She wants to hold the ducks

Our friend who lives in Detroit currently has four ducks in his back yard. He's on his 12th duck, as some have been killed by a dog for example and some have been eaten. These four girls were traded at a farm for his beloved goat who was eating up his whole garden and who was also lonely and distressed. This is a neighborhood in Ferndale within Detroit and the houses are close together and it's very much a city block. Once, when our friend was walking home from a friend's house with his goat, a policeman pulled him over and the conversation went something like this: P"Have you been drinking tonight?" S"No, sir, just walking home." P"Is that your goat?" S"Yes." Policeman:"Umm....can I pet it?" S"Yes" :) The neighbors are great with the animals being raised in the back yard and the eggs should be plentiful as soon as these girls reach a certain age. I've been inspired to raise a couple animals myself in my back yard! Have to talk to Jason about that...
Jilliann was very brave around these ducks. First, we fed them from outside the gate and as they quickly snatched food out of our hands in a very ungentle way, Jilliann wanted to get them more food and feed them over and over again. Then, the gate was pulled back and Jilliann walked right in with no hesitation toward the ducks and plopped right down beside the water bowl they were drinking from. Why? Because she wanted to hold the ducks. What? I've learned that Jilliann associates sitting down with holding things since I've taught her she needs to sit down to hold babies. It's so interesting to watch associations form. I'm happy to feel like I can read Jilliann and translate her body language. Her verbal language is growing a lot this week. My dad is here visiting and he's happy that she's said "Grandpa" and "milk" is also a new one.
Here she is holding Jacob, whom she adores.

Go Tigers

We got to go to a Tigers game this weekend and it was great fun. These huge tigers are impressive close up and I can't wait to take Jilliann on the Tigers merry-go-round when she's older. The good guys (as J would say) played a good game, but started loosing in the 8th inning and lost to the Twins. That was a bummer, but we had a great weekend in Detroit. We stayed with our friends who have ducks, went to see some Techno, went to Henry Ford Museum and had some great Lebanese.

A Sea of Synthetic Trash

This article (by Canadian Globe and Mail...be proud, Deb!) is mind boggling. It is about plastics and trash that float to one particular place in the Pacific Ocean due to winds and currents: This plastic soup, with billions of tiny shards of the synthetic material floating just below the surface of the water, is estimated to span an area 1½ times the size of the continental United States. This is beyond what I ever imagined in a very devastating way. I'm not posting this article to bring people down, but to give them encouragement. At the end of the article, there are ways we can help reduce trash. There are ways that plastic can be recycled and ways that plastic can be made out of biodegradable materials such as orange peels, etc. We as a people have the smarts to help ourselves from this becoming a bigger problem. We just need to act and be aware of it...that's why I'm posting this. It's information I want to remember as I come upon a balloon on the beach and teach Jilliann to pick it up, or reach for that Styrofoam cup, or use plastic to store my food in. Plastic has amazing capabilities in negative and positive ways. It's wild...read on and be shocked.

Rupert the cat

Our nicknames for Rupert are: Roo, Rup, Roop-a-doop, Ru Ru, Ruppa Toot toot, etc. Not Rupenator, though, that would be too cheesy. Rupert is our friend's cat that we are watching for 10 weeks this summer. He is a large cat who likes to sleep and snore. He's very sweet and we all adore him. (Don't worry, Lynn, we'll give him back.) Jilliann is into saying "Hi" and "Bye" to him each time we leave and enter the house and when she's going to bed. Even as we got into the car today at Target, Jilliann looked at me and said, "Meow." This is her asking, "Are we going to see Rup soon?" I assured her we will see Rupert soon, and she contentedly clipped her car seat buckle and cozied into her seat for the car ride home. When she can't find Rupert when she first wakes up in the morning, she asks for him with her palms turned up quizzically. I predict she'll be doing this for weeks after we return Rupert to his home. She loves getting kisses from Ru Ru and I think he likes giving them, too.

Made by Jason

Jason made this adorable craft table for Jilliann. She loves to get the chalk out and stand at a table just her height. She sometimes dots the chalk on the table, sometimes makes circles and sometimes draws lines. She likes to take any pieces of tape she's given and place it on the table. Noah also likes to draw crazy squiggles on this table and I hope it's always a favorite toy. Jason burned these works into the boarder: "It's a plan of my own invention. You may try it if you like. It matters not where my body happens to be, my mind goes on working all the same." This comes from Through the Looking Glass, a book Jason read as a child. Hopefully, this can be passed down to future children (children of our children).

