I Love 4-H!

The girls are in full 4-H mode. It is actually quite time consuming. If I had realized it before, I would have had them both working on the same project. It's hard because I want them to do what interests them, but it means we have 5 meetings a month for 4-H. It keeps us busy!

Nevertheless, it is such a great program. The kids and parents in the program are all friendly and kind- the type of people I want my kids to look up to. And the skills they are learning are important- skills they will use the rest of their lives.

Last weekend was Grandma's Birthday, and Claire and Audra were put to work. Here is their creation from marshmallows and sprinkles:

 Then, last night Claire went to her first sewing class. I am really excited because a 12-year-old is going to be teaching her. I love this for several reasons- the 12 year old is getting leadership credit for her 4-H project, and Claire gets to learn from a peer.

Last night she made a petal purse. She got to sew it all herself and everything. It is very neat to see her able to create something so beautiful all by herself:

Three Girls On A Ladder

Is there anything cuter? I mean really- anything?

You Know It's Serious...

When you get to wear mom's apron!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Audra was disappointed that we didn't do MORE for Valentine's Day. I think a skate party with a million Valentine's is plenty, but apparently a 7-year-old requires more. I do not envy her future significant other.

Tonight we ordered Papa Murphy's heart shaped pizza- it seems to be a yearly tradition. Then, we made some chocolate fondue for dessert. That was a huge hit, and it was nice to finally bust out the fondue maker that we got for our wedding and have only used once. Any great fondue making secrets or recipes out there that I should know about?

The girls made us cards and gave me a bag of candy that they put together from their leftover Halloween candy. Ben got no candy from them- hehe. I'm not sharing:) He's alright, though, because I got him some Mocorons from Trader Joe's because while in Vegas I got some and LOVED them, but he was worried to try them because I couldn't tell if they had nuts in them or not. Now he finally gets to try them- with, hopefully, no allergic reaction.

The Zoo: By Audra

Yesterday Audra wrote her very first poem. It was entirely on her own- I read poems to the girls and they have memorized several poems, but we have never gone over structure or form. Nevertheless, I am sure you will agree that she did pretty awesome:

The Zoo

By Audra

The zoo is fun

The zoo is fun

I love the zoo.

I see the cat,

And the dog, And

the bears.

Then I eat lunch.

And the dog, cat,

And the bears.

Stare at me.

The Zoo

We finally made good on our promise to take the girls to the zoo today- and there was much rejoicing! Camille was so super cute, with her big sisters jumping up and down yelling "We're going to the zoo today! We're going to the zoo today!"

 The matching shirts were a HUGE hit. We got several compliments, but most importantly: It was SO easy to spot our kids! It was obvious we were a group and we could easily find each other if one of them started to run off or something. Genius!

 Camille got tired out and curled up in the stroller. We know it was a successful trip because all three of the girls fell asleep on the ride home! Wow!

Side note: Camille said her favorite animal was the snake. I did not see that coming.

Cake Decorating

We signed Audra and Claire up for 4-H. Audra has chosen to learn cake decorating.

Above is her first attempts at cake decorating. The teacher had the decorate cupcakes using a stencil, candies to make a penguin, and using the star tip. I think she did quite well.

Below: Since she is in cake decorating and needs to practice, she is now in charge of all cake decorating at our house. Ben got his review at work, and it was worthy of  a "Congratulations" cookie, so Audra was put to work. It says, "Congrats." It was her first time using the writing tip. She was very proud of how it turned out.