Andrew’s Who Are You

Andrew filled out a form at the beginning of the school year titled “Who Are You?” Here are the questions and his answers:

  1. I’M SAD WHEN I HEAR ABOUT — The World Trade Center

    IT MAKES ME WANT TO — Cry and be sad

  2. I ADMIRE PEOPLE WHO — Fought in the war

    THEY MAKE ME WANT TO — Do what they did

  3. I GET ANGRY AT — My brother

    IT MAKES ME WANT TO — Attack him

  4. I FEEL PROUD WHEN I — Build something

    IT MAKES ME WANT TO — Build more

  5. I FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN — I’m talking about the human body

    IT MAKES ME WANT TO — Go home

  6. I’M THANKFUL FOR — Everything

    IT MAKES ME WANT TO — Live

Just for kids (because they believe)

I went to my Monday morning book study at church today. We are discussing Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. We read a chapter a week and answer the questions on that chapter in the back of the book. When we meet on Monday we discuss the questions. Sometimes we break up into small groups to get into more detail ( we have about 25 people in our large group).

Yesterday one of the people in my small group talked about how she missed the relationship she had with God when she was a little girl and she wished it could be that way again. I told her the preist at mass on Sunday had just talked about how we should accept God as children do and that it is definitely in the Bible, I just wouldn’t have a clue where to find it.

I went home after the meeting and had an overwhelming feeling when I walked in the door that God was sitting in my new recliner waiting for me. I decided to check my email. I went to the computer and moved some papers out of the way.

Continue reading Just for kids (because they believe)

Back to school

We finished up a summer of travels by flying home from Chicago on American last Thursday. That was not the best day to travel due to the foiled terrorist plot situation. We did not have any trouble getting through security. Most flights were delayed, but we were home only 1 hour behind the scheduled time.

The boys started school while we were gone. By the time we got back they were on their 5th day of school. Luckily they are all comfortable with school and didn’t have any problems.

I am glad to be back home for a while. I did make a quick trip to the beach with Auntie P. and spent one night. I thought about our next family vacation. I went by the 2 houses and they were both empty. Sort of sad. I didn’t see anyone at Alecassandra either. I also looked at the place on Avenue E. I’m wondering if anyone would rather go back to the beach next summer or if everyone is happy with the mountains in November.

The Disappearing Lake

Scott Lake is about 1 mile away from our house. After the 1st hurricane went through (Alberto) a lot of water was dumped on the lake causing the sludge on the bottom to be pushed into a cavity and cause a large hole that has eaten the lake and everything in it. Now the beautiful homes, on what used to be a bank, over look a huge sand pit with a few puddles and stinky dead fish. It has been one of the top stories in the Tampa Bay area news all week. Our neighbor was quoted in the paper today. It’s a sad situation. If you want to read today’s article go to: The Lake Is Dry.

News from Copenhagen

Bob reporting…

Our room is fabulous. Most rooms are small but we reserved a “superior” which is really a small suite. If you look at the picture from the Ibsens Hotel website, we have a corner suite right above the front door on the 4th floor. There is no air conditioning… but it really isn’t needed. Will probably leave the windows open over night but that will likely make it noisy in the morning.

After checking in at the Bella Center (the conference center where the Rotary Convention is being held), we tried to schedule some tours. They seemed pricy but very “complete.” There are so many Rotarians here, I’m sure that Rotary International has all of the major tour companies booked up. After waiting in line for 30 minutes and having moved only 3 feet, I made an executive decision. Forget it! We were hungry and tired. I didn’t feel like spending 2 hours in line only to be told that the tour we wanted was already booked up!!

Tomorrow, we are going to buy a 2 day Sightseeing and boat pass that we saw on the back of the map they gave us. They had wireless internet at the Bella Center, so I looked up information on their web site. We also have an unlimited pass for all of the trains and buses in Copenhagen. It was included with the Rotary registration. The Metro station is only 4 blocks away… so it’s really convenient.

We got into our room and took a short nap… I feel slightly human again!! Carol just showered and looks her normal beautiful self. I had to borrow a hair dryer for her. While she was drying her hair, I walked a block away to get some Coke and OJ for the duty free rum and vodka we acquired at the airport in Newark. I also got some ice from the front desk… a special request!! I gave Carol half (4 small cubes) and I took the other half. Everyone has been very nice and helpful.

I did run into a snafu with the power converter I bought at Radio Shack. It has an outlet with only 2 prongs, no ground wire. I didn’t think this was a problem for my electronics… but my computer needs a 3 prong outlet. The cord that runs from the wall is unique to the power adapter for that computer specifically… but good ole American ingenuity kicked in. I used the power cord from my video camera power adapter. It was close enough… without the 3rd prong but I had to make a slight modification with a pocket knife from my shaving kit! Don’t worry… it’s safe! And better yet, it works!!! So now I can now charge my computer!!

I’ve attached 2 photos with views from our window on the 4th floor.

Bob (Dad)

Soarin

We are so lucky to have our season passes to Disney. We have been lots of times since January. We can’t go from June 11th-August 17th because our passes are blocked then. We went to Epcot the other day. The first time we went to Epcot it was cold and rainy. We missed so many things. It was our first park visit so we weren’t sure how things worked anyway.

My 2 favorite attractions were the ride called Soarin’ which is inside the “Land” building. It is amazing! I also loved seeing Crush from Finding Nemo. He’s the turtle Dad dude. There is an interactive show inside the “Sea” building. It is incredible and hilarious.

If you decide to go to just one park it is $63.00 for the day. I might have suggested MGM which is great, but now I think Epcot is the best. I do really like Animal Kingdom too.

Dr. Thing-a-ma-Bob

Bob was selected to participate in Leadership Lakeland this past year. There are around 30 people selected every year by a panel of judges. You have to write a paper and fill out an application. This program is sponsered by the Chamber of Commerce. They take 1 day a month to tour various businesses and establishments in Lakeland. They went everywhere from the dump to the jail to the hospital and more.

At the end of the year they have to put on a play which has been called “The Thing” for years I guess. Bob got all into this. He was the star, Dr. Thing-a-ma-Bob. He got to wear a Dr. coat and stethascope. He was very funny. He got lots of laughs. He had Eric get a video clip of a computer fighter plane game that he hooked up with an actual heart surgery video and made it look like he was using the equipment to play a game while he was conducting surgery. All the participants looked like they enjoyed it. I think Bob’s favorite part was getting to pretend he was a doctor for a while.

Science Experiment

This morning Bob promised Andrew a big breakfast. Of course he had to go up into the attic for just a little while first. As he slipped up into the attic to conduct his science experiment Andrew waited hungrily at the bottom of the pull down ladder.

Around 9:30 I thought I would make something special for Andrew and Bob. I searched for recipes for Monkey Bread. Apparently the rest of the country makes Monkey Bread from refrigerated biscuits. It isn’t anything like the dark brown sweet bread with raisins that Mom used to make. Something in that bread causes gas which we all know is really called “shooting a monkey”.

So I made the biscuit kind by cutting each biscuit into 4 pieces and rolling in cinnamon and sugar, placing in a greased dish and drizzling with a butter, cinnamon, and sugar mixture that I heated until sugar disolved. Then I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.

Just as it finished baking Bob came down from the attic. He and Andrew enjoyed the monkey bread with scrambled eggs and bacon. David and Eric helped eat the “bread” and there was not a crumb left.