Picture Post!

We had a birthday party for Hannah today, her actual birthday isn't until August but we had her party early because we'll be gone on her actual birthday. It was a different party--only a few of our long time, known 'em forever friends were able to come. Darn music camp! Instead we had a motley crew of kids from church, theatre, friends of friends, old friends, new friends, etc. The kids had a blast. I have more pictures but I think I'll make them into their own post later. It was a morning party since it's so hot and we needed to have it outside. Yesterday morning when I finally sat down to plan this party I googled, "outdoor easy brunch party ideas" and got the idea to do a donut cake. I think this may become our signature birthday cake--it was so easy and the kids loved it. Easy to make (buy the donuts), easy to assemble, easy to serve, and easy to clean up.
The above picture is the catch all in our house. I've been extremely lax in cleaning my house the last week and it has gotten bad. See those three lunchboxes--they have been there since last Thursday. Yep, can you say "eeeewwww." Thankfully, when I finally got around to cleaning tonight and opened them they were not too gross. Just stale chips and stuff like that. I got the whole living room decluttered and the dishes done and fridge cleaned out tonight. Tomorrow is the big cleaning day--dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms, etc. I can't wait. Really. I HATE living in a mess but sometimes life gets busy and it can't be helped. My momma will be here Thursday though and there is nothing that gets me motivated to clean my house like my momma coming to town.
Love this picture--Grace was reading to Landon and he actually looks like he's listening to her.
I took this picture one day last week--poor Joe sacked out on the floor in front of the fan at about 6:30 one night. Theatre camp just wore him out!
I just had to share these birthday cards--this one is from Julie and the one below from Aunt Harriet and Uncle Billy. Both gave me a good laugh!



Here are a bunch of pictures from "Dear Edwina" and the Cabaret--enjoy! If you want to see videos, go to Youtube and do a search for "bookwormmomof3" and you'll find my channel. That's where all the videos are now.

Videos on Youtube and Theatre Chat

I have been having some technical difficulties with blogspot and can't seem to get my videos to upload. Soooo, I put them all on Youtube. If you do a search for "bookwormmomof3" you can see them. The kids have done great this weekend. The Cabaret has been a huge hit and "Dear Edwina" is one of my favorite shows they've ever done! It is so cute and funny and touching. I actually found myself getting choked up at the end when poor Edwina didn't get asked to the Advice-a-palooza and was singing about not being on the fridge with her siblings. It's been fun having all three kids in the shows. They are all so different in their personalities and on the stage and I've loved watching each of them shine in their own way. Joe has been downright adorable and hilarious. He has his biggest part ever in "Dear Edwina," and the duet he and Hannah do is so cute in the Cabaret. Grace has shocked everyone with her singing ability but she is still a little shy on stage. Hannah is pretty much the complete opposite of shy--she has so much confidence now on stage and her voice is so big! It took her a long time to learn how to sing loud but she has no problem with it now. It's been a fun weekend so far and I'm looking forward to seeing Edwina one more time tomorrow. Then I'm going to crash BIG TIME!!! I always do after a busy show weekend. Thankfully we have almost nothing going on on Monday. We finally get a quiet, calm summer day.

Just Stuff

That's all I've got for a title--Just Stuff. Today begins the fun weekend of shows. Expect the blog to be slap full of videos and pictures because that's just how it is. Tonight is the Cabaret where the kids are doing songs and dances from Broadway musicals. Hannah and Joe sing a duet that I'm eager to hear and Grace is in a trio singing a really cute song. Should be fun! I've baked two batches of lemon bars and two batches of chocolate chip cookie bars. My lemon bars have become quite famous at the theatre. They are good but not that good in my opinion but I guess lemon bars are something you don't see that often and so the novelty helps make them popular. I think I'd be booted out if I didn't show up with lots of lemon bars for the concession stand. I don't mind making them, they are actually pretty easy to make, I just don't like the cutting and bagging. That can be a bit of a pain. Tomorrow is the last day of theatre camp, it's been real and it's been fun but I am DONE! I'm not used to having my kids gone all day and they are not used to being gone all day. We've had more than one meltdown these last few weeks because the kids are just physically and mentally exhausted. Although my kids are plenty socialized--they are not used to spending all day with a bunch of other kids and there have been challenges in dealing with other kids. It's been a good learning experience though and been the source of some very good talks and dealing with some issues that might not otherwise be dealt with. One thing I could do without though is the "Bloody Mary" story that had Joe in my bed last night completely terrified. You know the one, you probably heard it in third grade--if you go into the bathroom at night in the dark and spin around three times saying "bloody Mary" then she will appear in the mirror. Grace and Ollie tried it last night and guess what--it's not true!!! Didn't help Joe much though--he was still freaked out. I'm going to write out a Bible verse about keeping your mind on God that I'm going to hang on the wall by his bed--maybe that will help. Fun stuff! I just finished a very weird book and if you like science fiction you might like it. I didn't love it but it was short so I endured it. It's called, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," by Cory Doctorow. The title grabbed my interest and the fact that it is set in DisneyWorld sounded interesting. It was okay. I've just started the book, "The Yada Yada Prayer Group," by Neta Jackson. So far I really like it. I haven't read christian fiction in a long time and it's refreshing. The reason I haven't read much christian fiction is that I often don't enjoy christian fiction and of the authors I do like I've read everything they've written. This book I'm reading now is the first in a series so I'm hoping that I will like it. Well, time to go get a quick shower, go to the store, pick up the kids, and go see my favorite magician! Peace out my friends!

