting pictures of the kids I've just started working with but at the Brown City 1.5-mile race we had 5 boys and 5 girls in the K-6 group. Below is coach Castle cheering the guys up the killer hill that hits just before the last half mile. Ben is to the far left in blue.

Cass City was last weekend, we lost some of the girls but one 6th grader (and little sis of a regular team member) hung in there and did awesome running with the middle school girls. High school ran first, girls then boys as always. Fox had a seasonal best for his time with a 20:01 but it was far from enough to medal in this competition. Still, for it being his first year he's doing extremely well. Look at him fly in full speed at the finish!

Ben and Ethan have an ongoing smack down as to who's going to come into the shoot first. Ben took Marlette, passing Ethan in the final seconds. Ethan had Brown City hands down. At Cass City they stuck together for the majority of the course but Ethan ultimately came through the shoot ahead.

This was the story of the day, our youngest North Branch runner (coach's son) finished his first 2-mile race in 22:37, nice job! He was starting to fade in the last mile of the course so dad jogged alongside him to keep him going then in the final stretch all the elementary boys ran at his side right up to the finish line. Technically you are not supposed to 'pace' the runners but the official allowed it but told the bigger boys not to re-cross the finish line. It was very sweet to see them want their buddy to do well and finish. That to me is really what it's all about, not who wins, not the time you get, but encouraging each other to push beyond what you think you're capable of and finish what you came to do. I always tell the kids everyone is a winner just for showing up and giving it a go.

I received my room assignment papers back from the elementary school and have been searching for music to work on with the After School Choir, still waiting to get things confirmed for the upper school but many kids have caught me in the halls or outside school to ask when choir is going to start again. I've got some fun pieces selected from different time periods and genres that I hope the kids will really groove on. Hoping to coordinate with the guitar teacher to have he and some students accompany a few songs, like "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" and "The 59th Street Bridge (Feelin' Groovy)".

Was in subbing for a couple crazy days in 1st Grade. I don't know about anyone else but this whole language, sound out your words stuff is crap, it doesn't help them learn how to spell at all. What is wrong with giving young kids prompts to help them formulate their sentences. Some of them are so bad at sounding out and guessing which letters to use they can't even read what they tried to write when they go back to it later. Whenever I'm in a class and they have journal time or even a science or social studies assignment where they have to write sentences I always tell them "I'll help you spell any words you'd like to use, just ask me." Any word that is requested I write on the board so it is available for other students to use as well. It opens up a whole new world in their compositions. I also put sentences starters on the board and they fill in the data they need to complete the assignment. For example, for the science lesson they had to cut out pictures of six rocks, 'sort' them and paste them on the sheet, then write a sentences about their choice. So I wrote on the board "I sorted my rocks by ______." Then wrote the words that were their options, asking them for the possibilities first.....color, size, shape.

I had a conversation with a young lady who is in an education program at UofM Ann Arbor she was pretty surprised and dismayed by this technique as well. One day she was working with an ESL student (English as a Second Language) and was not permitted to tell the girl how to spell the English words, she had to make her sound them out so it took forever as the kid guessed and she had to keep saying "no, that's not it" instead of just telling her how to spell it and giving her some clues to help her remember the spelling. So dumb. No wonder half of our community can't spell worth a @#%*! Better go back and proofread now.........

Take 5

2011-09-29T13:37:00.013-04:00

Ever since I can remember the fall has been a time of great stress, perhaps because my parents were both teachers it was always tense when the school year got back underway and inadvertently, even when homeschooling there would be an odd emotional upheaval as autumn got underway. This year my stress has been more internal in the form of anxiety and I'm not really sure way. I was doing well until this week when I took a bit of an emotional downturn with a wave a depression rearing its ugly head. I slept, let myself cry, leaned on my husband for support, then did my best to keep busy and count my blessings. Nothing is ever going to be perfect, right? I started my grantwriting class and have found it to be extremely informative and inspiring, after the first 'introduce yourself' assignment the instructor responded with a fantastic email containing a ton of resources pertinent to the areas I would like to seek grants for. Awsome. I've also been doing more cardio and weight workouts using my Karen Voight DVDs as opposed the Namaste Yoga program I usually do and actually found the scales to show me 6 pounds lighter because of it. Groovy.The other day as I was getting ready to go pick up the boys after school I looked out the back doorwall and noticed about 25 turkeys on the lawn. I know they're around but I've never seen them so close up to the house, grabbed my camera, quietly snuck out and got a couple snaps.

Ethan and Ben's soccer team played the Lime & Black team twice last week and it was a fantastic match both games. The disparage in sizes at this level (all are 10 or 11) never ceases to amaze me, some boys are taller than the coaches while other look like they're barely out of 2nd grade! That doesn't hold them back though, they all played great even not having any time on the side since we only have 9 players on our team.

This was an exciting occurance, having a referee, and not only one but two "in-training" as well. They had there work cut out for them too, because both games were pretty fast-paced with great goalies, excellent defense, and forwards out to score!

Orange & Royal won the first game on Thursday, getting the first few goals so when we were matched up again on Saturday I was expecting they'd be poised for payback. Lime & Black got things started off with a goal within minutes but Orange/Royal held on and finished the game with a tie even without one of our strongest players who went and got himself sick. Benjamin was bringing it and had a couple goal kicks but they didn't get by the goalie.

Last Friday was homecoming for North Branch, the rain stopped for a few hours, just long enough for the parade to commence and then picked back up again as the kids were loading up on the busses. Fox rode with the Cross Country team.
The theme this year was A Royal Affair.

Yesterday was the Marlette Cross Country Meet and it was exciting to have another friend run bringing us up to four elementary representatives. They all ran great even though we only got together to "practice" a couple times. Out of about 100 runners everyone on the Ruth Fox Dream Team finished in the top 30%, Bruno being the leader, through the shoot at #14 in his first race! Afterward as we were heading to the car one of our mom's tracked me down and said her daughter would like to race too. She then recruited a friend who has two younger siblings that would like to race as well. So at next week's run in Brown City we'll have 8 students going for it. How cool is that!

In addition to becoming the 'unofficial' coach of the elementary CC team I've been getting things in place to begin after school choirs in the lower and upper elementary schools from November to March. Figured I'd sandwich it in between fall and spring sports, this time only working toward one program. Thankfully I do have things to look forward to so I'm never down for long.

4ward Motion

2011-09-20T10:36:00.007-04:00

It's been a fun and exciting start to the new school year. The boys are enjoying their new classes and making friends. We've had our first couple rehearsals for the Lapeer County Concert Choir and I am taking on more duties as VP, creating a new website and FB group, plus easing into helping with the sponsorships. We have some challenging and fun musical selections for our December concert titled "Cathedral to Village: A Hope for Peace."

Last Tuesday I helped at the North Branch hosted TVC jam and worked in the shoot for the first time. Basically as the runners came into the finish I had to number them for places and try not to get puked on. It was quite an invigorating experience and I must say I was a success in both tasks. Fox didn't get as good a time as previous meets due to a sore ankle, but he still ran a legit race. Several parents have told me stories about Fox being an encouragement to their kids, one girl that was on the middle school team with him last year took his advice and got out and ran all summer long, now her times are really showing it. Another boy joined the team for the first time this year because he was impressed by Fox during gym class when they had to run the 1-mile. He's also coming into a new level of social outreach....when I picked him up last week he made me stop the van, so he could jump out and go say hello and give hugs and knuckles to a group of kids that he knew. Shocker!...but very cool.

Saturday I watched my first U12 soccer game with the brothers Parton on the field. Not sure exactly what the finally score was but basically we creamed 'em again. Ethan did great getting in there and being more aggressive, and Ben continues to be a strong player. Both teams played a good, clean, game on a beautiful fall morning.

Ethan doing his stuff, even out manuvering his big bro!

After the game, we came back to the house, grabbed some lunch then headed "around the corner" to Reynolds Berry Farm to pick more raspberries. Seriously if you live in the area, go and pick some, there are tons, I hate to see them all go to waste. Only $2.50 a quart if you pick them yourself, we got 6 quarts in just a short time. They are on Ceder Creek road off of Burnside, just East of Lake Pleasant.

Saturday evening I attended a gathering of the Rollicking Readers book club for the first time. A friend of mine from our former homeschool co-op and fellow soccer mom had invited me several times but it never worked out for me to go. I went even though I hadn't read the book (Three Musketeers) and had a fantastic time with the ladies, many of whom I already knew and some I met for the first time. Now that I am the only woman in the house since Alexandra moved out I am making more of an effort to get together with lady friends, and not just that but get together in a social setting without "being in charge" of anything. We also watched "Something Borrowed" and "Hanna" after our pot-luck meal and book discussion, the giggles abound leaving me looking forward to hanging out with them again next month.

Rob's job has been going well, at his one month review they expressed how impressed they were by his abilities and knowlege (never had they sent a tech out on a job by himself so quickly). The owner of the company even hinted that there is a new position they are going to be creating and he would be a perfect candidate for it, adding "it's more responsibility, but with more responsibility comes more money!" Time will tell.

I'm off to my first sub job of the school year, back by popular demand, in afternoon special ed. begindergarten (sp?), then to watch the cross-country county meet hosted by North Branch. Go Broncos!

3 Boys Run & Play

2011-09-12T12:18:00.010-04:00

The first week of school went amazingly well although I'm still waiting to receive my postcard with the bus information. Way to be on top of things transportation department. We checked the website but went down at the time we did last year, since it was about ten minutes off. Fox has already had homework in AP History, and Intro Physics plus lots of introductory forms that needed to be signed. Ben and Ethan both had one assignment each, pretty simple, already have their first spelling list. Yeeha!

Saturday was the soccer duos first game together. We had to divide and conquer so Rob took that run which was closer to home so he could sneak in a scrap metal run with the boys....everybody made a few hundred bucks on the endeavor. Woot. I got a quick snap of them when I returned from Fox's meet. The Orange & Blue creamed 'em 13-1 ... Ben got two goals and was Mr. Super Pass while Ethan held his own in defense and had an uneventful quarter in goal. I'm looking forward to catching the action first hand next weekend.

Fox had a meet in Bad Axe this weekend. I remember two years ago, this was his first meet ever in 7th grade, his goal was just to finish the 1.8 miles and not walk at all. He came through the shoot third from last. Well times have changed and training has made all the difference. Running the 3-mile high school course this year, he finished 23rd (medals to the top 25) with a time of 20:28, shooting for 19-minutes now.

What's that! ... a little crack of a smile on the boy?

Sunday we checked out a new church, they were having their Worship by the Pond, church picnic kick-off for the new season. A couple of my friends told me about it and had visited plus I recognized some kids from school. I liked the pastor, and the whole experience had a good vibe to it, very down to earth, easy-going people. We definately enjoyed ourselves and will check out some more regular services. Plus it's ten minutes from the house....love that!

2 Good 2 Be

2011-09-06T07:58:00.008-04:00

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven.

For some reason the Pete Seeger song keeps running through my head this morning. Great tune.

So the boys all went on the bus at 6:57am, Rob left shortly before we headed down to the bus stop, and now I am enjoying the silence of the first day back to school. Aaaahhhh.

Below is a picture of Ben and Ethan that I took at the Open House, how can you not have a great year when a sign like that greets you everyday. Both of them have lots of kids in their class from previous years and they are excited to get into the routine. Ben however, is hounding me to quit band but I'm standing firm and making him stick with it. Hopefully things will pick up and he'll have a change of heart about it this year.
Last week I was fortunate to be invited to a luncheon at a friend's house from the Lapeer County Concert Choir. It was quite fun, everyone brought a salad to share and after we ate some of us went raspberry picking up the road from her house. Many of the ladies were retired teachers and one I knew from North Branch, she works as a parapro in the elementary. Good times.

Fox has been doing well with cross-country. I got to attend the Brown City Meet. They had enough boys for a team finally although the girls were the ones that received a team medal. Two of our boys medaled and two girls. Fox medaled and had a time of 20:54....met his goal of bringing it under 21 minutes! Hope all goes well his first day at high school.

Signed up for my grantwriting class at Mott but my first class isn't until the 21st. Things are in place to substitute teach again but there usually aren't any jobs the first couple weeks of school. So for now I'm just writing TVonDVD entries, putzing around the house and yard, and hoping we get a few more house projects done before the snow flys.

Enjoy the day!

1 Week til FREEDOM

2011-08-30T14:02:00.001-04:00

I have really been relishing these last days of my summer but am looking forward to having the boys occupied by school endeavors once again. If I hear the word 'bored' one more time I don't know exactly what I'll do. You'd think with 11 acres to explore and shelves of toys to build with and games to play they'd never have a dull moment but yet.....

Sunday Ben and Ethan accompanied me on another bike outing, this time we started in Leonard on the Polly Ann Trail and went all the way to Oxford and back. If we rode some sidewalks or dirt roads a bit south we could hook up with the Paint Creek Trail and then to the Clinton River Trail or Macomb Orchard Trail. Someday we'd like to make an all day adventure of it and ride the whole route, not sure if it will happen this year. The day was clear and comfortable, although I had my camera the batteries had died so I didn't take any pictures which is fine, without it I am able to stay more "in the moment" and just enjoy the experience. The boys always make me laugh and we also get into some philosophical discussions along the way as well. I genuinely enjoy spending time with them and I know that too soon they will be grown and gone so I am savoring every moment.

After haircuts (and color for me) with the "Best Stylist Ever!" we made a spontaneous trip to the Detroit Zoo. My mother kept yearly memberships with three organizations: the Zoo, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Greenfield Village/Museum, in memory of her birthday coming up I purchased a family membership, as we made our way around happy thoughts of our visits there kept coming to my mind, the stroller days, the train ride enthusiasm, the winter visit for Ben's birthday one year, sneaking and peeking in the back building at the baby giraffe that was still sequestered, and the conversations about various animal husbandry as mother was always a wealth of knowledge and loved to share with the kids and get their thoughts on things. Dinosauria was in its final days so we perused through there as well.

Who's that little prairie dog? Fox found a friend in the butterfly house.

Fox participated in his first high school cross-country meet and did amazingly well making the jump to a 3-mile race. He placed 12th (medals were given to the top 15) and had a finish time of 21:11. The second meet was much bigger with a ton more runners, he said his ankle was bothering him a little he had a decent time but didn't medal. This week they'll run in Brown City and I will attend with camera at the ready! He picked up his Freshman schedule: AP Prep English, AP History, Intro Physics, Intro Chemistry, Health, Phys. Ed., Geometry, Current Events, Woodworking I, Intro Business, and Critical Reading & Writing. This is over three trimesters mind you but looks like a challenging but fun year is ahead for him. He's also interested in joining Model U.N. but has emphatically refused to participate in Forensics again. Ugh. I tried.

My beloved daughter and oldest child has finally flown the coop. She has moved into an apartment with friends halfway between where she works and goes to school, with my blessing. They are not charging her much to share the place, the location is ideal, and she really wanted to branch out on her own but is not into experiencing dormitory life. So be it. Her schedule is complete and financial aid in place so for the fall semester she'll be delving into Intermediate Guitar, retaking Intro Theater (part of the GPA clean-up plan), Music Appreciation, Digital Photography, and Interpersonal Multi-Cultural Communications. Wow, sounds like an enjoyable schedule. As incentive to make school a priority Rob and I proposed that if she got nothing less than a 3.5 we'd forgive her car insurance payments for the winter semester. She was all about that! Now that she's paying more of her own bills she definitely knows a good deal when she hears one. Getting her own cell phone plan was a slap of reality for her when they required a $150 deposit because she has no established credit.....she went with a pay-as-you-go plan.

Robert is on his third week in a new job, closer to home which allows him to return home every night whereas before he stayed in an "apartment" at the shop during the week and was only home on weekends. This new position also has much more opportunity for advancement, profit-sharing, 401K plan, and a medical/dental/vision plan. Hallelujah! Neither Rob or I has had medical insurance for many years so this is a real blessing. I haven't seen a doctor since I walked out of the hospital 10 years ago after delivering Ethan. Thankfully I am a healthy individual and haven't had need for doctors but it's nice to know I'll now be able to have a once-over just to confirm all is well. Rob definitely has some issues that need to be addressed so I'm sure he'll be taking advantage of all the services offered.

