Lesson 380: Famous Fifteen

It's Friday night and it's late.

My Heartbreak Huskies suffered an overtime loss tonight,

and the game went long.

My team has not lost its # 1 fan,

but you may lose your favorite Friday Night Bloggerto sleeping on the job 

if I don't get this blog written quickly.

Eloise is TIRED.

Here are the week's top 15 photos,

coming to you in the next 15 minutes,

so each has its literal 15 minutes of fame.

#1--Ellen Louise turned 15 this week.

Happy birthday to my middle child.

#2--We bid farewell to summer on Ellen's birthday--

September 22nd

Goodbye, summer.

Welcome, fall.

Thank you for the photos, Brenda From the Lake.

#'s 3, 4, 5, and 6--

Natalie's People t-shirts are still on the move.

Elk Creek

Holiday Valley

Pittsburgh

Wisconsin

If you missed your chance to have one,

there will be a two week sale beginning October 1st.

$20 donation to Natalie's Feed the People t-shirt sale.

The money raised will be given to the food donation agencies

where Natalie volunteers. 

#7--
This fun group of guys is on the move, too.

Congratulations to nephew Jack and his cross country team.

They are having a great season.

#8

Once upon a time, 

Little Red Riding Hood set out to deliver wine to her granny 

and ran into some trouble along the way.

Today,

Little Blue Riding Hood IS Granny.

She drinks beer and causes trouble,

but is a fan like no other.

#9

Early season football weather is the best!

I spend most of my time

trying to figure out

which butt belongs to my kid.

#10--

Fall skies are the best to photograph.

#11--

and the daytime moon isn't too bad of a subject either.

#12--

We went to camp, hoping to find Sasquatch.

 #13--

We didn't find Big Foot,

but did find lots of signs of fall instead.

 #14

The stuttering comedian on America's Got Talent came in second place.

What a story!
If you missed it, click the link below.

Stuttering Comedian CLICK HERE

#15

It's been 15 years since the first Survivor aired on CBS.

This season's contestants are past participants,

selected by viewer votes.

This is Kelly from Season 1.

She lost one million dollars to Richard Hatch fifteen years ago.

She's back for another chance.

15 years goes by quicker than you might think.

No time to make a photo video this week,
so I borrowed Taylor Swift's.
Fifteen--if you've forgotten the song.
It's a good one.

Have a great weekend,
ELOISE

FIFTEEN song for Ellen

Lesson 379: The Rest is Still Unwritten

My middle child turns 15 today!

Happy birthday, Ellen!

We celebrated her birthday last weekend at the family camp.

Mother Eloise forgot to bring the rest of the cake decorating stuff.

We improvised as we often do when we're camping.

I like to take a snapshot of my kids as they are peeking into the flaming candles.

This is all I could get.

That Ellen!

She sure is a good sport.

She's an easy kid to raise because she just goes with things.

We lit one big candle to commemorate Ellen's big year.

and it worked just fine.

I selected my favorite photos for a slide show of your last 12 months.

You sure did grow a lot,

learn a lot,

and love a lot.

This is our favorite photo from the year.

Ellen, this looks the most like you,

or how I see you, rather.

Quiet,

introspective,

and calm.

You were sketching at the moment of this photo.

When you sketch, you tell a story.

Pictures on a page are almost the same as words on a page.

You are writing your story every single day

by the words you speak,

the actions to take,

and the love you give to yourself and others.

Paint yourself a masterpiece.

No one but God knows what lies on the next blank page.

He will guide your hand as you draw out your life

Stay connected to Him and follow your heart.

The road may not always be easy,

but you can be assured that

you won't be headed down the wrong one.

Enjoy the photos from the last year of your life.

I set them to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield.

Happy 15th birthday!

Love,

Mother Eloise

Lesson 378: Fight Song

It's the weekend, Readers.

Time to take a breather.

Glad you found the light of the Lamp Post.

Lean against the pole and I'll tell you the story of the week.

Natalie, Erik, Mother Eloise,

and a whole team of Super Friends

completed the Barber Beast on the Bay last weekend.

 On the rainiest of weekends we've seen all season,

Supporters turned out for Beast Hunt 3 point O.

Natalie,

my nephew Erik,

and their team of cheerleaders 

came out to help them through the Adapted Course set up at Waldameer.

For more on the Adapted Course and its participants, 

check out the photo video at the end of this blog.

Ellen followed Natalie through the course and did a nice job on the photos.

Many sported their new, ultra soft,

Natalie People t-shirts.

Natalie used her original happy people artwork as a fundraiser 

to benefit the Barber National Institute,

the school that gave her such a good start on her education.

Natalie raised over $1,400 and received a special award.

 As a teacher, I've become immune to whining,

excuses,

begging,

and blame.

That's what the "I Missed The Memo About the  T-Shirt" folks

have been doing to me and my family ever since the sale.

Hey,

I know you were busy,

did not have time to check facebook,

went on a trip,

were hospitalized, 

suffered from temporary memory loss,

and lost power for a few hours.

All legitimate excuses, I suppose.

It seems kind of heartless and out of character for Eloise 

to suddenly adopt the 

You Snooze You Lose philosophy.  

My Family and I decided to have one more,

limited time,

very short People T-Shirt sale,

and Grandma is handling it,

so there ain't no messin' around.

You want one?
Get her the money and she'll get you one.

Beginning October 1st,

for two weeks only,

you can order a black, short sleeved,

ultra soft t-shirt for $20.

We will be posting the order sheet on facebook.

Watch for it.

We worked so hard to teach Natalie to count by $20's this summer,

so we are keeping the price the same,

and donating half of the money collected to the Food Banks

where Natalie volunteers.

Short Sale #2 will be deemed

Natalie's Feed the People T-Shirts.

My People were certainly needed fed after ten rainy miles on sand and trails.

My big blue team,

of kindhearted

fitness loving,

zany friends,

really had a great time.

You'd think there would be no fun to be had on a day like last Saturday,

but if you study the photo closely, you can see what brought us all warmth and joy.

Ordinary people became Super Heroes

there were even capes this year for Boy Wonders.

Captain Krazy and Sister Kenyan agreed to combine forces and get along this year.

We agreed to buy the ax,

Glad I brought my sling shot.

We captured the Beast

just as he was about to eat John Barber.
The Beast is a slippery sucker, and got away.

He left a claw mark which I have taken photos of 

and will use for tracking purposes next year.

We searched the sands,

and the muddy trails far and wide,

But, alas, the Beast escaped.

Perhaps you will consider helping me search for him next year.

It's one heck of a good time.

There is always someone there to lend a hand,

well, most of the time.

And there will always be photo editing done on unflattering shots.

 And in the end, 

as you walk uphill to the finish line,

you will feel invincible.

 

Kenyan proved to be invincible last weekend.

She completed the Erie Marathon the day after Beast on the Bay,

She covered 36.2 miles of this beautiful peninsula

on her own two, 

lumpy,

crooked feet.

Congratulations!

Eloise has a big week ahead.

There are lots of preparations to be made--

Natalie got asked to Homecoming!

Check out the photo video Ellen made of her sister and Erik

completing the Adapted Course. 

The obstacles were really great!

My girls are each other's biggest fans.

It is set very appropriately to Fight Song.

Enjoy the weekend.

ELOISE