Alpaca Farm

Yes, that alpaca has antlers.  No, alpaca don't really
have antlers.  They were put on just to get a cute photo.

Black Friday.  Did we spend it crushed with crowds shopping?  NO!  We spent it hanging out together, playing games, going out for lunch, and visiting an Alpaca farm!

Jason's mom, Dolores, was searching online for things she might like to do in Fredericksburg while she was here, and came across a website for an alpaca farm about 10 miles outside Fredericksburg that gives tours.  We called Friday morning to see if they were giving tours that day, then headed out.

We learned a lot about alpaca, and I think we were all convinced of how environmentally friendly alpaca are (they don't eat much, they clip the grass they eat rather than rip it out, they are efficient with their digestion, their poop can immediately be used for fertilizer, and their wool requires much less processing than sheep wool).  Plus, they are really cute!

The owner giving the tour held the baby, James,
so we could see what the Alpaca foot looks like.
Look at that face, so cute!

Alpaca are related to camels, which I think can really be seen in
this angle of the Alpaca's head.

After getting a lesson in alpacas, we got to feed them a little treat and pet them (did I mention they are super soft?)

We ended the day with a group photo op with an Alpaca.  This was such a fun place to visit!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we were very fortunate to be able to have Jason, his mom, us, and my mom and dad all around the same table.  This is the first time that has happened!  This is the first Thanksgiving we've shared with Jason and the first time his mom met my parents.

The day before Thanksgiving we did some advance prep of food. I baked cornbread for the stuffing, Elise and I made pumpkin pies, and I made a new recipe:  Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie.  At one point early in the day, Elise came in the kitchen and said "what are you doing?"  I told her I was making cornbread and pies.  She said "I thought it smelled like Thanksgiving in here!"

Elise LOVES pumpkin pie and was a great help
mixing up the pies for Thanksgiving.

We had a little too much pumpkin pie filling
and it wouldn't all fit in the pie shell,
so I baked the extra in little dishes...

which Elise promptly polished off. 
She ate all four of the mini pies. 
That girl LOVES pumpkin pie!

The Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie.
Baked and served in a cast iron skillet.
My dad said "this is the best pecan pie
I've ever had."  Of course, he is prejudiced,
but this pie was REALLY good.

The girls, Jason and I made most of the food (except the turkey), but we ate at mom and dad's because their place is bigger.  So, some of the food was made at our place and transported to mom and dad's, and some we made there. 

Mom and dad working on getting some food on the table.

The girls, particularly Anja, love going to grandma and grandpa's because they have Wii.  Anja was quite excited to introduce Jason's mom, Dolores, to Wii.

Thanksgiving dinner was delightful.  The food was plentiful and delicious, the company relaxed and entertaining.

Anja and Elise and the Thanksgiving feast.

Our pickle girl.  She had emptied the pickle dish before
Thanksgiving even started and we had to refill it before we
sat down to eat.  By the end of the meal she had eaten
a whole jar of pickles.  We aren't surprised, though, since
it is kind of a family tradition.  I used to do the same thing
when I was a kid.

Thanksgiving Feast at School

This was a pretty short week for the girls at school, just Monday and Tuesday, then off the rest of the week.  Tuesday at school, there was a Thanksgiving Feast for Kindergarten through 2nd grade.  Parents, grandparents, and other family members were invited to have lunch with the kids and enjoy a meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and green beans. 

Anja, decked out in her Indian costume.

The kids had made costumes to wear, some were Pilgrims, some were American Indians.  Jason and I were really lucky that our schedules worked out so that we had gaps in our work day to make it out to the school.  The kids were adorable and the food wasn't bad!


Anja's class headed to the Thanksgiving
feast.  Anja is the line leader, with her finger
over her lips to remind herself and others to
be quiet in the hall.

Anja's family crew, ready for lunch!
(Grandma & Grandpa Caswell, Jason).

Me and Anja. 

Say "Turkey"!

It Smells Like Thanksgiving in Here!

Jason's mom, Dolores, arrived last night from California, and the girls have been playing with her all morning.  While they were in the girls' bedroom talking about dragons and drawing, I was in the kitchen baking pies, making cornbread for stuffing, and making cranberry sauce.  At one point Elise came out and asked what I was doing.  I told her everything I had made and she said "I thought it smelled like Thanksgiving in here!"

Elise did a great job helping out making pies!

A New Job!!

I have a job!  A real, full-time library job!  Since August I've been working at the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL), floating as an Adult Research substitute between five branch libraries.  Over that time I got a positive impression of the system, of both the way it is run and the people working in the system.  Everyone made me feel welcome and appreciated and I could see that the employees are very good at what they do.  In October I was trained to sub in the Youth Services department and started subbing in Youth Services at the beginning of November (again, floating between five branches).  About the time I started subbing in Youth Services, a position came open at the Salem Church branch for the Department Head of Youth Services.  I knew that my previous library experience in Minnesota made me perfect for this department head position, but I doubted that I would be hired because the folks at CRRL don't know me very well yet, having been there just three months and brand-new to the Youth Services department.  But I thought "what the heck, you never know until you try" and applied for the position.  I was called in for an interview (which went very well), and got the job!!!  I am super excited.  I will be supervising and managing all areas of the Youth Services Department at the Salem Church Library:  programming (story time, teen programs, summer reading program, and special events), research requests from children and teachers, and selecting books and other materials for children and teens.  This library is large and is the busiest library in the system.  The children's and juvenile section of the library is separated a bit from the rest of the library, so it is almost like a library within a library.  The teen section (which I will also supervise) is another separate section, with it's own selection of books, a lounge and teen "hang-out" space.  This is such an ideal job, I don't know how it could be any better!  Salem Church is the library that is closest to where I live, and my commute will be about 10 minutes; working with children, promoting education and early literacy is one of my passions and being able to have a job focusing on those areas is just perfect.  I will officially start in this position January 1 and I can't wait!

