NYE Party

Wednesday

Tatiana went to see Santa yesterday.   It was great.   I took the afternoon off, and WFH'ed that morning.  They did schoolwork and I got to listen in.  Judith called to say that she is going to New Zealand on Christmas Eve.   So, she won't be with us at Christmas.    Tatiana was upset.   I think it was also that it meant that she wouldn't be seeing any of her cousins.  But, none of her girl cousins are local anymore. 

She looked adorable in her green velvet Christmas dress.   I tried to put the gold baby bracelet on her, but it was too small.  So, I put a gold chain bracelet on her.  I wanted to expose it for the Santa picture, but it wasn't there.  We wanted a profile of her, so we told her to give Santa a kiss on the cheek.   The photo was super cute.  But, then we had them get a photo of her chatting with Santa.   It was even better.   And the pose was very Tatiana since she was being natural.   She asked Santa for a goat, and then they started to chat about chickens.   Santa has chickens. 

Wednesday evening we played a variation on Splendor.   All the gems and all the Nobles.   It was interesting. 

Tuesday

Tatiana woke up first and crawled into my spot in the big bed.  There was a goat book there that I had been reading.  She propped up some pillows and started to read the goat book.  Scotland woke up to that sight. They had a productive school day and Tatiana played a bit outside near Scotland while he was working.   I got home just in time to take her to dance.  Then Scotland and I watched an Orville show.  Then I set up her sewing machine so that when she got out of dance, she could start right on her project.  She did great at sewing.  It also helped that we have a great sewing machine.   She was the first one done, even though we arrived 40 minutes late due to dance class.  She made a fleece stocking.   Bedtime was great.   I wasn't able to listen to the audiobook for as long as I wanted because my legs were twitchy. 

Monday

Monday morning they had a productive school day.   Then they went to piano.  Then they came to my work to pick up the water heater part.   Then she went to Adventure Kids for an hour.  I picked her up after work and we went to the 4H Christmas Party.   I had to do the final things for the mac and cheese and the kids were being gathered together for an activity.   So I told her to go with them.  Then all the kids were sent outside.  I checked on her when I was done with the food and she seemed to be having fun.   She said later that she was miserable with the cold and was trying to distract herself.   I don't think she really had fun.   She'd gotten cold to the bones.   Scotland joined us at the party when it was almost done.   He was on his way home from the rent house. 

Monday bedtime started out great.   Scotland stopped off at Home Depot to buy some stuff.  So, at first it was just the two of us.   I needed to read her the next section of the guide book in order for her to do her math the next day.   So, we did that in bed.   She talked me into reading two sections.  Then when I started where we'd left off in the Childcraft Sea book, she was deliberately not paying attention.  At first was humming to herself.   Then she was playing with a stuffy.   Then she was practicing piano in her head with finger movements.   So, I kissed her goodnght and told her that was it for bedtime.   When she isn't sleepy, she is allowed to turn on the light and read in bed.   When Scotland got home it was a bit late and he went in to tell her to put the book away and turn the light out.   Then he saw that she was reading her Beast Academy Guidebook.   So, instead he got me, so that I could peak in on her too.  We both teared up a little. 

Great family day

Yesterday was a great day.   They did schoolwork, although they couldn't find the FLL book.  Scotland was doing that extra pier for the addition.   He hadn't connected that the support beam would have to be cut to match the roof line, thereby making it worthless as a support beam.   So, therefore the need for the extra pier. 

Tatiana did a little bit of tidying up, then Tatiana played Splendor.   We did the to-15 version.   Then the three of us played a couple of games.  When it was the three of us, I was sitting on the couch with Tatiana and she wanted lots of kisses.   That was wonderful.   Then Scotland tired of games, so Tatiana played a couple of Monopoly games. 

Bedtime was nice.  She'd been angelic all evening.  She is reading an Illustrated King Arthur book with Scotland.  I read her part of the Childcraft Sea book.  We finished Popper's Penguins, then started Wrinkle in Time. 

Earrings

We had trauma yesterday   We got our ears pierced early Oct.   I got new earrings for us.   I'd swapped mine out about a week ago.  Last night she wanted hers swapped out.  There was blood and big tears.   It was horrible.

Before that, we'd had a nice evening.  I picked her up from dance.   One thing funny on that.  Scotland left after dropping her off at dance class.  He said to me, "She doesn't have any shoes."  while holding a pair of her shoes."    I said, "What do you mean?  She has lots of shoes."    He'd meant that she didn't have any non-dance shoes.   We got home and I combed her hair while she eat dinner then we listened to Pentatonix Christmas songs.  Hair is completely combed now. 

During the daytime, they had done schoolwork, then went to play at the Stallmans. 

Monday

First full daily back together.  Tatiana spent a week with her Gram and Grandpa.  We got her yesterday.   I took today off from work.   We are having a nice normal day home from work.  Except that Scotland had to go to Plano.   The water heater wasn't working.   Tatiana and I did schoolwork.  And some of the Christmas tree lighting. 

We are at piano lesson.   She just did the first song in her new book and did it great the first time.  So they are moving on to the next one. 

Nice day at home

Tatiana had a nice day at home.   She really needed that.   While Scotland has been working at the Stallmans, they haven't had a chance to spend time together.   In the evening she said, "She wasn't doing bad.   She wasn't doing good.   She was doing great!" 

AHG Pet care meeting

Tatiana created a song. Nice Saturday

This is a song Tatiana wrote herself.  She played it for me.  It sounded good.

We had a nice mother-daughter day.   We had drop Scotland off at the Stallmans.  Friday evening the Ram had gotten stuck in the mud and they were too tired to deal with it.  Tatiana was disappointed that she wasn't staying to play there.  I think she needed some home time, though.

We had a nice day.   She did some work, and then we played a game or did something else, then she did some more work.  I took a nap.  We played some Christmas songs on the computer.  She is like me in that she loves Little Drummer Boy.   She found the song on Youtube by Pentatax (or something like that).   It was very pretty.  We listened several times.

At bedtime, she put her nightie on inside-out.  I'd been wearing a sweatshirt inside out during the day because it is comfier.  I asked her about it and she said it was because it was comfier.  When Scotland got home later he asked if it did that to be like mommy and she said Yes.

After her bedtime, I told Scotland what a nice day we had.   He said that she had told him that she was worried that I didn't have a fun day.  He said that people sometimes have a hard time understanding how I am feeling.   Sunday morning I told her what a nice day I had with her.   She beamed. 

Ice Skating

This is Tatiana ice skating.  Kristen is the girl in the pink jacket.   I think that is Raelyn in the skirt.   Scotland is helping the Stallmans build their house.  Patty offered to pick up Tatiana and take her with them.   That was so wonderful.
Tatiana came home exhausted. 

Kristen's Birthday party

Kristen had her party at Shenigan's in Greenville.  It was lots of fun.   Tatiana got to do Laser Tag.   The girls did lots of giggling.   They had these shooting conga lines would form where one girl would be happily shooting the girl in front of her while being shot by the girl behind her. 

Then they got cards for playing games. 

Halloween

Monday after fun weekend

We woke up at Gram and Grandpa's house.   I packed up our stuff and we hit the road pretty quickly.  I had to be at work by around noon.   Tatiana and I cleaned up our stuff.    In the evening, I told Tatiana that Gram had thanked us for cleaning up (I was trying to encourage her to clean when I wasn't there to tell her to do it).   Scotland was there and said that was one reason he didn't want to drive home late Sunday.   We had a nice ride home.   There were lots of pillows in the backseat.   When we dropped Ty off, I gave Tatiana the option of sitting in the front seat.   She took me up on it.   Scotland got annoyed when I commented to Tatiana how nice it was in the backseat with the pillows. 
We got home and Tatiana let the chickens lose.   She said that a chicken was laying and that she wasn't broody because she had lots of feathers under her.  She had a headache but she still did schoolwork and cleaned up some.  Cleaning up she found her Kindle that had been lost forever.  Living Room is still a disaster.  We wonder if the headache might be because she didn't have her shot the last two nights. 
We made a super cute tail for her Halloween costume.   Then she played with it.   It really swings since the center is a wire hanger that was straightened.  . 

Tatiana enjoys the soccer game

They had an ordinary morning.  She slept a little late and Scotland woke her up so that they could do schoolwork.  Then they went to McKinney to buy something, I forget what.   Then they want to the Habitat store.   Scotland called me to say he found a bath for the Master bathroom.   He wanted me to approve it.    It was an excellent choice.   Brand-new, nice and big and it had handles on the sides.  Scotland said that most of the nice big ones have jets on them.   Tatiana was playing with Scotland's phone, and I was quite upset at him about that.   

This is Tatiana last night just after she got a goal.   She got two goals and one assist.  I think the best part was that when she was playing goalie, she was cheer-leading for her team.  Something she did that I thought was funny.   When the ball came flying toward her she would put her arms in front of her chest so that a ball would hit her forearms instead.   She'd also cringe a little.   She is such mommies girl.   Scotland was totally glowing throughout the game.  It would have been a practice, but they made it a game because so many were rained out. 

When we got back from the game, I combed her hair.   She is totally and completely combed right now.  She also finished the Building Thinking Skills software.   It was hard there at the end.   A few of the questions didn't have a good answer and I had to call Scotland in and we'd discuss as a family. 
At bedtime, she wanted more Daddy time instead of Mommy time.  She was really worried that she would hurt my feelings.  Since she was upfront, she didn't hurt my feelings at all.  Then later she wanted some Mommy time, but she just talked.   She is worried about this 'Caravan'. 

Went to Ty's house

They did schoolwork in the morning.   Then they went to help Godfather Ty.  They emptied a storage unit and brought the stuff to his house.  They were ready to leave around 4 pm, but it was raining so they decided to wait until after rush hour.   Tatiana made a giant fort in the hallway.   She also gathered stuffed animals and put them in the fort.  For example, a lion was guarding the entrance.  They left at 6:30 pm and didn't get home until 8:00 pm.  She needed some mommy time, so we had belly time.   At tooth brush time she tried to say that the song was better than usual.  It was so bad it was hurting MY ears. 

At bedtime while she was waiting for us, she read a book called "101 pet jokes".   She had been doing that the night before and she told me some of them.  One was "How do you stop a 200 lb Hamster from charging?"    Answer, "Take away the credit card."

Nice Tuesday

This is her Ortho Bucks.   She will get some at every appointment if she does what she is supposed to do.   She wanted to put them on the fridge.   I worried that they'd fall to the floor and get kicked under the cabinets.   So, she was going "to use lots of strong magnets."    

Yesterday was a pretty ordinary day.   They did schoolwork.   I got home just in time to take her to dance.   Scotland was installing a hitch onto the Ram.   He said he understands why they charge $150 to install those. 

When I went to pick her up, I was waiting in the lobby and the dance room door was open.  She popped into the lobby to say "I love you Mommy." 

When we got home, she was hungry.   So, she ate first.   Then we read the new Beast Academy Guidebook.   We do that on the couch and call it couch-schooling.   We both really like that.  BA3A, the book we were reading was the first book they published.   I heard from other homeschoolers that the first chapter got too hard too fast.   They recommended that you skip to Chapter 2 and then when you finish the book to go back to Chapter 1.   So, I read the first couple of sections of Chapter 2.   But she was nonplussed by the idea of starting with chapter 2.  So, she insisted that I read some of Chapter 1.   I really couldn't argue with her.   Now, if Chapter 1 problems get hard hopefully she will power through and not get discouraged, since she will know that it isn't her being insufficient. 

That reminds me.  On Monday, at the AHG meeting the kids were supposed to add up some numbers.  The mom that was leading was talking the kids through adding each number to the previous sum.   Tatiana looked at the numbers and re-ordered them in her head and came up with an answer really quick. 

Orthodontist visit

Yesterday started out pretty normal.   They concentrated on English since Tatiana and I haven't had a chance to go over the BA 3A guide book.  She had piano class, then they drove all over McKinney doing shopping.   Scotland tried to buy the materials to finish the addition.   Ordering all at once to save on shipping.   The line was so long that they had to leave before he could place the order.  They picked me up and we went to the ortho. together.  We got there a little late and that was distressing. 


One thing the orthodontist does, is she gives out tokens at every visit.   2-3 for coming in for the appointment, 2-3 for keeping up with clean teeth, 2-3 for something else.   Then they have a prize cabinet.    They had Tatiana look at the cabinet to pick out something to work towards.  She put the tokens in a baggie and placed it with about 10 string magnets on the fridge. 

This is Tatiana being evaluated. She was wearing her new Unicorn shirt.   One of the nurses commented on her cute cowboy boots.  She tells everyone that her Grandpa got them for her.  She'd gotten a unicorn statue for her birthday.  She'd played with that yesterday.    

We have an appointment for early January to get the phase 1 braces started.   Scotland checked and we'll have plenty in HSA to pay for what insurance won't pay.  Tatiana did excellent during the appointment. 

Yesterday evening was an AHG meeting.  It was archery.   We didn't miss much since the girls took turns using trying to shoot arrows.  She wasn't allowed to play after the meeting because still in the doghouse.

When she doesn't get asleep we let her turn the light on and stay in her room.   I was trying to sleep and I heard a pounding.   I thought it was Scotland fixing something, but it was Tatiana.   She was on her chalkboard.   She was also singing to herself.   She is such a happy girl. 

Good weekend

We had a good weekend.   Tatiana is still in the doghouse.    She was invited to a birthday party on Saturday.   The invite came a few hours after she lied.   We agonized over whether or not to let her go.   We wouldn't have even considered it if it weren't Samuel's party and he is a sweet boy.  We decided to let her go because it would be unfair for Samuel to be hurt. 

Saturday morning was her soccer game.   It didn't rain, but it was very mudy.   Tatiana tried hard and kept her head in the game.   She had some hurt, like a ball hit her, but she kept playing.   We told her how good that was. 

Saturday afternoon I mainly combed her hair.   She had a huge knot from when we got behind on the combing, so I've been working on that.  She did amazing on the Building Thinking Skills program.   They did analogies and she got the idea right away.   The program is listed as 4th-6th grade logic.  Scotland sometimes comes by when she is doing that and watches.  He is impressed too.   We haven't told her it is advanced.  I think partly it being software helps.   If she had to write, her hand would get tired writing in all the answers she is able to give on the computer during one combing session. 

Sunday we went to church.   She doesn't think Sunday school is fun anymore.   They have donuts in the fellowship hall after church.  I used to get one for her while Scotland got her out of class.  Then a couple of weeks ago she got demanding about it when they had fun out before I got to the box.   So, I told her they were a treat, and obviously she'd had too many if she didn't realize they were a treat.   So, I wouldn't get any for her for a bit.   By the time they get down from Sunday School, the donuts are all gone.  She didn't ask for one Sunday. 

They were going to leave at 1 pm, so she changed clothes.  Then we cleaned each other's earring area.   She watched how I did hers, and did the same to me.  She was so careful and concentrated hard.  It was adorable.   I worked on combing her hair, and I got it close enough to completely combed that she could wear her hair down. 

Scotland and Tatiana and Ty went a soccer thing in Frisco.   There was a Dallas game, then a Legends game, then some autographs.  They didn't get home until about 10 pm.  Scotland was totally glowing.   He said everyone had fun.  Scotland had found the soccer book that he used to convince his father to let him play soccer.   The book convinced his dad that soccer wasn't 'that commie game.'   I wish I'd met his dad.  Scotland had the legends players do the autographs in the book.    He said it is now Tatiana's book since it says "To Tatiana ..." all over it.  It was her that asked for the autographs.  They were apparently quite charmed by her. 

Tatiana lied

Yesterday morning I was trying to reach Scotland's cell phone while they were home.  Around the same time he was looking for his phone.  He asked Tatiana if she knew where it was.   She said that she didn't.   She had the cell phone. 

State Fair Visit

We went yesterday with Jaedyn's family to the State Fair.   The highlight for me came at the end.   The last thing we did was ride the Ferris wheel.  When it was being discussed earlier I'd said I would ride it on one condition that Scotland and I kiss at the top.  The first time through is when they were loading people, and we kissed on the top.   The second time it doesn't stop.  Tatiana said, "I will tell you when to kiss.  Now"  I think she was just telling us what she was going to say at the top.  But, I decided to give HER a kiss.  Scotland saw what I was doing, and gave her one too.  She got a really happy smile.   That was the highlight for me. 

It was cold and rainy.   It was only mid-50's which wasn't bad except that it was rainy and it had been rainy for awhile so there were many puddles.   Everyone had cold, wet feet the entire day.   But, the girls had fun.   Since their weren't many people the animals in the petting zoo were appreciative of food.   Normally, even on weekdays they are full and don't really care for more.  At one point, Tatiana called Jaedyn, "Kristen".   No one noticed except Jaadyn and I.  I didn't want to emphasize by saying anything.   There wasn't any animals to see because it was a public speaking contest day.  The girls rode lots of rides.   The only weird food we ate was deep-fried spam.  It was extremely salty.   Early in the day Tatiana was bored and whiny and wanted to go home.   Around lunchtime she started to enjoy herself. 

Busy weekend

Saturday morning Tatiana slept late.  In fact I had to wake her up around 11 am. She had a birthday party to go to at 3 pm.  It was in Plano and we wanted to run some errands on the way so we had to leave early.   It was at Jump Mania, which is the bounce house place we liked when we lived in Plano.  They had originally planned on doing a park day, but they switched because it was predicting rain, which happened.   Tatiana seemed to have fun. 

After that Scotland did some hardware store shopping while Tatiana and I listened to the audiobook.  Then we went to a Chinese buffet. 

Sunday we went to church.  I had to wake both of them up for it.  I started to feel a bit ookie during the service.  So, I took a nap in the afternoon.  I felt better after the nap.  We went to a home church meeting Sunday evening.   The boy there played on his tablet all evening.  Very annoying. 

