The Greatest Generation

One of my favorite books of all time was The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. It was one of those books that is completely outside of my normal book reading- nonfiction (especially historical nonfiction) is usually not my thing. If you haven't read it, it's absolutely worth it. It is a collection of brief stories about 50 members of the Greatest Generation- those born between 1910 and the mid-1920s, some famous, some not so famous. It talks about their struggles with the Depression, World War I, post war living. It talks about their work ethic, commitment to their families, lives with less material things.

This week we lost one of my favorite members of the Greatest Generation. He represented all that was great and we will miss him dearly.

PS. For those who read this on facebook, I think the links only work on the actual blog (ljej.blogspot.com)

Another nature documentary...

Another nature documentary, another tearful Emma... We watched Parrots of Telegraph Hill this evening which was a pretty good movie. The end (just like March of the Penguins) got Em a little teary-eyed. But we watched this clip a few times after the movie was over which upped her spirits. The first time it came on in the movie, Jack, Em, and I laughed uncontrollably.
Unfortunately, you have to go to the actual cnet website to view it.

Perfection (or maybe not so much)

After hanging around on facebook and the blog world a little bit... it seems to be like there are a lot of super happy, perfect families out there. You get the smiling holiday card pictures or the facebook snippet where everyone is smiling with their arms around each other. And then you talk to the people and get the real story behind the picture. Oh, sister was pinching brother's butt so that's really more of an ow than a smile. Or the rosy cheeks aren't from touchup or makeup but from the screaming fight that we had getting everybody in to the car on the way to the photo session.

This blog is trying to be a capture of some of our life- the good and the bad. Sometimes (OK, lots of times) I whine; sometimes I brag. But I try and keep it real.

We were on the Cape for February vacation. Although the pictures look like we're having so much fun on the beach in February, it was really cold and Jack whined the whole time about sand in his boots. The 2nd beach of the day that day, Jack finally smiled (when the huge wave came and got me soaking wet up to my knees and, of course, I only brought changes of clothes for the kids). Oh, and the emotion captured in the absolute love of the whoopie pies is 100% real.

 

 

 

 

Quick lunch break meandering on the web...

Which Red Sox Player are you the most like? (A little outdated given some of the choices)

You Scored as Theo Epstein

Wait a minute, you're not a Red Sox player... you're Theo Epstein! Extremely smart and successful, you work the magic from behind the scenes. You take a lot of risks, but it always works out. You're not too bad on the eyes either!!

Theo Epstein
77%
Curt Schilling
57%
Jason Varitek
53%
Johnny Damon
50%
Mark Bellhorn
50%
Manny Ramirez
40%
David Ortiz
37%
Kevin Millar
33%

Worth a try...

So, I've been a horrible video documenter of our kids lives. Seriously, horrible. Well, can't throw life in reverse to go back and get all those cute things on camera.
Flip video cameras were on mega-sale on amazon and I had a gift certificate there. So, here's to better future documentation.
Of course, when I got home and the package was waiting for me, there were no kids to document. So, let's see if I can get this video of Max uploaded...

Map of potholes in Greater Boston - Boston.com

Spring is here...
Map of potholes in Greater Boston - Boston.com

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Emma's version

According to Emma (age 7):

1. What is something mom always says to you?
bo-bo

2. What makes mom happy?
When I snuggle with her

3. What makes mom sad?
When she thinks of Molly (our cat that died 2 years ago)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
When she tells me jokes

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A troublemaker

6. How old is your mom?
31

7. How tall is your mom?
Taller than me

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Read

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Work

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being a doctor

11. What is your mom really good at?
Typing

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Remembering things

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Family doctor

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Chili

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
That she's a doctor and takes care of people

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Smurfette

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Rock climb

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both have brown eyes

19. How are you and your mom different?
She's older than I am.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she snuggles with me

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Jaec's (but it's closed)

Another facebook questionairre..

I thought this was too cute to pass up. We'll see what Jack (age 5 in April) thinks. Em's is coming soon...


1. What is something mom always says to you?
Maybe

2. What makes mom happy?
Doing good things

3. What makes mom sad?
Making her angry


4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Making silly faces

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A baby- that's easy

6. How old is your mom?
32


7. How tall is your mom?
20?


8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Hockey


9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Watch tv, try and fix the hockey wii, read books

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Hockey


11. What is your mom really good at?
Hockey


12. What is your mom not very good at?
I don't know about that

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Work- that's easy

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Tomatoes


15. What makes you proud of your mom?
If she could jump to the sky- but she can't do that


16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Swedish Chef


17. What do you and your mom do together?
Read book and play hockey

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both have white skin

19. How are you and your mom different?
My mom is a girl and I'm a boy


20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She takes care of me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
A hockey game

Do you think Jack's mind is a little one tracked?