School Ends, Jane's Birthday begins- Week of June 8th

The only way to have a friend is to be one. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The week started out with an evening to the WhiteCaps baseball game, hosted by Chris' workplace, FTC&H.  At the family outing, we dined on hot dogs, burgers, chips and cookies.  Cam met mascot "sister" Crash.  We didn't stay for the entire game, but we were able to see a few runs around the bases.

Tuesday was Jane's birthday and Cam was super excited to celebrate!  A delicious dinner at Houlihan's for the Weatherford family,  Auntie Roe and her niece Rachel made for a fun evening.  Back at home, Chris and Cam had a cake and ice cream waiting, along with presents.  At bedtime, Jane told Cam it was her best birthday yet.  Cam said "Why Mom?"  Jane explained that this was the first year Cam could clearly say "Happy Birthday, Mom" and "I love you!"

Awesome kids with their parents, awesome teachers,
the best aides, therapists and bus drivers

Wednesday marked the final day of the school year and Cam was hosting an afternoon cookout at his house for good friend and classmate, Natalie.   Natalie's family is moving to Lansing this summer and everyone at school who had contact with her was invited to join.
It was a beautiful afternoon filled with warm sunshine and welcome shade.  Since the meal was a combined effort of the group, we all dined on delicious food.  One of the best parts of the day was watching all of the kids interact with each other and seeing the teachers, therapists, helpers and bus drivers all take a little time to relax.  Cam and Natalie plan on connecting via FaceTime on the iPhone and meeting up at Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park.

Saturday's trek to see Oma and Opa was a bit rainy.  This meant we had a perfect opportunity to take a field trip to Country Dairy in New Era, Michigan.
Just 15 minutes from the family cottage, the dairy farm boasts an extensive menu, including numerous flavors of ice cream.  It is the only place we've seen where you can help yourself to free refills of milk, chocolate included.

That night, Cam's grandparents made a special birthday dinner for Jane and invited family over for the famous Ryke's cake and Country Dairy ice cream.  Niece Steffanie and her boyfriend Heath were able to spend some quality time with Cam and share some laughs.

Sending out a very heartfelt thanks to Oma and Opa and the countless friends and family who reached out to Jane for her birthday.

In honor of feeling young, summer break means additional time for fort building...enjoyable at any age.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old.  We grow old because we stop playing."  ~George Bernard Shaw

Last Call for Baseball - Week of June 1st

You know the feeling you have when you've eaten an absolutely delicious meal?  So content and happy and smiling.
It was a week of events that left us feeling completely filled, in heart and soul.

Ms. Ginny & Cam

At Meadow Brook school, Cam attended an awards ceremony for Project Unify and LINKS (Loyal Interested Nurturing Kind Student).
What is Project Unify? An education and sports-based program that promotes acceptance, respect, and leadership for students of all abilities while creating an inclusive school environment. There are four components: a unified sport…bocce ball, a school-wide

Taylor & Cam

campaign to foster diversity and respect for all, a community service project, and a Youth Activation Committee (YAC).
LINKS is a peer-to-peer inclusion program where students support a same-aged peer from the CI classroom at school.
Jane & Taylor attended the event which included a slideshow of all activities led by Ms. Ginny and Ms. Barbara as well as a medal and certificate presented to each student involved.  What a great group of kids involved in such an important project!

Ms. Barbara & daughters,
Ms. Cris & daughter

L to R: Chris, Emma, Steve, Megan, A. Betsy, Auntie Jo,
U. Jon, Oma, Will, Cam, Patti

Jane, Emma, Cam, Chris

On Saturday, the blue skies arrived with a slight breeze to celebrate the last baseball game of the 2015 spring season for WMML.  Since two games were cancelled this season due to weather, it was a record attendance.  Most definitely, a record fan count for Cam.  We cannot thank everyone enough for making it out to the very crowded game (and parking lot).

Aunt Betsy, Cam, Uncle Jon

Cam was up to bat twice, went around the bases with a big grin and screamed with delight, "I'm done!" after the game ended.  He proudly showed off his medal to all.  We didn't have a chance to have everyone in a photo op, but wanted to properly call out those not pictured in our photos:
Aunt Mary & Uncle Ray, Ms. Michelle, Molly & Gordy, Mr. D, Ms. Andrea and her family.

As if the baseball game wasn't enough excitement for one day, Oma and Jane took Cam over to the Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park to ride the safari bus and feed the animals.  The llamas were quite hungry and tried to munch on Cam's fingers as well as his chair!  Luckily, the entire experience produced quite a few laughs.  A stop at the Ice Cream Caboose completed our day.  As Cam noted: "we are very busy today!"

'Auntie' Roe with the homemade cup telephone!

On a side note, Jane was excited to find the original Mister Rogers episodes on Amazon Prime.  Cam thoroughly enjoys them and wanted to create the "tin cup telephone experiment."  His first remarks into the phone cup: "Hi Dad, how are you...over!"

Mister Rogers' goodbye song certainly sums up this week nicely!

"It's such a good feeling to know you're alive. It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside. And when you wake up ready to say, "I think I'll make a snappy new day." It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling, The feeling you know that we're friends."

Backyard Open House - Week of May 25th

Bed in Summer ~Robert Louis Stevenson 
In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street.

Chris (photobombing),
Anna, Cam & good friend, Alex

And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day?


As the days become longer, the activities can start later.  On Memorial Day, we happily hosted Anna's high school open house in our backyard.  As neighbors and forever friends, Anna's family has known Cam for his entire life.
The weather cooperated and from 5-8pm, Anna greeted 240 people!

Cam was introduced to the game 9 Square, which was set up in our backyard. 9 Square Website


The “king” serves the ball from the center square to any other square by hitting the ball up and out of the top of the center game square. Players must return the ball to another player’s square.  If a player fails to return the ball to another player’s square, that player is out. When a player is out, they leave their square and move to the end of the line. The other players advance to fill the square of the player who just got out.

After Monday's excitement, we celebrated Emma's birthday on Wednesday.  Cam wanted to give Emma a movie for her birthday.  To accompany that gift, we found some popcorn buckets, a favorite snack for both families.

Over the weekend, Chris was on a fishing trip with Emma's dad and they caught quite a few bass!

Ms. Ann hung out with her buddy Friday eve while Jane attended her cousin's wedding.  There may or may not have been some chocolate consumed!

On Saturday and Sunday, Jane and her helper son completed quite a few "clean up" chores at home.

After lots of working, Cam's favorite playmate came over.
Emma created a crown for Cam and deemed him "King Cam!"

Favorite "Cam Quote of the Week" after trying a granola bar for the first time...

Cam: "Mom, what is in it?"
Jane:  "Peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and oats."
Cam: quietly contemplating "Mom, I do not like oats."

The Great Outdoors - Week of May 18th

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” 
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cam couldn't wait to help outdoors at school this week.  As part of a school community project, the kids in his class had gardening time to help beautify the Meadow Brook grounds.  Our first grader was so anxious that he asked his mom to email his teacher to find out what time the actual assistance would take place.  Cam watched Jane write the email and upon seeing her hit send, indicated "what did she say?"  Email is a speedy way to communicate, but it's not quite that fast!

Ben, Travis, Paige & Jodi

Friday was a day off of school due to the holiday weekend.  And with a day off came a morning of "working" at Grand Valley with some graduate students.  Jane is always curious to see how each set of kids will interact with Cam.  There's never been a group without a smile.
After all of that working, Jane treated Cam to a McDonald's lunch.

