How I Spent My Summer Vacation

I don't always work in the summer, but this year I got lucky!  I got to do a preschool music program at the museum where I work the rest of the year.  It was the first time we've tried a program like this, so it was new for everyone.  I thought it went very well, and I even got to be in our local newspaper, and got a letter from the mayor about it.  

It ran for six weeks and last week was my first week off!  I went to Cape Cod with my family.  We spent most of our time on the National Seashore.  My daughter's favorite thing is the "big waves," and we hear about them all year.  She swims and boogie boards for hours and hours, and I join in too.  

We also took her to Provincetown for the first time, and went to Carnival, which is something none of us had experienced before.  Thanks to Project Runway, Esme already knows all about drag queens, and how much goes into their elaborate costumes.  The people on the street before the parade were just as awesome as the parade itself.  

When I got home, I had a box from Sassafras Lass waiting for me!  When they closed up shop I was super disappointed that I'd never ordered one of their warehouse boxes so when this chance came up I jumped on it.  Love all my flowers, patterned papers, felties, foldies, etc.  So now I want to get to work!  I took lots of pics on vacaction so it's time for me to get scrapping!

2013 and What's New

I'm beating the post-Christmas blues by spending lots of time with my family and working hard with my Girl Scouts!  Here's what's new around here:

• My sweet husband is our city's Girl Scout Cookie Sale Manager for the first time ever.  It's pretty awesome to see him working this way, but stressful to see him get stressed when people are unresponsive.
• I feel so lucky to have a job that I love, working at the museum.  I haven't been working as much as I'd like lately, but hoping now that Winter vacation has passed things will pick up.
• I started a Girl Scout troop at our local Boys & Girls club.  I have girls ages 9 through 13 and we've only had one meeting so far, but it was fun and it will be a different experience for me to be with older girls who have not had a previous Girl Scout experience.
• I haven't been scrapping a ton, but I have made good progress on my new mini album made entirely of my Instagram photos.  (I got a tablet for Christmas and was so excited to finally join the world of mobile devices!)  Esme has been scrapping with me a lot and I love it.  I gave her my extra Instagram prints and this is what she made:

• This week we start Robotics!  I attended training on how to coach a FIRST Lego League competitive team but I still feel a little unprepared.  The trainers assure me that soon the girls will be teaching me what to do.  Definitely happy to be offering more STEM activities for Girl Scouts.
• I love having an instrument that I can play.  I haven't quite gotten to it every day, but my autoharp has definitely been getting use since its purchase in late October.  At the moment I have a touch of laryngitis, but I hope to get back to it full force once this wears off.  
• I can't wait to get back to the beach this summer.  On these cold days when it gets dark so early, I think even more about the night we had a fire on the beach and how late it stayed light.  That's my favorite time of year!

2 Songs by Ethan

My sweet husband celebrated his birthday yesterday by playing at a local open mic.  I love these songs!

Make Something Every Day: Day Six

Esme took a day off from projects today.  This year she started taking recorder on Tuesdays.  Learning to read music was one of my high priorities for her - it's a valuable skill and even my basic knowledge has helped me very much.  I have also heard it can help develop the part of your brain that tackles Math, and that isn't too shabby since she considers herself a Future Astronaut.

Sagelicious stepped in to help me while Esme was gone.  Her mom is Esme's music teacher so while they're together, Sagelicious and I work on things like her scrapbook, her Halloween costume, etc.  I wanted to help her make a Christmas present for her mom, so we discussed and settled on this:

Her family has a lovely little backyard and her mom enjoys gardening, so I got the kit to make this stepping stone.  Really the most important part is the cheap plastic mould, because any cement and fragments of glass or china will work.  We mixed and poured together, and then Sagelicious decided on the placement of her hand and mosaic pieces.  I added her name and the year later when the cement was a bit firmer.  When Esme saw it I had to promise her we'd get more cement so she can make a couple too.

Wow I have been out of commission for a while! I had no idea how long it had been since I'd posted. I've been keeping very busy with things like Girl Scouts, teaching, and homeschooling for the last couple months. I finished up scouting last Saturday, and teaching today (homeschooling never stops!) so I feel several projects coming on! In the meantime, the big news at my house is that my husband has officially converted to Christianity and was baptized at our church on Pentecost. Also, he released his first CD of the Month for May which was awesome! I will post an art journal page and a couple scrapbook pages soon! Hope everyone is enjoying their last few days of Spring and looking forward to summer!

Our awesome friend, Matt Wilga, has just released his first single, There I Go. In celebration of his accomplishment and getting to see him play live in Amherst, we stamped these shirts to wear to the show. Being a crafter is extra handy for things like these - I already had these huge Heidi Swapp stamps (which I love) and some black Crafter's ink by Colorbox. I'm not sure the show was strictly appropriate for our daughter, given the other acts and the lateness of the hour, but she is a big fan so we didn't want her to have to miss it. He dedicated a song to her and gave her the set list.

I think I am on the mend and at last feeling in more of a crafty mood. When the last spot goes away, I think it will be time for a party. I have been really been wanting to work on whimsical projects the past few weeks. I was lucky enough to go away for the weekend with my handsome husband, and created this painting in our friend's cottage on the Cape. It was inspired by a line in a song he once wrote that always inspires me, "Paper thin hopes folded into a boat, to sail away with you." I am planning to do a few more pieces with this line in mind.