FIGures

100% Caleb made. Just like yesterday.

(Excuse the nudie. We're potty training around here.)

The Fountainhead

Constructed by Caleb E. Thomson
Materials donated by Andrews Masonry

Built in the living room morning slums.

Inspirational, isn’t it?

know when to fold 'em

Whew. It’s over.

And, thanks to the Moose, I remembered to take pictures of my hardwork the arrangements.


Each center piece cost about $1.02 to make and I made 12.
1 packet, 50 pages multi-colored cardstock: $4.99
About 8 packets of 18 gauge floral wire (.69 cent each): 5.52
And we already had the vases from a wedding, but you can pick them up at the Dollar Tree for, what else, a buck.
I decided on the centerpiece two months ago (luckily), so I took my sweet time folding these bad boys. Hence, the month-worth of origami-pastime facebook status updates. (Andjustsoyouknow, ahem, I got the idea from Rachel Ray, so I should have known it was going to be a pain in the hind end.)


Overall, it was a simple activity. I LOVE potlucks. I make things look pretty and then people bring me yummy food to eat.
We asked for branch members to fill-out a survey that asked about their surname’s origin and meaning and also inquired about any famous or interesting ancestors they may be aware of. Oh, and I also asked for baby pictures. I got two baby pictures in return, three if you count Marné’s preschool picture I could have just swiped from her blog. Thanks though. :)

So, that was a FAIL.

No matter. We put up a map instead and had members place stickers on where they were born, lived, married or served a mission. Here’s our family’s contribution:

{yawn}

I really didn’t expect the kids [and the fathers (and the missionaries)] to have so much fun making paper airplanes,

but they did!

And, what's one of my blog posts without a misspelling? *face palm*

The whole other half of the gym was a fly zone.
It was like an aerial pinewood derby… with… paper.

Anyways...
We went with a travel/heritage theme for our international potluck.
In October our stake is celebrating the tenth anniversary of our temple’s dedication by having a stake-wide temple conference. We have been encouraged to prepare for that by preparing names and attending the temple frequently.
At the beginning of the activity, the branch presidency handed out membership information, so members could sign-up and login to New Family Search. We also had the Family History Center open.

Thanks

to everyone for making it a fun and easy-going evening.

Now I have Adobo and Baklava in my life; it is complete.

{Num, num, nummy}

Personal identity is much more
than a passport photograph.
We also have roots and branches.

Divinity is rooted in each of us.
-Elder Russell M. Nelson

Stick-It to the “man”

If you are reading this entry via Google Reader, you are missing out and contributing to the death of blog header expression.

Shame on you.

Shame on me.

Shame on us. :)

Visit a blog today

and leave a comment

about its layout.

Until then, this is Angela, and Google killed the Header Star, aka me.

Enough.

Listen here, I’ve had it!
I’m, once and for all, proving that Caleb Elias Thomson

looks more like his mom aka ME.

No more of this “He looks like his dad/daddy/father” business,

understand?

Especially you nurse at my doctor’s office,
the grocer at Market Basket
and you too, friendly local librarian!
ENOUGH of the madness!
I may as well make up a business card for this blog entry to hand to people!

My eldest nephew is named Timothy, he is my sister’s son. Ever since the nurse plopped Caleb into my arms, I thought he looked like Tim. Now, I know there is a debate going on whether Caleb looks more like Tim or Colton (Tim’s younger brother), but seeing I don’t have any pictures of toddler Colton, we’ll settle that another day.

Granted, Caleb does have some moose qualities: his coloring, his ears, his stature, personality. But to say he looks just like Mike is an error.

Moral of the blog post: Don’t judge a child’s appearance by his hair or eye color.
...and leave the overheated, crazy pregnant lady on her errands alone!
No more chit-chat for another six months or until it gets cooler.
Either or.

the other exciting thing...

It was Saturday evening. I was in my bed drowsing in consciousness limbo when I hear Mike warn,

“I’m turning the light on.”

Dreadful words. I retreat under the blankets further, a reflex mastered by any seasoned sleeper.
I feel Mike get on his side of the bed. He asks for a kiss.
I grunt in response. (A sentiment that is not open to interpretation in this matter.)
He continues to pester me for a kiss. I extend a compromise that I’ll kiss him once he turns off the light.

No deal.

Finally after a round of verbal volley, I peeked through the top of the covers to see…
a moose and

my degree!

Mike found our degrees Saturday evening! They were in a box under a gaggle of wires!
Only in our house.

PS He got lots of kisses with the light on and off. ;)

Unofficial

After his first year of graduate school, we decided to do a victory lap by touring Harvard on Saturday.
Yeah.

That's right.

We know how to part-tay.

Our guides were the Unofficial Hahvahd Tour. It's a 90 minute student-led visit through the university. Besides being very informative, the tour is quite “punny”.
I think we {Mike and I} tend to forget how fortunate he is to be able to study at Harvard and MIT because it strains us in so many ways. The tour was a good reminder for us that, whoah, he is studying at an Ivy League school and thus, is also able to attend classes at the top electrical engineering school. Many resources are available to Michael for his enrichment. It’s an incredible opportunity for our family.



My recommendations for the Unofficial Hahvahd Tour:

• Catch the first tour of the day before it gets too hot.

• Wear sunscreen.

• Do not go during a holiday weekend. Learn from our mistake. Our group was unbelievably large.

• The tour is not-so stroller-friendly. Tour guides tend to cut through the yard instead of staying on the pathways. Luckily we brought our all-terrain stroller and plenty of snacks and juice boxes for Caleb to keep him content.

• The best part about the tour is you can pretty much bail at any moment. It is a free tour, tips are encouraged at the end.

• After the tour, there’s a great park, the Alexander W. Kemp Playground near Harvard Square you can visit. If you haven’t been: go! It is stunning. There is sand, water works, and playground equipment- everything you need to enjoy a hot New England afternoon. We had to drag Caleb away!

The address: 8 Waterhouse St Cambridge

ALSO, another exciting thing

happened Saturday evening...

Mike wouldn’t let me take a picture of it, so back to the old paint bucket.
Can you guess what this picture is depicting, hmm?