Campin'

 We went camping at Beaver Lake Resort for three nights and it was thundershowers for two of them! We managed to stay relatively dry and had a great time. Here, the boys are on the pedal boat. I swear boys were made for camping, they don't care what the weather is. Me, I better have hot drinks and chocolate and lots of yummy treats or I may start to complain. It's not like we were roughing it or anything but let's just say by Sunday morning, after two nights of rain, I was more than glad to get the heck outta there! Camping always makes me grateful for my warm home. We had company with us and it was a great chance for our son to practice his French as my husband's brother and girlfriend do not speak English. It was a true immersion!

We all managed to communicate just fine. I am sorry to have to report that over the weekend, our beloved fish, Vermillion, who is pictured above, departed this earth. He will be remembered fondly. So, it is back to work and school for the final week and then summer vacation begins for real. Here's hoping the weather improves. My thoughts are with those in the nearby community of Sicamous, who have experienced severe flooding and are on evacuation alert. So scary! I hope that no one is hurt. On a happier note, I noted that the forecast looks warm and sunny for the water slide party, but I made alternate plans, just in case!

Bumped his head on the end of the bed...

It has been raining cats and dogs lately. I have always loved that expression, it evokes such whimsical imagery! I have had many inspirations lately but sadly, due to a mundane thing called a job, lack the time to fulfill  my creative ideas. So, I'm going to write them down so that I don't forget them. Thanks for bearing with a Creative To Do post.
1. Cut pattern and material for new spring dress. (amazing fabric score at VV boutique!)
2. Load photos onto portable drive for 90th bday project
3.Write Laurel's bio
4. Figure out Blurb program
5. Learn to make beadie buddies and other loot bag goodies
6. Learn the square stitch for plastic lace (already mastered the circle stitich, thankyouverymuch)
7. Possibly copy the bag design I saw for sale for $19.99. I think I can beat that!

I hate to burst your bubble...

Forgive the borrowed image of a bubble print, but this is a very fun activity to do : Bubble prints! I did some at  work with the practicum students and the day program participants and it was a grand success. We used: four Dixie cups, 4 straws, dish soap, 4 different colors of non toxic, acrylic paint and 4 disposable trays that one might buy for roasting or oven liners Oh, and paper.

Place about 1/2 inch paint in each cup. pour in the same amount of dish soap and then add water to make double the amount of liquid total. Place cup on tray, put straw in cup. Blow bubbles! When the tray is full of bubbles, gently place a piece of paper on the tray and lay flat without touching the bottom (though that does produce another interesting effect, in my opinion). Let dry then layer with another color print. Fun! Beautiful! (Do this outside.) I can't wait to have time to do this at home.
We also went to a craft fair, Creative Chaos which is a huge event in our town and one that I can tend to get carried away at. I've blogged about it nearly every year. This year, we stuck to looking, not so much spending, and my son had a $10 budget, which he stuck to. One purchase we could not resist was the work of a little boy, sitting next to his father in a booth. This boy, who looked to be about 5 years old, had a box full of colorful balls and was bouncing one up and down on a rubber band on his finger. They were yo yo balloons! How entrepreneurial! It was the most adorable thing and of course, my boy was as enchanted as I was and spent his last $3 on the spot. The construction is easy and I will probably make more for fun. I even found some instructions here. So, the simple wonder of things has kept me inspired and I thought I would share them with you. Cheers.

Ten little things

Ten little things I have been doing to use my resources wisely (sounds better than the F word).

-Mended a sheet instead of throwing it out
-Made cut off shorts and muscle shirts
-Made pillow cases
-Baked bread
-Did my own bangs/hair trim
-Made yogurt
-Organize plastic containers and shopping bags to use less disposable waste
-Clean out fridge and use up random bits of leftovers before they go bad
-Made breakfast muffin cake with saved cereal mix and apple/pear puree (from food organizing)
- Bought a cooked chicken and made soup stock from carcass. Used breast meat for chicken snack wrappers.