Recital 2013

Lyrical

 After much anxiety and prayer, Victoria took a leap and switched dance studios for this year.  After 10 years at the old studio, I suspect great courage was required to start classes with new girls and new teachers.

The primary enticement to make the change was the new ballet teacher, Val Salnikov, a professional dancer from Russia.  What a treat to have such a seasoned classical ballet instructor!  June 10-14 will be a real test for Victoria's ballet passion - A Russian Ballet Summer - a ballet camp with Russian instructors.  My toes hurt just thinking of dancing that much.

Hamming it up for the camera

Warming up for rehearsal

Do ballerinas get pep talks?

 
 While you may not be all that impressed with the action photography; in my defense, I was simultaneously taking pictures and videoing with the ipad. 

Missing Captions

Victoria is considering entering a few photos in the Georgia 4-H Photo Contest.  The first picture of Hannah and Grace can be entered in the in "Focus on 4-H" category since it's of a 4-Her working on her state project.  However...we need a caption and we're at a loss.  Suggestions?

Which bottle brush photo do you prefer?  I won't bias you by telling you my favorite.  This would be entered in the general division and I was considering a caption like "Like a 4-Her: Bursting with Potential"  but that seems a little cheesy.  Any better suggestions?

Two photos can be entered in each division and she just plain likes the rose photo.  While not horribly original, the color is fabulous for being unedited.

How 'bout a contest?  If we select your caption, I'll send you a print of the picture.  Okay...so that's not that much of a prize, but it seems fitting.

Distraction or Destination

School, home-school co-op, Care Net Bible study, horses, dancing, stall cleaning...oh, yeah...cooking, cleaning and laundry.  Do you ever start to feel overwhelmed when you realizes just how many directions you are pulled in a day?  Add to that the fact that I'm a homebody who will go to great lengths to manipulate my schedule to leave the house as little as possible.  As a result, when I do have to be out and about, I  try to cram as much into that day as possible, leaving very little margin.

That was true of my schedule last Thursday.  Hannah needed some adjustments made to her western show saddle (long story - please don't ask me to explain) and the only saddlemaker in the area lives in Kingsland, about 45 minutes south of us.  I made arrangements with Mr. Lopez to be at his shop sometime in the early morning so that I'd have plenty of time to return home, prep for the World History class that meets at our house at 12:00 and then drive to Oglethorpe Elementary to pick up my niece Caitlyn by 2:15.  Seemed perfectly doable.  Aren't those famous last words?  Then Patrick ask me to swing by the Camden County Care Net and pick up something from their office.  Ummm...no problem.  That would only add 15 or 20 minutes to the trip.

We arrived at Rancho No Tengo, Mr. Lopez's saddle and leather works shop, a tad later than I intended, but since I was only planning to have him look at Hannah sitting in the saddle and then leave the saddle to be fixed and picked up another day, I knew we were fine. We introduced ourselves.  He showed us around the shop.  Hanging above us were completed saddles, partially finished saddles, and the "guts" of saddles that looked pretty old (and useless?).  

He had me measure Hannah's inseam, and then had her climb into the saddle as it rested on a saw horse of sorts.  All as I expected.  Then he pronounced judgment.  He could make the adjustment in about 45 minutes - Why don't I take Hannah to McDonalds for a mid-morning snack while he works his magic.  Perfect...sort of!  It would save me driving back to Kingsland another day.  I did some quick mental math and figured we will still be home in plenty of time for my World History commitment.  

  I used the spare time to run the Care Net errand for Patrick and grab a yogurt parfait at McDonalds (Kinglsand has no Starbucks or quaint little coffee shop) to burn the remainder of the 45 minutes.
 

Back at Rancho No Tengo (literally translated "I have no ranch") we strike up some small talk about his leather work as he refits Hannah in the saddle.  The next thing we know, we are getting real, live history lesson on Civil War saddles.  Turns out those useless looking saddle guts that I saw earlier are actually the "tree" (real saddle term) of saddles from the Civil war that he is restoring for re-enactors.  He proceeded to pull out a book and show us various saddles and then stopped at a drawing of a McClellan saddle - the kind he was replicating.  Did you know that saddles belonging to Southern troops were not made of leather?  That's right...not enough leather available, so they used canvas instead.

After our Civil War lesson Mr. Lopez continued our tour of the shop, showing us tools and a wallet he was in the process of making.  All the while I'm looking at my watch and trying to mentally calculate if we are going to be home in time.  Then, at some point, I gave up.  I decided I'd call the World History kid and tell him we were running late.  I decided this distraction really wasn't a distraction - but a destination.  Mr. Lopez is a veritable fount of information - but not like a teacher lecturing in front of the classroom.  It felt more like our grandfather was showing us his hobby, hoping we would fall in love with it as much as he has.  Once I made that decision to ignore my intricately planned schedule, I enjoyed seeing the tiny little harnesses he'd made for his miniature ponies, the huge paint horse and all the other horses that made up his little farm.  

Not only did Hannah and I enjoy our time with Mr. Lopez, we figure we should take the whole 4-H Horse and Pony Club for a field trip and let them partake of his wisdom.  Racho No Tengo is definitely a destination worth our time.

That's the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on a ball. 

