Swim Team 2011

Emma, Lauren, and Ellie all did swim team again this year. They have all improved a great deal and are becoming quite good swimmers. Emma's best and favorite stroke is back stroke. Lauren is best at freestyle and Ellie is becoming quite the "fly" girl winning several blue ribbons in this event. Butterfly is a stroke that many young swimmers shy away from. It requires a good deal of upper body strength and a mermaid kick. I'm sure the constant gymnastics and swimming with the mermaid flippers that went on this summer gave her a huge advantage in this event. On the last meet she wanted to "swim up" on the butterfly (compete against older kids because the round is a 50 meter instead of 25, adding more of a challenge), but her coach wouldn't let her because the team relies on her win in that event which brings the team score up. I think she was probably one of the best fly swimmers in her age group in the county. We didn't actually do the all-county meet, so I'm not sure, but she beat nearly everyone she swam against at the meets. Way to go, girls!

Lauren is Cute

We bought these cool wrap around skirts that can be worn 101 ways. This is one variation on Lauren. Love it. These dresses look good on everyone. I'll try to remember to take a picture of all of us wearing one. It's fun. Probably available at a kiosk in your mall.

Sugar Crystal Candy

Emma, feeling bored for a project, decided one day to make sugar crystal candy. It was a fun little thing to do. Here's a link if you'd like to try this at home. It's easy. Emma did hers on a pipe cleaner instead of a stick which makes it less fun to eat, but she didn't want to eat it anyway. If you do want to eat yours, make it on a stick. :)

Great to Be 8

I was in charge of our Great To Be 8 (or 8 Is Great) meeting this year and found instructions on Sugardoodle.net for these cute cookies on a stick. They were a big hit!

Wacky Hair Day

Lauren made quite an impression at her school when she showed up like this for wacky hair day. She was thrilled with it. She found out that it wasn't the best hairdo for playing limbo though. :)

Several people have asked me how it's done. Here's the trick: Gather the hair you want for the spike, grab a wad of egg whites and blend it in (especially at the roots), comb into place again, blend in a bit of hair glue (got 2 B glued brand), work quickly and get your spike perfect, hold while you blow dry on low cool until it is stiff. Repeat with all spikes. It may take some time. Be prepared for that.

The Tragedy. . .

called Hamlet.

An amazing woman in our ward has been doing an annual Shakespeare play for a few years now and this time my girls were able to be a part of it. It really was an amazingly well done production. I loved so much about it. I loved that the kids got a great understanding of the show and any of them could tell you the storyline. I loved that they got a feel for the Shakespearean language. I loved that they all felt the committment of being in a production and all did their parts to be prepared. I loved the costumes and the set. I loved the friendships that were formed. We just have so many super talented people around us and I can't give Erin enough praise on this. It was fabulous!

Lauren did a great job as Queen Gertrude. I was a little worried that it would be too much for her. It's a pretty heavy part, but she proved me wrong and did a fantastic job. Ellie was a fabulous Guildenstern. Not without accident however. Right before she was to go on for one of her parts I was backstage helping her get her hat on very quickly and poked her in the eye with one of her hat feathers. It was terrible. She missed that scene and I'm pretty sure the entire audience could hear her crying backstage. But, what memories we created! I'm sure she'll never forget it.

This is a picture of all of the dead in the cast. Sadly, most of the characters in this show die. . .and they all LOVED their death scenes the most. They're all so dramatic.

A special thanks to BlimBam photography for these great shots of the show.

Presenting Hamlet

Spinach Cubes

So, what do you do with that giant tub of spinach that you bought from Costco and know there's no way you will ever go through the entire thing before it goes bad? I decided to make spinach cubes. This was my own idea that I thought was pretty ingenious. I can't be the ONLY one who's ever thought of it, but this did come from my own brain.

First I cooked it, then blended it, then poured into ice cube trays.

Now they are ready to throw into the blender with my smoothies. They don't blend as quickly as ice. I noticed it takes a bit more blender time to really get them smooth. But it works. Fabulous.

