Welcome Home Mom! - Week of Feb. 16th

On Monday, Cam had the day off for mid-winter break and Kelsey was here to do schoolwork with Cam, play some games and exercise.  One of our favorites is Yahtzee!  This is a family tradition as Jane was a regular player with her Grandpa Orton.
Cam was excited to roll a Yahtzee on this play and proceeded to proclaim it quite a few times!

Jane was off to Dallas, Texas this week for work.  It was a long time for her to be gone... early Tuesday morning departure with a return flight late Friday afternoon.  She wasn't sad to leave the frigid temps behind, but being away from her boys wasn't easy.
However, as boys tend to do, they kept pretty busy.  Chris and Cam, his supervising assistant, worked on a software project called "raspberry pie" while Jane was out of town.  Essentially, it's a video/camera interface that you enable by coding the software.  Shown here is the video being projected on the tv.

Also, while Cam's mom was away, the Forest Hills Focus newsletter showed up in everyone's mailbox.  The lead story was Meadow Brook’s Project Unify:  Not All Superheroes Wear Capes.  A grant was approved and provided to Meadow Brook's social worker, Ms. Ginny, The grant supports four main areas: a unified sport, a school-wide campaign for diversity/acceptance for all, inclusive community service projects, and a Youth Activation Committee. Meadow Brook has the youngest population of students participating in Project Unify in Michigan. There are 70 students participating in Project Unify and LINKS at Meadow Brook this year.  Click on this link to access the full article: Focus Newsletter

On Friday afternoon, Jane arrived home to lots of surprises, thanks to Ms. Taylor, her friend Paige, and Cam.  A delicious cake, balloons and signs decorated the entry and kitchen.  Of course, the best thing to come home to is Cam's super, snuggly hugs!  Jane greatly appreciated her welcoming committee after a long week of work away from home.


Over the weekend, Cam ventured to Emma's house to check out the backyard ice rink.  A favorite ice rink sport is broomball.  Cam is trying out his "brooming" skills in the frigid weather.

It's such a simple quote, but one that's so true.
As Dorothy says "There's no place like home!"

Valentine's 2015 - Week of Feb. 9th

Valentine's flowers from the boys!

The simplest, unexpected spoken word can do wonders for a mundane task.  Jane does the laundry each week, normally in the evening.  Cam will help sort the laundry and will also tell his mom if any clothes fall onto the floor between the washer and the dryer.  On one such evening, after the business of a full work day, Jane walked by the living room with a basket of clean clothes.  Cam said, "Mom, thank you!"  Somewhat surprised, Jane turned and asked "For doing the laundry?" to which Cameron replied "Yes, Mom!"  It is in a thoughtful moment like this that makes doing chores a much more pleasant experience.

"Love Coupons" Craft

Cam's Valentine's party was on Thursday at school and Jane had volunteered to do a craft with the kids and bring in a treat.  The love coupons were created by Cam's mom on the computer at home and then the kids had to write in what the coupon was for.  Some of the more creative ones included "not fighting with my brother/sister" and "movie night with my family" and "breakfast in bed for my mom and dad."  Cam and Jane made heart-shaped finger jello for a treat.  Ms. Erin's is one of Cam's favorite helpers, as shown here.  The students decorated handmade "mailboxes" for all of their Valentine's and each one was busting with treats and cards!

Oma and Opa came to stay with us for a couple of nights due to mid-winter break for Cam on Friday.

Grandma worked on reading with Cam most of the morning.

They baked muffins, played games with Opa, and enjoyed lots of quality time together.  Chris & Jane even had a night of free Cam-sitting and went out to dinner with good friends.  

And Cam certainly was in excellent company himself!  Thanks Oma & Opa for the best Valentine's gift ever- the gift of yourselves!!

Game Night! - Week of Feb. 2nd

Kelsey, Cam & Emma

When you have kids, you realize that one of the greatest gifts someone can give you is... the gift of their time.

