A Daisy Style Tea Party!

I would like to introduce to you the Daisy group of Girl Scouts in Casselton. These girls meet two times a month for fun, activities, and learning. Gracie loves the time they spend together and this meeting was no exception.

The meeting was designed to teach the girls respect for other people and learn proper table manners. Their leader decided the best way to do that with a bunch of girls would be to have a Daisy Tea party. Each girl was asked to dress fancy and to bring their manners with them.

To begin, they each made a placemat for the party, along with stylish napkin holders.

Then, it was time to set the table. First it was the tablecloth that everyone helped with. I couldn't help but think that the tablecloth looked more like a parachute, rather than a fancy detail to the look of the table.

Then came the details.... the cups, plates, spoons, placemats, napkins, flowers, and candles.

Here is Gracie's place at the table. Very nice don't you think?

And the table is set, ready for the six lovely ladies to begin their evening.

And by the looks of it....just in time to teach some proper manners and "sipping" procedures. I do not think that this quite qualifies as lady-like. What do you all think?

Her first cup of tea and she is pouring it like such a little lady. I know this tea party had some extra guests from up above looking down on it, as Grandma Joyce (this would be my grandmother) watched over them with a happy heart. She must have been so proud.

Below are each of the girls sipping their tea (orange punch)......... notice the pinky fingers on some. (I did miss one little girl as they drank their tea, sorry)

Yeah, it looks like this lil' darling did learn the proper way to sip her tea. Way to go!

More happy faces

This is the scene as the evening was coming to a close and they began to wrap up their meeting.

Time well spent with great friends, making wonderful memories that

these girls will remember forever.

To end their meetings each night, the girls conclude by holding hands in a circle and coming together as one. Gracie tells me that they are suppose to cross their arms and hold hands with someone else. As they do this, they give the other person's hand a squeeze and they continue to give a squeeze until everyone has been included. The each say thank you, see you next time and go on their way.

THank you Debra for the memories that were made and for taking the time to be with our little ladies. Your time is very much appreciated.

Optimist Swim Party

Well, better late than never right? Who doesn't like a cheap, fun evening of swimming? You can't beat three hours of swimming, in the middle of winter plus a snack, for just a couple of dollars. Last week I helped work at the 3rd Annual Optimist Club Swim Party. The event was held at Lighthouse Bay Waterpark at the Governor's Inn in Casselton .

The swim party is sponsored by the Casselton Area Optimist Club in which I am the President of right now. This is the third year that we have held this event and it just keeps on growing and getting more and more sucessful.

I just had to have a photo of this happy group of kiddos. These kids are ALL in my class and each of them enjoyed some time at the waterpark. Such a cute photo.

The first year we had somewhere around 60 kids, last year we reached 90+ children and this year, even though we were competing against the first night of the ND Girl's State B Basketball Tournament, we were able to draw in 82 chidren.

It just amazes me how successful this little event is for our club and for the community

. We are able to serve many kids all at one time.

The Casselton Area Optimist Club is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to be of service to kids, hence our motto "Bringing Out the Best in Kids." Our club is open to all adults ages college and on, but we also have a Junior Optimist Club that some of our young people can be involved in too. We have been up and running for the past 5 years and have been going strong since. Here are just a few of the projects that we are involved in: swim party, Safety Town, memorial golf tourney, Community Days fun, 5K Walk/Run, and many others.

I love being part of this group and knowing that what I am doing to help, is directly affecting the young people in our community.

I am so blessed to be involved with a group of people and an Organization that prides themselves in simply "Bringing Out the Best in Kids" . Thank you so much to the parents, kids and especially the other Optimisr members who made this evening such a huge success. The smiles on these faces say it all. Fun was had by all and memories were made. Until next year.

Homemade Pizza, Squirrels, and Memories

Family, siblings, homemade pizza, and Squirrels Girls Basketball, what could get any better than that? On Friday night we decided to make homemade pizza as a family and watch our Squirrels play in the Semi-Final game of the ND State Girls Basketball tournament. Joel and I both have memories of our own, making pizza with our families and discovered that those memories were some of our most fond. So I decided that we needed to make the same kind of memories with our own children, memories that I hope they will hold close to their hearts forever. So here they are three out of four of the loves of our lives.

Each one of the kids had their own job preparing the ingredients, which included some of the following.......

Jerrin cut the black olives and

Gracie opened the mushroom cans

Jerrin and Gracie each made their own pizza, while Jay just helped everyone. As you look at this photo you can see that Jerrin and his dad have a few things in common. The biggest being, that they take their food seriously and everything needs to be put on perfectly.

Gracie's creation, in which she was so very proud.

Gracie's pizza is on the top and Jerrin's is on the bottom. Don't they look scrumptious?

As we took these pizzas out of the oven we couldn't wait to dig in, but we had to get everything ready to watch the big game. We all piled into the living room in front of the tv to cheer on our Squirrel Girls. The night could not have gotten any better.

Adult - Youth Bowling Tournament

Last Sunday, February 28th this group competed in the Regional Adult/Youth Bowling Tournament at Red River Lanes in North Fargo. They all did a great job, bowling over their averages and finishing strong. Can't wait to hear if you get to move onto the next round.

