Latest Projects

Sunday I had some time to get outside and do a little garden work. My mother gave me some Astilbes that she didn't want in her garden anymore so I planted them among my hostas, of course it was crying out to be weeded and hoed so I got one whole area looking dapper. Many of the hostas are already poking up from the ground and some even have their leaves opened up! After this endeavor I was inspired to finally get some seedlings planted. I used an idea from my friend Michelle's blog http://smilewinknod.blogspot.com using toilet paper rolls as planting cups I set in some sweet red pepper seeds that I propogated myself. Don't be too impressed you just leave the top of the pepper out to dry until the seeds fall off, it's really not difficult.

Also, with all the photo collaging I've been doing, mixed with my contemplation of what I love to do for free, I began the process of creating my regular magazine collages which I used to do a lot of in my early twenties. It is very cathartic for me. The last several weeks while I watched shows or movies at night I would sit and cut out pictures to use. Sunday night I actually started putting together a couple basic layouts. Things on the homefront are moving right along. Rob is in Canada (finally) doing a couple jobs, one outside of Toronto and the other in Windsor. I am taking advantage of the hi-speed Internet connection at the church to get my distributor verification project finished, hopefully this week. Alexandra is working for me on another project pulling data so I can write entries later since she has not been blessed with a 'regular' job yet. And we've had a new arrival on the Parton side, Rob's cousin RJ and his wife Keagan welcomed their third daughter into the world this week (via C-section), still haven't found out the name yet.

Remember to run between the raindrops!

Soccer Opener & Weekly Walk

We couldn’t have asked for better weather for our Spring Soccer Opener. It has not been unusual in the past to be freezing our little tootsies off but today was bright, sunny, and warm, with a fairly substantial wind. The boys did well but you could tell they were not totally in the program yet. Since both North Branch teams are dark blue we wore the red pennies. The other team lost a few guys to injuries and were lower in numbers to begin with so they did not have any relief at all. We miraculously made one goal but the other team really gave it their all. Ben mostly played offense which he liked but didn’t really get in any dazzle this game.
After the game Rob, Ben and I headed over to the Water Tower to walk the longer abandoned railway trail. This time we threw Ben’s bike in the trunk so he could ride and Rob and I could walk at a faster pace. I noticed some spring woodland flowers popping up as well as some beautiful bulbs, this was in contrast to the area of trail that went past the sewage treatment center. We only went as far as the trail ended at Imlay City Rd. deciding not to take the sidewalk down to Crampton Park but instead turned back and took the loop around the pond up to the parking lot. The comic book store was open and having free comic book day so of course we had to jump in there for a minute so Ben could grab a few freebies. Made a quick stop at Walmart after the walk, and I remembered to bring my own bag with me this time! The sky grew dark as we began the ride home so we checked in with Alex via cell phone who was in charge of taking Ethan up to the high school for a baseball clinic, thankfully they had pulled the boys in to finish their training exercises in the gym. Ethan said he had a great time and got a few good hits off in the batting cage. Fox decided to opt out of the soccer game and hanging with Alex to have a few hours at home alone to relish in the quiet and work on some Lego creations. He is very interested in becoming involved with battle-bot competitions, does anyone out there know of any Robotics teams in the Lapeer area? Rob did some searching online but the closest one so far was in Oxford or Ann Arbor and the info provided was sketchy.

Now there is a steady rain coming down, the chickens are nestled back in their coop, everyone has found something to eat, and we’re all settling down to watch a few “Family Ties” episodes. Fire up the way-back machine!

Fabulous Friday

1. A smile is free and goes with any outfit.

2. Taboo is my favorite ‘board’ game and Nerts my favorite card game.

3. I would love to have more joy in my life and less junk in my trunk.

4. When I think of April showers, I think of muddy driveways.

5. I just remembered I need to do MORE laundry.

6. One of my favorite song lyrics goes like this: “It’s a new day, oh, it’s a new time and there’s a new way; gonna live my life, all the old has past away and the new has come. Thank God, it’s brand new day!”.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a whole lotta nothin’, tomorrow my plans include going to Benny’s first soccer game of the season and Sunday, I want to carpe diem!

