Jessica's Sewing Class

I have been sewing a lot this summer and Jessica has expressed a lot of interest in it. She's helped me pick out fabric, sort, and cut. I've showed her a few sewing basics, but she really wanted to learn more. So, I signed her up for a summer sewing class at a local craft supply store. She learned how to make a pillowcase, and now wants to make one for everyone in our family. Here is a picture of Jessica with her friend and the pillowcases they made.

Playing in the Fountain

On Monday while we were still in Columbus, we went to a local shopping area that has a fountain that the Browns like to play in. We've been before but it's been a few years, so Kim packed a picnic lunch and the kids spent the afternoon running around getting wet. They had a great time!

The cousins by the fountain

Running around having fun

Cute little Allison

My sweet boy, Alexander

Spencer was the jumping king

Logan made sure Ethan didn't wander off

Spencer and Ethan taking a break

A Trip to the Columbus Zoo

We went to visit my sister's family in Columbus last weekend. They took us to the zoo on Saturday. Here are some of the pictures of our fun day together --

Our group at the Columbus Zoo

Logan sharing a kiss and his glasses with baby Ethan

Stopping for a drink and bathroom break

Looking at the monkeys

Carter and Alex waiting for the penguins to jump in the water

Logan said, "I am a monkey!"

On our way out, we got to touch a baby alligator

Jiffy Factory Tour

Last Tuesday, I took the kids on a Jiffy Factory Tour in Chelsea, Michigan, only 30 miles away from us. It was free, and I thought, what the hey? It's a good, educational experience, why not? But since the tours are only for those older than 6 years old, Logan couldn't go with us. So, my friend Laurel was nice enough to watch him while we took her two oldest kids, Emma and James with us. The Jiffy Factory is run by the Chelsea Milling Company and has been in operation since the early 1900's. We saw where they store wheat and mill it into flour (producing over one-half million pounds of soft wheat each day), and then watched as it was prepared into the Jiffy mixes, and dispensed into the Jiffy boxes on the line. At the end of the tour, we were allowed to pick a mix to take home. Those over 13 years old got to choose two boxes. The kids thought they should choose two as well. Spencer was disappointed because he is only one year away and said we should come next year so he can get two boxes too. They had many mixes to choose from -- biscuit, baking mix, pancake mix, pizza crust, pie crust, brownies, cake mixes, frosting mixes, and 6 different muffin mixes. After the tour, we went to a nearby park and had a picnic.

I think the kids really thought it was interesting. I'm glad we went. It was definitely worth it. We've been making Jiffy mixes all week! My favorite has been the raspberry muffins... yum!

The kids in front of the Jiffy Mix Factory

Getting ready to watch a slide show before the tour

We had to wear hair nets before going into the factory

Our group by the Jiffy trucks just after picking out our Jiffy mix.

Cute Corn-on-the-Cob Cupcakes

I found this on Martha Stewart's website. Aren't these the cutest cupcakes? Jessica and I have decided we are going to make them before the summer is over. I adore cupcakes! YUM!!

INGREDIENTS --

Vanilla frosting
Yellow food coloring
24 Vanilla cupcakes, baked in white paper liners
3 1/2 cups small yellow, cream, or white jelly beans (such as Jelly Belly)
4 pieces yellow fruit chews (such as Laffy Taffy)
1 Tbsp. black decorating sugar
1 Tbsp. white decorating sugar
8 sets of corn holders (optional)

Color the frosting pale yellow with food coloring. Working with 3 cupcakes at a time, frost cupcakes with yellow frosting. Arrange 5 rows of jelly beans, close together, on each cupcake. Place the 3 cupcakes side by side on a corn dish or serving platter to resemble and ear of corn. Repeat process with remaining cupcakes, frosting and jelly beans.

Cut the fruit chews into eight 1-inch squares. Soften the edges slightly by hand so that they look like melted butter. Place 1 square on top of each ear of corn. Sprinkle with sugars. Insert a corn holder in the end of each ear of corn, if desired. Serve.

Makes 24 cupcakes or 8 "ears" of corn.

