The Actual Dinner and Dance

Supper is ordered from a mystery menu. Usually there is a theme and descriptions are made up for each individual item on the menu. This year's theme was "The 60's." Food, drink and utensils are described in vague, camouflaged terms and served in several courses. You make your choices from bewildering descriptions of food, so you may find you have ordered a dessert, a napkin, a salad and French fries, and so on for each course.

This year we had supper entertainment from a group of dads who played 60's music in keeping with the theme. The kids named them The 360's.

Ann (The Establishment) and Rainbow Dawn.

 

After supper, there are always some quirky group games to play as mixers. This year they had 6 teams that competed in elimination rounds passing a hula hoop down the line and back while holding hands. The winning team of the kids "played" against the adults at the end of the competition.

 The evening ends with a couple of hours of dancing. (L. and Charles)

 This was the first year M. was old enough to attend.

 Beautiful cherished buddies.

 Thomas and M.

Dinner Dance

I missed posting the dinner dance pictures from April! Sometimes I get them put onto Facebook and forget to put them on the blog! Some of our homeschool families have done a teen's mystery dinner and dance every spring for the last few years. It is a chance for the kids to primp and party. Most of our kids ballroom dance, and they are more than willing to teach others who are willing.

 M. and her buddies went to Katie's to do hair, dress and "make up." (Katie, M., Ann, Nicole)

 Pictures with the friends is another fun part of the process.

 M., Susannah, Maria, Cecelia, Ann

 These two buddies went to Hannah's to get beautiful-er together.

Altered Books

I tried a new form of cut book. I perused a library book about altered books, and it sparked some new ideas for me to try. I designed an "illuminated" letter L, and embroidered it on a page from the book. I cut an oval shape out of the book cover to frame the letter. My graduate and I both like it.

After transferring the pattern to the page, I pre-punched holes with a thumb tack before embroidering on the page. I don't remember what I saw in the book that sparked this idea, but I like it.

 

Graduation Book Letters

Our graduate had 17 or so friends' graduation parties to attend. What to give your buddies when there are so many? How about a vintage/recycled book in their first initial? I sawed my little heart out (so to speak) and got them all done. Missed a couple on these pictures since some had already been delivered to their new homes.

 

I put accordion pleated book page flowers (with vintage buttons for centers) on the books for the ladies. The guy books were left plain.

And we had a couple of our own to go to. Congrats, Kelsey and Lyndsay!

BFF (Best Friends Forever)

 L. and her Hannah buddy, 1997. L is 2 and Hannah is 1 in this precious picture. They have been friends their entire lives, so I find lots of pictures of them together as I go through pictures for L's graduation.

Corn Planting Done

Husband finished corn planting last week between the rain and hail.

Always time for a quick chat with a neighbor who stops to talk on the road.

Mother's Day 2014

Sunday dinner after church with many of the kids and a great evening visit with Son J. and fiancee'. Daughter A. was traveling with friends to graduations in WY.

 Sister Lis and I attended a Mother's Day brunch with Mom on Friday.

 I am a rich woman.

This and That

New sprayer on the yard.

Lovely flowers from Husband's Aunt Edna's funeral.

A quick, cartoony set of giraffes embroidered on a dish towel for a bridal shower.

Four girls on a couch. They called this "still life" and said it was in place of their art class.

Three buddies: Rachel, Sarah and Daughter A.

My Aunt Marilyn, my dad's only sibling, passed away last winter. She and I were buddies and I still miss her a lot.

 

AAAAAnnnnd..more book letter orders.

Found another good bird picture by L. So here goes...

Hearts and Bees

This week our class tasted honeycomb honey and read more about bees. We also worked on a simple Mother's Day project. I made these papier mache' hearts for the kids to paint. I call it the "Words Cannot Tell You How Much I Love You, Mom" project. We used watercolor paints so the words would still show through. They looked neat when the kids were done.

 Hearts-appx. 2" across. Top down: W., Ian, Elea, mine

I used scraps from my book initial cutting. I formed paper strip pulp into hearts on a paper plate. They were baked an hour or two at 200 degrees F. to help them dry more quickly. When dry, I trimmed the paper plates close to the heart shape. This gave the hearts a nice smooth back that can be written on if desired. Older kids could make their own hearts if you planned ahead so they had time to dry. I imagine the pulp could also be packed into heart shaped molds if you needed to make a lot of them. I also though they could have a hole drilled through them for hanging or jewelry use.

To complete the project, the kids filled out this Mom worksheet on their own.