Summer Concerts in the Park

What a great summer family activity we went to the other night in Everhart park in west chester. The Commonwealth Classic Theatre put on the play "A Midsummers Night Dream", by Shakespear and it was so much fun. The night was beautiful, cool but not too cool, no bugs or our super MelaSoft dryer sheets really worked well. There was a small playground right next to where we were sitting where Kyler and Eliza could play while Michel, daddy and sat and enjoyed the show. For Michel, my aspiring actress in training- she LOVED it. We missed the beginning and so she was a bit confused with the ode, ye, and other Shakespearean words and they talked so fast but soon she was right there with the plot, laughing along with the many strange faires and other actors. It was fantastic. This troop does several shows in the parks through out the summer and they do a fantastic job. They will be performing on Saturday, July 18th at West Goshen community park in the Amphetheatre, we will be there to see the beginning and have another nice night. This time we will pack our picnics and come early.

RALLY DAY 2008

The first weekend after Labor day for my church as well as many I suppose is "Rally Day" It is the day that (we all come back to church after maybe a few weeks here and there through the summer sabatical) we officially start the Church Education year. Sunday School starts back up, classes change just like in school. It is fun, the pastor today did his sermon today from the book of Deuteronomy - and it was the passage with Moses final sermon - where he says to love your god with all your heart... It was fun for me to hear this sermon today because only 3 no maybe 4 years ago when I was the Director of Christian Education for my church we were all asked to select a scripture passage and do a "talk" short cermon (yes it freaked me out - not the talking in front of people but the talking in front of people at a pulpit yikes!) this was the same passage I selected. I think it says a lot about what we as parents need to do - pass on our values, pass on the love that we have, the knowledge, how we treat one another, how we look at the world but even more than that it is not always about what we say but what we do - how we intereact with others and how our children see us be in the world. I guess in a weird way I felt hmm confirmed in some way that four years ago when I was freaking out trying to figure out of all the passages in the bible which one should I pick - would it make sense - how would it be received, etc. It was a great ceremon - and it was a great start to our Sunday school program at church.

The cooler part - back to politics - our adult Sunday school class is going to be talking about Church and politics. What role Religion plays in politics and how the differnt political parties are guided through scripture. We are going to attempt to discuss this in a non partisin way and I think it should be very interesting. The leader is an Ethics and religion teacher at Eastern University and is brilliant at bringing ideas around and discussing them. Here is a link to a Church and Politics Quiz we will all be taking to start us off on our discussion - it is from Christianity today so it is from a christian perspective.

http://buildingchurchleaders.com/assessments/individuals/churchandpoliticsquiz.html

I have not taken it yet but at the end it will tell you where you if you are a Radical Reformer, Thumpin' Theocrat, Quiet Critic or a Private Patriot. It might provide interesting.

Politics & Motherhood

A good friend of mine mentioned on her blog about politics and I know I know it is a touchy subject for many. I grew up with my mom always saying that who you select was private and I suppose that is a good way to keep things with out argument.

I have spent the last two weeks watching the democratic as well as the republican conventions and it was interesting to me to listen to what they all had to say. I grew up hearing about Bidden in this area so what he stands for and how he handles the media and issues is not new to me. (Apparently my dad actually had a run in with him when they were in high school - funny to hear my mom talk about it). I think that both parties have grown up with some form of adversity in their lives and I do believe the old saying by Friedrich Nietzsche, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger" I think both men vying for the presidency are strong men with conviction.

I was anxiously awaiting who was going to be selected as VP running on the republican ticket and was surprised to see that a real non entity was selected. I suppose that has it's good and bad points to it. I was most impressed or I should say I enjoyed Palin's speech. As a woman I think she is amazing. As I learn about her she seems to be such a very strong woman, an excellent role model for other women. She came across for, those that never heard of he before as incredibly strong, likable and capable. I then listened to the follow up to her speech and what others said, what the opposing side said it does have you thinking.

