Haigh Happenings

Insta-Snow!

2012-01-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

We are tired of being cooped up with winter germs. Aliah just read her second chapter book for the day. Annabelle has maxed out on levels of Angrybirds. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I had everyone's curiosity piqued when the girls found this waiting for them:

I played "Let It Snow" as a hint. The girls thought I got a giant snow-cone machine. Violet was getting the hot-fudge (?) out of the cabinet, ready to dive in and fill her pie-hole. I highly disappointed her when I told her that the surprise was something you couldn't eat.

Then I filled each of their hands with some powder, a very small amount of very fine powder.

Add some water, and presto: INSTA-SNOW!

What the Haighs Have Been Up To

2012-01-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

This is what we did over our break from school:

Had breakfast at the diner with Uncle Troy:

Replaced a light in the spare bedroom:

Started to learn to type

Picked our noses:

Celebrated Aunt Caylyn's birthday at an all you can eat Italian buffet:

Mommy spent a lot of time with Aunt Caylyn:

and started learning to play the piano:

It's a Feista!

2011-12-31T14:08:00.000-08:00

Our Spanish tutor Senorita Maria invited the girls and some of her other students over for a fiesta. Violeta and Senorita Maria both dressed up for the occasion. Maria spoiled everyone with a movie (E.T., which by the way is such a great movie I don't know why I haven't watched it in the past 26 years), treats, games and prizes.

We played Spanish bingo. The rule was that the Punkettes (and Mommy) had to speak Spanish while their new Spanish-speaking friends had to speak English. I loved the fact that the Punkettes got a chance to try out their second language with some new friends and we can't wait to play with them again.

Plaza Lights

2011-12-31T12:51:00.000-08:00

Since Daddy got some much-needed time off from his "second job," we were able to spend some time together as a family over Christmas break. Thank you Uncle Troy for taking care of Grandma so we could get away for some fun.

We took the girls on a surprise family date, starting with a burger joint.

This lead to silly Punkettes sticking french fries in various facial orifices:

We teased the girls with clues about our big surprise, telling them that involved something equestrian. They thought we were going to a petting zoo. But in the end, it was a trip to the plaza to see the plaza lights on a private horse-drawn carriage.

Mommy and Aliah shared a hot-chocolate.

Daddy, Violet and Annabelle shared another hot chocolate.

Guess who had more than their share of sweet liquid warmth?

Canine Cookies

2011-12-31T08:34:00.000-08:00

In order to keep our pooches spoiled for Christmas, we made these treats for our family dogs (with something sweet for the owner).

Click here for the recipe from Allrecipes
(I might note that these need to be kept in the freezer for freshness if the aren't all eaten within a couple of days.)

A Very Haigh Christmas

2011-12-31T06:29:00.000-08:00

We counted our blessings as we celebrated Christmas with the Haigh side of the family. The girls were thrilled with their matching American Girl outfits that Grandma gave them.

More time with our sweet niece Charlotte. Baby's first Christmas is always extra special.

A bird's eye view of the Haigh festivities by our amazing photographer, Deidra:

Tracking Santa Claus with Uncle Troy.

A very Merry Christmas! More celebrations to come with the Spicer side of the family.

Getting Crafty for Christmas

2011-12-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

We finished school this week and are devoting the rest of our week to baking and crafting. Annabelle got her first taste of using the sewing machine while making a blanket for Violet's American Girl doll. She came up with the idea for the gift while looking through some of my fabric and seeing some princess fabric that she knew Violet would love.

Since she hasn't officially practiced sewing (without thread on lined paper), we did a crash course and she did a few stitches on one of the sides of the blanket by herself. She was thrilled to just spend time crafting in Mommy's off-limits craft room, let alone getting to "drive" the sewing machine by herself.

The finished product. From Annabelle's idea to complete, wrapped and under the Christmas tree in less than a half hour.

Gingerbread Fun

2011-12-16T11:57:00.000-08:00

Last night the kids had their friends Isabel and Isaac over for a sleep-over. Movies and popcorn fun last night. Violet has been doing this unit study with the Gingerbread Baby Theme, so I had promised the kids we would make our own Gingerbread cookies. This morning after reading the book The Gingerbread Baby, we snuck in a little school while the kids wrote about their favorite part of the story.

Some time for playing:

Aliah instructed Isabel on the basics of playing the violin:

Then it was time to wrangle our very own Gingerbread Babies for some frosting fun:

(For you decorating enthusiasts, I tried this new trick to load your frosting bag and it worked really well:)

Reading Progress Reports

2011-12-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

Since reading is such an important part of school, I thought I would take a little time to touch on the amazing progress the girls have made in this area. I just gave them a reading assessment and both are performing well above grade level.

                       Date    Words Per Minute:

Annabelle:     July 2011                 27
                  Dec 2011      54

Aliah:             July 2010                39
                      July 2011               119
                      Dec 2011             173

Both girls have excellent accuracy (95% and 99%, respectively) and good comprehension of what they are reading. Annabelle is reading about a grade level above 1st grade and Aliah is reading several grade levels above 3rd grade. Perhaps it's all of the practice she gets with chapter book a day.

I might note, that Aliah was a "late bloomer" with reading, but when she took off there was no stopping for her. I am glad that homeschooling accommodated this learning style and she wasn't labeled as a poor or slow reader. It just took a little time and patience.

Annabelle's Baptism

2011-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

This weekend Annabelle was baptized. It was a wonderful day and she basked in the attention of her two Grandmothers and her Grandpa.

Uncle Beau and Lindsey were also able to come for her special day.

Stringing it Up

2011-12-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

The girls did a great job at their winter recital. They played in several groups, each had solos, and also did a duet. We are very proud of their accomplishments on their instruments. It is obvious that they enjoy playing and all of their practicing has really paid off.

Annabelle with her cello instructor Mariah:

Christmas Program

2011-12-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

Last night was our church's Christmas program. Before the short skit, several kids shared their talents. Aliah and Annabelle each played a solo and then played a duet.

Violet's preschool class sang some songs. What, you don't see Violet?

Well, that's because she was scared to death to get on the stage without the moral support of a sister and stayed on her Daddy's lap shaking and crying:

Singing Christmas carols:

Aliah played Mary in the skit:

By the end of the program, Violet realized that she was not going to get her bribe of some candy since she didn't perform with her class. So she attempted to redeem herself by joining her sister on stage. Not sure what nativity character she thought she was, but it she gave it a shot.

On the way home, she argued her case, stating that she DID in fact go on stage and deserves candy! Sorry, Violet, nice try.

Paper Advent Chain

2011-12-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

A friend pointed out this page with great Christmas activities:

Today the girls made an Advent Paper Chain. A little slice of heaven for my my cut and glue queen:

There are 25 days of Christmas themes and verses to look up

A great way to remind us that Jesus is the reason for Christmas.

I guess it's time to change my blog background into something a little more festive.

Play Dough Snakes, Euros, New Strings

2011-12-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

Random happenings at the Haigh house include Violet making play-dough snake letters (don't all home-schooled preschoolers dress up in their Christmas best for school?)

The big girls are "visiting" Europe right now and currently learning about Germany. Punkette behavior has bee remarkably good since the reward for a good school day has been choco-mini Euros.

Annabelle's crush on her student cello proctor in her strings lab has increased after she learned that Wolfgong is German. Now she knows "why he talks funny" (Hopefully I can sneak a picture of him playing with her soon.)

In other news, I took my violin in for a tune-up (small f-hole repair, new bridge, new strings, new bow). It turns out that when outfitted with nice strings it has great tone and was appraised at five times what my parents paid for it (Go Mom!). That earned it a new case, complete with suspension and a hydrometer. Can't wait for Aliah to grow into it. She's currently using a half size violin.

She is her Father's Daughter

2011-11-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

Annabelle listens to a lot of books on tape and music. Which is why she has gone through two cheap CD players and we are now looking at an iPod dock for Christmas for her. (Shh, don't tell!) After the second CD player expiration, I set it by the door to go out with the trash.

Aliah found it and like a kid in the candy store, BEGGED me to let her keep it and take it apart. Rumor has it that when Ricky was the same age, nothing in his home was safe from his screwdriver either. She is her father's daughter.

The Perfect Crust

2011-11-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

We had Aunt Caylyn out to coach us on how to make the perfect pie crust. I have to admit, this was my first adult attempt at a pie crust and I wanted to get it right. Shortening, butter, what's better? Fortunately, my Mother-In-Law shared her special pie crust recipe that used both- perfect!

After Caylyn and I made our crusts, I let the girls try. Aliah was in charge of making the crust and the little sisters each got a chance to roll their cinnamon-sugar-crust out.

Putting some elbow-grease into it. She's a natural. The girl has a knack for baking, among other things.

Judging by the response to my pumpkin pies yesterday, I'd say it was a success!

Thanksgiving Day with the Haighs

2011-11-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

We celebrated with everyone from the Haigh family this year.

As usual, Baby Charlotte was the center of attention.

after all, it was her first Thanksgiving

Some of us were not happy about sitting at the little table:

Troy's turkey and sides were amazing

Charlotte thought mashed potatoes were fun to squish by the fist-full

and Uncle Beau's pony rides were quite popular with the little girls

Crafty Geeky Punkettes

2011-11-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

I gave the girls this week off of school as we prepare for Thanksgiving. This is what I found this afternoon during their sister's nap time: the big Punkettes playing chess in the new stocking caps they made from Daddy's old shirt. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Family Time

2011-11-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

Goodbye Summer

2011-11-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight I finished off the last of our home-grown tomatoes. The last was bursting with flavor just like the first of the summer's.

You might be wondering how on earth I still have tomatoes November? Well, the day before our first hard frost, the girls harvested the rest of our tomatoes, including about 60 green ones. We shared with the neighbors and the remaining green tomatoes ended up in my windowsill to slowly ripen.

Mommy Look What I Made

2011-11-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

"Mommy look, I made a smiley face heart for breakfast!" Nice job Violet. I'm sure your sisters won't mind at all that you used the entire container of cinnamon sugar on your smiley face heart bread.

Halloween with Ms. Deanna's Take 5

2011-11-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

We had the pleasure of attending Ms. Deanna's preschool Halloween Party for the fifth time this year.

Violet was an unicorn this year. She picked out that costume months ago from our dress-up box and surprisingly she stuck with it.

Meow- a Kitty Cat:

Inspired by our wonderful Spanish Tutor from Mexico, Senorita Maria, Aliah was dress as a Hispanic girl.

The whole class. As you can see, Spiderman was the hot costume this year.

Violet started her 24 hour sugar high with snack time.

Good News from KU Med

2011-10-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had my annual cancer check-up at KU Med. This was my first appointment in their beautiful new facility. It was a walk down memory lane, looking out of the modern window down on the street where I used to park when I attended grad school here many years ago.

Once a student, now a patient. A thankful patient who got good news and the all clear for now. I will come back in January for more throughout testing since the drug needed for a stimulated whole-body scan is not currently available. But if it doesn't become available, my doctor is okay with me waiting for another year, and for that I am very thankful.

Violet's Progress

2011-10-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended Violet's preschool parent-teacher conference. She is doing great in school. We are exceptionally proud that she is taking her role as a peer model very seriously and goes out of her way to make her classmates with disabilities feel welcome.

Violet attends preschool two mornings a week and when she isn't there, she expects me to have her "school work" ready just like her big sisters. I picked up some Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies at Trader Joe's and they have been a hit.

She uses them for letter identification and matching activities, and they are quite tasty as well.

Other hands-on letter activities we did this week included matching foam sticker letters to a printout of the alphabet. Annabelle is a great teacher and helps her identify the letters as she matches them. That's the great thing about homeschooling the second and third child, they have more than one teacher to learn from.

Festival Weekend

2011-10-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Who cares about the 40,000+ people who showed up in our little town for the festival. All we care about are a few key people who graced us with their presence. Troy, Deidra, and Baby Charlotte flew into town.

Tony Winston, Mimi and Grandpa Mike (whom I failed to get a picture of) also enjoyed the festival with us.

We celebrated Violet's 4th birthday (The extra "candles" are actually straws used to hold the top on the giant cupcake after it slid off. Thanks Daddy for saving the day.)

Grandma Susan also came over to spend the day with us.

Pumpkin Patch Take 5

2011-10-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Today Violet rode the school bus for the first time with her preschool class to the pumpkin patch. This was our fifth trip with Ms. Deanna's class, as Aliah and Annabelle both had her for two years.

