I LOVE a Food Drive!

Second grader J came home from school today with her normal weekly newsletter. As is frequently seen this time of year, there was a blurb about their annual food drive. I had recently rearranged some cabinets and I had found some things I knew we would not use that I set aside to donate.

As I am bagging up the whole wheat pasta (too sweet), the B&B pickles (that isn't the right kind...) and a couple of other items, I start to tell J that I want her to take this to school, "J, your school is having a food drive-"

"Great!!! I LOVE a food drive! Last year La's mom sent six packages of noodles and I got them all!"

??!!! I flashed back to a year ago when J came home with noodles saying that La had given them to her..."because I love them and her mom didn't want them"

I explained what a food drive really was and in her trademark J response, the head bobs and I hear the "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

....I guess I owe the food drive 6 extra packages of noodles.

Kids say...

I miss my blog...my best way to record adorable children moments is here. So, I am back...

One of the conversations from the car...

J: I would like to go to a mind reader

M: Really, why?

J: so they could tell me my future

M: Mind readers tell you what you are thinking, fortune tellers tell your future

J: Then I want to go to a fortune teller.

J: how can someone read your mind...(pause) I would not want someone doing that, I've got a lot of personal stuff going on up there...

The Museum Experience

My kids both went on a field trip this week to the Martin Luther King Jr Museum…they both went to the same place but they went in different groups/different days because of how daycare splits them up and they went on VERY different outings…

(overheard)
J: S, how did you like the museum?
S: Boring…a museum – just stuff to look at…
J: I know, but for the historic part, how did you like it?
S: Everything was really gray
J: But is was so historic! The gravestone that said Free at Last…the white man who marched with them and got beat up…what did you think of all that?
S: All you did was walk…there wasn’t even anything we got to buy!
J: Lacey took money and she bought a water bottle… (at this point J realized she couldn’t pull S into her experience so she crossed over to S’s…)

S Coordinates Fabric

Today we went to a nearby quilt shop hunting a fabric that I need a 2 1/2" strip of to make the current 'design wall' quilt a size that better shows off the pattern...we didn't find it but the girls each picked out fabric for new pillowcases -just for them.

J picked out Basketball Players and Basketball trim - not surprising as we are a mere week away from the oh-so-anticipated basketball camp. We got enough fabric to make one case for J and one for her friend T who she'll be accompanying to the camp.

The bigger surprise was S. S zeroed in on a fabric that had lots of teeny tiny squares in appealing colors and then started pointing at bolts to pull off and lay next to her chosen fabric as she matched colors. (She laid them on the floor which made me cringe but the shop owner just laughed at how the 5 year old found a way to get the bird's eye view she needed.) None of the fabrics she selected were from the same line or even same manufacturer...she truly coordinated them! Topped it off with an accent from my stash and below you see a (blurry) pillowcase totally designed by my little fashion diva...and her tomboy sister's one too, of course.

I have said for a while that S was born for fashion design and today was another step in that direction.

Pillowcases for smiles...

For a little over a year, I have been involved with ConKerr Cancer...A case for smiles.

Born from a mom of a cancer stricken teen, this organization blew into national recognition through Martha Stewart's show recognizing Cindy Kerr for her efforts. After cheering up her son's hospital room with new pillowcases whenever he went into the hospital, Cindy expanded to the ward...other wards...recruited helpers...expanded to other hospitals...and now, with (at least) 83 chapters in the US, Canada and South Africa, kids everywhere are getting a little bit of fun and color added to their hospital rooms. I think everyone can be cheered with a personality filled colorful pillowcase when they are feeling crappy and I love the novelty fabrics so this charity effort is tailor made for me.

You can find a local chapter to support or our own Georgia chapter if you like...

I made a few more cases this week (seen above) and here is my fabric update...

as of June 7 :

Fabric usage goal – 66.66
Fabric Added This Week – 4 yards (YIKES!) border fabric on project and 1/2 price irrestible kid wizard fabric for pillowcases.
Fabric Added May 2009 to Date – 6.83 yards
Fabric Used This Week – 10.69 yards
Fabric Used May 2009 to Date – 31.44 yards
Net Usage - 24.61
Left on goal - 42.05 (about 6 yds each month...)

What, I wasn't going to notice?

S had to get rid of a tangle in her hair and she certainly managed to do that:

(not a great image-I had to use my phone)

And here she is with her new 'do':

Belt Testing

When S had her gymnastics showcase, J was scheduled to have her orange belt testing at the same time about 20 minutes away. It couldn't happen. Today was the makeup test.

When I first got there I thought this makeup test was great...not near as many people, easier to see...

Then he said testing would last about 2 1/2 hours. I know it hasn't lasted that long in the past...he would say that the kids had already passed the testing and that 'gathering' was to show their parents what they could do. Not so today.

The short version of the story is about 2 hours of karate style calisthenics, repetitive kicks and punches - 50 reps on each for orange belts - and then forms and board busting. We were also there for the grueling sparring that the brown belt candidates went through. Watching people who have been working out for 2 hours get pummeled was not that fun...

Here's my gold belt girl doing her testing and my new orange belt with her karate master - he told me he was so proud of her.