Well, just when I thought I was on to something my friend told me that she just throws spinach into the freezer fresh. I had no idea that would work. So I guess I'll try that next time. Anyway, it was a good idea for a minute. Have any of you ever frozen fresh spinach before? Does this really work? I want to know.

Random Act of Culture

Riding at Daniel Boone's Farm

Last Spring our Young Women held an auction to earn money for Girl's Camp. We recently cashed in on 2 of our big purchases. This riding trip was totally worth every penny. (The other one was an Amazing Race throughout the city. It was great---and very exhausting. I no longer think I would "kick-butt" if I was in the real show. More details later.)

A lady in our ward owns the land that originally belonged to Daniel Boone. And on part of that land she has this stable and indoor riding arena. She teaches horsemanship and riding. Since this is an experience that my kids have little to no experience with I made sure we won this auction.

The day finally arrived with great anticipation. (Except for Maddie, who wanted to go to Homecoming with her friends. Silly girl.)

Sis. B. taught us how to take care of the horses, how to lead them, how to saddle them, and then how to ride them. By the end of the night EVERYONE was riding independently and holding their own reigns. Emma was doing great. She looked like a natural on those horses. I think she would like to take regular lessons. We'll have to see about that.

The evening included a bonfire and cookout, but we were running short on time and made plans to do that part on another day.

Balloons Overhead

 
 
 
Several of our days during the late summer have gifted us with the unexpected surprise of hot air balloons flying low directly over our house. We must be in the path of a balloon training course or something. I'm not really sure why they're there, but it sure is fun when we see them. It makes me want to get in one. I'm imagining being inside and then just jumping out into "our" pool. Then I'm waving up and calling, "Thanks for the ride."
Wow. That's kinda weird now that I write it down. I must be in need of some excitement in my life.

Fun Stuff

Oh, what do you do in the summertime when you can barely walk?
I sew American Girl clothes and make ice cream. The American Girl dress didn't turn out great even though I followed the pattern perfectly. For the next one I will modify the pattern to cover the width of the body better. But other than that it was a fun way to use some remnant fabric. The price of that dress really beats the $30 they charge at the big store.
Then the ice cream. We made peach and peanut butter chocolate. Yumm! I still have a bunch in my freezer if any locals want any.

Wicked

The big girls and I went on a date last week. We saw Wicked in St. Louis. It was fabulous, of course, but didn't have the same effect on me this time as it did the last. I didn't cry once. The girls were thrilled.

Rainbow Day

This is the coolest, clearest, double rainbow I have ever seen. I don't think the picture really captures it. The little ones are so happy. They are pretty sure they will either be turning into fairies soon, or will be seeing some. Love it. :0)

Medusa

Emma's Greek mythology 3D project turned out pretty cool. At first she was going to do a golden apple. I ask you, what's cool about that? Not much IMO. But a woman with snakes growing out of her head, now that's pretty cool. I already have plans about where to display it in our home. I'm thinking it will be a nice addition to the play room.

Just for the record. . .

Maddie recently hula-hooped for 92 min. non-stop! Why, you may be wondering? Well, she had to save face. She told someone she could do it, because she is great at it. But then she got to wondering if she really could. So, just to prove it to herself she stood out on the driveway while Richard and I watched, and we timed her. 92 minutes. She was really sore the next day. I think she could have gone longer, but she probably won't try again for a while.

Sledding

We went sledding a few days ago. It was great. There is this sled hill that was planned and built into a nearby subdivision. In the summer it's just a big grassy hill, but in the winter it is this perfect sled hill. Kids are even skiing and snowboarding down it. And they really have to because there are no other options. Come to think of it, this hill is the biggest hill I've seen since we got here. There just isn't much in the way of mountains or even hills. It's so pathetic to watch the little skiers and snowboarders zooming down the sled hill. Oh, now I'm getting sad. JK--it's perfect for us and we had a blast.

Gala #2

This is our 2nd annual Naperville Gala event. It's fun because we don't get many chances to go to a fancy dress ball. Emma took this sweet picture. What do you think? Sepia or not? I'm actually thinking of printing this one. I don't do that much anymore.

Okay, here is one in color. Opinions please. Full length/cropped, sepia/color.