This and That

The boys enjoyed making these portraits that play with proportions in their art class.  They are currently studying El Greco.  My friend is a great art teacher!

Also, we worked for a bit at the church fall festival.  I was going to work with food, so I had to wear a hat.

Obviously, I borrowed one of Nathaniel's.  He couldn't attend the fall fest, because he spent the week in Germany.  Fortunately, he returned home around midnight last night.

I also cooked one of the Cinderella pumpkins:

I've made 2 pumpkin pies this week.  Both were devoured quickly, and the little boys are asking for more, so I'll probably make another.

I've also been playing with my sourdough, and these rolls turned out really well:

 

Book Review - Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn

I chose this book because I couldn't resist the idea of having tea with elephants.  I like to travel, but I've never seriously thought of going to Kenya.  This book may just change that.  The setting was so lovingly described.  I liked both of the main characters, and their friendship was believable and sweet.  This book takes the reader on a cozy journey, and it was a pleasure to read.  I noticed that it will be the start of a series of books, and I would gladly read the second one when it comes out.  

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, but all opinions are my own.

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.