Summer Break: Day 90. The End.

It was a peaceful day. I shopped for the last bits of school supplies not yet crossed off the list. The backpacks are filled. Overfilled, really. Outfits for the first day of school are laid out. Notebooks are embellished with stickers. And I found myself getting quite giddy at getting to make school lunches tomorrow morning. I anticipate the traditional "first day of school photo". And I know the house will be eerily quiet when the girls leave.

Tonight as I was reading my girl's their bedtime story, Zoey all-of-a-sudden interrupted & squealed: "I feel like screaming! I'm so excited for school tomorrow!!!" I am glad. Because the last school year was a rough one. We had moved to a new town, 1200 miles away from home. In December. So the girls started school in the middle of the year, in a new place, with a new teacher & new friends to make--- & even a completely new way of learning math & writing. And to top it all off Zoey had to deal with a pesky little bully of a girl in her class. Zoey constantly complained about going to school. She hated school. And that was hard to hear because she had never been like that before moving here.

So, I guess all my ramblings are due in part to the fact I'm so thrilled that she's squealing! And excited! And she pretty much can't contain herself!

I can't believe this was the end of summer.

Thanks, by the way, to all of you who followed along on our Summer Diary Series. It's been fun!!
We will now resume our regularly scheduled programming...

(Maybe less is more?)

♥

Bee Scene

On Monday morning I got to venture over to my friend Beulah's house for some bee fun. I was accompanied by my other friend Susan & my hubby Scott. We all suited up & headed out to Beulah's hives, which are boxes & boxes stacked atop one another, full of bees. It was such a cool experience.

To view my complete set of Bee photos, click HERE.

I spray Scott with liquid smoke. It helps calm the bees. And it's just a fact that there's nothing more annoying than a testy bee.
By the way, Scott said that Susan & I looked like characters from Star Wars. Did he get a chance to look at himself in the mirror??

Pretty little hives. All in a row.

Beulah checks to make sure the bees are doing what they're supposed to.

Ten of these frames fill each box. The bees work hard to create honeycomb cells on these frames by secreting a wax.

We also searched for the queen bee in some of the hives. In this photo you can see the larvae waiting to hatch.

I win! I win! I found the queen. Well, I was holding the frame & someone else found it.

Can you spot the drone? Drones are male honeybees & they can't sting. In the hive they do no work. They don't even feed themselves. The worker bees, which are all female, feed them. Drones have no purpose in the hive, except to mate with virgin queens.  And after they mate, they die.  And if they don't mate, they usually die after 4 months. And if they survive those 4 months to Autumn without mating, they'll get thrown out by the worker bees anyway & die. Hmm. Interesting...

One of the highlights of my bee adventure: getting to see a brand new bee "born"!! It's right in the middle, peeking its head out. We waited patiently while it chomped away & eventually emerged from its cell! Just 3 weeks prior, she was a newly laid egg.

Beulah's husband Russell built all the bee boxes.

Me & Susan.

After playing our part as bee patrol, we hitched a ride on the tailgate of Beulah's truck, & headed back to the house for some toast & what else? Honey.

I think me likes the bees.

♥

Summer Break: Day 89

Hmm. Yesterday was an unusual day. Lazy bones here slept in late due to my normal 'Monday night into the wee hours of Tuesday morning' work routine. That part is not unusual. I love that part.

But I was in a funk yesterday. And the kids were SERIOUSLY out of control. And we didn't do anything fun. And so last night I got out of the jammies I'd been wearing all day & put on new jammies. And I had a wee sit by the fire with friends & then I was a tiny bit better.

Today is the last day of summer break. And I realize it's ending like it began: not so great. (That first day was a doozy!) I sure hope I can turn things around & go out with a super duper bang!

I'll try my best.

♥

Summer Break: Day 88

I'm going to dedicate a whole post to the fun I had this morning. I was a beekeeper for the day & had so much fun!!

While my hubby, friend Susan & I were playing with the bees, the girls got to head out on a 4-wheeler to the pasture, where they saw cows & antelope & horses. They pumped water from a well & got to drink it fresh before the cows did. Zoey thought it was pretty amazing that they were drinking the same water that the cows do!

What a lovely day.

Really.

I look at all the pictures & smile real big.

I can't wait to show them to you!

♥

Summer Break: Day 87

tiny easels

I can't believe this was the last weekend before the kidlets get back to school!! 3 days left of Summer Break.

90 days will not even be enough to live out all our Summer Fun.

Funny thing is, my children seem to think I will continue planning merriment & happy projects or outings every day now.

Summer was a chance for me to break all the rules of routine & program & let loose with my kiddos. There is a time for order & a time for happy chaos.

It's now time for a bit of order. And I'm looking forward to it.

Today the girls & I made a project from the September 2007 issue of Family Fun magazine.

It's a tiny art easel made from popsicle sticks. And you can find the how-to HERE.