Fox was home again for three days this week because the class week on their camping trip to Hartley which was already in place before he started attending. Wednesday he hung out with me, Thursday he went to work with Rob and today he'll help me clean at Gramma Judi's house. Thursday I substituted for Band again and got the direct the 8th, 5th and 6th grades. I was there for the 7th grade class also but the other teacher directed while I straightened up the scads of music that was laying about needing to be put away. Ethan has become quite a writer lately, he says that journal time is his favorite part of the day. He read me a story yesterday that was very interesting, a dark, semi-violent but yet redemptive tale. Perhaps I'll post it when he says its complete. Ben had a great week, with practices, classroom soil experiments, and Earth Day activities. Yesterday I went over to get them slightly earlier than the bell rang so they could make some selection at the Book Fair. Alex is trying to find the balance between socializing and getting assignments done on time as the end of the year assignments crunch in. We've been considering dual enrollment for next year but I'm not sure if organizationally speaking she's ready to take it on. She's still hoping to find a 'regular' job also.

May your Friday be fabulous!

Chickens Love Me

Everytime I walk out the door if the chickens notice me they come running toward me. It is hilarious, guess they know the hand that feeds them.

Talkin' Trash

A recent stop to our local recycling drop-off day brought me to once again examine how much trash we are generating. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Everybody seems to hear recycle and makes efforts to turn in their plastics, cans, glass, paper, but the biggest step and by far the most challenging is the reduce aspect. When you go about buying food products you are most likely looking for the best price, nutritional issues, or a particular ingredient, but probably not the container that it comes in. You get what you get, right. Well, now I am seriously looking at that. Our recycle program used to take almost any type of plastic. Now it is “bottles and jugs” only. No ‘container’ like from yogurt, cottage cheese, frosting, butter, deli items and the like. That’s a lot of plastic I can’t turn in to recycle now. We do not pay for trash pick-up; we recycle, compost, or burn. Our township office has a dumpster once a year and we take anything that doesn’t fit in another category down to the dumpster. It’s free. There’s usually a guy who takes batteries of all sizes, and old machinery. Once in a while we make a trip to the dump with metals that can be turned info cash. Paper is a good packaging material because it is easily burnable. But I really don’t want a load of plastic stuff piling up each year and that is definitely not cool to burn. Also, I need to get back on track about bringing my own shopping bags. I have a cabinet cupboard full of plastic shopping bags and even though you can reuse them and turn them in, I just can’t help thinking I don’t need so many. The last couple days whenever I run in a store to buy a couple items I quickly tell the clerk, “that’s ok, I don’t need a bag” before they can throw everything in one. Sometimes they look at me funny so I smile and say “save a tree.”

I am curious why we, as a nation, are not doing more to find ways to make recycling materials more profitable. Perhaps I’ll venture onto a personal research project to find out more about efforts companies are making to recycle. But more immediately I am going to attempt to reduce my trash load so forgive me if I go off on a tangent occasionally and analyze our garbage.

OTHER UPDATES: Ben kicked in his first goal of the season during their scrimage Saturday. The boys implemented a perfect crossover making the coaches very proud, his team mate kicked it to him, Ben was right in front of the goal with no one else around and he drove it right in before the goalie knew what happened! Ethan had his first baseball practice on Friday and if weather cooperates will have another tomorrow. He has also been very dilegent about getting out and golfing in the yard, even in our incredibly tall grass. He'll be amazed how much easier to find the balls once the grass is cut. Rob made some progress on the tractor and mower but we're not totally operationaly yet. And, I got my first call to substitute this morning, just a half day for one of the band teachers who had to leave for a funeral. I had the 6th grade woodwind section which was a well-behaved, fun, and talented bunch and then did High School Concert Band with another sub. One of the seniors actually conducted the pieces they were working on for the State Band Festival this Thursday but I was asked by Mrs. Stover-Lange to take some pictures for the yearbook. She left me with the camera and I had a blast shooting the practice from all angles. Maybe a should ask for photo credit?

Hope everyone is having a blessed, rainy, Monday.

It's Friday!!

1. Contact may cause dizziness.

2. The parties hereto do mutually agree to work it out come hell or high water.

3. Disney parks are so bloody expensive.

4. A full body massage sounds really good right about now!

5. I positively must get my office organized.

6. A crescent moon always makes me smile :-)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Ethan’s first baseball practice, tomorrow my plans include hearing those mowers roaring (once Rob gets ‘em running) and Sunday, I want to have a date with my husband!

