Return to Blogging and Concerts in the Park

I have missed blogging!  It's been a whole week and I think I am starting to suffer withdrawals... 

One of the things that I love most about writing here at Dapper and Dreamy is the chance to share the things we really love with new people.  Think of the many things you've learned or heard about from others.  If you hadn't been listening, you might have missed the best movie, music, restaurant...  you can fill in the blanks.  That's what I find most rewarding about reading and writing blogs.  Isn't it great that we have a whole new world of friends opened up to us?

Case in point, the Susan Branch blog.  I think I've mentioned it before, and I really should just devote a whole posting to it, but this is a great blog for people who like to create and collect, who love all the things related to making a warm and inviting home and who can see the brighter side of things.  It's also an excellent place to get ideas for things to eat!  Now, for many years I've used just one recipe for brownies.  With seven boys in the house, you can imagine that a lot of these are eaten (actually, even without them, I am sure that I could put away my share plus yours!) annually.  It's a great recipe, from a very old Duncan Hines cookbook, and it's been in the family for years.  But, Susan Branch recently posted about baking brownies and had a somewhat different recipe.  I just made them and, well, they are fabulous!  They may even beat my old standby.  I'll let you know once the verdict is in, and I'll provide a link to her site so you can get the recipe for yourself.

Finally, I want to put a little word in about concerts in the park.  Not just any concerts in the park, either.  I don't want to make this blog a place to brag too much about my children...  My daughter who takes the hardest classes she can and still gets straight A's, or my six year old son who's fluent in Mandarin Chinese (OK, I am making that one up).  But, I had a pretty remarkable experience tonight, and it gives me a lot of hope for the future.  My son and his friends have put together a band, which is not too unusual for kids their age (sixteen/seventeen), and tonight was their first real concert.  Jack put together much of the event, making the ad, securing the sight and getting other bands together.  In the end, it couldn't have been a better evening.  In a park by the river, on a knoll overlooking a vast lawn, four groups performed and, even more surprisingly, they were great!  There were over 150 people gathered -friends of the bands, some parents (even a grandparent or two) and several people who either heard about the evening on Facebook or who were just passing by on the bike trail.  How often can you say that the first rock concert you attended was the one your son put on?  And, what great kids.  Good natured, talented, friendly, funny and able to have a great time in a way that any parent would be happy about.

We hear a lot about the downside of the teen years, and there are moments...  But, tonight was a great example of what fabulous things our kids are up to.  Instead of looking at the worst examples out there, let's take a minute and look for all the young people who are doing fabulous things.  There are many of them, and it's amazing how creative and courageous they are.