Trick or Treat Creatures

Oh what fun it is to don a whole new persona and stomp wildly and howl at the moon, ring door bells and be able to say "Trick or Treat" with your best next door neighbor pinkest-princess buddie! As you can surmise: a good time was had by all! My favorite pic is our dragon marching bravely down the sidewalk, all on his own. The whole world awaits. My, my, my. How quickly they grow up. Turn around, and he's a young dragon going out on his own.

Road Show Conclusion

Day 3 of the "Road Show" takes us thru the early, October NY snow squalls arriving safely in Waterlou, outside of Syracuse. Here are the wide awake participants, first thing in the morning's keynote, who have braved the weather. I'm responsible for keeping them moving. It was truly an energizing day. My voice made it to the last drop, so I had lots to celebrate. BTW: Suzi and I sat in the Syracuse airport together and added her website's link in the column here labeled -- 'Friends with Talent.' Go see for yourself. I just know you're gonna appreciate her ideas. We were still laughing all of the way to our gates in D.C. Remembering such things as our GPS named Jane who took us on a wild goose chase: "Recalculating." We laughed so hard our body parts ached over that one. Or how about our late-night shopping trip to L.L. Bean's? And discovering their hats didn't match their gloves? Then there was the time that the automated doors closed on me..... (I was kept from being crushed because I was surrounded by luggage and Suzi came to my rescue.) What a treasure, a new friend. Thanks SDE.

Albany Slant Dance

Our day together in Albany will be forever memorable. Here we have the "brave" late afternoon participants -- those not scared off by the 12 inches of snow being predicted by tonight. (I was just enjoying the remnant of the fall leaves............) Here we have kindergarten teachers who are working hard on their 'slant dance' skills. Pictured above are the top portions of the letter "A."

I'll give them an "A" for staying to the conclusion of the day!

Fishkill Fun & Games

Let's get this party started! A glimpse of the Fishkill participants in the midst of my morning keynote greeting. "We are great. Let's all appreciate." What a responsive group. A great way to start the day!! A fantastic way to start our road show. Everybody's warmed up and singing. What an awesome opportunity -- to address the whole conference at the same time. Wow. This is a great way to start the week! Happy Monday. (The fall colors are just a tad 'past-peak' but still gorgous on the rolling hills we're exploring.)

SDE NY Road Show Funtastic

Suzi Boyett and I hit the road for SDE's first-ever "Road Show" tour. We will be presenting all day workshops in 3 different NY cities on 3 successive days!! We flew the last leg outta Phillie together and started laughing on that flight -- and haven't stopped yet. We are already having a hoot in our exploration of NY. We know what's meant by Fishkill (old Dutch word: kill = stream, ergo Fish Stream.....) and all sorts of other trivia. That's ZB Dennie, wearing his fancy tie and having so much fun. Notice my original 'happy pants'.... I wear them now, only for special occaisions anymore, as they are finally getting quite thin after at least a decade of fun together! They were my 'original' find of wardrobe-exhuberance, which launched my whole subsequent "look." **My happy pants were rescued from a thrift store -- back when Noelle & I were 'thrifting' as our fav junior-high, mom & daughter rainy day excursion. She got her original railroad pinstripe overalls on the same trip. I still remember how excited we each were from our treasures. Now, let the show begin.

Zaner-Bloser Progress

Here I am down-town @ the corporate office for my friends at Zaner-Bloser. Today was a big thrill, because we have made enough progress on our project for them -- that I was able to drop off a 'working' CD of all of the tracks underway. Can't wait to hear what they think about the work we've been up to over the past several months. While there we worked thru all of the details for the upcoming convention for NAEYC and I'm really excited now!

Goldie, Goldie, Goldfish

I broke my dearest, oldest, first, original dittie out of the dittie-vault today. Goldie was allowed to make her big 'splashy' (sorry, just couldn't resist) entrance at school. She'd been locked away for a while and it was a huge delight to let her see the light of day again. I find that whatever songs I introduce in my first visits are requested every single month there-after.... so I keep things rotating from year-to-year, in an effort to keep things fresh for me. The big kiddos above are making their "looking" eyes for the second verse. Could you just gobble them right up? Absolutely lit up my whole day.

Babies-in-Happy-Balls

We have reached a new milestone in the "granny" department. The twinsie-babeez have reached their 6 month old mark. Sarah had the brilliant idea to corral them together in the laundry basket of balls. How cute are they? Then I remembered that we had some clicks of Keegan in the same balls...... he's just about 6 weeks older in his pic, than the twins are in theirs..... but a pretty good point of reference, if I do say so myself!! Yes. The boys eyelashes are outta this world. That's a lot of blue-eyed grandchildren, for this brown-eyed, yes, biological grandma. Just goes to show what those recessive genes can do.

Gratitude & Blessings

Here's a peek down a sincerely over-crowded hallway. All of this equipment is for a very important cause. I'm completely humbled and amazed by all of the hard work of the PTs and OTs, speech therapists, teachers, assistants and volunteers that work so hard and are dedicated to doing all that's humanly possible to intervene on behalf of these children, giving them a brighter tomorrow. Whenever I'm fortunate enough to make a day's music visit, I come away with a renewed sense of dedication -- a new awareness of how many blessings are a part of my life. Celebrate!

