Annie's Fairy Movie

Today Annie wanted to make a movie based on the "How to Find Flower Fairies" book that she got for Christmas.

She told me exactly how she wanted the video to go, and she narrated it on the fly! Emerson helped as a grip and added some extra sound effects in the background.

When we were finished with the recording and narration part, we loaded the video into the computer so we could edit it. Annie told me what special effects and colors to use, and even selected the background music that she thought would be just right.

We hope you enjoy her movie! I think that we have a very talented movie producer here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKjcU0ewoUM

Love Daddy

Merry Christmas!

Last year they circled just about every thing in the various catalogs that come around Christmas time. The next day I asked them to go through them and put stars by the things that they really wanted. A few days later I asked them to heart 3 things they really really really wanted. This was a painful process for them.
So this year when the catalogs started arriving, they skipped all the steps and circled only a few things each, on their own. Emerson wanted some more cars and Annie some more toy dogs and they both circled and triple hearted the same thing. A beautiful wooden tree house. Since their requests were reasonable Santa's helpers found a great deal on a recycled tree house. Oh, how those helpers love eBay!

Here they are in front of the tree this morning!
We had a leisurely morning at home opening gifts at Annie's pace. I just love how she enjoys each gift as she opens it and doesn't rush through. Emerson took notes this year and followed her lead.

We went to my dad's house for dinner and enjoyed the company and food and we all played Aunt Gerie's new video game Rock Band. It was actually pretty fun. We all took turns on the drums and Gerie and Mike played the guitar. No one was brave enough to take the mic.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all!

Just Because

Our Christmas Beeswax. Emerson sculpted one of the trees and one present. Annie made the snowman and one present. Mommy made a tree, Santa, sleigh and reindeer.

In Grandpa Chuck's "tree house"

Annie at the house that we are trying to buy. These guys are our neighbors.

Our gingerbread house with Gramma Jan. Emerson is unable to control himself around it. I often find him with frosting on his face or munching a piece of candy....

Emerson and his daddy!

More Magic

What a wonderful solution to the "no toys made in China" gift! Grammy and Bompa made a professional looking magic kit for the kiddos. The kit is nicely stored in a hard box, complete with a poster and tickets advertising "A Magic Show with The Amazing Annie and Emerson the Enchanter", home made magic wands, and several props for doing the tricks. These aren't store bought props, no way, these are beautifully hand made props. A lovely hand sewn Wizard's Wallet, hand cut wooden paddles, handmade boxes for various other tricks and two beautifully hand made magicians capes (all made by Grammy and Bompa). One dice prop was purchased but not made in China.

But that's not all folks. The service doesn't end when you get this kit home. It comes complete with Grammy and Bompa performing the tricks on DVD and showing the kids how to do the tricks. They even tell mom and dad when to leave the room so we won't hear how to do the tricks. Also, they've included a laminated "how-to" book with step-by-step instructions and photos.

The kids can't get enough of it. They are studying the book, they've watched the DVD 5 times and have already mastered and performed 4 of the tricks. The video below is their very first professional magic show.
Don't be surprised if you get an invitation with a ticket to come watch our show!

Thanks Pam and Dean for your thoughtful and wonderful Christmas gift!!!

Winter Solstice Celebration

We Welcomed The New Sun and Old Man Winter at our Winter Solstice Celebration. We waited until sunset to walk, candles in hand, down our luminary lit path to our altar where Kari read "The Rebirth of the Sun" by Starhawk. Emerson and Papa Lu then used one of our candles to light the fire in the chiminea. We feasted on a simple meal of baked potatoes, cauliflower & cheese, hot dogs and baked apples as we gathered around the fire.
Since the Winter Solstice is a good time to work on something that needs changing in our lives, we enjoyed the fire, meditated on what we wanted to let go or change, wrote our wishes on the luminary bags and offered them to the sun in the fire.

It was a magical night. Thanks to Grandpa Chuck, Papa Lu, and Gramma Jan for hosting, Uncle Adam for cooking, Kari and Lester for the story and the cauliflower, Mike for photography, and Indy, Annie and Emerson for being cute and reveling in the magic of the celebration!

For the Birds

The plan was to make popcorn and cranberry garland for our birdie friends. But the popcorn was wimpy and kept breaking, so we joyfully munched it up and used bread instead. Next time I'll buy some hearty old fashioned popcorn.

Last Eurythmy of the Season

The kids had their last eurythmy class of the season. We will resume in February. Below is some video of Annie in her class. She is the one next to Ms. Barbara with the white shirt on. I recorded these using my phone and we can't get the .3g2 format to play sound. But you'll get the idea.

Winter Fair

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Here we are having fun at the Austin Waldorf School Winter Fair.

Making Leather Pouches

Candle decorating

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Snow in Austin!!

We woke up this morning to a special treat of sleet and snow. What a great time we had throwing snow at each other and making "snow cake". They put snow, berries and maple syrup in a basket and ate it. They even saved some for daddy.

Texas Renaissance Festival

We had two days of merriment and fun in Plantersville, TX at the Texas Renaissance Festival. We enjoyed games, rides, shows, and demonstrations . Princess Annie and Princess Indy were accompanied, while in Sherwood Forest, by Mighty Emerson Hood and his merry men Lord Lester, Lady Kari, Lord Mike and Lady Michelle. Friday night ended at dark with Royal Fireworks that rivaled Austin's 4th of July celebration.

Until another day, fare thee well...

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES FROM THE RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL