These wildfires.....

For anyone who doesn't know, wildfires have been ravaging the western part of the state and in Florida for the last month or so. People's homes and lives have been lost, entire towns have been evacuated, there has been drought for 6 weeks and there are burning bans and water-reduction enforcements even here in Albany.

We're over on the southeastern part of the state and for the last week the air has been filled with a heavy haze, and the pervasive odor of smoke. It burns my eyes. It smells. It clouds up the sun and I just don't like it.
But I like it better than having my home and personal belongings burned to the ground.

So I'm trying to not complain.
And be thankful instead.
Things could be so much worse.

I'm lucky. My family is lucky. (I deter from saying that we're "blessed" because that would imply that those who've lost their homes to fire are NOT blessed, and what does that say?)
And the smokes annoys me, but a little annoyance is better than losing everything I have or being homeless.

Bring on the smoke.
It's a good reminder.

I take too much for granted.

Car Wash Anyone?

What to do on Memorial Day besides the usual cookout and relax in the sunshine?? Wash the cars, apparently, which Steve was inspired to do Monday afternoon. Who actually hand washes their car anymore?? Steve thought we should and the boys agreed, so we promptly put them to work.


A little child labor never hurt anyone.....

Get to work, A.J.!
And try not to fall in the giant bucket.
Sneaking up and spraying your little brother with the hose almost always backfires. Especially when your little bro is faster than you. Paybacks, man.....paybacks.

Look how dead and brown all our grass is.....it hasn't rained here in over a month.
I don't know about you, but when MY kid sprays me with the hose, my first instinct is to throw soapy water towards his face.
All's fine.....(Steve-0 missed with the soap) but Owen loses out on the water fight with dad. But it was fun.....



Small children for hire. Cheap.
Will wash your car, soak your clothes, and leave waterspots on your vehicle.
Call for more details.

Really Been Missing....

City Life.
Big time.

Coffee shops that aren't Starbucks. With live bands on weekends and college students and bulletin boards with concert flyers, roomate-wanted ads, business cards from all walks of life.
Botanical Gardens.
Jazz & Blues clubs.
Museums.
Concerts. Theatre. From Cirque Du Soleil to Stomp to Phantom of the Opera to John Mayer to Disney on Ice to Cher (or is it Sher? I can never remember).
The hustle and bustle of a busy downtown. Businessmen/women in their power suits, hotel staff, public transit, valet parking, deli's, restaurants, honking horns.
Dog parks. The hospital where Owen was born. The antique market. The fish ladder. Labor Days at the Grand Haven Pier.
Beautiful city parks that you can see the skyline from as you stroll along the river.
Diverse foods. Diverse neighborhoods. Gyros from PitaHouse, shopping in East-town.
College students everywhere. Colleges everywhere - 6 of them that I can think of off the top of my head. Life and vibrancy.
Cornerstone Volleyball Games, Basketball Games, Griffins Hockey Games.
Heritage Hill, Mars Hill, Ada Bible Church, Celebration on the Grand, city-wide festivals downtown, weekends on the beach at Lake Michigan, drinks at the B.O.B., Canal Street Brewing Company, Meijer, Purple East, Tapas Bistro, The Children's Museum. Beautiful architecture, old stone churches, wineries and the Amway Grand Plaza.
Art fairs, low-crime, sprawling suburbs, good schools, gorgeous autumns, a beautiful city with the perfect mix of sprawling countryside surrounding it - with farms, farmer's markets, horseback riding, state parks, and the beach just minutes outside the city.

I miss home. I miss Grand Rapids.

Flowers

A Beautiful Mind

Some of you may have seen this before, as it's been pretty popular on the net lately, but if not, you've got to check it out....it really is incredible.

Autistic Savant Draws Rome From Memory

Go Green

Casey beat me to it, but I was getting ready to post a blog about the beginnings of my efforts to reduce my impact on the planet. Sadly, as a country, we are gluttons for "stuff" and all things bigger, better, faster, more, more more!! and we are, as a whole, poor stewards of the earth.

Have I gone off the deep end? Am I going to join PETA and eat salads composed of grass and wildflowers from our backyard or sew my own clothing from tree bark or bathe just once a week in goat milk to conserve water?? No...not that extreme - but am I going to try to do a few things to lessen the depth of my footprint on the planet.

Lately I've been considering how many plastic bags we go through in a week. I *loathe* going grocery shopping (with the boys, it's a nightmare that causes me to break out in hives just thinking about it ) so I'll usually go to the grocery store once almost every day. Sound backwards? It's not....
Here's my logic: I'd rather run in the store while I'm out and grab enough stuff for dinner for that night, some milk and a box of cereal, then spend an hour and a half going through every aisle getting EVERYTHING that we need.
So, on average, I'm bringing home 2-5 grocery bags full of stuff EVERY DAY. That's a lot of plastic bags. And what happens to them?? You use them once to bring home your stuff, and then you throw them away.
Where they're carted off to the dump...to sit.
----- For about 1,000 years! ----
Seems wasteful considering that you only use them for the 8 minute ride from the store to your refrigerator.
Americans consume and throw away about 395 billion plastic bags per year. What a waste.

So....what can you do about it?
Go to the local craft store (Hobby Lobby, Michaels, etc) and buy some canvas tote bags. They cost about $3-$10 each depending on the size. And if you're feeling arty-farty you can have your kids paint on them, or hot-glue some grass on it, or iron-on your Metallica patch that you've been saving since 1987.
I found some mesh tote bags at Target on sale for $5 each and they are just as big (if not bigger) than a regular size grocery bag. You can also buy bags online at various eco-friendly online stores at like ecobags, or reusablebags.com, or even on ebay.

What a great and easy way to teach your kids about recycling and being a good steward of the earth! And you'll feel good too....I promise. It's a small thing, but it really does make a difference.

For other simple ways that you can cut down on waste and make a difference globally, check out Stopglobalwarming.com. You'll find a whole list of things (big and small) that you can do today or in less than 5 minutes to make a change for the better.
I promise...we won't call you a tree-hugger, or think you're weird. Quite the opposite...you'll be pretty hip seeing as how "going green" is so freak'n IN right now. You'll be oh-so-cool.

Like me.

And really, who doesn't want to be like me????
:)

(click to enlarge)

Just Cooper

Just one I took of Cooper yesterday. He's grown A LOT in just the 3 weeks we've had him. His legs are longer and he's not so little anymore - he used to fit pretty nicely on our laps for a little snoozer, but now he's pretty gangly and his legs hang off you all over the place!

I'm still trying to get one of him and the boys, but with no luck so far....
2 boys with photographer's child syndrome + one rambunctious puppy = disaster.

Anyway, here he is....in all his 3-times-a-day-pooping, peeing-on-the-carpet, shoe-chewing, ankle-biting, cat-chasing, AJ-butt-nibbling, trash-can-picking, fly-eating, ball-fetching glory: