High Tea

Violet has been involved in Keepers of the Faith this year, a program that was created to install Christian values and attitudes in our children while teaching them practical skills. It is a program that we have enjoyed be a part of. The girls learn a variety of skills as they participate in their club. Some of the skills the girls learn  are gardening, embroidery, culinary arts, music and fine arts, nature studies, and recreational skills, just to name a few. For each task the girls complete they will earn either a silver or gold pin, depending on the level of the project and completion. So far, Violet has earned pins for card making, identifying ten types of trees, hospitality, butterflies, birds and grandparents. She is working on earning even more pins in the near future.

We ended this year's meetings by having a formal high-tea party for the girls. The night began with a beautiful devotional about how important our words and actions are when we deal with others. The words we say, and our actions, can be compared to styrofoam, ceramic or fine china. No one wants to be treated like stryofoam, something to be discarded easily and without a second thought. And while being treated like ceramic isn't terrible, as you still have to be careful with it, everyone wishes to be treated as if they are fine china. You take extra care of fine china, being gentle with it and respecting it. A beautiful analogy for a tea party, don't you think?

The girls, and their mothers, had a wonderful time at the tea party. The girls treated their china with delicate hands as they enjoyed tea sandwiches, scones, various fruits, cakes and of course hot tea. Lemon, cream and sugar cubes were set at each table, adding to the high-tea experience. And not a single piece of china was chipped, cracked or broken during the party.  

I must admit, as I watched Violet and the girls enjoying themselves, it was hard not to get emotional. They are growing up so fast. Too fast actually. I remember when tea parties consisted of cute little tea cups, lemonade, peanut butter sandwiches and a tea pot that played "I'm a Little Tea Pot" as you tipped it's spout. Where did the time go? When did our daughters get old enough to use real china? Time is going by too fast for me. And to be honest, I'm not ready for my little girl to grow up.

Spring Trip, Part 3

You would think that after everything we did at Mountain View that we'd be too worn out to do anything the next day. After all, we did cram a lot into one day. But we were up, bright and early, the next day and had another full day ahead of us. After a nice breakfast with wonderful avian entertainment, we made our way to Blanchard Caverns.

Violet has never been to an actual cave before, so this was a real treat for her. I remember going there as a child myself and the memories are still vivid in my mind. To experience it again with my daughter, who is relatively the same age I was the first time I went, was a great experience.


A few noteworthy things about Blanchard Caverns... it is the only living cave in the United States. Meaning, it is constantly growing new formations, albeit very slowly. The caverns have two lighted trails that you can tour. The top tier level is open year round and is considered the shortest and easiest of the two. The lower tier level is only open part of the year and is a more advanced trail. The lower tier level closes during the local bat hibernation period and opens at the end of May. Apparently, there is a virus called The White-Nose Syndrome that is killing hundreds of thousands of bats throughout the northeastern United States. The virus has not hit Arkansas as of yet.

Blanchard Caverns is home to six species of bats, two of which are endangered: Endangered Gray Bat (Myotis grisecens), Endangered Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis), Keen’s Bat (Myotis keeni), Tricolored Bat (formerly known as the Eastern Pipistrel Bat)(Perimyotis subflavu), Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus), and the Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis). (If you're interested in bats, then click on the links that are provided with each species of bat that is listed.)

We learned about Stalactites - the formations grow from the ceiling of a cave. Hope they hold tight!

Stalagmites - formations that grow from the ground up. They "might" grow up!

When a stalactite and a stalagmite meet in the middle, they are then called a column.


And if you're lucky, you can pick out a form of some sort while looking at the beauty inside these caves...


Our tour guide said you could tell a lot about a person depending on what they think the previous formation looks like to them. If they say it is a Love Boat, then they are a newlywed. If they answer the Titanic, then they are an older couple who have lived some time together. If the answer is New York, then that person is a dreamer. We had several different responses within our group.

Once our tour was over, we made our way to Blanchard Waterfall. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a nice little cabin nestled near these falls!


