Some Mid Week "Things"...

There's been lots going on in the house of Scrapper Mom recently. Lots of things requiring my computer scrap savvy brain...such as it is. Starting over the weekend, this is what I'm talking about:

- One book report over "The Long Winter". Ready for Little Ann to audition for her part in the Accelerated Reading pageant on the 30th. We're talking 3-4 minutes that had to be memorized. Not even notecards....and complete with costume. CHECK.

She did this on Monday and I must brag. She was the only one in the class that made a perfect score and was first pick for the pageant!!

- Next up for Little Ann was the power point she had to put together for yesterday's 4-H presentation. Community Service is a good thing. CHECK.

- I've been scrap happy for the past few days because Big Dan's last 5 spreads for his Senior Scrapbook are due tomorrow. This time he had to design a cover and back for the binder. The essay was on his best childhood memory which of course would be the 500 years he's played baseball. We..correction..I spent hours sorting through old baseball pics for the accompanying collage. CHECK.

- District Tournament started this past week. All pushed back a day because of rain. I drove 5 hours yesterday (round trip) for the game which we won. We play again tonight for the Championship. And I suppose I'll be driving to watch again.

- Pete's job did change a little. Not too detrimental at the moment. As a railroader, there is so much strange lingo that it took me years to learn to comprehend. All I can say right now is he got "bumped" off the "extra board" and is now working a "regular job" which gives him pretty standard off days instead of a few hours off between trips. There. Did you get all that? I said all that to say that he has been a little stir crazy with the warm weather and off days. So much that he and Little Ann began "PROJECT TREE HOUSE". I think it's supposed to resemble "American Girl..Kit's". The first day they worked on it brought a little tumble backwards into the mud in which he thought he broke his ankle. Now Little Ann is stressed that her clumsy daddy is going to really hurt himself during this endeavor and she wants him to stop. Aw...now that's sweet. How is it that some of us get so much clumsier with age? (Love ya honey).

- The Seniors have 10 more days of school. I have hung in there. No tears yet (well, recent ones), but I know they're a comin'!! As soon as this tournament is over we are going to have to squeeze graduation invitations in somewhere between Regional and State...and I'm trying to plan the "after party".

No doubt it's been and will be a wild ride around here for a little while. Say a little prayer for us....(and my dad who is having a skin cancer removed today and sent off for biopsy).

Happy Hump Day, my friends!

What I've Been Up To

Friday
- finished my book (Yea for me!!!)
- went to visit my parents which I haven't done in awhile. There's a new baby calf in town...

Saturday
-This day started way too early for a Saturday, in my opinion. Little Ann had a basketball game at 9:00 am...requiring us to be there at 8:30. She played well and I was really proud of her. She is one of the only two 5th graders on her team (and the shortest, I might add) and since the rest are 6th graders, her confidence is not very high right now.
-We had a "moving" day from our old classrooms at church to our new educational wing we started back in the Spring.
-Little Ann had a 2nd game later in the afternoon.
-Came home after more cleaning and moving in at the church only to find myself locked out of the house. (gotta love that)
-Trip into the city to meet up with Pete, who was at work, to retrieve a key from him...luckily he hadn't left on his train yet.

Sunday
-Church services and a much needed nap. I brought a stow away home with me after morning services. They played the wii all afternoon and enjoyed the puppies.

As a matter of fact, I think they may've enjoyed them a little "too" much. I got up from my nap to find this on my camera.

If I had to guess, these cute little shoes once belonged to a currently barefooted little American Girl.

Have a great week!!

A Cinderella Story

Little Ann admits to feeling a little like Hillary Duff in this movie:

She worked hard for me yesterday doing some extra chores around the house. Seems like no one ever wants to help just for the sake of helping poor mom out. There always has to be some motive behind it. With Big Dan, it's usually, because he wants to do something or go somewhere, but with Little Ann it is usually because she is saving up for something big.

Our list started in the kitchen where I had her do things like wipe down the appliances and clean the inside of the microwave. She did an excellent job, I might add. I walked into the kitchen to check on her at one point and this is what she looked like.

busy, busy, busy.....roller skates and all.

Remember our "girls day", when we went to see Kit Kitteredge: An American Girl. She fell in love with Kit. And I don't hardly blame her. She's so pretty and I've said before the movie was excellent. Who wouldn't want Kit? So........now she is saving up for her:

I have plenty more jobs where those came from today, if she is up for the challenge. With only 3 weeks left of summer vacation, we'd better dive in to get those extra projects done or we will run out of time for sure. I know she must feel like Cinderella with Big Dan chillin' at the pool with the girlfriend while she slaves at home. But I guess a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

When I asked her last night how she felt about what she had accomplished, her reply:
"Daddy pays better". (I think she's got daddy right where she wants him, what do you think?)

A Long Day

This day has been marked down on our calendar for months. Just as soon as Little Ann found the announcement on The American Girl site that Kit was making a movie, it was a definite we were going. The movie actually came out on Tuesday but we had trouble finding a theater that was showing it. After a little web searching, I located one and decided this would be the day we would venture out for a little girly afternoon fun.

Here is Little Ann...along with Felicity and Nikki (the 2 dolls she has collected so far) along for our girls day out. Glad I didn't have to buy tickets for them too, even though they each took up a seat!

You know, I am of the opinion that movie theaters are pure robbery. Who can actually go into one and pass up popcorn once the smell hits you in the face? Twelve buckaroos for this people. TWELVE DOLLARS.

I must admit, the movie was great. I cried. Yes, I'm a sap. I always have been. I cry about lots of things anyway, but touching movies get me every time. For any of my readers not familiar with American Girl, I highly recommend it if you have girls that still like dolls. Each doll comes with her own historical background and book. Most dolls have sets of books. Little Ann loves dolls AND history so it is a great combination for her. Some of you homeschoolers might even find a way to incorporate it into your history lesson. I don't know, just a thought, but it's healthy for her mind.

After the movie and our $12 bag of popcorn (which I was the only one that ate), we shopped around for awhile, and then had dinner. Later we did this...

No way Little Ann was letting me pass by Barnes and Noble..no way, no how. What kind of mother would I be anyway, if I didn't let her get a book to read over summer vacation? At least one of us likes to do it.

This was NOT on her list of things to do on her girls day out...

but tonight was Big Dan's last Legion Baseball game and I didn't have the heart to miss it. He was glad we were there..we brought extra fans.

I hope your day was great. Oh and yes, I did miss tonight's episode of The Bachelorette, but I plan to watch it online in the morning...don't tell me, don't tell me!!