Christmas Stockings

My goal is to have all homemade Christmas stockings for my family.  This is not a quick process.  I started to make the first stocking for Lex before Christmas in 2010.  The cabling was more difficult and time consuming than I expected and it was not completed in time for that Christmas.  The stocking was stuffed in a bag for over a year while I completed other projects.  I pulled it out again in January of this year, and three months later had a completed stocking.

This year Alayna learned how to  use a knitting loom.  While browsing Ravelry I found a pattern to make a Christmas stocking on her knitting loom.  After Thanksgiving Alayna picked out her yarn and began work on her stocking.  She learned new techniques.  She learned how to purl every other row to make a garter stitch edge that doesn't curl.  She learned how to turn a heel, which involves wrapping and turning stitches and e-wrapping backwards (for her).  All of this included following the directions in the pattern.

I love the stocking she created.  I am a proud mama.

Horses

It has been a crazy month. We moved from Texas to Wisconsin, we threw in a marathon and a baptism. Do I need to share much more to explain the crazy? I'm sure some would be interested to hear about it, so maybe we will. The kids have been amazing through this whole transition.

This post isn't about the crazy.  This is to share Alayna's drawings.

Alayna checked out a book on drawing horses from the library.  When she told me about the book I thought it would start with all those circles and ovals that you connect and then erase where they overlap. That's what all the learn to draw books I've seen do.

This book had no words just pictures of; step 1: draw this body, step 2: add eyes, nostrils, hooves and ears, step 3: add hair, step 4: finish with muscle lines for definition. 

When she showed me her first one, I thought she had traced it. No, it was all her. 

Click to Enlarge

First was the horse on the left (it was a foal in the book), then she added the one on the right (which was bigger with a short tail and mane). Oh, and these were drawn in pen because she broke the pencil sharpener trying to sharpen her pencil.

Later she found a pencil and worked on the horse with a rider.

Click to Enlarge

I know that I am the proud mama talking about this, but I am very impressed with what may be her natural talent for art.

Friday Night Lights

Before we leave Texas my children needed to experience the Friday Night Lights.  I took them to a high school football game.  Not just any game, The Wurstbowl between the two New Braunfels high schools' teams.

Our New Braunfels Unicorns

vs.
the Canyon Cougars

We wore our Unicorn blue.  Alayna worked on signs and a cheer*.  She also used her credits in class to purchase a mini #1 finger.  I was in charge of the three Ts:  Tickets, Transportation and Treats (apple slices and a roll of mints).

It was an extremely fun night.  I did a lot of explaining as the game was played.  We followed the cheerleaders' calls, we stomped, we jumped, we yelled.  Many times I would catch myself yelling, "Go, Cougars!"  After all the years I have spent as a Cougar, high school, college and as an alumnus, it is a difficult habit to break.  We were having such fun, we didn't even leave after the halftime show as planned.

My goodness, the halftime show.  Nothing like my days at the Ranch.  Both marching bands performed their competition pieces with full formation movements involving the flag teams and baton twirlers (ours were twirling 3 batons each!).  The dance teams** performed their numbers, accompanied by their band.  All lead by the drum major and at least 2 assistant drum majors.  Watch this for an example.  Not this year's, but whoa!

The Unicorn thunderstix were a big success.  The best part of the game for Alayna?  The Unicorns won 30-27.  The best part for me?  I received a number of compliments on what wonderful children I have.  Oh, and the blinged Unicorn jersey I bought.

The most anxious part of the evening was getting all three children safely back to the van.  Out of the stadium lights, it is dark and there are a lot of people and cars.  Everyone stayed close, and as we went thru the non-parking lot where vehicles were driving and parked I had Alayna wave her thunderstix to be seen, even though, as she pointed out, it doesn't glow.  We made it intact to the van and chatted about the fun we had until my heart rate had returned to normal.  By then the traffic had cleared and we went home and to bed.

* Alayna's cheer
Blue is great
Blue is bright
Let's go, Unicorns!
You know how to fight!

** The New Braunfels dance team is called The Monoceras and Mystics, complete with Majors, Lieutenants and there is even a "social officer".

Halloween Costumes

It's not Halloween yet, but we dressed up for Trunk-r-Treat at the church tonight.

Alayna as . . .

Lavagirl

Cavell as a . . .

Knight

Lex as a . . .

Monkey

Our fun kids.

Spanish Ice Cream Project

Alayna's new teacher has her students turn in projects on a very regular basis. This teacher is is very excited about using technology in the classroom and for homework. She's applied for and won grant money to bring computers, iPods, and other electronics into the classroom. What I appreciate is that she confessed that she is not a computer expert but she is convinced of the importance new technologies in a modern student's curriculum. One of her goals for her students this year is to help them with 'Digital Storytelling'. Instead of writing papers or making posters, she wants her students to create movies, slideshows, and audio demonstrations of their knowledge.