Crescent Moon Over the East End Cemetery
©2009 Elizabeth Fraser

Life Can be Normal

Not too much to say today. Things have been business as usual this week. Ethan seems to have relented to trying to enjoy school as best he can and pray that he gets an awesome teacher next year (this one really needs to retire). We talked about how trials make you stronger and teach you things you'll need to know for the future and that he has "victory wherever he goes." Fox and Ben are glad to be back in the groove. Soccer practices are moving into full swing and Saturday will be their first scrimage. Ethan will have his first baseball practice tomorrow. Alex has been taking more initiative to get her grades in order and even brought home a list of scholarships offered by local organizations. There are 7 on the list that she could be eligible for. She also went out again on Monday to put in job applications and had a great life experience--the car broke down on her. Just quit while she was driving but thankfully she got it pulled into a parking lot, made the appropriate phone calls and later Rob went out there and was able to fix it. It is such a blessing to have a mechanically-inclined husband. Me, I got another job verifying distributors for the next edition of video product (shout out to Dawn for the hook up!) and I've been finishing up a batch of TV on DVD entries that I'll send in probably tomorrow. Today I worked at the church and got the Resource Room looking ship shape, let's see how long it lasts this time. Gotta fly!

Happy Hump Day!

Some days you just want to cuddle up with a soft fuzzy blanket.

Rich Brother Rich Sister

Rich Brother Rich Sister: Two Different Paths to God, Money and Happiness
Robert Kiyosaki and Emi Kiyosaki (Venerable Tenzin Kacho, ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama)
Vanguard Books 2009
978-159315-493-6

Wow. I finally finished this power packed book. It really made me think about my spiritual and emotional mindset as I search for my true career calling. Robert began his independent life as a military man then went into the world of capitalism but never found true satisfaction until he acheived a grounded spiritual path. His sister Kim followed a spirit calling and became a Buddhist monk but still did not feel completely effective until she put things in place that gave her financial security instead of depending on others for all her needs. Kim points out “At the same time as there are wars over boundaries of countries, there are wars inside of each of us, every day. I believe that these internal struggles are centered around our faults and delusions—those mental acrobatics that prevent us from finding peace and living the good life, however you choose to define it.” (Venerable Tenzin Kacho) I do feel that the greatest obstacle that holds me back is my own internal struggles about my worth and what seems to me as a 'legitimate' means of gaining income. Recently I went for a job purely to be receiving a regular check even though I knew in my heart I probably wouldn't enjoy it long term. The position was not offered to me but I know it's because it was not really meant to be mine.

Later Robert explains: “Since your gift is a gift from god or a higher power, it is essential to deliver it with the highest degree of personal integrity and character. Over the years, I have personally experienced my gift being diminished when I allowed my character flaws to overpower my character. I found that if I wanted to improve the returns on my life, I needed to improve my personal character by not letting my character flaws cancel out my character strengths.” I'm still mulling this one over. Pastor Rick at the church I attend says character is what you do when no one is looking not how you act when you're out in front of people. In this area I must admit I am two different people, not that I'm one bad and one good but I definately operate through a dual persona. Kim compliments this view by explaining the Buddist practice: In all my actions I will examine my mind, and the moment a disturbing attitude arises, I will firmly confront and avert it. This is hard to admit but pertaining to this practice I probably need a lot more confrontation within my own character.

Dr. R. Buckminister Fuller says “good and bad are meaningless,” and Robert expands upon that by saying “…all things-good and bad-are blessings. Our lives are continual crucifixions, resurrections, evolutions, and reformations, and each of these is as vital to life as food, waters, sun, and exercise. If one of the four is missing, existence is incomplete.” We're always trying to define situations as good and bad in our life especially when we're young and just having full responsibility for our lives it seems that every little speed bump along the way can feel devastating to some extent but as the years roll on and you go through more experiences little hurdles don't seem to have as much impact. You deal with things come what may having confidence that all will work out.

After losing literally millions of dollars Robert and his wife went through a period of being broke and homeless, going back to square one to decide what god wanted them to be involved in for their next business. “Instead of focusing only on making myself rich, I began focusing on building a business that made everyone richer. And that is what I do today. It’s why I have good fortune and financial success.” He advises that to find what you will excel at first decide what do you love to do so much that you would do it for free. This is the direction you will be most successful in. He also explains that to get what you want you must first give it. If you want to receive money, you must give money. If you want respect, give respect, etc.

