Going once, going twice, sold!

What? You mean I bought it? I actually bought the colorful panda canvas painting that Lacey's class created that I knew would be just adorable in Ben's room? I did! Wow! I think I got caught up in the excitement of bidding at our school's annual "Art in the Park - fundraising art auction". I shouldn't have looked so anxious. I shouldn't have been so quick to raise my paddle - I should have been more strategic. I am sure people knew I wanted that panda & they tried to up my bid! Dang! and, I bought it the one time that Brad left my side & wasn't there to control my arm from raising the paddle to bid. Great - now he's coming towards me & I have to tell him that we just bought this painting. His reaction, you ask? He took the paddle from me, smiled, and walked away. I think he's mad at me! Don't be mad, Brad - it's for a good cause! Now I have to go hunt him down & give him a big hug and smile really cute & ask him if he's mad at me. Don't be mad Brad! There he is - in line to get a coke. (I think coke is his "drug of choice", while chocolate is mine! That means he must be mad. That also means we both need caffeine!) "Brad, are you mad?" Smiling, he says, "why would I be mad? I'm just getting a coke." Yeah, right! - he's mad. But then he gives me the paddle back. He must not be that mad.

Now we have this new piece of artwork and I did pay more than I should have for it, but I didn't spend NEARLY what others spent! I just have to tell you about this event & what some people spent - it truly is amazing. Our art teacher works with each classroom during the year to create beautiful works of art that are auctioned off at a dressy affair at a country club for parents who are in love with their children. (It used to truly be "Art in the Park"- on a Saturday afternoon outside at the school with the children all dressed up and all running around - very sweet - but not nearly as lucrative at this new version of "Art in the Park.") Anyway - she creates at least 2 paintings per classroom with involvement from all the children in the class. In this little panda, created by Lacey's class, all the children got to paint a section of patchwork on the panda. Every piece is unique & beautiful in its own way. Let me just say that one piece went for over $4,000 & another for almost $10,000! Crazy! [Incidentally, I did not spend even close to those amounts - so out of my league! That being said, Brad did comment that he needed to get the guy who paid $10,000 for a painting to be his client so that Brad could afford to pay for our painting. ] Anyway - the art teacher and the students also create a ceramic piece for every classroom (either a platter, bowl, etc. - something big & cool!). Those are sold in a silent auction. There is also a silent auction for "dates with the teachers". The teachers plan something really fun to do & the parents of their students bid for their child to get a date with the teachers. There's also raffles for very nice prizes like Danny Gans tickets, dinner at a fine dining restaurant, etc.

Finally, there is an auction for a reserved parking stall for the upcoming school year. This is a hot commodity - let me tell you! As our school has grown, parking is definitely an issue. The parking stall auction was the highlight of the evening for me. It was so exciting! After a few bidders bowed out, it was "krispykreme" versus "pediped". (Franchise owners of Krispy Kreme versus the entrepreneurial couple who created some of the cutest baby shoes I've ever seen!) The krispykreme folks were out of town, but they were on cell phone with a friend, bidding at the auction! The bidding started out $1,000.00 and quickly got to $3,000, then $4,000, then . . . ah, Mr. krispykreme, on one end of a cell phone wants the director of the school on the other end. What??!! If she will agree to reserve another stall, he will pay $5,000 & pediped can have the other stall for $5,000. What do you think, Ms. Leanne? DONE!!

At the end of the night, the school had made over $50,000. I seriously cannot believe it. This is almost double what we got last year. This amount didn't include expenses, but still . . . Wow! The school plans to use the funds to create an out-of-this world, hands on learning playground for the children. It will have things like a mini-amphitheater, sundial, ant farms contained in walls, and much more! We saw the plans and it will be amazing. Wow - what a night!