Internet ties

My first memory of actually using the Internet was when I worked at All-Phase. It had to have been around 1996 or 1997, based on the office I remember being in. We had all just received connections to the Internet and email addresses. It felt very advanced! I remember performing my first Internet search, using Yahoo, which I think was the only search engine at the time.

These days I cannot imagine being without the Internet. I use it for my job -- in fact, it is my only connection to my job. I literally cannot perform my job without have an Internet connection. I use it to search out information regularly. Whether it is the weather, a phone number, or event information, I would desperately miss such easy access to information if I had no Internet. I use it to shop. I have never really been a big shopper, so being able to buy things I need from the comfort of home is awesome.

Beyond all of that, over the past few years I have found the internet to be an amazing tool for developing friendships that has gone beyond anything I would have ever imagined. It all began when I was first pregnant. The newness of such a thrilling experience prompted me to thirst for knowledge, seeking out anything I could find on pregnancy. I stumbled upon a website called Pregnancy Weekly. It was full of information. I also found that they had message boards that were sectioned by your birth month -- the month you were due.

On the birth club message board you could post a message or question, and anyone else there could post a reply. In the early days there was a great deal of posting of symptoms, to receive confirmation from many others that they were feeling the same things. A lot of , “Am I allowed to…,” with lots of, “My doctor said…” in reply. It was great.

Now, more than six years later, I have bonds with many of those girls that I know will carry through our lives. What started as sharing of information on our pregnancies turned into sharing information about all aspects of our lives.

The group of girls on that site eventually moved off to a privately hosted message board site that was password protected. It was invite only, so we could ensure that it was just our group of about 150 people. We knew who was having more children, who was going through a marriage crisis, who was suffering from the loss of a family member. We knew who had a new job, who was thrilled to have bought a new home, and who was graduating from school. We also knew what we were making for dinner, what our weekend plans were, and posted pictures of our haircuts. Nothing was too big or too small to post about.

Now, my connection with this great group of girls is on Facebook. Just in the past week or so we created a secret group on Facebook which allows us to post just to our group. Beyond the computer, though, I have met with many of the group in person. I’ve had people come and visit me in my home, and I have visited others. This past summer I vacationed in Niagara Falls with women from the group and their kids. The connections have been incredible.

I actually wrote this blog post a long time ago, meaning to add onto it and post it. I forgot about it. I thought to write a blog post about the group today, though, and it jogged my memory of this one.

Our group today received a shock. One “of us” passed away yesterday, very unexpectedly, at the age of 30. She leaves behind her husband, son who is almost six, and her parents that she cares for. It is nothing short of tragic.

I am thankful that our secret page on Facebook was already up and running as it provided us with an outlet for grief and a way to process. I was fortunate to have met Larissa a couple of times because she lived outside of Chicago. I spent time today going through pictures of our times together.

One of the girls in my group posted the following tonight: “I thought about this earlier, and I think it's just amazing that we are this close. Of course, some are closer to others (which is completely normal), but we have all been there to support each other for six years. Pregnancy, birth of November babies and babies after them, funny times, divorces and marriages, arguments and family problems. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support ♥.”

It sums it up so well. We are close. We have shared so, so much. And for the first time ever, we have lost one of our own. And it makes the love that much stronger.

Master Kyle

This summer was such a summer of "mastering" for Kyle. It's been so amazing to watch the boy Kyle is becoming. The things he is learning, the growth he is experiencing. While still a little boy, he is practically growing before my eyes. I think I would be so sad about the baby boy that is now gone, if I didn't love, love, love the boy he is now.

Kyle began the summer as a boy who still didn't like to get his face wet. He loved swimming, but under no circumstances did he want to jump in because that would require him to get his face wet. By mid summer Kyle took the plunge, literally! By the end of the summer he was a jumping fool and had no problem racing in for a huge splash, as seen here:

Kyle started the summer with training wheels. He had his outgrown bike with training wheels, and a cool new-to-him bike that was just his size -- but without training wheels. I thought the coolness of the new bike, and the smallness of the old, would push him to learn how to ride sooner. But no, he remained pretty content with it all for quite awhile. Until a huge meltdown that his cousin Jack had a big bike like his, but it had training wheels. Why couldn't his big bike have training wheels. And on, and on. I was going to get him training wheels for it, figuring he'd learn when he was ready, but he decided he was ready. He jumped on and never looked back. He sails around on his bike now!

And finally, Kyle also learned how to pump his legs on the swings this summer. He doesn't need me to push him anymore, but my sweet boy will still take those pushes any time I will give them!

And because it falls into the category of Kyle growing up, he also lost two teeth in the past month!

