3, 2, 1..Blastoff!

One of the cool things about living in Orlando is getting to watch the shuttle launches. Whether in person, on TV or from our yard, it's an awesome thing that I'm sure I take for granted. There was a shuttle launch late Friday night. I went back and forth over driving to the coast to watch it in person, but it had been a long day and I managed to talk myself out of it. Steve and I stayed up late enough to watch it and we got Brooke up too. We hopped on the buggy and drove up to the front pasture where we would have a wide open view. And thanks to the magic of the iPhone, we watched the coutdown on the NASA website. Brooke gave a us an enthusiastic countdown and the sky just lit up! It was really cool and gave me a case of the "Mommy shouolda woulda coulda's". It would have been even cooler to see it up close, but I'll try not to guilt myself too much. Here's a picture of what we saw (it was way cooler than this)..

Gator Hunt 2009

Steve and his friend Gordon went on a gator hunt last week and were successful! Here is a picture of the one Steve got!

Meet Raza!

Meet Raza! He is our newest bull calf. He was not born by one of our cows; we purchased him at the recent zebu show. He is a very small calf and we're hoping he stays that way. His name is the Indian word for "Promise" (the zebu are an Indian breed of cattle).

Brooke has attached herself to him, calling him her baby and visiting him regularly to say hello. He's been living in the garage and she decorated his wall with Bendarooz creations and some thumbprint art. He is getting old enough to move outside and will start spending most of the day in a large kennel in the yard.

Here's a picture of Steve giving him a bottle. And yes, that is a Corona bottle. Turns out they work great for calves!

Cousins!

Florida Miniature Zebu Association Extravaganza

This past weekend was the annual FMZA Zebu Extravaganza! It's an annual event for Florida zebu owners to get together and show/sell cattle and socialize too. The venue this year was a real treat. It was held at Black Prong Equestrian. I was in horse heaven when I arrived. Even though I didn't see a single horse while we were there (this is their off-season), I could see all the potential that place has. Their specialty seemed to be carriage racing, but they also had dressage facilites and tons of trails. The apartments we stayed in were great. Each aparment had an attached barn with stalls and tack room. I was seriously bummed that I did not have my horse there with me. The apartments were nice and had a loft for the girls to sleep in.

Saturday started with a showmanship clinic and then we got started with the show after lunchtime. Brooke got in the ring with Gator and did a great job. Steve showed the other zebu we brought and won Grand Champion Steer with Duke!

Sunday was the youth show and Brooke was entered to show Gator in the bull class. She did a great job and was not intimidated by Gator and his occasional stubbornness and headbutts. One of the other moms commented that she was surprised how well Brooke did in the ring. She was used to "quiet and shy" Brooke, not "persistent and confident" Brooke! My favorite part of the weekend was the costume class. I guess it was not well advertised because Brooke was the only child entered. Everyone loved the costumes! Gator was less-than-pleased that his manhood was being robbed and replaced with a grass skirt and coconut bra.

Some of the other highlights from our weekend...

The girls with an albino kangaroo. One of the other zebu owners has a farm of exotics.

Ali helps her daddy walk the zebu around the ring for practice.

Brooke with her two ribbons and a new friend, Raza (details to come).

Me and my little cowgirls

First Homeschool Day

Well we are off on our way in this kindergarten adventure. It is so exciting to be such a big part of Brooke's education. It's still a bit intimidating (I've convinced myself that I will find a way to screw her up) but "one day at a time" is a fitting motto for me. Our first homeschool day on Monday was very light and fun; a nice way to get our feet wet. Then on Wednesday we were in full gear! Ali hung out with us at the table for a while an has already memorized the August Bible verse. And she took this picture of us too.

She eventually lost interest and wandered off to her room to play dress-up. I have a feeling that I will be challenged to keep her entertained and out of trouble during homeschool hours. I also don't want her to feel left out or ignored. So these are the things I must figure out as I go.

Here's a picture of Brooke with her math manipulatives, working on her math assignment for the day.

It's Moloney Time!

We love having house guests at our house, especially when it's the Moloneys! The kids love playing together and get along great. We got to hang out with them a couple times this summer, most recently when they were with us for parts of two different weeks. I'm struggling to remember all that we did, but I know there was a lot! We made it to Little Lake Bryan for a pool day, celebrated Sharon's birthday, ate at Carlos and Charlie's, Chuck e Cheese, we had a movie night with sleeping bags in the loft, and of course, pony rides!

