« Partying the Anc Fam Way | Home | stealing a few moments »
‘Tis a good year so far
By Tara Zandra | January 3, 2009
New Year’s Eve was probably my favorite family NYE so far. I served lots of good food for us to graze- taquitos and guacamole, fried mushrooms, stuffed green olives, kalamata olives, asparagus roll-ups, three kinds of cheeses and two kinds of bread. We started off the evening watching Daisy with her new SmartCycle game and then we all played some Donkey Konga before moving on to our NYE tradition of karaoke. In between the gaming we had party music going. We then did the whole “midnight Eastern time” thing with much noise and confetti. It really was a very festive evening and a lovely way to end and start the year. We eventually got the kids to bed and then I coerced kindly asked Chris to watch Xanadu with me. I loved it! The best part was watching him look astounded at each new crazy turn of events. But really, I still love the movie and there is no better gift Chris could have got me for Christmas 
New Year’s Day itself was spent at Ikea and putting things from Ikea together. Our playroom is looking so wonderful! We’re almost done and then I can share pictures. It won’t be finished this weekend though as we have other things going on. The nice thing about this playroom coming together is I’m finally able to change other areas of the house that I’ve had ideas on for a long time. The girls are getting their art and music center and also we want to set up a store next to the play kitchen. Also, we’re able to expand their book nook with a larger shelf and I’ve already mentioned replacing the baker’s rack in the dining room.
Yesterday was our Park Day and Tabitha had decided she wanted to put on a magic show for our friends. She had been practicing all week and had a little set list and everything. She was surprised that her audience wasn’t just the kids but all the parents too. She did so wonderfully and everyone clapped and laughed in the right places. Tabitha was so happy that it went off well and I was very proud of her for her hard work.
But we didn’t have time to revel in her glory too much as Daisy had a birthday party to attend. It was a princess party so Daisy chose to wear her Cinderella dress and looked A-dorable, of course She had a good time and will tell you the best parts were eating a cupcake and bringing home a balloon.
Chris met us at the party after work and took Daisy home while I took Tabitha to gymnastics. She’s improved so much since she started less than a year ago, I know she can continue on that path. Her next round of testing is in 5 weeks and I’ve decided if she doesn’t pass we’ll probably go back to two days a week. It wouldn’t be easy schedule-wise, but I imagine we’d make it work somehow.
Today started off, well, it started off rather late as we all slept in. But eventually we all pulled ourselves together and Tabitha and I did that art lesson we wanted to get done. This time the focus was on Pablo Picasso. The project she did at the end was based on his cubist style and used black lines and then rubbed on chalk to give it a pastel color. It turned out very nicely, I think. The bonus was the suggested music was Spanish Flamenco guitar and Chris found a great CD on i-tunes entitled Spanish Tapas Bar. That was very fun to listen to while she worked.
Once we were done with the lesson, all of us headed out to a vegetarian fast food restaurant in Pasadena. I was pretty meh about it. Honestly, this was probably my least favorite of all the vegetarian restaurants we’ve visited. It wasn’t bad, per se, it was just kind of bland. I think we might try it again, but we’ll see.
After lunch we went to Norton Simon Museum so Tabitha could see some Picasso paintings in person. They own over 40 but maybe 10 were on display. There were examples of his Blue Period and Cubist Period but none from his Rose Period or Classical Period. We wandered around for maybe an hour and that’s really Daisy’s limit so it was time to go. She loves museums of any kind and knows how to behave properly, but after awhile, I’m sure it just all looks the same to her. So we do them in small doses knowing we’ll be back.
One last stop before we came home and that was to a cupcake store we noticed as we drove by. Yum-mmmmy just about sums it up. Oh, I lied, we stopped again at Whole Foods but it was super quick and Chris and Daisy waited in the car even.
Then the family dropped me off at home so I could do some good cleaning (I get the most done when I’m alone) and they went to welcome my in-laws home from their latest cruise.
Now we’ve got the kids in bed and I’m sensing Chris and I will continue watching my Season 1 of Friends DVD.
Topics: Life, Homeschooling |