Spencer's First Scout Camp -- July 28 - August 2

As a heads-up, I have to begin by letting you know this will probably be a long post. Spencer went to Scout Camp last week and today I decided to write down my views and thoughts about it. I also asked Spencer to write down everything he remembered about his experience at camp too, before he forgets. He didn't want to at first, but then as he sat down and begun typing, the experiences came pouring out and he wrote more and more. It took him between 2 - 3 hours before he was done. I asked him lots of questions to help jog his memory so he could add a lot more detail. I've copied and pasted his thoughts at the bottom of this post. I told him it's important to journal experiences like these. Someday he'll be glad to read about it and remember the things he did at his first year of scout camp.


MOM'S THOUGHTS ON SCOUT CAMP --
Spencer got back last Saturday afternoon (Aug. 2) after spending the whole week at Rota-Kiwan Scout Camp Reservation, located two hours west of us in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was his first time at scout camp. He was a little nervous but also a little excited. The Saturday before he left, he spent the morning packing and getting ready to go. The scout master gave us a list of items that he needed to bring. On Saturday morning, I gave Spencer a duffle bag and the list and said "Go pack!" I wanted to see if he could do it alone, and also see what he would actually pack without my help. I'd like to think I made an impact on him when I saw that he actually packed 5 different pairs of pants, several pairs of PJ's, a pair of clean underwear for each day he was there, and more than enough shirts to get by for the week. Joshua was adamant that he only needed one pair of pants for nighttime and a few pairs of shorts. Joshua is a minimalist when it comes to packing for anything -- even for family vacations! I tried to tell him that not every boy wants to put on the same pair of dirty pants and/or shorts each day but he just shakes his head at me. I guess it's a guy thing. I'm not afraid to get dirty while camping, but I do appreciate a clean pair of clothes to put on each morning. "Boys don't change their clothes at Scout camp!", Joshua informed me. "Well, maybe you didn't, but Spencer will!", I replied. I was wrong. He came home with most of his clothes unworn, but smelly from putting his dirty clothes back in with the clean ones. I had to wash everything in the bag!

He also didn't brush his teeth or take a shower the whole week either! Dirty clothes I can live with, but unbrushed teeth? And no showers for a week? But to be fair, none of the boys in his troop brushed or showered. Spencer and the other boys thought that the showers at camp were disgusting. I told him that HE was probably more disgusting than the showers by the end of the week. Why didn't the leaders enforce showers? They did when I went to Girls Camp! UGH! Spencer has been getting murmurings and grumblings from me this week on oral hygiene and who would be paying the next dental bills for cavities.

This year, Camp Rota-Kiwan was comprised completely of LDS scout troops from around the state of Michigan. Apparently it is rare when our scout troop gets an opportunity to attend an all LDS scout camp, so we were glad Spencer was old enough to experience that this year. At camp they had devotionals and testimony meetings which would be unique to the usual, standard scout camp, and the boys were able to meet and be around other LDS leaders and scouts.

The Dads of all the scouts in our ward took turns that week going to chaperone for a day and night. Joshua went on Wednesday night and all day Thursday. I sent a note with Joshua to give to Spencer telling him how much I loved and missed him and hoped he was having a good time. I also talked to Spencer on Joshua's cell phone for a half hour on Wed. evening. He told me tons of things about camp and thanked me for the note. He said I was the best mom because noone else's mom did that. That made me feel good. I love him!

When all was said and done, Spencer had a great time. At home we really missed him last week, especially Jessica, but we're glad he had a good experience. And Joshua and I are on our way to becoming experts at the "do's and don'ts" for scout camp. With several more years before Spencer is done, and two more boys working their way up to it, we'll someday be pros. This year, I didn't feel like one though. It was definitely a novel experience for me.


SPENCER'S THOUGHTS ON SCOUT CAMP --
On the night before I went to camp my Dad told me to set my alarm. I felt like I was going to school again. When my alarm rang on Monday morning it was early. I took a shower and got dressed and ate breakfast. My Dad drove me to Aldridge Gillespie’s house (He is one of my friends from scouts). All the deacons were meeting at his house to carpool to camp. It was about a 2 hour drive. In the car we talked, slept, and looked out of the window.

When we got there we ate lunch in the dining hall (chili dogs, potato chips, and salad). Then me and my friend Chandler went to Archery class (He is my best friend and we signed up for all the same merit badge classes). We talked about safety and always pointing your arrow down range. It was pretty boring that day because we didn’t get to shoot yet, but I knew it was important so I made sure to pay attention.