My second motherless summer has brought a new sense of peace about being "on my own." Exercise, yoga, meditation, and inspirational readings have been a great help to keeping things in perspective. I am so grateful for my mundane little life, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no major upheaval. Learning to appreciate each moment as it comes and release expectations has made a big difference, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't have any goals or aspirations but I'll get there, when I get there and that's just fine. Who knows what tomorrow holds....I'm just living today, today.

X + Y = Zen

2011-08-19T13:06:00.022-04:00

We set out on a gorgeous day with perfect, end of the summer Michigan weather, what I technically refer to as not-to-hot-not-to-cold. The sky was clear, there was a slight breeze, the air was full of delicious smells; fresh cut grass, brush burning, wildflowers, grilling. Our goal was to forge the Paint Creek Trail, starting at the Rochester Hills Public Library and heading toward Lake Orion. If we made it all the way it would be 8.9 miles. Ben, Ethan and I were on bikes while Fox took the time to get his daily run in. We all started out together, Fox running along rhythmically, the rest of us cruising by the fields of Joe Pye Weed, Queen Anne's Lace, golden rod, and swamp bamboo (I don't know the real name, that's just what it looks like to me). There weren't many on the trail, we stayed together for a while, I gave Fox a 3-mile heads up (using my handy dandy odometer) and whizzed past him to catch up with the little guys. When biking with kids I try not to set any mile goals, on the Paint Creek you've got cross roads every mile or two so we can decide whether to continue or turn it back around.

First photo stop. Playing around with sun placement.

the teenager was too cool to be snapped today.
you may have noticed in the other photo i had to keep him in dappled shade so as not to be recognizable....

Second photo stop.

Victory is ours....let's go all the way was the concensus at every cross road so we kept the wheels a-rollin' except for to quench yer thirst, or just have a break to act like a big hambone!

We had several deer sightings throughout the ride, staying for a while to admire this one that was just helping itself in someone's backyard garden. A fairly large doe wandered right out onto the path and crossed between us and Fox.

Pulling into the CVS parking lot in Lake Orion the feeling of victory was in the air. The boys ate the rest of their lunch by the bikes while I ran in for some more cold water and an energy bar. Now that I'm in the flow of riding more I'm trying to resist rewarding myself with ice cream, it's really tough on beautiful days like these. But I was a good girl, energy bar only. I'm also limiting my Starbucks Peppermint Mochas: 1 every 3 weeks, instead of 3-4 a week! Yikes.

The boys groaned as we began to set off for the row back "now we have to ride all the way back." (add a little bit of whine when you say it). No worries, I assured them, "it's always faster going back." As we made the return we crossed paths with Fox again who was now just walking. He made it up to Adams Rd. and then had turned around. When we pedaled a while past him Ben realized how close we were to the park and exclaimed "man, it is faster going back!" "Didn't I tell ya!"

Fox was now moving at a far slower pace so we had time to rest those tootsies in a sweet shallow creek. Ethan made no hesitation, pulled his socks and shoes off and waded on in.

Ben, however, was a bit reserved about the whole experience. I knew he was dying to, but this is a kid who will not take his socks and shoes off if anyone is around because people might see his feet! Still haven't got a full explanation from him of why it bothers him so....

However with maturity comes boldness and when I turned around after oogling over some ducks and taking a few snaps, he threw caution to the wind and took the hard way (over the rocks instead of the sandy beach) in. Don't you love the umbrella in the background.

Pokey, McPokester finally meandered his way to the end of the trail and I loaded the bikes on the rack while the boys ran into the library for a pit stop and water refill. We made it. Over 20 miles logged, from trail to tooling around the park. Good times. Very relaxed, not on a schedule. We averaged about 8.2 miles an hour, I kept it on low gears the whole trip. It didn't feel like much of workout but my thigh muscles gave me what for later in the evening! I took an Aleve, put some Tiger Balm on, went to sleep; good as new in the morning. It must not have been too much of a push for the boys either, Fox went out for another walk on the property that evening plus Ben and Ethan had soccer practice and didn't miss a kick. Guess we'll just need to up the anti next time (nudge, nudge). I did get in a good ride around Imlay City while the boys were at practice last night. I only did 8 miles but for the start of the ride I kept it in a high hard gear and then toward the end of the ride I took some long incline stretches and finally had to pop it to lower gears. Felt like a good work out on that run.

Hhmmmm, where else can I venture with my beautiful blue bicycle........???

We've Got a Winner!

2011-08-14T15:54:00.009-04:00

Greetings all, hope things are going according to plan in your neck of the woods. The vibe around here has seriously shifted to a more laid back, dare I say boring pace.

The mandala for this posting is Quiet Water Mandala by Janet Karam that I found on Daily Painter's Abstract. Click on the name to visit.

We spent several days up at the Eastern Michigan Fair last week, watching the swine happenings so the boys will know what to expect next year when we finally invest in the animals, and trust me it is definately an investment. Most kids barely break even at the auction but it is a great experience in many aspects. Benjamin received a Best in Show for his book that he entered and Ethan received one for a Lego helicopter he put in. For each 5 projects the kids entered they could put their name in a drawing for a FREE ride pass. Ben won!

It's been several years since we've been involved in 4H. My oldest daughter was into it big time when we were homeschooling, enrolling in a Rabbit club, Sheep club, recycled crafts club and others. They used to give premiums for the top picks in each category but now the only reason to enter projects is to get daily passes to get into the fair to take care of your animals everyday. Both my flower arrangements got Third Place, my paper item got First (I think it was the only one in the category), and the photo below took Second Place in Photography: Architectural.

Watching showmanship is always a blast for me, the accomplishment and execution of those young people out there is truly inspiring. Have you ever tried keeping a pig, a sheep, or a cow under control? Trust me, it isn't easy and some of these kids are naturals with it. The boys and I observed and discussed the various techniques the kids used, I prefer the kinder, gentler method as opposed to whapping the poor animal to death. Seeing the girls in their bling-bling cowgirl belts was kinda cool too.

Talk about some serious animal upkeep and maintainence....elephant baths, looks like you pretty much take a bath with them those hoses are so super-powered!

Fun times on the rides, for kids only this year. Ben and Ethan made the rounds with a buddy on their own this year since I can NOT do round and round rides any more. I can handle a roller coaster no problem but don't take me in circles. We set up various check in times during the day and they rode while I wandered around, bumped into friends and chatted, put bids in on some silent auctions for plants in the Master Gardener building and a Holland Lop in the Rabbit barn/tent. I even checked out some of the equestrian events as well which I hadn't done before. This is another amazing and inspiring group.....horse people.

Fox started cross-country practice this week. There really weren't many kids there at all, hopefully next week will host a better turn out or we may be in jeopardy of loosing the program all together. Ben and Ethan are playing U12 soccer together this year and had their first practice on Thursday. Francisco, who was on Ben's U10 team is on his team again. This kid is awesome, it's in his blood, no doubt, and both boys know they can learn a lot from him.

Me, I've been finally getting the scales to move in the opposite direction hitting the trails with my bike whenever possible, went on the Paint Creek Trail a couple weeks ago and will be going on it again this week, hit the Water Tower trail in Lapeer and cruised around town several times, and I've taken my wheels up to North Branch and rode throught the streets while Fox is at practice. Even tried taking the dog biking with me....it went ok but I won't do it regularly, too risky. Thankfully we didn't hurt each other, and I wore Jake out but good! Today I put a speedometer/odometer on my bike all by myself so I can keep better track of how many miles I do. Now that the weather is cooling down I really want to get in some serious trail time, some run - I ride.

Variety du Parton

2011-07-27T21:23:00.008-04:00

I found a new program (well to me anyway) on my computer, Picassa, and started playing around with it. To my great delight I discovered it has a collage feature that pops in as many photos as you select and resizes them to fit various templates. Very cool.

The boys have finally got a week to chill at home, and now that they're stronger swimmer I've lifted the ban on pond swimming so Ben and Ethan have been spending parts of everyday floating around on tubes and jumping off the dock. We're also getting projects together for Fair and finding last minute editions to some collections (leaves, wildflowers, insects, and rocks). They also spent a fair amount of time playing old Playstation 2 games and had a Harry Potter movie marathon, watching them all from beginning to end.
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Fox is in a teenage boy body-building phase and is always asking about exercises to build different muscle groups. He's also very conscientious about what he eats. He walks everyday, long runs one day, does sprints the next, and then bikes a bit on the third day plus does weight lifting each day. And he never stops eating! Cross-country practices start in a couple weeks, I think he'll be ready for his jump to the 3-mile race.

Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park

Big Sur, California

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4H Mystery Clue Camp was a big hit. It started off extremely hot the Wednesday of drop-off and not many slept that night because even with fans the cabins were extremely stuffy. Thursday was high temps and humidity as well and an extra swim time was added in. The kids still had a great time doing crafts, experiments, solving a murder mystery in the woods during the Nature session, and of course swimming at the lake. The big time fun was their huge slip-n-slide, I've never seen one so long before. Thankfully things cooled down Thursday night and the kids were so exhausted from a full, fun day everyone slept like babies. Friday started off pretty tolerable weather-wise but did warm up by afternoon. Science was contraption day, we made catapults, wobble balls, and more. They also had crafts and a lesson on train safety. In the evening for group activity the kids played Predator / Prey where they are omnivore, carnivore, herbivore, and a couple humans and they all vie for food and water beans. Both boys had a great time and are planning on participating next year; I would like to be involved again as well.

Alex has been working 3rd shift all summer which has put her on a very odd routine. She's still supposed to take a couple placement tests before finalizing her enrollment for the Fall semester at Mott. She has one class she is retaking for a passing grade (part of the academic probation clean-up), a second guitar class and she needs to get her math and English credits squared away. Supposedly her manager is moving her back to days next week, which better happen so she can get back on a normal schedule before classes start!

I am going to be returning to school myself in the Fall through Mott Continuing Education, which excites me very much. They are online classes which is optimal for my busy life, I can still substitute teach without scheduling problems and get the boys to their activities. The classes I'm interested in are about starting a 501c corporation, writing grants, and fundraising. There are many ideas I have for supporting academics through artful endeavors and it's getting to be time to put all my experiences together in a cognitive form and start branching out.....but first, I've got a lot to learn. ;)

Robert is also heading into a huge shift as far as his employment goes. Not going to give it away yet but our family routine will adjust drastically, in a good way, very soon.

Ultimate Outing

2011-07-23T21:54:00.024-04:00

Wow, finally got through all my pictures and selected a few to post but it was really tough. The boys had a great time both camping in Port Austin and at 4H Mystery Clue Camp which I will post about later but for now I'll just share about my adventure out west. For years Rob has been trying to get a business trip together that I could tag along on but for one reason or another it never came together, the stars finally aligned and two clients committed and got their deposits in for work in northern California AND it just happened to come together during the same week the kids would all be gone so that made making arrangements for them all the easier.
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We headed out early on a Sunday morning, me not having flown in close to 15 years, was a little apprehensive about all the new security in place. I fit everything into a carry-on bag and had another large purse with my in-flight essentials, iPod, new Yoga mag, gum, journal, etc.

We got through check-in with no problems, at the gate we heard over the loud speaker Rob Parton to the counter please. Thinking it was about all the tools in his suitcase we were a little nervous but we get up there and the attendant says "we need to change your seats, we're going to bump you up to first class." What!? Apparently there was gum on the seat and since we were traveling together and there was room we got bumped....cool!

Flew into Houston first, made a very easy connection and then made our way to San Jose unfortunately back in coach which felt veerrrryy cramp after our roomy accommodations on the first leg. Arrived early and safely, got the rental car, checked into the hotel, he showed me where the shop was, we picked up a few supplies, had some food and chilled out for the night.
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Monday morning I dropped Rob at the shop, found a Starbucks had my peppermint mocha and spinach/egg/feta wrap then drove a few minutes away to the cute little town of Campbell. Rented a 3-speed bike from Treads and pedaled across the street to a park where I caught the Los Gatos Trail, spent a couple hours riding it to both ends, one just stopped in the middle of the city, the other direction went into a state park, probably did a little over 20 miles total. The weather was perfect, sunny but not to hot with a little breeze. I was amazed to see man-eating sized dill along the sides of the trail, dill is a weed in the true sense of the word in this area. The trail at one point runs behind an industrial area and during their break employees would come out and get some exercise in.

After I was done riding I turned in the bike and explored the artsy downtown area, there was a kaleidoscope shop that was incredible, a retro second-hand store, soda pop/candy shop where I found some wacky packages for the boys (remember those?), and neat mystic type place where I couldn't resist purchasing some new incense and 'healing' stones. Picked up Rob at the shop and had a fantastic dinner of middle eastern food at Dish-n-Dash just a stones throw from the hotel.
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Tuesday after dropping Rob I headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. There is a ton of stuff to do there and I planned to check out several of their gardens but the weather was cold and drizzly so after perusing the Japanese Tea Garden (incredible) and the Botanical Garden (Free that day!) I decided to take the adventure inside at the deYoung Museum of Art enjoying Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris exhibit. Being by myself I splurged and did the audio tour which was quite interesting, providing background and commentary from fellow artists and family members. Picasso was a bit of a scoundrel in his personal life and his very early work was extremely 'normal' and beautifully done. There was a painting of his first wife Olga that was stunning which made me wonder if it was more challenging or easier to present his subjects in such a grotesque state ie: cubism. There was quite a bit of sculpture by Pablo as well, elementary but interesting. Some men were practicing their Tai Chi and some women their fan dancing in the park. The tea garden was inspirational and calming, I loved all the stone pieces and was in awe of the amount of bonsai. In one of the pictures below a gardener works carefully on a shrub, and I thought my gardens were a lot of work!

The botanical garden was phenomenally done and there was so much that I took photos of I couldn't even choose, a few I'll post along the side bar because I just loved to colors, absolutely dazzling, my camera can't even do them justice. After Rob got done we drove 'inland' toward Fresno, to a not-so-small rodeo town called Clovis. Here it was HOT! but lucky for us they were having a cool spell.....
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Wednesday after getting Rob to work I drove northward to enjoy Yosemite National Park. My timing was perfect as I pulled up right as the entrance gates were opening. I'd been told you can wait hours in line just to enter the park. Once you pay the toll it's 34 miles into the valley at 25 miles an hour an a gorgeous and winding road. I rented a bike and off to the trails I went marveling at the waterfall, rocks, river, and stone bridges. The weather down in the of the park was perfect.

I had to stop when I went by the stables so I could pet some horses. There are such wonderful animals, I miss having them around the property, there hasn't been I horse I've met yet that doesn't love a good nose rub or jowl scratch. On my way I went around the loop one more time but by now the trail was getting very congested with more and more visitors and between you and me their trail etiquette was crap. So I turned my bike in, picked up a few items at the gift shop and started the long and glorious drive out of the park noting to self that I must return with the whole family sometime. When I got back to the shop I almost passed out from the heat. I don't know how Rob survives working in that type of heat all day. Although he really didn't want to do anything I coerced him into going out to dinner at Tahoe Joe's a local steakhouse and it was fantastic, I was satisfied with the appetizers and salad let alone the dinner!

Thursday I did an adventure closer to 'home'...the Chaffee Zoo and the Fresno Art Museum. The zoo was small but very well run, they had educational talks and feedings going on nearly every half hour. I caught part of the bird show and was impressed to see several teens working as volunteers, pet a stingray and had a great chat with one of the keepers about their care and breeding, fed a giraffe, and smiled like a dork for 20 minutes watching a chimp swing back and forth and a mother orangutan maneuver around with her little baby.

The art museum was rather small but had a nice variety of pieces. In the lobby as you first enter was a huge sculpture orchestrated by two high school teachers and put together by their students that brought attention to the homeless issues in Fresno. Another gallery had renderings for an eco-village intended to be built from reused materials and provide shelter for the homeless. There was also a gallery of woodblock prints, some modern paintings, and an eclectic mix of sculptures. This was my last day on my own since Rob finished his work successfully we then headed back to the coast and stayed in Pismo Beach for the night.

Friday we got our belongings together, had a big breakfast at Denny's and jumped on Highway 1 for a beautiful drive up the coast. Our first stop was to check out the elephant seals, laying on the beach, barking, molting, flipping sand, flopping to new spaces, and some floating in the water, very interesting to watch.

