Moments in Time

I have survived the first leg of Ali's slumber party. We had 5 girls (plus Ali), but 2 are not spending the night. (One we knew wasn't - the other one we'd hoped would.) One is coming back tomorrow morning, though, before we go to the movies to see Happily Never After. Oh, but another one is also leaving before the movie. And Jessica's friend is leaving at 7:45 a.m. for church. I think I need a revolving front door...

Right now they're all quietly watching Flushed Away and eating popcorn. Whew! They've played outside, painted each other's nails, decorated goody bags, had pizza, went to the park and did presents & cake. I'm hoping that the walk to the park (a good 10 minutes each way) plus playing tag, etc., at the park will counteract the effects of soda, cake and ice cream! :-) Trying to get the attention of six little 8 and 9 year old girls gives me a whole new appreciation for Ali's soccer coach. He has 16 girls to try to keep focused! Some times I pity the poor guy when he's trying to talk to all of them at once.

Speaking of Ali's soccer team, here's their team picture from last weekend (Ali's in back, on the right):


They won their game today. They're playing better - the coach and 2 other dads have done wonders in such a short time, I think. The weather was really gorgeous this morning, too - much better than last week's chilly 40's!

It was a weekend to celebrate all the arts! First, there was book club. (Where, admittedly, we appreciate food & drink and each other's company as much as the literature!).

Next, on Saturday afternoon I met up with a group of wonderful rubberstampers (the InkyFingers club) who meet once a month at a local church. These ladies are TALENTED! It's always fun to see what other people create with similar materials. This month's class was using card kits with layout patterns. Here are the two cards that I made with my kits:


Later in the afternoon, Jess and I went to the Heritage Festival for a while. There were several "heritage" crafters (including a lady using a real spinning wheel) and the beautiful quilts in the above picture. (You can click on any pictures in this entry to see them enlarged.) By that time, the chilly weather of the morning had passed. It was sunny and warm enough to skip the jacket. Jessica especially enjoyed watching the cloggers. They had an older male dancer who was just phenomenal. I wish that I had that kind of energy!



Sunday we headed down the lake, where unfortunately, the weather was definitely not a thing of beauty! It was cool and cloudy - no swimming at Grammy's that day. The kids still had fun hanging out together and celebrating Ali's upcoming birthday.

A: When it's Alison's toy chest!!

This weekend I spent a lot of time with Ali on cleaning out/organizing her closet and toy chest. Other than a pop-gun and a few miscellaneous goody bag type toys, that kid didn't have a single toy in her "toy box"! Among the contents: school papers, socks (some clean, some not) and an unwrapped lollipop. Now, I'm the type to hang on to something "just in case I need it some day", but Alison just brings all new meaning to the term packrat!

I had really hoped to do some stamping this weekend, but I was a good mom instead and helped my kid in her room (which was really good for me, too, since I'm hoping she'll be able to keep it cleaner - much less yelling and stress on my part). So, I'll share this card I made a few weeks ago. It's for a contest called "Brilliantly Basic". I'm not expecting to win, but it sure would be nice.



I hope everyone had a good Labor Day!