Mia at the Pumpkin Patch

Mia and her pre-school group went to a pumpkin patch in Flower Mound. At the end I let her pick out a cute, tiny pumpkin in the 50 cent bucket.

On our Way to Washington DC

November 21st and 22nd
We were so excited. Robert was going to be working in Washington DC. We finaggled the dates to match the Thanksgiving Break from school. We warned Skij and Dave and then started driving. I was giddy with impatience at seeing my sister.
Our drive passed through Memphis. Natually, we stopped to visit Graceland. This was our first time going to Memphis and we felt it would be a great cultural experience for the kids, and a fun stop for Rob and I.
There was a parade going on on Elvis Drive so we thought we would find a cool place to eat. The cool place was closed (the pig mobile picture) so we went to Church's Chicken, we have that at home so it wasn't unique.
Graceland; lots of souvenirs, lots of Elvis devotees, and bored kids. Claire thought that we were supporting a drug addict so she didn't want to pose in any photos or even be there. Grant, Byron and Mia were done after 15 minutes of Elvis memorabilia. Rob and I ejoyed seeing the outside of Graceland and seeing Lonely St and Heartbreak Hotel. Both of us are too cheap to pay for the full tour just to drag our bored kids through the estate. We got our journal postcards, we took a couple of photos and then we were done.
The kids were more impressed to see the pyramid as we passed over the Memphis bridge. Mia was upset that we didn't stop to see any mummies or Egyptian kings.
The rest of our drive was uneventful. I really loved watching the countryside go past. I have never driven through the East half of the US.

Heritage Day at GES

Each November just before the Thanksgiving break, the elementary school has Heritage Day. It use to be called Grandparents Day, but there are many grandparents who can't come. The theme is Patriotic because it coinsides with Veterans' Day.
This year Claire is in the choir part of the program. That is the job reserved for the Third graders. Claire has been practicing songs at home for the cultural program. She has even been doing a German foot slapping dance which caused some raised eyebrows before we knew what she was doing. Claire did a great job in the choir. She was very irritated that she wasn't allowed to pound the huge Indian drum or have one of the speaking parts. That didn't matter to me. She was still the star because she was where my focus remained.
After the progam, I went to Byron's classroom for a readers theatre about the Mayflower and the early pilgrims. Byron was a natural. He was one of the few who read with emotion and was in character. Mia really embarrassed Byron by loudly calling to him from the audience; "There is Byron. Byron is my Brother. etc. . . " Byron hid his face but he still smiled.
Claire also had a readers theatre. Claire had brought some props for her role. She needed some kitchen items. When I arrived I found Claire at her desk, surrounded by every play tea set and pretend kitchen item we own. Most are glass. They kept knocking together and made soo much noise during the other groups' readings. For her part, Claire, played a grandma who complained. She knew all of her lines and also had lots of emotion in her "reading". She had the final lines, "This was the best Thanksgiving Ever!!".

Claire's 9th Birthday - November 18th

Claire is now 9. She has grown up a lot this year. She is one of the tallest kids in her class. Claire us full of fun. She loves to tease her brothers and loves to laugh. She is a social hearted girl and is always telling me about the plans and adventures she and her friends have at school.
This year is Claire's family party. She designed a cake and we recreated it in cake form. I cheated a bit. I didn't make the girl figure out of cookie as Claire had originally designed. Claire didn't mind much,she enjoyed the Polly Pocket as a substitute. Claire got an MP3 player and thought that was cool. She has been asking for one for a while. (She especially liked that hers had more memory that Grant's).
Happy Birthday Claire!!! We Love You!!!

Back in November

November 19, 2009
Grant was 4th chair in the District Select band. They went to Grapevine High to work for one day learning music for a concert that evening. They did a fabulous job. Tubas don't often get much solo time or even melody time but they sounded great. My favorite piece was a Middle Eastern influenced piece that had some competing and changing rythms. Grant hated that piece because his part was boring. He liked a futuristic piece that sounded like it was constantly zooming. Grant had fun playing it. I made Grant stop after the concert and pose with his greatest rival and friend Awaiz. They were even good natured when I cut off their heads and had to take it twice. I guess I am not use to the height difference, they keep growing.
Good Job Grant.

Oppossum Week at Nature School

Mia goes to 'Nature school'. It is a one day a week preschool at a local Nature reserve and park. The curriculum is based on the animals that they would find at the reserve. This week Mia got to learn about opposums. (We see plenty of those here, dead on the side of the road). Mia got to wear a little pouch on their nature walk that had baby opposums in it, in paper form. The goal was to keep their babies safe in the pouch. But, when I was there, a little trail of pink opposums was left behind the group of little nature explorers. The best part of the day was getting to see a real, live oppossum, up-close. Mia thought it was so cool. Mia was sharing facts with me after school and a rhyme that she learned. "Opposums, Noc-tur-nal animals, (clap, clap, clap) They sleep at night. Shhh! Noc-tur-nal an-i-mals, I'm not afraid". Mia is full of interesting facts. Did you know that an oppossum's life span is only 2-3 years. They don't often have rabies, and they can't hold their weight upside-down hanging from a tree when they are adults. (those cartoons lied)!!!
Mia loves Nature school-- and so do I.

MIA'S - - SUGAR BUGS ! ! ! !

This week Mia wanted to eat some Halloween candy after she was all ready for bed. I told her that was not a good idea. My reasoning was that when you eat sugar and then go to bed the sugar stays on your teeth and the 'sugar bugs' eat it and then make holes in your teeth. I thought this was a simple way to explain how cavities happen. What I didn't expect was Mia's reaction. She was terrified. She ran screaming to the bathroom. She was so hysterical Robert thought she was hurt. All he got out of her crying and frantic toothbrushing was; "Sugar Bugs!!!", "Teeth!", "Ahhhhhhhhhh!". After she got her teeth brushed, she was fine.
The paranoia didn't stop there. Several time during the week I have heard her screaming and running to the bathroom. For example, after church she got a piece of candy from the bishop. She finished it in the car and then it started; "Whaaaaa, the Sugar Bugs, Ahhhhh!!!" The other kids laughed and I tried to explain to her that it would be okay to wait 5 minutes until we got home. I am going have to have a 'Sugar Bug Kit' in the car (toothbrush, paste and water) and maybe in my purse.
I am sorry that I scared her. But, I have to admit, I am rather pleased that I may have one child who is diligent and anxious to brush her teeth.