Takes My Breath Away.

I was flipping through my photo files today and just stopped when I got to this one. It literally made me inhale. Just thought I'd share a photo, from a Mommy's heart, that takes my breath away. To see part of my heart outside my body, in human flesh. To look into deep chocolate eyes that are so much like my own. That sweet little dimple. The smooth soft skin. The pink knit hat that you wear so adorably. The faint curve of your sweet little smile. You look so not a preschooler here and so much the budding little girl that you are. Thanking God for you today, my Sweet Girl Kennedy.

How do you say "tattoo" in Spanish?

I went to teach my courses today with this lovely tattoo of a rainbow heart on my arm. No, I didn't make a trip to "Suck Ink" or another local tattoo parlor for a "recapture my youth" moment. Rather, my kids were putting tattoos on last night and decided that I really needed one, too. Initially, I resisted, but then I went along. They had so much fun choosing one for me and applying it to my arm. Then, this morning as I was getting ready for work, my first inclination was to scrub it off. But, I smiled, thought again, and decided that I needed to leave it on for work. Isn't it funny how easy it can be to let play and fun and spontaneity and creativity infuse our lives, if only we let it. It's that little voice inside that says "I'm too old or sophisticated for this" or "What will people think" or "I want to be taken seriously" or "It looks silly." Do all that you can to squelch that little voice! So Dr. McDonald taught her courses today with a play tattoo on her arm. Several students commented on it and, once hearing the story, thought it was very cool.

Buenos Noches! I thought that when I finished my final university course, defended my dissertation, and was hooded as "Dr. McDonald" that I would never take a college class again. Well, thanks to continuing education credits, I am now officially both a university professor and a university student! I even received an official acceptance letter! Yes, I am taking a course, and Spanish no less. In the past year, in my professional work, I have interacted with several clients wherein I felt a command of Spanish would have greatly enhanced my ability to communicate with them. So, here I am, learning elementary Spanish. In high school and college, I studied French, so this is all new to me. Right now, I am at the point where I am learning greetings, counting, the alphabet, and telling time. Now, it doesn't take a psychologist like I am to figure out that second language acquisition is MUCH easier for children than for adults, so we will just see how this goes! I am looking forward to the practical uses of the language. So, as I progress, you may see some Spanish words and phrases sprinkled into my posts for good measure. I'm hoping that my kids will learn some Spanish along the way (in addition to what they have already acquired from Dora and Diego) and that they will see that learning something new is another way to live a creative and inspired life. We will see how optimistic I still am a month from now!

So for all you scrapbookers out there, here I am again, 2 weeks before the CK Hall of Fame content deadline, asking myself how bad I really want to enter. I always set out to do it but then end up saying "Maybe next year." I have about half of the assignments finished and need to decide how badly I want to kick it into gear in the next two weeks to make it happen. I am leaning toward "YES" but haven't gotten much scrap time as of late. After all, I am learning a second language, you know! Anway, I will talk to you again "manana". Gracias for reading!

Storage Solutions....Crafty Husband!

When my husband and I purchased our current home, the home was white, white, WHITE! Which, for any of you who know me and my creative style, does not reflect me at all. So, the past year has been spent adding color to our home's walls and, thus, to our lives. Splashes of barn red greet you in the entry, the kitchen/dining areas are garbed in artichoke green, and a nice mustard with a glaze overlay warms up the family room. Another downfall of the house was the lack of storage space....just a few small closets and no built-ins. So, from the very start, I had visions of our front living room as taking on more of a library feel. Well, another important step in that room's transformation took place over the weekend with the installation of a wall full of library shelving. My handsome and handy hubby built the shelves, painted them in an aged black, and installed them on Saturday. The transformation to the room is amazing! A few months back, we painted the then-white room a shade of pumpkin orange, which really added warmth. Now, the shelves coupled with our brown leather den chairs really shout "library room"! I am going to look for an antique ladder to stand against the shelves, to complete the look, and we would eventually like to get an oversized leather sofa for the room. I absolutely love how it looks....Thanks, Honey, for putting your creative skills to work to make my vision for this room come to vivid life! Now, I am looking forward to unpacking boxes of books and pottery to arrange on the shelves. I also plan to have a shelf for each child, to show some key photos, favorite objects/toys/books, and art projects. I also have a shelf for their art portfolios and, of course, several shelves to house our family scrapbooks. Right now, I have more shelf space than I know what to do with, but I know they will fill up fast once I get creating!

And speaking of creating, I read another chapter of Sandra's book "Living Artfully" as the kids were playing this afternoon. So far, I highly recommend it as an inspirational and very accessible read. It's basic premise is that we are all creative beings and we need to seek and grasp everday ways to live a creative existence. Hmmmm....sounds like what I've been trying to achieve in my own life over the past year or two. Several of her ideas relate to my previous post on RACCKos, though this was totally coincidental. While she does not write from an overtly Christian perspective, her ideas are very spiritual and I have not found anything offensive (though her grandfather did apparently invent the OUIJA board, which is a whole other story in itself). Sandra inspire me with her kindness, creativity, obvious zest for mothering her daughter in a creative way, and living out creativity spontaneously and to the core. Maybe I'll get to chapter 3 tonight after tuck-ins!

