Amy's a Junior Girl Scout...

Well, it's official, Amy's a Junior Girl Scout!

Here are the girls after they got done at Build A Bear.

Waiting with a sister scout to start the ceremony.

It was quite warm out and very, very windy!

The younger siblings were quite entertained when they saw this baby bunny.

It was quite confused by all the activity and didn't know whether to freeze or run for its life!

Jessica and a friend were on the hunt for it after it made a break for it.

Finally, it's time to bridge. Co-leader Elisha read a sweet poem before each girl crossed the bridge.

Amy gets a little nervous when the spotlight is on her.

Ahhhh, finally!

Co-Leader Rachelle and a troop mom sewed on all the new patches required for the new vest. 

Awesome!

Reciting the Girl Scout Promise

Reciting a new poem called The Challenge of the Children. 

It was quite moving.

At home with her bear, named Junior.

Junior is a boy bear.

Don't ask. I don't get it either.

But it's her bear to name as she wishes.

Even though there are no boys in Junior Scouts.

But they sure look cute together!

Fun Field Day

We couldn't have ordered more perfect weather for today's Field Day! The sun was shining, the temperatures were mild and there was just a slight breeze to keep one from getting over heated. The past couple of years they've held a type of Field Day on Saturday and invited all the families to come and enjoy the day with their kids. This year they went back to having in during the school day. I think I like having it today's way better. There were 9 stations for the kids to rotate to and all the kids participated at all the stations. When they can select for themselves, only a few stations are super popular and others don't get as much attention, not that they are any less fun.

I've got a lot of pictures in this post, starting with Jessica's turn in the morning. Amy's class went in the afternoon.

This rope bridge was very cool. It was set up by the local Cub Scout Master and while it looked intimidating, the kids easily went across it, not once but several times. I heard quite a few kids declare it was awesome.

Jessica really got a kick out of the belly bumpers!

And of course, the huge slide was a huge hit! Love that Jessica goes down all by herself. She even jumped pretty high a couple of times before sliding. One time she even went down on her tummy!

This was so cute. Look how intent she is on getting to launch her sling shot. Love the expression I caught on her face.

She proved to be a natural at the marble picking up with your toes activity. She got 21! I don't know for sure the time limit, but it wasn't more than 30 seconds.

Here she is with her best buddy flinging shoes!

And they were partners for the three legged race. They did great together.

There was a pair of girls who didn't walk the race, they galloped! It was so fun to watch them.

Taking a breather.

Then she decided to jump rope after enjoying her otter pop.

Now we have Amy and her best buddy, Hattie, at the shoe fling.

I love watching Amy as she does the hippity hop. (the pictures I took of Jess at this station were all blurry, darn)

Amy insisted she wasn't going to do the belly bumpers because she said last year she got stuck. I encouraged her to at least try it, since she was a year older and bigger now. She had a blast and declared they weren't her worst nightmare anymore! LOL

Love the flying hair.

Her class was very generous. There was a boy  in a different grade who is wheel chair bound. He didn't get to attempt this during his class's rotation, so Amy's class let him have a turn and cheered him on all the while. It was very sweet.

I sure got lucky catching some fun expressions!

This station had the sling shots, sack race and these nifty frisbees that were made of fabric. Amy definitely flung with abandon.

She got 16 marbles on her attempt.

This last station was not set up for the younger grades. I had to sign a waiver to allow Amy to participate. The company was called Extreme Challenge and the kids to got do variations on tug of war and also got to bop each other with rubber balls. Here Amy and Hattie are playing a type of tug of war. The person on the other end was trying to use one end of the rope that was attached to a truck while the girls were pulling on him in the opposite direction.

I liked this shot of Amy waiting for her turn at the marble pool.