Ms. Deanna with the Punkettes"

Our little stairsteps are getting pretty tall!

It's Just Too Much

2011-10-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

As you can see, turning four is very stressful, especially when Mom wants to take pictures. We thought you might like a glimpse into Violet's morning of her fourth birthday:

We love you no matter what mood you might be in, Violet Grace!

One-Wheeled Bike

2011-10-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

Violet turned four this week. Daddy ordered her a very special birthday gift a couple weeks ago. The night it came, he just had to give it to her. We told her to close her eyes and not to peek:

No peeking yet!

It's a one-wheeled bike! It's attached to Daddy's bike! Climb on:

A little scary the first time,

but not so bad when you are zooming by with Daddy!

Party on the Horizon

2011-10-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Violet's Special Weekend

2011-10-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

Considering Violet's only other special get-away with Mommy was an overnight stay at the Children's Hospital, I decided I should take her with me this weekend for some special one-on-one time. We hitched a ride with Uncle Chad and Aunt Caylyn to a friends wedding. The drive was eventful, especially when the car overheated.

While waiting for the car to cool down, we went geocaching behind the rest stop.

We met Mimi and Grandpa at the lake.

We attended Dane and Christy's beautiful wedding.

Violet got some sunggle time with her Grandpa

and Uncle Chad.

Too bad I failed to take any pictures of Violet and I, but I did get one with my Lil' Sis

on the way home Violet got to play with her cousins.

What a great weekend we had together, Super Vi!

Cider Mill

2011-10-10T05:09:00.000-07:00

We decided to try out a common fall tradition, visiting the Cider Mill. Aliah found the opportunity to view the process of how they make the cider to be very interesting. Starting with the apples being washed:

All the way to the end of the process when the cider is bottled up.

We have bee hearing for years how good the apple cider dounuts were. The brisk morning was perfect weather to have some warm apple cider.

Except for our warm-blooded child, who had no problem downing a cider slush in 10 minutes despite the temperature outside being in the low 60's.

There was a craft fair the weekend we visited. Aliah was in crafty-heaven. Her favorite booth, judging by the 98 photos she took, was this booth with feather clips:

People might notice if she wore one of these around town:

Cancer is Rude

2011-10-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

God just gave me a wake-up call.

I have cancer. Or should I say I HAD cancer. After surgery and treatment, I was declared cancer-free.

I barely remember every day when I take my thyroid hormone pill that it's because I no longer possess my cancer-ridden thyroid gland. When I go in for blood work every couple of months or for my bi-annual cancer checkup, I remember that I have dealt with the big C. Otherwise, I just go on with life and forget about it. Taking my good health for granted.

Today I called to schedule my cancer checkup at KU Medical Center. I was informed that the "miracle"drug that I use every time I have a scan or treatment IS NOT AVAILABLE, nationwide.

I have two choices. One, wait until it becomes available, or two, proceed with testing with hormone withdrawal. Hormone withdrawal is the equivalent of being hit by a Mac truck for several months. Confusion, extreme fatigue, memory loss are some of the side effects. I would not be able to take care of my home, much less homeschool or even attend to my children. All in the name of checking to see that the cancer hasn't decided to return. A cancer that has a 30% return rate.

Cancer is rude that way. It doesn't care that I don't have time to deal with it right now by going through hormone withdrawal. It didn't care that the first time it reared it's ugly head that I was pregnant with my third child. It didn't care that I had to undergo surgery during that pregnancy to prevent metastasis. It didn't care that I had to wean my infant so that I could go through treatment after my baby was born. It didn't care that the treatment made me radio-active and I had to live in a plastic covered room for three days with no human interaction. It didn't care that I had to be away from my kids, including my infant, for a full week so that my radioactivity didn't damage their developing thyroid glands.

Cancer has had a very personal impact on our lives the past 4 1/2 years. It will have an even greater and unforgiving impact on the Haigh family the near future.

I pray that I will no longer take my health for granted. If I wake up in the morning and am able to think clearly and have energy to spare, I will thank God. If can see my kids that day and kiss their boo-boos away, I will thank God.

Sometimes it takes something rude or unpleasant to happen for you to remember to count your blessings.

Magical Get-Away

2011-10-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend the Mister and I hopped on a plane together for the first time since the Punkettes came along. Destination: a Bed & Breakfast hidden in a magical forestland.

Complete with gnomes and hidden gnome homes:

Bring on the Field Trips

2011-10-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

Mz. Fix-It

2011-09-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

"Mom! The toilet won't flush!"

Before I had even made it into the bathroom, the girls had the lid off the back of the toilet and had diagnosed the problem. Aliah quickly surmised that the chain and fallen off the flapper.

After re-attaching said flapper, they determined that the flapper was broken and we needed to replace it. A trip down to the Haigh Hardware Store in our basement (which is why we need a large storage room in the basement) turned up a new flapper.

New flapper was installed and determined to be too small for our toilet.

Trip to the local hardware store to find a larger flapper:

Finding a larger flapper:

Which resulted in a fully-functioning toilet.

No plumber was called.

No one even waited for Daddy to get home from work.

Two determined girls who weren't afraid to figure things out for themselves made one Mama very happy.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

Tortillas!

2011-09-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

The girls got their "passports" stamped as they crossed the boarder to study Mexico. Our Spanish tutor, Senorita Maria helped us learn a little culture by instructing the girls on how to make tortillas.

First mix the masa with hot water, roll up into balls, put a divot in each:

Smash the with the tortilla maker:

Peal off the flattened tortilla and cook on the skillet.

One Tooth Less!

2011-09-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween, Annabelle is sporting the Jack-o-lantern look.

And for your viewing pleasure, Ricky always comes through with the interesting photo angles. Just to prove Annabelle really does have a hole in her head.

Sundaes for Dinner

2011-09-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday evening we celebrated Aliah's mastery of her math facts with ice cream sundaes for dinner.

Aunt Caylyn and Uncle Chad came out for the occasion.

Chad was not put off by the idea of ice cream for dinner in the least.

Complete with whip cream and a cherry.

Way to go Aliah, we are proud of you!

Family Camp

2011-09-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

We recently spent the weekend at Family Camp at Rock Springs 4-H Camp. This is the camp where I went as a young 4-H'er.

There were lots of kids for the Punkettes to play with, including my good friend Kim's children.

