Pumpkin Carving

 Here is round one of pumpkin carving:

They all enjoyed carving and have decided to carve another day (probably later today).  Lydia carved the heart and the boys carved faces.  

The chickens got all of the seeds.  Gyunay wanted to roast them, but my kitchen was not available:

We're in the middle of a little kitchen make-over.  Nathaniel and Elijah did the very messy demo of the old backsplash, which had glass in it and was a disaster everywhere. Now Nathaniel has the tile in and grouted, and he and Elijah have been working on the switches.  We still have to seal the grout, and caulk, and then I'll paint the walls. It's getting there.... 

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins!

 

Lydia and Emry have been interested in carving pumpkins.  We've watched a few pumpkin carving shows, and it's fall, so this makes a lot of sense.  So I was thinking of trying to buy some pumpkins after Halloween if they were cheap, just to let them play.  My friend gave me a call on Halloween afternoon.  Near her house is a farm stand, which has a sizeable pumpkin display in the parking lot.  On Halloween, all of these pumpkins were free!

So Emry, Gyunay, and I headed to the pumpkins, in the rain.  The boys filled the back of the van with pumpkins while I paid for some apples.  

Emry carried those huge ones to the car himself!

They had the time of their lives, picking out all the cool pumpkins, mini pumpkins, gourds, etc.  I also snagged 5 pie pumpkins, 3 cushaws, and 2 Cinderella pumpkins for eating.  I don't have pictures of those.  And there are more on our porch, too.  So many pumpkins!  It was so fun.  All three of us were soaked and chilled, but it was well worth it.

Also, I never posted Halloween pictures.  Lydia put together her costume, Draculara from Monster High:

And I never got a picture of the boys.  They were all so busy running around!  We did go for a walk on the trail behind my in-laws' house to see a row of skeletons, so I took these as we walked:

Gyunay was Knuckles, a character from Sonic.  Emry was obviously Spiderman.  My mother-in-law was a hippie.  It was wet and chilly, but the boys had a blast.  Lydia didn't trick-or-treat, but she hung out at the house with me.  Nathaniel and his parents took turns giving out the candy.

October Harvest Totals

 Beans, blue lake - 5.3oz

Beans, crescent - 11.2 oz

Bok Choy - 1

Carrots - 1

Cucumbers, Edmondson - 5

Eggs - 132

Peppers, Bulgarian - 3

Peppers, sweet - 5

Tomatillos - 3.8 lbs

Tomatoes - 5

Tomatoes, paste - 5

Watermelon, sugar baby minis -2

and arugula, basil (tons!), mint, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, dill, cilantro, lemon balm

Several chickens are molting, and the days are getting shorter, so less eggs are being produced.  We still have plenty for us, but our friends are missing getting our extras.  In the middle of summer, I might have 3 dozen eggs to pass out a week, to the delight of our other homeschooling families.  Plus two other friends also have chickens, so between the three of us, we were keeping us all in eggs, but now one friend's hens got taken out by a fox, so the numbers are greatly diminished.  Don't worry; she's already bought new chicks.  Once you have chickens, it's hard not to keep having them.  :) 

Fall Break

After camping, the kids were on fall break.  We stayed home, so we decided to try some new things.  We went to Louisville's Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular, and it was really spectacular!

You walk through a park and see over 5,000 carved pumpkins.  The weather was perfect, and we had a great time.

We also took the kids and their friends to the drive-in on retro night, so they saw the original Beetlejuice for the first time.  It's been a couple of years since we went to the drive-in, so that was a nice treat.  We also went to a LouCity soccer game, thanks to Nathaniel's work giving us tickets.  The boys had a blast!  We will probably try to take them again sometime next season.

Also recently, we started our work helping refugee families.

No, those aren't the refugees, those are our kids, working with us moms and the Catholic Charities staff to set up a house for a family from Tanzania.  We had a great time getting their house ready for their arrival.

We plan on setting up a house or two every month, as needed.  They are giving our group the big families that need a house.  Other volunteers set up apartments for smaller families.  We had a great time working together, and we all prayed that the new family will enjoy their new home. 

 

Camping 2024

 Every year, Nathaniel's family has a big family camping reunion.  Unfortunately, the extended family hasn't gotten together the last two years, but Nathaniel's parents, all the kids and most of the grandkids, plus Eric and family were able to attend.  We had a great time at Spring Mill.

Goofing off on our way to the Pioneer Village

Elijah was able to join us this year, although Malachi and Pilot couldn't make it.

Eric and I both tried the stilts.  Interestingly, none of the kids would try them!

Lydia and Haylee carved a pumpkin that they described as "very French".

Emry also had fun carving his pumpkin, a first time carve!

Gyunay and Knicky preferred touring the village.

Our campsite was just in front of the creek, and the dogs and I hung out there for a while.

S'mores are always a hit with the kids:

I stayed away from the fires.  My lungs can't handle smoke at all, really, so I retired early in the evenings.  Fortunately, it wasn't too cold.

Almost 20

 Malachi was home last weekend.  His 20th birthday is coming up, so we went ahead and celebrated while he was here.

We also were able to go to his concert last week.  

Emry's Turn and Painting the Deck

 

Emry enjoyed his first cooking club on Monday.  He made an apple dessert, which was quickly devoured.  I think all of the kids will enjoy their 4-H cooking clubs.

Also this week, we cleared the deck.  Nathaniel powerwashed it on Sunday, and yesterday the younger boys did touch-up painting.

They took turns between the roller and the brush.  It tried my patience for sure, but the deck got mostly done.

Buddy Bean enjoyed his time in the pen in the yard during both the powerwashing and the painting.  He is now back on the deck, which is still mostly empty, which he seems to find a bit annoying, but we did give him his tunnels and favorite hideaway spot.