Recitals

The first Sunday of November was a bust day for Cairo.  It marked the last weekend of an eight week Musical Theater class she was taking.  The class ends each term with a recital where the kids get to show off the number they have been working on.  This 1:00 recital was directly followed up by Cairo's 3:00 piano recital.

As you can see from the videos, Cairo was pretty bashful in front of the crowds.  The same numbers she confidently danced, sang, and played in front of us for weeks, she stumbled her way through with the larger audience.  Don't let that fool you, she LOVES the singing, dancing, and music and practices for us constantly :o)  For her first time around, I was pretty impressed that she didn't just stand completely still and just stare at everyone.

Halloween

This year for Halloween Cairo was Mrs. Claus... who later became Princess Claus after running into the real Santa Claus while trick-or-treating on the plaza.  He said she was a little young for him and was probably really Princess Claus.  Getting to see Santa on Halloween was one of the highlights of the day for Cairo.  She talked about him in the days to follow.

Jonah wanted to be a dinosaur.  There was a lack of costumes and I waited a little too long to actually get one.  So, I bought a pattern for a dinosaur cape off Etsy and Jill helped me turn some fabric into a cape.  I wish I actually knew how to sew.  There are so many neat things I could make!  However, not only am I missing the skill, I am missing the patience, the focus, a sewing machine, and the follow-through required to make it work.  Jonah was very happy with his cape.  If you asked him what he was for Halloween he would tell you he was a SUPER DIN-E-SAUR!

Halloween fell mid-week.  Cairo's class put on a great Halloween party and she got to parade her costume around for the whole school in the gym.  After school festivities included trick-or-treating on the plaza, dinner with the whole family at Nick and Kyoko's, and trick-or-treaing in Nick and Kyoko's neighborhood.  Despite the rain earlier in the day, it was a perfect evening for trick-or-treating.   In the days to follow Erik and I had a great time eating the kids candy.  They almost immediately forgot about it. Yay for me and my sweet tooth! :o)

This house was a lot of fun to go to.  It happens to be Cairo and Jonah's new doctor's house.

Rhyme Time

Cairo's first homework assignment was to come up with ten sets of words that rhyme and come up with some way to present those words to the class.  She decided that she was going to draw pictures of each of the words and put them onto a poster.  For extra writing practice, I had her write the words, too.

Cairo spent a long time drawing her pictures.  We talked a lot about details and we walked around and looked for inspiration.  She drew the picture in pencil.  I outlined her pencil with a black pen, and, then, she colored it in.  Here are the pictures before we glued them onto the poster board.

Enjoying the Arts

The last few weeks we have had a chance to enjoy all the things Humboldt has to offer for the fall-  Farmer's Market overflowing with the summer's harvest, an Art's Festival at the Fieldbrook Winery, apples from our apple trees, school field trips to an apple farm and pumpkin patch, fall artwork, making our own wreath from leave picked up in our yard, the annual Pastels on the Plaza, both the Freshwater Elementary and Jacoby Creek Elementary school fall festivals, and Cairo's fall Musical Theater class. Not to mention- the shorter days, crisp fall mornings, and the sun's low angle in the sky.  The last few days we've also got to enjoy some of the cozy fall weather that just screams at me to curl up with a good book and something warm to drink and begin to hibernate.  We've really been enjoying our first fall here in Humboldt county in 10 years.

A few shots from Cairo's musical theater class.  They are working on the song Thumbolina.

At Pastels' on the Plaza.  The kids LOVED this!  It was so neat seeing the artists at work and the vibrant colors of the art framing the entire plaza.

Even Maia was having a great time!

There's no better way to enjoy the day than with your bffs!

Cairo and Lili got pictures with all the Princess artwork.

I really LOVED this one -

At Arts Arcata! this Friday, Jonah had some of his artwork displayed from his preschool at the Child Development Lab.  Arts Arcata! is a friday evening where the stores on the plaza stay open later, local art is displayed, music is played and snacks are served or a glass of wine can be enjoyed.  It's basically an open house for all the stores and a showcase to enjoy art and music.