Rock Gem and Mineral Show

A very new world: Rocks. Douwe and I and Jeff's parents went to the Annual Rock Show that is hosted by the Chicagoland Gem and Mineral Association. Very neat. We saw lots of demonstrations, rock specimens and jewelry, and learned a bit more about the ground under our feet. I am realizing how little I know about geology. I learned my elements chart in chemistry classes, but never took an interest or a class on rocks and minerals. Everybody I talked to said once you take a few steps into this hobby, you are hooked!

We had a lot of fun. . a great field trip for a rainy Saturday afternoon. It is great to meet people that are really really interested in a small niche of the world and they just don't get bored with it. Rocks!

Graduation Day

Today we celebrated my youngest sibling's graduation from Calvin College. Go Zach! It is hard to believe that he is this old already because only a couple years ago I was at college and he was about 6. Oh that was 14 years ago.

Douwe and one of his cousins came along with us to GR and Jeff took them to the zoo while we went to the ceremony, then all of us joined Zach and his several roommates and friends for a combined friends/family pig roast at one of the college houses.

Awards night

We are still licensed as foster parents with the Kids Peace agency, even though we are only hosting occasional respite visits rather than a long term placement. This past weekend, Kids Peace hosted a Foster Parents Appreciation banquet with 2010 parenting awards and a prime rib dinner. The staff did a great job decorating and collecting donations for the meal and door prizes, and it was a very enjoyable event. Especially encouraging was the announcement that our group of foster parent households collectively adopted twelve children in 2010 who needed a home and family. Jeff was not able to attend and neither was the husband of another Hammond foster mom, so we escorted each other to the banquet.

It was a delight to drive out and back to Valpo with Pat. Her husband is in Louisiana currently helping his parents evacuate, so she is doing her best right now to hold down the fort with a busy group of sisters and brothers.


It is so hard to be a foster parent, but there is also such a desperate need in our county for households that are able to provide a safe environment, and necessities like food, bed and shelter. It was very encouraging to see a gym filled with tables that have regular people trying to make a place for homelost children in this way. The parents were encouraged by being nominated for and receiving awards for displaying various attributes of tenacity and hospitality even when the going gets really tough. Jeff and I were honored with one of the awards: Three Tots and A Cot, for hosting lots of respite visits in 2010.

Mushrooms

While we were hiking for trash, Jeff and brother-in-law Steve were hiking for fungus. They were actually searching for edible mushrooms, and they found a biggie called chicken of the forest. They had a very specific guidebook to ensure that only edible non-toxic varieties made it into our kitchen.


We cooked it up in a wine/cream sauce and poured it over puff pastry. It was a bit bland, but good texture. . . kind of a fun experience.

Bite out of Grime

Steve spent the weekend with us for a visit, and one of our planned activities was this: Douwe, Steve and I joined church friends in South Holland for a morning event in the town called Take a Bite out of Grime. We "planted" a new tree and then filled up a bag of trash from an assigned area. The weather was cool, and the grass was wet, but no rain. Douwe didn't want to pick up the trash but he was happy to point with his toe and have me get it for him. Steve loved using the stick with the point on the end, even though it took way longer to pierce the trash properly and pick it up. Fun tools are always more fun than our built-in ones called hands.
We were treated to a special number by some members of our clean up team, they were all members of a African dance/drum troupe and did an impromptu performance in the parking lot by the dumpsters. It was great.

Bridal Shower

Here are some photos for the bridal shower we threw for my sister. We got some nice photos of Abby with us sisters, and Abby with some of her cousins.

Mother's Day Surprise

When Jeff asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, I told him, "just help Douwe have fun making something special for his mom."
We had gotten a Berenstain Bears book from the library a few weeks ago that was called Mother's Day surprise, so Douwe was all about telling me to stay in bed that morning and he and his dad would sneak out and make something, just like the Berenstain bears.
Well I got breakfast in bed along with a very special surprise: a Gumdrop Garden cake. I have never attempted to make a fancy cake, just too intimidated, but Jeff is a natural. Douwe was very excited to surprise me with this treat.

Sandbox

Today Douwe got a new sandbox. . .

Women I admire

I've been really into the Jane Austen novels over the last year, and I love this author's attention to developing characters who are rewarded in the end with what they long to receive, even though their commitment to personal integrity restrains them from carelessly jumping in and grasping what they desire . .

Here's Patricia Rozema's interpretation of the (movie adapted) character Fanny Price, as she is quoted in her director's commentary of the 1999 film adaptation of Mansfield Park.

"Fanny Price has unbelievable backbone. She has an infallible internal guide. She knows who she trusts and she knows who she loves and she's not swayed by superficial appearance or the pressure of others. She follows her heart. That's just a rare person in reality that has that kind of rootedness and security in their own fe--emotions."