I didn't get to visit Amy's class when they were holding their mock shops in the morning. As a culminating activity for their economics unit, the students paired up and created a shop. They had been earning fake money that they could spend at these shops. Amy and her friend, Angelo, opened a hair salon, where they did the hair of students who wanted it (I picked up some hair accessories and spike hair gel at the dollar store for them). Another shop painted fingernails. Amy's friend Hattie and her partner opened a candy shop. There was a massage shop and even a desk cleaner helper. I heard the event was a big success. I would have loved to have seen it in action, but it was held at the same time as Jessica's Field Day. What can you do? Amy had a grand time and understood why I couldn't stop by.

So, the girls had a great time and are tucked into bed. As for me, I think I'll head to the couch and doze  watch some tv. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Busy Week!

These days I'm not sure if I am coming, going or meeting myself in the middle. LOL School's almost out and all  kinds of end of year activities have been going on. Just yesterday we had a volunteer appreciation celebration to attend after school and Chick-Fil-A night.This was after I spent the morning weeding my garden. Tuesday we had swim and Amy's Brownie potluck. A little later today I'm headed to the school to do my part in helping Susi with her recycling program and then we have swim. Tomorrow is Field Day. Jessica's class goes in the morning and Amy's class goes in the afternoon (of course). *Ü* It's all good stuff though, so I'm not complaining. Just busy.

But I do have some stuff to share that I thought you might like. For Amy's potluck, I came across a recipe for S'more Bars in my Gooseberry Patch Quick and Easy Family Favorites cookbook (that I picked up at the school book fair earlier this year). I thought it was a neat twist on s'mores. And you know, it was in scouts that I was first introduced to the yummiliciousness of s'mores.

I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the whole pan, but we had a few left over and I snapped a shot of one of the pieces. Doesn't it look just yummy?

It's so easy, too. Layer the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 pan with whole graham crackers. Mix up a box of brownie mix (enough for a 13 x 9 pan) and spread the batter on top of the crackers. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Pull it out, sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top and some chocolate chips. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes or so (until golden) and then let it cool, cut and serve. Easy peasy and they taste great, if I do say so myself. *Ü*

Here's Amy after she got her goody bag and lots of patches the girls  earned the second half of the year (I blurred out her troop number). I joked to her that it would take me all summer to get them sewn onto her vest. On Saturday afternoon the Brownies are meeting at Build a Bear to make their bear and then headed over to the Courtyard to do the bridging ceremony (there is a bridge they will walk across...neat!) 

I have another completed  project to share. I've been working on it off and on for a bit and decided to get it done before spring is over! I found the pattern at Joann's online. Here is the pattern if you are interested.

I'm pretty happy with it. Of course, I was drawn to it because of the butterflies! LOL I used Lily Sugar and Cream cotton yarn. The wreath is from the dollar store. I used pipe cleaners for the bodies and antennae. Oh and so the leaves wouldn't droop too much, I hot glued some pipe cleaner on the backs of the leaves. The pattern has a grouping of bells on the wreath as well. I made them, but didn't really like them, so I left them off. When you look at the pattern, I modeled my project after the smaller pictured version.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a good week, too!

Different Kind of Dahlia

Here is the Dahlia Jessica and I really liked when we were at the nursery yesterday. Definitely not your typical  version. The color is just gorgeous, I think.

This is the tag that came with it. Mystic Desire. I joked that I hoped it would drop seeds and re-seed itself, but the guy told me it's a sterile hybrid. Oh well. At least I can enjoy it this season.

I haven't gotten any more weeding done yet today. I decided to check a couple of other places for the common lilac. I went to another nearby nursery and about had a heart attack when the guy told me they wanted $159 for a large potted one. Um...no thanks! Their smaller version, if they would have had it in stock, would be $44. Still a lot little high for my budget (since you see things things every where you go around here), so I just thanked him for his time. He also tried to sell me on a different version, but I wasn't interested.

There is a K-mart just a bit down the street from this nursery and a Hobby Lobby (*Ü*), so, on a whim, I stopped in. Lo and behold they HAD common lilacs! For $14.99. Much easier on my budget. LOL The only thing is, the color isn't specified and the picture on the tag has a white, pink and a purple lilac. So, I guess it will be a surprise whenever it blooms. I have a couple spots in mind for it, but want to see what Steve thinks before I plant it. I'm tickled to have one that blooms in the spring. I have a butterfly bush lilac and a Dark Knight version, but they don't bloom until July. I just may keep my eyes open for one that is specifically a purple lilac, but if I don't find it, there's always next year!