After Archery, we went to Leatherwork class. You could choose whatever you wanted to make – A small or large pocketknife holder, a luggage tag, a braided or straight belt, a small bag (those are the only ones I can remember, but there were tons more). I choose to make a straight belt. On the first day all I did was put in holes.

The next class was First Aid and we talked about splints and then we went to dinner. We ate macaroni & cheese, ham and salad. After dinner we have a free time. That was always my favorite time of day. That day we sat around the campfire and talked about our first day. We also had to set up our tents with our tent buddies. I shared a tent with Jared Johnson and Jacob Bradley.

Bedtime was 10:00 but we talked in the tent for a long time. Jacob was funny. He made me laugh a lot. Before I went to bed I said my prayers read my Book of Mormon.

On Tuesday morning we woke up when they played “Reveille”. I got ready and ate breakfast. It was french toast, my favorite, and sausage, and then I went to my morning merit badge classes.

First was Canoeing. It was so much funner than I thought. We learned the different parts of the oar. Then we went into the water and practiced different strokes.

After canoeing I went to my swimming merit badge class. We didn’t get in the water that day. All we did was talk about safety. It was kinda boring but funny because the teacher was funny. I wanted to get in the water because it was hot outside.

We ate lunch after that and it was Sloppy Joes. After lunch, I went to Archery class again. I was excited to learn to shoot an arrow, but I wasn’t very good at it. It was hard to hit the target. I’m not Robin Hood.

For Leatherwork class today, I finished making the rest of the holes. For First Aid we brought in our First Aid Kits from home and showed the whole class. The First Aid merit badge and Swimming merit badge are required for Eagle Scout.

We ate chicken for dinner tonight in the dining hall and I thought while I was eating it that it was good but not as good as the ones from home.

For evening free-time, me and my friends went kayaking on the lake next to our tents. It was lots of fun. I thought it was better than canoeing. When we got back, it was time for bed so I read my Book of Mormon and said my prayers and went to sleep.

On Wednesday morning we ate breakfast and I went to my canoeing class. We had races and paddled around the lake. I was in a canoe with Chandler and we explored places around the lake we hadn’t seen before. On the other side of the lake there was a big wooden raft. There was a bunch of lily pads that we thought were cool.

In swimming class, one of the requirements to get the merit badge is to jump in the water with all of your clothes on, take your shoes and socks off and put them on the dock, then take off your pants to use as a float. We learned this for survival, like if we ever fell in the water with heavy clothes we would know what to do. It was really hard but I passed.

Lunch was corn dogs and then straight to archery class. We learned how to make a bowstring that day. I was still frustrated because I wasn’t very good at shooting. This wasn’t one of my favorite classes like I thought it would be.

For leatherwork class today, I decorated my belt. I stamped it with stamps that were cool, like a ninja sign and salamander and some planets. My favorite stamp was a sword stamp. For First Aid class, we learned CPR. I learned that if someone’s heart stopped beating that CPR would help their heart to beat again and keep them alive. It was boring but I learned that if that ever really happened to someone, I would know what to do.

For dinner that night, each camp we supposed to make your own dinner over the campfire for a cooking contest, but our camp decided we didn’t want to (it was optional) and we just ordered pizza. It was Little Caesar’s pizza. There was enough for all of us to have an entire pizza each, and we ate them all! I had to go to the bathroom really bad, but when I came back the pizza was gone. I still wanted more. For evening free time me and Chandler went swimming. I came back and saw that my Dad was at camp. He came to chaperone for the night and the next day. I was excited because he brought me a Power-Ade drink. My favorite (besides Gatorade)!

That night we did lots of skits and had a fun time. Each ward had to come up with their own skit to put on in front of the whole camp. Our bishop thought up a really funny one that we did. They were all really funny. My Dad sat with me. After that we went to bed. My Dad stayed in the leader’s tent. There were three of them.

Thursday morning, we ate pancakes, cereal, and sausage for breakfast. In Canoeing class, we swamped our canoes. Swamped means tipping the canoe over. It was my very favorite experience at camp. I thought it was lots of fun because I liked tipping it over and falling in the water. My teacher told me that me and my partner had the most creative way of tipping it over. We did it many times.

In swimming class, we had to practice laps and stokes and pass them off. Anyone who didn’t pass off their merit badge that day for swimming had to go again on Friday. I passed it off. After swimming I decided to buy dad a drink from the vending machine with my own money. I gave it to him and he was happy. I was glad he was there, but he had a headache that day.

We ate lunch and then me and Chandler went to Archery class. We learned how to make arrows. I thought it was fun choosing what feathers we wanted to put on the arrows. I chose two blue ones and a yellow one.

After Archery class, I went back to my tent to get my wallet. When I looked in my bag, I didn’t see it. I looked in my whole tent and didn’t find it. I said a prayer to Heavenly Father to help me find my wallet. I looked in my bags one more time and found it!

Later that night Dad left to go back home. Then it was time for our ward testimony meeting around the campfire. Everyone bore their testimony and when it was my turn I said, “Today I lost my wallet and I was trying to find it but it wasn’t anywhere. Finally I said a prayer and looked some more hoping to find it. I looked in my bag and I found it. I would like to bear my testimony that if you have faith in Jesus Christ he will bless you.” It was a very spiritual night and made me feel warm inside. After testimony meeting we went to bed.

On Friday morning I ate breakfast and went to Canoeing class. We learned how to get in the canoe by ourselves with no help, jump out, and get back in. I passed the test and passed off the entire merit badge.

I ate lunch and went to Archery class. I tried my best to get a lot of points by shooting at the targets but I didn’t hit very many. I only got 11 points. In Leatherwork that day I completely finished my belt. I wore it the rest of the time at camp and on the way home to show my family. I’m very proud of it. I think it looks good. I also finished my First aid merit badge today.

After eating dinner we stayed up really late and I talked with my friends in our tent. We talked about different TV. shows we use to watch when we were little and video games we like. We would just talk about random things and weird names for sodas and candies. Every night Jacob would complain about people shinning flashlights in our tents. He made me laugh.

On Saturday morning we packed up and took our tents down and drove back home. I was glad to be back home even though I had a fun time. I didn’t know if I would like camp but I did. It was good to take a shower at my house. I helped mom put away all my stuff.

The End!

Spencer is a "First Class" scout right now, but just completed all his "Star" requirements. He'll get that at the next Court of Honor.
Now it's only "Life" and "Eagle" to go until he is done!

O, What Do You Do In the Summertime....

What are your favorite summertime treats?

We love watermelon

and corn on the cob

and BBQ's

and of course Popsicles!
A staple during the hot summer months.

But my favorite summer treat isn't a
'treat' you can eat...
It's our summer memories.

Favorite Summer Memories so far this summer... July 4th trip to Warren Sand Dunes, Liberty Fest, time at home with the kids, no school or homework, staying up late Late LATE, sleeping in, lots of swimming and playing in the sprinklers, trip to Cedar Point, great summer movies, bike riding with the kids, two weeks of summer swimming lessons, Friday Fun Day Adventures, Wednesday park picnics, going to the zoo, summer concerts at the park.

One's I'm Still Looking Forward to.... Going to visit my sister's family in Columbus, a weekend camping trip with the family, Jiffy-Mix factory tour, a trip to Mackinac Island, drive-in movie, going to the beach, and still more bbq's and picnics!

No fancy trips this year 'cause of high gas prices. But we've had and done lots of great activities to keep the kids busy and having fun. Only 4 more weeks until school starts... sigh....

Caulder Dairy Farm

Our Friday Fun Day was spent today at the Caulder Dairy Farm & Store. We wandered around the farm this morning looking at the dairy cows and many farm animals, including several Belgian Mare, turkeys, emu, mule, miniature horses, Texas Longhorns, llama, miniature foal, peacock, baby pigs, ducks and geese. We ate lunch by the pond in a cute little pavilion, and we ate fresh, farm-made ice-cream from their dairy store. It was very creamy and delicious! I had the peanut-butter chocolate, Jessica had chocolate chip, Alex had Bloo Moo (like the Superman flavor), and Logan had Black Cherry. Jessica's friend Emma came too and she had chocolate chip cookie dough. (Spencer didn't come -- He is at scout camp this week.) We were disappointed to learn that feeding time was 3:00 and the cow milking tour was at 4:00. We didn't stay long enough to see those. Next time we go, we'll have to make sure and go at the right times.

