Lights

Annually we attend our city's Light Parade on the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed hanging out with aunts, uncles and cousins.  This year the parade was a little shorter, but the fun was not diminished.

If he could

Benton would look like a raisin all the time.  He loves filling the bathtub to the brim and swimming.  Several times a day he strips down and tells me, "I taking a bawth".  He puts a few toys into the tub and swims away.

We Won

I follow a blog called Ordinary Life Magic.  It shows life in the day of a homeschooling family.  It provides lots of inspiration and reminds me to enjoy it all - mess, laughter, crying, yelling, running, jumping, craziness, quiet, rest, everything!

The writer of the blog offers contests every now and then.  Recently she offered a copy of the book Food: 25 Amazing Projects: Investigate the History and Science of What We Eat (Build It Yourself series)
Well our family won!!!  We are excited to get our new book and tackle a few of those projects.

They went in

to the pool. 

Aine asked earlier in the week to go swimming.  She would not be deterred.  So, today Eamon, Aine and Benton put on their swimming suits, and Dave and I took them to the pool.   All three waded in on the steps saying it was cold but oh so fun.  Then Aine plunged off the steps and into the water.  Her face froze with an open mouth gasp.  She quickly swam to the side and jumped out.  She said, "I thought I would need to be rescued.  It is so cold!"  Benton stayed on the steps.  Eamon jumped into the water to get one of Benton's shoes.  He only did it once.  The visit to the pool lasted under 20 minutes.  From there we headed to dry land to throw the ball, ride scooters/bikes and play hopscotch.

The high today was 69 degrees (overnight low 55).  Yeah, that water was cold!

In Denial

I know this cannot be how my family feels...

Not a Baby

My youngest child consistently tells me, "I not a baby; I a big kid."  He is starting to exert his autonomy.  He runs off at the park to play returning only to look for water and snacks.  He is a big kid, and he runs with the biggest.  He nurses less frequently sometimes going for days between asking for milk.  He makes sure everyone knows that his room is the one he shares with his big brother.  If E says something about his bed, B is sure to correct him.  He has laid claim to the bottom bunk.  It is his.  He now sleeps in his own room.  He decided last week that he would sleep in "his bed."  It is only when the morning light shines that he climbs into our bed for snuggles.  Last night he came into his room where the older kiddos were listening to a story.  They had fallen asleep, and he wanted to join them.  He crawled up between them and fell asleep.  He did this without me.  It was bittersweet.

Almost Famous...

http://legoquestkids.blogspot.com/2010/11/2-cups-of-random-bricks-photos.html

Pickling

I decided with all the canning I have been doing that pickles would be fun.  I think I was momentarily delusional spurred on by a friend.  I have canned sweet pickles(cucumber chips), dill pickles, kosher dills and hamburger dills.  Most of the recipes come from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving which I of course bought at my local Ace Hardware (thanks, Dad).  The other recipe comes from a friend's mother.  Her pickles are said to be the best.  We will have to wait a few weeks and then I will give a verdict.  For now, I have to figure a spot for all the jars.

Creativity in the kitchen

If you have extra yellow squash and no plan to use it, just slice it up 1/8-1/4 inch thick and dehydrate it.  It is good with hummus or other dip.  It has a slightly sweet flavor.  Delish.

One Third

I have a plan.  I have a crazy plan.  I have a plan to make three quilts by giftmas.  I want to make one for each of the kiddos.  I only have one pieced and sandwiched.  I have ideas for each of them, but putting them together is taking quite a bit of time.

The quilt pieced and sandwiched was waiting for quilting inspiration.  It is for B, and I think I know what I want to do.  It will be a simple geometric pattern.  I have the binding selected.  It is from the same fabric collection as the quilt top, Punctuation from American Jane.  It just needs to be cut and sewn into strips.  I am hoping to handsew the binding, but I may have to adjust that plan as the deadline approaches.

The next quilt was stuck on piecing.  The fabric is the City Weekend collection and is soft and feminine.  I had selected a pattern, but I didn't love it.  Then a friend showed me this quilt.  I love it, and have decided to make this pattern.  It required a bit of fabric, which has been ordered.  The backing fabric has been selected.  Not sure about the binding yet.  I need to hurry.