Tae Kwon Do Testing for a Green Stripe Belt

Anja has been involved in Tae Kwon Do for a little over a year, and since we moved to Virginia she has become really determined and focused during class.  She is fun to watch when she is so focused.  Her moves are sharp, and her punches are strong.  Of course, all students look forward to testing and progressing to the next belt, and recently Anja tested for her green stripe belt.  She gets so excited about getting her next belt!

Getting ready for testing:  sparring pads, sparring helmet
and mouth guard.

TOTALLY ready!

Sparring

 

After sparring, performing her pattern,
and breaking a board with a sidekick,
Anja answers some questions about
Tae Kwon Do terms (they need to learn how
 to say Tae Kwon Do terms in Korean).

 

All done!  Old belt off, and waiting
for the new belt.



Master Kim helping Anja put on her new belt.

With the board she broke

A very happy girl!

Horsing Around

Hilltop Stables

We have been pretty busy with Girl Scouts in the past month, with some fun special events.  One of those was a trip to Hilltop Stables, just down the road from us, where the girls learned about horses and riding and earned an Equestrian badge.

They spent quite a bit of time in the barn, getting lessons on the parts of a horse's body, how to groom a horse, and the parts of a bridle and saddle. 

After that, they headed outside to learn about and practice vaulting and riding.  It was a lot of fun to watch the demonstration of vaulting, which I had read about but never seen, and to watch the girls practice that.  It was also fun to see the girls riding English, since the only riding they'd done to that point had been Western.  We love new experiences!

Practicing 2-point position, which must be learned
before a person can do any jumps.  We did not
do jumps that day.  Whew!

Anja in two-point position.

Snead's Farm

Within a short distance of where we live in Virginia, there are a lot of places that do pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and all kinds of fun fall activities.  Earlier in the fall, we visited Belvedere Plantation right outside of Fredericksburg (see a post about all that fun here ).  A couple weeks ago, we got to go with the Girl Scouts to Snead's Farm, where they grow pumpkins, Christmas trees and other crops and have bonfires and hayrides.  It was a family event, so Elise, Anja, Jason and I all had a great time!

Lots of fun things to do at Snead's Farm!

We started out on the rope swings in the barn, which were a HUGE hit with the girls.  They quickly got the hang of it.  See a video of Anja swinging here.  See a video of Elise swinging here.

Next, we all piled into the hay wagon for a ride around the farm.  It was really fun to see all they grew at Snead's.  I recognized pumpkins, squash, asparagus, sunflowers, raspberries, blackberries, and Christmas trees, and there were some things I did not recognize so I have no idea what they were. 

Getting pulled on the hayride.

What a great time!

After the hayride we got the bonfire going, where we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. 

We left when it was dark and it was a beautiful thing to be out in the country, without the interference of the city lights, and to look up at the night sky and be able to see thousands and thousands of stars. 

It was a beautiful and enjoyable night!

Hamming it Up

For about a year, I've been thinking the girls are ready to watch The Princess Bride, a modern-day classic movie.  When I was a teenager I stumbled upon the movie in a video store (oh, I remember them fondly).  I had never heard of it and after watching it couldn't figure out why I hadn't heard of it because it was FANTASTIC!  Turns out, it is a favorite of many people and there are t-shirts and who knows what all else made with lines from the movie.  There are MANY well-known lines from the movie, as I found out when I put up a Facebook post regarding The Princess Bride and people spontaneously entered quotes from the movie in the comment section. 

Well, the girls did love the movie, and over the course of a couple of weeks we watched it about 100 times.  I am not exaggerating.  Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but we watched it A LOT.  Enough for the girls to start quoting lines from the movie...

If you've never watched the movie, DO IT!!  The movie is based on a book, The Princess Bride, which I haven't read but I have it on good authority (Jason) that this is a case where the movie is way better than the book (one of the few cases, in my opinion).

Kindergarten Nature Walk With Anja

Going on a nature walk!

A couple weeks ago all the kindergarten classes at Anja's school went on a nature walk on a trail near their school.  Parents were invited to come along, and I was there!  Each student had a bag in which they could put things they collected along the way (with some ground rules:  must stay on trail, may not pick up rocks, sticks, or anything alive).  It was great fun to watch the kids be tuned in to what is around them and amazed at nature.

Ready for the nature walk!

Anja's greatest find of the day, a tuft of
animal fur.

All the kindergarten classes were tromping through the woods, pretty much single file.  At one point, the line stopped and I could see ahead a little bit that a group of kids and adults were bunched up on the side of the trail looking at something.  After they moved on, we came up and one of the teachers pointed out a toad in the leaves.  She told the kids to stand back and give it plenty of space.  The kids didn't listen and got too close, so the toad leapt away a bit.  I was looking on the ground to see where it had gone, with kids crowded around me, spotted it close to my foot right as a foot went STOMP! right on the toad.  I screeched "AAAH!  What did you DO?!"  I look over and it is a little boy from Anja's class.  He paused for half a second, then just kept on walking.  A teacher came over and scooped up the toad ( who was not dead, fortunately, the leaves and grass underneath it must have cushioned the blow).  She held the toad so the kids could take a look, then set it down back into the woods where it would be more safe.  We caught up to the rest of Anja's class and I told the teacher what had happened and she shook her head and said "boys."  What?  "BOYS"?  REALLY?????  I don't think all boys would have done that.

The nearly murdered toad

Imagine my surprise when that same boy turned up at Anja's birthday party a couple days later.  He was one of the kids Anja had invited to her party.  I know they are only six, I know they are still learning and I should be patient and understanding, but I kept my eye on that toad assassin during the whole party.