The real treat came Saturday, though, when the Weatherford family headed northward to spend some time with Oma and Opa.
Chris and Cam worked a few nights to finish up the 3rd version of "CamMobile" for the beach.
The big buoyant wheels make sand travel a breeze.
Jane and Cam had fun creating some sand-drip castles.  There is nothing like the feeling of the Lake Michigan beach sand between your toes and fingers.
With the beautiful weather, we were able to spend the entire afternoon lakeside.  The sun sparkling on the water was a bit deceiving with the liquid temps in the 40's but Chris and Cam still walked in to get their feet wet.

We finally went back up to the cottage to get ready for dinner.  Opa cooked us all some delicious steaks and even had a 4 ounce one cut especially for Cam.  Our boy is definitely a steak lover.  Oma served her tasty cheese sauce and her grandson decided it tasted good on everything!

Homemade brownies with ice cream topped off our dinner.
We think Oma puts some extra love in everything she bakes.
It was the perfect end to a week of being in the great outdoors!

Sweet Everythings - Week of May 11th

"Sweet nothings..affectionate but unimportant or meaningless words spoken to a loved one."  Such a strange idiom - sweet everything's seems a bit more appropriate...

Sweet "customized" M&M's from Chris

Kelsey usually hangs out with Cam on Mondays after school.  It was a particularly rainy day and before Cam's bus arrived, Kelsey dropped her cell phone in the driveway.  After getting Cam off the bus and into the house, Kelsey proceeded to remove her outer cell phone case to dry off her phone.  As she took off the case, little love notes dropped onto the counter.  Kelsey smiled and explained to Cam that her fiance had hidden them there without telling her, not knowing when she would actually find them.  Cam looked at Kelsey and said "Keep them forever."  Poignant words from such a young soul.

As Cam's vocabulary continues to surprise us, so do his efforts at school.  Cam is challenged academically and also physically.  Here he is demonstrating a yoga pose with a pillow.  It may look a little uncomfortable, but that smile is a real one.

When he isn't in actual school, his best buddy, Emma, has taken it upon herself to become Cam's "unofficial" teacher at home.  She has an entire curriculum planned out and takes her role very seriously!

Sunday afternoon was a different experience for Cam.  He and his mom went to visit our good friends and neighbors, Mrs. Mickie and Mr. Ken at Mickie's new residence.  This couple has known Cam his entire life.  They have been married for more than 50 years.  They are an example to us all of selfless love, holding strong to the vow "in sickness and in health," and striving to remember to live in the moment.

As Jane and Cam drove home that evening, Cam told his mom "I want to visit them again."

Ken and Mickie have blessed us in so many ways over the years.  We know that Cam's visit was a blessing to them.

Never underestimate how your actions may affect others and remember how precious each and every moment is and how that moment may become a "sweet everything" to someone else.

Happy Mother's Day! - Week of May 4th

Each school day, Cam asked about his upcoming field trip for Very Special Arts on Friday.  When the day finally arrived, he talked about the event afterwards.  Besides painting a commemorative t-shirt to mark the occasion, our first-grader picked a baseball to add some art to his face, and used the xylophone among other activities to honor the different arts .
On Saturday, Cam's baseball game was scheduled and a large fan base (close to 20) had planned to attend.  The weather sidelined that outing and the rain kept us busy inside with Oma and Opa back at home.
Besides playing games and watching the awesome movie, Paddington, Cam ventured out with Oma and Jane to Heidi's Farmstand to pick up some sweet goodies.

Saturday evening included dinner out on the town at Sundance. We dined outside and had fun watching some little birds trying to capture Cam's french fries.

A Mother's Day pancake breakfast started the holiday off right.  Although Cam didn't eat quite this many, he enjoyed seeing the large stack in front of him.

Unbeknownst to Jane, Chris had tried to take Cam shopping during the week to find a present for Mom's Day.  Cam proudly informed Chris "I already have a present for mom!"  He had made a beautiful clay colored plaque with flowers at school, along with a handmade card.
Jane and Oma loved all of their gifts and felt very special as the honored moms of the day.

By far, the best present that is given again and again is the voice of a sweet boy saying "I love you, Mom!"