One thing that holds many people back, myself included is fear of unfamilar territory or learning something totally new. But it is important to remember, Fear means new opportunities. ‘Whenever you feel fear, it may mean you are approaching the boundary of what you know and what you do not know. If you back down or step back, your growing stops because learning stops. Fear gives us the opportunity to test our spirits. Fear gives all of us the opportunity to grow stronger or grow weaker.”

Lots to Blog About

Well it was a busy and exciting weekend. Saturday were a couple activities in honor of Ben's birthday which was actually back in February. First we headed out about 8:30am down to Oxford Cinema to get into the first free showing of Tales of Despereaux. We took two cars down so the whole family could go; made it in plenty of time and really enjoyed the movie, very well done. Afterward, Rob went back home to take care of some repairs, while the kids and I grabbed some Taco Bell and made way to the Detroit Science Center to meet up with my Mom, brother James, his wife Shelly, my Aunt Betsy (up from Florida), and her granddaughter Maddy to check out Star Trek: The Exhibition. As an added bonus we also were graced with a few moments to chat with my cousin Luke who rode down from GVSU with James and Shelly. My Aunt Ann Marie brought the ladies to the museum and traded them for Luke. The exhibit was in a word, small. There was a lot of reading displays which of course the kids could care less about and not as many hands-on things as I thought there would be.

The real bummer for me though was that you weren't allowed to take pictures in the exhibit. Instead they had staff photographers to take posed shots that you could buy copies for $16 a piece. There were three 'sets' they did photos on, the bridge, the transporter, and a planet scene. Below is our group shot on the transporter. We did a cool one on the bridge where we all leaned to one side but you couldn't see everyone so we didn't buy it. They also had a display of Picard's ready room you could only look at through glass, lots of costumes (man were they all really that skinny?), some ship models, and a dismal display of props (tricorder, couple weapons, data discs). We barely spent a half hour in there but then the kids had a blast checking out the rest of the museum. They loved the light, electric and sound experiments. That little blur in the top left of the collage is my cousin Maddy whom I couldn't hardly catch still enough to take a photo of, she and Alex were on the move! Thanks to Gramma Judi for an awesome birthday outting. Next everyone motored back to Mom's house, Betsy cooked up an awesome dinner, Alex went for a little walk around the neighborhood, I took the boys and Maddy to the three playscapes right near the house, naps were taken, golf was watched, games played. Fox and Ben stayed overnight but Alex, Ethan and I went back to our house so we could be at Easter service. The kids ministered the song "Jesus You're My Superhero" and Ethan wanted to be there for it. Fox and Ben hadn't really been there for the practices.

Easter Service was a blast! We had great praise & worship, the dance team ministered and Seeds of Jesus, then Pastor read them the Easter story and all the kids got a gift before they headed back to class. We boogied out of there right as service was ended before anyone could grab me and start talking to me about something. Seriously I never get out of the building before 12:30-1p usually. Ran back to the house to pull in the chickens and pick up Rob, then drove to my Aunt Marcia's house in Waterford for the annual Egg Hunt and Easter dinner. We had quite a crew this year. Lots of kids and even a new egg! I realized I didn't put the kids' names on the picture but from the left: Fox (11), Maddy (5), Anna (7), Gabrielle (7), Josh (5), Ethan (7), Alexandra (16), Elijiah (2), Zachary (4), Ben (9), all cousins once removed. Thanks Auntie Re for coordinating the Hunt once again and to Aunt Marcia for hosting a fabulous dinner.
We definately wanted to get our weekly walk in this weekend since we didn't walk the last two. The theme: cousins! After dinner we decided to make a loop about the neighborhood and asked if anyone wanted to come, most of our takers were in the munkin bunch. My cousin Amy was the only older person that came with us. Her son Josh knew the turf since it is his gramma's house so he showed us down to the public access dock. We also had with us, Alex, Ben, Ethan, Anna, Gabby, Maddy, and Zack who was too cute holding onto to Rob's hand. A man and his girls were doing some fishing at the dock and he hooked all the kids up with balloons that he just happened to have in his tackle box. We saw a swan and geese in the lake and I liked checking out all the garden ornaments. The kids headed back to the house after once around the court but Rob and I went on by ourselves through a few more streets before we went back in. It was a gorgeous day, a little chilly but not terrible.

