I Believe She's Amazing Flash Mob

And this...

A flash mob dance organized by Kim MacGregor of IBelieveShesAmazing.com in honor of her great friend, Erika Heller, who passed away in May of 2009 at 31 years old.

MacGregor wanted to start a grassroots movement to celebrate people like Erika, the amazing everyday woman, and the importance of these women in our lives.

She posted the video on YouTube under the moniker 1MillionAmazingWomen with the hope that one million viewers would take the time to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing woman or women in their lives.

The flash mob included 200 people.  Apparently, 80 or so were actual dancers from MacGregor's daughter's dance troop.  The others heard about the flash mob through e-mail or social media and wanted to take part.

You have to watch the video in full screen for the full impact.  The core dancers of young girls and women are just beautiful, but take some time to catch the everyday dancers interspersed on the periphery -- you'll find little girls, middle-aged women, older women, young men, older gentlemen, each dancing with as much feeling and emotion as the next.

When the music stopped, each dancer held up a picture of their own amazing/inspiring woman.

Then, the dancers slowly dispersed into the mall crowds as if nothing completely amazing just happened.

I'm not crying...you're crying.

(For full-screen viewing, double-click on the title)

 

Credits:

YouTube Channel: 1MillionAmazingWomen

Published on May 28, 2010

From the video show notes:

"Kim MacGregor organized this flash mob of 200 dancers to launch the "feel good" movement, "I Believe She's Amazing" in honor of her friend Erika Heller who passed away May 28th, 2009 at 31 yrs. old...this is her living legacy. The amazing choreographers and dancers pulled this together in just one-6 hr rehearsal the day before the shoot."

Song: I Believe by Yolanda Adams from the soundtrack to the movie Honey starring Jessica Alba

Reflections of Motherhood Video by Scott Stratten

Saw this video recently...

Parenting is the most rewarding yet difficult thing I get to do daily.

Sometimes I feel proud...like I'm doing pretty well.  Other times...not so much, which is what makes videos like the one below by UnMarketing.com so welcome and inspiring.

The video montage was uploaded and inspired by Scott Stratten of UnPodcast. According to his show notes: We asked moms if they could go back to before their first baby, what would they tell themselves. These are their answers. Everyone in the video is a mom :)

You will note the video screen size is too big for this blog post, which means you can't see the full screen.  I've tinkered with the HTML trying to reduce the dimensions, but I can't get it to work yet.

For now, double-click on the video title, Reflections of Motherhood, so you can watch the video in full screen.  It will be worth it.




Credits:

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/taDqKWWPDAY

Uploaded by Scott Stratten of UnPodcast - Check out his YouTube Channel
Published on Aug 30, 2010

Produced by UnMarketing http://www.Un-Marketing.com

Additional Credits (per YouTube video show notes): 

Original Post Sponsor: Nummies Maternity Bras http://www.Nummies.com

Song: "Days Away" by InAshton http://www.facebook.com/inashton

Photography: Sara Collaton http://www.SaraCollaton.com

Yesterday

Last night was fun.

We had a late dinner and all Kate wanted to do was go outside which we did...at 8:00 p.m.

It is getting darker earlier now, but the neighbor kids were also outside. Kate essentially spent the time running from one lawn to another and she is a kick to watch. She is a speed demon, for sure. Dave said she reminds him of a little Scottie dog when she runs, a scurry of blurred feet.

The neighbor girl was trying out her roller skates and Jackie and the neighbor boy were trying to fly a kite...at night with no wind. That was fun to watch, the two of them running at top speed, Jackie with the string and the boy lagging behind with the kite and Jackie saying, "Okay, let go now!" A little Charlie Brownish what with the maple (?) trees looming every 5 to 10 feet but lo and behold, the kite did get up in the air many times for a few seconds anyway.

Too soon it became even darker, but the two boys across the street ran over for an impromptu tag session with the neighbor boy (with the mother warning, "Okay, but only for 5 minutes).

Jackie and Kate stayed on our front lawn. Kate did somersaults in dizzying circles and Jackie tried to do flips with me by holding my hands, planting her feet on my thighs and then flipping backwards. Both did their things with many glances at the neighbor kids to see if they were watching.

Soon the boys' 'five' minutes were up and they went back home and the neighbor kids went inside and it was just me and my two girls.

Jackie and Kate raced each other across the neighboring front lawns and I laughed at my Scottie dog.

We saw one lone lightning bug who apparently did not wish to be caught.

