I think I love Halloween!

This is "Skully" which is the girls favorite Halloween decoration. He comes out each year and lights up our kitchen.
I made this "Treasure Chest" cake for my art/craft class and it was a big hit. All the kids made treasure boxes and then traded treats.

CAMP MARAPAI ~ 2009

Our girl scout troop .. let me back up ... me and the leader from our gs troop took our daughters to Camp Marapai in the pines here in Prescott. It was interesting to say of the least! Okay, let's say that we wanted to leave within the first 10 minutes of arriving. We stuck it out for 3 hours and then bailed at lunch time.

Okay, so the girls went on a short nature walk, made a drum out of a coffee can and learned of Indian drumming beats. We were just happy to get out of there and made it back in time for Shae's soccer game. :0)

Boo!

The Miller's always have this great Halloween chili party for the kids and parents. This year Tom went as a punk rocker and yes he shaved his head for that. And I went as the "American Tourist." We had a blast in finding our entire costumes at the Goodwill.

Here is Shae wrapping me in the "mummy wrap" contest.

The kiddos!

Adorable Shae and I

And or course Kayla "the pirate" and I. Kayla just loves being a pirate! I may never have to buy her a different costume!

It's Show Time ... again!

Have I lost my mind? After my last theatre experience I must say I have "lost my mind." But, Kayla really enjoys theatre and she has plans to audition for a show in March but we knew of a audition this week that was for a holiday show called "The Small One." So, Kayla wanted to go and watch the auditions and see what they were like to better prepare her for the "Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr." show. So, I took her and Tom took Shae out for father daughter dinner and shopping. It was terrifying to me! They called up group after group to come forward and state their name and sing by themselves (along with the pianist). When they called up the 8 and under group Kayla tells me that she wants to do it and I about died! She went right down the theatre steps onto the stage. She did awesome and looked so cute! I was so nervous that I could of peed my pants! Talk about throwing the kid in the fire with no preparation.

This is the smallest and youngest group out of the three groups of about 50 plus kids. The director auditioned for 2 different nights for 2 hours each. We went to the first night.

The set you see on that stage is for a show that will be playing at the theatre soon.

The experience was great! It was so professional and the director and her team really have a special way with theatre and kids. I think we will have a great experience with Prescott Fine Arts Association.

I told her that since this was her first one that she would probably not get picked for the show but at any route it would be a good experience that she would learn from.

*******

Today we went to the theatre and look on the paper on the door and read down the list of names.

Yahoo!!! Kayla will join the cast of "The Small One."

Above is her name on the cast list. They were looking for 22 - 25 cast members from the auditions.

She will have a press release night and do 6 school shows along with 3 public performances. December 18th at 7pm and December 19th at 2pm and 7pm.

Audiences of all ages will delight in this holiday story about a special donkey and a musical journey around the world. Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter customs are presented in song, dance, and narrative.

Fall Leaves

Fall is here and as we drove by the courthouse yesterday we just had to stop and play in that beautiful foliage.

Pumpkin Patch

It was a nice day to go to the Pumpkin Patch. We went with our homeschool group and Freeman farms is always great to us. On one of their regularly closed days they open up the farm just for us and we get to go on a hay ride and tour the farm grounds, have fun in the corn maze, petting zoo, watch a up close and personal horse demonstration and of course each kid got to pick a nice sized pumpkin.

Pirate Ship homeschool field trip

Ahoy thar matey!!

Today was our field trip with our homeschool group and we had a great turn out with over 60 people.

Meet Captain Mike

To some it might have been strange and others exciting but Captain Mike led the way as we all walked in a curvy secluded dry creek off a dirt road. Along the way was a capsized boat and dead tree branches while ending up at the whiskey barrels and just ahead the cross bridge.

Meet the group

Here is Kayla and her good friend. :0)
It is great to have so many friends and go out on wonderful outings such as this.

Time is running out and they are only growing older and so am I. All these moments to share with them only makes me more grateful that we have this time together.

WHAT A FUN AND BUSY WEEK!

We had a super busy and fun week! After Shae's soccer game we went to Jerome and spent the afternoon there walking the shops and eating fudge.

Of course we stayed all day at the county fair!

The girls got to see their entries in the exhibits and they won lots of cash and first place ribbons.

And Kayla got her book proof in the mail and now it is ready for review at the library.

And yippee!!! Shae won their first game of the season! The team was huge ... just look at this girl in the purple!

Girl Scout Fun!

Our troop is experiencing the Wonders of Water ~ WOW and they worked on tie dye yesterday.

They loved how their shirts turned out!

The girls are getting so big! They are growing up before my very eyes! And literally before my eyes. As a homeschooler we spend lots of time together and I cherish every second I have with them. You never know when that can change and they aren't around as much. Tom was just saying the other day that I have pretty much seen every second of their life. How cool is that! I really haven't missed much. Now some may say .... "that is crazy, get a life, don't you need a break from your kids, your kids need to learn to live without you." I don't feel that way at all. As a matter of fact they are very young still and they see and do lots of things including being in the outside world and the different people in it. They just get lots of mommy and daddy time.

How lucky are they! How lucky are Tom and I!

We will cherish every moment!