Adult's Sternplattler - Texas State Fair 2008

Here is a video of Alex with the adult group at the State Fair today. He is the last one marching on and he and his partner end up directly in the middle of the picture for the dance.

The random shots from Oktoberfest

Here are a few of the other pictures I got over the weekend.

There were a lot of free things to get at Oktoberfest...some were just handed to you and some you had to "win". We had an umbrella streak. 3 out of 4 people in our family that spun the wheel at a bank's booth won umbrellas (the 4th won a blow-up beach ball). Very large umbrellas.


Caroline showing her scary door hanger that says, "Stay Out". She will use it to keep people of her room when she is working on a surprise project. (I probably do not want to know. ;) )



Whenever I manage a picture of all three of them, it is worth sharing. ;)


Joseph enjoying a cinnamon pretzel (and guarding it closely since he lost half of one the day before. It disappeared while he was performing.)

Joseph gets picked

Another post from Oktoberfest.
While we were waiting for the kids last performance on Sunday, we sat in the Kinder Tent and watched the various performers. Joseph got picked to help out during one of the acts.
The entertainer asked, "for a really brave boy" and Joseph jumped right up and his hand shot up in the air.
Doesn't he just OOZE bravery?! LOL

First the guy wanted Joseph to imitate some dance moves (not happenin')


Then the entertainer brought out the extra tall unicycle and told Joseph that he would be riding it. (Joseph's reaction: You want ME on THAT?!)


Joseph very bravely waiting to be lifted up by the other volunteer (the biggest guy in the audience).


The audience guy lifting Joseph as the clown lifts the unicycle too high for him to reach.


That was pretty much the extent of his participation. The clown did ride the unicycle though. ;)


Is it just me, or does Joseph have a striking resemblance to Pinocchio?

The Chicken Dance

We watched several shows in the Kinder Tent before the kids' performance on Sunday. Between performance, the clown emcee played the chicken dance and asked the audience to get up and dance. The kids got up and started dancing but there were a lot of people who apparently did not KNOW the Chicken Dance....how does that happen? So the clown asked for someone to show them how to do it and Joseph jumped up on the stage, quickly followed by both girls.

Nutcrackers

The kids were fascinated by the Nutcrackers this year.

This weekend was Oktoberfest!

It started on Thursday night with an adult performance, which Alex was in, but I forgot my camera.
Saturday, the adults had 3 performances and the kids had 4, so that was a really busy day. Sunday the kids had one more performance.
I had to help get the kids lined up for each dance, so I didn't get many opportunities while they were dancing to take pictures. In fact, the kids first performance was the only one that I managed to get. I didn't get ANY of Alex because the kids alternated dances with the adults and that is when I was lining them up. :p














The kids were very excited to see Aunt Jackie there for the first performance!
I am going to divide these up into several posts because there are a few more. ;)

A study of Good Citizenship

Here in Texas, our homeschool requirements are minimal. I mean MINIMAL. We don't have to tell anyone that we are going to do it, we don't have to keep records of any kind, turn in grades or have standardized testing done. The only requirement that we have is that we have a "curriculum designed to meet basic education goals of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and a study of good citizenship". That's it.
Oh, and they do add into the law that the curriculum not be "a sham".
We, of course, MORE than cover these requirements. In addition to our regular history, social studies and government that we cover in our "regular" school, all three kids are also in scouts.
I think that this week we have covered a good year of "studying good citizenship". The girls have been working on making lap blankets for the last two weeks in preparation for a field trip to the VA Hospital today. Of course, Joseph also helped and joined us on the field trip. In addition to that, the kids made a dozen Child Comfort Kits to give to the Red Cross for the kids affected by Hurricane Ike. We had a list from the Red Cross (through Girl Scouts) about what to include in the kits:

American Red Cross
CHILD Comfort Kit Directions

Please place the following in gallon-size plastic bag:
· One small bar of soap
· One trial size shampoo
· One trial size conditioner
· One trial size toothpaste
· One toothbrush
· One washcloth
· One package of tissues
· One comb
· One coloring book
· One small package of crayons

The kids really enjoyed doing both of these activities. I was really impressed with how well they did at the VA Hospital...actually, we were at the rehab center. The kids all talked to the patients and were very sweet.

When we got home, the girls put in a movie and made popcorn. Caroline was the "server" (Complete with roller skates)

Two Birthday Girls

Caroline's birthday is next Friday and Libby's follows in a couple of weeks. They both mentioned today that they wanted Nana and Papa and Nanny and Hoppy to be there for their birthdays. Since Nana and Papa are here RIGHT NOW because of Hurricane Ike, I told them I didn't think they would be coming back up in the next few weeks. So, the girls decided this afternoon that we should do their birthdays today. ;) We had already gotten the gifts, so I ran out and got wrapping paper and cupcakes (from the new Cupcakery in Frisco) and we were good to go.
We had a birthday dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then cupcakes afterwards. The girls love their new DIDJs from LeapFrog. Libby thanked me at least three times for buying that for her.
The tie-dye dresses were dyed by a mama on a board that I am on...aren't they cute?

(Sorry Nanny and Hoppy, I was kind of thinking that you all wouldn't be able to make a birthday party with two hours notice. We did call Jackie, but she was working tonight.)

Caroline's "6"


Libby is going to be 7!


Blowing out the candles...




Here are our birthday girls!

Puddles!

Ah...the simple joys of being a kid! In between rainstorms today we ran out to go jump in puddles. We have to do this really quick in our neighborhood because the drainage is so good that everything disappears really quickly after it rains. ;) Libby wants to write a letter to the HOA about that.

Horrible Science

Our reluctant to read 8 year old just became a very enthusiastic reader!
We picked up 3 of the Horrible Science books from Half Price Books yesterday (they have been recommended numerous times on a board that I am on, but I just didn't pay attention.)
Joseph as SO excited and since 5:00 yesterday he has read 90something pages!WOW! Go Joseph

First day at the Dyslexia Lab School

So far so good!
I was a little worried after yesterday (she was supposed to have an MRI done as part of the research that Tx Scottish Rite Hospital does with dyslexia and she freaked at the last minute and wouldn't do it....even with the promise of the $50 that she was supposed to get for participating in the research study. )
But, she went right in. She is one of five in the class, but the only girl. We will see how that works out.
Now, we just have to work out how killing four mornings a week will affect the rest of our days. :p We have about an hour drive each way to get there and then one hour 15 minutes for the class. For two.years.
One day down!

Herr Kleinschmidt's dancing debut!

Alex made his debut performance yesterday at Westfest. He was pretty nervous about it, but he did great!
An added bonus was that we got to have grandparents there with us since West is just south of Hillsboro, where my parents live.