The Piggie Patrol

Look at these pretty little 'piggies' of mine. I had willing volunteers for a dance line. The crowd went wild. These gals had serious skills.... I could send tape on to 'So You Think You Can Dance' for their audition. My "Piggie Rap" always translates into a performance opportunity. The beat gets everyone tapping their toes. "The first little piggie, that's piggie number one, she liked to shop, that's how she had her fun. She shopped till she dropped, that's how she had her fun. She went down to the market, she went on to the mall. She shopped, till she dropped, and she really had a ball." GO PIGGY.

It turns out that I owe a great deal of gratitude to Veronica, in the final picture. She had seen me at Whitewater, WI's conference a couple years back and once apparently somewhere in Chicago. In any case, she'd given my name to the administration as a suggestion......... and low & behold, voila, there I am, in the flesh. What a great reminder: PLEASE put my name in as a suggestion for your future trainings. I go where I get invited and that's how the dots get connected: someone makes the suggestion to get the ball rolling in the first place. THANKS Veronica!!

Jumpin' & Freezin' &

It always works. It works with teachers and it SERIOUSLY works with the kiddos: Jumpin' Jamboree!! There's thirty seconds of flat out jumping unrestrained, followed by thirty seconds of 'freezing frozen.' Guess what comes after that? Thirty additional seconds of enthusiastic jumping again. So what follows the jumping? More freezing frozen shenanigans. It's simple. It's predictable. It's got a pattern. It's full of oxygen-intake. It's over-the-top fun. It's opposites. It's alliteration. It's a guaranteed smile. In fact, I think it's appropriate to offer a money back guarantee on that one. (It's from my fifth recording.)

If you really want to double your fun, on the freezing frozen fantasticly verse, have the children stand on one foot, balancing while making their funny faces. All sorts of integration of those two hemispheres of the brain.

Waukegon Wakes up Well!!

Launching a new school year is an awesome responsibility. Yesterday I had that assignment for the Waukegon area Head Start. I got to launch their week of professional development and had the whole first day of fun to talk about all of my favorite issues: crossing the midline, combining music & movement, choosing books to support my songs and introducing my brand new, not-quite-yet picture book.

Here we are getting the day underway with sign language. The reason that I fell in love with this staff? They are huggers!! I was already there in the conference room as the teachers were returning, seeing each other for the first time after their summer vacation. It was one explosion of hugging after another. It was so much fun to see reunion after reunion after reunion. LOTS of hugging!!

Odometer Milestone

I'm of an era where we watched the odometer on cross country trips. We've just hit a real milestone with the big green machine: 9,999.9 miles..... in a mere 12 years of riding together. Actually, the bike is mine. Officially that's true. I bought it for him for his 'big' birthday and the title is in my name. LOL. The granny-biker. Anyhow, while this amazing weather holds we've been making treks here & there. We watched very carefully & pulled over on our favorite Route Q to document the excitement. Another two-tenths of a mile and the backdrop would have been my favorite grove of birch trees, mixed with some tall strands of pine.

'Restorative' Yoga

Today's Friday. You know what that means!! Back to the yoga mat. I forgot to label the pictures before posting them, but I think you can follow the photos to get the idea. The first thing is to have a yoga strap with a buckle. Two 'yoga-blankets' make for a gorgously supported pose. It is officially known as: Reclining Bound Angle Pose, or for the absolutely accurate: Supta Baddha Konasana. This is SERIOUSLY restorative...... as in truly & fully & completely restorative, to the very bottom of the soles of my happy feet, I feel restored after even just a few minutes. Remember: deep breathing, matching the inhale to the exhale. Go ahead, restore yourself!!

Kweezletown to the Rescue

Today was a perfect day for bike riding. I was out enjoying the gorgous weather and riding up behind the fire station around the park. All of a sudden there was a bicycle crash behind the hockey rink. (Yes the same hockey rink featured in the closing scene of "Feed the Fish" that we saw a week or two back at the cinema.) I looked up to see three sweet girls, with one in tears.

Once we determined that there was no permanent damage, I decided to introduce myself and offer some happy 'distraction.' Dad took injured Lauren on home to grandpa's and I led Anna, cousin Mikala and mom all still on our bikes, over to our place. I told them I was kinda-sorta famous and I would be happy to donate my DVD to Lauren's recooperation. Well one thing led to the next and then I'd promised to put our picture up here on my blog...... but then we decided we needed our five year old star in the picture too. So they led the way biking over to grandpa's. Here we are all smiling. The newest branch of my fanclub, the start of my WI fans.

Going, Going, Gone

It's at times like this, that I long to be a poet. A word-smith. More than a dinky tinker-of-the-tongue. Breath taking. Awe inspiring. Affirming. Proof positive of a Creator of epic capability. I pinch myself. I squint my eyes. I breathe in deeply and hold my breath. I turn around three times. I stand on one foot. I giggle internally........ All while taking in this amazing view in an effort to soak it in into my very bones.

Will I remember the majesty in the morning? Will I recall the exact glint of the splashing waves as the sail boat passes? Will the colors of the after glow be on the tip of my fingers? The combination of the clouds with the colors..... It's new every night. This show was worth the price of admission. What? They didn't sell tickets? This was all for a walk to the water.