Monday's child is fair of face

Little Bo-Peep had lost her sheep and brought her friends over to find them.

They searched high and low; found five in a row, each bringing a rhyme behind them. Each rhyme was a game:

Our friends were nimble and they were quick, they jumped around in the bouncy house 
(No. No candlestick)

They raided the haystack looking for Little Boy Blue; 
instead they found treats, treasures, & a little stuffed ewe. 

Then ringed 'Round the Rosies, with Pockets but no Posies, 

Ashes, Ashes they all fell DOWN.

1-2 buckle my shoe, around in a circle on numbers they flew
3-4 knock at the door, they stopped with the music & won prizes galore. 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, when crafting with 10 kids, ONE mom doesn't go far
But Mary's little lamb had to follow her to school 
so we brought in parental reinforcements, and then the craft was cool.

Jack & Jill went up the hill, each with a pail of water

they dumped it in the table & ran back as fast as they were able,
then passed the pail to another.

Pat-a-cake Pat-a-cake, it tasted so good
they ate up those cupcakes just as fast as they could.

and after all this (plus presents) there was still 45 minutes so since it was HOT,
we went inside to play until moms & dads came our way.

company party

Everyone knows that a party must be attended in one's best dress

even when it is a PLAY party, complete with rOcK cLiMbInG, 

mini golf, bumper cars, bowling, and even indoor surfing for those so inclined.

We stuck to the kid-friendly bowling and mini golf; had a little too much sugar and whole lot of fun;

and though our camera didn't catch it, we learned that those adorable shoes work just as well for dancing.

sewing confidence

My mom taught me how to sew when I was young. 

She was the 4-H mother.

I even won a ribbon in the county fair for an outfit I sewed, once.

But I wasn't that interested and I didn't practice.

In 7th grade Home-Ec, my teacher told me I was a horrible sewer

and I made up my mind that sewing wasn't for me.

In the many years since, I've had little need or inclination for this art

until my little girl said she wanted a Mary Bo Peep birthday

and my mom found the most adorable pattern.

So with some trepidation and a LOT of help and coaching from mom

I am creating that outfit.

It is not surprising to discover I CAN, indeed, sew.

I have been surprised that my love for my daughter has increased 

as I spend time and effort creating something special for her.

She loves helping and maybe someday, if I practice enough, 

I'll be able to teach her.

thanks, mom  :-)

card making

I'm taking an online class to learn photoshop techniques 

for making cards and digital scrapbooking.

It is through JessicaSprague.com

The best part about it is, I can do the projects at my leisure

all the instructions and materials are available to me forever

(as long as I remember my login)

And it has turned out to be quite timely, as I 

used some of my newfound skills to create these invitations 

for Laila's upcoming birthday party.

She even got in on the action. 

not the photoshop, but she sure assembled like a pro.

dahl

I finally found a use for those lentils that I picked up at the one-time co-op I tried over a year ago. 

Indian Dahl (or Dal) was actually pretty good. Very comfort food-ish.

If you are interested, find the recipe here

craft zero

On craft day, we drive down to the local Roberts Arts & Crafts

where we spend an hour or so making the scheduled item 

(that someone else came up with ;-)

 It requires of me zero prep, zero supply storage, & zero cleanup

we walk in, sit down, do our thing, and walk out 

. . . with balloons trailing behind us

All three of us having a marvelous time, bringing home our treasures with pride

treasures like the friendly frog and lovely ladybug 

who now greet us at our back door each day, chiming in the wind. 

Bridger Lake, July 2