When we got back Rob ran the boys over to his parents to spend the night, then came back for Alex and I (right now we don't have a vehicle we can all fit in together so it makes coordinating full family adventures interesting). I'll pick them up later when I go down for gymnastics. Grandpa Wendell is going to put them to work picking up sticks and cleaning up the yard. All in all an amazingly busy weekend.

Good Friday Fill-In

1. There is absolutely NO way you can get me to bungie jump!
2. My kids constantly remind me that summer is almost here!
3. I cannot live without my peace of mind (well, I could but I'd drive everyone else crazy).
4. Hot Yoga and skydiving are two things I'd like to try.
5. When life hands you lemons, suck ‘em and make a funny face!
6. Visiting Mesa Verde is my favorite childhood memory.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching ‘The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane’ (1976), tomorrow my plans include visiting the Detroit Science Center with kids, Mom, bro, and sis-in-law, to see the Star Trek exhibit and Sunday, I want to celebrate Easter with family and meet my new cousin once removed, Mr. Evan Lucas Immekus, born 4/7/09!

Have a peaceful Good Friday everyone!

ACT Score has arrived

After weeks of anticipation and mutiple texts from all her friends announcing their scores Alexandra finally got hers in the mail and.....she got a 24! That is awesome because it means she is eligible for the $4000 merit money her first year. Her highest marks were in English (30) (guess that AP class paid off), Reading (25), and her Combined English/Writing (29). You go girl! Interest Inventory indicators pointed her in the direction of: Applied Arts (Written & Spoken), Community Services, Creative & Performing Arts, Education, Health Care or Personal Services. This falls in line with what she is interested in pursing; after visiting GVSU instead of an Education degree she is looking to follow a Communications tract in Theater and TV/Film plus a Writing minor. Mom likes this!

2nd Grade Journaling

It has been interesting to see the work that was sent home for the boys while they had the chicken pox. Most of it was pretty standard stuff, Ben had lots of Math pages, Fox a mixture of subjects, and most of Ethan’s assignments required writing. His teacher sent home a regular ruled single subject notebook that said “We write 30 minutes per day story or personal narrative.” Ok, seems reasonable (although my mother, the retired teacher, thought 30 minutes was sort of long for a 2nd grader), so I flip through the pages to see what Ethan had done so far and was shocked. It was just one long row of letters, no spaces, mostly written in capitals, no punctuation at all. All of his entries were this way.First off, we had talked about how to begin sentences and end sentences. We also worked with Handwriting Without Tears and I’ve constantly reminded him to use his lower case letters. We had even journaled at home using the Starfall notebooks. But all of that seemed to fly right out the window when he went in the classroom. This is part of why he was so discouraged. It felt like an overwhelming task to work in this fashion. I understand this teacher is cruising into the last part of the year and doesn’t really feel like going back and starting from the beginning with a student, but to let the kid continue to work incorrectly sort of irks me. I mean at least write his ideas out correctly and let him recopy the entry so he knows what it should look like; something to help him improve. Seriously, how much time would that have taken her-about a minute?

So that’s what we did at home. First he complained he didn’t know what to write so I dictated a couple short personal stories and reminded him about capitals at the beginning of sentences, when to put in a ‘spacer,’ and how to punctuate the ending. He followed instructions and did just fine. Then we moved on to him telling me his story, me writing it on a different piece of paper so he could see how it should be formatted and he wrote it out on his own. And lastly, he was on his own to compose and write but I made myself available to help with spelling when needed. I asked if he had any type of word list at school to work with if he needed to know how to spell something and he said he did. I am having him continue to journal during the break week for ‘extra credit.’ Hopefully he will be able to keep working at this level when he returns to the classroom next week. The more material we got through the more improvement I noticed in his handwriting and made sure to compliment him about it. He seemed to be taking more pride in his work too.Working with them on homework has been much less of a hassle than working on our homeschool assignments. It is amazing the difference now that they have seen what other kids their age are accomplishing and they strive to be at that level as well. There is definately something to be said for healthy competition.

