Leah's Performance at the Pythian Home

Leah started violin lessons with a new teacher this year (Her teacher is wonderful!). I didn't realize how much she was missing in regards to the quality of her lessons until she began Suzuki lessons. Anyways, Leah is doing a wonderful job and we are proud of her accomplishments this year.

Here are pictures from the December 9th performance at the Pythian Home.

Leah Loves Uncle Carson

Here is Leah, talking to Uncle Carson on the phone. She just loves him and as you can tell by the smile on her face, she eats up any attention he pays to her.

The American Girls Club in November

Wow! We haven't been on here in a while! We have been really busy with a million different things. Anyways, I thought I'd take some time today to catch up on what we have been doing.

Here is a picture from one of our American Girl Book Club meetings in November. We are reading the Kirsten books and as this meeting, the girls were learning about St. Lucia Day. They made St. Lucia Day head wreaths and ornaments out of straw.

Horse Tire Swing = Hours and Hours of Fun

Leah got a horse tire swing for her birthday and we set it up on on the covered patio so that she can swing on it rain or shine. She has spent hours swinging on it, feeding it, washing it and helping Mason swing on it.

Leah twirling her friend, Katie around and around

Movie Date: Kit Kitteredge-An American Girl

Leah and Uncle Carson outside the movie theater

On Saturday we went to see Kit Kitteredge-An American Girl. It takes place in the 1930's during the Great Depression and it was an adorable movie! I think that even Uncle Carson enjoyed it a bit.

I was so inspired by the dresses the little girls wore in the movie. I am a true fan of much of the 1930's dress and hat styles, especially for little girls so after the movie, I went home and drafted up a dress pattern for Leah (using several patterns as guides) similar to a dress Kit wore in the movie and I am very pleased with the results:) They just don't make patterns like that anymore . . . I went and picked up some cute fabric today and I should be done with the first dress tomorrow.

Leah's Birthday Party

The following pictures were taken at Leah's 7th birthday party at Grandma Camp's house. As you can tell by the picture above, Leah had a very happy birthday.

These are names of family and friends that came to celebrate tonight: Grandma Horrocks and Aunt Abbie, Grandpa Fenimore and Aunt Rachel, Grandma Camp and Art, Grandma Jo, Uncle Carson, Aunt Angela, Sydney and Tyler, Family Friends (Andy, Stephanie, Olivia, Dillan, Kenneth and Ethan, and Mom, Dad and Mason.

Here is Leah, patiently waiting for her party this morning with pin curls in her hair. She was so excited all day long and kept asking, "Is it almost 5:00 yet? Is it almost time for the party?"

Here is a picture of Leah and her good friend Olivia. Leah was so excited that Olivia came tonight!

Mason and Cousin Sydney

Here are they boys (and Sydney) trying to open the door to the chicken coop.

Cupcakes + Uncle Carson

Is Leah ever going to think she is too big to climb on Uncle?

Present time! Thank you everyone!

Sydney and Leah enjoying a Grandma Camp's front yard swing

A very dirty Mason playing in the back of Grandma's truck.


I thought I'd throw a picture of me and Joe in the mix. I usually don't think to ask someone to take a picture of the two of us.

Here we all are before the after party meltdown:)

What Were We doing Seven Years Ago Today?

Happy 7th Birthday Leah!


A picture of Leah, seven years ago today.

Today is Leah's 7th Birthday! We cannot believe that we have a seven year-old! I posted some pictures below from seven years ago and looking at them today has brought back so many memories. The year Leah was born was a crazy year filled with a lot of changes, the biggest of all was her birth 10 months after we were married! Leah is such a happy and wonderful little girl and she has been a great blessing to our family.

Here we are at Joe's parent's house about a week or so before Leah was born. I gained a ton of weight (50 pounds!) while I was pregnant with Leah.

Here I am in the hospital a few days before Leah was born. I was on bed rest for months and I was admitted to the hospital at about 37 weeks for an early delivery because my blood pressure was very high. I was looking forward to a natural birth, but after two days of the doctors trying to induce labor and not much progress (her head was tilted wrong), I was all for a c-section.

Here she is! Three weeks early with a ton of hair, 7 lb 1.5 oz and 20 inches long.

