Be Yourself and Dare to Stand Out

Rachel is 100% girlie girl.  She has enjoyed taking dance and gymnastics classes.  She has taken ice skating lessons in the past and I have envisioned her using her dance and gymnastic skills to someday be a graceful and elegant ice skater in a beautiful sparkly outfit doing twirls and leaps on the ice.  

But alas, my baby girl's new love is ice hockey!

I think it is awesome that in such a male-dominated sport, she wanted to her gear to be pink.  She knows how to be herself and she doesn't mind being a little different.  She is going to be decked out in pink even if it means she stands out in a crowd of boys.

She is a confident girl and I pray that she always understands the importance of being herself.  I don't know who came up with this but I love the saying, "Be like a diamond, precious and rare.  Don't be a stone found everywhere."  That is my girl.  Precious and rare.

She is also quite independent.  Ice hockey requires a lot of gear and you have to get the laces on the skates really tight to keep your foot from wobbling around in the skate.  

On this morning, I kept offering to help her get her gear on but she kept saying no.  Finally she stopped, stared at me and said, "Mom!  I'm a hockey player.  I'm tough and I don't need any help!".  Well, ok then...

She is one tough little princess.

She has done really well in her hockey lessons.  She started in Pre-Hockey where they just learned how to skate with a stick, shoot a puck and work on skating moves.  Here is a quick video of her skating and coming to a quick stop.


She progressed well in the class and has moved up to Hockey Academy.  Now they are working on more difficult skating moves and learning more about how to play the game.

She still talks about being a figure skater or taking dance lessons.  We told her the budget will only cover one sport and for now she has chosen ice hockey.  I'm so proud of her because I know she is doing what she really wants to do and not just what is expected of her.  Be yourself, baby, and dare to stand out!

New Horizons at the UNT Sky Theatre Planetarium

We had a great field trip the the Sky Theatre Planetarium on the University of North Texas campus in Denton.  We had never been there before so it was fun discovering a new place.  

We went with one of our homeschool groups so it was especially fun to watch the show with friends.  The show we saw is called New Horizons.  


Through the experience we got to visit the surface of each of the planets and some of their moons and learn about how each are unique in their own way.  The show was really great and we all learned something new.

After the show, our presenter gave us a tour of the night sky and taught us about constellations.

Outside the theater we studied models of the Mars Rover and the International Space Station.

The Sky Theater is located inside the Environmental Sciences building on the UNT campus.  We spent some time looking around at the exhibits and interactive stations.  Here Rachel used pedal power to light the attached bulb.  How fun!

Rachel also got to be on TV as she pretended to give a weather forecast.

There were turtles and tortoises to look at.  There were also several natural items on display such as these tree rings. 

There were also several puzzle stations.  Here you had to orient 6 blocks so that they fit flush to the top of the box.  I tried and tried but never got it.  My kids are clearly smarter than me because they both figured it out!

Nicholas also solved this challenge of fitting all of these nails on the head of one nail!

We had a good time a the planetarium and we hope to go back to see some of their other shows.  Since we went as a group, our admission was only $3.00 per person.  You also have to buy a $5 parking pass to park on campus.  Check out the website for more information.

Ice Skating at the Dallas Galleria

Three out of four of us love ice skating and playing hockey.  So we were happy to take our annual trip to the Galleria in Dallas for ice skating around the giant Christmas tree.

The tree is beautiful and it is in the middle of the rink.  Even this picture below doesn't do justice to how tall it is.

Eventually I felt the tug to get out there too.  It was fun, especially with my sweet husband holding my hand.

Stuart and the kids all have their own skates that fit them perfectly.  I had rental skates which were hurting my feet so I didn't skate for very long.

I love watching Stuart skate and play with the kids.  Rachel loved holding her Daddy's hand while skating.

Nicholas was too fast to keep us with.  He was skating backwards a lot of the time and he was still faster than us!

