A Tiny Silver Pumpkin

I love the Fall season. A little football, the leaves on the trees turning yellow, orange and red, the wind blowing through the trees in my backyard, needing a light jacket in the morning ( although I am still wearing sandals!), and of course, a trip to the pumpkin patch.
I always loved going on field trips with Chelsea's classes, visiting the pumpkin patch, running through the field to find the perfect pumpkin. Riding on the big haywagon, sliding on the bales of hay...sneezing, sneezing and sneezing!!!
Once the pumpkin is home, the time comes to decorate...do we carve it or paint it? I've carved them in a simple triangle-eyed jack 'o lantern, I've carved complicated patterns where you put the paper pattern on the pumpkin, poked the holes and carved out the design. ( Hint: If you do this, rub some flour over the holes before carving and the holes will show up better, making it easier to carve!)
Someone ( a four year old)once told me that we are like pumpkins: God scoops out the sloppy stuff and puts his light in us.
But my favorite way to decorate the pumpkins is to paint them. I'll admit this is far more appealing to me because I love to paint and I don't like scooping out the insides!
Our youth group went to Belvedere a couple of weeks ago and brought back pumpkins to paint with the children at church. Some people painted in an abstract style, some painted actual faces, some mixed all of the colors together and scooped the paint on the pumpkin, allowing it to drip down the sides.
No matter what the painting style, the children enjoyed the painting and the drying room was quite a site to behold.
So, this year on Halloween, no matter how you celebrate...trick or treating, haunted houses, football games, greeting little goblins or spending the night at home watching scary movies...have fun, be safe and let your light shine!!!

A Tiny Woven Box

My dad is having shoulder surgery today. He has an excellent surgeon, the best of care once he gets home, challenging physical therapy and no golf for several months. That's right, no golf for Grandpa Arnie. My dad's "grandparent' name is Grandpa Arnie, a nod to Arnold Palmer, who is also a golfer of some note! His name is Don, but we all call him Arnie.

My dad is also known for his inventiveness. He can see a need, design a product and then go down in the basement and build it. At a young age, he taught me how to hold a hammer, gave me a hammer and let me build things. He taught me how to fix things around the house, letting me help, showing me how to use a wrench, a screwdriver, a drill. I liked to sort the nails, nuts, bolts and washers into jars and buckets on his workbench. He taught me how to sharpen a knife the proper way, which makes me the knife sharpener in our family!

One time, when I was 11, our Girl Scout Troop was having a Father -Daughter Basket Dinner. The idea was that the girls made a dinner, packed it in a basket and the dads bid on the dinner as a way to raise money for the troop. My mom helped me make the dinner, but I didn't have a basket. Not sure what to do, I asked him if he had anything I could use. He said he would look around in the basement. Later, he called me downstairs and showed me what he had made. A box shaped basket, with a plywood base, corner uprights and woven thin pieces of wood. Perfect for carrying a dinner to a party!

That box stayed in my room, filled at different times with stuffed animals, magazines or records. It went to college with me and was filled with drafting supplies for my design classes. Now, 34 years later, the box sits on a bench ( a bench actually made by my sister, Melinda)in my hallway, filled with books, waiting to be read. Something from my dad, made with his hands, invaluable to me. A simple project that told me he loved me and wanted me to have a basket for the dinner. A simple project made with simple tools that reminds me to be inventive, to be creative and to perhaps think outside of the box.

A Tiny Number Four

Today, our letter for the day was "G" and our number was the number "4".

4 pairs of glasses, 4 green grapes, 4 goldfish crackers, 4 goats, 4 green gum balls...you get the picture. We colored a picture of a girl with green eyes, just like Miss Melanie, played games and drank gatorade.

We counted squares on the floor, tiles in the ceiling, shoes on our feet, bows in our hair and rings on our fingers.

