October 29- November 4, 2012. Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays and I am so thankful that my sweeties also enjoy embracing and celebrating it.

Our Halloween week began with the threat of "Frankenstorm" Sandy coming our way. 

Last year, we were hit by Hurricane Irene. We lost a major tree that came very close to hitting our house and we were without power (and without a generator) for a week. Rainbow Girl remembers the experience for two main reasons. One, she is afraid of the dark; we went through many, many batteries in that week without power keeping her room illuminated at night. Two, the massive tree that fell came crashing down directly on top of her special cherry tree. The tree she picked and planted on her fourth birthday. We cut up and moved the fallen tree the next day and very thankfully, the cherry tree recovered after we splinted it up. It will have a fabulous knot on it when it grows older.

When she heard that another hurricane was coming, Rainbow Girl was very anxious about the potential of loosing power and trees again. We did all we could to reduce her anxiety. The kids and I went out in our yard and talked to the trees. Rainbow Girl told them that there was a hurricane coming and that they need to stay strong. She talked to almost every tree in our yard- and we have a lot of trees. We also decided to invest in an generator. 

We had the generator all ready do go and lots of special inside activities planned for when the power went out. I decided that we would watch movies and use the electricity while we had it. I baked a lot that day, and the kids watched a lot of tv. I am very thankful to say that we never lost power and only lost a few branches and had a few downpours. We lucked out significantly while many others further north were not as lucky- and are still without power. 

On Halloween, the kids and I woke up ready to be festive! We began by coloring our small pumpkins with permanent markers. Rainbow Girl drew faces on her pumpkins and Sugar Bear drew fabulous scribbles.

We generally carve our pumpkins a few days before Halloween, but with the hurricane rain, we were stuck inside and the pumpkins were wet. On Halloween, the weather was lovely and out we went to carve them!

Rainbow Girl has always been grossed out by pumpkin guts, and requested to wear gloves. Of course that meant that Sugar Bear had to have gloves too. 

We collected the seeds from the orange pumpkins (the pink pumpkin had VERY stinky seeds), washed them off, tossed them with oil and salt an roasted them at 325 for about 25 minutes. Last year, we did several batches of seeds with different seasonings. The simple oil and salt combination is always my favorite. They were delicious! Rainbow Girl even enjoyed them! 

After we roasted the seeds, down to the school room we went. I had some coloring sheets, "The Story of a Pumpkin Seed", for the kids to do. Sugar Bear chose to stack his crayons instead of coloring.

After we were done coloring, it was painting time! I drew an outline of a pumpkin with permanent marker, and the kids panted it how they wanted to with water colors.

We took a break for lunch and to watch part of Edward Scissorhands. After Sugar Bear fell asleep, Rainbow Girl and I went back to the school room to continue the festivities. I found a great set of fall stamps at a thrift store while on vacation in the Outer Banks in September. We had a ball stamping for a few hours!

After supper, it was trick or treating time! The kids were very excited to walk around the neighborhood in the dark. The neighbors all loved the kid's costumes and the wee ones did great walking all around the neighborhood. We had the company of my mom, my brother and his girlfriend. 

The next Sunday we went to the Carytown Wine and Food Festival. Because of my self imposed dietary restrictions, I was unable to enjoy the food at the festival, but had a great time sampling all the wine. The kids did fabulous.

October 22-28, 2012

Autumn is such a busy season. There is very rarely a day without plans it seems. I made it a priority to have at least one day this week where we stayed home all day. It was a spectacular day! We started out the day with a walk down our road- Sugar Bear had to bring his shopping cart for the walk. We returned home where we played on bikes for a while and then on the swing set. 

After we were done outside, to the school room we went to do our morning verse and candles.

The kids love workbooks, so we did a few pages of their books before they got bored and we moved on to drawing chalk on black paper, Rainbow Girl's favorite halloween craft.

Chalk Ghosts!

What happened next was a true unschooling success. It is always so exciting when either child comes up with an idea totally on their own. 

"Mommy, I need scissors, sticks, tape, a curtain, more black paper and chalk. We are going to have a Halloween puppet show!" It was a fabulous puppet show.

After the show was over, Rainbow Girl decided that it would be a good idea to make a map of where we will be trick or treating on Halloween.

Picnic Time!

We had lunch while watching Edward Scissorhands, and Sugar Bear fell asleep. Rainbow Girl and I went back down to the school room to begin a craft that we had collected supplies for a week prior. Our supplies were pine cones, large acorns, and moss. The moss was very damp when we collected it. After a week of drying on a paper towel, it was perfect for angel hair.

We began by hot gluing the acorns to the narrow part of the pine cone.

Rainbow Girl began gluing (with Elmer's Glue) the moss onto the acorn heads.

Our Angels have hair!

I also attached a piece of yarn on the backs of our angels so that we could hang them on our Christmas tree. We will glue on magnolia leaf wings next week. 

Numbers 1-25 and the date!

Stamp time!

A view of the room with the newly organized closet. 

Water color time!

He is against staying on the paper.

I am my own canvas.

Color mixing excitement.

Once again, Rainbow Girl surprised me. She has never been into using scissors because it frustrated her, so I have never pushed the skill. On this day, while trying to use the training scissors (pictured below with Sugar Bear) she asked me if she could try real scissors. Sure! Why not. The main thing that worried me was that she would not let me put her hair up and I was sure she would accidentally cut it and be upset. 

