Babies, Bees and Baptism

I am still feeling the quiet, peaceful effects of such a lovely Saturday morning with many good friends and neighbors.  I mentioned a quote that day:  "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" Its an adage I need to adhere to far more often.  I had planned over the last 2 years to have family members attending Toby's baptism, but the more I planned, the further it was pushed out.  As it ended up, I feel everything fell into place as though it was always meant to be just the way it happened.

The only real annoyance is with myself -- I was so caught up in the wonderful moment of seeing neighbors, friends from Alpharetta and our Baseball Team(s) and Toby's school; all taking time out to be with us, that I completely forgot about taking pictures!  Boo-Hoo!!!  Thankfully, I can still see y'all in memory ;-)

Program Cover

Program

Back of Program

A few of you have asked me to post the talk I gave, so perhaps now my family can get an idea of what the day encompassed.

Babies, Bees and Baptism

As many of you know, for a couple years I ran a sewing business.  I used to make children's clothing, mostly for babies and toddlers.  I was completely in my element, as I adore the little ones.  Being able to use my talent to express my feelings of the innocence, playfulness and carefree moments of childhood took over in my designs and I did all I could to capture that attitude in my work.  As the love I put into my pieces were discovered, I had many return customers.  There is a great satisfaction in being able to put your own 'mark' so to speak on your work.  For example, my mother, husband and even Toby could probably walk into a boutique and pick out my designs -- because they have a way of expressing who I am -- they just seem to say, "Chimene made me."

Renny Clothing Customer Pics

After about 2 years of success and over 400 garments later, my amazing sewing machine stopped working.  It was an expensive machine, and because that meant an expensive fix, I tried my hand at repairiing it. After several failed attempts I became extremely frustrated and I recall, just sitting there staring at the machine and asking, "Why?  Why did you have to break..?"  Now, we all know sewing machines don't talk, however, mine seemed to stare straight back at me and said, "Because if I don't, you will..." 

Renny Clothing, Ginger Giraffe

It was true.  I was working  12-14 hour days.  I was exhausted.  My health was suffering.  It was time to put away the business and get back in touch with my family.  My husband is so supportive of whatever I do, but he and the children were missing my time and attention, and I had to admit, I was not comfortable with the unintentional neglect sewing caused.

So, I packed everything up and closed shop.  I rested and re-cooperated.  I think I lasted about 3 days before cabin fever set in.  I am just a person who likes to be anxiously engaged.  I decided I wanted to get into gardening.  It was something I had always wanted to learn.  I started with the Internet and began to learn the basics in gardening and what would grow in Georgia's red clay soil -- which must be a lot since everything is so green here and the pollen count enormous!

I learned about annuals, and although they die at the end of the season, they are fast growers with brilliant colors --  most quite easy to grow.  I became interested in the perennial, for although they can be more expensive and take up to a year before blooming -- they will reward you by coming back year after year with long lasting blooms.  Perhaps my favorite, is the evergreen.  Especially flowering evergreens.  These plants are just as their name - forever green.  Many can take the harsh heat or the bitter cold, and still they stay beautiful all year long.  Because plants and flowers bloom at different times and seasons, we can enjoy the beauty they lend the earth throughout the entire year.

Once you gain an appreciation for flowers and plants you can't help, but begin to love and appreciate

Nasty Tomato Worm in my garden!

all the elements that help them mature and carry out their life.  The soil, rain and sun all play their roles and follow the laws of nature to help bring a flower to life.  While bad insects might infect a plant, there are always good creatures to combat them - such as spiders and birds.  The bees and butterflies and even the wind carry out their jobs to ensure that each pant can reproduce it's own offspring and live the measure of its creation -- bringing its good to all mankind in the process.

One day I was admiring one of our cone flowers.  I had already known it's roots served as a natural antibiotic, but I had planted it because it was adaptable to most soils, was drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant.  After a heavy rain, I noticed how it's blossoms still stood bright and tall.  So, I began to talk to this lovely creature, telling her how she had brains, brawn and beauty.  It was then I stopped to look at the detailed patterns in her leaves, petals and center bud.  It suddenly dawned on me that I could not deny knowing the artist of this creation.  Every flower is filled with so much beauty, joy and purpose that each one seems to testify that Christ alone is the author of its creation...

Cone Flowers in my garden

So why is mom talking about babies and flowers and bees and butterflies on your baptism day...?  It's coming...hang in there....But first I need to share a story about a boy Emperor in China.  The story is called 'The Greatest Gift', by Demi.

