Happy Halloween

New Stuff!

It has been quite a "new" week for us , here at TSH. Grace has gotten a new hair cut, found a new ( much-needed) winter coat and had her first private drawing lesson, with her new teacher, "Joe".  As for the hair cut,  I had been telling her that she'd look cute with short hair, but she didn't want to try it until now. She looks absolutely adorable.  As far as her coat is concerned, we went to a certain store to find a shearling coat "like the one Lyra wears in The Golden Compass", but it was not carried at this store. She browsed the racks and came up with a coat that was just-about 180 degrees from anything Lyra would wear- a North Face ski ensemble. I think she looks pretty cute.
 

Her drawing lesson was amazing. I cannot say enough about Joe and his way with my daughter. He talked with her like she was any other person, and he did absolutely fabulous work in teaching her how to see her own drawing differently. 

Her usual drawing style is either drawing stylized cartoon guys, or using a book to start from the shapes, which she excels at:



 Her budding new drawing style includes not drawing with her eyes, and here's what it looked like: 

I have also consulted with a friend and we have decided  to take the kids into NYC at least once a month, if not twice monthly.  There is simply far too much to be taken advantage of in teh City and we are squandering it by not visiting. 

This time, we went to the American Museum of Natural History on Friday! It was FABULOUS! We visited the Ornithology exhibits, the Hall of  Gems and Minerals, The Planetarium show and the Hall of Human Origins this time.  The next visit will most likely be to the Museum of Modern Art!

Watch. Believe.

The Speech. 

Happenings

Grace, Carl and I have had another busy week! Carl worked on a grant with another scientist from 7 am to 1 am every day last week. He was exhausted on Friday!  Grace had activities all week, including  a cooking class, a book club, piano, Ju Jutsu and a digital field trip.  Monday she gave her (very polished) report on Ecuador at  Foreign Lands Club. She was so proud of herself , and so was I!  It was three typed pages long! 

We drove to Cape May on Saturday, to help celebrate the 10th anniversary and vow renewal of some friends of ours!  The old Victorian house was lovely and in a very nice area, with shops and lovely restaurants within walking distance. Grace had a ball with all of the kids, and Carl slept;) We drove home on Sunday. The drive was GORGEOUS and Grace really enjoyed the Fall colors! ( She must have gotten that from me! ;) ) 

This week, we have a playdate today, Piano and her new drawing tutor on Thursday, and a trip to the city to the AMNH on Friday! 

Have a great week! 

Forte

Autumn Amblings

Mystery Food...

We went leaf gathering last night and had a wonderful time. On the Way home, we came across this :



We decided to take it home and do this:



And this:


Which produced this:


Still don't know what we found? Here's a hint. It is a type of one of these:

Exploration

We went exploring here the other day, with Grace's friend D and his mother. It was a lovely time, except Grace got completely stuck in the mud, on the other side of an embankment.

D heard her yelling "help" and he went to rescue her--he's quite the gentleman!  He nearly got her out, but I had already gone up and over the hill and promptly gotten myself stuck as well, as you can see in this self-portrait:  


It was comical, really, because, as I was stuck waist-deep in mud, I  did the only sensible thing that any suburban mother would do-- I pulled out my cell phone...

Then I realized that I had no idea who to call for "stuck-in-the-mud-in-an-estuary" emergencies. LOL
Luckily, I was able to break the suction with my hands under my knee, but it wasn't easy!
What an "interesting"  and fun day that was!

Grace and D had a great time, and we'll surely do this again, although next time I think we'll use hip-waders. ;)
Forte