Woman With Talent

Images taken from the GR Press article

Back in February I blogged about Catherine McClung, a woman who I had met at a party in Spring Lake. Well, today she is featured in the Your Life section of the Grand Rapids Press. She was once categorized as "housewife with a hobby"...Um, NOT!

Why Trampolines are so Dangerous in Michigan

Received this via e-mail and have to wonder if we'll EVER be able to put up our trampoline given this unending winter weather.

Also, it reminds me of early yesterday morning when I heard our neighbor's dog barking and wondered what she was so agitated about. I opened up the slider, turned on the light, and saw just about this many deer in our back yard!

March is Reading Month

Grandma, Nana and Grandpa in front of a picture by Jackson which just happened to be on display in the school office! Coincidence?

To celebrate March is Reading Month, guest readers are invited to our children's school to read to the students. On Monday morning, Grandpa and Nana (Scott's parents), along with Grandma (my mom), went to Nick's and Jack's classroom for a visit. Rich read his true short story, The Piano Recital and gave all the students their own signed copy along with a copy of his Moon Beach Mysteries book. The kiddos were thrilled to have the actual author, who is their friend's Grandpa, read to them AND be given signed copies of two of his books! Rich has also published numerous mysteries set in Michigan through his Buttonwood Press business. Thanks to all the grandparents for this special visit!

Brian Vander Ark Concert Was Phenomenal!

Photo by Brian Kelly

Brian Vander Ark is a very talented local singer, songwriter, and musician. Brian Kelly is a very talented local artist, photographer and videographer. These two Brians, along with their brothers (both named Brad), and a full band of terrific musicians all teamed up last Saturday to give the audience THE most awesome concert experience in a very intimate setting at the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center.

While my first inclination is to give you my review of the concert and a play-by-play rundown of what happened, I'm not going to do that. It would be too long and rambling and I would run out of adjectives that mean "awesome." Instead, I just want to say I had a great time and we are lucky to have such talent right here in Grand Rapids.

Click on their links to learn more. You'll see that the concert was also being filmed for a DVD to be released early summer. And, I would highly recommend a road trip to Ann Arbor to see Brian and the full band perform at The Ark on April 19.

Look Ma, No Teeth!

He's not our little Jack anymore! What a cute gummy grin. BOTH teeth came out last night with daddy's help. That's gotta feel weird!

I Guess He Wants An Apple

Went upstairs briefly, came back down and found little guy walking around looking for me. Good thing I found him before he reached for the knives!

Rock On, Ben!

This weekend our boys got to try out Guitar Hero. My friend Sheryl brought it over so we can try it out before we decide to take the financial plunge and buy it ourselves.

That little guitar, complete with the color-coded buttons, really cracks me up! (Especially when Scott plays it, but he wouldn't let me take a picture of him.) Despite our being skeptical at first (given the fact that it's a far cry from playing an actual guitar), the boys are all having a lot of fun playing with it.

At the age of 40 I finally...

Read the classic "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Realize that I'm no longer 25
Own a matching earrings and necklace set
No longer care what my house looks like
Enjoy cooking and baking...at least some things
Am getting carded at Costco
No longer know what my real hair color is
Realize that my shoe size will never be a 7 1/2 again
Am done adding to my family
Know what true friendship is

Big Hair, Straight Hair (One Fish, Two Fish)

This post is in the style of Dr. Seuss to honor his birthday which was March 2.

Just rolled out of bed hair.
Going to the salon hair.


After 2 hours in the salon chair.
Can't do this at home hair.
Color and style, no cut even! I do think only an experienced stylist armed with the right products and an awesome flat iron can do this with my hair. Seriously. I've tried doing it at home and it just can't be done. Plus, my arms were about to fall off.

Sporting this look, I was once introduced at a party like this, "This is Patti, normally her hair is much bigger!"

Oops...7-year-old behind the camera and mom not quite ready!

New everyday hair.
Easy, no frills hair.
A shade lighter with some subtle highlights.

Silly and Cute

Was deleting old e-mails and got a chuckle out of this one:

THIS MAY COME AS A SURPRISE TO THOSE OF YOU NOT LIVING IN LAS VEGAS, BUT THERE ARE MORE CATHOLIC CHURCHES THAN CASINOS IN VEGAS.

NOT SURPRISINGLY, SOME WORSHIPPERS AT SUNDAY SERVICES WILL GIVE CASINO CHIPS RATHER THAN CASH WHEN THE BASKET IS PASSED.

SINCE THEY GET CHIPS FROM MANY DIFFERENT CASINOS, THE CHURCHES HAVE DEVISED A METHOD TO COLLECT THE OFFERINGS.

THE CHURCHES SEND ALL THEIR COLLECTED CHIPS TO A NEARBY FRANCISCAN MONASTERY FOR SORTING AND THEN THE CHIPS ARE TAKEN TO THE CASINOS OF ORIGIN AND CASHED IN.

THIS IS DONE BY THE CHIP MONKS.

YOU DIDN'T EVEN SEE IT COMING DID YOU...

Have a great weekend!

Celebrity Sighting

I took a friend to the airport today, the same friend who went to Denver a few weeks ago. Well, we drove up to the drop-off area and see this guy waiting for his ride. Sheryl says to me, "Isn't he an actor?" I said, "Yeah, he looks like Ed Begley Jr." But why would he come to Grand Rapids of all places? I ended up parking right next to him. I couldn't help myself and asked him if he was, in fact, Ed Begley Jr. and we chatted for a little bit. We found out that he's in town to give a speech at Hope College tonight. I did some googling and found this out from Hope College's website:

Actor and Environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. to Speak

Actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. will present the address "Live Simply So That Others May Simply Live" on Tuesday, March 11, at 8 p.m. at Hope College in Dimnent Memorial Chapel through the Student Congress Speaker Series. The public is invited. Admission is free.

Begley has been nominated for his work on "St. Elsewhere," and has also appeared on TV shows such as "Charlie's Angels," "The Simpsons," "7th Heaven," "Arrested Development," "Veronica Mars" and "Six Feet Under," and for the past year he has been the host of his own reality TV show, "Living With Ed."

In hindsight, I should have offered him a ride.

What Is That Smell?

That's exactly what I asked myself when I walked through my children's elementary school this morning on my way to volunteer in Jack's class. It smelled like wet dog. Or rather a hundred wet dogs. I looked around, nope, no dog here. Then it dawned on me when I noticed all of the pairs of snow boots lined neatly along the hallway! They were kickin' some serious funk!

Why is it that at the end of the season I have to throw out all of my son's snow boots because they either smell so badly or because they are made so poorly their feet get wet?

My New Favorite Cookie

Move over Peanut Butter Patties, there's a new favorite Girl Scout Cookie at the Baldwin house. I just sat down and ate almost an entire box of Lemonades. I'm in love, that's all I can say.

What's Old Is New Again

One of my favorite mommy tricks is to put away a box (or 2 or 3) of toys and then get them out again. The boys are then delighted at the "new" toys and reminded of when they played with them last.

These trains were in hiding for quite some time. They are really nice wooden alphabet trains that spell out Jackson, Nicholas and Benjamin, with engine and caboose. My father and step-mom (Papa and Meem) bought them for the boys a long time ago. The man who made them has since passed away so Weston now plays with Ben's train...I'm sure he doesn't mind!

The beauty of this newly-found box of toys is the fact that Weston gets to play with two of his favorite things right now: Trains and Letters. He cannot get enough of either of them. Thanks to Papa and Meem for this great gift!

Blast From the Past...And Still Rockin'

Roxanne, Don't Stand So Close to Me, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, Every Breath You Take, Wrapped Around Your Finger, Message in a Bottle, Bring on the Night, Walking on the Moon, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, Spirits in the Material World, King of Pain, Invisible Sun, Synchronicity.

Remember these songs? I actually had to look on my ALBUMS (yeah, those black round things) to jog my memory of the songs. I feel ancient just writing this.

Hopefully we'll get to hear all of the great Police hits from the 80s at the concert on May 11! I just got tickets today and can't wait! I was able to order them online rather than waiting in line on Monday. When I informed Scott of my purchase, and the fact that I unilaterally decided it's my Mother's Day present, he said, "Isn't that great you have such a thoughtful husband!"

Prayer Request

My friend and neighbor, Elena, has been in the hospital since Monday with a number of health issues. Bacterial pneumonia, bladder infection, kidney infection, blood pressure/oxygen issues and a viral infection are all going on at once. Elena and Keith have 4 children. Elena's mom is there now, thank goodness, and Keith's parents are also available to help. Please pray for her and her family that they can stay strong during this hard time. Also, please pray that she will come home sooner than the 5-7 days more that they have been told.

In My Inbox Today

"The president of Argentina received this picture (just imagine a very blurry picture of Jesus on the cross and a likeness of his face off to the right, also some words on the bottom I couldn't read) and called it junk mail, 8 days later his son died. A man received this & immediately sent out copies... his surprise was winning the lottery. Alberto Martinez received this picture, gave it to his secretary to make copies but they forgot to distribute; she lost her job & he lost his family. This picture is miraculous & sacred. Send to others to help start a chain of prayers."

The reason I'm sharing this with you is because I cannot recall ever receiving a chain e-mail that threatens me with death of a loved one if I don't forward it on and promises a huge windfall if I do. And to lay on the guilt and pressure in the name of Jesus? It is so wrong on so many levels.

Usually the forwarded e-mails I get say that something cool will happen if I pass the warm and fuzzy story on to 10 people. (I never do, am I missing out?)

Oh...what shall I do with this one? It's so compelling! DELETE

Changing It Up

A new month, a new look. Both my blog and my hair will be transformed this month. We'll see on Saturday how I like the highlights my stylist suggested. I think she's on to me. I've been a do-it-yourself kinda gal for the last couple of years with my monthly bottle of Garnier Nutrisse hair color. Ya think she noticed? The blog layout and colors I can change easily, the hair well...not so much!

Way to Go Ben!

Better watch out, Ben can kick some serious booty! Just ask his brothers, the victims of Ben's "practice." Ben's Taekwon-Do belt test was yesterday and what a great day for him! Grandpa and Nana drove over from Lansing to give their support. All of Ben's hard work paid off, he was given the most improved student award. He is now a high blue belt, two more belts until a black belt!

Thanks to David Hecht for taking these great action shots.

Brian Kelly: Photographer, Artist, Fellow Blogger and Brian Vander Ark Fan

I have never met Brian Kelly but I'm already a fan of his beautiful pictures. This image he sent for my blog is of the Chrysler Building in New York. I so admire talented people!

The Forest Hills Fine Arts Center Artist-In-Residence Program will present his artwork from March 3-26. A reception for Brian will be held on Thursday, March 6 from 6-7:30 p.m. The reception and exhibit are free and his artwork will be available for sale.

According to the promotional piece:
Fine art photographer Brian Kelly's passion for Grand Rapids is reflected in his signature black and white night compositions of the city. His work can be found in galleries, private collections and corporations across America.
(This sounds kinda stuffy, but something tells me he's not.)

You local folks, come to the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center this month, Monday thru Friday from 8-5 and take a look! Better yet, come to the reception on Thursday and meet Brian!

Check out Brian's blog to learn more about his friendship with, connection to and collaboration with local singer, songwriter, musician (and one of my favorites) Brian Vander Ark.