The Meyer Odell Family Blog

“You are just a lovely mom”

Thu, 4 Oct 2007 07:14:15 -0400

These were Tristan’s first words to me this morning, “you are just a lovely mom”. No more need be said. It will be a good day.

Family

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 21:44:05 -0400

Behold...Here are my Nana and Grandpa with all their grand children (11) and great grandchildren (4) at their 60th anniversary party last weekend. I had the most incredible visit with my family. Such a joyful gathering, and such wonderful fun to all come together to honour and celebrate our beloved elders. It was a weekend of love and fun. For the younger generations, it was a great experience of connecting and re-connecting as adults. Being 8 years older than the nearest other grandchild, I’ve always kinda been in another ‘place’ than the other grandchildren. Now that some of them have children and others are in long term relationships and settling into the next phase of their lives, we find we have much more in common and certainly have bonded over our adoration of our grandparents.

Anyone contemplating a road trip with kids...I now can say that YOU MUST HAVE A DVD PLAYER! We rented a minivan with a built in DVD and it was HEAVEN SENT!

Of course, it was so peaceful with the kids absorbed in the movie, that Isaac and I chatted happily and overshot an exit by nearly 40 minutes as we started our drive home...Nothing like getting an hour and a half off your schedule the minute you start!

I’ll be posting pics from the anniversary party in the web gallery.

A Whale of a Tale

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 23:06:20 -0400

I’m in Massachusetts with all my extended paternal family celebrating our togetherness and getting ready for tomorrow’s celebration of my grandparents’ 60th (!) wedding anniversary.

My beloved brother Nick has shared the most amazing story of a recent experience of his while he was on the Queen Charlotte Islands. He helped to save a whale...watch the following news footage to see the whole story...Nick is the buff, shirtless guy who is helping to heave the whale off the sand when the tide comes in. He was one of the first on the scene when the whale was discovered and he was there all day helping until the whale was finally free - you can hear his whoops of joy in the footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF1I7hJ2rBM

I’m having such a great time, and the photo show I’ve prepared for tomorrow’s party is going to be such a joy to share.

Cousinly Love

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:29:02 -0400

Sorry updates have been few and far between with the frenetic pace of life chez Meyer Odell. I’ve been spending my childless computing hours working on a photo presentation for Nana and Grandpa’s big 60th anniversary party next weekend in Massachusetts. The project is SO MUCH FUN and the product will be a lot of fun for all of us to enjoy together.

This will be short... life doesn’t disappoint... adventures and amusements and challenges at every turn. We had a really wonderful visit with Emily and Jacob, who spent two weeks with us while Isaac was immersed in the Toronto International Film Festival. Their company and Emily’s help around the house and with the kids was priceless. We just love them more and more - individually and as the family they have become.

Tristan is thrilled and challenged by the newness of Grade one and all the new things life is throwing at him.

I’ve updated the ‘Phelan and Jacob - September 2007’ Gallery with a bunch of great new photos that Emily took of the boys playing together.

More when life settles...no time soon!

Meyer Odells in the News

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:13:53 -0400

Today we are featured in a Globe and Mail article on the increase in numbers of three generation families in Canada that is apparent from recent census results. If you read the online version of the article, it’s interesting to then read the growing list of ‘comments’ from readers. The photo above is the one which is included in the printed edition of the article. It was really nice to have an opportunity to share our experience. The article is written by our new next door neighbour. With her and her partner (both Globe and Mail writers) on one side of us and a CBC radio producer on the other side, we seem to have become a bit of a petrie dish of current family cultural trends here at 37 Wyndham!

CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE

This evening I showed Tristan the newspaper with his picture and he was pretty excited. He can’t wait to bring it to daycare and school and show all his friends.

Mainly, I’m fairly pleased with the article, but I must say in my defense...and my mother’s...that the final line was quoted out of context, and comes across as unnecessarily unkind. I was referring to the unlikelihood of my mother ever having any desire to live in downtown Toronto. Please take it with a grain of salt, Mom!

Emily and Jacob are visiting with us until Tuesday. They came on the 5th and joined the boys and I on our much-anticipated camping trip to Sandbanks with all of our ‘Garden’ friends (the families who were involved in the childcare co-op Tristan belonged to some years ago). There are photos in the WEB GALLERY. They include lots of other folks you may not know, as I’ve posted them for our fellow campers to also enjoy. You will see that Jacob and Phelan had a great time. We had two glorious, sunny days on the beach, then were spectacularly rained out on Sunday morning, causing everyone to head home a few hours early.

Please note, the ‘web gallery’ is a new photo sharing tool which allows us to post our photos such that you can download them, or even add photos of your own. We now have 10 gigs of space on our Mac account - so rest assured, the photos will keep flowing!

They boys are all waking up now and the daily mayhem has begun...more on the weekend...I hope.