Tales of a Castle

Thursday, February 28, 2008

"When the weather fails you,

just change your plans!" (A wise proverb from a South Carolina philosopher! :-) Today was supposed to be warmer, but when it dipped to 27 last night. . .I had a feeling we would not be going to this zoo today with some friends. I knew the boys were disappointed (Why did I say anything to them in the first place?!), and I really was not in the mood to plan a school day. Instead we had a "Fun Day" at school complete with an educational movie about pioneers,

stories,

painting,

cookie baking,

and games.

In the end, it was a great school day for the boys, and as a South Carolina philosopher once said, "When parents interact positively with their kids, it makes just about anything exciting."

posted at 3:49 PM
8 comments

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A night at the. . .

opera - The Barber of Seville.

Monday was the evening the understudies (Troy was in this group.) performed for the guest artists, and since we are family (Last time I checked we were.), the boys and I were permitted to watch the activities. A friend also came along to help in case I needed to leave with the baby. (Thanks, Ashley!) This was Troy's last big assignment of grad school, and starting next week, he will start to have a bit of a life again. I enjoyed it very much - especially since it falls in the comic opera category, and there isn't much in this world that compares to a live orchestra! The strings just melt me.
Pardon the poor quality of the photo. I didn't think I was supposed to have a camera, so I did not want to take chances with the flash. Consequently the photos are not great at this setting, and it did not help that I was in the balcony. Troy is on the left, and his friend (Jonathan) sits in the chair. They are not in costume since the guest artist costume was too big for Troy, and the one for Jonathan was not his size either.

Ready for the show!
Lovely picture of my skirt! This is what happens when you are sneaking a picture and suddenly realize the flash is on. I quickly slammed the camera into my lap, and voila - my laptop! :-)
Count Almaviva, Rosina, and Dr. Bartolo

posted at 9:49 AM
7 comments

Friday, February 22, 2008

pErspECTive

Hard to believe that the little feet that fill these shoes
will one day be bigger than mine!
What a privilege to be a "Mommy!"

posted at 5:42 PM
13 comments

Monday, February 18, 2008

And yours?

Your Monday, that is. How do you view this day? For starters, it is my "recover from church" day. Yes, yes, that does sound terrible, but if you spent a good deal of one day driving through 216 traffic lights, you might need to recover, too. :-) Silas never gets a decent nap, so he is not at his best. It seems about the time he finally dozes, we hop back in the car to go to and fro.

For the most part, I enjoy Mondays and look forward to the fresh and new week. Since Silas was born, I have stopped homeschooling on this day to give myself extra time to prepare for the rest of the week. It is my day to catch up on all the weekend laundry, deep clean, get ready for Tuesday (library/grocery shopping day), clean the van, do all the little things that get shoved to the side during the previous days, and best of all to sleep later (if possible). I covet this day and typically do not leave the house or schedule anything that would cause me to use a vehicle.

I am a "list" person, and the Monday one is about as long as the Missouri River. It usually doesn't get completely accomplished, but I like the challenge of the length. So why in the world am I blogging when the baby is sleeping and I could be working??? :-) Good question. Guess I will do that right now.

Besides. . .it is the perfect weather to work. The boys have done a good deal of chores so they are outside enjoying the 60's+ weather, the windows are open, birds are chirping, breezes are blowing, and I have a pan of walnut brownies in the kitchen.

Yes, it is a good Monday!

posted at 3:06 PM
14 comments

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

A Tale of Birthdays

January is always a busy month at the castle with three birthdays filling the calendar. It was Ethan's turn to have a small party, so he chose Luke O. and family as his guests. His party theme was none other than "construction." The cake - "a road with cars on it." Once again I voted to attempt the challenge (Yes, that is a challenge for someone who is not a cake decorator! :-) and save the money, but I will spare the photo. Hee. Hee. It was at least tasty. (The icing was because I devoured a good bit of that.)

On January 25th, we found ourselves at Chuck E Cheese celebrating Seth's birthday. We were able to meet Troy there early in the afternoon which is a great time to avoid the noise and crowds. I groaned when we pulled in and saw three (Yes, I typed that correctly- 1-2-3!) daycare buses. Thankfully they left shortly after our arrival, so the day was still a success.

I am steadily rolling through this new decade as I reached 31 on the 29th. My birthday was a bit hectic since it was in the midst of preparing for Troy's recital, but he did send me the below pictured bouquet. My MIL was here and treated us to supper so I wouldn't have to cook. That always makes for a nice evening. I received some nice gifts and cash. Yippee. I am saving that for the mixer I mentioned earlier. I do believe there is a piano CD in someone's top right drawer. Hee. Hee. I hope to enjoy that soon when the very busy giver gets a memory jog when he opens the top right drawer. You know - the top right drawer of his dresser. The top right drawer that made me feel terrible when I shoved some papers in there and saw a piano CD. It's not like I spend my time browsing through top right drawers. Okay - you get my point. :-)

P.S. The spellcheck is not wokring agian! So, if youu see any typoes, pleasee excuse this tired woman who is not gettting alll the slep she should!

posted at 9:12 PM
10 comments

Monday, February 11, 2008

Monday humor

Enlarge this comic to see the details and enjoy your card
shopping this week! :-)

posted at 9:30 AM
3 comments

Friday, February 08, 2008

It came and went,

and Troy did an awesome job!!! It was a wonderful and enjoyable evening, and since the two youngest boys had a great babysitter (Joy J.) - - I had no worries! That's saying a lot for me because when I have a baby, you almost have to rip it from my arms or out of my sight. I cannot bear to leave them. Here are a few snapshots of the evening.

No flash photography is allowed in this chapel due to the paintings,

so I found this on the Internet to give you an idea of the setting.

The organ and piano were beautiful to hear,

and an oboe joined in one of the songs adding a masterful touch.

Troy and his voice teacher - Dr. Parker.

The reception was left in the capable hands of Teresa A.
I had "no worries" in this area either.

After all, this is her specialty!

Troy and his friend - Eric R.

Love this photo. :-)

posted at 2:03 PM
14 comments

Friday, February 01, 2008

Big day!

Actually - HUGE day! As they say, "The programs are printed, and people are coming." My poor stomach is entertaining butterflies for the performer. I am excited though! Can't wait for tonight!

posted at 8:55 AM
11 comments