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!

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.

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.

Day 20 - I am thankful

Some days it feels like I live behind the wheel in my van.  Today was one of those days.  Business meeting, kids to school and a workshop, kid to church, kid to the mall, pickup from mall to store and then home and last but not least, a pickup from church.  I'm sure I forgot an errand or two in there.  There was little time to create!

But I am thankful for time spent, one on one with my kids.  They are captive in the vehicle with me and we have some wonderful conversations while I am driving.  It takes practice to draw information out of a 13 year old boy but the van is a great place for it.

Day 17 - I am thankful

What a busy day!  Lots of errands were completed today and a project undertaken and completed.  Makes me a happy girl!

I have been reflecting on different cultures here in the US and how thankful I am to be where I am!  The idea that girls are not worth educating has really bothered me.  I have heard stories of certain cultures where that is the norm.  It seems incredible to me to hear that!  I suspect it is a small subset of the particular culture and not the whole.  I am so thankful to have been raised by parents who did not put limits on my dreams or education!

Day 16 - I am Thankful!

So you might have noticed I am on a gratitude thing right now.  I really want to practice being thankful, having a gratitude attitude, or whatever you want to call it.  Life isn't perfect by any means but when we count our blessings, it becomes easier to...  skip over the bumps, roll with the punches, weather the storm... choose your metaphor or suggest one in the comments.  Stopping each day to find the blessings, find the God moments, gives me time to reflect.  I know at 16 days, this is hardly a habit but I am well on my way to making this change.

Today's gratitude - I am thankful for the internet and the connections it makes for me!  I know that might sound strange but it really is true.  There is so much knowledge shared collectively on the internet and friendships and relationships are established and maintained because of it .  What a blessing it is!  (I know it can be a curse when misused but for me, it is almost entirely a blessing!)

Day 15 - I am Thankful

Today I am thankful for my oldest DD.  She has returned from PA (LOGOS Youth Conference) a changed child.  Maybe not even a child so much as a growing young adult, becoming more secure with her place in this world and totally secure in her relationship with the Lord. 

She has shared glimpses of her time in PA with me and I know that she had a blast.  I also know that these conferences are extremely intense for the kids.  This year seems to have been a particularly strong year.  She wrote a beautiful song while she was there and shared with me the comments she received from her Bible study group.  I am left in awe of of God's work in her life and pray that her gifts will take her far!

Day 14 - I am thankful!

Today I am thankful for the company of good friends, good food and much laughter!  This kind of fellowship is just good for the body and the soul.  Tonight we were blessed to be invited to try the food of Portugal.  It was quite good!  We met new people too which was fun.  And to top of the evening, our oldest should be home by midnight!  All around us are many blessings!

Day 13 - I am Thankful!

Today I am thankful for my husband who supports my work and encourages me to be my best.  I am blessed!

Day 12 - I am Thankful!

I am thankful for Thursday mornings!  They come early at our house as DH is usually out the door well before 7AM to get to a 7:15 meeting each week.  I am usually awake and this summer have made it a habit to head to Panera for some Mommy time!  It has been wonderful!  I take my laptop, order breakfast and make myself an iced coffee (Hazelnut of course!).  Then I settle into my seat and enjoy the morning!

I have met interesting people this summer with this weekly ritual.  I run into friends.  My DH usually joins me when his meeting is over and we have a few minutes in the middle of the day to touch base.

Meanwhile, I have checked in with FB, Twitter, Google+ and read the blog updates which I find in my google reader.  I check the news but not my email.  I find it so relaxing to be there.  Who would have thought that early Thursday morning would become such a treasured time.  It will come to a screeching halt when school rolls around.  Hopefully, I will be able to go still, just a little later after dropping off all the kiddos.

But for now, I as so thankful for Thursday mornings and this new ritual.

Day 11 - I am Thankful!

Tonight was the first meeting of the Rocket City Bloggers.  This is an informal group of people who blog and are willing to meet together to share knowledge and learn from each other.  I hope that is a fair way of stating it.  We met at BAM and though we were afraid that it might be a small group to start, we quickly grew in number until there were nine bloggers there.  Many, like myself, manage more than 1 blog and others focus on just one blog / area.  For a first meeting, I think it went really well!  We were able to talk about what topics we might want to have for future meetings.  We got to know more about each other and generally all agreed that FB was not to be trusted with anything that needed to be kept private! 

One thing that we talked about was having a blog carnival.  I admit it!  I didn't know exactly what that was and I'm still not sure exactly how it should work!  I googled it and will be adding links here to others who attended the meetup!  Not sure if that is truly a carnival or not.  See?  I have much to learn with respect to blogging!

http://carolmarksonline.com/

http://www.rocketcitymom.com/

http://www.thediningdragon.com/

http://mrsdragon.net/

http://notyourtypicalsouthernbelle.net/

http://entirelyadequate.com/

http://auntgeebakes.com

This is just a list of blogs from those who were there tonight.  There are more to add and I will try to get to them later too!  So for my gratitude today, I am thankful for this new circle of friends.  I'm excited to see where we go and watching each one grow!

Day 9 - I am Thankful!

Today I had the joy of spending time creating with girlfriends.  I am so thankful for my girlfriends!  We were working on quilts!  I found my project from when I took a quilting class in 1994!  The colors are not anything I would choose now!  But, if I look at this as an opportunity to learn and practice the skills, the colors really don't matter.  They aren't hideous, just not attractive to me now.  I'll try to post a picture later.

Day 8 - I am thankful

I am thankful for safe travels and chaperones who are posting pics from LOGOS!  I have seen DD in one photo and know that the trip went well.  Praying the fellowship and relationships deepen with Christ and His community.

Day 7 - I am thankful!

Today - I am thankful that my oldest is on her way to Scranton, PA to participate in the annual LOGOS Conference East.  I put her on a bus at 5:30 pm to leave for a 14 hour trip (not including their stops).  I am praying for safe travels, a week of new and renewed friendships, fellowship and learning.  Praise God!