Camden has spotted bath bombs in stores and wanted to try one. I broke down and bought her one from the checkout line at Walmart and she enjoyed her nighttime ritual with a little extra aromatherapy.
Can't believe the instant "fizz." Despite the odd looking pink water, it did smell great. It was a hit!
Camden had another book report due this Friday. They had to write up a summary of the book and then read it to the class. Afterward, they would field questions from the class. They had the option to dress up like a character from the book. Their grade was based upon the summary, presentation, and response to questions.
Camden read, "Upside Down Magic." Her character was Nory who was a Dritten. That is a dragon-kitten. I couldn't find cat ears and tail this time of year, but was able to make ears simply from a headband and foam board. I also bought a cat toy at the dollar store that looked like a cat tail. She was a bat a few Halloween's ago so we planned to use the wings from it to complete the outfit. Unfortunately, the wings were not to be found, so she decided not to dress up. She did still want to wear the cat headband and I remembered her cat dress. She looked fabulous!
I decided to make small wings out of the rest of the foam board and attach it to one of her kitten stuffed animals and we had a dritten!
We have gone the minimal route this year. We did want a tree, but knew our cat would be hard on a real tree.
So we got our little Charlie Brown tree out and put it on a small end table. Camden did all the decorating (keeping ornaments to a minimum...again, the cat).
Checking to make sure the light work!
Trying to sleep with the glow of the lights...and to protect the tree from the cat.
Saturday for Kevin's birthday we met Aunt Carole, Uncle Ric, Joe, Amanda and crew for lunch in Indianapolis. We had an okay meal (they all said it was not the best) at their favorite Mexican restaurant (Chuy's), but a delicious dessert of trés leché cake and sopapillas.
Camden enjoyed getting to know Lincoln.
Not sure about the big guy!
After lunch, the boys headed to Cabela's and the girls to Ikea. Boy that store is big! Lincoln was worn out!
Camden couldn't believe how much walking we had to do to get around. At least the small kids section made up for it!
Friday afterschool (grades K-3) and evening (grades 4-6) was the annual sock hop at school. Camden was so excited she was finally old enough to go to the night one. She also was going to have a friend come home afterward and spend the night.
I was walking through the office getting things ready at about 2pm. I saw Camden in the nurses office. She had had 2 bloody noses that week, so I said, "Got another bloody nose?" The nurse answered that she had a headache and was trying to take some Children's Tylenol. She knew she needed to get those down or a migraine might undo her plans.
In the middle of the younger hop, my phone rang. Of course, vomit, shower, headache...and a sobbing Camden. A migraine was underway and only sleep would help. Kevin called the grandma of the friend and Camden went to bed. So disappointed and sad.
It was a great event. A lot of Camden's friends kept coming up and asking for her. They were very sad too that she was sick.
Younger kids have the lights on and run around. Lots of teachers stick around to hang out and enjoy their kiddos.
We always have a girls and a boys dance off.
Our DJ and his wife are a wonderful couple and handle the huge group so well. Over 180 K-3rd graders and about 170 4-6th graders attend. It's a VERY popular event!
The older kids have the gym lights out and the DJ has some fun lights.
We also have a photo booth which is a favorite!
Some of my dearest friends...
We have a huge sign out system. Parents are finally getting used to it and don't give us as hard of a time as they did the first year. You'd think they would be happy that we are trying to keep their kids safe!
We bought a hog off one of my friends. We just got it back from the butcher and had pork chops and bacon last night for dinner. I've always heard it said that it is so different from store bought meat and boy is that true!
I loved this regular bacon! But...we also got the jowl bacon. When I picked up the meat, the butcher commented that he was thrilled that we ordered the jowl bacon because so few people do. I asked if it was good. He "hmmmmm"-ed and said it was the best...it was "super bacon." So that's what it's called in our house. We definitely agree...it was already gone when I took this picture.
Camden just began attending the Zone again. It mets on Thursday after school at the little church on the corner near our old house in Waveland. She used to attend regularly, and will probably again now. She also used to be one of the little kids, but now is one of the oldest! Both Rhianah and Paxton attend so it's a great way for her to spend time with those two.
One of my friends used to be a consultant for this company. She is moving on to something else and is liquidating her last remaining pieces. I was able to get Camden a few shirts and leggings, as well as a shirt for me for VERY cheap!
I think she is adorable in this Minnie Mouse shirt - bedhead and all!
Waveland Strong hosted the Waveland Christmas Celebration on Saturday. This year we organized it a little differently and it was ideal. Instead of trying to cram 60 kids plus parents in a tiny community room, we asked local places to host one activity. That also meant that they organized and found volunteers too.
But first Santa had to arrive to town. A processional of fire vehicles escorted him to the library where he would be stationed for pictures.
Camden still gets sooo excited about his arrival!
The kids got to pick a toy from the box and each get a bag of candy after their moments with Santa.
Our local preschool teacher read Christmas stories to kids before or after they visited Santa.
Another stop was our local pizza store, called Italian Pie & Bakery. The owner baked up a bunch of sugar cookies in their pizza ovens and had a bunch of decorating supplies out.
Camden took her time and did a really cute snowman.
I made one too because the cookies were so delicious! A new shop across the street which is a catch-all shop, but will have an ice cream business this summer, joined in on the celebration and said if the kids stopped by, he would give them a free cone of ice cream (He has a stock of hard scoop, but can't sell until his freezer in the front of the shop is fixed). Camden took advantage and had a scoop of chocolate chip.
Then it was over to the fire station for some games led by our local 4-H club (and a few firemen). We had a cake walk with Little Debbie Christmas trees and brownies as prizes and another "mix-up" game. Both are kid favorites!
The final stop was one of the local churches who did a snowflake craft and showed a Veggie Tales video.
This was a successful event and we can't wait to build on it next year!