While in the midst of all this beauty I realized how lucky I was to be there with my daughter and my parents. I can't thank them enough for making these last few days possible and for the memories that came with them. I love you guys more than anything and I am incredibly blessed to be your daughter. Thank you for a wonderful spring break.

Spring Trip, Part 2 (Video Included)

After staying up late on Tuesday night, while riding out tornado alarms, we woke up early on Wednesday morning and hit the road. Our destination, Mountain View, Arkansas. More specifically, The Ozark Folk Center. There we introduced Violet to folk art, music, crafts, and so much more. The Ozark Folk Center is like walking through time where you get to experience life as a pioneer would.

Violet was surprised by the simplicity of life during that time period. Practically everything she has is made in an unknown location, packaged nicely, and then purchased. She had never seen things like baskets and quilts being made by actual human hands. The center is dotted with little interactive shops where you can watch things being made and then purchase something if you wish to. Our first stop was at a jewelry shop that had beautiful silver work. I'm kicking myself now for walking away from an amazingly detailed silver dogwood ornament. It was absolutely beautiful.

We saw beautiful dolls being made from corn husks...


Basket weaving...


My favorite basket was partially made out of a gourd...


Violet experienced a one room school house...


As you can see, she took this very seriously...


After cutting up in class, I decided Violet needed to do a little manual labor. There's always laundry needing to be done...


Only problem is, she was enjoying herself too much!


We visited a few cabins and then had an afternoon snack of ice cream and fried pies. Afterwards, we needed to work off the calories we had just consumed so we checked out some live music that was taking place. There was an old-fashioned Hoe-Down starting up. The band consisted of a guitar, violin, and straight bass, along with an occasional banjo or dulcimer (who did some amazing rhythm with her feet), and a "caller" (someone telling you what steps you're about to make). This is where the day took off for Violet and the memories will last her a lifetime.



After some encouraging on my part (and her Mimi & Grandpa), Violet got up and joined in the dancing. She was the youngest, and the shortest, dancer in the whole group. Thankfully her dance partner was gracious beyond measure and had a great way with my little girl. Before long, her giggles were heard above the music.



We cooled off on a free old-fashioned carousel ride that is powered by a donkey. Violet was so enamoured by the donkey called Tango that she purchased a toy donkey in the gift shop for her souvenir. It should come as no surprise that she named her toy Tango. From there, we returned to our cabin to freshen up and rest a bit before we went out to eat and then to the concert.


At the concert we heard a fantastic couple play. Atwater & Donnelly. I had never heard of them before but their music was great and they deserve their own post, which will come after this one. In the meantime, I want to brag on Violet a little. The gentleman who played the guitar earlier in the day recognized Violet and asked her to come up on stage and dance for the audience. His words...

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a young lady that is sitting up here in front of the stage. She has a toy donkey with her that hasn't stopped dancing during this whole concert. We'd like for her come up here with her donkey and dance for you fine folks. And let me tell you this, she will literally light up the stage with her feet!

As you can imagine, I am one extremely proud Momma!!! My baby girl busted out of her shyness and grabbed the opportunity to dance in front of an audience of strangers! And you can bet the farm on the fact that I was the first, and the loudest, to cheer for Violet once the song was over!

Weekend ~ Part 2

Sunday was a WOW day for the three of us! We were given tickets to this year's Texas Renaissance Festival and our only opportunity to go was this weekend. So, with Violet's presentation ready to go on Saturday, we went to the festival on Sunday. The weather was overcast and quite chilly but we still had a fantastic day.


Since Violet didn't get to wear her costume on Halloween, we let her wear it at the festival. Everyone addressed Violet as "Princess" throughout the whole day, something she adored. She was even singled out by one of the workers at the festival and asked to enter a dancing contest within minutes of our entering the grounds! We never made it to the contest because there were so many things to see and do. I must say though, she was quite beautiful in her dress...


Violet finally had the opportunity to ride a pony on Sunday. Her pony's name was Happy but I think kiddo was the happiest of the two...


We got to ride an elephant. Let me just tell you now, it was a scary, thrilling and very uncomfortable ride! Here we are on top of Paige...


We saw a living statue. She was very eerie but beautiful at the same time. Also, she was one of Violet's favorites at the festival...


