halloweens of the past

2008

2009

2007

Happy Halloween!!!

opera in san francisco

Thursday night was dress rehearsal night at the opera!

And what a treat it was!

Placido Domingo played Cyrano de Bergerac

and he was amazing!  He was full of energy and passion.

I LOVED it.  Goose... so so.

She did have fun with her friends and Grandma, who joined us for the evening.

Goose loves to get her photo taken.  Can you tell?

City hall was lit up in orange for the Giants, who, in case you don't know,

are playing in the world series against the Texas Rangers!

We will definitely be watching the first game Wednesday night!



sewing

 Goose has been sewing quite a bit lately.

She loves making these little bags.  We decided to make a bunch for holiday gift wrapping this year.

She sits down and whips them out in just a few minutes!

Aprons are a favorite, too.

She loves going to our local fabric store and going through the scrap bin.

I am so impressed with her confidence using the sewing machine!

I think a doll is next on the list of projects.

She loves the doll in this book.

Binky made his own little bag yesterday.

I have to say, I love watching them sew together. 

Today Binky was reading one of his comic books to Goose in the warm sun.

It was a sweet moment.

Hearing them laugh together fills me up!

Wednesday

Binky's model for his bat class.

His owl sketch while waiting for bat to dry.

Two friends we found on our walk yesterday.

I never tire of this view.

While on a walk the other day,

Binky said, "I love autumn.  The sun is different.  It's golden and makes everything orange.  I love it!"

The funny thing is, I was thinking the same thing when he said it!

Goose and Binky started their homeschool charter classes last week.

They were very excited.

Goose is taking a history class about the Overland Trail and

a business class.

Binky is taking bats and outdoor games.

Yesterday I dropped them off at 10am and did not pick them up until

1:30pm.  They both have been asking me not to stay for the day.

Last week went very well.

Yesterday... not so good.

As I'm walking towards the kids, who are on a swing set, I see Goose's friend grab Binky by the arm

and twist it until he is on the ground!

Needless to say I start running over there and yelling at this girl, who is 11 and 3 times the size of Binky, to stop!  She is pinning him down at this point! 

When she hears me she lets go and Binky gets up.

I tell this girl that what she did is not acceptable!  She says Binky was annoying her all day.

She growls and goes silent.

I remind her that if she has a problem, she needs to go to the yard person or a parent, but violence is NOT acceptable!  I couldn't believe I had to remind this 11 yr old of this.

And what upset me even more, is that Goose did nothing to help the situation.

She watched as her friend did this to her own brother.

So, after talking with the yardperson, she and Binky head over to Goose and her friend to talk about what happened and what they should have done instead.

I needed to fill out some unrelated paperwork, not to mention cool off a bit myself, and then I joined the group.  The girl is crying and then apologizes to Binky.  He apologizes for bugging her.

I ask Goose why the girl was crying.

I found out that she has done this before to a kid at her old school.

She was crying because she knew she was in trouble!

This is the third incident with this girl. The first physical incident, but the third incident.

Well, we had a long conversation at home.

We teach our kids that violence is not acceptable.

You use your words, you get help from an adult, and/or you walk away.

And standing by and allowing violence to happen is also not acceptable.

You use your words or you get help from an adult, but you do not stand by and watch it happen.

Especially to your little brother... no matter how much he annoys you.



week in pictures

Gulf Fritillary

pinan 3





autumn evening by the by

clone armory

movie review

I am finally feeling up to posting. 

I have been sick for the last several days.

Ear, nose, throat, chest, and headache stuff going on.

Daddy is the only one who didn't catch this bug.

So...

the movie!

Goose and Binky loved it!

I also enjoyed it.

I did think it was violent though.

Maybe a little too scary for younger kids.

The owls were beautiful.

They did a great job capturing the beauty of all the different owls, from

the elf owl to the great horned owl.

I loved the snake nanny!

The basic story is about an evil group of owls who want to take over the world.

One owlet and his friends must find the Guardians, who they've only heard stories about, to help stop the

evil owls.  There are owl battle scenes with armor and metal claws.

No blood, but still scary.

The owlet and his friends, with the help of the Guardians, save the day!

Goose and Binky give this movie two thumbs up!