Tatiana's presentation

 Yesterday Tatiana did what I'd thought was her first verbal presentation.  Apparently she had done a poetry recital at an old folks home with the McKinney kids.  The presentation she did yesterday was in her English class.   The teacher had sent home a fact sheet on different countries to each kid.  Tatiana got the one on Australia.   The assignment was to make a key word outline from the fact sheet and use that to make a presentation.   

I'd told her to go first since it is normally easier on the first person.  Everyone is so happy that someone went first, and the standards are lower since there isn't anyone to compare to.   Then I told her the story of her Grandpa going first for his recorder recital and playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  She thought that was funny. 

The teacher told Scotland that she'd forgotten her notes, but she still gave the best presentation.   The teacher had asked for volunteers to go first.   She'd raised her hand, but still ended up going last.   I told her what her teacher had said.     

goat milk

 

Goat Milking didn't happen

 
So, Scotland built the milking stand.  He'd originally built it too narrow, so yesterday he'd swapped the wood out.  Last night, Tatiana and I put the babies in their own little house (travel house).  The babies started out in the main house, and she carried one baby at a time while I did the doors.  The plan was to milk them in the morning.  Trouble is it was raining pretty hard.   They hate the rain so much and I didn't want their first experience to be bad.   So I just let the babies and the animals together.   The mamas were more concerned about being apart than the babies were.  Tatiana had wanted me to wake her up so that she could love on the babies while I was milking the mamas.  When I decided to not milk, I just told Tatiana and let her go back to sleep.  

Went to sleep early

 Yesterday was a school day.    She always comes home from school needing to rest.    Then she played with the boys next door for a bit.   Lately, in the evenings we sometimes watch the second Avatar series, Kora is the name, I think.   We all look forward to that.   She wanted to rest in her room instead.  We knew she must be really tired.    We were to skip her shot since she was asleep, but then she woke up later for a little, and Scotland gave her the shot.  
Her homework was to find a book with alliteration, and two other things (I forget)   She worked hard to pick one book that had all three.   

AHG Camping

The big wood logs are what the girls rolled to the site from far away.   Looks like the park chopped up a dead tree.  They said that Tatiana won the tree rolling since she rolled two.  The other girls are Morgan and Natalie Spears.    The girls got their outdoor cooking badge.  The hammock was from the Spears site.  

 

Ordinary day yesterday

We had an ordinary day yesterday.   Only activity was Karate in the evening.  Kristen was supposed to come over for the day since Patty was having surgery.   But, Mike, her Daddy didn't know, so left her at home.  Disappointment at the Hawthorne house.   I forgot, she did have piano in the afternoon.  Scotland said to tell Tatiana to get a package.   I did, and she didn't get it.  So, when we thought Scotland was going out the front door to take her to piano, she followed and then got all excited to see her new boots at the front door.  I was annoyed that she'd ignored what I said.  So, I was going to make her wait to open the package until after piano.  But, they weren't leaving yet, so she got to open them.    They are even cuter on her.  

Fun AHG Meeting

 Tatiana had a blast at the AHG Meeting last night.   It was photography.   They started out with a mom showing them her camera and discussing the parts and differences with a phone camera.   Then the highlight was a photography scavenger hunt.   They had a list of photos to take outside.   They were adorable.  They ran here and there.   

Current bedtime routine

 Her bedtime routine has evolved, as they do for everyone.   This is her current routine:

1) About 8:30 pm, it starts
2) She brushes her teeth, puts her mouthpiece in and gets her nightclothes on
3) Until just recently, I would then numb her butt.   But just a few weeks ago, she has done it.  I don't know how she does it in the same spot Scotland will shoot her.  But, if she thinks it works, I guess it works.  
4) Then we all climb into the mommy/daddy bed.    Scotland reads out loud from the literature book assigned in her English class.  Tatiana didn't like the first book, Calico Captive.   She seems to like this second book, Lacemaker and the Princess.   I enjoy it enough for all three of us.  
5) Then Daddy leaves and Tatiana and I listen to our current audiobook.   
6) At some point I get tired and say I need to go to sleep, and I turn off the audiobook. 
7) Tatiana then goes to her bed and listens to her book.   She has been using the litebright as a nightlight.   

