A Star is Born!!!

Above: The Capitol Arts Theatre, the place where Alison began her dancing career and now 24 years later, her little girl begins hers!

Above: Gracie is dressed and ready to perform as a dancing toy in...The Nutcracker!

Above: Gracie's fan club who gathered into the theatre to watch her debut as a dancer!

Above: Gracie & her mommy walking back stage just before the show began.

So after having my little Gracie for 2 Christmas seasons I found myself wondering....could Christmas season get any better? Alison and Stephen announce in early November that Gracie would be in her first dance recital December 19th....The Nutcracker! Of course, I have the Gran reaction to the news! I'm thinking...hum, my little Gracie, the star of the show, when in reality, I know she is only one of many, many dancers who will be performing on stage. Well opening night finally arrived. I knew I would be very excited, perhaps a bit anxious or even eager to see my little Gracie perform. What I wasn't expecting was a FLASHBACK to May 1984. It is my little Alison's first dance recital, same building, same back stage entrance, and as I peek through the opening I see my little Alison, dressing her little Gracie in her costume, and giving her last minute tips on her performance! Wow! What an extra special roller coaster of emotions to make this night even more of an unforgettable experience!

So finally the show gets underway! Gracie's dance is the third song. I'm sitting in the audience wondering will Gracie be the shy kid in the class that stands still and stares at the audience, or will she be another that will ham it up? Oh, my gosh! What if she is one of those poor stage struck little girls who will cry when they are tossed into the spotlight for the first time? I tell you, I worry way too much! (a phrase my friend, Brenda often has used on me for over 25 years) Gracie did an amazing job! She was a bit shy at first, but by the end of the number she was performing as if she had done it thousand times! Now what is really interesting about this life experience for me is that from a Gran's perspective, the more I reflect on my little Gracie's performance, the better she was...in fact now that I've told this story a hundred times or more she is ready to be a Rockette!

Start Spreading the News! It's New York!

Above: This is a replica of the Google Chelsa Office made with Legos. It is on display at Google. The Google Office is the same width as the Empire State Building is tall.

Above: Me at the conclusion of the GTA Experience!

Above: Brenda & I take time out from our shopping extravaganza in Times Square for a photo!
Above: Brenda at HardRock Cafe in Times Square! Her first time to eat at a Hardrock!

Above: Our very compact room at the Sheraton in Manhattan.

Big, brash, crowded, cosmopolitan, cultured, expensive -- no matter what you may think about it, there's just no denying that New York is probably the single most exciting, most varied, most vital city in the United States! A great place to visit, but I sure wouldn't want to call it home. My first trip to NY was so exciting. My flight didn't arrive until late in the evening. I flew into LaGuardia, stayed in Brooklyn, and every night took the subway into Manhattan to experience the world's most intriguing city! Without a doubt the most memorable part of that trip was the Broadway experience! I saw "Mama Mia", which had just opened. Maybe it was it the glimmer of the Broadway lights, or perhaps the memories of growing up listening to Abba music that made this a one of a kind experience that I will absolutely never forget! Whatever the reason for this clear and distinct impression etched in my memory, I've always wanted the chance to share it with someone else!

So finally, the opportunity for my second trip to NY came when I received a call from GOOGLE asking me to participate in their National Certified Teachers' Academy. They selected 50 educators around the world to participate. The GOOGLE work environment alone is worthy of a blog entry, but I will spare my blogger friends since most of you probably wouldn't find the techie talk as exciting as I do! After all, I would hate to be the only reader of my blog! The Google trip came about so quickly. I found out I was going on a Monday night and only one week later I was arriving in New York! I knew Alison wouldn't be able to juggle her work schedule, a baby and a husband with this short of notice and Kelli had just returned from a big vacation with Scott. So I thought to myself who of my friends is the most spontaneous and who doesn't have to have a plan to act! And I thought of Brenda. I was right, she said, "Yes, I'll go!" Brenda and I have been like sisters for a little over 25 years and I knew we would have an incredible time. We arrived very late on Monday night because I had a workshop in Owensboro that morning. Tuesday morning I had to head to class while Brenda headed out on a sight seeing tour. She took in all hot spots of the city. The Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center, and the list goes on! I finished up with my class a bit earlier than I had anticipated so I called Brenda and told her to be ready and we would grab a cab and try to make a Broadway show! I soooooooooo wish I had my camera with me so I could have shared with you all the expressions on Brenda's face as she experienced New York cab rides. She couldn't get her seat belt fastened tight enough! We saw "Wicked" and loved it! The next day we dedicated to shopping! It was an experience very similar to the day after Thanksgiving shopping in Bowling Green, multiplied by 5! People everywhere!!!

We had a very fast, safe trip and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to share this experience with Brenda! Above are a few photos from the trip!

More Photo Tricks

Have you ordered your Holiday Ornaments?

Gracie deals so well with the Paparazzi!