We made it in the evening, down in the barely window-ed basement. Thus, the poo-poo pictures that I've tried to make all "artsy" to try & hide the fact that they are horrible. Kinda.

Didn't have time to create mini pieces of artwork, but that'll be on our list of things to do tomorrow---after Mr. WhiMSy love & I suit up in bee attire to help a friend of ours with her bees & the girls go tootle around on 4-wheelers!!!!

Here's some tips or hints I discovered while making the tiny easels:

Double shelf on tiny easel (better for gluing bits & things)

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  We went a step further & added an extra popsicle stick underneath the one that holds the artwork up (the "shelf")---mostly so we could embellish with fancy sparkly baubles & gems.
• 
  
  I also purchased popsicle sticks that were already colored---saved the step of painting them with acrylic paints.
• 
  
  I used hot-glue to glue the sticks all together.
• 
  
  We used tacky glue to stick on our embellishments.
• 
  
  And we completely forgot step 4---attaching a strip of paper under the shelf & connecting it to the back stick for added support.
• 
  
  I glued (with tacky glue) a triangle piece of felt over the paper triangle on my (pink) easel. I thought the paper looked kind of sloppy.

♥

Summer Break: Day 86

Greek Festival!

All I did was mostly eat.

I had 3 pieces of baklava & a gyro. But I also sampled the souvlakia (meat on a stick), tiropites (cheese triangles) & several varieties of pastries.

I watched the traditional dancing & prolly shouted "Opa!!" one too many times.

I snapped photos of people dancing & eating & dancing & eating & wondered why there weren't more people shouting "Opa!!"

♥

Summer Break: Day 85

Friday night = Family night.

But mostly it just means movies & hanging out & eating ice cream or pop corn.

And tonight the girls are spread out on the sleeper sofa, watching the new Alice in Wonderland, & original episodes of The Little Rascals, & Shaun the Sheep. (I love me some Shaun the Sheep!!!)

I don't usually let the girls watch movies during the week. (Although this Summer I've broken the rules on occasion.) And we don't have cable. So, Friday nights are definitely something special.

It's not always movies though. It could be board games. Or tasty treats out. Or a mini trip to town. Or stories. Or silliness. Or a mixture of any & everything. No matter what it is, we try to schedule appointments, outings, etc around Family Night. We let people know that Fridays are OUR nights.
♥

Summer Break: Day 84

Here is the project the girls & I made today with our bubble paintings.
Origami bookmarks!

I have made some simple folded triangle bookmarks in the past, but found THIS triangle/square bookmark to be even better because the square side allows more of the artwork to show. We used heavy cardstock, but I certainly wouldn't use anything more heavy than that. Scrapbook paper would work most excellently. And, of course, origami paper.

We used a 5 1/2" square to create our bookmarks. And then we decorated the leftover strips with rubber stamps & an inkpad.

Punch a hole, & add ribbon, string or yarn.

For more origami bookmark fun, here is a list of Origami bookmarks to fold.
And a VIDEO that shows how to fold a square base bookmark (kinda similar to the one I made) but adding other techniques.

The book we're marking in the photos is Matilda. We're definitely recent Roald Dahl fans. First it was James & the Giant Peach & now Matilda. And I'm currently reading Fantastic Mr. Fox before the children do.
This Summer has definitely brought back a love of reading to me.
♥

Summer Break: Day 83

I learned this painting technique, oh gosh, about 10 years ago? I was just reminded of it recently when I saw it somewhere, but I can't 'member where.

Anyway, I used small styrofoam cups to mix about a tablespoon of water, a teaspoon of acrylic paint & a big squirt of dish washing soap. You may have to adjust these. If the bubbles aren't producing well enough, add a tiny bit more water & some more drops of soap. Colors not dark enough? Add more paint. Just mess around with it until you get the consistency you want.

Mix those all together with a straw.

And then, using the straw, blow into the mixture.

Remember how mom would get mad at you for blowing bubbles in your milk?

This is your revenge.

Once the bubbles reach over the top edge of the cup, gently place heavy cardstock or watercolor paper on the bubbles. The bubbles will POP!--leaving an imprint on your paper. (In the photo below, Pazely still has the straw in the cup while she's blowing AND painting her paper with bubbles. You can take your straw out if you want, when you're ready to paint with your bubbles.That way the straw won't get in the way.)

Keep blowing bubbles & letting them pop all over your paper. This is messy. Your face will look like a splattered mess of rainbow loveliness when you're done. And either do this project outside, or lay down newspapers, or a dropcloth or something before you begin.

It's quite cool when you fill the page with all types of bubbly colors!

Tomorrow the girls & I will make something with our artwork.

♥

Summer Break: Day 82

Did you know that August is Audio Book Appreciation Month??

I didn't either---until I read it in Zoey's latest copy of American Girl magazine.

So, the girls & I took a trip to the library today & scoured the shelves of listenin' books & picked up a few.

