It's That Time of Year Again!

It's time for school to start. I my opinion, thought, it's way too hot for school to start. I remember playground duty the first couple of months of school....HOT!!! This is the time of year when I get the urge to go back to school, go back to work at the school....do something school related!! I did get my bulletin board fix a couple of weeks ago when I helped Brian get his boards done in his classroom. They look great, too! And next week will start the paper grading again, so I guess I'll be okay!!
I've been busy since the reunion, but mostly boring busy. Know what I mean? Last week I helped Brian one day with his kids while he attended a district math meeting/workshop. On Friday, Mark and I went to Casa Grande to take Matthew and Emma school shopping. They'll be attending a new charter school this year and will be wearing uniforms. Matthew's things were easy to find, but Emma's...no so much. We decided to look in Phoenix for what she still needed. Over the weekend we had a sleepover with Hattie and Ellie. What fun that was! Ok, Saturday was fun, Sunday was tiring! On Saturday we went to Target to finish up some shopping for Emma for school. The first store we went to had everything she still needed! Lucky us. So we called Dan and arranged a meeting in Chandler. We met for lunch at Saigon for some Pho. Yummy! Dan's kids LOVE it, but Hattie and Ellie weren't so sure. They were troopers, though, and tried it without complaint. Then Dan mentioned that the reason they came to the valley was for an entertainment center at Sam's Club. Problem was it wouldn't fit in their car with all of the seats in, so they would have to come back next week without kids. We offered to help. So we put on of our seats down, put Ellie and I in their car, and Dan, Mark and Hattie in our car with the entertainment center and off we went to their house. That baby was HEAVY!!! But after a time, we got it out of the car, unpacked, and all set up. It looks great!! Then we and the girls headed back to the valley. It was a long day, but fun. The girls loved playing with Matthew and Emma....at least until Matthew donned his Star Wars Storm Trooper helmet that alters your voice when you speak into the microphone piece. The girls were both scared. It was funny....they come from an all girl family and just aren't used to boys and their antics! The girls went to bed just fine on Saturday night, but Hattie woke up at 2 am and didn't want to go back to sleep. She did lay in her bed for a while with her eyes wide open. We tried her in our bed with us, but with the same result. So at 5:30 am, we finally got up with her. We went to church and other than a little grumpiness, it went fine. The girls were good during church (just not so good at whispering!) and we went home afterwards hoping for a nap for Hattie. She did finally go down after lunch for a couple of hours. We returned them home that evening.
Last night was the August Enrichment meeting. It was a swim party/BBQ. But we didn't BBQ anything. We had macaroni salads, fried chicken and brownies. The food was good, but the weather was so darned HOT!! I was glad when it was time to go home to our cool, air-conditioned home.
Today I will be getting things organized for another couple of days with grandkids. Tomorrow Libby and Eliza are coming over. Libby earned a day of jewelry making with me and Eliza has been wanting to make a Summertime Album like one I made recently. So we'll be busy with that. Then on Friday we're taking them, along with Abby and Dallin shopping for school clothes. Should be a fun couple of days!!
And I teach this week in Relief Society. The lesson is The Wentworth Letter. If you're going to be there on Sunday, be sure to read the lesson....we'll be having a DISCUSSION!
Anyway....on to crafty organization!!

The Christmas Mood

Tonight was a fun night. It was our Christmas Enrichment meeting. Everything was decorated beautifully and it looked quite festive. Ashley Lucas did a fabulous job planning, organizing and making the evening happen. She cooked a delicious roast that was accompanied by mashed potatoes and gravy, carrot coins and a cherry cheesecake dessert. We also had Italian ices. Yum! After dinner, a young girl (14 years old), from Surprise came and sang for 45 minutes. She has such a mature, melodic voice. She's so good at 14, I'm wondering what she'll be like when she's 25!! It was truly a delight to listen to her. She sang Christmas songs and some Broadway songs, too. What a treat!

Today I was able to finish one of the skirts for our granddaughters. One down, five to go! I had Ellie and Hattie try on the one I made so I could see what sort of altering I had to do for the rest. I think the rest will all be close to the same size. Ellie and Hattie could both wear the same one. Can't wait to see all of the girls with their new skirts. And it will be fun to see all of the grandkids when they put on their PJ pants! So fun!!!

Enrichment

Today was a busy day. After I finally gone my morning chores done, I started on some Christmas sewing. I am making pajama pants for all of the grandkids (shhh! Don't tell!), but since tomorrow night is Enrichment Meeting and since I'm newly on the Enrichment committee, I agreed to help with a display table. We're displaying a variety of easy/quick/cheap gift ideas. I was making the pajama pants anyway, so I thought I'd get a couple of pair made for display. I finished Hattie's, Luke's and Ellie's. Tomorrow I'll try for that many more. I'm also working on some cute skirts for our granddaughters....last year we bought them velvet dresses for the holidays, so this year I thought I'd try something different. I'm planning on the skirt with a cute knit top for each of the girls. I'm not sure yet what we're doing for the boys. Then this afternoon, after Mark got home from work, we met Ashley Lucas and Kathie Smith at the church to begin the set-up for Enrichment meeting----setting up/decorating the tables, stage decor, serving tables, display table, etc. I'm glad at least that much is done so we won't have to be there quite so early tomorrow. We're having our Christmas dinner/program this month since our normal week is the third Tuesday and next month that would land closer to Christmas than is comfortable for those who are putting on the event. So tomorrow, we'll be dreaming of Christmas!