Parker's Spring Concert

Today Parker enjoyed singing at his spring concert. The Pine Bend concert was centered around the school service project for the year, H2O for Life. The H2O for Life School to School project was created to provide funds to directly support water projects located at schools in developing countries that lack an adequate and sustainable water source. Our school is sponsoring a school in Mozambique, Africa. We were able to view pictures of the specific school and hear the kids talk about the necessity of water to our lives all around the world.

The concert was wonderful! Each of the classes dressed in their color Pine Bend Shirts (given to them from the PTSA) and it just looked so cool on stage. The awareness for the world that the children are being taught today is just such a refreshing outlook and a great way to "pay forward" the gifts and privileges that they have and sometimes take for granted in their own lives. The schools hope is that they learn at a young age to support and give back to the earth that which the earth has given to them. What a "bright piece of sunshine" in an otherwise rainy, gray day!

Catch Up on Us!

Two posts one day, wow (see more in "wanted, identity thief" after this post)...

OK, OK, OK, we promised not to lag behind on this! Here is our catch-up:

Scooter/Maggie first because they are the easiest...sleep, eat, play, sleep, eat, play, sleep, eat, play, bite- oops, yes! Their relationship is hit or miss, one might say Love/Hate! They are still getting used to each other and Scooter unfortunately has become a far less tolerable dog as she gets older, so Maggie has been bitten to prove dominance. Overall, they are great and we love having both of them around.

Parker: Parker now 8 caught a bit of "spring fever" after a week of staying home! Now back in school, he wants to know why the time has passed so quickly and when is the summer coming. All good questions to which the answers are unknown! Parker plans on playing baseball again this spring/summer. He doesn't have his coach/team yet, but we know practices will be on Wednesdays through July. Parker loves to play ball, it really keeps him active. He has friends over all the time and is finding more independence is a huge responsibility, but rewarding. He received a new bike for Easter and is waiting for the spring to actually stay so he can ride it regularly.

Parker is doing fine in school. He is looking forward to his spring concert this Friday. He really loves music or the music teacher :)! He thrives on the structure and his teacher's quick witted humor everyday. Next year he may be attending a new school (Mom and Dad have yet to decide). To that he is as unsure as we are, but hopefully the meetings and tour next week will help with our decision. The new school is part of the IGH school district and is contained in one of the three elementary schools. It is a school specifically created for children with learning gifts called the Atheneum School.

Every year the school district puts the 1st and 2nd grade students through a cognitive skills test that determines need and elegibility for the school. Parker passed the cogAt test with flying colors and then was tested one on one with a licensed psychologist on his IQ. (We are anxious to get the scores!) All this and a few more requirements, lead to an invitation to join the school.

Parker thinks differently than most 8 year olds and has a gift for knowledge. This we guess has been in the back of our minds for a while. He doesn't sometimes get the easiest of tasks, but put him on an assignment that seems overly difficult and the kid thrives. Does that mean he should be taken out of the regular curriculum school? This is were the uncertainty lies. Whatever the decision, we hope that it is the best for him and that he understands.

Parker is also looking forward to a whole week off with Mom/Dad in Warren this June.

Joyce: Well, we could just use the word "busy", but doesn't that describe every MOM! Work is going well for Joyce, but finding balance is the never ending battle. She has had the joy of photographing many clients and family/friends in the beginning of 2008. Despite raising prices, GPDS, Inc. has managed to basically fill the years schedule plus. Joyce and friends will be photographing a wedding in May and keeping up with invitations, business projects and more through the rest of the spring/summer.

Joyce's sister announced that she is expecting Twins early this fall to which we are so excited!!!! Hoping for one boy, one girl- but anything will be a blessing. Baby news abound and then her Friend Amy gave birth to a baby girl on the 20th of March. Already pictured and soon on the website, Miss Aislinn Marie will make her debut in May.

So just the usual for Joyce- work, family and friends keeping her busy....and more to come!

Steve: (intentionally left blank for additions straight from the source, hehehe--Challenge Accepted, Honey!) Work's been pretty busy as of late. Right now, I'm writing from Houston, in town for the weekend to attend the ICRM board meeting. Last week, it was a quick trip to NYC for business, and looking for time to work on a couple of things north of the boarder next month. Trying to settle into a new role and new boss at work. So far this has been going really well--I hope that remains his perception as well! At home, it's been great to see spring come, and go, and come, and go, and hopefully after this weekend's snow come again. The lawn mower is itching for a good run--hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Parker and I have played catch outside only once. I caught some, he caught some, both the van and Edge caught one each!

Overall, we are good and healthy! Looking forward to more family time this summer and definitely a break from the crazy lives we lead!

Wanted...Identity Thief!

Well, this is not a joke this time, but the good news is we believe the person(s) have been caught!!!!

After Parker's party weekend the next week began as usual for Joyce with supply orders and photo sessions...on the 4th of March Joyce received a call from a vendor in Washington State confirming her order and requesting a new credit card to process the order because the card on file didn't work. Oddly, she thought the credit card on file should certainly handle a $65 order, but none-the-less anything could be wrong, so she gave the vendor another card (her business debit card) quickly on the phone. This is a card she doesn't use often due to the tie to the bank account, but she hadn't had any trouble with the few vendors that currently use it.

