12/15 - Carriage ride

 

We had a wonderful evening yesterday.   I have never ridden on a horse-drawn carriage.  So, I wanted it to be special.   I noticed a few months ago that you can reserve one to take you through a Christmas lights neighborhood.  So I reserved one for last night.  It fit 4-6 people so I invited Ty and Rossi.   We met at Jorg's for dinner beforehand.  Rossi doesn't like German food or sausages.  Tatiana thought that they put too much sauce on her spaztle.    But, Tatiana got a chocolate Torte so she was happy. 
We drove separately to the carriage location.   I was disappointed in the carriage we were assigned.  It was more of a wagon although other people got the pretty carriage from the photo.   I didn't want to say anything to spoil it for Tatiana.   It was a really nice way to see the lights.  Horses get right of way, and we were able to go down the middle of the road at the horses preferred speed.  So we went slow but never had to stop.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Tatiana went oooh and ahhhh a lot. 

 

 

12/13 Thoughts on Huck Finn

 Huck Finn is what we are listening to now.   I am glad that this is a family-thing rather than a schoolroom-thing.  Who knows what slant they would give?   On Sunday on the way to church we reached the point in the book where Huck decides to rescue Jim even though he is sure it means he will go to hell.  On the way back from church, we talked about she thought was happening and we were proud of her. 

Going to try a new restaurant (to us) in Princeton tonight. 

12/12 Sunday

 

We went to church.    They did a little Christmas show put on by the kids.   Then someone was baptized.   Scotland and Tatiana know that makes me emotional and they both reached over to touch me.  I'd like Tatiana to see what an Episcopal service is like, so next Sunday we will go to our old church in Plano.  

I combed Tatiana's hair when we got home.  I did half of it while watching Gnomio and Juliet.  The couple didn't die in this version.   I liked that.   I also liked that Tatiana has already seen the real version.   Then she cleaned her room for a bit.   Then we'd gone to dinner at the 'good queso' place.  That had been prearranged.  Then I almost finished combing the rest of her hair while we watched Mulan 2.   She was whimpering and then later crying but she kept saying nothing was wrong. 

 

12/11 Saturday

 

Saturday was the first day Scotland was home and done-ish with moving Godfather Ty.    He glowed with happiness.   Tatiana spent most of the day cleaning her room.  All three of us cleaned the kitchen and kitchen table.   Then around 4pm the Stallmans except for Liz and Elisa arrived.   They'd been confused about the start time of the parade and thought it started 2 hours before it did.  So instead of driving home they hung out with us instead.  Tatiana loved it.   The kids are all so great.  Scotland put the Christmas tree upright.   Happiness.  
The parade was great.   We accidentally got a great spot across for the parade announcer.   We were going to stay for the Polar Express movie, but we were all so cold.  

 

Thursday 12/9

 It was another nice day for Tatiana and I.   She did her math, history and chores without a fuss.  We were both in a good mood.  She has really liked eating fruit lately.  The other day she asked for some Raspberries when I went to the store.  She has liked those in particular lately.  Later that day she came to me with the empty carton and said, "Mom, you forgot to buy the raspberries.    They were wonderful!"  Yesterday I bought some strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.   She tried the blackberries, but said that they were too sour.  When Scotland came home, he wanted to be alone and to watch football.   So, we got ready for bed early, and climbed into the mommy-daddy bed and listened to our audiobook.   She played on Roblox and I did Nonograms.  We've been listening to Mark Twain.  We did Prince and the Pauper first, then Tom Sawyer, now Huck Finn.   She doesn't like when people talk highfalutin, so she didn't like parts of the Prince book, and she doesn't like the King and Duke.   After these we will go back to the ones assigned by her history.  Although, Mark Twain is very American, and it is American History, so I don't feel bad for the diversion. 

Wed 12/8

 

Scotland was gone all day again today.   He thinks he will be done Friday.   Tatiana got some math done and played with the Lego Robotics kit.   I took a photo of her doing that that I should add.   My main thing was that she stay out of her room and not take a nap.  So, she'll get to sleep at a normal time.  

 

12/7 Tuesday

Ordinary day yesterday.   They were gone for most of the day.   They did vision therapy and then went to Ty's.    They ate dinner there and brought some home to me.  Tatiana liked Rossi's cauliflower, and she has never liked it before.  She played with the Lego Robotics.    She did one math lesson while watching game videos.  I just checked the Beast Academy website.   She did 2 lessons plus a bunch of puzzles.  We need to wake her up and make sure she does stuff.  She has been staying up late in her room.  She adorable with what she is doing.  But, then she doesn't want to wake up in the morning. 

