Saturday, August 29, 2009

Transitioning from Play to Work

Last week, I spent most of my time getting my classroom ready for school next week.  I am having a hard time letting go of summer, so we camped at night.  We camped across the river from my house on property owned by our church.  We had a blast!  This will probably become our tradition.  We were joined by friends occasionally for dinner and some even camped with us.  One of my friends fell down the hill trying to get to the restroom in the middle of the night.  She hit her head on a log.  She ended up with a concussion, cracked cheek bone, broken nose, and a cracked hip.  She was very bruised and scratched.  She didn't even wake us up.  I felt very bad about that.


Erin Joy learned to ride her bike while camping!!!  I took the training wheels off because it was too hard for her to ride with them on.  She didn't ride a few feet and fall as Rachel did when she was first learning.  She just took off like a pro.  I could have taken the training wheels off a long time ago.  She kept watching her feet instead of where she was going.  It's a good thing she practiced in a big grassy field.  She came very close to hitting poles, logs, fences, my car, and other objects.  Good thing she didn't or she might have ended up looking like my poor friend who took a tumble down the hill.

Enjoy our camping report:

Monday, August 24, 2009

ever wonder where it goes when you flush....

When you have a septic, it goes in here. Kind of expensive when you need it pumped. Even more expensive when you need a new pump, and new floats and an electrician to hook the pump up. Nice. I'm so glad the tank is right under my flower bed. Good thing I haven't weeded it since the beginning of summer. He dug up a lot of weeds for me.

Anyone care for a swim?

Write Snacks





We saw this in the Family Fun magazine and had to try it. It was a great snack and is helping us get in the mood for school. We used Miracle Whip instead of mustard to hold it together. I'm the only one in the house that will eat mustard. Cheese sticks, Bugles, piece of ham, and half a raisin for the tip of the pencil is all you need.  It would look better with cheddar cheese sticks as the magazine suggested, but we happened to have white and swirl so our pencils aren't orange.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Dance Performance

The girls danced at an elementary school open house/blueberry festival.  They did a great job:





After dancing, we stopped at a spray park playground. The girls had a lot of fun playing and I had fun taking pictures.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Jetty Island

We love Jetty Island.  Yesterday was a little chilly with the temperature only reaching 69 degrees, but we still managed to swim and have a lot of fun.  We especially enjoyed ending the evening with a late-night campfire, stories and Native American flutes, and s'mores.  It is so hard to see summer coming to an end.  It sure has been a wonderful summer.  It's hard to go back to work and give up all this free time we've enjoyed for playing.  


My grandfather always said, "Work hard so you can play hard."  We have played hard, now it is time to work hard (almost...we are camping next week...camping near our house so I can still go to work during the day and play in the evening...trying to transition from play to work...)


Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Preposition Lesson From Grover

I love Sesame Street.  Maybe I'll show this to my students when they need to learn prepositions.  Cream of Mosquito Soup?  Yummy!!!



Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Blackberries

I have tried for years to kill the blackberries that try to over take my yard.  I didn't even try this year.  We are picking them instead.  We ate the last of our blackberry jam so it is time to pick more.  The girls helped me pick a bucketful, wash the berries, and prepare yummy shakes.  They were actually helping instead of hindering for the first year.  

The milkshakes looked something like this:




No Cavities


Saturday, August 15, 2009

Haircuts

Back to school haircuts happened yesterday. Here are the "before" pictures:
Getting a shampoo....
Sitting so still for haircuts...

I think she is absolutely adorable in her new haircut.

Well...her hair isn't much shorter, but the ends have been trimmed.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Chinese Dance Camp

The girls have enjoyed a week at Chinese Dance Camp.  They had a blast learning dances.


Rachel is so excited to be the head of the lion.


Erin Joy's handkerchief flew away...



Not only have they been learning dances, they have been learning to cook Chinese food.  Every day they have made something Chinese for lunch.  They are learning to make spring rolls in the following pictures.


The also have been learning calligraphy.  Rachel can write numbers through 10, her name, and her birthdate.  Erin Joy can write several numbers. 


Thursday, August 13, 2009

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I honestly don't watch baseball.  Before I had children, I loved watching and listening to Mariner's games.  I really loved the team during the Lou Piniella years especially the 1997 division championship year.  Dan Wilson, Edgar Martinez, Jamie Moyer, and of course...Ken Griffey, Jr. were some of my favorite players.  I was so excited when I heard Ken Griffey, Jr. was coming to Seattle to play before retiring.  I just had to go to a game before the season was over.


We only live about an hour from the stadium, but I don't like catching buses or finding a place to park and I really don't like fighting traffic after a game.  I decided to make a mini-vacation out of it and get a hotel room.  The only hotel near the stadium is very expensive.  I debated and debated and finally decided to do it.  I'm very glad I did.  The girls had a blast swimming in the pool on the roof.  They swam for 2 1/2 hours before the game.  The game went extra innings so it was nice to walk across the street and fall into bed after 14 innings.

I was very disappointed when I learned that Griffey wasn't in the lineup.  I love watching Ichiro and he made some amazing plays and got a couple of hits.  I was excited to watch Hernadez pitch.  It turned out to be a pitcher's duel and the score was still 0-0 into the 14th.  I was so excited when they put Griffey in to pinch hit!!  He came through with a fabulous hit to win the game.  My girls slept through his great hit.  They even slept through me screaming.  Silly girls:)

Here are pictures and a report from my girls:


Monday, August 10, 2009

Wedding Fun

Pretending to be a bride...Beautiful place for a wedding...




Erin Joy didn't listen to the ceremony very well.  She was easily distracted and kept jumping out of her seat.  In this picture, she was being entertained by a piece of tape she found on the chair.
Hugs from the beautiful bride....


Erin Joy wanted a piece of cake all night long.  When they FINALLY cut the cake, she excitedly watched.  I gave up trying to keep her away so I just took her picture.  I hope she doesn't show up hovering and drooling over the cake in the professional pictures.

Erin Joy had a great time dancing...


My sweet girl...
Playing in the gazebo....