Talented Twosome

Hannah and Elizabeth's elementary school had their talent show tonight. I think I remember going to one that Casey was in a million years ago, but they haven't done one in recent history. Most likely because of the lack of talent in the elementary school. Yes, I said it. I went there. I have to give the kids props for sheer bravery. And to ME for sitting through the three hour show not once but TWICE. Lizzie was on fairy early in the show, and then Hannah was on fairly late in the show, so I was there for the entire dress rehearsal and then the entire show. But this post isn't about ME, it's about my two very talented daughters. In fairness (and for the record, I don't have to be fair because this is MY blog) but there were a handful of acts that were good. A pair of guys did the "Who's On First" comedy sketch that cracked me up, there was a gymnast who did a whole bunch of flips and a boy singer who stayed on key.

So now on with the show. Oh, and let me tell you the audience was R.U.D.E. I don't know if people never get out of their own living rooms, but the talking, laughing, running around, etc., was beyond annoying. And that was the PARENTS. Seriously! The kids weren't much better. I told one group of 6th graders sitting in the back at least 5 times to show some respect for the performers. And they would for about 5 seconds until I was over there again.  So, that's why these videos have a bit a background noise in them. Here's Lizzie playing "Indian Dance." She messed it up (she said, I didn't notice) during the dress rehearsal and left the stage in tears (which I did notice), so she was very proud of herself for getting through it so well.

And then there was Hannah singing her "Talent Show" song, "Love Will Find a Way." I tried and tried to get her to sing either "Amazing Grace" or "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" but she wouldn't budge, and I am NOT a good stage mother and gave up after suggesting it three times.

 It was great, as usual, and I was very proud of her. She was very blase about the whole thing and was mostly mad at me because I couldnt find my hot rollers and so she was forced to have straight hair for her debut performance at school. So, I apologize for her straight hair. She did tell me that she's pretty sure she's going to be a famous pop star in her school tomorrow, so we'll see if that's true. :)

Camporee

NOTE: If you haven't been to my blog for awhile, due to lack of posts (!) this is my second post in two days, so scroll down to see pix from First Communion!

Some of my happiest memories of childhood are of camping with the Girl Scouts. So OF COURSE I was looking forward to our Service Unit's Camporee this past weekend. Woodsmoke, songs around the campfire, s'mores -- what's not to like?

And while that is mostly true, I discovered this past weekend that my happy memories are in the past, so is my youth. NOW, it is not so much fun to sleep on a two-inch mattress supported by a plank of plywood. I fear after two hours of sleep (all I got) on that cot my neck will never be the same. However, I also learned that it's really ALL worth it, to see my happy brownies making those same memories I loved as a girl.

So ultimately, Camporee rocked -- even if my neck will never be the same.

The theme for Camporee was "Get a Clue" and most of the activities had to do with that theme. Here my troop was playing a magnification game where they looked at blow-ups of items and had to guess what the items were. They were rewarded with Twizzlers and Starbursts. I did not participate in the game, but I did have some licorice. That's why it's fun to be a leader.

Of course there was a place to have your  mugshot taken. Let us hope that these are the ONLY mugshots we ever see of Hannah, okay!?!

Here's half my troop in the lineup. They are wearing tee-shirts that were designed by Hannah:

And here's the other half of my troop. This was at the end of the day and they were EXHAUSTED!!

This is my assistant leader Amy. She did not have to sleep on the tiny cushion and plywood. Because she is much smarter than me.

Every time girl scouts get together we do a service project. This  year's project was to fill backpacks that will be given to children who end up at a local battered woman's shelter. Each troop in the Camporee donated items. Our troop donated 20 boxes of crayons, while others donated blankets, or toys, stuffed animals, toothbrushes or coloring books. At the Camporee the girls took a backpack and filled it with one of each of the the items. This is Lizzie and Charlie working on their backpack:

This is a picture of the opening flag ceremony. It was great. Each of the girls said a poem about the colors of the flag (and the stars) and then put ribbons or stars into a bucket. Then one of them stirred the colors with a big stick and the flag was taken out of the bucket and raised. You can see that some of the girls are wearing rain gear. We did have some heavy sprinkles throughout the day, but it mostly stayed clear and cool, which was good weather for traipsing around the woods.

Here's part of my troop waiting for the flag ceremony to begin. They are standing with my troop treasurer Teri, who came along to help out because I was on the Camporee committee and was often called away to check on the food/dining hall (that was my area on the committee and I must say the food was delicious!)

Here's Hannah wearing the tee-shirt (at the flag ceremony) she designed with a couple other girls from my troop. Grace and Karissa are wearing the gifts we gave each girl who attended camporee. It was a combination whistle, compass, flashlight, magnifying glass:

Oh and here I am. I took this picture while I was waiting for the day bus to come pick me up. You may notice that I have badges on my hat. That's because I was the camp detective in the little mystery I wrote for all the girls to solve. That was a fun part of the camporee. Right after I took this picture I put my camera down and then when I picked it up I noticed I had put it down in a bunch of poison ivy, which was NOT a fun part of camporee.

