Happy Mother's Day!

 We celebrated Mother's Day with my grandma on Saturday.

 Then the kids and I went to the Mom and Me Hike!

 They had snacks and crafts for the kids.

 

 They could also look around the nature center.

 A bunny!

 Then it was time for the hike!

 It was a lot of fun!

Yesterday was great, too--no cooking and time to read!  I'm so glad I get to be their mom!

Gordon Korman

 Friday night we went to the Anne V. Zarrow Award presentation at the library.  This year's winner was Gordon Korman.

 We brought a lot of books to be signed because we've been reading a lot of his stuff lately.  The first book of his I ever read--before even Jack was born--was No More Dead Dogs, which is so, so funny.  I re-read that to the kids, along with Masterminds (and the sequel) and several others.  Jay and Jack have started the Bruno and Boots

series, too.

 We even had an old copy of Who is Bugs Potter?, which surprised him!

 We picked up a couple of new ones to read, too!

 The kids always like to play on the big boat.

We wrapped up the evening with custard at Andy's!

Tulsa Botanic Garden

 Yesterday was National Public Garden Day, so we went to the new Tulsa Botanic Garden to celebrate!  (You can see book ideas--which we've been reading in our Morning Basket--here!)

 This is the Children's Garden, which will be opening in a couple of weeks.

 The terraces are the only place that's developed right now, but there is lots of land they have plans for!

 Jack liked the cacti!

 Lots of beautiful plants!

 And beautiful views!

 The younger kids went to a story time.

 Tasting some different kinds of leaves

 

The bigger kids went for a walk around the lake!

We are planning to go back to see the Children's Garden soon!

Food Showdown

 Tuesday night was the 4H Food Showdown.  Jack was on a team called The Ring of Fire.

 Making sure their area is ready

 Time to cook!

 They were given a clue and four secret ingredients they were required to use.

 They had 30 minutes to make their recipe, write it down, and clean up their area.  Judges came around while they were working.

 

 At the end, they presented their dish to the judges.

 With their dish!

 While the big kids were working on their dishes, the Cloverbuds learned about cookie decorating.

 These girls love playing together!

 Alice took the decorating very seriously!

 She even tried her hand at making an icing rose!

Ta-da!

Jack says he's not sure if he'll do the Food Showdown again next year, but I'm glad he decided to try it out.  He's so good about trying new things!

Prince

 1999 (1982)

Purple Rain (1984)

When Doves Cry (1984)

Let's Go Crazy (1984) 

Kiss (1986)

U Got the Look (1987)

Love Song (1989)

Prince Songs Recorded by Other Artists

Manic Monday (The Bangles)

Nothing Compares 2 U (Sinead O'Connor)

 Jungle Love (The Time)

The Pet Show

 Last night was the pet show for our 4H group.  There were several different categories the kids could enter, so they decided to try to catch some things in the creek.

 Alice built a little habitat in the container.

 Success!  Jack caught three tadpoles and Alice caught two!

 Jack was on the pet show committee, so we made pet-themed snacks to take.

 Alice decorated these cookies all by herself!

 Alice showed her tadpoles.

 She also showed our friend's hermit crabs and a stuffed animal.

 Jack also showed his tadpoles.

 He won first place in the nature category!

 The hermit crabs won ugliest--though in their defense, they were the only ones in that category!

And Popcorn won second place in best dressed with the outfit Jack made for the Fashion Revue!

It was a lot of fun and the kids got some cool prizes for the pets.  Tonight is the Food Showdown and then things will slow down a bit--at least with 4H!