A Royal Tea Party

Our hometown might be thousands of miles from Westminster Abbey, but that didn't mean we were going to miss out on the Royal Wedding Festivities. My family is English after all and my mother is always willing to host a traditional English Tea Party.

An invitation arrived in mail for Miss A and Miss M to come for a Royal Slumber Party followed by an early morning tea party to watch the wedding. Miss A had a day off of school for a teacher work day and, for the first time ever, I let Miss M skip school. I felt better when I heard that Barbara Walters told people to let their children stay home and not miss out on this historical event.

I remember vividly watching the Wedding of Charles and Diana. My family got up early for tea and crumpets and watched the fairy tale and pageantry. A neighborhood friend spent the night to watch the event with me and then our family took off for a vacation to Colorado after "the kiss."

Ten years later, I was in England with my grandmother when Charles and Diana were off on their 10th Anniversary trip. I fell in love with London and walked around Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Victoria Station feeling very much at home. On the train ride to Oxford, I dreamed what it would be like to be a student at Oxford University. I was sure somewhere in my mind I was dreaming of marrying a Prince someday too.

When I was a small child, both my great grandmother and great great grandmother were alive. They were both very English and very proper. In fact, I believed my GG Grandmother was the Queen of England. Every time I saw her, she was sitting in a high backed chair in her home. She was tiny and royal looking and I was all of five or six so it made perfect sense.

Guess you could say I have English blood running through my veins. Thus, when the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine came about, I knew that this would be a memory that M and A would never forget. They loved every moment of the Wedding Tea Party. My mom went all out with scones, hats, gloves, and tiaras. It was every little girls dream.

Westminster Abbey seemed very close on Friday morning.

Honors Abound

Yesterday was a day of honors and accolades for Mr. C. First, he was pulled out of class early in the morning for a surprise celebration honoring all the eight graders who had maintained a 4.0 GPA for the entire year.

I wish I could say he gets his brilliance from me, but I only had a 4.0 one semester of my life and that was in college! My husband claims he never had a 4.0 but I'm thinking that might be a lie or due to the fact that he was a finance major and took super hard classes.

Of course, Mr. C was most trilled that not only did he get to miss class for the celebration, they also had yummy snacks. Gotta love how food motivates this child.

Following this ceremony, we joined Nana and Papa at the Rotary 8th Grade Honor Roll luncheon at a downtown hotel. C's teachers recommended him for this award based on the criteria of leadership, character, scholarship and presence. What a huge honor. It was amazing to be among almost 400 young leaders, what a testimony to the future of this country. Each speaker challenged those in attendance to live up to the gifts and blessings they had been given and share their gifts with their community and country.

Then it was back to the school for an ice cream cake reception for all the Rotary scholars. Their counselor had made a banner for them with all their names and listed of some of their accomplishments and community service projects from the past few years.

It was an exhausting yet exciting day for Mr. C and our family. C was honored for the type of young man he is both inside and outside of the classroom. We could not be prouder.

Our hope is that as Mr C will always use his God given talents and gifts to serve others and advance the cause of Christ in our community.

Great Job Mr. C !!

Eagle Scout Project Begins

Mr. C has started his Eagle Scout Project. After some behind the scenes work and meeting with the Principal and Playground Equipment Company, the final plans are now in place. Mr. C will be working to upgrade the primary playground at our Elementary School. Monday night, he received final approval from the PTA and a large percentage of the funding for the project.

Mr. C created an impressive Power Point presentation for the PTA and, with their support, he will be tearing out a set of rubber tires and a zip line and replacing them with a climbing wall and the wiggle walk play set. Miss A is so excited. This is her playground and she's pumped to think that next fall she'll be able to say that her brother put in the new playground.

Needless to say our summer has just gotten a little bit busier. Mr. C will be organizing this project for installation this summer so it is completed before he heads off to high school and the kids return for the fall. If you happen to have construction experience, expect a call from us!

It's hard to believe that it was just a few years ago that this young man was a Tiger Cub Scout wearing a bright orange t-shirt and earning belt loops. Today, he's already a Life Scout and has over 30 merit badges and is only one badge short of earning his Eagle. With this Eagle Scout project now in place, he should be able to complete all the requirements for this honor next year.

Mr C has already learned some life lessons in getting this project off the ground floor and I'm sure there will be lots of lessons learned along the way to final completion. He'll gain so much from this experience and I'm sure the man he will become will be forever molded by this project.

Now, we just need to figure out to move around TONS of pea gravel, remove a huge play structure, and dispose of decomposing rubber tires. In addition, he has to arrange for large construction/equipment pieces to make this job easier and the funds needed to accomplish all the destruction/assembly. Of key importance to C, we will also need to figure out how to feed the workers and a big sandwich from Blimpie's and Nana' Chocolate Chip cookies are already on his list of ideas.

