Photo time at last! first, the Girls' Club:

Making pop-up cards

Macrame bracelets

The date on the photos is wrong, I just set the camera now. I think we need a lesson in photography etiquette-- there are no photos of the girl I gave the camera to!! They all enjoyed making their bracelets, but what they really enjoyed was pounding the nails in further and removing them after we finished. So how am I going to find a free way to do a woodwork project?

And here is the Independence Day cake:

My daughter knew by the first 'A' that the last 'A' wouldn't fit!

with our original

The kids said the cake was too sweet. All these years of putting less sugar than the recipe calls for is paying off at last.

Today's Girls' Club:
We had a nice size group, 12 girls. It's actually my favorite size for a group.One of the older girls visited my daughter yesterday and got involved in my pre-meeting preparation which means I had an extra helper, too. We cut long strips from plastic grocery bags, folded in fourths, did an overhand knot to form a small loop, and then used macrame knots to make a bracelet. I threaded a bead through the end and did another overhand knot to secure it. The bead through the loop formed the clasp and we each had a bracelet! Problems: The knotting was a bit erratic and the plastic broke where the cutting was uneven. Answer: Unevenness and missed knots added texture and charm and we simply tied a new piece in when one broke. One of the mistakes was actually quite nice and I will add it to my knotting list!

We got 4 original new silly songs, one with nice lyrics to challenge the boys to form a club. When we brainstormed activities today, one of the suggestions was a show. I would love to use their own songs in a small skit.

I mentioned pre-meeting prep. We tried making paper beads to see how that would go for a craft. It looks so simple. It takes such simple materials. the finished product looks so beautiful. NOT FOR US. Next time I try narrower strips and using a ruler to cut.

Funny songs went great. "the littlest worm" got a few giggles, but what they REALLY enjoyed was "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee". They're so funny, they asked for a church song. Luckily I had "Ho-ho-ho-hosanna" to offer them. They insisted they want to meet again this Friday even though it's school holiday, so I'm going with the flow. It's tough to think of an activity that will work just as well with 3 or 30 girls because I can't guess how many will show up. My biggest concern is to have all activities extremely cheap or better yet, FREE! So far, I'm thinking macrame bracelets made with strips cut from grocery store bags. If that doesn't work, the next cheapest is packaging rope. We could even color it with the stubby bits of crayon and the wax will make it easier to work.

On the sewing front, I have started cutting out the dresses I'm making for our anniversary. I'm making a top and skirt for myself and my 'bride's maid', two asymmetrical dresses (one for each of my name-sake's mom), a dress for my daughter(11), one for my 4-year old namesake and one for my 1-year old namesake. That's seven dresses, then another for my friend's 1-year old just because I so much enjoyed making her a dress when she was born. If all works out, the little ones will have matching sun-hats, too. Whew!

Tomorrow is Independence Day! What flavor for the Happy Birthday Namibia cake? Chocolate/vanilla swirl, of course. With the flag iced on top.

Today I will meet with my girls' club. The children in this town are very fortunate in their safety, in the generally Christian (I do mean Christian, not just church-going) attitude of the town.
 BUT! As the town has grown smaller and 'the company' has stopped paying for all the social interaction activities, our children have grown sheltered and naive. Most kid's activities are school-related and have to follow school restraints.
For example, I accompanied a school bus ride to the Capitol last year. The children behave what I would call a 'good normal'--minor disagreements, a bit of seat-hopping, generally peaceful and courteous. With no silly bus songs whatsoever. Church songs, yes. Pop songs, yes. No traditional silly songs for the entire 2-day trip.
So my goal this week is to find a few silly songs we can sing and hopefully make up a few about our town, school, and club.