An Unscheduled Week

After a couple of very busy weeks, we had an unscheduled week.  We used the time to catch up on housework and complete a few more items on our summer bucket list -- saw a 3D movie at the Pink Palace, made glow-in-the-dark jello, and had Cole over to play.  Summer is winding down quickly.  Ben goes back to school in two weeks (from yesterday).

 Marcie had her first bath at our house last Thursday.  She had another bath last night after she played
in the mud while we weeded the garden.  We were all too dirty to take a picture.

 The last day of CPK we made slime.  Guess who was in charge of that project?  Me.  Someone asked me Friday what my title was.  I told her Special Projects Team Leader.  She responded, "I thought it was Mess Maker."  That describes my role at CPK pretty well. 

 Mollie Grace shaped her slime into a whale.

 Annie took her first ride in the Corvette.

 Annie tucked Marcie in with her blankie for a nap.

 She's never more content than in a pile of dirty clothes.

 Belly rubs.

 Mollie Grace was really proud of how clean she had her room.

 On Wednesday we saw a movie at the giant 3D theater at the Pink Palace.

 We watched Dream Big, which is about engineering.  Ben found it very inspiring.

 Since we had spent the afternoon out of the house, Wednesday evening we took Marcie to soccer practice with us.  Since she hasn't had all her shots, we didn't get her out of the car.  We laid down the back seats and made a big play area and watched movies on the portable DVD player.

I seldom take pictures at soccer practice.  Wednesdays are physical fitness day. They were jumping from the ground onto the curb.  The players are a variety of sizes because they range from age 8 to 15.  

 Thursday night we made glow-in-the-dark jello.  Tonic water is the secret ingredient to make it glow under a black light.  It does glow but it takes terrible!

Cole spent this afternoon with us.

CPK

And along with caring for a new puppy, it's City Project Kids week at church.  Only one day left and we're pretty exhausted.  My title is Special Projects Leader.  These are all pictures from projects I led.

 The calm before the chaos.  Everything set up for 75 kids plus youth and adults to tie dye t-shirts.  I was a wreck Monday night as I washed the first few out fearing that they would end up being a brown muddy mess.  Overall, they turned out really well. 

 Ben's group washing up after tie-dying.  They wore gloves but it was still messy.  My fingernails are still a little green around the cuticles three days later.

 These are all church kids playing on the preschool toys after CPK Monday while mom's cleaned up and set up for Tuesday.

 Tuesday we built bookends with their initials.  This is part of Mollie Grace's class sanding their wood.

 Amelia pushing Annie during K-4 recreation.  That's who is really supposed to be riding on the toys.

 Ben's class is small, only two boys and two girls.  He's painting his B bookend on Wednesday.

 Mollie Grace painting her M bookend with her class.

 Mollie Grace playing Bingo at the nursing home today.  Her friend is named Mrs. Rachel.  I took groups to three different nursing homes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

 Practice round today of the Fruits of the Spirit Trivia game.  Our themed this year is Called to Grow and we're learning about the Fruits of the Spirit.

I've been busy with set up and clean up and haven't taken part in the opening and closing music each day.  Today I walked downstairs and couldn't find Annie or Mollie Grace.  They were both up front with the Youth Leaders leading the music.

 Ben's adult leader sent me a couple of pictures from their week.  Amazingly, this is Ben's last year as a student at CPK.  Next year he will be a youth helper. On Tuesday, they delivered brownies to the local police station and fire station then helped weed at a widower's house.
 

Wednesday they went with me to the nursing home and held a penny auction.  Today they worked at the local food pantry.  Ben has been waiting to be old enough to work on that project for years.

Marcie

On Saturday, we drove all the way across the state of Mississippi and nearly all the way across the top of Alabama to pick up our puppy.  

 We were in the foothills of the Appalachians.  As I heard Ben tell someone, we finally settled on a name for the puppy about 2 minutes before we arrived.  It was really probably 30 minutes. 

 Meet Marcie.  Nope not Maggie or Sally.  MV suggested Marcie as a compromise.  Marcie is also a Peanuts character.

 Marcie rode most of the way home in a dog carrier in the third row with Ben.  We got her out and held her a bit when we stopped for gas and bathroom.

 We've baby gated this area so that she has room to play without having access to the entire house until she is potty trained.  We take her outside of this area to play but put her here when we can't watch her.

 Nap time.

 She really loved this pile of dirty laundry.

MV and Janey sent her this puppy toy.

Swan Princesses

So I'm trying really hard to play this summer when they ask me to.  AND this is what ends up happening . . . we're swan princesses.

CMOM

The last day of Mollie Grace's horse riding camp was the first day of Ben's three day soccer camp so Annie had the morning all to herself.  We went to the Children's Museum and did whatever Annie wanted to do.  We rode the carousel twice, spent a lot of time in the kitchen and supermarket, made paper mache, danced on the video screen, and even played in the four and under toddler area.