Winter Birthdays

Last weekend we celebrated the Winter birthdays of Grandpa, Tammy, Jeana, and Hali. 

We had a fabulous prime rib dinner followed by chocolate cake. This is my new favorite cake.  It was a simple chocolate cake mix (Duncan Hines, of course) with a box of chocolate pudding mix added in.  It was all topped with my favorite homemade white frosting and some chocolate shavings. 

Hali's 4th birthday party was the next afternoon, but we weren't going to be able to make it.  So we gave her present to her at this gathering.

I filled a clear tote with all kinds of art supplies (markers, paint, scissors, glue sticks, playdough) and activity books.  She and Camden dug in and gave their approval.

GaGa had a few crafts too.  The girls had so much fun that they decided to have a sleepover.  Shirley, John and Jeana were also staying there so their house was full!  Lots of laughter and love!

80's Dance - The Photo Booth

One highlight of the dance was the photo booth.  This was booth a way to highlight things from the 80's but also to create lasting memories as the school closes down.  The kids now have great photos from this event.

 

They had a table full of props.  There were some great pictures.  The company has a website that we can log into and see all the photo booth pictures from the night, not just ours.

 

There was often a short wait to have a turn in the booth, but I got a few good pics then.

 

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Actual pictures from the booth:

80's Dance - The Dance

The Waveland gym came to life with a great DJ (played a mix of 80's classics and current tunes).  They also had great lights that really jazzed up the gym - whether lights were on or off.  Such fun!

 

Camden got out and danced!  She shuffled her feet with the best of them.

 

I was a chaperone, but I told Camden she was free to go where she wanted.  I had to work the concessions for part of the evening, but enjoyed hanging in the gym most of the time.  Some of her friends showed up. She hung out with Marley the most, but also Tayton and a first grader (not sure of her name).  Camden must spend time with her at recess and lunch when the two grades are together.

The concessions sold glow lights that were a hot commodity. Camden bought a necklace and someone gave her a bracelet.

 

I have a much better clip of her dancing to "Hey Mickey" but it's too big to upload.  Once I can figure out how to compress it, I will post. 

 

 

 

 

 

80's Dance - The Outfit

Camden had a school dance (!) last weekend.  The PTO gave it an 80's theme.  It was fun to help put together an outfit.  I originally planned to have long leggings and leg warmers, but my friend forgot to bring them to me, so we went with short leggings and I think it turned out cute.

 

The school was decorated with lots of 80's "posters" and cassette tapes were used as centerpieces, balloon ties, etc.  It really set the mood.

Most of the girls were dressed similarly to Camden.  This 6th grader won the costume contest for the girls.

 

 

Connor is in Camden's class.  He was a serious 80's rocker!

Another Milestone

Kevin has changed shifts to second (3-11pm) for a little bit.  That means Camden gets to go to GaGa and Grandpa's everyday after school.  It also means that she gets to ride the bus!  She has been asking to do that since the first day of school.  She is so happy for this "opportunity."

 

She already loves Paul, her bus driver.  He has been driving Waveland kids to and from school since Kevin's days.  In fact, he was Kevin and Austin's bus driver.  He and his wife drive 2 of the 3 Waveland buses.  They are local farmers who everyone knows.  They also know GaGa and Grandpa so knew exactly where to take her when I called him.  In fact, he already knew Camden since he had seen them pick her up.  Some of the perks of small town living.

Camden also reported that three of her classmates were on the bus, so she enjoyed sitting with Tayton, Max, and Logan. 

**Thanks GaGa for knowing that I would want pictures!

Sushi Date Night

We went to my favorite sushi place (Wild Ginger in Fishers) a week or so ago.  Camden loved going up to the sushi bar and watching them roll.  She had a hard time seeing over the glass while sitting, but she thought it was pretty cool.

Camden now wants her own rolls when we get sushi. Her choice this night was the cucumber, avocado, asparagus roll.

 

Class Party

I volunteered to plan some activities for Camden's class party on Valentine's day.  Kevin would be off work that afternoon so I planned 3 stations for us (plus Mrs. Barr) to run.  At about 10 o'clock that morning, the phone rang.  It was Camden's school. She had a fever, stomach ache, and headache.  I needed to come pick her up!  Poor baby had to miss her party...and watch her mom leave the house to go throw it!

 

The show must go on!  Kevin stayed home with Camden and we simplified things at school.  Not that it was too difficult.  Another student was sick, so there were only 9 kids!  We ran two stations and then played the game as a big group.

 

I ran the craft station.  First, the kids cut out heart shapes from coffee filters.

 

 

 

Then they "scribbled" blobs of washable markers to color their heart.  Once they were colored, I used a squirt bottle and sprayed the heart with water.  The colors bleed enough to make beautiful colorful hearts (forgot to get pictures!).  The best part is they only take about 1/2 hour to dry so they could take them home that afternoon.



Mrs. Barr ran the candy math game called, "How many _____ fill this heart?".  I printed sheets of paper with a small heart on it.  There was a grid with five candies listed, plus a column of "my guess" and "actual."

M & M's were first.  Each student made a guess of how many M & M's would fill the heart.  Then they got to fill it with candy and count the actual total.

Thankfully another mom and an instructional aide were able to come help at this table since it took many hands.

Each child had a baggie to put their candy in after they were done counting.  The moved on to the next candy until they were done.  The had a FULL bag of candy after this game.

 

After both stations, I pulled the kids together and played the Grand Prize Game (remember Bozo?).  Finally, they got to return to their desk for party food and opening of their valentine's from one another.  This was my favorite part.  They spent about 30 minutes opening cards, giving hugs and thanks to each other, and laughing.  So sweet!

 

Obviously the only thing that could have made it better was the Camden got to enjoy it too!

She has some sweet classmates!