As the story goes, there was a boy Emperor named Ping.  Ping loved to look out of his telescope at the stars and the moon and all the space in between.  He just loved how the heavens seemed to fall into perfect harmony and he wanted the wisest Prime Minister to bring that same harmony to his kingdom.  Ping decided in order to do this he must let the heavens choose the right person.  He gathered all the children in the kingdom and announced that whoever could tell him the greatest power in the world would be his new Prime Minister.  He told the children that a wise leader must be able to see the unseen and know the unknown.

As the children began to carry out their request some of the boys thought it would be easy, because, as they said, "Whoever has the greatest weapons has the greatest power in the world.  For whoever has the greatest weapons can conquer the world."

Some of the girls thought it easy as well, and said,
"Whoever has the greatest beauty has the greatest power in the world.  For whoever has the greatest beauty can command the most powerful commander in the world!"   ;-) 

Some of the more studious children felt that technology was the greatest power in the world - because "whoever has the greatest technology can rule the world."

A group of very practical children saw money as being the greatest power in the world -- because "whoever had the greatest amount of money in the world could buy anything in the world."

There was one little girl named Sing who remembered the Emperor's words.  "A wise person must be able to see the unseen and know the unknown."  Sing sat by a Lotus Pond and pondered about how armies rise and fall, how beauty fades, how money comes and goes, and how ideas are forever changing.  Since none of these things lasted, she didn't see how they could be the Greatest Powers.

Sing noticed the beautiful lotus flowers.  Born from a tiny seed sleeping in the mud, the bud rose through the water on a strong green stem.  It rose above the water to bloom into a glorious flower that faced heaven.  Suddenly Sing knew what the greatest power in the world was.

The day of the parade came, where all the children must present what they felt was the greatest power.  There were many colorful costumes of Dragons, Phoenix's and Money Gods.  All of the children dressed in their finest and paraded around weapons, money, beautiful clothing and technology.  The Emperor then noticed little Sing, just walking quietly and holding something very small in her hands.  "Stop the parade" commanded the boy Emperor and he commanded Sing to come to him.  "What have you got in your hands?" asked the Emperor.

Sing showed the Emperor a tiny lotus seed which she broke in two.

"What is there?" he asked.

"Nothing" said Sing.  "and the greatest power in the world".

"How can nothing be the greatest power in the world?" asked the emperor.

"The nothing in this seed is where life exists," said Sing.  "The nothing in this seed is what makes the seed rise from the earth.  The nothing in this seed is what is fed by water, air, and the fire of the sun to bloom into a glorious flower that turns it's face toward the heavens.  And when the flower sleeps again, it releases new seeds into the earth, which are fed by water, air, and the fire of the sun to bloom into new flowers.  The nothing in this seed is Eternal Life -- it continues from seed to seed, forever and ever in perfect harmony.  Eternal Life is the greatest power in the world."

Lotus Flower

Sing was named the wisest child in all the land and became the new Prime Minister, bringing harmony to the Kingdom.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Today Toby, you are making a choice to follow our Savior and be born again, to take upon you His name and follow in His path.  I want to remind you that actions speak louder than words...

Thanks to Keith Bell

When you make good choices you will have the light of the Son of God to help you grow and blossom in your own time and season.  As your roots grow stronger and deeper, you will be able to share your gifts and talents with mankind.  You will be tempted from time to time -- just remember the insects that eat the flowers -- read your scriptures, say your prayers and keep going to church and you will be able to fight off those temptations.  I hope you'll be like an evergreen, standing tall and strong at all times.  Most importantly, as your faith in Christ emerges, His image will be found in your countenance, bearing testimony of the Author of your creation and helping you to fulfill the measure of your creation.

26 Sept 2015

And I say these things to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

note:  some text quoted directly from book, "The Greatest Power"  (awesome book with awesome art too).

In closing, I'd like to express my gratitude for all those who made it out Saturday, for all the Facebook and txt messages, as well as the wonderful cards and generous gifts that were sent for our little Tobes.

I decided to add this little slide show of Toby.  I originally was going to show it when Toby was getting dried off and dressed -- but Matthew thought it would be nice to just let everyone talk and move around a bit during that time.  I thought it might be cruel to make Everyone suffer through so many family pics -- but in reality, they are mostly of Toby's friends -- you never know, YOU could be in this little slide show ;-)  Btw -- the video is about 10 secs longer than the music -- that's the best I could do ;-)

 God Bless.  My heart is full.

Tango's Alka Rockets Science Project -- Bam!

