HSN: Not Back To School Picnic

At the HSN picnic this year, I really tried to meet some people with kids Brenda's age so I could network her into some activities with peers. Most of what we do seems to have gotten too old for kids her age. Plus we ate tons of food, played with friends, and in the end came home a mad mushy mess. When you look like this, I know you have had fun!!

Survival Skills

This year in Girl Scouts I have made a decision to proactively NOT rush activities through. I will let the girls take their time learning. Even if it means we are doing less and enjoying ourselves more.




We put together a Survival Skills day at the park a few weeks ago. I had lists of things for us to do. But what did we actually do? We made solar ovens that took 2 hours in the sun to begin cooking the garlic cheese bread pizza.



We practiced our team building skills. we made shelters in the woods.



And we hung out together and enjoyed eachother's company. All and all, a day worth the energy it took to produce it.

Crazy View from the Car Window

I heard about this before we took the trip. On the way to Chicago, driving up I65 were these miles upon miles of windmills. Indiana's answer to sustainable living?



Someone posted on facebook that BP was one of the investors who helped to construct these amazing miles of metal wind-energy users. And something negative about BP and oil spills. Will we ever get over this tragedy? And is it BP's fault? Are we not driving cars to work and on vacation and to the grocery store? Who here can say they don't EVER use oil? Who doesn't use a product that need oil to be made in one way or another? Is BP to blame for this? Could this happen at all if we, the consumers, didn't want more oil? I guess if you are going to point the blame, be ready to stop reaping the rewards that oil has produced. Be the change. Who here has become the change? Anyone?

Brenda and I Take to the Road

So my sister has been placed in a home run by nuns. I thought to take a small trip to see her and spend some time with her. It has been years since I have been back to Illinois. Not wanting to drive the distance alone, and after my friend who was going to travel with me had to change her plans, Brenda and I took the trip together.



So we got up early and took the 6 hour drive up to see my sister's new home. Then we headed straight out of there and to Lake Michigan for some fun in the sun.



It has been years since we have been around sand (not including the sand box at the museum of course). When judged... my castle won. But don't tell Brenda that. lol.



What did Brenda have to say? The water was SOOOOO cold. But she and my sister got in anyway. Me? No way. I already know when I get that cold that I can't lose the chill for days. It was winter in the water over there. I am too used to our nice warm pool.



On Sunday we visited a Unity Church in Des Plaines IL. Afterwards there was a concert/cook-out. We stayed. This is us with Lena from Russia. She was wonderful fun! The service? Reverend Gregory Barrette was amazing. I would never skip a Sunday if I could hear him talk each time. So inspiring. He truely seems to live what he says. I was told that he is that way every service. I want to go back. If you live around there, GO GO GO. I love to attend a service that makes me want to be better than I was when I left.

We headed next to a movie. We wanted Eclipse but we couldn't find it anywhere at the right time for us. Instead we saw Dispicable Me. I loved it. Brenda too. My sister (who is a much bigger movie-goer than we) didn't care for it much. Maybe we were just romanced by the big screen and popcorn.

Then off to take the long journey home.

Time For Math

Today Brenda worked on her times tables with PAC MAN. How cool is that!!

Girl Scout Pool Day

This poor little bug was caught hanging out by the water slides. I don't get to see these guys anymore where we live so that was an exciting moment for me.



Marley and a friend... Girl Scouts to be.



So there was pizza, hot dogs, cup cakes, and all kinds of goodies. They picked their activities for the year; they swam, dived, and tanned; they ate; and they spent some much needed quality fun time together. Love those kids!!

Meijer You Rock

So call me stupid (well don't really) but I am shocked to find out how many kinds of sprouts I can buy. We bought onion sprouts the other day from Meijer and I was so impressed by the taste that I went back again for more. Kroger, Walmart, etc. Cannot find any other sprouts anywhere except Alfalfa and Mung Bean sprouts. But Meijer has a variety. This last week to add to my onion sprouts I bought spicy sprouts too. AND THEY ARE SPICY lol. Thank you Sandra Lee for making such a fun variety of sprouts.

