Finley's First Ballet

Finley has attended the children's productions for the Houston Ballet before, but never a full scale production at the Wortham.  This year, I decided she was ready for the Nutcracker.  We had great box seats and she had the best time.  Her favorite parts were the dancing rats (ha!) and the Sugar Plum Fairy.  She was the perfect date!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Finley still refuses to enjoy (or really even try) turkey.  Her favorite dish for Thanksgiving is still green beans, followed by the cranberry sauce.  Silly girl.  Why she won't try stuffing, I have no idea.  It is truly the best dish of the day.  At least this year she had pie!

Happy 7th Birthday, Finley!

Finley celebrated her birthday this weekend with family and friends at the Houston Improv.  The kids watched a magic show and they were amazed!  Miss Shannon made the most spectacular cake for the party.  Finley had to write her "memoirs" for school and decided to write about her birthday party every year, each year she was sure to include "Miss Shannen" and what her cake was themed after.  Finley had an absolute blast at her party, she loved dancing with her friends, at one point they had a conga line going. She was called up on stage to assist with a magic trick, which she enjoyed!

Happy Halloween!

Kindergarten Circus

Finley's class worked very hard on their Kindergarten Circus show. There were tiger trainers, strong kids, clowns and even a bearded lady! Finley chose a tightrope walker as the act she wanted to perform for the circus. She wore her dance costume from her first ever recital, I was amazed it still fit. She carried a lace parasol as her balancing tool. The kids had to research their act and recite a fact about it during the show.

Two Wheeling

Finley has been practicing without her training wheels for a little over a week.  She gets short bursts of balance, but I (or Grandad) am usually holding the bike seat and handle bars.  I think the hardest thing that I am going to have to teach her is getting started.  She is learning quickly, but I think there is a long road ahead.

Six Home Openers

Finley attended her sixth home opener this evening.  And the Astros won 2 to 0! Finley still insists basketball is her favorite sport, but she had a blast at the game and was very excited still when we got home.

George Observatory

HMNS hosted a member night at the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park.  We headed down south, with a stop at Niko Nikos in Pearland for dinner along the way, to check out the stars.  We got to the park a bit early, so we did a little exploring while it was still light out.  We saw a lot of deer, but no alligators, which was a little disappointing.  We will visit the park again during the day to try and spot some.  Finley had so much fun with the telescopes.  She saw Jupiter and its moons, a nebula and even the craters on the moon!

Getting Grace

Finley has been savings her pennies since December. She originally wanted to save up to buy the American Girl Blockus game set, but once the Girl of the Year was announced, her mind changed. And the budget quadrupled! Finley has been dutifully dusting, emptying the dishwasher, feeding the cats and even cleaning the litter boxes to earn the money for Grace. And tonight all that hard work paid off. We went to the store to select her new doll. Finley paid with her coin rolls and cash, which caused quite the issue with the cashier. Once everything was squared away, we had dinner together in the café. Finley brought Marie Grace with her, dressed to match, so she got to take home two tea cup sets, which was very exciting. I don't think she stopped smiling all night!

Visiting Santa

The tradition continues, once again we visited Bass Pro Shop to visit Santa. I think it gets more and more crowded every year. We waited over an hour in line and that was after getting a Bass Pass an hour prior to that. Finley requested Star Wars Legos, Princess Legos, American Girl gingerbread house kit, a stuffed Grinch and a kitten. We shall see if Santa fulfills all her wishes! And here is a look back at all her visits with Santa: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Gingerbread House

Finley's school hosted a gingerbread house Christmas workshop for all the students in the lower school.  Each family got a gingerbread house and an enormous candy buffet was set up in the hall.  Finley was so excited to select all the different candies to decorate her house, she was quite proud of her creation. I think nearly everything was covered in frosting by the time we were done.

Happy Thanksgiving!