Peace Quotes

This week at Ben's school the teachers were teaching the kids about "peace," and what peace is. So the teachers went around the room and asked each student, "What does Peace mean?"

Most kids answered "being quiet," or "love," or "being nice," or "sharing." Wouldn't you know it...our son had the longest, and strangest reply in the whole class. Here's Ben's answer...word for word:

"Be quiet so that you don't hear anything in the dark of a cave." - Ben Frame

When we saw his answer we asked him where in the world he got that from. Well...we think he's referring to the book "Bear Snores On."

I can only imagine the looks on the teacher's faces when Ben came up with that one. Oh well...at least he was correct (albeit very specific).

Snowiest February

I heard this morning on the radio that this has been the snowiest February on record, and the third snowiest "snow season" on record. And here we are enjoying an extra day of February...and what is it doing outside? SNOWING!

Wow! Surprise...surprise.

Let's all join hands and wish February a fond farewell. Good riddance!

Pacifier Fun!

Here's Megan's trick with the pacifier. She's done this for a while now, but we just finally got a shot of it.

In the highchair

This past week Megan made the jump to the highchair. She's still kind of wobbly in it, but overall she's doing very well. But the funny thing is as soon as we set her down in the highchair she got so excited. And now she gets all excited everytime she sits at the "big table." Ben seems to like seeing her at the table too.

Little Reader

Megan has shown an interest in being read to. She doesn't seem to have the attention span for it that Ben did at this age, but she's getting there. She'll look at the pages, try to grab them, and then seem to move onto something else.

Ice...ice...baby!

Our house faces due north. So that means it takes forever sometimes for our driveway to be completely clear of snow and ice. Sometimes when I can't get to the driveway fast enough to clear it the snow will start to freeze at the base. So when I go over it with the snowblower there will still be a trace of snow on the driveway. Then the snow freezes and stays there forever because the sun can't melt it all on our driveway. So once in a while I'll go out with the dirt shovel and try to break up the ice so it melts faster.

Here's Ben helping me get rid of the ice one day after church.

Dateline Midland, Michigan - "It's @#$%! COLD!"

This is what our house looks like right now...as of this morning. Yes folks, we are in the dog days of winter up here.

I just looked at the temperature outside and it read 10 degrees. The low tonight is supposed to be around 2. That's cold. The temperatures during the day range from 10-20, and the lows at night range from 5-10. But let's face it...there's not that much difference between 5 and 10 degrees, or even 15. When it's that cold all you feel is cold.

But right now it's not just the temperature. Everyday we get snow flurries that come out of the west and from Lake Michigan. So every other day it seems like we get a fresh dusting of snow. Also, everything around you is frozen. There's a foot of frozen snow all around your yard, the snow on your home's roof is frozen, and a lot of the roads and sidewalks are frozen with ice and snow. It can be very depressing.

Even Ben was hinting this morning that he's ready for warm weather. He said, "Maybe when it gets warmer I can go to the park." Then the other day he said, "Maybe when it gets warmer I can ride my tricycle." Poor little guy. He's got cabin fever like the rest of us.

When it comes to living in Michigan, February is always the worst month. During November and December you're in the holiday spirit, so you don't mind the snow. But from January through March it's always tough, and February is always the coldest and hardest to get through. We always think to ourselves, just make it til Easter...just make it til Easter. Then you know spring is right around the corner.

The fall is beautiful up here, and the summer is almost perfect. But we always pay the price during this time of year. Think warm thoughts for us.

At the movies

Here's some of the movies we've seen recently.


ONCE - Billed and self-described as a "contemporary musical," ONCE is a small budget independent from Dublin, Ireland. Following basically the same story as LOST IN TRANSLATION, it's the story of two people who have a chance meeting one day, begin to bond romantically, and then try to figure out what comes next. The characters are genuine, and the story is warm. However, the star of the show is the music. Take the standard musical about love found and love lost, and then take out all the song and dance numbers. That's what ONCE is all about. Two people...an acoustic guitar...and a piano. That's it. In fact, at times it's more like watching a lengthy music video than a movie. And it works beautifully. The music stays in your head long after you've watched it. Great movie!


WAITRESS - Just like JUNO restores your faith in film, WAITRESS will also leave a lasting impression on you. You will think twice about watching any more movies in the future...EVER! This is such a bad movie, I don't know where to begin. The trailer makes you believe WAITRESS is a romantic comedy. However, the movie is filled with people who all cheat on their spouses and have affairs, a jealous husband who beats and abuses his wife, and an expectant mother who hates her unborn child and doesn't want to have it. I'm being serious. This movie is very dark and depressing. I felt bad for Jenny because she wanted to see it, but she felt the same way I did. Definately not what we expected.


THE GROOMSMEN - As I mentioned in an earlier entry, Edward Burns can write and direct some interesting small-budget movies. However, this really isn't one of his better ones. It's basically the story of a bunch of old high school friends who reunite for a friend's wedding. Mainly they're all disappointed in the turns their lives have taken, and all secretly long for the good ol' days. But they all trek on by sticking together. There are some interesting moments here, but for the most part this is not one of Edward's best.


