Lawndale Tea

My former next-door neighbor, Tracy (right) and me (left) at Lawndale's recent women's tea. I had the privilege of speaking to the 400 attendees about my book, The Five Languages of Apology. My sister, Elisabeth, was my date, photographer, and fellow gawker as we marveled at Tracy and the other ladies' fabulous table settings!

Below, you'll see me at the tea surrounded by friends Kelly and Kyra. Kelly W. and two of her teacher friends just wrote a very creative book that teaches kids how to solve word problems. Her title is The Power of the Medallion.

Lunch with Cousins

We recently enjoyed lunch with Russell's dear cousins (and a special friend on the left). The girls are now in 7th and 9th grades! They have attended this private, classical Christian school since Kindergarten. Their Dad just joined them there this year as the school's Business Manager!

Anger + D = DANGER

After Lydia hit Ross on the back for the 2nd time in as many days, he took me aside and said, "Mom. I think you should put Lydia in anger management classes." Perhaps....
But actually, when Lydia is good, she is very, very good, but when she is bad she is ...
Here, she is pictured with her head on Ross's shoulder as he displays his Boy Scouts cake submission. Gamma Beth led the cake project- great job!

2 Going on 20

Russell is often busy doing what grownups do. Here, he reclines in our bed with the remote control.

Helping himself to the butter while sporting big brother's shades and big sister's shoes.

And finally.... relaxing in bed with the paper.

J.T.'s Impact Greensboro Wrap-Up Celebration

Linwood Carver (left) and J.T. (right) at the final dinner of their year-long leadership program.

According to the group's website, "IMPACT Greensboro is a unique leadership program and reflects a redesign of the Mosaic project, originally launched in 2005 to pair people of diverse backgrounds to spend quality time together and develop friendships. The premise was that friendships would 'expedite the building of trust between diverse people, foster an inclusive culture, create new understandings, and break down barriers that block connectivity'. "

The objectives identified for IMPACT Greensboro are to:

• Forge collective ways to address and impact key community interests and concerns;
• Provide participants with a deeper understanding of core community issues and the importance that relationships play in effectively addressing issues.
• Create an ongoing dialog on community issues and an ongoing method for interaction.
• Create a vibrant network of community “change agents” who are equipped to identify and tackle community issues

J.T.'s work generously provided a day per month for him to attend the general sessions, as well as its Economic Issues subcommittee.


http://www.25thevent.org/page10001549.cfm

Election Day 2008

Very excited about this historic election day, I had the kids pose for pictures in front of an Obama sign...

and a McCain sign (my Maiden name for you trivia buffs!). As you can see, the kids were tiring of my photography (Russell kept running away so Lydia helpfully put him in a head lock). This photo also shows the parking lot of their new school.

Finally, Russell broke free only to sit down on the wet grass...

The kids perked right up when we went to our local Krispy Kreme for doughnuts (free with a voting sticker - thank you very much!) and then on to the gym. What a combo!

Greensboro Coliseum

I recently spent the whole weekend at our Greensboro Coliseum. I attended a wonderful Women of Faith conference. One of the biggest draws for me was Anita Renfroe (pictured) a comedian who performs the Mom Song on You Tube- a barrel of laughs for our whole family!

The evening after the women's conference, I was privileged to return to the Coliseum with my best girls for a Cheetah Girls Concert. I wasn't sure who or what they are, but I've learned that they are a cool Disney tweens music group. Bethany, my younger niece, shares a Halloween birthday with my mom. The family of one of Bethany's good friends has corporate box seats but they weren't able to make it to the concert so they gave all 6 of their tickets to Bethany for her 12th birthday. Lydia and I were honored to be among her invited guests shown above: Sarah (friend), Bethany, Lydia, me, Elisabeth (my sister), and Anna (back row). Bethany, thank you for having shared with us! Rock on!

Lydia enjoying the concert. She had applied a purse tattoo to her cheek and a concert patron gave her the Indian-style forehead dot (a Cheetah girls movie theme, I learned).

Following the concert, Elisabeth and I took our girls on their first trip to our local fondue restaurant, The Melting Pot. Delicious!

Doctor's Office

I took all 3 of our kids to our family doctor to get their flu shots. We were delighted to learn that they were eligible for the flu mist instead. Happy day! In the waiting room, I was so surprised to find them all sitting quietly that I grabbed my camera to take a picture of this brief, shining, Kodak moment!

Fall trip to Virginia

We enjoyed some family time and fall foliage on a recent trip to Virginia.

We met Beth and Jim Thomas at the Science Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke. We all had a ball on this, our first visit to this wonderful museum!

On Sunday, we enjoyed a hike with the grandparents, plus Anne Elise and her husband, Phil. Then, we took in a wonderful puppetry performance and craft event for children at the Jefferson Center in Roanoke. Here, Lydia is pictured with a craft helper in her hand made mask. Aunt Anne Elise is the student education coordinator at this wonderful foundation.

Russell at the zoo

Naomi, one of our indispensable babysitters, took Russell on his first trip to the N.C. zoo. She took this picture of him by a BIG statue. I told Russell about the changing seasons. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned it because now he notices all the leaves on the ground and says with some concern, "my leaves fell down." I'm trying to encourage him with the beauty of the leaves and the hope of Spring.

Editorial by Cal Thomas

Photo by Jim Thomas

Here we are on the far side of an historic election. I'm enjoying the relief from political ads!

I thought this editorial about caring for "the least of these" was interesting.

Telephone Play

Russell loves to play with electronics, especially cell phones. This morning, he held up the cordless phone, looked at the display and then lamented, "No bars."

Elisabeth said yesterday that he was holding Anna's cell phone to his ear and saying something to them that sounded like 'KITE'. He was very adamant and said it to them over and over. They still couldn't understand him and so he finally held up one finger and finally made himself clear: "I on the phone...QUIET!"

Way to go!

Pictured above are Lydia, Cousin Barrett, and Russell partying in the back seat of my parents' car.
Russell has become quite a back seat driver. He yells, "slow down!" and "that way!" For months, he has proclaimed every Honda Pilot as "Mama's car!", every Malibu as "Uncle Bish's car!", every Caravan as "Aunt Liz's car!", every Odyssey as "Tatum's car!" etc. It can be startling, at first, but those who drive Russell have learned not to get their nerves jangled by his outbursts (I think they call it 'habituation').
Today, Russell wanted to direct JT as they drove to the Bishops' house. Lydia prompted Russell to point and say, "go that way." Obligingly, Russell cheered, "Way to go!"