From lazy to fun

In general, being lazy is not a good thing. I try not to be lazy, but I have a lazy gene that likes to come out. Well, I blame it on genetics. Because otherwise, it would just be, well, laziness. And lazy, as I said, is not usually a good thing.

We get into Halloween in our family. We already have the inside decked out for Halloween, and the kids (well, Kyle) are champing at the bit to get the outside stuff going. I have decided on October 1 for that.

Last Halloween, as with virtually anyone who decorates outside, we had pumpkins adorning our porch. One would think that once the holiday was over I would have ditched the pumpkins. But, they weren't carved, so I decided to leave them out as Thanksgiving decorations. Well, then it got cold. And I don't like the cold. So, I have to admit, they didn't really get thrown out. Um, ever. Instead, the snow of winter came and they just sort of mushed up in the flower pots they had been sitting in.

Fast forward (or reverse as the case may be) to this past spring. I bought flowers to plant, and I scooped out the top layers of the flower pots, including any remaining pumpkin and seeds. I didn't want to completely refill the pots, so I left much of the dirt, and added some new with the new flowers.

The flowers grew. And darned if those pesky pumpkins didn't leave some of their seeds hidden in the pot. I had pumpkins growing in the pots and overtaking the flowers. So I moved them to the front flower bed that the dogs dig up, so I hadn't planted it with flowers.

I had NO IDEA that pumpkins grew the way they do. By August the patch had taken over literally a third of our front lawn. We'd placed a stake out there to stop it from crossing over on the front walk! (Which is did when we were on vacation, we had to wind it back around.)

They flowered like crazy, but overall we got probably half a dozen pumpkins. A few small and medium, and one big one. I now know a bit more about pumpkin growing, and I should have been thinning them out in a specific way to grow large pumpkins. They also self-planted way too early for Halloween; they should have been planted much later. A project for next year on the property I suppose.

So here are some pictures from our pumpkin journey. They kids really had fun with it, especially the big one. And it was fantastic when we arrived home from Tennessee on July 22 and an explosion of growth had taken place. As soon as we rounded the corner the kids were shouting, "Look at the pumpkins!!! Look, they're across the sidewalk!!"

So sometimes, lazy can turn into good times. ;-)

First pumpkin picked. We were so excited. We had an iced pumpkin cookie recipe picked out and were ready to go. We cut into it and I said, "It looks a little mushy." Then the stench hit me. The thing was rotten with a capital R. Phew!

Lots of flowers!Big pumpkin growing!Today we picked the biggest pumpkin. It's really nice -- one I would choose from a bunch for sale. And, since I saw a bunch out today at the farm markets, I think we'll make it to Halloween with it and be able to carve it.

Fun times!!

School: Bring it on!

It's funny how your mind changes as time marches along. By late May this year I was ready for Kyle's school year to be done. I was ready to drop the structured routine of our days and enjoy the spontaneity of summer. I was ready for lazy days at home, beach days, and day trips to places like the zoo. Bring on the summer!

Now it is the day after Labor Day... time to say goodbye to summer and look to the school year. By a couple weeks ago I was craving the very thing I wanted rid of in May. I needed some structure back in our lives. I needed routine to our days again. While I love summer, I was excited to put a sweatshirt on this weekend.

Last night we hit the routine of school nights hard. We ate dinner earlier than we did in our summer schedule. Water was running in the tub by 6:45, and kids were trudging up the stairs at 7:30. Teeth were brushed, stories were read, and kids were tucked and kissed. And they went to sleep. Ahhh.

This morning as we sat at the table eating breakfast I asked Kyle what he was most excited about and he said learning new things every day. (Just what I wanted to hear!!) I asked Erin and she said the playground. This worried me, only because after the open house we played on the big kid playground -- not the preschool one. I said, "Erin, you know that you will play on the preschool playground, not the big kid one we played on the other day, right?" She said, "I know. Next to room. It has a playhouse!!" Good, she got it. :)

The kids were ready early and wanted to get going, I actually had to drag out pictures and buckling in the car so we weren't too early. We dropped Erin off at preschool first. Erin has sign in things to do, and we put her backpack in her cubbie and checked out the bathroom. Kyle helped her out since he went there, too. She did great! Was ready to go with no issues at all.

With Miss Ehrenberg

With Mrs. Mitchell

Next was Kyle to Maple Grove. We went in, got his backpack in his locker, and settled him in at his desk. He was raring to go! It was exciting to see old friends, and he was looking forward to meeting the new ones.