My sister introduced me to an episode of Sesame Street featuring a singer who turned her very popular song into a song about the number 4. Singing time went like this:

"One, two, three, four, monsters walking 'cross the floor"
"Miss Melanie, Miss Melanie"
"Yes, Faines?"
"We no like monsters!"
"Well, it is just a song..."
"No monsters!"

So, we made a new version...
"One, two, three, four, blocks are stacked up on the floor. I like stacking blocks and want to stack some more!"
"One, two, three, four, friends are knocking on the door. I like friends who are knocking on the door."

A little safer than singing about monsters when you are four!

A Tiny Silver Present

Isn't it fun to receive a present? I know someone who snoops in her husband's desk drawer to look at her Christmas gift. One year, she said that when she saw what he had gotten, she was disappointed and wondered how she could get him to exchange it. A little sad, I guess.

I drove to my parent's house yesterday, an 11 hour trip in the car, alone, on my way home for a funeral. All along the way, I was delighted to find that there were lots of little "gifts" on my journey.

The trees are just starting to change colors, so every once in a while, there would be a blaze of red or orange amidst the green trees. What a gift!

Beautiful purple flowers planted in the median strip. What a gift!

I had my MP3 player on random play and I had lots of fun singing along. What a gift!

The frozen Coke machine was working at the Krystal in Knoxville. What a gift!

I saw a license plate in Knoxville with a "catch phrase" my friend Kimberly and use to greet each other, almost as if she was saying "Hey" to me as I drove along. What a gift!

It was a long drive, but I was driving in a car that is fun to drive! What a gift!

It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day with no rain. What a gift!

When I drove into my mom's driveway, my sister and her family were there to greet me! What a gift!

So, yesterday's gifts were not tangible, well, except for the frozen Coke (!), but I enjoyed each one as the were presented to me. Just some tiny little presents that made my day better. What a gift!

A Tiny Book

I love to read. I love a good story, a beginning, an ending, some back story, some fore shadowing, all of it. A friend introduced me to www.shelfari.com which is an on-line bookshelf where one can post books they have read, books they own, books they are planning to read, reviews, and reading groups. It is a fun way to keep up with your reading list.

I started a reading log in 2000 because I found that I read so many books so quickly, that I would buy the same books, not remembering the title, at times. Looking back at the log, I remember the summer I read ( and re-read) all of the books written by Madeleine L'Engle. All of them, from juvenile fiction to journals to poetry. She is one of my favorite authors and when I recommended "A Wrinkle in Time" to a friend when I was 12, only to be told she thought the book was weird, I was not swayed, but continued to read everything I could find.

Last week I re-read "The Secret Life of Bees" and enjoyed it just as much the second time around. It has been made into a movie, which may or may not capture the spirit of the book, but if you have a chance, read the book. Read a book, any book, read to your children, and if you really like the book you are reading, tell someone. Share the adventure.

Happy Reading!

A Tiny Crayon

Our church is fortunate to host ESL classes two days a week. There are about 25 children who accompany their parents to the classes. There are tiny babies, toddlers and pre school aged children. Call it a God moment, but the first day of class, having a little extra time on my hands, I stopped by the church to see if they needed an extra pair of hands to help with the children. Some of the children participated in the day camp where I volunteered this summer, so I was excited to see them. Some of the children were playing with toys, several were crying and a few were sitting over by the wall, with wide eyes, taking it all in. After a few days of this, my friend Courtney and I thought we might take the older children into the next room and work on some simple learning skills. Learning the alphabet, counting to 10, recognizing colors and shapes and maybe sing a song or two.

Courtney printed off some coloring sheets, I brought some simple books and flash cards and our version of preschool was born! Each morning, I cover the table with paper, write the letter of the day in front of each place, write their names and draw some simple shapes. When the children come in, they eagerly reach into the box of crayons for their favorite color and trace the letters, find their names, circle all of the letter e's ( we all have an e in our names)and draw anything we can think of. We especially like to trace our hands. Sometimes we make shapes using craft sticks ( thank you, Melinda, for that idea!) We spend time in the play room and have a snack, hear a story and sing some songs. We really like to sing "The Wheels On the Bus", but then again, who doesn't?!