Pencil Sketching of my little doodlebug!

Photo of Gracie on display in a Museum?
And you probably thought her Gran
was the only one who thought
she was museum worthy!

The Pieces of my favorite Puzzle!

I can't believe it will soon be 2 weeks since I was in New York and I still have no pictures posted nor stories shared on my blog. I really messed up bad with my planning (for my family who finds my planning humorous, I'm sure they have chuckled over this a time or two). I planned dental work on the Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving break. Big mistake! Huge mistake! What I didn't plan on was an infection that seem to spread from my tooth, to my lips, to my jaw, and even my eye! Unfortunately, I spent most of my Thanksgiving break in bed! Thankfully, I began a slow come back to the world Saturday evening and although my face is still incredibly sore, I am functioning almost at 100% today. So finally, above are more photo tricks I learned during my day with Google! I truly loved the work side of the trip as much as the pleasure side! I learned so much! I plan to post photos and stories from the pleasure side of the trip tomorrow!

Look What I Learned Today!

Hello from New York City Blogger Friends! I'm at Google's NY Headquarters. The photo cube above is just one of the many free tools I learned about today! How cool is this? What an amazing opportunity. This has been one of the most incredible learning experiences of my career in education! I feel so honored to have been invited to participate in the Google Teacher Academy. I can't wait to share everything I've learned as well as the photos of my trip! This is my second trip to New York and it is one of my favorite places to visit! I'm so lucky to have Brenda with me on this trip. She did some serious sight seeing today while I was working, and tomorrow we are doing some serious shopping! I'll post more photos when I get home!

My Pride & Joy

My kids agreed to go to Alan's a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to order my Christmas cards from him this year. As always I hoped there would only be 1 or 2 good shots to choose from, but as it turned out there were 36 good shots to choose from....I think the photo of the family above is my favorite of the group. I'll post more of my favorites in the next few days.

Halloween Photos!

Logan, Lilli, and Gracie played for hours after trick or treating! They love each other so much!

Is this not the cutest little witch you have ever seen?

Gracie really loved her hat! It was her favorite part of the costume!

Mrs. Diana had a Halloween party for the all the kids and Gracie was a cowgirl!

Above the kids pose with Mrs. Diana as they eat their Happy Meals!

Halloween was such a blast this year. I enjoy seeing the kids in their costumes so much. Some were gruesome, some outlandish and some just plain old cute. Above are a few snapshots from my evening of fun!

A Halloween Blast From the Past!

October 31, 1987

October 31, 1982

I thought I would share a Halloween Blast from my past! Anyone care to take a guess on the identity of my little spooks??? Gosh it really does seem like these photos were just taken yesterday!

Happy Halloween

For some unknown reason, the week before a holiday, I love to dress up Gracie in festive clothing to mark the occasion. Now check out the photo above....is my little Gracie not the cutest little pumpkin you have ever seen?

A Crisp, Clean Fall Season

As many of my fellow bloggers have posted recently, I too must confess that I love the fall time of the year. I think it is because everything seems to feel so crisp and clean and there's the constant air of changing times. Even breathing just feels fuller; it's great! As I thought carefully, about the best way to capture this special time of the year for my blogging friends, I wanted you to be able to feel my passion for the season. I decided nothing would create a more visual image of the crisp, clean fall season than a freshly raked yard! Please keep in mind, I worked about 2 hours, non-stop in the yard just to capture a few fall photos for my blog. Now, that's what I call a gal with a blogful eye! My little Gracie loved the leaves and couldn't believe her Gran let her play in them. She is so incredibly cute....sometimes I just can't believe she is part mine!

A Once in a Lifetime Vacation ...including Unexpected Amenities

For those of you who haven't heard, my baby sister, Kelli and her husband Scott are on what I would describe as a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. They have visited London, Paris and are now in Barcelona. Occasionally, those of us left behind get a text message or an email updating us on the trip (although Kelli has had to break down a few times and call just to hear daddy and mom's voice which I totally understand because I would have had to do the same thing.) Today I got an email from Kelli I just have to share with my fellow bloggers. It goes like this...
From: Brooks, Kelli
Subject: Story of the Day
Terri, I just have to tell you about yesterday! Scott and I were walking along the beach and normal people were laying out and sunning/swimming. We came to a sign that I couldn't understand (in Spanish), but kept walking because it didn't seem to be restricted in any way. The next thing I know, there are NAKED men and women EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Needless to say, I think I figured out what the sign indicated. I have to say aside from that brief moment of shock, this is my favorite of the cities we have visited.
Now, as you can see from the picture at the top of this entry, Kelli and Scott have shared a few pictures from their trip with me, but for some reason they haven't sent me the pictures they took at the beach yet.

Cupcakes Anyone?

I am not a master cupcake baker, but I do enjoy it - the baking process as well as the eating part! My little Gracie loves creating in the kitchen and since I think it is both educational and fun I decided it would be a great way to share quality time together and instill a love of baking at an early age! My favorite part of our baking experience was when she began icing the cupcakes. She would dip her knife into the jar, pull it out and lick it and then put the remaining icing on the cupcakes!

Above: Gracie adds her ingredients together!

Above: As hard as I tried to introduce Gracie to new vocabulary words during our baking experience, the most frequent word she used was..."Yummy!"

Above: Gracie finished her cupcakes the same way she has learned to end a dance move, or gymnastics move..."Ta-dah!"

What Happened to Me?

For some reason, I've always thought of myself as being much older than I actually am. I seem to have much more in common with my friends who are 10 to 15 years older than me as opposed to those my age. The other day, I stumbled across a website that I found to be very interesting. I inputted the year I was born and in return I received a plethora of information about the year I was born. Many of the facts confirmed my preconceived notions. For example, the year I was born, pantyhose became available in the United States. Now honestly, pantyhose have been around forever, just like me! I continued to read on and learn that The Beatles released their first recording the year I was born! Must I remind you that 2 of 4 Beatles are dead! Then as if that didn’t put the icing on the cake, I continued to read. Johnny Carson, who also is dead, made his debut as host of the Tonight Show the year I was born! I’m telling you, the image of me being "an old woman" was confirmed and all doubts were gone! Until I decided to scroll down a bit further and discovered other folks who were born the same year I was born. The list included Jim Carrey, Sheryl Crow, Jon Bon Jovi and Tom Cruise! Now I ask you, are these guys old? I think NOT! In fact, they all have very youthful looks; they are all thriving in their careers, and they are raising their very own, very small children! But look at me! I certainly don’t have the youthful looks of Sheryl Crow and I only have a few more years until I will be able to retire from my career! Then there is the clincher! My little girl is almost 28 years old and I’m a Gran!!! Yikes! What happened to me? How did I become so much older than those who were born the same year I was born?

Proud Moment for the Stice Family

Today I have the opportunity to share the photo above which was taken Saturday night at the National Quartet Convention in Louisville, KY. My very talented, big brother received the award for the Southern Gospel National Musician of the Year! In the photo above, Jeff is looking up to the balcony where daddy was seated. Daddy is so proud and thankful he got to see Jeff receive an award he has worked so hard to accomplish.

When Push Comes to Shove

Okay...so check out the picture above. Notice my little Gracie is standing in line, totally on task, keeping her hands to herself, waiting patiently for her turn. Now, notice child two in the photo above. I must ask, is she in line...I think NOT; is she keeping her hands to herself....again, I think NOT; does she appear to be waiting patiently for her turn...no, I think NOT!!! Actually, I believe in addition to Gran working with Gracie on her head stand, I might just have to teach her to throw a firm right hook! Forgive me, some days I really struggle with behaving as a Gran should behave!

Precious Memories

Okay, so of all the dance pictures I've taken of my little Graice so far, this one brings back so many precious memories for me of her mommy. I remember going to a parent/teacher conference when Alison was in kindergarten and her teacher said, "The only problem I have with Alison is that she wants to stand on her head more than she wants to sit on her bottom!" Now, look at the expression on My Little Gracie's face....do you think she might be just like her mommy?

Gracie The Ballerina

Alison and Stephen enrolled Gracie in dance class the week after her birthday! Gran just happen to show up, with camera in hand, to capture this major event in history. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I'm so glad I was invited to go along. It brought back so many precious memories of when I use to dash home from work, pick up Alison from the sitter's house, rush back to Bowling Green and watch her dance and tumble. I think Gracie just may enjoy it as much as her mommy always did; although I must say, Gracie is a bit shy and for those of you who know her mommy, shy has never been a word in her vocabulary! The pictures below are of her first trip to dance class.

Gracie Turns 2!

I just love celebrating Gracie's birthdays so much! It's a time when Gracie is surrounded by all of those special people in her life who love her so very much. It makes me so happy to see her loved by so many people. Working in the school business, often I see children who are not so richly blessed. Alison and Stephen decided to have the birthday party at one of Gracie's favorite places, the park! She absolutely LOVES it! Gracie made her debut in pig tails, which was a BIG hit! She is too cute for words! (Spoken like a true Gran!) Below are a few photos I snapped at the party. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy sharing them!

Amazing Grace!

One of the most amazing things I've had the opportunity to witness in my lifetime is the affect Gracie has on my parents! For those of you who know me well, you know that Gracie came along about a year after my daddy had his stroke. I've always called Gracie my little sunshine, because I remember so very well how dark it was around the Stice's house before her arrival. I truly believe that God sent her to us, because he knew just exactly what we needed to brighten our days. He sent us such a ray of sunshine that she makes the gloomiest days seem bright! She has always had and continues to have this special relationship with daddy and mom. Her love for the both of them is so genuine and she always manages to make them smile. Above, Gracie has one of her heart to heart discussions with her Grand-Dad!