Activities included: canoeing:

feeding fish:

horseback riding (Aliah was old enough to go on the longer trail ride this year):

and lots of "shooting things":

Top it off with a couple campfires, rousing camp songs and ticks. Fun was had by all.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

2011-09-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

Get your dip on with this high protein pumpkin pie dip. I am giddy thinking of all of the ways to use my new pumpkin butter I made the other day. After mixing the above ingredients together, I decided it needed a little bit of honey to take the tang out of the Greek yogurt:

Pumpkin Pie Dip:

1 cup pumpkin butter
6 oz plain Greek yogurt
1 t. vanilla
1 c. light whipped cream
2 T. honey

Pumpkin Butter

2011-09-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

The house smells wonderful and this is why:

Pumpkin Butter!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, or 1 (29 ounce) can (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup apple cider or juice
1 cup packed brown sugar
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (to taste)

Directions:

Combine pureed pumpkin, vanilla, apple juice, spices, cinnamon sticks and sugar in a large saucepan; stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently. Adjust spices to your taste.

Whirl Wind Chicago

2011-09-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

BelleBelle and I had a memorable Mommy/daughter train trip to Chicago a couple weeks ago.

Our hosts: Uncle Troy and Aunt Deidra, who live in the hip neighborhood of Lincoln Park.

with my Cutie Patootie niece Charolotte Jean

We did some of the touristy stuff, like the incredible Shedd Aquarium,

but mostly, we just hung out and enjoyed spending time together with our family.

I have to say, Annabelle was pretty smitten over the big city, but even more so over her Aunt and Uncle.

Preschool!

2011-08-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Guess who started preschool?!

In addition to doing preschool at home, Violet is attending preschool as a peer model at one of our local public school's special education classroom. She goes Monday and Wednesday mornings.

Full load:

The older Punkettes walked her in for moral support. They both attended Ms. Deanna's class for two years as peer models too.

Baby went along. I told Violet she had to stay in her backpack, so Violet let her head out so she could see what was going on.

Our favorite preschool teacher, Ms. Deanna starting her fifth year with a Haigh girl in her class. We are very fortunate that all of our daughters can learn from her.

The Windy City

2011-08-31T14:33:00.000-07:00

Annabelle and I returned from a mother-daughter get-away to Chicago. Annabelle thrived on the city. I got lots of baby-love from my sweet niece who even managed to fall asleep in my arms once. More to follow.

Shopping Spree

2011-08-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

Aliah and I had a date last night to shop for new shoes and clothes for her. Can you guess what size my 8 year-old wears? Women's size 5! Haha, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Unfortunately, she also inherited my non-existent arch which lands her in expensive shoes and someday her own orthotic insert.

The evening was perfect, topped of by Aunt Caylyn's company. It ended with a trip to Trader Joe's and Orange Leaf!

Small Town Arts

2011-08-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

When we moved to town 9 years ago, the local lumberyard was went out of business. Luckily, this forward-thinking community raised the support to convert the old lumberyard into a Community Arts Center. The Punkettes have enjoyed taking classes here.

We attended the Art Walk Friday evening, and found our brick with our name on it for the first time:

There were instructors with hands-on activities for the kids to do. Our friend Riley has been taking a sewing class and she was demonstrating her skills with her sewing instructor.

Violet was in her element at the recycled materials creation table.

We enjoyed visiting with the vendors outside to learn about how they make their items for sale.

Gotta love a small town community event!

Around the World

2011-08-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

This year for school we are studying countries and cultures. After learning the continents and oceans, we decided to make a cake of the world. Say the word "frosting" and Violet is ready to go:

Aliah coached Annabelle so that the outlines of her continents were frosted correctly.

She was in charge of the final touches.

I think they did a great job, and it tasted good too!

Cousin Camp!

2011-08-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

We have had a wonderful weekend of cousin camp with my niece and nephew.

The occupancy in my van was maxed out.

Off to the fair! The small country fair at Vinland.

Enjoying some home made pie. The kids choose blueberry, which in retrospect wasn't the best choice for faces or clothes.

Aliah and Daddy competed in the blind tractor obstacle course. Aliah guided Daddy while sitting in the wagon.

Walking back after competing together. They used pretty good team work and placed second!

Splat! Monsters

2011-08-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

Pipettes + watered down paint + straws + googly eyes

= Splat! Monsters

Fresh Herb Playdough

2011-08-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

These days we are throwing fresh herbs into everything we cook. So, why not throw it into play dough? We do cook our own so it's really not such a stretch!

Ingredients:

1 cup salt
2 cups flour
1.5 cups boiling water
2 tbsp oil
the juice of half a fresh lemon (this works in the same way as cream of tartar)
fresh herbs: rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, mint (anything that smells nice and is not irritant)

Mix everything together, except the herbs. After it cools down enough to handle, kneed until play dough consistency. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

After you have a soft ball, then add the herbs!

Back in Public School

2011-07-29T05:10:00.000-07:00

Back to school! After a year off from Ms. Deanna's special ed preschool class, a Haigh Punkette will return this year. Aliah attended two years, followed by Annabelle for two years as peer models. Today we enrolled Violet. She will attend two mornings a week, starting in about a month.

Annabelle is on day 19 of her first grade phonics and math curriculum. She is joining Aliah on her third grade history, geography, and science. We are studying countries and cultures this year. The girls just filled out their "passport applications" and they will get their passports stamped for each country we "visit" (study).

We started school in full swing this week. Aliah had a rather difficult day on Monday, and therefore Mommy had a difficult day. We all know that when Mommy's not happy, nobody is happy. Principal Daddy laid down the law when he got home. The next few days, Aliah was the MODEL student. Today I asked her why her attitude changed so much and she replied, "Daddy told me that if I didn't act better, I would have to go to PUBLIC school." Haha. Whatever works!

Miss Violet is a busy body these days and demands "her school work" during the four or five hours her sisters are doing school. Luckily I saw this coming, so I stocked our closet with new manipulatives and have been laminating new activities I printed off from more other more talented mothers who home school their preschoolers. I can't imagine home schooling without the support I find online. (Some day I will feature a blog post of some of the new purchases and handmade preschool activities.)

A Glimps into the Life of Aliah

2011-07-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

Recent photographs from Aliah's camera:

A Little Culture

2011-07-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last week, Mimi spent a few days with us. We ventured into KC for some culture at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.

