October Roundup

                                                    Super Oreo- she's thrilled as always

 Since we don't do birthday parties around here anymore, we try to do a special family outing instead and give the kids a nice experience. It's been a couple of years since we've made it out to the Dallas Arboretum- or in October, known as the pumpkin extravaganza- as in 50,000 pumpkins. That's the right amount of zeros. Everywhere you look there, the plant life is beautiful. Here come the obligatory pumpkin patch pictures!

 They were sweet enough to pose for pictures nicely- after we reminded them that if they cooperated, the picture would be over quickly.

                                                       I love Hannah's flying blonde hair.

 Chloe pretty much always has to obsess about something : ) and this day it was finding the perfect tiny pumpkin to take home. She had plenty to choose from. No matter how many times we explained we would be picking one at the end of the day, she kept her eye out just in case. All three kids finally picked out their "perfect" pumpkins. They are now at home on the coffee table being ignored. Sometimes it's the thrill of the hunt I guess.

                                                                  Taking it all in.

                                                       

                                               I got a picture taken with my favorite thing.

                       The Arboretum recently opened a new Children's Garden. The kids tried out the tornado machine. Dax was suspicious it was basically the same thing as the ticket blowing booth at Chuck E. Cheese.

                   There were all sorts of interesting things to explore with wind and water energy.

          Of course this was the favorite. Hannah knowingly or unknowingly, I couldn't tell which, sprayed a field tripper across the pond who yelled "Hey!!!!"  All I did was laugh, so I wasn't much help.

                                          King of the haystack. This kid must thing he's GQ material.

    For Chloe's actual birthday, she at long last received her beloved pink unicorn with a racoon for companionship. She's recently been into Hello Kitty so she received plenty of that. That morning, we had a church service and brought a cake for everyone to share afterward. Everyone there sang "Many Years" and Happy Birthday, so she was super pleased. Later that day we went roller skating with the co-op kids, so she had a full day of attention. : )

                                  She picked out this cake because it was the fanciest on display.

 I didn't forget about school last week although it was nearly impossible. I did get some things ready for this week. I saw a similar hand drawn chart on Pinterest and thought it would be a great way for Colin to learn his letter sounds. It's not something he's caught onto easily. I had fun making it and when we used it today, he really seemed to finally attach the sounds to letters. Sometimes home-made stuff just makes a difference.

 Hannah constantly sits at the piano and composes amazing little tidbits of music. When I try, I only get so far as a few good chords and then a mess. But she'll just plop down and hammer out an interesting rhythm and a real chord progression then develop it slightly into something else. Then she'll blend it right in with something I heard her make up weeks ago! The problem is she has no idea how to write it down and capture it. Her theory book doesn't quite line up with this either and her composition book is more methodical. So I took it upon myself to make big charts of simple rhythm lessons with opportunities to compose using the rhythms. We tried it today and she was thrilled. Hopefully once she gets through several "lessons" she'll have better luck writing her ideas down. Before we had kids I always said, "If they don't like music, that's just fine. As long as they have a few skills and attend some concerts."  But now that 2 so far have shown great interest and talent, music is pretty much right up there with reading and math for us, and I think it's so valuable (obviously). I think of how far I've come since even graduating UNT as far as skill and confidence, and I can't imagine how many great experiences the kids will have through the years, far ahead of where I was at their age.

 We finally finished up the remaining projects from Apple week. We created store fronts from the book out of printouts and paper sacks. I would have gone crazy with this as a kid.

                                  Apple life cycles and diagrams went in their scrapbooks.

The kids went on a field trip to a local nature center. This used to be a limestone quarry. The instructors told us since kids always rush to climb this hill, they use it to teach erosion :) Hannah was in heaven getting to climb and touch all that dirt. 

 Dax and Colin built a working robot. 

Dax has been busy giving traveling to various campuses and giving a lot of lectures about Vlad the Impaler and other such historical subjects. His mom even surprise! showed up to one. Knowing Dax, it didn't phase him one bit. 

I've been busy with  Lyric Stage's production of The Golden Apple.

This musical is so interesting. It's a modern interpretation of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, an act devoted to each. It won quite a lot of praise from critics back in the 50's, won an award for Best Musical in 1954 and was the first Off-Broadway show to transfer to Broadway. However, it was deemed a little ahead of its time amongst the general population and only ran for over 100 shows and closed, never to be heard again in its full version... until now!  Honestly this is one of my favorite shows I've ever played. The horn parts are quite fun with plenty of challenging licks, and the composing is just wonderful and clever. It's also beautiful. One fellow musician attended and called it "ear candy." The late composer's daughter was in attendance the first weekend, so that was pretty special, too. I'm always thankful for this job.

