Dance Competetion

Hannah's dance company recently participated in the Stage One dance competition.


Here's Hannah backstage in her America dance routine costume.

This is a group shot of her company, missing a couple of girls.

Their second dance was an 80's remix.

Here are some of the girls with their team trophy and plaque.

And here they are with their individual ribbons.

The competetion was held at the Gwinett Center, so it made for a long day. We celebrated afterwards by going out for Mexican food. Competetion is one of Hannah's favorite parts about being in company.

Girl Scout Volunteering

Many, many months ago, our Girl Scout troop hosted a Father Daughter Costume Ball and collected items for a local animal rescue facility. We finally found a time when we could deliver those items and do a little volunteering as well.

The organization the girls chose to help was Mostly Mutts. We went to their main location one day after school last week.

The girls were given the task of moving rocks. We started with this job right away because there was rain in the forecast.

They put the rocks over by the entrance to the facility.

Then the rocks were raked by the owner.

Here's a picture of how nice it looked afterwards.

Then we went inside and learned what we could do to be responsible pet owners.

The girls were given another task to do while we listened. They were given boxes of sterilized vet gloves. They opened the individual packets and separated the gloves. The gloves are used for picking up dog waste in the yard, so they don't need to be sterilized. By separating them, it is easier for them to be grabbed when needed.

Here are the girls at the end of the session. They were happy to be able to help this worthy organization.

This was the last requirement for earning the Pet Care badge.



What am I Reading?

The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook is one of the titles for the 2012-2013 Helen Rufin Reading Bowl. James was on his school's team last year and Hannah has joined for next year. I'm attempting to read as many of the books as I can so I am able to help the team with questions, etc. This title is a humorous graphic novel which I was able to read very quickly.

 

The Spy Who Left Me by Gina Robinson was suggested to me on Amazon. It was inexpensive, so I decided to give it a try. I just loved it! It was about a woman who is in the process of divorcing her husband. Her main reasons for wanting the divorce is that he's a spy and never home. She goes on a trip to Hawaii with a group of women and guess who is staying at the same resort undercover on spy business? It was fast paced and lots of fun.

This book was also suggested to me on Amazon. The sock monkey on the cover said "Buy Me". I'm a sucker for sock monkeys! Husband for a Weekend is about Kim, a single mom whose mother is embarrassed to tell her family that her daughter isn't married. So she tells everyone that Kim is married to the baby's father. Kim's friend Tate offers to pretend to be her husband for a family reunion. This was super light and fluffy, but enjoyable. Kim's family is a bit dysfunctional which led to some funny scenes.

I was very excited for the release of Tanya Michael's second title in the Hill Country Heroes series. Tamed by a Texan was about a young woman who enters a reality cooking competition and falls for one of the competing chefs. I couldn't put this book down and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Three Cups of Tea has been on my "To Read" list for a couple of years. It was the most recent selection for book club, so I finally got around to reading it. I didn't finish it before book club met (no one else finished it either). The book is about Greg Mortenson and his work in Pakistan building schools. There has been some recent controversy about the book, but I read it without taking much of that into consideration. I really did like the book. Some of the chapters jumped around too much. One moment we were in Pakistan and then a few chapters later we were back in the USA. It was interesting learning about the people and culture. I finished it about 4 days after book club met.

After reading Three Cups of Tea, it's time for me to find something light to read.

Happy Reading!

Easter

Easter just isn't the same now that the kiddos are older. We went to an annual flashlight egg hunt the Friday before, but this year James was invited to sleep over at a friend's house. He said "Mom, I'm 14! I'm too old for egg hunts".

We used to have our own egg hunts, but it seemed like too much trouble to get out all the plastic eggs and such. Plus, the kittens would have probably rearranged them.


Here are the kids with their baskets. Hannah couldn't find her nice Longaberger basket this year. Last year James couldn't find his. We bought the inexpensive purple one as a back up.

EB used to leave the baskets on the hearth like this. I left them in the basement until after the kids were awake this year. I figured the kittens would have too much fun with them. I don't know if they'll ever be too big for baskets!

We did dye some eggs.

Finished eggs.

Our Easter Sunday was pretty calm. I did make a yummy spinach quiche for breakfast. For most of the day we just hung out at home.

Painting Class

One day over spring break, Hannah & I went to Corkscrews and Canvas to paint with friends.