Although we went to see the Monet exhibit (featuring the triptych of Water Lilies, very impressive), the girls were most enamoured with Roxy Paine's computer automated sculpture making machine.

Annabelle thought this one looked like an old man.

The best part of the day, was our first visit to a local Trader Joe's. Yeah! I have been waiting for years for this.

Violet's Hospital Vacation

2011-07-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Violet and I just took an unexpected trip to the ER last night that earned her an overnight stay at the Children's Hospital. She received breathing treatments, since she was having difficulty breathing because of croup.

Seeing as how my one hour of sleep is preventing me from making coherent sentences, I will be brief. She was a super sweet girl as always and seemed to enjoy having Mommy exclusively to herself all night long. We are so thankful for Aunt Caylyn for hanging out with us WAY past her bedtime (and Chad's bedtime, for that matter), our neighbor for sleeping on the couch and my generous friend Michelle for watching the Big Girls today. Looking forward to not being a single Mom anymore when Daddy arrives home from Taiwan tomorrow.

We Love You Silly!

2011-07-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

The girls made some pictures for Daddy. . . and some silly faces.

Comprendes?

2011-07-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate to find an excellent Spanish tutor for the girls. Senorita Maria grew up in Mexico before she moving to the US. She has over twenty years of experience teaching Spanish in the public schools. Today was her first lesson. Upon arriving, she informed me that I will take part of the lessons with the girls. I explained to her that I never learned a foreign language as a child and will be pretty slow. She replied, "It's okay, the girls can help you." :)

Annabelle seems to be a natural (surprise, surprise) so maybe she can tutor me on days Senorita Maria is not here.

First Time to Camp

2011-07-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

I sent Aliah off for her first time to camp for a few days. She was excited and nervous. As the anticipation built, she eventually broke down in tears about an hour before she left. After calming down, she wrote down a few Bible verses to help her have courage while she was away. Annabelle shed a few tears too seeing her best buddy leave.

Aliah's trusty Hippy went along for the camp adventure. Cant' wait to hear about all of the fun they had while away. (Crossing my fingers that I'm not called to go pick up a homesick camper early).

Getting a Little Husky

2011-07-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

Our farmer friend Jeff brought us a huge feed sack full of corn.

The Punkettes were thrilled with having fresh sweet corn and immediately went out to husk some so that they could eat! Jeff warned them there may be some worms, but that only increased their excitement level.

Hooray for fresh veggies!

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Cream

2011-07-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful CSA farmer gave us this quick and easy recipe for cherry tomatoes. You start by sauteing some garlic in butter, add the tomatoes, cream, and then fresh basil.

Ricky doesn't normally eat tomatoes requested this meal just a few days after trying it the first time. Good thing we have a garden full of cherry tomatoes!

2 Tbsp butter
4 Cups cherry tomatoes, rinsed and left whole
1/2 Cup heavy cream
1/2 cup packed shredded basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 lb. fresh linguine or fettuccine (I used plain spaghetti)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a large non-reactive pan. Add garlic and saute over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and saute until softened, about two minutes. Stir in the cream, bring to a boil and simmer briskly until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Stir in basil, salt and pepper. Pour over pasta and serve immediately with parmesan on the side.

Turtle Time

2011-07-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

This Box Turtle lived on our porch for a day. Provided hours of entertainment for the girls with basic bodily functions such as eating and pooping. The girls found out that it favored kiwi fruit and blackberries.

The girls named it "John Spot Haigh" Then during our research, we discovered that it was a girl turtle so they changed her name to Sandy. How did we know it was a girl, you ask? It's easy, girl box turtles have brown eyes, boy box turtles have red eyes.

Preschooler with a Knife!

2011-07-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Violet and I made a cool summer treat, Frozen Fruit Cups from my favorite Once a Month Cooking Site. For the first time ever, Violet was allowed to use a knife to slice something. Bananas were the target. Don't tell her it was only a butter knife!

We threw in the frozen and canned fruit, and added the orange juice.

I put the cups in the freezer like this for a about half a day, then after they were frozen I nested them and sealed them up in plastic bags. We removed them from the freezer about 45 minutes before we planned to eat them, and they were a slushy treat the whole family loved.

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

Every year, we make a flag cake to celebrate Independence Day. This year, I decided to make angel-food cake, so we ended up with two cakes to decorate. Aliah and Violet teamed up for one and Annabelle did the other.

Cool Whip, blueberries, and strawberries were added with artistic flair.

Quilted with Love

2011-07-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Grandma Susan made each of the girls a special quilt. They love them, but they love their Grandma even more!

Homeschool Organization

2011-06-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

This year I will be home schooling a third grader and a first grader. Although we haven't grown out of homeschooling at the kitchen island yet, the overflow of books have made in necessary to invest in a new five-shelf bookshelf. Our curriculum uses "living books" instead of textbooks and well, I am a bit of a book-a-holic. The amount of books has become somewhat overwhelming, especially when curious little girls take them off the self so often. My solution is to color-code our books by grade or topic.

Yellow for Aliah's 3rd grade, which will be focusing on Countries and Cultures this year:

Red for Annabelle's 1st Grade:

and Blue for our materials from 2nd grade, which focused on US History:

Since the girls like to pull books off the shelf to peruse at their leisure, I printed off three different colored cardstock pages for each girl. After laminating them, they serve the purpose of "holding" the books spot so that they can return the book to the proper spot. This system will hopefully make less work for Mommy re-shelving books.

Here's our kindergarten books in a file cabinet of books organized by weekly themes that is also accessible to the Punkettes:
In addition to our own collection of books (which totals more that twice of what you see here), we also heavily rely on our local library's inter-library loan system. Any given week we have about 15 books checked out from the library.

While on the topic, I might mention that although I hadn't intended to officially start school until August, we actually started yesterday. I realized that Aliah was quickly forgetting her math facts and other math skills, so rather than spending 6 weeks reteaching (as public schools do), I decided we had better start reviewing now. So she does about 45 minutes of math a day. Annabelle is taking off on her reading, and has been begging me to teach her all of the quirky phonics rules of the English language. So rather than putting her off any longer, we began working on the phonics section of her first grade curriculum. This morning she did 6 days worth. I figure if she is ready for it, why wait? It's not a problem finishing her curriculum in a few months as she did last year, since she sits in on Aliah's too.