                                            Today Chloe says she's dressed for a concert. : )

KID CONVERSATIONS:

Colin- My heart is not beating, but I am still talking. That's so weird.

After the kids asked about the origins of their names, Hannah- So, did Matt's parents name him after a doormat?

Chloe- I'm saving some mint floss for the car. (the best place to floss)

Colin- When will I be an adult?
Me- When you're 18.
Colin- 18? That's too many years! I'm not allowed to eat that much cake.

H-  If Cruella DeVille ever had driving lessons, she sure needs them again.

Happy Fall Ya'll

 During our break from school, we were all busy. The kids completed a couple of fall crafts including popsicle scarecrows.

 Dax took the kids to the local recycling and waste water treatment plant for a field trip. Looks smelly. : )

                                          He said Chloe was obsessed with the microscope.

                                                             Colin on the job.

                        They learned some surprising facts about waste water- I'll spare you the details.

 

                              They also attended the annual Lebanese Festival they love so much.




                                                  
 While they were doing that, I was at the beach!! Nothing fancy, just a trip down to Galveston- but on my own!!!!! Wonderful Dax set it up for me. I had a waterfront hotel and spent a morning at the beach just sitting and staring for hours. I'm such an introvert that time alone is as important as breathing sometimes. I also spent a lot of time reading on my balcony and driving through the historic neighborhoods on the island.

                    I love McAlisters and especially loved it across the street from this view.

 

 Back at home, Hannah tried being on two wheels for the first time. She needs a few more tries before she does it on her own.

We attended our annual friends' gathering of Thanksgiving in September- really in October this year. It's always great when Colin finds a new playmate. Our friend's neighbors came this year.

                                         

 

 I love that all of these kids have known each other pretty much since birth. I think they'll be friends for many years to come. 

                                                                                      
                                            The kids came up with some projects on their own.

                                     They decided to make their own treasure boxes one day.

 The kids have never attended a funeral and as far as I know haven't seen one on tv, but they set one up pretty well. They even had a hand sanitizer as a tombstone surrounded by a hair scrunchy wreath. Very ceremonial. 

 

My parents arrived to surprise the kids! I took them to the park so they would return to find Grandma and Papaw waiting on the front bench. Nothing beats watching them run to their grandparents! 

 They mainly did a lot of game playing and hanging out.

 

Papaw took the mall play area to new heights. 

 For our first week back at school we read How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World. Since the store in the book is closed, the girl travels the world gathering the ingredients. We were able to add several country flags to our map and watch videos that went with the story. We also printed cards the kids had to organize according to the story- such as which ingredient went with which country and which mode of transportation and in which order. They liked this a lot. Even Colin was able to participate really well.

 

 We made an apple pie chart. They've only done bar graphs so far. They spun a Twister needle to land on a color of apple- blue didn't count- and tallied up their totals. Then we translated the information into pie graph form.

 

 In the book, the girl collected a cup of sea water to get salt by letting the water evaporate. We did the same experiment. After a few days outside, our salt formed crystals. Pretty cool.

 The week was not complete without making an actual apple pie. I was determined that this time our baking would not erupt into tears and constant discipline, so I did all the work. If that doesn't sound much like school, I beg to differ! The kids actually learned a ton more....because they paid attention! I let them do certain things but they had to wait until they were invited. Other than that, they watched me measure and roll and stir and we discussed what was happening. They also learned more about patience and that sometimes observing can be way more fun than begging for a turn every few seconds. And the pie was delicious! 

 Colin and Dax were happy to attend another Comic Con. This time Colin wore his new Darth Vader costume and found a friend.

 

 

He even found a couple of superstars to hang out with! I'm so jealous they got to meet Sam and Frodo!

                                        

 Dax brought the girls to the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas to hear one of my performances. 

They even helped him with some board member work backstage at intermission. Chloe particularly loved one of the horn player's sparkly earrings.

 Their view from the balcony.

What can I say? This group of people is not only extremely kind and extremely funny, but they sure can play! We had a terrific concert.

 Our attempt at a "goofy" picture didn't go so well. We just don't have it in us I guess. haha

 I had plans for Egypt this week. But I'm playing a musical that takes up all evenings for 2 weeks, so that knocks out my planning time- as well as taking care of the house time. So this week we'll do basics and catch-up with our regular responsibilities. Like paying all our library fines- eek.