Paige's 17th Birthday and the Denver Aquarium

So Paige turned 17 today! Again, I have to seriously re-examine my paradigms and accept that she is now a young adult and ready for college!

She wanted to spend the day at the Denver Aquarium, so G'Pa Bernie, Paige, Daniel, Emma, and I (Laura wasn't feeling well; poor Craig had to work) headed up there this morning. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place with gorgeous exhibits.

Birthday morning means getting presents

Paige at the aquarium

A 200 lb. alligator snapping turtle, apparently found mostly in southern North America

A river otter

Colorado's state fish: the greenback cutthroat trout

A Sumatran tiger having a drink

At the aquarium restaurant (opposite the kids was a floor to ceiling salt water fish tank)

Paige

Emma and Paige look at a very loud and squawky macaw

Daniel

Paige

Back home for birthday cake

Oh, Christmas Tree!

I watched the ATP year-ending final between Federer and Nadal live from the O2 in London this morning. Fed won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 with some beautiful serving, backhands, and volleying. Perhaps this bodes well for his Grand Slam chances and return to #1 next year.

In the afternoon, the girls had music lessons with Courtney, who teaches Paige the electric guitar, Laura the bass guitar, and Emma the drums. In the meantime, some of the family was watching football at Bernie's house, so there was a lot of shuffling of kids back and forth between music lessons and the games. Apparently the Bears did well, but the Broncos (as usual:-O) didn't.

This evening, the kids decorated the Christmas Tree!

The process they've devised starts with dividing the ornaments into four separate piles

Every year, each kid gets to choose a new Christmas ornament, so they start by selecting the ornaments they've chosen in the past (which they somehow remember)

They then divvy up the remaining ornaments between them ...

... and start hanging them on the tree ...

... which fills up very quickly ...

... as the Christmas elves toil

The finished product:-)  

Second Thanksgiving

Two Thanksgivings are better than one, so we decided to have a second one this evening to get rid of our leftovers.

Esa, Daniel, Paige

Craig, Bernie, Emma

Daniel, Paige, Craig and ... the mysterious, disembodied hand ...

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had such a peaceful, happy day. We were joined by Bernie and Esa. Because I've had bronchitis, we decided to order out from Boston Market for our Thanksgiving feast. We had turkey, dressing, mashed potato, gravy, corn rolls, sweet potato casserole, cinnamon apple, macaroni cheese, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Bernie brought a French silk pie. All I had to do was throw together a salad, open a tin of cranberry sauce, and zap some green beans and peas. Everything was delicious, and the kids had their favorite items from Boston Market. I think we'll do the same next year. Laura set and decorated the table beautifully. Alas, I couldn't find my camera to get a photo of the meal:-( However, since we have half the food left, we'll try to do another "Thanksgiving dinner" tomorrow or over the weekend, so perhaps I'll get a second chance. In the meantime I've snapped the (sniff) empty table (after I'd cleared the table, of course my camera turned up) and a few shots of the kids.

After the meal

Emma

Paige playing Princess Zelda

Daniel, Emma, and Esa wrestling

The Birthday of the B-Rats

So the puppies turned three today. Snowy and Cloudy are litter mates -- we're sure of their date of birth. We don't know Sunny's exact age, but he's estimated to be about the same age as the other two, so we also celebrate his birthday on 11/22. I didn't get good pictures because the hyperactive varmints couldn't keep still.

Third birthday cake plus prezzies

Part of Snowy (far left), Emma cuddling Cloudy, Laura cradling Sunny

Cloudy tries out her new blanket

Snowy and Sunny with their new blankies

All three pooches sporting their new duds and doing their best to get muddy

"All's Fair at the County Fair"

Laura acted in a play, "All's Fair at the County Fair," this morning. She was so natural and self-confident in  her role. I couldn't take pictures during the play, but I snapped the following just afterwards:

Exiting the stage after taking their bows ... Laura is second from the back

Laura with her friend, Lauren

Laura and Lauren saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" together last night. Laura has signed up for three acting classes next semester: acting, musical theater, and audition techniques.

Sunrise

The sunrise this morning was so beautiful. Everything, including the trees and the ground, had a peachy glow.

BTW, the date and time stamp on my camera is out by 12 hours. One of these days I'll have the energy to figure out how to correct it.

Free Tuesday

We have nothing scheduled for today! The girls' film acting class is finished for the year, meaning our Tuesdays are currently free.