For you vegans out there. Or just vegetarians, or just you people looking for an awesome lunch, this was my onion sprout, avacado, tomato sandwich with vegenaise. Yum. Might be one of my fav sandwiches.

Need A New Look??

So it occurred to me today... well a couple things really. One was that Brenda has no nice clothes for church. She is strictly $3.00 walmart shorts and hand-me-down t-shirts right now. The other thing is that flip flop season is almost over and all the girls have besides sandals are tennis shoes (and they really should not be wearing flip flops to church anyway). So we headed to the thrift shop for a little make over.



So we played around a bunch trying on stuff we will never buy because it is funny. Then we got down to business. I found some couch pillows for cheap. We can always use more of those!! Plus a serger for $1.99!!!!!! Can't even believe that one. Now to find out how to use the darned thing!



The girls each got to express a little bit of extra creativity that, I have come to find out, is overflowing these days.



Brenda is shampooing and Bret is the shower. (In case you didn't figure this pic out already. lol.) So NEWSFLASH for our family... Brenda will wear dresses and skirts. Now that was a new development in our household. Wowee to that piece of information.

Independence Day

So the Independence Day Festival this year was fun. Second year in a row that my Girl Scouts had a booth at the Independence Day Festival. We ran three games, from 4-10. And earned a little bit of money in the process.



Then Bret showed up so we could all watch the fire works together.



Brenda's friends showed up and it was a party. Our town puts on a great firework display. It is the highlight of the night.



When we came home we lit off some sparklers and made it a complete day.

While They Were Away

So Marley and I had a nice quiet week together. We cooked together. We played. We watched tv and went to the pool.



And toward the end of the week we remodeled the girls room. We painted, redecorated, and added a bed so Marley could be one of the girls that belong in the girls' room too. She has slept in there ever since.

Off to Camp

And so my girls went to camp. Bret's camp was "You Can't Do That At Camp" camp, where she stayed up late, slept in, Toilet Papered other people's tents, made marshmallow guns, practiced their archery skills and lots of other fun camp activities. Brenda's camp was Adventure Camp where she went rock climbing, did a zip line, low ropes, canoed down the Little Miami River, learned to stamp leather, made stuff out of duck tape, etc. They both had a week of fun with new friends. Brenda slept in a tree house with her friends, Bret in a tent. They lived out in the wild world with latrines and cookouts. Neither one of them wanted to leave when it was time. But it was eventually time.



We picked them up and headed over to Uncle Scott's house (he lives near camp) for a little bit of fishing before we headed home. A great end of a magical week for the girls.

Camping Pillows

Brenda saw this from her friend's sister and wanted to have one too. So Brenda and Bret made some of their own before they headed to Girl Scout camp this summer. I bought two bandanas for each girls. I cut lines into the edges of each bandana and they tied the lines together, stuffed the inside and closed up the last few lines. Voila, they had their own bandana pillows. A big hit.

A Half-Price Book Worth Its Money

So Half Price Books had a summer reading program going on for the kiddos. If they read 15 min a day for 5 days and filled out the reading card, each child would get a three dollar certificate for the store. We went a few times and picked out books.



One time, Bret really wanted this book about slumber parties. Until she saw what was in my hands. A 400 page book filled with women posed in their underwear. Why were there 400 pages of women posed in their underwear?



So the girls could design clothes to put on them. They all enjoyed the book so much that I went back and purchased the other book of the same kind. What girl doesn't like to design clothing? I don't know, I am sure there are plenty. But not in my house. Our best book find of the summer!!

*Editor's Note*

I usually refer to "the girls" as Brenda and Bret. And Marley is separate. I noticed I have done that a couple times already. So just a FYI. "The girls" doesn't include Marley for some reason. My brain separates her from the girls. Maybe because she will always be the baby. :-) In spite of the fact that she has transitioned this summer into her own bed.

The End of Dance

At the same time period as swim team was going on, so were Marley's dance lessons. Our community public school PTA runs a dance center during the school year. $75-$100 for 9 months of tap, jazz, ballet, and sometimes hip hop lessons. Then there is a recital at the end. Amazingly great deal for dance lessons. Not like I am prepping my girls for careers in the Chicago Ballet or anything so for that fab price my girls get together with friends once a week to get some basic lessons in dance. Well there were six week summer clinics this year.

