Girl Scout Camping

Last weekend Macy's brownie troop went camping for the very first time. Okay, not real camping, just sleeping in a large cabin on a Girl Scout camping facility, but for all intents and purposes, camping. I thought Macy could go without me like she's done on every single brownie outing since I had Kate, but this one required parent participation. Since I am still nursing Kate, an overnight was out of the question.

Macy was the only girl who wasn't going to be able to go, so they bent the rules a bit and let us come for crafts and dinner. Woo Hoo! They did this because Macy is a sweet and wonderful girl. Everyone likes her-kids and grown ups. I even like her. She's very popular in an unassuming way. If she had been born in a hospital, I would swear they switched babies on us.

When we arrived the girls had already been there since early morning. Everyone stopped what they were doing and shouted "Macy!" just like they used to say "Norm!" on Cheers.

Macy's first craft was to make a candle nestled in some plaster of paris with some sea shells.

They turned out very cute. We love ours. The kids fight over who gets to blow out the candle after dinner.

The next craft was to paint a bird house. Since they didn't think Macy was coming, we had to buy ours and bring it with us. They just said to pick up one that cost five dollars. There were a million bird houses that cost five dollars, so I just had Macy pick one. Of course hers is the Taj Mahal of bird houses. Everyone else's looked like this:
You would think everyone would be saying, "Why does Macy have that kind of birdhouse and I don't?" Or maybe you would think that Macy was concerned that hers didn't look like everyone else's? Nope. Everyone admired hers and Macy could have cared less if hers was different. Again, I am amazed that she is my child.
Finally she finished up with the traditional peanut butter on a pine cone and rolled in bird seed bird feeder. Fortunately for the troop, no one is allergic to peanuts.
Between craft stations the girls colored bandannas. Bandannas are a big deal in Girl Scouting when camping. They are great for all sorts of things. I didn't know about the wonder of the bandanna until I became a girl scout leader myself. Now we never go camping without several of them.
Macy's favorite thing to do with her bandanna is to wear it on her head. Her new leader is putting it on her. Her new leader is great. Everyone loves her and she does the neatest things with the girls. Her leader last year never did anything fun. The leader's excuse was that she was sick and pregnant and then she had this new baby. She was so lame. Oh yeah, that was me. Moving on . . .
Finally, after making dinner, almost burning down the cabin with an electrical fire and eating, the girls washed the dishes. Macy and I soon left to go home. It was so much fun, that we wished we could have stayed to spend the night. Maybe next year. It's a good thing we came home though because Kate decide to start throwing up at 4:00 in the morning. Now that would have been a shame to miss.

This is one cheesy ride

Behold the Cheesemobile.

This is Ben's entry for this year's Pinewood Derby. The Derby is tomorrow. Let us not forget that Ben can also enter this in the fair. I definitely think it is fairworthy.

Ben came up with the idea himself and did most of the work, although we had a neighbor cut the wedge with his electric saw and I helped hold the car while Ben drilled his cheese holes. I also helped with the wheels. He put them on, but I directed and held the car in place. It can be tricky! We glued the axels in place this time because last year one of his wheels fell off during a race and he never won a race after that happened.

We waited too late to get enough weights and when we went to get more last night, there was none to be found. We had some left over from last year, but needed to add a whole ounce to the car! We used magnets, but some are not fully attached and they need to be for his car to qualify, so I'm going glue them on tonight.This is a picture from Richard Scarry's book "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go". It was Ben's favorite book when he was little. He insists he didn't get the idea from the book, but I can't help but think this picture has been sitting in his subconscious all this time.

Edited to add: Ben didn't win anything at his pinewood derby, but he had a good time. The cheesemobile awaits it's summer entry in the fair, where I'm sure the judges will be impressed and amazed.

WANTED: Various Household Items

If you are like me (I know, a scary thought, but stay with me) then you belong to your local Freecycle Yahoo Group. Everyday many e-mails arrive in our inbox with the titles of OFFER or WANTED. The WANTED are my favorites. I like them because they are often an easy way for me to give something away without actually having to post on Freecycle myself. I have given away carseats, clothing, lawnmower and even a computer after reading the WANTED postings on freecycle.

A week or so ago, a WANTED e-mail arrived in my inbox that totally redefined the term "household items" for me. The e-mail is printed below, exactly as it was sent to Freecycle.

WANTED: Various Household Items

I recently have moved into my first apartment and I am in desperate need of the following household items;

a 19" or bigger color televison,

working dvd and vhs players,

a microwave,

dining room set,

wooden hangers,

and pushing it but hopefully will be possible to have a working (could even be outdated) laptop that could be used for school and work.

Any of these items would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately I was unable to help this person, but hopefully she was able to get some of those deperately needed "household items". Makes me wonder how I ever survived in my first apartment, since I thought all I needed was some sheets, towels and pots and pans! :)

Snow Day!

A snow day! Not an "Innauguration" snow day. Not a "we got an inch of snow and we were supposed to get more" snow day. Not an "1/2" of ice all over the place" snow day. A real snow day with real snow. We had to wait until March, but who cares. Lots of snow! Woo Hoo!

Of course the temperature is 24 degrees but the wind chill makes it feel much, much colder.

Claire, how about you shovel off the deck?
Doing a great job!
You missed a little bit over there.
What do you mean you're tired of shoveling?
Eleanor isn't feeling too well, so she's just relaxing in the snow.
Kate's just happy she's inside where it's warm.
Ben wants to know if 8:30am is too early for a cup of hot chocolate.