Tatiana and I went over her recent math.   There was a problem in the guidebook that was interesting.   There was a room with 6x6 checkerboard tiles.   There was a door into the room on one side, and three doors out.   Two of the doors had a 'colossal collection of creepy crawlies'.   The third door had the kidnapped math teacher.   The door with the math teacher is the only one that could be reached by by walking on every tile once.  She knew from the chapter that if you make an even number of moves, you finish on a tile of a different color.   I had her color in the tiles like it was a checkboard and she got the answer right away because the first door had a tile of a different color than the other two.  I was so impressed that I showed it to Scotland. 

Tatiana recited a poem

Tatiana woke up feeling not sick.   She had a good day.  They did schoolwork.  Then they went to the old folk's home in Princeton to recite the poems they had memorized.  Scotland has a recording.   He said she spoke clearly, but the sound on the video wasn't that great.   There was lots of applause.  Then Scotland went to help James get something heavy.  So Tatiana played at the Stallmans.  They got home just before time to leave for soccer practice.  I had forgotten that it was soccer practice night and they piled into my car when I pulled into the driveway.  She was adorable!    Only problem was that Jack kicked a ball into her back.   Jack is totally out of control.   During practice Scotland spends lots of time telling him the same things over and over and over.   After practice the other coach had to yell at him to stop him from running in front of a car. 
When we got home I needed to comb her hair.   She hadn't had dinner yet, so she was eating a Totino's pizza while I was combing.   She kept wanting to tilt her head back for every bite.  Drove me nuts. 

Tatiana sick

Yesterday was a normal morning.   Wednesdays are now the day that they don't have anything scheduled.  Then she said she was feeling sick and she asked to lay down on her bed.   Scotland had thought that she might have been just trying to get out of schoolwork.   But, he checked on her in a bit and she was sound asleep.  When I got home she was moaning a lot.  Her head hurt.  She spent some time playing with Legos and watching TV.   I had to work and Scotland was working outside.   At bedtime she was very sweet.  We are reading a Bible story book like we have been since she was a baby.   The Last Supper has happened and Tatiana is getting distressed that the Crucifixion is about to happen.  The other book we are reading is the Childcraft Animals book.   They had a photo of a Rennet fox.   Tatiana ooohed and cooohed over the photo.   It had huge furry ears, big eyes and cute fuzzy fur.    We are listening to Crenshaw.  I was tired before her allotment of audiobook.  So, I let her listen to the book on my phone after I left.  When Scotland went in to get my phone he found her watching youtube videos.   I was upset.  I won't be leaving the phone with her for awhile.  This morning I noticed that she was watching age-appropriate videos called sister vs brother, it looked like they were competing.    So there is that.   She also listened to all of a Magic Tree House book.   That pleased me because I had been thinking we will start on those next for audiobooks.   They are supposed to be fiction books that teach the kids history and maybe geography. 

Mommies bookworm

They left the house fairly early yesterday to shop for tools.  Scotland's cordless drills are really decrepit.   He uses them extremely often.  He was looking for some good deals.  He wanted a cordless drill, an impact driver and if he saw a 'worm-drive saw' he was going to get one of those.  Around lunch time, I got some silly smiley messages from Tatiana.   I called her.  She was extremely bored because Scotland was shopping.  She said something about waiting to go to the 'dog store next door'.   I couldn't quite understand what she was talking about.  Later I learned that it was a bookstore next door called "Dog-eared" or something like that.  Tatiana had requested that they shop there.  She got a book but I haven't seen what it is.  I was overcome with happiness when I heard that.  The afternoon, they did some schoolwork and then she went to dance at 6 pm.   When she was done with dance we had a nice evening watching an episode of the Bible TV show.  At bedtime she was acting a little wiggle-butt for both Scotland and I so we both ended our parts of bedtime early.  When she isn't asleep at the end of bedtime routine, we allow her to turn on a book and read.  She was reading that red book with Dr. Seuss-like books that I bought for her when she was a baby.  I took a photo, I will try to remember to upload it later. 

Loved Unicorn Top

Gram and Grandpa sent a gift to Tatiana.  It is a long sleeve pink glitter unicorn top..

Tatiana said : "

 She absolutely LOVES it.

"She has always wanted a shirt just like that."

So Gram & Grandpa are happy too.

Sleep Late Monday

Tatiana slept until around noon on Monday.   We'd had a busy weekend.   That is one of the things I love about homeschooling.   When she needs sleep, she can sleep.   She has to wake up by 9:30 am for church on Sundays, 8:30 am for co-op on Fridays, and 8:30 am for soccer on Saturday.  They did schoolwork in the afternoon.  Then it was play-date with Kristen.   We went to their house.  They played so cute.  Tatiana and I were both tired when we got home.  We didn't do the shot and Tatiana and I went straight to listening to the audiobook. 

Mensa Gifted Youth games meeting in Frisco

Sunday afternoon there was a Mensa Gifted Youth meeting in Frisco.   It was in a coffee shop called Nerdvana.  They had games you could borrow and games you could buy.  They had a really good selection.  This is Tatiana playing Monopoly with some kids.  It is a bad photo, but it is what I have.  We had lots of fun.   Ty was there too.   Adults were playing at the table I was in.  We played Splendor.   Ty won.  Then we played the Monopoly card game.   Tatiana and I played a game.  Then we moved to the restaurant next door.   They had video game controllers at the table.   You got a controller for free if you bought food.  At the table was the three of us, Godfather Ty, an 8-year-old boy named Tristan and his daddy.   We played several games of Monopoly with them.   Ty was mentally tired, so he vegetated on his phone messaging someone.  The dad, Rob, was really happy when I told him that the game was available on Amazon for $5.50.   He was also impressed when I told him that we'd only had the game for 2-3 months.  They are really beat up.  He said the kids want to play Monopoly.   It takes hours and hours, and then they don't play again for several weeks.  we'll probably see them at Mensa Gifted Kids functions in the future. 

OTS Parade and First Haunted House with Godfather Ty

Friday night we made mini pies for the 4H booth.  Tatiana really figured out how to get the pie crust in the mini-pie tins.  

Saturday morning was the Old-Time Saturday parade.  Tatiana was in the dance float.  We enjoy the parade.  Scotland and I enjoy the relaxed time to chat just the two of us. 



















