Ben's & Maddie's Class Parties

Ben's class did a readers' theater; it was sort of like a play, but with the kids standing in place reading 

their lines from the script. Afterward, they did an Olaf snowman edible craft while I waited for Maddie's class to begin their show.

 

Maddie's class did a different sort of a Readers' Gallery with groups of kids reading together.

 Both kids really enjoyed their parties and decided to stay at school the rest of the day. On these days, they are allowed to leave with a parent early in the day (but then they miss all the fun.)

Trail Life Float

Check out the neat float Allen and Will helped their Trail Life troop make for the city Christmas Parade!

The Oddest Menu

How many eleven year old boys do you know who ask Mama to serve sushi when he has a birthday party with friends? Our kiddo did!

Will had two friends -- Ben and Erik -- for an overnight. Usually, he asks for pizza or something similarly unhealthy for a birthday party, but this time he really wanted sushi. After checking with the parents to see if there were allergies, I learned that both his friends were willing to try anything at least once. That meant we could branch out a bit for the menu. Allen picked up pizza in case the boys needed more to eat than just sushi, but also because we didn't know if they would like it or not.

After dinner, Will blew out the candles on his Tardis cake. This one I did make, and it turned out to be much more challenging than I expected. The lines were all supposed to be really straight, but the new recipe I tried for buttercream really didn't like to be so straight. Oh well -- the Dr. Pepper and chocolate cake was quite tasty and it did look like the Doctor Who phone booth so the boys thought it was pretty neat.

All the boys (plus Ben, Maddie, and Jon) were up to another challenge: soda pop taste testing.

Bacon soda - six thumbs down, that stuff was awful!!
PB & J soda - I think there were two thumbs up. After the Bacon flavor, no one thought PB & J was too bad, but no one liked it enough to get it again, either.

Christmas mint soda - four thumbs up. It tasted like fizzy mouthwash, so not something I want again, but not as bad as the other two.
Honey Cream - six thumbs up and EVERYONE wanted more of it. That one was tasty!

Will and his friends played with Nerf guns for a while, watched an episode or two of Doctor Who, and stayed up really late talking and playing. Will was really happy to have time with his buddies and it was an added bonus that he got to celebrate his birthday again.

This week

We got back from Waco Sunday around lunchtime. I was hoping to have some down time before our whirlwind of a week began, but then I remembered I needed groceries. When I sat down to look at my to-do list for the week, I was frustrated that it was so busy and stressful... I really wanted December to be intentionally slowed down.

My calendar was showing busyness daily -- getting ready for scouts, a scout meeting with dinner for Maddie at 6pm, scouts for Jon and Ben and me at 6:30 at the church, Allen and Will had scouts at the other end of town, Tuesday morning our Bible study group was getting together, then I'd pick up a cake for Will's birthday, then pick up Will, then go back after two hours to get Jon, then wait an hour to get the other two from school, then Tuesday night we would celebrate Will's birthday (and I was hoping Allen would be back from out-of-town in time to celebrate with us), Wednesday I was working on the badge ceremony with a friend who is home bound after surgery, Wednesday night was a church night and Allen would be working on the parade float, Thursday I had a dentist appointment, Will had an after-school meeting, and that night Allen and I had a Leadership class that I was cooking part of the dinner for, Friday was just as hectic with me substitute teaching until 12:30, Will had a well-kid check-up at 1:00, and I was supposed to meet Ben and Maddie at the park before 2:00 after their field trip, Friday evening the guys would head to a scout lock-in while Maddie and I head to see the Nutcracker ballet with friends, Saturday would end with a city parade the boys will be in, and Sunday I am heading to help with childcare at the Army Reserve. I start having an anxiety attack just thinking of all that.

Monday WAS busy, as they always are. The great news was that Allen did not need to head out of town like he originally thought.Tuesday, I did some shopping, then picked Will up and we went to have sushi and pick out a birthday cake. As we left the store to head back to the other side of town to get Jon from school, the nurse called to tell me Ben was running a fever... at a different school. I swung by to get Jon a bit early from his science club meeting, then went to Ben's school for him. Since there was only an hour left of the day, I checked Maddie out early to simplify life a little bit. As I was driving across town, I took advantage of my hands-free car phone and called to cancel meeting Joni Wednesday morning. I was sad to do that, but I already knew Ben had to stay home sick Wednesday. Ben slept most of the afternoon, but he woke up in time to enjoy a few bits of cake when we sang to Will. I knew to cancel my plans for Wednesday night at church, too. Wednesday, Ben and I hung out at home; he slept or watched some cartoons while I did some stuff around the house and updated scout records. As his temp hovered in the 103-105-degree range and he threw up, I rescheduled my dentist appointment and changed a bit of our Thursday evening plan. Thursday (today), Ben's fever reached almost 105 and he was throwing up again, so I called the school to tell them they needed to find a different sub, I rescheduled Will's doctor's visit, and now I'm in a holding pattern wondering what Friday night will be like.

Overall, it really stinks that Ben is feeling so crummy, but the silver-lining is that I have been guilt-free about erasing some of the plans. Now, back to praying he gets well soon!!