      ~Bill Veeck, 1976

 

 People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball.  I'll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring.  ~Rogers Hornsby

 

 

We couldn't miss capturing Bryce Harper.  Kinda makes me feel old that some baseball players are now YOUNGER than my kids.  How did THAT happen?

Baseball is indeed magical - making friends of sisters.

  

 

 

                              Only at baseball games can we eat burgers and fries, sausage dogs with onions and peppers, peanuts and cotton candy, wash it all down with Coke (in a souvenir cup)  and not feel one bit guilty.

 

 Sadly, despite perfect weather the day was less than perfect.  Noticeably absent was daughter #1 who was not yet on spring break and couldn't miss her Friday classes to join us for our day trip.  I also couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the spring trainings of years past.  This was just our second time since we started our Spring Training tradition (16 years ago?) that we haven't spent the night at Grandpa Ned and Grandma Aurel's house and the second time we haven't taken one of them to a game with us.  

Historically, our family would take in one game and then we'd spend the night at the Mack Bed and Breakfast.  The guys would leave mid-morning for game #2 while the girls would say behind with Grandma and play cards, go shopping, ride around in the golf cart or, if the weather was on our side, take a swim in the pool at the clubhouse.

For so many years, this trip defined our spring.  Sadly, time has taken it's toll.  Grandpa is no longer with us, Grandma isn't making the trip to FL and able to say alone, and the kids' college schedules don't mesh.  We've seen the last of spring break trips as a family visiting grandparents - and I'm not exactly taking the change well.  Kevin leaving home was difficult enough.  This trip, while fun, only seemed to magnify the changes our family is undergoing.

Cherishing the time we have left with the girls before they fly the coop.

Decending into Dante's Inferno

 

Hannah's showmanship pattern - Youth 14-18

Okay, so maybe that title is a bit dramatic and possibly even enigmatic for those who have not recently (or ever) read Dante's Divine Comedy, but Hannah's most recent Quarter Horse show was miserably cold.  We shivered from the moment we set foot on the fair grounds and barely stopped until the cab of the truck warmed up on the way home.  Somewhere in the afternoon, mounted on Grace, Hannah declared she was sure this must be a taste of Dante's hell.  You see, Dante's description of hell was somewhat unconventional - his hell is cold.  The further one descended, the colder it became.  I'm not sure what level we had sunk to, but even riders from New England were complaining.

I've about decided Perry knows only two temperatures, as cold at Dante's hell and as hot as the conventional notion.  

Love and Marriage:The Greatest Show on Earth

After not one, but two day trips to Atlanta, I faced the thought of riding back and forth to Atlanta for the third time in the week a bit like a child getting ready to swallow a dose of bad tasting medicine. Okay, okay...so if the truth be known, I whined like a toddler...repeatedly, until Patrick finally gave in and said, "Okay, if you don't want to go, let's just stay home."

While that thought was tempting, I knew I needed to act my age and fulfill the commitment Patrick had made for us months ago.  Oddly, I think Patrick was looking more forward to the weekend marriage conference than I was, so I couldn't bring myself to be the one to call a halt to the plans.

I had arrived home from TeenPact about 10:30 p.m. Thursday evening, threw some clothes in a suitcase, and went to bed with a messy house and an even messier laundry room (think 2 girls just back from camp where they had to wear dress clothes during the day and casual clothing at night).  I woke bright and early to face not only a long drive in a church van, but a 7am dentist appointment.  Yes, I know...you're thinking, "Who in their right mind goes to the dentist at 7am?"  Well, that would be Patrick and I.  Really, normally it's nice not to interrupt your day to get your teeth cleaned (and they're never running late since you are their first appointment).  But not this time.  It was as if fate was conspiring to make my weekend miserable - the good doctor even had to numb me up to take care of a little problem I'd been having.   

At 9am twelve adults and their luggage, riding in a 15 passenger van, pulled out of the church parking lot.  Let's just say riding three adults to a bench seat did nothing to improve my attitude.  Stopping at a cafeteria for lunch did even less for my attitude.  Ultimately, I survived the ride, we checked into the hotel, and I thought "if I can just get a nap before the evening session, I'll be as good as new."  My head had barely hit the pillow when Victoria called and reminded me that we had double booked Alyssa for Saturday night.  She was supposed to be babysitting for Caitlyn and Matthew as well as taking Patrick's parents to Jacksonville.  Yep...you got it...I spent the rest of my nap time on the phone with Chrissy and Alyssa trying to come up with plan B.  Thankfully Kevin's girlfriend Lauren came to my rescue and agreed to help Hannah babysit on Saturday while Alyssa and Victoria taxied Grammy and Grampy to their concert in Jax.

Yes, one child was horrified that we kissed in the photo booth.

Despite me wanting to just stay in the hotel room and sleep (and I'm pretty sure Patrick could have been persuaded), we joined the rest of the group to ride to the first session.  We walked into the lobby of the church and found a circus - a lady on stilts juggling, a circus elephant (not a real one - but life size none-the-less) and bags of kettle corn.  Shockingly, I found it hard to maintain a stinky attitude.  I mean, really, how could I keep a sour demeanor when lights were strung in the sanctuary to make you feel like like you are under the big top!

