What you can’t see is that behind the cows, on the wall to the left, is a big California postcard. I couldn’t resist taking that picture!

I haven’t graced my blog with pictures lately. In fact, I haven’t graced my blog with much of anything lately. Now that I’m finally starting to feel better I thought I’d post pictures from our visit to the Strong Museum last Saturday. The Strong Museum has been named the “National Museum of Play” and let me tell you, there is a LOT of playing going on in there! We only stayed about 90 minutes, and only perused the first floor (there are 2) and we still didn’t see it all. I took quite a few pictures, especially of the “Grossology” exhibit. I think the boys (all 4;)) liked that the best. Prepare to be inundated with pictures!

Family, Rochester, fun, pictures, the kids | 1 Comment »

I don’t think I’ve mentioned on here that we’ve been “church shopping.” Today was the second church that we’ve visited since we moved here. The last 2 Sundays somebody has been sick, so we’ve stayed home. This whole search is a lot harder than I anticipated. I guess part of me thought that I’d walk in and just know. That hasn’t happened yet, at least not like I imagined it. There are pros and cons to both churches, things we like and dislike. And obviously, we can’t judge these churches based on one Sunday there. We’ll have to spend several Sundays at each church to be able to decide.

One has a strong music program (i.e. choir) and the other needs a bit of help. Both of those things appeal to me. As a member of the choir at First Church in Erie, strong music is important. But I also recognize that maybe a weaker music program could use people like Brian and I. I was so blessed to have the choir instructor at FUMC Erie that I did. Bruce is phenomenal. And I miss it. But I’ve resolved myself to taking what he taught me in the 2-3 years I was a member of his choir and using it wherever I go next.

We also like the pastor at both churches. They both have great energy and good sermons.

But I’ll be honest. The one drawback about today’s church was that I can count on one hand the number of people who greeted us, and that bugs me. I know to some, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. But honestly, if you see someone who is new and you want them to come back, making them feel welcome is a pretty darn good way of doing that. Dh says that sometimes first impressions aren’t everything. I’ll concede that, to a point. But first impressions have a big impact on me. They aren’t the be-all, end-all, but they are importnat. I guess we’ll have to go back to see if my first impression can be changed at all.

For now, we continue on this spiritual journey of finding a church.

Erie, Music, Religion, Rochester, blogging, community | No Comments »

I have a group of girlfriends whome I’ve known since middle school. There are 4 of us and one of them I’ve known since kindergarten. We all went to high school together. We all went to college together. We all got married within a year of each other (3 of us within months of each other). I was the first of the group to get married and also to have kids. One doesn’t currently have any kids, one has a beautiful baby girl who’s roughly 6 months old and the other has a 15 month old and a 3 year old. Though we’ve kept in touch sparingly via e-mail since college, we’ve recently connected on Facebook. It has been such a blast “seeing” them again! I haven’t seen most of them since the last wedding, nearly 4 1/2 years ago. And I’m so glad I didn’t have to wait until our 10 year reunion this summer (God willing) to “see” them again. They haven’t changed, of course. They never did.

But what I love is that they are asking me for advice. I’ve never been the “seasoned pro” at anything! I’m typically the youngest in the parenting groups that I have been involved with (locally, anyway), even though we all have kids the same age. That’s how it was in our old church, too. I was by far the youngest mother with kids these ages (5 and nearly 7). I’ve always looked to others for the advice that I’m now able to pass along to my friends. I must say, there’s something completely satisfying in being able to pass along tips and tricks to other moms, but especially my friends. And I don’t mean satisfying in a bloated, egotistical kind of way. I mean complete satisfaction that my years (even if only 7) of laboring through trials and tears and hair-pulling-out can help one of my friends get through it a little easier, the same way it worked from those whom I sought advice from.

I can honestly say that I am looking forward to sharing parenting war stories with them when we meet this summer. And, maybe passing on some more wisdom, lol. Yeah, right. Wisdom. Well, tips and tricks, anyway. It’s kind of fun to be the giver rather than the receiver, of advice

Friends, blogging, the kids | 2 Comments »

It seems like ’sick’ is all we’ve done in this house for the last 2 weeks. Ryan started off running a fever 2 weeks ago and it has trickled through everyone in the house, except for dh (of course!). I am the last of the sickies. Saturday night I started running a fever and woke up that way Sunday morning plus a sore throat. It’s been downhill from there. Sometime around Tuesday it all blew up into a massive head cold that pretty much knocked me out all day yesterday. Thank goodness the boys are pretty self sufficient aside from fixing their own meals. They were sweet and played in the playroom while I slept on the couch (they are home on a mid-winter break this week). The only times I got off the couch were to drag myself to the kitchen to feed them. And when I did, the room spun around me. It was horrible! I’d rather have the flu and be kissing the porcelain god than be sick like this!

I’m finally feeling better today. I still can’t breath very well, but at least I’m functional enough to do some laundry and light cleaning. Oh, and driving. Just in time for the twins’ doctor appt today. They had to have NY physicals done for school. It’s no different than the ones they had done in PA, except that NY state requires that they be done by a NY doctor :weird:

Anyway, I’m really hoping I can get some cleaning done this weekend, since I haven’t done anything this week. Oh, and since at least one of us has been sick each of the last 2 weekends, maybe we can go do some family stuff, too. I am just dying to check out the children’s museum!

blogging | 1 Comment »

An interesting article linked on Drudge today. There are some Canadian scientists who are not worried about AlGore’s global warming, but rather global cooling. I found it a very interesting read. Here’s an excerpt:

Solar activity fluctuates in an 11-year cycle. But so far in this cycle, the sun has been disturbingly quiet. The lack of increased activity could signal the beginning of what is known as a Maunder Minimum, an event which occurs every couple of centuries and can last as long as a century.

Such an event occurred in the 17th century. The observation of sunspots showed extraordinarily low levels of magnetism on the sun, with little or no 11-year cycle.

This solar hibernation corresponded with a period of bitter cold that began around 1650 and lasted, with intermittent spikes of warming, until 1715. Frigid winters and cold summers during that period led to massive crop failures, famine and death in Northern Europe.

Tapping reports no change in the sun’s magnetic field so far this cycle and warns that if the sun remains quiet for another year or two, it may indicate a repeat of that period of drastic cooling of the Earth, bringing massive snowfall and severe weather to the Northern Hemisphere.

News, Weather | 2 Comments »