The last quilt will be made of jeans.  I have enlisted the help of everyone I know in collecting jeans.  It will include jeans from everyone in our family as well as from our community.  It will be a simple 4.5inch square top.  I will quilt it with straight lines.  I don't think this is the best time to learn free motion quilting.

Am I crazy?

Challenges

We have been playing along with the blog LEGO Quest.  We haven't yet submitted a photo, but try to participate every two weeks.

This week's challenge excited Eamon.  He built a creation quite quickly and wanted me to photograph it.  We plan on submitting it to the blog.  Eamon says, "it is a death tower.  The guy is supposed to help destroy the world with the giant monster".

Gifts

I love knitting the mystery sock from Through the Loops each year.  I enjoy getting a clue a week.  I seem to be able to knit much more quickly when on a deadline.  I eagerly wait for the clue and hope to knit it before the next one.  This year I was able to finish completely one sock in Socktober (October for those of you non-knitters).  

I still have a foot to finish on the mate.  I carry it with me all the time in the hope that I may find a few minutes to knit.  My mom noticed the yarn this past weekend and asked what I was making.  I told her socks, for which I know she has little appreciation.  I was told last year when knitting my mystery socks that my mom thought knitting socks was a waste of time.  Too bad the socks I was knitting at the time were for her.  I promptly tore out the toe and reknit the socks to my size.  This year when she noticed the socks, she adamantly denied such a rumor.  She said she would love handknit socks.  So, I am now franticly finishing the socks for her upcoming birthday.  You have to be nice to your mom.

Circles

Today we contemplated the mysteries of circles at Math Club.  Initially the children were instructed to find a stick.  Much debate occurred over what type of stick would be appropriate, who had the biggest, which was longest, etc.  Next each child was given a piece of chalk and a string.  They enjoyed deciding how long their string would be.  Then the fun began.  The only instruction provided was to make a circle using all three things.

Amazing things occurred.  Most kids placed the objects on the ground and tried to create a circular shape.  One child arranged her stick and string perpendicular to one another and drew a circle around them with her chalk.  The following clues were given to help solve the puzzle:

1. Tie the string to one end of the stick
2. Tie the chalk to the other end
3. Place the stick perpendicular to the ground

Once the final clue was given, everyone was catching onto the task.  We then used everyone's circle making device to draw a basketball court full of circles.  We discussed why the circles were different if we used the same materials.  We also tried to figure out the circumference of the circles.  This led to a quick discussion of the constant pi.

We wrapped up the morning with a 36 point circle and some artwork on it.  The kids appeared to enjoy themselves.  It helps being at a park and running around to get the sillies out as needed.

The most amusing part of the exercise was noticing the school kids in the adjacent school playground standing at the fence watching what we were doing.

Halloween 2010

Halloween was quite an event this year.   We celebrated first with a party at the park with our homeschooling group.  The kids had a great time.  They ate, played and even made fairy dust.


This event was followed by another party with Eamon's Earth Scouts group on Sunday.  The whole family attended and everyone again ran around, ate snacks and had a blast.  We stopped to visit Grandma and GrandDad after the party.  We showed them our costumes and discussed our plans for the night.  Pumpkin carving was next on the day's agenda.  Cleaning the pumpkins was a breeze this year.  Everyone did a great job.  None of the kiddos wanted to do the actual carving, but they had plenty of ideas.  With knives in hands, Dave and I carved their designs.

Here is Eamon's 

Aine's

and Benton's 

Finally the actual event was upon us.  Eamon initially wanted to be Harry Potter.  He had decided this quite a bit ago, but he changed his mind when he discovered the cloak he would wear.  It did not seem like Harry to him.  Rather it was the costume of a Dementor!

Aine stayed true to her initial plan and dressed as a princess.  In a poofy dress, a little lip gloss and ballet slippers, she hit the streets.

Benton continued the dinocrocogator tradition established by his older siblings.  He didn't always like the hood up, but he loved growling.

We headed out in the neighborhood with a friend.  The kiddos did really well.  Everyone became tired toward the end.  Benton even fell asleep in his stroller.  Once home, the kiddos selected their candy and crawled into bed.  Each of them fell asleep quickly and were excited to find out the candy fairy had come overnight.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!