Mmmmm muffins

E made breakfast for us today - triple chocolate chip muffins. Delicious!

Scrapbooking frenzy

In just two days, I finished a 45-page scrapbook of my recent vacation in Hawaii. Granted, I only did a small 7-by-7-inch album, but still, what an accomplishment, especially with the kids home on spring break.

I cropped the photos and did all the journaling on a table in the basement. The place was a wreck by time I was done - brochures were lying about, scraps were everywhere.

Spring break playdate

L had quite the playdate today. Her friend, K, from church, came over at 2 p.m. and they played all afternoon. At 5 p.m., K's dad came and took them both to their house. When I picked L up at 7 p.m. she tried to convince me to let her have a sleepover with K at our house. I think a five-hour playdate is enough for one day. Maybe we'll plan that for another night.

Puzzle time

The kids are on spring break this week so that means it's time to start a puzzle. B pulled out a 1,000-piece puzzle of the Chicago skyline to tackle. He'll probably be plugging away on it all week.

Fourth Place

E participated in her first-ever karate tournament, The Chicago Classic 2011 Tournament, this afternoon and won a fourth-place medal in kata. There were a lot of kids competing, so she was very excited to get fourth - especially in her first tournament. The back is engraved with her name, the date and kata (the event). She also participated in the kihon event, but didn't place.

The tournament is hosted by the karate club she belongs to, the Illinois Shotokan Karate Club. Every Thursday, E goes for her lesson.

The 1920s

E and her friend, A, posed for a pic before school today. They're dressed as people from the 1920s (E, a flapper, and A, Amelia Earhart) to go to Tommy Guns for lunch and a show with their class.

Dress-up Day

The week before spring break, Irving is having "theme days." Monday was Sports Day - L wore a White Sox shirt and black shorts. Tuesday was Pajama Day; Wednesday was Backwards Day. Today was Dress-up Day. L wore a pretty spring dress, but with snow on the ground I made her put on a sweater. She insisted on the high heels, saying she had other shoes at school she can change into. Here she was striking a pose before leaving for school this morning. I especially love the socks with the heels! What a fashion plate.

Feeding the homeless

Tonight, E and B went to church to help the youth group prepare a meal that will be served to the homeless tomorrow. B came home smelling of the onions he chopped. E stayed a little later. She was helping to bake a ham and rice casserole. The group made so much rice they're using the leftover to make soup for the church's fellowship hour on Sunday.

What's so funny?

Most days, B can be found at his laptop, giggling outloud to videos he's found on You Tube. Most of them are of people playing video games and commenting. Not sure what's so funny about that, but I love to hear him giggle.

New toy

Andy got a new toy delivered the other day - a golf net. He set it up in the back yard and took a few swings this morning. The neighbors, who were out doing some yard work, said it sounded like a gunshot when he hit the ball. Hopefully, we all can get used to that.

Off to Grandma's

L hasn't been to Grandma B's for a sleepover since I came back from Hawaii. Tonight, she decided it was time to restart the routine. First, she had an afterschool playdate with a friend, M, then came home and backed. It may seem like a big suitcase for a one-night sleepover, but it's full of stuffed animals. Oh, yeah, and pajamas, toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as a few DVDs.

St. Patrick's Day

L looked liked a little leprechaun this morning as she headed out for school - green shorts (it's getting warmer outside!), two green shirts, green socks and two strands of green beads.

This afternoon I baked up some green and white cupcakes and the kids ate those with some Green River. Nothing like a little sugar to pump up St. Patrick's Day.

Ambassador

E got dressed up tonight and headed back to school where she worked as an ambassador of sorts, directing parents of incoming sixth-graders through the building for an open house. When I went in to pick her up after the event, several of her teachers commented on what a wonderful, sweet girl E is. I knew that, of course, but it's nice to hear from others.

Our Lenten project

This year for Lent, the kids brought home a paper house bank from Sunday School. Each day of Lent, we read a calendar and deposit the corresponding amount of money in the bank. The funds raised will be used by Habitat for Humanity which builds house for the less fortunate. Therefore, all the days on the calendar relate to our house. Yesterday, we put in 10 cents for every room in the house. Today, the calendar told us to put in 30 cents for our living room.

Bowling champ

L came home from school today with a "Bowling Star" ribbon. L's team won a Wii bowling tournament in the school's Circle of Friends group which encourages students to eat, play and interact with special ed students. L has a good friend in the special ed class and enjoys spending time with those students.

Roaring '20s

E has an upcoming school field trip to Tommy Guns Garage in Chicago. The kids have been studying the 1920s and her class has been told they need to dress as characters from the '20s for the field trip.

I'd been searching for a 1920s style dress, or something that could be transformed into one. Last week at the Economy Shop, two of my fellow volunteers searched through items with me. We stumbled upon a big blue skirt that they said could easily be made into a dress. (Easy for them, maybe.)

Today, E and I went over to the fabric store and lucked out by finding silver fringe for 70 cents a yard - regularly, $6.99. We came home and pinned everything. Andy sewed it all together. We are pretty pleased with the final product.

Science fair

E spent the afternoon today working on her science fair display. She tested various kinds of insulation and decided to make the title of the project out of shades of blue paper, getting darker toward the end of the word. She put the information on wavy sheets of paper to resemble the water and couldn't resist putting aluminum foil on the edges to make it sparkle. It looks good!

Sleepover

L had her friend, C, over for a sleepover. It was L's first sleepover with a school friend. She sleeps over at Grandma Barbara's apartment a lot, and has been to her cousins' houses, but now she's at the age when school friends can come over. They started the sleepover after school and played their way through the night.

In addition to C, B had two friends over for the evening, playing Yu-Gi-Oh. We ordered a huge pizza for dinner.

E had an exciting day, too. Her new golf clubs were delivered. She's practicing to try out for the high school girls' golf team.