Grand Valley State Tour

Thursday night we drove out to my brother’s house which is just a bit north of Grand Valley’s main campus. After channel surfing for a while, I hit the hay while Alex and Jason stayed up and watched some weird German dark comedy/thriller. My brother was at a concert and got back about midnight. We awoke at the butt crack of dawn (as my brother so eloquently puts it) since my daughter and sibling confused “leaving” at 8am with “getting there” at 8am. Since we had an extra hour to kill a stop at James’ old work place Perkins restaurant was added so we could have a good breakfast. We still got to the Field House with time to spare. Although Alex and Jason both had an interest in teaching, the guy giving the Education presentation really wasn’t selling it so we slipped out and made our rounds among the tables of program offerings. I was intrigued to find out that GVSU is one of the few colleges offering a Writing degree specifically; usually it is lumped in with another program. During the second round of presentations we sat in on Communications. This guy was good, very interesting, energetic, encouraging, upbeat, really excited about his department and the opportunities they offer in Advertising/PR, Journalism, Theater, TV/Film. In all areas they emphasize internships to help make graduates more marketable by gaining ‘workplace’ experience. Students have interned in Hollywood, New York, Chicago, as well as around Michigan. James and I sat in on the Financial Aid briefing while A & J looked over some materials they had gathered. Last we got in on a tour and were very impressed by the ‘green’ achievements of the campus, its fabulous eateries, awesome workout facilities/gym, availability of computer labs, plus the clean and cozy living centers. The campus overall is very well-maintained, they take great strides to discourage underage drinking, and smoking is not allowed in any buildings on site. After our windy walk we headed into downtown Grand Rapids to meet up with my sister-in-law who was just making her way into town after a road trip to Wisconsin for work. She had to stop in at a client, which was a tavern downtown, so we had some super sandwiches and salads plus a drink “on-the-house” before returning to James’ abode to let his labradoodles, Vixen and Nizche out. James napped, the kids played around with Rosetta Stone: Mandarin, and Shelly and I chatted it up until it was time to motor back home. Good Day-Go Lakers!

Oh, the Irony!

It has certainly been a roller coaster of tasks and emotions around here. After agonizing for months about putting the boys in school we made it only three weeks before I have them all home with me again with the chicken pox! And the week before their Easter break to boot, so I'll actually have them here for two weeks straight. I was really enjoying having the days to myself. Funny, how easily we can adapt to new systems. Toward the end of last week I had some excitment in being blessed with a job interview for a part-time bank teller postion, to be honest the whole thing came up rather quickly and I had never even considered going into that vein of work but since it was literally dropped in my lap I thought I had to at least try. However, I do not think I got the position since I didn't hear back from the woman who interviewed me yet and she said she needed to have a decision made by close of day Monday. Oh, well, that's fine really. I am however moving forward in becoming a substitute in the North Branch Public Schools for secretarial and what they call "specials" ie: Art, Music, Computer Lab, Gym, Library Aide (for elementary), also Band, Art, Drama (for JH/HS). I need to make an appointment and go get fingerprinted before she can put me on "the list" but all my other paperwork is on file and she contacted my references already too. As much as I keep saying I don't want to do anything with kids I can't deny the fact that I do have an odd gifting to work with the little squirts. The key I suppose is finding a balance between 'me time' and 'kid time' which has been sadly off kilter prior to these last few months. The more I am made aware of other people's lack in working with children, my own strength in the area is reinforced. Maybe this whole shift in our lives is because God wants me to have an impact on a greater number of children.....oh, that seems almost scary. Only time will tell.

Today is the first day of Script Frenzy and I still have no direction whatsoever but I'm sure I'll come up with something-eventually. Our weekly walk was suspended this past weekend due to exhaustion, illness, and inclement weather but we hope to be back out there this weekend. On Friday Alexandra, myself, and her friend Jason will be taking a tour of Grand Valley State University with my alumnus brother James along to give us the inside skinny.

Please continue to keep my mother Judith in your prayers, a spot on her liver is going to be dealt with via Cryosurgery next week and we're hoping this will be the end of a very disconcerting stage of health challenges. Thankfully she had an encouraging appointment with her surgeon and the oconologist, working again through Karmanos Cancer Center, she feels the situation is under control and she is in superb care.

