by Sheila Wathen / We’ve all heard the stories and were stunned. How could a parent forget a child in a car? It seems so impossible, and yet it happens year after year. As of July 21st of this year, 17 children have died from being left in a hot car. SEVENTEEN. Since 1998, on…
By Cathy Chesher / Back-to-school supplies may already be in stores, but there is still plenty of time to explore Michigan this summer. Most Michigan public libraries offer at least two ways to help families explore our great state in an economical way. 1) PARK AND READ Visit a Michigan state park for free! The…
by Sheila Wathen / Recently I heard about a service that lets you rent Lego sets like you rent DVDs from Netflix. Yes, really. You pay a monthly fee, start a queue of desired Lego sets, and one is mailed to you. You can keep the set as long as you like, and it is…
by Rhaea Miller / Two of my three children walk in their sleep. Ruby goes to sleep and wakes up in the morning without a single incident. She doesn’t talk or walk, and rarely moves. She sleeps so well, in fact, that every time she has had a stomach bug, we have had to wake…
by Michael Miller / Watching the progress of our boys from infants to pre-preteens via photo is exhilarating and unnerving. Film doesn’t lie, and the speed with which our sons are growing up is a powerful illustration of how quickly time melts away. It was particularly startling this year, when Evan’s solo portrait revealed a…
By Suzi West / Do you and your kids have a “Summer Bucket List”? Or maybe a “Let’s Have the Best Summer Ever” list? What is this you ask? Well, just scour the web and you will find lots of different blog posts and articles on this theme, which simply lists some fun and novel…
By Rhaea Miller / Thirteen and a half years ago Lee and I special ordered a Chrysler PT Cruiser, fully loaded,thinking it would be a great family car. The doors opened at 90 degree angles! We were so stupid. We waited NINE WHOLE MONTHS for this car, and when our Providence, RI dealer told us…
By Sheila Wathen / Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! These videos may or may not describe you, but know we love your efforts to be good dads. Sheila Wathen works as a teacher, webmaster & technology consultant. For fun she sings in her church choir, does yoga and researches her…
By Steven Burnett / On June 1st, our last daughter graduated from high school. The following weekend, all of her older sisters were home for the graduation party. Because it is rare to have them all together at once, we try to get some pictures of the sisters together. As I watched this activity unfold,…
By Cathy Chesher / The Summer Reading Program has begun! Every year the Adrian Public Library as well as the other county public libraries offer summer reading programs for kids, teens and adults. This summer the library celebrates summer reading AND explores the wonderful world of science with the kids’ theme of “Fizz! Boom! READ!”…