The Miracle Worker

My dear friend Angel has an incredible family that we dearly love. Recently her daughter, Tori, was cast as Helen Keller in the play, The Miracle Worker, put on by The Playhouse in the Park (Mobile, AL). To say that Tori was incredible would be a gross understatement. She killed it. Within minutes II  forgot she was Tori and believed she was indeed Helen Keller. Truly amazing performance. Being Helen Keller and doing it well is no easy feat. There are no lines to memorize you are “performing gestures.” Meaning, she had to memorize everyone else’s lines to know when to “act out” as Helen. Wow. Just Wow! I am so thankful that I got to go see this amazing 12 year old girl shine like her Creator made her to do. It was such a gift to experience and celebrate this event with the Dahlgren family. Angel is one of my favorite people…on the planet. Laughter always flows from our relationship and I am so blessed by it.  I was sad that we all couldn’t see Tori in this play but I am hopeful that she will audition for Pippy Longstocking! Then the whole family will plan to go down and see her. Note: I laughed how her twin brother Talon enjoyed sniffing Tori’s colorful bouquet that she passed to him so she could sign autographs! She’s famous. I know her. She even autographed my program for me. I plan on selling it on eBay for millions of dollars when she is known worldwide...just sayin.’

He is Turning 11 Next Week…So I thought I Should Review 10

Nice.

In my defense, I thought I had already posted these pages…they in fact, were already done. I was trying to group all my Photoshop original pages in one folder and my jpegs in another folder, only I couldn’t find the jpegs…which are what I upload. So, I searched my blog and couldn’t find these pages anywhere. Perhaps I posted them on FB, which I am sorta boycotting now. Whatever the reason, here they are now.

Ten years old. Double digits. Wow! For Noah’s tenth birthday he wanted an archery party. So we called up Grandpa and headed out to Bennett’s Archery in Wetumpka, AL. We invited all his C.C. classmates. All but one friend were able to attend. Everyone had a great time and they all want to go back! It was a great day with perfect weather and great friends! The girls were fierce. We had to practically drag them off the range. I was so proud of them. When it was time to eat, they self segregated. In an attempt to unite the group I asked the girls if they wanted to move over and before I could finish my sentence they both said, “No. We’re good.” P.S. Taylor ate 42 chicken fingers I think.

3 More Reasons

Just 3 more reasons why I love my C.C. community. My favorite perhaps is the drawing directly to the right. As a part of the stylistic writing curriculum Noah is participating in, we the Mama’s, are required to watch 9 hours of DVD’s regarding this subject. The trainer is a man by the name of Andrew Pudewa. He is wonderful and what he teaches is incredible. At any rate, all the Mama’s gather to watch said videos together. To say we were inattentive would be a gross understatement. Busy reading an article that did not relate to the night’s DVD’s, I was accused of being a bit to studious and the note to the left was sent to me by Amy Rushing. I told the teacher on her. Oh yes, I called you out Amy! Hilarious. I love these ladies I do life with, they make my heart smile. I also love their children. Noah had a great time at both birthday celebrations.

Rainbow Milk

Ahhhh, science. Today’s experiment was whole milk versus dishwashing soap. The food coloring was there for effect only. Showing the milk’s reaction and movement is its only purpose. Well, that and it makes it look cool. The soap bonds with the fat and protein molecules in the milk. It’s this bonding that produces the movement. So cool.

Do You Wanna Hug Your Dentist…

February 5, 2015-  As if we couldn’t love our dentist even more! This was an unbelievable day. I got a phone call from our dentist, whom you already know I love dearly. Apparently, on the banner visit we had just a month before, all three children submitted an answer for a guessing game. The game was to guess how many blue rocks were in the Frozen themed container. If you guessed the correct answer you would win a Frozen themed gift bag of goodies. Of all my kiddos, Eden is the one who would love this gift and truth be told, she is the one who could stand to have a higher opinion of the dentist. I mean she is currently a fan, but a Frozen gift bag would seal the deal. And so the deal is sealed. Eden guessed there were 202 rocks. Shockingly, there were exactly 202 rocks! She won! Friends, to say she was excited would be an understatement. As a matter of fact 2 days later she informed me we needed to stop back by the office to thank them again. Another win for Dr. Thomas and his staff! We. Love. Them.

Can’t Get Enough Science: Bubble Bomb

Just can’t get enough science! Today was the “Bubble Bomb” day at C.C. Purpose: To show the chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar combining to give off a gas. For this project we created “time-release” baking soda packets by folding up 2 tablespoons of baking soda in a 5”x 5” paper towel. Then we put water and vinegar into a sandwich baggie and went outside. Our goal was to seal up the time-release packet in the sandwich bag, shake it, and toss it to the ground to watch the bag inflate and then pop open. This was easier than I expected and way more fun than I expected. Bubble Bombs were flying everywhere and exploding all around. In the end, all the experiments worked except Luke’s, whose bag sprung a leak. However, it was interesting to note how long the bag stayed inflated before Patrick smashed it. C’est la vie. A good time was had by all. Let’s here it for science!