With Mrs. Miller, his teacher

Both kids reported having great days. I am so thankful to have kids that seem to love school and want to learn. Kyle said his favorite thing from today was learning, and Erin's favorite thing was singing. My favorite thing is that they had happy days, which makes my heart happy.

Welcome, Tooth Fairy!

The tooth fairy is making her second visit to our home tonight, but it is the first "real" visit. In June Kyle had a tooth pulled, and she came for that tooth. (He'd had a small cavity in the fall, but in May it got infected through the tooth. In an adult tooth it would mean a root canal, but you wouldn't do that to a baby tooth.)

Kyle's two middle teeth on the bottom began wiggling just before we went to Tennessee, so for six weeks we have been watching the wiggle progression. They have been getting pretty darn wiggly! In the car this afternoon Kyle was drinking out of a straw and shouted, "Mom! My tooth!" I asked what, and he said, "It's out!! I dropped it!"

We immediately pulled over for this milestone occasion and found the tooth. We looked in his mouth. We did high fives. Yep, we make a big deal out of things like this. :-)

It actually makes me a little tearful. What a big boy he is becoming. He is losing his baby teeth, because he is no longer a baby. He's going to go through such a visible change in his appearance as he loses and grows teeth. The awkward stage of teeth that seem too big for his mouth, or are half grown. His perfect row of chicklet teeth will be a thing of the past. It hurts my heart a little.

But, baby teeth or no baby teeth, this boy will never stop being my baby.

One year ago today

September 1. This is an anniversary of sorts. It is the date of my mom’s fall and her first subdural hematoma last year. While I didn’t realize it at the time, the date – 9/1 – would become my own personal 9/11, just without one of the 1s. I look back, and I wonder how in the world we got to the point we were on that date, and how we managed the events of the past year.

A friend of my sister’s said many months back, “Wow. You just can’t make this shit up.” It’s become somewhat of a mantra for Beth and I. As life became more and more unstable, and the bizarre continued to get more bizarre, we would think to ourselves that it was beyond making up. People have told us we need to write a book.

The thing is, I’ve also come to learn that nearly every family has some level of drama and heartache in it. Even the “normal” families have some member who skews the curve. I used to think that I grew up in a normal family. We were upper middle class, my parents were conservative and forced us to follow rules that would allow us to grow into responsible adults. My parents worked hard and were well educated. They passed along a good moral compass and strong ethics.

In 1996 my brother rocked “normal” in our family by having his life of illegal lies outed publicly – something that was enormously embarrassing for my family as our name was dragged through the headlines day after day. In the years since he has yet to hold a steady job in between his stays in jail. Yet still, with the exception of my brother, I considered the rest of my family normal. My sister and I both graduated from college and went on to obtain Master’s degrees. We both married and had children. We both held good jobs that provided us with a living and satisfaction. My parents had “done well” with us, anyway.

Fast forward to 2010. My mom spent more and more of her days in bed and the year went on. By summer she’d lost 40 pounds, took none of her medication, and never left her bed. My basement-dwelling brother was the root of most of her depression. No matter how much we begged her, she wouldn’t get out of bed. Two sessions with a therapist in July gave us all some hope, but then she deemed herself fine and quit going.

The fall occurred while my brother was “helping” my mom into the car to go to a doctor appointment. She lost her balance because of the weakened state she was in, and cracked the back of her head on the pavement so hard that her brain pressed forward into the front of her skull and bled. Between September 1 and December 1 she was in and out of the hospital. She fell more at home, her brain bled more. The blood on her brain caused seizures, and she went into a coma-like state with stroke-like symptoms.

December 1 she went into skilled nursing care. She never opened her eyes, she was in a wheelchair, she couldn’t feed herself. We were beside ourselves with grief over the way she had become, and fearful if she would ever be back.

December 1 to April 20 for my mom proved to be months of dramatic improvement. She progressed through therapy, ate more, was alert more, and earned herself the right to move to assisted care rather than skilled care.

The part that warrants a “you can’t make this shit up” has more to do with my dad. After a Christmas Day blow up he announced he was taking my mom home. Wheelchair, catheter and all. To a house full of stairs and alcoholics. My sister and I were horrified. There was no way he could care for my mom in the state she was in; he’d proven through 2010 that he wasn’t capable in the caregiver role period. With the support of all of my parents’ friends and our family, we were forced to seek legal guardianship of my mom.

The judge deemed our case an emergency, and an immediate order was placed that my mom would not be moved. Over the course of the next several months, my sister and I spent thousands of dollars and countless hours with our attorney to ensure that my mom could receive the care she needed to get better. Not only that, but to ensure her survival.