 

 

12/6 Monday

 

It has mostly been Tatiana and I together at home since Scotland is still moving Godfather Ty.  She didn't get much done on Monday.  She started to try to play with her Lego Robotics set.   But the base needed to be charged.    Pooh.    The play date was Kristen's house.   They run towards each other and hug.    It is adorable.  

Tatiana has reached the age where a best friend is most important.   Both Patty and I really appreciate the relationship that they have. 

 

Sunday 12/5

 

We are getting used to Yogi being gone.  Yesterday I heard her tell Kristen about it when they talked on the phone.   I think she is handling it well.   Sad but recovering.    Yesterday was just a Mommy/Daughter day since Scotland is still moving Godfather Ty.   We both spent some time moping but otherwise we spent together.   She is quite behind on her math.   I hadn't realized it, but when she last went to Camp Grandparents, I'd made a change on her tablet, and hadn't turned the passcode back on.    So, she's been spending hours looking up stupid stuff on youtube.   Mostly silly music.   Tablet is locked down now. 

When Scotland got home, we went to the Lego exhibit at the Farmersville museum.  It was neat.  Although, as expected, I got bored before they did.    Then we drove to see the downtown lights.   I wanted to eat first since we were all hungry.   I didn't care where we ate, and Tatiana wanted to go back to the "Good Queso" place.  A Mexican restaurant changed owners and we tried it Thursday.    Tatiana loved the queso, and didn't like the children's quesadilla.   I was glad we'd already seen the lights.   I was too full to pay attention to the Christmas lights. 

 

 

 Gram posting:

She loves to brush her hair while watching TV

Lego

 
Tatiana has been very interested in Lego recently.  That is heartwarming to this mother because it tells me that her eyes are improving.  The desk under her bed is entirely legos.   I need to add a photo of it. 

Last night, Scotland went to bed at 6pm.   This is extremely weird for him, so he must have really needed it.  I had wanted to play a game as a family.   I had done a borrow/swap with a friend at work, and I wanted to play one of the name games.   5 minute Dungeon and 5 minute Marvel.   Earlier Tatiana said that she wanted to play the Marvel version.   I saw that 2 people could play, so we played and had lots of fun.   It is a cooperative game.  The first time we played we were trounced.   To win you have to defeat a certain number of cards in 5 minutes.   There is an app that goes along with the game.  Our second time, we knew better what to do and did well.  Then I started to change the voice used in the app and Tatiana became fascinated with that. 

Oct 28 - Dark Hour Haunted House

 Had an amazing day yesterday.    We met Ty and Rossie at the Dark Hour haunted house.   Tatiana and I wore our medieval dresses.  She brought Pume, a stuffed black Puma cat.  She stayed close behind me.  The haunted house was amazing.  I tried to figure out what reaction to give the actors that wouldn't scare Tatiana.  At first I went with a fake "eeek".   Then I settled on a "Roaaar" like a toddler doing a bear imitation.   In one room it was well-lit and these people in a bull costume were coming up to us.   Tatiana did the "Roaaar"   It was sooooo adorable.   Just seeing her not scared and participating and then also being adorable. 

Then we went out to eat.  We had a nice meal and a chance to talk.   A stranger that had been sitting nearby but leaving said that she "loved my laugh."   Tatiana liked the food.  We went to Olive Garden. 

Oct 27th - Played Suburbia

 Tatiana and I played Suburbia.   Well, we aren't done yet.   We played it during one of my breaks.   She was teaching me how to play, so we played the "super simple version."   So far she is beating me.   But, she explained that she has played a lot.   They also have an app, and she plays on that. 
They went to IKEA today.    The loft bed she wanted wasn't in stock.  

mouthpiece missing

 
Sunday Tatiana realized that she'd forgotten to remove her mouthpiece after we'd left the house.   Last night (Monday night) at bedtime I told her I wanted to see it.   Cue much sad searching.    It isn't in her purse or jacket, the two likeliest places.   I think it might be in the back of the car.  She asked how much a new one cost. 

Saturday Oct 23rd

 

We had a great day.   Tatiana and I got off to a rocky start because she wanted to work for 10 minutes on cleaning the goat house then watch an episode of Gravity Falls.   Then she apologized and the rest of the day was great.  A couple of weeks ago I'd ordered a lot of 15 random Disney pins.  This is for her to trade with other people while we are at Disney World.  After they came, I decided I wanted to wear some and maybe trade a few.   So, I ordered a lot of 50.   They arrived today.   The photo below is of the 50 that just arrived, and the white package of the 15 that had arrived before.   We had fun looking at them.  

