Since Emily was a Clover Kid this year, she was able to take a project to the fair. I didn't know exactly what to expect for her, but I was in 4-H for seven years, so I knew how to do a proper 4-H project. We'd been trying to think of something for months, but it finally dawned on me to just let her take the "Upcycle Dolls" she had already made. Emily picked some of her favorites, and I offered some suggestions to improve the display she had already made for the library. She included some of her origami objects, and I got to play with my Cricut machine. :)
This was the final result:
I found out a write-up (i.e. goal card) is optional for Clover Kids, but I had Emily do one anyway complete with inserted pictures. It was the first time she had typed up anything, and she did a great job! She explained what upcycling is, talked about Camp Invention, mentioned her donation of items to the Upcycle Fair at the library (hello, citizenship!), cited the web site she used for origami instructions and listed two things she learned: It's cheaper and more fun to make things yourself, and it helps the environment to use things you might just throw away. Then we did a practice session talking to a judge with me playing the role of the judge and Austin as an audience.
The "judging" itself was kind of a letdown. It turns out a Clover Kids project is just a show-and-tell with the judge who sweetly says, "Boy, you've been busy! What do we have here? You did a great job!" There were no deeper questions, and the judge hardly even glanced at the write-up. The kids just get a participation ribbon and some coupons for the fair. Afterwards, Emily remarked, "Boy, Mom, yours took a lot longer!"
Overall, it was a great experience, though. I think Emily got a feel for what it's like to do a 4-H project, and she was very excited about having her stuff on display. We're proud of our Clover Explorer!
After another unsuccessful attempt at swimming lessons last winter at the W, I was lucky to find a private teacher able to get some lessons in at the municipal pool before it closed for the season. Emily has become so much braver and more comfortable in the water. By the end of four lessons, she had passed the equivalent of two levels and was doing multiple strokes. She also started going down the water slide. I was so proud! Lincoln also did well and passed another level. He is still very hesitant about getting his head wet or putting his face in the water, but he loves floating around in a ring in the big pool or splashing around the kiddie pool. I no longer feel like I have to hover over either of them. There are some videos from an afternoon at the pool in the August play list.