In the end, it proved too much for us. While we had no doubt we would win in court, we could no longer live through the pain and stress it was causing – not just stress on us, but on our own families. We backed out, and signed my mom’s guardianship over to West Michigan Guardianship.

Through the winter and spring my dad’s reliance on alcohol proved heavy, resulting in significant legal issues for him as well as hospital stays. We thought our mom had been our main concern, but my dad quickly took over as having the biggest issues. This I had never seen coming.

And now, a year later, my “growing up” family has been through hell, but I certainly can’t say hell and back. My mom is mostly better, but her 30-year home is not safe for her and she won’t consider anything else. My dad is through with court dates, but won’t give up the booze.

Through all my sister and I did last year – cleaning their house, bringing over food, living at the hospital and nursing home for days on end, spending thousands of dollars we certainly couldn’t afford, our schedule to make sure one of us was with my mom each and every day – my parents have at this point shoved us out of their lives. My letters to them go unanswered.

So of all the events of the past year which earn the comment of not being able to make it up, having my parents close the door on me – and their grandchildren – is the one I never would have seen coming. And the one I’ll never be able to get over.

Moving on, one year later

Part 2. The past year has been ROUGH. But, more than ever, I am working my way past this. My perspective is that out of all bad there is some good, and from all bad you can work back to good.

The good from the past year. My sister and I have become unbelievably close, and we both know there is an unbreakable bond between us. While we sat in a meeting with our attorney this past winter we answered three questions in a row in unison. He said, “Wow, you really are sisters.” I replied, “Sometimes lately I think we are the same person.” Throughout all the events of the past year we have been a united front. We have been on the same page at all times. While occasionally we may have taken a different approach to something, we always were willing to go with the other person – knowing we both agreed with either approach. There are no words strong enough to convey that I could not had handled the issues of the past year without her, the one person who could exactly understand the shoes I was in.

I have realized what a rock my husband can be. He has put up with a lot in the past year. He has put up with the enormous amount of time I was spending in St. Joe, at the expense of our family. For a while my parents’ house was cleaner than my own because I managed to do theirs more than ours. He has never said a word about the financial strain I put on our family, both through attorney costs and through all the times I had to hire a sitter. He has stuck with me through my impatience and temper, two things that have been ever-present during the depression and stress of the past year.

My kids are still amazing. They have been yelled at more than they deserved to be, they have heard me sigh with impatience as I tell them to hurry up, they have dealt with my crabby existence. And they still shine. They still smile and tell me they love me. As often as I have worried that I’m going to “break” them, they continue to be great kids. I hope they don’t remember the dark days of this past year.

I have become closer than ever to family members that, while they’ve been there since I was born, I didn’t have the bond I certainly do now. Family friends who have been in my life through my parents, have provided support and love in immeasurable ways. Mike’s family has provided love and support to me. My church family has prayed. And my group of mom friends have provided hugs, prayers, and, well, a night out when needed!

So much good surrounds me.

Where I have the most work to do is making me good again. I need to get out of the funk which had come to define me and move on. It is what it is – get over it!

Being a self-help book kind of girl, I’m reading two right now. Get Out of That Pit, and The Happiness Project. I joined Weight Watchers to get rid of this stress and depression weight I have packed on in the past year (well, and still baby weight in there, too!) We are eating healthier, and being healthier.

I WILL get there! Know it, my friends, I WILL!

Strange Googles...

Along the left hand column of my blog is a gadget/box that shows where recent visitors have logged in from (FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed.) It is interesting to me, because I can think, "Oh, Macomb, MI, that must be Charlene!" I like it when I can see that someone I knew checked in. I also see places I've never heard of, and other countries, which is also interesting.

Every once in a while I will click further into it, by clicking the real time button. It gives more detail. The thing that is usually interesting is when someone Googles a phrase and ends up landing on my blog. Tonight I did that, and found a wealth of humor. Here are some of the Googlings that had strangers landing on my blog:

• Western town
• Kalamazoo naked students
• Cow tongue picks nose
• Saint bernards babysitting
• Nascar blogspot
• How to make dog cupcake
• Bible verse blooming where you are planted.

Interestingly enough, the last one is there each and every time I have ever checked the detail. I can't tell you how many people have landed on that blog post by Googling that phrase.

If you click the phrase beside each bullet it will take you to the actual individual post Google directed them to.

Completely clueless how "nascar blog" landed them on my page even remotely, because I don't remember ever blogging about it. And a little uncomfortable that "kalamazoo naked students" landed on my daughter's naked bum, when I never had the word naked in there.

My Kindle... one year later

It’s been just over a year since Mike got me an Amazon Kindle for my birthday, and I am still loving it! (I do have some pangs of envy for the Barnes and Noble Color Nook, because it is like an iPad and book reader in one, and touchscreen; but for reading books, I still love my Kindle.)