Here's another picture of my troop. When I seem them all together I'm impressed by how OUTNUMBERED I am! But Camporee was fun. In addition to the magnifying glass game, we also played Pass the Dynamite, What's That Smell (where this picture was taken -- the scouts leading the activity had put things like sweaty socks and rosemary into little bundles and the girls had to guess what they were), went on a scavenger hunt and decorated magnifying glasses. It was a busy, busy day! I had to put them on the bus at around 5 p.m. and several of them were crying (including my two) because they were SO SO SO tired. I was NOT crying, because I decided that I was just going to stay for the campfire (where the thief who took our Bingo prizes was going to be revealed, although by that time all the girls had guessed whodunnit!) and then go home to sleep in my own bed.

Here's the campfire. I played my guitar for the Camporee and sang "Magic" a camp song that is often used to end campfires (not when I was a girl though -- the song was written in the 1980s) and is sad and sweet. All the girls had learned it and I led it on the guitar. It was a lovely moment. I really wished that my troop could have stayed, but they weren't ready  (or maybe it was ME who wasn't ready) to stay overnight at the camp.

I got home late Saturday night and began the process of healing my sore muscles and gearing up for our next camporee (in three years!!)

First Holy Communion - Finally

I know I promised First Holy Communion pictures at least a week ago. So here they are ... better late than never, right? The day was wonderful, with great weather, great company, great food and, speaking for Hannah and Lizzie, great gifts!

I have to admit to missing my mother a lot during the weekend, as she would have loved seeing the girls in their dresses and seeing them receive this sacrament == but I had to keep reminding myself that she had the best seat in the house for the First Communion, even if she wasn't there to yell at her grown children for laughing and making snide comments during the service!

So here we all are just after the service. It's a rare picture of the four of us, so I thought I'd include it, even though I clearly forgot to do anything with my hair!

Grandma Connie was there, even though she was leaving the next week for her FOUR MONTH ADVENTURE in NYC. Oh, and they are standing by the statue of St. Thomas More, for whom the church is named. It's always interesting to me that St. Thomas More is the patron saint of lawyers (of which I am certain Liz will become!) and the patron saint of adoption!

Here's a picture of four of my favorite people in the world, my girls and their cousins Brenna and Tommy. Last year we were at Tommy's First Holy Communion and in a couple (four?) we'll be at Brenna's. Time marches on!

Lizzie and her BFF Keira after the service. The Church donated the veils to the girls (and the ties for the boys) which is why they are all the same. Keira and Lizzie have been friends since kindergarten and have somehow managed to be in the same class each year. They are already planning on being heartbroken and crying all the time if they are in different classes next year (which is likely, although I haven't told them that!)

My darling Hannah was chosen to help bring the gifts up to the altar:

Here's the whole group of First Communicants. We have a fairly small parish and many of those in the picture are in the girls' elementary school!

Here are the Garritys with Hannah and Liz. Uncle T.A. looks thrilled to be there, as always... :)

Back home we had a little family celebration that included sausage and peppers, pasta salad, green salad, lemonade, and lots of bubbles! Here the girls show off their bubble blowing prowess to Uncle Dude (you can see how quickly they got out of their dresses):

Brenna got in on the bubble-blowing, too.

The Bentleys arrived at the party and this is the best picture I got of them. I think there are only two or three pictures of them when they are all smiling WITH THEIR EYES OPEN. But since I didn't take THOSE, this will have to suffice:

Aunt Beanie is MUCH better at posing for photos. I think she should use this on her Match.com profile. If she had one, that is...

Oh and we mustn't forget the desserts! Here's the cake that I ordered all of 24 hours in advance.

And the very popular chocolate fountain. Tommy discovered the deliciousness of putting the cake in the chocolate fountain. Now we're thinking of naming our next pet after him. DELICIOUS!!! Here's Aunt Beanie dipping her cake:

In between all the dipping and eating, there was some time to relax, as you can see by this picture:

A beautiful day was had by all!

Easter Week Wrap-Up

Springtime is pretty busy around here. Here's just some of what we've done in the last week or so. Since it was Easter we had to have the traditional egg hunt. In fact, we had to have a couple of them. Here are some of the characters involved in one of the hunts. Lizzie and Hannah you probably recognize. The other kids are Zoe, Anna, Nina, Izabella and Adam. Or  you can j ust call them Adam's harem. Lizzie and Hannah don't know Adam that well, but Lizzie did confide in me that she thinks he's very handsome. I know it's a little early to start worrying about prom, but, you know ... I'm just putting that out there! ;)

Here are some of the kids running around my front yard looking for filled eggs.

Hannah found eggs for other people, too. She's helpful that way.

Oh, and the kids actually missed an egg, which Lizzie found TODAY (a whole week later) when she was out running around in the woods.

