Thanksgiving help

We were so lucky to be able to help out at the Salvation Army today. We prepared 300 sack dinners for people to take on their way out after they eat their meal. This way they will have a meal for night time on Thanksgiving. There is no better way to spend the day than with your friends doing a wonderful deed.

The Gang!

Getting ready for the show!

Baby Owl "Hootie"

The holiday show at PFAA is almost here! The costumes are done and I am just sampling the animal face paintings. I have a blue jay, deer, dormouse, old owl, baby owl, 2 girl rabbits and 2 boy rabbits and 9 elves to paint. I have recruited a crew to help me out with the face paintings so we should have them all down within 1 1/2 hours.

Blue Jay

Happy Birthday Ginger

Shae's favorite bunny in the entire world had a birthday this past week. Shae had it all planned out and marked it on the calendar. We made brownies and Shae made Ginger a cute birthday hat. Shae has a great imagination and loves her bunny. Her bunny guards her "blankie" during the day when Shae is not in bed.

life ....

I was just thinking the other of how you think you know someone and you really don't. I think everyone hides things about themselves to others. Don't get me wrong .... people can hide all they want and live the "hidden life." I guess I could say that I am a pretty open person and probably share to much info, but I am me.

Do we live in a different world from the outsiders of whom we know? If so, why? Do some people hide from others? I believe so. I have learned that through the years ... when you think you know someone .... you really may not. Come to find out later that that person hides behind lies. Lies of fear of being judged by others. I am a very strong person and speak my mind out loud a lot and probably to much, but that is I.

Hardly anything bothers me to make me cry. I take in lots of friendships and embrace them all to which I can share myself with them. I do not hide things from them as for I am me and they all know it.

I am teaching my children about this very strong statement .... they are learning too. They are also learning of people I know as adults who are living a lie and hiding something from the world. That is okay. I tell them that we know who we are and we love our life and friends, but that can change any day or given moment. Friends are very special to have. So, to keep your special friends .... one must be open and trustworthy ... and comfortable ... and happy with the connection. If those things don't fall into place then the relationship is just there and becomes just another acquaintance.

November Cats for Art Class

The kids did so great today! Here are their finished cats!

PHOTO TIME

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these photos of the girls!

It is this time of year that I look forward to for taking pictures of the girls. I love all the warm clothes, fall colors and rustic looks. Today, the girls and I decided to go down town and take some holiday photos. We had lots of fun! You won't see dad in any of these as he was working and ..... he isn't a big fan of having his picture taken.

I just love both of these! The girls have the sweetest smiles!

Of course they had to have a picture with their favorite hats on.

Since we didn't have an extra body to take a picture of all three of us ... I used the timer on the camera. ha,ha,ha! Those don't work out to well! Shae cracks me up with her facial expressions above. And I even had my tongue hanging out the side of my mouth in the one pic!

Although, I look like a statue .... we managed to get one decent photo of us.

The end

November Art Class

So, I was playing around with creating a cat face to teach the kids to paint next week. The one above was fun, but way to detailed for the kids to do and may create frustration. So, I needed to come up with an equally neat looking cat yet with an easier less time consuming painting technique. I am all about the end product looking neat and the kids feel proud of what they created without taking to long.

The one below was much quicker and with a stippling technique.

My original plan was to create a leaf collage, but I didn't like my sample. That is what makes this so fun for me as I get to create everything first.

I have to keep it a bit simple and have ease in the instructions as my kids are only ages 7 - 10. Next week, we will paint these cat faces onto a piece of wood that my dad cut out for the kids. The wood is in the shape of this cat face so it will look awesome!

Someone once asked me how I get my art ideas. I find them in books or if I am out and I see something that I like I will take a picture of it. One of my kids in class may give me an idea or I just come up with something.

The other day the girls were at a homeschool field trip at the Highlands Center of Natural History. In one of the activities they asked the kids to draw something that had to do with nature. Kayla was describing to me her picture and she had this crazy blue blob going into the air. I asked what that was and she said that it was a lake and that she and her friend couldn't figure out how to make one so it would look flat. So, that will become one of our art classes in the future. :)

AMAZING SIGHT TO SEE!

Kayla got to see the most amazing thing the other day with her dad while I was out. As they peered out the kitchen window into the front yard they spotted a roadrunner across the street. The roadrunner was particularly scouting out a bush. Then he struck into the bush and out came a snake and the roadrunner and snake were about to battle. The roadrunner and snake both were swaying their heads back and forth and the snake struck at the roadrunner. But, the roadrunners amazing quickness grabbed the snake with his beak and began to ferociously bang the snake on the ground back and forth until he was knocked out. The roadrunner then took the snake to the sidewalk and ate it. WOW!!! Who needs wildlife TV?

