Extra, Extra Read All About It

She’s hit it ‘BIG’! In our local paper today, an article has been written about our wonderful Girl Scout troop 228 and Baylee has been quoted. Confidence is bursting out of her. I love it! She and her Brownie sisters are living out their Girl Scout law by “making the world a better place” all the way across the globe and the writers of the Republic paper caught wind of it.

Weeks prior, our troop learned of a small village in Malawi, Africa, and how girls there are constantly infected with intestinal worms from simply playing in their natural environment mostly because they don’t wear or even own panties for that matter. The solution in the minds of our troop…buy 100% cotton panties of all sizes for these girls in need and have them hand delivered by missionaries. My troop of fifteen is calling it, “The Panty Project!”

Here’s how Baylee explained it to the press, “The panty project is important because girls in Africa need our help! They are getting sick from the dirt ground and in their homes made of mud. There aren’t places the girls can buy panties, and they don’t have much money at all!”

Our girls have been gathering and purchasing all kinds of packaged panties and is running a “Panty drive” throughout the school year during other Girl Scout events we are hosting as well as the hopes to set up booths outside stores like Kohl’s, Walmart, Old Navy, and Justice. There is such vigor in their plan to get the community involved and make a huge difference in lives of these girls in Africa.

We’ve been promised that upon distribution of the panties, photos will be taken in Africa and sent back to us so we can see the faces of the lives we’ve changed. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.

For those interested, ‘drop your panties’ off at my house for a good cause any time. Whether they are hot pink, polka-dot, frilly, bikini, or plain Jane’s, they will be the perfect “fit’.

15.9

Just days ago I picked up Baylee’s backpack for her as we were ending her school day and arriving home. It felt like she was carrying a ton of bricks, so much so that I almost dropped it. Perplexed beyond measure I opened it up to take a peek. There was nothing unusual about it, just her daily norm of a folder, empty lunch box, and two text books. I managed to get it up stairs and flop it with a thud on the bathroom scale.

15.9 pounds

shouted out to our flabbergasted eyes!

What?????????????????????????????

Now it all made sense why she had been complaining about back aches for the last many weeks. My assumption was growing pains or even her worn out, very old mattress. Nope, it wasn’t either of those!

It was her school backpack.

Crazy!

So a few tutoring sessions later with a paycheck to follow, we headed out to find a rolling backpack. It may have cost a fortune but it saved her back and chiropractic care. Oh my poor girl! So now, our “look forward to” milestone has been established for the Kempiak Party of Five. Once you hit third grade, you get to pick out a rolling backpack! My first grader Nathan is now trying to calculate how many more months until he’s in third grade, my preschooler Owen is doing the same, all while their sister has satisfaction written all over her entire body!

(P.S. This new purchase had such an impact on Baylee, when asked by her teacher to write about an invention that changed her life, guess what she wrote about? A rolling backpack was first on her list! In fact, she’s planning on typing it and posting it on her blog as well. Check it out if you are a “member” of hers. It’s quite adorable, if I may say so myself.)

The Hundred Dresses

I think there are certain books every family should have on their book shelves. You know the kinds I’m talking about; books with the ability to miraculously suck you into a new world and consume you with sheer delight. I love when books stick like glue in your hands and seem next to impossible to put down, give you vivid images in your head as if it’s a movie, and leave you with great material for deep discussions with your kids.
Baylee finished one of those...an all-time favorite of mine! Have you ever read, the Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes? It makes me cry, it makes me cheer out loud, it makes for amazing conversation!
As her book report for this quarter Baylee was to pick a novel and then prepare a creative way to share it with her classmates. It was hard for her to nail down just one way to express herself after being captivated with the story line, so she chose a few.

Day in and day out for weeks, Baylee made one hundred dresses on a paper doll chain (if you read the book, you’ll understand why). She gave it her all, taking no shortcuts, and it shows. Then Baylee made cookies for her classmates and on each cookie used a variety of words to describe friends/friendship. Words like; unique, funny, loving, caring, generous, sharing, cheerful, listener, honest, and loyal were some that were iced on the dress-shaped cookies. And then, as if God had the song written just for this event, we came across one by Jordan Pruitt called ‘The Outside Looking In’. Baylee played the song with the lyrics on an overhead, while fashioning a dress herself.