I now have more than 100 items in my Kindle. Barely a dent in its 3,500 book capacity. What surprises me is the range of what I have, and how much of it was free. I peruse the Kindle free list every couple of days, and it is rare for me to not add something. Many of the free books I have read have been really good. Of course, their list is achieving its purpose, because there are a couple of authors I have now paid to read their other books.

I have created seven categories in my Kindle: Books Read, Games, Non-fiction, Religious, Children’s Books, Cookbooks, and Kindle Info and Dictionaries.

Books read is obviously the books I have finished. There are 20 in there, which is not bad for me for a year because I also read some “real” books during the year that I actually had to physically hold their full weight and turn their paper pages. Gasp!

Some of my favorites for the year include:

• Crossing Oceans, by Gina Holmes
• Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel, by Beth Hoffman
• Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
• The Ocean Inside, by Janna McMahan
• Firefly Lane, by Kristin Hannah

Games was a surprise for me, because I didn’t realize there would be any. Originally there were a couple word games available, they were fun to play and worked my brain, and then more and more came on the market. I only get the free ones, but I have seven in there now (some of which have multiple games in and of themselves.)

Non-fiction includes a number of writing skills books, organizing, history, etc. I think all of these were free.

Religious… again, free books. I have some in there dealing with various issues, and I also have some study guides and the actual Bible. The thing about this category that brought me a big chuckle this year is when I got an email from Amazon stating that there was a revised, updated version of the Bible available. I thought, “Wow, really?! Suurrree.” As I read further it turned out that the version I downloaded had some typos, and the new version had corrected those.

Children’s books includes a number of classic children’s tales. I figure this way I always have something I can read out loud to the kids.

Cookbooks. The Kindle is not the ideal way to look through a cookbook, but these were all free and I have tried some of the recipes.

The last category on Kindle info is just the files that come on the Kindle on operating it, etc., as well as dictionaries.

I use it a lot, and continue to love to read. I love that I can click a book on the Amazon site and within a minute it is right there in my hand. I love that I can easily carry around hundreds of books and have my choice at any moment. I love that I have put the Kindle application on my phone and I can read my books on there, right from the very page I was on when I turned my Kindle off. (And then when I turn my Kindle on, it opens to the page I left off on while using my phone!)

Ahh, technology!

Red about green

So, I am a little red in the face to say up until this summer we haven't been very green. As in, hut hmm, we, you know, shhh, didn't recycle. There, I said it.

The thing is, that recycle bin didn't have any kind of home in our house. We did not have room for it anywhere near the kitchen, where the majority of the recycling takes place. Our garage is detached, so putting it in there would have been a nice though, but I knew the follow through wouldn't happen. We couldn't put it outside the door, because the porch isn't covered and it wouldn't have done well in the elements. So, we didn't recycle. I know, excuses, but we didn't.

Then this summer our town introduced recycling dumpsters. It's big! The same size as our trash dumpster. I saw others in town get it, and we called and asked for one. The heavens opened, the sun shone, and AHA! the Bos family became recyclers!

It's been more than a couple months, and the novelty hasn't worn off with the kids. I can ask them to put something in the recycling dumpster and they fight over who gets to do it. (Often they take turns... one opens the lid and the other puts it in, then they switch next time.) Erin interrupted my shower today to ask, while holding her Gogurt container, "Mommy, trash or recycle?"

I have been astonished at the amount of recycling we do, and how little trash we have now. Our recycling dumpster gets picked up every other week, and it is always filled to the brim. Our trash gets picked up weekly, and we are down to one to two kitchen-size bags of trash. Finally, but yay us!!

GVO... and some tangents

GVO. That's what I'm calling my recent trip: Girls Vacation Out. It went beyond a GNO (Girls Night Out), because it lasted a week. And it included a young boy, Kyle. The trip came about after almost a year of planning with two good friends of mine, Colleen and Christine, both of whom live on the East Coast. Originally Christine's husband, Jay, was going to be in Toronto on business, and we thought we could all meet and tag along. Fast forward, and it wound up being Niagara Falls 11 months later.

My first tangent will be how we all met. In February 2005 I learned I was pregnant with Kyle. Thirsting for information, I Googled everything pregnancy and landed on Pregnancy Weekly. The site included message boards called birth clubs, and you would join the board for the month you were due. This way, you could post messages and reply to messages with a bunch of women going through all the same things at the same times. My. Board. CLICKED. So much so, that eventually close to 200 of use moved to a private message board that only we could access.

