Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Baby! Today is David's sixty-first birthday! The first birthday we celebrated together was his 40th. Here we are 21 years later. Who'd have thought? Kate, Molly and I have plans for today. We are taking David to see the movie Invictus, with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. After that, we are going to Tre Bella an Italian restaurant near my school. Happy Birthday, my darling from three girls who love you very much!

P.S. In case you're wondering, David is the one on the far left playing the clarinet and yes, in this picture he is (a lot) younger than 40! It was definitely made before my time!

It's never too late for an update on Kate!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the title. Too much Dr. Seuss, phonemic awareness and rhyming schema in my balanced literacy teaching brain! :) This is a current pic of her on tour with the Heidelberg University Concert Choir. She just came home from a trip to Chicago to see/hear and visit with the Chicago lyric opera. While there she also got to see two high school friends. One, is a student at Loyola and the other was visiting the French Consulate to get a visa for an exchange program. From what I understand, they had a great visit, but it was just too short. Kate is talking about Arts administration and vocal performance for her master's work......all big decisions, but who knows what the future holds. Me? I'm just waiting to be a fly on the wall when student teaching begins in the next year or two. I do know what the present holds--two great daughters and a husband I am very thankful for, great family, great friends, great life! Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Day to Remember

Here is my dad in 1945. What a handsome sailor! I love you Daddy.
P.S. Thank you.

A tree for David

I am getting crafty in my old age. I am making David's 61st birthday gift. HA! For many years, my wonderful husband has wanted a Jesse tree for our house. I don't mean a second tree... I mean our one and only Christmas tree would become transformed. I really didn't want to go there. I've always hemmed and hawed about wanting to stick with our "traditional" tree, our cute ornaments, etc. This year I decided to make the change. I'm not sure why. I know that my prayer life is becoming deeper, richer and more fruitful. I know that God is using me in remarkable ways that I never dreamed possible, and I know that I have been given a gift and a vision from God. Maybe I just wanted to give David a special gift. I don't know that the reason for the tree change even matters. I do know that my life (as well as my tree) is being transformed. That matters.

For more information on the Jesse tree visit: http://www.kingofpeace.org/advent/advent.htm.

P.S. The ornaments are ceramic discs with ceramic paint and permanent sharpie pen. I sealed them with a ceramic sealant. I will post more pics as I make the ornaments. There are around 20 all together.

Amen.

Today, the United States Senate took an historic step toward ensuring justice for the victims of hate crimes targeted for violence due to their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.

By voting overwhelmingly to extend to these often-targeted Americans our nation’s decades-old bias crime legislation, senators sent the message that hate crimes will not go unpunished, and local governments and law enforcement agencies will not run out of financial resources to provide justice to these victims and their loved ones.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act was attached earlier this year to the annual Defense Department spending bill, and Thursday’s 68-29 Senate vote to approve the final House-Senate compromise on the defense bill now sends this important law enforcement provision to President Obama, who has vowed to sign it.

Under the legislation, federal prosecutors could step in to try violent hate-crime cases if local authorities cannot or will not secure an appropriate conviction. It also opens up federal funding for law enforcement to handle the typically high cost of investigation and judicial proceedings in such cases, and would make grants available for training and prevention programs at the local level.

The act is named to honor Matthew Shepard as well as James Byrd, an African-American resident of Texas brutally dragged to death in 1998 in a notorious hate crime. Matthew’s parents Dennis and Judy Shepard have campaigned for the legislation’s passage for more than a decade since their son’s murder in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998 in an anti-gay hate crime.
(www.matthewshepard.org)

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos 5

I have followed Matthew's story for 11 years. I am so prayerfully thankful the legislation passed. Let us all pray for the day when there will be no need for anti-hate laws. Read the book. Listen with your heart.

Boys will be Boys (or What One Man will do to get an antenna!)

You know, I really love brothers. I mean, I have a great one myself. He always did his best to torment and torture me, but all in all, he's a great Guy (get it?) I've often wondered what I missed not having sons. Then I really started thinking. Not only do I not have sons, but none of my siblings or David's siblings has more than one son. So, for much of my life, my only real knowledge of how two or more brothers operated was listening to my dad tell about life with his SEVEN other brothers. Anyway, I finally got a real taste of how the double brother thing works. It started when Phil came and decided to take the antenna off our roof. He'd been thinking about it for a year or two, but on this weekend, he decided to do it. David was not interested in helping out at first. Amy and I were on hand to document the whole thing with photos and calls to 911 already preprogrammed in the phone. Phil suited up in a nifty little harness thing, hoisted himself up on the roof, and started sawing. David eventually came out to watch and in his best big brother tone told Phillip what he was doing wrong. As you can see, David ended up on the roof assisting. It actually turned into a fun BIG boy playtime as the antenna got stuck in the tree and a variety of saws, ropes and contraptions were required to get it down. Amy, Molly, Winston, Maggie and myself brought lawn chairs down from the porch, made tea, and invited all the neighbors to watch since the antenna antics began drawing a significant crowd. Short story? The antenna came off the roof (more or less) in one piece. More importantly, the big boys came off the roof in one piece. Long story? I learned that brothers are like puppies. If you have more than one, they are about ten times more likely to get into trouble than if they were by themselves. So, cost of antenna to Phillip, nothing. Cost of entertainment by crowd, priceless.

Homecoming 2009

Molly and the Varsity girls

Molly

Wow! Homecoming has come and gone for another year. I can't believe the Loar family has only ONE MORE left! It is amazingly cliched, yet amazingly true, how time flies. Molly will be a senior next year...... She looked really cute. She ordered the dress online. I was skeptical, but she made a believer out of me. It came shrink wrapped in a package the size of a match box. After a trip to the dry cleaners, it was all good. The heels are pink. This picture was made at the Shaffers' house. Jordan and Molly have been friends for 12 years. His mom, Elizabeth, cooked for their group, about 20 kids. David and I did the coat check at the dance. We were totally entertained, so a good time was had by all. My baby's growing up. My how time flies when you're having fun. You keep it fun, baby girl. I love you.