Exciting times

Back in the day (mid August, that is) LargeBoy had a little incident involving gravity and a skateboard, which resulted in a very sore hand. Turns out, on examination by a specialist, it is not actually just badly bruised, but actually has a weird broken bone. So he now has his arm in a cast for the fourth time. He did switch arms, though!

SUPER CUTE MOMENT:
After SmallDaughter finished up her Horse Riding Therapy (the high point of her week), she asked if we could go see the "ducks"--she clearly remembers going to Kingwood Center (which we drive right past), and I decided to stop and let her. Our parking space was close to the entrance, and she headed off to the duck pond by herself, which was fine, since I could see her, and there weren't any other people around. I rummaged around in my purse to find a quarter to buy corn for the ducks (she loves the little "bubble gum" vending machines that dispense bird food!). Just as I was walking over, she came RUNNING back towards me (which is very out of character), signing "scary, scary". Turns out, the peacock was right by the vending machine, but the tall grass had hidden him until she came around the corner! And since he is as tall as she is--freaky! He and the peahen kept trying to get all the food she wanted to throw to the ducks--it was pretty funny! She kept telling him "shoo"--but he was persistent!

I am trying to get ready to go to PA for a family reunion, and then have a bunch of awesome people here and a party for General Conference. And I am sewing a bunch of change aprons for the Boy Scouts for selling popcorn. Well-six, anyway. And (much cooler) I took 3 stuffed animals apart (a racoon, a hideous rat in a dress, and a much loved, worn out old bear*) and turned them into an Akela headdress for the Cub Scouts. I am about half done, and it seems to be coming together.

And, today I got a call for a temp job with the Board of Elections--starting tomorrow. This week should be really exciting! I am off to bed--it is way past the seminary teacher's bedtime!

* I realized as I took the bear apart that it was stuffed with shredded paper, (which explained why all the stuffing ended up in the limbs, with very little in the torso). In possibly the most surreal moment of my week, upon closer examination, it wasn't paper, but but a clever recycling of the shredded up byproducts left over when they manufacture sanitary pads--the cotton fluff and the very distinctive "always" plastic overlay. Weird, but rather clever (I guess!).

Summer Happenings

I've been to busy to post (yadda, yadda, yadda, we've all heard that before!)

However, I have been really busy!

We are firmly back into the swing of Seminary. In years past, my seminary class has had either 1 or 2 students. However, I am very excited to announce that THIS YEAR I have 4 or 5 students here at the house every morning (depends on if somebody's car is running!), and 1 or 2 on the phone. Then, on the 2nd and 4th Sundays we have a 2 hour class at the chapel with all of those, plus 2 or 3 additional students. Yay! They are a really awesome class, too—they all like each other and like being together.

This last week was full of fun and adventure. SmallDaughter’s riding therapy has started back up again, so FINALLY when she asks if we are going to the “horsies” I can say yes! (she asks every time she goes in the car, or gets off the school van!—I think she likes it!)

I had great karma at goodwill and got her 5 new long sleeved T-shirts (mostly pink and lavender, but the one she chose this morning is red and white stripes, a la Waldo!), PLUS several dresses which she desperately needed. I also scored 4 pairs of pants for LargeBoy (including a pair of really nice official Boy Scout pants, which are just a little big for $4!). WIN!

Speaking of LargeBoy, he went on a Camporee to our (reasonably) local Nuclear Power Station and got his Nuclear Science Merit Badge! He said it was really interesting—and (unlike in the movies!) the Uranium Cells do not glow Kryptonite green . They are black when they go in, and then they glow cobalt blue! He says they are under 34 feet of water, but the water is so pure you can’t tell it’s there!

Over the past couple of weeks we have also had BigGirl's 16th Birthday, and Birthday Party! She had 8 girls for a sleepover, which went really well--Although, both "slumber party" and "sleepover" are oxymorons! From the evidence, "all night giggle-fest" seems pretty apropos! It had a “book” theme, and everybody dressed as a character from a book.




I made really cute menus for Dinner and Brunch.
The final Dinner menu (for Friday Night) included:
Ravioli (from Twilight)
Stew (from the Lord of the Rings)
Bread & Cheeses (from the Hunger Games)
Jiggler Bats (from Vampire Kisses)
Blue Birthday Cake (from Percy Jackson)
Butter Beer (from Harry Potter)

The Brunch menu (on Saturday mid-morning) was:
Green Egg and Ham Puffs (from Green Eggs & Ham)
Bread & Jam (from Bread & Jam for Frances)
Cucumber Sandwiches (from the Importance of Being Earnest)
Chicken Salad Sandwiches-Just because they are So Yummy!
Scones (from Five Go Down to the Sea)
Lemony Snickets (from A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Herb Tea
Raspberry Lemonade

It was all really fun and delicious! She received lots of GREAT gifts—including a game of Guillotine, which was played, to much mirth! We also played the Candy Bar Game, Scattergories and our newest acquisition, “Snakeoil”.


I was a busy girl, too. Besides my thrift store awesomeness, I returned the 10 hens I was “chicken sitting” for my friend (they moved, and it took a little while to get a coop built!)—hers were pretty, but much meaner than mine are!

On Wed, I decorated the RS room for a wedding open house the RS is having for a couple who just got married—however—I got the date wrong and it is NEXT Sunday! That’s ok—they just kept the decorations up!

I also acquired 3 bookcases from my friend’s shed—and she is just as thrilled to have them gone as I am to have them! One is short and fat and it will store Seminary stuff in the dining room. The other two are tall and skinny. The plain one goes into LargeBoy’s room, and the pretty antique one goes into mine, to corral the mess of books that always end up by my nightstand! Yay! BigGirl already got 2 nice bookcases in her room, so things are definitely looking up in the “place for everything” category!

I was supposed to say the opening prayer in Sacrament Meeting, but it seems to be a rule that the only time I am late to church is when I am the opening prayer! I have been rescheduled to closing prayer, next week!

In one of the weirder things, LargeBoy got inspired by a combination of SmallDaughter's sidewalk chalk and this favorite video:

and the result was when I came downstairs in the morning, I was confronted by THIS on my dining room carpet!




Our kittens are now at the peak of funny cuteness. They attack each other regularly (and bottle lids, cords and ribbons, shadows and anything else!) In epic cuteness, their favorite place to sleep is curled up in the WonderDog's water and food dishes! However, one day (after apparently boning up on the “kitten cuteness manual”) they all fell asleep in a large, very decorative basket I had in the dining room!