We got home from the parade and Tatiana and I crawled into the big bed to read books. Tatiana is reading a Captain Underpants book. 

Tatiana did a performance Saturday afternoon for the festival.   This is her and one of the other little girls waiting for it to start.  There was a frontier-era gun-battle reenactment going on in the park.  

Saturday evening, we met Godfather Ty at a big Haunted House in Plano.   We got there early so that Scotland could shop at a hardware store.  It took much less time than he thought it would so we got there early.  Tatiana had run to meet him and give him a hug when she saw him. 

This is in line for the haunted house.   They do a little show to set the theme for the house.   It was a little loud.  She is wearing her Halloween dress and her Halloween ears.  She is carrying her stuffie that is a striped cat. 

We had lots of fun at the Haunted House.   She clung to her Daddy.   I stayed behind them to make sure no one scared her from behind.  Ty went first and pointed neat stuff out.   At first she had wanted to go through with her eyes closed.  Her daddy convinced her that what was in her head was much worse and then he pointed out how they did the scary thing that she saw first when she opened her eyes.   In the second haunted house, there was a different theme.  Tatiana declared that to be scarier.   But, it had some funny moments in it.  At one point there were two 'windows' with curtains on them.  Someone popped out of the first window and said, "Scary curtain" while fluttering it.  The second person said, "Scary noises" while fluttering their curtain. 

We went to a Chinese buffet nearby.   We talked and talked.   We weren't the last ones to leave, there was one other table.  But, they were definitely giving us hints to leave.  Ty had them get a photo of us.  

Thursday

Tatiana had a mostly stay in bed day.  She didn't wake up until 11 am.  Scotland was even up before her.  She did some math and then went back to bed.  She was in bed when I got home.  Then she got her soccer clothes on and we went to practice.  She did really good at the practice and the make-up game that happened afterward.  She was engaged in the game and tried really hard.  Several times she passed the ball to Jasmine who scored.  When we got home she said that she would do some of her math 'because it is fun.'  Then she needed a shower or a bath.  She decided on a bath.   I listened to her singing to herself the entire time.  She had the water up as high as it could go.  In fact, she asked why the water kept draining whichever way she had the drain switch.  I figured out that it was the overflow drain that she was triggering.   She was so happy. 

At bedtime, she was playing with her daddy and an earring came out.  Much trauma and whimpering.    I think she thought that it would hurt as bad to stick in the second time.  It took a long time but Scotland eventually found the back.   While he was still looking, I had taken the nice back out of my earrings and used it on hers.  I was just going to use one of the not-so-nice ones in my jewelry chest.  . I was happy when Scotland found her nice earring back. 

Wednesday - Bacon

Scotland said that he loved the way he woke up on Wednesday - to the smell of bacon.  Tatiana was cooking it.  Although, she "didn't cook enough" according to him.   On Saturday morning I was cooking bacon when Tatiana woke up and she really enjoyed eating the extra that I had made.  I thought I'd made extra enough for Tatiana and Scotland.   But Scotland maybe got one piece.  Sunday after church Tatiana cooked bacon herself when I was in the living room.   She cooked it to just the right doneness.  She said that was because "She'd forgotten about it".  Scotland said she'd overcooked Wednesday's bacon.  But, she will get better. 

Wednesdays are now a day in which they don't have anything on the schedule.  Piano was moved to Monday afternoon for that reason.  Late afternoon she went over to the Stallmans to play.  Scotland worked on the front arbor timber framing.  Then when I got home, I assisted.  The posts have this giant bolt that goes up inside the solid wood post.  Scotland had stacked pieces of wood around the bolt so that the post was able to rest at first just above the bolt.   Then he lifted the post in short bursts while I removed the wood pieces.   It is truly a sight to behold. 

Tatiana fell asleep on the way home from the Stallmans even though it wasn't even toothbrush time yet.  She woke up in bed though, then we had a normal bedtime but no shot. 

Getting pierced ears

This is Tatiana snuggling with her Daddy this morning.   Her foot is on Yogi.   She kept popping up to go to the bathroom or start heating her breakfast.   She'd tell Scotland, "Don't Move."   I told him "The sacrifices you make".    

 Tatiana and I got our ears pierced this afternoon.   First we picked out our earrings.  She picked out some pink sparkly heart ones.  I picked out some clear sparkly heart ones.  All the choices were nice.
I got them pierced first.  They had two ladies doing it simultaneously.   I tried super hard to not flinch or anything.  I succeeded, but it hurt worse than I remembered.   Tatiana was scared while waiting for her turn.   I held her hand.  They said On the count of 5, and then did it on three. 

This is Tatiana in the car.   I told her she could pick out one of the fancy lollipops that they had at the front.   I remembered mom and I going to eat pie after my first bra, so I wanted her to have something special.  I also followed her around while she looked at Halloween decorations.  The lollipop is Strawberry Banana and she said is tastes just like she would have thought.  

The afternoon between ear piercing and the first 4H meeting was good.  She whimpered occasionally when an earring was accidentally touched.   But, she seemed to totally not regret getting them pierced.   I think the fact that the earrings were cute, sparkly and pink helped. 

The 4H meetings were great.  They didn't get to play with Legos at the 4H Lego Robotics meeting, but they did get to play games.  We had to leave an hour early to go to Dance.  That was a disaster.   First, it was bring a friend free day.  She invited Macy and her mom hasn't responded to texts.  So, she didn't have a friend.  Also, I had been confused and I thought she was supposed to wear a costume.  She wasn't.   Also, she didn't have her tights.  So, I had to run home and get tights.  After dance we went to the sewing meeting.   I'd left the sewing machine there since I knew we'd be late and it was in the same room as the Lego Meeting.  Patty had my sewing machine setup, and that was nice.  Tatiana showed off her sewing machine knowledge.    The meeting was really nice and also productive.  The sewing machines were setup around the room at various tables and Kristen and Tatiana shared a table.  The girls first sewed on a piece of fabric with lines marked on it that they were supposed to follow.  That was good practice for Tatiana since she hadn't done curved lines before.   Then they made a 'Camp Caddy'.   Basically something with little pockets for shampoo, combs, etc.  They finished theirs and loved it.   I'll post photos from the meetings later. 

