Tents at Church?

Last night we were lulled to sleep by the gentle sounds of a huge windstorm banging the windows and blowing various debris through the neighborhood. When we finally got up nothing seemed too amiss in our area, but we later found that quite a few people were without power. After getting everybody ready for church we got a call that the building had no power, therefore church was cancelled. For an insider's view click here. Actually, we got several calls. Cameron also made several calls to let others know. The church seems to be pretty well organized that way.

Cameron and I were assigned to speak in sacrament meeting today, so it seems obvious to us that we were just not meant to lead everyone astray. Since we already had talks and lessons prepared, we held a little family meeting of our own. We sang songs, prayed, and had lessons. Nursery snack time was pretty popular. We varied a little from the Sunday School norm when the kids built a tent between classes, but I think we did pretty good.

Thirteen Down!

Our Family Home Evenings of past years haven't been ideal. We were sporadic at best, and when we did remember that it was Monday night, we always had a scramble for a lesson or activity. Last year around this time we were trying to figure out how to be more consistent when we had the inspiration to plan our lessons around the Articles of Faith. There are 13 Articles, and 12 months, so we could focus on learning the principles behind one each month (combining 11 and 12 since they didn't offer as much lesson material) and have plans for a whole year. Our experiment paid off. We remembered much more often to have FHE, and we always knew what the lesson topic was. To help reinforce what they were learning, we also started singing the Article of Faith Songs at bedtime. Little did we know that our Esther would be able to learn all thirteen! She still remembers them all and can sing along to the primary CD. Better than that - she's learned at least a little bit about what each one means. What a great FHE year this has been. Now if only we could figure out another years worth of lesson plans we'll be set for 2009. (Any suggestions would be appreciated.)

Here is number twelve.

After singing twelve, Esther surprised us by already knowing number thirteen.

Click here to see one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven.

Happy Birthday Little Guy!

It's official. We've got another two-year-old. We've been considering William two years old for months now, but today it is official. Here is how he spent his special day.



Will wanted to spend the first part of his day coloring.

Then he got to play in the snow for his very first time!



Snow angels are fun!



At nap-time, Esther helped make his cake. The "W" on the red car was her great idea.

Cameron's last case was cancelled and the chief resident said he could come home early for Will's birthday. So after nap-time he opened his presents!



Thanks everybody!

I slaved all day to cook William's favorite foods for dinner: mac and cheese from a box, microwave chicken nuggets, and frozen corn. He ate two plates worth.

After dinner it was time for cake. It only took him five tries to blow out his two candles. Not bad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM! WE LOVE YOU!

A Taste of Home

We love our new home in Michigan, but Grenada was our home for three years, and there are some things we really miss. One food item I was trying to figure out how to take to America with us (without causing luggage weight issues) was Ceres Juice. I thought we would have to say goodbye to it forever, but to my great joy I found some today. Granted, they didn't have half an aisle dedicated to every variety of the stuff like the store in Grenada, and it is a little more expensive here, but it's nice that one of our Grenadian favorites can be on our American shelf too.

p.s. I haven't posted for a while, and there are probably a dozen blog-worthy things that I haven't written about (like Thanksgiving, our anniversary, and all the cute and amazing things our kids have done). Oh well. Such is life.

11 Down, 2 to Go

Hooray for Esther!



William wanted in on the action too.

All Fall Down

On a walk home yesterday the kids found some leaves that were too fun not to play in. William decided the best thing ever would be to sing "Ring Around the Rosies" while running around the tree. Good thing he's still got diaper padding.

When he saw the camera come out he needed a little reminder of what he was doing.

Hooray

I didn't think I'd ever see this again.

Halloween at the Hospital

I was (sadly) the only one not dressed up this Halloween. Halloween fell in the middle of Cameron's pediatric rotation, where everyone was very strongly encouraged to dress up. He made a great Cat in the Hat.

Ten Down, Three to Go

Here is number ten. Esther is amazing. When we decided to base our Family Home Evening lessons this year on the Articles of Faith we were just thinking of a way to have good lesson plans without having to have a mad scramble for ideas on Monday night. We had no idea Esther would actually memorize them all!

Happy Halloween

Here is a story about a fairy...

And a parrot...Who went begging for candy at a place called "The Village."


After pillaging the village they went home where their daddy surprised their mommy with this beautiful birthday cake.

The fairy was in charge of taking pictures while the grown-ups were busy.

Then the parrot and the fairy decided to pillage some more in their own neighborhood.

