I'm still smiling as I think of the gorgeous view from the Canyon's gondola ride up the mountain. Besides the scenery, I'm missing the Park City weather - especially as we deal with muggy temps pushing 110 degrees.
I know evo '11 made a Friday Favorites and a Top Ten list, but I'm still go through my notes and working on all that I learned. After digesting some of what I learned, I posted more reflections over at Arizona Mama.
Check out other conference attendees summaries and you won't want to miss out on next year's conference!
I'm not sure how it happened, but 2011 is half way over. For now, I'll focus on June's accomplishments.
- .6 pounds lost. So much for the stomach flu weight loss program.
- 1 Toy Store themed baby shower.
- 2 Wood Badge beads received. It feels so good to have my ticket goals done and the beads around my hot little neck.
- 3 books read - Pushcart War, Sarah's Quilt, and Star Garden.
- 4 Scrapbook layouts completed.
- 7 articles written for the Homemaking Cottage and Arizona Mama.
- 26 Challenge projects completed. I guess I know why June felt so busy!
- 27 Blog posts.
- 43 Comments! Thanks for the input.
- 1161 page views.
What amazing things did you accomplish in June?
We finished our first week of Stay at Home Summer Camp. The theme was fruits and veggies around the world. Pretty unique theme - it's not mine. One of my kiddos came up with it. I posted the details over at Arizona Mama. Check it out, leave me a comment, it's all good.
Happy, happy Friday! The weatherman said summer is finally coming with it's 110 degree temperatures in just a few days. I was really enjoying the below average temps lately, but they can't last forever. Fortunately we have a few ideas of how to avoid the heat, I'm thinking movies and ice cream. Here's today's favorites.
- Mopped floors and a couple of kiddos who were not only willing, but eager to help!
- Watching the ultrasound of my grand baby.
There's some cool stuff in my little blogging world too.
- A truck load of summer reading programs. I listed all the Arizona programs I could find over at Arizona Mama.
- I have heard of Buttermilk Syrup; the Tasty Kitchen Blog shares the recipe and lots of pictures of the process.
- Positively Splendid has a giveaway for wood craft shapes that should help keep the kids busy.
- Creating Keepsakes is hosting Free Font Friday - CK Limerick is really cute!
Liven up your summer days with an occasional science experiment. I enjoyed science in school, as long as there wasn't too much math. But the days we did something hands on were always the best. Things haven't changed much. When I took my Biology class last fall, not only did I enjoy the experiments, so did my kiddos.
The ultimate experiment involves food like our M&M experiment. We've also had fun with fireworks in a glass. I want to try this magic powder. Check out The Science Mommy for more great ideas.
I'm so excited to start June off with a new blog design! My talented daughter made this custom little beauty for me and I love, love, love it. Here's how I spent the rest of May.
.8 - Number of pounds lost.
1 - Books read. I'm closing in on two more, so hopefully next month will be better. I am still really enjoying Sarah's Quilt.
3 - Hours spent switching my blog over to the new design.
4 - Scrapbook layouts completed.
7 - Articles written for the Homemaking Cottage and Arizona Mama
8 - Piano practices. Now that's more like it.
15 - Challenge projects completed. This seems to be my achievable number.
27 - Blog posts.
43 - Comments. It is so good hearing from you!
1573 - Page views! A new record by a landslide. Thanks for visiting.
I heard once that the secret to writing a good story is putting your main character in a situation they would least want to be. When my children have complained about a villain of a story, I've even told them there wouldn't be much of a story without the villain. And yet, how often do you feel sad at the end of a book because you don't want it to end. Wouldn't it be nice to spend more time in the "happily ever after" part of the book?
The older I get and the more hard times I see, the more I think I might like that boring book with no villains and no trails. I'm curious to see how long I could stay interested in a book with one joyous event after another. Maybe that story would make me sad because it would be so far from my reality.
For now I'll settle for the escape to another time, another place and another set of challenges is just what I need to appreciate my own challenges. I posted our latest book club adventure over at Arizona Mama.
My kiddos will tell you I must have really been into music in the 80's because I can name that tune with the best of them. Even with all those songs from that memorable decade, there is one that stands out like no other. The song - Let's Go Crazy by Prince (before he was known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince and now known as Prince again.)
I wouldn't say that my friends and I liked that particular song more than a dozen more songs at the time, but that song had a lot of energy. It was the perfect tempo to make a really good flag routine. Yes, I was in the high school marching band and I played the flag. You might call it the color guard. It was so cool spinning that long handle around fast enough to hear it whizzing threw the air. And then we learned a how to throw that spinning flag high over our heads, in sync with the rest of the team.