Next we pulled off at Ragged Point to stretch our legs and fill the tank with some $5.44/gal. gas, the only place to fill up for quite a ways. The overlook was outstanding and I went crazy over all their flowers and plants.

Moving on our next respite was in Big Sur an artists' community that Rob knew I would go nuts over, which I did. I snuck a few pictures of the artwork but I didn't want to take to many for fear they would find it intrusive. There was a cool stage area where they have concerts and dance performances and one artist made several 'spirit nests' out of tree branches. If we didn't have to travel home by plane I would have bought some art but interested I took several business cards to maybe purchase by internet in the future and splurged on a gorgeous silver and amethyst ring. Rob found the real estate listings for the area intriguing from a couple acres of land for $3 mil. to a fully built, off-the-grid compound for $17 million. Yea, no problem....

We finally came off the road in Salinas, to rest up for our return home which was long, cramped, and hot. Flying all night long is tough, I didn't sleep at all, so I was pretty trashed the next day. I'll spare you all the gory details but let me just say, Phoenix Airport -- BOO! Our last jump from Chicago to Detroit I sat by a woman with a newborn who was bringing him to meet her husband's parents in Dearborn. She was so worried about him crying, but he settled down quickly and slept the entire short flight, we started talking near the end of the trip and I even ended up holding him while she got her belonging together at the end of the flight. Her husband hasn't even seen the baby in person yet, only by Skype because is in Dubai taking care of family business and she is staying in San Francisco (better medical and safer). I can totally relate to that phase and am grateful I had family to help me when the kids were babies.

Although it was a fantastic adventure, there's no place like home. I'll write more about what we've been up to later. Hope everyone is having a fabulous July.

Trippin'

2011-07-09T14:07:00.007-04:00

Everybody is getting ready to hit the road. The boys will be doing their annual trip to Port Crescent State Park with their grandparents, something they look forward to with great delight. My husband's family has been going there since he was little except for a few rare summers where they ventured somewhere different. It's cool to have such a time honored tradition, something that never really came together in my own family. (Today's mandala is another Sue O'Keffe creation.)

Both Ben and Ethan passed their swimming test with flying colors, they are getting very strong and confident in the water. Ethan is a bit of a goofball but Ben is pretty serious. He's even thinking about going all the way to get his lifeguarding certificate so he can lifeguard when he's 16. Great starter job.

Rob and I will be heading off to California for the week, while he does a couple of service calls I will get a chance to explore San Jose and Fresno. My itinerary currently is to hit the Los Gatos Creek Trail on rented bike, peruse the Golden Gate Park, bike again in Yosemite and check out the zoo and art museum in Fresno. When he's done with his work we'll take a day to drive up Hwy 1 which should be amazing.

Enjoy a few snaps from my garden, things are finally starting to come together around here, with help from the boys we've won back a few more areas and the blooms are starting to abound. Alex has been making her share of trips to the counselor's office at Mott CC trying to get her financial aid and schedule in order. She is going to finish her general ed. Associate degree so at least she can say she has finished something. From there she may take a year off to work (hopefully more in her field of music/drama) or take the next step to working on her bachelor's. She's feeling pretty good about the plan so for her it's lookin' like blue skies.

Hope your summer is shaping up nicely. Check back in a week or so for my California report!

Summertime Frenzy

2011-06-30T19:38:00.011-04:00

Ben and Ethan enjoyed the basketball day camp very much, they both knew different kids at the camp and picked up some new skills. Fox has been spending his time working for me around the yard, mowing, trimming, raking, schlepping, etc. and also found time to check out an economics class online. This week he has been at an idTech Camp on the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus, Video Game Design-RPG. Monday the younger boys and I spent the day on campus, Starbucks to start us off, then the comic book store, Hands-On Museum, lunch at a Greek restaurant (they both loved the Mousaka), wandered around Borders, spun the big cube by the Student Union, then they scootered around the West Quad while we waited for Fox to finish.

My dad has been working at scanning all our family slides into the computer. He gave me some of what he has done so far on disc. Here is one circa 1967 of my mom the day of her graduation for a Masters in Education from Wayne State University. I am not quite two, to young to remember who attended the ceremony or any other whoopla.

Since school ended we've also had our VBS at church. I used the Agents in Action program, but adapted it to three days, to view click here. I also wrote dramas for the open and close of the day that introduced campers to the Armor of God. Around 40 kids participated and things went well overall. It was interesting working with a 'tween-age' drama/music team but things worked out and I certainly learned a lot as I always do everytime I plan something. Games seemed to be the biggest hit, running, throwing and shooting things you just can't go wrong with! But my boys also commented that all the storytellers were very good. We fed them some healthy snacks and they enjoyed the crafts as well.

"Train Me Up"
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Last Saturday we ventured down to Monroe, Michigan for the annual "Blessing of the Land" ceremony/celebration. Mother had asked that a tree be given to the IHM gardens in her memory, when my brother called to inquire the director voiced a need for garden benches so one was donated in her memory, since she was cremated there is no head stone, now this is at least a place to go and commemorate. It is a very fitting place for her memorial to be since there are many people there helping take care of the place and her bench will be taken care of as well. She always wanted to be taken care of. The ceremony was short and sweet, we sang a rather timid rendition of 'Holy Ground', the prayer interestingly enough was an ancient, wordless Native American blessing, then a time for open prayers, "thanks for the sunshine, the workers, the garden, etc." Ethan helped hand out the worms, everyone got one to go place in the garden somewhere. My aunt found a beautiful and most appropriate garden sculpture to sit along side the bench. Benjamin has suggested we go visit each year on gramma's birthday. That would be nice.

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Next week I will be preparing for 4H Mystery Clue Camp, I'll be doing science activities and experiments with the 2nd-6th grade participants. Ben and Ethan will be attending the 3-night camp. But before then I'll be heading off on a business trip with Rob to northern California. I haven't been on a plane in years! Going to try and just take a carry-on......

Relish the Time

2011-06-14T10:46:00.012-04:00

The school year ended with a whirlwind of activity and last minute gatherings. Ethan is now done with his elementary days and will be moving up to the Ruth Fox building next year for 5th grade along with brother Ben who will be in 6th. All the boys will be on the same schedule so no more double bus duty, everyone will be gone by 7am with school starting at 7:30am and finishing at 2:35pm. This will make things much simpler when it comes to subbing since I won't have to figure out a place for Ethan when I start early.

The Bay City Planetarium field trip was a good time, the day was clear and blustery. It was a shame that we were inside for movies instead of outside enjoying the weather, we did go outside to eat lunch though much to the delight of the seagulls.

The Art & History Festival field trip was very well done, I loved the passion of the people involved in the different living history organizations. They really take their stuff seriously from presenting the information to making sure their outfits and items are as authentic as possible. We heard about the 'war' over Toledo, Abe Lincoln's background, medical procedures on the battle field, various soldier units, and basic cannon safety and usage.

Saturday we stopped back at the festival and checked out the art booths, while we were watching a cannon demonstration I noticed Abe and a soldier conversing under a tree. The fruit art of a young culinary student was pretty amazing too.

I've also been sifting through stuff in the house and trying to get organized plus working on rescuing more garden areas. My energy feels very low lately and I'm not sure how to snap out of it, I nap daily in between running around and working. The end of the school year has left me a bit meloncholy for our old homeschool life. I wish I could take parts of homeschool and public school and meld them together for the perfect experience, the boys however are used to being with their peeps and are not into being home again, at least not at this point. I do also enjoy my 'me' time when the kids are all gone for the day and substituting teaching is very rewarding as well, so I guess things are good for now.

This week we've got some dentist and ortho appointments, Fox will get his braces this summer. I just get Alex's paid off and we're on to another round, whoo hoo. Ethan and Ben are doing a basketball day camp at the high school plus we've got two baseball games. Next week is our Agents in Action VBS at church which I am coordinator of and the last week in June Fox will be at a video game design camp at U of M Ann Arbor while the younger boys jump into swim lessons.

Alex is busy working at the BK and hanging with her buds, she was disappointed to find out she did not make it into Grand Valley for the fall because of a couple bummer grades so it looks like she'll be at Mott for another year doing some GPA clean-up and trying again. We also talked about her investigating what Oakland University has to offer.

Signing off for now.

Quickly Slipping Away

2011-05-28T21:04:00.005-04:00

Today's mandala was captured from Moment to Moment blog, if you'd like to see more of their gorgeous creations and their process click HERE.

Finally made it to one of Ethan's baseball games since many times Ben is playing a soccer game or has practice on Tuesday's at the same time as Ethan's games Alex has been helping me out by taking her little bro to baseball while I take the other to soccer. Thank you. I finally made it to a Friday game, they did really well and it is always interesting to watch the kids pitch to each other. We've got three boys who are working on their arm. Ethan has been practicing his pitching at home but during games he usually plays shortstop or midfield. He's sportin' some seriously long skater boy hair right now but a hair appointment is made and he is looking forward to cutting his luscious locks. I can't believe how much it grew since the beginning of the school year!

Fox's track season ended on a bit of a bummer, they went all the way out to Carrollton for the Tri-Valley Conference, warmed up, lined up for the first race (2-mile) and then came a rumble of thunder so rules say the meet must be postponed for a certain amount of time, so they sat on the bus and waited only to have the officials make the difficult choice to cancel the meet since it was continuing to thunder and it was raining. However, the last meet he ran, Lapeer West Invitational he had a phenomenal showing, he came in 2nd in the 1-mile with his best time ever...5:56.....Woot! The kid who won was one of those runner savants that stayed a half a track ahead of the group the entire race, so it was on. It looked as though Fox was going to come in third but on the last quarter mile he poured it on and whizzed passed his closest competitor for a great finish.

The school year is zooming to a close with many final presentations, honors night, concerts, etc. This week Ben will go to Otter Lake for his Trek Adventure Field Trip at Covenant Hills Campground and participate in a variety of team building activities including the Zip Line! Ethan will go to Bay City to the planetarium with me as a chaperon and then on Friday I get to go with Ben's class to the Art and History Festival between the Chatfield School and Mott CC campuses to see some amazing art and a civil war reenactment.

Ethan was assessed for band this past week and although he insisted prior he wasn't interested in being a part of it he is now talking about playing trumpet. I still want him to continue with his guitar as well and I'm concerned about his practicing habits which are a bit lax to say the least. I'm glad he's excited about it but I told him we'll wait until Fall to make the final decision. Ben will continue with percussion next year; the bands did an informal concert for the elementary to get them jazzed up to be in band and Ethan was so proud he told all his friends his brother was playing the bass drum and bells. Fox will however, say goodbye to his Euphonium for high school since it's really not his thing as you can tell by his D+ because he never practices or turns in said practice sheets which is the majority of their grade. He's As and Bs in all other subjects. Oh well, we all can't be Branford Marsalis.

After several summers of neglecting my gardens I have finally got my mojo back and am enthusiastically working my way through my perennial gardens and getting them in tip top shape. When things begin to bloom I'll share some pictures and maybe even some before and after shots. It is incredible to think that will all the different varieties of plants I have around here I've never purchased any perennials. But this year I treated myself to a few new purchases. Davelin Farms had the most gorgeous Bleeding Hearts for only $6 a pot and I've always wanted to add them to my Hosta garden so I bought three (you know you're always supposed to plant in odd increments) and they look awesome in their new home. I also bought a vibrant red Asiatic Lily that I just couldn't resist. Instead of planting a vegetable garden I'm doing salsa ingredients in big containers. Next summer I'll probably dive back into a big veggie garden but it's not time yet.

I leave you with a little bit of my own yard art, a view across my pond. Have a fantastic Memorial Day everyone!

Plenty Goin' On

2011-05-19T15:51:00.008-04:00

I didn't mean to let so much time lapse between postings, the days just got away from me. Let's see, Fox returned from his Washington DC trip in tack and I timed the pick-up perfectly pulling in right behind the busses....love it! Alex went to prom AGAIN, but for the first time with an actual date. Fox has been doing well in track, his best being at the home meet, he took 2nd in the 2-mile and 1st in the 1-mile with a time of 6:19 plus they won the 4x800 relay again but didn't break the school record as they were hoping. We were getting a lot of stuff done around the yard and gardens, that is before the rain started. Took Jake in for his spring clean-up; see the before and after pics. In addition to working on some verfication and writing projects I've also been subbing, did a day in pre-school special-ed even and some floater days at the elementary while teachers did science training. I still don't understand why they don't hold training workshops when school is not in session..... Plus the LCCC had their "Spring into Song" concert which had a great audience both Friday and Sunday with selections enjoyed by all.

Fox thought the DC trip was decent but confessed that vacationing with a huge tour of people is not his first choice for sight-seeing. Everything seemed really rush, rush and since they had to rush off to the souvenier shop they missed Prince Charles and Obama coming out of the White House by ten minutes! He reported that everyone got along in his group which was good and the play "Happy Days" was a big hit too.

This has been ridiculous soccer season in terms of weather and game rescheduling. The photo below was from a couple of the decent night games we've had. The past Saturday was just awful with the rain going on all day but the kids still played because there was no lightning. We had the Noon game and by then the field was so flooded when the kids kicked the ball it wouldn't even go anywhere because there was so much water. I must admit I was a a bit disgusted the coach (who was also refing) didn't call the game after half time since it was so cold and miserable. The kids hung in there, I give them credit, and guess who got sick....our coach. Practice was canceled for Tuesday because of it.

We have had so much rain lately that the two ponds on our property are about to connect. However, it doesn't seem to bother our new neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Goose, in fact we've got two couples, one with 4 goslings, the other with 3. They usually don't stay long but I'm starting to wonder if these are the same geese that keep coming in every year. Wish I could tag them somehow.....

This is our last full week of school for the year. Woot! Since we have a long weekend around Memorial Day there will be two 4-day weeks then three and a half days and we're done!!! Ethan will do 4th-grade graduation on the last morning of school, All-Band Concert is the last Monday of school and I will get to chaperone one more trip with Ethan's class to the Bay City planetarium. Hope its a good one.

Off He Goes!

2011-05-04T21:10:00.010-04:00

After two canceled meets the middle school track team finally got their chance to run at the Brown City Invitational that hosted seven teams from surrounding areas. This was the first time Fox ran three events during a meet. He started off strong in the 2-mile and came in 5th place, even got to hear his name over the loudspeaker. The 1-mile race was next after not much down time, his legs were sore and although he ran a good race and came in really strong in the end he did not place. Unfortunately I had to leave to get to LCCC practice and missed the 4 x 800 relay but from all accounts I've heard it was pretty incredible, the North Branch team took it by a landslide. Our first runner got them a 200 meter lead and every runner in turn kept and increased the lead, very exciting.

Ben played his second soccer game on Saturday, got the first goal in of the game and they won again 5-3, tomorrow I'll finally get to see them play. Ethan had baseball pictures at the same time as the game so we had to divide and conquer. Fox also had the state forensics competition down at Wayne State University on Saturday although I did not attend. He did great, made it into the semi-finals, and received an Award of Excellence plaque in Sales. I think New Balance would be happy with his representation of the company.

Last night I dropped Fox off for the 8th grade trip to Washington DC; what a wild scene that was. Three busloads of teenagers heading off to Gettysburg, then DC to tour Arlington, the Memorials, the National Zoo and Smithsonians, with a stop at the Luray Caverns on the way back. It was funny to hear moms commenting how their sons wouldn't give them and hug or kiss because all theirs buddies were around, Fox was no exception but I knew how he was going to be before we even got there. I won't see him again until Saturday; as much as he's been driving me a little nutso with his teen-dizziness I kinda miss him already. Thankfully he's with a good group of guys to hang with for the trip though and I hope it will help him secure some friendships.

Prior to our weekend festivities I became royally obssessed as I'm sure many did. After watching the Wedding of William and Catherine on Friday I then got sucked in to all the background programs on them. I'm still jonesing for more info about the after parties. Princess Diana certainly did a great job with those boys, although they've had their "wild days" they've turned into two fine young men and England would be blessed to have William as king.

