30

So this is my 30th post in 30 days. All in all, it wasn't that difficult. I took lots of pictures and videos this month and that's probably a good thing. I won't continue this pace, but I would like to post at least once a week. We've got some big things coming up this month, so I might do a little more often than that.

Today has been a very long day. It started with an 8:00 a.m. doctor's appointment to get Annie's stitches out -- she is healing well. Then to play practice from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Next, to Jay's hockey practice from 8:20 to 9:20 p.m. I'm a little tired.

I thought I'd show you a couple of videos with Michael learning how to do some 50s style dancing for their production of Twelfth Night.

This first one is the assistant director working with the two dancing couples.




Then, here's the cast and director blocking the dance scene. That's Jay weaving his way through the dancers. This scene should be really good in the real play. They've got the lighting fixed now, too.



This play is going to be great!

Oh, Christmas Trees!

Each of the kids has his/her own room now. I thought it would be nice this year to get them each a Christmas tree to decorate for their rooms.
Michael's tree is surrounded by his art work.
Jay's kind of has a hippie flair.
I was proud of this "artistic" photo of Annie's tree. I got her slightly different decorations to coordinate with her room.

They are all talking about the other decorations they want to put on their trees. It will be interesting to see how these trees evolve over the coming weeks!

Odds and Ends

Laura finished Jay's hat and sent it to him. He really likes it and wore it all day after the package arrived!
In other "Jay" news, he finished his 30,000 word novel for NaNoWriMo.

This is how he looked as he wrote the final words.


And this is how little girls behave after having a soda a little too late in the evening.

Thanksgiving

Ahh! Thanksgiving. It's about being grateful for what you have and . . .

eating.

Last year, the electricity was out at our house on Thanksgiving morning and we ended up going to Denny's for breakfast. This year, going to Denny's on Thanksgiving is "tradition" according to some young members of the Gardner-Hajek family. At least eating a big breakfast meant that we only ate two meals today!
We were lucky enough to have our friend, Pat, join us for our real traditional meal: black bean chili, cornbread, salad, and pumpkin pie.

The kids also put up the Christmas tree. I think it may be the nicest one, yet.

Annie's surgery

When Annie was about 6 weeks old, we noticed a little bump over her left eye. Through the years we've watched it closely to make sure it wasn't serious. Sometimes, it would get a little smaller and we would think that it was going away on its own, but, then, it would come back just as big as ever. We decided that it was time to remove the bump and today was the day.

Annie and I had to be at the surgical clinic at 5:30 a.m. She wasn't taken back to a room until after 7:00 a.m., of course. But she was greeted by two little bears in her bed when she finally did go back.
She's named them Cinnamon Stick and Daisy Rose Gardner-Hajek.
Try as I might, I couldn't get a good picture of the bump today.

In this picture from last year, you can kind of see the bump over her left eye. It's noticeable enough in person that people will ask if she hit her head.

Well, all went well this morning. She was under general anesthesia and didn't feel a thing while it was happening. After a little bit of tummy trouble, she bounced back very quickly.
She's holding the surprise I had waiting for her after the surgery -- a framed photo of her with Brisi to keep on her bedside table.

When she went to bed there was only a little bit of bruising and swelling and she had a bit of a headache, but I think she'll be feeling great tomorrow and even better by Monday, when the stitches will come out.

Thanks for all the well-wishes sent to us today. They made Annie feel very happy.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Practice Makes Perfect

The kids are all in a production of Twelfth Night with their theater group. Today was the first day they were able to actually rehearse on the big stage. It was an almost all day affair. The all day affair is actually next Monday from 9-3:30.

Here's Jay as Sir Andrew Aguecheek practicing a scene with Sir Toby Belch (Jonathan).

When Jay wasn't on stage, he was diligently studying his lines.

Here's Annie practicing her lines with the other two "Muses."

When she wasn't rehearsing, she was posing for pretty pictures.

Here's Michael looking cool in one of his scenes as Valentine. The "I" stands for Illyria High School, I guess.

When Michael wasn't out practicing his craft, he was practicing stabbing his buddy with retractable knives.

I'm so proud.

Visit with Brisi

Today was the day! We've been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks now. We got to see Briseis again! She was very calm when we first showed up, so we took a couple of pictures.


When she started squirming we sat down with her to see what would happen.


Here's an action shot!


She's not at all shy.


When we put her in with her littermates, they all seemed pleased to have her back.

We all agree that Brisi is going to fit into the Gardner-Hajek family just fine.

Saturday Sports

It was definitely a perfect day for a soccer game.
Those are the McDowell Mountains in the distance.
Annie warms up before the big game.
The Fightin' Bluebirds get a pregame pep-talk.

Annie is #5 in blue with the pink cap.


Although we're not supposed to keep score, I think Annie's team won!

After a little relaxation at home, it was time to go to the rink for another big game. Jay is #17 in blue.

I know for sure the Rangers (formerly the Ice Diggers) won the game!

