tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28596693531088028722024-03-14T02:00:49.679-07:00Mitten Livin'Sweeney Family goings ons..Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-77361516415173840602016-03-02T20:49:00.000-08:002016-03-02T20:49:31.137-08:00Mexico -Cancun 2015
Our dear friends the Joslins invited us to join them in Mexico.
It was one of those things where it sounded nice, but I wasn't really sure we would ever go. We don't normally book trips that far in advanced, we don't usually stay in one place when we travel, resort vacationing wasn't something we usually do.
The beach and the all inclusive were very appealing and we decided Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-45651830963360537442016-01-16T10:33:00.000-08:002016-01-16T10:33:08.268-08:00Fall Camping just the boys
Nathan and Elliot headed north to do an overnight camping trip. Nathan has a friend who owns some property and generously has offered him a place to camp anytime.
Mild 70 degree weather was a nice surprise this Autumn. The warmest October in a long long time. The day Nathan and Elliot hit the road and head a little further north the first snow of the year appeared. It was funny Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-15381969477498747722016-01-15T09:49:00.000-08:002016-01-15T09:49:15.005-08:00Oh Canada..
Stratford Ontario is home to the Shakespearean lovin' community that is built around the business of the theater. Nathan took me there on our first official date, we then honeymooned there and went back and celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Nathan had the idea of taking Jane to see The Sound of Music.
We decided that just dad and daughter would go to the play, but the wholeSweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-65206208575234605872016-01-14T08:57:00.000-08:002016-01-14T08:57:01.058-08:00Frakenmuth 2015
On our way to Canada we made a stop at "Little Bavaria" Frakenmuth, Michigan.
Is it possible to visit Frakenmuth and not go to Bronners? I'm not sure it is. Bronners calls itself the largest Christmas Store in the world, and once inside you can believe it. The store in it's advertising writes Christmas like CHRISTmas, indicating they are honoring who Christmas is really aboutSweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-61796407487937764142016-01-13T07:46:00.000-08:002016-01-13T07:46:02.643-08:00Herman Miller Halloween
Our actual Reformation Day A.K.A Halloween was spent in Stratford, Ontario. The kids weren't sure how they felt about being out of the country at that time. We did learn on our trip that our Canadian neighbors celebrate it too.
We aren't big supporters of Halloween with the emphasis on witchcraft and demons. However, I understand the appeal to want to dress up and get candy.&Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-67434810269229887152016-01-12T07:02:00.001-08:002016-01-12T07:48:04.374-08:00Jane is 12- way back in September 2015- last year.
I told Jane if she wanted a party she could plan it herself, at her age she knows better than I, what her friends and her would like to do for entertainment.
Five minutes after I give this speech, I am on pinterest looking up tween birthday parties.
The idea we both liked the best was the auction.
Give kids fake money to bid on items. You introduce the items one at a time and they have Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-68239709848926066002016-01-02T12:44:00.000-08:002016-01-02T12:44:03.755-08:00Upper Peninsula 2015
The Upper Peninsula is a popular place visit year round for many reasons. One reason people travel in the Autumn is to view the beautiful colors of changing leaves. Nathan wanted to get back to Fayette State Park this year before the winter. We planned a fall U.P trip with some hopes of seeing a color display. We soon realized the warm weather of October meant the leaves would change laterSweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com2Fayette Historic State Park, 4785 II Rd, Garden, MI 49835, USA45.7178999 -86.668996820.1958654 -127.9775908 71.2399344 -45.3604028tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-15270795576243584642016-01-01T12:07:00.000-08:002016-01-01T12:07:06.890-08:00Summer Fun
One of the main reasons I blog is to keep a record of our lives. I have hopes of returning to scrapbooking, but I'm not sure I will get back to it like I once did. I do want the stories put down to memory that go with the pictures. Stories that reflect our emotions and thoughts at the time, or sometimes just to give an explanation of what happened. Even with the best memory I will Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-16622711598978396842015-08-26T22:40:00.001-07:002015-08-26T23:44:34.782-07:00Kentucky 2015
The main reason we made a visit to Kentucky was for baseball and a concert.
The game featured a minor league team from Lexington and the band was Royal Tailor.
Jane chose this song to do her dance solo at Kids Fine Arts this past year.
It is rare when all four of us agree on music and in the case of Royal Tailor, even Elliot will sing along.
Lexington is Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-868785424581475762015-08-14T22:19:00.000-07:002015-08-26T23:45:15.282-07:00South Manitou Anniversary Trip
Our 15 year Anniversary was celebrated in June on a small island in Northern Michigan. South Manitou Island is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The Ferry,
Mishe-Mokwa takes about an hour to reach the island.
We shared the boat ride with about 20 boy scouts. We were hoping their campsite wasn't right next to ours.
Later we were very thankful for Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-34204491988930218972015-07-08T07:08:00.001-07:002015-07-13T19:27:22.321-07:00Extra- Curriculars- why I don't blog more.
The kids and grandparents. Spring piano recital.
Elliot's first year playing. He wants to play drums. I am not opposed to drum playing, but the kids have to take piano until the 8th grade. They are welcome to do two instruments at a time.
Jane had to organize an event to help her earn The
"Lewis and Clark" award with American Heritage Girls. Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-28750162938526841092015-06-03T05:29:00.000-07:002015-06-03T05:30:07.573-07:00Instaselfie #kidsthesedays
Nice duck face- Jane.
My almost 12 year-old daughter- likes to hold her hand up in front of her face when I take a picture.
This same girl has managed to take A LOT of pictures of herself with my phone.
I want to protect my kids and I want to encourage them to interact with peers using face to face conversations, not through electronics. &Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-34064755411600510082015-03-25T04:54:00.000-07:002015-03-25T04:54:35.949-07:00Elliot X
10
It was "Good" Friday 2005 and Elliot Daniel came into the world a week earlier than expected.