Standing by the Caulder Milk Man

Better watch out! Logan is behind the wheel!!

Jessica and Logan milking a cow

Emma and Alex's turn

We liked the peacocks

We saw hundreds of dairy cows.
Alex thought it was too stinky!

Logan doesn't know what a Texas Longhorn is

"Is this how you sit on a donkey?"
(Doesn't Jessica look like an Indian girl? She's gotten so tan this summer!)

Summer Swim Lessons Are Over

These last two weeks, Monday through Thursday, Jessica, Alex and Logan have been going to swimming lessons. They all did so well - Better than I anticipated! Jessica is an expert at all the different swimming strokes, and Alex and Logan have become great little swimmers. Neither of my little boys need much help in the water anymore. I hope they retain their new skills until next summer so they can move up another level. For some reason, I got a lot more pictures of Alex than anyone else. Probably because one of my goals for him this summer was to learn to swim without any help and I closely watched him during his swim class every day. What I didn't expect was that Logan would take off as a swimmer this year too. Sometimes that child is fearless. He believes he can do anything! What a terrific quality to have, but sometimes scary! Alex is more timid than Logan. He doesn't think he can do very much without assistance. So I was concerned about him, but he really excelled this year.

The pool that we had our swimming lessons at is about an 18 minute drive away, so I would pack a lunch in the morning before leaving and after their morning lessons, we'd walk to the park next to the pool and eat lunch and play for about an hour. Then, we'd go back to the pool and swim another 2 - 3 hours. We've had a two-week swimming vacation! It's been nice and very relaxing, but now that I've neglected everything else, I'll be pretty busy the next little while catching up.

By now I shouldn't be surprised, but only after a couple days in the sun, my kids have become bleach-blonde and bronzed! It took me longer to get some sun, but now I'm also pretty tan too, but not like my kids! Someone at church last Sunday asked if we had taken a trip to Hawaii or something. I laughed and said "I wish"! Joshua has a natural olive-tone to his skin and has always been able to tan well. The children inherited that from him. Somewhere in his ancestry, he has some Portuguese; I think his great-grandpa.

Anyway, we had a fun two weeks swimming in the sun! We were lucky enough to have some really great weather every day. We still plan to have a few more swimming adventures before the summer is over!

Alex is learning to dive

Jumping off the diving board

Alex is a swimmer

Learning the back float

Alex's class is treading water in the deep end

Swimming to the edge of the pool

Logan gets some extra time with his teacher after class

Logan loves the pool

Jessica is learning to dive

Jessica and her BFF, Emma, took swimming classes together

We ate lunch with the Larsens every day at the park

Turtle Cove Waterpark Adventure

It's hot and it's summer. Any parent knows the secret to keeping most kids happy, and occupied for hours .... Turning them loose to play in water. So far this summer we've done several local pools, our sprinkler under the trampoline, and the blow-up pool in our backyard. But the kids wanted more.... And I wanted an inexpensive place that our family could go to cool off and have a good time.

We found one last week. Turtle Cove Waterpark, which a few months ago had it's grand opening and is located at one of our local metroparks, only a 15 minute drive away. This week we thought it was high time we checked it out. For only $8 for adults, $6 for children, we got an all-day pass to all the waterslide action we could handle. The only thing we didn't like is that there's no food allowed inside the park, so we ate lunch before going.

Turtle Cove Aquatic Center has two water slides (body slide and tube slide with single and double tubes), an endless lazy river, a water playscape with a dumping bucket, a zero depth entry pool that deepens into a four lane lap pool, a snack bar (called Turtle Cove Grille) and a sunning hill. My favorite was the lazy river. Jessica and Alex loved the water slides, and Logan loved the water playscape, especially when the dumping bucket dumped the water on top of him. He'd stand underneath the dumping area while waiting for the water to spill over onto him, then laugh and laugh and go again. Too cute!

We went with our friends, the Larsens, and had a terrific time. On the way out of the park we stopped at "Turtle Cove Grille" to buy some snacks and drinks. We got slushies, french fries, nachos and ice cream before going home.

Spencer is at scout camp this week so he didn't go with us. We'll have to go again in August with him and Joshua. I know they'd love it too!!