Random, Picture Style

• It was my 39th birthday this week and I celebrated by adding chocolate syrup to my green smoothie for breakfast! I kept it simple--almond milk, spinach, frozen bananas, and chocolate syrup. You truly would never know the spinach was in there, you really can't taste it. I love getting some raw, leafy greens without having to taste them.
  

• It's summer and it's hot and around here that translates into very weird meals. I am seldom in the mood to cook so we seldom have a typical home made meal. I decided to take a picture of our dinner on Wednesday night, partly because it was a weird meal and partly to show off my awesome new tablecloth and napkins that I got for my birthday! Anyway, dinner Wednesday was salad, apple slices, sauteed squash and zucchini, popcorn, and leftover peanut butter birthday cake for dessert. Weird but actually quite satisfying.

• Just had to sneak in a picture of little Landon, I've just got one more week with him and then I'm off for a few weeks, on for one week and off again. I'll miss spending my days with him!

• Friday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a and it's now become a tradition of ours to go for lunch. We just can't say no to free food!

• We spent the first half of Saturday washing cars at the local Sonic for a fundraiser for theatre. We were hugely successful, thanks to those of you who came out and supported our efforts and thanks to Sonic for free drinks!!

• I spent much of the afternoon in the kitchen trying to use up all the produce in the fridge that was on the verge of going bad. We have a busy week and I don't know that I will get around to cooking much. So, tonight I made a batch of kale chips--these are really the best way to eat kale. You tear the kale into small pieces, toss it with oil and vinegar and salt and bake at 300 degrees for about half an hour. I am also trying out dehydrating some too. I've got those going in the garage as we speak. I also made banana nut bread and made it healthier by cutting the sugar and adding in flax meal and chia seeds. And, finally, I made some Romanian roasted veggie dip. I didn't have eggplant though so I'm trying it with tomatoes, bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, and onion. We'll see how it turns out tomorrow. I am too tired to do the final step tonight.
• We are deeply entrenched in all things theatre around here these days! This is show week and the kids have a lot going on. They've been in theatre camp for two weeks and they will go every day this week. This weekend they will be putting on the play, "Dear Edwina," according to Amanda (the director) it is a really super cute show and everyone should come and see it. Each of my kids have a special part and they are all very excited. In addition to a full production, they are also doing two Cabaret performances. Each child in theatre has a special song from a Broadway show that they either sing alone or with a couple of others. Hannah and Joe are doing a duet and Grace is singing with two other girls. They are also in several dances and other songs as well. I am really looking forward to those performances. And, as if that wasn't all enough--Hannah is in an extra show that she is rehearsing in the evenings. She is playing Sally in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," next weekend. So, needless to say, there is a lot of rehearsing happening around here. Oh, and I forgot to mention that there is also a camp talent show on Friday and the girls are singing "Defying Gravity" from the musical "Wicked" and Joe is joining some other kids to sing "Hakuna Matata."
• On the virtual school front--Hannah is making her way through and doing well so far. She has a 100 in both classes. She hasn't had any tests yet though. That should be interesting. She has very little experience taking tests since we don't do much testing in our homeschool. I have been very impressed with FLVS, the teachers constantly communicate with the kids and the coursework is very intensive. It will be much easier though once we are not juggling so many other things.
• Well, I think it's time to wrap this up and get to bed. Tomorrow begins a pretty crazy week--another fun one though!
  

Virtual School

I signed Hannah up for three virtual school classes all starting July 1st. We have had a busy week and so today was the day we were going to figure this thing out! We had already talked with two of her teachers, I just need to make an appointment to call the spanish teacher so she can start that class. With each of these classes you have to read a lot of boring course information and then take a quiz about it. That part took the longest. Hannah and I went to a local coffee shop so she could work uninterrupted and after 2 and a half hours she had succeeded in getting through the intro for two classes and getting one assignment done for the keyboarding class. She has to try to do three assignments per week in each class. This is going to be a challenge for the next two weeks as she already has a lot going on. Hopefully the work won't be too hard. I think she can manage though! Especially if I take her to the coffee shop and feed her frozen lemonades. Notice the bright smile at the beginning and look how tired she looks after two and a half hours!! Poor kid with the mean slave driver momma! :0)

Happy Bloggiversary to Me!

This was the first picture I posted 3 years ago when I started my blog. A friend had made Joe those shorts and he HATED them. At the time he wouldn't wear "sabric" pants--meaning any shorts that weren't made of denim or some heavyweight material. He had quite a fit about them and it took him forever to agree to this picture.
I can't believe I've been blogging for three years! Time flies when you're having fun!

Busy Holiday Weekend

We celebrated the Fourth of July on Friday evening by going to a neighboring town's street party. Joe and Grace both did the spinny ball thing. It made me want to vomit just watching them but they both loved it.


Our church had a camper set up as a baby changing/nursing station as an outreach but more importantly--they had hair spray paint! With glitter! Oh yeah. they. did.
It's this guy's fault.
My kiddos were rockin' the hair spray paint!
We ran into our friend, Anabel, and her family just before the big fireworks--these kids were wound up and had a blast!
After a late night on Friday we slept in and then went to Winter Haven to watch Pop, my dad, do some baseball umpiring. He is a college umpire and traveled down from GA with a fellow umpire to work this fancy tournament. We watched until the game got rained out, well, first there was a delay then they called the game. We all had a great time. After the game we went swimming (the rain had stopped by then) and then out to dinner at a great seafood restaurant. It was a short visit but we packed in the fun! :0)


Below is a picture from when Pop umpired my nephew, Harrison's ballgame. Harrison is the catcher and Pop was the plate umpire. If you look really close you can see the big grin on Pop's face.