Memorial Day Fun

On Saturday, my dad barbecued in celebration of Memorial Day. I had a couple hot dogs. Sunday, I just relaxed at home. Monday, I went to Culver's and Enchanted Castle with a friend and his parents. At Culver's, I got a bacon and cheese burger, with fries and water. At Enchanted Castle, I played several arcade games, and we played a round of golf. I won. I am sore today from all that fun, though. That's ok. It will go away after a while. It's been a long time since I've been to Enchanted Castle, so it was nice to go back. I've never been to Culver's before, so I didn't really know what to expect of the food. But it was really good. I had a fun Memorial Day.

I got the application for the camp a couple of weeks ago, and filled it in and mailed it off the day I got it. I hope I hear from them soon. A few days ago, I heard that one of the campers from my group last year recently died. I know he had cancer, but I didn't expect him to die. I thought he would pull through. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

I sent the disability summit application in either on Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. Now, I have to wait until the middle of next month to find out if I get to go or not. I hope I do get to go. After I mailed the application, my mom had me get some paper plates for her at Walgreens. After that, I went home and relaxed. I am so glad I'm done with applications right now. That was a lot of work, just for one application.

St. Patty's Day Soda Float

This St. Patrick's Day take on the classic root beer float is sure to make anyone happy-go-lucky. Serve 'em up at your St. Patty's day soiree or as a sweet surprise for your BFF, crush or your 'rents.

What You'll Need:

1 can of root beer
1 scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream
whipped cream or whipped pastry topping

What You'll Do:

1. Take a large glass mug and pour in about half the can of root beer.
2. Take one scoop of the mint chocolate chip ice cream and place it inside the mug with the root beer.
3. Slowly pour the rest of root beer inside the mug. (Be careful!
Things can get messy here.)
4. Take your whipped cream or whipped pastry topping and put it right
on top of your delicious drink.

Our Tip: Add a little green food coloring to the whipped topping to make it ultra festive!

Food

Cookie Pizza

Things You'll Need

Cookie dough
Note: Mix up a double batch of chocolate-chip cookie dough ahead of time or buy prepared cookie dough.

Round pizza pan
Pizza cutter
Toppings: chocolate chips, M&M's, coconut
chopped nuts, marshmallows
Cans of white frosting with decorator tips
Spatula

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Press cookie dough into a pizza pan. Have the girls add their favorite toppings -- coconut, chocolate chips, M&M's and other candies.

Bake the cookie pizza in the oven for 15 minutes or until dough is lightly browned. Let cool.

Let each girl help decorate the cookie pizza using cans of frosting with decorator tips.

Use pizza cutter to cut cookie pizza into wedges. Let the girls dig in and have a slice.

Crisp, Cold Veggie Tray

Arrange rows of veggies in a large flower shape.

Girlfriend Cupcakes

Things You'll Need

Baked cupcakes frosted with white frosting
Tubes of cake-decorating gel or canned
frosting with decorator tips

Let's Begin!

Have the girls decorate frosted cupcakes with "girlfriend chatter" using the gel or frosting -- "Sweet," "Cute," "Funny," "Silly," "Chatty," "Giving," "Artsy," "Dancer," "Diva," "Girly Girl," "Groovy," "Chic," "Sporty," etc.

Slumber Fun Centerpiece

Things You'll Need

Moon and Star Cookies:

Refrigerated sugar cookie dough
Star and moon cookie cutters
Rolling pin
White paper lollipop sticks
Cookie sheet lined with baking parchment
Spatula
Oven
Pot holders
Wire rack
Tub of white frosting
Yellow and blue sugar

Moon & Star Cookies
Note: Make sure you supervise the oven and hot cookie sheet when the girls bake the cookies.

Roll out cookie dough 1/4-1/3 inch thick. Cut star and moon shapes with cookie cutters.
Use spatula to move cookies onto cookie sheet. Stick a lollipop stick in side of each cookie. Bake cookies following directions on package.
Using pot holder or oven mitt, carefully remove hot cookies from oven. Use spatula to move cookies to wire rack to cool.
Frost cookies with white frosting. Decorate stars with blue sugar. Decorate moon with yellow sugar.

Things You'll Need

Cloud Ornaments:

White craft foam
Light blue parchment card stock
Computer with printer or black felt-tip pen
Glittery dimensional paint
Pencil
Scissors
Plain white paper
8 white paper lollipop sticks
Wire cutters
Craft glue

Cloud Ornaments
Write song titles or other phrases on blue parchment with felt-tip pen (or print them out on computer). Leave enough room between titles to cut out a cloud shape around each.
Cut out simple cloud shapes around titles. They should measure about 3 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches. Check the cloud pattern to make sure your paper clouds will fit on it with room to spare.
Trace cloud pattern onto white paper. Cut it out. Trace around pattern onto white craft foam eight times. Cut out with scissors. Erase any pencil marks.
Glue a blue cloud in center of each foam cloud. Decorate clouds with swirls of glitter paint. Let dry.
Trim eight lollipop sticks with wire cutters. They should measure 3 3/4 inches. Glue one to back of each cloud.

Things You'll Need

Wreath:

12-inch plastic foam wreath
Adhesive dots or craft glue
1/2-inch double-sided tape
Small blue and clear rhinestone stars
Fluffy craft stuffing
String of tiny clear Christmas lights
1 1/2-inch silver star spangles
1 1/2-inch blue gingham ribbon
Wire nippers
Tape measure

Wreath
Use tape measure to measure length around wreath. Cut a piece of ribbon that long, adding about 1/2 inch so ends will overlap.
Wrap double-sided tape around wreath. Cover sides of wreath with ribbon, pressing it onto tape. Cut tiny piece of tape to hold ribbon end in place.
Pull handfuls of stuffing and glue them over edge of wreath. Use only a little glue. Don't mash stuffing flat. You want to make fluffy clouds. Pull another fluffy lump of stuffing to rest in center of wreath.
Glue a star rhinestone in center of each star bangle. Glue bangles to stuffing. Glue a few clear star rhinestones to stuffing. Let dry.
Poke sticks of cookies and clouds through stuffing into foam wreath.


Add Starlight!
Before guests arrive, arrange Christmas lights on table so that they will fit in center of wreath. Set wreath over lights, leaving light plug free.
Plug lights into nearest outlet. They will "sparkle" through the clouds.
Safety Note: Use an extension cord if needed. Don't put cord where you will have to walk over it. Don't cover the cord with sleeping bags, pillows or blankets. Unplug the wreath before you go to sleep.

Things to Plant in Garden

Green peppers
Red peppers
Pumpkins
Thyme
Flowers
Sunflowers
Corn
Radishes
Basil
Cucumber
Green beans
Carrots
Watermelon
Mint
Tomatoes
Cabbage
Lettuce
Lemons
Limes
Apples
Oranges