Alayna's first big assignment was to show the class something that she has made. Alayna decided she wanted to show the class how she makes Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. Stacy took pictures of all the steps and than Alayna helped us build the slideshow you see below. Alayna did the layout and design of each of the slides on paper and Stacy mirrored that in Photoshop. Alayna than did all the typing to get the text on to each of the images. You can view the final product below.

New Beginnings

Alayna is very excited for school to start Monday. Today was Meet the Teacher. Alayna wanted her hair to look good, so I took her to The Loft Salon. How did she want her hair? I'll give you a clue. We just read this book.

The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School


...


...


Any guesses?

...


...


One more chance.

...

...

She said none of her friends recognized her when they saw her tonight!

While it is shorter than she wanted, she decided that sending her hair to Locks of Love was more important.

Go Fish!

Alayna participated in her school's first grade play Tuesday night.

Go Fish!
by John Jacobson and John Higgins

A Musical Play for Young Singers. A Tuna Fish that can't carry a tune? A Star Fish that can't get an acting job? A seven-legged Octopus? A Zebra Fish with spots? A Tiger Shark who wants to be friends with everyone? Join in the aquatic fun as little Tiger Shark and his unique collection of friends discover how their differences make them each special.

Alayna worked hard remembering lines and creating different characters for the auditions in March.  She was given the part of . . .

Angel Fish.

Once she received her script she diligently went to work memorizing her lines and even deciding how she would deliver them.  She went to early morning rehearsals for two weeks.  She volunteered her mama to help with the set.  After 10 weeks of practice Alayna made her debut on the stage.

She was excited to have wings.  We also used a large amount of glitter and a little makeup.  I know we are the proud parents, but I think she did really well.  All of her lines were memorized, delivered well and, more importantly, audibly.

 Commotion in the Ocean

 "Maybe a little"

 The Colors of the Sea

She was extra excited to have her best friend and favourite babysitter, Lindsay there.  Thank you for coming Lindsay.

Go Fish

Alayna participated in her school's first grade play last night.

Go Fish!

From Hal Leonard

A Musical For Young Singers

by John Jacobson and John Higgins



She worked very hard learning the different lines and creating the different characters for the audition back in March.

Alayna got the part of the Angel Fish.  She began memorizing her lines as soon as she got the script.  She went to early morning rehearsals for two weeks.  She volunteered her mama to help with the set.  After 10 weeks of practice Alayna made her debut on the stage.



She was excited to have wings.  We also used a large amount of glitter and a little makeup.  I know we are the proud parents, but I think she did really well.  All of her lines were memorized, and more importantly, we could hear her.

 Commotion in the Ocean

 "Maybe a little"

 The Colors of the Sea

She was extra excited to have her best friend and favourite babysitter, Lindsay there.  Thank you for coming Lindsay.

Tale as Old as Time

Belle and the Beast came to Alayna's school to sing one of their duets and invite the children to ask their parents to take them to see the show.  She had been asking me about going since then.  Friday afternoon I finally made the decision that I would take Alayna to see the 7 o'clock performance of Beauty and the Beast.

It was a production by the New Braunfels Christian Academy drama department.  The teacher said that over 15% of the student body was involved in this production!  The gal that played Belle was fantastic.  For a high school senior, she was amazing.  We could also tell that "Gaston" had a lot of good experience behind him.  After the Beast sang his song (If I Can't Love Her) and I was applauding, I also explained to Alayna that what he had just sung was very difficult and he had done a fabulous job.  Only after the play did we discover this was the boy's first experience in acting, and he hadn't even known he could sing before getting the part!?!

When asked what her favourite part of the night was, Alayna replies that it was after the show when she got to meet Belle.  I wish I had kept a program so that I could give this young lady proper credit with her name.  Belle was very kind to talk with Alayna and have her picture taken.  Alayna hopes that we will have this picture printed and framed for her room.  The Beast (now Prince) was also nice and spoke with Alayna but we didn't manage to get a picture with him.

Who's the Fool

Alayna had been making a big deal about April Fool's day recently, so we decided it would be fun to plan April Fool's Jokes for the tykes.  Most involved their food and food colouring.

The morning started off with a colorful breakfast.  The Kix cereal had a surprise of yellow food coloring hidden at the bottom of the bowl.  As the kids added milk to their bowl, the milk turned a strange yellow color! This little trick went over pretty well with the kids, but things went downhill from there.

For lunch, Alayna had pink milk. Stacy put a couple drops of red food coloring in her milk to turn it pink. When Alayna came home, she proclaimed loudly that she, "doesn't like pink milk and it tasted funny." She took a sip and that was that. But the mind-taste connection would be illustrated even more later.

