High School Musical 2 Pictures

I have lots of video I want to share eventually but I'm having some technical difficulties in that area, I'll get it figured out eventually though. For now, here are some pictures from our weekend. I hope to get some of the kids on stage eventually when I can download them. These are from after the show. Here's Hannah in the receiving line shaking hands with the "fans." And below with Madi, aren't they cute?

Hannah played Kelsi in this show so she spent quite a bit of time at this keyboard.
Here she is with "Jack Scott," aka Jonathan. Their characters were kind of an "item" for this show.
And, the only picture my sweet son would pose for. The guy behind Tyler played Troy in the show.
Hannah and Ms. Amanda. I have taken a picture of her with Amanda after every show since Hannah started this.
And, to top it all off, we ran over a hotdog. We had this display plate set up all weekend. We'd put it in the fridge at night and then use it again the next day. I was asking if it was time to throw it away when Mike (Julie's husband) suggested that we run over it. Excellent idea!! So, Julie did the rolling and it was absolutely disgusting just like we thought it would be. Running over food is kind of an inside joke amongst some of my homeschool friends, we had a great laugh!

Homeschool Exhibition

Not only did we attend four performances of High School Musical 2 this weekend, we also had our annual Homeschool Exhibition. The families who participate do displays and presentations based on something they learned during the school year. There is always such a variety and it's neat to see what each family does. This year we were treated to music played by a string quartet, a brain-eye demo, dance (ballet and jazz), a science experiment, and lots more. We did a variety of things. Hannah and Joe and some other homeschoolers from the HSM2 cast did one of the songs from their show. Hannah did a presentation on "Wedding Dresses from Around the World." Grace and Joe talked about "Life in a Tidepool." They all three did a great job and I was very proud of them.
Here's Joe doing his part of the presentation. He told about some of the different invertebrates that live in a tidepool. He really got into it and I actually had to cut him off because he was talking for so long. This from my introverted, shy child. I was proud of him for being stepping out of his comfort zone and being so confident.


Here is Hannah's display. She included dresses from around the world, some pictures from weddings in the US, and some of her own designs.
This is our family's display. As I gathered up the things I wanted to display I realized that just about everything we had was a lapbook so I had my sister make us a sign and "Learning with Lapbooks" became our theme. There were some great displays this year. It was fun to be a part of it.

A Day at the Beach

We had a great day at the beach yesterday. We got there early, about 9:30 and initially it was really overcast. Cheryl and my mom both prayed for some sun and it wasn't long before their prayers were answered. We spent a couple of hours hanging out and just enjoying the beach. Yes, you heard me right. I was enjoying the beach. I had good company, great weather, and a comfy chair. Kayla had never been to the Atlantic and the last time she was at the Pacific was 9 years ago. She loved it and wants to go back before she leaves. So, I foresee another beach trip or two in my future. Good thing I'm starting to like it. We saw dolphins yesterday swimming just off the coast. Really cool!







These pictures are from the playground that is next to the showers and bathrooms. It's a nice playground but in the summer it is usually blazing hot, way too hot to actually play on it. They need to put it under a tent or something. Anyway, it wasn't too hot to play in it after our fun on the beach because it was so early. They especially love the "mulch," I think it is made out of old tires. After our beach fun we went out to lunch at a local seafood place and had some great fish! Joe opted for chicken nuggets. :0)

Hannah Gets Her Ears Pierced!

Well, my pictures are all out of order and for some reason I just can't move them the way I want to on this laptop. So, I will just have to tell the story out of order which really bugs me. Oh well. My mom works for a wholesale jewelry company and they have the guns to pierce ears. So, needless to say she's pierced a lot of ears in the 20 some odd years she's worked there. When Hannah was four my mom asked if she could pierce her ears and when I told Hannah she cried and was terribly upset that her Grammy would want to hurt her like that. Now that she is approaching 10 in a couple of months she was ready for Grammy to hurt her. And, we have a rule in our house that little girls can't get their ears pierced until they are 10. 9 and 10 months was close enough and Grammy brought her gun with her this trip. She actually brought two because she and my crazy sister in the above picture were each going to do an ear so that it is over with faster. But, the second gun didn't work so Hannah had to do it the old-fashioned way, one ear at at a time!

Finally we distracted her with a funny DVD (Tim Hawkins) and Grammy did it without her knowing it was about to be done. Grammy tricked her with the "I'm just lining it up trick."

Here she actually ran away from the chair sure that she just could not do this.Here she is panicking and considering changing her mind.

Here she's having the second one done and being Ms. Drama Queen. She's still half smiling while she's screaming. No tears though.

One happy girl with her new look!

This is before we got started, she's a little nervous but not in full blown panic mode yet.

Just Checking In

I don't have anything wonderful to say but that has never stopped me before...

