Keeping the Dream Alive

So, yesterday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

A couple of years ago, I picked up a children's book on MLK and saved it back for someday when Anna was ready.  Discussing the civil rights movement with a 4-year-old is not something to enter into lightly.  But, I decided to throw caution to the wind, so we picked up the book, "Martin's Big Words" at bedtime.  It's wonderfully written, focusing on the simple but beautiful concepts of equality, respect, peace and love (and using your words - how perfect).  What I didn't expect was the fabulous segue into the next book on the evening reading list (I wish I could take credit for having planned this):  Fancy Nancy.  Nancy's best friend, Bree, is black.  We talked about the challenges their friendship would have faced back in 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, and that at points in time they wouldn't have even attended the same school.  They couldn't sit together at the movies.  What a foreign concept, let me tell you!  Mind you, I have realistic expectations - she cannot truly comprehend this kind of world - I know I can't (and I recognize we still have much more work ahead).  But it's also a great conversation starter on what a blessing it is to be surrounded by people different than ourselves - how it makes our life richer, and how we should respect people who look, think and believe differently than us.

I have a dream...that my daughter will grow up to be an amazing adult who accepts people for who they are and understands the world is so much more than what she finds in her own backyard.

Where did the time go?

I've thought about jumping on here for a quickie post more times that I care to mention.  In the interest of time, I'm going to give the CliffsNotes version of our holidays.  We spent oodles of time with family and friends having a wonderful, glorious time.  We broke ground on our house.  We look forward to 2011, especially moving into our new house and Kindergarten, and spending oodles more fun and glorious time with family and friends.  Here are some highlights:

Ground Breaking

It begins with a big hole.

Thankful

All I want for Christmas is a garage band.

Anna and Summer at the traditional New Year bonfire.

Happy New Year!

 January 1, 2011

Our New Year's Day hike.

Progress, Mr. Blandings!

Stay tuned.

Happiness on a stick

Remember this stuff? Oh, yeah!




Anna saw it at the store and immediately knew she must have it.



Some assembly required...



...but soooooo worth it!

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What's Anna Reading?

While Daddy shops at Woodcraft, Anna decided to read up on some new craft skills.



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Scary Fun

Happy Scariest Day of the Year!  Yes, I mean Election Day, not Halloween.  

Halloween wasn't scary at all; it was F-U-N!

To commemorate Halloween, we took Anna in costume to a local park for a photo shoot.  I just love her "Curiouser, and curiouser!' look in this photo.  She made a wonderful Alice, although she would rather carry her sword instead of the cute white rabbit because who ever heard of fending off a jabberwocky with a rabbit.

Anna picked out the design, and we set to carve our jack-o-lantern. While we were cleaning out the innards, Anna did a dead-on imitation of Linus from 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' and said, "I didn't know you were going to kill it!  Awwwww!"  We roasted the seeds and ate them, just to show that pumpkin who's boss.

Ta Daaaaaa!

It was a great night.  Excuse me while I raid her candy.

Where's Your Smile, Crocodile?

Anna was in the cast of a play called "Where's Your Smile, Crocodile?" through our local Civic Theatre.  This is the same academy that she participated in early this year.  She had such a wonderful time, she's been begging to do it again ever since.

You may be asking yourself, "Why are they paying someone to teach their child how to be dramatic, when it's obvious she could already teach Meryl Streep a thing of two???"  My answer is...hmmmm....that's a good question.  Seriously though, she's having the time of her life, and it's obviously good for her self-esteem.




Last Thursday was the final night of class, culminating with a performance.  Anna's role was Kyle's Mom.  Her lines were, "Where's your smile, Kyle?  Why don't you go outside and play.  You'll soon find it again."  She nailed it!  We were so proud.  The kids each drew what they thought their character looked like and ironed it on to t-shirts with their character name printed above.  It was very cute.  The play lasted less than 10 minutes, which was just about right.








In the audience was a surprise guest...Ethan, Anna's fiancee.  He brought her flowers.  They were her favorite color.  Awww, he remembered!

It was a great experience for her AND us, and we'll certainly be signing up for another session in the near future.

Farm Tour 2010

Wow!  I knew it had been a while since I last posted, but it wasn't until I logged in and saw the July date of my last entry that I understood the depths of my house project detox.  Not that we haven't been busy with other things, but I feel the transition taking place...the slowing down.  It feels nice.  We still haven't started construction on our future home, which is a bit frustrating, but I know it will happen all in good time, give or take a few months.  In the meantime, I'm trying to make up for lost leisure time.

This weekend was the Kaw Valley Farm Tour; something I look forward to all year long.  It's a bit like Christmas in October for me.  It's when we stock up on pumpkins and gourds, perhaps some mums, and marvel in the changing of the season.  The morning was perfect; sunny skies and a crisp Autumn breeze.  We always begin the tour at our favorite farm, Pendleton's.  We jumped on the tractor-pulled hay rack which delivered us first to the butterfly bio-villa where we searched for caterpillars and identified several types of butterflies.  Then the kids dove into the corn pit, where we thought we'd never get them out again. (I was still finding kernels this morning.)  Then we hopped back on the wagon and ventured out into the pumpkin patch.

Pumpkin patches are magical places.

We traipsed around the vines, and occasionally I would hear Anna shout out, "MOM....I...found...a...good...one!"  Finally she settled on a fine specimen, perfect for carving into a jack-o-lantern, and a small pie pumpkin she tells me she wants to keep in her bedroom.  Back at the barn, we picked out funky looking gourds for decorating the house and an acorn squash to take home and roast.  It was too windy, so they couldn't keep the machine lit to make funnel cakes (darn it!), but we still had a lunch of hot dogs and bbq sandwiches outside.

Next we went down the road a short distance to a small apple orchard where the kids picked apples and sampled cider pressed on site.

Nearby was a vineyard - less exciting to the kids, but gorgeous under the blue skies.  Anna was running through the vines, cutting between aisles, looking for Aunt Wendy.  I got a little terse because I was afraid I would lose her!

Then it was on to the last stop of the day, Henry's Plant Farm.  We entered next to a pond graced by a beautiful weeping willow.

The first thing we saw as we parked the car was a peacock.  The females were fenced in a pen with other fowl, but the showy males were free-range.

We took a wagon ride around the fields where we sighted a pony, alpacas, and sheep.

Then we wandered around to pet the donkeys, and see horses, a goat, and Alphie the pig, who was larger than the donkeys!  The kids finished the day with a straw bale maze, beanbag toss, and ANOTHER corn bin. By then, our shadows were getting longer and it was time to head home.  We marked another wonderful year.

I'll be dreaming of pumpkins tonight.