Weekend

Saturday morning was soccer.   I'd lost track of time, and Scotland and Tatiana had to really hussle to get ready in time.  Fortunately Scotland had put Tatiana soccer stuff in a pile.   Tatiana tried at soccer.  I had decided ahead of time that if she tried the two of us would go to Six Flags.  Sometime this weekend Scotland saw someone else's post of photos from the soccer game.  There is a photo of me.   I am paying attention to soccer and I'm smiling!    Wonders never cease.  I was obviously watching Tatiana.   We also made Tatiana promise to work hard Sunday on schoolwork in order to go to Six Flags.  So, we got ready very quickly for Six Flags.  Tatiana was motivated, and was hurrying me along.   She had wanted to redo her fingernail polish, but we told her that would be a bad idea. 
We got to Six Flags and I had the 2017 passes.   We had been plagued by the inability to tell the old ones from the new ones.  I think I'd tossed the wrong ones.  They let us in, but we couldn't get any food.   It wasn't a huge deal though, since we had to leave before 6 pm anyway. 
We had lots of fun at Six Flags.  The first ride was Justice League.  We got to the very front and they shut down the ride for 'technical difficulties.'  I needed to use the restroom.  The ride operator let us go and come back to the front.  We got back, and they had just started the ride.  I made the mistake of suggesting we go on the Roaring Rapids at the beginning.  I remembered not getting that wet in the past.  I got soaked and Tatiana got pretty wet.  So, we rode it several more times.   We sometimes didn't have to get off.  We were hungry so we got food at 7-11.   I was pooped when we got home.  Tatiana was happy to know that she is allowed to lay down in the backseat. 
Sunday we went to church.  She wore the pink dress again.  When we got home she changed into PJ's and did schoolwork.   About mid-afternoon JJ came over to play.  I had to tell him that Tatiana still had work to do.  Tatiana was sad about that.  But, she worked extra hard to finish her work.  Unfortunately when she was done, JJ wasn't home anymore.   So, Tatiana and I played three games of Monopoly.  Then she wanted some alone time in her room. 

Letter to Author

I think it is so cute that Tatiana wants to name our next dog after the dog in the book we are listening to now.  So I sent this to the author,

"Most important, our 8-year-old daughter has declared that her first puppy will be named "Bowser". 

I normally don't like Mysteries.  I'll read them anyway because I read a lot of books and sometimes they are at-hand.  My daughter seems to like mysteries.  I'd desperately wanted her to like audiobooks, and the first one I tried out on her was the first Boxcar book.   She loved it.  So, we kept listening to them.  There are way too many of them and after about 50 I had to insist that we move onto something else.  We've done many books since then including the Wizard of OZ, Narnia and Harry Potter series.  When 'Sara, Plain and Tall' was a flop, I needed another audiobook quickly and I noticed Woof was a kid's mystery, I snagged it. 

At first I inwardly rolled my eyes at the dog perspective.  I quickly realized it was an excellent device for a mystery book.   You, the author, don't have to assume the reader knows something that the main people in the book don't know, and you don't have to be cutesie hiding facts in the book used at the end.  Instead the dog sees, hears and smells things that Birdie doesn't.  Brilliant!  Since the facts are out there for the child-reader, the child can enjoy the mystery."

He responded by email with this,
"Many thanks! I'm sure your Bowser will be a lucky puppy.
Peter (spence)"

The reason for the two names is that these books are written under the Spencer Quinn name. 

When I told Scotland she wants to name a puppy Bowser, his response was "She hasn't even read Battlestar Galatica yet".   He doesn't listen to the bedtime audiobooks with us. 

Thursday

She had another ordinary day.   She woke up and did schoolwork.   Then they went to the Princeton Library with some other homeschoolers.   Sophia little brother was getting tired and acting up.  So, Scotland took Sophia and Tatiana back to our house to play.  When I got home Sophia was gone, but there were empty boxes scattered around.   They had built a fort and maybe a track. 
Then it was soccer practice.  She did good.  Several of the other kids just could not follow instructions. 
We got home and she was hungry.   She had leftover pizza from lunch and then she made herself a frozen dinner.  Then she had to clean.  It was adorable watching her put the empty boxes onto the wardrobe.  She had to clean and then at bedtime she was super tired.   So, she actually went to bed a little early.  She is very daddy focused right now, so she wanted extra daddy time. 

Wednesday

Wednesday was an ordinary day for Tatiana.  She got up and did most of her schoolwork.   Then they went to piano.  They moved piano to Monday afternoons so that they at least have one day a week with nothing scheduled.  Then they did a lot of errands in the afternoon.  They were going to be home late, so I stayed working late and got home just after them.  Tatiana was finishing her math when I got home.  When she finished and I'd checked it we played one game of Monopoly card game.  I was impressed with one problem that she'd gotten right.  It was skip counting patterns.  The problem was "99, 198, " and then a whole bunch of blank lines.  She got it entirely right.  I won Monopoly but it was a close game.  Then she wanted to play with the Lego house she was building that was entirely her idea. 

Tuesday

Tatiana had an ordinary day at home.   She did schoolwork.   She was watching this kid's video on youTube where they gave hints on the secret word.   They gave the letters one at a time, and then it was an anagram.  She was dressed for dance and ready.   She had marked off what she had completed on her schedule.  That pleased me.   She often does the stuff but doesn't mark it off. 

I took her to dance.  I still sometimes get confused about how long it takes to get somewhere and we got there early.  Tatiana played with the toys in the lobby.   There was a mom playing with her maybe 3-year-old boy where he was putting letter blocks on matching letter words.  Tatiana gave him that smile that says, "What a cute little boy".  She did good at dance.  She clearly prefers the Jazz class. 

Second AHG Meeting

Monday was the second AHG Meeting.  We had decided to do a different type of chart for Tatiana.   We had been doing a chart that had her chores and schoolwork on it.   So it would have "Feed Yogi" and "Do Math" and she was supposed to check each thing off every day.  But, we decided to get more specific.   So, instead of "Do Math" it said "Math up to page 62."  Also, she is so busy that her schedule gets confusing.   So if there is some activity for that day, like AHG, I make a note of it on the chart.   That is for Scotland also. 