Nicholas acted like he was giving Stuart a hug but then dropped some ice shavings down his back!  That's my silly boy!

Rachel, on the other hand, likes giving real hugs.  She is always tender and sweet.

Although the giant Christmas tree will be down soon, there is still ice skating fun to be had.  They are located inside the Galleria at 13350 Dallas Parkway. Admission is $11.00 per person with $3.00 skate rental.  They also offer skating classes.  Call them at 972-392-3361 for more information or check out the Galleria Ice Skating Center website.

Chimney {Elf on the Shelf}

Chimney is the name for our Elf on the Shelf.  He appears in our home once the Christmas tree is up.  He quietly watches us, listening for gift ideas to tell Santa.  Once we are in bed, he flies back to the North Pole to rest and talk with his elfin buddies.  The next day when we awake Chimney is back and hiding in a new place.  Rachel loves to hunt for Chimney each morning.  

Rachel and her friends had been at our house making homemade Christmas cards for children who would be in the hospital over Christmas.  She had left out some of their card making supplies along with a card that she made for Chimney.  The next morning, she found Chimney had played with the Christmas stickers overnight!

The next morning she found him still covered with a few stickers but taking what looks like a nice hot tub bath in the crock pot.

We had been to a Christmas party one night and I had worn a Santa hat which I just tossed on my desk when we got home.  The next morning Chimney was found snuggled down inside it.

Rachel loves it when Chimney hides in her room.  On this morning she found that he had carried her slipper to the top of her bookcase and hidden in it.  Silly elf!

Elves love toys so it was no surprise that one morning we found that Chimney had built himself a house out of MagnaTiles.

That night Rachel left him a treat to enjoy before he headed back to the North Pole.

One morning we found him hiding in Nicholas' LSU hat.

Sometimes Chimney likes to study up on his history.  Ancient Greece must have interested him on this trip because we found him hiding in the Spartan helmet that Rachel made when we studied ancient times in school.

He was hard to find the morning he hid by the red yarn by the sewing machine because it was a little like camo for the little guy.

He must have practiced some sailing skills as we found him hiding in the little sailboat on the shelf in our bathroom.

Elves can be mischievous.  One morning the kids found that he had wrapped toilet paper around their bathroom!  Can you find him?

There he is wrapped up in toilet paper!

The sweetest time was when we found him watching over Baby Jesus in our nativity scene.

Amazingly, Chimney finds us even when we travel and stay in a hotel.  On Christmas Eve, Santa comes to deliver presents and he will hop in the sleigh and ride back with the big guy and we won't see him again until next year.

Gingerbread Houses

I'm just now going through some of pictures from last month because we had a rough bout with various illnesses among us over a few weeks around Christmas.

I love having the kids decorate Gingerbread house.  I just hate building the houses because the walls NEVER stay up and it is no fun to decorate a falling house.  This year I found 2 kits at WalMart that had the houses already built!  Yay for me!  The kits included a lot of colorful candies and some icing but I bought a few extra things for the kids to have fun with, especially these adorable Christmas gummies!

When the kids decorate their gingerbread houses, I always set out plenty of supplies for them and then I step back.  It can be tempting to get in there with them and try to help direct where to place each candy to make the best looking house.  But there is something bigger going on here.  It isn't about the final product.  It is about the process.  They get to design it however they want.  

I encourage them to experiment and try silly things and see what happens.  They have so much more fun with it that way, even if the house doesn't end up looking like something from Pinterest.

Even if they choose to decorate their house to look like some kind of Christmas monster!  

Wait a minute!  What is that blond hair above my son's lip?!  He's 13 years old and he's been saying he "has a mustache" but I haven't been able to see it until just now with the light reflecting off of that peach fuzz!  Savor the days because our sweet babies grow up too fast!

This sweet one is so proud of her gingerbread house.  She wouldn't have been nearly as proud if I had jumped in and helped her make the "perfect" house. 

This was all about full creativity for them.  I loved watching them have fun and I love both of their creations!