Kiln Fun!

Last fall my Mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said, "a kiln!" I was only half kidding, but when she asked how much they cost, we got on Craigstlist to check it out. We picked up this kiln plus all of the "kiln furniture," some greenware and bisque, tools, glaze, kiln wash, etc for $500! Woohoo! Meanwhile, it took quite some time to get some parts ordered and get an electrician out to wire in an appropriate receptacle in the garage. And even longer for me to work up the courage to fire the thing. We had some cub scouts and girl scouts over to make clay art. The kids made their pieces and glazed in one sitting. I followed up with the clear topcoat. Jay and I started the firing at 6 pm and it was well after midnight before we looked through the peephole and saw our appropriate "cone" had tipped, indicating doneness. The projects turned out nicely and the kids were excited to see their work! I am seeing a fun summer activity here...

Girl Scout Service Unit Campout

Our whole Daisy Troop went to Camp Grady Spruce with our Service Unit...moms and girls. (Thank goodness - I couldn't have relaxed for a minute if it had been just leaders and girls! Thank goodness they let the Daisy Troops bring moms!)

Katie made this cute little fire scar with her own finds. We hiked up Johnson's Peak on Sunday morning before returning home. The highlights of the trip were the horseback riding and the boat ride to Devil's Island.

Cub Scout Bridging Ceremony at Hidden Lake Ranch

Andy and his den bridged from 1st year to 2nd year Webelos at Danny Mims' Ranch. Mr. Mims is a scoutmaster who opens his property to various scout groups for all sorts of events, and he always makes it special. One year the fire was lit by a torch that came down to the firescar on a hidden wire! This is Andy's last Bridging with Pack 280, since by next February he will be bridging to Boy Scouts. Where has the time gone?

Daisy Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony

Our girls are bridging from First-Year Daisies to Second-Year Daisies. We'll make a bigger production next year when the bridge to Brownies. But we used the bridge, conveniently built by Uncle Ken, and we had a nice blue cake made by Ms. Denise. Andy even put on his cub scout uniform to assist an wrangling the kindergarteners!

Katelyn's 6th Birthday Party

Every year I pride myself on baking the kids' birthday cakes myself, just like my Mom did for me. But this year, Katie unwittingly gave me a break - we were at Walmart a week or so before the party, and she went over to the bakery, selected this cute cake, and informed me that this was what she wanted. I was sad at first that she didn't want a "Mom's Special," but in the end, this saved me the bigges chunk of party prep time!

Katie had a pool party, which is why we waited until May for the pool to be a bit warmer. We had a sack race, egg relay, and musical chairs. This year Katie didn't cry when getting eliminated from the chairs - her friend Beth did (it's always someone!)

Kindergarten Field Trip to the Fort Worth Zoo

Katelyn got lucky - her class field trip is on her 6th birthday! Mom got to be the chaperone for Katelyn plus her 2 girl scout pals, Caelyn and Beth. We had a great time, and everyone was completely worn out afterwards! Katelyn got to share a birthday treat (brownies) with her class when we got back to the school.

Daisy Scouts plant spring flowers for our school

For our Pink Petal, our Troop planted the spring flowers for the front flower beds at our school. The girls will be so proud since everyone at school will get to see their hard work! Mom was really surprised at how hard the girls worked without complaining, and everyone enjoyed getting their hands dirty (except one, who was the master of the rake instead.) I hope these flowers live all summer and are still there to enjoy in the fall. Many thanks to Lydia and Beth for monitoring the watering - it's great to live across the street from the school, but sometimes you get taken advantage of. :)

Ryan loves Mrs. Kleid's Class!

Ryan loves Mrs. Kleid! Here is Ryan and his fav teacher (second only to Mrs. Taylor, his Sp Ed teacher.) We had 50s day at our school for book fair week.

This is the first year ever that Ryan has spent any significant time in his grade-level classroom. Ryan is technically in second grade, but he's been in Communications Class (Special Ed) from the start. Well, this year we owe tremendous thanks to Mrs. Kleid. She truly enjoys having Ryan come to her class, and Ryan is made to feel welcome. His desk has his name on it, just like the other kids, and it's in the middle of the classroom - not closest to the door in case of early exit. Mrs. Kleid gives Ryan special jobs to do, like taking the lunch count and writing it on her Smartboard. Ryan so looks forward to going to her class. The kids are really nice too - they help him with things like scissors and glue, and after the Second Grade Musical Program, one of the boys (the son of Ryan's aide, a real sweetie-pie) came up and posed for a picture with Ryan. Ryan has friends! Hooray!

