This is a summary of today. . . .
I woke up early to go with Rachel to Temple and do some photo-shoot thing for a project of hers. I was planning on taking Donyae with us. The project has to do with lighting those of different races. Since I tend to be on the far side of the light to dark spectrum and Donyae far far away from me on that spectrum, she was the perfect candidate. But this morning at 8:30 AM on a day she had off from school, she was no where to be found. A seventh grade girl, sleeping in past 9 on a vacation day. Is anyone shocked? Not I. So I called up my girl Keyhana (the mother of the three Day girls) and she provided me one of her lovelies that she always has on hand. With three to pick from, there is always an option at that house.
After the photo-shoot I took this middle Day girl - my much loved Myeisha, out to breakfast. We stopped by A Full Plate, but apparently the amazing brunch is only available on Saturdays and Sundays. No Good Friday exceptions. Boo hiss.
Rach had given Myeisha a sour blueberry lollipop for her efforts in the project. Mind you, Myeisha is the one I will constantly mention in this blog as the one who hates having her picture taken. But in the studio, with only two other people whom she trusts? She was striking many-a-pose. Adorable.
Anyway. Let me loop back to the breakfast. A Full Plate was closed so I called a friend who recommended Honey's Sit and Eat. One of those places that all of your friends rave about and its right around the corner from your house, but you've never been. I think I have even recommended it in the past off of others recommendations. Well, I finally tried it out. On our walk there Myeisha and I came across a park. Now, I use this Northern Liberties hoity toity park for late night, walk-home-from-being-out talks with friends, so to see it in the daylight was illuminating for me.
Myeisha wanted to 'play a little'. One of the sweetest things in this ministry is when you get one of the kids alone one on one and you see them genuinely BE A KID. This girl goes home to chaos. I am just stating the generalities of the neighborhood she lives in. Crack deals outside the window often, gun shots, middle school boys and girls 'jumping' one another on the regular. . . this is the life they live. So when one of the girls with the hardest shell looks up at me and says, "I just want to play for a little bit" my heart MELTS. I have mentioned with another kid about how he hugs like he is playing catch up. When Myeisha is away from the neighborhood drama and is being a kid, playing and laughing, it is like she is playing catch up on that too.
Tying it together, tying it together, i promise. So we finally get to Honey's and there is a 15 minute wait. Myeisha is STARVING apparently, so she whips out her sour-blueberry lollipop to hold herself over. I led you through all of this because I just really wanted to show off these pictures of her while waiting at Honey's. . . .
Doesn't this one look like it could be in a magazine? (talking about the prettiness of the girl with the cool street lines in the background)
)
Looks SO MUCH like her Mama in this one!
)
"Miss Megan is my tongue blue? A little blue or dark-dark blue? Take a picture so I can see!"
)
So after this glorious time at breakfast, we headed to the Mission for the older-girls Easter party. I was not planning on going, just stopping by. . . but really?!?! When they are only a block away, am I really capable of sitting in my house and not spending time with them?
ChiChi's mom planned the whole thing. Went out of her way to buy party favors from Oriental Trading Company, organized crafts, took pictures then printed them out on some little photo contraption. . . .the whole nine. A great, great testimony of this starting to go beyond the kids and getting the whole community involved. Loved it. Mostly loved not being in charge and just hanging out with Doreen and talking about life and the lives of these girly girls.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Spring Break is officially over. It was as of 3:09 this afternoon. Boo hiss to that, but such is life. The recharging was goooooooooooood.
I woke up early to go with Rachel to Temple and do some photo-shoot thing for a project of hers. I was planning on taking Donyae with us. The project has to do with lighting those of different races. Since I tend to be on the far side of the light to dark spectrum and Donyae far far away from me on that spectrum, she was the perfect candidate. But this morning at 8:30 AM on a day she had off from school, she was no where to be found. A seventh grade girl, sleeping in past 9 on a vacation day. Is anyone shocked? Not I. So I called up my girl Keyhana (the mother of the three Day girls) and she provided me one of her lovelies that she always has on hand. With three to pick from, there is always an option at that house.
After the photo-shoot I took this middle Day girl - my much loved Myeisha, out to breakfast. We stopped by A Full Plate, but apparently the amazing brunch is only available on Saturdays and Sundays. No Good Friday exceptions. Boo hiss.
Rach had given Myeisha a sour blueberry lollipop for her efforts in the project. Mind you, Myeisha is the one I will constantly mention in this blog as the one who hates having her picture taken. But in the studio, with only two other people whom she trusts? She was striking many-a-pose. Adorable.
Anyway. Let me loop back to the breakfast. A Full Plate was closed so I called a friend who recommended Honey's Sit and Eat. One of those places that all of your friends rave about and its right around the corner from your house, but you've never been. I think I have even recommended it in the past off of others recommendations. Well, I finally tried it out. On our walk there Myeisha and I came across a park. Now, I use this Northern Liberties hoity toity park for late night, walk-home-from-being-out talks with friends, so to see it in the daylight was illuminating for me.
Myeisha wanted to 'play a little'. One of the sweetest things in this ministry is when you get one of the kids alone one on one and you see them genuinely BE A KID. This girl goes home to chaos. I am just stating the generalities of the neighborhood she lives in. Crack deals outside the window often, gun shots, middle school boys and girls 'jumping' one another on the regular. . . this is the life they live. So when one of the girls with the hardest shell looks up at me and says, "I just want to play for a little bit" my heart MELTS. I have mentioned with another kid about how he hugs like he is playing catch up. When Myeisha is away from the neighborhood drama and is being a kid, playing and laughing, it is like she is playing catch up on that too.
Tying it together, tying it together, i promise. So we finally get to Honey's and there is a 15 minute wait. Myeisha is STARVING apparently, so she whips out her sour-blueberry lollipop to hold herself over. I led you through all of this because I just really wanted to show off these pictures of her while waiting at Honey's. . . .
Doesn't this one look like it could be in a magazine? (talking about the prettiness of the girl with the cool street lines in the background)
Looks SO MUCH like her Mama in this one!
"Miss Megan is my tongue blue? A little blue or dark-dark blue? Take a picture so I can see!"
So after this glorious time at breakfast, we headed to the Mission for the older-girls Easter party. I was not planning on going, just stopping by. . . but really?!?! When they are only a block away, am I really capable of sitting in my house and not spending time with them?
ChiChi's mom planned the whole thing. Went out of her way to buy party favors from Oriental Trading Company, organized crafts, took pictures then printed them out on some little photo contraption. . . .the whole nine. A great, great testimony of this starting to go beyond the kids and getting the whole community involved. Loved it. Mostly loved not being in charge and just hanging out with Doreen and talking about life and the lives of these girly girls.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Spring Break is officially over. It was as of 3:09 this afternoon. Boo hiss to that, but such is life. The recharging was goooooooooooood.
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