Chasing Fireflies

Olivia's Leading Role

 

Olivia recently had a leading role in a local town theatre.  She played the part of Bernadette, an investigative journalist in Porridgegate.  She loved practicing, making some new friends, and . . . making the front cover of the newspaper!

 

Here she is with her sidekick, the Woodsman,

and her awesome director, 

 

and another homeschool friend.

Porridgegate is a comical play intertwining "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "The Three Little Pigs," and also parodies several figures from the Watergate scandal.   Olivia’s character was part of a dynamic duo who investigated whether there truly was a scandal.  In the end, Bernadette (Olivia) (who was a parody of Carl Bernstein, journalist of The Washington Post), the Woodsman (who was a parody of Bob Woodward, journalist of The Washington Post), and Kitty Saltine (who was a parody of Katharine Graham, publisher of The Washington Post) solved the truth behind the missing porridge.

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After Olivia's "stardom" experience she has asked to be in another performance.  With great hesitation, Mom has said it might be a little while since we dedicated over 65 hours to Porridgegate alone.  Whew!   

Between you and me though, there might be a possibility coming up again very soon.   She is a "seasoned" thespian now, afterall.  ;)

Isaac's 4th Birthday Party

Fortunately for us, we now live near a town with many trains passing through each day.  My boys love trains. And I really do, too.  Because of Isaac's love of them, I knew we must have a train party in celebration of him turning 4.

A train museum was the setting for his fun party.  Trains are truly nostalgic and I wanted to create a vintage atmosphere of times gone by.   

I used red, yellow, and blue for the color scheme.  Part of the way I incorporated nostalgia through the party was the use my Dad's childhood electric train (that I remember playing with as a child) and some old suitcases, one being my grandmothers.  I also made use of the old train station luggage carts.

When children arrived they decorated painted boxes to create a boxcar. Later the kids lined up with their boxcars forming a train behind the birthday boy engineer.  Next, each child received a Train Passport that led them on a scavenger hunt through the museum searching for a conductor, a steam engine coal poker, a waiting area bench, railroad tracks, railroad lanterns, and lastly, a ticket window.  After the hunt, we made trains out of candy, toured an old caboose, rode on a miniature train, and played a coal toss game. 

One of the most fun and challenging parts of the party was the making of the train cake.  Michael and I worked collaboratively creating a chocolate covered chocolate train cake for our little "chocolate lover."  :)  We had such an exciting time looking for the perfect candies, cookies, and chocolates for the edible train. 

Another highlight for the kids was being able to watch not one, but two trains pass by while gathered near the train tracks during the party.  They were so cute observing the different colors of cars. 

We had such a wonderful time celebrating Isaac turning 4 with his grandparents and friends, both old and new.  HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ISAAC!!!

Check out more pictures from Isaac's party.  See "Isaac's 4th Birthday" in the left hand column under Photo Albums.  Check back tomorrow for additional photographs.

Colors of our Weekend

RED, BLUE, YELLOW, and WHITE

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Isaac's 4th Birthday Party

 

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Olivia's Baptism

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Olivia's Stage Debut

Valentine's Day

My Sweet Valentine's

 

The Kid's Valentine's ~ Valentine Poppers

My Valentine's

Our Valentine's Day dessert ~ Chocolate Mousse

Interview with a New Four-Year-Old

For something new, I thought it would be neat to conduct an interview with Isaac recording things that are going on in his brand new 4 year old mind to look back on in future years.  (Thanks for the idea, Megan.)  

Mommy:  What is your favorite color?

Isaac:  Black and brown

Mommy:  What is your favorite thing to eat?

Isaac:  Chocolate (with a huge grin)

Mommy:  Where is your favorite place to eat?

Isaac:  Macaroni Grill.  I like their chicken, trees, and worms.  And Chick-Fil-A.  I like their chicken.  (For those of you curious...trees are broccoli and worms are spaghetti.)

Mommy:  What is your favorite animal?

Isaac:  A dog

Mommy:  What do you want to be when you grow up?

Isaac:  A dump truck driver

Mommy:  What is your favorite song?

Isaac:  ABC's

Mommy:  What is your favorite toy?

Isaac:  Trains and trucks

Mommy:  What is your favorite time of year?

Isaac:  Saturday.  Daddy stays home.

Mommy:  What is your favorite movie?

Isaac:  Toy Story

Mommy:  Do you want to be a daddy when you grow up?

Isaac:  Yes, but I only want baby boys.

Mommy:  What do you want to drive when you get older?

Isaac:  I told you a dump truck.

Mommy:  No, I mean when you're not working.

Isaac:  Oh, a jeep.  A brown one.

Mommy:  How old is Daddy?

Isaac:  5

Mommy:  How old is Mommy?

Isaac:  4

Mommy:  What does Daddy do when he goes to work?