Then, we went inside.

Fourth Grade...

First day of Fourth Grade was yesterday. I didn't catch the brown boots in this picture. Can you tell the backpack weighs more than her? Kate is sad because she did not have a backpack but Jackie had her carry her lunch bag (which is like a mini-backpack and which she got from Grandma). She's a smart kid and though I wish the little one was cooperating for the middle picture, I really love Jackie's expression and body langunage in it. She finds Kate trying at times, but she loves her more than anything. You're gonna have a great year, Jackie. Love ya. Mom and Dad. NOTE: If you look closely at the left side of her backpack, you can see the bead buddy made by her cousin Sara hanging off a zipper pull.

Today was a nice day. We had lunch with Uncle Brian and then went to see Karate Kid with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. Last year Jackie was upset because some kids teased her and called her Jackie Chan - of course because her name is Jackie and she is Asian. I really wanted Jackie to see a Jackie Chan movie before school started because, quite frankly, Jackie Chan is awesome. He works really hard and does all his own stunts and he is funny. Jackie loved the movie, so my hope is if someone calls her Jackie Chan this year she will say, "Have you seen him in Karate Kid? Wasn't he awesome?"

Anyway, after the movie we came back to our house for a very simple dinner of which Kate ate none but, to her credit, when she asked for a fudgsicle later and I said essentially 'no', she did not put up a fuss. After Brian went home, Jackie and I worked on her two major dance numbers for her Annie play which is coming up this Friday and Saturday. It has been so fun watching these kids over last couple months. They really have worked very hard and have had so much fun working on this production. Jackie was a trooper tonight because it was late and she was very tired, but we watched the videos of Never Fully Dressed and Hard Knock Life and went over the routines and over the routines and over the routines so she could be more comfortable with her numbers. (I videotaped a couple of their practices with the choreographer, Ms. Jennifer - thanks Mom for letting us borrow the camera and burning the discs for us. Someday I'll be a grownup and learn how to be more proficient with the computer.) The kids have done great. It has been fun to watch each kid grow and develop over the last couple months.

Jackie starts school in a week and a half. I think she is ready, but I think she also enjoyed this summer. She got to try new things and spent some great quality time with her cousins. She is very, very happy that she will be getting off the bus at Grandpa's again this year. I am too. It's been really neat to watch Jackie and Dad's relationship develop over the last couple years. It's also really comforting to know that Jackie can talk to Grandpa about her day if she needs to. Plus, this means Kate will see Grandpa and Grandma often, which she loves.

Grandma has been stocking Jackie with school clothes over the past year. I did a quick count to see what we needed to fill in but Grandma scored three tan pants, three navy blue pants, one navy blue skirt, two short sleeve white shirts, three long sleeve white shirts and one dark turtle neck. I think we are actually pretty well set!! Thank you!! Grandma also went on a 40 mile bike ride today in Rolling Prairie. 40 miles is farther than LaPorte, and it takes about 40-45 minutes to drive there. Zoiks. You rock, Grandma.

Well, suppose I should turn in. I am up late because Kate's Mimi rag doll has been in desparate need of a bath so I snuck it from her bed and into the washing machine after she went to sleep.

Well-intentioned Plans

I have dishes, laundry (and laundry and laundry) and thoughts of running today, but so far all I have accomplished is:

...omelettes for breakfast with green pepper and tomatoes from garden (yum)

...being Bat Cat (from Charlie and Lola with mask made by JJ)

...being a Prince (as directed by Kate)

Enjoying...

Jackie is enjoying:

* Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief movie (she already read the book)

* 'Annie' rehearsals

Kate is enjoying:

* playing with the toys that she hasn't played with in forever but now loves because they are in the going to Goodwill pile (of course)

* the pink nighttime sky: 'It is going to rain,' says she.

* Charlie and Lola episodes on YouTube

Dave is enjoying:

* unexpected phone calls and e-mails from Pat in Africa

* 'Sea of Monsters' book - 2nd in the Percy Jackson series

I am enjoying:

* online community at Runner's World.com. Really, really, really need to get running again. I wonder if the Potato Creek Triathlon at the end of September is too much to expect.

* listening to Kate sing to herself as she plays with her new-found old toys

* Jackie's interest in Michael Jackson. We've been watching Thriller, Beat It, I'm Bad, etc., on YouTube.

Oh, and you can also find Cha Cha Slide on YouTube, too, much to the girls' delight.