A is for Art; B is for Book Club

I read about a mom who designed a summer full of activities for every letter of the alphabet. And since I'm notoriously a "Martha" (Biblical or Stewart-al) I thought that would be a fun way to work through the summer. (Can't you just see the scrapbook now?)

So this morning we took advantage of the Orlando Museum of Art's 1st Saturday family fun day with some good friends. The exhibit this summer is William Joyce, the children's author illustrator, who wrote Rollie Pollie Ollie, A Day with Wilbur Robinson, and today's featured book Dinosaur Bob. For the fifth summer, OMA has had picture book illustrators featured in special exhibits. The art is hung low on the wall, there are books everywhere, and the whole space is kid friendly. On the first Saturday of the month there are art projects, hands on activities and storytimes featuring the current exhibit. Well, at least for two more months there will be until budget cuts take this away.

R is still bit shy and less than willing to participate in much. At the pretend digging for dinosaur bones, she swept up the sand that fell out. At one art table she sharpened the colored pencils and made sure all pencils were out of the crayon container. But she loved the music room, preferring to play her triangle the whole time and did finally do the dinosaur march around the room. We made dinosaur hats too which she only wore once we got home. But she said she had a good time and she's tuckered out tonight.

I'll keep you posted on how our Summer A to Z adventure continues.

Last night, however, was book club, the final meeting with dear Sebby D. She was an original member and the first time I came to book club was at her house. We read Memiors of a Geisha. It's a good thing that I sorta already knew her since the one who invited me--ahem, KS--ended up not making at the last minute. Debby always says she doesn't have much insight to these books and even if she was correct we would still want her since she's just plain fun no matter what. We'll just have to keep reading together through Good Reads now.

The book we discussed was one I've been trying to read for such a long time but couldn't seem to get my hands on a copy. Same Kind of Different as Me tells the true story of Denver Moore, a Louisiana sharecropper, Ron Hall, a wealthy international art dealer, and Debbie Hall, the fiesty, determined woman who brought them together at a Dallas homeless shelter. Their incredible friendship is one I haven't seen in fiction or reality and the way God works through empty vessals to accomplish his work is amazing. I won't give away any details because you'll love seeing them connect and grow. I read it all in one sitting and bawled my eyes out (sleep deprivation probably had some influence as well). I also appreciated the way the story is told in each man's voice with honesty and authenticity. And I closed the book wanting to be that kind of servant, wife and mother.

Next book club read: All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot