Before the Dance

Picture time . . .

Of course before the dance, I wanted to get pictures.  The girls were all for pictures . . .

Cynthia's dress was gorgeous on her.  It looked like something you'd buy in the store, but she made it!!  What a beautiful dress.  She did such an amazing job making it.  That is really cool that she can say she wore a dress she made to her senior dance.

Zack wanted nothing to do with taking pictures . . .

Kind of reminded me of his first formal . . .

He didn't want his sister touching him two years ago and neither did he the other night.

The kids met up with some friends before the dance and had dinner.  They were all dressed up, and their server asked what school they were from having prom.  The kids responded that it is the best school around. Of course, she inquired more and they said they were homeschoolers.  She seemed shocked when she told them, "I didn't know homeschoolers did prom, too."  Duh! Homeschoolers can do the same things public schoolers do and sometimes even BETTER!!  :)

So glad, we can give the kids the same opportunities as other kids.  No missing out on fancy formal dances.  No missing out on science labs and classroom style classes.  No missing out on graduation.  No missing out on socialization.

The Hatter's Tea Party

As a homeschool mom, one of the many things or concerns outsiders seem to have is whether or not the kids will get enough socialization.  It is hard to believe, but one could say homeschoolers get plenty of socialization.  We are in our tenth year of homeschooling - WOW!! - and it is Kassi's senior year.  In the last two years of her high school career she has had the privilege of attending more formals than the average public and/or private schooler.  

Being her senior year, we offered to coordinate one of the spring formals with the stipulations that it be at our church facility - so we didn't have to search for a site - and we use a DJ friend of ours.  Given the green light, we started the planning process.  We booked the DJ, and marked the facility calendar.

Then we brainstormed some dance themes to have the high school co-op kids vote on.  Zack even got in on this throwing out ideas.  We tried to come up with some fun themes that weren't too 80's-90's throwback ideas.  We also wanted themes that would be easy to decorate for and serve themed food. 

After much discussion, many Googling hours, and many hours on Pinterest, the kids were give four choices to vote on . . . The Hatter's Tea Party; A Galaxy Far, Far Away; Enchanted Woodland; and Bright Lights, Big City.

. . . and the winner . . . 
                                     The Hatter's Tea Party.

Once the theme was decided, we were in full dance mode.  We were constantly thinking about what we could use for decorations, what type of fun theme foods to serve, how to decorate, and color scheme - we didn't want it to be too girly because we wanted the guys to want to come.  Once we had ideas, BIG ideas, we knew we had to get the kids to come.  So we talked it up! We had signs up at co-op.  Emails were sent out, and tickets went on sale.  

We made keepsake tickets for the kids so they would have a piece of memorabilia for their scrapbooks. 

Jay was awesome!  I knew what I wanted in my head,  but I wasn't sure how to  execute it.  So, I would explain it to him and he made it happen.  And that is exactly what happened with those tickets. They turned out awesome!!

Same goes for the decorations.  We bought things - tea pots, tea cup sets, flowers, clocks - from the dollar store, thrift stores and Flower Factory.  If you have a Flower Factory near you, you must check it out immediately!!  We definitely wanted mushrooms as decorations, but all the tutorials were extensive.  Leave it to Jay to come up with a plan.

Can you guess what these mushrooms are made out of?  Try safety cones and upside down plastic flower pots. After we spray painted them, the girls painted the dots and I added the moss.  The day of the dance, Jay added some finishing touches - butterflies & birds.  

Last night was the big dance.  We spent a little bit of time setting up Thursday evening and decorating on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

I am very sad as I didn't get photos of everything.  I got pictures of the snack room, but none of the dance area.  The dance area had a tree with purple lights and the Cheshire Cat's smile, the mushrooms were sproactically placed, there were tissue flowers hanging from the ceiling, and rope lighting along the room. Plus the DJ had his lighting equipment.  We even had garland made from decks of playing cards hanging from the doors and draping the tables.

I think the evening was a success!  There were 72 dance attendees and 11 adults, which included the DJ couple, the dance photographer and helper, 6 roaming chaperons, and one yearbook photographer/chaperon.  Keeping in line with the theme, we made bite sized finger foods.  On the menu: mini cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, cream cheese mints, ham pinwheels, pretzels, tea punch, lemonade, and bottled water.

There was a ton of dancing, singing, shouting, and SOCIALIZING.

Our very own garden

We were so spoiled by my in-laws’ garden when we lived with them!  They grew tomatoes (40+ of different varieties), lettuce, peppers (many varieties), eggplant, cucumbers, onions,  parsley, and squash. 

Last year we were without our own garden, but we received so many wonderful fresh veggies from several in our congregation.  We received tomatoes, corn, squash, and peppers, but I sure missed the abundance of fresh veggies in the backyard.  We were given our first tomato plant last year from a member, and it gave us sweet bite size tomatoes all summer long.  I remember plucking tomatoes when I would let Chloe out for her morning walk. 

Well, I am not a gardener.  I don’t like all the work that goes along with it – you know, the constant weeding, but I sure love the fresh veggies, especially tomatoes.  Our backyard has many shade trees & a huge garage so not much room for a full blown garden – plus our dog uses it as a bathroom.  Anyway.  So, I asked Jay about trying to do a vertical garden. 

He thought maybe it would be okay, so what the heck, let’s give it a try.

 

So he and his dad built the vertical garden boxes.  We figure if it works out, next year we will invest in better wood and maybe even make it slightly bigger.  Once it was built and filled, we planted pole beans and peas on May 25th.  Then we invested in some mature tomato and pepper plants.

We were so excited to have things sprouting less than a week after planting!

 

On June 9th everything looks great.  We also have pots of tomatoes, cilantro, and basil.

The picture above and all those below were taken on June 24th.  I can’t get over how everything is growing!!

The peas are climbing the mesh wire and are even starting to get blooms.

In the front of this box, is one lone green pepper plant in between two tomato plants.

It might be hidden, but it is growing!!  Look at those peppers, and there’s at least ten others starting.

This pot of basil has been giving us fresh basil for our spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce.  What a big difference in flavor!!

Yesterday, Jay picked up some jalapeño pepper plants.  Need those for his salsa!!

Here is our potted garden – tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro, and basil.  Three of the tomato plants came from the same member as last year – two of which made it into pots while . . .

this little lone guy found a spot near our garage. 

But hey, it must like it over there because it already has some little reds to share!!

So far so good.  Looks like next year’s might be slightly bigger!!

Landscaping – not our first love

Many of you know we do not enjoy yard work.  However, since we live next door to the church, we thought it was important to make the front of the parsonage look nice rather than over grown with weeds.

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Morning Strings

It is amazing how time flies.  It’s hard to believe Mackenzie has been playing the violin for three and one-half years.  When she started, the violin was tiny – she was too-, but not the tiniest one they make and now she plays a full-size.

She enjoys playing, but probably not as much as Mom enjoys hearing her play.  She says she doesn’t like performing on stage, but she always does such a wonderful job!!  However, she has talked about playing in the symphony/orchestra when she gets older.  We keep reminding her that that is ON stage, but we know she can do it and would be wonderful at it!!

In the fall I had found out about auditions for Columbus Symphony's Youth Orchestra’s Chamber Strings for grades 3-6.  We talked about it – well, actually I mentioned it and she abruptly said, “NO! I am not interested.”  So, she continues to take private lessons and orchestra at co-op, and she performs at music recitals and showcases. 

Well, I also found out about a two and one-half week long strings camp at OSU through their music school.  At first she didn’t want anything to do with it.  Then she only wanted to go if a couple of her friends, who also play the violin, would go.  With plans for all three girls to attend, Mackenzie was willing and ready to go. 

Unfortunately, her friends have other camps this summer and a really busy schedule so they couldn’t make it to this one.  At first, I was worried she wouldn’t follow through and we had already paid the camp fee.  Well, to my surprise, she was excited to be going even though her friends wouldn’t be there with her.  :)

So, this is where she is spending her time.  I forgot how pretty OSU’s campus is and all the things there. 

So far she has had good reports.  She really likes Dr. Gillispie & she has made some new friends. It might have been a blessing her friends couldn’t fit it into their schedule.

On another note – not being a musician, nor having ever attended a music camp, it was much to my surprise that there will be an actual orchestra performance on the eve of the last day of camp.

Not just a performance.  She will play for 45 minutes chamber style.  Then they will play three pieces as a full orchestra on stage in the Mershon auditorium.

UH OH!!

Believe it or not, at least at the moment, she doesn’t seem too concerned about it.  Matter of fact, we already bought her dress.

