The Spring Break I Forgot To Tell You About

I had a fantastic spring break!....

...and then I forgot to blog about it, causing one of the largest post recessions in Claire's Creative Days history.


:' (

Oh well, let's not dwell on the past, shall we? Here is a quick (okay, maybe not) summary of each of my spring break adventures.....

Part I: Volunteering
This was probably one of the most memorable parts of Spring Break. At the camp we helped run, I met lots and lots of new friends, and their signatures are all on my picture frame I got at the retreat.  At first, arts and crafts seemed boring because our prep consisted of doing nothing but cutting yarn. And cutting some more. And then cutting some more. But it all paid off in the end, because now I can make a mean friendship bracelet! :) We also set up an egg hunt for the kids at the start of the week. I paired up with a new found buddy, and using the simple yet cunning strategy of "divide and conquer", I helped her win the hunt for her age group, $5, and a whole lot of candy!
It wasn't all work and no play for us, though, because we got plenty of free time in between camp. The house some of the kids were staying overnight at had this AMAZING basement! There was this beautiful mural on the wall of a city close by to where we were, and things only got more intriguing from there. The furniture ranged from movie theater seating to wraparound sofas to cozy couches which laid under a bit of wall that jutted out, making sitting seem like crawling into a totally different room. Furthermore, there were lots of secret corners and rooms nestled in between the space, so you could easily just hide somewhere for hours and listen to music. My favorite area was a study zone covered from head to toe in pillows and books. Nobody else noticed this place, so I got some much yearned-for alone time!
The backyard also provided plenty of activities. It had an open patch of grass perfect for games of jump rope, a basketball hoop, picnic benches, and a secret hideout behind a rusty shed. There was also a huge deck we all liked to hang out on (and eat snacks on!). The neighbors had a dog named Lucy, and we all liked to talk to her between the cracks of the fence-or when we were looking out over the fence when we were behind the shed.
One of my favorite memories was when we all started picking dandelions (the streets were covered with hundreds of them; I was sad there were so many weeds- but so pretty!) to make a long daisy chain for one of the younger kids in our group. (We ended up making rings, anklets, a wand with the "wishing ones" and a crown, too- then she became the Dandelion Queen!) It was then we got a genius idea. Looking around the yard, we saw that there were lots of dandelions (the yellow and "wishing" ones), along with other colorful varieties of weeds. There also were dozens of discarded water bottles under the porch. So, we thought, why not make bouquets? We started a "floral arrangement" station at the picnic table, and filled bottles up with dandelions, purple, blue, white, and green weeds, and little orange or white blossoms from a bush. Some of the best weeds were crawling up the shed, so that ended up being how we discovered the secret place. The bouquets were beautiful, and we displayed them proudly on the deck tables as centerpieces.
We also got to make several fun outings. First, we went to McDonalds and all bought McFlurrys. Later on in the week, we got to go to Chick-Fil-A for their awesome lemonade and milkshakes! That trip was followed by a drive to the park for a game of Ultimate Frisbee. (I am not the most athletic person in the world, so a friend and I walked down to "High School Hill", the steep incline the high school kids had their egg hunt on.) There was also lots of takeout pizza!
The week concluded with a cookout at the camp building, where we all had some great food- and saw some great jump roping!

*pants* Oops. I said that was going to be short, didn't I? Oh well....
Blog Ya Later!

Stay Tuned for Part II of CJ's Spring Break- In Maryland! Just Dance 2! Monster Hunting! Jumpy Places! (groan) Plants Vs. Zombies! Jellybeans! Trampolines! Egg Hunts! More Jellybeans....

Relaxed Days

Gotta enjoy these days while they last! Lounging in the hammock, reading, listening to Nationals games, homemade strawberry ice cream...

Catch Up (Or Ketchup)

I (if I counted right) have not posted in 9 DAYS! Wow, that's a new record. So, let's play catch up.