So after I shaped up, we had a good time...learning and laughing together.  While none of the teaching seemed new - after all, we've been to enough marriage conferences that not knowing what to do is not our problem - but it was a good reminder of what I should be doing to make our marriage better.  And, though it pains me to admit it, once I got past acting like a toddler who wasn't getting my way and embraced the circus atmosphere like a eager child, it was good to get out of town for the weekend and enjoy "Love and Marriage: The Greatest Show on Earth." 

So Much to Learn

 Did you ever make plans that sounded brilliant while they were in the planning stages; but the more time that passed, the more you wondered why you bothered in the first place?  Yeah, TeenPact sounded like a terrific idea until I realized I was going to have to drive back and forth to Atlanta in one day - twice in the same week - and then ride a church van back and forth to Atlanta, bringing my total number of trips back and forth to three in one week.

Alas, we survived the week and learned some vital lessons in the process.
1. Delilah, as we affectionately call our GPS, lived up to her name (as a girl who can lead you astray) as I searched to find the Calvin Center, the camp where the TeenPact kids were staying Monday through Thursday.  Apparently Upper Woolsley, Lower Woolsley, and Woolsley Roads are just too confusing for her to keep straight.  We left home at 5:10am which should have given us plenty of time to drop off luggage before traveling to the Capitol. And while we did eventually find the camp, we barely had time to eat lunch at the Capitol and get the kids where they needed to be by 1pm.  We owe no thanks to Delilah.  Did I mention another mom with a car load of boys was following me, making Delilah's errors even more infuriating and humiliating?

2. Just because the parking meter gobbles up dollar bills, law abiding citizens who live 5 hours from Atlanta have little defense against parking citations.  Long story...but the short version is...I can appeal it (Can you just watch video surveillance you have?  I am the lady in the red jacket who at 11:55 fed money into the machine only for your machine to fail to produce a receipt or to credit my three dollars to parking space 268?) but I have to appear in court and the appeal takes 45-60 days.  By then, were I to lose the appeal, the fee on my ticket would have doubled (or more) after spending $80 to drive back and forth to Atlanta.  Nothing like paying $38/hour ($3 in the meter and $35 in fines) to park.  Welcome to Atlanta.  We are so glad you are here!

3.  The girls can indeed wear skirts that hit below their knees without looking completely out of fashion (i.e. like geeks).  I have just one thing to say...thank God for pencil skirts.  While they still groaned at having to accommodate a strict dress code, they certainly looked like they belonged amongst the politicians and lobbyists.

Five of the six kids, scared and nervous, before their first session Monday afternoon.

The famous gold dome

 4.  Some lobbyist tell TeenPact students that the company for whom they work forbids them to talk to anyone from TeenPact.  Okay...now that's a little sketch.  You are forbidden to answer questions like, "Who are you advocating for?" and "What made you want to become a lobbyist?"  Serious trick questions that some 15yo could one day use against you.  Simply reaffirms my belief that lobbyists are just one step above used car salesmen.

Our group on the floor of the Georgia House with Representative Chapman - By this time they are pros at navigating the Capitol and can tell us all about parliamentary procedure in the Georgia Legislature.

5. If the girls return to TeenPact and stay at the residential camp, Patrick may have to be a chaperone.  My girls are not used to receiving such obvious attention from the opposite sex.  As Hannah says, "Around here, everyone knows my dad and it's like I have an electric fence around me that no boy is willing to get near."  Apparently that was not so in Atlanta.  No worries though, Victoria.  Your dad can still scare off the boy with the awful bowl hair cut.

6.  A grande Americano with an extra shot of espresso is all that is needed to keep me fully awake from Macon to Brunswick.  Yeah...Starbucks thinks I moved or was vacationing - 3 drinks credited to my account this week....all from the same store in Macon.

Coming Soon: Love and Marriage: The Greatest Show on Earth

A Recipe Blog?

In all my years of blogging, I don't think I've ever shared a recipe.  And there's a good reason for that.  Generally nothing I make is noteworthy.  I mean, I have some dishes that are family favorites but it just seems so braggadocios to post a picture of what I cook and then expect someone else to want to imitate me.

But these cookies are the exception.  One of Patrick's co-workers made some and they were quite the rage at Care Net.  I didn't bother asking for the recipe...really...how different can a chocolate chip cookie be from the recipe on the Toll House bag?

Then I ate one.  And I admit it was superior to any other chocolate chip cookie I'd ever eaten, however I still wasn't motivated enough to ask for the recipe.  But when a friend who lives half a world away posted the recipe on her blog, I knew I had to try these delicacies for myself.

These seem the perfect follow-up to our toffee filled holiday.  Oh...I forgot to tell you about that because I wasn't blogging then.  The girls and I perfected toffee making...and nearly made ourselves sick, on occasion, eating one too many pieces.  Because of the brown butter and brown sugar, these have a definite hint of toffee in every bite.  Perfect...absolutely perfect.

My warning: If you have children who are inclined to snatch bites of dough, DO NOT make these while said children are present.

This is copied directly from my friend's blog.  She made a couple of modifications from the original that she found here.  I didn't have walnuts on hand, so mine are sans nuts.

