Her First Formal

My "baby" is not so much a baby any longer. She attended her first formal a few weeks ago, and looked beautiful. Her friend Meredith fixed her hair into a style that was becoming to Abigail and accented her dress nicely. 

 Her shoes? Simple, clear jelly flats. They looked like glass slippers!

Which was quite fitting since the formal was held in a real castle. And after all, she is Cinderella!

Pysanka

When Elizabeth told me to mark April 11 on my calendar for Pysanka eggs, Abigail and I googled images and began to get excited. When we arrived for the event Abigail dove right in. I was a bit more cautious, asking questions, observing, and sketching on my egg before applying any wax.

Black was the last color I needed to dip in, and because only the stripes on the bees and a tiny little opening on the beehive were to be this color, my eggs was almost entirely covered in wax. I was a nervous wreck that I had just spent three hours creating a mess rather than a masterpiece.

When I started to melt the wax and wipe it off revealing the design underneath, I became very excited. I think Elizabeth and Leigh Ann got a charge out of hearing me squeal with delight.

What a fun project! I could see myself becoming addicted to that tradition.

You can read more about the process here.

October 2013

Recipe for the popcorn bars can be found here. I HIGHLY recommend adding nuts. 

October came, and now it's nearly gone. I completed another trip around the sun. I gave and received snuggles, cooked soups and scones, ate goodies, oversaw Abigail's lessons, finished two quilt tops, and ran. And ran. And ran.

Three more sleeps until Verne and I run our marathon. I think we'll both be glad for the time change that night.

We are the Champions!

Two years ago now, my husband had a dream. Verne took Collin and Sam to a 5k race, and Sam won. The entire trip back, Verne's wheels were spinning. 

What if he could put together a cross-country team for home schoolers? He asked the boys what they thought, and they quickly became excited. Cross country led to basketball, and then track. 

This was our second year, and we added girl's volleyball to the mix. Last spring, Verne took 9 children to the state meet for our conference. This year,Verne and I coached 63 children on the track team with the assistance of our friends Julie and Denny. Sixty-three! 

Last Friday, 27 kids gathered at the state meet to compete for our team. (The meet was varsity level, but we took a few younger ones that we knew could hold their own in the competition.)  

The above photo was taken just as we were all leaving to head to the awards ceremony after the competitions were over. 

And this one? This was after we found out that we were the champions for BOTH the boy's and girl's teams. What an emotional day! I'm so proud of Verne. He puts a good 20 hours a week into this dream,  and it has really paid off. Seeing the smiles on the faces of these children was even better than the trophies we received. Good work, team!

Four Roses

Collin is taking Chemistry with three other boys this year, and our friend Pat is their superior teacher. Though her children are long grown, she's taken these boys under her wing, and made them enjoy the class far more than if I had been teaching. 

It's been forever since we've taken a field trip of any kind, and Pat arranged for the boys to go to a distillery as part of their curriculum. Today was the day. We learned so much in our time there, and the facility was extremely kind to our little group. 

It smelled wonderful, and the vats of bourbon in the making, bubbling from the yeast were a sight to see.

Pat, our teacher, above left and my friends Mary Lou and Jennifer. The boys thought we were having entirely too much fun. 

There was taste testing for the moms, and smelling for the boys. None of us loves bourbon, but I have to say that the Four Roses bourbon was the best I've ever tried. (Out of all 2-3 kinds I've had in my life!)

What a fun day! What a fun teacher!