Homecoming - part two - Crafting

It's been a while since I've fully involved in Homecoming activities.  Sam didn't go to the dance his freshman year. He went last year but he didn't take a date. This year he has a girlfriend and Zac decided to take a date.  So, I got to make some stuff for homecoming and it was so fun!

First of all, there's this whole thing now of "prom-posals" and homecoming proposals.  People don't just call you up and ask if you want to go to the dance.  You come up with a cute way to ask. For Sam, we ordered this awesome cookies from Custom Pastries by Rosie.  Aren't they the cutest!?!

Of course, I'm not able to do anything normally.  I messed up.  I told Rosie Sam's number is 54.  It had been 54 since he started playing football at age 6.  But in high school, the 54 jersey is too small for him. He's been 58 for 3 seasons now.  #momfail

Zac asked a friend of his to go as friends but I wanted them to have the whole experience.  We made a dum dum bouquet - and by 'we' I mean me.  Zac gave the approval and delivered it.

The another big part of homecoming in Texas are mums.  I had not made a mum since I was in high school.  I was excited to make some mums this year.  I was also more than a little nervous.  Sam's girlfriend is a senior, this would be her last mum. The senior mum is a big deal in Texas.

Thankfully, my sister in law had some expertise in this area and pointed me to 'the mum store'.  It's called The Sale Place.  They have everything you need, including some already constructed mums.  This came in handy for Zac's friend.  I bought a ready made one and added to it.  For Sam's girlfriend, I built it from scratch.  She wanted hydrangea's instead of mums.

 

I had such a good time creating stuff for the boys and their dates.  I love to make things and give things and make people smile so it was right up my alley! It took some time and several trips to 'the mum store' but this face was worth it!

Homecoming - part 1

Last week was Homecoming in our sweet little town. I'm going to take this week to recap the activities of last week.

I've said it a million times, I love our town.  I grew up in a small town and I loved it.  I'm so blessed to be able to raise my boys in a small town.  I hope one day they realize what a blessing it was and can look back on it with smiles.  I know they are enjoying it now, I just don't know that they realize how rare and loving this place is.

Ryan is involved with our sports booster club. On Friday nights he helps with the inflatable tunnel the boys run through and with the cannon that gets fired with the boys score.  The booster club was also due to have a float in the Homecoming parade two Saturdays ago.

Around lunch time Ryan went up to help decorate the float.  During the decorating, it was suggested that Ryan bring B back to ride the float.  The big boys were going to be in the parade with the football team and their grade levels so we decided that Ryan, B & I would ride the booster club float.

B had a great time! He was so excited to throw candy to be the people along the route.  He brought his net from the beach to throw candy.  He worked really hard to make that work, but the candy just would not come out.  It's was hilarious, actually.

We didn't have a lot of candy to throw so we tried to get B to only throw one or two pieces at a time. He wasn't having it. He threw two handfuls at a time.  After he ran out of candy, he went to the other kids on the float to get their candy to throw.

But the highlight of the day was B getting to blow the train horn.  One of the other adults showed him what to do and B loved it! He wanted to blow the horn over and over.  It was so fun to watch!

Once again, I'm so thankful for our little town. Most of the people here love and accept B in all his quirky, autistic goodness.  People are willing to learn about him and love him.  It make my momma heart happy!

Positive Dog

Yesterday I wrote about podcasts and mentioned Jon Gordon's Positive University podcast.  In the past year, I've read a couple of Jon's books - Energy Bus and Training Camp.  I just finished another one, Positive Dog.  

Several teachers at my school did a book study and twitter chat over it.  I really enjoyed it!

Gordon writes his books as parables.  He's always teaching you something but he's telling you a story at the same time.  His books are short but he makes you care about the characters in that short time.  Gordon includes research in his books to back up his assertions as well. 

Positive dog tells the story of two dogs in a shelter.  One is  very negative and didn't get a second look when families come to rescue dogs. The other is older and wiser and teaches the other dog the secrets to being more positive.  

I knew a lot of the things Gordon teaches in the book.  But I still feel like I gained new insights.  More than anything I was reminded of how important being positive is and how important it is to plan to be positive as well.  There's always a gap between knowing and doing.  Gordon always includes an action plan so you can implement what you've learned. 

What I really loved was our twitter chat.  I loved seeing our teachers come together to discuss the book. I loved reading their answers about how to stay positive. Some people were able to participate in real time and those conversations were fun. Others replied to the questions later and I loved the insight into some of my new co-workers.  

In our four chat sessions, I never left without a smile on my face and so proud of where I work! Special thanks to Paige Wester for organizing the book study and hosting the chats!

Podcasts

I'm not that great at silence.  I love to learn.  I like to listen to people talk and not really have to respond.  So, I love audio book and podcasts.  I love to have them on in my office while I'm working.  I'm going to share some of my favorites with you today.

Late Night with Seth Meyers - I've been a Seth fan since he was on Saturday Night Live.  The podcast is kinda a recap of his show that I can't stay up for because it comes on after 9 pm CST.  Warning - if you're super politically conservative, you probably wouldn't like this one.

Without Fail - this is a podcast from Gimlet Media.  Gimlet started with a podcast called Start Up that chronicled the starting of their company and now follows other entrepreneurs.  On Without Fail, Gimlet founder Alex Bloomberg talks to other entrepreneurs who have experienced, survived and thrived after failure.  Super interesting!

Positive University Podcast - interviews by Jon Gordon.  I've read several of Jon's books and I really like his message.  Plus, he interviews a lot of sports people so I really love it.  Sometimes I listen and wish I could be Jon Gordon when I grow up!

30 for 30 podcasts - This is an ESPN production from the people who create the 30 for 30 documentaries.  Again, it's sports related which is awesome.  It's in depth reporting on common news stories so you get another angle.  The series they did on Brikam yoga was so interesting I've listened to it twice.

The Horror of Delores Roach - another Gimlet Media production.  This one is a serious adult podcast. It's fiction and very dark - with all the words.  Delores is newly out of prison and her story is fascinating.  I'm 5 episodes in and I'm hooked. {update - I'm on episode 6 and it is very adult! R rated}

Up First - an NPR production. This is a daily news podcast.  15 minutes of national and international news every weekday.  I can't handle watching the news so this does the trick.  I can listen while I get ready in the morning and feel informed.

Other favorites - Freakonomics, Planet Money, The Nod, For the Love with Jen Hatmaker, FiveThirtyEight Politics, The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, Serial (loved season 1, not a fan of season 2 but I'm LOVING season 3) and DriveTime Devotionals.

You can subscribe to any of these podcast for free.  iPhones have a native podcast app.  I've been using Overcast lately.

What about you? Do you listen to podcasts? What are your favorites?