Marshall Blues Festival then Puppet Show

It was a very hot July day and the traffic and construction tie ups were terrible, but we made it to the Blues Festival in Marshall Michigan for the first time. James and I stayed for a bit then went on to the park and a magic shop, while mom enjoyed the music while shopping for antiques on the Marshall main street. We left around 6pm as the place was just starting to get real crowded. Mary bought a cd of the music of one of the bands and we listened to it on the way home. That evening James watched a dinosaur movie then did his own version of it in his puppet theatre. Lots of entertainment this day! Read more »

Posted: July 18th, 2010 under Festivals - No Comments. Tags: blues, Festivals

New Cousin

Meet Nicolette

Posted: July 18th, 2010 under Family - 1 Comment.

Trenton Festival 2010

What a great time we had at the Trenton festival. James has been here several times in the past few years and he always has a good time. I think his favorite thing is getting the free balloons from the various shop keeps to participate. This year there were a whole bunch of inflatable moonwalks and slides that he could play in as well as the usual games that he is familiar with. He also got to put out a simulated fire with a real fire hose. After the event was over we went out for Chinese to complete a wonderful summer day. On the way home, we stopped by Aunt Louises old house and snapped a picture. sure looks different with those gates in the drive. Read more »

Posted: July 11th, 2010 under Festivals - 1 Comment. Tags: Festivals, Rides, Trenton

4th of July in Colon

The Fourth of July celebration in Colon is truly a marvel for the year. Our family and I had a wonderful time again. Our day began at 11am watching the parade go down main street from the high school. Our friends Walter and Mary Weaver were gracious host so we had a front row seat for most of the activities. There were many highlights of the parade but most of our group felt the flyover by the jets was the best part.

Once the parade ended and we took a short break, then went down for the festivities which included many games and activities including a couple new ones. Our group then hooked up for a magic show at Abbott’s where we enjoyed a wonderful performance by Gordon Miller.

Special thanks to Walter and Mary Weaver for having us. Thanks to Grandma for joining us as well.
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Posted: July 4th, 2010 under 4th of July - 1 Comment. Tags: Colon

Oakwood Festival

James got to go to a festival two days in a row. The first day he went was Saturday when we stopped off at the Oakwood Festival on the way to a graduation party (Kirsten Maliszewski). The next day we picked up Aunt Peg and took her shopping, then went back to the carnival for some more fun. The pictures here are from the first day, the second day it was just Dad and James so no one took pictures which was fine with the both of us (Aunt Peg couldn’t join us because she was in pain with her legs.). The only ride we did different the second day was the Ferris Wheel and I would have to say James liked that the best. Read more »

Posted: June 21st, 2010 under Festivals - No Comments.

James Promoted to Second Grade

We were thrilled to learn James would be promoted to the second grade, but shocked to see how he did it, with 6 awards. Last year he got one for being a student in Kindergarten. James’ teacher was very proud of the progress James made, especially since Christmas which seems to have been the turning point. James still has issues from time to time but is talking much more and has a very large vocabulary. We contribute a lot of James success to the Wii game he got for Christmas which he really interacted with very well. He had always liked video games but the Wii had wireless remotes, in the other games his jumping and playing usually eventually broke the wires in the remote. Read more »

Posted: June 15th, 2010 under Family - 1 Comment.

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

There are certain places in the world where you know its spring because of a certain event. Perhaps you are familiar with the cherry blossoms in DC, the groundhog (and his shadow) in Pennsylvania, or spring training for baseball starting in Florida.

Well, you know it is spring around here when the ducks return to Tulane St. We have no idea why they stop here on their journey to their final destination, perhaps its the cuisine. This happened very early on a Sunday morning so James was still snoozing and missed all the fun. Mary gave each of the visitors a piece of bread and they had a grand ole time munching it down before continuing on their journey. Read more »

Posted: March 14th, 2010 under General - No Comments.

James 1.80 Financial Setback & Mary’s Ford Fusion

It’s been a while since posting here, most of Feb was spent shoveling snow. Jame’s school work is still going very well and his speech improves every day. He had a couple of snow days in February.

Last week Mary, Peg, James, and myself went to Kroger. Each Sunday James returns the bottles and cashes in the money for candy or toys. This week was no exception and James pushed all the bottles into the machine and got his receipt for $1.80 which he put in his pocket and we made our way to the cashier. Unfortunately the lines were way way long and James did not want to wait, so he found him mom and gave her the receipt and James and I walked out toward the car (we usually listen to the radio when Peg/Mary are grocery shopping). As we were walking to the car, James looks up at me, a look of frustration in his face, and says. “$1.80, All Gone”.

Mary turned in her 10 year old Kia and got a Ford Fusion so my father can stop rolling over in his grave that we bought a Japanese car. The car served its purpose, but was 10 years old with a broken seat and a few other malfunctions. We only have one picture of the new car because it has been buried in snow most of the time in the driveway. Thanks to our neighbor Allen who works for Fords and got us something called a “friend and family” discount.

Posted: March 7th, 2010 under General - No Comments.

Some Heavy Arithmetic

Another good day of school work, some large math problem, check them out. He also got stars on some of his sentences but I did not have a chance to scan them.

Each night before he goes to sleep, we go over his homework and he is proud that his work is showing up on the family site.
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Posted: January 14th, 2010 under General - 1 Comment.

Red Star Day

James had another good day today according to his teacher. He got a Red Star on the sentences that he wrote. There are actually 2 pages, back and front, but I only scan the one with the red star, besides, I think most readers will get the idea. I am sure reading sentences written by a first grader isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, unless you are his parents or relatives, then its awesome.

Posted: January 12th, 2010 under General - No Comments.