When I got home she hadn't checked anything off.   So, I told her she couldn't stay after at the AHG meeting to play with Kristen since she hadn't done all her stuff.  But, we went through the list and she'd done everything on it.  Well, she was missing one page of math, but she had done three pages.  She'd still been behind from last week.  When we got home from AHG we sat on the couch and did the problems/puzzles together.  Scotland enjoys listening to us doing math together.  Scotland had looked at the Scope and Sequence on the local public schools website.  That is where they say what they are teach at each grade.  Except for fractions, she is doing 5th grade math, and the book she is on is marked as late Second Grade. 

The badge they were working on was cake decorating.   She is becoming an expert.  She had fun.  She is really enjoying playing with Taylor's kids.  They needed to shut down the church at the end of the meeting, and it was icky outside so Kristen and Tatiana didn't play afterward much at all. 

Weekend at Home

Friday Tatiana went to co-op.   She really seemed to enjoy playing with the magnets from the magnet lab.  I asked if she'd enjoyed the class.   Apparently all the kids were grumpy because Scotland made them do the lab instead of just playing with the magnets.  So, Tatiana was really happy to be able to play with the magnets.  She didn't realize it, but she was learning stuff about magnetism while playing.

When I got home all three Stallman boys were over.  They were playing the Lego board game when I got home.   Scotland was feeling poorly so he laid down for an hour.   It had been storming all day.  When it stopped raining for 10 seconds, they ran outside to the trampoline.  Scotland took the boys home. 

Later the electric went out.  Tatiana always gets irrationally scared when it storms and doubly scared if the electric went out. We had been playing Monopoly Card Game as a family.   Tatiana was trouncing us when the electric went out.  It was near bedtime.  So we listened to Woof in the big bed.  Then she moved to her bed and took Woof with her.   She has decided that she will name her first dog "Bowser" after the dog in the book. 

Saturday we stayed inside all day.   Tatiana stayed in her Friday night nightgown until around noon Sunday.  She did a certain amount of schoolwork, when we'd play a game, (repeat).

Sunday was the same.   She'd had a bit of a sore throat.  So, when they were both sleeping when we should start to get ready for church, I let them sleep.   Scotland went to visit Godfather Ty and take him something.  She was VERY disappointed she couldn't go.  When Scotland got home he laid down to recover from the drive and told Taitana that they'd play lego if she cleaned off the kitchen table.  She did, so they played for about a half hour.

This morning, Monday, shortly before I got out of bed, Tatiana came in saying that she'd had a 'bad dream' and asked to sleep in our bed.   Scotland and I were sleeping back-to-back.  I heard Tatiana say "Hmmm"  and then a little later "Hmmm" again.   I asked if she wanted to sleep between us, and she said "Yes" happily.   She'd been confused because there was nowhere for her to sleep.

At the Stallmans

This is Tatiana reading to Willa.  They look so much alike from the back with the hair.   Tatiana is the one on the left.   She is reading, "Don't let the Pigeon Stay Up Late". 

I asked how Tatiana was doing.   I sometimes have to chide Tatiana to speak clearly.   Liz said that, "Oh she did great.  Willa flips the pages faster than most people can read and she was very patient with her". 

I responded that I notice that Tatiana is holding the page down,   Liz said, "You have to" then added the smiley that is laughing so hard it is crying.

When they got home, Scotland said that she helped to milk a goat.  The goat just hoped on the milking stand and waited to be milked.

Ice Skating - 2nd time

Tatiana is at her second ice skating.   I guess she finished her schoolwork and felt better :) 

I picked Tatiana up from dance.  Tamara said that "She was much better at Jazz"   Which makes me wonder how she had been earlier.   Although she might have been tired from skating. 

She wanted to play Monopoly, but I combed her hair instead.  She does amazing with that Building Thinking Skills software.  We haven't told her but the level she is working on is for 4th-6th grade.  There was this one section though that I didn't think was setup right.   There were fish that swam past, and each fish was a word.   She was supposed to drag the fish into one of four buckets.  Each bucket had a different word on it.  The fish-word was supposed to have a close meeting to the bucket-word.  Some were fine.   Like the bucket for "Yielding" had "Mushy", "Spongy" and "Squashy".   But there were several words that didn't seem to have a good match.   We sat around and discussed it as a family and still didn't get them all right.   Also, she couldn't go on until she got at least 85% of the problems right.  Which she did.   But, if one of the 12 fish was in the wrong bucket then the whole problem was wrong. 

She was super-awake at bedtime because she'd gone to sleep at 11pm and awoke at 11am. 

Tuesday - first 4H general meeting

Yesterday they didn't do much schoolwork at all.   They had to go to the Plano house.   The city was complaining about low hanging branches over the sidewalk.   Then the renter said that some plumbing work was needed, so he had to do that too.   The first general 4H meeting started at 7 pm last night.  Scotland mentioned the Ice Skating tomorrow afternoon and that she had to be caught up on her schoolwork before they left for Ice Skating otherwise she couldn't go.   So, sweet girl decided to do some math. 

The 4H was pretty boring since the main purpose was have a ceremony for the new officers.   Tatiana thought it was super neat that kids were running the show.   Kristen was there was helped a great deal.  They were able to play together.  Patty and I talked outside while they played.   When they started to throw rocks at the ground, Patty and I decided that it was time to go home. 

Bedtime was normal until it was my turn and she was groaning about her tummy.   Then she threw up.  She didn't want to even sit up in bed.   She spent some time with her daddy, and listening to the Woof book. 

