AJC Week 23: A Good Read

Week 23’s topic was an easy one: what do you read? I’ve always got something to read with me, wherever I go. It might be a book or a magazine, something I own or something from the library. I need to be prepared in case there are a few minutes that need filling while waiting somewhere! I photographed a stack of books that are old and current favorites, and then filled in the rest of the page with a montage representing some of my favorite genres.

credits: by Lorie Davison at scrapbookgraphics: Before the First Snow, Don't Eat Worms World, Flitting Fall Faeries, A Pioneer Story, Ticket To Dragon's End, Blooming Sweethearts In the Garden Elements (alpha); skeleton from Fright Delight by Holly Griego at ShabbyPickle; headstone from Googly Moogly by Saxon Holt and Tracy Monette at scrapbook-elements; apple from Love Bites by Dani Mogstad, Traci Reed, and Shawna Clingerman at SweetShoppeDesigns
fonts: TXT Romanesque

Bryce’s 14th Birthday Party

So, I felt like a total slacker when it came to Bryce’s party this year. Again, just like Brenna’s tea party it was very late because of everything we had going on from Spring break forward. Before school got out, I had Bryce ask his friends when would be a good day for them to have the party. I had told him that we would go to one of the places in town that has arcade games and other sorts of activities, and that his friends could also stay the night, since that is one of the things he wanted. We had tentatively picked June 11, and then with the end of the school year, dance recital, and his younger sister’s party the day snuck up on me and I was still unprepared. It’s a good thing that 14 year old boys don’t require a whole lot! Just about all of the final info and confirmations were passed along by phone to the boys invited- at one point we even had a conference call going on with 2 other families LOL I picked up the 3 guests Friday afternoon and gave their parents this ‘info’ sheet with the party details that I whipped together that morning since I had been remiss in getting invitations out earlier.
 
credits: i Robot by Kate Hadfield and Kaye Winieki at The-LilyPad
fonts: TXT Monkeyshine

I brought the guests back to our house where they deposited their overnight gear (a change of clothes, maybe a toothbrush and a lot of videogames I would guess LOL) and my mom helped ferry everyone over to Mr. Biggs for the rest of the afternoon and early evening fun.  I sat and scrapped a page for scrapbookgraphics while Brenna and Sarah explored Little Big Town and the older kids rode the Go Karts and played laser tag, among other things. We practically had the place to ourselves the whole evening so they got to do what they wanted over and over with hardly a wait. The Go Karts were definitely a favorite with everyone. Brenna and Sarah couldn’t drive, but they could ride with any of the older kids. Here are some photos of some of the fun:
   Pirate Cove was a fun place with the air guns to play with.
 
journaling: One of the rooms at Mr. Biggs is a pirate cove. The ship has two air guns on it that fire nerf balls at the surrounding walls, which of course are defended with their own air guns. We had the place pretty much to ourselves this Friday afternoon and it was the boys defending their island stronghold against those nasty girl pirates.
credits: Where Are We? by Pixel Works at scrapartist; Itty Bitty Dates No. 1 by Biograffiti; Pencil Lines birthday template by Kate Hadfield (blog freebie); Stick It Dates by Darcy Baldwin at SweetShoppeDesigns;
fonts: CK Pirate Hand

Once we came home about 8:30, we had birthday cake (nothing fancy this time, just chocolate fudge with chocolate icing and sprinkles) the boys fired up the Wii and proceeded to play games well into the wee hours. I woke up at 2:45A and after checking to see if they were still awake (some of them were) told them to turn it off and get a few hours of sleep. I made a simple breakfast of waffles with fresh strawberries and orange juice and they continued to play games until parents came to collect everyone. It was a good time for everyone. Bryce has a good set of friends who I don’t mind having over, we just need to fit it in a bit more! I was remiss in getting a picture of all of them together before they left :( I hope Bryce finds some good friends like these at Vista Ridge HS next year as Justin was moving out of state this week and the other two boys will be attending Sand Creek HS.

Brenna’s Fancy Birthday Tea Party

A series of books that Brenna loves are the Fancy Nancy stories by Jane O’Conner. Nancy loves fancy things, and tea parties are very fancy. Brenna had wanted a tea party for her next birthday since last summer, and on June 2 we finally hosted a very fancy party for her (we had many delays due to Spring break, Easter, dance competitions, end of school concerts and plays, etc., etc.).

credits: everything at scrapbookgraphics: Daydreamer by Flergs, Flitting Fall Faeries Tea Party Elements, BuziBugs' Happy Birthday and Blooming Sweethearts by Lorie Davison
paper credits: scallop edger punch by Fiskars, rhinestones by Darice
fonts: CK Curly Cursive, DB Fancy Flourishes, CK Mou Saha

The party was a cross between a Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy party- so lots of pink, flowers, ribbons, and a touch of Paris thrown in since everyone knows that things are fancier when you say them in French (according to Fancy Nancy anyway ;) )    

The menu consisted of:
*Strawberry cupcakes with fondant flowers
*Pink raspberry lemonade with real raspberries
*Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
*Yogurt and Berry Parfaits
*Strawberry Swirls
*Nancy’s Nibblers (raisin bread with strawberry cream cheese and raspberries on top, cut into triangles)
*Tea party chocolates, made sparkly with pink lustre dust (I had the chocolate molds from Beth and Carissa’s birthday tea party in 2006)
*Party mints

It was a beautiful sunny day, so the girls got to eat and play outside in the backyard.

I remembered I had a castle play tent stored in the garage that I set up in the backyard for the party. They all loved playing in it, even the big girls ;) I actually got it many years ago for the twins and for various reasons never gave it to them. It was perfect for the party.

