Back on the Blog!

Happy 4th of July weekend!!

My internet has been down (up and down - very sporadic) for all this time since camp hideaway! Needless to say, I've been very frustrated by the whole inconvenience. Now, I'm a bit deflated about all my fun projects, but I'll catch up anyway {for the two -or -so people who read my blog - love ya both :)}.

Camp Hideaway was fun, fun, fun.

A different year - a transition year for my girls who are now becoming teenagers. The whole schedule was more laid back, with later nights and mornings, so we didn't do as many projects as I had planned for. It was just fine - I wanted to go with the flow (nice Mom, not Nazi Mom!). The little gnomes were our camp mascots. We set them around all over the place - hopefully they brought us good luck!

These are the camp kits for this year. It's a place mat that I made into a folded packet to be used for cards, journal, pens, anything. I called it the gratitude pack. I gave the girls a notebook for a gratitude journal, and a variety of note cards. We wrote thank you notes to parents and family, and I mailed them from Camp Hideaway. The girls got to choose fun pens and pencils to put in their packet, and we made little name tag charms to put on the front of them. We also made a neat music mix CD for each girl with songs about being happy and lucky and friends...

I bought scrubs (bottoms only) at the thrift for each girl and they wrote all over them.

Scrubs are so comfy!

Kitchen Duty - Emmalyn (on the left) and friends

Kitchen Duty - Colette (on the right) and friends

A few of our "wish" boxes. Every girl made a really cute box with a stamped message inside.

And these are some of the girl's "lucky catch" bracelets.

This year our dinner parties were all holiday themed. First, it was St. Patty's day (potato soup and corned beef sandwiches) hosted by the "grown-ups". Here they're getting ready for the 4th of July dinner party. Colette's group hosted - they decorated and prepared an all-American salad bar dinner. Emmalyn's group - wearing the Santa hats - hosted the Christmas dinner party. Honey baked ham, potato casserole and more yummies were on the menu.

After dinner we had our gift exchange. Each girl brought a small favor for all the other girls. It really was like Christmas! We had a small (cheap) tree that my little boys and Grandma were in charge of decorating. It was really fun for them to make ornaments and decorate the tree. Yes, those are Easter Peeps bunnies that you see adorning the tree. Creativity abounds! :)

I made a stocking for each girl out of thrifted jeans. I really liked them, and plan to develop that idea a little more for the holiday season! Fun...

Even really little guys can make wonderful art! Paint and glitter...arrg! Where is his smock?! This is the project that we didn't have time to make. An embellished photo hanger.

A project for a future class or party I suppose - I've got all the stuff!!

Here are all of the beautiful Camp Hideaway girls. They were all so great! It's a real joy for me to have this fun with my girls. I'm a lucky Mom.

Wow. I can't believe I don't have a picture of Chelsea, my niece who came along to help me out!!

She is the unseen hero behind the scenes for this year. I loved having Chelsea along. She is an amazing lady, and I loved getting to know her better! Thanks, Chelsea.. I heart U...

******

Now, for a quick current update, we just got back from a great weekend at our cabin. The little town of Heber, AZ puts on an amazing fireworks show that we got to see, and feel, right above our heads. The explosions echoed off the canyon walls and the ashes fell in our eyes. It was awesome! Big thanks to my sweet niece, Molly, for showing us how to get the good seats. :)

I really hope to be back to normal on the internet. I do enjoy blogging!

Thanks for stopping by... after all this time...