Big Brother 19 Blog...because you're addicted.: Tuesday: The Overnighter

Why doesn't Cody team up with Alex, secretly? He digs her and has said he wouldn't vote her out because he appreciates her physical game play. They could pull in Kevin, Jason, and one more. That would make life interesting and unpredictable in the house. I hope In Alex's head she KNOWS she's Paul's sheep right now but is just waiting for a moment o make a daring move. I still like Kevin for the win!~

Waited 100 days for girls' parents to have me visit so I could give them their Christmas presents. Since I was told I could not "celebrate" Christmas I managed to do one of our little Bryant traditions--conducting a scavenger hunt for one of the gifts. Lorelei read the clues to Genevieve and they ran from point to point until they found their hippity hops in the back of my car. They were so excited that they immediately began hopping on them all over the house. This was a great Christmas idea as they have so much but nothing like these. I'm glad I got to experience the joy they expressed in person, even though I had to wait 100 days!

Lunch with Lorelei

 Lorelei is now a kindergartener! In October I was able to join her for lunch at Peebles Elementary School in Fayetteville, GA. When she entered the cafeteria and saw me, she ran into my arms for a big hug. She knew I was coming to visit for the weekend, but not that I was joining her for lunch. She has the most wonderful teacher named Lynn Saleeby, a veteran of more than 30 years and many, many ideas. She was fun to talk with. After eating with Lorelei, she showed me her classroom and then we went out for recess. Following that, I had to leave. Mrs. Saleeby invited me back to see the morning instruction and I hope to do that soon. Also, our classes are going to be penpals!

Ariel and Prince Eric Get Married

Since the girls were so fascinated with weddings and the marriage of Ariel to Prince Eric in the movie "The Little Mermaid," of course I had to develop a fun activity to support this interest. Their great-grandmother gave them a wedding kit which folds out as a backdrop. We set that up on the sofa and assembled the cardboard archway. I explained to the girls that a couple sends invitations to invite friends and family so we set about making invitations. Next, the girls delivered and "read" the invitations to all the dolls they could find in the house. We dressed them and arranged them seated on either side of the gazebo. One of the male princes was pressed into service as the minister. I voiced all the parts the first time,

hummed the wedding march, and told the girls how to manuever the dolls for the different parts of the ceremony. After that, they tooks turns doing the wedding

parts themselves. They did it over and over!

                                           

 

Afterwards, we held a "reception" complete with tiny sugar candy cakes and cranberry juice. It was the wedding of the century! I think the girls will continue to play wedding for weeks afterward. Now I just have to convince my son that I be allowed to buy a wedding dress up set for the girls! (He doesn't like all this wedding talk. He doesn't want to think of his girls EVER getting married.)

Girls and Goats





Lorelei succeeds in feeding the nanny a pecan





The girls chase the goats trying
 to get close enough to pet them.





One nanny goat will come close if you have something to offer her.





Lorelei and Genevieve love visiting my parents (their great-grandparents Rister) at their mini farm in Kathleen. They especially like being around the animals--chickens, rabbits, and of course, the goats. On this visit, while their parents were picking up pecans, the girls tried and succeeded in getting close enough to one tame nanny goat so they could pet her and feed her. Lorelei said the goats lips tickled her hand.  

Genevieve feeds the nanny

Annual Christmas Ornaments

This year's ornaments include a foam penguin (from Target craft kit), handprint snowmen on a clear ball, ice cream spoon Christmas cats, and craft stick and felt reindeer.

Genevieve and Lorelei  proudly display their reindeer.
Genna wanted hers to have a sad face.
 Both girls liked the floppy ear style.


As often happens, I learned some tips for doing these crafts in the future.I will say that the cat ornaments had too many steps for young children. We had to paint one side, wait, paint the other side, wait, and so on. It would be better if they had been spray painted different colors in advance so all the kids have to do is select the ones they want and focus on decorating. I plan to make them with my kindergarteners next year. The snowmen balls are easy but it is difficult for very young children to draw the fine details of eyes, nose, etc. with paint pens. I drew most of the details but Lorelei did do half of hers. Even so, parents will love the fact that their child's little handprints are on the ornaments and will love getting them out in years to come. The reindeer were easy to make but I did go behind the girls with hot glue to redo the felt pieces. They don't adhere well with Elmer's glue. We made several sets of ornaments. As always, I saved a set for the girls. When they get married and get ready for their first Christmas, I wll give them the saved set. I also have a few for our tree at home. They as well put a few on their own tree. The girls will be wrapping and giving the snowman ornaments to their parents for Christmas.

Look out! Volcano Erupting!

Lorelei painting the cone...

Adding the vinegar...

Lorelei and Genevieve have been fascinated with volcanoes ever since they fell in love with a silly movie called "Shark Boy & Lava Girl" as well as being fans of "Dinosaur Train." Lorelei said she wanted to make a volcano so I promised I would on the next visit. I kept my promise and we built a volcano using Lizella clay molded around a large medicine bottle. The girls painted the cone. Inside I added a mixture of warm water, drops of dish detergent, food coloring, and baking soda. Then the girls took turns creating the erupting lava by adding vinegar. We learned that by adding it slowly the lava would flow thick and bubbly. The girls were amazed at the eruptions and I caught some of their expressions. Instead of making the dinosaurs flee, they tried to put them inside the cone. Lorelei asked me what is that inside the volcano and I explained that magma is the lava before it comes out of the earth. We made the volcano erupt over and over. Chad saved the volcano to take to Lorelei's class. It was a great memeory made!

Wow...the eruption!!!