Patrick and Christine decided that they (and Peg & I) would prefer empty Easter baskets this year: No Reese’s Eggs, no malted chocolate, no coin-filled plastic eggs, no solid chocolate bunnies, no marshmallow peeps. INSTEAD, we will take the money we might otherwise have spent on candy that we don’t need and buy a ”Hatch Hope Easter Basket”, with its chickens and rabbits that Heifer International provides together with training to deserving families. What can be more hopeful to a struggling farmer than a gift of fast-multiplying livestock? Rabbits are easy to care for and reproduce quickly, allowing their owners to sell the offspring for extra income once they’ve fulfilled Heifer’s “Passing on the Gift” promise; and chickens lay eggs and provide manure for vegetable gardens. That’s why this gift of Hope goes on and on, lasting much longer and helping more families than the usual gift basket filled with marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies ever could.
Did you know that on average one american citizen use more than 100 gallons per day? Did you know that in America alone we use underground water 4 times faster than it is replenished? Here are some ways too help keep your water clean:
1) grow native plants instead of “the worlds greenest lawn”
2) don’t put trash down the drain.
3) use Gray Water: partially used water from your washing machine or shower to water your plants.
With these tips, we can save our fresh water. remember, fresh water only covers 3% of the surface, and less than 1% is actually available for human consumption.
Our participants have demonstrated incredible efficiency in completing the Convery Press 2011 March Madness Bracket Competition. Though there are still two more rounds of play and the Championship game is more than a week away, we already have our winners. It is rather sad that not a single member of group could foresee the upsets and have even one of their bracket hopes left intact as we enter the Final Four. Maureen will be receiving her $25.00 Applebee’s gift card for her (comparatively) outstanding prognostication. I am upgrading 2nd place to a $20.00 Applebee’s Gift Card since mom will be in Florida until after the end of the St. William Lenten Fish Frys. For his third place finish, Brian L. will recieve a family-style pasta dinner.
The 58th Annual Conference of the Michigan Science Teachers Association took place at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel & DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, February 25-26, 2011. With over 2,500 science teachers and administrators in attendance to listen to speakers and presenters even brainier than themselves, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the weekend. I knew Peg would be all of Friday afternoon and most of Saturday and that, short of sitting through seminars, I would have to find my own entertainment. Fortunately for Patrick, my surrogate son Tommy, and I, the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum and the Grand Rapids Museum were just across the river from our hotel. Both were great! The Gerald Ford Presidential Museum is worth the trip to Grand Rapids for its own sake.
The boys were immediately impressed upon seeing the statue of Gerald Ford as a Boy Scout. Whether because that somehow seals him with irreproachable character or whether their status as Boy Scouts now improves their bid at the presidency in 2040 was unclear to me. They were also impressed with the piece of the Berlin Wall on display, though not as impressed and emotionally charged by it as I.
Anyone who lived through Watergate and the energy crisis of the 1070′s or remembers the run-way budget deficits that were nearly put to right once upon a time will be filled with nostalgia as they walk through the exhibits. The people, places, and events of those incredible years come alive with an additional on-line Watergate exhibit.The Watergate exhibit immerses the visitor in one of the most critical constitutional crises in the nation’s history. It is the story of the bungled burglary at the Watergate apartments in Washington, D.C., in June 1972, that eventually forced Richard Nixon to resign as President of the United States, and elevated Gerald R. Ford to the nation’s highest office on August 9, 1974. The unfolding trauma and tragedy of those two years, and the final triumph of American democracy is dramatically told in this exhibit gallery.
The boys enjoyed the Oval Office replica with dramatic overhead lighting synchronized to a narration detailing activities in America’s most famous room. Recorded voices of actors portraying Ford, Rockefeller, Kissinger, and others describe a typical day in the most atypical of work spaces.
Probably the best part of the museum was an interactive replica of the Cabinet Room. The room, decorated as it was during the Ford Administration, introduces visitors to the issues faced by President Ford and his Cabinet members. Visitors are invited to sit at the cabinet table while videos highlight three major events discussed by the President and his Cabinet: the pardon of Richard Nixon, the seizure of the USS Mayaguez, and the New York City financial crisis. I sat in President Ford’s Chair while Patrick and Tommy scrambled to see who could lay claim to the Secretary of Defense’s chair.
