Beautiful Prom People.

Prom was last night! The last week 'bout to drove me crazy, as every "prom" week has. Ordering flowers, then *remembering* to pick up flowers--hard for me this year--hair appointments, and on and on. But, of course, it was all worth it--we girls love us some prom stuff!!

Alvin Fernald and his girlfriend Cheergirl. Sorry 'bout Alvin's goofy grin--I was only able to grab two quick photos before they were off to the park to meet friends for another photo shoot.

Okay, Cheergirl's dress was incredibly fantastic--and in charcoal grey, no less! Fabulous. I wish I had noticed that her orchid wrist corsage was not visible--I could have had them turn the other way. By the way, did you notice that Alvin is wearing a suit and not a tux? I am on a big campaign of Poor High School Boys Should Not Have To Rent A Tux, It's Not Their Wedding. They already have to do a corsage (3x the price of a boutonniere) and dinner. The girls argue, "but we have to buy an expensive dress!" But, girls, you get to Keep the Dress.

Okay, I'm putting my soapbox away.

Here are Blackeyed Susan and her boyfriend Afro (no, that is really his nickname). I made his vest and nifty bowtie from the leftover fabric from Susan's dress. It [the dress] is made from a 1950s pattern, and is in orchid taffeta. When Susan tried it on, she said, "Mom, it makes noise when I walk." Exactly. The. Point. Taffeta was perfect for this dress.

Rustle, rustle.

I made last year's prom dress for Susan. This year I paid our beautiful friend Esther to make it for me. You must, Must, MUST check out her blog. She comes from a family of artists, and has already won awards for making a prom dress from paper bags and one from aluminum foil. Designer, seamstress, she is the whole package. She did change the neckline on Susan's gown from simply "draped" to sweetheart.

Aah, the flowers! Afro's mother got these gorgeous orchids made into a barrette. Can I let you in on a little secret (don't think me tacky.): These were "day-old" orchids, that retailed for fifty dollars, and she got them for fifteen.

I know I've never worn fifty dollars worth of flowers in *my* hair!

Happy couple, beautiful smiles.

Susan wavered between wearing rhinestones and pearls (I was leaning toward pearls, as we had a pair of my mother's pearl screw-on earrings--remember those?) But she landed on the butterfly necklace that was a gift from Afro.

kinda neat: they wore matching Toms shoes. You may know Toms as the company that gives away a pair of shoes to a child who has none, for every pair you buy.

I'm sayin', Hooray for flats! I'm going to suggest them for her wedding, as well.

of course, granddaughters Laura Carrot and Sweet Pea *had* to come over and share in the Princess fun. Decorum was not part of the program, however.

Today's plan is Rest. Recuperation. and Dishes.

Just a reminder that next Monday is

Wear Your Apron Day!!!

To get you in the mood, check out an older post about Apron Day Fun.

See you there for Apron Day!

It all depends upon your point of view.

My son Joe Hardy posted on his facebook page on Monday:

"One of the craziest, busiest, and most impactful weekends in (recent) history! A royal wedding, beatification of the late Pope John Paul, and what happened with Osama bin Laden...all in one weekend! Let us not let these things distract us from the truth: Jesus is coming soon! Stay awake, Church!"

This was Charming's reaction to his post:

"Wow. I went to work Friday, woke up Saturday and went to work, woke up Sunday and went to work [he works one Sunday a month], woke up Monday and went to work. I didn't even hear about the Pope thing."

But, he went on to say:

"But there is another Royal Wedding coming, and I am part of the Bride! And, at that time, we will all be "beatified." And, at that time, the worst terrorist of all time will be chained forever!"

Look at the three points of view, here. The World was watching all of these events, and calls them Important. World-changing. The news networks have never-ending stories of every conceivable twist and turn of each event. Yet, the entire worldwide panorama happened, and not one event impacted Charming's life, personally. Most of our lives went on without interruption (after the wedding, of course!)

but...

When those Final Events happen, the World will stop and notice. Every single life will be affected. It will be of greatest importance with which side you are aligned. Truly, truly, "life or death" will be decided.

Because of our busy lives, and the inundation of media 24/7, we sometimes do not see things as they really are, in relation to our own lives; I'm speaking of our "real" lives. That's another thing we need to re-examine, perhaps: of what does our "real" life consist?

Can we take a few minutes this week, to Stop, Look, and Listen? Stop and Look at our lives, and how we are filling them. Charming has a great saying: We need to learn to Live Deliberately. And then we need to Stop and Listen to our Father, for He can tell us how to change our lives. He is the One who is "conforming us to the image of His Son." Is our non-stop life getting in His way?