For crafts, we made some fancy flip-flops by tying Organdy ribbon strips on the sandal straps and made tissue-paper flowers with tissue-paper squares and pipe cleaners. The girls lasted longer at the crafts than I expected. Beth, Carissa, and a mom or two helped me fluff out the guests flip-flops a bit with more ribbon while the girls played in the backyard before they left.

At the end of the day, I moved the castle tent up to Brenna and Sarah’s bedroom for a sleepover inside the house. It was a good day, I think.

And a big thank you to my good helpers, Beth and Carissa. They helped with making various food items, cutting craft parts, and generally keeping the girls entertained and things running smoothly during the party. It was much easier to accomplish everything with them around!

credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Daydreamer by Flergs, Flitting Fall Faeries Tea Party Elements, BuziBugs' Happy Birthday and Blooming Sweethearts, and Blooming Sweethearts Addon by Lorie Davison; Template 155 by Yin Designs
fonts: CK Invitation and CK Chocolate Sundae by Lorie Davison

It (sort of) feels like summer

*it’s hot (not really- it’s only been hot summer temps for about a week so far. The rest of the time it has been warm, windy and rainy). It is nice and warm today with temps in the upper 80s, and it is supposed to stay this way through the weekend, I believe.
*school is out (yeah!)
*I get to sleep late (most days) , though the number of days is reduced now that summer dance has started- Beth & Carissa have 2 morning tap classes.
*I hear “I’m bored” and “there’s nothing to do” come from my childrens’ lips. Unfortunately that was just last week and even a bit earlier this afternoon, from Brenna. Summer has barely even started, girl! She was counting down the days until the summer dance classes started. She was especially excited about getting to go to her first Acro class Monday night. Today is a day we don’t have dance classes and I swear the child doesn’t know what to do with herself if she doesn’t have a class to go to- she loves dance!

Speaking of dance, this was the view I had a couple of mornings this week through the door and viewing window. Beth and Carissa moved up to Tap 2 and are now tapping with the ‘senior’ dancers at our studio with Ms. Nicole as their teacher.
I have to say it was a bit strange for me to see them in there LOL. Tuesday was their first Tap 2 technique class and it was tough for them. They got through it with a small bit of upset at how difficult all of the new things were, but they did get through it. It won’t be too long before they start to catch on to the new stuff though, I bet. Thursday was the Jr/Sr Prep class and they had a blast at that one! 

And since I posted a few dance photos, here are a couple of Sarah in her summer Tiny Tumblers class. She’s working on learning to turn a cartwheel in these. 

Now, onto catching up with recent layouts I’ve done.

The dress rehearsal for the big recital opening number. It was a 'Cirque de Soleil' style ballet number.
credits: everything at scrapbookgraphics: Jen Caputo: Template Collection 33; by Flergs: Volterra, Party Central; Birgit Kerr: Urban Love, Joyful (diamond paper), Lullaby (sequin butterfly), Ztampf!: Satin Swirls Ribbons Pack; by Tangie Baxter: At The Ballet, Muse*ical Theater, Icky Stickies 1, Halloween Magic (seed beads); Wendyzine: Warp It; retired products: Studio Girls Funky Train (stitched sequins); Traci Sims: Everyday Essential Trims (white bead trim); Randi Oh: Bella Joy (twisted bead strand) ; fonts: MA Sexy

 

Brenna loves the monkey bars at playgrounds. I remember her coming home one day from kindergarten and her being all excited because she had finally made it all the way across during recess that day. I was able to get some pictures of her on the school playground during Field Day a couple of weeks before school finished for the year.

 
journaling: Brenna’s favorite thing to do on the playground is the monkey bars. She was so proud the first time she was able to go all the way across! She often comes home with blisters on her hands because she plays on them so much at recess with Evelyn.
credits: Zoo Crew papers and elements, Mismatched Type by Jacque Larsen, Where Bluebirds Fly by Kaye Winieki
fonts: TXT Monkeyshine and LD Letterpress

Going back in time just a bit- 2004 to be exact. I dug out these pictures of a church potluck/picnic to use with a beautiful new SBG collab that celebrates all kinds of outdoor summer fun. The little person in these pics is Brenna- my how she has grown ;)
journaling: We had lots ot fun at the annual Faith EFC picnic at Fox Run Park. The tables groan with good food, people bring games to play, the smaLLer kids enjoy the pLayground nearby, and usually someone brings Lots of water balloons to ‘heLp’ everyone cool off when it gets too hot. Our stomp bottle rocket is a popular pastime too with people of all ages.August 29, 2004
credits: Fresh Outdoors by Studio Girls at scrapbookgraphics; Template 200 by Yin Designs; fonts: TXT Monkeyshine

I sent Brenna to a party with the mice at Greymouse Manor for last week’s Lorie Davison playday at Scrapbookgraphics. She loved dancing with them! credits: everything from Greymouse Manor Winter Ball with Everything In It by Lorie Davison at scrapbookgraphics

A quick graduation gift bag and card I whipped up for Jenna, one of Brenna and Sarah’s apprentice teachers at TDC who graduated from high school in May. Along with copies of all of the pictures I took at various dance venues during this last year, we also gave her a gift card to a movie theater chain so she could take some time to relax a bit once everything was over. If she doesn’t have a chance to use it this summer, it is good at any of their theaters around the country so she could still use it after she leaves for college.

We’ll miss you, Jenna. Good luck to you as you go off to new adventures in college next year!

We’ll miss having Ms. Cindy as the twins’ tap teacher too. They are going to join the apprentice program this fall since they turn 12 and I’m sure they will be helping her out in her Tap classes, so  it certainly isn’t goodbye. Sarah will continue in Cindy’s combo class in the fall and if the schedule allows we might even get Brenna started on her tap technique classes. Thanks for all you’ve done for Beth and Carissa, Cindy!