adventures in celebrating...

My family has been celebrating since the beginning of the year. I guess that's what happens when the family grows. We've actually eaten so much cake that it is safe to say that the whole family has GROWN. heehee. 

First there was Angela's birthday in the beginning of January (Jan.7). Then Wendi and I had cake for our birthdays.

 Sara ate cake for her birthday even though she was REALLY BIG AND UNCOMFORTABLE. Then we all had some valentine's chocolate and a cake for Nathan's birthday. Grayson was enjoying his birthday cake when Jane arrived on the scene-so we needed to bring on more cake and break out the chocolate pink cigars. 


Through all the partying, Angela and Dylan made plans to come visit in Alberta. With that in mind, we decided to have a family size party to celebrate the three babies (Logan, Kara and Jane) and we opted to make a cake for Dylan's birthday too. (his birthday has been overshadowed two years in a row by babies!! "get used to it, Dude")

When Nana heard that everyone was coming for the party, she decided to come too. 

Add Grandma and Grandpa to the mix and we had a full blown 4 generation celebration on our hands.

Even though it was a celebration for Kara's first birthday, it was impossible to ignore that Logan was also celebrating a full year on the outside (he was released from NICU just 9 days before Kara was born on February 29.) 

Kara and Logan had a grand time!
Jane kinda slept through the whole thing-

And just when we were sure our family couldn't count any more blessings...

We were given no choice but to PARTY ON!

And of course, you're all invited!!

me and the hipsters....

Since Sara gave birth she has sworn off dairy (finally!!!). I guess she's decided that her body can only handle so much trauma and if she can prevent some of the abuse by not ingesting that nasty lactose she had better do it.

The other day as Sara and I were brainstorming about how to make sure she gets all the nutrition (aka CALCIUM) that she needs to be healthy enough to take good care of her new baby, she suggested outloud that perhaps she and Ben should visit that ORGANIC FOOD STORE just down the block from their home.

SARA: Hey Ben, maybe we should go down the street to investigate what the organic food store has available.

BEN: You mean that store? Are you suggesting that we should be like those people?

I laughed out loud as I surveyed the apartment and the people with whom I was sharing my lunch. I hate to break it to you Ben...you are those people!!

And we love you! Enjoy the good, healthy food and that gorgeous, well dressed baby girl.

adventures in homework...

My daughter Angela is somewhat of a math genius. She's always been good at numbers and she's a hard worker too - getting good grades and pursuing higher education.

Over the years she has collected a high school diploma, a bachelor's degree in math, a masters degree and now a PhD! She has done her fair share of homework. She has also helped a variety of students with their homework.

She has also taught classes at the university as part of her career in math. Over the years she has been mistaken for an unaccompanied minor (while travelling home for Christmas with her HUSBAND), the new girl in class,  and the random girlfriend of one of the students. She has struggled to be taken seriously by her "adult learners". And in spite of her youthful appearance, she has soldiered on to teach her students all they need to know about MATH.

Surprisingly, the students who have given her the biggest challenge have been the "adult learners" who actually already have bachelors degrees and are training to be teachers. (Incidentally, the engineers were a very compliant group and generally did their homework.) 

From the future educators she has heard every excuse for homework not being turned in. ("my cat had a hairball and I spent the night in the pet ER", "I've got THREE kids, for crying out loud...and you assign homework?!" "my other grandmother died," and so on and so on.....) I've been thoroughly entertained by her rants regarding these self absorbed, incompetent, inattentive ("how was I supposed to know the exam schedule was on the syllabus?") students. ("I didn't feel like doing the assignment / I forgot to do the assignment.") The homework issue has been an ongoing battle that both Angela and I have found to be simply WEIRD. 

However, last week's assignment did provide Angela (and me) with a bit of levity.

I laughed out loud at the METH lesson plan and then I shed a couple of tears for public education. (or maybe those tears were just because I was laughing so hard...)