Christmas! Our family celebrated both meanings of Christmas. We got- and gave- some cool creative gifts. My favorites? The computer monitor, lettering book, Razor scooter, and all those creative things. Then we packed up and went to NEW JERSEY! I know I said that post would often appear in 3 days, but I was so busy having fun with L, S,M, our youngest cousin H, and our grandparents to post. We shot lots of videos, played Michigan Rummy (AWESOME card game), played Wii, tried some new computer games, and made up some pretty wacky songs.
Here's a poem I made up about my cousin L winning during Michigan Rummy (look it up on Google if you don't understand this poem).

Speechless
I'm speechless, nothing to say
Not going to lay a card today
L rules with her perfect deck
Keeps her poker chips in check
Gleaming stacks of red and white
My coin vanished from the right
At least the little millionaire
Always has a chip to spare.

And do not forget to look up Michigan Rummy!
Also, this is my first post in 2010! WOOOOO!
I didn't stay up till 12 like last year, instead I tried ten.

BLOG YA LATER!

Christmas Time

Break in a few more weeks
Reddened and rosy cheeks
Kitchen with smells so good
Christmas trees made of wood
Nativity up high
So my sister won't spy
Closets packed head to toe
With secrets I don't know
Chestnuts upon a fire
Songs from the local choir
Favorite books in a bin
Visiting all our kin
Candy canes please a crowd
Santa's truck is so loud
Homemade gifts stowed away
Until it's Christmas Day
Decor lights up a bush
Stars sail by with a hush
Hauling out winter gear
2010 is here!

The Rocky Tower

Today at recess, my friends Soso, S, and I went over to the far corner of the playground by the woods when we got a surprise. Somebody had been there before us, and they had raised all the playground rocks in the area to make a giant raised platform! It looked exactly like a tower! We kept looking around, and we saw 2 more in the area. Before sitting down, I dug pathways from one island to the next, and S made footbridges to connect the island towers. Then we all sat down to watch the football game. I spy something to FINALLY do at recess!

I'm Back!!!!

Finally- back from Maryland! I shall now present to you the top 3 Maryland activities:
1. MOVIE MAKING. While we were in Maryland, we made two new movie series called The Great Webkinz Camp-Out and Classroom Girls. We also shot several little videos including, but not limited to: The Ship Takes Off, The Thing, Cameras, Polly World Fashion Shoot, Mr. Jones.
2. FORT BUILDING. We built 2 tents. The one M slept in had a secret tunnel and plenty of storage, and L and I's had an electronics shelf and a "closet". On the last night, we all got together and had a sleepover in S's room!
3. SPYING. We did a lot of spying in the W house, but it wasn't for revenge, it was just for fun. L and M stayed hidden upstairs in our forts while S and I went downstairs to shoot pictures of evidence. We used walkie-talkies, too!
Some other activities we did were playing in the computer, playing with dolls, reading graphic novels, having sleepovers, going to church, and celebrating L's 11th birthday!
As soon as I get them downloaded, I'll be sharing some videos with you!
What did YOU do this weekend?

Projects!!

Right now, I'm in the middle of blogging on my mom's computer, even though the internet access is up on my new computer. (Except I can't find Firefox yet! Help, Dad!) Bacon is sizzling in the background, along with the noise from my sister and her laptop. (Nick Jr. com- radio!)
I'm kind of surprised that I'm hearing all this noise, because right now I would typically be up in my room working on all the projects I have on my hands!
1. The Crayon Project. From reading my blog and my mom's blog, you know that I am making Crayon Cupcakes for kids in need. Mom wants me to write a letter to Gymboree asking them for colorful boxes to put some more cupcakes in.
2. My Fashion Magazine. I am not your fashion passion shopping fanatic model queen, but when I got the kit for making a fashion magazine, it involved doing several things that I like, so I decided to go for it!
3. The Beach Scrapbook. I started drawing these cute cartoon people doing stuff we did at the beach, and right now I am putting them in a beach scrapbook.
4. Defeating Aneoth. I know. This isn't really a big project. But in the Glider PRO world, Aneoth is one of the biggest, hardest, houses ever, and I WANT TO BEAT IT!

Right now, I would like to go back upstairs and work on one of these projects.
But I have some down time, so I can finally start to relax!

I think I'll go check on the bacon....