Finished!

The costume I have been working on (with friends!) is finished and the Clowns and Stars went on tour this past Wednesday.  I still need to get a photo with stage lights on the dress.  The light in the hallway at school doesn't show the sparkle that is on the dress.

In addition to the costume for DD, I also worked on the accessories for the Stars.  That means top hats and bow ties for the boys and berets, muffs and earrings for the girls.  There are 24 boys and 24 girls!  I am thankful for the other parents that stepped in to help with this project!

Here's my best advise for adding sequins - sew them by machine using a wide zig zag stitch and a jean needle!  Take your time and pay attention.  You may be able to ease the machine through the rough spots and save your needle.  It still took me three needles to sew on all of these sequins but a regular needle would  have been much worse!

Change is in the air

Fall has fully arrived in the Tennessee Valley now!  We have had several frosts (at least in my neighborhood) and nights have been quite chilly with comfortable days.  This is truly a spectacular time of year with the temps and the display of color that abounds in nature right now.

But that is not the only change going on in town.  Rumors have been flying with regards to the combination of Lee High School and New Century into the new high school that is being built.  Until yesterday, the new school carried the name Lee High School above its entrance but now that has been removed.  What name will go there is now up in the air, much to the annoyance of alumni and friends of Lee.

A parent meeting was held Tuesday night at New Century with our superintendent in attendance.  This is where the news was announced that New Century would be moving into the new building and that the two schools would become one with a new name.  It didn't take long for the trouble to be stirred up on FB!

I think this merger could be a very good thing for both schools but Dr. Wardynski could have handled this news in a much better fashion.  The Lee faculty,parents and students should have received this news from Dr. Wardynski at the same time the New Century school did.  Beginning with a joint meeting and then individual meetings to address concerns would have made this much easier on the two communities.

Now Lee students and parent plan to swarm the board meeting tonight to air their complaints.  Sit-ins have been planned.  Petitions are floating around.  This does not bode well for the new school.

At this point, it seems a division has been created over who will have charge rather than a united community that can do so much more.  Surely building a consensus from the beginning rather than dividing would have been better.  I hope Dr. Wardynski rectifies this mistake quickly.

From earlier posts you may know that I live in the Lee district but chose not to send my oldest child there because I was not confident that she would get what she needed to continue her education.  We chose to send her to Columbia and the IB program there.  It is a long drive from my home but, she is thriving in the IB program and I cannot imagine a better choice for her.

My next child will be entering high school in 2012 and what school he attends is still to be decided.  New Century was an option I was willing to consider for him but that might not be an option now.  I am going to be watching to see how this merger takes shape.  I certainly would not want to send him in to an environment that seems quite hostile at this point.

Blessings

We were blessed this weekend to have Dr. Darrell Guder at our church for the Kyser Lecture Series.  I got to hear him all 3 times though the first two were essentially the same service.  Dr Guder is a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and an authority on mission and ecumnical theology.  The afternoon lecture has truly left me thinking.

Dr. Guder spoke about life in a post Christendom world.  This world can be very dangerous and full of stress.  He argued that the time of Christendom really began to disintegrate with the beginning of the first World War when Christian kings attacked each other in what would be a the worst war the world had seen.  We now see the rise of a new religion called Secularism.  This has brought about the absence of prayer in school and pushing out of God from our public lives.

Then Dr.Guder became more specific in talking about the Presbyterian church and particularly the church in the US.  He used scripture to point out the way early Christians made decisions.  They would gather, pray, discuss, pray and await a concensus created by the Holy Spirit.  He argued that our downfall might well be in our system of voting our way to decisions.  I think there is much to be considered in this argument.

I think waiting on the Holy Spirit and God's timing might be one of the most difficult jobs a Christian has.

First step in the embellishment phase

Yesterday you saw the costume without embellishment and now I can show you the first step of the embellishment process.

This is the fabric of the pinafore before I begin the glittering. And this is the start of the glittering. I paint a fine line of glue made to be permanent after drying onto each individual large circle and sprinkle with glitter. Time consuming but the results are so going to be worth it!

