Why Had I Never Heard of Apple Camp Before?

Did you know that Apple retail stores offered a free movie making camp to kids ages 8 - 12 during the Summer??  Neither did I!  That is, until I saw a post about it in June on one of my favorite mommy blogs, Money Saving Mom.  I immediately clicked on the link in her post and was taken to a detailed description of the camp on Apple's website.  I knew this was right up B's alley.  Not only would he enjoy learning how to film, edit and add music to his own movies, it was free.  Something for both B and me.  :o)  I signed him right up for a Monday/Tuesday/Saturday session.

During attendance on day one of Apple Camp, the camp counselors took down shirt sizes and within a few minutes, each child had a free Apple Camp t-shirt.  On the front is a constellation of a clapperboard surrounded by musical note stars.  On the back are the words, "Make movie magic."  They also received a lanyard and  "pass" with their name on it.  The kids watched an example of what they'll learn to create in the camp then worked independently at their own station with an iPad and their headphones.  B was able to draw his movie's storyboard and create his own score using Garage Band.  The counselors were very engaging with the kids and made learning fun.

While the kids learned how to make movies, we parents received our own Apple lesson.  Our counselor navigated us through the Accessibility options in Settings and answered questions/solved problems that we were having with any of our personal Apple products.  I learned a lot, myself.

Day one ended with a homework assignment - all kids needed to create approximately 2 - 5 minutes of film to bring into Day 2 of camp, where they would edit down to a movie of no more than 90 seconds.  B was armed with his storyboard and knew just what his movie was going to be about.  "The Epic Battle" was filmed outside later that afternoon, with the help of the boys from next store.  B calls them his, "little brothers from another mother".  ;o)

Day two got off to a rocky start.  When we arrived, some of the campers form the previous session were still there, working on their projects, so B's session did not exactly start on time.  Plus, the number of counselors was cut in half, due to customer assistance needs in the store.  There were a lot of kids who didn't know what they were doing and patience was hard to come by with all that excitement and eagerness to start editing.  But the counselors made sure they instructed each child and the kids helped each other out, as well.  Everyone from B's session was finished with their movie by the end of day two.

Day three of camp wasn't until Saturday, "a whole four days away, Mom!" and B just knew it would never come.  Thankfully, he was able to pass some of that time by creating more movies at home.  We arrived at the Apple store Saturday around 8:45am, B wearing his camp shirt and lanyard, and were let in at 9am.  After the kids were seated around the viewing monitors and we parents were standing behind them, one of the counselor gave a short talk.  He said the employees had a great time with the kids and there were definitely some JJ Abrams and George Lucases among the campers.  I was surprised to hear that all the sessions at this Apple location had filled up in two days!  I will start scouring Apple's website next year for registration info by June 1st to make sure B gets in again.  There is so much to do in iMovie and he was not able to absorb it all.  Another year of this camp will teach him even more.

Then, each kid was called up front to introduce their movie and we all watched.  These kids amazed me with their imaginations and what they were able to film in an afternoon.  After each movie, the creator was presented with a certificate of completion, four apple camp patches and the bracelet shown above which contains a thumb drive with his or her own movie on it!  B has worn it every day since camp and offers to show his movie to everyone who happens to have a device with a USB port on it.  LOL

Free Apple Camp gets an enthusiastic two thumbs up from this mom!

Your Period - Yes, There's an App for That

A friend of mine and I and our kids spent the day together Monday. We visited a place that was an hour to an hour an a half away, the kids mostly entertained each other in the car and my friend and I got to talk during the ride. As it is with most women, there are no taboo topics and we eventually got on subject of our periods.  My friend told me about the period app she uses.  I had no idea one existed and never thought to go look for one.  Like most apps, she said there was a free version, that provided everything she needed, and a paid version with extra bells and whistles. You can input when it starts, stops, flow levels, pain levels, cravings, etc. And, once you start tracking your period in it, it will predict when your period will arrive for the next 12 months!  I went to the App Store and downloaded it right there in the car so I wouldn't forget.  Later that night, I sat down with my wall calendar and entered into the app the start dates of my periods this year so far - that is the ones I remembered to mark on my calendar.

According to my calculations, my period was due this past Monday, the 15th; based on the info I've entered, however, this app tells me I was due Tuesday the 16th. Pa-tay-toe, pa-ta-doe. So late Tuesday morning, B and I are working on American History and we both here this musical, "TA-DA!" from somewhere in the house. :o/  B asked what it was and I had no idea. "You must have made a new noise on your phone and forgot you did it," said B with a sigh. Obviously, the child has long suffered with my memory issues and knows better than me. ;o)

So I went looking for my phone and, sure enough, there was a push notification from the new app - "Your period is due today - yeah!"  Um. OK. I have lived with stage IV endometriosis for 30 years that has planted roots in my bladder, uterus and intestines, preventing doctors from removing it, causing excruciating pain during my periods and infertility.  But let's go with "yeah!"  Twenty-four hours later, my period, strangely, still hadn't come, so I hadn't indicated anything within the app. My phone, therefore, emitted another musical sound. I can't tell if the sound was more "Ta-Da?" Or "Um, hello?", but it was probably thinking, "This rookie just needs a little reminder to check in with me and we'll be just fine."

