DREAMS Really DO Come True: FILMING!!

DREAMS, DREAMS and MORE DREAMS!!!  

How do I even begin to tell this story? Giving you the setting seems an appropriate way to begin. Today's installment of 'Dreams Really Do Come True' is set in central Ohio. We travel the roadways from my custom designed "Mother/FIL Suite" (in the lower level of the Daughter S home) to the Award Winning Horizons Production Company on the exact opposite side of Columbus, Ohio. 

And how pray-tell do I have this invitation to FILM? 

Go back three months in time to NAEYC in Washington DC last fall. 

Here are some of the power players from Zaner-Bloser taking me out to dinner to talk DREAMS! 

And why do I have this power dinner in DC? 

Go back years and years: to the time of creating the CD, 

"Debbie's Ditties 6 the Handwriting Mix."

Look closely at the bottom and you see the ZB logo! 

Yes. They commissioned me to create this project.  

We had 'always' believed that videos of the songs would be the perfect teacher support. 

It just took a while for the stars to align. 

And now they have! 

Take a look at our day of filming at Horizons! 

The end project/video is designed for four and five year olds. 

Just so happens that I have 2 WonderTwinzees that are now five! 

Guess who got to travel to the horse-barn studio and participate? 

THESE TWO! 

We got the day started by filming the footage to support one of my ALL time favorite ZB songs: 

"Top to Bottom." 

Mr. Eyelashes was the brave one -- and went first.

I stood off stage and acted as the 'prompt'....... 

follow the marching, jumping GeeGee. 

Little Red required very little coaxing to join the fun. 

I have a feeling the finished product will catch her rolling her eyes. 

She seemed to think that was required for film. 

Here's the three of us enjoying our efforts! 

Little did either little star anticipate.....

They received actual MONEY for their participation in this fun! 

MORE MONEY than they had ever seen before!!!

Moral #1? Do what you LUV the reward follow.

Next is my turn! 

A quick-change and I get my turn on the green screen backdrop. 

We are all in agreement that the denim jumper I concocted will show up.

The film crew has never seen anything quite like it. 

There are some pretty hilarious moments as we get underway. 

Hopefully all of those are left to our memory. 

A quick composite of the nonsense would make a fun personal blooper reel!  

Here's a couple shots for my mom & dad to print off for their fridge! 

And that was the conclusion to our morning 'work.' 

What comes next?

PLAY TIME! 

While waiting for the lunch chow to arrive, the littles got to play with the green screen. 

As far as I know this was literally just for super fun. 

I don't think any of this will make it into our finished project. 

That's Kathleen's grand-daughter, who was a production assistant, having fun. 

Mr. Eyelashes is wearing an adult green suit.

What an opportunity for each of them! 

After lunch we had our next child-actor arrive to get filmed. 

This is four year old Esther. 

She looks slightly shy in this still, but trust me. 

She was the VERY best at taking direction from me. 

Once she got warmed up -- there was no stopping her! 

The afternoon was spent with me filming two 'teacher talks' about the songs we filmed. 

This is the last of my DIVA DEBBIE DAY Film shoot. 

Me. 

Checking back through the footage, for last minute corrections. 

Not yet ready for prime time reality series... but such fun!

Here's our crew. 

Needed each and every.single.person. 

****Taking ALLLLLL of these photos is the unsung hero of the day. 

My daughter Sarah. 

She gets all of the credit for my hair and make up, 

AND served as photographer to document the occasion.

I guess that makes these my Village. 

The VILLAGE people! 

How many women does it take to teach me about my iPhone? 
We are attempting to send the photo above to email addresses. 
Alas. Something about a password has gotten gummed up? 
In any case. I LUV LUV LUV this photo! 
These are the two women who have made the entire day possible. 
From left. Kathleen of ZB and Cherie of Horizons. 

This is the final glimpse of Ohio gray as we pulled out of the driveway. 

Horizons. 

What a true treasure to PLAY at your barn! 

One final p.s. to the story. 

You may have seen the transformation of the denim jumper a la my paint brush. 

Turns out that I also needed to 'repaint' my shoes. 

They couldn't have any green showing. 

So here's the before and after shot of the shoes.

Everything that was originally green got painted orange. 

BTW: these are my "MONA" hand painted beauties.

I only get credit for the repaint. 

So here's one more Post Script. 

Mom: click on this link to see the Peeps dancing.

This after they were all finished. 

Scott came to get them and we were just having FUN!  

Observation of September 11th with Children (Song on SALE)

September 11th Observation with Children 

It is time again to consider how to 'approach' the observation of September 11th with children. It is a tightrope act to combine the emotions and feelings of adults as they reflect on the event, with the innocence of children born very much after the fact. I have a resource for your consideration.



In the immediate aftermath of that historic Tuesday, I wrote a little song for 'performance' to be used later that week on the national day of prayer and mourning. It was years before I got it professionally recorded. It was a total of ten years before I got the lyrics of my song "transformed" into a picture book. The entire project is a simple response for children to sing -- more an appreciation for our flag and all things Americana, than the historic event itself. It was my own feeling that a heartfelt and patriotic song would always fit the remembrance of the occasion. Listen to the sweet voices of Kinder-kids singing in performance. 

In real time I am in Denver, as we visit our WesternWonders (that's our mile-high grandchildren.) We had sufficient time to make the arrangements for me to visit the first grade of our six year old wonder. Once the invitation was extended, it made sense to gather all four of the first grade classes together for my visit. These photos are from our 'first grade' time gathered on Friday.

The shot below if of my fave firstie, plus a 'guest' Clement holding the original quilt that I created from fabric, as the illustration for the 'big city' portion of America. As a group we are comparing the quilt to the completed illustration in the book. 

Here we are initially working on the sign language to support our singing.  A long time back I consulted with educators at the Ohio School for the Deaf, for signs to use in our singing. Their suggestion was to use the sign for 'flag' with each time we sang "Red, White and Blue." In the photo below we are learning the 'sign' for flag. 

I'm BIG on BIG endings. This next series of photos show us as a group creating exploding 'fireworks' for our grand finale. We start out squatting down low, ready for a big blast off. We give one great big clap (explosion) together, and then our fingers twinkle down as the twinkling aftermath. 

I mentioned this afternoon that I wished I had a picture of reading the book together at school. They decided as a trio to get dressed and pose just such a shot for me -- just for you readers of my blog! They went searching for their Fourth of July shirts for this photo op! LUV LUV LUV it! The Clement crew, with little Missy off in naptime, slumberland. 

Here's a peek at four of the finished quilts in the picture book version. 

Keep in mind I made each of these two page 'openings' as one finished quilt. 

32 page book = 16 small quilts

Here's a RoundUP of patriotic responses to my book --

from children across the country. 

Just click the pic below.  

     

I've added some of my favorites here for you to see in a quick hop!

This close-up 'marble-painted' construction paper quilt detail below was created in Illinois by kinder-kids. Roll on down to see how gigantic the project became. 

The patriotic quilt below was created in this same school for my author visit to them this past spring.



Last year on September 11th I was in WI for my school visit.
The first graders there created construction paper pieces for their lockers.





















Here's the very first quilt that I made for the book...... 
It's representative of our haven-on-earth, up in Door County.

I have put my digital download of the song and its support materials on sale from now through Sept. 11th at Teachers Pay Teachers. I don't think there's enough time to ship you the picture book before then, but ordering it now on sale, will ensure that you have it in time for Veteran's Day. 



I'm so appreciative of your pins from my blog. 
It's the greatest way to help me get the word out. 
Thank you!!!

