Who's hiding in my dahlia?

Silly, sillier, silliest of Olympics

 One of the funniest things we did with our Club kids this May was our Silly Club Olympic Games.

It left me exhausted, laughing and with no voice :)

(it was a really windy day, I had to shout for everyone to hear me)

We even had a torch we carried to the park.

 One of our silliest events was the Individual Fall Down.

It was exactly what it sounds like. 

Who drops down fastest.

Great entertainment.

As was the Rubber Boot Relay.

The kids had mixed pairs of gigantic rubber boots they ran with.

I was laughing with tears coming out of my eyes.

 

Our other events were: Shoe Pile Scramble,  Treasure Hunt, Sack Hop relay, Grab Bag Challenge, Hula Hoop Pile Up and....

 ...the Water Balloon Toss.

For 2nd and 3rd place we gave out medals, but the winners got trophies.

 The trophies were made entirely from recycled items.

Bits and pieces glued together and spray painted gold.

They looked awesome!

 Best use of Happy Meal toys.. that's all I'm saying  ;)

After the rain

 I have a thing for raindrops.

Looking pretty in my garden on a summer's day.

All of these were taken on my phone :)

 Double dose of bokeh...

I don't mind rainy days at all...

Upcoming rainy day project

My grandmother's old loom is set up in the school textile work classroom.

My fingers are itching....

For a while, with no specific project in mind, I've saved Mika's dress shirts he's sorted out.

I've begun cutting them up now.

I've also scored some free or super cheap ones at thrift shops.

There's a rug to be made, just waiting for a couple rainy summer vacation days.

The Old's

 I've no idea why I haven't gotten around to blog about THE event in February.

Saara's Old's Dance.

The Finnish version of the prom.

Here's a little explanation.

The biggest differences to the US prom would be the rehearsed dances and no limos ;)

And as always, the girls were beautiful and the guys handsome.

 You can see LOADS more photos on Saara's blog.

 Gorgeous best friends.

And for your amusement, I thought I'd add a photo from my own Old's Dance.

Back in the good ole 80's.

I had sewn my Flapper Girl dress myself :)

And my Mom's photo.

Back in those days, the 50's, the norm was to raid the attic for the grandparent's old clothes.

Personally, I love the fake moustaches!

School rules

 Just one of the many reasons, why I love my job.

These posters started going up last month.

On pretty much every wall.

I've no idea why.

Apparently the girls just decided that it was fun to tickle David, one of my colleagues.

(TES stands for The English School)

The next day, I found this one posted up.

Sweet Jemina listed rules for the kids to help all us adults.

*grin*

iPhoneography

 Yes, I still take photos with my dearly loved "big" camera.

However, it is heavy and cumbersome to take with me every day.

Which is why I love my iPhone.

It is with me 99.9% of the time, you can get great editing apps for it and I take photos ALL the time.

Little things that make my day.

1. shadows on the street
2. rainy day love
3. sunshine reflections
4. thrift shop eye candy

Lovies

1.  Saara watching a hockey game
2. little ones visiting
3. Mika's half marathon
4. Niina's love of drawing

 The things that kept me sane during the weeks it took to figure out why I was in so much pain.

1.  12 blood samples at the hospital
2. grocery shopping
3. amazing workmates
4. a bit of sun and a minute's breather during my work day

 Going close. Three of these were taken with my macro lens.

1.  lovely scilla
2. sprinkles from a cupcake
3. red
4. a sure sign of spring

I've gotten comfortable turning the lens on me too.

1.  just us girls at the bus stop
2. accidental self-portrait
3. playing nice
4. while cooking dinner, I played with the sun behind me

 In the kitchen.

1.  organic eggs
2. new yummy recipe
3. red wine and lasagna
4. freshly grated parmesan

 Holidays. In this case May Day.

1.  daily chalkboard
2. tissue paper pom poms
3. at a bubbly tasting
4. a childhood favorite revisited

 Details around town.

I love my city.

1.  yoga for the exploded... heh..
2. beautiful gates
3. curvy
4. art turned photo op

Clouds and reflections.

1.  morning reflections
2. polka dot clouds
3. beautiful blue
4. on the road

 My work day.

1.  painting dragon eyes
2. and dinosaurs
3. a bug funeral
4. afternoon cuppa

 Little things.

1.  classic bike
2. a reflection my eye couldn't see, but the camera lens did
3. macro of my earrings
4. cool design

 Color.

1.  main railway station
2. my shelf of memories
3. happiness
4. melting ice makes a rainbow

 And the darn birds that are taking over even my grocery shops!

For my summer holidays, starting in just three weeks (yay!), I have photo projects for my DLSR too.

*grin*

Going jurassic with spray paint

 This is where I say that I love my job.

I mean, how many work surroundings give you the opportunity to spray paint a dinosaur?

 I am very possessive over my own sharp scissors at work.

NOT for kids.

I am also sick and tired of having to constantly look for them!

Hence the dinosaur.

I asked our technical work teacher to please drill two holes into him first. After a raised eye brow and a quick explanation, he was happy to assist :)

Out came the primer.

 

And then the cool color.

(completely loved those foot prints!)

 

 Perfection.

For my twisted sense of humor.

And the kids think it's cool.

 

I also spray painted a thrifted ratty old metal tray.

Then painted the middle with chalkboard paint.

This will go on the wall in the fall and will be our daily snack menu board.

 The fact that it matches the new metal buckets I bought for the coloring pens and pencils is a bonus!

 

I have a few more thrifty ideas to keep sprucing this place up.

Keep tuned in.