Talk about pomp and circumstance to the max, the entire ceremony was memorable but my favorite moments were 1) during James Middleton's reading from Romans 12, Kate looks up quickly at William and he gives her this sheepish grin and eye roll that was priceless, 2) John Rutter's composition "This is the Day" was magnificent and I was floored by the Westminister Abbey Choir in general, 3) as they did the carriage processional afterward I was touched when they went by the memorial, William saluted and Kate bowed her head, so very sweet. I can just hear the talk in my mind as they practiced their spacing so that he didn't elbow her in the head! and lastly just seeing William and Harry saunter down the aisle as they arrived and spoke with the clergy and their uncle (Diana's brother), it was so cool to see them walk comfortably in tandem as they made their way around.

Who'd have thought these two little curmudgens would turn into such fine men.

This little blond guy is certainly going to be one to watch out for, Mr. Tom Pettifer, son of William's former nanny, even though you never hear him talk you can tell he's got charm and confidence already.

Ok, well I guess I'll conclude my little tangent and get back to reality...... if I must. The kiss did surprise me though after such a sweet and personal ceremony I was anticipating William going all Clark Gable, grabbing Kate in his arms, dipping her and landing a long, lingering kiss on her, oh, but that's right they're English and gestures like that are most improper!

Back to gardening, editing and subbing......hope all is well in your world.

NEXT!

2011-04-26T15:47:00.004-04:00

Ben still hasn't practiced with the team yet but they played their first game Saturday before last and won 3-1. Ethan has had one baseball practice so far but not sure what will happen tonight since thunderstorms are expected. They already canceled the track meet in Millington but Fox still stayed after for practice. Rain is anticipated for most of the week, this will be great if the weekend is nice, it will make things more easily pullable in the gardens if you know what I mean.

This weekend we had a family outing to the Flint Youth Theatre to see a production of "To Kill a Mockingbird." It was excellent as was to be expected and a nice afternoon out together, we even had the "diva" with us! Not many places you can see quality entertainment with a family of six for well under $100.

Alexandra is excitedly finishing up her second college semester with most of her finals under the belt but just a couple make-up quizzes in guitar to take care of and then freedom.... till fall. Ta ta for now.

Much Ado About the Willows

2011-04-20T14:40:00.025-04:00

Well, we're still waiting for spring to kick in for good around here, we've had a couple teases but still the winter wants to linger. First photo is Benny's latest putt-putt golf creation, indoors of course using K'nex, pillows, and a putting practice set.

Next is a quick snap of Fox getting ready for the North Branch Broncos Invitational meet. He did pretty well and since he was the only entry in the Sales category he actually medaled. Still some polishing to do before state meet at Wayne State University the last weekend of the month. He's also officially set to run the 1 Mile, 2 Mile and 4 by 800 race for this year's track season. Coach Friend said we'll have to clear a seat on the bus for the ride home from meets so Fox can 'pass out.' He's really not phazed by the task and is excited to really show the endurance he's worked up from keeping in shape and running all winter long. His mile is at 6:13 right now which is good.

This week I got to go with Ben's 5th grade team to The Willows in Lapeer for a great ecology unit. All the lessons were designed to get the kids to think about our relationship with nature. It was a bleary morning as we started out to our first class (Spear throwing) we were getting snowed on, it let up fairly quickly however and the rest of the day was just cold and wet.

DAY 1

Arrival meeting and splitting into groups.

Spear Throwing Class.

Ben Man makes fire!

Learning about the Flint Watershed and playing 'Pooh sticks' to judge how fast the water is moving.

Last class, the basics of orienteering, or how to use a compass 101.

DAY 2

First class was in the Wigwam talking about Native American culture and habitats. Then they used their spear throwing skills to play the Chucky game and also try some other organic tools.

Next they made mud and worked on a native structure..... ew, yucky!

Orienteering Part Two, out on the trails with map and compass to find the flags and punch your cards.

Last class was Mud Oven! Learned about the technology then went inside, ground some wheat for flour, rolled out dough and made thin crust pizza that we cooked in the mud oven and they also churned up some ice cream! As you can see from the pictures day two was much more pleasant weather-wise than day one.

Yummy! This is all right in the backyard of Chatfield School, as our group was getting ready to leave for the day the students were coming in for their Ecology and Lego Robotics classes. Ben really liked this experience and is rather interested in becoming a Chatfield student now that he's seen some of the cool things they get to do as part of their regular studies.

Lovely Staycation

2011-04-11T22:01:00.005-04:00

Greetings. It's been a while again, just haven't been as motivated to blog lately. Last week the kids were on their spring break from school and Rob took a few days off also so we were all home together (except for the 18 y.o. who is always on the go). The decision to not go to Florida was a good one, it was nice to just be home and work on stupid little decluttering tasks that never get your attention. There are a lot of projects around the house to do but before we begin we have to be able to get to those areas so that is the current focus. Every time I take a load to the thrift shop I am elated. The beginning of June we have a "dumpster day" at the township hall so a lot of junk will go there and also our church hosts Care & Share Days which is basically a huge free rummage sale (or swap) where people bring things in good condition they don't need and others take what they do need. We always make a considerable donation and I really try not to bring a new batch of junk home with me.

I've also been working on my VP of publicity duties for the Lapeer County Concert Choir, getting contacts at newspapers, filling out forms to use public marquees, and preparing to start procuring ad space. Click HERE to see an article from the LAView. This from a press release I sent out, they only changed one sentence but unfortunately didn't use the photos I sent.

The boys, Rob and I also took advantage of the time together to have a marathon game of RISK that started on Monday and didn't end until Saturday! It was an interesting adventure but it will be some time before we'll have the luxury of doing that for a while. Ben's soccer coach called, practices start this week. Ethan's baseball coach called, practices will start probably next week. Fox is already practicing for track, first meet is at the end of the month....so it is gonna get crazy!

Finished John Grisham's "Testament" over the break too, one of the few books I've read in a long time that I didn't want to end and was surprised at the way it did end. For several days after I began writing the continued story in my mind, what I would like to have happen to the characters and their situation. I'm also still reading about and minutely applying Feng Shui principles, there's a lot to it not sure how serious I'll get about it but I do know I need to get the mirror out of my bedroom so I don't keep "looking back at old emotions." Still plugging away at "The Creative Call" and doing some assignments from the book in order to get a fresh shot of inspiration for future endeavors.

When the weather broke on Saturday we were all outside working, my favorite work outside weather, sunny and cool but not hot. Made the rounds on the property and picked up runaway trash, cleaned out some perennial areas, pruned the spireas and started putting wood chips down, got the Gramma Garden done first and laid it on thick just like gramma used to. Ben and I had fun sharing 'gramma-isms' about gardening as we worked. The boys would go down during spring break every year and help her with her gardens so they knew the drill when it came to the wood chip procedure, Ben said when they were finished working gramma would always exclaim 'whose beautiful garden is that? isn't that beautiful? is that the most gorgeous garden you've every seen!?' It's weird as soon as he said it I could totally hear my moms voice in my head saying it and I could see her decked out for working in her gardens (gloves, sunglasses, big hat). I really hope the rose bush makes it, I pulled it on my last trip down to the house and it was still blooming. When I first replanted it, it looked pretty grim but I'm hoping it will bounce back....I'll let you know.

Sorry there's not more excitement going on at the moment, things have been pretty laid back and that's just fine with me. I leave you with a Sonnet from which the text is used in one of the pieces the LCCC is working on called "I Am In Need of Music." Such a beautiful arrangment to these words. --

I am in need of music that would flow

Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,

Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,

With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.

Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,

Of some song, sung to rest the tired dead,

A song to fall like water on my head,

And over quiviering limbs, dream flushed to glow!

There is a magic made by melody:

A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool

heart, that sinks through fading colors deep

To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,

And floats forever in a moon-green pool,

Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.

~Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79)

Killin' Clutter

2011-03-28T12:01:00.012-04:00

The days have slipped away quickly and I didn't realize how much time had passed since I blogged last. Having less stuff has been my main focus lately as I've decluttered several areas of the house and taken a couple loads to the Thrift Shop and a lucative trip to the dump with truckful of scrap metal. But the end unfortunately is not as near as I'd like, there is much more to go through and donate, sell, or scrap as we prepare to dive into some massive house projects. Along with the decluttering I've begun to slowly implement some of the Feng Shui concepts into arrangements of some rooms. The entire process has been very refreshing and I'm looking forward to having even less!

The boys and I checked out Farmology, an educational program about agriculture which is funded by The 100 Mile Meal, a fantastic concept that entailed collecting donations of food, herbs, and cooking materials from within 100 miles of Lapeer county. Our 4H club donated the pork, and there was a collection of winter veggies (rutabaga, parsnips, carrots and potatoes), a fantastic coleslaw, squash, biscuits, apple cobbler and blueberry cobbler for dessert! Delish. After we ate we made our way through the exhibits that were hosted by local farms and kids from FFA (Future Farmers of America). I would have joined FFA just to get one of their awesome blue corduroy jackets. The best part was when we got home and I tried on my new, cozy, alpaca wool socks.....aaaahhhh.

In between days of decluttering I also did some subbing in the middle school (science & math) and the elementary (begindergarten, art and special ed.). I don't know which is more challenging the youngest kids or 8th graders, probably the older kids because they know better but they don't really care. This past Saturday the Lapeer County Concert Choir had a retreat at the Chatfield School to prepare for our Spring Concert, it was a fun time and we got a lot accomplished. During our break I had a moment to wander around the school which now goes up to 8th grade and I was really impressed with some of the projects they were working on in the upper grades. I'm seriously considering putting Ben and Ethan in for the lottery draw to attend there for middle school. I know North Branch is doing the best they can with what they have to work with but I'm really concerned about some of the things I've seen in the middle school and think Ben may do better in a different atomosphere. We'll see if they get drawn and then decide from there. For the 2011-12 year we'll stick with where we're at cause they'll both be in the upper elementary together and Fox will shift to the high school so I won't really have to deal with middle school.

As I was be-bopping through the house the other day I noticed this sign on an empty cupboard, not sure exactly what the game was the boys were playing but it must have been pretty intense to need a 'panic room.' This made me chuckle. The cabin fever has been pretty severe this year and their imaginations seem to be a bit foggy as they more and more opt for tv, computer, or 'battling' (fake fighting) which drives me crazy! Since the weather has eased up I've been kicking them outside more but they never seem to stay out for long, although Ethan has been heading out on his own with his BB gun to shoot birds, which I'm a little torn about.

Yesterday's pig club meeting was the most informative yet, we learned about what to look for in selecting a pig, how to set up their housing, and the proper way to feed them. We've decided not to buy a pig this year but work on getting an adequate set-up in place first and participate in fair as observers so we'll know better what to expect. The leader said this is fine to do. Update on the Space Camp contest, Ben did not make it to the interview round but will definately try for it again next year.

Fox participated in his first forensics meet at Anchor Bay High School this past Saturday, he scored better than I thought he would have since he was extremely unprepared in my eyes but he seemed to pull it together enough to get some positive feedback. He was pretty resistant to doing it in the first place but when Rob picked him up at the end of the day Fox's first comment was "well, I didn't hate it as much as I thought I was going to." His next chance will be after the break at our North Branch home meet, hopefully he can step it up a notch for that one. He's also starting track this week.

Next week the boys will be on their spring break, originally we planned to go down to Florida to visit Rob's parents but then decided against it because of the gas and distance. Instead Rob and I will continue the 'have less stuff' movement and a few small projects, hoping to even get started on some outside tasks if the weather cooperates. Plus Rob was in Idaho for far longer than he had anticipated on a work project and is happy just to be home, thankfully he did figure things out with some help from the techs in Italy and left Idaho with everyone at the shop much happier.

Less is more......

Jeepers!

2011-03-08T09:42:00.009-05:00

Starting out with a hopeful "Spring Mandala" however our weather here in Michigan has not been cooperating. This weekend Rob and I went out to dinner for our anniversary which was not very well timed as a consistent snow fell throughout Saturday evening while we mucked our way to The Melting Pot and back. Good food though. The week was pretty mellow, I worked pulling some video entries, got a few areas organized in the house, took Ben and Fox for haircuts (Fox even got some highlights), fit a couple workouts in, and subbed in the middle school one day.
Friday I picked up the older boys from school at 2:35pm and we stopped by the Thrift Shop before heading over to the elementary school so I could be the Mystery Reader in Ethan's class room and then do baseball sign-up afterward. What did I delightfully spy there?! This fantastic coffee table, in terrific shape, minimal scratches, legs all tight, couldn't pass it up....guess how much....$30, sweet! Ben grabbed a Wheel of Fortune game for $.50 and Fox some jeans and a flannel shirt, $.50 each.

For Ethan's class I read two large Golden Books that I had from my childhood, "The Big Tidy-Up," and "The Pink Elephant with Golden Spots." The kids enjoyed them both; afterward I had some time to chat with Ethan's teacher and several of my 'kid buddies' as they got ready to dismiss for the day. After school we got Ethan signed up for baseball...he'll finally be in kid pitch this year. Plus Fox talked to one of the coordinators about training and working as an umpire. He was told they will be posting a notice about the one-day clinic coming up soon, so be on the lookout. The guy who's in charge is also Fox's track coach, which will be ramping up on the 23rd of this month.

Fox has also been putting the final touches on his first Sales Pitch for forensics, selecting New Balance running shoes as his product. He still needs to gather his props together and I purchased a couple pairs of NB shoes off ebay for cheap that he can use and wear.

Benjamin is also working on a project, applying to go to Space Camp. He wrote an essay, collected the required three recommendations, and hopefully will make it to step 2, a personal interview; four students will be selected to attend camp in Huntsville, Alabama this summer, on complete scholarship. This is a huge step out of his comfort zone, first off being away from home by himself, and also flying, but he is determined to get there so I hope his efforts are favorable.

After months in a culinary slump I've had a resurge thanks to this fabulous book. I've tried several recipies, some I'd adjust a few things if I made them again but others are terrific as-is. Last night I made the Saucy Skirt Steak with Orange-Spice Sweet Potatoes, used a nice cut of venison backstrap in place of steak and was very pleased with how the sauce turned out with my long-neglected food processor. I've really got to use it more often. Plus I made steamed asparagus with it. Yum!

Alex is enjoying her spring break this week after performing well on all her midterm exams. The boys will have a half-day Thursday and no school Friday due to trimester break. But we'll keep busy helping a friend move into their new house. I leave you with an intriguing concept from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the 'Hug Shirt'. Interesting idea but I'd rather get mine the old-fashion way, from the ones I love.

In Memory of

2011-03-01T17:16:00.006-05:00

The past week I've been relating in a different way to the saying "forever and a day". This past Sunday was the one-year anniversary of my mother's death. It is still a surreal feeling, the past year has felt like forever and at the same time like only a day has past.

I've been having the oddest memories of our life together. I remember when I was very small (like preschool), living in Detroit, we would walk over to the library which was maybe a couple blocks away, then to the grocery store, we'd bring the grocery cart right back to the house with everything in it then run it back later. I always loved the library and remember the day I got my first library card. The house she moved into in Grosse Pointe was conveniently located a block away from the Kroger and she did the same thing there.

I remember one Christmas I got two new dolls and she made an entire wardrobe of clothes for them on her sewing machine. I still have the dolls and many of the clothes. She used to make outfits for special occasions for my brother and I too. There was one Halloween when we were still in Detroit, I was in first grade, she made the most darling witch costume for me to wear but I was mortified to have to walk all the way to school in it....by myself. I don't know why but after much crying and begging she still refused to walk me to school.

Being able to go and hang out in her classroom when I had a day off of school was always great. I loved helping her get things ready for the day or running an errand in the building for her. Her class was filled with cool stuff and I liked helping her students. The students were always in some type of awe about me being Mrs. Quatrine's daughter. Alex got to come hang out too a few times, and get a chance to see how public school would be when we were homeschooling during those early years. She was probably about third grade when she spent three days with gramma and got to be in a fellow teacher's room. Alex thought is was fine for a 'try' but it wasn't the routine she wanted day in and day out.

I recall a vacation out west where mother made an anxiety-filled climb up the 20-foot ladder that was the start of the Mesa Verde tour. She was terrified of heights and even more so of the water. I also recall being at various swim classes mother did over the years, public pools, private pools, she never gave up trying to get over that fear. It got better over time but she never became an avid fan of water.

