Safety Supervisor - Week of Mar. 13th

There is always safety in valor. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

On Lake Michigan, we definitely see some pretty amazing sunsets in the summer.  It takes us by surprise, though, when we see the colorful sunrise from our home in Grand Rapids.

Cam continued his work effort at Grand Valley this week, testing out a walking apparatus with Miss Katrina and Miss Kelcey.  They almost started a dance party in the hallway with some fellow GV students waiting for a classroom to empty out.

Typical of most weekends, Cam anticipates what he can help with.  Chris regularly thinks up the coolest projects to work on with his son.  Before any assistance can begin, Mom or Dad always ask if there are any helpers around who would like to volunteer.  Inevitably, Cam excitedly raises his hand each and every time.

After borrowing a concrete drill, lots of sawing and pounding, and keeping Jane out of the garage, the boys were ready for their reveal...a walkway that transforms into a ramp!  With new hinges, a removable platform and a lot of ingenuity, Chris figured out a way for his son to drive directly into the workshop.  Cam has taken on the role of being a safety supervisor, making certain that all precautions are taken before performing any construction task.  Jane contributed a couple of laminated signs for the area to warn others of the guys working.

With March Madness in full swing, the Raisch family joined us for lunch on Sunday to take in a few basketball games and grill some burgers, complemented by homemade french fries.

While Patti, Cam and Jane played a few games of Uno in the kitchen, the rest of crew "watched" basketball in the living room.

Camology Quotes:

On Sunday, we talked to Cam about an upcoming hospital procedure he will have on March 28th for right hip dislocation.  We explained that since his right leg has been hurting at times and x-rays showed that his hip socket is not where it should be, he will need surgery.  After an extensive discussion with questions from Cam, he announced:

"Ok, I will not cancel the surgery."
Other questions included, but were not limited to...
"When do I eat? Why do I not get breakfast? 
 How many visitors? What are the hours? Can I have too many? 
"Oma knows about this- she had knee surgery."

A Chilly Cookout - Week of Mar. 6th

Gym teacher catching a ride!

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens

You never know what type of weather to expect in Michigan in March.  This week, we had a day of mid-50's, 60 mph wind gusts and an extended power outage in our home, all in the same day.  Cam was eager to hear about the loss of electricity when he returned home from school and asked what happened.  Unfortunately for Jane, she migrated to a local grocery store to work, returning home at 3:30p when luckily the power was restored.  Some friends of ours didn't have power until the weekend.  We were very fortunate.

Cam was part of a mini photo shoot when Brandon and Mike stopped by to snap some pictures of his completed bathroom for their new website.  It's exciting to see our independent boy drive right up to his sink and have an easier time maneuvering through the wider doorways.

On Saturday, we hosted Ms. Ann and family for a birthday celebration.  Even though the temps were in the 30's, we chose to grill some steak and salmon and hot dogs.  Everyone brought a dish to pass and we all enjoyed a tasty feast.
Afterwards, we moved onto a frozen yogurt cake from Spoonlickers.  Peanut butter and chocolate make for such a great combination for dessert.  The three littlest ones in the picture are cousins, all within 1 year of each other!  Pretty cool and fun to see.  Cam had a good time rolling around on the floor with them.


With the bigger crowd we had on Saturday, Cam decided it was time to change our dining room around on Sunday.  We moved a smaller table by our window.  Someone came up with the idea of this area being designated as a "diner."  Now, every meal we have as a family is eaten in the diner.  Upon finishing his first experience there, Cam asked "Do I get a survey?"
After a busy weekend, we are always thankful for time to sit back and relax!


Camology Quotes:

Our Raisch family introduced us to cornbread waffles this week.  Cam was pretty intrigued.  Chris and his son decided to experiment.  They made brownies and wanted to see if indeed you could put brownie batter in the waffle iron.  In our completely non-professional opinion, this is an awesome-sauce idea!

Survey says...(from Cam)
"This is not a healthy snack, but it sure is good!"

Letters from Kansas - Week of Feb. 27th

"Doing what's expected of you can make you good, but it's the time you spend going above and beyond what's required that makes you great!" ~ Josh S. Hinds
What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson"

As a nine-year-old, Cam receives quite a bit of mail.  Cards arrive for holidays and birthday as well as letters from Oma and Auntie Karen.
The majority of Cam's mail, though, comes from the state of Kansas with the return address of Grandma Sue.  Chris' mom moved to the Plains state a few years ago from Arizona and spends her days caring for her farm.

Culver's=delicious!

A little over a week ago, Cam arrived home from school with a project.  He had to send a self-addressed stamped envelope to someone he knew outside of Michigan, preferably a state that wasn't close by.  Once that person received the letter, they were asked to provide some facts about their state and city as well as some unique things. Cam's first request was to send it to Grandma Sue.  Little did we know she was an overachiever and created a CD for Cam's class to see.  Since it was delivered to school on Thursday, the class viewed it on Friday and Ms. Kathy even included the story in the newsletter that went home!  Many, many thanks Grandma Sue!
"At the end of February we sent letters home to go to other places.  We got a letter back today!  It was from Kansas.  We learned about a farm.  They had chickens and it was on a river.  We learned that they have tornadoes in Kansas.  It was fun to learn about another state.  This makes our class feel excited."

