BJ's Cemetery

We were minding our own business, when this ghoul wrapped in an old Ace wrap appeared out of nowhere. He made a drooling, hungry noise and scared us out of the house. We drove for miles down to Maumee to seek refuge at my medical assistant's (BJ's) house.
There we found a cemetery full of bones, cobwebs, and creepy sound effects. And a fog machine that Alex quickly took charge of.

She also had a steaming cauldron that was surprisingly cold, probably from the dry ice subliming in the pot. They had a fire pit set up and rubber snakes to scare their mother with. They wrapped the night up with candy that turned our ghouls back into sugar satisfied munchkins and all was right with the world.

Wolf Scout Acheivement 7d - Pick Up Litter In Your Neighborhood

While the weather is behaving, Alex and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood and pick up trash. This is one of his Wolf badge requirements for Cub Scouts. We noted that there was a lot of recyclable trash, so we kept it separate in two different bags. Alex led the way around the neighborhood and found lots of trash for our bags.
We had to empty the trash bag once in the local Park trash can and then filled it up again. We also found 11 bottles and cans for the recycling bin. We may have to make this a regular outing.

Preschool Pumpkin Party

We gathered again this year for the PreSchool Pumpkin carving party. Aaron colored his pumpkin red and ate lots of snacks.
Alex tried to cut out a "BEWARE!" sign from the back of his pumpkin, but it proved to be very difficult to complete during the party. So instead, he designed a scary face with eyebrows a hacked it out with me holding it in his lap.

Beware indeed!

Primary Community

After the International Dinner at school tonight, we stole down to see how Alex's TV station fit into the entire Primary community set up in the Resource Center. They lined them up on roads in groupings that made sense. I noted after the fact that the TV station should be on the other side of the road.

Aaron the Scribe

We asked Aaron to draw a picture for his oldest cousin's birthday. Instead, he "drew" letters and wrote "To AAron" on his paper. This was the first time that he wrote ANY letters. He has not been practicing them, but he has watched Becky draw them on a blackboard we have in the basement. He seems to watch and learn and then one day just show us his new talents. He started talking a little later than most, but when he took off, it was in complete sentences. He is reading aloud with full sentence inflections. And now he's writing. His Pulitzer is somewhere around the corner.

August Blog Entries

I'm slowly pulled forward in time. August 2007 is up and complete. It was an emotional month, as most of you know. Getting back to our lives has been difficult. We have had responsibilities to work, school, and church to get back to - which has helped. We also geared up for the local Race for the Cure, but as you've noticed, I haven't got the blog post up for that yet. Click here to see what you've missed in August.

Wolf Scout Achievement 8e - Cook an Outdoor Meal

Alex needed to plan and help cook an outdoor meal for his Wolf Scout badge. He wrote out a menu which included hot dogs, fruit, and chips. He got to grill the hot dogs with supervision, which really tickled him.
Since it was his menu, he designed this sundae which included waffles, cookies-n-cream ice cream, assorted candies, and a maraschino cherry on top. Yummy!

Alex's TV Station at Town Meeting

Every week the Lower School kids meet in the Resource Center and talk about what is going on in the school for something they call Town Meeting. This week it really was a town meeting because the Primary students had a chance to talk about their community model projects. Two kids from each of the 3 classes had a chance to get up in front of the entire Lower School and talk about the model they built. Alex got a chance to explain his TV station and it made the school's newsletter blog, from where we stole this picture.

Alex's TV Station

Alex completed a school project tonight for their "Community" unit. He was required to build a model of a building in the community. He pulled "TV Station" and "Furniture Store" out of a hat and wisely chose the former. He was to make it as much as possible out of found materials, spending less than $10 on any purchased supplies. He also needed to be able to talk about why this building was an important part of a community. He could get advice and some assistance from us, but needed to do the majority of the design and work himself. He used a shoebox for the building itself. The door is from a baby wipes package. The antenna is from a model kit and a Lite Brite bulb while the dishes are built from foil, muffin cups, and Legos. When you open the hinged shoebox lid...
...you can get a peak inside the studio. There appears to be an active 5 PM newscast going on.
It is being filmed by these two happy, bald cameramen. The top camera was built from Legos while the bottom one is a painted plastic bottle.
Gel bottle camera is pointed at this newscaster, also happy, as she tells the community about a car that had unfortunately been caught up in a flood.
Lego camera is filming the weather report. This poor, frazzled (also bald) weatherman is trying to make sense of the national forecast. As you can see, it is 40 degrees in Arkansas, 60 in New Mexico, but poor Oklahoma and Texas in the middle are baking. Now all we have to do is get this to the school in one piece. The real forecast is calling for a cool, breezy, light rain.

Another Tooth BITES The Dust (Get it?)

Alex showed me his loose tooth today by pulling it straight forward, parallel with the ground! I strongly urged him to let me pull it, but he refused. I told him it was so loose that he could easily get it himself, and so he did. We're not sure if the Tooth Fairy gives bonuses if you pull it yourself.