An update and a first reveal

I have been MIA for a while now due to some things going on in life.  I have written a blog update that has not been finalized yet too.  I'm just not comfortable with it yet.  But this is something I can share with you.  My baby is a clown this year at AAA and today was the initial costume parade.  That means that all the children in her class were to bring and wear their costumes for inspection today.  Being finished head to toe is where we are supposed to be and I am so happy to say that she was done head to toe!  We finished it last night late but it looks so cute!

And the best part is that she loves it!  She wanted to be a button clown and I think we have made that work for her!  Once it is all sparkled up, I will share another picture.  We got glitter to paint on and lots of sequins to add!

RCB Carnival is Up!

Remember the blog post I couldn't write?  Well the new carnival is up and looks great!  Thanks go to Heather of Heather's Hints.  She did a great job this month!  You can find the carnival here.

The RCB group is full of talented writers and you are sure to find something in there you didn't know before.

Thankful!

I know it has been a while since I posted one of my daily gratitudes but I will try to get back in the rthym of posting these.  Today I am thankful for many things!  I am thankful for my Disciple Bible study class.  It has been several years since I participated but I am loving this class on doctrine!  I am also thankful for ArsNova and the teachers there who do such wonderful work with talented young people.  My oldest DD is so blessed to be able to study there!

I am also thankful for my carpool friends!  Most afternoons I take 2 children from AAA to Columbia HS where their mom works.   Today, I only had the youngest child as his sister and my two were staying after for auditions.  He got in the car and proceeded to tell me all about his new recorder and then asked if he could practice it in the car on the way to Columbia HS.  I agreed that he could after he buckled his seat belt.  I would never have let my own children do this!  I was serenaded all the way by him as he practiced Hot Cross Buns.  It was so cute!  It makes me sad that I never had the patience to enjoy my own kids this way but I am going to try to work on that!

So God has been so good today!  I am blessed (though convicted) and inspired to be a better mom.

Caving under the deadline...

Tonight was the deadline for the next Rocket City Blog Carnival and I caved.  This one had a theme requirement which really should have been easy for me.  The theme is Huntville favorites.  Surely I have some favorites in Huntsville!  I really do and I started trying to blog this a week ago.  I have saved numerous drafts and never felt like I found my topic.  So I had to let this deadline pass me by for this month.  I'll be sure to share with you all when the carnival is posted.

Biting my tongue

I find that more and more I am biting my tongue and erasing replies before I send or post them. Usually these things are politcal in nature and I value the friendship or family relationship too much to want to harm it.

I suspect if I did post, in most circumstances, it would not harm the relationship but there is still that chance that it would. So I write my replies and delete or erase them before allowing them to be seen. It leaves me feeling frustrated that I have not spoken my mind but yet insulated from any hard feelings that might occur on either side.

For the record, I am usually very conservative in my views. I will occasionally take a stance that is not but by in large, conservative would be a good word to describe my beliefs. I also note that my conservative friends rarely post things to FB or other social media. However, my liberal friends are quick to post and use inflamatory language to try to engage. That makes me frustrated too. Perhaps that speaks to the very natures of the liberals and conservatives. Why can we not be more respectful of each other?

I know if I were to post something that caused disagreement from a liberal, they would post back in a heartbeat and on the attack. I learned this lesson early on and have not been willing to put my beliefs out there since. I wonder how many other conservatives are the same way? I suspect lots of us! I am not ashamed of my beliefs but I refuse to engage with someone who is going to attack. They never ask "why do you believe that way?" or try to have a civil discussion. They merely seem to attack or so it seems to me.

My beliefs are mine and mine alone. So liberal friends and family, keep posting away. I'll keep taking my blood pressure meds and we'll all get through this.

The Wordle

Seeking Wordle 3

Scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing

Back in May or maybe June, our dishwasher developed a problem.  It would continually try to add water.  It is as if the inlet valve never closes.  After some online research, it seems like a fairly common problem and probably related to our hard water.

Well, rather than bite the bullet on the repair, we employed our summer army (aka the three kiddos) with a rotating dish schedule.  It worked relatively well for the summer but now that school has started, the army is busy with schoolwork and extra curricular activities.  That means that Mom gets to wash a lot more dishes.  But I have discovered that if I draft one of the kids to be my helper, I get quite a lot accomplished.  Not only do I have clean and dry dishes, I also have an extended period of time in which to talk with the child.  And that is a gift!

