Craft Club 2011

This was our third year of having a summer craft club and  by sheer numbers it's definitely our most successful year yet.  We ended up with a full group of 5-6-year-olds, another full group of 7-8-year-olds, and two full groups of 9-10-11-year-old girls.  While I'm happy that so many girls are able to participate this year and especially that Ellie gets to be with girls her own age for the first time, I did end up a little disappointed that I couldn't keep all of the girls Emma's age together in one group. 

We hosted the first meeting for Ellie's age group at our house and I enjoyed seeing first-hand the fun they had together.   Since about half the girls were from church and half the girls were from school, I was a little nervous that they would separate themselves into groups, but it turned out fine. 

We had an ice cream theme for the day, so we started off by making sand-art ice cream necklaces

Then it was cute to see their little wheels turn as they used their creativity to make design-your-own paper dolls (holding ice cream cones to keep with the theme).  We made them using foam bodies,  scrapbook paper for clothes, buttons and glitter for decorations, yarn for the hair, googly eyes, and whatever else they felt like using. 

After those crafts, we went on to the highlight of the day...making our own ice cream!  We followed this recipe for Ice Cream in a Bag.   The kids were excited to give it a try and especially loved a quick jump on the trampoline to keep the bags in motion. 

In the end, they had cold hands and limited patience, so we just decided to open them up and eat them as they were.   Some were thick and creamy, as they should have been....

While most of them ended up more like ice cream soup....

Of course it was nothing a few sprinkles couldn't fix...

 All in all, it was a fun day and definitely worth all the stress of figuring out the dynamics of getting the groups started. 

Coming soon....a post about my girls' hairstyles in the summer vs. the school year.   Er, never mind.  I forgot where the brush is. 


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The Story of the Hat

Once upon a time there was a man who decided to go to the local consignment store to get himself a pioneer hat for Trek.  

While there the man also found a child's hat hailing from his beloved alma mater.    Despite the low price on the tag,  the man's sense of style got the better of him and he decided not to purchase the dated hat.   

Then, at the exact moment that he was setting the hat back on the shelf, he happened to notice a little something on the underside of the bill.

Adam thinks his new Steve Young autographed hat is awesome.  

The end.

A Homey Fourth

On the morning of the Fourth we went out and did a little exploring at  Dyke Marsh,  where we hiked a bit....

 and did some birdwatching....


The kids brought their bird journals with them to add in and sketch the new birds we saw that day (an osprey and eastern kingbird)....

Afterward we went out for lunch and some Georgetown Cupcakes.  Too bad the line at GC was like 37 miles long, so instead we ended up at Baked and Wired (a few blocks away).  The cupcakes were every bit as overpriced as Georgetown Cupcakes, but we loved the fun flavors and short lines!

After all that exploring we came home and settled in for a nice homey Fourth of July!  We made these awesome layered patriotic drinks: 

And Glen grilled these stuffed pizza burgers (recipe coming soon): 

 Then we just chilled until it was almost dark and headed over to our neighbor's house for some light-your-own fireworks.  Most of the kids (Ellie excluded) were enamored with the opportunity to light their own fireworks,  especially since we don't usually don't buy any ourselves.  The boys--Adam and his friend Caleb were especially enamored!

After that we walked an entire 1/2 block to a culdesac around the corner from us and sat and watched the local firework show, which as of a couple years ago is directly across the highway from our neighborhood.  We get front row seats, 100% without the crowds!    It's about as awesome as awesome gets.    

Ellie jabbered away to our neighbor (an adult) the entire way through the show, then after the grand finale was over we walked 3-minutes through the empty streets to our home and put the kids to bed instantly. 

Good adventure, good food, good friends, good fireworks.....can't beat that kind of Fourth!!!!

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Trek

Youth Conference started at the crack of dawn for Spencer and Cami (and by default, Glen and I as well). 

Even though we were just helping at Trek Youth Conference for the day, we decided to still dress the part of pioneer.  I raided my closet and the kids' dress up basket for my costume, while Glen supplemented his with some accessories from the consignment store. All in all, I thought we looked pretty awesome.  :)

I found this sight of my pioneer man pumping gas as somewhat ironic, so of course I had to take a picture.  The cashier in Safeway laughed and said he looked like the man on the Sam Adams beer signs. 

I don't know, beside the frothing mug of beer.....what do you think? 

Then it was off to Trek with both minivans stuffed to the gills...



After arriving, we spent the entire morning setting up and getting prepared for the youth to arrive.  Right in time for lunch, the mostly smiling kids pulled in with their handcarts and families. 

After 12 miles, Cami found herself with a few blisters, but thankfully her friend Sydney spared her the pain of walking a few extra feet and carried her to the Nurse's station for a bandage. 

Of course, she was all smiles within about 1.2 seconds of her bandaging session and her and her Trek sister Katy had a great time enjoying all the activities Glen and I helped plan!