Praise from teachers

 

I heard from Scotland that the coop teachers love having her in class.   She is "so articulate".  

Piano lesson

 

Scotland went to help Judith, so I took Tatiana to piano.   I went inside to watch the lesson.  It was adorable.  At the end, Kay said, "Why don't you play this song and see if you like it?"   Turns out that it was a sight reading test and she did amazing.   Out of 30 notes she only got one wrong and she corrected it right away.   Her hand position had just been off.   

Tatiana made dinner from cooking class

 Tatiana was inspired by her cooking class yesterday.    She said we needed to buy "tinned biscuits" and then she'd make us dinner.   So, we made a special trip to the store.  She had been excited to find that we had a waffle maker.    The recipe was to make the dough into circles, adding cheese to the middle and then folding over into a pocket.   Then placing in the waffle maker and cooking.  They were quite good.   The last two I got her to add a pepperoni slice to the inside.  The only problem was that the cheese would come out onto the waffle maker, so I cleaned up the cheese between each batch.   I have a panini maker that I think we'll try next time.  

Christmas parade plans

Last Saturday, Tatiana walked to downtown as part of our Mommy-Daughter day.  There were signs for the Christmas parade.  Tatiana said that she wanted to watch the parade this time, instead of being in it.   I told her that we like to watch her in the parade, and that the people in the parade get a better view since it returns on the same street.   
Last night at Karate class, he talked about having a parade float.  The kids will wear Santa hats and he is trying to get light up num-chucks.   The kids really liked that idea.   Tatiana said that she wants to be in the parade now.  

Co-op school

 Today is Monday, and Tatiana is at co-op school.  I am thankful to be working from home during the time.  I've been enjoying making her lunch for school.  If I had to do it all the time, it would get annoying quickly.  But it is only twice a week and not all year.   Also, she likes her lunch.   I make her a wheat bread ham sandwich.  She likes mild wheat bread and we both like the good, thin sliced ham.  She also likes American cheese.  By her request, it has evolved into a four bread slice sandwich with ham and cheese between each.   I pointed out that was basically two sandwiches.  But, I think she likes the extra special-ness of a tall sandwich.  She eats it all.  She also gets a Nutty Buddy and some Baby Bel cheese for snack time.  
I think she has made a friend, Madeleine.   I know nothing else about her.  
I always want to know how drop-off went.  Scotland asked her if she wanted him to walk her in.   She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and quickly left the car.  

Camping trip

 We had a great AHG camping trip.    It was the first in about a year.   The ones for last fall were cancelled for rain.   We'd had a rainy fall, but even then every trip was scheduled during flood warnings.    
We went to Oklahoma to get away from the mask requirements.   Texas state parks don't allow group camping.    We went to the North side of Lake Texoma, on the other side of Lake Texoma from where we camped last year.  I liked it.  My favorite part was that it was a group campsite.   That made it more sociable.   Instead of people having designated sites, we just plopped our tents down.   It made it more natural to talk around the campfire.  

We were right on the lake  and we were the only ones that brought swimsuits.  It was 87F when we arrived and a bit humid.  The water was a perfect temperature.   It was refreshing but not cold.  

Neighbor Boys

 The neighbor boys hadn't been able to come to her party because they were with their mom.  They brought their present over.  Tatiana was still in her nightie.   She told them she needed to get her clothes on.  They gave her the present.   Then they decided they wanted to play first.   So the present was left inside while they went to the backyard.   On the way out the door they agreed to go to the tree house.   A few seconds later I see that they didn't make it and were on the trampoline.  Then later they were on the tire swing.  I don't think they made it to the tree house

Then they came inside and she opened the present.  It was a Sorry game.  They are playing that now.  I had no idea that game was so loud.   At first they started to play without shuffling and every card was a Sorry card.  Every turn someone takes involves discussion and commentary.  

Dinner with Ty and Rosy

 We went to dinner last night with Ty and Rosy.   Rosy had never seen the house, and it has been two years since Ty has seen it.   So, Scotland and Tatiana gave them a property tour.   Scotland did the tour of the addition and the goat yard.   Then Tatiana took over to show them her backyard area.   She loved it.   Rosy was a trooper and even got into the tree house balcony.   Ty took a photo.   Rosy joined the Yogi fan club.  We had a very nice dinner.  

