Cleaning and Closing up the Camper/Cabin and First Day of Setting up the Book Fair With Amber!

 We chose to sleep in and take our time preparing to come home yesterday.

I packed this stack of denim to sew a quilt with in the next few weeks.

However, I left this stack of whacked up jeans there all ready to mark into squares and cut up in May.

I dearly love repurposing things and after changing out the bedding on the camper bedroom and girl bunk, I got the idea of slipping a matching pair of pillowcases on the backs of the chairs in the front room.

I think they look good!

As I am writing this journal entry tonight and looking at this photo - I see the 'tablecloth' is really a cotton shower curtain to use over a clear plastic liner!

This is a beautiful pillow case Louis Dean's beloved wife, Ellen, stitched.

Better to cover the back of a chair and see it often than to keep it folded in a cabinet and not see it all.

I am the Queen of Cover Up and after realizing I could NOT get the marks off the front of the bathroom cabinet - I decided to cover them up with Dollar Store peel and stick squares.

This could go two ways - chicken wire and a decoupaged chicken or rooster on top - 

or honeycomb with a decoupaged honey bee or two or several on top.

Actually, Son Dean suggest the honeybees!

I see a theme here that goes with all the honey and honeybee things I already have in this bathroom!

Louis Dean loaded the truck and put all the chairs away from the front deck and cleaned the bathroom right down to mopping the floor while I vacuumed and packed up the fridge.

It was 6:15 when we left the ranch and stopped in Mart at the Dollar Store for more 'honeycomb.'

It was dark when we got home but Louis Dean did a fine job of driving.

We put the cats in the guest room and shut the door so we could unload everything and not have to watch the door. Alas, I was the one who let Tabitha out!

After filling their food bowl, I'd taken a water carafe to the bathroom to fill up and had just opened the guest room door when she darted out!

The front door was wide open so OUT she went and OUT she stayed for THREE hours!

We sat out on the driveway for awhile with a glass of wine and she would come up to us but not long enough to grab her. Finally we came in and left the front door open.

I had gone out the kitchen French doors to see if she was in the backyard when Louis Dean said she sashayed in the front door and right on out through the other open door.

I closed that one and we propped the front door open just a little and pretty soon she waltzed on in and I shut the door behind and opened the guest room door - since we had kept that one shut so Samantha wouldn't get out!

It was after midnight by the time I crawled under the covers!

Louis Dean slept in the guest room since I was going to be up early getting ready to go to school!

I wish I had taken a picture of the book fair as soon as I arrived!

Amber and I had already done a TON of work by the time I snapped this pic.

All those bookcases curving around?

No easy feat getting them in place and opened - it took a lot of muscle and most of it was Amber's!

See all those boxes on the tables?

Amber lifted hundreds and hundreds of pounds of books from on TOP of the closed book cases over to the tables! It was like she lifted weights and did strenuous workouts from 7:30 to noon!!

We stopped to have lunch at 12:30 with the kids in the cafeteria - Amber had ordered Chick-Fil-A for all of us!

Making progress!

By 4:00 I was ready to cry Uncle and the place looked amazing!

This is ALL Book Fair - the school does have an amazing library and I will take pics of that tomorrow.

What an absolutely WONDERFUL librarian they have!

She's also a great cook and shared her Golden Chicken Casserole recipe with me last year and it is now a staple in my list of menus.

I mentioned this to her today and suggested she share another great recipe with us - and could she make it TWO??? This IS our last year at this school and it would be nice to celebrate it with an extra recipe - don't you agree??

It was SUCH a good day!

Amber is absolutely AMAZING!

She knows how to throw a great party and that's exactly the feel of her book fairs!

Everyone - students, teachers and volunteers - we ALL get so excited!

She even has a photo op!!!

Logan helped me set up the table for books written in Spanish - something Amber was adamant about ordering a good many. When she first took on doing the book fair, there was a small box of books - even though she ordered more.

Last year was better but this year they seemed to have got the message and it is a VERY well stocked table now!

This year there's also a table for cookbooks!

A few years ago the Scholastic people sent some and I bought one but then the next two years - nothing.

I'm so happy about the ones available this year and at good prices!

I'll take some pics tomorrow of them.

I already know I am buying at least one and possible three!

I left a little after 4:00 but Amber stayed much later putting up the tiki hut which is the check out table.

Tomorrow I'm wearing my Hawaiian dress from Hilo Hattie which I bought on a trip there back in the days of synchronized swimming meets with Amber and the Pirouettes of Texas!

Amber bought leis for us to wear and there will be flowers in my hair and blow up palm trees on either side of the tiki hut!

The students were already wide eyed and excited watching us set up as they went past the windows.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow!

We have teacher preview day after school and Amber's dedicated to seeing that the teachers get every single book on their wish list!

Plus she serves drinks and snacks while browse!

It's like a cocktail party without the cocktails!

But there will be plenty of cold drinks and scones and other goodies!