Isaac:  He gets us money.

Mommy:  What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?

Isaac:  Play outside

Mommy:  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?

Isaac:  Homeschool  [unprompted, I promise]

Mommy:  What is your favorite thing to do with Olivia?

Isaac:  Play with trains, Playmobil, and Legos.

Mommy:  What is your favorite thing to do with Joshua?

Isaac:  Play with Little People.

Mommy:  What is your favorite thing God made?

Isaac:  The moon

Mommy:  Where does Jesus live?

Isaac:  In heaven and in my heart.

Isaac is 4!

Isaac turned 4 on Saturday and we celebrated with a few of his favorite things.  First, we took him to ToysRUs to pick out a gift.  He chose a Playmobil red race car and Lego block set.  Then, we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch where he had his favorite chicken nuggets with barbeque sauce, waffle fries and apple juice.  And to finalize turning four we had to blow out some candles,  so we came home and had chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and M&M's for dessert.  Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling really good, but he still enjoyed his day anyway. 

 

 

 

Valentine Candy Poppers

This year Olivia and I made really fun, unique, recyclable Valentine's for her friends.  And we had a LOVEly time working side-by-side making them, too. 

  

We made Valentine Candy Poppers.  They're different from a party popper.  They are still a great deal of fun, but they are edible (the contents that is), less messy, and very inexpensive to create.

We started with bathroom tissue paper rolls (we save these for crafts throughout the year) and then collected Mod Podge, a sponge brush, scissors, a pencil, and Valentine paper.

 

To begin, we stood a bathroom tissue paper roll up onto the Valentine paper.  We traced around the tube to form a circle.

 

Next, we cut a rough circle out-larger than the circle we drew.  Then, we cut slits inward, up to the pencil markings (like a sunshine).

Using a sponge brush we applied Mod Podge around the top of the roll and began pressing down the cut edges of the circle.

When complete, the roll had a cover on one end.

After drying completely, we turned the roll over and filled with candies.  We chose pink and silver wrapped Hershey's extra creamy chocolate hearts.

 

Then, we cut another circle out the same way in which we had before and glued it on the open end.

 

Laying out the Valentine paper on a flat surface, we then cut a rectangular piece of paper out to roll around the tube.

Again we used our sponge brush and Mod Podge to slowly work the paper around the tube adhering it until we covered the entire bathroom tissue paper roll.

 

Voila!  We had a Valentine Candy Popper.

 

 

Lastly, I tied some ribbon around the tube and finished it off with a bow and tag (heart shaped, of course :) )

To get inside and reveal the Valentine sweets, the recipient can either pop the tube by squeezing the sides or by popping the end with their finger. 

Happy Valentine Candy Popping!

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Shhhhhhh...don't say anything, but I am making larger versions of these with paper towel rolls to give to Olivia, Isaac, and Joshua on Valentine's Day.  I am filling them with Valentine chocolates, as well as other small treasures. 

February Snow

 

 

 

 

Making Valentine's

Groundhog Day 2011

Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2011, at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA:

Here Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye

On Gobbler's Knob on this beautiful Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2011, Punxsutawney Phil was raised from his burrow by the call of President Bill Deeley.  He greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.

And after casting an inquisitive eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, he proclaimed . . . the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!

Back to the business at hand . . . he surveyed his surroundings carefully and found that there was no shadow around, so, an early spring it will be.

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Isn't it funny how some traditions begin?  And aren't some of the traditions we create for our families just silly? 

Groundhog's Day is one such tradition in our family.  When Olivia was 4, I created a school day based on Groundhog's Day.  We learned about groundhogs (what they look like, where they live, what type of animal they are, what they eat), Pennsylvania (where it is located, where Punxsutawney is located), and shadows.  We colored small groundhogs then glued popsicle sticks behind them to create instant puppets for making shadows with.  We colored large groundhogs.  We practiced making our letters by spelling out the word "groundhog."  And finally, we made groundhog cupcakes. 

Here we are 5 years later, and we are still making the same puppets and cupcakes each year.  Last year Isaac enjoyed being a part of the celebration and this year Joshua participated in the puppet making.  He had such a fun time coloring his puppet and then playing with it just like his big sister and brother.

 
 

 

Our cupcakes are decorated slightly differently each year based on what type of sprinkles, chocolate chips, and cuts of almonds I have in the house.  This year we enjoyed making 2 dozen groundhog cupcakes and sharing them with many of our new friends.  

 

And in case you are wondering ... even though Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow predicting an early spring ... our Groundhogs - Gus, Gabrielle, and George - all saw their shadows, so I suppose that means we still have 6 more weeks of winter ahead of us here in Mississippi.  ;)

 

  

Phil's official forecast taken from http://www.punxsutawneyphil.com/