 This guy paid us a visit this morning

I'm going to try to do lots of math with the girls. I've put several items on hold at the local library that are related to our Waldorf unit on Comedy and Tragedy. We're going to start with Greek plays, so Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus are on order, as well as some general books on Greek theater. This is an "accordion" unit -- one can expand or contract it as much as one likes.

Waldorf Education

I am SO jazzed about adding a Waldorf component to our home school. I've been pulling together resources, and this is what we have so far:

We have the following books by Charles Kovacs, a former Waldorf teacher:

1) Ancient Greece
2) Ancient Rome
3) Parsifal and the Search for the Grail
4) The Age of Revolution
5) The Age of Discovery

Then we have the following from Christopherus , a company that provides Waldorf home schooling materials:

1) Splinters of the Sun, Teaching Russian Literature to High School Students
2) Comedy and Tragedy (which includes Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripdes, Japanese theater, Twelfth Night, Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Raisin in the Sun, etc.)
3) Fairview's Guide to Composition and Essay Writing
4) Painting in Waldorf Education
5) The Ambitious Horse: Ancient Chinese Mathematics Problems

Then we have a couple of library books about the Waldorf method:

1) The Common Vision by David Marshak
2) Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path by Rudolf Steiner

Finally I've ordered about a year's worth of "main lessons" from Live Education , another provider of Waldorf homeschooling materials. Those supplies should be here by the end of the week and include:

1) Beowulf
2) The Kalevala
3) Ancient India
4) The Ancient Culture in Persia
5) Astronomy
6) Nature, Number, and Geometry
7) Wish, Wonder, Surprise -- English Literature and Creative Writing
8) The Sentence Sounds a Melody (English Grammar)

All of these materials lend themselves to holistic, integrated activities that will hopefully appeal and inspire.

Julius Caesar

Emma enjoyed Julius Caesar

We went up to Denver today to see a performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, which is an assigned book for Laura's grade at her online public school. It was well done, although I thought the stabbing of poor Caesar was a little sickening. Disgusting amounts of "blood" and tissue squirted all over the stage amidst blood-curling screams:-O I sometimes worry about the appropriateness of Shakespeare for li'l Emma, but she's always quite unconcerned.

I have a copy of Ancient Rome by Charles Kovacs that we're going to use as a basis for a Waldorf "main lesson" plan. It includes the known historical details on which the play is based.

Wittoo Weewa hits the teens!

So Awesome Laursome, who defined cuteness as a little girl, is suddenly a teenager! She turned 13 today! This calls for some revision of paradigms. 

Birthday cake!

After gifts and cake, we went to Mr. Biggs, an indoor theme park with laser tag, go-carts, mini golf, etc.

Laura and Emma getting into a go-cart ...

... and our speeding ladies hit the road.

I'm so lucky to have this kind, warm-hearted, gentle-spirited daughter! It's a privilege to be along for the ride as she blossoms into young womanhood. You go, Laura!

It's a Beautiful Day!

It's a warm, summery day! With the clocks falling back an hour, we had a very relaxed morning. Emma, Bernie, and I rode our mountain bikes up to Monument Rock while Craig jogged in the area. The weather was gorgeous! We saw horses, joggers, and mountain bikers while we were out. Everyone seemed very cheerful and friendly.

Emma and Bernie in front of Monument Rock

Ann and Emma on the trail

The girls started their guitar and drums lessons this afternoon. Unfortunately Laura has the 'flu, so she missed her bass lesson. Paige is learning the electric guitar; Emma is learning the drums.

Paige on electric guitar

Emma on drums

Paige and Emma have done a little schoolwork today, even though it's Sunday. Craig and I have a date tonight, and Paige has offered to cook dinner for the rest of the family.

Warm Weather

It's November 6, 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and it hasn't snowed yet this season. 'Not that the kids are complaining.

Laura, Emma, and friends on the trampoline

Laura, Emma, and friends (there are four kids in there somewhere) on the climbing structure

Takes to the skies like a bird in flight

So Friend Laura flew a Cessna 172P today. This was her first real flight lesson (she's been up a few times with Daniel,) and she was ecstatic. We now have another budding pilot in the family. It was a very blustery day, but she apparently held altitude beautifully.

A happy girl doing her pre-flight check

Shortly before takeoff 

And they're on their way!