Memorial Day Weekend



my Dad and two others, Army of Occupation, Europe



my Uncle and another Med Tech, possibly at West Point



a neighbor to my maternal Great Grandfather, Carl "Lieut" Nelson



my maternal Grandfather (on the left) with two other Merchant Marines



my Great Uncle in his Merchant Marine uniform

On Saturday, the boys and I went with their Boy Scout troop to place flags at the graves of veterans at the local cemetery. On Monday, the Scouts will march in the city Memorial Day Parade.

I get to be an artist, enjoy the religion of my choice and convictions, and have the hope of a safe future for my children because of all those who have served, are serving now, and who will serve in the future to protect our country.

May God bless them and protect those in the field.

End of Day Mother's-Day Post



My Mom and my youngest daughter!


Happy Mother's Day, and I hope you got to spend time with your family and to enjoy it well.


Friday Free Ad for Kate will return next week. My apologies, this Friday came and went before I could search out and post something...

Milestone!

Yesterday, my one-year-old baby girl held a paintbrush for the first time.

She was totally fascinated with it.



I not sure if that bodes well or not....

Back from vacation

The whole family went to Lexington KY to celebrate Grandma Yost's 96th birthday. A week on the road, the kids loved it, and Marlene got to meet her Great-grandmother.


great-grandmother and great granddaughter

There are six great-grandsons, ranging from 4 to 18 years old. Marlene is the first girl born into the family on either side in this generation.

Announcing the Arrival of Marlene Ingrid Mae!




Yesterday at 6:03 PM. Mom and baby are healthy. Marlene was 22 inches long, 8 pounds, 14.9 ounces.

Tired

Much is going on, and there's very little bandwidth left for creative things. Even painting is a chore.

I am trying to step up and help my brother, who has been handling the brunt of the support that our Mom needs. Lately, the paperwork factors have become a bear. So I'm trying to fill in a little. I don't know how he has shouldered so much for so long.

We continue to foster a wonderful little girl, but fostering comes with its own special set of stresses.

Our boys are growing well, and are making leaps and bounds in their learning.

Our baby girl is due in about two to four weeks (Marlene Ingrid Mae) and we've just gotten the house reorganized in anticipation.

The last few things from my Uncle's estate are dragging on tediously, due to one involved party (not family, and not the lawyers), and that's a drag.

I've managed not to make a fool of myself (I think) in commenting around on Assistant Village Idiot, and have been keeping up with my favorite bloggers.
I would especially recommend AVI's Preaching Teaching and Cooking as one of the clearest metaphors on the act of Christian teaching and learning I've read. Kobayashi Maru is always a good read, and he recently has found a reason to crow.

There's lots more good stuff out there. Hopefully I can add something worthwhile soon.

Merry Christmas

We've just finished with the stockings. The kids are happy. Our little foster girl is wearing the tiara and tutu that Santa delivered, and my wife is wearing her tennis bracelet and ring (thank you Stauer!)

Later we will watch some Monte Python, the Mega Set of the whole series being another present to my wife from "Santa".

Or maybe some Veggie Tales...

And if it's Christmas Day, what are you doing here? Log off and spend time with your family.

And read them the true Christmas Story.


Luke 2;1-20 (New International Version)

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Dr. Helen talks about the recent school shooting in Colorado, and the need to more apropriately address depression in teenage boys. One of the very real problems that leads to criminal behavior in teens is broken families.

Our family; my wife and I, and our two biological children, is a foster family for a little four year old girl. Last night I met another foster dad, and had a great conversation with him.

He got involved in fostering because a friend of his teenage son was being emotionally abused and neglected by his alcoholic parents.

It takes a lot of stones to foster a teenager, even if you know the kid. In my eyes, this guy is on par with a marine or a fire fighter for what he's doing.

I'm not a big fan of the government-as-parent, but there are legitimate times where someone with authority has to step in. We as individuals can't save a whole generation of kids, but the more people who step up to the plate to help out just one kid, the less of these horror stories will happen.

It doesn't take a village to raise a child. It takes loving parents, one set at a time. Many people have the abilities to raise foster kids.

We need more of you to step up.

For information on how to help here in Massachusetts, you can check out the Massachusetts Department of Social Services or go directly to their page on fostering or if you want to look into provideing a permanent home for a child, see the MA Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE)

This has also been cross-posted at North Shore Unschoolers

Sad Day






This morning, at about 8:30, my cat Smidgen died. He had been my 'studio partner' ever since we got him. Always timid but very affectionate, he would sleep at our feet at night. His favorite thing to do was to sit between me and the arm of the recliner when I would sit and read.

Part of my artist bio for the last couple of years has been, "He lives with his family near Boston and shares studio space with his cat, Smidgen." I hadn't realized till today how much I had tied up my identity with this little grey puss-in-boots. I had even planned to build a special sunning shelf for him in the new studio I'm building this fall.

He will be missed.

the Persistence of Memory



Going through old family photos, I found this one of my mother's mother. It may be a high school graduation picture, I'm not sure.

While I was in college, I lived with my Grandparents near Boston. My Grandmother didn't like having her picture taken, because she thought that she did not look good in photographs.

This shot struck me. I had never seen it before. She really was a lovely girl. Maybe she didn't do so well in shots when she was older, but this may give you an idea of the lovely heart that she had all through her life.

Dad



Lynn and Dad dancing at our wedding eleven years ago



Mom, my brother and Dad at the farm, before I was born



Dad, his sister Helen and brother Ernie, long ago



In a week, it will be five years since my Dad passed away from cancer. I owe everything to him. My Dad, the engineer who taught me how to think creatively. My Dad, who every week drove me to Boy Scouts till I became an Eagle Scout just before my eighteenth birthday. My Dad, who used the Dodge dump truck (shown in the previous post) to build the road that goes to the family farmhouse.

He hated wearing a suit and tie, because he'd had enough of dressing for someone else in the army. He happily donned a white dinner jacket for my wedding, because I'd always thought he looked like Bogie from Casablanca. He had two boys, and doted upon the women we married.

Rugged, individualistic, libertarian before that was a type of politics. He was a stand up guy, who in his older years I still wouldn't have wanted to be on the wrong end of. Yet he was gentle and kept himself in control. He was a man who knew, loved and understood history, and along with my Mom collected a vast number of books.

I see him in my brother, as he raises his family. I hope my brother can see him in me.

If I can raise my boys as he raised me, I will have done well.

I miss you, Dad.

Milestones

Today we celebrated my oldest's ninth birthday. It doesn't seem possible that so much time has passed since I strapped the little guy into a car seat in the back of my wife's little blue sports car, wondering how I could ever possibly be a good enough parent to take care of him.

Now he's nine. He and his little brother started out the day with a good breakfast, then he got a birthday call from Grandma. Grammie (my wife's mom) and he had celebrated together over the weekend with a Saturday sleep-over (her birthday is in the neighborhood, calendar wise). Around 1:00 a number of our homeschooling friends came over for a movie, popcorn and then an icecream cake.

He just got a birthday call from one of our neighbors. We have a wonderful neighborhood.

We are going to have roast fish and french-fries for supper.


Happy birthday little guy, and may God bless you with many more. I hope to see as many of them as possible.