Mom ... have you heard of.......?

You see it right! Kayla today was on the ipad and she asks me .....

" Mom, have you heard of the game, Spin the Bottle?"

Ha,ha,ha,ha!

"WHAT!"

I didn't think I would hear her ever ask me that!

HALLOWEEN 2010

Our favorite time of the year!

What a ride it has been for the past 3 nights! Yes, you heard it right ... 3 nights!

We have dressed up and put on our zombie makeup for days and performed around the Prescott area to THRILLER.

See below some pictures of our Halloween and a few clips from youtube.com from our flashmobs.

ENJOY!

Transforming to perform.

We used toilet paper and Elmer's glue to make our scabs.

Me with my good zombie buddy, Marie at top right.

THE UNDEAD!

Rehearsals, group photos, performances!

Oh, what fun!

Halloween night on Mt. Vernon is the best ever! If you haven't experienced it... you haven't experienced Halloween!

The video Tom got of our first performance on Mt. Vernon. There were people everywhere and gathering around to see it. A police motorcycle drove into the crowd and you can hear when he beeped his horn and flashed his lights, but we kept dancing. The undead doesn't stop for cops! ha,ha,ha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fwp-4Ynp8Q

Another view of it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_tEJ9IoDjk&feature=youtube_gdata

A short clip that someone caught of the end of our performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jaZ0bpoa_o

A darker video, but one of the performance at Oct. 30th at 10pm at Eco3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVbM46BgFrY

THRILLER lives on!

It was just to darn short! I wish we could of hit play again!

THRILLER!

My little ZOMBIES!

The girls and I have been practicing the THRILLER dance for several weeks with many other people. It is for a special performance ... soon to be seen by many. SHHHHHHH!

Yes, that is me in the middle ( do ya like the hair?) and the little ones in front of me are my little zombie girls.

Another tough game!

So far our team is undefeated. We have a great team of girls that play hard but a clean ball game. Last week was a rough game as the other team played "hard ball." Our girls were a bit banged up afterwards, but we over came that aggression and won.

(ha,ha,ha! I know it is not about winning, but when you play a team like we did who was mean ... we were glad to kick their butt!)

This week the opposing team had a couple of aggressive girls and one in particular with an attitude. She kicked Shae real hard in the upper thigh and said "that's what you deserve!" Shae was hurt pretty bad and came off the field crying after holding it in to finish the play. She went back in later and finished the game.

(Today was picture day.)

Shae goes from this sweet look to the look below while on the field.

October Art Class

I have 8 kids that come to class each month and they rarely miss a class! We have a lot of fun and create something neat as well! I must say that the kids are so well behaved and respectful that it is a pleasure teaching them.

This month I decided to do an art project on the holiday "The Day of The Dead."

Some might say ... "that isn't appropriate" or "skeletons!" or "we don't do Halloween." I say that everyone has their own thoughts and ideas for things. I however, don't think like most. I am pretty open for the most part and think very abstractly. You can still learn about things and to me it is how you can see a different side of things. Some people freak out over Halloween. I don't think it is bad or devilish. If you look up how Halloween started it is a very interesting story that some people take the wrong way.

Today, we learned of how the Latinos celebrate their most popular holiday "The Day of The Dead" and how special it is to them. It isn't morbid at all or depressing. It is a 3 day celebration to remember their loved ones by decorating skulls in bright and beautiful colors and designs and feasting.

It is a time of happiness not sadness.

(The wonderful completed projects)

The kids worked very hard. First, they traced the skeleton and we learned about making half of something ... like the flowers on the side of the head. They were to create the same designs that was on one side to the other. They were to color in with marker in a nice solid way with no scratchy rushy looking coloring. Afterwards, they used orange chalk and a cotton ball to give depth around the forehead, cheeks and chin areas. Finally, they mounted their project onto black card stock for a more finished look.


(The gang)

We all wore costumes and of course I was a very pale, blonde Latino woman. We played a couple of games, handed out treats to each other, ate lots of yummy food and just socialized. Ha, I love that term "socialization!"

PUMPKIN PATCH FUN

Like I said before.... we love the this time of year!

Our tri-city area homeschool groups got together for a field trip to Freeman Farms.

