GT ROCKS!

Even though Open House is next week, we were invited to a GT meeting last night to get to know the teacher. He is awesome! I am so glad Brendan got into this class. It may be just the thing he needs to stretch his little mind. The teacher says his three rules in class are Respect, Responsibility, Reaching. He's world traveler so his emphasis will be on History and Geography, so right off the bat, Brendan has that in common with him. But his ideas for curriculum are astounding. He doesn't have a state-mandated textbook and he doesn't have to teach to the TAKS (standardized state test), so he makes it up and can be as diverse as finding clay and throwing pots, to reading Dante's inferno to building a cathedral outside with flying buttresses and clearstory windows to making tortillas.

He's very tough and demands the best. He constantly asks, "How can you take it a step further?" He hates posters, Powerpoint and shoe boxes. And he admits up front that not all kids like his style. He intentionally gives vague instructions and guides the kids to explore from there. His first assignment was to find out what a Pavlovian Reaction was and draw a cartoon about it. After last night, Brendan said, "I think I need to do my cartoon again. It was more of a rough draft. It wasn't really my best." (COOL!)

I got excited just listening to him. I wanted to ask, "Can the parents play, too?" The only thing I worry about is limited resources in this 30 ft. box. So I assured Brendan, if you get an idea, we can find the materials. There's Hobby Lobby down the street and PawPaw has a wood/workshop with anything you might want. I'm going to have to be very careful not to take over, but to support in any way I can. I can't wait!

Life After the First Day

Who knew that the first day of school would be the easy part? Kids float through the day hyped up on adrenaline. With all the new stimuli, the day is over before they know it. The hard part is getting them to go back every day after that. At least it is in our case.

Brendan seems to enjoy his classes. He looks forward to GT (gifted and talented) and Art. His teachers are pretty cool. He has three male teachers. His science teacher reminds him of his favorite teacher back in England. The only part of the day that he worries about (obsesses about) is lunch. If he didn't have that 30 minutes to himself, he'd be okay. The reason he doesn't like it is because he doesn't have any friends to eat with. That breaks my heart.

So Bill worked with him last night on a plan to make lunch go by faster. He's to eat slowly and take a magazine to read. Thankfully, I had one he was interested in about the last Harry Potter book. Maybe that will be a conversation starter in the lunchroom. Then Bill pumped him full of positive thoughts and taught him to work through his tummy aches.

I suppose I do remember the struggle we had with the days after the first day when he started at Collingtree. But the kids there were so inviting, he made friends immediately, on the first day. That was such a special place.

Here, many of the kids knew each other from Elementary, and so far, he hasn't broken into any groups. I pray for him every day, throughout the day, to find a good friend. that would make all the difference in the world.

Holding His Hand

Today was Brendan's first day of Middle school.

Brendan is the type of child who needs to prepare well in advance for change, so we've talked through the first day several times. It helped a lot that we've been to the school already for registration, a few AP placement exams and an orientation, so he knows where the cafeteria and the sixth grade wing are.

Still he started fretting about today on Friday. He woke up with a stomach ache. So we went through it again. I told him everything I'd learned from the parent orientation and he added detail to the pieces that I didn't know much about. Thankfully, he spent the night with his aunt on Saturday, which was a welcome distraction from Monday morning. Yet, when we were driving home last night, he said, "why do they throw all this stuff at us on the first day? How am I supposed to remember where my classes are, when to go to PE and my pin number for lunch?" So we assured him, again, that the teachers were there to help and would be very lenient on the first day.

Then, last night, I read to him before we went to sleep to try to calm him down. We read a devotion out of Skateboards, Scooters and Scripture by Anne McFarlane, a great book for kids, and we read the accompanying scripture passage. He settled down a little. Then I read to him from Isaiah 41:13, a passage we found from an earlier devotion, which spoke right to the situation. "For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." With that he went to sleep.

This morning, Brendan could only manage to choke down a glass of milk for breakfast for all the butterflies in his tummy, but there were no tears. When I stopped in the drop-off lane at school, I said, "I wish I could go in with you, but I can't. Just remember God is holding your right hand." He slipped out of the car and I watched him bravely walk into his new Middle School.

It's Alive!

