Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Christmas Concert

Monday night was Ashlyn's Christmas Concert at school. Yes, here they still call things Christmas - not holiday. I'm so thankful for that every time I hear it!

Anyway, the Christmas concert is every grade singing 3 songs. It's pretty painless and casual so you can leave after your child's grade is finished. It was however, the music teacher's 30th year conducting a Christmas concert at the Adrian school.

Ashlyn did so well and as you can see if you watch the video, is definitely a princess. When she walks - no struts - by Britney at the end, you can see she was born for life in the spotlight!

Click here for pictures. There are some good ones of Ashlyn, but I've also included some that are examples of what happens with a 3 year old gets the camera :)

Click here for the video. It's a little over 7 minutes long and the quality isn't that great because it was so dark in the gym. Ashlyn is on the front row, 3rd from the left.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Holiday Tour of Homes

Well, today was the big day and it couldn't have gone any better! I heard someone say that they stopped counting at 175 people going through their house! That's incredible and means that the Adrian Women of Today raised over $1400 for charity! People were very generous with their comments on the house and most people loved what we have done here.

It was so neat to hear some of the stories from the older people who came through. There were some people in their 70s who had gone to the school across the street and lived in Adrian all their lives, but had never been inside our house. They said they had always wondered what it was like inside and were so thankful for the chance to see it. I was so glad to hear that.

There were also stories of people who grew up with the kids or grandkids of Dr. Neely who owned the house for about 40 years. They relived memories of eating at the dining room table with the Neelys, playing on the stairs, and just the good times they had here. Those stories warmed my heart and made me wish I could've known the Neelys. I hope our kids and their friends have the same kinds of memories here.

For me, hearing those stories was the best part of the day. Sure, I got an ego boost hearing all of the compliments on the work we've done here, but knowing that people had a chance to come in and feel at home here - to remember the fun days of their childhood. That was priceless! I think I learned more today about the history of our house than I ever could from a book.

Was it a lot of work? Sure. Will I do it again next year? I don't know. Depends on what's going on in our lives then. Am I glad I did it this year? Absolutely without a doubt.

I hope you enjoy the tour!