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!

Homeschool Outings

First, I would like to just tell ya that Kayla will NOT be doing the Joseph show. After experiencing some upsetting things to me I had to make a "parental" decision and draw the line. Enough is a enough! I had a long time to think about it and struggled to keep her in the show but it came to my own inner feelings. It wasn't right for us and thank goodness it is over. I want Kayla to know that in life we can only put up with so much and that we are really not to quit but to be strong. On the other hand we must know when to draw the line and that we have the power in our hands and we can walk away if it comes to that. The line has been drawn.

Now on to our super duper fun week with our homeschool connections.

We have the special privilege to have sports day twice a month with Coach Bob. Bob is a cool dude! He is actually a former school principle and he and his wife have homeschooled their children for several years. Coach Bob comes to the park with balls, bats, helmets, gloves, bases and even drinks. He teaches the kids different sports or outdoor activities. Today was softball day and I my girls usually opt out and just play on the park structure with the other kids who don't want to play.

Neither of them has ever had any interest in playing softball and they didn't want to try today either. Until, I made them and sure enough they really enjoyed it and both hit the ball too.

Look at Kayla hit that ball! She can't wait to play again in 2 weeks! Coach Bob is seen kneeling down as the pitcher. About 25 kids showed up today and it was a blast.

Highlands Center of Natural History

I organized this field trip for our homeschool group and what a great turn out we had. There were about 60 people in attendance. What a fascinating building and educational facility. We learned about the $2 million price tag that came along with all of its "green" abilities such as the roof line creation as butterfly wings that are used in rain water collection, the solar energy, special windows and their placement, no carpet, wood was supplied from the forest near by, and much more.

Pictured above is where one end of the roof comes down and would drain off the water into that funnel like sculpture.

After our building tour we went on a 1 mile hike down to the creek. There is where the kids had a blast and what a beautiful sight it was. After we made our way back from the hike we all enjoyed lunch and mingled a bit. It is amazing that just minutes from my house is this wonderful place.

GAME ON!!

These girls are giving it their all! The field is so huge and the running is incredible for these little legs. Shae just loves soccer and her coach, asst. coach (a.k.a dad), and teammates are great!

I thought this shot was pretty cool so I had to crop and blow it up for ya. Just look at her face and determination. A couple of team moms and I got together and created our darling team banner. Giddy Up Pink Ponies!

Kayla and the team mascots cheering our team.

Aboriginal Designs

I teach an art class to 8 home schooled children once a month. This month we created Aboriginal Designs and learned about the people in Australia.

The kids learned of how the art work reflects their "Dreamtime." And they use a dot art that incorporates animals with specific patterns of line art or pictures.

Here they are hard at work at creating their animal and sectioned it off for their pattern designs.

They all did a wonderful job and it is great to have such well behaved students. :0)

Pink Pony Mascot

Shae's soccer team needs a mascot!

I have made a stick horse before with a head from a brown paper bag but I took this project a little further. I told the girls about my idea of making a stick pony but pink and they were totally jazzed. I found a video "how to" link on ehow.com of how to make a stuffed riding horse on a stick. I watched all the segments and altered it to fit our need. The girls went shopping with me for the fabric, button eyes, dowel, and we had yarn for the mane already. The total invest came to under $11 for 2 of these adorable ponies. After we finished our school work we started on this project and it took us 2 hours to complete both ponies. The girls pinned on the patterns, cut out the pony head and ears, sewed on the eyes and created the mane by wrapping yarn around a piece of scrap plastic I had from a science kit.

Shae says, "This is so much fun!" Kayla says, " I think I will love my pony."
The girls wrapped 3 different colors of yarn to create the mane for their ponies.

Yahoo! The finished ponies came out fabulous!

"Go Pink Ponies!"