Besides the museums, we were happy to find a great great coney shop – The One-Stop Coney Shop - an easy walk from our hotel. We enjoyed a nice dinner with a bunch of the ‘science geeks’ who are actually not at all geeky, and left the boys with a sitter afterward while we checked out the bar across the street which boasted dueling grand pianos, It is apparently popular with college kids and draws them in from across the state, as we ran into Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Zachary, together with some of their Michigan State friends.
I wish that I hadn’t waited nearly half a century to spend some time in downtown Grand Rapids.
Last Saturday evening, Patrick was awarded the “Arrow of Light” for his accomplishments as a Webelo scout and has ‘crossed over’ into Boy Scout Troop 104 at a ceremony held at the cub scouts annual Blue & Gold Banquet at St. William. Patrick is extremely excited about moving on to the Boy Scouts where the meetings and activities are boy-directed and the overnight and summer camp opportunities abound.
A couple weeks ago I went to a camp in Gaylord, Michigan called Camp Sancta Maria. It’s a Catholic camp with cool activities like horseback riding, archery, kayaking, and epic hiking — my favorite is horseback. I also did sports, competition, and war games too.
One of the wargames is “World Needs Heroes” which is a battle between ‘alliance’ and ‘horde’. You get a rubber band as health and so does everyone else. The teams(alliance/horde) have three flags each. You need the other team’s flags for points. You “kill” people to get thier rubber band as a point for your team too.
Another war game is called “Sparta”. There are several teams that compete with each other for control of Sparta. There are also magical items that can be used for help in battles and stuff. There are four classes to choose from: power glove, dodgeball and shield, two dodgeballs, or a noodle (I chose power glove) these decide your weapons for the duration of the game.
Camp was so much fun! On the last day you get Baked Alaska and then pizza! Two weeks was not enough by far! I can’t wait to go next year.
Last night we managed to gather all the kids – Patrick just back from 2 weeks at Camp Sancta Maria, Maureen and Brian 1 day from leaving on their honeymoon, Elizabeth and Zachary from East Lansing and Christine who was busy with friend on UofM’s campus – to Connor O’Neils in A2 for their Trivia night. The prospect of getting together with the the Englishes – Dan & Donna and Matthew (Nate was on vacation) – provided a significant incentive to the three girls.
Trivia night was fun though we did not come close to placing in spite of the fact that Matthew was able to provide nearly as many answers as the rest of our team combined. (Or perhaps it was because the rest of us combined could barely muster as many answers as Matthew provided.) We are looking forward to another get-together soon; perhaps with an activity at which we can be more successful.
Patrick’s freshman (3rd & 4th grade) football team finished out their season with a tough loss to Our Lady of Victory in a non-league game. The team is very excited about their performance this season and their finishing with the best record in their division. Patrick has made great improvements especially through the 2nd half of the season and has definitely decided that football is his sport (or at least one of them)! The football banquet is next week and then the big adjustment must be made to life without football-or at least playing football. Intramural basketball starts up in a few weeks and piano lessons, cub scouts, and his extra time with neighborhood friends should provide consolation and sufficient distraction to fill the void that the end of the football season brings.
Patrick is playing ‘freshman’ football at St. William this fall. The Crusaders compete in the Catholic Youth Organization with teams of 3rd & 4th graders from throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit. He participated in optional conditioning workouts for an hou and a half per day a couple days a week during July in preparation for the start of practice in early August. Except for the week of 3 1/2 hour a day practices the week before the start of school, he has enjoyed every minute of it.
Now that actual game competition has begun with a 4-way scrimmage last weekend and games against St. Regis on Country Day’s field this weekend are here the excitement and fun are ratcheting up. Patrick listens well to his coaches, who are helping him make great progress.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2, ESV)
Patrick and Christine decided that they (and Peg & I) would prefer empty Easter baskets this year: No Reese’s Eggs, no malted chocolate, no coin-filled plastic eggs, no solid chocolate bunnies, no marshmallow peeps. INSTEAD, we will take the money we might otherwise have spent on candy that we don’t need and buy a ”Hatch Hope Easter Basket”, with its chickens and rabbits that Heifer International provides together with training to deserving families. What can be more hopeful to a struggling farmer than a gift of fast-multiplying livestock? Rabbits are easy to care for and reproduce quickly, allowing their owners to sell the offspring for extra income once they’ve fulfilled Heifer’s “Passing on the Gift” promise; and chickens lay eggs and provide manure for vegetable gardens. That’s why this gift of Hope goes on and on, lasting much longer and helping more families than the usual gift basket filled with marshmallow chicks or chocolate bunnies ever could. 