'Nit Wits' curtain call, Saturday, March 28 @ North Branch High School (Alex is in red).

New Bulletin Board

Have a Blessed Week Everyone!

Chippewa Valley Chess Tournament

After a busy day at school I picked the boys and Alex up, dropped Alex and Ethan at the house, Ben changed into clothes since it was Pajama Day at school and then we headed to Clinton Twp. for the 3rd Annual Chippewa Valley Chess Tournament. This was the second year Ben participated and Fox's first tournament. They did well but did not place. It was a very long day.

Friday Fill-In and the like.

1. My blueprint for success includes taking it one day at a time.

2. An ‘organic’ Mango Tango sucker was the last candy I ate.

3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is anything by L’Oreal or Lancôme.
4. Screaming & throwing a fit can be good therapy (but it doesn’t make you very popular).

5. I'd like to tell you about my amazing trip to Europe but I haven’t been there yet.

6. The ability to improvise is my strongest characteristic (guess it’s from all of that dance training).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to taking Fox and Ben to compete in the 3rd Annual Chippewa Valley Schools Chess Tournament, tomorrow my plans include seeing the NBHS production of ‘Nit Wits’ and Sunday, I want to rejoice and relax!

*Hey Lisa! My fill-ins are different because I am pulling them from the archives!

A couple quick updates too: first, I have a job interview today! This is the first face to face interview I have had in many years. I am a little nervous but excited for the possibilities. Also, when I asked Ethan how things went at school yesterday he replied with a happy "good!" His friend Jesse was back in class after being out sick for some time, he passed the next level of Rocket Math on his first try which was a definate confidence builder, and he was excited about finishing his 'fish project' in Art. So, things are looking up for him, Amen. Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement during this transition, it is truly priceless!

T.G.I.F.

Just life...

Monday, March 23, 2009
Didn’t see Alex this morning which isn’t unusual since Rob does the bus run for me on Monday; I probably won’t see her much this week since ‘Nit Wits’ is in the final throws of dress and tech rehearsals. Ah, the theater…. The boys got up and got themselves dressed, Fox did his shower, Ben was last night, and Ethan washed up before the meet yesterday. Checked everyone’s backpacks, sent notes to teachers about pick-ups this week, doled out hugs, kisses and well wishes; Rob took them down to the bus on his way out to work. Crunched across the frosty grass to let the chickens out to free range and give them the food scraps. Came back in, made a cup of instant (minus French Vanilla creamer…boo), did my Weekend Update blog post, some bill paying, put on my New Orleans Blues Party CD and got down to business writing TV on DVD entries. About 11:20 I went out and brought the chickens in, gathered 2 eggs, then went for a brisk (in temp. & pace) 20 minute walk around the trails, came in and did 10 minutes of intense yoga concentrating on loosening up my hips which have been very tight again lately. Spent about 2 minutes in corpse pose then jumped in the shower, got dressed then had some homemade cabbage soup. Went up to North Branch, dropped my papers off at the school administration office for substituting, hit the library for a spell then picked the boys up for school and headed right down to Rochester. Fox and Ben stayed at the library to play on the computer and read while Ethan and I did gymnastics. Alex had tech rehearsal after school and got her own ride home, she was already in bed by the time we made it back at nearly 10pm.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Ben was already up before I was. Put Alex on the bus, gave Fox and Ethan a little extra sleep time but then gave the wake-up call about 7:20am got them fed and backpacks in order, fed the chickens (no ranging today, but gathered 4 eggs), got them on the bus then followed it up to Lake Pleasant and headed over to Grosse Pointe to clean for my mom. Cleaned, then did a brisk (temp. & pace again) 20 minute walk around the neighborhood with her poodle, Brulée, then did 10 minutes of core pilates before heading back home, stopping on the way at the grocery store, gas station, and bank. Ethan has been a concern for me. Yesterday and today he cried that he did not want to go to school, I think he is still feeling under the weather but he is very overwhelmed with the work load and long day. My prayer today was that something cool/special/exciting would happen to put the spring back in his step. Oddly I thought Fox would be the one with the toughest time adjusting but he is doing fine. Ethan I figured would love having buddies around since he’s so friendly and outgoing but he is the one wanting to be back home. Of course he really doesn’t want to work at home, just play on the Wii all day! This is partly where our problems began. Boys got home and we had spaghetti dinner, they played some video games then Ben and I headed off to our last Michigan History class. Fox got his homework packet done and practiced the trumpet. Alex had dress rehearsal again but was home before we were. When we returned I sat down and did some reading with Ethan then he took a bath and I wrestled everybody to bed.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Did the high school bus run, woke the boys, Fox showered while Ben jumped in the tub. Quick breakfast of homemade banana muffins. Made cold lunches since hot lunch selections were rejected. Fed the chickens, gathered 4 eggs, and consoled Ethan again because he cried he didn’t want to go to school. We even went into our prayer closet (literally the bedroom closet) and took a moment to cast our cares and claim our strength in the Lord. He seemed to calm down. Backpack check. Loaded up and headed down to the bus stop for the second run. Discovered my back tire was flat AGAIN, slowly made my way to the church to do some work, stopping on the way at a gas station to fill the tire. Worked at the church and got my new bulletin board started, which looks TOO CUTE if I do say so myself. When I came out to the car to leave the tire was flat AGAIN. Put the donut on and decided I should go by Kan Rock and see if they had a used tire to put on since I had to go down to Rochester tonight and didn’t want a blow-out. PTL they did have one. Got back home and instead of walking today in the misty, nasty rain I took a 30 minute power nap instead. Woke up, got my coaching clothes on, had some cabbage soup, got some food together to bring to the boys to eat on the way down to Rochester, then went to pick them up from school. On the way down everyone ate and shared about their day and I quizzed Ethan and Ben on their spelling words. Fox read us his new “novel” he started writing today. Ethan told me again he didn’t want to go to school and that he couldn’t stop crying. I asked if the teacher knew about him crying and he said no, he did it quietly, nobody really knew. I was impressed that he knew most of his spelling words and he said he finally reached his goal on Rocket Math so he can go to the next level. I put a call in to Mrs. Hosner the principal earlier this morning asking her to check on Ethan and see if she can find out more about why he’s having troubles. I saw her when I picked them up and she told me she got the message but didn’t have a moment to delve into it today but will tomorrow. Fox and Ben stayed at the Rochester library and did homework and played on the computer. Ethan had a good practice and my practice with Super Mites went really well too. Picked the other two back up and headed straight home. Alex was home from rehearsals when we returned but went to bed shortly after. Heading for some shut eye myself and looking forward to not having to go anywhere tomorrow.