Brown Butter, Brown Sugar and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt (fine)
2 cups unsalted butter
3 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoon full-fat yogurt (but I'm sure lowfat would work fine, too.)
2 teaspoons vanill extract
1 12 oz. package of dark semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 to 11/2 cups chopped walnuts
coarse sea salt for sprinkling

--Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, 175 C.
--Melt butter in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium. Once the butter begins to foam, continue whisking the butter just until it begins to brown  and gives off a nutty aroma. Remove it from the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl right away so that the butter doesn't continue to cook. This extra step of browning the butter is very worth the effort! Think toffee-flavored cookies. Monique provides a great pictorial tutorial for this step. Let the browned butter cool for a few minutes before continuing...
--Mix butter and sugar with an electric mixer until well blended--I use my Bosch. Beat in eggs, yolks, vanilla, and yogurt.
--Add the dry flour, baking powder, salt. When all is well blended, stir (or mix) in chocolate chips and walnuts.
--Chill dough in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
--We used a small cookie scoop to size our cookies, but you could roll them into balls. Place dough on a cookie sheet and press down slightly to flatten. I use the back of a flat spatula. Sprinkle the cookies with just a little bit of sea salt.
--Bake the cookies about 10 minutes--our gas oven isn't well regulated so we check them regularly. The edges of the cookies will be firm and the cookies will be golden brown when they are done. Since the recipe calls for all brown sugar, the cookies will be a little but darker (see picture above), but they are chewy, rather than crisp.
--Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Loving What Must Be Done

I spend a lot of time thinking, speculating, even second guessing.  I'm not sure if it's inherent to my personality or if it's something thrust upon each and every mother crazy enough to embark on the home education journey.  Probably the former intensified exponentially by the latter.  In an case, I spend an extraordinary amount of time analyzing my failures as a parent and a teacher.  In some ways I'm pretty sure I've been a better parent than a teacher - evidenced by my children's lack of academic ambition - I mean...you haven't heard me talking about filling out college apps to Ivy Leagues schools, have you?

I consoled myself along the way with the thought that raising kids who love the Lord is more important than raising brilliant scholars.  It seemed I had the energy for only one of those endeavors - when in truth I only had the discipline for one (but that's a whole 'nother conversation).   I had this vague philosophy that if I could raise kids who were hard workers, were self disciplined and had a good foundation of the 3 Rs, my job would be complete - or at least be adequate enough not to churn out societal misfits.

As a matter of fact, I championed "self-discipline"...well, sort of.  I was convinced it held the key to so many good things for my kids and for me; yet like a greased watermelon, it was ever elusive (I suppose because I'm so naturally inclined to be lazy).  And it can become a task-master.  I've spent time exercising great amounts of self-discipline while I served others only to become resentful and bitter .  I spent so much time focusing on what I was giving up in order to be self disciplined that I grew to resent the people around me.

Enter the German poet Goethe: 

Cease endlessly striving for what you would like to do and learn to love what must be done.

Wow...why didn't I think of that?  I need to shift my thinking from what I could be doing to learning to love those things that can't be avoided.  That my friends, is a paradigm shift that could be a game changer.

But what does that look like in the midst of cleaning the kitchen, taking out the trash, and sweeping the porch?  And what does that have to do with raising kids or education.   I'll dive into some thoughts on that in the next post. (read that: I'm tired and need to go to bed)

How does that quote strike you?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Movin' On Up

Wendy (Hannah's trainer, owner of the horse, and my good friend) and Hannah decided to see if Hannah and Grace could run with the big dogs - or in this case the big (and expensive) horses.  Not only did they hold their own, they were downright pleased with their first try at an American Quarter Horse Show.

If you've been a reader of my blog for very long, you know the riding pictures all begin to look the same.  The only thing that changes is the background.  But now, that doesn't even vary.  The AQHA shows that Hannah will ride in are all in Perry, GA at the same facility where we attend 4-H State and Federation State.  So yeah - same horse, same clothes, same venue.  Note her new number - 327.  Doesn't that seem like a nice, balanced number for the announcer to say, "And first place goes to three twenty seven, Hannah Eades riding Zipping with Chocolet".  It's a far cry better than her Coastal Empire number - 9.

 

About to ride her English Equitation pattern

Getting last minute instructions from Wendy

Sadly, I don't even have her placings.  Four judges placed the classes, which was good since Grace broke in the English Pleasure class.  But since only one of the four judges saw the error, the other three placed her somewhere in the top 9, with one placing her 4th.  And because there were more than 15 exhibitors in the class, Hannah and Grace both earned a .5 AQHA point.  Yes, that's right...while some people compete for money, saddles, or snazzy belt buckles...Hannah competes for points.

Analyzing the Competition

 Patrick and I needed to tend to responsibilities at church on Sunday, so we planned to head back to Brunswick after the English classes finished up.  By the time we got the horse and tack put away, we finally got on the rode toward home at 11pm. Ugh - that's a long boring ride on Hwy 341 from the heart of Georgia to the coast.   But the adventure wasn't over.  We soon received a frantic call from Hannah inquiring if we'd seen Wendy's wallet.  Turns out it was stolen and Hannah and Wendy were left in Perry with no money, no credit cards, and no identification.  About the time that reality started to sink in, we saw those dreaded blue lights flashing behind us.  My mind quickly went to...can this show get any more expensive?  Wendy just lost $250 cash and gained the headache of canceling her credit cards and replacing her drivers license, and now we're looking at a fine that could easily approach the amount Wendy had stolen.  Mercifully the nice officer from Telfair County issued Patrick a stern warning and nothing else.

