Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Santa has called!

We just heard a message from Santa to Chloe! C & A are so excited for Christmas! I can't wait to hear the reindeer hooves on our roof and the jingling of the sleigh bells. Merry Christmas everyone!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Nutcracker Time!

The most tedious part about being a performer's mother is to practice the hair every class & rehearsal in the month of November, so as to be perfect for the performances. With 30 rollers and some wonderful recommendations, I must say that I have mastered it finally!




A wanted her hair done like sister's, so here she is in all her posing glory!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

October 31st - Halloween

Buzz Lightyear and Kate Wetherall are making their candy rounds. Old Mill District here we come!
WOW - what a haul! Good thing they received new toothbrushes!

Bread Making 101


While learning about how yeast works, our tummies were getting hungry. So we put our knowledge to the test and the girls each mixed, kneaded, waited and baked their own loaves of bread. There is something extremely comforting about baking bread. Mmmmmmm.

Autumn Fun - October 24th

My pumpkins with their pumpkins!


Both of them are so excited to get the goo out! Daddy had the knife duty and I was on pumpkin seed extraction/roasting duty. Below you will see A's wolf and C's bats & ghosts.


Autumn leaves are so enchanting. I made it a goal this year to be sure I got first jump into the pile. Boy it looks more fun than it is. Pth pth leaves in mouth. . . and ouch that ground is hard!
It was worth every bit of it to see the smiles on the girls' faces though.

Pumpkin Patch

October 23rd was spent at DD Ranch petting animals, bouncing along on a hayride, playing and picking out our pumpkins. Both girls were delighted with the sweet donkey.


This little calf was enjoying the sucking of fingers and A was enjoying it too. Afterwards she came to me to wipe the slime off her hands onto my jeans. What a thoughtful daughter. . . hmmm.



Now with wagons in tow, C & A were off to pick out their pumpkins.


As you can see, C went for the size. A went for "cute" and I had to remind her we were only picking out one for her, not the four she kept pulling around.

Sparks Lake






On September 24th we went on a nature hike with Nana. We enjoyed the frog, freaky bug and many other treasures along the way. A stopped several times for snack refueling, but we made the 2 1/2 mile loop in good time.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Dunes


September is the best time to visit the Oregon coast. We were there for 5 sunny days and only had a bit of rain one morning. We also enjoyed the campground, beach, lake and dunes mostly by ourselves. Most of the dunes we hiked were untouched.


C and A had never experienced the dunes. We have been to the Oregon coast many times, but usually our focus is visiting the tide pools or the Oregon Coast Aquarium. C was awestruck when we crossed the bridge heading South from Florence. She saw the first dune rising up so high that her jaw dropped and I thought her eyes would pop right out of her head. She shared with us that she was expecting sand piles about as high as our living room ceiling. Was she ever surprised and excited.

We stayed at Carter Lake Campground about 8 miles South of Florence. This is the same campground that Gramma P took Daddy and Uncle B to as boys. Our campsite had a dune trail heading right up from it. The girls were in heaven. Oh to be able to share the joy of hiking up then jumping down the dunes with our kids for the first time. They LOVED it!




At our campground there was plenty of excitement too. We watched as a rotten tree broke and fell across the road in the campground. We painted and read books. A rode her bike nearly every waking moment we were there.


Kite flying was a must for all of us and there was just enough wind to make it so enjoyable.


Thanks to Gramma P, Papa B and Uncle B there were plenty of grownups to help keep the kids busy with seeing new things. At the lake, we saw an otter, osprey and egret. A few campsites away from us we even identified bear scat. Yes, there was a bear enjoying all the ripe berries in our campground. On the dunes and the beach it was fun trying to identify all sorts of tracks in the sand. At one point where a river was running into the ocean, we watched salmon from the ocean swimming upstream into the river. What an amazing sight.


After we were all packed up this morning, we managed to squeeze in one last hike and geocache. A fell in love with a fuzzy caterpillar which we had to convince her was happier if he found his family than if we took him home.

We were sad to say goodbye to the dunes, but warm showers and fresh sheets were awaiting at home.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Made Up


While reading a bedtime story to A, she says, "Aw, they are coming to friends." What she meant is they are becoming friends. Is it wrong to let her say this or shall I correct her? I love these years of made-up phrases & words.

Red, White & Blue





Yesterday we learned about the pledge of allegiance and the United States flag. What does it mean to make a promise, be loyal and respectful? They learned some good lessons. I made a snack to go along with the theme and the girls enjoyed it. Well, at least they seemed to enjoy it. C ate hers and then leaned towards me and said, "thanks but, I didn't really like that." Meanwhile A would have easily enjoyed C's if she'd offered!

Our Adventures in Homeschooling



Our adventure has been going since the girls were born, but this week things are more serious, more on purpose. We started with Adventures in My Father's World along with Right Start Mathematics. C (age 7) and A (age 4) were perfect little students yesterday. A was not as attentive today since she caught a moth which was immediately her best friend. It was named "Mothie" and went everywhere with her today. She didn't even want to stop to eat lunch because she didn't want it to be alone. It must seem strict, but I forbid eating with insects at the table.