The image of she and Alexandra sitting in amazement as they witnessed Fox Robert being born is forever etched in my mind. And I can hear mom saying "how's my honey girl!?" to Alex, which how she always greeted her when she was little. That brings me to think that she almost missed out on having a relationship with her grandkids altogether after she decided to boycott my wedding (super ouch). Rob and I called, begged, pleaded for weeks but she wouldn't come. I was 26 years old at the time, not saying I did it right and I don't recommend it, but we got engaged in October, and in December we found out we were pregnant, so instead of a June wedding we moved it up to March. If you weren't told I was expecting you would have never known but apparently this was too much for her to handle. Finally six weeks before I was due I made contact with her and said this is all ridiculous, I want my child to know her grandmother. Mom deep down really didn't want to miss out on the gramma-experience either and I think it took more out of her to stand against the wedding than she realized it would. We made amends and that was the beginning of a huge turn in our relationship. I can't imagine her not being a part of their lives.

For a season we got to sing together in the Fraser Chorale, a community choir; that was fun. I also remember when I was taking ballet and other dance lessons like crazy that mom took an adult ballet class and the ladies even performed at the recital. Mom did a nice job, she was very graceful albeit petrified.

Over the last seven or more years of her life mother had a multitude of medical procedures, some necessary, some cosmetic I was there in the waiting room for many and on recovery duty as well. I remember after her shoulder surgery both of us falling into hysterics over helping her go to the bathroom, she couldn't get her pants on or off herself so it was quite the process. Thank goodness she could still use the one hand to wipe with! Of course I got to make up for that in the final days, guess that's part of the circle of life...they wipe your butt and eventually you have to wipe theirs.

Judi was incredibly organized and methodical about things, a gene I only got in part. She was really obsessive in the later years when she lived on her own but as I look back she was like that all while I was growing up. I wish I could get a place for everything in my house and everything in its place, but until the kids are all out of the house I figure the effort is futile.

Dogs ruled and cats did too in her empty nesting years. We had some great pets growing up but the animals she got on her own always ended up to by some type of psycho....she loved them anyway. Her one poodle Lucky was greeted like the Newman character on Seinfeld, whenever we'd go over or she'd bring him to the house it'd be like....(with clenched teeth and sarcastic tone) oh, hello Lucky, just like Jerry would say to Newman.

As I wrestled with the decision of putting all the kids in public school I spoke with my mom about it. Being an educator she was surprisingly supportive about our homeschooling endeavors and never overbearing with her opinions, except for insisting Benjamin go to speech therapy (which was ultimately a good thing). She was a good barometer to help keep me on track and was well aware the kids were thriving and performing beyond their peers. Anyway, her final word on the subject was, "if you're going to do it, then just do it, and shut up about it!" That might have been some medication talking but she was right, once I definitively made the choice there was no looking back.

I polled the kids for some of their memories and got some interesting comments.

Ben: she made great biscuits, and liked to give a Christmas gift 'to all the boys,' everything in her house was breakable, she never went in the public pool, and she had a NO SNORTING rule.

Fox: she liked to travel but was a questionable driver and they got lost a lot around Philadelphia on their trip, she really liked to teach.

Ethan: she always had ice cream and she loved hugs from her Ethan boy.

Alex: a long night hanging out in the E.R. after gramma fell on the stairs in Mammoth Cave and hurt her shoulder, playing house in gramma's basement at the Moravian Mansion, her psycho pets.

Rob really misses their debates. She and he could banter back and forth on subjects with vigor but it never actually became argumentative. They both held their ground and neither one ever gave up the fight but they did concede to points well made.

My dad and brother are working on getting all our family slides scanned into the computer and put on discs. When I get my copy I'll post a few and take y'all on a trip in my way-back machine. Hoping some warm weather will arrive soon to help lift my spirits, things are pretty melancholy after our big Chicago trip, looking forward to the upcoming bustle of our spring sports trifecta, soccer-baseball-track oh, yeah!

Miss you, Mom and .... sorry.

Happy Birthday

2011-02-21T19:15:00.012-05:00

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!

2011-02-15T09:09:00.006-05:00

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 ...

2011-02-12T20:02:00.001-05:00

Excruciating, Exceptional, Exciting

2011-02-09T08:24:00.005-05:00

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'

2011-02-01T16:05:00.006-05:00

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

Checked It Out

2011-01-23T21:21:00.006-05:00

My two younger boys are totally enthralled with the Mythbusters television series. They record it and watch it almost daily. Lately they've even taken to trying out some of the experiments they do on the show, they safer ones that don't require hi-tech equipment or gun powder, thank you very much. Today Ethan had Rob help him modify one of their Nerf guns to make it shoot farther. First he checked with me if I didn't mind him taking one apart, "you know, ma, we've got plenty of them and really don't need another one" was his sales pitch. I gave the ok and he explained to dad what to do which basically entailed taking out a couple parts. They put it all back together and man oh man did it work! Those bullets now go I'd estimate four times farther than before the modification.....oh joy.

The photo below is to show that mandalas can be found anywhere and to lead into our next check out....

For the past few years since the boys are getting older I thought it would be cool to take them to the annual Auto Show but because of time or money it never happened, well the other day while checking email what before my wandering eyes did appear? a message on my homeschool co-op group offering free tickets. Woot! [yes, I still keep a toe in the homeschool world] So I made a quick phone call and snapped them up. Friday I pulled the boys early from school (because educational opportunities don't just happen in the building from 8am-4pm) and we headed down for Family Day. It was overwhelming all the cars that were there, I hadn't been to the show in maybe 20 years but it was still awesome. Ben and Ethan ran around and pushed every button they saw, jumped in any car that was open, and played every game they could stand to wait in line for. Fox had a little bit more subdued approach but thought it was quite intriguing nonetheless. He spent a lot of time checking out the all-electric, part electric, and natural gas vehicles. Plus there was one high, high, high end luxury car he drooled over for a spell, you know the one that for price says 'inquire for information' but really should have said 'in your dreams'. The Prius Swagger Wagon was also ogled over for some time by all the boys. It's a stretch limo van with all the bells and whistled, big screen, computer, etc. The Smart car exhibit hooked our attention for quite awhile and I was really digging the eBike. The latest thing seemed to be hooking your iPod, iPad, Blackberry, etc into your car, bike, whatever and then being able to access info and apps to the car. I'm not there yet, we still drive cars from the '90s.

Alex's new employment quest hasn't been going as hoped but she did get a new opportunity. Over the past couple months she's been "farmed out" to other Burger King's and has been called and begged to work closing at the Orion store many times. She recently talked to the manager about transferring since she's only been scheduled one day a week in Lapeer. The manager said they'd love to have her and to talk to the district person about a transfer. It's not exactly the ideal situation but you've got to work with what you've got and if it means they'll give her more hours she felt it was worth the drive....and they'll work with her school schedule. Nice.
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Fox brought home his paperwork to prepare for getting scheduled for classes next year at the high school....yes, it's that time already. He'll be doing Geometry, AP Prep English, and AP History we already know and for electives he's talking about doing Intro Business, Forensics and/or Speech for sure and he's not sure what else. He also signed up to do Forensics this year and will probably work on a Sales presentation or a Persuasive speech. I had a brief phone conversation with the coach and I like where he's coming from so far, hopefully this will be a good experience for my oldest son.

Finished Amy Yasbeck's book this week, With Love & Laughter John Ritter. Excellent, I highly recommend it especially because you know this person from all his work on television (plus her's also) and to get an idea of the man he was 'behind the scenes' is really cool. Amy has a very relaxed and humorous writing style that brings you along for the ride. It is commendable that she took her tragedy and turned it into a positive by bringing forward awareness on aortic annerysms (which is what caused John's death as well as his father Tex's). I am still in my multi-title mode so the side bar has morphed to a Reading List instead of Now Reading...
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Found a cool website to share for those adults who like a break from their grown-up-ness. Click Here for some coloring pages to help you de-stress. Blessings everyone and don't forget to bundle up!

Back to Life

2011-01-16T19:54:00.001-05:00

This morning I was finally back in regular church service and was just in the congregation. A couple services I missed because of prior commitments and then I was also back in teaching the kids so it felt really good to just be there to worship and receive the message. I have been attending this church for so long the people are really like family to me, which really hit me hard this morning when I realized how much I missed them. Perhaps because we have common beliefs, perhaps because in reality I see them more than my regular family, but either way they really mean a lot to me. The lady I sit next to in my 'regular spot' is a woman that is a pillar of the church, everyone calls her gramma and I am no exception. When things were really out of hand at home and I wasn't around for a time she called and checked in on me just to make sure I was still hanging in and keeping the faith; that meant the world to me. The women there are like sisters and aunts to me, they've seen me through good times and bad and I never felt judged or condemed by them no matter what I confessed was going on. The P&W leaders as well as the pastors and have been supportive and encouraging as I work to follow God's call and lead the children in musical and dramatic endeavors. I never would have had the courage or motivation if it weren't for them, not to mention all the parents that loving let their children participate. We had a wonderful time of praise and worship this morning and God's presence was there very strongly. I had been going through a battle of the mind this week and during one song I just released it all to the Lord because I know it is not healthy or neccesary to carry those mental burdens around. When pastor got up to begin he started with a really strong Word saying that you can no longer be concerned with things of the past, what happened to you in the past, what someone did to you in the past, you must release and move forward into the destiny that God has set forth for you putting all your focus there and toward the future. Amen. When I left I felt so relieved and confirmed because I had already made that determination in my mind during worship, even before he spoke it. So what if someone didn't want you to have something, so what if someone didn't understand you or misinterpreted your motives, so what if you never got an apology when you felt you deserved one. If it is not blessed by God then I don't want it anyway. If it is tainted in anyway then it isn't worth it to have. The bottom line is even though there are things in the world and in people that I haven't gotten I know without a doubt God has given me much, I have all that I need through His riches and glory.

Bouquet Mandala, a digital creation by Sue O'Kieffe

Alexandra has now attended all her classes at least once and is really excited about this semester, most of all Intro to Screenwriting. She says it is going to be fun but also a lot of work. Keyboard class is a little challenging only because it is late in the day after having 3 other classes and her energy starts to wane. Her current motivation is to find new employment and she has applied at several places; she went from working 5 days a week to only getting 1 scheduled day and then thankfully picking up other people's shifts. She needs more than one shift a week, that won't even cover her gas expenses. I commend her for the effort and have also given her a heads up when I see signs for new hiring going on. Thankfully she has been blessed with another new/used vehicle which makes things much easier. It makes me laugh when she just calls me to fill me in on things even though she could have waited to tell me later, but that's good and I'm glad she wants to keep me in the loop and values my thoughts. I've become more aware of how I present my opinions to her as well. We've come a long way, baby!

I finally was able to attend an LCCC Board Meeting and will soon be a new VP focusing mainly on PR which is pretty cool. My section leader noticed an article in our school news about my work with the school choirs and gave me kudos at the meeting which was very kind. I'm looking forward to getting to know our director more to and possibly working on other projects in the future. Another exciting development is my buddy from GTC has forged out on his own and opened a gym in Orion Twp. called FlipShop The open house will be over the next two weekends so if you live in the area please pass the word and check out the facilities (they're offering homeschool classes too). Ethan is interested in joining a tumbling class and I may investigate employment opportunities there as well, we'll see.

Check out this video from a story done by CNN about Buddhist monks creating a sand mandala, pretty incredible in my humble opinion......nobody sneeze!

Another Year of Possibilities

2011-01-04T21:20:00.005-05:00

Hard to believe the new year has begun. All the boys are back in school this week but Alex's classes don't start until next Monday. Our Christmas was probably the least stressful I've had in many, many years and we even started what we hope will be a new tradition for Christmas Eve. I finally finished Marlo Thomas' book which was absolutely fabulous. I knew she did extensive work with St. Jude's but I never knew her father Danny founded it. I'm now in the middle of several readings: Amy Yasbeck's book With Love & Laughter, John Ritter, Joyce Meyer's Battlefield of the Mind for Kids (research), The Four Agreements, and I finally bought myself a copy of Meditations from the Mat so I can highlight and make notes.

Don't ask me about resolutions because I don't make them. Each beginning of the year does prompt a resurge in heathly habits, kickin' up the yoga practice, I'm recording some Total Body Sculpt with Gilad to work in as well, and Pastor has called for a 21 day fast which I am participating in as well although I'm planning to go 30. I'm taking this one in stages, first no meat, then Daniel fast (fruits and veggies only), and at the end I'll do three days of juice/broth only.

My new interest lately is Mandalas, there are literally millions of them from various cultures. Over the course of 2011 I hope to increase my personal creation time through coloring mandalas, developing new collages, and writing; like creatively - not for work.

Fox's continued interest is running, he's becoming borderline obssessive about it. Even when we got the first snow he went out there and spent the afternoon shoveling his path in the back of the property so he could run, then later that day he went back out and ran. He tries to get out there everyday, even in the snow after school today he went out there. He's up to three and a half miles. When track season starts he's gonna be killin' in the mile run. He's also doing weights and calestenics but not daily. If he's not running he's usually playing some type of computer game. All the boys love their Wii and DS games but we're finally finding some semblence of balance. They know that in the morning they have to be dressed, have eaten, and gotten all their school stuff ready before they even think about sitting and playing a game or watching tv. It would be nice to downgrade all screen time in general over the next year (games, computer and television)....we'll see, it could happen.

Off we go again: 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, a clean slate, a new palete, endless possibilities.....so let's go color our world!

Namaste. Peace. Shalom. Godspeed.

Don We Now...

2010-12-21T17:34:00.012-05:00

I didn't really mess with photos on my last post but here is a snap of the first concert of the season, the Lapeer County Community Chorus at Hunter's Creek Church. Then there's Ben (the shorty) playing the bell set and Fox with his Euphonium. Ben is quite diligent in his practicing and never has to be reminded to do it, which I love. He also goes beyond what they are working on during rehearsals and tries to figure out parts on his own, many times calling me in to play duets with him. Since we didn't rent the bell set he just practices on the piano and I think it's a good thing. Fox's run with band is coming to a close but he'll finish out this year. He did what I asked and tried it for middle school, it's not his thing and I'm ok with that, next year it will open up his schedule for more electives.

The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of final preparations and performances. Although it was a bit crazy at times the Lord knew what he was doing in blessing me with these projects because it has really helped keep me going instead of wallowing around in grief. I know my mother would have appreciated and supported these endeavors and hope she's been looking over me through it all. Although our final dress/tech rehearsal for Star of Wonder left me wondering if this was truly going to minister. The annointing hit when the time finally came and the kids did a fantastic job, the shepherds rocked the house, actors delivered their lines well, the "wee" kings were too cute, and the vocal soloist touched my heart. One of our elders told me later he thought it was probably the best children's program the church had done. Glory to God! We even had a special moment at the end of the program, the second from the last song "Constellation Celebration" the kids come off the platform and dance around the aisles and when they came back up to the front a brother of one of girls danced up on stage with the rest of the cast. I was familiar with this boy and had him with us on Wednesday nights on a few occasions, he has some mental challenges but really comes alive when we work on music. Sister was concerned and tried to make him leave the stage but I intervened told her it was ok and invited him onto the risers with the group. He sang the final song "Look Up" (which he knew from being in with us) with the his face beaming and the biggest smile you've ever seen. It was truly precious and just that little moment made it all seem so worthwhile.

There were some other personal 'mini' miracles that happened surrounding my actors but I'll refrain from sharing them since they're personal, but as I started to get feedback and testimonies afterward it gave me a new understanding of why we were given this assignment. Pastor has also asked us back to do a couple selections from the program at the Christmas Eve service which was a bit of a surprise and a little last minute, but hey...I'm game.
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The school programs had a bit of a wrench thrown in due to snow days on Monday and Tuesday so we lost our 'dress' rehearsal for choir and two days of practice for the 4th grade skit. Then when we went to set the skit on the stage we had to change everything around because of miking issues. The kids did great and went with the revamp gracefully. I had to leave Mrs. Martin to finish things out because on top of everything else I was also running my daughter around because she totalled her car on an icy hill after the first snow fell. But it all worked out in the end, didn't they make for a cute cast!?