Most weekends, we see our buddies and this one was no exception.   We had a fun, impromptu outing to Culver's with Emma and Mr. Steve.  And Emma outdid herself by not only getting into police mode, but also sporting the S.W.A.T. cap and handheld siren.

Some classics fade and come back.  For our family, hide-n-seek has been one of these faithful games that Cam still gets a kick out of.  It seems when he involves his parents, it takes a different turn.
Chris always like to throw Jane off the trail, so a large stuffed animal was hanging out in Cam's chair with a blanket over its head.


Dad and son were on the floor in the dark room waiting to be found.  It may have taken Mom a bit longer to find the boys if there hadn't been giggling emanating from that area.  When the lights came on, Cam explained the lengths they had gone to for the perfect hiding spot.

Jane and her son found another quiet place in the corner, throwing Chris off of their trail by placing pillows under the bed.


Camology Quotes:

Our good friends, Chris & Cassie, brought their premature daughter, Cora, home from the hospital after a month's stay.  We attended their baby shower on Saturday.  Both Chris and Cassie are firefighters.  Cam was quite intrigued with the event location and fired off (pun intended) many questions during our trek there.

"Where is the baby shower?"
It's at the fire station.
"Wow! What happens if they get called to go out?" "Where would baby Cora go?"  "Will we hear the siren?"  "Who did they ask if they could have the baby shower there?"  

Heat Wave...in February? - Week of Feb. 20th

"Grandchildren are often spoiled because no one will spank Grandma" ~ Anonymous (pretty sure the author is a grandparent)

Cam enjoying recess!

Our school district celebrates President's Day with a day off for students.  We celebrated President's Day by requesting a full day of Oma/Cam time.  Their day was filled with games, making cards, taking a stroll and helping with dinner.  Many thanks to Oma for the fun day!

Back at school, Cam's class made another recipe he asked to share with all of you.  We haven't made it at home yet, but it must be totally delicious since there weren't any samples that arrived home.

Peanut Butter/Chocolate Dip

• 8 oz pkg soft cream cheese
• 3/4 c light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c peanut butter
• (chocolate sauce if desired)
• graham crackers



Cam's parents recognize all of their childhood toys and games-
feeling a bit old seeing them encased in glass at a museum!

• apple slices

1. Cream cheese, sugar, vanilla- mixer
2. Add peanut butter/choclate- mixer
3. Dip graham cracker or apple slice into dip.
4. YUM!


Our weather has been unusually warm and it's hard to believe we were in short sleeves a few times.


Friday was a very exciting day for Cam- a field trip to our Grand Rapids Public Museum and Chris volunteered to go!  Having your dad on a school outing is very special, especially when it's a field trip lasting almost 5 hours.
They were able to ride the bus together to and from downtown, explore the museum, and have lunch right there.  Cam's favorite part was seeing the huge whale hanging from the ceiling when you enter.

Chris and Jane ventured out on Saturday evening while Cam and Amanda had some extra play time together.  Before leaving the house, Cam told his mom, "You smell nice and flowery."  Here's hoping those sweet comments will always be given because they will most certainly always be appreciated.

Camology Quotes:

Since Jane was up early on Saturday, Chris and Cam insisted she take a rest in the afternoon.  When she awoke, the following note was displayed on the tv...

Dearest Mother,
Cam and I have ventured off to distant lands to slay dragons and win gold for you.  We will return around 3:00 with your treasure.  If you need us we are available via our communicators.
Dad and son
(home depot and maybe starbucks)

Lots of Love - Week of Feb. 13th

Valentine's Breakfast

"They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything." ~ Bil Keane 

Valentine's Dinner

Jane and her son looked through multiple ideas online to determine what to make for his school Valentine's.  After much contemplation, Cam decided he wanted to create the bookmarks, for the third year.  He chose the colors and the quotes.
The two that made the final print?

"Today is good.  Today is fun.  Tomorrow is another one!"  ~Dr. Suess and
"All the colors I am inside haven't been invented yet." ~Shel Silverstein


At school, Cam gave his teacher some funny glasses and the day was filled with different activities celebrating friendship.  Our Valentine's day began with heart-shaped waffles and ended with heart-shaped pizza and breadsticks, compliments of Jet's Pizza.  Our family decided it would become our new tradition for Feb. 14th.  Jane surprised her boys with some musical cards and small gifts.  Chris and Cam presented Jane with a gorgeous bouquet of roses.  Of course, Cam's dad brought one rose in first and then proceeded to deliver the large arrangement.  Our loving boy also received V-day cards from Oma and Opa, Auntie Karen and Auntie Jo and Will.

