Chasing Fireflies

Colors of our Weekend

RED, GREEN,  and BROWN

 

 
 

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This weekend before Christmas:
Michael took Isaac and Joshua to their first "Lowe's Build and Grow Workshop" where they made train engines.
I made homemade pizza dough.
We thoroughly enjoyed our family friend's coming over to eat homemade pizza ,talk, make gingerbread houses, watch kids play, laugh, and drink cider.
We explored our backyard woods and spied all sorts of nature treasures.
Michael cut a tree up for a project.
We lit our 4th and final candle on our advent wreath.

Christmas Fun with Friends

Yesterday we shared a great afternoon with some of our homeschool friends - making gingerbread houses, eating gingerbread waffles, wearing our pajamas, exchanging ornaments, and enjoying each others company.

     

100th Year Anniversary ~ Discovery of the South Pole

100 years ago Roald Amundsen along with four members of his team and 16 dogs reached the South Pole and planted the Norwegian flag in the frozen Antarctic ice.  This discovery was historic as man was still trying to conquer the earth just a century ago. 

Olivia has long been fascinated by the story of Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott and their "Race to the South Pole."  I recall her receiving a book on explorers several years ago which sparked ignited her curiosity.  The following weeks she checked out probably a dozen books on the subject from the library.  She researched and learned all about details of their routes and explorations. 

Even today she is so interested in their stories she included The Story of Polar Conquest on her Christmas wish list over a month ago.  In fact, she has shared so many intriguing details of Amundsen and Scott with me that she has now drawn me to their story.  :)

When I realized today was the 100th year anniversary I knew I must do something special in honor of the discovery. 

Tonight after dinner I made a South Pole Marker, grabbed our stuffed penguin, scattered some marshmallows around, and then scooped Polar Cream (vanilla ice cream) and whipping cream into white ramekins, and topped them each off with a miniature south pole marker.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed their Polar Cream and Olivia enjoyed sharing facts about the Amundsen exploration with us while Isaac talked about our "Captain Cook," of Mr. Poppers Penguins, of course.  :)

I'll leave you with this excerpt from the New York Times:

When Roald Amundsen's ship, the Fram, left Norway on Aug. 9, 1910, it carried, in Amundsen's words, "nineteen men, ninety-seven dogs, four pigs, six carrier pigeons, and one canary." The ship was nearly 20 years old, and the expedition leader, Amundsen, was 38. He was already a formidable polar explorer, but this voyage to Antarctica and the South Pole made him one of the greatest explorers who ever lived.

On Dec. 14, a century ago, Amundsen and the four members of his team reached the South Pole. "That day," he wrote, "was a beautiful one," and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon they planted the flag of Norway, each man with one hand on the flagpole. Like so many other days on that polar journey, that day was "like a pleasure trip," as Amundsen later reported. The weather was good, but even better was the planning. The Norwegians were born skiers, excellent dog handlers and skilled navigators. They proceeded across the ice exactly as they had done across the ocean, fixing their location again and again by dead reckoning and with sextants. They also left innumerable cairns and markers to guide them on their return.

In his book, "The South Pole," Amundsen makes none of this sound heroic. He admired the English for their "pluck and grit," but what you feel in reading his account is joy and adventure. Even now, Amundsen is too little admired, mainly because his straightforward success was eclipsed by what a member of Robert Falcon Scott's expedition called the "first-rate tragedy" of Scott's polar push, which ended in the deaths of Scott and his four-man team.

On Dec. 14, Amundsen was at the pole, writing a letter to Scott wishing him a safe return. Scott was 34 days behind him, on a different route. Scott's journal for that day reads, "We are just starting our march with no very hopeful outlook."

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Information and pictures taken from:
www.wikipedia.org and www.visionforum.com

A Christmas Carol

Olivia was cast this holiday season in Charles Dicken's familiar classic "A Christmas Carol" and the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.  Olivia had the favor of playing the role of Martha Cratchit, the eldest daughter of Mr. Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's poor clerk. 

Olivia had a whopping total of eight performances, two of which took place during a perfectly timed winter snowfall. 

The theatre lobby was filled with goodness of the early 1800's - candles, smells of spiced cider, an antique tricycle and teddy bear, and Victorian Christmas trees adorned with strings of cranberries, gingerbread men, and lace fans.

During Act One, Olivia played the role of Mr. Fezziwig's daughter during his very festive party.  Here she is before going onto stage to square dance with Mr. Fezziwig.

Act Two brought the role of Olivia's beloved character of Martha.  Here is Olivia's cast family:  Mr. and Mrs. Bob Cratchit, Martha, Belinda, Peter, and crippled Tiny Tim.

Martha and Belinda with their parents and the Christmas goose

Olvia also shared the stage with her two close fellow homeschool friends.  Here she is with Scrooge's nephew's wife and Belle (Young Scrooge's fiance).  There's always fun going on when these three are together.  :)

Olivia's sweet director

Opening night brought Olivia her mom, dad, brothers, grandmother, and granddaddy to cheer her on.

It's obvious to me that we have a thespian in our midst.  Olivia never complained one time after the 90 hours put in on this production and she was saddened after the final performance saying goodbye to her fellow cast members and friends who became more like family the last 2 1/2 months.

She's already talking about her next play and dreaming of what role(s) she might be cast to portray.  :)

What's her father's and my response to that?

God bless us . . . everyone!

:)

Colors of our Weekend

RED, BLACK, WHITE, and PINK

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This weekend:
Olivia performed in "A Christmas Carol" production each day.
Olivia performed a song in our church's Singing Christmas Tree.
I decorated for Christmas.
Michael made hot chocolate three times and caramel popcorn once.
We gazed upon a beautiful full moon.
We lit our third candle of our advent wreath - the pink candle of "joy."

Thanksgiving 2011

 

Thanksgiving Day Turkeys

Another Snow

Yesterday morning when I checked the forecast for today it said "clear and cold."  Well, they got half of it right.  This morning the map is looked like this. 

Northern Mississippi is white and pink.  And that means we had another snow. 

Olivia had to be at the theatre bright and early this morning for her performance in "A Christmas Carol."  After all the cast were in their costumes it began to snow.  What a stage they had set for them today!  Snowing for "A Christmas Carol!"

Here are some other views of my morning.

Unfortunately, the snow melted by early afternoon during the second production of the day.  But the audience wasn't disappointed because they had been welcomed with a winter wonderland.

Colors of our Weekend

RED, GREEN, and BROWN

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Our weekend was packed full of Christmas goodness.
We bought our Christmas tree.
We each participated in our town's Christmas parade.
We spent an amazing evening dining on pizza and hot chocolate and visiting with some special friends.
We strung the lights on our tree, sang Christmas carols, and drank more hot chocolate.
Olivia sang in our church's children's choir musical.

Pajama Snow Day

We spent our day inside (except for me going out to take these pictures) in our pajamas enjoying our November snow day.  Later we wrapped up our pajama snow day with breakfast for dinner - steak and eggs and sweet potato biscuits.