I think she looks pretty.  I know she will do a wonderful job.  She still has over a week of camp left before the big night.  So check back for the performance post.

Crazy Fun Cupcakes

This post is way overdue . . .

I found these crazy fun looking cupcakes on Pinterest and I just knew Mackenzie would love to make them.  So, last month we made them & she shared them with her ASL class. 

They looked really cool and I wasn’t sure how in the world the other bakers got them to look like they did.  I love the fact I can visit someone else’s blog and learn how to do something.

All you need is a white cake mix prepared as directed, four different icing colors, and four small containers.

Once we divided the batter among the four bowls, we colored them.

Check out those bright colors!!

They looked so colorful while they were baking.

The finished product.

See how cool they look!! 

Of course, Mackenzie wanted to ice theme with butter cream icing.  So, we made a big batch & she had fun decorating them.

Upcoming Formals

It is so hard to believe Kassi is a junior in high school.  Seriously, where does the time go??? :(  Why does it go by so fast? 

If you recall she attended a holiday formal back in December. That was her first of four for the year.  Yes, four formals. Yes, she is homeschooled. Yes, she has a life.  Her public school friends are amazed at the fact that she gets to attend formals and she is homeschooled.  No, these are not formals at a friend’s school.  These are formals organized by homeschoolers.  Even homeschoolers can experience some of the same things kids who go to school experience.  The best part – they are together with other homeschoolers with like mind and like values to have a great time doing fun and appropriate things. 

This time last year was crazy – looking for formal dresses was not on her ‘Fun To Do’ list.  But this year she seemed a little more eager and excited to look for dresses. With her first dance  in March, we started looking in January.  We checked local thrift stores, but we were not having any luck.  We had visited a local resale shop, Plato’s Closet, too, but still found nothing. 

Finally, last week we found this pretty black and white tulip style dress.  Which is perfect for her upcoming Celtic Ball.  We got it for a great price!! 

I figured we had plenty of time to find dresses for the April & May dances, but then I realized prom season is approaching too.  So, I decided it was best to be aggressive in our search sooner than later. 

While the kids were at a teen party Friday night, Jay & I went out and checked a couple of stores.  But did not find one – found styles she liked, just all the wrong sizes.  He is so funny.  He asked why she couldn’t recycle one of the three from last year or wear the same one more than once this year.  Must be nice to be a guy and only have to wear a tuxedo.  He was only joking, but of course he had to give Kassi a hard time.

The hunt continued.  While Kassi and I were out delivering our weekend shoppers, we made some stops at Plato’s Closet – didn’t find anything – and a consignment shop – SCORE!!

She was excited when she saw this one.  The only issue is the lace up back. 

The dances have a modest dress code – no revealing backs & it must come up to the bra line.  Which means this back is not considered modest.  So, we are going to make a simple, but temporary alteration to the back with a panel under the lacing. It still will be perfect for ball room dancing. :)

We found this adorable dress at the same upscale resale shop.  It is just perfect!  The only issue is convincing her to wear actual dress shoes and not her chucks!!

I have to say I am very happy about the fact we were able to get three dresses for $150.00 total.  Seriously! I am pretty sure just one of my prom dresses cost at least twice that.  Maybe that is why I only went to one prom a year. 

Valenhogs cupcakes

It’s been a while since I have made a cake or cupcakes for that matter, but I offered to make some for one of Kassi’s events. 

Kassi has an upcoming ‘Valenhog’s Day’ celebration to attend.  It’s a social gathering for the teen volunteers at the zoo.  Last summer they did Christmas in July.  They’re always trying to do something fun and crazy.  So they decided to combine Valentine’s Day and Groundhog’s Day. 

I wanted to try and make some kind of themed cupcakes for them.  I had some different ideas, but when I saw these on Pinterest I knew I had to make them.   

So, I made red velvet with cream cheese icing, butter yellow with vanilla icing, and triple choco fudge with buttercream icing.  I actually made all the icing, baked all the cupcakes, and smooth iced the grassy cupcakes.  But my girls helped ice all those cupcakes.  Mackenzie piped swirled cream cheese icing on the red velvet & Kassi iced the butter yellows.  Both girls did the grass!!

They did a great job!!  I am so glad they like to help.  Hopefully all the zooaides will like the cupcakes.