Kelsey offered to practice swimming with Cam at the Y.  He's been enjoying his lessons quite a bit and couldn't wait to spend an entire morning with his buddy and pro lifeguard.  Not only did they play and work in the warm water, they also had brunch at McDonald's afterwards.
Quite the double treat for Cam and his parents!

Melissa, Cam & Kayla

Cameron's part time job with Grand Valley started again.  This semester, he is working with Melissa and Kayla.  Ball exercises were the highlight of the PT time with the graduate students.

Friday night kicked off our first annual Game Night with our extended family, Katherine & Paul, Ann, Molly and Gordy.
An official game night isn't complete without lots of silliness!


Katherine and Molly turned into the "Singing Sisters Supreme" as they serenaded Cam in the kitchen and had him act as a backup singer and play the piano.


After a delicious array of taco-inspired dishes and sides, we settled in for a game of Headbands and then Twister!  Hollywood Game Night was  a total hit as well.

The camera timer makes for some hilarious pictures as it automatically snaps ten photos, one after the other, while everyone attempts to get into a different pose.

We can't wait for the next game night in March when we celebrate Katherine & Ann's birthdays!

On Saturday, Emma spent the day with Cam creating their unique Valentine's to pass out in class next week.  We were so busy working on our crafts, that picture-taking was neglected.  But here's a little preview of the finished product...

Unexpected Ice & the SuperBowl - Week of Jan. 26th

We usually pay attention to the weather forecast since it can change so often in Michigan.  This week, however, we seemed to miss the fact that our area was due for some heavy-duty ice overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
So, bright and early Thursday, Cam woke up, ate breakfast, and was finishing getting ready when his parents finally checked their technology outlets to find, much to their surprise, that school was cancelled for the day!
Of course, the first thing Chris and Cam decided to do...go outside and test out just how icy it actually was!

Winter didn't subside much over the weekend.  On SuperBowl Sunday, we invited our Windcrest neighbors to hang out and watch the game.  By the time the football game kicked off, it had already snowed close to 6 inches and wouldn't stop until over 4 more inches fell.
Fortunately, our neighbors were all within walking distance!
We had a most delicious dining experience eating tasty chicken wings, cheese dip, make-your-own-salad, fruit, and homemade granola.
We were all hoping the healthy stuff cancelled out the "not so healthy" items.

The football game was exciting and watching the kids play their own games and interact with each other was just as entertaining.

The snow didn't subside all day long, even well into the evening.  Which is why seeing the sunshine "after the storm" certainly makes one smile.

Bouncing Back - Week of Jan. 19th

The week started off with a swimming lesson and looking forward to a visit from Oma on Thursday and Friday.  Cam did not have school due to record-marking days for the teachers.  On Wednesday, though, Cam came home a bit early when he wasn't feeling well.  Instead of having lots of playtime with Oma, they shared quite a bit of couch time together...

On Friday, things were looking up and Cam had his appetite and laughter back in full swing!  We were sad to see Oma go, but so very thankful for her time and help, as well as risking exposure to illness.

We had a visit from Miss Ann on Saturday as she and Cam compared who had the coolest glasses and how smart they both looked.

One of the toughest parts about being sick is not being able to play with your friends. Fort building is an art that some kids really excel at.

On Sunday afternoon, with Cam supervising and Emma creating, the multi-faceted fort was complete.

It just may be that some of our greatest thoughts, ideas and inventions were realized in a homemade blanket fort.

Your friend is your needs answered. ~Khalil Gibran

Official Swimming Lessons - Week of Jan. 12th

Cam & Laura

On a cold winter day, a warm relaxing pool certainly does look inviting...
Cam started his swimming lessons this week at MaryFreeBed downtown.
He loves being in the water since his grandparents live on Lake Michigan (which isn't nearly as warm as the toasty pool).  For the next five weeks, he'll be working on being more comfortable in certain areas like floating on his back and being underwater.

