Adventures in Learning

Callie had a very happy birthday this last week. Here she is with her very own cake creation that she made, start-finish, on her own. Big girl!


What a great summer this has been for acquiring new skills in this household. Here are some of Callie's recent exploits: She made some professional flyers to pass out for her purse-making business. She has hand-sewn some cute tiny ones for dolls, so when she had a neighbor order a size "large" and pay $10.50 in advance I was sure nervous. She let me coach her a bit and here she displays the final bag. She put a lot of effort in and did great -- but never passed out any more flyers. She says next year maybe she'll do it again.

Massive peanut butter cookies: Hannah's request for FHE treats last week, and Callie was the willing chef. They turned out HUGE. The girls wanted to sell the rest for a fundraiser for SWS, but besides getting some money out of their cookie monster of a daddy, the rest have stayed in our pantry. I'm glad. Our neighbors need a rest from our monetarily-driven daughters. I'm thinking of setting a limit on fund-rasiers of any kind -- maybe 2 a year.

I've been wanting to get a photo of Callie and her clarinet playing all summer. It's fun to listen to her now. Lots less squeaking, and she plays through fun songs in her book along with a band accompaniment on CD. She will practice for a very long time and loves it.

And then there's Jacob. Can you see what is missing from this picture? How about training wheels! His story goes like this: we meet up with some friends as we're feeding the horses one morning, and he asks if he can ride his friend's bike. "No, bud -- he doesn't have training wheels on his bike, and you don't have a helmet with you." A minute later, "Hey Mom, watch this!" He's riding the aforementioned bike all over the cul-de-sac like a pro. He was happy to have me remove his training wheels yesterday and is a proficient two-wheel-rider. Wow!