Bundling Grace up for the cold weather - poor girl!

Thankfully Sunday started out much better.  Wendy was able to get gas (so they could get home) and Hannah wowed 3 of the 4 judges in the Novice Youth Showmanship class.  She walked away with a 1st, a 3rd, and 4th out of 21 exhibitors - earning 7 AQHA points.  In the Youth 14-18 Showmanship class, she again did well enough to place first  under one judge and earn another 2 points.

I don't have her placing for the two western classes, but she did earn .5 point in Western Horsemanship.  Overall Wendy and Hannah were pleased with Hannah and Grace's performance.  I guess pleased enough to feel like they made the right decision to move on up to stiffer competition.

For my Niece

Okay, Katie.  Just for you.  I left of in June with Hannah's 4-H State Show.  Victoria had a fabulous time at Camp Broadway in Jacksonville and some delicious smoothies with her Aunt Cynthia.  In July Victoria headed to Honduras with a team from our church.  It was a smidgen difficult to let a 13yo go out of the country without a parent along, but she's the 4th kid, right?  We've relaxed a whole lot.

Hannah worked horse camps with her trainer and saved every dime she made.  In mid-July she found an affordable car to buy, so she was all set to be independent when that Sweet 16 rolled around in September.  Kevin was slaving away at Starbucks while Alyssa stayed at her job at Lai Lais and was a part time nanny for one of the Care Net nurse's kids.

Hannah showed Grace at the State Federation of Saddle Clubs show over Labor Day weekend.  She came down with a bad cold and fever right before the show and I worried about her getting dehydrated or worse.  Of course she'd worked so hard to be there, nothing was going to stop her.  She had a successful show that culminated with a first place in English Pleasure.

School started with Kevin and Alyssa both at the College of Coastal Georgia, Hannah in 10th grade and Victoria in 8th.  Kevin also had been working on his application to Highlands College, knowing the CCGA was nothing more than a place to get some core classes out of his way.  Sadly, we started the school year minus a student who had become a part of our family.  Caitlyn turned 4 over the summer and was enrolled in preK.  It is still a little strange, after four years of having that little squirt under foot, to be without her now.

Not having Caitlyn did open some other doors for us.  Hannah's trainer had knee replacement surgery, so for 6 weeks, 5 days a week we made the 25 min drive to Shady Oaks Stables to feed 20 some horses at 7am.  Between feeding, Hannah's job cleaning stalls and her riding Grace 5 days a week, it seemed that Hannah lived there.  Thankfully by this time Hannah had her driver's license and could go alone some days.

In early October, Alyssa received a fat manilla envelope from the Health Sciences Department at CCGA.  Enclosed was her acceptance letter to the School of Nursing.  Woo hoo!  Graduation is just 4 semesters away!

Christmas came and went with me missing the simplicity of last Christmas...when we "skipped" Christmas and went to Haiti.  Despite my objections, the season flew by and it was time to take Kevin to Birmingham to enroll at Highlands.  I sort of pride myself with being a no nonsense kind of mom...but I was a mess as we packed Kevin's room.  I was trying to hold it together, really I was .  Geez, I didn't want his parting memories of me to be of me crying and sulking around the house.  And I wasn't doing half bad until he picked up a box and said, "You know, this really does feel like I'm leaving my childhood completely behind."  Boo hooing ensued (and I'm misty eyed right now just typing it).

Thankfully I'm through the most severe pain (I hope).  He is happily settled at Cory and Sarah's house ( my brother and sister-in-law) and is now a part of their daily routine.  According to all accounts he's liking school there and, praise the Lord, feels like he's in the right place.

Hannah showed Grace in her first American Quarter Horse Association show last weekend.  Even with much stiffer competition she held her own.  That show deserves its own blog post now that I'm "back in the saddle" here at Imitating Steventen.

So there it is, Katie...your very own whirl wind tour of the latter half of 2012.   I have, no doubt, left off a few things like Victoria's participation in the Miss Golden Isles pageant and her change of dance studio.  She's now taking ballet from Val Salnikov, a take no prisoners sort of ballet teacher.  But what else would you expect from a Russian male ballet instructor?

Hope to see you back here at Imitating Steventon soon.  I've decided that a simple blog post that is complete and published is better than a witty or profound post that never gets typed.  That's my now motto, and I'm stickin' to it!

How Will You Vote?

Seven months.  That's how long it's been since I've published a post, but not for lack of trying.  I have had dozens formulated in my head and three discarded drafts...all brilliant thoughts at one moment, I'm sure, but they just never seemed worthy of having the "publish" button clicked.  I figure I can lament about what should have been, or I can simply ignore the unfinished works and move on.  And based on the somewhat chaotic state of my house, I'm fairly adept at ignoring unfinished tasks.

Not sure if I should begin with filling you in the last seven months or if I should just act like nothing ever happened and tell you about the latest news.  Hmmm....what's your vote?

Born at Christmas

I've never properly finished my Christmas in Haiti series, but today as I sit at my computer, my mind is taken back to that beautiful country filled with hopeful people.  And I'm crying.  We were only there a week so there was not enough time to actually build meaningful relationships.  But even in that short time, I fell in love with people.  However, I felt helpless to offer them anything.  Oh, I could give them some money.  They've long come to expect that from Americans.  But I longed to leave behind something that would last beyond their next meal.

