Things I haven't mentioned

• All three girls enjoyed going to K4J Vacation Bible School last week. Surprisingly (as it's unusual for her), Georgia was upset after Neil left the first morning. Sophia immediately stepped in and stayed with Georgia the entire morning, rather than going with her own age group. What a good big sister! Georgia was just fine for the next four days of VBS.
• Quick recap of the girls' summer activities: swimming lessons for the first two weeks (mornings), Summer Sports School for the next two weeks (afternoons), three weeks off, VBS for one week (mornings), and then a week and a half off. Plus, Sophia had bagpipe lessons for one week in July. This seemed like a nice, not-too- full summer schedule, and the girls were happy.
• The girls and I enjoyed our scrapbooking class, Kidding Around, at BPS. We did many of the activities -- going for ice cream, blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, making a pillow fort, making lemonade from scratch -- but didn't have much time for scrapbooking. I didn't make any pages, but the girls made four or five each (which was pretty labour-intensive for me as I was busy spelling out words, cutting papers, printing things out, cleaning stamps, and so on). After posting her bubble layout in the online gallery, Madeline won a prize draw! In the mail, all the way from California, she received a package containing some bubble liquid, bubble stickers, a package of Kool-Aid, and a BPS button. Madeline was very excited about her prize and she happily shared it with her sisters.
• I have signed up for a couple more BPS classes beginning in early September: Use Your Stash with May Flaum and Book of Stories with Karen Grunberg. Both of these teachers get rave reviews from past students and I'm really looking forward to learning from them! I try not to take more than one class at a time, but these are very different classes and both are in line with current goals -- to use my stash (i.e., not buy new supplies except staples I run out of) and to have a ready supply of stories and journaling ideas. Both should serve me well into the future.
• We purchased all of the girls' school supplies a couple weeks ago. They also got new backpacks (Sophia & Madeline), lunch kits, and shoes. Sophia and Madeline were so obsessed with their supplies the first couple days, they were driving me nuts! They had them in and out of their backpacks several times, and they bugged me to label their supplies until I couldn't stand it anymore. I wasn't planning to do it until the following weekend (alone!), but I gave up and labeled everything under their watchful eyes.
• We are now putting Dash into his crate before we set the table for supper and we don't let him out until the table is completely cleared and wiped. He is a pretty good dog -- except when it comes to the dining room table! If there was even a speck of food on the table, someone would have to be guarding it diligently every second, and that proved to be a challenge we weren't up to. Plus, he was just too annoying during a meal, always trying to get to the food. It's so much better now that he's in the crate. He barks for the first few minutes and then stops. I'm sure that eventually he won't bark at all (it's only been a week or so).
• Starting in September, Neil is going to provide child care a few days each month for one of Georgia's preschool classmates. This little boy and Georgia were the closest of pals at preschool last year, and I'm sure they'll have fun together when he comes to our house this fall. I think it'll be great. He is a sweet boy and his parents are very nice, too.
• I just started reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I've enjoyed reading her blog for about a year and a half now, and I'm certain I'll enjoy the book, too. Perhaps I'll begin my own Happiness Project! I'm not unhappy, but I'm sure I could be happier. If I do make any resolutions, I'll share my progress here.
• Last Saturday, we went to the Mercury Cafe and Grill on 13th Avenue for supper. We had received gift certificates as a thank you for dog-sitting in July. It was a fun outing. We all enjoyed this little 50s-diner-style restaurant, and the burgers were great! The girls were completely delighted with their cream soda floats which were served in those big metal cups used for making milk shakes. I took pictures. :)
• I've been wrestling with what extra-curricular activities the girls will take this year. Sophia and Madeline are interested in many things and I think if it were up to them, they'd be in far more activities than any of us could handle. I have made the decision that they cannot do more than three each, not counting K4J which is only once a month, and not counting free school-based sports such as Cross Country (Sophia is now old enough and wants to do this). This is the same number of activities as last year, but some will be more time consuming. And Georgia still won't be in any evening or weekend activities except K4J -- thank goodness! Last year, we had nothing on weekends and I LOVED it. I was really hoping to continue having free weekends, but I think I'm going to have to give up on that. I will update on the specific activities once we decide.