This morning, that app meant business. Around 11am, the house was blasted with, "Dum, dum, DUUUUUUUUUM!!!"  I find my phone and it says, "Holy shit, you' re three days late! Do you have ANY idea what this means?! This is NOT funny. If you've gotten your period already, for the love of God enter it into the app!!!"  OK, it didn't really say that, but I felt that's what it was saying, between the music, the push notification and the exclamation point. I wonder what tomorrow will bring - a big, red dot banging on the front door with a marching band and a pregnancy test?  :-P

My Great Day

I had a great day today. Not because B and I went to a free movie or because the three of us laughed a lot or because I made a kick-ass dinner. All of those things are wonderful blessings that occurred.  But this particular day was great because of three things B said to me.

1. We were in the kitchen and B was rolling out dough for whole wheat pitas.  "I love cooking and baking. It's so interesting and fun."
2. We were discussing the recent Paula Deen issue that has caused her to lose sponsors.  "You should be a politician, Mom. You explain things so I can understand. But you come up with great points, ones nobody else thinks of. You should help be in charge."
3. Today was Day 2 of 5th grade and we are covering American History for the 1st time. Excitedly, B asked this morning, "Do you have any more interesting documentaries for me to watch today?"  Nope.  Sorry.  "Oh," was said with dejection. Let's recap what we learned yesterday.  "Okay!" Face lit back up again.

Yummy Dinner of Broccoli Patties, Chicken and Homemade Bread!

FIrst of all, I want to say that dinner pictured here, is in a bowl.  That is not a dinner plate completely filled with saucy chicken to the rim.  It's a soup/cereal bowl.  This dinner was sooooo gooood.  I didn't plan it to be this good; I was going to serve the saucy chicken over pasta and just serve the broccoli patties with it.  But the hubs reminded me that I had made a loaf of whole wheat bread yesterday and that we should have a slice of that instead of the pasta.  Good call, hubs!

I found this fabulous recipe for Broccoli Bites For Kids on Pinterest a month or so ago and decided to try it today.  Easy to make and a hit with all 3 of us.  I cut the recipe in third and made 4 patties for us.  The loaf of bread is The Master Recipe from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, the sequel to Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day which got me not only baking bread but loving it.  So simple!

The chicken I just made up with what was in the house and needed to be used up.  I sautéed half a sweet onion, half a red pepper, a small shallot, 2 cloves of garlic and some "use or lose" mushrooms in equal parts butter and oil for about 15 minutes.  BTW, you can make this with whatever veggies you have on hand/you like or no veggies at all!  I removed them from the pan to a bowl.  I chopped up 2 chicken breasts, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, cooked them in the same pan then put them in the bowl with the veggies.  I added 1/2 tbsp of butter to the pan and, after it melted, added approx 1.5 tbsp flour.  Whisked that around together for a couple of minutes to burn off the "floury" taste and added chicken stock.  Continued to whisk until it thickened somewhat and then added a splash or two of half & half (I had no heavy cream.  You could also use whatever milk you have in the house or just use the chicken stock.)  Once everything was the thickness I wanted, I seasoned with a little more salt & pepper, turned off the flame, added the veggies and chicken to the sauce, married all those beautiful flavors together and ladled it into a bowl.  Finally I added a broccoli patty and half a slice of buttered, homemade, whole wheat bread and then moaned through the whole meal!

An Intergalactic Breakfast Fail That Had an Unintentional Recovery

I had been eyeballing these Star Wars pancake molds from William-Sonoma for years.  Even though they are now offered in the WS outlet, I still could not justify the price.  Then I found them at a yard sale earlier this year, never been used, still in the packaging, for $2 and I didn't even haggle over the price.  I just knew I was going to get a Mom of the Year award for making Star Wars pancakes for B.  Fast forward 2 months - not only had I not made the pancakes, I'd forgotten I even had the molds because I haven't seen them in so long (read: no idea where I'd put them).

Well, I stumbled upon the molds this morning and decided today was going to be my award presentation day!  Um, not so much.  Evidently their non-stick coating that made them so easy to remove once one side of the pancakes were cooked did not agree with my pancakes.  Intergalactic Breakfast Fail.  The thing is, if B had listened to me and stayed out of the kitchen while I was making breakfast, I would have been the only one aware of said fail and I would not feel like I had disappointed him.  But, like any smart, cunning child, once told he was to stay away from something, B was convinced the Promised Land awaited him in that kitchen and nothing was keeping him out!  So he saw the molds and "ohh'd" and "ahhh'd" and said how excited he was that I was making Stars Wars pancakes.  Looking back, I should have know my fate was sealed at that moment, but I was naive and proceeded with the pancakes.  Silly, naive me.  *shaking my head*  So here lies the molds in my kitchen sink, with the pancake batter clinging to the non-stick coating.  But look how shiny my sink looks!  The Fly Lady would be proud.