JUNO - Let's face it...there's more crappy movies out there than good ones. That's why you have to feel good when once in a while you catch a real gem like JUNO. It's the kind of movie that stays with you long after you've left the theater. It leaves a smile on your face, and restores your faith in film. It's a simple story of a teenage girl who mistakenly gets pregnant, and how she's forced to confront the situation and make the best of it. It tackles a serious subject with warmth and humor, and Ellen Page as Juno just makes the movie. What a great film! I would say it's close to perfection as an independent movie can get.


SICKO - My respect for Michael Moore has diminished over the years. However, I have to admit I've seen all of his documentaries. I can remember watching his first one (ROGER & ME) in college thinking the guy was a documentary genius. Then a decade later I watched BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and just shook my head at how slanted he had become. Anyway, for those of you who don't know SICKO is Moore's attack of the health care system in the U.S., and HMO's. Politically speaking I'm not at all in favor of a national health care policy, but boy...Moore sure does paint a pretty picture about what it could be like. The first half of the movie I felt myself slowly being swayed, but the last half of the movie Moore departs from the health care argument and practically calls for the U.S. to become all things socialist. Like all Moore movies, there are facts to take in here...but you have to filter out all the half-truths. It's worth watching, but you have to stay on your toes.


SUNSHINE - It's the future and the sun is dying, so a crew fly on a giant spaceship to reignite the sun with a nuclear device. While the story sounds utterly rediculous, it does hold your interest for at least the first 2/3 of the movie. There's a little bit of 2001 here, mixed with 2010, SOLARIS, and a little EVENT HORIZON. But for the most part I liked this one for one simple reason...if there was a movie that was made for the Blu-Ray format it's this one. It is just beautiful to watch in some parts.

What's Megan up to?

Here's what Megan is up to. She's starting to sit up.

When we prop her up in a sitting position, she's starting to be able to hold herself up longer and longer now. Then she'll get excited about what she's doing and then lose her balance and fall over. Ben thinks it's hilarious when she falls backward.

What's Ben up to?

Jenny and I have recently discovered that Ben is starting to write his name. He knows how to spell his name, and recently they've been working on tracing letters at school. Ben can now write his name well enough that you can clearly see what he's trying to write. The "B" is pretty clear, the "E" is very clear...(though oftentimes it's way too big), and the "N" is kind of clear (though often it's backwards.)

Valentine's Day at school

Ben's class had a Valentine's Day party at school this past week. All the kids had fun exchanging Valentines, eating cookies and snacks, and playing games.

Our trip to Galveston and Houston

Here's our recent trip to Texas in pictures. Overall we had a great time enjoying the warm weather, and seeing lots of family. We had some ups and downs during the trip, but overall it was fun. I won't go into detail about our accomodations in Galveston. I'll just say they were disappointing, and we were all a victim of false advertising. I'll also mention that on the day we were to fly back to Michigan, our flight was supposed to leave in the morning at 8:45. Well...the Dow plane was delayed throughout the day and we didn't end up leaving until 7 at night. Jenny was already back in Michigan (she left a day early because of work) so it was just me and the kids stranded for the day in a rental car waiting on a plane to show up. The 3 of us finally arrived in Midland at midnight. It was such a stressful day and we were all fried at the end of it. But the kids held up well...and Ben especially was a little trooper. He never broke down once. He stayed strong for me the whole time. That day was actually a good experience for me personally. Now when I think I'm having a bad day I'll just remember that day waiting on the Dow plane. If I could get through that day with two little kids all by myself...while living out of a rental car...then I can handle anything.

Anyway...onto the trip.

It's 6 a.m., and we leave cold snowy Michigan...for warm and sunny Texas.


After we arrived in Lake Jackson, TX...Jenny had to take a Dow flight over to Baton Rouge for a short business trip for the day. So the kids and I drove north to Houston to see the Leslies. Ben had fun playing with Wil, Kate, and Hudson.

The next day Jenny had to work in Freeport for a few hours in the morning, so the kids and I killed some time around town. We went to the beach at Surfside, and then we went to the Sea Center aquarium in Lake Jackson. Megan seemed real interested in all the fish...much like when we took Ben to the aquarium in New Orleans when he was a baby.




Time for some fun in Galveston.


We met the Hames family at the Space Center in Houston. This place is so much fun for kids and adults alike. Ben and Jackson had a blast. The place has changed so much since I was there as a kid years ago. There's a scale replica of a shuttle cockpit that you can walk in, all sorts of vintage rockets and modules that you can look at, and a giant playscape that makes anything at McDonald's look pathetic. It was a very fun day.

















Happy Birthday Nana!




Megan steps into the ocean for the first time.

Though the temperatures were in the 70's, the water was kind of cool. But that didn't stop the boys from jumping into the ocean. They both stripped down to their underwear and ran in. The innocence of youth.



Enjoying some birthday cake with Nana and Big Papa and Uncle Randy.





One more dinner before we all leave. We enjoyed an evening by the shipping lane watching the huge cruise ships depart.