Because I was already out, I tried to find some other things I needed/wanted. One of my finds this weekend was two pairs of quad style roller skates (not inline) for $2 a pair (because they were half off)!! A pair for Amy and a pair for me (squeal). They do need new laces. Do you know that the stores around here don't sell any longer than 60 inches, and those are for hiking boots (ie not suited for skates). I measured and need 72 inch long laces. I might have to resort to an online shop. Who'd have thunk they wouldn't be readily available in stores (at least not in the shoe and sporting goods stores I've stopped into). I might check an ice or roller rink... (thinking out loud now) hmmmm...

That's it from me! Hope your Monday's been a good one!

I Need a Respite From the Weekend!

Because, boy, am I tired! LOL

Jessica's field trip came off without a hitch. There is always the possibility that they'll get sent out on a call, but it worked out great. The girls were there partially to give the firefighters boxes of cookies that were donated to our "hometown heroes."

I've never actually toured a firehouse before and found it quite fascinating. My batteries in my camera died as the guy was suiting up to show the girls what they look like with all their gear on. Usually I take spare batteries, but completely spaced it off. Darn. I still got some neat (to me) shots.

This was something I never even thought about. The girls were led up these stairs to the top of the tower (the parents didn't go up, not sure why, except maybe because it was a small space. Do you see that pole that is going up, up, up? The guys hang the hose from that so it can dry out. It makes perfect sense, now that I see it, but it never occurred to me that they would have to dry out the hose. 

I asked if they had a GPS device in the trucks to help them find the locations they are going to. Wanna see their GPS system?

I guess only the police have units in their cars. The firefighters have to do it the old fashioned way. I thought that was pretty funny.

Here the lieutenant is telling the girls how they use purified air, not oxygen (like I assumed) in their tanks. 

They also showed all the tools they keep in the firetrucks. Lots of hoses and adapters for sure, and all kinds of devices to lift heavy items/cars, etc. One was a rubberized balloon that is a flat square when deflated. Very interesting! I didn't get too many shots as my camera batteries were dying at this point. Jessica had a great time.

After this field trip we (Jess, Amy and I) headed out to a pirate themed birthday party given by my friend Susi. It was a lot of fun. She sure knows how to throw a great party! (no pictures, though)

Today the was shining and it was a perfect opportunity to tackle the weeds in the back yard. This is what I was facing. Arghhhhh...all the rain we've been having allowed these to have a real growth spurt!

All of those are what I call "runners" from the tree right behind the fence there. The dead woody stuff is the grape vine.

This is what it looks like now:

Buster loves it when I work outside...he enjoys the grass (which has since been mowed).

I also worked on removing all the dead stuff from my honeysuckles and clematis along the fence. I pulled up more smaller runners, too. But really, it's too big a job to get it all done in one afternoon. I finished the afternoon by planting a new Shasta Daisy plant (perennial) and an interesting looking Dahlia, which is an annual. I will have to take a picture of it tomorrow (if the one bloom is still good). Steve picked up the veggies he's going to plant at the nursery and that's where I found these two plants (it's a family event to get the veggies). I've been looking for a common purple lilac, the kind that I see every where I go around here, but no one seems to have it. They have a bunch of fancy named ones, but not the one I'm looking for (of course).

And just to let you know, it wasn't a totally craft-less weekend. I did find some time to crochet these:

Aren't they neat? I used DMC embroidery floss in a variegated color. I made them to give to Jessica's teacher (she looks really good in these types of colors). I'm going to stick them on the bear's ears. Tonight I'll work on the pair I will make for Amy's teacher to go on the frog. I thought it would be a neat surprise. I'd have Amy's done, except I needed to get another pair of hoops.

Anyway, that's probably way more than you wanted to know, but it is what I was up to this busy weekend! 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great start to your week!