So I gave the girl a pair of metal scissors and away she went. She began to draw pictures and cut them out. Then she went and got the glue and a paper to glue all her pieces to. The result was this beautiful house!

That was just. one. day.

The next day, we met some of our wonderful homeschooling friends at our favorite playground. The kids played for a couple hours in the lovely weather.

Too much cute, I know.

The next day was the Obama Rally. After reading that post, you may think we just crawled into our beds when we got home. Nope. We had a Girl Scout Halloween party to get ready for! Thankfully, my mom met us there and helped me with Sugar Bear. [My arms were so tired from holding him all day- I pulled a few muscles in my arm/neck/shoulders.]

Rainbow Girl was dressed as Vintage Strawberry Shortcake (she was Rainbow Brite last year), Sugar Bear was a red crayon (a costume my mom made 25 years ago that my brother wore, I wore, and Rainbow Girl wore) and my mom was a Truffula Tree from the Lorax.

There were so many creative costumes in attendance! The leaders had the girls and adults walk across the stage one by one and the Senior scouts judged the costume contest. 

Even Sugar Bear walked across the stage. He was quite a hit with the ladies.

My mom and one of her friends who is also a mom of  3 scouts. 

The older scouts had set up games all around the cafeteria for the girls to play and win prizes. 

Rainbow Girl won Play Doh and Nerd candy- so she combined them.

Then, the time for the costume contest results came. Sugar Bear won the Girl Scout Mascot 2012 Award.

Rainbow Girl won in a contest last Halloween, so she was sure that she would win this year, even though we discussed that not everyone could win and she may not win this year. She did not win this time, and was very upset. It is a hard lesson to learn- especially after such a long, napless day.

One of her fellow scouts (an older girl who had won) saw how upset she was and gave Rainbow Girl her ribbon. How considerate and caring!!! I hesitated in accepting the ribbon, but the girl insisted.

On the dark ride home, Rainbow Girl decided that she would give the girl her ribbon back along with a card thanking her for being so kind.

The next day we went to Rainbow Girl's Spanish and Art classes in the morning. While she was in class, Sugar Bear and I went to the grocery store (with everyone else) to stock up for the impending hurricane. When Rainbow Girl got out of class, we went home for lunch and naps and then headed to the pumpkin patch!

Very, very, very  much to my dismay, my camera's battery was dead when we arrived at the patch. It lasts so long and I hadn't thought how much I had used it in the last week. I had the kids dressed in fancy outfits for pictures too. :( Thankfully, my mom and I had our phones...and they don't take terrible pictures. 

Most of the pictures from our trip explain themselves, but I do have to ellaborate on one part. Rainbow Girl is a Hay Maze MASTER. Last year she was as well! She just runs in and keeps on running until she's out- which is usually significantly faster than the bigger kids! Im so impressed by this as things that confined terrify me.

 

Saturday, Rainbow Girl had her first Girl Scout Nut Sale booth!! She was SO excited!

We live a half hour away from the nut sale location, so Sugar Bear and I decided to hang around and go try to find some fun. First, we went to Petsmart and looked at all of the animals! He thought it was hilarious to gain the fish's trust by standing very still, and then startling them by making very sudden movements.

Sugar Bear and I then went down the shopping center to a new paint your own pottery shop called Gather and Glaze. It is owned by a fantastic lady who is also a homeschooling mom and also in our Girl Scout Troop! 

A description from their website:

What is Paint Your Own Pottery?

Painting is a fun way to relax and create with your favorite people. Your family, your friends, your Momtourage, your date… anyone who comes into our studio will have a great time creating their own works of art.
 

How Does It Work?

Pick a piece to paint – we have hundreds to choose from, ranging in price from $5 to $40. There is no hourly rate so stay as long as you want! Pick out some colors, look through our idea books for some inspiration if you want, and then relax and have fun painting. We’re here to help.  

How Much Does it Cost?
We add a 50% studio fee to your piece to cover glaze, tools and firing. So if you choose a $9 plate, your total cost will be $9 + $4.50 = $13.50 plus tax. Again, you can stay as long as you want to, or bring it home and come back another time to finish. No extra fees.

When Will My Piece Be Ready for Pick-Up?

After you are done painting, we will take care of your work of art and glaze it and fire it in our kiln. It will be shiny and food-safe and ready for pick-up in a week. Sometimes it’s ready early, and we’ll call you. Sometimes, like around Christmas or Father’s Day, it will take longer. If that’s the case we’ll always let you know before you start painting.

Sugar Bear picked a monster coin bank to paint, and had a great time selecting the colors from the wide assortment. 

Why not mix the paint?

Done painting! (Yes, we selected two ornaments as well.) Our total was $34.65

We had a fantastic time there!! I highly recommend it for all ages. I look forward to showing you the glazed and fired finished work when I get it back! We will definitely be going back for future visits.

Another plus is the location! Panera and Sweet Frog are right next door!!! After we finished painting, Sugar Bear and I had a cookie date.

The next day we had the first band of rain from hurricane Sandy. That evening, we had the inlaws over for dinner. 

*phew* What a week.