Now, more than six years later, I am no longer active on the message board, but I am still connected to probably 50 or 60 of those women on my Facebook page. I've met many of the women in the Midwest, and Colleen came from New York to South Haven two years ago to visit. A couple others have also visited me in South Haven.

So a trip was planned with Colleen, her nearly six year old Megan, and Christine, and her nearly six year old Olivia. We also made plans to meet another friend from the original message board, Sara-Jayne, her nearly six year old Aeva-Grace, and her husband and son. Sara-Jayne lives in Canada, but I had been lucky to have met her twice before already.

August 3

Departure Day! I was worried about driving by myself with the kids for the entire eight hour drive (plus add in meals and potty stops), so I decided to stop and spend the night with my cousin Kathy in Rochester. This was a great plan, because I love Kathy and so do my kids!! We had a great time hanging out with her for a bit, and she made our trip so much easier. Thanks, Kathy!

August 4

We left Kathy's just after 11, aiming to hit our 4:30 check-in time. We rented a condo so that we could all seven enjoy the space. This would also help out with costs since we could eat in when we wanted to.

Even though Google Maps and my GPS said to go through Port Huron, I decided to hit the Windsor tunnel. (Tangent ahead!) I remember as a child traveling between Canada and the US frequently, and we would take the tunnel one way and the bridge the other way. My kids love tunnels, and I wanted them to watch for the flags in the middle and shout we were in another country -- just as I had as a kid.

The kids did amazing for the whole drive. It helps that we had picked up the newly-released movie Rio just as we hit the road. They watched it all but one hour of the trip. Again. And again. But it entertained them.

We got to the condo all about the same time, and got all of our stuff unloaded. Then the seven of us grabbed pizza by the slice on the corner for dinner. It was good, and it hit the spot after a day of traveling.

August 5

Our day to meet up with Sara-Jayne and her family. We decided to explore the Clifton Hill area of Niagara Falls. This was a lot of fun. We first rode the Sky Wheel and got a great view of the area and the falls. The kids loved it! Then there was tons of fun to be had... mini-golf, arcade games, and a walk along the falls. Walking along the Horseshoe Falls cooled us off, in a soaking wet kind of way, lol, since the mist is like rain. We had a super day.

We headed back to the condo to relax and make dinner, then headed out again to the same area to see the falls lit up in a variety of colors, and to watch fireworks. Unfortunately, after waiting patiently, the message went around that the fireworks were cancelled that night.

We walked back through Clifton Hill and hit some stores, like the Hershey Store. We got the kids home close to midnight and they fell asleep soundly. Colleen, Christine and I stayed up watching DVDs of Friends episodes -- oh how that show can make me laugh!!

August 6

The falls up close and personal! We crossed the border into New York to take in all the views from the American side at the Niagara Falls State Park. While Canada offers a wider view of the majesty of the falls, taking in the size and scope of them, America offers a up close view of their power and the gushing water that leads to them. Both countries show their awesomeness and beauty.

We took a trip to the base of the Horseshoe Falls on the Maid of the Mist. The kids loved the boat ride, and loved our blue raincoats. Nothing like getting rained on by the mist of the falls to make a kid happy! We also walked out on the observation deck for some great views.

Next we grabbed lunch (gotta love a $6.95 hot dog) and watched the IMAX movie Niagara Falls: Legends of Adventure. The kids all did well through the 40-minute trip through 13,000 years. I was impressed with how attentive Kyle was, he was so into the history of the falls and the story behind it. He mentioned things to me later that let me know how much he was really paying attention.

Next up, a trolley ride and the Discovery Center. The trolley ride was a great way to see the rest of the park, including crossing over to Goat Island, the island that divides the Upper Niagara and creates two distinct water falls. The Discovery Center was interesting, but maybe a bit above our kids' level. They had fun, though, and enjoyed the walk back to the car. We were able to go under the Rainbow Bridge, which was cool.

We ended our day earlier than we had previously -- at about 6 -- by stopping at the store for food to cook, The Beer Store for drinks, and then home. Erin fell asleep in the car, I carried her in, and she woke up the next morning!! We made pasta and salad for dinner. The joy of a condo -- the $10 we spent stretched to feed seven of us two nights in a row! And then more Friends with friends. :)

August 7

We began our day in New York again, going to the Niagara Aquarium. We planned our trip so that we would be there for the most interesting activities -- the penguin and seal feedings and the sea lion show. The aquarium was small, but packed in a lot of fun for the kids. As we left the aquarium we sadly said good bye to Christine and Livy, who headed back to Rhode Island.

