Wylie Art Day

This is Tatiana painting at a Homeschool Art day in Wylie.  The photo was taken by the mommy of the boy in red next to her.  (That is why she isn't centered)

This is her Monet painting.   The white flowers are even prettier in person.  It is already up on the wall in the hallway.  

This is her Van Gogh painting. 

She'd woke up VERY early.  Scotland said probably as soon as I left.   But she did good for the morning exercise.   She ran instead of walking. 

Wednesday

Yesterday afternoon Tatiana played at the Stallmans house.  Scotland helped them check out a free house that could be moved.   They decided it wasn't worth paying to move it.  She brought home a bag of clothes from Elisa.  She hurried to finish her chore of emptying the trash so that she could look through the clothes.   We are listening to "The Last Battle", a Narnia book.   Patrick Stewart is narrating and doing an amazing job.   With the first book she had trouble understanding it because she didn't know about the London bombings and she has trouble with English accents. 

Dallas Arboreteum

The homeschool group had a field trip to the Dallas Arboreteum yesterday.   They were on the road at 8:30am.   The lady was doing science demonstrations.  Tatiana was very tired yesterday evening. 

Birthday Party

This is the cupcakes Tatiana and I made for her birthday party.   They were even cuter in person.  We'd out them in the freezer when the other party was cancelled.   I was a little worried they wouldn't be as good after being in the freezer, but they were wonderful.   I amazed myself.   Pretty AND good-tasting.   

This is the pinata AFTER it was used.    The head came off, but the body just fell whole.   So, I picked it up and dumped the candy out on top of the kids.   They didn't mind at all.   After the party Tatiana used scotch tape to re-attach the head. 

This is Tatiana doing her first try at the pinata.   She was being silly..

The party was a huge success, much to my relief.  Everyone seemed to have fun.   Julia said it was the best birthday party she ever went to and she'd been to a lot.   Tatiana was so happy.   After the party, she was incredibly tired but her happiness kept her from being cranky.   Kristen stayed to play after the party.   I was glad about that.   Tatiana gets sad after parties when everyone leaves at once.   JJ came over a couple of hours after the party was over.   I don't know why he hadn't come when the party was going on.  If they'd forgotten the time, all the cars would have been a clue.   The three of them played.   Then Kristen's daddy showed up.   Tatiana said to him, "Don't you want to talk to my mommy and daddy."   Mike was confused.   I said that Tatiana has noticed that leaving is delayed when the adults talk.   JJ stayed for a little while after.   Tatiana was just so tired she sent him home so that she could be alone. 

Water Park

We had a ton of fun yesterday.   It was a perfect day to go.   It was such a nice day we were worried about it being packed.   But the day before I noticed that Six Flags had Bring A Friend Free all week.  So, I imagine that most people with a season pass were at Six Flags.  Most of the people at the waterpark were families. 

She hated the first ride.  We thought she’d said she wanted to get on it.  So when we got to the top, I made her go down.  She had it in her mind that she’d hate it.  So she was terrified.  But after that it was good.  We went down many rides.  She’d get to the bottom and say “Again”.   There wasn’t anyone on the stairs so we could go straight up.   At one point, Scotland and I were tired of going up stairs.  We had a picnic table in the shade near the kid’s play area.   Us adults could rest while she played. 

There had been one ride that we called the ‘boat ride’    There was a conveyor belt that took these little inflatable boats to the top and it was one of the tallest rides.   Tatiana didn’t want to go on it.  At the end, Scotland and I told her that it was close to time to leave.   She had a choice of going on the boat ride, THEN leaving, or leaving then.   She reluctantly said she’d go on the boat ride.  The boats fit 2-3 people and no more than two adults.   So we down as a family.   It was great!   It was the favorite of all of ours.  Like the Bobsled ride at Six Flags only with water.   Tatiana wanted to do it again, and I didn’t want to do stairs again.  So Scotland and Tatiana went down.  I was glad I waited on the bottom to see their joy. 

A couple of time I thought of when Dad and I went to the water park. 

Grandma Judith's new pool

Judith picked up Tatiana to take to her house.  She brought Tatiana's cousins Christian and Hunter.  Hunter was too scared to go up to the tree house and scared of the Chickens.   She had a ton of fun at Judith's.   When the boys left, she played with her cousin Kat.  They are so great together.  Then Tuesday, Judith took both of them to the Arboretum.  They had lots of fun there.  I don't know precisely when, but Tatiana was in the Judith's new pool a lot. 

Legos - Joined the Dark Side

This is the floor of the Mancave aka Lego Room.   That flat colorful thing is a maze Tatiana created for her horses.   The two gray things are Star Wars kits.   The reason I took the photo is that the floor made me smile.   Doesn't it just say "Child At Play"?   I never thought I would be a Lego fan, but I've been converted to the Dark Side. 
Not that I plan on playing with them.  I'll just enjoy their joy. 

First soccer practice of the year.

Tatiana had her first soccer practice of the year last night.   They were cute.  The coach of the team that also practices on Thursday was out-of-town, so Scotland did both teams.  It was 2nd and 3rd graders.  I was pleasantly surprised that it put her about the same size as the other kids.  She had fun.   She loves practice.  The team has 6 kids and 4 will be on the field at the same time.   I hope she doesn't get too tired out. 

Scotland had gotten one of those big exercise balls at a garage sale.   Tatiana still loves that thing and bounces on it trying to keep her balance.  She doesn't seem to ever tire of that. 

Minecraft

I often try to ask Tatiana what her favorite part of the day was.   They'd spent the day with the Stallmans and came home just before bedtime.   She said the favorite part was playing on their x-box.  I asked what they played, and she said Minecraft.    We will NOT get one for our house, but I don't mind so much her playing at their house.   She plays with someone and since we don't have one, she can't play for that long. 

Disappointed

Yesterday while we were at Kristen's for a playdate, Scotland called.   He cut his leg and it was bad enough that we couldn't go to the waterpark.   Bleeding in a pool is a rude thing to do.  We were both disappointed.  The cut wouldn't stop bleeding, so he went to a 24/7 clinic.   He got home shortly after my part of bedtime was finished.   She wants both her mommy and daddy at bedtime. 

Today she is playing with the Stallmans.   I think that is a consolation prize. 

Good Weekend, Looking forward to tomorrow

We had a good weekend.  Saturday was mainly a day to relax and catch up on schoolwork. 

Sunday we went to church and then the Stallmans came over Sunday afternoon to play games.   It was a ton of fun. We played a couple of games of Splendor.  Then a few of Math Fluxx.   The kids won the first two games and then they left to play by themselves.  Us adults agreed that we were glad that they weren't playing so that an adult could win.  James really liked the randomness of the Fluxx game.  Everyone seemed to have fun. 

Tonight is a playdate with Kristen.  Tomorrow I am taking a day off so that we can go to the water park.   We are all excited about it.  We had been deciding between Monday and Tuesday, and we decided on Tuesday.  I am glad, because if we'd picked Monday it would have meant no playdate tonight. 

Poo wearing a bear dress.

Monday Tatiana had a playdate and they dressed her stuffed bunnies.   They found 8 stuffed bunnies (and that wasn't all) and dressed them in doll dresses.   It was sooooo cute.  They picked the perfect dresses.  I remembered several of the doll clothes from when I was a kid. 

Yesterday she put Winnie The Poo in a dress that had little bears on it.   It was so incredibly cute I had to take a photo.