Friday night we went down to Rochester to drop off the band fruit at my in-laws and caught the light show on the way back. This is really a cool concept draping all the buildings and they've even added more down some side streets and further north of town.

Yesterday was the holiday choir program with the North Branch Schools. I had about 130 chairs set out initially and we had to pull out and set up another 100+ chairs there were so many people that came! I was floored. Unfortunately because of the trimester change, other commitments and some teenage blow-off the middle school and upper elementary group were not at their full capacity but they did well none-the-less. The NBE After School Chorus brought it full force and sang with all their hearts. Technical challenges aside it was wonderful. Afterward I had some positive feedback from several parents and grandparents plus had a father/son team with sound experience come up and offer to help me work out some kinks for the next program. What a blessing that will be. In all the excitment I didn't even take a picture even though I had the camera in my pocket the whole time. I emailed a few moms and hopefully they can send me some snaps.

Well, even though this batch of musical activities has concluded I've already begun receiving the download for my next assignments....a choir pops concert on Valentine's Day, coordinating VBS (found one I'm really excited about), working the creative arts camp at Paint Creek Center for the Arts (already talked to the director about some theme ideas), and a future ministry of "Praise Rocks!: A Children's Musical Giving God the Glory" - hopefully put together in a Saturday Kid's Praise Club format. But for now I just need to get busy wrapping.

I'll leave with a quote from Bill Rancic (I love the Bill & Guilliana show).

"Everything will work out alright in the end; and if it's not alright, then it's not the end."

Have a blessed Christmas everyone!

Damn December

2010-12-08T22:09:00.005-05:00

I've lived in Michigan all my life and I have never come to like winter. It's flippin' cold but thankfully there isn't much snow and I can only hope there won't be. Praying for a mild winter all around. The boys however are estatic about the white stuff and immediatly went out to try and make snow balls. But I guess I shouldn't complain, Rob is spending the week in Manitoba, Canada on a training and service call.....the shop is way out in the middle of nowhere he said, and its good the guys from the shop have been chauffering him around otherwise he'd be totally lost.

Last weekend I participated in my first concerts with the Lapeer County Community Chorus, the Friday night performance at Hunter's Creek Church had a decent turnout and went well but the Sunday afternoon concert at Trinity United Methodist Church rocked the house! It was packed to the gills, they had people in the choir loft and brought in more chairs to the sanctuary. Everyone sounded great; voices, brass, and our amazing accompanist. I have the utmost respect for our director Garth Starr, I'm really learning (and 'borrowing') a lot from him.

Now I'm in the final throws of the Star of Wonder program which will be ministered next Wednesday and we're finalizing things for our Holiday Program at North Branch Schools. My elementary group has been a delight, the Ruth Fox group has gotten through a lot in a very little time and the middle schoolers are starting to perk up to things as well.

In addition to that Ethan's teacher asked me about helping the class with a holiday skit so I found a cute Reader's Theater script that we ammended a bit to accomodate the whole class and I've been in three times so far to work with them. The 4th graders will be putting on a program next Friday and that's where we'll present "A Crazy Mixed-Up Christmas Tale." The kids have really been getting into it and are coming up with some great ideas for costumes and props. Some have even ventured into using silly Elf voices and Mrs. Claus is just too cute.

Not sure if I had mentioned it before but the Praise & Worship Choir I'm directing at church made the jump from practice room to platform last month. It's a small group at the moment but I'm anticipating more people adding in soon now that they've seen what it really entails during services. Most of my members are on the older side but I'm very proud of them for pushing beyond their comfort zone and am honored to be working with them in this capacity. Make a joyful noise for the Lord, all ye lands!

Comic from Stuff No One Told Me (but I learned anyway).

So, I hope people are getting that my first post of the month title has been a take-off on a Broadway play title. Get it? Damn Yankees, No No Nanette, Oklahoma.....? Oh, whatever. Gotta think of a good theme for next year, any suggestions?

Not So Bloggy

2010-11-23T12:58:00.007-05:00

Haven't been feeling very bloggy this month at all, not that there hasn't been things going on; quite the contrary, there's been plenty. Ben and Ethan have been into writing letters lately (however I'm still trying to get them to understand how to address them properly), recently after a disappointing candy experience Ben actually sat down a wrote a letter to the Spangler Candy Co. that makes Dum Dum suckers to express his disappointment in the lack of chewy chocolaty center to his lollipop. Low and behold he received a sizable box in the mail with not just a sucker but a whole bag of them with a nice response explaining that sometimes things get through quality control at the end and the beginning of the runs and the suckers don't get filled properly. Needless to say Ben was beyond excited and promptly sat down to write a thank you letter to the company for their attention to customer satisfaction.

Ethan's latest shot in the arm was being accepted to the Safety Patrol! He works during the 4th grade recess to make sure everyone stays safe on the playground. The first day he had a few of his peers giving him grief but the teachers and principal backed him up and dealt with the defenders and it hasn't happened since. I'm very proud of him for getting all the paperwork filled out and turned in on time and for taking his responsibilities seriously. Anyone considered has to have good grades and no disciplinary infractions.

--

Had several substitute jobs over the past few weeks and have now been in every building at least once. One thing that I have observed as consistent in any building or grade is that the productivity significantly decreases after lunch and each hour after until final bell. My remembrance of school was that most kids were pretty concerned about their grade and giving a good performance but the overall attitude lately is pretty noncommittal, they don't really care if they get an A, an E, or even finish the work. I'm still trying to understand how they handle the learning "impaired" in the upper grades, mainstreaming them into the regular classroom makes for an extremely disjointed day. I also recently learned that our teachers, principals, nor administration have any say in the curriculum the district uses, it's all state mandated. Yuck! Takes all the creativity out of being a teacher....plus one size does not fit all, compared to the educational strides being made in China we're moving toward the demeanor of a third world nation. Sad. Ethan and I had a discussion about homeschooling again. I'm torn. There are things I like and dislike about public and home school. I wish I could take the best pieces of both to make a well-rounded experience for the boys. Fox will be making the move to high school next year will probably duel enroll the whole way through with the goal of obtaining a business associates along with his high school diploma, plus he'll take advantage of the ed-tech program as well.

Last weekend the kids learned how to make ravioli from scratch with my Dad. It was quite the process but with all the helping hands we got quite a few made just a few hours. They tasted great but I'm thankful for frozen ravioli, cuz it's a lot of work to make it like they did in the old country. We went out in the afternoon to see the Megamind movie which was cute; evil becomes good and good becomes evil.

Alex got registered for the Winter semester at Mott. She was a bit shocked when I supported her taking non-core classes but I'm glad to have her in something that will be more interesting. She got lucky and has the majority of her classes on Monday and Wednesday out at the Flint campus which is where most of the music and theater classes are and will taking Intro Acting, Intro Screenwriting, a Beginning Guitar class, and Keyboard I (piano with the teacher we used to go to for private lessons). Then she's got Ethics one night at Lapeer with the same prof she had for Intro Philosophy.

--
Ethan has been doing well with his guitar lessons and I've been working on getting my string fingers back also, working through my classical guitar book. It takes a while to get those callouses back, but they fade surprisingly fast. Soon Alex, E and I will be able to work on some selections together. I also purchased some painting supplies and am looking forward to some cathartic creating. Plus I've been given an assignment by the counselor to "write it out" and purge all the feelings about mother's illness, death, and family. This is something that's been in my mind to do but I haven't put it into action yet. She wants me to get cracking on it tout suite so we can analyze and emulsify. I may not be doing much else over the next few weeks.

The concert for the Lapeer County Community Chorus is next week already; then Star of Wonder program shortly after that (I'll begin painting shirts tomorrow) and finally the NB Schools program. Choice Time Choir has been challenging time wise because they cancel it for assemblies sometimes without notice. I only get them for a half hour a week as it is! Thankfully they're a great bunch and pick up songs very quickly. Next year however I think we'll morph to an after school practice with the upper elementary and the middle school together....

Looking forward to Turkey Day with the out-laws. Rob will be heading off to Manitoba shortly afterward and the rest of us will hold down the fort and wait for the snow to fall.

No No November

2010-11-05T07:31:00.003-04:00

Feeling obligated to update but not really inspired; it's been an odd week with much going on yet nothing at all. Sports have finally concluded for the fall season with a final make-up soccer game Tuesday (man, it gets cold when that sun goes down). Halloween was decent, we just went around up in North Branch, the first time we've done that in many years since we used to go to mom's house in Grosse Pointe for the last five. Rob and I worked the Haunted House, he in the parking lot and I taking tickets and psyching people out at the door before they entered. There were about 175 people that came through which was their biggest night of the month. I was interested to learn he runs it as a fundraiser for athletic, community, and church groups; those who come volunteer get to take a decent portion of the night's proceeds. Nice.

Also dealt with a stomach flu which had me down for a few days, the worst of it only lasted 24 hours but it takes several days until you're on solid ground again. Ben stayed home yesterday with it. I did manage to eek in a sub job at the high school on Wednesday for one of the science teachers, Intro Macrobiology classes and an Environmental Science class. Went well, pretty mellow with only one extremely immature bunch right after lunch. Go figure. This is the same group from the nightmare English classes I had last year.

Alex's financial aid finally got straightened out and logged on her account so Fall is now paid for in full and she is released to register for the Winter semester. She is finally getting a clue that she should have thought things out better during her senior year and has been flip flopping in what she really wants to do. Everything she's been bringing up now are things I'd mentioned to her before but she didn't want to deal with it. During our chats I explained that part of the whole college experience is testing out different things to find out what you want to do, and not knowing exactly what your total focus should but is not unusual and it is certainly not to late to get on the right track. Since she registered at the final hour for Fall classes at Mott she got the bottom of the barrel choices and has really been dreading it. For winter she is going to take more art and creative based classes which hopefully will spark her enthusiasm again. But of course you're never going to love every class you're required to take. Serious topics of late include transferring to U of M Flint for next year, she had already been accepted but didn't pursue it fully originally since she kept a primary focus on Grand Valley. She's also mentioned cosmotology school but although I haven't completely condemed it I gently tried to tell her I didn't think it would be satisfying to her long term. Getting back into some music or writing classes will make a world of difference in her outlook as well as being involved in a dramatic production somewhere. If the class schedule works out she's talked about auditioning for 'Mousetrap' at the Pix, that would be cool.

Haven't taken many pictures of late but here's a blast from the past picture. This is me with the Farrah hair, oh yeah '80s baby, and my little brother, with a colleague of my dad's checking out some crazy aparatus in the electronics lab at Henry Ford Community College.

Finally I'll leave with a 3 Things Meme

3 things I love: the smell of lilacs, walking the dog, my kids/hubby

3 things I loathe: doing dishes, doing laundry, stupidity

3 places I'd like to visit: Europe, Australia, South America

3 places I wouldn't want to be: the Middle East, jail, hell

3 items I wish I had: an awesome laptop, blackberry, better stereo

3 accomplishments I strive for: inner peace, income that more than meets our needs, caring & responsible kids

Occasions to celebrate

2010-10-26T19:05:00.008-04:00

Friday was my birthday, it was a good day, the boys gave me their homemade cards which are always a treat, I got some items for my van, a steering wheel cover and cup/stuff caddie. Dad and the boys even worked together to make a box for the caddie to sit on so it was up higher and easier to reach between the two front seats. I subbed in the upper elementary for a 5th grade teacher, it was crazy hat day. I had my Choice Time Choir practice and we are plugging away on our North Pole Rock & Roll Medley. I've been joking with my kids forever saying that I'm 29 whenever they ask how old I am. They're still a bit confused. This year I told Ben I was 39, and he exclaims "aha! then you're going to be 40!" "No, no you heard me wrong I said 35." Disbelief continues. Below is Benny and I with the cake he baked and did most of the decorating on, although the other kids had a little input as well. To keep the gag running they put 31 on my cake although I'll never tell the true number!

Friday evening I attended a wedding for a young adult couple from our church. They've known each other for several years and kept God in high esteem during their courtship, they even had to "break up" for a time while he attended The Honor Academy where your focus is purely on God and mission work and you're not allowed to be involved in any other relationships. As soon as he was released from his program there he asked her to marry him. It was so cute; when the pastor asked if anyone objected to this marriage all the groomsmen pulled out tiny sword daggers and pointed them at the crowd to keep 'em quiet. Of course we all bust out laughing. They had the best ceremonial walk-out I've seen to date, instead of the traditional music they used "Everybody Dance Now" and boogied down the aisle as did their wedding party of eight couples! The reception was a blast as well with much dancing and comraderie. I haven't laughed so much or so hard in a long time. It was a wonderful night and I pray their union to be forever blessed.

Saturday morning I headed up to Caro with Fox and Ethan for a huge cross-country meet; the last of the season. We got lucky during the high school and junior high race as the sky remained blue and the air clear. However the elementary runners were not so fortunate, just moments after the gun went off it began to rain but they all kept on like little troopers.

Coach Jason, with, what's that a smile? and his hard working junior team. Coach's son was there later to run the elementary race with Ethan also. Fox ended the season with his best 2 mile time ever a 12:42 and Ethan did great for his second ever 2 mile run. He set a goal to finish as close to 18 minutes as he could and killed that goal with an official finish of 15:35!

Here comes Ethan around the final soggy turn and heading into the home stretch. Although Ethan didn't offically medal in the race, Coach was very proud of all the kids and gave each a medal for a great effort. Fox although having his personal best time was just outside the top 20 for this race. Like I said it's a big one and these guys (and girls) can run!
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One proud runner!

Sunday I attended church by myself as the kids stayed to clean house with dad and make a cake to have later when the rest of the Partons came over for a family portrait session with a professional photographer friend of mine who lives convieniently "around the corner." It was another good message and I am so grateful to have such a fabulous church family. We're not perfect, we're all works in progress but since I first started going there nearly eight years ago I've really gotten to know them, love them, appreciate them, and count on them in ways I hadn't realized until recently. My heart is continuing to heal since loosing mother and all that transpired during the final ordeal. I'm not feeling so angry and truely wish that my aunts, brother, sister-in-law and the like would have true peace in their hearts, health in their bodies, and joy in their lives. I know my future is ahead of me and there really isn't much reason to keep looking back for we all know what that brought unto Lot's wife! She looked back and lost her future. Amen. I'm coming to a better place with my teenager as well. She's making an effort to step up and take care of business; I'm loosening the reins and trying to accept her for who she is and not for who I think she should be. She's a good person, a talented young lady and a beautiful spirit. We've had some good chats over that last few days and I'm hopeful for what she's got on the horizon.

The cousins Parton looking sharp for some family portraits

on a gorgeous fall day!

I'm confident the professional's shots

will be much more appealing than our snapshots!

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Sunday evening I went to the first meeting of the year for the North Branch Finish Line Swine with Benjamin. He's been buggin' me to raise a pig for several years. We've had many animals on the property including bunnies, chickens, sheep, mini-horses, pot-bellied pig, big horses, ducks, cats, and dogs but never a true swine! There is always a lot of business to cover at the first gathering, selecting officers (Ben is going to be a club photographer), discussing fundraisers, and explaining the educational forum for the year. For 2010/11 the club is going to work with The Heiffer Project and donate two pigs to the project, for the educational focus at each meeting a group of club members will give a presentation on the swine industry in a particular country such as how they're raised, used, which breeds, diseases that are a concern, income generated, specialty dishes, etc. Ben was a little overwhelmed with all the info but I'm excited. This is a long established club with good leaders and I'm looking forward to learning more myself. Over the weekend Rob and I will be volunteering at a local Haunted House for the club to earn money for its fund. Should be a screaming good time!

Monday I had my first productive practice with the Middle School Singers and another fabulous go with the North Branch Elementary Chorus that have started working on their third selection for the holiday program. Rejoice!

Ongoing Tests

2010-10-21T09:45:00.007-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost ten days since I've blogged no wonder I've been in withdrawls. Life has been a series of ongoing tests of intelligence, faith, grace, endurance, and general wherewithall. The boys have been heavy duty into MEAP testing the last couple weeks but say it hasn't been much of a problem for them at all. Rob has been facing some employment shifts but I'm thankful for it although we don't exactly know how everything will pan out just yet. Below is a picture of Ethan making his best rockin'-it-out face during practice time. He is being tested by muddling through the rigors of daily practice and the tedium of beginner lessons.

