Projects

We don't actually have a lot of Easter decorations, especially compared with fall or Christmas, so Lydia and I made a couple of felt animals:

I made the duck, and Lydia made the bunny.  They are two-sided:

They turned out pretty cute and look nice on the mantle.  Lydia and two friends plan to do some crafting this weekend, so we will likely have a few new decorations after that.

In the garden, I transplanted some rutabagas under my makeshift cold frame:

A cold frame is just an open-bottom box with a glass lid that sits on the soil to protect plants and allows you to plant outside a bit earlier.  I realized that the pavers naturally lifted the glass just enough that I don't need a box, really.  So I transplanted some of the seedling rutabagas, and they are doing great.  I've been preparing potato beds, too, and I hope to get some planted today.  Elijah and I are going to tackle the chicken problem this week, hopefully, so that the whole garden will be ready for spring planting.

 

Art and Hair

Gyunay finished his side by side art class, where special needs students work with an artist to create various types of art.  He loves this class.  They have a gallery at the end:

It's always very nice, and it's fun to see all the kids' creations. 

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Meanwhile, Nathaniel gave Emry a haircut:

We looked through pictures, and this was the style he decided on.  It looks very good, and he was very happy with it.  He's gotten compliments from adults and some of his black friends, but some of his white friends were not so complimentary.  He's learning to handle that. I am glad he has decided to keep the hairstyle, though, because he really likes it. Middle school is such a tough place.

 

Eggs, Decks, and Basketball

The other morning, I collected 3 eggs from my hens.  Later that afternoon, I went back to find these: 

This means that at least 2 of my baby hens are laying!  Last month, I had 24 eggs total.  So far, I have 10 eggs this month!  I'm finally going to have eggs again!!!!

We're having some outdoor work done.  We got new decking on the deck.  

We got 4 inches of snow, but the deck is now finished, and they have started working on replacing our fence boards, which are mostly rotted.  

Emry has been playing lots of basketball. He had 3 games this week.  Today, he had to dress up for school:

And I wanted to post these little guys we made over Thanksgiving:

They were made with air dry clay and accessories. Lydia, my mother-in-law, my niece, and I made these.  

 

As You Wish

 Nathaniel surprised me with his Westly costume right before our church's trunk or treat celebration Sunday.

I didn't have a  Princess Buttercup costume, but I was able to come up with a reasonably medieval costume with Lydia's old Maleficent dress and some fabric for a head covering.  The evening went very well.  The kids had a ball.  We had a couple of photo backdrops.  I never got a picture of my people in front of one, though.

My niece and nephew were in town and able to join our kids.  I was at the craft station.

The pumpkin hammering station was very popular.  I set out toy hammers and golf tees, and the kids had a ball hammering them into pumpkins.

Years ago, when I taught preschoolers, we did this.  It's great for hand/eye coordination.  It's also oddly satisfying to hammer a pumpkin.

 

Achievements

 The boys have had some achievements lately that I never posted.  First up, Emry and Gyunay participated in the Knights of Columbus free throw contest.  Only one other kid also competed.  Emry won and got to go on to the regional competition.

At the regional, he ran into kids that really practice free throws, so now he knows what he needs to do if he wants to do better next time.  He enjoyed it.  He also enjoyed his game Saturday, where he played really well.

Gyunay just finished his side-by-side art class, where an adult or teen pairs with a special needs student to create art.  He had a gallery display on the last night.

He was excited to show off his pottery and painting.  Also, they had cookies, so that was appreciated by all of the kids.

So Much Snow

 We've had a lot of fun in the snow this week.  Emry, Lydia, and Gyunay have all been sledding.  Lydia made a snow penguin chick:

We also made and enjoyed snow ice cream!

Buddy Bean loves the cold and the snow:

He is less thrilled that his tunnels are buried under snow.

The dogs love the snow, too.

Yesterday, the boys and their friends had a fun hockey game on the pond:

Right now, Nathaniel is out on the pond playing with them.

And Lydia drew a fantasy platypus:

It and the snow chick were both assignments from her Ceramics class this week.  She's been home with us and doing some online assignments from her teachers.

We got another couple of inches yesterday/last night (probably 2 or 3), but tomorrow it's supposed to warm up to 38, so we will see a lot of melting.