Parker and (Jerrin's) Grandpa Dan

Bethany and (Jerrin's) Grandma Colleen

Dad (Joel) and Jerrin

Parker and Bethany

Bethany is on Jerrin's regular league bowling team in Casselton. They have enjoyed going to a few different tournaments together this year. Last year the two of them were

League Champions in their age group.

Jerrin on his approach. Jerrin struggled his first game of the day, throwing quite a few gutter balls and a lowere than average game, but he recovered by the end and bowled well. He bowled higher than his average 2 out of 3 games and pulled together a nice series total too.

And the release........

Oh yeah, we can't forget this funny man. I guess he wasn't getting enough attention.

So he tried to steal the show.

Nice form!!!!

Granny and one of her biggest fans. He was a great cheerleader, as he cheered his bowlers on.

Go Papa Go or Yeah Granny!!!!!!!

This photo was taken to include both of the team's extra cheerleaders for the morning.

Great job everyone, it was a fun watch you all.

Jerrin's Kindred Tough Guy Tournament

Here is to Jerrin's kickoff to the 2010 Casselton Crushers Wrestling Season. He was able to wrestle a few times during the Squirrels season before some of John's duals, but he had not wrestled in a tournament until now. I just was able to catch a few shots of the big day.

Wow, it looks like he is working hard here, will it pay off?

He held on to beat this kid not only once, but two different times, to bring home the first place trophy.

Way to go Jerrin, we are very proud of you. Maybe your big brother does know what he is talking about and his advice to you has paid off. Good luck at the Crushers tournament this weekend.

A sleepover

(I have to apologize first to my other children that I am once again writing about a story that evolves around Jaylen, but seriously, he is a story in himself. He is so darn funny)

Well, it all started with Granny (Yes, that is what he calls Grandma Colleen) stopping over last night to tell us that she would be able to watch Jay for us on Thursday. We were in need of daycare for the day and she was off from work....PERFECT! When she asked Jaylen if he wanted to come to her house for the day, he immediately answered her with a quick, "I go home with you now Granny." "Not tonight," Granny answered, "in two sleeps." BUt that was not good enough for Jaylen.

So today was the day after he had slept two times and honest to god he had not forgotten. After I picked him up from daycare, he asked right away if he was going to Granny's. I told him yes and then wanted to know what he thought he needed to bring with him to her house. This is how the conversation continued.

Mom: Jay, what do you need to pack to stay at Grandma's?

Jaylen: Probablyyyyyyyyy, my pillow and my blankie. The Elmo one.

Mom: What else will you need?

Jaylen: Ummmmm my plug, and my sleep bag. (We later figured out a sleep bag was actually his sleepover bag or suitcase.) I need diapers too mama.

Mom: Yes you do Jay, but don't you think Grandma wants you to go in the potty?

Jaylen: Ummmm Probablyyyyyyy NO!

Well, it seemed that he really knew what he needed and wanted to go to grandma's house pretty badly. As I left for church I told him to get his bag packed and when I got home, grandma should be there to pick him up. When I arrived home I walked in to see a completely packed sleep bag, a pillow, and a blanket all ready to go. You would think that he was really READY to get away for the evening.

The sad part was, he walked out the door with grandma, pulling along his sleep bag and acting oh so grown up. Daddy tried to get him to give him a hug and a kiss good night and he said no. Mommy finally got an I Love you, MAMA out of him as he headed down the sidewalk, but nothing more. He climbed into the van and away they went.

Why does he have to be growing up so fast? Why do mommy and daddy have to be the boring ones? Why does he have to be so independant? Why can he not stay little forever?

Jay, mommy hopes you have a wonderful night with Granny and Papa tonight and that you are ready to give hugs to mommy and daddy when you see us tomorrow. We know that you are growing up and want to be a big boy, but you will always be our little boy no matter what. I love you, Punk.

Taking something that is not yours is NEVER good!

I know that I have many older posts to catch up on, but I just have to share one of the funniest things I have ever seen Jaylen do. It was time for bed and Jayl decided he wanted to stay in Johnny B's room tonight, since he had gone back to his mom's and would not be back for the evening. Jaylen likes to stay in John's room when he is not home.

I continued to tuck Jaylen in, when he decided that he needed a drink before bed. I went downstairs to get a glass of water, when all of a sudden I heard little running feet above me and a rather loud bang. I hurried back upstairs to see what the matter was, only to find Jay bellied up to the bathroom sink spitting something out. I did not know what was going. I was a little nervous until he turned and looked at me. Oh how I wish that I would have had a camera on me, because the look on his face was hysterical.

I immediately received a "Sorry mommy" from the guilty boy, but I still did not know what he had done. I then asked him what was all over his face and his response cracked me up, I couldn't help but giggle. "That is yucky mommy, John's candy is yucky!" He continued to spit out the chocolate in the sink and almost shook from the taste. Jaylen had discovered that John had left an opened bag of Valentine's candy on his headboard that was just to tempting for him. What he did not know, was that he was going to get his first taste of dark chocolate. Needless to say, he may have learned a valuable lesson tonight. If you steal candy from someone without asking, it is bound to taste YUCKY!!!!!