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Summertime Sangria
It’s summer, and if you live in Florida, it’s HOT. Personally, I love the heat. And I love sitting on my lanai after the afternoon rain, sipping on sangria with a book in my hand. There’s no better way to remind myself that I live in paradise. Eric taught me how to make his famous sangria. Once again it worked out perfectly. He did the chopping and mixing and I took pictures. Teamwork is so much more fun than cooking alone. I was sampling an old batch of sangria while we worked. If the pictures are a little crooked… now you know why. If they’re the best you’ve ever seen… now you know…
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Introducing uTales and SNOW GAMES
I am very excited to introduce to you, uTales and Joanna Marple, the author of SNOW GAMES. Meeting authors and illustrators online or in person is a thrill for me. Having them guest blog and share their art makes me feel as though I’m helping to spread joy around the world. In this post Joanna Marple writes about the creative process in developing her characters for SNOW GAMES. I found it fascinating. It’s an excellent resource for teachers of young writers. While this is Mouse’s story, SNOW GAMES really does in many ways have four protagonists. This was an issue I grappled with in writing this story. I knew that I needed a…
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River of Dreams – Today is Graduation Day
“What’s wrong with dad? I was sitting at breakfast with all my friends and he’s texting me asking me if I have all my cell phone contacts backed up? He’s acting strange.” “You’ re leaving soon. It’s on our minds everyday even if we don’t discuss it.” “Oh.” That was my conversation three days ago with Arielle. For the past three weeks we have had award ceremonies, banquets, performances, final exams, Baccalaureate, invitations to deliver, teachers to thank, parties to plan, and a long list of supplies to purchase for college. No matter what I do, grocery shop, clean, exercise, write, there is a looming cloud within me that has…
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Graduation Cupcakes
The picture above is what the cupcakes should look like. They are totally worth the effort of making them. Yummy! You can read all about my mistakes during my first baking attempt or simply scroll down and print out the recipe. MY First Try: What do you get when you add graduation cupcakes and the Wizard of Oz… “I’m MEL… TING!!!” I goofed again. Twice. Okay maybe three or four times. I had good intentions. I thought I’d add the graduation cap decoration to Arielle’s favorite cupcake. Easy? Well, I made one mistake after the next and by the end of the evening I was snapping away trying to capture…
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Wonderful Mom Moments
My inspiration for this post comes from The Book of Awesome. I have discovered the magic in delving into thankfulness and recognizing the extraordinary moments that take place every day. In celebration of Mother’s Day, I’ve decided to make a list of special times that have grabbed my heart and made me especially thankful to be a mom. Moms feel free to add to the list in the comment section or on my Facebook page. I wish I could remember every detail of when my teens were younger but I can’t. Even Kai’s little boy voice escapes me. So please join in and help jog my memory of those precious moments shared with our children. …
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Graduation Craziness – Florida State Track Meet
Part Two. If you missed Part 2… Click Here. The next day we drove to the University of North Florida track. Arielle threw shot put and took first place. I was excited to use my new camera to take pictures and I stood out in the Florida sun snapping away. And…. learned a very important lesson. When track coaches say to keep hydrated because it’s ninety degrees outside… listen to them. All the teens did. Unfortunately, I didn’t. I learned something else too. Heat exhaustion can sneak up on you quick. One minute I had my camera ready to take a picture of Arielle getting her medal and the next I was sitting…