Party Prep

 

We did party prep yesterday.  We had lots of fun.   Made chocolate bowls.   She recently switched from only liking frosting, to only liking cake.   But, there was never a stage in the middle when she liked both.  (sigh)    So, I am making triple chocolate cupcakes.   I'll make some without frosting, some with white cream cheese frosting since many kids avoid food colorings, and Tatiana requested some with the palest pink frosting.   She wants to supervise the dyeing of the frosting.   Last night, after the store closed, I looked for the powdered sugar that I was sure I had, and didn't find it.  So, I'll be making frosting in a bit.  I'd bought these silicone molds to make small chocolate candies.   Will decorate the cupcakes with them.  There was leftover melted chocolate, so Tatiana dunked some strawberries in the chocolate.    She declared that the strawberries were for the kids only.   I laughed and told her No, the adults would love the strawberries.  There was lots of chocolate eaten yesterday.   I told her that she might need to go on a chocolate detox after the party.  

She decided to wear her Pandacorn shirt to the parties.  She even washed it yesterday.   I suggested maybe a nice dress.   She said No.    In one day she went from only wearing dresses, to only wearing pants.   Dresses were so cute and easy.   

This morning Tatiana crawled into bed next to me.  She urgently wanted to know what day it was and was it a school day.   I told her it was Friday and not a school day.   She was very happy.   She'd had a nightmare.   There was a test at school and she didn't know anything on it and she failed.  Because she failed she was going to sit in the cold corner of the classroom for the rest of the year.  There might have been something scary in the corner too.  It was hard to understand that part.  She snuggled in with me then when I had to turn to the other side she went to her bad.   They are still sleeping.  

Tomorrow is her birthday party.  

Susie posted :  

 I sometimes ask her what her favorite part of an activity was.

She said her favorite part of this weekend was "gram"

Tatiana Grouting

 

This is Tatiana grouting.  Scotland mixed the grout and she did everything else.   Even asked to do it.  It is a closet for our water softener and future electrical box.  Black grout on black tile.  You can see in the middle photo that she started on the left side.  

Gram = Tatiana  loves brushing her hair while watching TV.

Leaving for Universal trip today

It is Friday morning.  We are leaving on our trip today, hopefully on the road by 1 pm.  The car is mostly packed.  My heart was warmed last night when Tatiana was reverent when I carried the hanging luggage that had the robes to the staging area. 

They took the travel goat house to the Underhills yesterday afternoon and the three of us took the goats to the Underhills in the evening.  Scotland carried Sweetie, I carried Bellina and Tatiana kept the flashlight beam at my feet.   Scotland is outside enough that he doesn't need the light.   On the drive they were in the hatchback of the cruiser.  Tatiana was in the backseat petting them and keeping them calm.   Then, we dumped them right into their travel house. 

This morning, I am working from home, and they are going to co-op. 

Getting ready for vacation - Wednesday

We've been busy getting ready for vacation.   Poor Tatiana, about when she was out of trouble was when we got busy with vacation prep.   So, the only game we've played was one on Monday evening when we were both feeling sickly.  We'll take games on our trip. 

Tatiana is amazing at putting the goats up.  They run to her and follow her around.  Whereas Scotland and I have to herd them. 

No matter what, I was going to finish Tatiana's Ravenclaw robe last night.   I need tonight (Thursday) to pack.  I stayed up late.  Tatiana had asked me nicely to go to bed.  I had to tell her that I really needed to finish.   She likes to crawl in on her Daddy's side of the bed, and then Scotland carries her to her bed.  Tatiana and I both like the mattress pad warmer.  When I finally got to bed, I laughed when I noticed that she'd turned on the warming on her Daddy's side of the bed so that it would all warm when she crawled in. 

Today they are taking the travel goat house to the Underhills.   Then this evening they/we will take the goats over.   The idea is to throw them into their house when they arrive. 

Thursday

She had a pretty ordinary day yesterday.  Did schoolwork during the day.  Scotland took her to karate.  Scotland asked her if she was going to wear only her cowboy boots or wellingtons at Universal.  She said, "No, I'll wear shoes too".  He said, "What shoes".   She has not worn anything else for so long even Tatiana can't remember when it was.  This weekend Tatiana and I will look at what shoes she has, and maybe going shopping. 

