Sugarloaf Crafts Festival Ticket Giveaway

It's that time of year again....my lovely friends at Sugarloaf Crafts have sent me tickets to the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival taking place in Somerset,NJ .

Starting Oct 28 through October 30th 2011

With puppet shows by Middle Earth Studios for the kids (4 shows each day!)

and musical performances by Ngu Mbandi , craft demos by stone sculptors and copper spinners,

potters and so much more! Princess loves to walk around and talk to all artisans and find out why they were drawn to the art form they create. Want to know who will be there selling what?

Click here for a list of exhibitors. Don't worry my foodie friends...there are plenty of vendors for you as well...see here for a list.

If you would like to win two tickets to the show leave me a comment here.

Want another chance? "Follow me". Be sure to leave me a comment telling me so it gets counted.

The contest starts now and I will have my Princess pick a winner out of her witches hat on Wednesday morning so I can mail you the tickets! C'mon and enter now to win. I will be there as well on Sunday! Thanks again to my friends at Sugarloaf Crafts for sending me tickets again this year, not only to give away on both blogs, but a pair for me as well!

Homeschool Field Trip

Princess and I recently joined our homeschool group for a class called

Happiness is a Horseshoe Crab at the NJ Sea Grant Consortium.

The instructor read a book about horseshoe crabs, passed around some "sheds"

for the kids to look at and some mysterious substance in a bottle that looks like the famous blue horseshoe crab blood! That was a big hit with Princess. He went over a life sized model of a full grown female and took questions as well.

Then it was craft time!

Off we went to the bay side to Seine . The kids all helped carry the above equipment.

Have I ever mentioned how much we LOVE Sandy Hook?

Down to the bay side we went.

The tide was especially high due to a new moon, so parent volunteers were requested

for the seining. I am the one in the Farm Aid hat. ;-)

The gear kept us warm and dry and it was fun. (Special thanks to one of my favorite HS Mom's Michelle O. for taking pics while I waded out into the bay with the net. )

The high tide made it harder to get any good catches, but the kids enjoyed the jellies,

and hermit crabs and such. Putting anything "alive" into a bucket of sea water to be studied.
These were all returned to the ocean before we moved on.

Then we had a beach walk and learned about all the shells and creatures and plants we came across.

Our time ended as the rain began. Nothing beats a great day at the beach!

Princess's 9th Birthday

Our little Princess turned 9. Nine. NINE. Can you believe it?
I can't. I feel like we just got started on this Mother/Daughter journey.
She started out so small. Not quite 5 lbs, 15 inches long.
She is almost as tall as I am now and I can no longer carry her to bed if she falls
when she falls asleep on the couch.
 
She loves, art, Elvis, sharks, hot chocolate, pizza, running through a sprinkler,chicken, calamari, swimming,ribs, watching movies, playing wii, soft rain, when the lights go out, singing, dancing, playing computer games,ghosts, aliens, horseshoe crabs, music, playing basketball, chocolate milk,mangoes,guacamole,
the beach, sunsets, snow, chocolate chip cookies, spaghetti and meatballs, celery,vanilla ice cream, green beans,
watermelon, pickles,potato chips,Judy Moody, collage art, cats, hot pink, Paris, swings, riding her bike, green olives, bacon, playing tennis with her Dad, soccer, mowing the lawn, warm baths, hot showers, making sandwiches for her Daddy, her friends.
 All of them. If you are one of her friends, you are a BFF. It's the only kind she has.
She loves her family with all her heart too. We are lucky to have her.
So are you..you just might not know it yet. She makes the world a better place just  by being in it.