Benjamin has been enjoying soccer overall but finds some of the situations challenging to deal with and sometimes wants to drop it all. One thing I am determined to instill in my boys is following through on their commitments. When the going gets tough (or isn't what you thought it would be) the tough DON'T get going, they stick with it, and make it work, hopefully improving along the way. Oh, hum, and I guess I was just preaching to myself in that statement. Below is Ben taking a moment during his quarter out of play to visit with the fans.

The 40 days fast at our church ended Saturday and I did finish back on the 2Timothy trail however I've been doing alot of bible bouncing as I prepare lessons for Wednesday with the kids. I have been so impressed with the transitions God has been bringing on our family that I am continuing to fast. This week I've asked the boys to join with me as we believe for the right new job situation to make itself present, so all of us are foregoing watching television all week. It's made for some quiet mornings. I certainly can do with a little less SpongeBob! Below is a snap of some girls from the 4-5 year old class kicking up their heels to "Constellation Celebration."

Fox continues to test himself in the athletic arena coming in 25th at the Reese Invitational last weekend with a time of 13:40. This is a huge meet and the pressure was on, these guys are in great shape and push the competition to new heights. Medals were given out to the top 30 finishers. Tuesday he was at Swan Lake for regionals, he came in top 20 with his best time yet, 13:11 - Yowza! We've had some conversation recently about how to get more kids involved in cross-country, currently he is the only 8th grader running for his school and many kids on the high school team are seniors so he is concerned about what kind of team they'll have next year when he hits high school. I suggested he write an article for his school news and the district paper about his experience the last couple years and maybe it will inspire some people. He is of the impression that not many people really want to exert or challenge themselves. Sad, but in many cases true.

I have been spending much time in my office chair working to complete an editing project that has gone on far to long, the end is near but my butt is loosing its roundness from all this sitting; to compensate I've been getting out a couple times a week and walking with the dog. Jake comes with me when I take Ben to soccer practice and we boogie around Dryden, Sundays I usually get out and walk for a couple hours on the dirt roads by my house. The teenager thing is still a constant challenge to me and I'm praying to get past my unrelenting irritation over her choices and behavior. Somehow I have to find a way to show the love no matter what.

I'll end with a Friday Fill-In since I haven't done one in forever!

Happy Autumn Days to everyone.

1. My favorite month is October because all the colors are bright and it's my birthday!

2. Fall days are filled with a fresh breeze.

3. I love the smell of fresh cut grass and campfires.

4. Hot cinnamon rolls is what I like to have as a breakfast treat.

5. The hobby I enjoy most is painting on canvas with acrylics (when I get the chance).

6. Oh me, oh my.

7. As for the weekend, Friday night I'm looking forward to a wedding for two young adults from our church, Saturday I'll be taking Fox & Ethan to Caro for a cross country meet while Rob accompanies Ben to his soccer game, and Sunday is church, family portraits, and our first meeting with the North Branch Finish Line Swine 4H Club!

One More

2010-10-12T08:39:00.013-04:00

... race. Saturday the whole family (minus girl child) went up to Cass City for the cross country meet. They held a K-8 run so Ethan and Ben both ran along with big brother. I was so proud of all of them for their gallant efforts. Benjamin kept pace with coach's son and made his 2 mile in 16:36 (unofficial time) which is fantastic for his first time ever running. Ethan after a very full week persevered and did not give up ending with a 19:26 (again unofficial), Fox however had all motors running and came through the shoot 9th place receiving his best time to date for a 2 mile, 14:11. Sah-weeeet!

Ben on the course.
Ethan coming into the finish.

... rocket!

Sunday we traveled en masse again up to North Branch so the boys could shoot off some rockets up at the baseball/soccer fields. This is something they like to do from time to time when we can spend some mad money on engines and the like. The newest rocket had three great launches, the old gray mare, which hypothetically wasn't going to go as high/far went just the opposite getting such gust it landed over the fence in the propane yard and busted. I'll have to put more rockets and materials on the Christmas list!

... ride.

After the launch the little guys and I went for a walk with the dog around town and rousted some friends to come up to the park with us while Fox and Rob ran a few errands. Their buddy had a some scooters so they brought them out and had fun at the new skate park next to the playground. Ben was a little hesitant but E went for it and had a pretty good wipe out off the big hill, however it didn't slow him down for long.

... rehearsal.

Yesterday I had an "informational meeting" for the Middle School Singers after school. Six kids showed up but two more were on the list as well but went to cheer practice instead this week. The announcement was made rather late last week so I'm hoping we'll have a few more add in. We did a little singing but mostly talked about possible song selections for the two programs. This will be my most challenging bunch fo shizzle, they are very 'energetic' bunch and it will take a heaping portion of grace to keep them focused. From there I headed over to the elementary for my first time together with an amazing group of nearly 40 kids! Hallelujah! Some students forgot to get a note to stay after but I still had their permission slips and I know a few classes got the notice late so more will probably come. I'm giving both these groups open add-in until the end of the month to accommodate sports commitments. But all in all we're off to a great start, we warmed up with the 'Joy' song that many knew from last year, introduced 'Sing Together' but the round attempt was a train wreck as anticipated (we'll get there) and we learned our first song for the Christmas program, "Look Up!".

Out in the Woods

2010-10-08T20:36:00.017-04:00

This week Ethan participated in the three day Ecology Camp that all 4th graders at North Branch Elementary get to participate in at Camp Lael coordinated by Pete McCreedy. The first day's lessons were the same ones I caught with Ben last year but still loads of fun and very informative. Our first lab class was about Native American culture and took place in a huge teepee, amazingly 30 of us fit in there comfortably and with a fire going it was nice and cozy. He talked about the lifestyle, habits, houses, farming, tools, and more.

Below is a picture of a hoe made from a stick and a buffalo shoulder blade and Ethan wrapped in a buffalo hide with his antler rake ready to do some serious farming for the tribe. During the next class we went for a hike and learned about plants that you can eat, some tasted good, some disgusting, and we also tried acorn pancakes (thank goodness for fresh maple syrup made at Chatfield School's Willow Preserve). Lunch was spaghetti severed family style and our last class of the day was about beavers and animal adaptations.

Day two we started out with a canoe ride on Skinner Lake and had a gorgeous day for it. Ethan ventured out with his own boating buddies. I got to take out a young lady from Ethan's class who was very scared about the experience. After assuring her I knew what I was doing in a canoe and would stay close to the edge, I said a little prayer with her and we headed out. She was the passenger, I was in back steering and another young man was my front man. We glided out along the side, around the lake and over to investigate the beaver dam from the water side. She relaxed and enjoyed the ride eventually asking if we could go faster across the lake. "Oh, so now you're a daredevil?" I joked with her. She didn't even want to go back in to shore when our time was up and commented, "I have to tell my mom about this place so we can come back and do this again."

Our second lab class of the day was a great presentation about copper. Did you know Michigan has the purest source of copper found anywhere in the world? Mr. McCreedy also talked about native burial grounds and how unrighteous it is for people to dig up sacred land without any remorse or restitution to the Indians. He told about some finds in the burial grounds one of which was a skull that still had hair on it and was adorned with copper pipe beads. After the lecture the kids got busy banging out copper wiring to make it flat. The anvils they used were made from old railroad track off the Saginaw line.

Once the entire piece was flat enough, they clipped it into three fairly equal pieces, then it was put in the smelter, doused in water, and twisted into a tubular shaped.

Lastly a piece of cord was added and voila, a modern version of the Native American pipe bead, made into a bracelet.

After a great explanation about the importance of wetlands and their intricate function in our ecosystem the kids all got their own net for some pond dipping. Many tiny creatures were discovered as well as several frogs. However our identification time was cut short because we had to high-tail it back to catch the bus.

All this camp stuff makes for one tired boy!

I wasn't able to go the last day because I had the first meeting of Choice Time Choir in the upper elementary. Twenty students signed up and they are a fine bunch, several of the girls from last year returned and I have one brave boy included. First we did a quick warm up, then a "Sing Together" round, and I introduced a piece from the Star of Wonder musical called "Look Up" which they picked up very quickly. Ethan's last day at camp was filled with fun, including the Herd Game, the Bean Game, Square Dancing and making ice cream! He also had his first guitar lesson yesterday with Mr. T so it has been a very full week for my blessed and victorious 9-year old.

Wednesday night was the Kick-Off party for the Star of Wonder program at church. After opening prayer and reading of Psalm 1 & 92 I read them a story from when I was a little girl called "The Shiniest Star." It's about three little angels who shine the stars and the littlest one thinks her star isn't bright enough or good enough but hers is the one that leads the Kings to baby Jesus. It's a precious tale and I explained to the kids that everything we do matters no matter how small, even when we don't think it does. I wanted them to understand that everyone working on the program is important whether they have a speaking part, a song solo or sing with the group. During the story they were all quiet and listening intently and I hope that translates that they all 'got it'. Next I played the entire program CD for the kids and talked about what will happen during and between the songs; they were really digging the music and dancing along. Last we snacked and had some beverage while I answered some of their questions. Next week we'll dive into practicing. Glory!

Open Run

2010-10-05T17:13:00.009-04:00

On a beautiful, crisp fall afternoon Brown City held their invitational run at the Brown City Park. Ethan decided it was his time to run and for the first time ever he participated in the K-6 mile and a half run. There were 147 boy runners, and 139 girl runners that ran separately thank heavens. Ethan did a fabulous job for his first time out coming through the shoot in 13:26 not far behind his running buddy from North Branch, the cross-country coach's son. He was pretty pumped up about it and is hot to run another race at Cass City this Saturday. The only glitch is he's feeling pretty sore on the upper front of his right thigh. Coach said to ice it, maybe massage in some muscle rub but still run over the next few days to prepare for Saturday.

Fox is keeping in the groove with his times out of 92 junior high boy runners he kept pace with the front of the pack on a very challenging course, with a huge hill several smaller inclines, straight aways and a few wooded sections which can get a little hairy sometimes with a large group running. Medals were given out to the top 20 runners, Fox finished the two miles in 14:46 coming through the shoot in 17th place! Way to go!

I've been to several rehearsals for the Lapeer County Community Chorus and I am loving it. Although my tongue is not exactly enjoying the Latin pieces yet but I'll get there. My favorite selection so far is "Children Go Where I Send Thee" A Gospel Spiritual arranged by Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory. I was fortunate enough to perform this exact arrangement with the Flint Festival Chorus years ago and jumped back into the part easily. I don't have a huge group for the Praise & Worship choir at church so far but I'm believing new people will continue to show up each week.

Looking forward to tomorrow, during the day I get to go to Camp Lael with Ethan's class and learn more about ecology then in the evening we have our Star of Wonder kick off party at church where I'll finally get to introduce the kids to the musical I've been listening to daily. Any public or home school kids in the area that would like to join us Wednesday nights from tomorrow until December 15th and participate in a fantastic Christmas musical please join us at 7pm. Click on the website link below for location information.

Well you may have guessed since I haven't mentioned it lately I did not make the 2Timothy challenge. I have however been making an attempt to study the Word more than I have lately and enjoy thoroughly being able to listen to weekly messages from my church pastor via internet while I work on my editing project. I've also re-listened to a missionary speaker we had visit recently from Tree of Life ministries in Honduras who spoke about the process of forgiveness. Very interesting, very timely. Needing something meaty to consider than visit the FCFC website and check out the audio feeds and downloads.

Oooooo October!

2010-10-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

Finally got the sub ball rolling this week starting with a half day as an elementary art teacher. My first group was Ethan's class, we worked on the beginnings of a tree project. His buds thought I was so awesome I have been asked to chaperone two days at Camp Lael next week. Woot! Then I had Mrs. Coppo's third graders which are always a great group of kids, with them we started a leaf composition, you can see the sample I used and Ben embelished with sharpies. Next I had a first grade health class then a second grade group that also worked on the leaf project. Below is a snap of two friends from last year's after school chorus who have informed me they are looking forward to singing again. Soon, ladies very soon. Benjamin walked the trail over after school and hung out during my last group and was a fabulous helper at the end of the day from there the younger boys and I headed out to Marlette for the cross country meet. I could totally be an art teacher full time, it is so much fun to see kids create.

Wednesday after school was the Marlette meet and it was a fabulous day weather wise. This year they had the elementary open race separate from the junior high race which was fortunate since last year the kids were tripping over the little rugrats and a few of 'em bit the dust. Fox did the 1.5 miles in 11:32 and came through the shoot 11th. Medals were given to the top 12 finishers. He said he felt he was really pushing himself to keep in it this time but he looked good to me.

Friday I subbed in a 6th grade team at the Ruth Fox Elementary, since this weekend is homecoming everyone was dressed in their blue and white getting charged up for the big game. They even had a 'tailgate' party in the staff dining room for lunch which was cool; much better than your cafeteria fare.

At the end of the day we trucked down the street with the whole gang to see the Homecoming parade with the band in full uniform, last year's king and queen, this year's court, football and other teams, floats with an American cities theme including Honolulu (Seniors), Hollywood (Juniors), Nashville (Sophmores) & Detroit (Frosh). Unfortunately my camera was being kooky so I didn't get everything but you get the general idea.

Here is a video of the band coming through the halls playing the fight song.

Fall Festival Fun

2010-09-27T07:51:00.009-04:00

The third week of school went off without much incident other than Ethan had a couple reprimands, nothing to serious, the worst punishment was he had to stay in from recess one day because he and another boy were throwing rocks out in the open field behind the playground. No meets for Fox. Ben had soccer pictures one day and a game on Thursday which they got clobbered in; it will be really good for them to get busy during practices this week and work some kinks out. Saturday we had planned to do another nine holes at Maple Springs but it was cold and windy and when we got to the course they were closed! So, plan B went into effect which turned out to be a great time. We (me, the boys & Grandpa Q) headed over to Past Tense, an apple orchard and gift shop which I had never been to in the 12 years I've lived in the area. Shame on me. They were having their Fall Festival which included some basic carnival games, giant slide, hay rides, a haunted house, corn maze, etc. We were excited to still get in a little golf on their 9-hole putt putt course!

This was a really cool set up for Ben, future putt putt designer of America, to see since he's always trying to set up courses on our property much to my chagrin since they are not the easiest things to mow around and I find parts with the tractor. So these 'portable' holes were pretty ingenius.After golf we headed back to the corn maze (sorry no pix, just picture big tall corn and us wandering around aimlessly). For the first 40 minutes we divided to conquer eventually starting to mark symbols on the ground to note paths that were dead ends or that we'd tried before. Our effort was to no avail since we found ourselves at the start again! However, we had a no fail attitude and ventured back in again, with a little hint from the ticket taker, and in 20 minutes we victoriously arrived at the designated exit. Fun time and we got some exercise in. Next, we headed into the restaurant for some lunch and I picked up the traditional cider and donuts to have back at the homestead.

While I went and puttered around in the gift shops the boys got busy on some more carnival games and went down the big slide, and I mean ALL the boys big and small. When we met up again I could hardly believe all the game prize booty they acquired. Being it was the first time I had ever ventured through the shop there I felt I was in the corn maze again, it was huge, with various holiday theme rooms, garden stuff, plus every type and color of fake flower known to man; I had to ask for directions to find the front door again! The antiques shop was interesting as well and the loose leaf teas smelled fabulous, I almost purchased a couple flavors but decided to hold off for now.

Dad followed me back to the house where we dropped off the boys. I wolfed down a cinnamon donut and some cider then he gave me a ride down to my in-laws where I picked up our new/used Astro van!!! Yes! After three weeks of being down a vehicle and having to run Alex to work and classes and all the boys activities and mine it will be nice to finally have Alex able to get herself around independently again.

Another amazing development is this is my first post from my own home on our new hi-speed Internet! Woot! We finally made the jump to Hughes Net which is really the only option I have for my area. Rob already had a router and Sunday after church I picked up a wireless USB adapter for the boys' computer and they are up and rununing which makes them happy beyond belief. We're finally living like the real world, no more dial-up.