Plow, Plant and Shear Girl Scout Day at Dallas Heritage Village

We had us some real 1800s fun at this Girl Scout Event. Here is Katelyn's Troop posing in the spring clover in front of an old victorian house.

What has made Katelyn so excited about the 1800s? Caddie Woodlawn!

Mom picked up a used copy of Caddie Woodlawn at the CFB Used Book Fair a few months ago. We read each chapter day by day at bedtime. We are now working on reading Magical Melons, the Caddie Woodlawn sequel.

Katelyn has been enthralled with the adventures of this pioneer redheaded girl who lived on a farm in western Wisconsin. She meets indians, takes care of animals, goes to a one-room schoolhouse, and does all sorts of things that Katelyn would like to do. Sigh...to be born in the wrong century. I think I could join Katelyn in enjoying pioneer life.

Eric Orr's Art Studio

Sometimes I'm not sure who has more fun doing scout activities...the kids or Mom! Unfortunately, Mom usually is so busy overseeing kids that she doesn't get to make a project herself.

For this activity, we went out to Eric Orr's Art Studio in Copper Canyon. It's a place that Katelyn and I had been to with GLECPTA back in our preschool days. For a small supply fee, the kids get to make something out of clay and glaze it. The girl scouts made these plaques, and the cub scouts made goblets that will go towards their Artist or Craftsman Webelos Pins.

One day soon, I'm going to learn how to use the kiln that grandma (my mom) got for me last fall. It's now in the garage adn wired in. I just need to round everything up and have a free day to stay home and babysit the firing process.

Challenge Air Fly Day

There's this great organization called Challenge Air. They take kids with disabilities and their families flying in planes, and all of the pilots donate their time and their personal planes. Ryan is still unsure about the whole deal, but he's done it 3 times now. Each time he takes the wheel for a minute or so.

The view and the "sensation of flying" are so much more exhilarating from these small planes.

LAC Silver Boys day at Zone!

Andy swims for an amazing swim team, and he's an amazing swimmer. His practice group, however, is mostly girls. (Go figure.) So we needed to do something for the boys to bond. So Andy, David, Gavin and Alex went to race go-karts and play golf at Zone. Fun!

Evening Camp at Lake Grapevine

We'd been told that we couldn't take our Daisy Troop camping overnight, so Jill (another Daisy leader) and I hatched a plan to have the same fun experiences close to home, minus the sleeping in a tent. We chose a secluded park on the north shore of Lake Grapevine, and we had our girls make fishing poles out of bamboo, play kickball, roast s'mores, go on a scavenger hunt, and we even invited a Junior Troop to come and teach us Girl Scout songs around our campfire.

The funny thing about the bamboo poles is how they were aquired. There is a grove of bamboo over by the Flower Mound Post Office. Bamboo grows and divides like crazy to the point of often being a nuisance...but...would I get in trouble for chopping down bamboo on government property? This is one of those things that's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. I headed over one evening at dusk and parked my car a ways away, walked over, and quickly cut down a dozen poles with my nipper tool. Then I retrieved my car and quickly opened the back hatch and stuffed the bamboo shoots in. I hadn't taken the time to trim the side shoots, so there were branches and leaves everywhere, including sticking out of the back after I closed the door. It probably was a strange sight to see...but, I find that I do all sorts of strange things all for the sake of my kids!

Andy swims with the Olympians!

Andy had the unique opportunity to attend the Fitter and Faster Tour and get some swimming instruction from Ian Crocker and Megan Jendrick. It was funny to watch these kids...many of whom are highly-ranked for their age group, compete against Olympians - Ian and Megan raced the kids and let them get past the flags before ever diving in, and still managed to beat most of them across a 25-yard pool!

Here is Andy with his pal Winston, who swims for Richardson. Andy and Winston are 2 of only a handful of 9 year old boys who have A and TAGS-qualifying times, so they've hung out at meets and gotten to be friends. Too bad they don't swim for the same team. Ah well, perhaps in college...

We went to see Grandma and Grandpa in Colorado over Spring Break. Our friends the Powers came with us, which was fun for all! We went skiing in Winter Park for just one day. All of the kids took lessons, including Ryan - his lessons were through the National Sports Center for the Disabled. They have a great program, and Ryan did OK - some meltdowns, to be expected, but he skiied and he said "had fun" afterwards. Next time will be even better.