Going to the Zoo

2011-06-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

I took the girls and my nephew to the KC Zoo for the first time this week. It was a perfect day to meet some friends and enjoy the sights with Aunt Caylyn.

We got some hands on action while feeding the lorikeets:

Our friend Amy was a good sport:

Violet thought she was being attacked by the feathered friends:

We rode the new Sky Saffari to the African exhibit.

Violet and Aunt Caylyn up above the trees:

Watched the Sea Lion show:

Our favorite exhibit was the polar bear. He showed off by doing back flips off the window sill into the water.

How the Garden Grows

2011-06-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Harvesting kale for the fourth time this summer. Aliah couldn't believe how much there was- two big bowls full!

One of our tomato plants is as tall as Aliah.

Harvesting our first pepper.

Hands On Fun

2011-06-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I forget that I have a three year old. So in an effort to provide more age appropriate activities, I have been taking advantage of playing outside with some hands on sensory play. First up: the always loved and simple water play with food coloring, syringes, and eye droppers.

Of course after about 10 minutes, the water was no longer a rainbow display, but all brown. Time to bring out the frozen blue stars and some fresh water:

Mikey's Birthday Treats

2011-06-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

Last week we celebrated my Dad's birthday. I was in charge of deserts and I have had some requests for recipes. First off, I made his favorite, German Chocolate Cake with this recipe from All Recipes. For the frosting, I used this German Chocolate Frosting Recipe.

For his big party, I made 4 dozen cupcakes. I used this recipe, Extreme Chocolate Cake, which was a bit tricky for cupcakes because the batter was so runny. I think it would be fine as a layer cake. For the frosting, I knew that I wanted extra, so I used this recipe since it made a lot, Rich Chocolate Frosting.

To balance the chocolate, and since it is summer, I also made Lemon Cream Cupcakes. Although I didn't get to taste a completed cupcake, I sampled both the cake and the frosting separately and these were my personal favorites.

Now that that sugar high is over, it's time to go exercise!

Scary and Stinky

2011-06-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, our neighbor came over in a panic asking if Ricky could come "kill" a snake for her. Instead we transferred this garter snake from her bushes to our brush pile by the creek. The big girls had fun examining it.

Violet was not so impressed, because it was "scary and stinky," in her words:

A successful snake rescue.

Makes a Mommy Smile

2011-06-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, I went into Violet's room to start cleaning up the daily tornado that hits that proximity every morning between 6-7 a.m. when I saw something that made me smile. My three year old, who has never in her life picked up her clothes off the floor, much less put them away in a drawer, had removed her American Girl Doll's dress and neatly hung it up on a hanger up high next to her dresses. Amazing.

Berry Breakfast Cake

2011-06-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

Last night I couldn't sleep so I got up, folded laundry, read my bible study, looked through some magazines and baked a cake. Odd, I know, but it's better than laying in bed thinking about all that I have to get done the next day.

I was trying out a new recipe from Meal Makeover Moms called Raspberry Breakfast Cake. I altered it to include a variety of frozen berries, so I will call mine Berry Breakfast Cake. It was a huge hit!

Sorry I didn't take pictures before it was almost gone. Wasn't planning on blogging about it until everyone dug into it this morning. Then I realized it was so good (and healthy) so I just had to share!

Berry Breakfast Cake
Makes 8 Servings

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup 1% lowfat milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup frozen berries

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the canola oil until well combined. Whisk in the milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.

4. Mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, smoothing the top. Arrange the berries evenly over the top and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.

5. Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool in the pan and serve.

Our First Garden!

2011-06-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

We live in the perfect lot. It's big (3/4 acre), beautiful, and gives our girls lots of room to explore and climb. Did I mention there are trees? Lots of trees, about 300, but who's counting. Because of that, we have lots of cool shade. Good for spending time outside, but not so good for a growing veggies.

I decided that the girls were old enough to learn to grow a garden. After all, I would consider gardening a life skill and I am very thankful that my Mom taught me how to get my hands dirty. She tells us a story about when we were young and had just harvested some fresh asparagus from the garden. While prepping the asparagus, she dropped some on the kitchen floor. My brother and I were fighting over who got it! Raw asparagus? I asked what happened to her asparagus and she said that my brother ruined it when he turned the asparagus patch into a play dump truck area. :)

So back to the Haighs. We have no where in our yard for a garden so we were excited when they started a community garden just a few blocks away. When I told our wonderful neighbor about our plans, she offered her sunny yard for our garden! It is great because the kids just run across the (dead end) street to watch their garden grow. Aliah is posing with her potato plant. You might notice that the garden is covered with grass and leave clippings. We are using the lasagna technique of layering newspapers with grass clippings and dried leaves for weed control. As an added bonus, it will compost over the winter and help amend the soil for next years garden.

Speaking of our yard, I would love to show you how beautiful it is, but for blogger anonymity sake, I will only include a picture from the back yard. This is Annabelle's new tree swing she got for her birthday. Behind the fence is the creek and the trees the girls climb on lazy spring and summer days. What a wonderful place to raise kids!

Whose Kindle?

2011-05-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

I received my birthday present this week even though my birthday isn't until the middle of June. Ricky is really bad at waiting to give me gifts so I get them the second he walks in the door after purchasing one. :)

I had been dropping hints that I would love to have an e-reader for a while, and after researching to see what device would best suite my needs, I decided to go for the plain-Jane device that didn't have all of the fancy apps. That way I wouldn't have to compete with my kids to read my novel. (The kids are famous for kidnapping my iPhone for a game of Fruit Ninja).

So I thought I would get my Kindle all to myself. After all, there are no flashy games to play, just boring words. Boy was I wrong.

My little bookworm grabbed it up and before I had even touched my new Kindle, she had already read Peter Rabbit.

About a month ago, Aliah dove into the world of chapter books. She hasn't come up for air since. Since signing up for the summer reading program at our local library on Wednesday, she has read 8 1/2 books. Today is Monday. She's averaging 1.7 books a day. Good thing the library is close by, because we will be spending more time there than the pool this summer.

Shagging Balls

2011-05-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we ventured out the Legends to go to a T Bones game. Some of us love the excitement, music and loud cheering. Others of us are devastated that we forced her to leave her chapter book in the car.

Violet, sporting her ladybug coat, complete with antenna, was the recipient of the first foul ball. Apparently 3rd basemen have a weakness for cute girls in ladybug raincoats:

We headed to the parking lot to watch our friend's post-game firework show. Mr. Chris really knows his firecrackers!