I know this is just another step on the road to manhood, but looking back it's hard to believe that my cute little Cub Scout is just a distance memory and my new Eagle Scout is becoming a reality. Time Flies!

Easter 2011

It was a glorious Easter. A celebration of great joy at the gift of the Resurrection.

Following a wonderful Easter Service, we had a chilly, but fun egg hunt in the yard. Thankfully, the "Bunny" waited until we were gone at Church to lay the eggs.

The girls looked adorable in their Easter dresses, even if Miss A thought wearing a white sweater was torture. Guess she wasn't' effected by the temps in the 40's. Yes, it is Spring in the Midwest.

Mr. C looked smashing in his dress pants, shirt and tie. I loved watching father teach son how to make a double Windsor knot. Good thing he has until October before he needs to wear one everyday for school. When did he become such a handsome young man!

We enjoyed a fabulous lunch with the "family" and even attempted to recreate a picture from 10 years ago when some of the participants were much smaller and younger and a few joined the picture for the first time. Miss A and Miss M so adore their cousins and are thrilled with any time with Miss N and Miss L.

It was a wonderful Easter!

Sunday's Comin'

It's Friday but Sunday's Comin'

Today is Good Friday. The day that Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice. Explaining to Miss A today why we call it Good, when its the day that Jesus died on the cross was challenging. She decided that it was a weird name to remember this day by. I explained that it's good because we know the rest of the story. We know the great news about Sunday. We believe in Easter. Glorious Resurrection Day. Evil Defeated. New Life in Christ. The real reason why this is such a "Good Friday."

When Mr. C was little, he learned the song, "God's Not Dead, No He is Alive" and, for weeks after Easter Sunday, he would sing it all the time. His little three year old voice proclaiming the message of the great news, He is Risen!

Sometimes it's easy to gloss over the Easter story, to only focus on the joy and ignore the agony and sorrow of Good Friday. Too often I live in the promise of Easter in my own little world of Christians and forget that many of the world doesn't know my Savior.

I don't want to get out my comfort zone and share the good news with others. I figure someone else will do it. Yesterday, I was convicted that people in my own little world are dying without knowing Jesus. I don't want to offend others. I don't want to be uncomfortable

Isn't that what Easter is all about, getting uncomfortable. How can I not realize that by failing to live my faith out loud in those uncomfortable moments, I'm offending Jesus. I'm not being authentic. My faith should not be like a piece of clothing that I put on and off. I can't be lukewarm.

This year I want to live out Easter everyday. I want to live in the joy of Easter and share that joy with others. Because today might be Friday, but Sunday's coming and I want to make sure everyone in my life celebrates that glorious truth. He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed! Happy Easter.

You and Your Girl Simulcast: What A Day!

I've always wanted to go to a Vicki Courtney event with my daughter. As an avid fan of her books and blog, I knew that I would benefit so much from hearing Vicki's insight into mothering girls and I knew I could use some of her advice. It's not easy to raise a girl today and to bring one up to know and love God in today's culture takes extra prayers and encouragement.
Let's just say that the You and Your Girl Simulcast was just what I needed!

I'm so thankful that my church caught my vision and signed up to be a host site. Not only did it allow me to be at a Vicki Courtney event five minutes from home, it meant that I could share this day with some great women in our community. Two of my dear friends even brought a book table to the event. They didn't even mind giving up their Saturday to man the book table, even though they are mothers of just boys!

Vicki's messages really spoke to me. My listening guide is filled to the brim with my notes on her message on "Growing a Godly Daughter in a World that is Ungodly" and I loved the visual of being the gardener of our daughter's heart. I have the quote "expose our child's heart to the Son" written in my calendar so I make sure I'm making that a priority instead of just driving her to dance, softball etc.

The reminder that "girls who are delighted in, feel more delightful" was like a gentle nudge to always have fun with Miss M and Miss A and to tell them what a joy they are to me. I need to make sure that I'm showing them with my words, actions and deeds how much I enjoy them. I had never heard of "backdoor moments" before and the concept that to the degrees kids can predict me, they will dismiss me really resonated with me. I need to be looking for ways to impart values in daily life, not looking for those perfect moments to "teach or preach," but to be open to the backdoor moments.

More than anything, I was convicted that this summer I want to live out Philippians 4:8-9 and making sure that the "daily bread" is part of our families daily diet! If we are filling up our minds with whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable, it will change how we live.

Vicki's final challenge to both mothers' and daughters was to fill our souls with things that build our faith and fast from those things that tear you away from Christ. She told us to create a list of "more of....less of.." challenges that we wanted to see in our lives. More of Christ, Less of Me etc.

My list is long. There are a lot of things that I need to get rid of in my life so that I have more of Christ in me. I'm still working through all these things, and listening to God's direction on what he wants me to do.

What a glorious, challenging and convicting message. What a great day.