This summer, Maggie auditioned to be in our local summerstock musical called The Music Man. Since Maggie turned 21 this year, she knew it would be her last chance to join. We were thrilled that she got the part of Alma Hix, one of the Pickalittle Ladies. She is having a lot of fun. Sarah made a commitment to taking her and picking her up from her practices, M-F. Thanks, Sarah. According to our county's website, the annual summerstock show draws 400-500 attendees each performance. Wow!

If you'd like to make plans to see the musical, the dates are from 7/22 to 7/31. I can't find any definite times online...but will let you know when they become available. We usually take our family to the cheaper Sunday matinee.

This week, Anna served us a Nepali meal and taught us how to eat with our fingers.

She's a natural! She also learned to eat with chopsticks. This meal was hard to eat with your fingers because we didn't use a sticky rice. That would've let all the ingredients stick together.

Anna also wore her Nepali traditional dress. It has pants that are worn underneath...since Nepali women spend a lot of time sitting cross-legged.

My children like the finger utensil idea. We had rice, lentil soup, and curried chicken. Delicious!

Lizzie made this sign for Anna's homecoming. It says, Anna's treefort in swahili...at least that's what Lizzie says. Great woodburning!

My friend, Lynn, is in the process of moving, so she gave me her porch furniture. The fabric part needed replacing, so I enjoyed the challenge of sewing up new seats. I was sooo nervous...it was hard to make the first cut on $20/yard fabric! (Fortunately it was on sale for 50% off...but still!) I love the way it turned out...but I never want to try it again. I am thankful that I bought fabric with lines since that made it easy to cut everything square. I even had enough leftover to make two small pillows for the glider. So Lynn...whenever you get your new deck built, your furniture is ready and waiting!
I bought a fascinating book at the thrift shop this week called Little Charley Ross. Charley was America's first kidnap for ransom victim. I googled Charley Brewster Ross and learned his story is still popular.

My sister in law, Cecilia, sent me an email this week telling me about a large croc that was found in our nearby Patuxent River. Wow!

How funny is this?

Today was a nice Father's Day. Pastor gave a good sermon outlining the ABCs of fathering: affection, behavior (set an example) and coming alongside. On the way home, my children gave their father an A++ on each of the points. How nice is that?!

Many blessings ~ Kathie