Need a simple, but great looking science project for school?  Try Tango's Alka Rockets.  We were able to email the slides to his teacher, while Toby (Tango) brought in the rockets to demonstrate.

There are a handful of teachers at school who can make extra homework, or extra hours in school actually feel like a reward.  I applaud their Jedi skills.  Perhaps in time I can learn to have that force with me.  When Toby handed me a pamphlet of 4th grade science projects and exclaimed with pride how he was the Scientist of the Week, I gave him that look, that tries to show you're thrilled for him, but inside you're exploding.  I had a lot on my plate for that coming Friday -- but somehow we made it through.

...And while we're on that subject of exploding, I will point out that "we" chose to make Alka Rockets.  I had hoped to actually make a bottle rocket, like the one I helped Tatum score an A+ with in her Senior year, but with 25 Jumbo Gummy Worm Cupcakes to make - (because having a birthday is what entitles you to be Scientist of the Week) I decided to be logical with myself.

After scouring the web for Alka Rocket Ideas, I just wasn't pleased enough and ended up making my own pattern up -- with Toby's help of course -- it is his project after all ;-)   Here are the end results:

You can print this pattern out here:  https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/31db37a7-f616-4635-b346-4e2c9ebb8950


Did I mention I had to arrive at the school at 6:15 am to take pictures for The Early Birds Club that morning too:
 

By the way, the jumbo gummy worm cupcakes were also a hit.  All it all a great Birthday week for our youngest.  Love you baby boy!  (And I still managed to keep my sanity and my smile -- the real one this time ;-)

Jumbo Gummy Worm Cupcakes

I bought a cheap packet of oreo type cookies at the dollar store and scraped the 'creme' out and crushed the chocolate cookie in a large ziplock bag.  White frosting, green confetti type sprinkles and 3 large gummy worms poking through.  It's pretty self explanatory.  (P.S.  one cake package makes about 12 Jumbo Cakes.)

Morning Prayers

Pic of Tango in San Antonio, TX  (at brother Luke's military graduation) August 2013

I sometimes feel I can  measure Tango's growth and maturity by the quality of his praying.  This morning as he said our family prayer he focused on 'Momma'.  "...and please help momma today when she works.  Help her to get everything done that she needs to get done.  Help her to work hard...but not too hard.  If she works too hard, please tell her to stop and rest and take a break..."

Oh, how I love my little boy.  And to think it was just yesterday I caught him sending a text to a friend, saying how mean I was to make him do his homework...  Hey.  I'm a mom.  I'm meant to be mean.  :-)

In all sincerity, as the day has now come to an end, I do believe his prayers were heard.  Matthew and I have been cleaning up our Rental in Alpharetta.  It's taken a tremendous amount of sweat from me and tends to keep me burning the candle at both ends.  I chose to stay in Loganville, as Toby had a game tonight -- but, I did work hard today--but not too hard.  I did get very tired and took a 20 minute nap.  It was refreshing and gave me just enough energy to make it through the rest of the day.

Thanks for thinking of me baby boy. xoxo

Life's Little Lessons...

I think the glowing ring of planet Saturn looked lovely around our home - however, there are limits.  Explaining that sidewalk chalk and 'side-house' chalk are two different categories, isn't always easy with a kindergarten-er.  I was hoping the big storm would melt the artwork away...but no luck.

So it was with a scrub brush and a large bucket of soapy water that took all the evidence away before daddy's return home.  Don't you wish all our mistakes could just be washed away so easily...?

Yay Tobes! Yellow Jacket of the Month

It's been a particularly hard week for Tobes.  Upon our return from England Tobes found himself finishing up about 20 pages of make up work in 2 nights.  He was a "Champion" and insisted on completing them through the weekend.  Just when you thought nothing could reset that smile of his, he came home miserable.  His favorite recess friend now (previously known as "The Bully") left to attend another school without any warning....  Poor little soldier.  the award was very helpful -- especially since his best bud won too.

Kindergarten Drama

I love standing in line outside the school for dismissal.  Normally, our 5 year old sees me and bolts with a big hug in hand.  He chatters all the way home about the wonderful day he's had and the new friends he's making and how the cute girls chased him.  But I did say normally...

This past Friday was a completely different scene, because not only was I a few minutes late, but that time he spent waiting was unexpectedly filled with the horror of an older bully girl making threats to beat up our little guy!  Why..?  Well, after decoding Kindergarten lingo, we discovered it was because this particular girl (bully -- thankfully from another classroom) wants to be told she's the prettiest girl at school.  Toby wouldn't say that to her, but he did go so far to say she was the same as the other pretty girls....  That not being what she wanted to hear, the threats pursued.  

