Strengths

In your professional life, I think it’s far better to be very, very good at one or two things and just marginal at the rest than to be merely good at lots of things.

“Working on your weaknesses makes you a complete player, but you won’t be dangerous anymore. That’s why I work on strengths.” — Roger Federer

You can’t make your mark unless you’re very, very good at something.

-excerpt from www.thesimpledollar.com

These are challenging words to hear for the girl who has been a bit of an 'all-arounder' all of my life. Not quite exceptional at any one thing, but pretty decent at most. Hmmmm, what do you think? Raise our kids to concentrate on that one special gift, or encourage them to try and become proficient at many?

El Shaddai

This post is a little out of order. Callie and her dear friend, Lettie, sang this Amy Grant favorite at church 3 weeks ago on the Children's Sabbath.

Interjections!

 

 

M&Ms and Minions

The "Better Late than Never" Party

We finally celebrated Callie's 12th Birthday with a backyard Fall Fest. This party was good for my soul. I haven't laughed so much in a long, long time. The girls are at that 'tween' stage where you can never be certain how they will react to an idea. So when I tepidly announced it was time to bob for apples, I was thrilled to hear shouts of excitement and observe some jockeying for position in line. Success!!! Genuine hilarity ensued as the girls wholeheartedly embraced their apple-seeking mission. The night also included mini pumpkin painting, burgers and dogs grilled by Po, trampoline games, and concluded with an extremely popular donut-on-a-string competition. Shout out to Brooke for dominating the donut game! It was a group of lifelong friends coupled with some new faces that Callie has met in the much larger fish pond of middle school. I knew we had a hit when big sister Madden told me that she wanted to have a Winter Fest birthday party, because this was so much fun!

D.C., Day 4

Day 4 brought the Newseum (excellent!), The Lincoln Monument, and the White House.

Bat Mitzvah

As her "other mother," I was so proud to watch Madden's lifetime friend become a Bat Mitzvah yesterday. She is truly a beam of light in the world, and our days with Danielle are always filled with laughter and smiles. Congratulations sweet girl - you did an amazing job!

D.C., Day 3

We spent day 3 at the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the American History Museum. The Hirshhorn hands down held this crowd's attention the best!


Chicken tenders in the Mall.

Metro.



A Lady Writing by Johannes Vermeer
The girls were inspired to locate the painting after reading Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliette.

 

Daniel in the Lion's Den.

 

Me photographing Madden...



who is photographing me.

Nice doggie.

Believe.

Art?

 

Word.

Kermie the Frog.

Harry Potter's robe.

Well deserved ice cream at day's end.