Blog Update - Catch Up on July 2007

I feel like I'm getting farther behind, but I've completed July's blog posts. Since I'm keeping them in order there's some you've missed. Don't procrastinate like I did, catch up on them here.

Recipe Summary - October 2007

I want this post to be a link back to previous posts that had recipes in it, so that it will be easy to refer back to. I'll update it as I add new recipes. Please check out our...

Ribs
Paella
Fruit Salad
Jambalaya & Creole Sauce
Fire Roasted Corn
Spatchcocked Chicken
Baked Eggs and Potatoes
Becky's Chili
Black Bean Soup
Lime Guacamole
Shish Tawook

Hottest Apple Butter Fesitval EVER

We try to his the MacQueen's Apple Butter Festival every year, but this year it was blazingly hot. It topped 90 degrees by this afternoon. Thankfully we decided to pick apples first and filled our half-bushel bag with honey crisps, golden delicious, and these red delicious apples nearly the size of their heads.

Then we took them down to the play area for overpriced tickets and inflatable playground equipment. The boys got a little dizzy on the spinning dragon ride but they had a great time. Unfortunately by that time, we were burning up. We bailed and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

Even though it was a short trip, we'll be eating apples for a month. Yummy!

Alex's Tiger Cub Badge

Alex completed the requirements for his Tiger Cub badge this summer for Cub Scouts. At the informational meeting tonight for kids and parents about the new school year plan for Cub Scouts here at school, he was formally presented with the badge. He's officially a Wolf Scout and plans to earn his Wolf Badge. He's been studying his Wolf book all summer, eager for the chance to do some fun things. Becky and I found out tonight that since there are not very many kids yet in his pack, we are going to have to be heavily involved with his Den. Becky is contemplating being a Den Leader and I'll help as much as I can behind the scenes. Way to go Alex!

Donuts With Dad 2007

Becky has tried to stay active in the parent association at the boys' school. In addition to being the Grade Parent for Aaron's class, she volunteered to chair this year's "Donuts with Dad" event. We got up early and I took the boys to the preschool gym where we got to have milk and donuts. There was Starbucks coffee and hot chocolate to warm us up.
Before the party even started, Becky and I got up early to fetch the donuts from Kroger's. She had previously placed her order and they had spent all night making 30 dozen attractively decorated donuts - frankly the best looking batch of donuts we had ever seen.
To decorate the gym, the kids were asked to color pictures of their dad. Aaron drew a picture of me in his favorite setting - a playground.

Alex drew this great picture of me. The sad thing is that my artistic talents haven't progressed past this stage - this is about what my own self-portrait would look like. After our sugar rush, the kids went to school and I went on to work. The word around the school was that this was a great success. We enjoyed it. Next year - Muffins with Mom.

Race For The Cure 2007

This year's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Toledo was an especially important and moving one for us. Last year we ran in support of Melinda's life and to celebrate her as a survivor. This year we mourned her passing and honored her memory. Becky's mom, Susan, came up from Texas to do the Race with us. Several people from my office staff came out to support us, as well as several of the families from the kids' school.
While Becky, the kids, and most of our supporters walked on the 1 mile Fun Walk, I ran the full 5K again this year. It started out cool but I was overdressed. I wore running shorts and sweatpants on bottom and a thin long-sleeved Susan G. Komen shirt, my Scott E. Vest Performance T-shirt (with a pocket for my iPod), and a team T-shirt that my staff had ironed Melinda's picture onto. The sun came out and warmed up the streets. I had the forethought to remove my sweats, but got too warm in the 3 shirt layer I had put together. The run itself was very uplifting - I think I expected it to be sad. I finished the race about 6 minutes faster than last year - in 40:34 officially. My office nurse, BJ, and my office manager, Judy, were at the finish line to get this picture and cheer me on. I was trying to wave at them but the lady near me in the picture thought I was trying to give her a high-five, so I obliged her. I placed 80th out of 82 timed runners in the 35-39 age group and 1,571st out of 1667 timed runners overall.
After the main Race, we made our way into Fifth Third Field stadium for the Survivor's ceremony and Kids Fun Run. The ceremony was tough on us. While it was great to see all of the survivors out there, it was awful knowing that Melinda should have been in that company. Alex ran around the entire perimeter of the field. A girl designed the Fun Run shirt this year. When we asked Alex how he felt about the butterfly pattern, he told us, "It's OK - I'm running for Aunt Melinda."
Becky made this pink ribbon from some, oddly enough, pink ribbon. She used bead letters to add the names of those of our family who have lost this battle - our sister-in-law, Melinda; my aunt, Carolyn; my grandmother, Reba; my great-grandmother Maude; and two of my great-aunts, Barbara and Wanda. We hope that they are the last of our family to be taken out by this disease. To that end, we raised over $1700 for breast cancer research and education through leading up to this day. Overall, over $135,000 was raised for the NW Ohio Race this year.