We didn't arrive in Haiti with an agenda.  I knew I would be at Kathy's mercy.  We've known each other a long time and she knows my gifts and my lack there of.  She rightfully steered me to her workshop where she showed me a basket of fabric rosettes the ladies and girls had made and said, "We need to figure out how to make these into something marketable to sell."  Hmmm....ok.  So, I spent a better part of the week fiddling in the workshop, trying to design marketable products.

Raegan with the original bow with rosette

I kind of liked these rosettes with a ruffle behind them.  Kathy was not initially keen on them.  I was rather insistent they were cute.  They're not really Kathy's style.  I persevered anyway and even taught a couple of the Haitian girls how to make the ruffle.  I turned out ten or so different color combinations, attached them to various kinds of clips and left them hanging in the workshop.  Well, I did bring one or two home to give away...just to see the reaction of moms who might buy them for their girls.  I left Haiti not certain I had been a bit of help to Kathy.


Back to my crying this morning.  Facebook greeted me with my top story being "2nd Story Goods is now open online."  Excellent!  What I was unprepared for was my reaction to the product line - most of which I had seen a dozen times.  You see, the rosette bows are now being made by students at the deaf school in Goniaves, Haiti.  And they are among the products for sale.

 Additionally, the burlap headbands were born that week, with Kathy making the first one for her daughter as I sat on the stool next to her.  I encouraged her that the teen crowd would love them.  She knew Benson, the guy who makes journals, could easily help perfect the design.  I think I was wrong.  More ages than teens want to sport a burlap headband.


So, click over to 2nd Story Goods and buy some bows and headbands - well, why not get one or two of everything.  Some of those products were born at Christmas and contain a piece of my heart.

The Calm After the Storm

Sometimes I wonder how I used to get anything done when I had four young kids in activities that required me to taxi them places.  I guess my saving grace was, all three girls were dancing at the same studio so I was only taking them to dance and baseball.  The end is in sight though.  When Hannah starts driving in the fall, my transportation duties will be cut drastically.

But, for now, I'm still full time taxi driver - except this week.  After a whirlwind few days last week at the 4-H State Horse Show, this week is the opposite.  Completely, almost eerily quiet. Hannah is a teen leader at 4-H Horse School in Perry and Victoria is in Jacksonville staying with her Aunt Cynthia and attending Camp Broadway.
 
Hannah had a wonderful show last week with just a few hiccups - one that resulted in Honorable Mention rather than a 5th place finish in Western Pleasure.  But overall she had excellent performances.  Unfortunately, the arena where all the western events take place is dimly lighted and so I have no decent pictures of Hannah's actually rides. 

Wendy and Hannah after an excellent Western Showmanship pattern

English Showmanship

English Showmanship results - Hannah was 9th out of more than 50 exhibitors and Hannah's friend Ann was first.  Aren't they beautiful?

Hannah's 2nd place in Showmanship, Honorable Mention in Western Pleasure and 7th place in Western Horsemanship landed her 8th place overall in the Stock Seat Senior Division.  A guy whom she has competed against all year in the Saddle club shows was the Stock Seat Champion and Ann (see pic above) was the Reserve Champion.  It's so much fun knowing and competing against such terrific kids.

Graduation 2012

 Graduation for Kevin has come and gone.  Coastal Georgia Home School Association did a terrific job organizing the commencement ceremony and dinner.  Each grad (there were 4 boys) was honored with a video and a charge by their parents.  But I must confess,  I couldn't say a word.  As usual, I let Patrick do the talking.  While no one is happier to graduate students than I am, I do get choked up thinking my little boy is a man and will soon be leaving home.

Patrick's Charge

Happy Grads

I think the girls are smiling because they want Kevin's room

Such a cute couple

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat

I can't believe it's been nearly two months since I've managed to visit with you via the blog.  I fear I'll never get around to finishing my Haiti posts - so if I don't, know that we had a fabulous time with Beaver, Kathy, their kids and all the lovely people serving in Haiti.  The Haitian people were lovely - even if Port au Prince does scare me a bit.  I've taken wild taxi drives in Nigeria and sat white knuckled in vehicles in South Africa (and the fright wasn't just from being on the "wrong" side of the road), but traffic in PAP...like nothing I've ever experienced.  Really.  Unbelievable.  After seeing Kathy Brooks navigate the bumper-to bumper chaos, she is my hero now more than ever.  I'll never be half the woman she is.

I'd like to say I'll be back in the saddle here at my blog, but it is the saddle - and the horse - and the trips to the barn that keep me from being here already.  And it isn't looking to improve any time soon, though with school being out, maybe I can carve out some time to spend with you all.

The Queen

Hannah's regular show season came to an successful end yesterday.  Not only was she the High Point winner for her age division at the show, she clinched the title of Queen for the Coastal Empire Association AND is the overall High Point winner in the 13-19 age division for the 2011-2012 Coastal Empire show season.  I suppose that makes me the mother of the queen - quite an honor, don't you think?  I think that simply means I get to continue transporting her to the barn so she can live up to her title when she competes against the eight other queens in their own Horsemanship class at the state show over Labor Day weekend.

Hannah also competed in her first American Quarter Horse Association show, the Region 10 Experience in Jacksonville last weekend.  It was the epitome of that old catchphrase from ABC's Wide World of Sports- The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.  (And I'm pretty sure I'm dating myself by remembering that, aren't I?  I don't suppose the Wide World of Sports has been on television for quite some time).  We knew the competition would be stiff, but we didn't know it would be so plentiful.  Hannah's English classes boasted about 25 riders each and her Western nearly 20.  After not placing in either English class on Friday, I was bracing to have one disappointed girl.

Hannah, Grace and Wendy

Not to fear, my girl rose to the occasion and she and Grace (a.k.a. Zippin With Chocolet - her offical show name) placed 5th in the Western Pleasure class, qualifying her to attend the AQHA Novice Youth Champions in Tennessee in October.  The thrill of victory was sweet.

Hannah optimistically prepared for her Western Horsemanship class, a class she normally excels in, and is the class that qualified her for Queen of Coastal Empire.  Horsemanship is a "pattern class", a class that the rider individually rides a pattern the judge has selected.  In this case it was trot from cone A to cone B.  Stop at cone B and pivot 180 degrees to the right.  Back the horse to cone C, etc.  Hannah was the 10th rider and up to that point no one had ridden a really successful pattern.  None of the riders could pivot their horses well and I knew Hannah had recently made great strides pivoting Grace.  The door was wide open for Hannah to ride in and set a very high bar for the remaining riders.  She trotted in, began her pivot and was flawless...but she kept going until she'd done a 360 degree pivot...and we all knew she had completely blanked out and forgotten the pattern.  She was facing the wrong direction to begin the next element.  She trotted Grace around toward the judges and politely asked to be excused.  They nodded.  The agony of defeat was palpable - really, my heart was broken and beating out of my chest.  Picture being the lone rider in front of five judges in an arena big enough for rock concerts - and your mind going completely blank.  Just thinking of that happening to me nearly sends me into cardiac arrest.

But, like the champion that she is, she chalked it up to experience (I probably would have bawled my eyes out) and will have a fabulous story to tell younger riders that she might some day end up coaching.  We all went to bed Saturday night with the agony of defeat ringing in our ears - or in my case, replaying in my mind.

Sunday, Mother's Day, was just the Showmanship class.  We thought the class might start around lunch time and we'd be home by mid afternoon.  The joke was on us!  Her class finally started at 5:30, so I spent a leisurely Mother's day on shed-row watching some fabulous horses come and go.   I can't even describe how badly I wanted Hannah to do well - if for no other reason than to recover her confidence that had taken a beating the day before.  I think there were nineteen girls in the class and they all looked amazing.  I knew a couple of elements were less than perfect and figured Hannah would not be super-duper excited about her performance.  But thankfully the judges saw something they liked at placed her 5th, again qualifying her for the show in Tennessee in October.  Victory is even sweeter after the previous day's defeat.

The fifth place winner sporting her new Showmanship jacket

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We can't even begin to explain how thankful we are for Wendy (Hannah's trainer and Grace's owner) allowing Hannah to ride such a lovely horse - and for dragging Hannah all over South East Georgia Saturday after Saturday to compete.  We are humbled and thankful for bringing Wendy into our lives.  She has truly made huge sacrifices for our child and  transformed her into a competitor that would make any trainer proud.  Hannah is not only a graceful winner, but is also - what is even more difficult - a graceful loser.  I've seen plenty of riders have tantrums and take their frustrations out on their parents or other adults.  Through the loving guidance of a wise trainer, Hannah has become not only a skilled rider, but a lovely young lady.

Haiti: Pati De (Part Two)

Much to my pleasure, I successfully refrained from buying anything for my kids for Christmas.  Not a single, solitary gift.  But, I still couldn't stop thinking gifts.  I racked my brain trying to think of something meaningful to take to our hosts, Beaver and Kathy Brooks.  But what?  What do you buy people who are already wealthy beyond their neighbors wildest expectations.  What could I bring to someone who sees hungry, distended bellies daily without seeming like a) I am completely out of touch with their daily reality, or b) I am a classic first world snob who can't help importing my materialistic mindset to a culture that has so far escaped Christmas = overspending.

Honestly, I tried to ignore the idea that I should arrive bearing gifts...but I also tried to put myself in Kathy's place.  Yes, all her kids (sans one) would be there with her and that in itself is the most precious gift a mom can receive; but even so, I'd still want Christmas morning to be somewhat different than all other mornings.  I finally settled on stockings filled with a mixture of goodies and necessities for the guys.  Alyssa and a friend went shopping for them.  I guess they figured all single 20ish aged guys need socks, gum, goldfish crackers and...oh, I can't even remember what else.  Victoria and her friend Lily had been accumulating gift for Rebecca for months, so I knew she was already well taken care of.

I still found myself wanting to do something special for Beaver and Kathy.  I asked around and no one who'd been to Haiti could offer me any direction.  Being left to my own devices, I prayed.  Novel thought, I know.  Should have done it weeks before rather than on December 22, but there you have it: a perfect illustration of how I like to rely on my own wits rather than the voice of the Lord.  Thankfully, I felt God whispering an idea, a Kindle.  A Kindle?  In a third world country?  Would they want one?  Is that just too much of a luxury item to own in a country where few can read and even fewer can afford to buy a book?  Do they already have one?

