Teamwork

It is such a simple concept.
But yet, when two or more must join together in a common goal, it requires the deepest of skills. Faith, openness, compromise, vision, tolerance, flexibility, trust.
Our gerbils model this behavior every time their sky opens and a paper tube is dropped in from the heavens above. They lose no time in their quest to immediately begin to chew their tube. They each begin at an end and "chew, chew, chew" until they meet in the middle and their entire tube is gone; shredded into a million bits. Five minutes later, they dust off their little paws, feeling satisfied that they have completed thier mission (and a job well done, indeed). They then retreat to their hide-a-house, pile on top of each other and settle in for a well deserved nap.
We could learn a lot from gerbils.

Bird Haven

Mary Alice, driven by her inner artist, created this beautiful bird house for the lucky birds in our garden, with the help of Daddy, who cut and drilled wherever she said and drove her to get the perfect materials to realize her vision.

Hoppy Easter!

A Great Guy!

Happy 94th Birthday to my stepfather Guy, who has made an indelible stamp on my life. We are grateful for each year with him and are so pleased that he enjoys good health and mind. Thanks to my mom, Judy, for taking such good care of him, always.

Sweet Dreams

February Fun 2010

We had a week long vacation in February.

On Monday, we went to a Children's play museum, where Megan Ling pretended to be a shopkeeper.


On Tuesday, we tried to go to the zoo, but after we got there it turned out to be closed.

On Wednesday, we tried again, and this time it was open! but we forgot the camera. We had a good time anyway. It was cold and there was lots of snow. Then we bought Megan Ling new sneakers.

On Thursday, we played at home.

On Friday, we drove to Niagara Falls, Canada and saw the Canadian Falls. It was a wet and breathtaking sight.

We stayed overnight in the Great Wolf Lodge, a beautiful, family oriented place with an indoor waterpark. We had a great time playing in the water, reconnecting and relaxing. Here is Megan Ling posing by her bunk bed and with her new Wolf Cub-Iona. Yes, she named him "I own a" Wolf Cub.......

She needed encouragement to try this bigger slide, but once she got it, she was hooked!



There was a wave pool that went on for about 15 minutes every 20 minutes or so. It was lots of fun for the kids.

And these are the giant waterslides that the kids forced me to go down!! To admit that I was a little frightened is an underestimate. But yes, it was really fun!

Eric went on a business trip to Colorado and shared some beautiful photos.

He got to see Golden, Colorado, where he worked at Coors Ceramics during an engineering internship "a long time ago"......

And, he traveled to Denver to stay overnight with my niece and nephew, had a great time taking them out to dinner, but forgot to take a picture!!! So here is a stand in....of them with Megan, from Thanksgiving.

All in all, a pretty amazing February.

January Birthdays

January is a busy month for birthdays in our family. Matthew on the 3rd, my mom on the 20th, Eric on the 24th, and my Dad on the 26th. We had a family dinner tonight to celebrate them all. Here are some highlights.

Ashley was unbelievably patient during her hours long hair appointment. She was able to nap through part of it. Alex is buried underneath.

Jim & Sue

One of the birthday boys!!

81 years young!!

Ben & Megan doing nails. Megan has her left hand in the Nail dryer. She loved that!

And, the crazy, happy birthday song. Megan is getting herself a drink and missing the song...so we waited.... and waited......

UU PreK Celebrates Chinese New Year

Today we celebrated Chinese New Year at our Unitarian Church. We had a great time. Eric and Mary Alice get all the credit for making the dragon. They did a wonderful job.

Here are a couple of cute, short videos.

Making Ice Cream

This is what is going on at our house today.

Mr. Bear's Visit

Mr. Bear Comes to visit because Megan Ling is the Star of the Week!

My Weekend at Megan Ling’s House

By Mr. Bear

On Friday, I bumped home on the bus behind Mr. Ron’s seat. Megan Ling’s mommy brought me and my bag into the house. Megan ling changed my clothes, and showed me her new bookshelf that Mommy bought to keep her music and books on. Megan Ling and Mommy put it together and put her CD player on top. Then we said hello to her brother, Matthew and sister, Mary Alice. We played with their gerbils, Coal and Marble. Then we ate dinner. It was leftover night. I ate apple and cheese and Megan Ling ate noodles & sauce and a zucchini burrito. Then we got ready for bed and Megan Ling put my PJs on. She brushed my teeth and we read about my adventures with Mrs. McGirr’s Stars. It was hard to sleep because Megan Ling’s daddy was practicing his Spanish on the computer and Mary Alice was mixing a cake. Megan Ling fell asleep right away though because she was so tired. One of her cats, Jasmine, slept on the chair with us in her room.

On Saturday, Megan Ling woke up early and dressed me. She noticed my sweatshirt was ripped by my zipper and she and her mommy fixed it with duct tape. After breakfast, we took Matthew to get a haircut. He looks good. We enjoyed a good nap in the afternoon while Mommy & Mary Alice went ice skating. Then we helped Daddy fix the snowblower. While Mommy made meatballs, Megan Ling had a birthday party for me. She made me a cake with candles and wrapped me a present. Next, she and Mommy took me for a walk in her doll stroller. After that, Daddy and Matthew went to a Lacrosse game and Mommy, Mary Alice, Megan Ling and I went out for Chinese Food. I was all tired out at the end of Saturday and could not wait to get in my bed. Mommy read more adventures about me and I fell asleep.

 

Today is Sunday. I have had an unusual day. I woke up with a cold, a runny nose and a headache. I told Megan Ling that I didn’t feel well. Mommy had me stay home and rest instead of going to church. So after a breakfast of noodles and chicken wings, I climbed back in bed and slept. In the afternoon, I went to see Dr. Megan Ling and Dr. Matthew. I learned that I am 12.5 inches long and I weigh 6.5 ounces. Dr. Megan and Dr. Matthew discovered that I have an ear infection and a touch of the flu. They gave me some medicine and told me to drink lots of water and rest. Then we drove Daddy to the airport because he was going on a trip for work. We had to stop at Wegman’s for some groceries, and then had pizza for dinner. Megan Ling is going to read to me before bed. I am glad there is no school tomorrow so I can have another day with Megan Ling.

Well, today is Monday. We stayed home all day and had fun in the house. We dressed dolls, painted, played with playdoh and Megan Ling’s doll house. We listened to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on tape and looked at books. Mommy noticed my pants were falling down, so she sewed in new elastic. In the afternoon, Matthew and Megan Ling took me sledding on the stairs. Unfortunately, I fell off the sled and had to go to Dr. Matthew again. He said I would be okay, but his partner, Dr. Megan, said my arm was broken. Dr. Matthew made me a cast to wear until it heals. For some reason Megan Ling wanted to put me in timeout, but Mommy said we don’t do that to guests. What a fun and silly visit this has been.