Hey, my wonderful brother-in-law, Dan, just started his own blog and has included some gorgeous photos that he has taken. If you are curious and want a little glimpse of durgsworld, stop by and be sure to encourage him in the journey! Great job so far, Brother!

Three Random Friday Things.

First of all, I would be all over my students if they ever used the word "things" in their writing as I did to entitle this post.....but that's OK, I'm the professor. And this is not a formal academic paper. So, I'm breaking the grammar rule and I'm fine with it!

Here are three random things from today. First, I spent my morning with my daughter in kindergarten, helping out with a science lesson about the Earth. While I am typically there to assist with literacy activities, today was actually fun as we learned about the Earth's water-land composition. The kids had a lot of fun with the globe activity, and it was fun to teach 5-and-6-year olds as opposed to college students for a day. I love being there to directly observe my little girl and her classmates engage actively in the learning process and to be excited about their world.

Second, YAY! My copy of "Living Artfully" arrived today, and I can't wait to get into it. As soon as I finished this post, I plan to begin savoring the first chapter. Two years ago, I actually met Sandra M. in person in Grand Rapids and had a wonderful conversation with her about play and art and therapy. I stood at her booth at the Great American Scrapbook Convention for a good 20 minutes just chatting....she was so warm and gracious. She signed a copy of her book, "When I Grow Up I Want to Be Me" for Kennedy and is just a delightful creative spirit. I have a vintage glass jar in my studio filled with her little clay-and-bead plaques with words such as "play" and "dream" and "joy" on them--so colorful and happy and inspiring. I am looking forward to how her insights will inspire and enhance my creative life, and my life overall for that matter. I will give a review later as I get further into the book.

And, third, who else can remember the FunDip from their childhood? Those hard white candy sticks to lick and dip into the colored sugar. I remember my best friend and I getting these from the little candy store--"Harolds"--in my hometown, and we enjoyed every last grain of sugar. My kids saw these at Michael's today, and it struck a nostalgic chord for me, so I splurged and let them have a little "Happy Friday" treat. Pure sugary fun at our house this afternoon.

I'm exhausted and still have some reading to do. So sleep in a bit tomorrow if you can...I know I plan to!

RACCK-os.

This past holiday season, my family re-discovered the fun of the game RACKO. Does anyone else remember it from their childhood? The game where you have a rack of cards that you basically have to reorder in numerical order and be the first to shout "RACKO!". Come on....remember those funny, retro-looking plastic red racks? Well, the game has been reintroduced with some fun twists, and we had a lot of late night fun with the game.

Anyway, enough with the plug for RACKO (though I do highly recommend it!). This post is not about RACKO, as in the game. Think about this question: Did you know that you can be part of a miracle with RACCKos? Did you know that you can change lives with RACCKos? OK, so now that you are completed and utterly confused by what I mean, here is my point: God has been tugging at my heart in relation to the topic of giving. Now, I am not just talking about the "throw the check in the collection plate" type of giving (though that type is important, too). But the "live out real life" type of giving. The "spontaneous and fun" type of giving. The "leave them with their mouths open wide" type of giving. The "God made me do it" type of giving. I made up this little acronym for a new part of my life that I have adopted as of December. The RANDOM ACTS OF CHRIST-CENTER KINDNESS type of giving. I'm sure you've all heard of random acts of kindness...finding little ways in everyday life to show love and kindness to others. But this is quite different because the MOTIVATION for the acts is all about Christ. I don't want to do random kind acts because it is nice or because it makes me feel all warm-and-fuzzy good, but because of what Christ has done for me. Because of the fact that Christ has sprinkled random acts of love and kindness and mercy and fun and compassion and grace and forgiveness through each and every moment of my existence. And I want to show others that they, too, can find full and eternal life through the God who made them fearfully and wonderfully and knows them intimately and by name.

So, in December, I committed to finding ways to intregrate RACCKos as a normal part of my life, at least once a month, but hopefully more. And so far, the journey has been awesome. To think that we can allow God to work through us to make a miracle happen in somebody else's life. That is amazing to me! And we never know how our actions impact people, who then go on to impact others......the ultimate pay-it-forward. And to do this all in the name of Christ.......can you imagine the potential impact if more people adopted RACCKos as a lifestyle?