 Nina and Adam teamed up to find some eggs, too:

Oh, and one of the reasons Hannah was so generous helping other people to find eggs was because this was not her first egg hunt. Here she is a couple days earlier hunting eggs in the front yard. I think in total she collected about five dozen eggs.

Thi was also the week of the Fun Fair. Here's a (bad, sorry!) photo of Lizzie just after she got a little too close to the dunk tank. She got sopping wet, but was still able to enjoy the extraordinarily greasy (read: yummy) french fries. Also at the Fun Fair they got to do a cake walk, golf, fish and eat pierogies (also way way way greasy!) I got to spend $30 so they could win tiny little unicorn erasers. So, you know, a good time was had by all:

 

And speaking of getting wet, it rained a lot this week. A lot. Not that it bothered Hannah, though.

And, last, but not least Mr. Cash got a haircut and is finally starting to look like the handsome canine that is his birthright! Also, you can see that the Easter Bunny brought him a brand new collar. He also brought him a large bag of peanut butter flavored biscuits, but he found them early, so the EB had to go with plan B.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from Cash and the girls....

Tracy and the girls...

And Rob and the girls...

Simple Woman's Daybook

For April 22, 2011

Outside my window... It may quite possibly be spring this weekend. It was sunny and cold for most of the day, but the predicted thunderstorms are supposed to usher in some warmer air for the weekend. I hope so. These 400 days of winter have tried my patience. Today is Earth Day, by the way. I celebrated by putting three water bottles in the recycle. ;)

I am thinking... that I love having friends over to my house because they rock AND because now my house is nice and clean for the Easter holiday.

I am thankful ... for my friends and family for helping me to navigate the past two months since my mom died. It's easier to be gracious and brave when so many dear people have your back.

From the kitchen... It's Good Friday so not much is going on in there. Tuna salad is cooling in the refrigerator and I'm going to be making some cupcakes for dessert for Easter, but I probably won't be doing that until tomorrow.

I am wearing... black leggings, white shirt -- very conservative!

I am creating... a story about Johnny Mathis. I interviewed him a couple of weeks ago. Read about it in the Reading Eagle next Thursday. He was really a cool guy!

I am going ... to Kolb's Dairy to get some of their most delicious organic (and fresh since the cows are right there!) milk and some quinoa. The dairy has all sorts of cool flours and grains and so even though it's about twice as far away since we moved (three years ago!) I still go there. Oh, and they make outstanding milkshakes, too.

I am reading... "A Discovery of Witches." Actually I finished it on Monday and it was one of the most fun books I've read in a loooooooong time. So happy my friend Amy E. suggested it for book club and I can't wait to talk about it. It's a witchy/vampire mystery love story so it sort of encapsulates several of my favorite genres.

I am hoping... to continue to eat healthy, exercise and pay attention to my stress level so that I can lose weight.

I am hearing... MarioKart on the Wii and Lizzie on the piano. Lizzie's gotten quite good. I'll post a video of her playing, soon.

Around the house... things are looking pretty good! We had friends over this morning so I cleaned AND vacuumed. I love it when my house is pulled together and I wonder why I don't clean more often and then I remember that I DON'T LIKE TO CLEAN. 

One of my favorite things...Lindt truffles. Each one has 2 Weight Watchers Points, but they are OH. SO. WORTH. IT.

A few plans for the week ahead... Tomorrow the girls are going back to the Lowe's Build and Grow workshop to make window birdhouses (where you can see the bird build the nest through your window) and then it's Easter so I'm pretty sure there will be some church-going and maybe some visiting. Next week is the usual busyness of school volunteering, class projects, coffee with friends and math homework.

A picture I am sharing... It poured here this weekend but that didn't stop Hannah and Liz from playing outside. We had spent the afternoon traipsing around a Girl Scout camp, so they were already pretty wet before this. I call this "Walking in the Rain with the One You Love."

Dress Rehearsal

Hannah and Lizzie make their First Holy Communion in a few weeks, so I thought it was a good idea to try and get some photos of them and let them practice walking in their dresses. First Communion dresses have changed A LOT since I was 8. Now they are really like little bride dresses. They also COST as much as a bridal gown. I was able to do my usual online magic and did not have to pay the $100-plus for each dress, and Hannah and Lizzie were thrilled with their choices. Here are some of the OUTTAKES from our photo session.

First up is Hannah. Hannah LOVES to model and takes direction really, really well (when she's not laughing hysterically). So we started with this one:

But then she settled right down and we got this one:

Lizzie had a bit more trouble. Here's our first shot:

Then I asked her to look a little more serious:

Then I told her to lighten it up a little because that first picture made it look like something smelled bad in the room. And I got this picture (which I love, but is NOT First Communion acceptable...) In fact, we really didn't get a great single shot of Lizzie (yet -- I haven't given up hope):

This is what happens after about 4,000 photos, NONE of which satisfy your mother. In the back, Hannah is trying to show Lizzie (badly) what it's like to look serious:

Then they both just started laughing:

And laughing...

And LAUGHING!!

Finally, we got a nice one. YIPPEE: