Winter Music Class

We are taking the next session of music classes through Music Together of Columbia Ridge. Last Fall we really enjoyed the flute collection and are grateful that we were able to return for another session. This winter, we are enjoying songs, chants and the rhythms from their sticks collection. We meet once a week, within walking distance from home and join a group of other kids and adults for an hour of musical fun, which often includes lots of dancing and laughing and playing. Here are Ezra and Esperanza with our teacher Gillian.

Annabelle's Cowl

Back in October, my awesome friend Jonna took me out for an afternoon of fun for my birthday. Part of that fun included a trip to a local yarn store, Twisted. During our browsing, I fell in love with a cowl pattern then a luxurious silk yarn that would work to knit up that cowl. Jonna offered to pay for half the yarn, if I really loved it and would pay the other half. How could I refuse?! It took me several month, but once I set myself a deadline and goal, it is finally complete. I finished it JUST in time for the next and probably last super cold spell of the season. It is SOOOOO soft and amazingly cozy. Oooh, lala! 

Here is the pattern and a picture of the cowl from the web site. Mine is thicker and warmer, but just as lovely!

Esperanza's 5 1/2

I like half birthdays. Always have. I think it's partly because the 'real' birthdays are always so crazy and hectic during the summer time with high expectations by everyone of parties and cakes and presents and activities and dozens of family members and...chaos. A winter half-birthday is just for us. No high expectations, maybe a small celebration, but mostly just a celebration of life, of getting older and remembering the past as well as looking forward to what the future may bring. For me, I get to reflect on time and appreciate all the wonderful things about my kid who is growing up so quickly. 5 1/2 was a milestone for Esperanza is some ways. The whole time she was 'just' 5, up until the very day of 5 1/2, she was quick to correct me if I slipped and told someone she was already 5 1/2 before she really was. NOW, she is officially five and a half! We baked cupcakes to aid in the celebration. Happy half birthday!

She's grown about an inch in the last 6 months

Here area  few things to remember about Esperanza at 5 1/2:

• Her favorite thing to do is play UNO and she's good!
• Purple and pink are her favorite colors
• Lucy, our cat, is her preferred companion at any and all times
• She enjoys going to dance class, playing with friends, dressing up, playing pretend games with her brother, building forts, 
• Her favorite animals are foxes, big wild cats (leopards, cheetahs, panthers, etc) and horses
• She would prefer summer heat over winter cold
• Her favorite foods are pistachios, cucumbers, seaweed, kale, soup, macaroni & cheese and water kefir
• Some of her favorite friends are Kiera, Opal, Izzie & Maddie.
• Her hair is really long and she won't cut it until I cut mine, which isn't happening anytime soon.
• She's lost 1 tooth so far, just over a week ago, with no others loose yet.
• She wears a size 10 shoe and is between a 5 and 6 in clothes.

First Visit From The Tooth Fairy

At our last dental appointment, almost 6 months ago, the dentist confirmed that Esperanza had a loose tooth.  But even before the tooth was really loose, her adult tooth began coming in, right behind the baby tooth. It is a pretty large tooth, but it wasn't pushing the baby tooth out of the way because it was so far back. The baby tooth finally began to wiggle more and more. By Christmas, I wondered if the Tooth Fairy and Santa would visit our house on the same evening. I considered making a tooth fairy pillow, but was able to talk my mom into doing it instead. She sewed up a very soft red velvet pillow with a purple raw silk pocket and finished it off with a shiny gold embelishment. The perfect tooth fairy pillow. Esperanza wiggled and pulled, but her tooth would not budge. Once, she bumped it on something and it bled a little. We thought it would come out. Nope, not that day. Then finally, one day while Esperanza was eating macaroni and cheese, it fell out. I was just as excited as Esperanza. 

She put the tooth in her special tooth fairy pillow that evening and set it on the dresser next to the bed. The following morning, the tooth fairy left her a nice surprise in exchange for her tiny baby tooth! A dollar folded in the shape of a heart and sprinkled with fairy dust!. Oh the joy and wonder of it all. We have a fantastic tooth fairy!

 That gummy smile below belongs to Esperanza! She was between 10 and 11 months old there. Her first tooth can just barely be seen there, breaking through the gums. It is the same first tooth that just fell out. No wait!! Is it? It actually looks like the first tooth she got came in on the left side, but it's the right side tooth that fell out first. Hmm...

And here it is, off to live with the tooth fairy

January Zoo Day

We went to the Portland Zoo on the cheap day this month. $4 to get in on the first Tuesday of the month, plus a few dollars for parking makes the $10+ gas drive not so bad. We hadn't been to the zoo in almost 2 years (with the exception of our visit to the Akron, OH zoo almost a year ago). I have mixed feelings about zoos anyways. They make me kind of sad. The animals are cute and it is somewhat educational to see them and learn about them, but I just don't feel like it makes up for them being caged up. The Lion 'exhibit' has 3 baby girl cubs. Born in captivity of course, right in our own local zoo. They are adorable! But how sad is it to know that they will never even develop natural wild animal instincts to hunt, to kill, to run, to find a mate and become part of a pride, to feel thirst and hunger and fear in their natural environment (unfortunately, they will probably still encounter these feelings, but in a human controlled space), to birth in the wild and protect their own young...etc. Instead, they will probably be sold to another zoo, or worse, a circus. Okay, off my soap box.

Despite my opinionated commentary about how un-natural it is for these animals in the zoo, the kids had a fantastic time! We had spent some time over the past several months learning about various animals so it was nice to see some in person. The animal in particular Esperanza was most excited to see up close were the bats! We studies bats the week before our zoo visit and she has been interested in them ever since. We made it through most of the zoo in record time with no major melt-downs or accidents of any sort. It was uneventful, which is a good thing since it was just me with a 2 and 5 year old.

Homeschooling With New And Old Friends

Over the last several months, I have reached out and grasped at any and all opportunities to meet and connect with like minded homeschoolers in the area. I have Facebook to thank for the connections I have made. As it turns out, there is a huge homeschooling community in the area and I've actually been able to pick and choose from groups to find ones that meet our needs and lifestyles the best. Esperanza has made a small handful of friends, and I've found some like minded mamas to chat with and share ideas. The most consistent group that we meet with is ACE (Autodidect Community Enthusiasts). It is a secular group of unschoolers/homeschoolers, who meet in a building at a park in Camas once a week to visit and play. We really enjoy this group and the fact that they meet just down the road from us is a huge bonus.

Crafts at ACE

Birthday party for Madi and Izzie (6 year old twin girls we met at ACE and made friends with). Their mom, Amanda, is a super amazing homeschooling mama! She has such unique and fun teaching ideas and her girls are so bright and sweet! There were 2 sets of triplets and 1 set of twins at this party we went to.

Needle felting at Katherine's house with her kids. We met them at ACE as well. She has 3 kids, is a home-birthing midwife, needle felts, eats healthy, lives simply, homeschools her kids and lives in Camas close to us! 

Though it may be a shocker to hear, I don't always take pictures. Many of our new homeschooling friends I don't have pictures of (yet). Through Facebook I met two other women who are mutual friends and homeschool with similarities. My kids have connected with their kids and we usually meet at one of our houses where we chat and get to know each other while the kids play. Two of the kids Esperanza has made friends with are Naomi (age 4) and Ryan (age 5).

At the same time that we met and made friends with all these new homeschooling families, some friends from back in my school days have come back into my life are contributing to our continued enjoyment of life and experiences. I have begun caring for a little girl, Opal, one day (sometimes twice) a week for a few hours each day. I knew her mom when we were younger and I offered to help her with childcare when word got out that she was in need. We all have so much fun together crafting, visiting and catching up. Opal is a few months younger than Esperanza and they just have a great time playing together when she is over. I also re-connected with another friend from school who moved back to Camas from the east coast recently. Her kids are much older than mine, but we all still get together often to visit and craft. She even plans to pull her kids from public school next year and begin homeschooling.

