American Girls Photo shoot

Just some creativity flowing around here. This was the all the girls doin's! It did make me happy to know they still love their dolls so much!

Silver Lake

The film Silver Lake is on YouTube! This is a short film written, directed, edited (well, everything except he had to borrow the Flip camera) by Steve. It is a scary movie...lots of screaming. Beware. But it is the usual cast of actors. We did not even have to pay them! It was filmed on a weekend camping trip at Silver Lake. The mamas decided it was high time to celebrate and therefore last weekend we had a Premiere Party to watch it and to honor the Director. He got an Oscar for his labors.

Olivia played Sunny. She was amazing. The gown was Rafa, and Harry Winston jewels. Her hair was curls curls and more curls. This girl was made for the red carpet!

Stephanie played Willow. She was also a cinematographer. Just great. Her shining moment is when she will make you jump as you think she is merely sleeping. Her gown is Amelia. Her hair was rag-tied to get a full tight curl. She was still recovering from a week of illness, but she still made it to the red carpet event!

Here is the director, Stephen J. Porvaznik and his girls. Dapper in a suit. Sears not Armani!

Part of the cast and a few fans! They were getting ready to face Mary Hart aka Ms. Traci on the carpet, so there were some nerves!

We had a special guest appearance by Eminem aka Brent. He was the comic relief.

Inside the Russ Mansion, we had a vast amount of food. Everything from homemade oatmeal cookies to BBQ ribs from down the road yard sale! Everyone had a great time, there were some in the crowd who found the film a bit frightful, but in the end, all who viewed it slept through the night without getting up from bad dreams. There are hopes and dreams of a Silver Lake 2, only time will tell!

A moment passed

Is it really March? Time is flying by... I still have a Christmas present undelivered and Thank-you's from Valentines Day unmailed...paint cans still out from the redecorating... and a basket of clothes not unloaded from our camping trip two weeks ago. Guilt is lessened by the fact that so much of my spare time before this weekend had been filled up with a fantastic bible study I was a part of. I still have a few weeks of "homework" to do, but Beth Moore's "A woman's heart, God's dwelling place" is completely compelling and addictive. If you are looking for a study to be a part of, buy the workbook and download the sessions here.

This past weekend though we found ourselves stopped in our tracks. Stephanie came down with a fever. High fever. Meds could not seem to touch it. Temps like 104.5, 103.2, 102.7 were common on the digital readout! Her little ears were red and hot to the touch. But, she is a trooper. No complaining, just laying there wondering when it would end. I would not choose sickness for my children, but it allows those little places of a Momma's heart that get used less and less as the kids grow older to be revisited. Last night came a soft request of "Momma will you rock me?" Getting up in the night to take a temperature or administer meds reminded me of years ago with middle of the night feedings... How grateful I am that I caught a glimpse of love like this again.

School is rushing past and Spring has sprung around here.

Changin it up!

Okay,here are a few things that have made me more than a little happy lately.

1. I saved $124.00 and spent $84.00 on my last grocery shopping trip at Publix!
2. We picked up a new card game called Ratuki and it has made more than a little fun around here.
3.I am involved in a women's bible study that is not just finger lickin' good, but my heart, mind and soul feel refreshed and fed.
4. Another night of chicken and rice was making me a little sad, so I threw in a few extra spices like cinnamon, ginger, curry, garlic, cilantro, and a dab of tandori spice and yee-haw it was so good Olivia could not even resist!
5. I used the orange infused olive oil I received as a Christmas present from "Nan" in our brownies the other night, and they are just something!
6. My Grandfather has sold and given out almost a hundred books to date and it makes me so happy and proud of him!
7. We have been about 3 weeks without any freeze warnings....which means our power bill will be less!!!!
8. God's continual protection and healing power over my kids was evident over the weekend when Stephanie fell and most likely had a concussion, but I just encouraged her to lay down and take a break...after she said "everything went black, and then I just woke up!" I realized what I had done and not done....Love how He covers me.

44

So I am offically 44! A group of us went to a favorite place of ours, BOMA. It is in Disney and we went for dinner. I had a great birthday...it started with my girls greeting me first thing with a bag of gifts and visions of breakfast! We had a sweet relaxing day before we headed out to Orlando. Our poor server at the restaurant sure did earn his tips because we went through a series number of plates. It was a buffett. The soups, salads and desserts were the big hit. The meats were a little less impressive. Besides the plates, our server for three hours kept bringing us refills of water and tea. Yes, laughter rang through the air and our tails were numb from sitting there talking for so long. Good friends. What a treasure!

The camera did not capture the sparkle in my eye that I only get from this man!

That is not a table decoration in front of Traci...it is her purse! Oh my!

These three were dreaming of their day in the future when they get to have an evening out!

That is not a bowlingball on Brent's head... it is a shadow or an imagination bubble beginning.

David and Krista trusted us on this tastey menu, it was their first time!

Jill, Curtis, Anita joined us too! The decorations on the ceiling are very appealing to the eye, even David thought so!

The food was great. Just had to share!

Homeschool Co-op Space

We spent two Fridays over the past two months reviewing planets and space. Learning some new facts and having some great fun. One of the highlights was our trip on a Friday evening up to University of Florida to hear the professor share about space and to be able to look up at the Night Sky! We were able to see a number of constellations and even Jupiter! Some of us even saw all four of its moons. It was amazing. The bands were shown that night in a north south rotation, and usually we are accostumed to seeing them east to west.

This observation was done to show how meteor hit and land on the moon and how without gravity the dust moves and lands.

Phases of the moon was a big hit!

That darn revolution, rotation and moon and stars left some minds just swirling!

Gravity and the raw egg....everyone but me was successful at packing it in and the egg staying protected...mine... BUSTED!

Author Study: Tomie dePaola

If you had been a fly on the wall the past two times we have met to do an author study, you would have heard things like... "gratiz", "Mangia!", "Ciao Bella", "amore y abaci", and "Mama Mia!" and a few others. We had our Italian hats on and had a blast. Tomie dePaola wrote many books about his childhood and many others that had a setting of old Italy. We had fun! We made cookies at the end of today using inspiration from Mr.de Paola.

Along with math we also spent some time using Ywam's collection on missionaries. I have mentioned it before, and it is worth repeating. These books tell the story of obedience and sacrifice in a way like none I have seen. We learned about Nate Saint and Jim Elliot who gave their lives down in Ecuador. We then watched End of the Spear, a film made of this poignant story.

Seeds. Just planting seeds. Some days I water, some days I prune. Some days I see growth, some days I wonder if birds have plucked away all the goodness. Good stuff people!