Mother's Day Tea 2012

Gianna's Girl Scout troop invited all the girls' mothers in for Mother's Day tea today.  The girls walked us in & seated us.  Then asked us to choose refreshments from a menu.  Once we gave them our "order", they happily went off to bring us our treats before serving themselves.

My little girl & I.

After we indulged in our treats, we played a "Know It All" game a `la "The Honeymoon Game".  The girls were asked to answer questions about us & we in turn did the same while they went outside for a few minutes.

Gianna did really well getting the answers right about me, I did  so-so.  Needless to say I did not win the "Mother-of-the-Year" award.  I don't think anyone did, but we were all winners in our girls' eyes.

From Daisies to Brownies

Yes this is my second post of the day...

Went from Hiking to Bridging.

Gianna's Daisy Girl Scouts bridged over to become "Brownies". It was planned to take place at a local park that has a bridge but thanks to the downpour that happened after school it was held at the house of one of the leaders.

The girls came out & read some Girl Scout laws.
Then they went around into the foyer & back out this door to symbolize the "bridging".


Then a different Brownie troop "crossed" them over to become "Brownies".They were all awarded a certificate, Gianna was "Most Inquisitive". So fitting.


They are now "Officially Brownies" & will get new vests next year.

Guess now I should really catch up & sew on the patches she's gotten recently....

NJ Day & Daisies

Seems like every kid in NJ studies NJ when they reach the 4th grade.

I did.
Not that I remember much....
Marissa's class did too.

They had to "invent" something to display on "NJ Day" at school.
AND they had to come up with a game, based somehow, on NJ.

The invention had to solve a problem. This made me think of all the un-used hangers I've got making a crazy mess in my closets. So I gave her the idea to make something to house all those hangers. We brainstormed it together with Joe--since he's "Mr. Handyman" around here, & they sketched it out & came up with an idea.

For the game, it could be any existing game based somehow on NJ & Marissa came up with a "Memory"-type game. We googled places in NJ, found pics of certain areas & printed them onto cardstock.

BTW--Googling "Jersey Shore" does NOT bring up areas of the shore anymore. It brings up that wretched TV show, on what to do with your life when all you can accomplish is being drunk & stupid on TV. I despise that show & all other shows making the people in NJ look stupid.

ANY-WHOOOO.........The kids were to display their inventions & games at school & all the parents were able to come in to oooh & ahh over them all.

This is Marissa's "Hanger 'Hangar' 2011"........



It's now sitting in a closet storing all my extra hangers!

This is her memory game. It's not all laid out since there wasn't a lot of room for her to spread out all the cards.

It was over around the same time as they got out of school which was handy since she had so much stuff to bring home.

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Right after school, Gianna's Daisy Girl Scout troop was going on a hike around a nearby lake. Before leaving, they were going to plant some daisies in front of the school, so I hung out taking a few pics of the girls.

One of the leaders had her older daughter that's Marissa's age & a friend with her. While we were all talking, they were trying to figure out if they had enough room in their cars for all the kids. So I offered to take the 2 older girls to my house for a playdate with Marissa. Long story short, the leader had to leave early so she would need her daughter back before I was due to pick up Gianna from the hike.

Still with me??

By this time, Marissa just wanted to hang out with her friends, so I just went with them to the lake.

To hike. Which I don't do.
In. flip. flops.

I was leary at first, especially about my footwear, but then I remembered all the other possibilities, namely poison ivy, snakes, bears & bugs. I had bug spray from spraying Gianna before leaving, so I sprayed myself & Marissa before we started.

But I was planning on staying close to the park ranger.
He had a gun.

At the lake, we met with the ranger who talked about things found around the parks in our town. I actually learned a lot.

Like how there are a mating pair of Bobcats in one park near my house.
Didn't know that about them.

The ranger had a variety of animal skulls & a deer pelt that he talked about, while the kids had a snack. One leader brought "S'mores" & thanks to the heat were pretty gooey & perfect. How do I know? Gianna gave me hers. ;)
Also learned how poison ivy grows like a vine & when left to grow, has a thick, hairy, trunk-like vine that can strangle it's host tree or plant. Lots of it around the lake, "stay on the trail" became a chant of all the adults.

But it wasn't all bad. While the weather was hot, we mostly stayed in the shade. The bugs weren't an issue either thanks to the bug spray. By the end of the hike the ranger told us we had walked 1.1 miles.

BONUS! I hadn't exercised yet!! ;)

Memorial Day Weekend

Most people take Memorial Day weekend to relax. When I was in high school it was all about going down the shore. That's the beach but here in Jersey we say "down the shore", but that's a whole different post. ;)

I spent my Saturday re-organizing my pantry. It's been a disaster lately but I didn't have time to do it before our trip so I dedicated the afternoon to it. I started at the top & emptied it shelf by shelf, wiping down the shelves & adding those wire racks to create more room.

I have to say I'm proud of the job I did. So proud that after coming home from dinner that night I opened the door just to stand back & admire my work.

Yes I have no life. ;)

Sunday morning we got up bright & early (for a Sunday), & headed to the parade in our town. Gianna was walking in it with her Daisy Girl Scout troops & we got to cheer her on.