Saturday

I forgot to write down a cute story from last week.  When I was leaving to get Tatiana from dance class, JJ and his daddy were coming over to ask if Tatiana could play.  I told them that I was picking her up at dance class but I was sure she would want to play.  JJ's face fell when he learned that Tatiana wasn't there, until I said she'd want to play. While driving there I was worried I'd spoke too soon and that she might be too tired from dance class to want to play.  I shouldn't have worried.  She ran to the car when I told her and then urged me to drive quickly.   When we got home JJ was hanging out in his front yard waiting her her.  I made Tatiana change out of her dance outfit.   After she'd changed when she was running to meet JJ, Scotland called out to her "Do you have panties on?"   She said "Yes" all embarrassed.   But, sometimes we discover at bedtime that she forgot. 

Saturday was an ordinary day at home.  Went to the soccer game.  Tatiana couldn't play because of her ankle.  We came home.  She did some schoolwork and we watched a movie.   She had asked for "Greatest Showman" but I got "Greatest Show on Earth" instead.   The one I got was an old movie.  The one she asked for was one they had planned on showing at the church camp she went to this summer, but there was a problem.  Mostly it was a day of rest.  We played Monopoly in the evening.  Tatiana and I played and I won both.  Then Scotland joined us and he won one and she won one. 

Busy Thursday

Tatiana had a busy day yesterday.  She did schoolwork all morning.   Then she went to Sophia's house.  Apparently that is a regular very unofficial co-op.   They accidentally left too early to go to the doctors because Scotland saw the time wrong.  He was bummed about that.  They did some Dad shopping to kill time.  At the doctor she got a super painful shot.   Her height is 16th percentile and Height vs. Weight is 50th percentile.  I think that they drew some blood.  Then they came home and did more schoolwork.  At 6pm was her soccer practice.   She was adorable, as usual.
 
Then we came home and she changed straight into her nightie.   She cleaned her room.  She wanted to play Monopoly.   We finished the last Narnia book a couple of days ago.  Wednesday night we listened to Sarah Plain and Tall.   We both hated it.  But, it was only an hour long.  Last night we started a book told from the dog's perspective, Woof. 

Wednesday

We had a wonderful evening yesterday.   When I got home Tatiana and Scotland were watching Adventure Time.  Tatiana read that poem to me again.  She is working on changing her voice like to express emotion.  I got a video.   She did the dishes (I had to tell her to do it).  I told her that when she did that we could play games as long as she finished before toothbrush time.   It was 6pm and toothbrush time is at 8:30pm.   Scotland had to dig another fence post hole, so just Tatiana and I played the Monopoly Card Game.   It was her pick.  When Scotland was done, we had played two games and Tatiana had won both.  Then we played as a family.  I won once, Scotland won twice, and I think Tatiana won twice more. 

I heard that Tatiana drew a face at drawing class, but I haven't seen it yet.  She'd been pretty happy when I got home. 

I forgot to mention something cute from Monday.  I wanted eggs for dinner, Scotland ruins them and I'd only have about 10 minutes at home to cook before we had to leave for the AHG meeting.  So, I'd messaged Scotland to have Tatiana dressed and fed.  For my dinner, I microwaved ONE piece of bacon.   Normally I cook extra to share, but everyone else would have already eaten.   Tatiana wanted my bacon.  I asked and she wasn't hungry but she still wanted my bacon.   I said No.   When we got back from the AHG meeting, the house still smelled a bit of bacon.  I heard Tatiana ask Scotland for bacon.  I didn't hear his response, but then I heard. "Bacon can be dessert"

Ordinary Tuesday

Yesterday I was reminded of something from last week.  She was told she had to finish up schoolwork before they went to the Stallmans.  She hadn't finished when they left the house for Drawing and Piano classes.   But, after piano she sat there in the same room and finished her work in 15 minutes.  She was motivated! 

Tuesday was an ordinary day.  She did really good at one of her English assignments.  We have one of those fabric bags that had a hole in it.   Scotland asked her to sew it since the hole was at the seam.  She sewed in a completely other location.  LOL 

Tuesday is dance class day.   I watched the last part and she was adorable.   Jazz is the last half hour.   I heard Tamara say "We are going to do Wizard of Oz grapevines next because Tatiana requested them."  I heard her name, so I started to pay attention.    Tatiana did those across the room.  One of the other kids asked, "How come Tatiana knows how to do those?"  Tamara said, "Because she takes Jazz class every summer with me."  To be far, Tamara did correct Tatiana's because she was taking an extra step. 

First official AHG meeting for the year.

Last night was the first AHG meeting night for the fall.   Both Tatiana and Kristen are upset that they are in different groups now.  Tatiana is in Tenderhearts which is 1st-3rd and Kristen is in 4th grade. 
They were working on their sign language badge.   They were making a sheet which helped them to spell out their name.  

Much joy was had later.   I think it was when they learned they would get a cookie to decorate. 

This is Tatiana's decorated cookie.   It was pretty simple.   But, Tatiana already has her Cake Decorating badge. 

After the meeting, the kids played in the playground. 

We got home 14 minutes after toothbrush time should have started.  Tatiana voluntarily took a shower.   She has voluntarily taken a bath before and there have been times when there wasn't time for a bath so we had to insist on a shower. 

Sunday Evening Church Group

Sunday evening we joined one of the home-church groups.    The best part was that a 9-year-old boy lives in the house where it is at.  After an initial period of mutual shyness, they got along great.   That is both kids in the tree.  The dad is worried that the boy would fall out of the tree, and was fussing at him.   I worry about this generation of kids.  Look at that tree! 

Also, when the kids first met they were both being shy.   One of the adults said, "Why don't you kids go outside?   Conner, I bet you have lots of toys out there."   He said in complete seriousness, "Yeah, dirt".    The adults thought that was hysterical. 

AHG Movie Night at the Gym

These are photos from AHG Movie Night at the Gym.   They showed the Apple Dumpling Gang.  The intention was to invite people that might be interested in AHG and allow them to signup while there. 

This was from when it first started.  They showed a video from an old campout.   They also served hot dogs and chips. 

This is after they had settled in to watch the movie.   The Stallman boys had been playing at our house that afternoon, so I took Tatiana and the two boys to the church. 

This is Willa carrying Tatiana's Elsa pillow.   Tatiana was acting motherly.   She is getting so big.   Speaking of a big girl, Tatiana was annoyed that she can't fit under her bed anymore.   She had to go find a long stick in order to clean under her bed.