We painted our background first.

Then we used chalk to draw our stems and flowers to make sure that we put them where we wanted them.

Then we painted the stems and flowers. Then the little bird was added.

Hannah with her finished painting.

And here we all are with our masterpieces.

Easter Cake Balls & Cake Pops

Hannah wanted to make some Easter cake pops this week. Of course, after I start making them, she went outside to play with friends!

I made the little chick ones from Bakerella's Cake Pop Book.

I used a lemon cake for the cake pops. Lemon yellow chicks just sounded right. I made cake balls last year, but this was the first time I had ventured into the cake pops. My coating was not as smooth as I would have liked. I will definitely need to work on my technique.

I also had problems finding something for the eyes. We went to a couple of different stores in search of the perfect eyes. I ended up finding an old food marker at home, but it was barely working.

I stuck some styrofoam in the bottom of a basket and added some Easter grass to display the little guys.

I only made a dozen cake pops. There was only so much room on the styrofoam block! I made cake balls with the rest of the lemon cake. These were much easier. I think I may just stick to cake balls in the future.

The lemon was a nice flavor. Last time I made chocolate ones which were good, too. I used a variety of spring sprinkles to decorate the cake balls.

Paddle Boats

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves at Sweetwater State Park. We were thinking about renting canoes or kayaks, but once we got there, the kids saw the paddle boats and decided that was what we should do.

Let's just say it was more work than we expected! We reserved the boat for an hour. 30 minutes would have been just plenty!

We took turns paddling the boat.

We pulled our little boat up to the shore. See the blue container in the left of the photo? Hannah wanted to pick up the trash.

It was someone's empty bait container.

Nearing the dock.

Once back on dry land, Hannah wanted to fed the ducks.

We had a good time, but next time we'll rent the kayaks!

Family Game Night

As the kids have gotten older, it's hard to find a time when we are all available and up for a family game night. One recent night, we were all home at the same time and all in agreement that we should play a board game.

The game we chose was Settlers of Catan.

We purchased this game right before we went to Pigeon Forge over Thanksgiving break. We've played it only a few times, plus it had been a while since we had played, so we had to reread all the directions.

Planning strategies.

We played in the dining room. All of the pets who are not kept in cages (the rats and the hamster) hung out with us. Kay-C found this spot underneath our table.

Snickers chose a spot on the floor between Hannah & me.

We brought in Scout's favorite pillow for him.

The game lasted nearly two hours. We think it would have been a bit faster if the kids hadn't been so chatty about non-game topics. Oh well.... it was still a fun night.

Chores for the Kids

This morning I called the kids up to discuss a few things that I wanted them to accomplish today. Before I even started talking, Hannah asked if I could do the "Chore Drawing" that I do every now and then. I hadn' even mentioned the word "chore" yet! So I decided that if she was so excited to do this, maybe I should share this on my blog. After all, we haven't had a whole lot of blog worthy moments lately!

So here's what I do. I wrote several real chores and some fun chores (okay, they're not really chores, just fun things) on some slips of paper. I fold them up and put them in bowls. Then the kids draw a slip of paper and do what it says.

I divided up the chores into 3 bowls. One was for Hannah, one was for James, and one was for Both.

The kids would draw one slip from their bowl and complete the task. When they finished that one, then they had to draw one from the "Both" bowl and complete that. The both bowl just means that either of them can do the chore whereas the other ones are kid specific. Then pick another from their bowl and so on.

Examples of some of the chores from the Hannah and James bowls:

-bring dirty clothes downstairs

-pick up any of your belongings that are on the main floor of the house

-spend 15 minutes sorting through box of toys from the toy room

-read 2 chapters of a book

-play computer games for 15 minutes

-jump on the trampoline for 10 minutes

-get dressed for the day

-work on your GS badge/BS badge for 15 minutes

Some of the chores from the "Both" bowl:

-unload the top rack of the dishwasher

-take the dog on a 10 minute walk

-play with the kittens for 10 minutes

-restock toilet paper in all bathrooms

-clean upstairs bathroom

-wipe front of refrigerator

-brush dog

-put clean towels away



The whole thing took a couple of hours. When all the chores were done, Hannah said she had wished there were more cleaning chores. There have been times when I have had chores such as "clean the baseboards in the living room". They enjoy have the mix of work and fun.