Aleaha's Blog: February 2015

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Short Concert by Miri-Elsa

She loves to sit down and plink out a tune now and then.

Oh, Miri

Mommy: "Miri, you look really cute."

Miri: "I agree!"

Miri: "I used some cotton balls under my shirt."

Mommy: "Uh, why?"

Miri: "So I look like you!"

She's somethin' else!

Making fun

I just love it when the stuff that's in front of them inspire them for fun.

Like making a balance beam out of a fence post.

*sigh*

It's all so fleeting.

And then there's the artistic side of things. Aleaha has a special flair for drawing. And Miri has a special flair for drama. Put them together and.....Aleaha draws a portrait of Miri in her Frozen/Elsa costume (which she wears almost every night).

First she poses Miri.

"Now hold still!"

Then she went to work.

Her subject was mostly cooperative.

Jake

Daddy took this amazing picture of Jake last summer, in the upper pasture, as he was maintaining the water trough. It's my favorite horse picture ever.

Fast-foward to today...it's late winter, so hair is long, mud is thick, and horses are impatient as we listen to the grass begin to grow and daydream of those sunshiny days.

Mommy spent a little time with him, and he was happy for some special attention...

...especially in the form of scratching and rubbing. Aaahhh!

Thankful for Spring and for Shorty

The weather has been sunny, and it gave a great opportunity to take a quick ride on our lovie-boy.

He's a mud-bug right now, but he seemed to enjoy a chance to walk outside the paddock.

Someone stole Mommy's phone

As I glanced through my gallery of photos, I found many that I know I didn't take. Lots of photos of places around the house. It was very strange.

And then I found these...

A-ha! The culprit leaves evidence...

Family Traditions, by Aleaha

This is a very special art project that Aleaha did earlier in the school year. They were asked to think about the special things their families do as their traditions. Aleaha ruminated on this for quite a while, and above is her project [unique spelling preserved]:

Bring ham to Christmas Dinner;

Ride horses on Mommy's birthday;

Forth of July in EO with horses;

Maching outfits for Christmas picture;

Going to Round-Up evry year.

Valentine's Day

Mommy was going to be done for the week for a business trip, so we needed to make sure we had finished all the school Valentine's the weekend before. Fortunately they were relatively independent for this - they had their cards and their lists.

Because Valentine's Day was on a Saturday this year (hooray!), we were able to languish in a lovely breakfast. Miri helped with the heart-shaped pancakes.

We really took the theme to a crazy level....heart-shaped plates, heart-shaped pancakes, heart-shaped eggs, and even heart-shaped bacon!

Mommy and Daddy were lucky enough to get a chance to go out to a marvelous and special dinner this weekend too. Aaahhhh....romance!

Sisters' Selfie

The girls were being a little too rambunctious in the backseat one day, so Mommy handed them her phone and ordered them to take some pictures. Naturally they used their favorite muses....themselves!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Blackbird Flock

One foggy morning, there was a giant flock of blackbirds moving from tree to tree. Of course they make a lot of noise as they sing, but listen carefully to the sound of their collective wings as they take flight. They all go silent, and then....Swoooooooooosh!

Miri's Morning

She starts the day by warming her chosen outfit in the dryer.

Then on the way back from barn, where she was helping Mommy, she spies some worms.

She says she loves the slimy-gooey feeling.

Eeeeewwww.

Back in the house, after a THOROUGH hand-washing, she makes juice for breakfast.

After breakfast, she puts on her Elsa dress and does a little sticker work.

And then follows that up with the start on our list of chores. The kitchen floor is atrocious, so Miri vacuums and then Aleaha will use the Shark (electric mop gizmo).

Self Entertainment

We always have a lot of chores to do, but we also mix in some fun things. Like making a no-sew fleece blanket. Mommy cut the string pieces (thank heavens for the circular cutters), and the girls did the tying.

Another day we needed a quiet activity while Mommy was at her hair appointment and Daddy was out of town.

DVD to the rescue! They started watching Mrs. Doubtfire, however they lost interest in that once things got interesting with Mommy's haircolor. So they watched her more than the movie.

They have been scheming a lot lately on where they will live (together, by the way), and what their place will be like. Here are the plans for the layout of the animal pastures and notation of how many there will be.....11 sheep, 5 cows, 8 donkeys, 5 mules, and 20 horses. There's also great detail on the designs for gates, the house, yard, barn, and even a riding paddock (padick).

On the back side is a notation of their lifestyles. They will both be teachers, and have hobbies of race cars and horses, with art as a "weekend thing". And finally, they do apparently plan to make time for husbands, somewhere in the mix. Not sure if those are hobbies or weekend things or....

Birdseed Project

For fun one weekend, we whipped up some little birdseed goodies to put out for the birds/ The mixture was super simple....birdseed, gelatin, and warm water. Stir, put into cookie cutters as molds, and let dry overnight. You stick pieces of straw into the seed before it dries, to make a hole for the string for hanging.

One of the molds was in the shape of a kitty cat. A little ironic for birdseed, eh?

Fun to make, hang, and watch disappear!

Wheelin' Around

Scooters are kind of a rage (probably have been for a while), and we thought we'd join in and have some fun.Of course, this requires all the right PPE....note shoes, knee pads, elbow pads, and helmets!