We saw a phenomenal Birds of Prey show. The birds were stunning and the show was very informative and entertaining. This owl will be at this week's Harry Potter movie premier...



We cheered on Sir Thomas, a knight from England, during the royal competitive events...



And we met royalty! Queen Anne Boleyn...


Violet like Queen Anne so much that she asked if she could babysit for us the next time Gregg and I go out.

Queen Catherine of Aragon...



King Henry VIII...


Oh what a tangled weave those relationships were!

Gregg and I have heard mixed reviews on the Renaissance Festival. People either love it or they hate it. The festival can bring out some pretty crazy people (think Spider Man in a kilt!), some of whom need lessons in modesty. We were fortunate in that we didn't see a whole lot of questionable/revealing outfits (IE. women wearing chain mail and nothing else) and most people were well behaved. We knew we would have opportunities to teach Violet about modesty and the difference between reality and fantasy while at the festival. Maybe that helped us in how we viewed things or we just got really lucky on the day we went. Either way, we plan on going back to the festival!

Weekend ~ Part 1

Thank you Mr. Weatherman for putting in a good word for us. It was an insanely busy weekend but we had a fantastic time!

Where to begin? We went back to Dewberry Farm on Friday. It was a gorgeous day and the farm wasn't as crowded as our first visit was in October. Because we've had a little bit of rain, it wasn't as dusty either (something my sinuses really appreciated!). Violet had a greater affection for the rope swings this time around. And I'm happy to report there were no face-plants or belly-flops into the hay!


Violet got to experience the Jumping Pillows on this visit. There's really no way for me to describe them other than pure joy. Just look at the expressions on Violet and Miss. M!


After being sick for a few weeks, and out of our usual routine, I was worn out after our day at Dewberry! So, we let Saturday morning's weather (and my achy bones) determine for us that we were going to stay home that day and rest. Knowing that we were going to be out all day Sunday we had to get everything ready for school on Saturday. With her Daddy's help, Violet prepared her class presentation for Monday. This week's assignment ~ make and share a favorite recipe. There was no debate on what Violet would present to her class! She had to make chocolate chip cookies!

Sunday was packed full with new experiences for our little family. The day's events merit their own post which I'll share with you soon. Right now, my body and my brain are screaming for rest. Until then, have a great day!

Kemah

We had the opportunity to go to the Kemah Boardwalk this weekend and had an amazing time. Kemah has changed so much since we moved to the other side of Houston in 2007. There were only a handful of restaurants when we lived out there and the only ride was a train that drove a circle around the boardwalk. We hardly recognized the place!

Our day started off with a birthday party held at the Aquarium restaurant. After the party the kids were given the wonderful opportunity to feed and pet the stingrays. All the kids (and their parents) loved this!


It was amazing to see how high the stingrays would get in order to reach a tiny little fish. You're actually supposed to put your hand underwater, with the small fish dangling from your closed fist, but everyone was intimidated by the size of these magnificent creatures. The stingrays had to work hard for their meal yesterday!


This was the first ride of choice for the kids. I don't remember the name of it but I remember this being one of my favorite rides as a child.


I also remember being slammed against the person sitting next to me. So, you can imagine how hard it was for this Momma to let her child on this ride. Thank God for seat belts and lap bars! Hang on Baby!!!

Dizzy?

"Let's go again Mommy!"

Thank you to our friends for such an incredible experience. We had an amazing time. Thank you for letting us share this special day with you and your sweet little one. How is it possible that she is eight years old already? I remember waiting at the hospital for her to be born and celebrating her birth with you. It's crazy how quickly time flies by. Happy 8th birthday Miss. M!

Dewberry Farm Memories

Oh, what an incredible day this day has been! Our homeschool group had a field trip today to Dewberry Farm. I've wanted to go for a few years now but have never been. And let me say this, we've been missing out!


Our day at Dewberry Farm started with a wonderful hay ride (minus the hay, thankfully). We missed the first tractor that had the majority of our group thanks to my fantastic directional disability! Yeah, I got lost, what's new? It doesn't matter if I travel with Miss. GPS (which I didn't) or with printed directions (which I did), I could get lost trying to find my own house! But I digress.