After commandeering more candy than they should ever eat, they took their parents to a friend's Halloween party. Their parents enjoyed the food and talking to other tall people. The fairy won the eyeball grabbing game, and the parrot had fun squishing around the game afterwards.

The fairy, parrot, and their parents wish you all a happy Halloween!

Our little Boy

If you just read the title then you thought this post was about William. But it's not. It's about this little boy who will enter our family around March 20.

Morning Routine

Esther and William have been waking up way too early most days lately, which means they are very tired in the morning. They usually decide to spend the first bit of their tired mornings snuggling with their favorite blankets on our bean bag. (They posed a little when they saw the camera come out - but they really were cuddling already.)

Tag

Aimee tagged me, so here it goes.
Here are my rules: post the rules and list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts. Then, tag 3 people at the end of the post.

Joys:
1. My husband
2. My kids
3. Occasional time away from them

Fears:
1. Cockroaches
2. Kidnapping
3. Injury of loved one

Goals:
1. Be a mom who both teaches and is fun
2. Play the piano very well
3. Have a clean house for 24 hours in a row

Obsessions/Collections:
1. Collecting recipes
2. Reading food labels
3. Reading blogs

Random Surprising Facts:
1. When I was a kid a podiatrist said I would have flat feet if I didn't have surgery. No surgery and still no flat feet.
2. I hate potato chips- yuck!
3. My birthday is on Halloween

Tag:
I'm never good at picking people so I asked Esther. She says, "Addie's mom, Jada's mom, and Ethan's mom."

Tuesdays and Thursdays

My friend Kristine is an amazing musician. She teaches both piano and voice lessons. I've wanted to take piano lessons for a long time now, and when I asked her about it she suggested that we could do an exchange. She'd give me piano lessons and I would babysit her kids while she gave other people lessons. That means that not only do I get to improve my piano skills, but my kids are guaranteed playmates once a week (and they wish it was more). William especially loves Maddie and takes off running as soon as he sees her. I can't find a down side to this arrangement.

Nine Down, Four to Go

Here is the ninth instalment of our Family Home Evening Saga.

My New Best Friend

Some of you might think it shallow of me to consider a dishwasher my best friend, but none of my other friends wash my dishes for me every single night. I would like to consider the makers of Criagslist a close second though for making friendships like this possible.

Fall Fun

Yesterday was the Grosse Pointe Park Festival. Besides the usual farmers market that lines the street we got to enjoy all sorts of activities. Some of the highlights were the bouncy castle, the giant slide, ceramic and pumpkin painting, crab races, cake walks, an obstacle course, a plethora of fair games, live music and lots of good food.


Once when we were in Grenada one of Esther's friends told her mom that she doesn't like Grenada because it stinks. Last night I took a quick walk to the store to pick up some groceries we needed and even though all the noise and people were gone, it still smelled just like the festival: barbecue, seafood, popcorn, and farmers market all rolled into one. Definitely air worth breathing.

Blake's Orchard

Today the Grosse Pointe Mom's Club went to Blake's Orchard and Cider Mill. We had a lot of fun and wore ourselves out. Here are a few of the many things we did.

Hot Wheels

Hooray for mopeds! Now I get to keep the van all day and use it at my leisure, while Cameron gets to have the independence of taking himself to and from his rotations. William and Esther think they should get to ride it too, but sadly (for them) they are only allowed to sit on a non-moving bike.

Mouse Practice

When we lived in Grenada some of Esther's friends could use a computer. We told her that when she was four years old we'd teach her. Not because we didn't think she could handle it, but because we wanted to wait until we bought a computer with a mouse and without quite so much character as our laptop. Well the day finally came and so far Esther has gotten very good at coloring my little ponies with her new found mouse skills. She can even print them all by herself (which isn't necessarily a good thing).

On the Street Where We Live

This is our house.

Our door is the one on the left. We have the top floor (including that balcony).

We are three houses away from the corner of this street. That means we are a 1-5 minute walk away from a little grocery store, a health food store, a pizza place, a health center, a hardware store, a fish market, an ice cream/movie shop, a thrift store, a printer, a pet store, a pet supply store, a half dozen restaurants, a barber shop, a beauty salon, several antique and art shops, and too many other places to mention. Every Saturday from May through September a farmers market also lines this street.

Esther and William's favorite is the school playground just around the corner.

We also are just two blocks away from the library, and a short drive from two parks - both with free swimming pools, one with a really cool castle playground, and the other with a free theater.