For dinner, Stacy worked hard the night before and April Fool's day to keep the kids from knowing what was in store, and actually prepare the tricks. Dinner was served in pajamas and the kids were told they needed to finish their cupcakes before they could have their dinner. Dinner was meatloaf "cupcakes" with blue mashed potato "icing" on top.

Stacy even tried initials in ketchup on top of the "icing".

Cavell took a nibble of the mashed potatoes before concentrating on the ketchup and ignoring the rest.  Alayna ate most of her "cupcake" and then proclaimed that there was too much "icing" and it was too sweet so she was done with dinner. Lex ate like a champ and finished off a whole meatball and potato cupcake on his own.

We had to call the kids back to the table so they could eat a dinner of "Chicken Pot Pie." That took a lot of convincing and a little threatening. From the pictures, you can see just how much they enjoyed their meal.

Chicken Pot pie was a vanilla pudding with Mike & Ike candies cut to the size of diced vegetables and topped with a pastry crust.  The kids immediately turned up their noses at the thought of chicken pot pie, but they at least had the decency to crack the crust and taste that.

They ate the crust. Alayna was the first to discover that the sauce had a sweet taste and was willing to give the innards a try.  Cavell took one bite and decided that this was just too much trouble and left the table again.  Alayna started to get into the meal and then complained that the candies were too hard to chew and there were not enough of them. She ate half of her pie and left the table as well.

Lex, Mom, and Dad cleaned up the leftovers without a single complaint.  Well, Lex complained when the leftovers were gone and he couldn't eat any more pudding.

So I guess Alayna got us after all.  We did all the work for the prank and we still ended up getting punked.

Birthday Followup

In a couple of the cards Alayna received for her birthday, there was MONEY!  Alayna was very excited and was ready to go shopping the next day.  We made her wait until Saturday for a Girls' Day Out with her mama.  Now she can share what she purchased.

Pink boots, a princess butterfly tiara with clip on earrings, and nail polish (sparkles and bright pink).

She wanted to show the flowers inside the boots.

Thank you Grandpas and Grandmas!

Alayna is 7!

In the morning she was greeted with streamers, a balloon, tiaras and cards.  Sadly, the balloon was taken outside and lost to space before the sun came up.  The cards were opened, enjoyed and saved.

The first present opened after school was her new gym bag and workout outfit.  Followed by a trip to the gym with her dad.  She got in a real good workout.  This was then topped off with a trip to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and playtime at the playground.  There was a balloon man, so her lost balloon was replaced with a couple of balloons that wouldn't float away.  Then it was home for presents.

After receiving a Webkinz pet for her birthday last year, Alayna has been anxiously waiting for a new one.  Welcome to the family, Heather; "like feather, except you replace the F with H."

Lex must know Alayna rather well. The joy that a mirror and hair accessories can bring to a little girl is amazing.

Great Grandpa and Grandma Onines gave her personalized scriptures.  She could hardly believe she now has her own Holy Bible! I contributed a custom scripture bag with the CTR shield "freezer paper stenciled" to the front.

Alayna picked chocolate cake with cherries and a Cool Whip frosting, in large cupcake form.  It was paired with homemade coconut, cherry, chocolate chip ice cream.

Happy birthday, Alayna! I think this is going to be a great year for you.

St. Patrick's Day

This morning I ran the St. Patrick's Day Treadmill 5k at our YMCA.  While I was aiming for some time between 25:30 and 26 minutes, I was quite happy with my 27:01.  I earned some Lucky Charms.

Alayna was very excited for the today's "Green Out" at the Y.

We tried a shamrock hairdo and decided to add a little green.

In ChildWatch the kids tie-dyed some shirts in green and gold, received green leis, party blowers, shamrock stickers, a hat or crown, and their own Lucky Charms treat.  Alayna had her face painted; a bejeweled, glittered butterfly on the left and a rainbow with a pot of gold on the right.  Miss Nell also painted a shamrock on Alayna's hand.  She wanted to make sure you saw it in the picture.  Cavell decided he needed to pose the same way.

Pecans

While waiting to pick Alayna up from school today, Cavell and I noticed one of the moms picking something up from the ground . . . and eating it!  When Alayna came to the van, and I went to buckle in Cavell, I realized there were pecans on the ground.  We gathered some.  10 of them.

Not all 10 are pictured.

We got to cracking.

and cracked some more.

Then we went to work peeling . . .

. . . and peeling . . .

 



. . . and peeled some more.

This took a lot more work than expected.  Cavell kept throwing the cracked shells into the nut bowl, some did still have the nut in them.  Alayna wasn't able to get any big pieces because she kept cracking her shell, and the nut, more to try and get them out.  Not that I was able to get many big pieces either.

A bit of toasting and we had pecans for snack time.

We saved some for Papa.

Yummy!

That was a lot of work for such a small treat, but we enjoyed the experience together.