Where was I? Ha! Get it? Where was I? I don't know! Okay, enough about my directionally challenged self and back to Dewberry Farm! After a short wait for the second tractor we were on our way with Farmer Dewberry himself as our driver and guide. See? Sometimes it pays to be late!


Farmer Dewberry was a great guide as he carefully drove us around the farm. We rode out to the 16 acre pumpkin patch where we found out the patch didn't do too well this year thanks to all the rain Mother Nature dumped on us not too long ago. So, we didn't get to see all the pumpkins that they've had in previous years but it was still a lot of fun. And, there were enough of the tiny pumpkins in the field to last the groups that came out today. Unfortunately the groups that come in after today will have to pick out a pumpkin that wasn't grown on Dewberry Farm. Yet, even though that's not ideal, at least their desire for every kid to have the opportunity to walk through a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin is very commendable! I'm impressed by that kind of thinking and I appreciate the effort that takes.


We found out on our hay-less hay ride that Dewberry is now branching out into Christmas tree farming. Get it? Branching? I'm on FIRE people!!! Oh, bless you for sticking with me so far! Anyway, they are growing several different types of Christmas trees. I wish I could name all of them for you but it was early in the morning and my brain was pretty much still asleep. I do remember though that the trees are on the back 40 acres of land. They have a massive irrigation process and even with the distance from our tractor to the actual tress, we could easily see that the trees were beautiful. Gregg is wanting a fresh/real tree this year and I would love to buy it from Farmer Dewberry.


With all this chatter about farming let me assure you that that's not all they do at Dewberry! Granted, much of the land is farm related but there's nothing boring about it. There is a fantastic playground called Fort DewHickey that has a great variety of rope walks, slides, levels to climb, and so forth. One of Violet's favorites was something called The Flinger! It's housed under a giant pavilion and is basically a mountain of hay bales that the kids can climb. But here's the kicker. They have rope swings that they can use to get air borne and fly up in to the air. The only drawback to that though is if your kid doesn't understand the concept of gravity and let's go of her rope when she's over five feet in the air.


And she falls. A. Direct. Face. Plant. Into the hay. And her mother's heart did the same dive of terror as I watched her. With a few "ouches" and "I'm okays" the next words that Violet uttered was, "I didn't eat the hay Momma!" Woo hoo for not eating the hay baby girl, now, is your spleen in the right space? What about your brain? Did it drop into your stomach? After a quick inspection of my precious, yet very clumsy child, I determined that she was okay. And with that quick assessment she was off to the next adventure. Away we go!




After a brief lunch we took off in another direction. We had farm animals to meet. The most adorable farm animals I've ever seen. Goats, chickens, ducks, geese, miniature donkeys, a couple of cows, a few baby piglets, and even some cute little bunnies. Violet's favorite animals were the goats and mini donkeys. They were the most social out of the bunch. Her least favorite were the geese. They were cranky birds and would honk at you if you got within five feet of their space. Very cranky, antisocial geese! But they sure were pretty to look at. And, those honks of warnings were actually pretty funny to listen to after a while. Which, of course, lessened the fear factor that was attached with them. Still, just to be safe, we kept a wide berth of the geese. I've been chased by a goose before and I didn't want my child to suffer the same trauma. Besides, it would have looked really bad if I thew her in the way of the geese and I took off running in the opposite direction, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too.


Okay, I really wouldn't have tossed my daughter to the geese. But I may have thought about it for a second or two before I would lay myself down as the sacrificial lamb so that my daughter escaped a horrible experience of being pecked to death by some vicious geese! I'm a good mom like that!


We ended our visit at Dewberry Farm with their 4 acre Corn Maze. Yeah, me. The one who is severely directionally challenged! So, how well do you think this little escapade turned out? You guessed it! I got lost. And not only did I get lost, I got my group lost. Why can't I just be a follower? Really, it would be so much easier. After walking through the maze of corn for about 30 minutes we found our way out. We ended up right back at the beginning! Hey! At least we made it out!