My Home, My Heart of Rainbows

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY DAY!!!
My heart is full. My heart is blessed. My heart celebrates!
Spring + mothers + daughters + grand-mothers + grand-daughters + colors + delight + generations: the season of blooming, the season of growth, the season of love, the season of joy. 


This day of gratitude. This day of reflection. This day of LOVE!

I am one of those most-fortunate-of-all sandwich-generation women. 
My mommy is alive and well this day AND I am mommy to two glorious women AND beyond all techno-color dreams, I am GeeGee to the next generation as well: a mini-tribe of seven all told!! 


Oh. Be. Still. My. Heart. While. I. Happy. Dance!

My childhood was filled with the moments of Halmark Cards commercials: rolling sugar cookies together in the kitchen, being taught to embroider cross-stitches onto yellow gingham in a taught hoop, creating poetry notebooks on the theme of tranquility as an awkward adolescent. I was blessed with all of those daily memories. 
They brightened my perspective. They colored my days. They were my world. My twinkling childhood.

My mommy = three parts cheerleader*
My mommy = two parts champion*
My mommy = one part counselor*
***The proportions of this equation could be adapted on any given day.To this day she remains all three!!

"To those to whom much has been given, much will be demanded." 
(Luke 12: 48 substitute: expected, required depending on version.)


It is therefore my responsibility to pay my childhood forward. Pay it forward through my own daughters. Pay it forward through my own grand-children. Pay it forward to all the children I am blessed to meet in my travels..... whether interacting for an hour or an afternoon.


So I 'scrumble' my pippys. (Scrumble: to chase in gales of laughter followed by snuggling and tickling.)


And I 'count' my pippys. (Counting: child lies down as tall and straight as possible as we count together how tall they've grown since our last counting.... inching from bottoms of toes to tops of extended hair.... great for snuggling, tickling and numeracy.) 


And I sing and dance and laugh with the children I meet on the road. What a glorious road it is!

Traveling to new places is always an adventure and a thrill. These photos of this incredible work are a result of my Author visit last week to Laurel IN. Every visit is driven by one personality that contacts and coordinates, orchestrating our fun. 

In this case my travels were the brain child of Alta-the- Amazing. In our whirlwind up and down the sprawling elementary halls with my camera clicking at mach-speed, Alta hugged me saying that my visit was a jewel in her professional crown. It was at that point that she mentioned being 75 years old, with fifty years of 'professional' experience teaching children!!!! She has brought much color into the lives of children. In fact she fills the world with color!!


My blessed life has graced me with years with my mom-the-mentor and amazing experiences being a mom, too. There are many who have had those relationships interrupted or who have always longed for a healthy relationship to a 'mom' in their lives. It's people like Alta, who give their lives to EVERYONE's children that make our planet such an improved place. 


Since I've mushed this post together with the colors of those perfect preschool neighborhoods with an ode to my mom and a nod to the Altas me meet along our own roads, I think I'll digress just a tad further. Where do I get this 'call-to-color' of mine?? 

While on the adventure to Laurel we spent the night in the village of my childhood home: Batesville, IN. While taking in all of the sights of my formative years we made a stop to St. Mark's and made ourselves at home. I wonder if those years of singing in this sanctuary had anything to do with my love of color?


Yes. I am a P.K. in addition to the other alphabet soup of letters on my resume. [P.K. = Pastor's Kid.] That's a lifetime of being surrounded by stained glass. Walking back into the sanctuary of so many years ago -- I was literally transported by the colors of my childhood. 


This is the very spot where I learned, "Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red, and yellow, black and white. They are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world."

We are who we come from. We are where we grew up. 


May this day be filled with bringing colors of joy to the lives you touch. Who are the 'moms' in your world? The women who love and support you when the times are tough? When the going gets rough? Are you fortunate to have those connections biologically? Or have you been graced with moms-relationally? Are you blessed to still be able to say thank-you to that person or persons? 


Go help the village where you find yourself this week and contribute your own unique color to the children in your life. 


                                         -- Debbie --