They were so excited to get home & pop in a CD to listen to while they played.

I chose a couple audio books also: The Hobbit, & The Great Gatsby.

I'm dreaming of all the places I can be read to: while lounging on the couch, while soaking in the tub, while relaxing on the porch, while dozing off to sleep...

Reality is this: while cooking in the kitchen, while in my car running errands, while working in my art studio, while house-cleaning...

♥

Summer Break: Day 81

Barbies.

All day long.
While mommy updated the blog & wrote her column for the newspaper, the girls played.

They know Mondays are usually hectic for mommy.

And I thank them so much for entertaining themselves.

It was lovely.
And then I looked at the remains of their "after-play" scenes. First of all, Barbie had ransacked the fridge.
That's my girl.
And it looks like the girls have taught her well---shove it under the bed! Mom will never notice! And, yes, that's a wedding dress.

And her use for the exercise machine? Broom & mop storage.

Right on!!

And then I had no words when I saw this:

Ok, it's not a Barbie torture device. It's "Gymnastic Barbie" & her super twirling bar.

Poor perfect plastic girl hanging there like that. Someone really should help her down.

<*Turns & walks away...*>

♥

Summer Break: Day 80

What DIDN'T we do yesterday??

After church we ate at the local diner. I consumed every bite of my BLT & fries.

Then we had a super visit with our super friend--who the girls were glad to treat as their human toy.  

We all painted watercolors.

And made silly handpainted hand-puppets. Meet GERTRUDE. And MISS MESSY GIRL. And RUBY. And GRIZZELDA HUMPERSNITCH. And here is GERTRUDE with GRIZZELDA .

We viewed a slideshow of the previous days' carnival fun.

We drank milkshakes.

We swam at the community pool, where my super friend & I

 even choreographed a synchronized swimming routine which mostly involved giggles & water up our noses. 

Too bad you missed it.

♥

Summer Break: Day 79

After arriving to the carnival & spending several {million} dollars, we had our booty of tickets. Pulling me in all directions, the children begged to "Ride this one!" or "Go on that one!"

 Little Pazely was not too sure about this mini roller coaster ride. However, her friend in the seat next to her, was totally engaged in the experience.

"Wait 30 minutes after eating before jumping?"

Pshaw.

Immediately after mounding a funnel cake, my friends & I jumped. And jumped. And jumped.

Zoey + Unicorn = The Best Day Ever.

It's rides like these that make me an automatic spectator.

I thought I was brave enough for the ferris wheel. But I was not. I am a sissy. I admit this. And sensing my fear, the ferris wheel attendant did everything in his carnival powers to make my ride a nervous one. I am pretty sure I stayed at the top of the wheel much longer than is the norm. But I have him to thank for the extra time I got to get a fun panoramic shot of the carnival below. So, neener neener!

To view the other pics from our evening of carnival fun, click HERE. It's a work in progress the next couple weeks as I edit & add more.

♥

Summer Break: Day 78

So I finally went to the library yesterday & returned a stack of books that were probably 5 weeks overdue. I intentionally took them in on a Friday because, (have I mentioned this before?), Friday's are "Free Fines Friday" or something like that. You don't have to pay any library fees if you bring your books in on Fridays! Apparantly they get quite busy on these days. Well, I think it's one of the greatest inventions ever! Now that the 'Wanted' posters can come down around town & I can show my face in that place again, I picked up a couple more Roald Dahl books: 'Matilda' & 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'. And I'm excited to read the 'Fox' book because it'll be one of those rare moments where my girls will have read the book BEFORE seeing the movie!

And speaking of movies, we saw 'Dispicable Me' last night. Super hilarious!! I loved it! And now I need some pet minions. And I want a fluffy unicorn.
♥

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Summer Break: Day 77

Today I registered the girls for school!

Fun? Not sure.

Reality? Yes.

The girls & I celebrated by having Italian sodas & giant cookies at our favorite (& only) local coffee shop.

I also got to do something super special today. My friend Laura asked me to help her out at a baby photo shoot. She's hoping I'll really like it & maybe someday I can be the baby photographer 'round town. That would be super neato!! I was the assistant today. And I really loved it!

The 6 week old (7 weeks premature) baby was NOT happy being nekkid & moved around & primped & stuff.

In fact, we set up a black backdrop for a really cool shot, but the baby was not satisfied no matter what we did when we set her down for some picture takin'. So, I had an idea to drape the mommy with the black backdrop & set the baby on top.

She'd feel the warmth from her mommy & be close to something familiar. Everyone thought it was a funny idea but the mom was a super good sport & tried it out. And guess what?  It worked! When it came time to snap a photo, we hid the mommy's face & arms under the sheet. Wacky & yet genius. haha!

(*The photo at the top is "Chester", one of the baby's doggie brothers. He is a bulldog. The mascot to the girls' school is a bulldog, so I thought it appropriate to put his picture there. That's 70 pounds of lovin' right there.)

♥