While volunteering a little time a couple of times a week with 7 or 8 children may not seem like an important way to spend time to some people, I think it may just be where God wants me to be right now. And when I go back to work, I will have to trade my crayons for a nice black pen, but until then, I will be in the moment with Jeta, Miguel, Angel, Lalo-Edwardo, Renesse, Estella and Faines and color with my carnation pink crayon.

A Tiny Class Ring

My daughter brought home an order form for her class ring today. Her class ring?! One more sign that her high school career is on the other side of the mountain. I remember when the Class of 1981 gathered around the tables in the lobby of Franklin High School. Our school colors were maroon and gray, making the garnet stone a popular choice. I wanted the emerald stone because green was my favorite color and if I was choosing one today, I would still pick the green stone. My ring sits in my jewelry box, tucked away, probably seldom worn after high school, but a favorite memento none the less.

Exciting times at our house, ordering a class ring, a yearbook, spirit week, homecoming games and the dance on Saturday. Milestones and memories and a tiny class ring.

A Tiny Silver Telephone

Several times this year I have have the opportunity to reconnect with people I knew long ago in a far away land! My youth group from Junior/Senior High at Woodmont Baptist Church had a reunion in May, Co-workers from my first job in Virginia got together several weeks ago and just this week, I heard from a college friend who I have not talked to in 22 years and a high school/college friend who I haven't seen in about 5 years. So forgive me if I am feeling a bit nostalgic, but thanks to these connections, I have been able to visit some wonderful memories and catch up on my now grown up friends!
Thanks to e-mail, myspace, facebook, classmates.com, etc., the possiblities to find old friends and reconnect seems endless. I never know who will pop up on my screen saying...remember me? And what a wonderful gift this can be.

So, if you are wondering where they are, what are they doing or you just want to say hello, find them and use that tiny silver telephone!

A Tiny Silver Car

A court summons came in the mail. My presence was requested on a Monday morning in the fall. The day had come for my daughter to receive her actual drivers license. In Virginia, the final step in the licensing process is to appear before the judge, who explains the rules and responsibilities that go along with having driving privileges, shows a series of graphic slides of actual car accidents ( of teen aged drivers) in our area and reminds the parent that they have the authority to take away the license if they so choose.

As I watched the slide show, set to a popular song, the images made me want to shut my eyes or get up and leave. As tears collected at the corner of my eye, my daughter reached over and put her arm around my shoulder, offering comfort. A moment before, the photos were making me think of those children and their parents and the phone calls they must have gotten in the night. Now, it really hit me that those children were just like mine, excited about the freedoms that come along with driving and being able to run an errand or drive alone to school. But on that particular fateful day, they had perhaps made the simplest of errors in judgement that led to the accident.


A deputy had given the license to me as we entered the court room and the final words of the judge were that it was our, the parents, responsibilty to give the license to our child. I saw one boy take the folded paper from his father, tear off the license and put it in his pocket. But most parents, like me, left the court room with the folded paper clutched tightly in their hand.

When we got to the car, I gave it to my husband and as he handed it to her, I took a photo. They were both grinning on that sunny morning, looking like sweepstakes winners, ready to get on with the day. I wanted to stand in that parking lot and make time stop, not quite ready to watch her drive off in a tiny silver car.

A Tiny Pair of Scissors

Yesterday, I cut sheets of paper into 1" squares, preparing to make another paper quilt. I liked how the first one turned out, it featured a cross design in the center. I made another one of the alphabet to use as the ESL preschool class. The children especially like counting the buttons, calling out the colors, tracing the letters with one pointed finger.

I like the challenge of the layout, mixing colors, patterns and directions. I like bold sassy colors. The next one will be pink and green toile, dots and stripes. There is something really satisfying about repeating shapes, letting a pattern emerge in the overall design. Many tiny cuts make one big quilt.