"Absorbent Mind" Organisation - Plus Easter Photos

Eli and Henry at Two Months Old

Eli (left) and Henry (right) on April 2, 2009

[If you just want to skip to information on the "Absorbent Mind" challenge, just scroll down to where I've written that in bold.]

It has been a few weeks of sickness, quarantine, and busyness but I have not forgotten about the "Absorbent Mind" challenge. I must apologize for allowing all the other interesting challenges to get in my way. Ella had a terrible 'flu, which meant separating her from the boys and Derek and me from each other. Derek and Ella got the living room. It's a good thing our couch is very wide so they could both sleep on it. Henry, Eli, and I got the master bedroom. Sometimes Ella would stand at the door to our room and ask, with the saddest, most pitiful voice, "Mummy, will you hold up Henry/Eli so I can see him and say "hello" to him?" Derek and I would occasionally meet up in the bathroom, him on a quest to empty and clean the (so-called) "barf bucket," and me to get damp facecloths, a glass of water, or more wet wipes. But if we were able to, and took the time to get in a hug or kiss, then I had to change my clothes and "scrub in" again before rejoining the boys. We went through a lot of instant hand sanitizer!

Then Derek caught the 'flu just as Ella was getting better. This resulted in my first-ever foray into the outside world with three children in tow. The normally simple trip to the bank and run for a few errands was greatly complicated by this, and took much longer than usual. But, we all survived. Everything took a lot longer with two babies and a preschooler, resulting in a late arrival home after a 9:00 pm supper at Subway. Since Derek had ensconced himself in the master bedroom, with frequent runs to the bathroom, Ella and I made up a "bed" for her on the floor. It turned out to be rather a nest of blankets and pillows, but it served the purpose. I took the couch and put the boys in their bouncy seats. Ella really enjoyed "camping out" in the living room. The couch did become rather squishy, though, when at some point in the wee hours of the morning I tried to move only to discover that there was no where to which I could move as all three children had somehow ended up on the couch with me. Ella I could understand. She at least has great powers of mobility. I'm guessing the Eli and Henry had contrived to get me to fall asleep while nursing them.

The next day the children and I evacuated the premises, putting Derek in solitary quarantine, and we retreated to my mother's house. Derek had no sooner recovered than he was thrust into Easter weekend. All's well that ends well, but it's a week past Easter and we're still recovering! Mum says that we're living in perpetual "survival mode." She's not entirely wrong.

In the midst of all this insanity, Eli and Henry turned two months. During Ella's first year we did a "photo shoot" every month, so how could I do less for my boys? We did simplify, but I got their pictures nonetheless.

Eli Derek, two months old

Henry Harold, two months old

It's not hard to tell that they've been gaining quickly since getting home. They are quite aware that they have unlimited access to food twenty-four hours a day, and they take advantage of the fact! How wonderful to see their bodies filling in all that excess skin. They really look like babies now, not just minuscule old men.

ABSORBENT MIND CHALLENGE INFORMATION:

Well, we've got ten people who want to read The Absorbent Mind together, and a couple who want to "audit" the discussions, so it's time to get started. There are two different options for our group. Please think about each option and vote for the option you like the best.

1. Have an Absorbent Mind Yahoo! group. That would mean that we'd communicate primarily through e-mails and/or at the Yahoo! group site. We could post files for others to download, and we wouldn't have to constantly be checking a specific website. It is easy, using this method, to make quick comments on something someone else has said. This format lends itself to briefer posts and would have more of a feel of an actual, spoken discussion. That said, it's less "tidy" in the sense that it would be easy to get multiple threads going on the same topic, which can be confusing, and there wouldn't be any quick-and-easy way to read through the discussion notes in order and properly organized.
2. Have an Absorbent Mind blog. I would create the blog and then invite each of you to join as authors. We could chose to make it an open or closed blog. Each blog entry could be on one chapter (or a specific portion of one chapter) and the discussion would continue in the comments. This format would work well if we want to have longer comments, lending itself to an essay-like first post with more complete responses, dealing with the chapter/book portion in a methodical way. Of course, this would mean having to check a website on a frequent basis, and more carefully considering such things as formatting and grammar.

One way sounds like it would be perfect for the free-thinking, artistic type and the other for the analytical, mathematical type. I'd say, "let's do both!" but it would be impractical.

The other think I need to know in order to get us started is your e-mail addresses. If we do a blog I'll have to send out a specific invitation to each of you, and if we do a Yahoo! group I'll want to know that those applying to become members are actually the folks who want to participate or listen in. (Oh, those who want to "audit" this group, so to speak, are always welcome to add their thoughts and opinions as well.)

So, I'll ask those who responded indicating that they wanted to be involved in The Absorbent Mind challenge to respond to this post, letting me know which way you'd prefer the group to "meet" and what your e-mail address is.

PLEASE NOTE: The comments you submit that contain personal information - in this case, your e-mail address - will be REJECTED and will never show up on this website. The only person who will see that information is me... or possibly my husband if he happens to download the e-mail before I get to it. The information will only be used by me and I will not be sending unsolicited mail to you.

Just wanted to make that clear! Now, for a few pictures from Easter!

Ella and Her Bunnies: Sarah and Myis


The Proud Big Sister and Her Easter Treat: Eli!
(Eli's not sure that he wants to be in the basket.)


Ella Enjoys Henry.
He is the spitting image of Ella as a baby.