May Mid-Month KAL

You've probably just about decided that I've given up knitting forever, but I promise it's not true! Things have just been really busy around here lately, plus I'm getting ready for a craft sale in November. I'm behind on KALs too. I'll have to miss the next one, and then I *should* be back after that. Anyway, here is a long overdue picture of the May Mid-Month KAL. I have the June Mid-Month KAL in progress. I've just decided not to stress about it.

Here's my other recently completed project, a textured painted cloth. I first read about it on Hakucho's blog. It was fun to make, easy, and I love the way it turned out! It's such a clever idea.

Homeschool conference...and a surprise!

Ok, now I'll backtrack a little. Every year Mom, Jamey, and I go to the homeschool conference in Winston-Salem. I love it! I meet my friends there, and we hang out together for most of the three days we're there. We eat lunch and dinner together, and when we're bored we find a corner and talk. There are speakers and a book fair, but the book fair has more than just books. I could spend forever in there! It's the one time when I buy some fun things that I wouldn't normally buy. All of the speakers were really good this year! I learned a lot. Most people stay in one of two hotels beside the convention center, but my great aunt and uncle live about 15 minutes away, so we stay with them. I could go into further detail, but the pictures pretty much say it all. There were lots of good pictures, but I tried to just choose the best ones.

Our Starbucks date in Joelle's hotel room

From left to right: Elise, Kelsey, Alex Joelle

In Kelsey's hotel room during our lunch break

The amazing galaxy lab goo! We had entirely too much fun with it. :) We found it in the book fair and couldn't resist.

Jamey's friend Justin stayed with us. Here we are playing ping pong.

Taking a break! (On the left is Anna, Elise's sister)

Now for the surprise, we have a Korean exchange student staying with us this summer! He got here on Saturday. His English name is Brandon, and he's 11. He's so sweet! I love him already. His English is very good; he has an amazing vocabulary! He's been having a good time so far. He and the boys have been playing lots of games, and he's even been teaching us some Korean words! Right now he and mom are at the store getting rice. Here's a picture of the two of us. He brought me 2 gifts, a fan and a mirror, so that's what I'm holding. Wasn't that thoughtful? He'll be here for three months, so we're doing school through the summer and taking a break in the fall. Consequently, today was my first day as a junior!

Beach trip

I'm sorry I've neglected you! I didn't mean to, I've been out of town. I intend to catch up. This post is about our beach trip, and in a few days I'll backtrack a bit. Like I said, we just got back from Myrtle Beach. We went to celebrate my grandparents' 50th anniversary! Thursday night we had an actual anniversary party, with a cake, a little variety show, and a slideshow with pictures from when they were kids up to now. It was a wonderful trip. The weather was just perfect, it wasn't too crowded, and we all had a lot of fun together. I have a great family! We were there for a week. It was really nice to have a chance to relax. I haven't been able to do that in awhile. We spent all but one of our days at the beach and pool, and at night we all visited or played games. I didn't do any knitting (gasp) but it was a much needed break! Here are some pictures.

Happy Anniversary Nanny and Granddaddy!

I got an awful sunburn the first day, hence the shirt.

Me with Will in the lazy river

Burying ourselves. I love playing in the sand!

The cool dudes with their new shades. :)

Relaxing after a busy day

Jamey and the little boys playing football

Splash wars! I started it. :)

Three generations