30 second Summer vacation flashback

What else would you need on a cool July evening in the mountains?

Soccer

Annie decided to play soccer this year. She was very lucky and got a great coach (the only woman coach in the league). Her team is called the Bluebirds and they've had their ups and downs, but I really think Annie is getting some very good coaching.

This is one of the drills they do. The coach sets up a square with four cones. One person is "It" and tries to kick the other girls' balls out of the square. All of the girls have gotten much better at it. This video is, of course, the one where Annie does particularly well. Annie is in the brown t-shirt and pink cap.



Because she won, she got to be "It" the next time.



Those of you in colder locations will note that the girls are all in t-shirts and shorts -- and this video was taken today, in mid-November. I love Arizona.

Doing a little shopping.

In two weeks, we will be adding a new member to our family. Here she is!
Briseis is her name (Brisi, for short) and she is a standard poodle puppy. We're all looking forward to bringing her home. I've already started to do a little shopping.
Just today, I had decided (after painstaking research) that we would go with this hemp collar and lead. I thought the lead would be easier on our hands than nylon ones and the collar even has fleece inside it so it would be comfortable for Brisi. When I went to REI this evening, they had exactly what I wanted on sale!
No new event is complete in our lives without reading as much as we can about it. A stop at the library was all we needed.

We'll be visiting Brisi on Sunday, so I hope to have some updated pictures of her next week.

"Frigid" morning

Annie woke up and insisted on putting on more clothes even before she got out of bed.
So she has on a long sleeved nightgown, leggings, socks, and the poncho Aunt Laura made for her.

For those of you counting at home, Michael has on 4 tshirts (3 of them long sleeved), and a cardigan. Why would they need so many clothes, you ask?

Because it was 70 degrees in the house this morning. I can almost hear the chuckles, but you must remember that we keep the thermostat at 81 degrees all summer. We even go to park days until it's 100 degrees!


Yes, that's a "4" in front. 48.7 degrees outside. Michael, who was the first one up this morning, says it was 44 degrees earlier. That's low 40s.

Winter is on its way!

Michael's art

Phew. This blogging every day is taxing my creative ability. While scrolling through my photos, I noticed a couple of pictures of Michael's artwork. I thought I'd share them with you, too.

This one is painted with coffee and ink.


I believe this one is colored pencil and pastel for the sky. I wonder if one of these two will be sent to the State Fair next year.

A Sunday in the Life

I thought of doing this today while I watched Michael eat breakfast. Unfortunately, the camera battery was dead, so I have to pick up later in the morning. Tim went to his spin class this morning and while he was gone . . .

Michael practiced the piano while . . .

Annie played with her seashell collection, and . . .

Jay worked on his novel. After Tim got home, since it's Sunday, it was time for . . .

lunch in front of the football game. After lunch, it was time for . . .

a marathon game of Monopoly. When Tim lost the game, it was time to . . .

mow the lawn. While he was doing that . . .

Annie checked her email (who is she chatting with? Could it be Aunt Kristen? Grandma? Ryan? Who knows?). Tonight is pizza and movie night, but before dinner, there's time for a . . .

game of touch football!

Here's the gluten free, soy free, vegan pizza. It looks pretty good, doesn't it?

The movie was "Spider Man 3." I don't know if they really enjoyed it, but they had seen 1 and 2, so they kind of had to see 3. Then it was time for bed.

Toothbrushing.

Reading.

Sleep.

Visions of puppies are dancing in her head.

Good night.

Knitting projects

As I said earlier, Laura taught Michael and Annie to knit during her visit. I thought I would show you close-up pictures of their finished projects.

Annie's pouch fits nicely on her doll, Amelia. She puts her "squishy" animals in it. I really like her choice of peach colored ribbon for the drawstring.

Michael's Magic cards fit perfectly in his pouch. Not only did he knit and help to form the pouch, but he and Aunt Laura even made the cord for the drawstring!

They're both very proud of their pouches.

Skating

Laura didn't get a chance to see Jay skate during her visit, so I thought I would share some video of the kids' skating prowess.



Annie is learning backward cross-overs. This is not an easy move.



Michael is just plain fast.



Jay is working on stick handling. He has improved immensely since he started working with his coach!

Award Winners

The kids and some of their friends take an art class every week here at our house with their art teacher, Larry. Larry likes to enter their artwork in several competitions, including the Arizona State Fair, which just finished its three week run. It seems the best project for most of the kids was a charcoal drawing of kittens, which they did last Spring.

Annie's drawing won 2nd place in the 2nd grade competition. By rights, she should have been entered in the 1st grade competition. I guess she must be some kind of prodigy.


Michael won 2nd place in the 4th grade competition. This is the second award he's won at the State Fair for his art work. Another boy in their class, Daniel, won Best in Show for his charcoal for the early elementary age group. We were all very proud.

What's that, you say? What about Jay?

He won another "participant" ribbon this year! We're very proud of him for participating.