This is our first family picture. (I was a bit swollen because of my blood pressure along with the bags and bags of IV solution that they gave me during the two days they tried to induce labor.)

Brand new Daddy with baby Leah in the hospital. Joe was so tired! He was taking finals at school the week Leah was born.

Me, Leah and Dr. Weick (he delivered Mason too) the day before we went home from the hospital.

Joe looks so young in this picture!

Busy Planning, Planning, Planning . . . .

I have been busy planning for many things these last few weeks.

Leah's Birthday

Leah's birthday is on Friday and I still need to finalize plans for it. She will be very excited when she opens her present though! Leah loves horses and I found a horse tire swing. Unfortunately, it will arrive a couple of days after her birthday, but she says that she is okay with that but she can't wait to find out what it is. She should have hours of fun with this:)

Here is the horse pendant necklace and two bracelets that I made for Leah's birthday.

Planning for the 2008-2009 School Year

I am in the process of finishing up plans for Leah and Mason's schooling for this next year. I find it a bit more challenging each year as Mason gets older and wants more and more of my attention. I'll hit the planning full force in August.

American Girls Club-Fall 2008

I have also been planning for the next semester of the American Girls Club. I feel very grateful and relieved to have a friend who is willing to help me again with this. It is so much fun, but does require a lot of work and time to plan. The girls will be reading the "Kirsten" books this time and will be learning about the pioneers in the 1850's. (I'll post details on our homeschool blog). I am excited for it:)

SUPER SATURDAY

Super Saturday is also around the corner and I stayed up late last night looking for ideas on the internet. Here are the ideas that I found. If things go as planned, we will finally have an Enrichment Leader called before Super Saturday! I am so excited about that. Here are some ideas:

SOME FUN IDEAS from simplycreativecrafts.blogspot.com that you can order as kits:

Photo Blocks

Ribbon 8x10 Frame

Magnet Board

New version of a family home evening board with picture magnets

Magnetic Recipe Card holder

HOLIDAY DECORATIONS

Pumpkins
(made from a 4x4)

Snowman Set
I don't have a picture for these but they are so cute! They are a set of three snowmen (big, medium and small) made from a 2 x 4. They are painted white and sanded. Their faces are painted and they wear a fleece hat (glued) and scarf. (They can also me made as a miniature model with a 2 x 2). This is a simple and fun winter decoration.

IDEAS FOR KIDS

Crayon Roll

Hooded Towels
Hair Clips (Bows and Curly Q's)

Flowered Headbands


Jeweled Headbands

Crayon Nibbles
(A great way to recycle old broken crayons to make fun and new big ones:)

Beaded Headbands

Picture Puzzle Blocks
This would be fun for kids, or anyone. I know Mason would love it if it had pictures of cars or dozers on it . . .


CRAFTS FOR AROUND THE HOUSE

Grocery Bag Dispenser
I have been meaning to make one of these for a long time now. We have bags piled up in the pantry.

Quick and Easy Aprons

50 free apron patterns

(This site has really cute ones for little girls as well)

http://tipnut.com/free-apron-patterns-tutorials/

Easy Apron made from a napkin

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmz5VvyEPA5OGdkqeMvZoJonL8cXa91yLyB_OU6ytfvXhxlNK6_4GH7C0wIGVopuiiEu7lW2fHG4PHhNDF3U6gPrFM6VN8HercwTJRdfx3ZZ3mjEPYpk4qUY7Wdi6v_CJ-zCqXKeCTIFo_/s1600/IMG_7460_edited-1.jpg

Scripture Toes and Bags

(Follow link to great free patterns)

Photo Wreath

So, those are some ideas I came up with. It will be fun to see what everyone on the Enrichment Committee comes up with as well. This should be a lot of fun:)

Wonderful websites for Super Saturday craft ideas:

http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com
(This website is so wonderful and is loaded with a million really neat and crafty ideas. You have got to check out this site!)
http://simplycreativecrafts.blogspot.com/2008/03/frames_10.html
(You can order really cute Super Saturday craft kits at a reasonable price from this website.)
http://adventureswiththeprovosts.blogspot.com/search/label/crafts
(This website has lots of cute craft ideas.)