Pinewood Castle

Pumpkin, Pumpkin

The kids will all choose normal pumpkins, all carved with the standard triangular facial features. I think might branch out and get something a little more unusual. But which one?

Warty

 

Really warty

 

Lumina

 

Or this pretty marbled one?

More Fall Fun

In between coughs and fevers . . .

Pumpkin treat bag - kits from Oriental Trading Co

Leaf Mat weaving from Oriental Trading

Pumpkin grid drawing from mathwire.com -

beeswax candle rolling kit from Magic Cabin

still life

ideas from Jamie

Hope you are having a wonderful fall day!

Last Weekend's Fun

 

 

 

Fall Fun Things

Here are a few activities we picked to tie in with Fall Circle Time themes -

From Be Nice to Spiders

 

$1 at Michael's

 

 

afternoon snack

 

From Art Projects for Kids

Fall Finally Blew In

I am late in getting out the decorations this year. Then when I do I forget exactly how I had things last year. So I check Picasa for photos of years past. Here are some:

June at Last

The arrival of June fills me with a sense of relief and freedom. Warm weather is here to stay, all of our winter gear is stored, school subjects are wrapping up, summer activities provide regular diversions, wildflowers and garden flowers bloom and fresh fruits and vegetables grace our plates.

I finally pulled out my June file folder to consult the print-out of Dawn's Themes and Plans. Although I check these monthly through the school year I sometimes forget to stay on top of things in the summer. This series of posts has been such a help to me, hope you enjoy them too!

Sugarbush Time

At the Nature Center we learned . . .

That maple trees have elbows in them.

Maple trees are not tapped until they are 40 years old.

It's called a "spile" and the sap that comes out is flowing UP the tree not down.

40 gallons of sap = 1 gallon syrup

My children loved the syrup "on the rocks"!

They wanted 2nds and 3rds and 4ths!

More October Musings

Yesterday I savored the last of everything I hold dear about my favorite season. Today it was time to put away the swimsuits and take out the woolens. The high was 43 degrees with 15-30 mph winds and snow flurries. Yes, snow flurries. There is still way too much Oklahoman in me to be excited about snow in October!

I am feeling - how shall I say it - transitional breathing going on this month. We exhaled after completing the Alphabet Path. We celebrated and rested.

We now take a fresh breath and refocus on our new path - an exploration of Gerald McDermott's animal trickster tales. We are keeping some of the expressions of learning we enjoyed this last year - of narration, poetry, saint study and literature inspired crafts and activities.

I am hoping to post about our focus as soon as my body will let me sit very long at the computer. While are making this transition in our homeschool journey, I am challenged by other set-backs. After the accident, the tightness in my neck and shoulder melted fairly fast. However, my historically problematic low back/hip evidently did not like the jolt one bit. This kind of discomfort is nothing new to me, but I have enjoyed nearly a two-year reprieve from any major sciatic pains.

I am most comfortable when I am walking or lying on the floor on my tummy. The latter position works fairly well for helping the children with their morning seatwork, but not so well for piano and violin practice! Sitting and standing are highly uncomfortable and long rides in the van are pretty much out for now.

As a result, I had to miss out on the children's nursing home performance Saturday - my husband took them while I stayed home and took a one hour walk. They were invited to perform in costume so we donned our just-arrived saintly garments from Our Coats of Many Colors. Two of them anyway - the St. Lucy gown was from the Vision Forum.

We have here: St. John Vianney, Bl. Kateri and St. Lucy

In case you were wondering,yes, I have read the controversy over these costumes. I think I'll put my thoughts about that into another post.

I have sat here a bit too long now and need to get up and take some ibuprofen and apply Traumeel.

Stay tuned!

October Passing By

Golden is the garden.

Golden is the glen.

Golden, golden, golden,

October's here again.

Golden are the tree-tops.

Golden is the sky.

Golden, golden, golden

October's passing by.

It seems I am always far too busy in October to drink in as much of autumn's beauty as I would like to. Is this every melancholic's favorite season? It is a bittersweet month of glorious pleasures followed by the decline and certain death of everything that once heightened our senses and brightened our moods. Morning glories. Fresh basil. Tasty tomatoes. Sunflower houses. The tree leaves presenting a shameless display of colors. Pretty much gone.

 

~ family nature hike to "The Top of the World"

Now that our Minnesota leaves are "past peak" as the newscasters technically announce, I find myself in denial about the season to come. Thoughts of darkness falling early and the inevitable first snowstorm are thoughts I want to put off as long as possible. Like until it actually happens. Or even longer. 

~ Remember those white campion wildflowers? Now they are cute little vases filled with little black seeds.

Birthdays this month made many of us a year older. My cousin, my mother, my husband's grandmother, my Aunt Joan, our babysitter's mother and my husband and me!

 

I miss blogging frequently and being in touch with you! I'm looking forward to hearing/reading about your lives this week!

Fall Decorating

Our Wee Felt Saints are all packed away in a pretty box and the sideboard has been reclaimed as our seasonal table. Each little saint eagerly awaits his/her feast day to come out of the dark box to be the guest of honor. See St. Michael in the middle?

Freshly dusted and decorated, here is the new look our sideboard is sporting for fall:

This year we added seasonal scarf sets and seasonal dolls. I can't believe how excited the children were to see it all set up. You would have thought it was Christmas, judging by their ooohs and ahhhhs. Other items here include a picture frame and postcard set, seasonal books and wooden elements.

The top of a shelf in our little classroom is serving as a liturgical table. It is our focus during morning circle time. I have another post in the works about circle time.

Here's another something I thought up while wandering around the aisles of Michael's -

 

 

I figured it could hang all of October and into November. It was super easy - just cardstock and ribbon. I drew the letters with a little help from a ruler and colored them with colored pencil.

You might also be noticing the stained glass windows from Fenestrae Fidei. An idea borrowed from Serendipity, I took the book to Office Max and had copies made - two on cardstock and one on transparency sheets. The children have been coloring these to the melodies of the Adoremus CDs while they wait for their turn to practice piano or violin with mom each morning.

Time to cozy up and stoke those inner fires. What is fall looking like in your home?

 

October by Robert Frost
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if the were all,
Whose elaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost--
For the grapes' sake along the all.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

(French toast topped with cream cheese and fresh berries)

What We've Been Waiting For Has Arrived!

 

May Day

Some quick photos from our May Day Excursion at the nature center.

They basically walked around the pole, weaving over and under the folks with whom they came face-to-face.

Wildflowers on the walk:

And the crafts - May Day baskets and tissue paper flowers.

The highlight of the day, however, was delivering the May Day cones to neighbors. Each one with a newly-bloomed daffodil!

Music O' the Irish

There seem to be three types of people who celebrate St. Patrick's Day: those who celebrate their Irish heritage, those who celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick and those who celebrate both.  We celebrate both!

Please help fill me in here, though.  I have heard that St. Patrick's Day is moved this year due to the 17th falling on Monday of Holy Week. But on which day is it being moved to?   Friday the 14th or Saturday the 15th (also the Feast of St. Joseph)?

Today I am going through my March file to make some plans for St. Pat's, St. Joseph's and of course the Easter Triduum.  My CD collection is also getting a review.  I have put up a typelist of the CDs I own and am wondering what I might add this year.  Nothing like Irish music to get the kids dancing during yet another indoor recess!  What are your favorite Irish/Celtic CDs?  Boys of the Lough?  Riverdance?

Sorry, I've run out of drafts to publish for the week.  I'm in hyper-mode today, doing school, folding laundry, baking bread, looking forward to meeting some friends at Panera tonight and trying not to ache for the spring thaw.  Trying to be content with the fact that it is still winter and that the high today was 12 degrees.  Really loving Red Cardigan's writing in her post about the "third quarter blues": The Winter of Our Discontent .  Enjoy.

And if you ate your lunch outside today just please keep it to yourself, will you?

Firsts

First snow (sort of - just enough to qualify!)

And first fire:

Topped off with Thanksgiving leftovers of Turkey and Tomato Frittata:

• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup parmesan
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 C chopped turkey
• 1 T butter
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 T fresh basil

Beat eggs, add parmesan, salt and pepper.  In an oven-proof skillet saute onion and turkey in butter.  In another bowl, mix eggs, tomato and basil.  Pour into skillet, mix a bit and cook on low 15 minutes.  Heat broiler.  Sprinkle with parmesan and broil until golden.  Loosen sides and slide onto plate and slice.

Welcome Back to Real Time

I dread the Monday after daylight savings time ends.  It always seems so - dark and cold.  The high today was 38 degrees.  It was the windiest day since February.  The tall pines swayed in the wind from dawn till dusk.  Dusk was *cringe* 5:00.  My husband was late coming home.  Baby Princess thought she should go to sleep at 7pm instead of 8pm - it's still 8pm to her! But all was not lost.

The children were perfectly happy to take their recess in the garage with the door closed.  I took an afternoon nap on the sofa until UPS rang the bell.  My next door neighbor sent her son over after school with a plate of freshly baked Oatmeal Butterscotch cookies.  I made a pot of chili and Thoughtful pretty much made cornbread by herself.  She even cracked her first egg.  Half in the bowl and half on the counter.  But somehow I didn't freak out ( I am sooo type A in the kitchen!).

It's November - time to light those inner fires, to hunker down and be cozy!

All Hallow's Eve

Crafts of the day:

Two Raspberry Girls and  Cheetah:

Baby Elephant:

And Jack