Catch-Up Blogging

We've been busy (well, duh, I bet you never guessed that), and I keep thinking, "Oh, I should/could blog about this," but haven't gotten around to it. Obviously.

So, here's a quick rundown of some highlights, since later today we'll be going unplugged until sometime Wednesday-ish (which means if you email me I'll have an excuse for not replying, unlike the past couple of weeks during which I didn't reply because I just didn't get around to it).

Let's see, we had our spring semester Court of Awards for Girl Scouts. AnnaBeth got a bunch of badges:



and some cookie incentives. Except we didn't have the Gift of Caring badge when we took this picture. Also, we've discovered that different Councils give out these incentives for different levels of sales. Did you know that? So something we earn here for selling 60 boxes you might earn for selling 10 boxes or 110 boxes.


Shoes Thalia wore to the Court of Awards. I used to wonder who bought shoes from the Goodwill. Now I know that if they're crazy high heels, they're purchased by 14 year old girls.


Another opening of another show. We filmed the duet our friend was in, but I don't know if we've ever even watched it.


Eighth grade homeschool graduation, featuring a 1960s Barbie doll dress in royal blue (they selected royal blue and silver for their class colors) from Simplicity 4070:

(Updated picture of Simplicity 4070 fit and styling looking less dumpy here on Dec. 31, 3011 post)

The parameters were that she needed a knee-length or longer dress that wasn't strapless, spaghetti straps, or a halter. Of course, this meant that we had to test the limits, fulfill of letter of the rule rather than the spirit, etc. etc. So she came up with a strapless dress with a lace overlay. I ended up doubling the lace on the front bodice so no one got too weirded out by it; some of these people took this whole thing very seriously. And, in the end, no one batted an eye. She really wanted lace gauntlets to match, but we ran out of time.

Picture that includes feet:


Another Goodwill shoe purchase of the much-needed Barbie doll shoes to go with the Barbie doll dress, showing off the silver nail polish:


Gratuitous tippy picture featuring ripped out woodwork next to her left shoulder (more on that later this week, assuming we get the computer plugged back in -- ooh, a cliff-hanger!):