j.a. fun day

i've had the honor of being a part of hot spring's junior auxiliary for a few years now. very generally, j.a. is an organization whose goal is to make garland county a better place for kids. one of the coolest events of the year is j.a. fun day, when 175 to 200 special education students attend an excitement-packed day at the may family's farm in malvern. the day begins with the boy scout's flag ceremony, and continues with horse back rides, a petting zoo, a fishing pond, tree swings, train rides, face painting & story telling with true native american flair.

one of my favorite moments is when the kids spill off the bright yellow buses in the morning sun, eyes and smiles wide, ready for a magical day. my friend harmony described her son's first fun day experience like this:

"My son, Shafer, is non-verbal and non-mobile and is in the second grade at First Step School. Spring 2008 was Shafer's first opportunity to attend JA Fun Day...

At JA Fun Day Shafer's class is treated to a fun filled day of activities and games geared toward them and their abilities. These kids, who all too often have to observe other children from the sidelines, are the center of attention and fully participatory in all the fun. It may sound simple to you, but for children with disablities, life is full of watching other kids enjoying themselves and participating in childhood activities.

JA Fun Day is a day that Shafer and his fellow students get to be "regular" kids, have a "regular" day and participate in "regular" activities - somthing that irregularly happens to kids like Shafer.

....For those that attend for the first time it is truly a day full of firsts. JA Fun Day 2008 was Shafer's first time to go fishing, first time to ride a horse, first time to take part in a relay race, and first time to ride in a kid-sized train! Most of all , JA Fun Day was the first day of nothing but fun for the children in attendence. You may never know how much this one day means for the participants, but I can tell you first hand that it is the most special day of the year for Shafer and his classmates."

Thanks for letting me borrow your words, Harm. No one could have said it better.

http://familyfarm.org/

http://www.hotspringsja.org/

henderson girls

i'm sad that i didn't have the opportunity to spend mother's day with my mom this year. luckily, i did get to spend a little time with 5 wonderful, joyous women on mother's day eve. four sisters (one of them being my super fun friend dana) gathered to enjoy some precious moments with each other, and with their truly stunning mother, marguerite. they were such fun -- i think ALL five of them smiled the entire time. i can see now where dana gets her infectious glow!
at one point, they all began to walk across the bridge to the dock. i noticed the two sisters on either side of marguerite each reached down and grabbed a hand. it was a natural moment, unspoken and unplanned, and just so darn sweet. i even got a little teary for a second thinking about my own future. i hope when i'm nearing 80, i'll be somewhere on a boat dock, smiling a sparkling smile like marguerite, and my daughters will be smiling too, holding my hands. thank you, girls. what a beautiful, loving family. you really made my day!

down on the farm

lucy's teacher, mrs. dewitt, owns the lakeside equestrian center. soooo, guess where the four year olds at st. luke's episcopal day school got to go on their end-of-year field trip? we've enjoyed a few birthday parties at the equestrian center, and i don't know who gets more excited about going - lucy or me! it's a gorgeous, peaceful place. i love to watch lucy climb fences, ride horses, kick up the dirt and pet the animals. it always brings me back to the time i spent at my aunt carolyn & uncle sherman's. each summer i got to spend a few weeks on their farm outside of enid, oklahoma, where the wind howled like a pack of wolves and the dusty roads were sooner red. when i look back now, i imagine the setting as a sort of mix between a steinbeck novel and an old garth brooks song. the men were usually knee deep in harvest, and the women would spend much of the day preparing and taking out meals out to them in the field. we would have mid-day picnics in the shade of a combine, heat radiating from the baking steel. i spent my time chasing farm animals in the hot, wide open spaces, wearing the the worn playclothes and cowboy boots my mother would not allow me to wear to the country club back home. there was a shower off the mudroom in the back of the farmhouse, and i was not allowed past it until i had been IN it. so i stayed outside from sun-up to sun-down, and by the time i showered with that bumpy lava soap they had, little rivers of blood-red dirt made odd trails down my legs and arms and into the drain. it always seemed like such a long time to wait for that water to run clear. nights on the farm were usually spent around the kitchen table playing heated rounds of gin rummy, which my aunt was patient enough to teach me at a very young age. i was always sad to leave, as it always felt like home to me. i think i would have made a darn good farm girl. i'm so thankful lucy gets to experience this little slice of farm life every once in awhile - i think it's good for her soul. and mine.

