Spring Flowers in Columbia

Springtime begins early in Columbia. Ellen and I (Daniel) set out one evening to capture some of the wonderful flowers we have in our yard. Ellen took most of these and is very patient and thoughtful with the camera. We missed some earlier flowers like crocus, daffodil, and a sweet smelling honeysuckle like bush.  But at this point our little piece of paradise is in full bloom.

Blueberry flowers. Yeah!

Periwinkle blooms.

We think this is a vetch flower.

Wild blackberry grows everywhere here. And while its thorns make weeding a headache its spring flowers are sure beautiful.

Carolina Laurel Cherry is a gorgeous tree that stays green all year. In the Spring it sets out these flowers.

The Carolina Laurel Cherry grows along the borders of our backyard forming a year round hedge. Here is what the hedge looks like in the spring.

Peach blossoms.

Unknown flower probably grown from a wildflower pack I purchased and sprinkled in a bed.

Unknown bulb flower that grows in clumps next to the shed.

Unknown wildflower.

Bridal Veil, One of the prettiest spring displays.

Dogwood.

Red bud.

Azalea.

Another variety of Bridal Veil.

Gerber Daisy. These bloom almost year round and can be split, multiplied, and replanted in the Fall.

Unknown wildflower (I think it is a bulb).

Coppelia

Our Ballet company performed Coppelia last weekend. This comic ballet was originally performed in 1870 in Paris.

The last few months our family has been devoted to this show--tons of rehearsals, helping with sewing costumes, selling ads, etc. I was not responsible for any choreography so I actually got to watch from the audience. It was such a beautiful show. The girls have really grown into beautiful dancers and have quite a stage presence when they are performing. We are so proud. The following pictures were taken by another parent. (click on the pictures to see them enlarged.)

E and A in the Mazurka -- traditional Polish folk dance performed at beginning of the ballet

Dancing the Mazurka

Soloist performing her prayer dance for the wedding couple. Can you spot E and A in blue?

Swanhilda and Franz dancing at their wedding

Entire Cast after Dress Rehearsal

Mazurka dancers with some of the teachers backstage

Happy Birthday Arianna

Arianna at about 1 1/2  in Indianapolis

4 years old

6 years old

On her 9th birthday

We had a small party for her 9th birthday this weekend. There was cake, presents, pinata, dancing, dress up, and staying up way too late:)  It's always a blast. How did our baby get so big???

Getting Ready for Baby

I've been collecting baby stuff. Most of it has been free and I am so thankful for my generous friends. I wasn't expecting all these to come so quickly, and it has been a fun experience. Our guest bedroom has officially turned into the nursery:)

We bought this second hand and very nice car seat and stroller combo from someone in Durham when we traveled there to buy the minivan from our friends the Morrisons. (Pictures of that purchase later.)

 

This is the crib plus sheets, mattress, blankets that came from a friend near Charleston. Thanks Jen Kline for picking this up from a friend and driving 2 hours to our house!

Diapers from Lesley and Jason. Wow, this is hundreds of dollars of cloth diapers. I won't need to buy any for quite a while, if at all. There's a bumbo, baby seat and bjorn from the Morrisons in there too.

 

Here's a close up of the changing table and dresser from our neighbors. Thanks Jackie and Davie! Again delivered to our door--we are so thankful. Also pictured are some handmade diapers and wool pants from my friend Jen. They are so cute, thanks you!

 

And last but not least, here's baby and me. 24 weeks Pregnant.

Getting Ready for Christmas

We are taking about a 3 week break from school to enjoy the holidays together. Daniel is home writing and the girls and I have filled our days with field trips, play dates, and projects. We had a lot of fun outings planned for the beginning of December. The following are pictures from a few.

Here's a picture from our homeschool group's Christmas party. The kids decorated ginger bread houses. A lot of people turned out for this event--probably at least 75 people. The parents did a cookie exchange and the kids also played a few games.

Here's a picture from one of our field trips this month to a nature program led by the rangers at the Columbia Canal. The kids learned about soil composition.

Here's one of the girls' ballet classes practicing their dance from the Nutcracker. We had a parents night out at the studio where the girls read the Nutcracker story, made crafts and played games. Their class did the spanish dance for the rest of the crowd.

This was my favorite thing--free kayaking with the rangers at the Columbia Canal. They taught us a few things about how to paddle and what to do if you fall in. The water was gentle and the weather turned out perfect at 60-65 degrees and sunny for both of our trips. We are scheduled to go out on the river in the spring. We loved being on the water. It's so relaxing and the perspective from down at the level of the ground is so interesting. Can't wait for the next trip.

Oh the joys of homeschooling! Long extended breaks and fun field trips with my kids. I love it.

Practicing Instruments

The girls practice their instruments 30 minutes a day. Usually they take turns but not today. I started laughing when I walked in to the den to see them playing different songs at the same time. Watch this little video that Ellen and I put together this evening.

Congrats Daniel

Daniel was selected by his department chair at Midlands Tech to receive the Adjunct Faculty Member of the Year award. This is a great honor as he was one out of 12 of the 500 Adjunct faculty members at MTC to receive this award.

It is amazing that he is recognized for this award especially since he is juggling so many other jobs at the same time. He is teaching 5 classes at MTC and USC, writing a dissertation, and applying for jobs, in addition to being an amazing husband and father. He is working extremely hard right now trying to finish things up here at USC. Congratulations Daniel, the girls and I are so proud of you!