So, you may be asking, what kinds of things have I done. In December, I anonymously sent a sweet angel tree ornament to a friend with whom I have recently had a pretty serious parting of ways. I knew that she liked the art work of a particular local artist, so I went to the studio and purchased the ornament. To provide some context, I had asked for this friend's forgiveness for an angry interchange that was had last summer, and she said that she forgave me, but her actions suggest otherwise. I do not think that this friend is a Christian, so I really wanted to impact her for Christ. So I sent her the angel ornament with a verse written on the back, with a note (camoflauged handwriting, of course) saying that this angel would hopefully remind her every year that Christ loves her, died for her, and cherishes her as His child). I don't know her reaction. I don't know how this will impact her and her family. But God nudged me to do it, and I wanted to be obedient, hopefully for His ultimate glory. Last week, I left a $10.00 tip on a $10.00 lunch that I had. I just sensed that the waitress was struggling, and God nudged me to do something to encourage her. This morning, following the lead of a local Christian radio station, I paid for the breakfast of the person behind me at the drive-through (I had to get me early-morning Diet Coke!). Again, I don't know who it was or how she responded or what she was going through, but I know that the cashier was somewhat shocked and confused. I believe that God can use any situation to impact others for Him, if only we submit to his calling and his moving within us. And the funny thing is, this giving has impacted me in a powerful way, too. Tears are streaming down my face as I am writing this. I am tempted to think that the RACCKos are all about changing other people. But, honestly, they are also about changing me....about softening my heart to others......about making me more like Christ......about teaching me what it is to be willing to give anything and everything for God's glory. I have been humbled and challenged. And I want more!

If you're like me, I sometimes ignore God's gentle nudging. It is easy to stay in our comfort zones and close our eyes to the immense needs in the world around us. But, praise the Lord!, we serve a God who is in the business of making miracles, and He loves to work in awesome and unexpected and unexplainable ways. And, maybe the most amazing thing is, He wants to use you and me to do it!

So, my challenge for you today is to let God work through you as you find ways to do RACCKos in your own life. It is fun, VERY FUN! and something that you can let your kids help with, so that they see the joy of obedience and giving and letting yourself be used of God. I firmly believe that someday, when we are all in heaven standing before God, I will learn of the impact of those simple RACCKos in the lives of people. And that will be awesome to see how God uses seemingly insignificant acts to change the world person by person.

My challenge: Commit a RACCKo in the next week and leave a comment letting us know what you did and how you responded. Yes, it may be a stretch on your budget. Yes, it may take some creative planning. Yes, it might mean you can make one less trip to the scrapbooking store (OK, that one's hard for me, too, I can relate.). Let's all get in on the making of miracles! I promise. You will not regret this investment. RACCKO!

I Want to Know Who You Are!

OK, so I am still getting used to this whole blog-language, but I have been made aware that this is "De-Lurking" week. That means that basically it is time for all those readers of this blog to leave a comment letting me know who you are! It is really fun to look at the few (very few!) comments that people have left, and it provides additional motivation for me to keep sharing my thoughts and opinions. Wouldn't it be cool if there was someone from another state who made daily trips to this blog? Or from another country who needed their daily dose of Half-Baked and Firefly Free? If you are so moved, leave a comment to just say hello, suggest a posting topic, or just let me know that myself and my extended family aren't alone in this journey! Sleep tight.

Play Ball!

I was a ball player. Basketball. Volleyball. Especially softball. At one point in my life, before I was married and had kids, a large part of my life was spent playing ball. I loved it. Loved the challenge. Loved working on my shot. Loved that I could shoot a 3-point shot with the best of them. Loved pitching hard enough to strike out my opponent. Loved spiking the ball home and sending the ball over the fence and driving the lane for an easy lay-up and stealing the ball away from an unsuspecting point guard. And I found a fair amount of success through my hard work. Earned lots of awards and honors. Played college basketball and softball on scholarship. Was honored on the college level for three-point shooting and pitching. The thrill of playing ball is in my blood. But, I haven't played ball for a long time. The last time I tried to play--about 2 years ago--I was so out of shape that I could barely make it up and down the court, let alone get off a good shot. It was embarrassing and disgusting, so I stayed away for awhile. I miss it. But I'm not sure I realized how much I missed it until tonight. After work, Matt, myself and the kids headed over to the gym for a night of ball playing. We practiced batting and catching and dribbling (both basketball and soccer). We had fun. Lots of fun. Yes, I felt very out of shape. Yes, I was breathing hard. Yes, it was harder than I remember to bend down to field the ball. But it was good. A good type of tired. And I think that I reconnected with part of myself that I want back. I want to feel that competitive athletic streak again. I want to be able to make my body work for me. I want to feel strong, like I could drive past anybody for the score. Like I could strike out any batter. I want to drop at the end of a game, tired and sore and spent. Yes, I really miss playing ball and realized tonight that just because I'm nearing 35, just because I am a Mom now, and just because I'm no longer on a competivie team, this can still be a fulfilling part of my life. And I want to instill the joy of playing ball into my own kids. I love that my daughter can slam a line drive at the age of five and that she can already dribble pretty well with both hands. I love that my son loves batting and can dribble a soccer ball better than I can! Our family is rediscovering together the joys of playing ball, and it is sure to help us along in this quest to be more intentional about exercising together. It's not just that I WAS a ball player. I AM a ball player, just waiting to come out and play. Life is short. Play ball. And play hard.