One long Saturday with nothing better to do, (I had a lot of those), my fellow flag teammate and I decided to make our own flag routine to that upbeat song. We worked and practiced all day, and it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. After several hours, we decided that we needed a big finale to match Prince's guitar solo at the end. Of course one of our new throws would be the perfect thing. Even though it was a fairly new skill, I could usually make the throw. The worse thing that happened if I missed was my pole clattered on the ground and I was pretty used to that sound.
This time my miss left more of an impression - on my forehead. Somehow I missed and the pole slammed me in the head, ringing my bell and leaving me seeing stars. Practice was over for the day and that was one routine I never tried again.
Head over to Tell Great Stories to read more teenage defining moments or add your own.
Things are ramped up around here preparing for the end of the school year. We have concerts, projects and parties in addition for all the planning for our summer activities. In amongst all the activity, I have a few favorites to bring me a little peace.
- Sarah's Quilt - I just started this book a few days ago, and I'm enjoying it as much as the first book in the series.
- Spending time with my kiddos.
- I loved Your Homebased Mom's post about her impending empty nest.
- Finishing up these last two birthday invitations. I posted them yesterday, but blogger ate that post. Hopefully it comes back!
- Teenage Tangled Birthday Party is posted over at Arizona Mama. It's the party that goes with this invitation.
Share your Friday Favorite!
One of my simple pleasures is celebrating with my kiddos. Whether it's like today, or even celebrating 30 minutes to play Just Dance 2.
We kicked off our Cinco de Mayo celebration a couple of days early by making these cool tissue paper flowers. They were a little more challenging than the directions made it look, mostly separating the layers without ripping the paper. I wish I would have seen this tutorial first. Our second attempt was a little easier, but we still had to be gentle fluffing them.
While you are in the Cinco de Mayo mood, check out my post on the subject on Arizona Mama.
April has come and gone. The month seems very full; not just with activities but with learning and growth.
.6 - Number of pounds I gained. Today I'm down .8 from yesterday. So I'm disappointed to not be losing weight, but I'm maintaining, which is better than the 10 pounds I gained in the same time frame last year.
3 - Books read! Matilda, Even the Stars Look Lonely and the Camilla Spencer biography.
4 - Piano practices. I can't even blame Spring Break for this month's performance! I guess I spent too much time reading.
5 - Scrapbook layouts completed.
7 - Articles written for Arizona Mama and the Homemaking Cottage.
15 - Challenge projects completed.
26 - A to Z Challenge posts completed. I enjoyed the challenge, even though some days were challenging. My goal is post daily, but some days I don't have the time and other days I don't have anything to say, or the motivation to write off my list of ideas. Some days, the challenge helped inspire posts. The only down side was that some of the topics I came up with for certain letters weren't super high quality content; but I guess that's not any worse than skipping a day. I also enjoyed checking out the other blogs participating, although I didn't make it to them all. I feel a kinship with a few and added them to my RSS feed.
1022 - Page views! Thanks for visiting.
Share what was memorable about your April.
As I mentioned yesterday, I have a lot on my plate, veering in several directions beyond the normal busyness. In honor of the A to Z Challenge, I decided "Vroom" was the perfect word of the day.
- Vroom over to Arizona Mama to read the details of our field trip to Superstition Farm.
- This week we are having a very cool campfire program for Pack Meeting.
- I'm still vrooming around trying to get the details for Girls Camp situated.
What has your vroom in motion this week?
It's Friday again! Not just any Friday, but Good Friday. A day with no school to spend more time on our Easter Enlightenment. Since I'm still playing along with the A to Z Challenge, here are a few of my favorite "S" things.
- Superstition Farm - I was able to tour the farm with one of my kiddos this week. We had a good time being around the cows and other animals - and together. After all these years, I still love all that I learn from the field trips!
- Sweets - Yeah! Easter candy!
- Seminary Donuts - This is a spectacular story to understand the Atonement.
- Scrapbooking - I'm hoping to get some done today. Pebbles Inc has some great inspiration.
There are some favorite "S" posts that I'll share with you:
- Are you still planning your Easter menu? Your Homebased Mom can help out with her recipe for Fresno Potatoes.
- Here's a fun art project from the CLASSroom.
Here's some "S" bloggers swinging along the A to Z challenge.
I love to learn. My challenge is there is so many things I want to learn and so little time to actually spend learning. Sometimes that whole life thing gets in the way! Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I struggle with being a wanna be everything. It seems like I add five things to "the list" for every one thing I cross off.
Earlier this week I was adding a few books to my wish list of books to read. When I read through it, I realized I actually read one of the books on my list! I don't think I have done that since I started the list a few years ago.
Books are my favorite way to learn, as you may notice by our family book club. As a matter of fact, I shared our Week in the Woods Book Club over at Arizona Mama.
Here's some fun "L" bloggers participating in the A to Z Challenge.
Am I the only one who has dealt with the drama of which movie to watch for Family Movie Night? I posted a few suggestions over at Arizona Mama. I'm a firm believer in not killing the party before it even starts with a bunch of whining and arguing.
I'm having a lot of fun with the A to Z Challenge. I thought I'd share a few of the over 1200 blogs participating - just some that start with the letter "F"
I know it's normally March numbered, but I switched it up to Counting March for the A to Z Blog Challenge. Any of my numbers that I'm disappointed in, I'm blaming Spring Break.
1 - Number of pounds gained. I have two words for you, Spring Break! Actually I think the culprit is not tracking my food. I will be jumping back on that band wagon.
2 - Books read. Eragon and These Is My Words.
4 - Piano practices, and they were wimpy ones at that! (It's Spring Break's fault)
5- Articles written for the Homemaking Cottage and Arizona Mama (Spring Break)
7 - Family history names verified
8 - Scrapbook layouts finished (I could have finished those last two, but ... you guessed it, Spring Break)
14 - Challenge projects finished (Spring Break)
23 - Blog posts, not too bad considering it was Spring Break
1183 - Page views! Thanks to you not slacking over Spring Break, it's a new record.
I also use my monthly review to check how I'm doing on my New Year's resolutions. I'm making slow progress with my goals. I'm finding peace in my search for direction.
No fooling, here's what's tickling my fancy this first day of April.
What are you loving this April Fools day?
There's been quite a bit of chatter over at Arizona Mama about some of our favorite kids books. You know I had to get in on the action. Narrowing my list down was harder than I thought! Check out my list and see how it compares to your family's favorites and be sure to leave me a comment with the ones I forgot. I'm sure there are a bunch!
My last minute St. Patrick's Day activities were a success! I spent about an hour playing with my kids and it made the whole day feel festive. I even found some Hershey's Kisses in green wrappers and golden Twix bars tucked away in the freezer from Christmas to add to their snacks.
I've simplified "Favorite Feed Friday's" to "Friday Favorites"; easier to say and lets me include more of my faves!
- For example, I am loving These Is My Words! I checked it out from the library - and renewed it, but I didn't start reading it because I was finishing Eragon. A friend told me how much she liked it so I rechecked it out and started it a couple of days ago. I'm having a hard time putting it down. There's a part of me that would rather be reading that than hang out on the computer! Shocking, I know.
- Traveling Oma confesses a less than stellar moment from 7th grade. My dad gave me a watch one summer; I was probable 10 or 11. Since I only saw my dad in the summers and we picked it out together, it was very special with its digital fanciness. It even had a light! One day I was bored and curious, truly a bad combination. I took apart my watch to see how it worked. After through research, I wasn't any closer to understanding how it worked. I put the cover over the battery, and to my dismay there was no time and no cool light. I was so ashamed I hid in a drawer for a couple of years until I finally threw it away. Every time I talked to my dad, I was worried he would ask me about our special watch.
- Chocolate on my Cranium shares an interesting lesson in multiple intelligences and a link to find out yours or your kiddos.
- Pumpkin Patterns shares a how to for a sweet pouch. We've been thinking of doing something like this with M&M bags; this will help our idea work better.
- I love the wreath idea from Family Chic. I think it would be perfect for more than just Easter.
- I don't have babies or crochet, but these hats from Little Birdie Secrets make me wish I did! She even shares the patterns.
I've been thinking about St. Patrick's day for a couple of weeks, trying to think of a way to make it fun for the kiddos. None of the crafts have really grabbed me and I'm still wore out from all the cooking I did on Pi day. So how does a wore out mom, who can't get into the spirit of the Irish, celebrate?
I am wearing my green duct tape bracelet. Every year I'm surprised by how little green I have in my wardrobe!
DLTK shares a little about the holiday and a story about St. Patrick and the snakes. I also found a word search, my kiddos usually like those. Enchanted Learning has a fun challenge; find a green thing that starts with each letter of the alphabet. They even have a sample answer sheet. Family Fun has a physical challenge of letting go of the gold and a couple of fun Gaelic Games.
If I could have made my brain work sooner, we could have learned about Ireland or read more Artemis Fowl. I think I'll issue a journal challenge - what would you do if you found a pot of gold?
