Day 158 (10/31): Bible Sunday

Colton got his bible at church today.  We had missed so many Sundays due to football that it was nice to go to church and feel the normalcy and calm that comes from it.  For the past 3-4 months we have been going to one football game after another so just sitting in church was so relaxing. 

He looks so excited, doesn't he?  There were surprisingly not very many 3rd graders at the 11am service.  We usually go to the 8:30 service but Colton spent the night at a friends for his birthday so I knew it was futile to end the slumber party fun that early in the morning.

The pastor even called him by the wrong name.  I remember getting confirmed and the pastor standing over our heads as we kneeled at the front and him pronouncing me as Aaron Duryea.  I looked up and he realized what he had done.  Well it must run in the family...as the same thing happened to Colton.  He was called Daniella or something like that and he looked at her confused and she realized the faux pas. She joked about it and asked the youth coordinator if she was sure that this was Colton several times.  It did finally perk up Colton as he looked so gloomy during the children's moment.

Here they stand ready to pray with their new bibles.

The girls received pink ones and the boys got blue ones.  They each had their names on them.  Colton got back to the pew and immediately started thumbing through it.  He was so excited to start reading it. The pastor said they needed to read out of it every week and he actually listened. 

I looked inside it to check it out and there are colored pages and it is very easy to read.  I think I might need to get myself this version!  They have revised it for kids -  Check out the 10 Commandments for Kids.  "You may not worship or put any importance on any person or thing other than God. You must worship only the Lord, not a friend, not a movie star or sports hero, not a car or skateboard. Nothing."    "You may not hate other people; don't every think of hurting someone else in any way."   Simple words and a simple message - easy enough for anyone to understand.  Perhaps everyone needs a bible this easy to read.  Maybe then they would actually live by it!

The Adventure Bible has maps and "Did You Know?" sections that have interesting fun facts about the time period and message being portrayed.  I can't wait for him to read and learn how to be a better little man!

Day 157 (10/28): Day of the Dead

This is mainly a rant and to show off some of Colton's work.  This beautiful thing even rattles and has KSU carved in the back  He made it in art to celebrate the Day of the Dead.  They were told that they could not celebrate Halloween but could celebrate the Mexican holiday where family and friends gather to pray for and remember those that have died. So here's where my rant comes in... 

He goes to a school that has a very diverse student body.  So they do not celebrate any of the holidays that I remember celebrating while I was in school - Christmas and Halloween just to name a few.  I remember dressing up and having a parade of costumes in the middle of the day and then the parents brought in treats and we played games.  I remember singing Christmas songs. They don't do that at Northview.

Have they gotten so diverse that Americans are in the minority and so not to celebrate primarily American holidays?  It is frustrating to think that a country that has prided itself on accepting all cultures would want schools to ignore the holidays that are important in American traditions.  I am an advocate for multiculturism but not at the sake of ignoring our own beliefs. There should be a balance of both so students see how diverse we all really are so please bring back the American celebrations in schools.

Ok enough of the soap box...   To end on something positive.  Check out the pumpkin that Colton designed and carved at Cool Care Club today:

See how the eyes are C's for his name - pretty cool!  He wanted the teeth different sizes just like he had baby teeth still and big teeth.  What a great job!  I much prefer this pumpkin to that scary dead ceramic Day of the Dead rattle skull head.

Day 156 (10/27): Ethiopia & 100 years

Can you imagine being 100 years old?  I have never met anyone that old until now.  Joye, who is in my Delta Kappa Gamma group turned 100 years old this past week.  Delta Kappa Gamma is a group for women educators. I hope to be that alert and sharp if I ever make it to that age.

We got her roses, which is the organizations official symbol, to represent the decades that she was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.  She was thrilled!  The state officers also came to the meeting to help her celebrate.

Our speaker was Monica Wornette, who worked for many years in Africa as a health aide officer when Aids was first discovered. Her talk tonight was on Ethiopia and she brought back some really cool artifacts. The picture above shows her holding a picture that was painted showing tea/coffee time in Ethiopia.  Some of the strongest tea and coffee comes from Africa and you will never guess what they eat with their afternoon drink...popcorn!  The picture shows a lady with a bowl of popcorn and her tea cup and pitcher. What was interesting was what the artist used to paint the picture on.  It was not a canvas but on a piece of a tent that the artist had used for a shelter at one time.  They use what is around them.

So your quiz of the day is what is this box made out of?  I guessed wood and was told "nope" so take that guess off your list.  Answer will be revealed at the end of the post.





This is a pillow and it was all hand made.  Check out the stitching...truly incredible! It was tiny and very even. I just can't imagine spending that much time on something and giving it away.  They were so appreciative of the work that Monica was doing in their country.

This basket got a few gasps out of the ladies as they opened the lid and a snake popped out.  One woman about walked out as she was deftly frightened by snakes - dead, alive or even fake ones that pop out of a basket.

This was a hand carved harp with a drum at the base of it.  It was really fun to play with and beautiful to look at.  All these artifacts made me want to visit Ethiopia. I had always envisioned them as being impoverished and desolate but the items that Monica brought back really showed the beauty of a simple life.

This was a hand carved box that was just exquisite.  They are very religious and you could see signs of this devotion with crucifixes adorning the artwork. Inside the box were some hand carved stone beads. They were surprising smooth for being hand carved. The detail on the box was carried out even on the inside as you opened the lid and inside the rim in the interior of the box.  I don't know how they got their tools inside the box to whittle it from the inside...just amazing to think of the craftmanship and beauty.

Ok so what was the box at the top made out of...other guesses that were incorrect included stone and bone.  It is stained camel teeth.  I had to relook at it and think, "Wow camels have some humongous teeth!" because they looked huge on that box.

Day 153 (10/5): Fess up when you mess up

Colton's school program was scheduled for the KSU vs NU game but after many parents complained they moved it to a new night.  It was the shortest program ever - maybe 20 minutes long.  The kiddos said a few quotes and sang 5-6 songs.  Here's the highlight reel:

Day 152 (10/3): Baby Shower Goodies

One of my very dear friends is having her second baby and I am so excited it is a GIRL. We both have boys that are all BOY and I am ready to buy some pink girly stuff and play tea party and Barbies. I could not wait to host a pink pink and more pink baby shower. 

I think I have been watching too much Food Network because I was funneling Cupcake Wars when I designed the shower invite and menu.  Do you know how many yummy cupcake blogs and recipes are out there?  Too many to choose just one recipe!  I ended up making 3 varieties of cupcakes and then Cake Pops. 

The Cake Pops were pretty time consuming so I'm not sure if I would make those again.  I used a red velvet cake mix with cream cheese frosting and then dipped them in pink colored white chocolate.  The ladies and my co-workers who enjoyed the leftovers seemed to really like them.  Personally I didn't feel like the taste overpowered the effort they took to make them.

I used a lemon recipe from this blog to create some miniature cupcakes and some regular size ones. They were super yummy and not too lemony. Colton helped me decorate these so they were definitely made by a sprinkle master.  Don't worry ladies - I made him wash his hands 3 times (with soap!) before he touched anything!

The other two cupcakes were Snickers cupcakes which I would definitely make again. They were scrumdelicoious (and yes I made that word up)! Just make sure you have a glass of milk on hand to balance the richness of the chocolatey gooey yumminess.  For those of you reading this and needing Christmas ideas, I want one of those big tips to decorate cupcakes.  I used a smaller one which it took more frosting and longer to decorate but I would love to have the bigger decorating tip!

Martha Stewart even helped me out with her Baby Bird's nest cupcakes.  Mark did an excellent job of making eyes for these candy coated almond birds. We could not find any pink peanut m&ms so I had to use the wedding candy mix of pastel almonds.  They were hard as a rock so unless you want to uproot a tooth, don't use these!

This is one of my favorite pics from the shower, four generations of Dawdy women: Baby Dawdy (who does not like to be called Sissy), Angi, Angi's mom and her grandmother.  It made me so thankful that we took pictures of the family with grandma Doornbos that summer. I even got out the pictures from that day and looked at them - such good memories.

Angi got some great gifts and I can't wait to see that precious baby in those cute clothes!  Less than a few weeks and Baby Dawdy will be here!