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

2011-05-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

We made these treats for Aliah's birthday party. Some of our friends had diary allergies and couldn't eat ice cream. So we decided to make our buttercream frosting look like ice cream!

First we baked a cake mix following the directions on the side of the box to bake them in ice cream cones. (Be sure not to overfill past 2/3rds full). Then I made some frosting:

Frosting:
2 sticks salted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons almond milk
1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

After mixing, refrigerate until hard. This is a very important step, because the icing must be hard in order to scoop it out like ice cream. Scoop out with an ice cream scoop. Let the birthday girl decorate with sprinkles (and eat a few).

Pat dry maraschino cherries on a towel and place one on top of each scoop of frosting.

Very carefully pass out to your friends and enjoy!

Welcome to your 8th Year!

2011-05-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate our oldest daughter's birthday. She's the one who taught us what parenting was all about (in other words we practice on her, curse of the first child). Honestly, I appreciate her willingness to forgive me when I make one of my many mistakes while being her mother.

You are:

creative,

resourceful,

curious,

a bookworm,

a tree hugger & climber,

musically talented,

Mommy's helper,

a Jesus lover,

and you are beautiful.

The past year you have had many accomplishments. You successfully played duets with your sister, which is no easy task when she is telling what to do. You discovered a love of reading and now ask me to take you to the library almost daily for new chapter books. You discovered a love for birds. You learned how to plant a garden. You began to learn another language. You publicly confessed your love for Jesus at your baptism.

Happy Birthday

Aliah Morgan Haigh,

I love you!

Skip Counting the Sneaky Way

2011-05-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

While at Silver Dollar City, I picked up these Pick-Up Sticks for less than $2. Since returning home, the girls have been playing for hours. (Please excuse the dog hairs decorating the rug, our stressed-out elderly black lab is literally shooting out clumps of hair out while she gets her summer coat.)

After all the sticks are all picked up, they begin counting their points to see who won. The red sticks are worth 10 points, green sticks worth 5 points, yellow worth 3 points, and so on. This has encouraged lots of skip counting, which is a sneaky way to get the girls ready for multiplication. Hurray for fun games that polish math skills!

Vacation Highlights

2011-05-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

We just returned home from an Ozark vacation. Here are the highlights:

Where we stayed:

Girls doing what all little kids do in hotel rooms, jumping on the bed:

Violet held her own. Long days at Silver Dollar City that included no naps, and no strollers. She even went on the cave tour with over 600 steps! Having a little trouper with a happy-go-lucky attitude as the youngest in our family really makes it easier when you are on the go.

Grandma Susan went with us:

Enjoying the rides:

The stables at the Dixie Stampede:

An American Experience

2011-05-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

Mimi and Grandpa took the girls to the new American Girl Store while they were visiting this week. The girls each had the pleasure of picking out their first American Girl doll. Annabelle and Aliah picked dolls that had features similar to themselves. Violet picked out a pretty red-headed doll named Emily.

The girls are getting their instructions on how to care for their dolls hair:

The whole crew, which included Aunt Caylyn:

They quickly became very fond of the new dolls.

Violet insisted that Emily must ride the safest way, so 5 point harness it was:

Within a half hour of arriving home, Aliah had already crocheted booties for Kit. She also plans to sew her some clothes.

I see many miniature tea parties in our future.

Princesses at the Beauty Shop

2011-05-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

For Annabelle's birthday, we took the girls to the salon for a glamor makeover. Annabelle knew exactly how she wanted her updo- a messy bun, with some long curls in the front.

We had diverse colors for the manicures- pink:

Violet fittingly picked purple: (somebody asked me if her name was really Violet)

and blue for the birthday girl.

Violet practicing puckering her lips for her lipgloss: (The ladies at the salon couldn't believe how she sat so patiently for over an hour for her nails, hair and makeup since she was only three years old.)

The three princesses:

Afterwards, we headed over to Aunt Caylyn's and Uncle Chads for the party. Even Thumper felt like celebrating:

Aunt Caylyn is the best party host. She had her whole house decked out in balloons.

Make a wish!

After pizza, ice cream cake and cupcakes, the girls played some Wii and listened to books read by Uncle Chad. He is extra talented at reading upside down:

Happy Birthday Annabelly!

2011-05-07T07:12:00.000-07:00

Happy 6th Birthday to our Annabelly!

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

You are our:

spunky,
friendly,
generous,
silly,
fun-loving
super-smart,
brown-eyed
girl!

Why Aunts are Better

2011-05-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Why Aunts are better than Mom:

1. They sing silly songs with us.

2. They play hide-and-seek with us and don't come out of their hiding spot, even when the three year-old niece has moved on to other things.

3. They host their neices birthday party.

4. They come and hang out with us so that we don't have to go sit very quietly while Mommy gets a hair cut (boring!).

5. They play dress-up and fairies with us.

6. Our Aunt is super silly and oodles of fun! We love you Aunt Caylyn!

Dear Mr. President

2011-04-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

For the final day of school, the girls wrote letters to President Obama. This year we studied American history and we wrapped it up by learning about our current president.

Annabelle's letter read:

Dear President Obama,

My name is Annabelle and I am in kindergarten. You are special to our country. I prayed that you make good decisions.

Love, Annabelle

Aliah's letter read:

Dear President Obama,

My name is Aliah and I am in the 2nd grade. I prayed for you and your family to be safe. Thank you for working for our country. Your daughters are very pretty. I noticed that you are left-handed like me.

Love, Aliah

We watched a video about how the White House processes the thousands of letters and email it receives everyday. President Obama reads 10 letters a day and writes hand-written responses to a few of those. We shall see if we hear back from the White House.

Belly & Me

2011-04-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

Annabelly and I spent the afternoon together. An afternoon that included: wandering around Toys R Us, sharing and ice cream cone, taking a trail around a lake, chasing ducks, petting dogs on the trial, picking weeds that seem like flowers, and visiting some dear friends who have a new baby. It was a really nice day.

I managed to awkwardly snap a few pics of us with my SLR. In true Annabelle fashion, she was making a goofy face in them all.

Annabelle, you make being a Mommy fun!