Once I got the great news that I could do my own artwork, I actually had to pull it off. It took about a week to do the rough draft and get it approved and another two weeks to do the final piece of 8 1/2 x 11 spec art. Gotta love the internet though. I get to keep the original safe and sound by scanning and emailing it for posting on the website. I was going to publish it on this post, so you could see it, but I don't want to do anything to jinx my chances, so you'll have to go to the contest site to see it.

I decided to do it with oil pastels instead of my trusty pencil colors because I wanted the colors to be more vibrant, since it's for a children's book. My main challenge was to create a personality for a character who has no face, so that the reader can identify with what he's feeling. After all, it's a PICTURE book. I think it turned out rather well.

I'll be sending an email to everyone I have addresses for personally asking them to vote and send the message on to others, but if you're coming to this blog by other means, please go to http://www.abcbookcompetition.org/ and vote for A Pumpkin Named Jack by Beth Cooper between September 16 and 30. If I win, I will receive a publishing contract and 1000 books to sell on my own.

According to The Book Connection, who sponsors this nationwide contest, only three out of 12,000 manuscripts that are sent to publishing companies ever gets published. It would be my very first published book and a great start to a writing/illustrating career. Then, I'll have to design and produce 16-18 double-page spreads for the rest of the book by May 08. I'm looking forward to that challenge!

Floatin' the Frio

It's sorta hard to take pictures when you're floating down a river, but I did manage to snap a few of Brendan on the rope swings down the hill from our camp. He LOVED it. Even when his arms were worn out, he wouldn't stop. We spent the one good afternoon, about three hours, floating past waterfalls, cold springs, cliffs with rope swings and deep emerald-green swimming holds. I scraped up my hip on one of the first rapids that we encountered. Everyone else was wise enough to get out and walk around. But I HAD to try it. This summer has been a great season at Concan, not to be confused with Cancun. The water has been much higher and we didn't have to scooch along on our butts.

It rained off and on for the rest of our stay. TS Erin moved northwest of us dropping nine and half inches on San Antonio. We only got a few popcorn storms. We played lots of Canasta and ate lots of good food with my folks and had a good time any way.

Now we're waiting to see what Dean will do. They're predicting that it will hit South of us in Mexico, which is good for us, but it could cause a lot more fatalities there.

Be Careful What You Ask For

Before I get started on this topic, I'll try to upload the Bermuda photos that didn't make it last time.

I have to brag on Brendan.

We went snorkeling in Bermuda - only his second time, with a company called Jesse James Tours. They picked us up in what they promised was an unsinkable Coast Guard boat, but it looked like an oversize dingy to me. Turned out to be easy to slip over the edge into the water.

Anyway, Brendan did fine at the shallow practice dive, but he was noticably nervous when we got to the outer reef to dive two ship wrecks. The water was pretty rough. Thankfully, we were given noodles to help us float and clinging to Bill's and my hand, Brendan faced his fear and won. The spot was great, and it was easier to have your head under the water than out. We saw the old paddle-wheel off of one ship and the spilled cargo of the other - bags of concrete, that made an instant paved highway on the sea floor. The fish and formations were amazing. And they threw out some kitty chow at the end to attract huge schools! We could reach out and touch the fish!

The last dive spot was the best. James called it "The Underwater Garden." I think it is one of the best dive spots we've been to, not only for the abundance and variety of fish, but for the coral formations as well. It did look like a garden. I'm glad Brendan got a chance to see it. Now he wants to conquer scuba diving.

Now - back to business.

I said in an earlier blog that there was a possibility that I might illustrate another finalist's manuscript, but as it turns out, I'm being allowed to do my OWN! I'm thrilled, and somewhat scared. I've never done a full book before, but I keep reminding myself to start with baby steps. By the end of August, I have to complete ONE piece of art. If I win, then I'll do 16-18 two-page spreads by the end of May.

So...now that I don't have a separate illustrator to drum up support from family and friends, I really need your help. If you have any pull with parents, teachers, librarians who work with 4-8 year olds, please ask them to vote - perhaps make it an event at school (?) The voting starts September 16 and runs til the 30th. The winner will be announced on October 8. If you want to see past winners (this is the third year) go to http://www.abcbookcompetition.org/ and bookmark it for September's voting!