Upcoming Classes

I will be teaching a 7gypsies Nativity accordion project at The Creative Quest in downtown Glendale on Saturday, September 25th and again on Saturday, October 23rd from 10:30 am until about 4:30 pm (or until we're finished!). You can drop me an e-mail or call the store if you have questions. See you there!!!

New 7g products/projects!

This week is CHA summer and 7gypsies will be showcasing their new products. Gotta love 'em!

What About Me??

Sorry about the sideways pictures....Blogger is being picky.



After the school-aged grandkids had their weeks with us, the preschoolers said, "Hey, what about me? I want a sleepover, too." So yesterday Ellie came home with me after Erin and I made bread (first time since April!). We first stopped at Scrap Happy Sisters so she could choose papers and embellishments for her scrapbook album. It ended up being titles "Ellie, the Preschool Swimmer." We combined pictures from her preschool class and this summer's swimming lesson pictures. It turned out very cute and she LOVE it a lot! When it was time to go to dinner, she kept getting quieter and quieter. We asked her if she felt ok. She said she did. Finally, she said she wanted to go home after dinner. That was fine, but not unexpected. Then she blew me away when she told me that she wanted to stay home with the sitter (and her sisters) today instead of coming to my house to bake cookies. She said she missed her sisters a LOT! Poor girl. I think she'll be Erin's homebody. She did ask me if I'd make her cookies for her. I did and her parents picked them up on their way home from the temple today. I think what she wanted to do most was make a scrapbook, which we quickly finished last night after dinner. Then we took her home. Once it was decided that it was okay for her to go home, she was very relieved and quickly became her happy, talkative self! Ellie! This morning when she got up, she came running out of her room holding her album. Sweet girl!

Oops!

I found a couple more pictures from Matt's and Emma's summer sleepover week. There are of when we went to Elephant Bar for dinner one night. The kids chose either Elephant Bar, Red Robin or Oregano's for their dinners out.

7gypsies

Done!

Grandkid summer vacation sleepovers are over....except that Ellie wants to come over for a day (maybe a night) and make a scrapbook. Luke has been telling everyone all summer that he's going to have his turn for a sleepover any day now. And I'm sure Hattie will put her 2 cents in and get a turn as well. I'm glad they want to spend time with us, so really, we're not done yet....More fun in store for us all!!

Another Week, Another Grandchild!

Matthew had the good fortune to get invited to the GREAT Summer Program that Mark is in charge of. It's a two-week program...sort of a day camp that lasts two weeks. So really, he's spent two weeks with us. He arrived on Monday, July 5th and tomorrow is the last day. He will be sad to see it end. He LOVED all of the fun and activities. And it was fun having him here. The first week included classes (CSI, Karate and DARE), program games, a Diamondback baseball game and skating at Great Skate. His parents, sister, Emma, Brian, Abby and Dallin joined us for the baseball game.


And Matthew got more than his share of bruises at Great Skate! But he was a trooper and hung in there until he no longer had to hug the wall all the way around the rink. He asked if Eliza could join him that day and since she'd been "begging" Mark to take here there, we consented. She'd not ever skated before either, but she seemed to be a natural. She had fun with Matt. We met Dan after work and he went back home for the weekend.
They came for dinner on Sunday, so he and Emma were back for his second week. All I can say is that those kids are BUSY every day and I was exhausted each day that I took Emma to join in the fun.










Monday was a crafts class were they made a puppet from fun foam and tongue depressors. It was also the stargazing event and bowling in the afternoon. That evening there was another stargazing event at the Glendale Library and they had big telescopes set up for people to look through. We saw the sun and its sun spots (with lots of filtering to protect our eyes), Saturn with her rings, Venus, and the moon. It was fun. Matthew has surely earned his astronomy belt loop for all he did! Tuesday was more classes...Yo-yos, magic and desert animals. That afternoon, Emma and I did a little shopping and planning for her scrapbook. Wednesday morning we went to see Despicable Me and we went to Old Country Buffet for lunch. Wednesday afternoon, Emma and I worked on her scrapbook. That night I helped Matt with another cub scout requirement for his craftsman activity badge. Today Emma and I baked brownies and finished her scrapbook. We went back to the school for their final pizza party and we took a couple of pictures. Needless to say, both kids had a fun, fun week and I am ready to crash!! Matthew even earned the *spark plug* award. Each team gave an award to one participant who was energetic, kept the other kids going, cheered others on and was overall a good kid. We were all pleased and surprised!!! Even Matt!! Tomorrow is the last day---Wet & Wild. Should be fun....and HOT!!





Today was a bit melancholy. It was the last day at the school for the last session of the summer program....Mark's last....forever! He'll be retired next summer. The reality is beginning to sink it. He's worked with a great group of officers for the past many years.

Fourth of July Festivities

Sorry about the blurriness, but Luke did NOT want his picture taken!




The Fourth of July was a tad different this year since it fell on a Sunday. We went to Dan's house for dinner. He BBQ'd pork and chicken. We had some salads and some yummy pies for dessert. It was fun and the kids had fun getting together and playing. As it got toward *darktime*, we all headed to Coolidge for the fireworks. Dan and Chris went there last year and raved about it. And they were right! Those small towns really know how to do it up right! We all sat in our lawn chairs on the edge of a corn field. There weren't a lot of people, but there were a LOT of fireworks. We we close enough that we could see the guy setting them off. They went on for what seemed like forever! At the end of a spectacular finale, we all clapped and he took the proper bows! It was funny. Then we headed home....dirt roads and all! Much better than trying to maneuver the in-town traffic after such an event. It was fun....and we'll probably try that one again next year!!

Abby's Vacation....the final days!

On Wednesday of Abby's vacation week we were scheduled to go to Polar Ice. But since Mark wasn't going to skate and she didn't want to skate alone, she opted to hang out here and finish up her Grand Canyon album. It turned out really cute and "blingy"!! And I just realized that I didn't take a picture of Abby with her album. Darn! I'll have to do that when I'm at their house next. But that afternoon we went to see Toy Story 3 with the summer program kids. It was just as good the second time around. She really enjoy it, but didn't enjoy the talking by the girls sitting next to her. They were really quite rude, which is disappointing.



That evening we make the trek to Mesa to the temple/visitor's center. She enjoyed that. We visited the display about Christ's last week before he was crucified as well as his crucifixion and resurrection. We also saw an art exhibit and a presentation about the plan of salvation and God's plan for families. I think her favorite part was watching all of the Mormon Ads that are shown as commercials on TV. They were very well done!!!
Thursday morning was her baking day. She chose to bake chocolate chip cookies. She enjoyed putting in the ingredients and mixing them together. She even enjoyed forming the cookies and putting them on the baking sheets. But when it was time to get them all baked (boring!) and cleaning up, she was off doing something else. Can't say that I blame her, though.
It was a fun week and we thoroughly enjoyed having Abby here with us. I hope she feels the same.