OUR FAVORITE OZIAN

In the movie of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and friends are greeted with much fanfare when they finally arrive in Oz. They get all spiffed up before they go see the wizard. In this scene, Emma and others are dancing in the background and are featured on stage in a jazzy dance. You can't see her legs, but she has on bright green stockings and black heel jazz shoes. I'll try to post a picture of her in her Poppy costume...as soon as someone takes one for me ;-)

Emma loves that the programs say "Featuring the San Angelo Civic Ballet".

She's having a blast!

5 performances this weekend!

By the way...she's turning 12 on Monday...where did the time go?!?

In case you were wondering...

it IS in fact 95* right now. Was something like that yesterday too.

Relieved to know it will only be in the 80s tomorrow and downright chilly in the 60s over the next few days...

Much better than upstate NY weather this week ;-)

Here's Elisha, about to climb into bed with Emma. She's been lounging in bed lately with her Wizard of Oz schedule. Elisha has become her alarm clock. "Ma! Ma! Ma!" Sounds just like my alarm clock ;-)

This relationship between #1 and #5 is so precious! He ADORES his Ma.

"Am I the cutest baby on the block, or what?!" Many say he looks like Ellie...what do you think?

We are still alive...

Just unbelievably-more-than-usual busy.

Little did we know how busy Emma would be with Wizard of Oz...10 performances over 3 weekends. Not The Nutcracker...getting it over with in one weekend ;-)

Also, I started my first paycheck-collecting job in over 7 years. I started working for the Civic Events Department with the city here. I got into it to usher at the Symphony and stuff like that. A couple of weekends a month. Well it's RODEO time here. It takes place at a City venue...needing civic events staff doing things like taking tickets. At. Every. Performance. Twelve performances to be exact. Well, I put my foot down and am only working at 9. Just so happens to fall at the same time as Emma's OZ performances...

We're all going to the Preview performance tonight. It should be a packed house for this final dress rehearsal open to the public...all 10 performances are sold out!

Oh, and I've taken over our produce coop! So each Friday, I go to the grocery store to pick up our produce order ($375ish), bring it home and sort it (with helpers) and have folks come to pick it up. We're done by noon usually. The best part is that we get our produce for FREE! Well, we work for it, but we're not paying real money for it.

So you could say that I now have TWO jobs, in addition to caring for my kiddos ;-)

So we're doing well, but busy. I'll put some pictures up as soon as I take some current shots ;-)

Here's what's been happening:

* Deja has been sick with something since Christmas... Thinking just allergies. But enough is enough! It's been dry and dusty here. And windy. So the winds are blowing stuff in the air from who-knows-where and my respiratory system has had it!

* Erik has started playing games with HIS basketball team, as Dad's season is coming to an end. Only 3 games for Doug left - his season started in September.

* Elisha continues to be a complete tornado...

* Everson seems to be out-growing his graffiti tendencies...we hope. He won his age group at AWANA last night for his "Sports Night" costume. He was dressed as a UT football player. Complete with shoulder pads and helmet. He told everyone that his shoulder pads were his Big Muscles ::snort::

* Ellie won for her division for her "Sports Night" costume. She went dressed as The Sugar Plum Fairy...complete with tiara and leg warmers ;-) In case you didn't know, a regular debate around here is where ballet is a sport or not...I know you can guess who the different sides are.

* Emma has been busy with rehearsals for her part in the Wizard of Oz. She auditioned last August and did NOT get cast as a dancer. She was the only one not cast. Too tall for one part and too short/not advanced enough for the other. It was a character-building disappointment followed by not being cast as Clara in The Nutcracker the following week. Two weeks ago, her ballet teacher (who is the choreographer for the production) emailed me and asked if Emma would be available for the part, as an older dancer dropped out. What a thrill! She is challenged to say the least, by the part. All of the dancers are at least a year ahead of her in training...some are in high school... She'll be dancing as a Poppy...the sleepy poppy field will be moving poppies that turn into snowflakes (rent the movie if you're confused...). She's also one of the Ozians who welcome Dorothy and crew to Oz. TWO weekends of performances...SIX performances total beginning Feb 20. Let us know if you'd like to escape the cccolllldddd and come down for some sunshine...