Seeing this float in the parade always gets me. The lump in my throat is instant.

Eventually all the area Girl Scouts head toward us. As we see Gianna's troop, I walk out to take pics. Here she's digging in her bag to pick out certain candies for Marissa & Joe. She knows what they like & wants to make them happy. See her with the blue bag??
She really gets into tossing candy out, and boy does she have a good arm!

Shortly after, Joe heads over to the pick-up point to get Gianna. We usually sit near the end of the parade so it's easier to get her. She comes over, looking all tired & hot & I make sure she has some water while we watch the rest of the parade.

When it's over, we headed home for a quick lunch then we went to a local nursery & bought some hanging baskets for the yard & some other flowers for me to plant by the front doors. We didn't do a lot but boy did the weekend fly by!

Memorial Day Parade 2010

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. We took it very mellow & did some stuff around the house.

Today both the girls walked in the town parade with their Girl Scout troops. This was Gianna's 1st time & she was really excited about it! It was super hot outside so by the time Gianna got to us she was sort of melted. You can't really see her face too well since she pulled the hat so far down her face--the stinker!!
Marissa is more seasoned. She enjoys every minute of it & doesn't mind the heat until the end & she's done walking.

I didn't get a lot of good pics of the girls & by the time they were done walking & came back to where we were sitting they were hot & tired & not in the mood for pics.


When we got home Joe set up our little blow-up pool & the girls jumped into the COLD water! (No pics) While they played I planted some flowers around the yard. (No pics)

Very low key.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Field Trip/Daisies--Crazy Day!!!

Today was Gianna's Kindergarten class trip. They were going to visit a farm & see the animals. I got lucky & got picked as one of the chaperones. I was thrilled to be able to go with Gianna on her 1st trip!!

I was in charge of 4 kids (2 girls, 2 boys) & our group was in a larger group so it was a lot of kids & a handful of adults walking around with a tour guide. I made sure to take pics of the kids on their FIRST bus ride. Gianna made a new friend with the little girl in our group (both AM & PM kids were mixed in the groups).

Once we got to the farm we got the kids together for group pics. This is the PM class....We got adventurous & went for a group pic with both AM & PM together (38 kids!!) with their teacher.
We saw a lot of ducks, goats, pigs, ponies & bunnies--the usual farm animals. Gianna loved petting the animals! She's been aching for a pet in the worst way but it's not happening in this house.

The kids got quite a show by this extremely scared, vocal pig. It was so scared it pooped all over the tour guide! The kids laughed, the tour guide blew it off with "I'm used to it-happens all the time" & the parents were gagging--bleh!

Oh & did I mention it was frickin HOT?? Yep all our senses were used today!!!

BTW--I brought plenty of baby wipes & hand sanitizer with me--just sayin!!

This was Jellybean--(the goat not the guy).

We finally stopped for lunch (after washing our hands) & towards the end Gianna lost her tooth while biting into her lunch!! Everyone made a big deal about it & she loved every minute of it! This will be a trip she will never forget!

After we got back from the field trip we went home & showered up--did I mention how hot it was? The rest of my day was this....

Home 1:30-3:00

Pick up Marissa from school 3:00

Drop off Gianna at school for Daisies 3:00

Back to school for Gianna's Daisies ceremony 4:15-4:30

Her Daisy troop had this ceremony showing some things they learned this year & all the kids received a special pin.

Later on my friend Samantha had a Lia Sophia party so I went out again around 7pm. I have a TON of stuff to do for Marissa's birthday party tomorrow but hey I need a little downtime too right? It's been a CrAZy day & the weekend looks just as crazy!

Mother's Day Tea & the Sock Hop (related right?)

Today Gianna's Girl Scout Daisy troop held a "Mother's Day Tea" party for us. We were escorted inside by our girls (dressed in handmade aprons) & sat at our tables. They had placemats, a menu & decorated mugs waiting for us.

This was my waitress. She asked me what I'd like to drink & delivered my (iced) tea without spilling a drop! Then she asked what I'd like to eat & proceeded to bring me a chocolate covered strawberry along with a cookie.

It was so cute! She had a lot of fun serving me (I liked it too--nice change of pace!! LOL!!) At the end we got to keep the daisies that were decorating the tables. Gianna really loved the "special" time with me & I don't have to tell you how much I LOVED it!!! ;)
About an hour later all the troops in town had a "Sock Hop". A lot of girls went dressed in theme with poodle skirts. I went with more of a "bobby sock" sort of outfit. (she's the one with the pink scarf around her neck) Marissa was going until she found out most of her troop wasn't going.....so she didn't bother getting changed since we were just dropping Gianna off. Then once we got there she changed her mind & wanted to stay (despite not being in "costume"), so I got to stay & chaperone. This gave me a chance to take pics!! Loved it!! :)

There was a DJ playing music the kids all liked (I liked it all too!). She got them to get up & dance. The girls all had fun dancing together, showing off their moves. ;) The DJ really got the girls moving & tired them out! It was a fun & eventful day!!