Just as we buckled in the kids, the skies opened up into a downpour. Not too discouraging though, since we were going to look for a place to eat and then go on the (wet!) Cave of the Winds tour. We hit McDonald's, and then back into the state park. We suited up in yellow raincoats this time, and even got souvenir flip flops. An elevator took us to the base of the Bridal Falls, where a walkway took us the rest of the way.

The views of the crashing water, and the rocky waterfalls beside the bigger falls, was breathtaking. It was awesome to look up at their greatness. And we walked up and up, closer to it. We were able to stand close enough beside the Bridal Falls that the water for the falls pelted us -- in essence, we were standing under the falls.

We explored more of the park after that, going around Goat Island for different views, and walking across the footbridges of the Three Sisters Islands.

After a trip back to the condo for a quick nap, we headed back down to Clifton Hill for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Then -- as Kyle begged -- we played more games. We went on a 4D ride that Kyle and Megan loved. Your chairs moved, it snowed on us, and wind rushed onto us. It was great! We also went to the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, which was interesting for all of us (well, except for Erin who slept soundly through it in the stroller!)

We were able to see fireworks that night, timing our arrival perfectly. We walked to the falls, picked a spot, and they started!

August 8

Departure day. By the time we all got up and packed, check out time was upon us. We gave hugs and kisses in the parking lot, saying we needed to do a get together every couple years. Colleen and Megan had a full day of driving to get back to Long Island, while our journey was just to Mount Clements, outside of Detroit.

Our trip through Canada was easy, and we were at the Port Huron border before we knew it. It took a half hour to get across the bridge, then the GPS said it was only a half hour to my college roommate's house. I didn't believe it, but sure enough, it was right!

Charlene has three boys, and those boys have four cousins next door who are all boys, so Kyle got a big fix of boy fun after a vacation with all girls. The kids had a blast!! I had a great time catching up with Charlene, and another college roommate, Amy, joined us for dinner.

We had not been together since Amy's dad died three years ago. I wrote about our friendship in a blog post then, but we share a great bond. We were such good friends through all four years of school, and now, 20 years later, I know I can step right into the friendship with ease every time I see them. I love those girls!

August 9

Home day!!!! After a week away from home, and from Mike, we were ready. One more stop, though. I couldn't pass through Lansing without a stop on the Michigan State campus. I took the kids pictures on the field I used to rehearse on for the Spartan Marching Band, we took pictures with Sparty, we ate ice cream at the MSU Dairy Store, and we hit SBS (Student Book Store) before getting on the road again.

Between Lansing and South Haven the kids slept. It was literally the only part of the entire trip they slept in the car!! Thanks goodness they were good all those wakeful hours!

We pulled into South Haven after 6, in time for dinner, baths and beds. Whew. What an amazing trip!

PICTURES...

Again, I have posted albums on Facebook, and have linked them below (you need to click both to see all the pictures.) Even if you are not a member of Facebook, this should be a public link that will allow you to view the pictures. You can see the entire album in thumbnails, or click each picture through as a slide show. Most of the pictures have captions that you can see when they are clicked larger, or when you hover over the picture.

Niagara Falls Trip, Part 1

Niagara Falls Trip, Part 2

Tennessee Vacation

We had a fabulous vacation last week, heading to Tennessee for a week. We took off early afternoon on Friday the 15th, and spent the night in London, KY. The next morning we stopped to see friends Diane and Ron Kirby in Elizabethton, TN. Mike has spent many weekends there with then while going to the NASCAR race in Bristol. I also spent a weekend there and went to the Bristol race the fall before Kyle was born. We then headed to my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Don's that evening.

We really, really had a nice vacation there. Sunday -- which happened to be my birthday -- we spent time on the boat and in the water. It was so nice to just relax! My Aunt Joan and cousin Jennifer came over for dinner. Monday was more fun on the boat and in the water, and we took the raft out and Uncle Don pulled us behind the boat.

Tuesday we ventured out, and Mike and I took the kids on the Mayfield Dairy Farms tour, and also to The Lost Sea. The factory tour was interesting, and the kids had fun milking the cow in the lobby. The Lost Sea was really interesting. We trekked through the cavern, and when we got to the 4.5 acre lake deep inside we got to take a glass-bottomed boat ride. The lake was stocked with rainbow trout, and when they fed them the fish swarmed.

Wednesday was another relaxing water day, and then Thursday Aunt Peggy and I did a little scrapbook mega-store shopping and some outlet shopping. It was nice girl time together. :) Meanwhile, the guys took the kids to an Indiana fort and McDonald's. That night we had a great dinner at my Aunt Joan's.

Friday we headed home, making the whole trip in one day. The kids really did well in the car, even for a long trip.