"Get used to that.." I trailed off with laughter, trying to make light of it.  I wanted to go into detail about how girls are always going to get angry when they don't hear what they want to hear...but it doesn't mean you have to say what they want to hear if you don't believe its true... however, just then a second surge of tears burst through accompanied by moaning of how he was never going back to school again.

It's heart-retching to be greeted by a terrified little face with tears streaming down.  As his sobbing increased, my 'mama-bear' emotions got the best of me.  So instead it was, "No one is going to touch you.  If anyone touches you they are going to have to deal with me!  Mama will go in with you first thing on Monday and we'll talk to your teacher and make sure they know not to let anyone hurt you -- or else!!!. 


A quick call to daddy, who reinforced everything and replaced the tears with giggling got us through the short ride home.  You can imagine the outrage of protective big brother and sister...and grandma....when they heard the news.  They all basically repeated what I said.  Best friend Josh from next door came straight over when he heard the news and offered to beat the older girl up for him...but his mama put an end to that kind of talk.  (But it did make us smile).  Dad was home a few minutes after us and picked him up and convinced him to dry up his tears because daddy wasn't going to let anything happen to him.  He now knows that female or male aggressor (if a girl's going to act like a boy then she'll be treated like one too in our book) we made it clear that it is always okay to protect himself and not allow others to walk on him.


As I expected, Monday morning arrived with a mysterious tummy ache.  "I'm not well mommy.  My tummy hurts.  I can't go to school today."  So I sat him up on the bed and spoke with him:

I love the part at the very end...when he says, "her brain's out of control and that's why she's trying to mess up my school year..."  How many women have you met with a brain out of control trying to mess up your day!  Hahaha!

We walked into the cheerful classroom and was greeted by an equally cheerful Ms. Pierce.  She was very dismayed at the news and went on to tell me how very well liked our son was.  She mentioned that several of the girls adored him, but especially little 'Joslin', who's long, blond pig-tail had come unbraided and was being re-braided by her patient teacher at that very moment.  Nap time was especially cute, she went on to say, because the little girls love to have their rest time next to him.  

Then, Ms. Pierce, being the Southern born and raised woman she is, said, "Emily, come over here please."  (A sweet natured and confident little blond girl came up directly. )  "I want you to stay with Toby at recess and if you see anyone being mean to him you come and get me you hear?  (Emily nodded yes)  You're not going to let anything happen to Toby are you because you're not afraid of anyone, right."   (Emily agreed pleasantly and trotted off.)  Ms. Pierced looked at me and winked saying, "Emily's not afraid of anyone, she'll beat anyone up....."

With ego restored and the grasp at my leg a little less tighter, our little one was feeling better.  However, when he saw me about to leave the class, tears welled up in his eyes all over again.  Knowing that the last kind of woman I'd ever want to get in a brawl with was a Southern woman, (especially after the above conversation) I gave him a last dose of comfort that everything was going to be alright.  I reminded him that everyone in his class loved him and he was going to have a great day.


Let's all have one.  Why does drama start so early?  Good grief!

Update:  Toby came home and he and the little girl that was mean are "Best Recess Buddies" now....go figure.


Visit Southern Mommas

Dandelions and Dare Devils

I have really appreciated the fact, that our youngest is learning to become as independent as possible.  Dad always insists that he do as much for himself as he can, and reminds him often that I'm not a servant.  As my nose was stuck in the computer, he was asking for a glass of water.  My "just a minute" turned into "just 20 minutes" and instead of languishing without the water, he decided to find his own cup.


That will teach mom.  He now has his own set of plastic cups, stored safely in the bottom cupboards, and he is very pleased that he doesn't have to wait on me anymore.


He is my darling boy.  Today he brought me a handful of dandelions.  I appreciated them a bit more then the better part of our hydrangea bush, that he proudly delivered yesterday -- but we won't talk about that -- nor the fact that all the stems were only 1/4" long.

No WAY!!!!!

Just a few weeks ago I tried to help Toby ride his bike, and after much sweat and awkwardness, my heart sunk with the feeling that it was going to take forever.  Then Poof!  Just like that.  Toby said he wanted to ride his bike, and our neighbor Cornell pumped his tires up.  After a couple falls and tears -- he got back on the horse..and look what happened! 

I very much suspect that the confidence coming from ice skating lessons with dad and swimming with Luke has boosted his supply of courage lately.

See what happens when we just keep trying.  I needed that reminder. X