Showing posts with label Zorg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zorg. Show all posts

Monday, September 28, 2020

Happy Birthday, Zorg!

Zorg is TWENTY!

Congratulations and happy pandemic birthday!

It was just the ten of us celebrating (plus distanced well wishes from friends and extended family), but we had a great time!

To me, the 20th birthday is a more definitive adulthood marker, maybe because you aren't a teenager anymore.



  •  20 Great Things About Zorg

  • 1. He is an Eagle Scout!
  • 2. He sings beautifully.
  • 3. He's really good at gaming.
  • 3. He's a loyal friend.
  • 4. He's always willing to lend a hand.
  • 5. He's very honest.
  • 5. He's really good at math and logic puzzles.
  • 6. He's always up for some fun!
  • 7. He can climb pretty much anything.
  • 7. He's very good at probability.
  • 8. He tells great stories.
  • 9. He is always overflowing with ideas.
  • 10. He really cares about other people.
  • 11. He supports his family and friends in whatever they are trying to do.

  • 11. He has gotten into role playing games in a big way.
  • 12. He makes great mix tapes.
  • 13. He's rocking the mustache!
  • 13. He's doing great with (distance) college.
  • 14. He's really funny, he's always making people smile and laugh!
  • 15. He's having fun with college.
  • 15. He's great at Tough Goals, or Dank Moles, or whatever that game is.
  • 16. He's very friendly, as in makes friends everywhere, all the time.
  • 17. He's interested in being a priest.
  • 17. He always tries to do the right thing.
  • 18. He's a very loving son!
  • 18. He loves philosophy.
  • 19. He has a very solid grounding in logic and ethics.
  • 19. He's an AMAZING GM/DM!
  • 20. He explains difficult concepts clearly and simply.
  • 20.He loves God!

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Happy Birthday, Zorg!



 Zorg is 19!

Pop took us out for Indian food to celebrate, and then we came back for chocolate cherry cake. Yum and yum!


19 Great Things About Zorg

1. He is an Eagle Scout!
2. He sings beautifully.
3. He's really good at gaming.
3. He's a loyal friend.
4. He's always willing to lend a hand.
5. He's very honest.
5. He's really good at math.
6. He's always up for some fun!
7. He can climb pretty much anything.
7. He's very good at puzzles.
8. He tells great stories.
9. He is always overflowing with ideas.
10. He really cares about other people.
11. He supports his family and friends in whatever they are trying to do.
11. He has gotten into role playing games in a big way.
12. He makes great mix tapes.
13. He's rocking the mustache!
13. He's in his first year of full time college, but he's already on the Dean's List.
14. He's really funny, he's always making people smile and laugh!
15. He's having fun with college.
15. He's great at Paladins.
16. He's very friendly, as in makes friends everywhere, all the time.
17. He's interested in being a priest.
17. He always tries to do the right thing.
18. He's a very loving son!
18. He loves philosophy.
19. He loves God!

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Off to North Dakota



Mxyl, Klenda, and Zorg are off in North Dakota with my sister, helping out with a summer camp.



Off they went, flying on their own like adults...
Which they are!!

And hopefully having a great time!




Meanwhile, back home with only 3 kids, we are missing them and figuring out how to do things with only five people.

It's tough, but we're managing...

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Happy Birthday, Zorg!

Hooray!  Zorg survived his childhood!

And he has the mustache to prove it!


We did two birthday celebrations, one with just us, and one with extended family.
Make that two and a half: he also had a few friends over for a low key Smash Bros. tournament session.





18 Great Things About Zorg

1. He is finishing up the paperwork on his Eagle!
2. He sings beautifully.
3. He's really good at gaming.
3. He's a loyal friend.
4. He's always willing to lend a hand.
5. He's very honest.
5. He's really good at math.
6. He's always up for some fun!
7. He can climb pretty much anything.
7. He's very good at puzzles.
8. He tells great stories.
9. He is always overflowing with ideas.
10. He really cares about other people.
11. He really supports his family and friends in whatever they are trying to do.
11.He has gotten into role playing games in a big way.
12.He volunteered to do a ton of driving so his sister can act.
13. He's rocking the moustache!
13. He's in his senior year in high school.
14. He's really funny, he's always making people smile and laugh!
15. He is doing a lot of driving nowadays.
15. He's having fun with college.
16. He's very friendly, as in makes friends everywhere, all the time.
17. He always tries to do the right thing.
17.  He's a very loving son!
18.  He loves God!

Monday, August 20, 2018

Scout Camp

 This was actually the first week in July, and the Emperor, Zorg, Choclo and Oob all went together.

