Cousin Camp - Day 2 - Call Me Cranky

I'm trying to hide from the heat. I'm also trying to hide from everybody in my house. It's not working out. When you live in a 700sqft. apartment one's places to 'retreat' are limited. It doesn't help that my 'boys' don't know where anything is kept. Even though they have lived here as long as I have. I'm thinking that my closet is looking pretty good right now for some alone time.

My "Cousin Camp" recovery process is going to be a lengthy one. Josiah told me I didn't look so good this morning. Thanks, Bubby. Anyhoo...every bit of my body is throbbing. Last night I took a bath before bed. I had planned to soak, but after a few minutes in the tub it seemed like too much trouble. I had to run to the bank this morning and then to Aldi's. I knew I must have done some sort of sleep shopping when Vanilla Wafers, Bing Cherries and Poptarts showed up in our bag to take home. Josiah did a little of his own shopping. 

So on the happenings of Cousin Camp - Day 2...Or as I like to call it "The Worst Day In A While." I'm exaggerating, of course. It wasn't that bad. But given the fact that I was overly tired from overdoing it the day before I wasn't the happiest camper on the farm. I was just plain cranky.

I woke up that morning a little later than planned. Breakfast was scheduled for 8am, but I decided to let the kids sleep in for a little longer. Biscuits and Gravy was on the menu. We had plenty of biscuits left over from our cooking school the day before. I sliced some sausage and started up the gravy. I'm a pretty fair gravy maker so I left it simmering in the pan and went to set some stuff out of the table.Oops. My gravy got a little brown. It still tasted good, but I knew I was in trouble when the kids started eyeballing it and one of them (who isn't mine) piped up "My Daddy makes really good gravy."

So started my day of mishaps and general chaos. Whatever could be dropped or spilled was dropped and spilled...and if there was a button to be pushed, Josiah and Christopher pushed it. But we persevered and still managed to have a good time. I did have to hide in the bathroom from time to time. And considering I didn't have my car there (nor any vehicle that would run) I spent a few minutes plotting my escape on the tractor.

Here are Tuesday's Happenings.

Camper of the Day: Madalyn (aka Maddie Paige)
Age: 7
Favorite Food: Anything Daddy makes
Favorite Past time: She's up for anything

Maddie is known for her "embellishments." I have to say I was known to "embellish" in my younger years. Her Storytelling skills rival all others. My favorite Maddie Paige moment went something like this. I was peeling eggs in the kitchen for deviled eggs. Fresh little chicken eggs are kind of hard to peel so my egg-peeling efforts weren't all that attractive. Maddie popped into the kitchen and asked if she could help. I told her that because these were fresh chicken eggs (right from the chicken) that they were harder to peel and I was going to have to do it, but she could crack them and hand them to me. She paused and then said something like this.
"One time we had a chicken come into our yard (they live in the middle of Nixa). The chicken laid an egg right there in our yard. My mom said, 'Maddie, why don't you get that egg and we'll boil it up.' So I went and got the egg and she boiled it up. She let me peel it and I did a pretty good job. So peeling chicken farm eggs won't be any problem for me."  Little Stinker. She didn't get away with it. Later her Momma called her on it. Maddie said, "It must have been a dream."

Cooking School - No Bake Cookies

I need to admit something. No Bake Cookies weren't on the schedule. We were going to make cornbread from Scratch. I wasn't having a "cornbread" kind of day. I was having a chocolate & peanut butter kind of day. I needed it fast. I have to say that this was one of the easiest Cooking School recipes we made. In fact, Josiah and I made a batch for a church potluck dinner a few days later.



Scavenger Hunt #2

Here are our scavenger hunt findings. What I didn't take pictures of were the light pole sized sticks they brought in. One of the challenges was to "Find a stick longer than a foot." I probably should have made it a little more specific...longer than a foot, but shorter than the length of the house.

Bento Box Lunch. I used leftovers from the night before, plus one of our Cooking School set atop banana slices. 

After lunch, I did what every self-respecting parent does when everybody needs a break. I turned on a movie. Don't tell me you've never done it. I also fed them Freeze Pops. Don't judge me. I slurped on a few myself.

Arts & Crafts (morning edition): Camp Scrapbooks

We decorated blank scrapbooks for them to keep their pictures of the week in.

Arts & Crafts (evening edition): Color Techniques

Thank goodness that Ama's work lets her leave every day at quitting time. After supper she gave us a art lesson. My mom has been giving Art Lessons for years. I always had to be in one of her classes. Not that it did any good. I didn't inherit that gene.

Just a little Art Lesson Break.

 The finished products.

Something we also did this week was make our own First Aid kits. This was a big hit.

A fun part of every evening. A group of frogs would show up on the windows to eat supper.

One of my big pet peeves is when people take animals out of their natural habitats and take them home to keep as pets. If you want a frog or a turtle go get one at a pet store. They are bred to be a little hardier. Leave the frogs on the window alone.

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Coming Soon - Cousin Camp Day 3 - Shake, Rattle & Roll

If you would like to read about Cousin Camp Day 1 you can do so here.