It's not a cherry tree, but...

This Bradford Pear outside of ACS is the only current picture I have a tree, but it brought to my mind (if not to Christopher's) Housman and my favorite lines. I will spare you most of it this year, but

"And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty years are but little room;
About the woodlands I must go,
And see the cherry hung with snow."

An Interesting Read

I realize I never comment on non-fiction, but I often enjoy it also. Recently I picked up OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of THE TIPPING POINT. I really did not want to put it down. Fascinating observations. I read where some reviewers think he makes mountains out of molehills; but, if so, they are intriguing molehills. I think all teachers, parents, and grandparents would be interested in the chapter titled "Rice Paddies and Math Tests", a very interesting take on why the Asians wipe us out in math. Christopher is already tired of hearing me tell him how the 8th grade student in China will not give up on a puzzling problem until after working at it for twenty-two minutes. I am afraid he is quite content with his American average of thirty seconds to two minutes. The real kicker is that the fault may lie with his grandmother not having grown up working in a rice paddy.

Check it out. I think you'll enjoy it.

February Fun

Brief little February is always a busy month for us. Love the beautiful pink tulips Alice and Craig gave me for Valentine's Day.

Then on the 17th, Christopher celebrated his 14th birthday with some friends from Arlington.

On the 20th, Cole celbrated his birthday with Monkey Joe and quite a few little friends. No those aren't monkeys; that is his daddy and brother with him.

The big thing for all of us this February was snow!!! It is so much fun for us to have enough of the rare white powder to enjoy. Oren seemed to love everything about it.

This is actually a picture from the snow we had in January, but I had to include the angel.

Hope February was good for you, too.

The author, Lisa Genova, chose the perfect title for her novel. This is a story of a 50 year-old woman who hoped her memory lapses and mild incidents of confusion were a result of entering menopause, but learned instead that she was entering early onset Alzheimer's disease. The story is told, as long as it can be, from her viewpoint. She was a brilliant scholar, a Harvard professor, devoted to the study of linguistics, words.....words that she would gradually lose. The title was so meaningful to me; however, because Alice did not lose herself. Yes, she became a different Alice, but she was still Alice and blessed were those around her who still realized who she was.

Bon Appetit !!

I just finished reading Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France. She was in her early 90's when she collaborated with her great nephew-in-law, Alex Prud'homme to produce this book, and it is amazing how many details she recalled about her life in Paris, Marseille, Germany, Norway, and Provence. I was amazed at how diligently she had worked on Mastering the Art of French Cooking...the research, the testing of recipes, and the writing....without a word processor!

I wasn't always sure if Julia and I would have been good friends; she sometimes said some things about people that took me by surprise. I did love her dedication and her enthusiam for mastering French cooking. I think the reader has to remember that she is telling about things that happened many years ago when the world was rapidly changing, and she is being very honest about her own feelings about it all.

I had read the book written by the young Julie on which the recent movie is also based and had not liked it at all; I don't think I even finished it. I did enjoy Julia Child's book very much; I now want to Netflix "Julie and Julia" and watch it again.

This is one of several books I picked up last week with a gift card from my son and daughter-in-law. Thank you Karen and Andy!

Ready for 2010

I have not blogged in months and; since part of the reason I blog is to save these memories for myself, I do want to review our Christmas. It was really a great Christmas; it seemed more peaceful, more relaxed than usual and I am still enjoying it. The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is my favorite week of the year always.
It is always fun to join the Ghost of Christmas Past and remember. On my sofa table I tried to select pictures of the children and grandchildren to remind us all of the joyful times we have shared.

Our first Christmas event was Cole's Christmas program at church. He is the angelic young man on the back row looking straight ahead.

Here is Cole with his cousin, Preston. I wanted you to see the adorable shirt he made at school. Cole is a fantastic young craftsman; he really seems to enjoy working with his hands. He does art work, makes fantastic things out of boxes, and LOVES creating paper airplanes.

Santa Claus was definitely the star of the season for Madison. She is visiting with him here at Georgian Place where her great grandmother lives. She saw him again with Granddaddy at Kiwanis and ran into him several times in stores. It really was magical.

I just happen to love this goofy shot of Christopher at Aunt Alice's Christmas village. Don't know what was so funny, but this is a candid shot that is so hard to get from him these days.

Again, at Aunt Alice's, cousins watching a movie.

As you might guess, Oren added so much excitement to Christmas this year. He even learned to say Santa Claus. Here is with one of the several "pup pups" he received.

I almost did not put this little tree anywhere this Christmas, but then remembered that Madison was the perfect age to enjoy a tree with Pinocchio. I don't really think he is a Christmas icon, but I picked up these little ornaments on trips to Italy so they bring back great memories.

I hope the holidays were joyous for all of you and that all of us can keep the peace of Christmas in our hearts all year.

Fun at the Beach

We had a wonderful week at Cape San Blas, Florida, in July. Different family members came and went throughout the week, but we had a couple of days when we were all together. My pictures are in a crazy order, but I hope they show how much fun we had. Christopher took the Wii, and Cole out bowled everyone. Here he is showing Madison his technique. He is quite the teacher; she learned to roll strikes before the week was over.

They had a wonderful time with oysters, of all things!

We went to the bay one day, and this red sea horse was the most exciting find. Elizabeth gets to claim that.

A big crab for Cole

The bay was a great adventure. Cole has been quite a few times, but it was an exciting first for Madison.

The most beautiful baby on the beach

Andy and Oren.

Christopher decided to be in charge of the pancakes one morning, and here he shows off his pancake in which his grandfather professed to see the face of Jesus. Christopher decided to eat it instead of selling it on EBay.

You are never too young, or

too old to play in the sand.

Cole gave granddaddy lessons, also.

Oren had watched everyone else on the kayak all day, and he had to explore.

It was a wonderful week. We all dream of going back.