After Karate, Tatiana made brownies with my assistance.  We made a mistake.   It hadn't occurred to me that Butterfingers had peanut butter in them.  There is a kid that is allergic.  I think she is learning stuff.   Although, I'd hoped that she would have been learning them IN class.  It sounds like they just sit around and eat during the class. 

At bedtime, she read me from one of her comic books from the library. 

Wednesday - ordinary day with dental visit

I have been posting much lately.  I am going to try to do many every week. 

Tatiana said that she had a good morning.  She did her schoolwork and spent time with the goats.  Scotland brought her to my work at noon.  His plan was to do Home Depot/Restore shopping.  So, Tatiana was pleased that she got to skip that.  She had a tooth cleaning appointment and I needed to get a temporary crown.  I'd planned my work at the same time as hers so that Scotland wouldn't have to drive and could shop in peace.  Since mine would take a long time, and since the dentist is so close I called Judith and told her that she could rescue Tatiana from boredom while I was getting work done.  I had thought that Tatiana's appointment was at 1pm and mine was at 1:30pm.  But, either I'd gotten the times mixed up or I was called early and Tatiana late.  She still hadn't been called back when I was.  Judith was going to come to the office at around 1:30pm and rescue Tatiana. 

At the last Ortho appointment, the dentist said that Tatiana needed to have her upper fangs removed.   I'd been worried, until Scotland told me they were baby teeth.   So, while we were there for her cleaning, Chad looked at the baby fangs.  He said one wiggles the tiniest bit and he would be able to take it out without traumatizing Tatiana.   But the other was in there solidly.  So, he recommended we go back to the same place as took out her extra tooth. 

While I was getting the work done I got a text from Judith to drop by her house when I was done.  I thought that meant that she had Tatiana and I was relieved.  When I was done and went to the front desk I saw Tatiana there asking them when her Grandmother was going to get her. 
I was quite irate.   Tatiana made excuses for Judith that Judith had thought the same thing that Tatiana had in that 'Getting work done' meant that I was going back to work.  I understand feeling unwanted by a grandparent.   That made me even madder.  When we got in the car I said, "Your grandmother is just crazy"   That was the nicest word I could think of.   Then Tatiana got even MORE upset.   She asked if she was crazy too.  I told Tatiana that Judith wasn't really crazy.  I was just saying things I didn't mean because I was mad. 

We had a nice drive home.   I was hungry but my mouth was numb.   When we got home we decided to eat at the Italian place.  Tatiana eats the same thing as I do.  Tortellini Alla Penne.  She gets the adult size in order to have leftovers.

The plan had been to watch the second Marvel movie but I was exhausted.  I think the long drives in the rain, and the dental work zapped me.  

Tatiana and I did pick out the recipe for the Friday cooking class.   She wants Butterfinger Brownies.  Twice so far, Scotland has had to run to the grocery store on Thursday night for a missing ingredient.   So, I wanted to pick out the recipe Wednesday night and check if we had everything.   Scotland had misunderstood and thought that we were going to COOK them on Wednesday night.  So, Scotland ran to the grocery store last night (Wed) then was aggravated when I didn't want to help Tatiana cook them that night.  I had said that I'd get the butterfingers tomorrow (Thursday)

One thing funny.   Tatiana and I are listening to "Bud, Not Buddy".   About a black orphan during the depression.   While driving to the restaurant I said that one of the things I liked about fiction is seeing how people completely different lived.  Tatiana said I was "Being one of those moms".   The kid said that when his mom read him stories (he listed them and they were mostly Aesop's) he had to pretend to fall asleep before the end.  Otherwise his mom would ruin the story by explaining the moral of the story.  I guess I was acting like the mom. 

I almost forgot to mention this.   On the way home I asked Tatiana if she wanted to stop at the library at the way home.  She got excited and declared it the "Best idea ever".   Then she realized that sounded silly, so she named some of my other great ideas.   Like saying yes to her going to the cabin with the Underhills, and the Universal vacation, and the Disney vacation.   But, then she agreed that going to the library was definitely in the top 10.