Today I worked with my youngest DD.  She opened up about things happening at school and asked questions I might not have heard had it not been just me and her.

Breath, just breath...

8/19/11
In fact, take some big deep breathes!  We are in the midst of teaching the oldest DD to drive.  She acquired her permit last week and is taking driver's ed this semester in school.  It will only be another 5 weeks or so before the teacher takes them out on the road.  We have a lot of work to do!!!

So far she has driven only in the neighborhood.  We started last Saturday up in a new development where there were minimal cars.  Then we added some time around an empty school building to show her she didn't know as much as she thought she did.  Then she got to drive home from that same school building at night with the whole family in the car.  It is only a couple of blocks from our home and we made her stop before she got to the driveway.

Later this week, she was allowed to drive from a church in the neighborhood to home.  The first time, she was not allowed to park, the second time she was.  She did great.  You should know that our driveway is a single car width and we have a fire hydrant and a telephone pole to one side of it.  Makes it a tough turn from the right but turning from the left as she did the first time is not too hard.  Then on the same evening, her father let her drive home from the school and park in the driveway but this was the right hand turn.  I was not in the car but I hear it took 3 tries.

8/20/11
So this morning I got up early with DD and hit the streets.  We left the house just after 6AM with her driving.  First we drove to the church.  It was a little scary.  We had much discussion about how slow one must drive to make a turn.  We missed one intersection because she was going too fast.  We made it to the church  though with no incidents.  After parking there, we discussed our next destination, her school. 

So off we went through the heart of downtown.  We traveled a smaller road (Holmes Ave.) through town and out to the research park.  We did meet some walkers out in the park who thought it would be okay to walk in the left turn lane.  Uhmmm.... NO!  I'm trying to teach a 15 year old how to drive here!  You walking in the middle of the road is not good!  She did hit one curb after a turn but that was minor.  After reaching the school, I changed places with her and drove back toward home.   By this time traffic was beginning to pick up a little .  We reached the five points area where traffic let up a bit and I let her drive the rest of the way home.  I actually had her turn at A. Jackson Way and go up to I-565.  She drove from AJW to Maysville (sequential interchanges) and did an okay job.  Traffic was pretty light and the speed limit is reduced currently due to a repaving project.  It was her first time to drive more than 40mph.

After driving for 30+ years, it can be hard to remember what it felt like to drive in the beginning. This week has brought back lots of memories!


I'm fairly certain that she will be able to handle 'behind the wheel' when that portion of her class starts.  I will be spending a lot of time in prayer!!!  We would covet all prayers for both her safety and our sanity!!! 

It's a carnival! A blog carnival!

The Rocket City Bloggers have just posted their second Blog Carnival at The Anvil Tree!  There is not a theme other than we all live in the greater Huntsville area.  Go check it out and see what the buzz is in Huntsville!

Good Sunday Morning

I enjoyed hearing a great sermon this morning at my church.  This one was delivered by a guest (Rob Weingartner) who heads the Presbyterian Outreach Foundation.  The sermon, naturally, dealt with mission and the role of the church and each individual.  He reminded us that no one else was called to do what we each are called to do.  Each of us has a specific gift and talent that we are called to use to further the kingdom of Christ.  Now that is a heavy responsibility!  If I don't listen to my calling, no one else will fill my shoes in same way I that I will.  Now I am left with much to ponder this week concerning mission and calling. 

He also brought us good news about the body of Christ and how it is alive and growing in many parts of the world.  In Korea, China, Ethipoia and East India (the Meso people) the church is growing in staggering numbers.  As PCUSA members, we are so used to hearing about how the mainline church is in decline and our numbers shrink each year (nationally).  So how is it that the Presbyterian faith is so strong in other parts of the world?  Are we doing something wrong?  Are we just in the wrong place at the wrong time?  In my opinion, we are hindered by both our self-destructive behavior and our culture in the USA.  I am reminded of the rich man who cannot get into heaven without giving away all of his worldly possessions.  But that may be a musing for another post.

For now I will leave you with my gratitude for today's sermon and my thankfulness for my family.  I am truly blessed!