As I was thinking more and more today I realize I had conflict in what I was feeling. As I mentioned I give her credit for all that she has done and accomplished. I then started thinking about her as a mother of five children. One only 5 months old and with down syndrome. Having four of my own children and knowing how much time, energy it takes to care for and raise them. My husband John does a lot with the kids and it is still difficult. It is hard to think about how difficult it will be for her and her family should their ticket win. How will she be able to be there for her own children as well as our country? I know this probably sounds petty or judgemental. I am not to say that women can't do it all but I wonder if she has really thought about the impact on her family. I suppose some would put her in as a strong patriot putting country first. As a mother I just find it hard to see how you could balance all of that.

I am anxious to hear the debates in another few weeks, see how they handle themselves and what they have to say. I dare say that I have other issues as well but not go into them just now. This of course is a ramble of my thoughts and nothing more.

What We Did Labor Day Weekend...

We ate ALOT of Southern Cooked Food!

We Rode a four wheeler!























We built a playground dome.






We saw Dolphins, went to the beach, went boat riding and ocean kayaking, played in the mud and just had a really great time with College Buddies!

First Day of School Photos

How cool is the first day of school? I am both sad to see the summer end and so excited to watch my kids prepare for another year of school. The excitement of waking up in the morning, getting dressed - oh wait picking out just the right outfit the night before - wearing their backpacks around the house for a full 40 minutes before they even hae to leave for the bus. It is just really cool.

This is Kyler's first year in elementary school - a big Kindergardener- yet it seems like he has been going with the girls for years. He will be 6 in about a week so he is a year older than some of the kids going off to K and he is so ready. He has the most amazing curioustiy and I am sure he will have great fun learning and exploring.

Michel is in 4th grade and Nicole is in 2nd grade. They all love their teachers and came off the bus with huge smiles on their faces - that is a good thing. Ahh another year has begun - now next week we will have Eliza off to her first experience in school. I would keep her with me but she keeps asking to go to "big School" so I don't think I can hold her back anymore. It will be a whole differnt world around here 3 mornings a week when they are all gone. What will I do? Where will I go? How will I keep myself busy? ha ha of course I will find a way - and I am looking forward to it too.

College Friends + Holiday weekend + Southern Food=

Well lets just say that today is Wednesday so as you know I didn't post on Monday and I think we are going to pretend that this week was a bi week in terms of WW. Why you ask? Well we went to visit one of my dear friends in Moyock, NC. She is a college buddy so the beer was cold and available. She is from the south and her husband LOVES to cook so the food was never ending. (I don't usually do breakfast except for a small piece of toast or something and this weekend we had more bacon then I beleive I have in a year, along with eggs, eggs, eggs, home made french toast, sausage, hash browns - and that was a daily thing)

It was a great weekend of fun but not for the ole weight game.

Girls & Junk

Why is it that girls collect so much junk? I have 3 girls (9, 7 and 3.5) and they all share a room together. Today I decided it was time to do the clean out the baskets, drawers and stuff under the bed. I dumped everything in the middle of the floor and it was quite overwhelming for my girls but I told them we were sorting, throwing away, giving away and organizing it all. It is amazing to me the things they keep as precious items. So it was a rocky start to the sorting mix but then we put the radio on and reminisced about the stuff they had in their possession. Okay so I guess the bag collection starts at an early age as I think I counted about 12 -15 bags they got from different parties, they bought at different times with their own money - it was crazy. Then the even crazier thing was when I found a back pack filled with candy wrappers. Apparently that is a hot item to collect - I drew the line on that - we simply do not have the room to have a candy wrapper collection - not unless they are going to make some creative items with it and make millions marketing them.

At the end my 9 year old was so excited - she was now ready for school, she had a place for things and felt very organized. That made me smile. So all is good and clean in the Bentley house of girls & junk. (p.s. my son has the disease too - guess that goes with having 3 sisters - that we will save for tom.)