This past August we marked the 6th anniversary of Fi's dx with Type-1 Diabetes. November will mark Fi's fourth year on the pump. She was so excited to receive her band new royal blue Cozmo pump. It's amazing how much this little gadget has become a part of her. It not only keeps her alive but give her a sense of control over her life in a small way, which none of us without Type-1 could ever understand.

Today was our last silver jewelry class. The girls and I learned a bunch over these last eight weeks. This is something I really want to learn more of and just maybe jewelry and metal design is in my future. Today's project was a small snake ring. We played with fire, got to hammer, and of course the best... we can wear what we made. Many thanks to Ms. Victoria for a great class. If you are interested in seeing her amazing creations, here's her web site. http://www.victorialansford.com/filigreed.html

Oh Mr. Depp... can't wait!

Well, we finished week seven of our jewelry class today. In the past two months we have played with fire (melting and fusing silver and copper into pendants, beads, bracelets and necklaces). We have twisted wire to make crazy creations that are as fun to wear as they were to make. Our last project will be to make rings and Mac can't wait to see how we will do that. I'll be sure to post pix of our last class. Next week will also be Mac's last Improv class. It has been a very busy month with more to come as we prepare for Mac's concert in Nov, her Red Door play in December and Fi's recorder recital in Nov. I think we are all looking forward to some time off during the Holidays.

Have I the strength to teach my daughters to be as brave as this women is. To face death for freedom, for liberty, for a chance at what could be.. should be?

Athena’s mother was Metis the goddess of prudence, the first wife of Zeus, who he depended upon greatly for advice. Before Athena was born Zeus was warned by mother earth that if Metis bore him a son, this son would overthrown as he had done to his father, and so on. Zeus thought, “This must not happen, I must stop it!” So he came upon the plan to swallow Metis. One day he slyly proposed to play a game of changing shapes and forms. Forgetting her prudence she agreed and began to change shape, after shape. When she came to be a fly he swallowed her whole. Metis then sat inside his head to give him advice from there. Now it just happened that Metis was going to have a daughter, so she sat within Zeus’s head, making a helmet and a beautiful robe for her daughter. Now the helmet took some loud hammering so before Zeus knew it he was having excruciating headaches, crying out in agony and anger. All the gods came to him asking what was wrong with his head, and skilled Hephaestus finally came with his tools and split open his fathers head, and out sprang Athena, wearing the great robe and helmet, her grey eyes flashing. Great roars of thunder came and the gods stood in utter awe.

Retold by Mac

Yet another Bard morning!

Continuing our on-going field trip extravaganza, we went to the Shakespeare Tavern this morning for their educator's open house. The kids got a behind the scenes tour of the Tavern; their props, costumes, green rooms, and more. The tour also included mini classes on acting, sword-play and physical combat. A merry time was had by all! Best part was that we won tickets for our families to take in one of the upcoming shows this season. Mac is lobbing heavily to attend camp there in the future - we will see.

A bit of the Bard on a Weds Morning

While waiting at Georgia Shakespeare to see Richard III, my oldest did what she loves and the youngest, as always, hunted for bugs - ladybugs.

A trip back in time

This week's field trip was to the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, to see the Cradle of Christianity. The Carlos Museum is one of only three U.S. venues to host this exhibition, which traces the shared roots of Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices through biblical archaeology.

Organized by The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Cradle of Christianity explores the concurrent histories of early Christian and Jewish life through some of the most significant biblical artifacts ever found, including a section of the Temple Scroll, a major Dead Sea Scroll. Other highlights include the burial ossuary of Caiaphas the High Priest—who, according to the New Testament, delivered Jesus to the Romans, and an inscription bearing the name of Pontius Pilate. These artifacts represent the only surviving physical testimonies of these two prominent figures. Cradle of Christianity features a full-scale reconstruction of the chancel of a Byzantine-era church and other remains of excavated synagogues, churches, and religious sites, such as capitals, mosaics, and marble furnishings, dedicatory inscriptions, and liturgical objects.

It was very cool to see artifacts from the time in which we are studying this year. After our tour we were invited to hear a few stories from storyteller Jim Weiss. The girls have grown-up listening to his stories which range from the Old Testament to Shakespeare. This was a real treat to see him in person. And as always we roamed through the permanent collection, which ranges from Mesoamerican, Egyptian, African, and Greco-Roman. All-in-all a very full day.

A silver pendent

Week four of our silver jewelry class and with each week the projects just keep getting better. The girls learned how to fuse small silver balls and stems on to a pendent. The balls are made with tiny bits of scrap silver melted with a torch till they form balls. Then both are fused to the disk using "spit" good old saliva as solder. I can't wait to see what we will do next week!