In the evening we went to downtown Farmersville and watched Nightmare before Christmas.   I'd never seen that before.   Tatiana loves to get a box and sled down the hill on the other side of the onion shed.  She got to see the Stallman kids.  We all enjoyed the movie.   We stopped at Hibbits on the way home. 

 

First day of college classes

Fairly ordinary co-op school day

 

Yesterday she had a fairly ordinary day.  She meant to bring her glasses so that she would see how things looked different.  But, she forgot her glasses.  The Stallmans picked her up after school because Scotland was still at the UHaul place getting the hitch installed on the Cadillac.   They didn't get done with the car until almost 7pm.   Tatiana said it was boring at the Stallmans.   I would guess that no one wanted to play.  Scotland and Tatiana watched a One Piece episode.  Then we all climbed into bed and Scotland read the current book which is "Tales from Texas: Some of Them are True."  After that, she wanted to listen to something while cleaning her room.   She never wants to do that during the day.   But, when we said no to listening while cleaning, she climbed next to me in bed and fell right asleep.   Scotland carried her to her own bed later.  

Past Cute Remarks by Tatiana

 This is Gram:

I was remembering when she was here & about 4 years old. I looked outside & it was raining. I said "Who ordered this rain?" Tatiana replied "God did "

Also at about 4 years old I was singing "Nobody knows the trouble that I have seen." She said "Grandpa knows"

Last time that she was at our house she brought up something funny that she had said years ago when I said that I was getting out  the glue gun. She said that she did not want to be in the same room because of noise the gun would make. LOL

First Performance

 

During the day Friday, Tatiana and I worked really hard on her lines.  She knew just where she really needed work, so she studied those before we practiced.  I would put a mark next to lines when I needed to help her out.   Then she studied her lines again.   The next time through the play I made a different mark.  So, then she knew that she really really needed to work on lines with two marks.  

Friday morning, Tatiana ran to me and gave me a big hug.   She even let me kiss her a lot on her forehead.  When we were done, she said, "My forehead is wet."  I feigned ignorance and said, "I have no idea why that would be."  Scotland said, "Like Mother, Like Daughter."   I asked him what she had done that was like me.  He said, "No, you are like your mother with the kiss-kiss-kiss"  

The play started at 7 pm.  Everyone had to be there by 5:30 pm.   Friday morning she told me that people could get there at 3 pm, if they wanted to go over their lines since the theater would be open.  Tatiana thought it was funny that they had said, "Homeschoolers, don't show up at 9 am."    I had been packing up the food, so I hadn't heard.  Tatiana wanted to arrive early.   

When we got there a little after 3 pm, Grayce said she would go over the lines with Tatiana.  She gave Tatiana suggestions as they went through them.    Then before the play, all the actors ran through the lines again.  I think those two runs though the play really helped Tatiana.  

Tatiana did AMAZING in the play.  She rarely messed up any of her lines, and she frequently helped out the other actors by saying their lines.  There were a few places where she talked a little fast.  She had a couple of pauses while she remembered her lines.  But she was truly amazing.   I got teary during the ovation.   Actually, I'd gotten teary several times during the play.    When the actors were all backstage afterward, we heard this big cheer.   The audience was standing around talking and we wondered what they were so excited about.   My guess was that they had just gotten their candy surprise.  Someone said no, they are too old to get that excited about candy.   Scotch, Maybe.  We learned later that they were cheering Tatiana's performance.  They declared her MVP.   Several people in the audience made a point of telling us how amazing our daughter did.  She remembered a vast majority of her lines and helped out other people several times.  For the lamplighter scene, he still didn't know his lines so they 'improv'ed' it.   He was so grateful.   There was only one scene with a long pause.   The fox didn't remember his lines, and she couldn't think of a way to help.   

After the play Tatiana wanted to go to Hibbit's.   That made sense to me because we had gone to get ice cream after several of the rehearsals.  Then we learned that the other actors were going there too.   She sat with them and we sat at another table.   She was in her glory.    I think something she really liked about being in the play was that she could hang out with the cool, older kids and they didn't mind.      The other kids commented many times on how cute she was.   I think she made them feel like mature adults and that is heady stuff to a teenager.  

I had taken a video of the play on Thursday during the rehearsal.   In fact that was helpful too.   She asked to watch the video of the first part of the play with the long pauses.  I was extremely happy to see a guy setup a video camera with an equipment bag.   He was recording the play as a favor to Grayce.  I asked if he was selling the video.  He said he doesn't sell the videos, but he could give me a copy.   I talked to him during intermission and gave him my email.  He will email me his address and I will have Amazon ship him a flash drive.   I should have just gotten his address then.   