One day later a mysterious charge for $602 shows up on the account. We immediately phoned the bank, they put a hold on the charge, but the charge dropped off by Friday. Agreeing with the bank that this might have been an error, we waited it out. In a rush to finish a project the next Monday and get it out overnight in DHL, Joyce reluctantly got the mail. She wishes she hadn't gotten the mail before finishing the project, because what unfolded was unbelievable.

In the mail were 25-30 backorder notice/postcards from FashionBug.com...hmmm...totalling $602? You bet, the charge dropped off because everything ordered was on backorder and due to ship the next day. Surprise, again we were victims of Identity Theft!

Coincidence? The police said "NO WAY!"...the order was placed the same day with Joyce's card, processed under the name "Grace Goldman" (how clever a mix of her name and her business name) and shipping to Renton, WA (just 12 miles from the vendor given the credit card information that day).

The fraud department at Fashion Bug was very nice and helpful, but would only give extended information to the IGH Police. Officer Billmeyer told us that Fashion Bug informed her that this was the 6th order to go to this address in Renton and all of them used different cards with different names/bill-to addresses. We spoke to the owner at the vendor as well and he was very diligent in getting information and hoping to erradicate what looked like a bad employee situation right away. The officer showed up the next day after reporting the crime and took all of the postcards, copies of Joyce's email, the packing slip from the vendor and the information from Fashion Bug to turn over to the Renton, WA Police Department. We were able to swiftly get a new credit card number and the charge never appeared again because it was cancelled that day.

Did we discover a ring? We like to think so! :) We know that the person Joyce dealt with on the phone from the vendor is no longer an employee!?! Coincidence? Again, probably not.

The IGH police officer was very excited about this case, because she said that they get phone calls every day for identity theft/fraud and it just gets to hard to chase. Usually the cases end up at the bottom of a pile under the obviously more pressing cases, but this time she felt like there was enough evidence to hopefully catch or atleast scare the person committing the fraud to stop. She said with the recession the cases of this are out of control and would feel good to know that atleast one person was going to pay.

As for us, just another lesson to learn, but thankfully it just cost us a bunch of time and not a bunch of money!

Happy 8th Birthday, Parker!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Parker just wanted to write a quick note about is birthday party and weekend with family at the beginning of the month.

He really appreciates the fun, games, and of course the presents!

At his party with friends on Friday night, we went to Ridemakerz at MOA. They all got to pick out and customize their own car or truck--stocked full with neon undermounts, chrome, specialty tires & rims, decals--the whole works. As a birthday bonus, Ridemakerz put together a metallic gold pick-up and gave each boy a permanent marker to sign the top of the truck and present to Parks as their thanks for spending his day with them. I'm sure he'll remember this trip for a long time to come!

Thanks again, from the birthday boy!

Relaxation in California

Wow! What a fun weekend!!! Joyce and Steve were able to soak in the rays (albeit only a few hours of them) along with CONSTANT ABOVE-FREEZING TEMPS in southern california the last weekend in February. All of this courtesy of the Orange County ARMA chapter, and their annual CRM prep course--where Steve was one of the facilitators. Most of these shots are from Joyce's day in Laguna Beack, walking along the beach and enjoying the shopping, art, and scenery. We put about 400 miles on the rental car, driving the coast highway and enjoying the view. Had a great mid-afternoon lunch on Saturday at a beachside restaurant and stared at the ocean. We also stumbled upon Torrey Pines golf course. Steve has now been to both Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach within the last year and hasn't shot a bogey yet!

Busy!

What can you say....this log is about life, and after 4 great days in California for Joyce & Steve; and Parker having a nice time staying with Janice and partying with the Irish clan at Marissa's 8th birthday...we are all home. Safe and sound.....and Busy. More later...

(as we left the conference, they made sure we'd be available next year around the same time, so I guess we'll have to see if there's another "busy" post during the last week of February 2009.)

President's Day

Finally, a day without too many deadlines! We are hanging out this morning watching TV and doing a little work. Go figure it is 11:24 am and the shower has yet to be turned on. Soon that won't be the case as the hours rush by and our to do list makes an appearance.

Joyce's Dad is in the hospital. We went to visit yesterday and he is doing much better than Friday night. We have been to the hospital so much lately as everyone in Joyce's family seems to be having a bad start to 2008. Hopefully that will be done very soon! Joyce inparticular despises the place whether it is a happy or sad time!

We are finishing some projects early in the week to head off to California on Thursday. Steve is giving a speech to colleagues on Friday/Saturday, while Joyce is hanging out on the beach :)
Parker will be staying home with Janice and attending school. We don't think it has quite hit him that it is this week we leave.

We are all set finally for Parker's parties...just waiting on some RSVPs from his friends. Ridemakerz should be a blast. We stopped by yesterday to confirm the appointment while at the mall. Wow, was the mall packed with people and "crafty people" at that. Seems there was some sort of crocheting/knitting party at the Mall of America and not to mention the obvious President's Day sales. We just stopped by Limited Too (or L2- the hippist clothing store for little girls ever!!! or so we've been told) to get Marissa a birthday gift. She will be 8 on the 23rd. Seems like just yesterday she and Parker were born just a week apart.

Taxes are done, refund is coming (YES!)

We hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

Steve, Joyce, Park, Scooter & Maggie Moo