Sweet Sweet Children

Please don't ever grow up my dear Maya!
I just spent the evening with 13 children
ages 4-10 and I will never be the same. Don't kids like to snuggle up and watch videos anymore? We did a parents night out at the dance studio. It started off great with splitting the kids into groups and preparing talent show acts! After the actual talent show, we did fun stuff like the chicken dance and limbo. It was then time to settle down for the night and watch videos. HA! At one point all my teen helpers were watching Hercules and all the 13 children were in the opposite room kicking playground balls and wildly twirling ribbons! We tried organizational games after that; Crab walk races, Red Light Green Light- this was at 9:40 at night! I pictured these kids snuggled on the mat, quietly eating their pretzels and watching movies. I'm ready for a parents night out!

Positive vs. Negative (or is it the other way around)

I consider this blogworthy...

Tonight after a meeting of the Marquette Moms, (a group of wonderful dance moms that help out with things around the studio) one of the moms was telling me of a conversation she heard in the dance studio waiting room. It consisted of a new studio mom asking an experienced studio mom how things went around recital time. The experienced mom went raving on about how this studio was exceptionally run with quality teachers who genuinely care about each dancer. When it came to song and costume choice, the staff made sure they were age appropriate and clean. So on and so forth. This Marquette mom was overhearing a great conversation. As she was telling me this tonight, we began discussing the powerful reaches that negative comments have over positive comments. I once heard that a negative comment about something has far more power to affect people that a positive comment. People remember the bad and forget the good. Unfortunately this has been proven so true in todays' world time and time again. This Marquette Mom went on to say that if people would center their thoughts on positive things and spread goodness instead of animosity, CAN YOU JUST IMAGINE THE WONDERFUL IMPACT IT WOULD MAKE ON TODAY'S WORLD! Not to mention today's children that hear and see just about everything!
So- the moral of the story you wonder? Spread goodness, think positive thoughts, watch yourself before you speak....One has so much power, use it for the good. Watch 3 wishes on Friday night! They are spreading their goodness country wide! That was my shameless plug for the new Amy Grant television show. Anyway- good night!

Simple Things

After much thought, I have decided to try this blog thing. My sis-in-law will be proud of me for this venturing out. Tonight as I sit sipping my cappucino (it's almost a fall evening), I chose simple things for my blog title. Two reasons: 1 - of course because I love Amy Grant and it's a title of one of her songs; 2 - I do like the simple things in life. They became all the more apparent as we became a family of three.

My top 10 "simple things"

my sweet baby's smile
swinging on a front porch swing
leaves changing color, their smell, their crunch when you walk on them in the fall
little girl buckle shoes
snow angels
hot cocoa during a snowfall
fresh sheets
singing in the car with the windows rolled up (loudly)
conversations with friends
campfires