Jason's 31st Birthday

On Thursday evening, I blindfolded Jason and took him to a golf course with some friends. Jason opened his eyes to a new set of golf clubs and was lead to the office to retrieve our golf carts for playing a round. The ladies joined in the fun and took a hole and escorted the boys to their balls all evening in the zippy golf carts. Yes, I say boys as many boyish jokes were said and played on one another(I won't name who did the mooning). That was a blast.
Saturday night was also really fun and Jason was again surprised by showing up to a dueling pianos bar in Grand Rapids to find a few friends waiting for us. We watched the show for a bit, played pool and then were ready to leave the many bachlorette parties behind. On to another bar that had a seven page liquor menu and the boys were in hog heaven. We had so much fun getting comfy with everyone in a large booth made of dark wood in a dark bar.
Today is the actual birthday for J and he is embarking on yet another year with me. I'm thankful he's in my life, as I'm always a better person from his amazing influence.

Hanging laundry

I love hanging laundry. It's very calming, refreshing and productive at the same time. I think people have the impression that hanging laundry is hard or an annoyance or too time consuming. To these people, I say try it. Try not arching your back over your dryer to fill it and bring your clothes and yourself up out of the basement and outside. Feel a damp shirt draped across your shoulder as you adjust the clothes pin in front of you. Listen to the birds sing and the breeze blow through. Hear the voices and sounds of your neighbors and community. Leave the dryer standing still, not charging you money and not draining energy from our precious resources. You are not standing still, though, while the dryer does your work. You are doing your work and feeling alive and active. It's easy and it's a beautiful thing....try it.

Obama

Yes we can! Yes we can! I was shouting and clapping and feeling very inspired at the Obama rally last night. He gave a great speech and brought out Jon Edwards who is endorsing him! Probably international news and we were there! Barack is a man who is fired up about making this country a better place and helping people lift themselves up out of poverty. He has plans and passion and I really hope he can be our leader. There were thousands of people there last night of all different ages and all different walks of life. The crowd was controlled and respectful and decked out in cool Obama shirts and gear. We got some buttons to sport from the vendors. I'm so glad I went and I had a blast running after his motorcade with Betsy! We got close to Barack (~30 ft. away) when he came around to shake hands after his speech. I was almost close enough to touch Jon Edward's hand...the super tall dude next to me got to.

Tulip Time in Holland

TulipTime consists of the streets full of dutch dancers in full costume, wooden shoes and all. Trolley rides go up and down all of our "Tulip Lanes" where the streets are lined with tulips and there's a $50 per Tulip fine if one is purposely harmed. There are parades throughout the 10-day long festival which brings carnival rides and food to town and lots of tourists. This small town celebration brings some 500,000 tourists to Holland and is ranked as the third largest festival in the United States. That's right...and we participate. We go to the parades and cheer our friends on, get an annual elephant ear or fat ball and take lots and lots of pictures. Thanks to those Dutch or wanna-be Dutch friends of ours lending us a toddler sized Dutch costume, we like everyone else, dress up our kid and go down to the park and attempt to take pictures of her in front of Tulips. It usually ends in a tantrum and a lot of running around and chasing and maybe one good shot. Fun times, though! You should join us sometime.

Grandma and Grandpa

When in Middletown, there are now only a few things that I want to do before I leave each trip. That list used to be a lot longer. Now, there are fewer people to catch up with and will (hopefully for my parent's sake) soon even be fewer places to rest my head, but Grandma and Grandpa's place of rest will always be there. When I visit my hometown, visiting them together will be what I want to do first.
I was home for a birth, but needed to stop at the cemetery as well, bringing everything full circle. Woodside Cemetary is a lot bigger than I remember and a lot of changes had been made, so it took me a lot of looking to find that old spot. As I finally pulled up, I immediately recognized the fir tree and saw that there was fresh dirt in front of the headstone on one side. It was just the size for ashes. I brought Jilliann along and planned on having her frolic around in the beautiful Spring filled day to show her off to my grandparents while I "talked" with them. She feel asleep, though, on the way over and I think it was better that way. I was not distracted but fully focused on putting my thoughts and attention towards (to me) the original Knepshields. The dirt had tractor marks over it, so I sat down and ran my hands through the tracks to soften the look and told grandma that they should do a better job up keeping her place and I think she would've agreed. The date of her passing wasn't written in yet and I brushed the cut grass of her headstone. It was nice to talk to Grandma and Grandpa together and tell them what's going on in my life. As I thought about them and how they would respond, I held the tombstone close to me and cried with my forehead pressed hard to the cold stone. Especially with the dirt on my hands and the tears dropping down onto the stone, it felt primal. It felt freeing and it felt good.