The hay ride was very educational as we learned about how the farm conserves water while growing their crops.

The corn maze was their favorite thing to do.

And of course get that pumpkin!

CONGRATS KAYLA!!

( Kayla with the script)

Auditions are over! There were a lot of great kids with lots of talent who showed up. Day two came and went and at the very end the director decided to announce the cast instead of posting it the following day on the theatre door. It is always exciting to drive to the theatre the next day and to run your finger down the page to see if your name is listed as part of the cast. But, this time the kids found out immediately. Parents were biting their nails and kids were very nervous sitting on stage while the director called out the names of the cast and their part to be. Kayla got a part and will be "Erica the elf." There were tears from others who did not make it and it even brought tears to my own eyes. A learning experience for sure and my heart goes out to the kids who did not make this one and hope they try out for the next one.

Cheers!

My favorite time of year

FALL

Yes, October is my favorite time of year. It brings fall colors, cooler weather, more time outdoors, the pumpkin patch .....

ghosts and goblins ....

(this shot I took this am and is a mirror image on the fireplace glass from our ghost decoration on a window from across the room)

theatre auditions ...

Where In the Woods Is Our Elf?

Showing at Prescott Fine Arts December 17th and 18th

And with this play comes several animal faces to paint. So, lucky me, I got to practice last week for the owl and rabbit.

Contestant #1 is our neighbors grandson.

Isn't he adorable!
Contestant # 2 Shae

The standard red check mark.

Do you remember in school when you got a red check mark on your work or tests? I remember and I had lots of them! I frequently got my paper, homework or test back with red check marks all over it. Then I thought ... "Oh well!" But, now looking back ... I never figured out why I got it wrong and never corrected them. And all my work went down hill as I got behind and never caught up. Or at least we weren't asked to correct them and bring it back for regrading. So, why do it? Right?

In our homeschooling I do grade everyday and I do use that same red check mark. But, they don't just get that grade and move on. Everything has to be corrected before they start the next days work. This assures them and I of what they did wrong and how to correct it to get the right answer. I often get the ... "Oh, I get it!" or "Oh, I see what happened!"

So, my kids aren't afraid of the red check mark or to get that terrible grade. They know that it is something to figure out and get another chance to get it right.

Game 4 - Thanks grams!

Tom's grandma got all the girls on the team a soccer ball pendant necklace charm. Thanks grams!

The team showing their charms.
The girls played real good yesterday. With one child who was in the E.R. the day before and Shae with a sore hamstring they did awesome! We tried to keep Shae from playing offense and that lasted for the first two innings as she played goalie. Way to go Shae!!But, then she was dying to score a goal and get in and play with the girls. She did just that .... then it poured rain and was so much fun. The Bumble Bees were soaked and muddy in the end but had a great time.
As the rain came down our girls still played. They played till the end. As you can see the ball fields were cleared out ... parents and even the boys field next to us were done and done. What fun it was! Get ready to play hard next week Bumble Bees as we have 2-3 players out with no subs and no coach. Well, me! YIKES!!! Let's do it!

Let's Dance

This is the first time the girls have taken dance. They are at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prescott. The teacher is wonderful and teaches great form!

County Fair

Oh, what fun we had with our friends at the fair this past week! We got the unlimited ride passes and off to the rides we went. This was probably the first time I have EVER stayed at any fair till it closed at 10pm at night. And this was the first year that Shae was tall enough to get on the "magic carpet slide." And that she did ..... about 20 times and her leg muscles were in pain the next day.

We are so lucky to have so many friends and great friends! On the day we went most of the homeschoolers went so about 40% of of the attendees we knew. LOVE IT!

We waited to get their faces painted by an air brush artist.

The first thing we did was go check out their exhibits. Kayla won 5 first place ribbons and a total of $17 dollars and Shae won 4 first place ribbons and 2 second place ribbons for a total of $16. It is amazing the talent that kids have and the wonderful items that they took the time to create.

Burrrrrrrrr!

Slide Rock, Sedona

My friend just went and I thought ..... "Isn't the water cold?" She was right! Yes, it was cold but lots of fun!

I can't believe how dangerous it is and how many people fall right on their heads! One lady flipped backwards, smacked her head real hard and there went her flip video camera in the water and washed away.

Kayla got right in and started sliding right away and Shae soon followed. Tom was on patrol at the end of the slippery rocks as I was near the top. What a blast we had!

We even managed to find a spot for a nice little family photo on timer.