For pictures of our trip, you can click here and access the photo album on my Facebook page. (This should still work even if you are not on Facebook. If you have a problem, please make a comment so I can correct it. Thanks!!)

Thank you, Aunt Peggy and Uncle Don!! :)

Another Ford passing

With the sad passing of Betty Ford yesterday, it reminded me of when President Gerald Ford passed away. Gerald Ford grew up an hour from here, and I remember going to the Gerald Ford Museum in Grand Rapids as a child. The airport is named after him. He was the city's hometown hero.

When funeral and burial plans were being made for President Ford, I kept thinking about how close it was all taking place. I decided that this was a moment when history could be witnessed. Where I could watch something historical as it happened. I decided to take the day off from work and go up to the funeral.

I also decided to take Kyle. Knowing he would never remember it at 14 months, I still knew that he would be present for something historical. And being a scrapbooker, he would certainly have the pictures -- a learning moment for later. ;-)

I headed up there with my Google Maps printout in hand, not knowing where I was going or what to expect. It was a cold January day. I figured, we'd see what we could do. If it didn't work out, we would come home. But we'd make the effort.

As far as witnessing history goes, we could not have been more fortunate. We parked literally a couple blocks from the church. We stood right against the barricade, front and center, just across from the church corner. We saw the church entrance, the military processions, the casket. I stood somberly, holding Kyle, as the hearse drove right past me with a flag-draped casket carrying a man of greatness in it. A man with the ambition and motivation to seek and earn our nation's highest office. A moment of silent respect.

Some day, these pictures will tell Kyle the story. And he will be able to say, "I was there." (And, he was good!)

Weep or rejoice?

We’ve owned our 15 acres for several months now, so we have seen it go from snow to buds to fully-leaved trees. Once things started growing we saw that our land has a lot of low-lying cactus plants growing. And I mean a lot.

It bummed me out, because I want my kids to race around freely through the property while growing up. I don’t want them to have to look where they are going so much.

We drove out there on Sunday to look around and make a couple decisions about the frontage. As soon as we drove in I shouted, “Look! Look at the cacti!” (To be honest, I think I said cactuses. Even a person who makes a living correcting grammar lets some mistakes fly occasionally.)

The cactus plants, which I haven’t liked at all, are in full bloom. They are beautiful.

When I was growing up my mom gave me a poster with a long stemmed rose on it. Alongside the rose it said, “I can weep because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

My sister has mentioned several times in her blog that she is a “glass half empty” kind of girl. I think it’s in our genes. Heck, even my mom knew it when she gave me that poster back when I was a grumpy teen.

So, as I work to dig myself out of the hole of the past year, I think the cacti were there for a reason. A smack-in-the-face reminder that everything has thorns, but there is also beauty abounding. It’s all about seeking it out, and appreciating the good. The bad just makes the good that much better.

So here’s to the good! The beauty among the thorns!I pick to rejoice.
And some more flowers on our property.I asked Kyle and Erin to hold their arms out while I took their picture......and Kyle said, "No, I want one like this." Love that boy!

Movin' On Up!

Kyle is done! He is no longer a Pre-K kid, but he is a Kindergartner!! And he is excited! What a fabulous year my little guy had. I think back to a year ago when I struggled with deciding whether to send him to Kindergarten -- which he barely met the deadline for -- or send him to Pre-Kindergarten. I decided I didn't want him spending the first couple of months as a four year old in Kindergarten, I didn't want him to always be a year younger than many kids, smaller on sports teams down the line, the last to drive, etc. I wanted to make sure he started with a firm footing.

I am so glad of the decision I made. Kyle had a wonderful teacher. She was great with him. He learned so much, and I have seen so much evidence of his knowledge. And he LOVED school. I have no doubt that he will head to Kindergarten next year as ready as anyone can be, and he will have gotten the strong foundation this year that will allow him to excel next year and beyond. Great job, Kyle.

Now on to the fun... Kyle ended his school year with a bang. His class had a picnic lunch trip planned to Kids Corner. They were going to ride the bus, play and eat. FUN! Fortunately, it rained. And then poured. And then lightening and thundered. Fortunately, you say?

Well, the *first* attempt at the trip led to activities being planned at school. They had a great indoor picnic and fun time. The parachute was brought out, there were bean bag songs -- you name it.

But the teachers felt bad they missed their trip, so they still got to go the next week! So Kyle's day of fun turned into two days of fun. :) And then, of course, there was the final end of the year picnic for the whole school. What a great way to end things!

Here are pictures from all three events.

Kyle and his teacher, Mrs. Flower.

Kyle and Granny Betty, the classroom grandma that helped each day.