So I carried on and made plain, old, boring, round pancakes and sausage for B and eggs and toast for the hubs.  B came back into the kitchen to check on the pancakes and I had to tell him that I had failed the Resistance and the Dark Side had won this pancake battle.  He took it like the Jedi he is, with no external show of emotion, just a slight lowering of the head in acceptance.  He turned away from the sink to exit the kitchen when his eyes fell on the hubs sunny side up eggs on the stove.  "Oh, cool, Mom!  You made an owl with the eggs!"  "Huh? Uhhh....Whyyyy yes, yes I did," I replied.  Well, whadaya know.  I received that award after all.  I got a big grin, a high five and a hug from my young padawan, who then trotted off to tell the hubs how lucky he was that his wife had made him an owl for breakfast.  I stood a little straighter, puffed out my chest and thought, "Who's Mom of the Year?  I am, that's whooooooo."

Our First, But Definitely Not Our Last, Trip to Greenbrier State Park in Maryland

One of the boys is "fishing" with a bug net.

One of our alleymates (neighbor who lives off the same alley as us) invited us and another alley family  to Greenbrier State Park in Boonsboro, Maryland today.  She had been a few times before and said it was a nice park with a beached lake, not too crowded during the week and within an hour of where we live.  I could not wait to check it out!  So 3 moms, 4 boys, a cooler and beach bags piled into a minivan and headed to Boonsboro.

The drive was lovely and the weather was absolutely perfect today!  Fluffy white clouds were constantly rolling by, so you weren't too cool not too hot for long.  Since we do not live in Maryland, it was $5/person (exception - the children in carseats were free); Maryland state residents pay only $3.  You can choose to set up your chairs/umbrellas/towels on grass that has some trees for shade, but we went right down on the beach.  I was surprised that there were rocks mixed in with the sand, but it wasn't a bother to me.  If your feet are sensitive, you can wear your flip flops down to the waters edge.

As you can see in the pictures, there are two roped off areas.  The 1st one probably goes out 30'-40' from the shore and the 2nd one is another 20' after that.  B, who is 4'10" went out to the farther rope and the water was just below his chin,  The shallow water, combined with no waves or current like you'd find at the ocean, makes this park friendly for kids of all ages and makes me feel safe letting B roam (swimmers must remain inside the roped areas).  In addition to swimming and sunbathing at the lake, they had paddle boats and fishing outside the ropes.  In fact, the lake is stocked with trout, largemouth bass and bluegill.  There are picnic tables available and even charcoal grills.  Besides the lake, the park offers camping, hiking trails and lots of flora and fauna to see.

The bathhouse with restrooms, showers and a first-aid station was right behind us and there are lifeguards on duty from 11am - 6pm.  One of the boys got sand in his eye and the lifeguard offered to call up to the first-aid station for an eye wash to be brought down.  The boy and his mom decided to walk up to the station, but I was impressed the lifeguard was paying attention and offered that assistance.  I also like that there are no trashcans.  Any trash you make, you must take with you.  Full trash cans can not only be smelly and unsightly, but they also attract bugs.

The lake is man-made and the bottom is soft sand and some rocks, like the shore.  The waters in the swimming area were clear and you could see down to the bottom.  There were also lots of little fish playing tag with the children.  Our boys were trying to catch a fish with bug nets most of the day and finally one of them caught a fish in a sand castle bucket - that's talent, right there!

All 7 of us had a great time.  Greenbrier State Park is close, inexpensive and relaxing, in my opinion.  We will definitely be frequenting this park!

When we arrived, this is what the lake in front of us looked like...

...and to the left of us...

...and to the right of us.  I'd say over the next 5 hours another 40 - 50 people came and went.

Caprese Salad

I love May - October when the farmers markets are around and dread the other 6 months when there is none.  :o(  Saturday we went to the farmers market and bought this basil plant, some tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  The hubs also got some applewood-smoked mozzarella, and can't stop sniffing it.  ;o)  Yesterday, I made a Caprese Salad with my market finds and the kitchen smelled so good!  I learned something, though - when working with fresh mozzarella, let it sit in a strainer for a bit before adding to a recipe.  The tomato is not as bright in the salad, because there was so much white water released from the mozzarella after I tossed it in.  Oh, well.  And although a Caprese Salad is fabulous on it's own, we went one step farther.

We made Giada De Laurentiis' Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella.  Just one, grilled portobello cap for each of us, topped with the Caprese Salad was enough to fill our bellies at dinner last night.  So delicious!  Now I know why people grill portobellos as hamburger replacements.  We will be having this dish several more times this Summer.