It should be in the 80s today... I'm grilling a London Broil.

My brother Dhamon is in town for a few days. Buffalo weather got to him and he's come down for some R&R. He arrived last night and we'll see him today.

Gotta go change a s-t-i-n-k-y diaper. Don't you wish you were here?!

I know, I know.

You've been waiting for an update. I've been meaning to get a blog update done. Really I have. I'm sure there's something you've been meaning to get to as well. So I know you understand that nasty monster of procrastination...

Anywho...

We made it through Nutcracker. Everson's 5th birthday. Christmas and New Years.

Here's Everson on his new bike from Grandma and Poppy

Now we're back to school and basketball and ballet. I'm so glad we have kids interested in the same things so I'm only going to 2 activities. I can't help it that the girls have SIX ballet classes between the 2 of them. Or that Doug and Erik have 4 basketball practices between the 2 of them. In fact, this past Saturday, Erik had his first game with his YMCA homeschool team (kids actually his age). Then we zipped home, changed uniforms, and he and Doug were off to Abilene, 90 miles from here, for a homeschool basketball tournament (Doug's jr high team)

Those of us that stayed behind had belgian waffles with ice cream for dinner. I know. But it was so fun! And I'd been meaning to get out my new belgian waffle maker that I had in a box from Christmas. Doug and Erik returned home around 9 pm. Found out what we had for dinner and demanded the same... Then we had belgian waffles (with just syrup) for lunch after church. Now the wafflemaker is put away. Well the plug in wafflemaker. The human wafflemaker is far from put away ;-)

Ummm. Everson decided to try out some whiskers...with a ball point pen. Last night, we discovered that he colored all over the bottoms of his feet. With markers. I'm really hoping we don't have a tattoo artist on our hands... Or maybe he's just practicing for his future as a player in the NBA...

FINALLY! SOME NUTCRACKER PICTURES! I was not backstage or in dressing rooms this year when my kids were in their costumes. These pictures are from a friend. We DID have a professional photog take some pictures and I DID have him take a picture of my 3 in their costumes...I'll have to see how to get them and if I can post them here.

Nolan (Erik's friend), Erik and George in their Party Boy outfits.

These are some of the Gingerbread Boys

Emma and Erik in their Party Clothes. Emma was also a Soldier and a Chinese Tea, but we didn't get pics of those costumes, either.

Now you know how Emma got that curly hair! I'm not sure WHO that woman is with her LOL.

This is our Ellie, right before dress rehearsal. Her costume is just darling...my friend didn't get a picture of her in it, but someone did and gave me a print...now to get the scanner out and put the pic on...don't hold your breath ;-)

Can you name this mystery food? A friend of my parent's here is a cotton farmer. They also grow all kinds of veggies, and some fruits. Three times a week, Mrs. S sells her goods at the farmer's market. Often, she drops off her leftovers at my mom's house (just a couple of blocks from the market). 2 weeks ago, she dropped these off at my mom's house. Since my mother was busy with a garage sale, she gave them to me and said, "They make great cakes and cookies." I've never seen these. Ever. Had to look up how to eat them. The ripe ones are really s-w-e-e-t! The rest are ripening in a paper sack on my counter. Do you know what they are?

PERSIMMONS!

The settlers of Jamestown described persimmons as "very sweet and pleasant to the taste, and yields on distillation, after fermentation, a quality of spirits." When Captain John Smith was not busy with Pocahontas, he is quoted as saying, "If it be not ripe it will drawe a mans mouth awrie with much torment; but when it is ripe, it is as delicious as an Apricock."

**Update, I should have mentioned that the above information about Jamestown and Capt Smith was from my research on how to cook persimmons.

What happens when your children and your camera disappear?

I love Texas in November! The weather has been great. In the 70s during the day. Nights have progressively gotten cold and we finally turned the heat on 2 days ago. We seem to need it for just a couple of hours, though. Tonight will go down to 30! Funny thing is that Emma's Morning Glories from this spring are still blooming! And I still have tomatoes! Better go throw a sheet over them before I forget.

