静水盈盈

Happy Thanksgiving!

  

Simple Gifts

We spent a lot of time in our backyard this weekend, digging up the old dead roots, picking out the rocks and weeds, pulling up the old plants, preparing the soil for the new (winter) vegetables. Sophie was so excited to watch the seeds spilling out of the pods, that she insisted on doing it all by herself. I told her those seeds she helped getting out of the pods will be planted next year, and we'll have a brand new garden! The fresh start is an exciting thing to talk about at this time of the year. That's a good thing to keep in mind, ANY TIME of the year.

It never took much make little kids happy. We ended up listening to the song "Simple Gifts" afterwards, and Sophie even figured out how to play it. We made a short movie using all her recent drawings.

Cello in the Garden

We went back to the Botanic Garden again, this time, with Sophie's cello.

We picked some new leaves, got some acorns, played lots of cello. Sophie even got some bark that she peeled off the sycamore trees. She painted on it after coming home. It was fun!

 

After School Nature Walk

A beautiful fall afternoon.

I'm not an outdoor person myself. But it's not hard to have fun when you experience the outdoor with your child. Sophie loves picking up leaves on walks. We brought a quite big bag so she could put all the leaves in. By the time she filled it up, it's time for us to head back. She found a stick along the way and used it to make trail on the gravel road. We took turns walking along the trails we made: trail of waves, trail of zigzags, trail of circles, and trail of shapes.

Soon enough, the fall color will fade and winter chill will set in. So head out and capture the end of the fleeting season. I'm enjoying every moment with my little one, and I hope you are, too!

 

Treat

A treat for myself after a night of tornado and earthquake scare (yes, another one last night!). 

And I made it myself! WITH THE NEW MUG.

 

p.s. I bought myself a new mug the other day. OK, I admit, I love mugs. I'm not a collector yet, but I think I'm working on it. So for my next Christmas present, no sweater, no earrings, no Belgium chocolates! How about an empty mug! 

What a Night!

It turned out to be such a fun night at the Seretean Center. The performer was guitarist Edgar Cruz. The first time we saw him play was at the Global Oklahoma International Festival. His complicated technique was an immediate shock to me. You hear melody, you hear bass line, and you hear rhythm. But there's only one guitar! And no picks! He used all his fingers to make it work.

The performance was even more entertaining with a guest flaminco dancer. Sophie just couldn't keep her feet on the floor. The encore piece was his most famous "Bohemian Rhapsody". The "Hagarian Fiesta", which was his own work was my favorite of the night. 

Came home, put Sophie to bed, then did a little surfing on the Internet, then a very loud noise together with the shaking came along. At first, I thought, "What was a dump truck doing in the middle of the night?!" "Oh, wait! It's much louder than that! It's like a jet plane just sweeping right above my house." And shaking continued. Then I said to myself,"Could this be an earthquake?" As I was thinking if I should go get Sophie and run somewhere, the shaking stopped. 

What a night!

Check the news here.

A Song to Share

Another beautiful fall day. If only the wind could be gentler. 

One thing on my to-do list: Laundry. Another: put the song "Little Lou, Prophet Jack and Ugly John" on repeat mode, until those itchy "earworms" laid thousands of musical eggs in my brain. Then probably I'll have to drive them into yours. Or have I already?

Enjoy the fall & the "worms"!