Rising to the Challenge

I started to put this as my FB status but I couldn't really do the topic justice in a FB post.  I am so proud of my DS.  When we saw his homeroom assignment last week, we realized that he had not been put in the Algrebra I class which he will need to truly exceed in the IB program next year.

When I picked him up from school the first afternoon, he had a headache from his class.  That was not an auspicious beginning for him.  I managed to speak with the math teacher and we determined that he had shown growth over the last year and that he could qualify to try Algebra I for the first 9 weeks.  She put the plan in place yesterday after we spoke.  What a difference it made when I picked him up yesterday!  He was happy and pleased that he would be allowed to try this.  I think he is committed to making it work!  It took him all afternoon and evening to finish two days worth of homework but he did it without complaining.  That is a serious change from last year! 

So today I am thankful for a teacher who works with me for the best outcome for my child and I am so grateful for a child who wants to do his best.  I have been blessed!

Day 26 - Much for which to give thanks

Our community was hit by severe thunderstorms last night.  I slept through most of it which isn't all that unusual for me.  But I am so thankful that the damage was minimal at my house!  We didn't even lose power.  There were over 20,000 customers without power by 2:30am.

I have 2 friends on FB who had trees come through their roofs!  And another had a tree fall on the roof but not come through.  And a fourth friend sustained significant damage to her home from the wind.  After surviving the April 27th storms, this was relatively small but when your home is damaged, it is severe.  So while I am counting my blessings, I am also thinking and praying for my friends who were not so fortunate last night.

Day 25 - Giving thanks

Somedays it is rather difficult to write these gratitudes.  I'm not sure why that is but I also think it is getting easier to do for the most part.  I think there will always be hard days but blessings are still to be found.

Nothing hard about today though!  I am thankful for my friends!  They make me laugh and cheer me on.  They listen and fill me in on things I need to know.  Life without my friends would be rather dull in deed!  I am also thankful for facebook and the opportunities it provides to keep in touch with friends spread to distant parts of the world.  I think I would have kept up much better with some of my college friends had facebook been around back in the dark ages.  With two friends about to move out of state, I have been thinking about this quite a bit. 

Day 24 - Thankful!

I am finding that I am watching more for the God moments as I progress in this endeavor.  Being aware of when God is working is one of my goals.

Today I am thankful for my new doctor.  She doesn't normally take new patients but we must have said the correct thing to get into the practice!  I am so pleased!  I had my initial appointment today and look forward to a long and hopefully healthy relationship! 

She listened and seemed willing to work with me on the goals that I have set for myself.  That seems to me to be the beginning of a good partnership if one can call the doctor - patient relationship a partnership!

Day 23 - I am thankful

I am thankful tonight for all the people who make up the Kiwanis organization.  I had the privilege of attending two meetings today.  At lunch time, I attended my DH's club and at dinner, I attended another club meeting with him as part of an InterClub.

The people of Kiwanis are committed to helping children.  Internationally, nationally and on the state and local levels.  Kiwanis clubs in Alabama are sponsors to the RIF program (or Reading is Fundamental).  They donate books and read regularly at schools with fewer opportunities.  Kiwanis is sponsoring a huge immunization effort right now on the international front.  And locally, Kiwanis has played a huge role in getting the new Everybody Can Play playground created.

These civic minded people show me that we can do a lot when we all work together.  Somebody should take the message to the US Congress.  They could certainly learn alot from Kiwanis!

Days 21 and 22 - I am thankful

I'm having to combine two days.  Yesterday got busy fast and never let up!  Today has been a little better but not much.  So I will do both days of gratitude here.

First, I am thankful for the wonderful opportunity DD had to work with great clinicians this past week in the Acting in Singing Workshop put on my Ars Nova.  She really did learn alot.  One of the things they did was a one act play by Thurber called The Happy Journey.  Katie had a lot of lines to learn and did a great job!  I do not think she has ever had to learn so many lines so quickly.  Ron Harris was the clinician for that part.  Dr. Beazley worked with her on voice and Paul Houghtailing worked with the group staging their excerpts.  DD's part was in Les Mis.  She also worked with Susan Kelly on dance and movement.  Dr. Beazley really did put together an excellent staff for this!

Secondly, I am thankful for the time I had today to be amongst God's family.  It is wonderful to spend time with our church family.  Being in the company of fellow believers is always welcomed.