Elisha just discovered the sandbox last week. I don't think he has put any in his mouth. He saves crayons for that LOL.

Not much to report, besides the regular crazy schedule of school, ballet and basketball. And that Nutcracker schedule keeps us on our toes! Opening night is just 15 days away!

I was interviewed by our local newspaper yesterday as part of an article on families involved in the production. The paper will be doing a series of stories over the next 2 weeks. The interviewer, "I have down here that you have five children. What's with everyone having five children?!" She had just interviewed another Nutcracker family. That homeschools. That has five children. Close to half the cast are homeschool families ;-) One of many perks to 'small' town living.

Thanksgiving preparations are underway. We're hosting again. I think it will just be the 7 of us, with my mom, Tom, Ponda (Tom's sister), Jason (Tom's oldest son, just out of the Marines this spring), and perhaps one of Tom's daughters. So a small group, compared to the 11 guests from last year.

Life has been busy over the past week...I think I'm still recovering from the weekend.

Saturday's schedule:
9:30-10 Ellie Nutcracker rehearsal
11:30-8:00 Emma Nutcracker rehearsal then to Stephanie's house
12:00 drop off Doug and Erik to caravan to basketball tournament
4:00 take Ellie to birthday party, little boys to the mall to get shoes for Elisha
5:30 Little Caesars for dinner
6:00 eat and watch The Jungle Book with younger set

I realized that the day was hard on me, not because of the running around but because my 3 helpers were gone!

Emma has been feeling under the weather for the past few days {I still haven't had one of my helpers!} Today she seems to be back to herself. Good thing, too. Today's lineup is crazy! I'm so glad I have 2 stay home days to recover from the crazy days.

The basketball tournament was hosted by a homeschool group. Doug's team played 2 games. Erik got a lot of play. And he didn't get hurt! No shots, but he did a great job setting screens for the bigger kids on the team. This was HUGE, as most of the players were 12-14 years old! MY 9 year old son played basketball with 12-14 year olds, didn't get hurt and held his own! They won a game and were crushed in another. All in all it was a good experience. They have a game tonight...if I have my act together, I'll have some pictures!

"Dad! Everson just hit me with his Barbie!" yelled Emma this morning.

Am I the only one, or is that just a hoot?! A few days ago, my mom came over with a Ken-like doll for Everson to use when playing with Ellie. The guy had an earring. Doug wanted to toss it. I managed to cut off the earring and give the doll a stay of execution... Never have Ellie and Everson played so well and so long with eachother. Something happened this morning in the girls room which caused Everson to strike Emma. With his Barbie...

Everson loves to pretend to be someone else. Indiana Jones. An NBA player. A soccer player. A boy named Toby. A boy named Nathan. A dog. A knight. Luke Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker (before he went to The Dark Side). Obi Wan Kenobi. A regular jedi. Here, he's being a cowboy. Not one to shy from the camera...Everson has a million expressions just for the camera! I can't believe he'll be FIVE in a month!

What do you do when you see this?

"I" grabbed the camera, because I knew that he was serious about something. You see, he had already emptied the entire lower part of this cabinet...and was in hot pursuit of something...Remember my comment a few days ago that he liked things with cords...

My blender base was in the middle cabinet...so he had to climb in and get it. I let Elisha play with it, until he tried to pick it up and carry it around. I was worried about his little toesies.

Stay Home Day

School. Housework. Mirrors cleaned (Emma). Dusting (Ellie). Sheets changed in boys room (big boys and mom). Swept kitchen floor 3 or 4 times (mom). Played with kiddos outside. Watered Cherry Trees. Visited with my mom for a few minutes outside while she dropped off some baskets and ginger. Watched as Elisha tried to climb into the just-discovered sandbox. I helped him in and he played and played and played...until I brought him in for a nap. I think it must have been somewhere in the 70s this afternoon! Just beautiful!

Made a pan of granola bars and a pan of granola for breakfast (yummy over yogurt!).