First Day of Kindergarten

The first day of kindergarten is such a big milestone, especially for Mommies! Leading up to the big day,I was excited and Brooke seemed a bit nervous. The night before, I walked past a portrait of the two of us when she was about 2 years old and I started getting a little sentimental. My baby is going to kindergarten?? Yes, indeed she is. Before we left the house that morning, she posed for the obligatory first-day-of-school photos and was posing like such a sassy thang.

We got to school and made our way into the classroom.

She got her backpack put away in her cubby and found her seat.

It was then that I realized that I had forgot to bring in a assignment that was due on the first day of school. Not such a big deal I suppose. However, it hit me hard because I had just talked to Steve the night before about how my biggest fear in this homeschooling adventure was that I would do something or forget something and it would be a poor reflection on her or make her feel out of place. Oh, the ramblings of an overanxious mother... So I beat myself up over it all day and waited very impatiently for 3 PM to arrive. To my delight, she greeted me with a huge smile and was eager to tell me all about her "thumbs up day"! She had a great time and was telling everyone, "It's even better than homeschool!" The ironic part of the day came with a call to my cell phone on our way home from school. It was Brooke's teacher and she wanted to let me know that Brooke's folder did not get put in her backpack. So while I spent the day obsessing about my forgetfulness, it was all put to rest when I realized the teacher makes mistakes too. I guess I can cut myself some slack.

When Mommy goes Away..

I got to have a fun two days away from home this weekend. Our Moms4Moms group from church had organized a group retreat to Tampa for the Women of Faith conference. It's an annual event that tours to major cities and presents Christian speakers and singers to perform. It was an uplifting weekend full of fun a kid-free time with other moms. Mom watched the girls for us on Friday while Steve worked and then Steve had the girls from Friday night until I got home Saturday night from the conference. I knew they would have a blast no matter what crazy shenanigans Steve thought up for them. The funny part though was that on my way to Tampa I was telling some of the other moms about how Steve likes to buy camouflage clothes for the girls and how I like to hide them in the back of the closet and hope they've been forgotten. The very next day while we were on a break at the conference, I pulled out my phone to check my email. And sure enough, there was a picture Steve had sent of the girls decked out in camo (Ali in her camo shirt and Brooke in her camo hat). It was too funny..

Meet Your Teacher

Yesterday was quite the kindergarten whirlwind! Steve and I attended six hours of orientation for Brooke's new school (this is in addition to the 4 1/2 hours we put in last Thursday). And then in the evening we went back with Brooke for open house!

In case I haven't blogged about it yet, Brooke will be attending International Community School this fall for kindergarten! It is a really neat Christian private school model that we have known about for about five years now (but the school is older than that). It's basically a hybrid of homeschooling and classroom teaching. She will attend school at their campus in Winter Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I will homeschool her on Mondays and Wednesdays. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But we really felt like this was the best fit for her. I'm excited to get started with the school year and see how we do. As expected, she is a bit nervous about the unexpected and newness of it all, but I know she will do great! Her teacher, Mrs. Krepfle, is amazing.. very fun-loving, silly and great at making learning entertaining. We have heard about Mrs. Krepfle for a while now. Our friends that have attended ICS have sung her praises, so we were excited to find out she would be Brooke's teacher!

When we arrived at the "Kindergarten Kingdom" last night, Mrs. Krepfle gave Brooke a castle-themed treasure hunt to complete. She had to find certain things in her new room and when she completed all the tasks, her reward was a cup of jewels (aka. multi-colored jello). Here are the highlights!

Brooke finds the school supply box with her name on it! She was confused by the "K" in her name and asked me what it was. At ICS they teach D'Nealian script which is different from the block letters most children learn. It is supposed to ease the transition to cursive writing later on.

Mommy will be learning D'Nealian too! :)

Brooke found her jewels! Yum!

Brooke poses with her teacher, Mrs. Krepfle. Is that a nervous smile, or what?!

We will have our first homeschool day on Monday, August 17th and then Brooke will have her first classroom day on that Tuesday. I was fighting the tears when she tried on her uniform for the first time. I think Tuesday will be a challenge for both of us.

Brooke's Art Show

We have a budding artist on our hands, and her name is Brooke. So when I saw that St. Peter's Preschool was having a week-long art camp, I knew it would be perfect for Brooke. Now all I had to do was convince her of that! Not an easy task.. Our girl has a "worst-case-scenario" type of personality. She can forecast all the bad things that could happen and fails to see all the good that could happen. So I worked on her for weeks, telling her how much fun it would be and how many cool projects she'd get to work on. But she was very reluctant, and often obstinate. After discussing it with Steve, I decided to bribe her! I know that's probably a big no-no, but I knew if I could just get her in the door, the "good" of art camp would outweigh the "bad" of mommy's bribery! Well, it worked and she agreed to go in exchange for an underwater Webkinz if she made it through the week. And just like I expected, I got her in the door on day one and then she never wanted to leave. She had an amazing time with a great teacher. She got to work with clay, beads, mosaics, jewelry, and more! The week flew by and she loved every minute of it.