We love it here, and the people are super friendly (unless they're driving). The printer gave Esther a notepad for free. The guy at the grocery store got some mint from his dad's backyard garden because the store doesn't keep it in stock. The fish-dealer had a conversation with Cameron about the best ways to cook fish, and when Cameron got home he found the extra ingredients in his bag. When we were unloading some beds we bought for the kids, someone giving our neighbor a ride got out of his car and helped do the heavy lifting. Things like this happen every day. What a nice place to live.

Eight Down, Five to Go!

We're glad that one thing that wasn't interrupted during our transitional period was Family Home Evening. Esther is still doing great at learning the Articles of Faith, and William is picking up bits and pieces too!

We're Alive!

So we're not quite settled yet, but I don't think we will be any time soon, and I owe a post to all my devoted fans out there. A few weeks ago we moved into our new home here in Michigan. So far we are greatly enjoying ourselves (even though we're very tired of trying to get everything in order). For details about Michigan life, stay tuned over the next couple of years.
p.s. Not only am I behind on blog-writing, but also on blog-checking and email-responding. So if you haven't heard from me for a while - it's nothing personal.

Esther's favorite part of moving was building houses out of all the boxes.





William's favorite part of moving was helping Daddy build the furniture.

Tag

I've been waiting for life to settle a bit before blogging again, but in the meantime Esther was tagged.

Nicknames-"sweetheart, other people call me Esther”
Eye color-"blue”
Hair Color-“light brown”
Fav Movie-"the princesses, that’s the Barbie one with twelve dancing Barbies. They’re princesses”
Fav TV-“clifford the big red dog”
Fav book-"my favorite book is the Bernstein Bears and Too Much Junk Food”
Fav place to go-"my favorite place to go is the library"
Fav resturant-"my favorite restaurant is all of them” (I think it's McDonalds)
Fav food-"my favorite food is cereal and stuffing”
Fav candy-"all of the candies, I like the one that makes my head feel better”
Fav color-"pink"
Fav song-"I am a Child of God and Horsey and I Love to See the Temple"
Fav game-"I spy and hide and seek"
Fav cereal-"honey cereal, that’s the bee cereal that we eat” (honey nut cheerios)
Esther tags “Ethan (he starts with E like me), Dyson, Jada, Keahi. That’s all of it. I tagged everybody. I blog-tagged them!”

Seven Down, Six to Go!

Esther knows more than half of the Articles of Faith!

Eshter is sitting next to me while I upload this and she said she wants this sent to "the Woods, Ethan, Addie, Dyson, Nana, Grammy, and to all of the people that are in Utah and Grenada and Dyson too. And Jada and Keahi and my cousins and all of it. And to our new prophet." I hope this gets to some of that list.

It's Official

After a summer of waiting, we finally received Cameron's placement today. In a little over a week we'll be packing the van and driving to Detroit, MI. Cameron starts rotations on August 18th. We're excited to finally be able to make real plans concerning our future.

Here is a completely unrelated, but cute, picture. It's just not a blog without a picture

Zoo Day

This morning our kids woke up very happy because they knew that today was ZOO DAY! After hearing about zoos for so long, they finally got to live one of their life's ambitions and go themselves.

After approaching very cautiously the first time, Esther fell in love with the lion water fountains and told us she was very thirsty whenever one came into view.

William loved watching the elephants and the giraffes (he's nearly as big as they are after all). The snakes were his favorite, but we didn't get a picture of him pestering them. I suppose he is too little to read the "please do not tap the glass" signs.

We also had a lot of fun in the playground.

The train ride was definitely a hit too. William choo chooed all the way around. Esther's favorite part was screaming in the tunnel. Cameron and I enjoyed sitting down together for a moment (even though Will was between us). I think we all had a wonderful day.

Can You Play?

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Six Down, Seven to Go

Esther always wants me to say "bingo" when the camera has started recording. I don't know where she came up with that idea, but she requests it every time.

Independence Day

This was our first Independence Day in America since 2005. We've been looking forward to this day for years. When Cameron was picking his USMLE test date I asked him to please take it before the 4th of July so we could enjoy the whole day as a family, and boy did we.

First we watched the Magna Parade. It's a great tradition that we've missed.

Esther and William were happy to discover that there is candy at parades. They had a lot of fun collecting it with their cousins.

Some people were even passing out firefighter helmets and flags!

After a barbecue with Cameron's family, we headed over to my sister's house for another barbecue. They have a great view of the valley so we could watch several fireworks shows from their backyard. Esther found an older cousin who loves princesses as much (or maybe even more) than she does. Her cousin had a dress she had outgrown for Esther. They also had lots of fun doing their princess make-up.

We had a wonderful patriotic day.