Edited to add: Friday Ben was home again with a high fever. Maddie was sent home with a fever that continued to climb, so we missed the Nutcracker. Maybe we can try again next year... Both kiddos were doing much better Saturday and were back to playing with friends on Sunday.

Eleven

Tuesdays, I pick Will up at school at 12:15, and we have about an hour and a half together until we go back for Jon (he has STEM club on Tuesdays after school.) Today, I picked Will up and we went and had lunch at Fresh (a fancy-ish grocery store). We had sushi and berries for lunch, then we went to the bakery and he picked out a German Chocolate cake for his birthday cake... because sometimes Mama is too busy to cook and the cakes at Fresh have been delicious.

We enjoyed our time together, and it was an added bonus that it happened on his birthday. As we were on our way to get Jon, the school nurse at Ben's school called and said I needed to come get Ben, so our quiet time was short-lived, but special.

I think every year I get to December 2nd and wonder where time went. How did Will make it to age eleven? The last few weeks have been a struggle with lots of back talk and arguing. There have been plenty of days I wondered if we would both make it to his eleventh birthday... but we have all survived so far. Today, Will was in great spirits, so I can finish this story with a big grin! Happy birthday, [sometimes] Sweet William!

PS - He loved the gifts he opened today, as you can tell by the smiles. When the last gift was a Theodore Boone book he has been wanting since spring, he blurted, "This has been the BEST birthday EVER! I got everything I wanted!!" He got a couple sets of Magic cards from us, a metal take-apart puzzle from great grandparents, a magazine subscription from Gramma and Granddad, a Theodore Boone book from Uncle Jason and Aunt Angel, and a Doctor Who watch set from Nana and Papa.

More Cousin Crafting

Saturday was a girls' day out. Allen had gone back home to check on Tico who has been pretty sick lately, and Jason and Dad kept the boys until Allen got back to Waco Saturday morning. The guys all hiked down the street for burgers for lunch.

Mom, Angel, and I took Maddie and Julianne to the Fair again since Julianne hadn't been with us yesterday. The girls chose different crafts to do, but a couple times they were working at the same table.

Maddie really enjoyed basket weaving, and she was so proud of her pretty basket!

Next, she made a little tissue holder. She has done some embroidery stitching at home and tried cross stitching yesterday at the fair, but I think this is the first time she's sewed something really useful.

While Maddie sewed the tissue holder, Julianne sewed a gift bag, and Aunt Angel sewed a tissue holder, too.

Julianne tried a few other crafts that Maddie or the boys had done yesterday, then the girls went to pet the chicks and bunnies.

That evening, we rinsed, washed, and dried the tie-dyed shirts.

Sunday morning, we packed up our luggage to head home. Before we left, though, I helped Maddie and Julianne finish another part of the textile badge. Instead of having two wearable shirts, I taught them how to turn one of them into a cute purse. When we got home, I showed Maddie how to use the sleeve scraps to make braided bracelets, and that's how she did the badge (well... almost. Now she just needs to write up what she learned.)

Black Friday at the Homestead Heritage Fair

This year we had Thanksgiving with my parents in Waco. We headed to Waco Wednesday morning and had a pretty laid back couple of days. Maddie took several opportunities to get Granddad to help her with her Fishing badge, the boys played outside in leaf piles, and I couldn't tell you what I did.  Every other year, when we go to Waco, we go to the Homestead Heritage Fair the day after Thanksgiving. It's my favorite way to spend Black Friday, and each year we seem to enjoy it more and more as the kids get old enough to participate in the crafts and learning.

As soon as we got to the fair, we headed to the do-it-yourself tent since it wasn't too crowded yet. Will and Ben built wooden sailboats while Allen and Dad assisted as needed. Since I was with Maddie, I didn't get photos of the boys doing the building, but I got there in time to see them painting and launching the ship.

Jon started off doing a leather-worked bookmark, then Mom stayed with him as he began weaving a coaster on the big loom. Meanwhile, I was with Maddie as she learned to cross-stitch a bookmark.

 

Maddie was stitching for awhile. While she was sewing, Ben and Jon dipped candles and made caramel apples, and Allen and Will took the big sail boats to the car.

We had lunch and wandered through the fairgrounds for a while. After the DIY crafts, the biggest hit at the fair for my kids are the animals. They love holding fluffy chicks, cuddling the baby goats and puppies, and playing with the bunnies.

One of Maddie's badge requirements is to attend a craft fair and notice new types of crafts she might want to learn to make. She really enjoyed watching a young lady making a basket and asked if she could try it someday. Here are the finished crafts she had me photograph for her to remember.

We got back to the house a bit before my brother's family arrived and Maddie had time to finish her bookmark. Once Jason's crew arrived we were all back to busy again. Angel and I thought it would be fun for Maddie and Julianne to work on a badge together. Both girls and moms went through the handbook searching for one the girls could finish in one weekend and have a great time doing it. The girls began working on Textile Arts by weaving pot holders with Gramma earlier in the summer. Tonight, the girls each dyed two shirts and Jon, Ben, and Will each did one. Since the color needed to stay on the shirts for several hours, we left soaking until the next day.