Once I knew she was going to make it through the week, I had the idea of throwing an art show for her at the end of the week, so she could show off all her masterpieces. I thought it would be a good way to encourage her artistic abilities, build up her confidence, and reward her for stepping outside her comfort zone. So we invited all of our family to come by Saturday night for a one-night only art show!

We set all of her art work out on a table and she made little name cards for each piece. Once all of our guests arrived she used Steve's portable PA system to describe each project.
She was timid at first, but once everyone started asking questions, and giving her all the positive feedback, she got more comfortable and really enjoyed it. Some of her artwork was for sale and she explained to everyone that if they wanted to make a donation, we were collecting money for our church's backpack drive for homeless children. Everyone got to take home a piece and Brooke raised $34! Here are some of her creations..

Beaded pipecleaner dragonflies

Mosaic fish (Mommy was the high bidder on this one)
Clay Flowers

We topped it all off with an ice cream sundae bar.
Such a fun night and so rewarding to see my little girl excel at something she really loves to do!

Turtle Eggs

A few weeks ago, Steve found some small eggs down by the river that looked like they had been dug up or never buried. We guessed they were either turtle eggs or snake eggs, but weren't sure. Brooke was fascinated with them and wanted to bring them in the house. Steve looked at them up close with a flashlight and thought they were dead so Brooke added them to her collection of nature treasures. For a few days she carried them around the house in a little plastic box. Then she accidentally dropped one and it cracked. We decided to open it up for fun and see what was inside. Much to our surprise there was a living baby turtle in there! We carefully peeled off the shell and opened up the sack and there it was, moving about.

We were so giddy with excitement. We did not expect to find anything alive! The little turtle survived for a few hours, but was dead by the end of the day. We buried the remaining two eggs in a bucket of dirt. About a week later, Brooke noticed some movement in the bucket and saw that one of the other eggs was hatching.

It took about 24 hours for the entire process and when it was all done, there was cute and healthy little turtle born into this big world.

We took the baby down to the river and set it on some rocks and waited for it to make its move. Finally it jumped into the water and was off on its own.

Such a cool thing to watch the start of new life, and even cooler to get to see it through the eyes of my kids.

Camp Aunt Lori

I was so excited to find out I was going to get to keep Leann and JJ for two days while Steph was on vacation. Even though we live in the same city, I don't get to see them near enough and when we do get together, it's never for long enough. They are such good kids, so I wanted to make sure we had lots of fun while they were with us! Here is how we filled each an every minute of time together..

Buggy rides and taking treats to Ginger

Painting! JJ was interested in painting for about as long as it took me to take this picture and then he was off to play in the dirt. Such a boy!

Mixing cement for hand print stepping stones!

Pony Rides! Ginger is such a good pony and made quite a few laps around our property for these kids.

For dinner, the kids got to makes their own pizzas.

And then for dessert I found a fun recipe online for Make-Your-Own-Ice-Cream. You just put all the ingredients in the baggie, shake it up with ice and salt and it hardens in just a few minutes and tastes so good!

We also made a trip to the splash park and had an interesting adventure with a turtle egg that you can read about in an upcoming post. It was a fun and exhausting two days, but I loved every minute of it.

Another Trip to Sea World

The kids and I are trying our best to get our money's worth out of our Sea World passes. We made another trip last week for a few hours of fun. We caught the Elmo and Abby Cadabby show that Ali loves, and a few other of our highlights. Brooke and I love the whale and dolphin show and the penguins always get a visit from us when it gets super hot outside. They also have a new aquarium attached to the new Manta roller coaster. Their favorite thing in there is a fish tank they can duck under and stick their head up into. That's going to have a to be a regular stop for us since they love it so much!

We also decided to try the sky tower this time. I hadn't been up in it in years. I have a faint memory of going up in it with my grandparents when I was a little girl. I had been putting off taking the kids since I knew there was an extra fee, but to my surprise, it's free for pass holders! And the kids loved it. They could see Disney, downtown Orlando, and down into Shamu's holding pool.


We ended the day with a trip to the splash park. It was super hot and the kids needed to run out some energy. They had fun for the most part, except for Brooke's complaints that she was getting splashed at the splash park. I guess you can't win 'em all!