Esperanza with Opal and her brother Hayden with newly made play-doh

 Esperanza and Ezra crafting with Shyla

 My friend Jessica recently made the decision to homeschool her son Nicholas too. She and I already enjoy the common link between our girls in the same dance class and look forward to sharing ideas and challenges around homeschooling our kids too. This is her daughter Ella with Esperanza one day at dance.

We love our new and old friends! Our hope is to continue to build on our relationships with all of these people as we move forward into our journey of homeschooling and living!

Esperanza's First Dance Performance

Esperanza made her debut in her first big on-stage professional dance performance recently. The dance studio she attends held a winter dance performance at The Washburn Performing Arts Center (at Washougal High School) so dancers could show off the moves they've learned so far this year. While she and her dance class mates had a dress rehearsal earlier in the week to practice their steps, most of them were all over the place that day, and so adorable! On the day of the performance though, they did really good, still with a few cute mishaps and looks of confusion at times from some of the 3-5 year old girls, as to be expected. Esperanza felt so grown up with her blue eyeshadow, blush, red lipstick and hairspray I used to keep the bun in place. We patiently waited for her class' turn to perform, while watching all the other dance performances. It really was quite the event! I had no idea the studio had so many dance classes, age groups and dance styles. It was entertaining for sure. Finally, when it was Esperanza's turn, she didn't hesitate or have any noticeable signs of nervousness about getting up on stage and showing off in the spot light. They danced to a cute song called Tiptoe Elf. After the performance, we met some friends and family in the lobby area to take pictures and visit for a few minutes. Grandpa George brought Esperanza a beautiful single red rose and Eva brought her a bouquet of brightly colored daisies. Grandpa George & Grandma Janet, Grandma Angelina, Eva, Rafa, Kiko and Araceli all came to her performance! We were so glad she had an audience full of loving family there that day to cheer her on and show their support. Thank you!!

dress rehearsal day!

I had to create a YouTube account and upload the video there in order for it to upload here. Worth it though!! I'll cherish this video forever. Esperanza is 3rd in from the left.

Holiday Crafts, Traditions and Other Festive Fun Events

 We started our Christmas countdown with our sock calendar again this year. Last year was the first time I did this, and it was a hit so it is now a tradition. Each sock has two little surprises in them and each morning after breakfast the kids get to take one sock down. I filled socks with a variety of little things like little tree ornaments, quarters, snacks and my favorite: geodes! Esperanza thought the geode was so neat, she decided not to break it open yet. Ezra's is in a thousand little pieces, crystals all over the place. As the days went on, the socks came down and Christmas cards came in, I decided to hang each card on the string where the socks were. It's such a lovely and festive display.

 We made a colorful construction paper chair which we hung across the kitchen ceiling

Ezra was fascinated with the snow globes!

We spent countless hours and days needle felting and decorating these ornaments. The wool was originally gifted to me, then we hand dyed it with kool-aid. Using cookie cutters, we were able to shape the wool as we needle felted it to create festive and beautiful shapes. Some of them we left simple, while others we added beading and splarkly bling-bling. Many of them were given away as Christmas gifts, some we decorated our tree with and others will adorn our windows and home year around. These are special!

Popcorn and cranberry garland for the tree

Opal's mom Kara came over and crafted with us one afternoon. She showed us how to make these cute little wool gnomes.

 Pine cone bird feeders with Opal one afternoon

 Christmas lights at the Portland International Raceway. Cousin Rafa joined us.

Tea bag wreath (we started this craft with Jonna, but had to finish it a few days later at home)

The house in Camas had their light/music show again this year. We went at least a dozen different times. 

Sugar Cookies!! 

Esperanza's Christmas wish list