There is so much to see and do at Dewberry Farm that it was impossible for us to fit it all in one day. We're fortunate enough to be able to go back for another visit next month thanks to a dear friend's sweet gift. Needless to say, we're looking forward to our next visit! And no, I'm not getting paid by Dewberry Farm for this fantastic review of their program. They don't know me. Yet!


So folks, if you live within an hour or two of Dewberry Farm, I would highly suggest that you take a little country drive and head out there. Enjoy some good old fashioned fun with your kids. Let them run around. Let the make memories of being on an actual working farm. Let them wear themselves out! And be sure to take plenty of water with you because you will find yourself thirsty. Also, if you want to buy a small jar of their all natural, locally produced honey that is grown right on the farm, you may want to buy it as soon as you get there. I was really bummed out when they didn't have any left at the end of the day. (Note to self: Buy honey immediately and take it back to the car!)

Busy, Busy, Busy

I am LOVING having my niece down right now! We are having so much fun. Today we got up and out of the house pretty early. Our quest was to conquer the day and I think we did a pretty good job of doing just that!!! Our first stop was at a local movie theater to watch the movie Doogal. That was pretty much a let down but we didn't let it keep us down. From there, we went to Memorial City Mall. R.C. was amazed at how big our mall is. She had some money that was burning a hole in her pockets and so we looked for a little something to buy. Her choice was an amazing white shirt that has a cross on the front and angel wings on the back along with the words True Love. I have to say, I really wish that shirt came in my size because I would have totally bought one for myself!


After we ate lunch we headed to Sephora. R.C. is of the age to where she wants to start wearing some makeup. So, I thought it would be fun for her to get a professional makeup lesson. Julie, our sweet makeup consultant/artist, did a fantastic job on R.C. She kept things young/youthful but without putting on too much makeup. I have a beautiful niece and when the makeup lesson was finished, she was simply stunning. Oh boy, we are going to have a hard time keeping the boys away from that one!


From the mall we went to the Museum of Natural Science. We had an amazing time there. I asked the girls what their favorites were and they said they loved seeing all the different dinosaurs and the Egyptian Mummy. Which those were my favorites too! But I also loved the Foucault Pendulum, watching the pendulum swing back and forth, showing how the earth rotates, eventually knocking over a pin when it comes in contact with one. Every one was waiting to see a pin get knocked over and cheered when it finally happened. If I understood correctly, it take close to an hour for the pendulum to move over a fraction of an inch to hit one of the pins. (Don't hold me to that little fact though because I could be wrong!)


We had a fantastic time today! I enjoyed watching the girls as they fell in love with one thing or another at the museum. There is nothing better than to see a child's look of surprise and wonder as they see, and learn, something new. I do have to say this: I'm not as young as I used to be. My body aches all over due to all the walking we did. And, I'm sure it didn't help that my purse weighs a ton! With all of the aches and pains as well as the absolutely crappy traffic we drove through, it was totally worth it. And then some!

And speaking of traffic!!! Personal Rant Here, so consider yourself warned: if you are driving down a major road/interstate, then please get off the freakin' phone and pay attention to HOW YOU'RE DRIVING!!!! I'm driving along in my lane, the lane I've been driving in for the past fifteen minutes, when a lady (who had her cell phone glued to her left ear) decided to move over into MY lane. And in the same exact spot where my car was. Yikes!!! I laid on the horn several times and she just kept talking (blah, blah, blah), never once looking in the lane I was in and never hearing the freaking loud horn that is blaring RIGHT NEXT TO HER WINDOW!!! Grrrr, I can't begin to describe how much that hacks me off!!! Okay, rant over. Thanks for sticking with me through that.

We'll be taking it easy tomorrow (Wednesday) because my body will need time to recover. Also, I have a ton of launry to get done before we drive to Austin on Friday. But on Thursday, I have even bigger plans for the girls. A trip to the Museum Of Fine Arts is first on our itinerary, and after a quick lunch, we will be going to the Museum Of Health & Medical Science. Yeah, I'm trying to sneak some "culture" in to these kids, even if it's the last thing I ever manage to do!