My mother is the best with my girls. She is the grandmother that does it all, and did it all with me when I was younger. From playing barbies to making mud pies she loves every minute. I'm so thankful that I have such an awesome mother, and that my girls are so close to her.
She is, was, and will always be our BEST Christmas gift.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas.
Friday night dance and Saturday night swimming.
I don't know how Christine talks me into having so many friends over so often. She's lucky I know that.
For all of the adults this Christmas we are buying an animal in their name. The animal/animals you buy go to families that depend on them for their survival. Heifer International. If you're like me and don't know what to get the adults in your family for Christmas this is perfect. We don't need more stuff, and most of the time we don't know what everyone wants anyway. It's not any fun to give a gift and wonder if the person will like it or use it. The girls will pick out what animal/animals they want to buy and send a card to each adult that tells them what animal they chose for each of them. No trying to guess what to get everyone, no wrapping paper and no waiting in line at the post office involved.
Everyone gets the perfect gift.
You guys have a great day.
There are several other organizations that do this and all of them are great. Last Christmas Christine bought her teacher a gift in his name for a child that included a book bag, shoes, and school supplies. He thought it was the coolest thing. He said that he and his wife were going to do this next year for the adults in their family. Here is a website that has many other organizations to choose from.
http://www.alternativegifts.org/
Heifer.org is an organization that supplies animals and training to families in need. You purchase the animal / animals of your choice and the families receive the necessary training to raise them on their own.
Your gift recipients will love hearing about how the gift you have made in their honor is helping families around the world. You can print a card from their site to send to each person or you can e-mail a card to them.
This year was twice as busy at the fair because Christine showed in cat and rabbit 4-H . She received blue ribbons for showing both of them so she qualified to go to the state fair in Puyallup. She chose to show her cat this year at the state fair instead of her rabbit. She also entered arts and crafts, photography and collections. Christine's friend Zadra spent a good part of the summer with us. They had so much fun together.
Everyone have a good day :)
Easily entertained
Our neighbor saved their freezer box for Christine to play in. We decorated it using paint and markers. They gave it to us around Christine's birthday. Christine said that she didn't need any presents because the box was the best birthday present. It's the simple things that kids really love. It's more fun with the box on it's side because there's more room for playing. She likes mom to play house with her. Mom likes being the baby because she doesn't have to do much, just cry and be demanding.
Everyone have a great Monday :)
Zadra and Christine on the bus showing me that they are winners, not losers.
Waiting patiently to board the Adventuress. It was a perfect day for sailing. Yes it was cloudy, but it DIDN'T rain, and that's what made it a perfect day!
I wasn't feeling so great the day of this field trip, but I still had fun with the kids. Sometimes you just have to push yourself to get through the day when you're not feeling well.
It's a field trip just for the fourth grade classes. Eleven moms and dads went along. Mr. Bill was saying that last year only two parents went with the kids. I was responsible for a group of six kids that called themselves the Jellyfish Octopuses. Another group (mostly boys) decided that they were the MIGHTY SEA DRAGONS. What group of boys would call themselves the Jellyfish Octopuses? Girls and boys are SO different. The kids did a little bit of everything. They learned a lot about sailing, and they got to hoist the sails. Now they know what to do if you're told to "hold the line" or "drop the line." Some of the terminology:
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Luff - the front edge of a sail, and the flapping in the wind of the front of the sail (luffing)
Downhaul - a line, attached to the tack, that adjusts tension in the sail
Furl - to fold or roll a sail and secure it to its main support
Halyard - the line used to raise and lower the sail
Trim - to adjust the sails, also the position of the sails
Whisker pole - a light spar which holds the jib out when sailing downwind
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Some of the ones that we all know.
Knot - a unit of speed, one knot=6,076 feet per hour
Bail - to remove water from the boat
Capsize - to turn a boat over
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Mr. Bill is in one of the pictures with some blue shorts on? It wasn't very warm, but he was definitely ready for Summer.
