been busy the last few weeks...

I would say that Earth Day has taken over any personal time as of late - hence the lapse in blog posts.  At my previous job, we did not draw attention to Earth Day.  Since it was a sustainability-focused company they said "every day was Earth Day."  At my new(ish) company, we had a week's worth of activities and emails / tips that went out to the company.  We showed a movie about a visionary focused on sustainability in industry.  There were also "street clean" events at the three offices across the country.  Each evening that week + all day Saturday, attention was focused on a project for the city:  coordinating a community garden project. 

Several weeks ago, Todd went to lend a hand in the garden in building some of the 22 raised beds that are there now.  Recently, soil was delivered & put into each raised bed.  Since then, several dump-trucks of mulch from the city was also delivered as well as city workers bush-hogging down the weeks & brush in one area of the garden.  My contribution to the garden this past weekend was to coordinate a team of 50+ volunteers from local colleges, neighbors, master gardeners, and other interested people from the city who had signed up to help out our little project -- one of hundreds of projects happening nation-wide for the "Great American Clean-up Day."  This nation-wide event is in honor of Earth Day, of course.

And... on Monday (yesterday)... was the last of the Earth Day events our family was involved in.  Mercer's school buddy, Gabriel, has a parent who is also in the sustainability industry.  She and I planned a water conservation event to present to Mercer's "primary" class, the Pre-K class, and the Montessori Kindergarten class.  M wasn't so well behaved (he wouldn't sit down), but it was cute... he wanted to help out the whole time we were in his class... holding my hand while talking to the students, holding one end of a poster we were using as a visual, and handing out coloring pages we made for them.  When he got home that night, Todd asked him what he learned about:  "water."  Did you learn to keep it clean and to save water?  "no" he replied.  Oh well!  We tried to make an impact!

It was very interesting seeing the 3 different classes and their levels / abilities.  Mercer will be old enough to enter into the Pre-K class in the fall... but... the Montessori K class was SO IMPRESSIVE!  He could go into that class as well, however, it would be like entering private school, in a way.  Pre-K is paid for by the state & the other is not.  hmmmmm.... it's an interesting option, however, we're trying to save for another adoption.

What a tough decision! 

Enclosed is a school picture from his current class.  (click on the photo to enlarge & see the whole gang) 

In his class, Mercer is learning to count by 10's:  10, 20, 30, 40, 50, etc.

He's learning continents:  "we live in North America."  (and he'll ask about a neighbor -- "where do they live?" We Reply: "North America" "And what about grandma and grandpa?"  "They live in North America too." )  It's definitely time to get a map out and put everyone's photos on it relative to where they live! 

Some other cute things he's been saying lately: 
     "it takes the sun a long time to go down."
     "God made it."  He says this about any type of object after reading Bible passages day after day around Easter about creation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.  It's sort of hard to tell him that God did not make the toilet or the fence that's across the street from his daycare, rather he made the people with the brain-power who invented the technology to make these items.  Oh well.  Maybe one day we'll step up the explanations a bit.

Mercer saw his first Star Wars movie this weekend.  He & Todd watched movie 4 and part of movie 5.... the way that we were all introduced to the films.  But he's also very into gentle, innocent cartoons & characters such as on Mickey Mouse club.

Our rough-and-tumble boy still has his sweet side!   *yay* 


I'll close this (long) blog post with a poem written to the "visionary" mentioned above by one of his employees.  The visionary's name is Ray Anderson; before he passed away last year, he has changed the face of sustainability in the building industry. 

Tomorrow’s Child Without a name; an unseen face
and knowing not your time nor place
Tomorrow’s Child, though yet unborn,
I met you first last Tuesday morn.

A wise friend introduced us two,
... and through his sobering point of view
I saw a day that you would see;
a day for you, but not for me

Knowing you has changed my thinking,
for I never had an inkling
That perhaps the things I do
might someday, somehow, threaten you

Tomorrow’s Child, my daughter-son
I’m afraid I’ve just begun
To think of you and of your good,
Though always having known I should.

Begin I will to weigh the cost
of what I squander; what is lost
If ever I forget that you
will someday come to live here too.

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung.  As seen in this photo... our neighborhood is sprouting babies, toddlers, and children.  Last weekend was the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  It is unbelievable how many kids have been born / moved in the past several years. 

At this event, only a fraction of the "children of the 'hood" are in attendance. You have to admit -- the babies stole the show during the shooting of these photos!  How sweet are they?!


Mercer has definitely got the hang of how the egg hunt works... Looks like he worked his way to the front of the pack so he's first in the final hunt which is located in the hosts' back yard.  Last year, he was just discovering that there was candy inside of some of the plastic eggs.  This year, he cracked open all of the plastic eggs before he left each of the 6 houses to see what was inside.  Most of the time, he'd polish off the candy inside before moving onto the next house.  Sometimes, he would share his prize inside, however, with Todd, me, or another kid.  He has been pretty good about sharing lately. 


Another thing he's been good at -- doling out compliments.  "Mom - I like that shirt."  "Daddy - I like your shoes."  "I told ____ today at school that I liked their lunchbox."  The compliments are passed out randomly, but it's funny / cute when it happens.

We got to recently hang out with our friends, Chad & Susan last night plus their 4 children:  Hunter, Caeli, Rune, and "baby" Saber as they're in town during their spring break.  We spent the entire evening in the back yard hanging out.  The kids played bocce (Mercer's newest favorite past-time), played basket ball, frisbee (which ended up in the pond sometimes), and played in/around the stream.  

The adults grilled out, prepped food, and caught up since our last visit together.  We're going to try to spend as much time with them as we can before they move to Arkansas!


We did not get a chance to send out Easter cards.  For our family and friends who read the blog, we are sending you our warmest wishes for a happy, blessed Easter.