Chinese New Year Celebration

Year of the Goat ; February 14, 2015

We celebrated Chinese New Year at the festival held at Boutwell Auditorium. It was our best experience there yet. The girls loved the shows they were entranced. We hung out with a favorite family of ours, the Sungs, and finished out our day by buying pretty umbrellas. Great Day!

Oobleck. Oh yeah.

Seemingly innocent elements, cornstarch and water, when combined just right make for gooey, freaky science fun. The fluffy, silky, cloud-like cornstarch will become a “non-Newtonian” substance. Meaning its viscosity can change.  Meaning it changes if you strike it as opposed to simply rest your hand in it. Water to rock hard solid. So much so that you can run and jump up and down on it. But if you stop you will sink into it. And if you simply tilt it back and forth it will move as fluid as water. What does 15 pounds of cornstarch and 1.75 gallons of water make? A whole lot of fun, that’s what! This was our small scale testing of making enough Oobleck to jump and run on for our C.C. science project. The plan is to buy a small baby pool and fill it with 150 pounds of cornstarch and water so that we truly can run, jump, dance, and skip on it. Or sink as the case may be. It turned out amazing! At first, Eric made the Oobleck with only a gallon of water, and it wasn’t enough water for the mixture to move fluidly. Then we added another 3/4 gallon of water and it moved like water but was rock solid if you applied sudden force to it. Perfection in a Tupperware storage container. While the girls were interested in touching and playing with it, we couldn’t get them to jump on it. While I knew the science would hold up it was still a little scary to jump on it at first. However, myself, Eric and Noah all had a turn. Can’t wait for class! This is going to be the coolest science day of the entire year! When it happens I will be sure NOT to wear my black jeans to class (above). Really? What was I thinking? Anyway, the cornstarch has been ordered in bulk and is on its way. I am still looking for a baby pool as well as devising a disposal method for all the Oobleck. I can’t wait for the big day. Neither can my friend, Nikki, who is super excited to be helping me out with this. We have wanted to do a baby pool of Oobleck for several years now. Not that this is all about us...but it is! Sooooooo excited!!!!!

Bud’s Best Cookies Really Are the Best

Bud’s Best Cookies Field Trip             Jan. 13, 2015
So this was the best ever, the hairnets were itchy, but still. What a fantastic company. We rode a train through the factory and every worker waived at the kids. Every. Worker. The cookies were awesome! Yaya ate her entire cup of cookies. The girls just had a great time. This was a fun and tasty trip! Thanks RUMC and Bud!

Star Performers Debut

On February 11, 2015, Eden and Hope took the stage in their debut appearance at the Riverchase UMC 4K Valentines Day program. For weeks the girls had been practicing their songs around the house and they were beside themselves when the day finally arrive. Shockingly, Hope was a total ham on the stage, waving, giggling, dancing, and talking to her friends while on stage. Eden on the other hand performed perfectly. Destined for stardom, Eden was perfectly poised and precious. Enough talking…more watching. Enjoy the video!

 

I Need Bigger Hair

So I am "spring cleaning" and such...look what I unearthed...that's right...Glamour Shots...could my hair be any bigger...I think I'm all of 16 here...the 80's were fun.

Bow To Me

Yeah so, this is the statement I heard yesterday that caused me to grab my camera and investigate. That’s right, “Bow to me.” Of course it was said by my meek, sweet, lovely Eden Marie. Quietly playing at the Lego table she voiced those words. When I approached her and the table here is what I saw. Those are all the “Friends” Lego girls and Merida from Brave, bowing to the Queen Lego girl, who by the way has a birthday Lego shirt on for some reason. I especially love that the two girls on the second level of the castle are also bowing. Bring it, Eden. Bring it!

A Friendly Reminder

Lord, do not let us forget the hardness and the humor of this day. When we were being selfish and wallowing in self-pity, when we were unkind to others and moreover to ourselves, You stepped in to correct us, love us, and make us laugh. Father, thank you for the book, “Jesus Calling” for kids. Thank you for introducing us to:

1 Corinthians 10:10

While it provided much laughter, it also came with a heavy truth. Sadly, a truth we all need to be reminded of as of late. Do everything as unto the Lord.

100th Day of School Celebration

February 6, 2015: The girls were so excited about this day and they were not disappointed. Because both their teachers are A-Mazing it was a wonderful day filled with fun activities and yummy treats. They came home with papers, necklaces with 100 beads, pre-printed 100th day of school bracelets and my favorite...Hats! Congrats ladies!