It was Oob's first scout camp and Zorg's last scout camp.  Zorg ages out in September, but from May until then, we have three boys in the troop!

They went to Bashore this year, and, despite some brutally hot weather, they had a fantastic time!

Choclo learned to really swim!
 They camped, and they climbed, swam, did archery, and got a ton of merit badges.

Lots of friends and lots of memories.

Lots of fun!

Except when it got too hot to use the slurpee machine.

 And now Choclo is a Tenderfoot, and Oob achieved the rank of Scout!

I know because I just sewed on the patches today!

See, it's not all catching up, sometimes we have breaking news, too.




After camp, Choclo and Oob came home with the troop while the Emperor and Zorg went on to Philadelphia to attend the Memorial service for the Dad of one of the Emperor's oldest friends.

Gardner was famous as an editor who gave a lot of famous writers their start, but I also knew him as a man who was funny and unfailingly kind.  He and his wife, who passed on last year, were close friends of my dear MIL.  I'm so sorry for our friend who lost both his parents, but I'm also deeply grateful for this generation of giants who brought so much joy to so many!

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Zorg's Eagle Bat Boxes


 Not that we actually have Eagle Bats, that would be weird.  No, Zorg's Eagle project is creating and installing a dozen bat boxes along our local trail system.


 The bat boxes provide roosting places for bats at night, as well as safe nursery spaces for baby bats in the spring and early summer.


These boxes probably won't be used as nurseries this year, but the bats who use them as roost spaces will remember them for next year. 

Why bats?  They eat insects.  Lots of insects!

The idea behind an Eagle project is for the scout to create something that betters his community, but also to provide hands on experience with planning, directing, and implementing a big project.

This meant he was the main supervisor for the work crews!

It also meant he worked with the National Capitol Park and Planning Rangers to develop the most beneficial project possible.
A dozen bat boxes created and installed at least 15 feet (5 m) in the air was a lot of work.

And he rewarded his crews with popsicles!

As a final touch, he created and installed an informative sign.

It says: Bug problems? Bat solutions!

Bats are part of our ecosystem, acting as natural pest control.  A typical colony of 100 bats feeding over the course of one summer will consume approximately 600,000,000 insects.  This helps cut down the population of mosquitoes that spread harmful diseases, such as West Nile and Zika.  By helping bats, we can make a sizable positive impact on our local environment.

Bat boxes offer bats a safe place to raise their young.  There are over 1,000 species of bats worldwide, ten of ehich are native to Maryland.  The four most likely to inhabit these bat boxes are Little Brown Bats, Big Brown Bats, Northern Longeared Bats, and Evening Bats.

Bat boxes can be found around Indian Creek Trail.  Can you find all twelve of them?

Monday, April 16, 2018

It's a Wash! or My Many Laundry Woes


 Sometime in early February, my washing machine died.  I was going in a zillion directions at once, and I remembered that my regular (fantastic) repair guy had mentioned that he didn't work on Samsungs, (and I have another washer and dryer downstairs), so I didn't immediately try to fix it.

By late February, I started calling around, only to discover that, in fact,
  only Samsung techs can work on Samsungs.

I thought it might be just a stretched out belt- I totally could fix that myself!  I consulted the interwebs.

It's a direct magnetic drive: no belts at all.

I know my limits: belts, yes, electro magnets, no!  Life went on for a couple of weeks.

In March, I tried again with the You Tube fix its: my problem was either a broken strut or worn out bearings.

Well... If it was the strut, I could do that with a little help from Mxyl, Zorg and Oob.  It was not the strut.  Fixing bearings means taking the entire machine apart. Nope!

The main problem with a stacked washer and dryer is that when you have to replace one, you have to get an identical machine or replace both, or they won't stack safely.

Since I am unwilling to get another Samsung washer (EVER!), Pop bought me a whole new (Electrolux) washer and dryer.  Thanks, Pop!💓




Best of all, Choclo and Oob have moved into their own little houses!

Monday, January 22, 2018

Older Kid Fun

Mostly Silly Super Hero Team
 Have I mentioned that when I say, "Okay gentlemen and ladies, get together so I can take a picture of you all," my teens hear, "Get together like a superhero team up"?

Oh, right, I have.

Anyway, they all went out and had a marvelous time swing dancing and hanging out with friends.







Klenda went with a steam punk outfit, and I had a lot of fun doing her hair.

Leena went with a more conventional but very pretty swing dress.

I find that I don't usually enjoy dressing up myself, but I love helping my girls get dressed up!

 Mostly I love how much fun my kids have together!
Mostly Serious Super Hero Team
I Don't Even Know, But It Cracks Me Up Every Time Team Up