WTOL @ 11PM

I was surprised to see a WTOL 11 news crew outside my exam rooms when I was in the office this morning. They were going around town to find people who were dressed in pink for the Power of Pink day. My office manager had emailed them and told them about Melinda. They came and interviewed me about Melinda and the office participating in the Race for the Cure this Sunday. They only used a small portion of the interview but included a nice shot of the Melinda memory bands that Becky made and a picture of her that my staff put on the back of our team Race shirts. Click the play button below to see the clip.

Maroon 5 at the Palace

OK, this is Maroon 5 on Saturday Night Live last year, but tonight they played for us. And a few thousand other folks. With a great babysitter watching the kids (Becky's mom), we made our way up to the Palace at Auburn Hills where the Detroit Pistons play. We liked the pre-opening act show by Sara Bareilles, but we couldn't stand The Hives who were the official opening act. We spent their set hanging out on the concourse, scoping out souvenirs and eating what had to be week-old popcorn (or else it was very fresh popcorn-flavored gum). Then Adam Levine and the rest of the band came out and rocked the house. It was a great concert and we had a great time jamming to music we both enjoy. Their songs are like poetry in their lyrical forms and musically they make you dance. We had a great time. We'll be there the next time they're in town.

Apple Orchard Field Trip

Aaron's class got to go to MacQueen's Apple Orchard today for their first field trip. They had a tour of the orchard and processing facilities and a chance to pick their own apples.
Becky has volunteered to be the Grade Parent for Aaron's class which means that she helps organize volunteers for class events and parties and she kicked of the year by chaperoning this field trip. In a few weeks we'll all come back for the Annual Apple Butter Festival.

Melinda's Memory Bands

Becky found a website that would custom-make silicone memory bands. She first thought that making a few would be nice for the family but then realized that there would be a big demand, both here and in Oklahoma City. The slogan reminded her of conversations she had with Melinda during her treatment last year. She reminded Becky to LIVE life to the fullest, LOVE everyone you can, and don't forget to SMILE!
She is selling them for $3 as a fundraiser for Komen for the Cure. So far, sales here and in OKC are expected to be brisk.

Wacky Day 2007

Wacky Day at school for Alex. Need I say more?

Out Standing In Our Field

We spent the day a new park for us - Secor Metropark on the edge of town. Becky packed a picnic and sweatshirts for the cool late summer day. One of the park guests gave us a huge praying mantis on a stick, though this picture doesn't do it justice.
This park boasted an enormous field that we used for tag (look at that head start Aaron has on Becky) and practicing cartwheels.
Alex also used the field to practice bike riding. It was safer to fall in than pavement, but we couldn't get enough speed up to keep his balance. Aaron got some trike time on one of the park paths. The park also boasts a great nature photography center that we'll add to the Toledo tour for out of town guests.

Friday at the Zoo

I've decided to start working all day on Fridays (I was working every other for a 1/2 day), starting in 2 weeks. Since this was one of my last days off, and Aaron isn't in school on Fridays, we went to the zoo. One of our favorite things to do is to race carousel animals. Aaron's bottle-nosed dolphin edged out my stork-thing by a nose. I couldn't get my steed to stretch his neck toward the finish line or we would've won.
This lion was getting a little loud and bossy, so Aaron sat on his head. That seemed to shut him up.
Aaron wasn't so brave around the new butterfly house though. He's never been bit by one yet, but he gets that look in his eye when one flies near him. These were pretty tame thankfully.

Alex's Mario Kite

Alex made this kite in Art class. It is decorated with the images from the kids' favorite video game - Super Mario Sunshine.

Woodchucks at School

Becky was walking into school this morning and noticed that a couple of woodchucks have set up camp in a small patch of trees near the preschool playground. I assume they are accustomed to the noise.

Our New Fish

Aaron took group swimming lessons this summer, but had trouble taking turns and was a bit flustered by the group setting. In stead of repeating that this session, we decided to enroll him in private swimming lessons. He has really taken off. Today he swam underwater with his face fully in and kicking and using his"big ice cream scoop" hands and arms to swim 8 feet or so to the pool steps. He is very proud of himself. Alex is enrolled in group lessons again and is also doing well.

Blog Update - Catch Up on June 2007

June 2007 blog posts are up to date and completed. Check them out here. I must add that some of these blog posts include activities that we participated in with Melinda. I write them like they just happened earlier that day, though obviously they can be written months later. After all we've been through, it was very strange , yet comforting, to write about Melinda like I just saw her yesterday at the water park. Check them out here.

Fulton County Fair 2007

We made it back out the the Fulton County Fair again this year for Labor Day weekend. This car ride was a big hit again this year. I get the feeling that if they each had their own steering wheel, one would steer left and the other would steer right.

The big slide was a hoot! Alex was big enough to ride down by himself. Aaron and I rode doubles for double the fun.



Then the carousel drew us over. Alex rode bigger and scarier rides too, but these were harder to get pictures of. We had a great dinner with a dairy fresh milkshake for dessert. We usually try to see some animals, but this year was all about the rides - and a huge pumpkin bigger than Aaron.