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