Awana Awards

2011-04-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

Last night was our Awana Club's Award night. It was an evening for the clubbers to be awarded for their achievements and for them to show off some of the songs and Bible verses they have learned. Annabelle got a special award for perfect attendance (above). Below Violet is standing very still while her fellow Cubbies sang songs.

About half a song in, the stage fright set in and she took cover with her nearest leader.

She just wasn't buying the "imagine the audience is in their underwear" trick.

Aliah earned the highest award for her Sparks club for finishing all three of the handbooks. We are quite proud of her memorization skills.

Violet, pretending to be put out again.

Just kidding, she was really quite happy to be sitting on Grandma's lap.

Regretfully, I don't have any pictures of the T & T Boys club that Ricky leads up because I was held up in the bathroom with a very slow three year-old during their presentation. But I did get back in time for Commander Donna recognizing Ricky for being the only leader to complete his second handbook. Nice job Daddy!

A Blessed Easter

2011-04-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

What a blessed Resurrection Sunday. We celebrated it with Grandma Susan, despite the fact that she just finished her last round of chemo less than 24 hours before. For some reason, the toxic drugs that usually knock her flat on her back did not have the same effect this holiday weekend. Thank you God!

Grandma Susan with Troy, Ricky and her newest Granddaughter Charlotte:

The two baldies. (Baby Charlotte had to be cropped out of this picture because she has a beautiful, lush head of hair). Ironically, Ricky shaved his head as a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society several years ago when I was undergoing cancer treatments. He has kept it that way ever since. Little did he know that his Mother would also battle a much more vicious form of this disease.

The last Haigh Family gathering for a while. We have been so blessed to have Troy, Deidra, and baby Charlotte with us for the past three months. They are a special part of our family and we will sorely miss them when the go back home to Chicago this week.

God's Jungle Gym

2011-04-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

The girls have discovered that God's jungle gym (right next to the creek behind our house) is hands down better than anything man-made! More pics to come.

You Know She is Growing Up. . .

2011-04-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

When she puts her own pony-tail in by herself:

She even knows the use-your-teeth-to-pull-open-the-rubber-band-with-one-hand trick. Makes a Mamma very sad!

An Un-Schooling Kinda Day

2011-03-31T07:08:00.000-07:00

This morning we are home and I have some things to attend to. So I am letting the girls have a relaxed free day from school. For the past half hour Aliah has been giving Annabelle a violin lesson. It's nice to know that when I give them a break from school, they still find ways to keep their growing brains busy.

Excuse me Violet, didn't mean to exclude you from the picture!

Slumber Party

2011-03-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's like a brand new house downstairs! Our basement remodel is finished now that the new carpet was installed yesterday. Above is the t.v./play area and the yellow room is our spare bed room.

The girls are super excited to have such soft lush carpet. Since we have hardwood floors everywhere upstairs and in the past just had non-padded industrial type carpet in the basement, this is quite a change. They decided to break it in by having a sleepover last night. But only after several hours of tickling and rolling around on the floor with Daddy.

A before picture looking into the storage area, while the carpenters were building the new wall:

After, looking into the storage room. It was crammed full of all of our basement stuff so we couldn't even shut the door!

Enjoying the Outdoors

2011-03-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung at the Haigh House. The trees in our "Firefly Forrest" are not green but alas there are other signs throughout the yard. Aliah found this discarded walnut half brimming with baby mushrooms.

Violet made an umbrella with a branch and a giant leaf.

Ironically, the girls ended up playing in the snow just the night before I finished this post. Such is life in the midwest. Just wait a few days and they will be back outsite in their shorts and tank tops!

Guess Who's Sewing

2011-03-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Aliah has been begging me to teach her to sew for a long time now. Saturday, while shopping with Grandma, Aliah picked out a pattern for some shorts and top. I decided I had better get my machine out and teach her some basics first before she starts on some clothes. After a quick phone consultation with my Mom, I got everything ready for step-by-step directions to teach her to sew.

After learning the parts of the machine, she sewed on lined paper without thread:

After she mastered the straight lines, we moved on to curvy lines and curly-ques. Next was squares to learn corners.

Aliah decided it would be fun to try to stitch her name:

After mastering back-stitching and learning to thread the machine she sewed her first seam:

I looking forward to seeing what my creative child makes with her new skills!

Uncle Troy vs. Aliah

2011-03-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

In true Bobby Flay style, Uncle Troy challenged Aliah to a Throwdown in the kitchen. Aliah has been known for her delicious Popeye Sandwiches. Uncle Troy thought he might be able to make them better. Little did he know that she had a few tricks up her sleeve!

Uncle Troy's Suos Chefs Annabelle and Ashlea:

Spectators Aunt Deidra and Charlotte:

another picture of Charlotte, because she is so darn cute:

Violet happy to have Grandma's full attention while having a book read to her:

Judge Annabelle tasting the food:

And the Winner is. . .

Chef Aliah!

Her secret ingredient was cheddar cheese and some fresh chives, thanks Mimi for the suggestion!

Thankful For

2011-03-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for:

A box of over a 1,000 foam stickers to keep little hands busy:

A fun hands-on curriculum to keep big brains challenged:

My temporal thermometer that so reliably checks this one's persistent fever for the past three days:

And a well-rested (finally!) Mommy who today has the energy to take care of these blessings.

Roll Over Beethoven

2011-03-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

After practicing her violin today, Aliah decided that she wanted to compose her own song. She got out some paper and started laboriously drawing out the five lines of the staff. I got online and found this program that allows kids to compose their own music.

You click and drag the notes to the staff. It forces you to use notes that total 4 beats per measure, which I thought was great. It really reinforced what Aliah has learned from her lessons. After you are done, you can click on the play button and hear your music.

Poor Annabelly

2011-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

You know you have a really sick kid when you find her sleeping in random places of the house in the middle of the day. This morning, I found her sleeping in my bed and this afternoon she was curled up like a cat in the sunshine.

Sorry for the Lapse

2011-03-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. We have been dealt a difficult hand the past month and Mommy is just too busy to blog. Life has been stressful and hard. Ricky found a creative way to deal with his stress- an Enigma Puzzle:

After about a half hour, he finally got it apart. But the trick was trying to figure out how to put it back together!

Some Haigh Girl eye candy:

Hello Cuteness!

2011-03-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

Nice chatting with ya!

Operation Bathroom Beautification

2011-03-02T04:39:00.000-08:00

Out goes the ugly old tile!