There and back again

Richard in his element: back home with kids and grandkids!

Richard and I spent the week in Ruston again.  I needed to be a a workshop for our La GEAR UP program because I am the on-site coordinator.  Last year I served as both coordinator and sponsor but luckily, I'll now have help with the sponsor duties.

My week was mostly spent in meetings, learning how to support the kids who are members of our cohort group, how to correctly complete paperwork, figuring out what our needs are and how we'll meet those needs.  In other words, we worked!  

My finished buzzer....yes! it works!

intense......

But we had some fun, too.  Part of what we do is learn about the many summer camps that our kids attend and what they do while there.  I'll post photos of our trip to Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport in another post, but to give you an idea of the fun, here are a couple pics of our electronics assembly. 




We each received a kit with a variety of electrical components that, when put together correctly, make a buzzer.  We had to assemble the components, solder the wires in place, then test our buzzer.  Since we're teachers, assembly was easy, soldering was stressful, and testing was a cheer-fest.  

Of course, Rich and I had barely made it home and the phone started ringing for Friday night get-togethers.  We had Will and Stacey pick up some supper on their way over, so that was fairly easy. 

Isn't Jolie just too cute!

 Jolie discovered the Matryoshka dolls I bought after mass last Sunday when a couple of Russian nuns came for a visit.  They sold a few handmade Russian toys, souvenirs, and religious items as a way of raising money for the orphanage they minister to.  We made a couple of purchases but the dolls have been a hit among the grandkids, especially Jolie.  

Jolie played for a long time
 with the dolls and the camera!

She arranged them in all manner of ways, including stacking them on top of each other.  When she realize the camera was nearby, she really got into her play.  In fact, these are pics she took.  They are so much better than the couple I snapped!


To visit my posts from our 2011 visit to Ruston last year click here.  This post is of the beautiful old homes, but there are several ther posts as well.


Happy quilting,
Mary