I've also had a few new opportunties come my way but things are still in the works so no details yet just know good things are happening. Fox has two meets this week in Caro and Marlette. Ben just has practices with a game on Saturday. I'll be diligently working on my current editing project and subbing on Friday in the Ruth Fox building (I finally grabbed a job). Alex has been working almost 30 hours a week plus going to class; she says they're all pretty decent and the Algebra class is "super easy" so far. That was the one she dreaded the most. She's talked about definatly transferring out for next Fall but I'll believe it when she actually gets the ball in motion. Right now it's time for me to learn to let go of the reins, step back and give her the space to fail or achieve on her own. If she asks for my assistance I will certainly comply but I will not be the force to get things going initially, that she'll have to put into effect herself. For a fomer homeschooling mom used to orchestrating many educational endeavors on behalf of her children this is a very challenging task. God give me the grace!

* All photos except for the Astro van compliments of Dad with his new Droid phone. Thx!

Meets and Greets

2010-09-20T09:27:00.005-04:00

Last Monday was the North Branch Home meet and again Fox held his own coming in 6th place out of 26 junior high boy runners. He's was talking about feeling a little sore in his legs this week but nothing too major. This weekend he took it easy and walked his regular trail route instead of run. We are all experienceing sore throat and coughs thanks to the kids entering the public school peitry dish. I seem to remember this happening last year also, Ethan started it, then it hit Ben and Fox, and lastly me, Rob and Alex. Tuesday was the Birch Run meet, there were only 2 teams running junior high, not medals were given out since it was more a high school meet than junior.

Saturday I got to watch Ben's soccer game and it was a good one. All morning it rained on and off but when it came time for their game at noon the sky cleared up and we all used our umbrellas to guard from the sun rather than the rain. Ben wasn't 100% since he was fighting sickness but he did manage to kick one goal in although it didn't count because a player was off sides.

Following in the anti-retail attitude of my BFF Michelle I have been finding some great deals at local thrift shops. With Fox growing as fast as he is I hate to pay full price for something he'll probably only get to wear a few times. At out Thrift Shop in town they had $1 bag days going on. I got Fox 2 practically new pair of jeans that fit great, and 2 pairs of chino style casual dress pants in navy blue and beige. Plus a pair of pants for Ethan and a cute summer suit jacket.

Had my first practice with the Lapeer Community Chorus this week. Their new director is excellent, with great exercises, very organized rehearsal, kind, encouraging and funny; all the best ingredients for a choir director. I need to get my chops back for the 2 hour rehearsals, I'm used to having kids for 30 minutes to an hour only. I forgot the big people really get the most out of their one time a week together. Still debating whether I'll make it tonight because my voice is not great with this sore throat thing. Pout.

People have been asking me lately if I miss homeschooling. I can honestly say no, I don't. It was time to make the move not just for myself but for all the kids as well. They enjoy pursuing things on their own and reporting back to me at the end of the day. I enjoy having time to myself during the day without policing them plus I've been getting more new opportunities since my time is freed up from schooling them. Friday I got to sub as a secretary at Quest High School which was cool. All the boys were glad they had time at home to school and be with me but they really like being around 'their own kind' for daily lessons too.

Stand Up & Shout

2010-09-13T15:05:00.006-04:00

What a difference a year makes! Last year, the Bad Axe meet was Fox's first ever, the goal was just to finish the course without walking. He came through the shoot third from last. This year out of 30 junior high boys running, he came in 7th Place. Medals were given out to the top ten runners. Guess all that running around the trails all summer is paying off, not to mention he grew a foot and has more of a height advantage now. He seemed to tower over many of the competition. Great job buddy!! Tonight he'll run at the home meet, last season it was the only race he medaled in.

Ben also had his first soccer game Sunday but unfortunately we had to divided and conquer so I did not get to witness the game. They lost 5 to 4 but gave 'em a good fight. Hopfully things will run a bit smoother as the season goes on. Rob said they started late and the coach had to ref, which is always hard.

Alex is going to get lucky with book costs, one class doesn't have a book at all, math is just a paperback and not so expensive, one she can get as a download, so there's only History she has to find out about. Lucky girl.

I'm continuing the 2 Timothy challenge. Had a funny thought after reading one day, a total 'Family Guy' moment. In the address it infers Timothy is Paul's son. I'm curious how old is he at the time and what was he really thinking about his dad? I pictured a 20 something guy reading this letter, thinking, 'Dad's in jail again, for crying out loud! When is he ever going to just shut up about this Jesus dude already! What a crack pot!"

A merry heart is good like a medicine!

and Away We Go!

2010-09-08T15:00:00.008-04:00

The forms are filled out, the classes are set, open houses attended, and we're on our way!

Everything went well for the boys during the school day so far, the biggest glitch has been the bus pick-up. With one entire school changing runs there are to say the least a few snags in the program. Not to mention losing the head of transportation during the summer and a new person in place, bless his heart. Ethan's driver was so far off schedule (30 minutes late) I ended up driving him up to school. The second day the driver for the first run came so soon we missed her! Then I find out someone called the bus garage impersonating me and said that Fox will not be riding the bus at all and to cancel his pick-up. What! Myself and the poor woman at the garage were confounded and a bit scared. The weird thing is I called about them not being picked up just moments after the bogus call was placed. (cue Twilight Zone music). Alex had her first class last night, two more tomorrow, plus lots of hours at the BK.

Mr. Ben is one happy 5th grader, except for a small exception. He has made it perfectly clear he is not into missing his special classes (art, computer, gym) all year just to be in band. No way, no how! So we had some discussion and came to a bit of an impass. I'll not require him to do band until Middle School but we'll get him back into lessons to keep him up to speed. He probably knows all the notes and rhythm they'll cover this year so I'm not to concerned. It would be different if he was playing a wind instrument but with drums it's a little easier to play catch up or even keep up. Got yer back, Ben man!

A peek through the fence at the after practice coach chat while I was waiting to pick up Fox. Ben's soccer practices have been going great too, he really got an awesome coach this year and the uniforms are super cool! I think they should call themselves the Grasshoppers because they're green, black and yellow.

Below is another peek at Mr. Ethan heading into school on the first day for his last year in elementary. It seems that since the ceiling has been broken with Alex graduating it will only be a blip in time before this one is commencing.

We've been given a challenge by our P&W leaders to read 2 Timothy everyday for the next 40 days along with fasting something. I'll be honest, I'm sort of creatively fasting, something different everyday and then maybe changing it up to a week. It's still hard but not as much. Anyway I finally got to reading late last night and the scripture that stood out to me on the first read was "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (1:7) and " And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. " (4:18) I love that it states SHALL deliver me, not might, not maybe, not if you do thus and thus and so and so you will be delivered. It just is without a doubt. Praise God because I need to be delivered from myself, my own thoughts, my own doubts. I recently met with a counselor to possibly confide in regularly. After briefly explaining "what's been up" she asked me if I was mad at God because my mom died. "No, I'm not mad at God at all. He worked mightily along the way on her behalf. I'm mad at people and how stupid things got among us." I know what you're thinking, so don't even go there cuz I'll go first.....forgiveness. I'm working on it. It's a process. "Grace, mercy and peace" (1:2) to you.

Ready, Get Set ...

2010-09-02T15:15:00.003-04:00

We are getting closer to the start of another academic year! Yesterday all the boys got their back-to-school haircuts from the best stylist ever!! All three opted against the buzz cut this time and Ethan is planning to grow his hair out this year until his bangs cover his eyes. Can you say skater boy? This is a rather popular style in the schools.

Tuesday night we had open houses in the upper elementary (Ben) and middle school (Fox). Ben was soooo excited he couldn't stop talking and asking me questions about everything. He was successful in working the combination and getting his locker open and knows several kids in his home room from his class last year. Fifth grade is run in teams and Ben is on a three teacher team, his home room teacher Mrs. Rogers seems top-notch and I'm looking forward to working with her as well as Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Goldstein. Ben will also start playing drums with the 5th grade band which he is excited about but even more so about eventually playing in the marching band when he gets to high school. Ben and Fox will ride the bus in together this year with a bright and early 7am pick-up time. Wooooootttt. (Yawn) But the upside is they'll both be done by 2:35pm. Fox pretty much did his rounds by himself. He found all his classes, saw who his teachers are and picked up whatever materials they had available in the class then met up with us at the upper el. His schedule is pretty standard other than he's got Algebra instead of Math 8, he's also sticking with band through middle school. The only change is he's going to check into adding an extra history elective and dropping Art2 but we're not sure if it is offered at the same time. He can deal with that once school starts. Cross-country practices are well underway with the first meet in Bad Axe next Saturday which will also be the day of Ben's first soccer game. Divide and conquer!

After haircuts the boys and I headed over to my mom's house to pull a few more perennials. Things looked rather sad even though the neighbor across the street has tried to keep up on it; bless her heart. The neighbor behind however made sure to come over and voice her discontent with how things looked commenting "your mother is probably rolling over in her grave". It was all I could do to walk away and not b*tch slap her. Honestly other than the grass being a bit burnt from lack of water and the plants a little dry it wasn't as dismal as I imagined. All the plants I brought to my house are thriving and we had more butterflies than I could count this year due to the two buddleia bushes I aquired. Very cool. I'm anticipating having a renewed energy toward my gardens next summer and hope to get them back in shape. This year it was all I could do just to get through each day.

I am humbled, honored, and excited to anounce another new assignment I've been blessed with, director of a new praise & worship choir at church; deemed the Halellujah Chorus. It will be a united vocal group that supports the existing praise & worship teams on select Sundays as well as ministering special music on occasion. Practices will begin mid-September. The upper elementary principal has also confirmed me for Choice Time choir on Friday afternoons which will begin in October AND I will be working with my kids at church on Wednesday nights to prepare "a kids Christmas musical of hope" entitled "Star of Wonder". Our kick off party will be the first Wednesday in October and we'll minister the program December 15. Look for updates right here!

My Getaway

2010-08-25T15:27:00.015-04:00

Early Friday morning I caught the Amtrak in Lapeer to go and visit my good friend Gidget that lives in a suburb outside of Chicago. It was so nice to ride out there and not have to stress over sitting in construction traffice or the craziness of going through the notorious Chicago Loop. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I enjoyed some great magazines and an awesome page-turner of a book, My Abandonment. I made it there in record time, about five hours which never would have happened if I had driven. From the Union Station I caught the Metra out to the burbs. People on the train are interesting to me, there's the readers, the computer users, the ipod listeners, and the ones that are compelled to be on the phone for the entire ride. You can actually see their little brains thinking, 'who can I call now-who can I call now.' There are so many different nationalities in the city I swear I heard no less than five different languages being spoken by people on the hour ride out to the burbs. Being in the crazy, smelling union station makes me realize however why I live where I live. Gidget's she-owner picked me up from the station, we had some Chinese for lunch then headed to their house.
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Gidget is one lucky dog! She lives in a beautiful house with many artifacts that her he-owner brought back from all over the world on his travels as a corporate pilot. I couldn't even do them justice by trying to take pictures. The bedroom in the collage is my favorite in the house. I love the colors, this was not the room I stayed in, but I hope to next time. We had several wonderful dinners which included fresh vegetables from their cute little backyard garden.

Saturday I was treated by Gidget's she-owner to a massage and a pedicure at a spa near their home. Wow, what a friend, it was great. For the rest of the day we just hung out, played some frisbee, and chase games, then watched Avatar. I had never seen it before, it was awesome even without 3-D.
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Sunday I went to church with them and although the music and service was quite nice, whenever I go to other churches it makes me realize how much I love my own. After service we went downstairs so I could check out the rooms where they held their children's ministry. There were so cute! Each room had a theme, nature, space, Suessville, very well done and security was tight! I couldn't even really go in the rooms because I didn't have a card. Cool. Here's a couple shots of the hallway which impressed me tremendously.

But the best site of my entire trip was their supply room. It was unbelievably organized and from what people told me it always stays that way which means teachers are trained to put things back from whence they came. What an amazing concept.

After church we went to one of the most popular public parks in the area. Gidget's she-owner works for the county forest preserve so we pretty much entered like rock stars with our Staff pass to check out a pavilion for a party they are hosting next weekend. What a fabulous park with a great beach, playscape, biking/hiking trails, and more.

The park system there is very green concience, I was most impressed with their parking bumpers which are made out of recycled tires!! They also have rubber mulch down on the playscape, super thickly too, it feels squishy beneath your feet.

After a quick stop back at the house to get Gidget we headed out to a farm market that had a small petting zoo. Gidg got some great sniffs and had fun visiting with Macaroni the calf, and some baby goats, Dora, Boots and Swiper, and a motherly duck that takes every new arrival under its wing.

Monday morning I got a good walk in with Gidget's she-owner then after a shower, packing, and a great lunch at Olive Garden I started the reverse trip on the Metra back down to the city to catch the Amtrak back to Michigan. It was a wonderful trip with some folks I am greatly honored and humbled to call my friends. They made me feel special at a time that has been extremely troubling for me. But I continue to press through as I am buffeted, knowing I will come out stronger on the other side.

Not exactly what I planned

2010-08-12T12:21:00.003-04:00

Much has transpired since my last post, so much I can't possibly review it all and much of it I'd like to forget. But I'll give you the general highlights. We had Alex's Open House/18th Birthday Party which went well over all with a nice turnout of friends and family and only one relatively minor incident that happened late in the evening. Thankfully I had already gone in and gone to bed by then so I only heard about it in the morning, out of respect for the individual I won't provide the gory details but I will say it had nothing to do with any of Alex's friends.

Yesterday Ethan participated in the final 3-hole "just for fun" Jr. Golf Academy Tournament. He said he was a little nervous but he did really well for being one of the youngest in this age group. He scored a 16 on the three holes they played which was the best score out of his 5 player group. He was one over par on the first two holes but botched his drive on the last hole which totally threw him off. Brookwood was a beautiful course and kudos to Mr. Simpson the golf pro who ran this summer's program. He was kind, encouraging, organized and extremely knowledgable. There were many grandpas and dads that helped with the lessons and the tourney and they were all quite helpful as well. For anyone in the area looking for Jr. Golf lessons I highly recommend this program.

One of the not so great things that transpired, although I am doing my best to find the grace to adjust is ..... that Alex dropped a huge bomb on us days before her Open House. She does not want (isn't ready to) attend Grand Valley and instead has opted to stay at home and get some general education credits under her belt at Mott Community College. We are extremely proud of her for getting accepted to GVSU and were heartbroken by the news and the timing of it all. Originally she told us she was going to move to Alpena of all places the get an apartment with a friend (who happens to be a boy) and go to community college. After a family confab with myself, Alex, her father, and grandparents we got to some of the heart of the matter and relented to let her stay in our home and go to Mott but we explained that in no way shape or form would we support the whole Alpena situation. I really was looking forward to having her out of the house and now I need to figure out how to make this work and not be treated like a doormat. Teenagers do not always realize how good they have it and that mom and dad actually do know a thing or two. Apparently my work is not done with her and she's not ready to leave the roost. God give me the grace to see this through.

So it goes without saying I feel like I've been through the fire and really got burned. It's not so much that she changed things up but how she went about presenting it. Financially it will certainly be easier on us paying community college prices, when I called GVSU to defer her enrollment they said her application will stay on file for two years and she can transfer in at anytime. As long as the class is called the same as theirs it will transfer. Alex assures me she still wants to finish a four-year degree and eventually get there but she's not ready now. All that's fine and well but she'll need to follow the rules of the house, something teenagers are not always willing to do. Honestly I'm not looking forward to what's ahead, I know there will be some head butting going on but I'm willing to try. Any prayers for this situation would be greatly appreciated.

This week Ben is doing soccer camp in North Branch and having a great time. We should be getting a call from his AYSO coach any day now and start in the swing of practices for the fall season, which is always a good time. Ben and Ethan also attended VBS at our church this week and I helped as a group leader which was about all I could handle. It was nice not to be in charge as I have been in the past.

I am really looking forward to getting started into the new school year and I know the boys are too but will certainly continue to enjoy their last few weeks of summer. This year in addition to subbing I am planning on volunteering to run a vocal music program after school at the lower elementary and the middle school and during choice time on Fridays at the upper elementary. Plus, for myself I'm going to sing with the Lapeer Community Chorus which meets on Monday evenings at Trinity Methodist Church in Lapeer. Even if it feels like my life is being pulled apart I will continue to make a joyful noise and praise Him through the storm. Peace, out.