What's left of the pan of granola bars...

Made a double batch of Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken...one for dinner tonight, and one for the freezer. I'm trying to make double batches of as many dinners as I can, because the next 4-5 weeks are crazy with basketball, Thanksgiving and The Nutcracker.

Doug and Erik will be gone all day Saturday at a Homeschool Basketball Tournament 90 miles away...and I'll be home with 4 kids...schlepping to Nutcracker rehearsal, taking in the Veterans Day Parade, taking Ellie to a birthday party and feeding them all...I think Doug will have the easier day ;-)

BAPTISM!

What an exciting day for us to have Emma, Erik and Ellie baptized. They met with our Pastor last week, and were all ready for this morning. We had some good friends come for the service, as well as my Mom and Stepfather, and my 97-year-old Grannie. Grannie has been waiting and waiting to see the kids get baptized and actually left her house to witness it. She is basically housebound, so we knew how serious witnessing the kids' baptism was to her. The water in the baptistry was up to Ellie's shoulders. She's standing on a cinder block!

I think Emma was happy to be in the warm water and out of the cold hallway.

Erik actually went first, but the pictures loaded in reverse order.

Ice Cream Election

Yesterday, while picking up our weekly produce from the coop, the 4 kids participated in an election...for their favorite flavor of ice cream.

Their good friends, Arielle and Nolan were doing the election for school, and, you know, because there IS a bit of election coverage going on.

Arielle was quite the shutterbug during the collecting of votes and managed to capture all 5 of my kiddos in the election process.

Okay, Elisha was just an onlooker, since he can't articulate his favorite flavor of ice cream...yet. But if he could, I'm sure he'd say Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip...don't ask me how I know.

Anyhow, my friend De'Etta (Arielle and Nolan's mom), has a blog...with my kids pics on it. Thought you might want so stop by her blog and see kids placing their votes. Scroll down to Friday 10/31.

It was exciting, since we had just calculated WHEN the kids will actually be able to vote for a president...Emma: 2016, Erik and Ellie in 2020.

A Father's Dream Come True

Emma had long been lobbying to ride the mower. Erik's legs aren't quite long enough yet. But Emma's are...Here's pictures of Emma mowing the area outside our fence (because there are no obstacles). The funny thing is that Doug wouldn't let her drive in high gear. She was going very S-L-O-W-L-Y! I think Elisha could have run faster than Emma was driving ;-) Erik can't wait for his turn to drive the mower. Of course, he'll have to wear goggles and a mask because of his allergies! And Doug is just counting the days when he will no longer be responsible for the yard (I'll find something else for him to do...)

Pear Butter

Last spring, Emma and I took a canning class. We were anticipating a great harvest from our first garden. Well, the tomatoes didn't cooperate...although Everson enjoyed picking tomatoes as soon as they were ripe...and eating them right off the plant!

Last week, I split a case of 150 pears with someone from our produce coop. They weren't ripe when I got them. But it seems that my 75 pears all ripened at the same time. After forcing pear upon pear to each of my family members, I decided to actually put my canning class to good use. I had made pear butter before, only to have it eaten immediately by my children. Ellie and I processed a TON of pears. My wrists were sore from peeling. Poor Ellie's hands were tired from wrangling slippery pears so she could slice them.

At the end of the day, I had made a whopping 7 half-pints of pear butter. One was used at dinner on fresh bread, served with chicken noodle soup. One is in the fridge and the remaining 5 are in my pantry. What a great feeling! I can can anything! Last night I found a recipe for a marmalade that uses carrots, oranges, and lemons. I think I may just try it on my unsuspecting children. They DO like carrots, but the thought of spreading cold, mashed carrots on bread gives them the shivers.

Fortunately for me, my mom has done 3 estate sales this fall...and I have benefitted greatly...I have many many canning jars and rings.

We learned a lot from our garden this summer...how to grow things in the hot hot Texas sun...how our compost has to be more diverse...how strawberries need to be planted in the part of the yard that has more shade...

Next summer, I want to make and can spaghetti sauce and salsa!