We are most fortunate to still have Kelsey with us on Mondays, which just happens to be the same day of Cam's swimming lesson...and that possibly wasn't by coincidence :)

Cam & Kelsey

Since Kelsey is a professional lifeguard, we gained permission from Laura, Cam's assigned instructor, to have Kelsey in the pool as well.  The 45 minute lesson goes by much too quickly, but our water boy is so fortunate to have two instructors, especially when one of them is such a favorite friend.

Besides swimming, another new regiment began- wearing glasses!  Cam had glasses for a short period of time when he was younger and his ophthalmologist thought it would be a good idea to use them now for schoolwork and reading.  Although he doesn't appear overly thrilled in this picture, he really does like them.  Cameron was quite intent on picking the blue colored frames and blue case without any influence from his parents.

At school this week, the kids played boccie ball again and the cool ramp Cam uses has become quite the hit.  When Chris saw this picture from school with his proud son surrounded by a group of girls, his comment was "that's my boy!"

Bring on the Snow Machine! - Week of Jan. 5th

A typical Michigan response to the lack of snow is to pack a wallop when it comes!  True to form, we accumulated more than ten inches of snow in one evening.  Consequently, Cam did not have school on Friday.

Luckily for Cam, school can be in session any time because his buddy Emma knows how to set up school right in our home.  As one can see, the school schedule is quite extensive and there are definitely extra activities for time permitting.

Truly, the academics are covered here with math, spelling, and reading.  If school goes well, there is time for an "intermission show."

We attempted sledding in our front yard, but the snow was so deep and fluffy, it didn't make for a very slick course.  Even the steep driveway couldn't provide an advantage.  Cam and Emma wanted to stay outside, though, so we all figured out a way to play restaurant in the backyard.
Emma was the chef and Cam was a diner.  He dined on "Snow-co Puffs" and hot chocolate with "one billion marshmallows" included.

Cam did enjoy the menu and told Emma he wanted to come back again.

It seems a snow day isn't complete without some specially baked treats.  Taylor and Cam worked on a double batch of chocolaty brownies and Cam worked on licking the beaters clean!

Welcome to 2015! - Week of Dec. 29th

And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.  
~Rainer Maria Rilke
For the first time, we opted to go bowling as a family on New Year's Eve.  To make it even more special, we met up with the Raisch and Flegel families- our "forever" neighbors.  Cam used the helper ramp for the bowling ball and each and every time, his buddy Emma retrieved the ramp, which was also being used by a few other lanes.  Even the with "bumper rails" the kids seemed to have better aim than the adults!  The package deal included pizza, pop and 2.5 hours of bowling fun.  It's hard to believe we've known all of these folks for more than 13 years (before a few of them were born!) and being together as a group guarantees lots of laughter and silliness.
In addition to his parents, Patti also took turns helping Cam test out his bowling skills.After our fill of trying to hit the ten pins, Jane and Chris took Cam to meet up with their second family- Ms. Ann, Katherine & Paul, Molly & Gordy, and Nancy & Don.  We had a most delicious dinner at Outback Steakhouse. When we asked Cam if he wanted dessert at the restaurant or at home (stopping at Culver's on the way) he opted for an in-home dessert experience with Ms. Ann.  While Cam inhaled chocolate ice cream, his parents went to ring in the New Year with the Raisch's and Flegel's.  Many thanks to Ms. Ann for hanging out with her buddy so he could get to sleep before midnight!

Starting off the new year, we ventured over to Liam's new house to say hello and receive the tour of their home.  Liam couldn't wait to show Cam all around his place!  The boys decorated cookies and then taste-tested their creations.  We're so thankful that for every best buddy Cam has, his parents also have the advantage of gaining such good buddies too.Speaking of buddies, Kelsey had some fun time with Cam over his holiday break!  We're so thankful for her positive attitude, her vocabulary push with Cam, and her constant desire to make play fun and educational at the same time.As we welcome 2015, we hope you all greet this coming year with a smile and a heart full of positive thoughts topped off with lots of laughter.