The Search for Miss Direction: The Gatchel's had some little lambs...

Geesh, what a scorcher! We don't have too many days that top 90 around here but we made it there today. I have to say, even though we have no AC, our house stays relatively cool for the most part - thank goodness for all the trees in our neighborhood! Another Michigan perk -when I left the house around 6:30 this morning there were three beautiful stags feet from my front porch. Hey Dad, you totally owe me ice cream.

This morning the kiddos helped me make a New Hampshire treat for today, Molasses Crinkles. I found this recipe off the New Hampshire tourism guide website. It was simple to follow and I knew the kids would have fun (they love making cookies that involve 'rolling' them into shape). I actually stayed pretty hands off for this one - Noah ran the mixer completely on his own and they worked together on an assembly line with Noah rolling the cookies and the Bean dipping them in the sugar and putting them on the cookie sheet. These smelled yummy and unlike some molasses based cookies stayed soft after baking. This would be a fun recipe to pull out again in the Fall.

After our cookies came out of the oven we headed off to Northville for Tunes on Tuesday. I can't believe this is the first time we've made it there all summer - so busy! The kids had fun (in spite of the heat) watching the Amazing Eugene Clark and his magic show. Can't say anyone was too bummed out to get back to the car, though. We made a quick stop for some supplies for one of our New Hampshire projects we wanted to start working on today on the way home for lunch.

This afternoon I FINALLY got the chance to share a big project with the kiddos that tied into New Hampshire, as well as quite a few other states. My *insert a plethora of positive adjectives here* friend Amber and her family recently made a trip to the New England area - passing through 10 states and Canada on their journey. She had been planning it for awhile and I had offered her some of my materials on the states she would be visiting. In exchange, she offered to take Flat Noah and Flat Mikayla along with them on the trip! I was thrilled to agree and hoped that we would get a fun picture from every state if she had the chance. I mean, she was on vacation! So you can only imagine how blown away I was when a week or so after they got back Amber showed up with an entire BOOK of their journey as well as postcards and souvenirs from all the states we haven't yet talked about. The book is filled with pictures of Flat Noah and Flat Mikayla and information that Amber researched and wrote out on all of the locations. There are maps of the journey and fun anecdotes about the things Flat Noah and Flat Mikayla experienced. Even more fun - there are pictures of them getting some of their souvenirs! We read through all of their New Hampshire adventure today and also went and looked at the states we had already done. The kids LOVED it. We have had so many wonderful people helping us out on this project, and Amber, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. That doesn't seem like quite enough, but I'm at a loss to say it any better way right now. You ROCK!

We also worked on one of two New Hampshire projects I have in mind for the week. In a nod to New Hampshire born Sarah Josepha Hale penning "Mary Had A Little Lamb" (which, as I shared with my duo, is based on a true story!) we set to work on these adorable Cotton Ball Lambs. Noah did a great job cutting out all the pieces we needed and then they went to town on the glue job. You'll have to check their projects in the pictures below.

I knew it was an uphill battle, but I set out to top last night's pot roast tonight by making a New England Boiled Dinner. (The kids wanted to know if the leprechauns were around. Took me a minute to realize they they (mistakenly) associated this meal directly with St. Patrick's Day.) My gang loves corned beef (Noah especially!) and this was great! I've never made it with (nor had the kids ever had) turnips before so that was a fun addition. Even better, I have another meal later this week to use up the leftover corned beef! Win-win!

Alright, I'm off for the evening as I have a MOPS Steering Committee meeting tonight. I can't believe school (and MOPS!) is back in only 6 weeks! (Which reminds me, PTA Board meeting tomorrow night, it's all starting to come together...) So I'm peacing out for now, but we'll be back tomorrow! Probably another project for the dynamic duo to work on, hoping to make it to Plymouth for lunch and the Gemini concert and a mail call from a past state. So until then...

New Hampshire Fun Fact of the Day: New Hampshire's State House is the oldest state capitol in which a legislature still meets in its original chambers.