Was it too much? I don’t think so at all because it all was Baylee’s reaction to being touched in the center of her heart from the words of Ms. Estes. We are thankful to Baylee’s teacher, Mrs. Yeargain for allowing such a beautiful expression to happen, regardless of a timeframe or stringent parameters that leave little to no ability for originality, inspiration, and imagination.

Baylee, you are a beautiful, hard working student. I am so proud of you for the time you took on this project. You reached for the stars and caught several!

Mommy and Me Tea

Hats, gloves, party dresses, silver and fine china were all part of our troop 228’s Girl Scout kickoff for the 2009-2010 school year in a Mommy and Me elegant high tea. It was so fun being so “girly” and proper with our sister Girl Scouts, eating scones with Devonshire cream, tiny sandwiches, a plethora of desserts and great hot teas. Our “little girls” didn’t seem so little today as we watched them play the part of a fitting, prim young lady, holding rich conversations and using their best manners. I adore time alone with all of my kids and today, it was Baylee’s turn.I will cherish this day forever in my heart.

Cooking Up a Great School Year!

We’re just days away from a new school year starting so as tradition has it, we put together Baylee’s annual “Summer Just Because” party. On the guest list were girls from her class that Baylee either knows or wants to get to know better (Hannah, we missed you).

Baylee loves to cook so we figured a cooking party would be the perfect way to cook off a great school year for 2009-2010!

As the girls entered our restaurant, on the white board, I spelled out Mrs. Yeargain’s name, their “soon to be” teacher. Then the five gals collaborated, coming up with an acrostic on what kind of teacher/class/school year they will have.The chefs cooked up a yummy meal. They began with (non-alcoholic) Strawberry Daiquiris, then homemade salsa was next to follow that they named Senoritas Salsa. They jarred it and creatively put a label on it with the plans to give it to Mrs. Yeargain on the first day of school with a bag of chips.
Each girl chopped, sliced, stirred, and sautéed their little hands off to make tostadas and its yummy toppings. They had a blast making faces on the tostada shells, an edible canvas you might say. Then to top off the meal, they each made homemade ice cream and put them in their concoction of yummy edible cinnamon sugar dessert bowls. Ole!
(Chef "Salty" Savannah)
(Chef "Adorable" Abby)
(Chef "Baking" Baylee)
(Chef "Marinade" Maddie)
(Chef "Sauté" Sabrina)

Our three hours went fast but we were able to take a dip in the pool as well, splashing and laughing a whole lot.

Man alive do I enjoy listening to Baylee playing with her friends with glee shining through their excited voices of the school year to come. Entering 3rd grade and a brand new class doesn’t seem like such a mountain to climb anymore for Baylee, now that she has four other girls…I mean FRIENDS to do it with.

Cheers!!!! Here’s to a great school year!

Open House 2009

Today we got to unveil our kids’ secret identities as their teachers’ secret pals during open house/meet the teacher. Jon and I are ecstatic that Nathan has Kelly Runyon for the next two years (the teacher Baylee had for 1st and 2nd grade). Kelly is the most gentle, loving, understanding and wonderful first and second grade teacher ever! I love her to pieces as well as the families already in her classroom from last year.

Our sweet Baylee has my “dream come true teacher,” Robin Yeargain for third and fourth grade. Yippee! Robin’s creativity in teaching the writing process alone makes me eager for the school year to start and Baylee is so comfortable transitioning into her classroom since she spent an hour and a half with her each day last year during the reading block. I can’t wait for Baylee to grow under Robin’s brilliant wings! God granted us our heart’s desires for the 2009-2010 school year and looking around the classroom at the sea of people, He really handpicked some fantastic classmates as well. I can’t wait to get to know them all. This is going to be a great year of learning socially and educationally. To God be the glory in everything that happens in these two classes.

Swimming Success!

As a young adult I remember once reading, "The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure!" and it stuck in my head. It's so true! In my younger days, often times I’d find myself paralyzed in trying something with the total fear of failing and hearing the word, “No!” or “You’re not good enough!” Wanting as a parent now to break that thought cycle, I found an opportunity right in front of my face during Baylee’s first swim meet on May 30th. She was so excited for her first competition but eventually when it was time to stand on the lonely board facing the long lane ahead to swim the freestyle heat, she froze. Tears, shaking, and the thought of “I can’t” circled her sweet head. She too, was paralyzed and it broke my heart.