Since the girls were both at camp two of the weeks, I signed only Lily up for her first ever dance classes in tap and ballet. Lily's good friend Lillie was there with her which was great. Lillie's sisters are in swim team. So for the last couple years Lily and Lillie played together at the swim meets. This was a chance for them to be together for something else. Maybe they will dance together again this fall...



So Tuesday while I was sitting in a tent with the swim team, Lily was dancing on the small dance floor/stage for all the parents (for us of course that was Big Bret) in her last performance of the summer. *Chuckle*

Falling Behind - Stingrays Are Number One!!

Yes I know I am falling behind. It has been a month. So I am back with somewhat of a pause in my life. A month or so of swim team... It is a week long committment. MWF we practice from 9-10 or 10-11. T TH we compete against the other teams.



A swim meet goes something like this... Maybe my girls will swim a relay medley #5. Then they might swim two or three events like 25 meter free style, breast stroke, fly, and/or back stroke. So those events for my girls have usually been number 27, 47, 57ish. Then they might end with a freestyle relay. Relays are 4 kids one at a time tagging the side as the next one swims off across the pool. (In case you aren't into swimming and don't know what a swim meet entails. I didn't my first year.) We will arrive at 5:30 to stretch and warm up in the pool. So the meet will take from 6:30 to 9ish. Most of the meet is spent NOT swimming obviously. There will be maybe 71 or so events. Each event might have one two or three "heats" usually where new groups of kids will swim the same event.




Parents are asked to work at least 2 home meets as timers, runners who take the time to the computer people, ribbons (the people who put the stickers on the 1st 2nd and 3rd place ribbons), food bar, etc.



Then there is championships. This lasts two days. The first day we will get there at 7am for warmups. The 12 and under girls, and 8 and under boys swim first. The older kids get there ready to swim by 3:30 and they swim until 8 or 9. Then the second day is relays. Also anyone who was the top in any event will come back and compete again. We start the second day at 12ish and spend the rest of the day there. Again, each child might be in 3-4 events the whole championship. So for instance our second day my girls swam event 5 one was heat 1 and one was heat 2. Their next event was 67. So we sat around in the Stingray tent for hours until it was time to swim again. To give you an idea, I knitted most of a sweater in two days. I don't mind. I don't suggest it for the short tempered. Bret will go to the meets, but NEVER to the championships. Too many people, too many kids, too much chaos and noise for him. It is best to know your limits before you go into a thing like this.



Why do we do this? First of all I should say I told myself after the years of hockey, and all the money we poured into that, I would never allow that craziness to happen again. This sport costs us $20 a season per kids. We get 5 months of training, during the meets the kids spend hours hanging out with friends cheering them on and having a great group time. It is all about the team. And they LOVE to do it. This was Marley's first year on the team and she has been so excited to be part of the team!



We will do it again next year I am sure. We regained our number one status in our division again. Yay Stingrays!

Elmo - An Unschooler??

Today Marley wanted to watch Sesame Street and we hung out a bit before I had to finish packing for Girl Scout Camp. Elmo, Big Bird, and Snuffy were starting up a Y School to learn more about the letter Y. Elmo went out to find a teacher. Each person he asked said they were too busy to be the teacher but told him a little more about the letter Y. He taught what he learned to Big Bird and Snuffy but he couldn't come up with a teacher. Then suddenly they realized that he WAS the teacher. Hmmmm.

Vacuquin

My unschooler, when she didn't have a manequin to dress up, she used the vaccuum cleaner instead. All in all, they have become good friends.

Brenda's Discovery

At a party for her friend the other day, Brenda made an astounding discovery. While trying to lick icing off her body, she figured out that her tongue cannot not touch her elbow.

The Big Welcome Home

Marley had a harder time being dropped off for camp by the day. She loved being there when she was there. And the first two or three days were ok. But by the end of the week she was panicking when I left. She was getting exhausted by the end of the day and not getting enough sleep, perhaps. Today was her last day and we cleaned up her playroom and had a picnic with her when she came home!!