Girl Scout Sew In

Wow, we had a busy weekend! Mia and I went to a two night, Girl Scout - sew in. Just a few minutes north of us in a town called Reading, there is a Girl Scout lodge. It's really less of a lodge and more of a cafeteria with a lobby, kitchen and bathrooms. We had 16 girls there between the ages of 5 and 11. The goal was ambitious for a group of moms who are extremely well meaning, but who make me look really organized and focused. Each of these girls was supposed to complete their own aprons, make a bag to be filled as a relief bag for Haiti and then if time permitted, make pajama pants. All this with only there sewing machines and three adults who knew how to use them. Almost none of the girls had ever held an iron and only three of them had ever sewn anything with a machine. In the end, each girl went home with an apron and many of them made extra little random things for their dolls. The aprons are actually really cool. They ironed the fabric, but the fabric out with a pattern, pinned them and sewed them, then attached straps. They had a plain brown side for crafting and a cheerful patterned side for cooking. I even made one for myself. Mia made a sleeping bag for her American Girl doll and a summer outfit for the doll that included a sort of headband thing. She now wants a sewing machine and I actually am typing on top of one right now. I don't know, however, if it works, much less how to thread the bobbin and get started sewing anything.

At times, this weekend, with so many kids and so few adults, I wanted to climb up on a table, pull all my hair out and burn the lodge down - but most of it was really fun. I built a fire in a snowy fire pit in the outdoor camping area. It took a long time to get it started considering my lack of experience and the snow in the pit, but eventually, I and another mom who had also never built a fire succeeded. We told the troop leader we wanted a badge. :)

Shelby stayed with Lennon all weekend while Mia and I camped and we weren't sure how that would go. He sometimes gets extremely upset when he wakes up and I'm not home. From everything they've told me - it could not have gone better. On top of Lennon having a blast and him reporting to me that "I not cried whole time!" - He used the potty all weekend. He did all his #2 in the potty and mostly peed in it too except when they were out. Just this afternoon when I was home, he ran back there twice by himself to go potty. He finally seems excited about it. I think we're getting close! I can't wait to be done with diapers forever! Or at least until either Shelby or I start wearing them in old age.

All in all, really great weekend for everyone. Mia is really enjoying Girl Scouts and sadly, she won't be able to go anymore this semester because Shelby was assigned to a class he doesn't even want to take that takes place right during her troops meeting time. She's not going to be very happy about it, but maybe we can find another troop to join.

Oh, did I mention I accidentally melted a whole bunch of plastic plates and bowls in the oven? Someone had used the oven as a drying rack and I didn't look inside before preheating it for dinner and this is what I created. It actually looked pretty cool. Not so much fun to clean up though.

Mia sewing diligently. She did a really good job.

Suzanne, Naomi's mom, hosted a proper British Tea Party for the girls at camp yesterday afternoon. Complete with a little lesson on all the little tea gadgets and a little bit of history too. She even made scones from scratch and brought strawberry jam, which is apparently the only proper jam to have with tea and cream for the scones. Mia had this really beautiful, delicious tea with a flower that blossoms as it steeps.

The table set with as much red and blue plates as we could find among all the girls plates they brought from home. We were trying to stick with the British theme.

Apparently herbal "tea" is not really tea at all. It should actually be referred to as Tisane. Real tea only comes from one specific plant. I'm still gonna call it tea when I drink it though, so take that Britain!