Saint Canoes

I taught my first saint class of the year last week, and our saint, St. Isaac Jogues, spent a lot of time traveling via birchbark canoe, so I decided to do an easy canoe craft.  First, I cut pieces of felt:

Basically, one sheet of felt can make 2 canoes.  By folding before cutting, the sides will match up, but the bottom will be connected.

Then I let the kids have their choice of embroidery floss to sew up the sides.  This caused all kind of joy.  You would not believe how excited the kids were to pick whatever colors they wanted from my floss box, which admittedly has a ton of colors (probably around 80 or so).  None of the kids was familiar with sewing, but they all caught on very quickly, since this was a very straightforward project.

Gyunay sewed his by himself, which surprised me.  I thought I'd have to hold it for him, but he is always so capable.

The boats are upside-down in this photo, but you get the idea.  I told the kids they could decorate their canoes with markers if they wanted, but so far, my boys have left theirs plain.  I originally thought we could make some peg people to go inside, but I was out of pegs, and so was Walmart.  Since I only had this idea the day before class, I didn't have time to run to Louisville to Michael's or anything, so we just didn't make people.  I think we may do that next class.

 

Back to School

 It's back to school time, so the big boys are all back at college, Lydia is at the high school, and the younger boys are into homeschooling for grades 5 & 6.  We had a field trip to meet an author at the library:

The kids really enjoyed that.  Author Brittany Thurman really did a nice presentation in addition to reading the book, and she took time to talk with all of the kids.   And of course I bought a book, which they were excited to see the author sign to both of them.  

Also, I broke out the soap and pocket knives for them to try whittling:

Emry has been wanting to try whittling for a while, and so I finally let them have at it.  Neither of them made anything particularly recognizable, but they had a lot of fun and were very proud to be allowed to use knives.

I've also been busy with more canning.  I used up the rest of the peaches on another batch of peach salsa, and I canned a double batch of tomatillo salsa.  I grew the tomatillos, so that was particularly rewarding.  I've not had a ton of produce from the gardens; between the deer attacks and the weather, it's been rough.  But I am getting cucumbers now pretty regularly.  I fermented some into dill pickles, which are delicious.  Also in fermenting, I made some sauerkraut.  I keep planning on making a batch of fermented salsa and fermented hot peppers, but I haven't actually done those yet.

peach salsa

Projects

 We've been busy getting ready for Christmas around here.  I finished my nephew's crocheted jellyfish:

I really do like making these, especially the tentacles.  

And the boys went to the extension office today for a crafting extravaganza.  They each brought home 4 wrapped presents, plus a real wreath!

So I added them out front.

We already had a huge wreath on the front door.  It was a gift for Nathaniel and arrived last week.

I've always enjoyed fresh wreaths, and sometimes I've been to workshops to make them, but we often don't have one.  This year, we have 3!

November Harvest Totals, an Art Show, and Swimming

First up, our November Harvest total was:

153 eggs

That's it.

Next, you may recall that I have tried for years to get Gyunay into some swimming lessons that will actually teach him to swim.  Having one arm makes swimming more difficult, of course.  So does having autism.  Throw in the fact that he really only learns one-on-one, in a quiet environment, and well, it's taken me years of trial and error to get this poor kid swim lessons that may actual teach him to not drown.  

For the first time in years, I finally have a promising option, and his first lesson was this week.  It went better than any other lesson we've tried, and it was only his teacher and him in the pool.  He had a huge smile on his face the whole time he was above water.  Finally, we have hope that he may learn to swim!

In other news, Lydia's work is on display at her school's art gallery this week.  She had to attend a reception and answer visitors' questions about her art.  She was nervous, but it went really well.

She's particularly proud of her bowls, which were all made on the wheel.

Her platypus family was a hit, too.  We really enjoyed seeing all the kids' displays, and the younger boys were really impressed by what can be done with clay.  They love their pottery class, and they appreciated the skill involved. 

 

Fall at Home

 We finally got out the fall decorations today, and the kids really enjoyed that.  The Halloween tic-tac-toe game my mom made for us a long time ago is still a hit.

The boys were happy to paint these new decorations.  Emry did the fox, and of course Gyunay did the turkey:

Lydia preferred to paint ghosts on gourds.  She named the gourd "Larry".  She also picked the three mini pumpkins I grew and added them to the mantle.  

Also, yesterday the boys repotted their herbs.  They have been pretty excited about watching them grow, and they are completely in charge of watering them, so they have to keep them alive on their own.  

So far, so good!