repurposed

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a garage sale/thrift shop junkie; and what is better it is becoming more the norm. In today's economy who isn't trying to save a buck or two? And in our household we are trying to recycle as much as possible, freecycle or repurpose items.

My latest repurpose: old jeans with holes in each knee (some may pay extra for this I prefer no holes) became a new jean skirt. . . and I probably saved $50+.

summer camp: birds

Birds:
a visit to Wild Wings,
peering through binoculars,
going for a hike to spot (next time remind me to bring bug spray!),
seeing a puppet show centered around them,
designing an eagle and a robin out of toilet paper tubes,
listening to sounds,
drawing and drawing some more birds
and finally designing a bird house that has a very lengthy description as to why exactly it is designed just so . . so cute!

Did you know that Robin's eggs take 50 days to hatch?
Did you know that Mommy's arm span isn't as long as an eagle's?
And so many other wonderful things we learned . . .

raspberries

A ride on the wagon, two legs swinging with anticipation.

Jump down to run in the rows of raspberry bushes.

On toes to reach the biggest, juiciest raspberry seen.

A tiny voice singing sweet sounds. (a recently found favorite from the library - Elizabeth Mitchell)

12 pints and full tummys later . . .

summer camp: sports week

Name the sport and we probably played it last week (ok, I know my parents are screaming croquet . . .no, we gave you the set). Football, basketball, lacrosse, biking, swimming, golfing, soccer and hockey. We even had an indoor sport day (thanks to the rain) where we bowled and played with a marble tower. Although that may not be an Olympic sport it was pretty cool; minus the part where we lost a marble underneath the refrigerator - oops.

Ambrose learned a bit about the 'rules' of each game and then had fun making up his own. The best part was hearing "he shoots and he scorrrrrrrrres!", "touchdown", "goal" or as Blaise says it "rrrrrr".

the next Wayne Gretzky?

trip to Sodus Point

Ten days to decompress from the normal grind of running around and a break from technology (TV, computer, etc.) Several hours a day to enjoy life's simple pleasures while visiting with family. Blessings all around.

Blaise went from holding onto furniture to moving around to walking all over the place while we were in Sodus. He had fun going from room to room in the cottage; the whole time sporting a huge grin. While Ambrose couldn't get enough of spending time with cousins, pointing out to everyone something he discovered and playing in the sand.

What a wonderful time we had in Sodus Point . . . family, good conversation, down time, beach time, water time, boating, relaxing, eating and so much more. Take a minute and take in the view . . .

summer camp: construction week

This week we strapped on our tool belts, donned our 'Bob the Builder' orange vests and bright yellow construction hats in order to construct. 'Bob's' motto is "yes, I can"; and boy did we! The boys built garages for their trucks, buildings as tall as their hands could pile blocks and homes with air conditioning built right in (sorta of) since roofs were optional. They paved roads, moved machinery around and every other imaginable contrivance you can do with dirt and blocks.

Ambrose was fascinated by this book, Buildings in Disguise where actual buildings throughout the US mimic items: a dog, shell (gas station), watermelon, and even a basket (I've been to it - it is the Longerberger home office in Ohio).

We drove by road construction sites to view the machinery in action. And then drew what we saw through sandpaper art.

Dump Truck

Today we drove to the Highway Department and I planned on walking around and looking at all of the machinery. You can see Ambrose and Blaise checking out the wing of this snow plow.

Our neighbor works at the Highway Department and we happened to run into him outside. He gave us a tour of the inside of the building and the boys each received their very own truck to take home.

summer camp: music week

In order to keep mom entertained (okay, the boys too) we are holding our own summer camp with themes each week. This past week was music week. We talked about sounds, rhythm, various instruments and genres of music. Ambrose discovered a number of sounds from the clicking of his tongue to Blaise banging on the wall to sounds I didn't even hear until he pointed them out. And the sound that we are happy to 'put away' after music week, the saxophone (a Sesame Street one that Ambrose was very drawn to that played and played and well you get the idea . . .)

Ambrose is extremely focused on the topic thus accentuating it throughout the day by pointing out sounds all around us, or asking me to turn up the radio, etc. (I've read that is how it is if you are deaf or blind that another sense is heightened; that is how Ambrose seems to me). Blaise is walking to his own rhythm and taking a few more steps each day.

Our week included a lunch time concert of the Mambo Kings and listening to numerous cds during our trips to Dearborn, MI and Toronto. One cd brought back memories. My dad would typically work in the garage listening to 50's rock n'roll. I always liked helping to change the oil. This meant riding on the piece of wood with wheels (what is that thing called?) so that you could slide underneath the car while it was up on ramps and look up to try and guess where the oil was going to come from. I'm proud (I think) to say I still know all the words to the Monster Mash. Music week ended with a trip to the baseball game that included a performance by the RPO with fireworks.

Take me out to the ballgame . . .

Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra