Backyard Bible School

The week before last the kids attended Backyard Bible School. It's a program similar to Vacation Bible School, but different people hold it in their backyard for four days. The activities director at the nursing home where we attend story time holds it there so the residents can enjoy the kids, and then the last day is at her home. The theme was Son Harvest County Fair and this is what the kids decided to wear on the second day when they were told to try and dress up like cowboys and cowgirls. We probably could have come up with something a little better had they enlisted my help, but they felt pretty cool with these outfits so I just let them do their thing.

By the last day they had learned a bunch of songs and bible verses, which they still know, and they also made fun crafts and ate candy. I attended the last day at Ms. Connie's house and it was quite the affair. She has four acres so there was a lot of room for the 40 or so kids to run around. There was a ring toss, boomerang throwing, balloon toss, and a few other games.

At the end of the day some of the kids got to smash whipped cream pies in the faces of the teenage helpers. The rest of the kids got to "clean" them off with water guns and water balloons. Xander smashed a balloon over this girl's head.

Miss Connie has a slide on the side of her garage and a rope swing that capped off their adventurous week.

Polar Bears

Our zoo opened a new polar bear exhibit this spring and the kids have been so excited to check it out. The weather seems to not cooperate on Jason's days off, or we've had plans, but we were finally able to make it there yesterday. Jason didn't get to go with us since he was at work, but my dad was on break from teaching and wanted to go so we took him with us. We got there shortly after the zoo opened and went straight to see the twin bears, Aurora and Anana.

The coolest part of Polar Frontier is that you can go underground and watch the bears swim over you. They're so cute when they swim!

Next we went to the reptile building. Jordis spent the whole morning talking about how she couldn't wait to pet the snake, but when we got there she refused to do it becaue a man was holding it instead of a woman. Xander pet it this time though, which is rare.

Next we went to see the manatees, which have also had some additions lately. There are six of them now, including some babies.

After some recreation time at the playground it was starting to get warm and we were getting hungry, so we left the zoo and went to Subway. The kids said they weren't ready to leave, but they complained all the way to the car that it was too much walking, so I know we picked a good time go to. They both ate a 6-inch sub and a bag of chips, more than I ate.

It's official

We have a first grader at our house. Got his grade card the other day and it's written right on there. We're so proud of his accomplishments in literacy and reading, especially his sight words. He was supposed to know 50 by the end of the year and he knew 85. He's also reading one level higher than expected and socred above-average in math. I don't recall reading or knowing any math in kindergarten so I'm pretty impressed. Just need to work on a few behavioral issues and using a ruler and hopefully things will go well for him this next school year. Here he is with his diploma.

The week before school was out he got to practice eating lunch at school in preparation for being there all day next year. Luckily I had bought his lunch box in advance and he was so excited to try it out.

Looking forward to enjoying our summer together before he goes off to big-kid school.

Feeling crafty

I love doing projects, but what usually ends up happening is that I've got 5 projects going on and none of them ever get to completion. So imagine my surprise when I finally finished these within two weeks of each other.

My first project was making Jordis some customized capri pants. She can wear size 3 pants around the waist but they're too short and her size 4 pants are long enough but don't stay up. Something gave me the idea that I could jazz up an old pair of Xander's size 3 jeans and make her something cute to wear, so I gave it a try.

I cut off the bottom portion of the legs and then cut out some shapes to cover the holes that were forming in the knees. I cut out a flower shape and a letter J. Since I'm horrible at cutting anything straight I decided to fringe the bottom to mask my scissor-wielding. I cut the slits and then sewed some ribbon around each leg. Then I sewed on the patches and fringed the bottoms.

I sewed on some buttons and then put a few on the back pockets as well. Jordis loves them!

My next project was to frame some pictures Xander had drawn at school. I actually have had this lying in my dining room for months now and finally made myself put it together over the Memorial Day weekend.

Xander came home from school one day with these little squares he had drawn faces on. He told me they were monsters. I thought they were adorable and knew I couldn't just put them in his schoolwork binder, so I concocted a plan to preserve them. I found a frame and then some scrapbook paper to match and set out cutting and measuring to make everything fit. I did not inherit my father's math skills so this was, of course, the most difficult part. One of the squares is a little smaller than the rest, but Xander loved how it turned out and can't wait to hang it in his room.

Random Goings-On

Ever been busy but not really doing anything? Yeah, that's us lately.

This child CRACKS me up. I haven't decided yet if she's going to be a fashion designer or a feature on What Not to Wear. The day she picked out this ensemble it was 85 degrees.

All she needs now is some dreadlocks to go with that hat and sunglasses.

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend the kids and I spent the morning with my mom. We started very early at the Worthington Farmers Market.

We also did some shopping, ate gyros and went for Italian Ice. That night after Jason and my step-dad got off work we went to their house for a cookout. I was a bad mom and didn't take pictures, but the parental units took pictures of the kids in the sprinkler.

Some man at the farmers market must have really wanted me to buy some of his things because he tried to tell me that Jordis "looks just like her mother." Really? I think not. Let's check it out......

Um, let's see. Jordis has big brown eyes. They are so big she doesn't have much in the way of eyelids. I have small green eyes and a lot of eyelids. The bridge of my nose is really narrow and hers is pretty wide. And I don't have to mention the skin. I have on makeup here and she is still darker than me. 'Nuff said. And no, I didn't buy any of his wares.

Let's see, what else. Oh, Xander had a new spelling word. Like it? Jason said it's perfect.....if they want to teach kindergartners about rum we have a great excuse to take them out of school to go to Mardi Gras.

Jason's summer softball season started. The kids are actually cooperating a little this year while we're there, and sometimes they even watch the game for a minute or two.

Last week Jason worked some overtime for the Memorial Tournament. He spent 10 hours over two days monitoring the traffic light in case cars got too backed up. I wish someone would pay me to sit by myself under a shady tree. I'm sure it's not that simple, but I'm thinking I'd enjoy the solitude. On one of the days I took the kids to the afternoon farmers market nearby and for some italian ice so we could visit Daddy. They were really excited when he let them each push the button to change the traffic light.

We also had a gorgeous double rainbow. I never would have known if my neighbor Dena hadn't called me. It was right after we'd put the kids to bed and sat down to watch some TV, so I ran upstairs to show the kids before it faded away.

Such a neat way to end the evening.