Spencer still has a camera phobia, so I put my telephoto lens to use and took some photos while he wasn't looking...

After all our planned activities were over, it was time for dinner and skits.  Thankfully I didn't have anything to do with the dinner plans, but since I was the one who created the skit planning binders I was highly interested to see what the youth made of my mostly goofy skit ideas. 

Of course, they were awesome. 

And now I am sleeping. 
ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


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Where My Brain is Right Now....

Youth Conference planning. 

Emails, phone calls, last-minute scrambling, 18 watermelons dropped off on our door step, practice session of leather branding, looking for a wheelbarrow to borrow, thinking up 50 appropriate skit ideas, figuring out how to nicely tell someone that we found someone else to be in charge of their station when they couldn't decide,  going to the store, going to pick up a rental truck only to find the rental store had closed early, etc.... 

All that in amongst a 10 hour day of volunteering at Cub Scout day camp, 5 hours taking a mandatory volunteer slot at a swim meet, a feverish and coughing Ellie, a routine doctor visit, visiting teaching, and all the while trying to keep the kids happy, dressed in somewhat clean clothes, and eating somewhat healthy meals. 

In other words, don't ask me to do anything requiring any brainpower right now.  I'm thinking that the .0000000000001% unused brain cells I have left should probably be kept intact for remembering how to sleep. 

Glen's 40th Birthday....the rosy version

Saturday was Glen's 40th birthday. 

Cami made a sign for the garage door. 

We made him chocolate crepes (not as pretty as Glen's though). 

He opened some fun presents (including a crepe maker, CD, and new Tevas) and ate a beautiful yellow cake with chocolate frosting that Cami had prepared. 

The end.   

(Sorry if any of you thought you were going to hear about how it ended up being the absolute worst birthday ever.  Suffice it to say, that I'm pretty sure that this birthday is one he won't soon forget, and NOT because of how wonderful it was. )

Contest

Bumble bees, plaid, and a muumuu....

Shimmering satin, jungle print...

Oh yeah, I da man...

A closer look...

Three kajillion dollars and a "special" package priority mailed to the person who correctly guesses the reason for  all this fashion awesomeness....






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Good News!!!

At age six, Ellie has already found her dream car....


except she's hoping it will be just a tad more fuchsia, since pink is only her second favorite color behind fuchsia and before purple. 

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First Day of Summer

Today was the first day of summer "break" and ...

• I dragged the kids out of bed an hour earlier than a school day.

• I entertained a tired six-year-old at the closed-to-non-swim-team-members pool for two hours while Emma and Adam were at swim practice.  

• the kids played wii and ate popsicles while I made a gazillion phone calls and answered emails about the youth conference activities we're in charge of. 

• I brought my brother Tim to the airport. 

• we met a new friend at the pool.

• we only stayed for an hour, so we could rush Spencer off to lacrosse practice 12 miles away in rush hour traffic.

• I entertained two exhausted children at lacrosse practice for two hours. 

• we came home and whipped together a quick dinner of chicken and bean taquitos. 

• we ate dinner at 9:15pm. 

• Glen got home from work at 9:30pm. 

• I put the younger kids to bed at 10:00pm. 

• Cami returned from her babysitting job at 11:10pm and Spencer's friend is just leaving and I am going to bed ASAP. 
  
  
  
  

 

It's exactly one day into summer break and I am questioning my sanity at signing the kids up for swim team and thinking that I'm already about ready for a summer break break. 

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father's day in four word sentences

Don't feel like blogging.  Hate falling behind.  I need more sleep.  Father's Day was good.   Don't want to miss.  

Here it is: 


Just returned from trip. 

Kids surrounded him.

He got hugged.

Best. Card. EVER!!!

Traditional candy bar note. 

Glen is AWESOME!!!!

The end. 

Kindergarten Spring Sing

On Thursday I got to attend the  Kindergarten Spring Sing with a bunch of very cute little 6-year-olds singing as exuberantly as they could.  It was cuteness at its best and I loved the joy and innocence their little faces radiated as they sang their hearts out to their parents. 

A few minutes into the show I watched while right in the middle of one of the songs, Ellie had a seizure.  It's still not unusual for Ellie to have several seizures per day and I'm sure that most people assumed she was daydreaming or something, but it made me teary-eyed thinking of the challenges ahead for her.  Besides her safety, I especially worry for the day when her peers will start noticing the frequent lapses. 

Oh yeah, and then there's the whole bit about my BABY finishing kindergarten that kind of got me misty-eyed too. I guess, that with two kids that are going to be in high school this fall and no more preschoolers or kindergarteners, I may have to reluctantly admit that we're getting to the middle-aged stage of life now.  Speaking of middle-aged, I would like to point out that when Glen hits the big 4-0 this Saturday, that it will be an entire year and 10 months before me! 


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