Some days call for brownies

Today was a day for brownies.  Too much rain, a cancelled playdate, and sister is with friends.

We used the Ghiradelli dark chocolate mix which is awesome--just as good as made from scratch, I think.

The Last day of School!!!!!!!!

 Today is finally the last day of first and third grade for these two.  This was this morning before the bus picked them up.

 They each had a fantastic year, thanks mostly to their teachers, Mrs. LaFond (3rd) & Mrs. DiBara (1st).  They are simply the best!  They will also be missed this summer.  At pick up today (we skipped the bus home) so many kids were crying, including my two, which then made nearly all the parents cry too (Stephanie Meehan).  That is a testament to a good school & great teachers.  We are very lucky to be here.

Now summer has officially begun!

It's SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The heat is on!  Go make a splash somewhere......

Even though the kids still have 3 days of "snow" days to make up. 
W.H.A.T.E.V.E.R.  Who is thinking snow right now????

Dance Recital, check!

On Father's Day yesterday, Olivia had her long awaited dance recital.  This was her 4th one at this dance school.  She absolutely loves it.

This year the ballet was Cinderella and these girls could not wait to get on stage.  Here they are waiting for their scene backstage:

This teenager with Olivia is a rock-star amongst the younger kids.  They all love her.  She one of the best dancers I have ever seen and she is so sweet with the little kids and is always cheering them on.  What is not to love about that?

The jazz/tap number was Grease.  Olivia's group were the Majorettes.  

Life with Cody & other projects...

So far the last 2 weeks have been great with Cody.  She is really good and adjusting to life well here at Casa Campo.  We have had some mishaps with her, but she's a puppy so it happens.  For one thing, we have had to remove all of our shoes from the family room.  She has eaten one of Olivia's brand new, worn only once, sandals.  I am currently wearing my brand new flip-flops that arrived in the mail today because she ate my last pair.  

See how cute she is?  I should take her with me later when I bring my check-book with me to the library because she ate the back cover of one of their BRAND NEW books.  She likes new shiny things we are discovering.  Maybe they'll feel bad for me, but I doubt it.  Remember my bench that I repainted?  She's chewed on that too.  So rude!  

But other than that, she's great!  The kids love her, she gets along well with the other dogs in the neighborhood that she has met, but she consistently barks at 2 neighbors, which, I am sorry to say, just can't be helped.........

In other news, I am reading The Great Gatsby again for book-club.  I read it in my senior year of high school (or maybe junior???) and I loved it.  I am still working on my new sweater.  I just had my third knitting class today, and I LOVE IT.  The people you meet at a yarn shop are awesome!  So interesting, so nice, so wise.  I will learn a lot from them I'm sure.  Can you please admire with me the ribbing on this sweater?  Never knew I could learn that!  I can't recommend Allison at Yarn's End enough!

This is my newest project.  I bought this metal cabinet last week.  I have already sanded it down, cleaned it, and primed a few tough areas.  I'm going to start painting it soon.  It will be new housing for Joseph & Olivia's school papers.  Do you think it will work?  Probably not, but I'm trying it anyway.  You can't tell from the photo, but the cabinet is slightly taller than me.