Inexpensive memories

We had a great time packaging rice at St. Paul's. It was great to see so many people come together and bag 20,000 meals. My student, Maggie, came by herself, and that was great to see a youth take the initiative to do something positive on their own. We had a wonderful potluck lst night. Beth and Dan brought Luke, and they broght their guitars and drums, and we had a fun little jam session from 9-10. The kiddos were super sleepy this morning, but they were having so much fun banging on laundry baskets and making memories. Scott and Willy came over, and they were pretty tipsy, and it was funny to watch Willy with his long mustache play a little lap harp. Myles and Joe came and did some networking with Luke and Beth about farming. Addie and Jason and kids came from Waterloo and had fun playing with Kanan and Blue's daughters. Porky and John fried up some great fish and fries and hushpuppies, and their kids had fun playing with the remote dinosaur with Luke. Addie told me that Autumn's mom moved to Arkansas the weekend that I took the kids out to the movie, and that she figured that I knew about that and did it to cheer up Autumn. I thank God for putting that on my heart when she needed it even though I didn't know. David called looking for Charlotte because they had a hard discussion about the stress of her dad living with them. I pray that they can communicate and compromise and keep their marriage and their children as top priorities. Today Tutugirl came and asked if I was going to be joining them for lunch. I didn't have any money and had brought lunch from home so I told her I would tomorrow, but now I think that maybe I should have or at least asked her if she wanted me to. Also today, my student and friend, Maci, took time to come and introduce her friend, Erica, to me. I thought it was pretty cool that she liked both of us well enough to want us to meet each other. Maybe I'll start the pizza lunch idea next Friday and pass out some little invites to people that I see smiling, helping, caring...Beth and Dan's simple bear necessities life style really inspires me, and I hope that I can have more self control over my unecessary wants for concerts, movies, entertainment, eating out...I am excited to put on the Photos For Thought exhibit at the Fisher Community Center auditorium, and I hope that I can take a few new pictures before then that I really love that capture people helping, loving, or teaching others. I hope that John and I can go to a Tibetan activity in Cedar Falls together tomorrow and learn more about the Dalai Lama. My student, Jo, might babysit for a couple hours until my mom comes over. Jo is such a sweet girl, and I pray that she does well at Special Olympics this summer and has many more opportunities to shine in her future. Today my fourth hour class had a good discussion on the lack of celebrations, assemblies, activities, gatherings...that our school has and the importance of making school wide memories like a talent show, culture fair, or field day. I hope that my students and I can come up with something purposeful and educational but also enjoyable and memorable and that the administrators let us implement it this year. I pray for the ability to plan the events that I am putting together right now, for the appropriate wording when I'm trying to tell students about the need to be responsible, and for to be a more productive mom in the evenings and work with TJ on reading and with Mara on writing, and with Chloe on some of her Girl Scout try it badge projects. My student, Mykal, was sad in class today, and I pray for her. My mom went to an Oscar Awards party last night so she couldn't stay for the party, but she dropped off a fun little treasure hunt for the kids which was really nice. I pray that now that it's getting dark later that she comes over more often and we can go for walks together and play at the park. I pray for our friend, Joe's daughter and for Matt and Chauncy's daughter. I pray for kids who don't have shoes and for us who have luxuries to help those less fortunate knowing that their dream is our dream. They want their kids to be in good health and get a good education, and without shoes, they can't reach their dream. I pray that people attend the walk and the photo exhibit. I pray that my family and I will be satiated with love, faith, hope, and peace, and not feel that we need material things and expensive entertainment to be happy or to make a memory. I made some cool tie dye cupcakes yesterday while the family went to deliver some cookies, and that was a $1 memory, and next time I'll wait til the kids are home and can help make them. I will try to think of more creative lessons for my students that make them feel like they're having fun in Preschool again but still learning new things. John's 33rd birthday is coming up, and I need to plan something for him. I will come up with something fun for us all that is inexpensive and memorable. I pray that his friends and family will come together and celebrate the great man, brother, son, grandson, husband, dad, employer, neighbor...that he is. TJ had a great guitar lesson tonight and learn some vocabulary and the E chord. I visited Iris and baby Vanessa again tonight, and her family had all driven over from California, and it was great to meet her sister, Yamilet. We had fun making tie dye pancakes tonight. Our friends, the Christens, who bagged rice with us emailed today saying that they forgot to pay to participate, and I told them that they were covered under a grant that we received so they could keep their $100. Later I got an email from the kids' school saying that someone made a $100 donation for our tuition. God is good. Well, Ian and Matt are over, so I'm going to go chat with them. So blessed to have so many friends that we can all lean on each other when we need to. John bought our plane tickets to go to Power to the Peaceful in September. They were only $130 which is awesome. Can't wait. Mara will be going for her first time. I was the top bidder of a pair of TOMS at the summit, so I think I'll give them to my cousin, Andy, when I see him next. I hope that I can get a small group together for a Style Your Sole party next month. I decided to have a St. Patrick theme party for John on his birthday, and my mom is going to take the kids. Our friend, Erica, is taking a trip to Jamaica next week, so I'm very happy for her, and I pray for her safety. I will send her a birthday card and some money to treat herself to some jerk chicken and Red Stripe. Hopefully someday John and I will be able to take a trip there. I pray for Chauncy to not be selfish and to be kind and thoughtful and that she will make better decisions to maintain a decent relationship with Matt so that they can be the best parents they can be for Alex. I pray for continued memories with our friends and family and for God to help us make decisions such as whether we should go to Nashville for Easter, how we can be better aunts/uncles/godparents/grandchildren...It was great to see so many kids laughing about Hang Man, an egg hunt, and drumming on laundry baskets last night. Great to hear that my old student, Joe, is working on his GED and got accepted at MCC. So great to eat Addie's pound cake, Dave's brownies, and Beth's vegetarian casserole with smoked cheese that Dan and his brother made. Cheers to inexpensive memories and community building.