We didn't find out what we were having with either kid. Some surprises are really great. My first impression upon holding my new born son was that he looked like his dad, which is funny because one of my first impressions of Jane was that she looked like me. They Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-36188455905481731542015-03-23T07:36:00.002-07:002015-03-23T07:37:38.675-07:00What do you do?
The question I kid asked a lot these days. What do I do now that the kids are in school?
The first week, I would walk upstairs make a bed, fold laundry then come back down to the kitchen stand there for 5 minutes- thinking " what next?"
I could think of a hundred things to be doing when I was teaching 4th grade Math, but here I was alone in my house at 10 am on a Tuesday and my mind was Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-11856122185851307732015-03-20T11:46:00.001-07:002015-03-20T11:46:49.528-07:00Five for Friday
For my cousin's kids birthdays they made this duct tape Olaf pinata. In theory it is less dangerous because you hit it while it is stationary and not swinging around. I don't think the parents could have guessed that they had made an impenetrable fortress, a veritable stronghold that guarded the treasures inside. You could say it was genius if the goal was to tire kids out Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-12544837277513701002015-03-18T17:05:00.001-07:002015-03-26T10:53:48.499-07:00Throw Back Thursday
Throw Back Thursday
March 2009
http://hongkongsweeney.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-days.html
A link to one of my very first blog post.
What I really liked about reading this old post, was the tidbits that my old mind would have never remembered. I am glad I started blogging once we relocated.
I did not remember the instance of Elliot waking up at 4 in the morning and being frustrated Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-68104751502683319842015-03-18T05:58:00.000-07:002015-03-19T05:46:47.766-07:00New Year Happenings
新年快樂
Xin Nian Kuai Le
Year of the Ram
Although I have been quiet in my blogging. the Sweeney family has been very active. The biggest change happened when we put the kids in school.
This was during "Spirit Week" Jane is part of the largest class in the school there are 29 6th graders.
Jane attended Tri-Unity for the four year old program in 2007. She is back row Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-85496147338752947602015-01-24T15:53:00.003-08:002015-03-18T16:45:40.874-07:00What Christmas is all about..
Christmas morning at the Sweeneys.
The kids come into our room and ask the question, when can they open gifts?
I tell them to go look for their stockings. The night before I hid them, giving the parents an extra 15 minutes of sleep.
If you have not started this tradition at your house you might want to begin. Especially if you are parents of kids who get up at Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-19572837071566777322015-01-15T19:33:00.002-08:002015-03-18T16:45:51.581-07:00Lego League
This year the kids were part of First Lego League.
From the website: FLL introduces young people ages 9-14 to the fun of science and Technology.
This the technology a Lego Mindstorm
This years theme " How can you help someone learn"
The kids decided on 'we want to help people learn about the laws of motion,using roller coasters.'
This is where I Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-80233468629358580102014-10-18T00:48:00.001-07:002014-10-18T02:37:19.044-07:00Focus on the Family and Adventures in Odyssey
One of the reasons we were heading out west was to visit
Focus on the Family.
In 1986, Dr. James Dobson and a guest onFocus on the Family wondered why more Christians didn’t create high-quality entertainment. With Focus on the Family’s strengths in radio, the ministry launched an audio drama with Hollywood actors performing scripts that entertained while teaching Biblical and Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-76717126154088164272014-10-17T23:12:00.000-07:002015-03-18T16:46:01.746-07:00 Colorado Rocky Mountain High
John Denver singing Rocky Mountain High
Red Rocks Amphitheater
Jane told me to take her picture on the stage- where in her words"famous people stood"
A beautiful venue about 9,000 seats.
We didn't see a concert, but enjoyed the views.
"The Garden of the Gods"
The balanced rock. In the 1800's a man bought the land around this rock and charged Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-78519967124662381742014-10-10T23:56:00.002-07:002014-10-10T23:56:43.269-07:00Goodbye New Mexico hello Colorado
Our room was inside the Casina wii. Elliot was disappointed that there wasn't any Nintendo.
Fort Union was set up shortly after New Mexico became a US territory. It was part of the Santa Fe trail which was a major highway for carrying goods before the railroad was built. It was the only southwest (state) territory to be used during the Civil War. It stopped goods going to the Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-38016970322402035962014-10-10T23:09:00.004-07:002014-10-10T23:24:58.611-07:00Coronado Historic Site
This is a Kiva. An underground room used by pueblo Indians for sacred rituals. This site has some of the original etchings found inside on the walls of a Kiva. A Pueblo Indian in the 1930's was paid to recreate the scenes inside the Kiva and was subsequently kicked out of the tribe. There are some things that are sacred and secret to American Indians. They are not intended to be seen by Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-33397610836333395032014-10-10T22:32:00.002-07:002016-01-01T12:42:45.552-08:00Albuquerque ( pronounced al-buh-ker-kee or something like that)
While researching what to do on our vacation, it was Jane who spotted the balloon museum located in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque -whose name the British certainly must say in a completely different way than us. I remembered my friend laughing for about five minutes after I mentioned wanting to visit a place in Australia. I had only read it and guessed how it was pronounced, I guessed Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2859669353108802872.post-68687287133869135112014-10-10T21:57:00.003-07:002014-10-10T21:57:28.260-07:00New Mexico, why don't we have a state called New Canada?
This restaurant would not hire me as their food photographer. Everything on the plate had a distinct flavor and was terrific. We loved the New Mexican cuisine. I had chili rellenos twice, just happened that way. I need a reason to go back and try something new. This stuffed, poblano pepper was smothered in some delicious sauce. I picked only the green sauce this time, the previous Sweeney Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03842355740881058579noreply@blogger.com0