Thursday, January 26, 2017

December '16

The kids have been taking piano lessons for a little while now, and participated in their first recital before Christmas.


Another successful Christmas parade was attended on Main Street with the usual gang.


Relaxed hang out time was had at home.


After a PTO meeting we wandered the elementary school halls and saw this snowman made by Caspian.  That black line is a snake.  if you read the fine print next to his shoulder it says, "I am going to be a herpetologist."


One morning Annaliese went to work with Alexe, and Caspian and I found a creative use for the pile of pallets left over after the stone was unloaded.




If it's not obvious this is a goat playground.



The family came with me to walk the fence line and fix shorts.


A chilly morning in December, where a pipe in the chicken house split and made a lovely ice display.


One of my favorite candid shots from Base Camp.  I walked in to find a friendly game of Uno starting up during a break.


Another recital organized by the kids' piano teacher at the retirement home.



One of Alexe's Christmas presents this year was new eyes.  The newest form of lasik has a much higher rate of success, and works on the level of vision impairment Alexe has had her whole life.  (That level has always been about the level of a mole.)

We took her to Memphis,where she went into this little room for two hours.


We took that time to pop around the corner and rent a hotel room, then dash to the grocery store and procure snacks, before coming back to pick up our slightly loopy mama-bear.  (They gave her a valium to help keep her calm for the 5 minutes the procedure took.)


She was instructed to keep her eyes closed until the next day, and return to the surgeon the next morning at 8.  To accomplish this they recommend taking a sleeping pill and zonking out. Apparently there's a period of itching that is better to sleep through.  The googles are to prevent you from rubbing your eyes and tearing your retinas off.

We described the layout of the room, put snacks and beverages and the remote in arms reach, and left her to her peace and quiet.  (This was not our idea, Alexe insisted.)


We hopped in the truck and went to the Children's Science Museum, courtesy of a.Natalie and u.William.  The timing of that Christmas present, an annual membership literally procured half an hour earlier, could not have been cooler.


We spent a couple hours getting to know the place. We had never been before.


There may be a video of this young lady making a music video in front of the green screen.  I don't post videos here, but if you come to her wedding it might be shown there.


Caspian and I shot our way through this entire basketball course.  


And then we went home, and the next day Alexe came home in her own vehicle with new eyes.

This picture is here to remind me of the swelling in my heart I felt as Annaliese and I were walking the fence line once again checking for shorts.  (Ah, goats.)  As we came out of the woods she took off, blue coat flying out behind her, racing for the golf cart with the hopes of getting to drive back to the house.  I was overcome with the joy of having her there, and the sadness of what it will be like to walk these fence lines by myself after she is grown.  


Check out those baby blues!


We decided it was time to collect the many pumpkins Alexe had decorated the farm with in the fall, and feed them to the pigs.  The kids love this, mostly for the hatchet-action.





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