... WOW! We did it!!

Thank you to all who ordered books and supported our project ... we doubled our quoted donation amount for Make-A-Wish!! The girls raised a smidgen over $2,000.00! How fantastic!!! This experience has been an incredible ride - thank you for donating and making our dreams and goals attainable.

We could never have accomplished this feat without the support of all of you ... thank you from the bottom of our hearts ...

The girls' interview with a local reporter!

... Scenes from the "Book-Signing-Weekend-Extravaganza!" at The Canvas! God Bless our favorite gallery owner, Marce Urbanski! She is a generous and kind-hearted soul, and we are blessed to know her!

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

- G.K. Chesterton

Book Club Project!!

Hi, All! For those of you who are familiar with my little summer workshop, Friends in the Park Book Club, you know that our members, 13 girls in 7th grade, share their summers with me by discussing their summer reads and learning various forms of art, as well as incorpoating their projects into a community service project.

This summer, the girls wrote & illustrated their very own children's stories, which we have compiled into an anthology for publication. Please note ... ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALES OF THIS BOOK WILL BE DONATED TO Make-A-Wish Foundation. In order to self-publish their works, the girls created hand-strung stone bracelets that were sold at our town's September by the River Festival. Because of the support of our community, friends & family ... this endeavor was a success!

I am thrilled to announce that the book is now in the process of being published and a book release/signing event has been scheduled! In addition to the book sale & signing, the girls will be presenting Storytime readings from their collective book during this special weekend. The have also been formally invited to participate in Make-A-Wish's Light Up A Child's Life campaign, whereby they will be interviewed about their efforts.

To make this project as successful as possible, we have decided to host a Pre-Sale Book Order and offer a savings of $5 per book! That's 13 stories for just $10!!

To place your order, kindly hit the "Buy Now" button on the sidebar to make your purchase through PayPal.

The books will be available for mailing on December 2nd ... plenty of time for gift giving!!!

I assure you that this book will bring you comfort & joy by knowing that your purchase has helped in the efforts of making a child's wish come true. It also would make a wonderful Christmas present to share! Please consider helping us by placing an order and sharing in the gift of giving.

We would be grateful if you would pass this message & offer along ... thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Book club days ...

Thursday was our third meeting.

I know ... where have my posts been? I call it "Momma Brain Fizzle" - a diagnosis of this common ailment covers all areas of forgetfulness, tardiness and plum craziness :)

Here's a little catch-up:

We kicked off our first meeting with a trip to our city's Annual Arts Festival where we took in the inspiring sights, yummy food and amazing talent. Unfortunately, storms were brewing for the day and I left my camera at home with the fear that we would get caught in a downpour ... and guess what? .... we didn't. Doesn't it always seem to work out that way? :)

One of the highlights of the event was meeting Wildlife Photographer Mark Thomas. His work is incredible ... he travels the globe, above sea and below, to capture the most amazing photos. Truly, his gallery is stunning and quite educational. Stop by his spot on the web to view some breathtaking shots. My son picked a beautiful print to give my husband for father's day ...

... magnificent, isn't it? This will soon be displayed after my hubby reclaims the playroom as his own (but, really, it will be the family room - but, shhhh... don't tell him that!)

The festival offered such a wide variety of artists from potters and painters to photographers and jewelry designers coming from all parts of the country. The girls seemed to enjoy the different artistic media and I'd venture to they might have even been a bit inspired from it all. One of our members purchased an ornament from which she is incorporating into her summer project :)

If I haven't mentioned before (and forgive me if I have ...) the girls are dipping their pens into the ink wells this summer and writing their very own children books, topped with illustrations to boot! I am beyond excited by this new venture and have very high hopes that they will create some magic for children with their creative efforts. We are working with a printer to combine their works into an anthology. A very exciting twist to this endeavor is that our local Borders bookstore has offered to view the collection when printed with the possibility of hosting a Book Release/Signing Party for the group. I .... KNOW!! TOO EXCITING FOR WORDS!!

With that said, we have been taking a step-by-step approach with our meetings ... the first was a creative kick-off :) ... the second meeting was a children's book reading & review.

The girls shared their favorite childhood books with each other by reading them aloud. We followed each story with discussion of the character traits, the conflicts of the story, as well as identifying the differences in illustration style. Through 7 titles, they truly gave their attention to one another, lifted each book in a positive light and even found new favorites in the mix.

Our book discussion that day reviewed their summer read of ...

Eggs, by Jerry Spinelli.

It was an intriguing tale of an unlikely friendship between a 9-year old boy who lost his mother a year earlier and is now living with his grandmother and a teenage girl who never knew her father and lives with her eccentric mother. Colorful characters mixed with complex relationships creates this heartfelt story of acceptance and understanding of those people most important in life - - family and friends. The girls really seemed to enjoy this book and gave it an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Good read!!

Now ... this week's meeting was to get their wheel's turning and ideas flowing. I presented the girls with memory journals ...... with the hopes that they will use them as tools to capture funny occurrences or endearing happenings that has been special and meaningful to them. The goal is to drum up original ideas for their storybooks, and I thought that writing entries of memories may help them along with this process - - we'll see. LOL One of our members has completely jumped into this project with gusto and has written her tale and is already working on some sketches - - love that enthusiasm!

This week's book discussion over lunch was the alarming title of ...

I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You, by Ally Carter

I know. Not exactly a book that just jumps off the shelf to parents as a must read -- now the girls? - OH, it made it on almost ALL their lists!! But truth be known ... never judge a book by its cover (or title in this case). It is rated with top marks by parents and YA readers alike. A spy novel featuring Cammie as strong, smart girl who learns to be her own true self through a series of events - including a crush. The girls all enjoyed the book and gave it top ratings. :)

Then, we reviewed the variety of sketching pencils - 6H - 6B (ie, hard to soft) and practiced sketching storybook ideas ...

These are the moments that I love to walk around and see creativity blooming in my very own backyard. It thrills me to be able to guide the girls when needed, or just simply offer encouragement in their work.
These girls have been reading together through summers since second grade ... I feel blessed to have been able to be a part of it. Come fall, they will be entering the halls of the Jr. High ... the same halls that my great-grandmother attended for High School. Yes, that means its old - rumored to be haunted - and no air conditioning ... but it means so much more to me. As tradition and history hold such a dear place in my heart, my cup overfloweth with remembrance as my daughter marks the 5th generation of our family to attend school there. It might be considered silly to some ... but I find it meaningful.

So ... to end this very loooooooooong post ... I wish for you time to enjoy the simple things in life -- make the time to share with the kids ... time to reminisce with your family ... and time to capture the magic of the day.