I asked around.  Victoria said Kathy owned a Kindle.  Taylor, their son, said they didn't.  I couldn't come up with anything better and so bought a new Kindle Touch and an Amazon gift card to get them started.  My thinking was, shucks...even if they already have on Kindle, there's three readers in the family living in a country with no libraries.  I despise sharing my Kindle so they, if they are as selfish as I am, probably would love to have another one too.  I then told Patrick I had bought Beaver and Kathy a Kindle...sort of an "it's easier to ask forgiveness than get permission" kind of moment and so my Christmas shopping was complete.

Medical Supplies - a gift from Patrick's staff to take to the Brooks

Armed with my gifts, the 300lbs of lined paper for the journal maker and countless other supplies, we packed...and packed...and packed.  We weighed bags, redistributed goods, and reweighed and then reweighed again.  After hours and hours we finally thought we had 2 bags per person, totaling 80 lbs between the two bags with no single bag over 50 lbs as per the directions at the Insel website.  Yes, it's true...Insel Air still allows two free bags for each passenger.  Each Eades packed in a carry-on so that we could take as many supplies as possible in the luggage.  Everything was labeled and ready for the drive to Miami.  Let the fun begin!

More gifts from Patrick's staff for the ladies who make jewelry in Jubilee Blanc.  Add in the paper for the journal man, 20 sets of sheets, bags and bolts of fabric that Kathy requested and I collected for the newly formed fiber arts guild, and the gifts for various Haitians that started pouring in from friends who had been to Haiti and we easily maxed out our 480 lb. limit for our luggage for the six of us.

Oops...How Could I Forget

Pitiful as I have been at blogging this year, I still can't believe I haven't given my few faithful readers the low down on our Christmas adventure to Haiti.  Looks like this is going to be a multi-part post, so stay tuned for "the rest of the story".

Sometime last summer, the kids concocted the idea of skipping Christmas...you know...Nora and Luther Krank's idea of no presents, no tree, no Christmas anything and going to Haiti to spend Christmas with our friends the Brooks in Gonaives.  If you haven't read Grisham's book, Skipping Christmas, AND seen the Jamie Lee Curtis/Tim Allen flick, "Christmas with the Kranks", you are missing a treat...but I divert.  Patrick and I asked the kids questions.  Lots of questions like: So, you know this means no presents?  Zip, Zero, Nada?  They said they were fine with that.  They just wanted to make a mission trip as a family.  And you also know Mom's not decorating the house. No tree, no garland, no lights?  It's like Luther says, "A total boycott!"   They assured us that was perfectly fine.

Somehow that gave me pause.  A part of me wanted to jump up and down and cheer.  No tree, no decorating the house...think of all the money and time in December that would save me.  Nutcracker wasn't in the cards for the year, so it was like I was adding a whole month to my life that had been annually missing for the last 8 years.  Then a part of me wanted to cry.  The kids don't even care about all the things I've done to make Christmas special for the past umpteen years.  I wanted to have a bit of a pity party - and feel like a failure that my kids can do without all the traditions I've created (or thought I had created) to make Christmas, well...Christmas.  But I confess, the thrill of a short term mission trip together (which also meant less holiday stress for me) won me over.  Besides, it might be nice to see Christmas from the perspective of being an observer of holiday materialism rather than a participant.

Sometime in mid September, while Kevin was gallivanting about Europe, we took the plunge and bought six tickets from Miami to Port au Prince.  As excited as I was, I wasn't certain *I* could do Christmas without buying gifts.  I LOVE giving gifts.  I was beginning to think I was going to be the problem child in all the Haiti preparations, since it was really me all along who loved the tree, the traditions, and seeing the smiles of surprise on Christmas morning.   Almost daily I would wake and resolve NOT to think of gift giving and Christmas decorations.  I realized I had been conditioned to be a part of Christmas commercial madness, and this whole "cold turkey" approach was probably good for me.

In hind sight, I'll probably never see the trappings of Christmas quite the same.  In the future, I think I'll be able to see the decorations and parties as a way to facilitate the real meaning of Christmas rather than be the focus of the holiday season.  It's something I've always wanted to do, but in retrospect, probably failed to accomplish.  All in all, even if you don't go on a cruise (like the Kranks planned to do) or visit the poorest nation in the western hemisphere like the Eades, I highly recommend a year of "Skipping Christmas" to adjust your perspective.

Spring Training Trip in Pictures

Our first visit to Space Coast Stadium, home of the Washington Nationals

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.
                              - Ernest Lawrence Thayer

Kevin really wanted Bryce Harper's autograph, but had to settle for Stephen Strasburg's.   While we were impressed that he signed balls, programs, and various baseball paraphernalia; he seemed as though it was a part of some sort of punishment for being tardy to class. 






Maybe he was just having a bad day.  I'd hate to think he was simply patronizing the very people who make his fat salary possible.

Strasburg was the name du jour.  Even Peter Gammons got in on the action.

The foul ball that Alyssa "caught".  It would be more accurate to say, "the ball that found Alyssa".

Alyssa, Hannah, Lauren, Kevin, Victoria and Grandma

The kids at Daytona Beach