The day we were to leave for Texas, a beautiful snow was falling. We took this family picture at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs on the way home. The snow followed us all the way back to Texas...in March...which was unusual.

This is Andy's second TAGS meet, but last year he was only there on account of being needed for a relay. This year is the first year that he got here on his own merit - with 5 TAGS-qualifying times. Mom and Andy drove to The Woodlands, Texas (outside Houston) for this meet. We stayed in a hotel and ate at Subway every day (Andy's favorite restaurant!) Andy and his pal Winston (who swims for Richardson) got to hang out some more, with only a few 9 year old boys from around the state being at this meet. Since they swim in a 9-10 age-group category, next year when they are 10, hopefully they will own this meet! This year Andy's finishes (being ranked with 9 and 10 year olds) were along the lines of 34th place, 37th place, etc. But next year he is heading for all top-8 finishes, and perhaps a first place in Fly if he keeps up his efforts!

Kindergarten Pony Parade

Katie came home from school one day with instructions and a pattern for making a stick horse. They were due in 1 week! Do kindergarten teachers think us parents have lots of spare time? I don't know what the non-crafty Moms due in situations like this...but we went to the fabric store and Katie picked out fleece in various colors for her horse. Every detail, right down to the bridle and bow (not visible in the picture) were of her choosing. I got to spend an afternoon putting it together. Fortunately I had some foam left from shadowboxes with which to stuff this horsehead, and Andy had a couple of bamboo sticks that he had plucked from a marsh near his friend Josh's house. So other than $4 for fleece and the button eyes, this was with whatever we had laying around the house. The horse's name is Cinnamon. They had a Pony Parade around the school, and posed in the classroom afterwards.

Denim & Diamonds "Daddy Daughter" Girl Scout Dance

Katie was scared to go to this dance! I guess she thought it was going to be like a formal prom or something. We didn't discuss it too far in advance, so that she wouldn't worry herself silly about it, as she tends to do. I heard that plenty of Dads were scared (or didn't want) to go, also. But Jay was right on this one! Andy and I were out at Webelos Woods all day and barely made it home in time to take this picture, so Daddy helped Katie choose her clothes and get ready. Mom swooped in to brush hair, add glitter spray, and paint nails. (Yeah, it's a girl thing.) Katie was so excited when she came home! She got to ride a bucking bronco, and she got a horseshoe ring!

Webelos Woods at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch

Andy and I went out to Webelos Woods, 2 hours west of home at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch, with our friends Glea and Dalton. What a neat place! Dad and Andy had been there before, but I hadn't - in fact, I only got the chance to go this time because Dad needed to be home to get ready for the Daddy/Daughter Girl Scout Dance with Katie. Andy got to throw tomahawks and knives, shoot BBs and archery, slingshots, canoeing, rock climbing, make a bear claw necklace, cross a monkey bridge (rope bridge) made by Boy Scouts, and more. The Boy Scouts were really nice and helpful. Andy is psyched about bridging to Boy Scouts next year!

Pinewood Derby 2010

We had our annual Pinewood Derby this weekend! We turn this into a family affair - one of the things I love about Cub Scouting. Andy made a skateboard car, Mom and Katie made a Pink Cheetah car, and Dad made a cool creation for Ryan to race. Dad was disappointed that the glossy epoxy finish that Mom talked him into using this year made the design bleed, but what can you do. The kids had fun racing. The track we used this year is really cool! Ever since we've been in the Pack, the Pack has always payed a "professional" Pinewood Derby guy to come out and set up a metal track complete with computerized timing. The guy was not available this year, but someone who used to be in our Pack was moving and found boxes in their garage, which turned out to be storing this old hand-built track among other things. With a little TLC from some of the dads and some computer programming, this track came back from the dust and served us well this year!

Scout Sunday

"Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." - unknown

Our Church, Horizon Unitarian Universalist, has never had a Scout Sunday recognition before. Perhaps this is because of the strained relations between the UU church and the BSA, due to the BSA's policy on gays and athiests, versus the UU church's acceptance of all people regardless of orientation or beliefs. Can't say for sure. Although it's ironic that this picture of our family on our first Scout Sunday was taken in front of the banner which proclaims, "Standing on the side of love."

My friend Kristin and I, who are both heavily involved in both Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting through our kids, hatched a plan to simply ask for a Scout Sunday recognition at one of the services in February. Ask and ye shall receive! As it turns out, there are quite a few past and present scouts at our church! In the end, I am not surprised, given that many of the values of the UU church parallel those of scouting.