Kayla arrived Tuesday afternoon and we've been quite busy since then.  That is the story of my week.  Yesterday I baked for theatre and we went swimming and visited with Aunt Clara at Aunt Harriet's and then home for some quiet time before dinner.  After dinner we played games--we introduced Kayla to Phase 10.  She's a fan.  How can you not be?  We had to stop our game early so that we could go to Sonic for free root beer floats.  I can't turn down anything that is for free.  So, I took the kids but didn't get one myself.  :0(  Such is life.  I came home and ate too much of my coconut milk ice cream to make up for it.  As we speak my mom, sister, and nephew are heading down 1-75.  I'm going to call them in just a little bit but my prediction is that they are in Tifton right about now.  Probably swinging into the Starbucks.  I am planning a big Indian dinner and Frito Pie for dinner.  I need to get started so that my afternoon isn't completely spent in the kitchen.  Tonight is opening night for High School Musical 2.  It's not Hannah's special part night though so I'm not too nervous for her.  :0) I'm excited to see the whole show come together.  Tomorrow morning we hit the beach bright and early.  I can't believe I am saying this but I'm starting to like the beach.  I don't do much but sit there and read a book while the kids play.  I think that's why I like it now.  The kids are pretty self sufficient and have learned not to touch me with their sandy selves.  

Update...Cheryl just called and they are not in Tifton yet.  But will be soon.

I don't know how much I will get to update this weekend so things may be quiet around Hillside Hollow...I'll catch up next week though.

Monday, Monday Reprise

I took Ollie's advice and decided on a set amount of time that I would work as opposed to focusing on all I had to do. I decided at 9:40 that I would do as much as I could do for one hour. I took a nap today from 5 to 6, that's the only reason I had the energy to do housework at nearly 10 pm. Anyway, I worked fast and got the living room picked up, ready to be vacuumed in the a.m., the foyer swept, bathrooms cleaned, dishes done and laundry put away. It's amazing how much you can do when you don't have kids interrupting you! Here are a couple of pictures from our theatre work day...

Monday, Monday...

• I bought the best "ice cream" at the store today.  I can't remember what it's called but it is made with organic coconut milk, agave nectar, cocoa, carob, and maybe two more ingredients that I don't remember.  Let me say that it is TO DIE FOR YUM!  I had a couple of bites of it earlier.  I will definitely be rationing it.  I need to have practically no sugar so I definitely won't be serving myself a big dish of it.  And--it's a little pricey as well but a great alternative for when the rest of the family is eating ice cream (my absolute favorite thing just ahead of french fries--which I also am not supposed to have anymore).  
• So, as of Friday I was looking at a whole weekend free from plans and I had made a big long list that included cleaning my whole house pretty thoroughly.  I spent 4 hours in the kitchen on Saturday cleaning and chopping 4 bunches of kale for kale chips (note to self--4 bunches is excessive), making a half gallon of carrot-apple juice (took an hour!), cleaning, and cooking dinner.  After that I wasn't up for any other cleaning.  We ended up getting invited to a BBQ on Sunday so I reduced my list to just the bathrooms and Hannah's room which will be serving as a guest room for the next two weeks.  We ended up being gone from about 9 am until almost 6 and you guessed it--NOTHING got done at all.  We spent today setting up for theatre and grocery shopping and laundry--not a dent in my modified list.  Depending on how tonight and tomorrow morning go my list may become--pour some bleach in the toilet and spray febreeze on the sheets.  :0)  Hey, there's my next "Works for me Wednesday!"
• So, a few words about our guest who is coming tomorrow.  Her name is Kayla and she is 16 and she is visiting from Albuquerque.  I first met Kayla when she was about 3 days old.  I babysat for her family in NM for a year or two before she was born and for 3 years after she was born.  Not just occasional babysitting but like 30 hour a week babysitting.  Kayla has a twin brother named Gray and I spent many an hour holding the two of them.  I never got the hang of getting them both to sleep and laying them both down so I spent many an afternoon watching PBS kids with their two siblings while they took their nap on my lap.  We moved when she was three but have always kept in contact with the family.  I've seen them 3 times since we've moved and the last time was 5 years ago.  I absolutely can't wait to get to know her again as a young lady.  She will be spending two weeks with us and we plan to show her a good time and keep her crazy busy!  She gets to start her visit with a whole lotta family time.  My great aunt also arrives tomorrow from LA (lower Alabama) and my sister, nephew, and mom get here on Thursday.  We will be going to the beach, the theatre (for four shows!), out for seafood, homeschool exhibition and then everybody but Kayla goes home on Sunday.  Next week we will go to Disney and the beach and whatever else strikes our fancy.  I have a few fun ideas.
• I watched "The Red Dragon" last night--a Hannibal Lecter movie.  It ended at 11:45 or so and I was up until almost 1 because I was so keyed up.  It was pretty freaky.  I did get a nap this afternoon thank goodness!
• That's all for now, I have to go take in the laundry off the line, put it away and go assess the mess in Hannah's room.