Weekend Update

Sunday morning Ethan and I headed down to Lake Orion to watch the Junior Team compete Level 4 at the State Meet hosted by Gymnastics Training Center of Rochester Hills. What a marvelous facility the Lake Orion High School Field House is. It was a perfect set-up for the meet. This time we were not scheduled to work on the floor and mostly watched from the spectator area which was above the gym floor making it much easier to see all the events. We did sneak down during one practice round so Ethan could say hi to the team. As a fund raiser they were selling “Shout Outs” for $1 so we did a “Shout Out to the GTC Junior Team. Ethan Parton says Rock On and Coach Brandon is the best!” Loving it!
Weekly Walk #6: As we took a quickie walk on the property we went past Benjamin’s latest project, a putt-putt golf course. He started drawing out the idea Saturday night and then worked on it all Sunday morning. Needs to come up with a better hole; a frosting container was suggested. I also gazed adoringly at the huge pile of brush that was gathered during Saturday yard work. Rob got the boys started on picking up the debris and sticks while he filled up the tires on the lawn mower and moved it to the back part of the garage so I can get the recycling area organized. I actually ended up painting in Alex’s room (another project that has long gone by the wayside) instead of working outside with them. Then I took Ben up to the elementary for soccer practice. Alex somehow skated on the whole yard work deal. She went up to the school for the theatre workday and was supposed to work when she got back but things pretty much puttered out by then. Hmmm. Anyway, along our walk Rob wrestled with some old wire that had been in the back for a while but was finally freed and easy to see since everything was dead, so we pulled that out to an open spot to come back for later. Tried to take some more MySpace type pictures with Rob but just kept getting the back of his head and not me; got a few good smooches trying though. (wink) The lower section of the collage is Fox’s terrarium-aquarium project he worked on. I found a section of moss while we were walking that topped it off well, don’t you think?

Happy Monday!