Last rehearsal

 

Last rehearsal.  It was the first time they ran through the play without being fed their lines when they forgot.  So, they floundered up there with long awkward pauses.     There was a large section at the beginning and another at the end that Tatiana forgot most of her lines.   But, that was very helpful for her because she knew precisely what she needed to work on.  She wasn't the only one that forgot a lot of lines.   The Aviator was much worse, and the lamplighters lines were almost totally forgotten. I think their examples had made it harder for Tatiana.   She was always doing better than some of the older experienced kids, so she thought she was doing just fine with her lines.  

In the Wednesday rehearsal, Emma had been praised for feeding Tatiana her lines when they were on stage together.  On the last rehearsal on Thursday Tatiana was feeding lines to the other actors.   But she was chastised for that.   It did sound really bad since it sounded like Tatiana was saying one of her lines and no one could hear it.  But Grayce, the director, told her to change the other person's lines so that it would make sense coming from her and then say them herself.   One of the lines she'd fed were, "Can you tell me about your journey?"   If they forgot, she would say, "Would you like me to tell you about my journey?"  That was hugely helpful.   

Rehearsal

 
I had asked the director, Grayce, for some extra rehearsals for Tatiana.   Grayce's mom who is also the mom of Henry playing the fox had asked me if Tatiana could do an extra rehearsal with him.  So, that worked.   We'd scheduled an extra with Henry for Tuesday and then another with Clem, the aviator on Thursday.   Mondays regular rehearsal was cancelled because of the snow. Grayce had sent out an email that she would be at the theater on Tuesday and Thursday in case anyone wanted to come.  They did the rehearsal with just Henry, Tatiana and Grayce on Tuesday.  Yesterday, Thursday, some of the other people came also.  About half the play is just Tatiana and the Aviator talking.  The last regular rehearsal before this snow misery, Tatiana really struggled to remember her lines and I think Elisa had gotten annoyed at her.  Tatiana got nervous that rehearsal and started to laugh a lot.  We hadn't worked on the play much because her throat was bothering her the weekend before.  So, since the bad rehearsal, Tatiana and I have been working hard at her memorizing her lines.   We started out with her memorizing a chunk at a time.  Then we'd read that chunk, then we'd read through all the stuff she'd already memorized.  Now we read through the play once per day.   At the Thursday rehearsal, Tatiana had her lines best of everyone there.   She has the second most lines to memorize.    She talks as often as the aviator, but he has lots of monologues.   Tatiana only has a few.   The kid playing the Aviator seemed to really know what he is doing, so if Tatiana is doing better, I am pleased.  

Doctor Wars

 Yesterday, Tatiana got out a game we'd never played before.    She wanted to play it, but she didn't say anything to us.   She set it up herself and read the rules.   She was confused about part of the setup, so she watched a video online.  Then she explained the rules.   Then my next work break, we played and she explained the rules to us.  We really enjoyed the game.   Poor Tatiana.  When two nurses or two doctors want to be in the same room, they have a war using dice.    She lost all but one of about a dozen wars.   Scotland won with 380, Tatiana had 280 and I had 250.   

One Piece

 

There is an Anima show called One Piece.   It has been around for a great many years.  Scotland really liked it and was eagerly awaiting when Tatiana would be old enough to watch it with him.   Recently they started to watch.    They both love it.   It seems like a very silly show.    They both laugh a lot.    They are on show 33 and there are more than 1000 shows, and counting.  

Rehearsals

 

Tatiana had her third rehearsal, and the second that was on stage.  She did well.   She didn't have her lines memorized yet, but neither did anyone else.  One thing that impressed me was that even though her script did having the blocking, i.e. movements, notes on it, she still remembered most of them.   

They'd had leftover brownies that they'd tried to sell to the musical performance the previous day.   She ate about 4 of them.    

We started a tradition of getting an ice cream scoop at Hibbits on the way home.   She really enjoys that.  With all the work involved, I want to make sure the play stays fun for her.  

We already have her costume.  We had to buy a green jumper and a yellow scarf.    The scarf I picked is nice and can be used later, but not the jumper.  Only spent $20 for both, so I can't complain.  Next rehearsal both directors will be there and I'll have her wear her costume.  

UNO GAMES

 We played 3 UNO games & Garndpa won 2 & I won 1. 

Grandpa wins most & I said instead of UNO = should call it GRANDPA game.

Supper Choice & Cookie Baking

 We let her pick what to have for supper tonight. She chose nachos .Cookie baking has begun. It is fun to listen to them working together.

 Last night when she gave us goodnight kiss = she told Gram she would love her forever. Then to Grandpa = she said she would love him for an eternity. LOL She teased & said eternity is longer than forever. LOL