Coordination: Nancy

Here's my southern belle, sponsor and the coordinator of last week's entire event. Nancy Francis and I met last year @ NAEYC's annual convention in Chicago. We had the opportunity to speak for a few minutes there and plant some seeds for their annual event. How incredible to be treated like royalty. I was told that the host site, Peachtree Presbyterian Preschool is in our country's largest Presbyterian church. It was easy to get lost, but what an amazing facility. What a blessing that the congregation places such a priority on young children and has the vision that their ministry is to support others working with children as well. It does indeed take a village. What a great example for others to follow. And yes. I did get a very big, southern hug and my greeting did include several "y'alls."

Atlanta's Arrangements

Look at me outside of our incredible Atlanta address. Wow. Ooo-la-la!! We had a driver at our beck and call, willing to take us thru the wild rush hour traffic to the greatest Italian restaurant in Buckhead. Memorable to be sure. [OK: true confessions, we did indeed have a driver and he did indeed take us to our restaurant, but he wasn't trained to drive this stretch limo thru the cramped streets, so while that's me @ limo's end -- we didn't get inside it..... we were forced to travel in the shiny black Escalade instead. So close and yet so far! But it was fun to imagine. Practise for the future.]

Proud Preschool Paintings

Be bold. Be proud. Fill the page with color. Paint with vigor. The excitment is obvious. The love of process is evident. Maybe it's time to get out the brushes again. Find some canvas. Fill the world with new ideas -- brought to life with paint.

Happy Dancing Children

I have the best work on the planet!! I still make regular trips into a handful of childcare centers here in town. Before I can get out of my car, there are children waving & bouncing & running up for hugs. It is quite a BIG honor to hold the front door open for me-- as I swing thru with my guitar and big-box-of-surprises! Do you just love the hair-in-flight picture? That's what I call jumping! Then there's the covering of the eyes pic (in anticipation of the upcoming surprise) and then lots of fun with shakers. Just a peek into my day.

It's time for me to be getting myself organized for our upcoming trip to Atlanta. I'm looking forward to presenting there later this week. Reminds me of my new bumper sticker: "Teachers are my heros."

Amerisound Studios: WOW

How fortunate am I? Today was a spectacular, "oh-my-goodness-at-the-recording studio-day". We're hard @ work on a top-secret project that is truly coming together. PROGRESS!! Pictured above are the two men behind this absolutely hush-hush project. Ronn Price is on the left and Dan Green, owner of Amerisound Studios on the right.... and then the three of us taking our own picture at arm's length (golly that technique worked just fine!) It's just so amazing, to have an idea and then to watch it bloom and grow under the genius of an incredibly talented team. Stay tuned....... a mere 6 or 10 months from now, and I'll tell you some of the specifics. There's some seriously brilliant work underway. Keep thinking good thoughts.

Roaring 20's Ballroom Fun

A feather boa, pink gloves, suspenders and we're ready to learn the Charleston! Fun ensued with a costume judging, lots of cha-chas and oodles of goodies on the buffet table. I'm so glad that we were in town to join the festivities. We still turn heads with our "swing" it's our favorite, for sure.

Annapolis by the Sea

A picture's worth a thousand words? What are three pictures worth? Happy crab cakes one and all! The sun is shining on a whole new era..... (they are standing in front of THE very boat that was featured in the movie: "Wedding Crashers" alas, we didn't have enough time to take it for a spin, this trip.)

Foggy Morning Departure

Thick as pea soup. Shrouding the world in a cotton-batting wrap. Disclosing only the most immediate of details. Upon closer inspection there is a dock.... sure enough the ghost is actually a sailboat moored in the mist. An eerie way to start the day. Time to return home to that which is familiar. Final impression of a glorious weekend. Season's changing. Gratitude's constant.

Farewell foggy-town. Impression seared permanent.

Noelle & Baseball Season

Here we have my brown-eyed, classical musician daughter posing in downtown Annapolis during our mom & daughter, girl's-romp-of-an-afternoon. It's been fun watching Noelle develop an interest in sports, via Zac's enthusiasm. I got to watch her learn all about the concept of "intentionally walking" the batter. What a foreign concept that was for our novice. We also had an opportunity to explain what a 'double-play' means. She's taking her new found enthusiasm to heart and is learning much about the sport. Congrats, for stretching your wings, Beanie!

Larry, Curlie and Moe

Look at all this testosterone -- right there in my kitchen!! These are the brothers Clement, in matching hats no less, as they were preparing for their recent cross country road trip. Our new southern home is ready in sunny Florida.... awaiting our gradual relocation to the warm clime: swimming pool, palm trees and Friday night line-dancing await. Allen's excited about the view out our lanai. He assures me that we're far enough away from the ninth green to be safe from errant missiles. Time will tell. We have a guest room that's already completely furnished -- just waiting for company to come!! Call ahead on your way to Micky Mouse.

We are planning another jaunt south in about a week..... I will be speaking in Atlanta and that's just a few hours away from our southern branch-office so this next trip will have the goal of warming up the space, with some furnishings!

Our five year plan continues to unfold, with another major hurdle being crossed.