An abundance of sunshine filled the weekend.  Our family fired up the grill with the Raisch fam Saturday evening and dined on hamburgers with all of the fixings!
Oma and Opa arrived Sunday afternoon to spend the night with us.  Due to the unusually warm temps, we decided it was a good idea for us all to partake in some delicious Culver's milkshakes.  Perfect timing since Cam and his dad were working outside building a new workshop bench for Chris. Look at that sawdust fly!

Being outdoors, soaking up that Vitamin D seemed to blanket smiles over the entire city.  We hope it continues...


Camology Quotes:

Jane often tells Cam he takes after his father in more ways than one.  Although we've never heard Chris talk about increasing the temp of his heart, it's nice to know his son shares his gift of injecting love into a simple  phrase.

"I like you, Mom"
"I like you too, Cam."
"Thank you, Mom...that warms my heart."

Light...End...Tunnel - Week of Feb. 6th

"Don't confuse your path with your destination.  Just because it's stormy now doesn't mean that you aren't headed for sunshine." ~Author unknown

After many weeks of wondering if Cam would ever be able to sleep through the night again, his track record was broken and our family was able to experience a completely peaceful night of slumber once again.  It is so easy to take a good night's sleep for granted.

With a rested body and mind, someone was in a great mood for his Wednesday evening work with the Grand Valley graduate students.  Kelcie and Katrina surprised Cam with an early Valentine's treat.  A billion dollar chocolate bar of solid deliciousness awaited the eager boy.  The trio conducted some police work, finding bad guys and arresting people.

At school, the kids had an extra treat at the end of the week in the form of monkey bread.  Cam wanted to share the recipe and told his teacher "it looks like a giant cinnamon roll!"
Monkey Bread Mountain
Ingredients: 

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 T cinnamon
• 3 pkgs refrigerated biscuit dough
• ½ cup water 
• ½ cup brown sugar 
• Gallon size Ziploc bag 
• Cooking spray 
• Bundt cake pan  

DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. Put white sugar and cinnamon into bag. Shake to mix. 3. Tear each biscuit in half and place into bag. Shake to coat. 4. Spray cooking spray into cake pan. 5. Put biscuits into cake pan. 6. Put water and brown sugar in microwave safe bowl. Stir. 7. Microwave on high for 1 minute. 8. Pour mixture over biscuits. 9. Bake for 35 minutes. 10. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. 11. Turn over onto plate. 12. Eat!! It is delicious.

A full belly at Pizza Ranch!

The weekend brought our first outing to Pizza Ranch, a buffet-style restaurant filled with Cam's favorites: pizza, chicken, dessert pizza, ice cream as well as soup and salad.  We may be, just might, head back there again some time.

Cam and Emma enjoyed a home theater movie experience complete with popcorn made by Jane, movie tickets made by Emma and lots of commentary made by Cam.  Everyone had assigned seats, even the stuffed animals.  The audience gave "Finding Dory" the highest recommendation!

Camology Quotes:

Even though Cam is generally a very happy kid, he does have his moments of being somewhat crabby.  On one such occasion, he was told by his parents that he needed to change his attitude. 
He was repeating the following mantra to himself... 
"Cam, delete attitude!"
Apparently, he's picked up quite a bit of computer language...

SuperBowl 2017 - Week of Jan. 30th

Cam made it into his mini class paper as "Person in the News" and was interviewed by Ms. Kathy.
Here is the excerpt: "Cam Weatherford is in the spotlight today.  He likes ice cream, hot dogs, pizza and applesauce. (Chicken must not have been an option)  He likes comedy movies.  His favorite classes are reading, writing, math, science, gym, music and art. He likes to listen to music, watch tv, play outside, read, be with family, play inside, eat and do chores while at home."  
Teacher commentary: "Cam Weatherford is special because he is always happy.  He is a good reader.  He like to play games.  He likes to work hard.  He is always nice and kind to everyone."


To continue contributions to his college fund, Cam started his part time job at Grand Valley State University again.  On Wednesday evenings, he works with PT graduate students to help them learn the world of physical therapy with children.  Dr. Lisa says Cam is a great teacher and the students always try to make the time spent fun for everyone...with a bit of work rolled in.

To celebrate the big football game, we invited the Raisch family and Mr. Ken (a.k.a. Papa) over to watch the SuperBowl and partake in some delicious food.  Our assortment included chicken wings, sweet potato and regular fries, bbq smoky links, hummus, crackers, spinach pastry, carrots and celery, along with clementines.  Essentially, something for everyone.  The game seemed a bit one-sided during the first half, but it certainly turned out to be quite the nail biter towards the end when the Patriots won in overtime.  Cam somewhat predicted the potential ending when asked who would win and he said "it will be tie."

In all of the activity and restless sleep this week, we were late in our birthday greetings to Opa.  A big happy birthday, Opa!  We're excited to see him soon to give hugs in person.





Camology Quotes:

The common cold has been hanging around for Cam and there have been many kids absent from school.  One day upon arrival home, Cam indicated 3 of his friends had stayed home due to illness, which led to this question:

"What if came to school and I was the only one at school?"

Also due to the cold, Cam has revised his 'request to help' mantra:
"I would like to do some helping...but not too much helping."