After pulling Baylee aside, reassuring her that no matter what, we loved her, Jon and I prayed with Baylee, and quoted some of her verses we have around her room, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” (Philippians 4:13) and “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7). Minutes passed and then Baylee dug deep and found the courage in her that God created her with and did it…she swiftly dove in the water and swam her heart out! To me, she could have taken four hours to swim the 25 yards, and I would have seen it as a huge success since she triumphed over fear. But she did even better than that! She scored 36.64!

Now fast forwarding to the end of the season, it’s amazing to see the growth that took place this summer during swim team practices and meets! Baylee was able to put her faith into practice, has great confidence, and learned first hand the definition of perseverance. She swam in 7 meets, all stokes (butterfly, breast stroke, back stroke, and freestyle) improving in each category, leaps and bounds! In fact, from Baylee’s first time in freestyle of 36.64 to her last, 20.5...the progression is impressive! She advanced an entire 16 seconds!

This summer Baylee didn’t progress to the swim finals but she has it in sight for next season. We rewarded her and Maggie with an honorary family lunch celebration and ceremony of our own, presenting both athletes with a trophy to remember their first season of swim team. From here on out, Baylee has a visual (her trophy) to remind her that “Success does not come to you, you go to it!” And boy did she ever go to it!

(Checking out her competition) (Breast stroke...Baylee in the closest lane to the camera)
(Swim team friends from 2 teams...Maggie, Kaelan, Baylee, and Emma)

(Baylee and Coach Bryn...a great man of encouragement!)(Maggie, Baylee, Kalena, Emma V, Matthew, and Landon...at various meets during the summer)(Baylee wearing her courage shirt next to Matthew and Landon)

(Kaelan, Baylee, Maggie, and Landon)
(Baylee, Maggie, and Kaelan)

Something Smells Fishy Around Here!

Out of curiosity, I am wondering if it’s possible to leave the ‘high country’, Greer, without fishing?! After much pondering, I’ve come up with the final answer…NO! I think it would be next to impossible (…well, unless the waters are iced over, but even with that harsh circumstance, I’m still not convinced).
This time, all three kids grabbed a pole with Daddy and Papa John and eagerly desired a catch in the ‘back lake’. What a true blessing we experienced because within the first 15 minutes, each kid’s pole had a bite that they successfully pulled in to shore! Isn’t that remarkably mind-blowing!
Baylee was the first…{so cool}. Although it ended weighing in as the smallest, it didn’t’ matter in her heart. Owen was next, needing a little help with reeling because his was enormous! He caught the biggest, weighing in over a whole pound! Nathan, our avid fisherman caught the final one then took them all back to the cabin and really had a blast, cutting, gutting, deboning, and playing with his finned friend’s eyeballs and heads! {Such a curious boy!}

Chapter Eleven...A Few Photos of the Kids at the Beach

Do your eyes easily get attracted to family photos on the beach like mine do? There’s such beauty of the ocean’s backdrop! Our entire time here on the beach, we forgot to pull our tripod out to try to capture a family shot like we did six years ago at Cannon Beach. I am so bummed! Nonetheless, at least I snapped a few of the children that will captivate my heart for a lifetime.

Chapter Seven…Channel Island Vacation…Kids’ Ocean Adventures

Ever since Jon and I returned three days ago from our Sea-doo escapade with Eric; Baylee and Nathan have been chomping at the bit to have an ocean quest of their own. Eric and Cherie returned; bless their hearts, to make it possible. Eric and Jon took the ‘big kids’ on the water with the intention of keeping them in the Chanel canals. They were unsure how the kids could handle the waves of the ocean as well as the mode of transportation and temperatures that come with splashing through the cold waters. Well, both Baylee and Nathan surprised both men and sooner than later, they were out in the ocean being surrounded by many large pods of dolphins. Everyone out there agreed that they saw at least a hundred, if not two! {I'm crazy jealous ☺!}

Once in site of us on the deck of the beach house, both Baylee and Nathan were practically screaming as they boasted of the sites they encountered on the Sea-doos. Nathan exclaimed, “I could even hear them breathe Mommy!” {Nice…my daughter and son lived a dream of mine!}

Owen wasn’t thrilled when his brother and sister’s adventure began so Cherie and I took him out on the canoes. Once I got a handle on the balancing act needed for two, we had a blast maneuvering on top the water. Then once Daddy and Eric returned the Sea-doos, we spontaneously agreed to take Owen out on a ride, sandwiching him between us. We didn’t go far, nor fast, but Owen felt like he was a part of something pretty important and he was greatly satisfied! It was precious!