lauren & ryan

aaaaaaaah.... back to my element. i've done a few family events and senior pictures lately. the big families and "big" kids were absolutely lovely, fun and beautiful. and of course compliant. and sat very still. and smiled right at the camera. and followed every direction. in a word, they were perfect. but.....where's the challenge in that? It's as easy as shootin' fish in a barrel. not that i've done that or anything. it's just an expression southerners used before the founding of peta. with those shoots, i didn't even break a sweat. i didn't have to lie on my back in the hot gravel for a good playground swing angle, or sprint to get the shot of the 18 month old before he fell of the rocking horse, or risk serious damage to my canon lens while trying to capture the rock-throwing episode. i didn't have the need to chase the graduates around and say, "i'm gonna tickle you!" or "where's your belly button?" although, i might have received some interesting reactions...and perhaps an arrest warrant...

i met little lauren and ryan on a gorgeous afternoon at the park. they are both so photogenic, making narrowing down the images very difficult. (look at lauren's features and expressions and try telling me she doesn't look like a 4 year old drew barrymore. go ahead. try.) and they were such fun. i love it when kids can just do their own thing, running about, not a care in the world, even while some strange lady is clicking away a few feet from them. these two played on the slide and in the tunnel, danced on the picnic table, tossed ball, played chase around a tree and rocked on the play horses together. the fact that mom mary is so easy going with them made the shoot go even more smoothly. she simply let them be...just my thing. we are planning a very special project coming up soon, and i can't wait to work with them again! thank you, mary, lauren and ryan! what a beautifully beautiful family!

timeless joy

i had to share these happy spring pictures of lucy playing at the park. playground equipment has certainly evolved in the last few decades, and i love how the classics are still a crowd favorite. i mean, the superspiderwebrockwalls are cool and all, but you really can't beat a good, old-fashioned swing. i was so fortunate to have a stay-at-home mom when i was growing up, and i have such wonderful memories of our afternoons at the park in my little home town. driving to the park was always part of the fun, as i got to sit in the front seat with the windows down (rolled down). the eagles played on the 8-track and my carseat consisted of my mom's forearm in the event of an abrupt stop. these days the safety windows in the back don't go down more than half way, and lucy is strapped in her carseat six ways to sunday - but we turn up the xm radio and open the sun roof and make the best of it. and once we step into the park, time stands still for a delicious moment. i hope down the road, when she is staring 40 right in the face, she'll look back at these days and smile a dimpled smile - and feel as blessed as i do.

senioritis

this time of year always brings back highschool memories for me. i close my eyes, and there i am, 18 and barefoot, cruising in my bright blue jeep, the distorted 16 candles soundtrack blaring. man, i loved that tape*. my sun-in treated side pony tail whipped in the wind while my monstrous set of mall bangs stayed put, effectively shellacked. (the 80's must have done a number on the old ozone.) i got the chance to take some pictures before the lakeside prom this year, and let's just say prom fashion evolution is a good thing. evan and his date ashley were so refreshingly classy & poised. they looked like they were ready for red carpet - or better yet - a spring soiree on gatsby's sprawling lawn. my prom fell on the same weekend as the high school state tennis tournament. a deluxe oklahoma-grade farmer's tan accompanied my taffeta strapless gown. almost as important as picking out that tea-length dress (!) was planning the after-prom ensemble. it was customary back then to coordinate outfits with your date, in case the deer-in-headlights-flourescent-lighting party pix from the event weren't going to be embarrassing enough later. after much, much debate, i went with a red, navy and yellow number. red swatch watch, pleated bermuda shorts (almost as flattering as the dress), a v-neck sweater vest over a tee shirt with rolled up sleeves (if you were really feeling sassy, you could wear two tees, sleeves rolled up to reveal the bonus color underneath. shockingly enough, the same could be done with socks.) v-neck sweater vest, coordinating socks and cole-haan loafers (the backs smashed down just so). so very page 97 of the preppy handbook. i'm not making up the preppy handbook. i still own my yellowed, dog-eared copy. it's still a great read. thank you, seniors, for inspiring this totally 80's trip down memory lane.
definition for seniors: *tape (n.) - what we listened to before the invention of mp3 players & ipods


look at him! see??? wouldn't he be the perfect 2010 version of jay gatsby? and beautiful ashley would make a stunning daisy! the best part is, she's just as sweet as she is pretty. i've known evan since he was playing peewee football back in tulsa. it's so strange now to have to look up when i'm talking to him. he lives directly behind us, and whenever he's in his back yard, my daughter just stands at the edge of our deck and just watches him, grinning. her first crush at four years old. she has good taste, huh? evan is an incredible golfer, so we thought it would be appropriate to get a few shots on the 18th green before pre-prom dinner at the country club. aren't they gorgeous kids - excuse me - young adults? and no tea length or farmer's tans anywhere....thank goodness. can't wait for your senior picture shoot, evan. you are quite an easy subject. don't tell lucy, though, she'll be determined to tag along!