Halloween

We did Calvin and Hobbes this year. It was an idea that started by asking ourselves, "How can we include Aaron in the family costume when he doesn't like the dress up?" The answer was Calvin's Dad! Aaron already looks and dresses like Calvin's Dad, so he could be Calvin's Dad without dressing up. Perfect! I'm Calvin's Mom, Scotty is Calvin, and Annie is Hobbes. Her height advantage on Scotty always really worked well for this costume. I made the tiger costume by buying a pokemon costume from Goodwill. I glued white felt over the yellow stomach. Then glued stripy black felt all over the orange. Then I used some of the extra orange felt from the wings that I cut off the costume to cover Annie's headband. I basically felt like a Halloween Mom Ninja putting it all together. And Annie didn't want to be Hobbes for trick-or-treating, so we got her a $10 Elsa costume, and Scotty wore the tiger for trick-or-treating. 

Pumpkin Patch

Being homeschoolers, we hit up the pumpkin patch on a Tuesday morning with our co-op. There were a couple of school groups there which made us sad because we thought Tuesday was a day that they didn't allow school groups to schedule, but they didn't stay too long and then we had the place to ourselves. When I started homeschooling, I didn't know that so much of it would consist of strategically avoiding large crowds of people:)

The weather was incredible! We had a very hot summer, so 80 degrees felt like a little bit of heaven. The kids had a grand time. There was a maze, and it was actually fun, like the kids wanted to go through it multiple times. There was a big pile of hay where the kids played my favorite made-up game of theirs. It's called Sacrifice. I think they all gang up on one kid and try to get them off the hill or mound or cement slab or hay pile or whatever it is they happen to be playing on. So basically it's Lord of the Flies. They have so much fun with it. The moms are always watching closely to make sure there isn't any actual violence or domination happening. So far it's all been in good fun. But the name they chose for the game just really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Anyway...they also had a train and a hay ride and racing ducks and a corn maze and lots of play sets and a lesson about how to grow pumpkins. And some baby goats were born while we were there!

And there were alpacas! Don't forget the alpacas!

It was such a perfectly wonderful day. I love our co-op! This year we've been doing American history--the pilgrims and the Revolutionary War. I've been taking turns teaching with Kayley. I've learned way more than the kids I'm sure. It's been fun. I even revisited my old favorite Dawn's Early Light. My library back in Centerville, SD was giving it away along with the other books in the series. I think my mom told me to get it or got it for me, and I read Dawn's Early Light which was about the Revolutionary War and Yankee Stranger which was about the Civil War and loved them both. Back then, I read them for the romance. Reading them again, I realize that they are chock full of historical information with the romance very sparsely (but very nicely) sprinkled throughout. This time I still liked the romance but appreciated the history a lot more. Anyway, I love homeschooling and our awesome friends we get to homeschool with.

September and October Happenings

There are a few things I needed to recap on.

In September, we went on another FAT (Family Adventure Time) trip. It was fun because Aaron just came home from work and said we should go spend the night in a hotel. The kids were overjoyed, and off we went. I liked having it be spontaneous because then I didn't feel the need to plan or get things ready.

We went to a town about fifteen miles away. We checked in to a hotel and then went out for dessert. We got pie, and it was amazing! We will definitely be returning there. I remember also that while we waited for a table, we walked up and down the little street. The kids climbed on a hippo statue, and Aaron told me about the pilot project at work. It was a beautiful evening.

After pie we went back to the hotel and watched Buster Keaton on the laptop. Good ole Buster Keaton. I slept horribly, as usual. Hotels with their air conditioners that are either cool too much or not enough and turn on loudly right when you're about to fall asleep...

In the morning we went to get breakfast. Fun and yummy! We splurged and got juice instead of water. Family adventure!

Then we went back to the hotel. Got a picture with another hippo, and let the kids swim.

On conference weekend, we had another adventure. We went camping with William and Heather. We arrived after dark and quickly had an exciting encounter with nature. A skunk walked through our camp, bold as can be. It ate some scarps of food while we all ran to the car. It wasn't scared of our lights or us or anything. We probably could have pet it. We went to bed and made it through the night without getting sprayed. 

The next day we learned that the deer were just as happy to be around people as the skunk had been. There was a group of 7-9 of them that hung out around our camp all day. We were the only ones there, and they kept trying to get into our food. One even got a good lick of bacon grease before Annie chased it off. 

Can you spot the fox?

Miles really knows how to relax.

And we found a praying mantis on our tent when we were putting it away. So much nature!

Miles was just the cutest!

Mindy and Annie were pretty cute too.

After our grand camping adventure, we went back to William and Heather's house. We watched a lot of conference, and the kids played like it was their job. The hot wheels track got lots of use.

Heather, Lucy, Annie, and I went to the women's session together at their church. I really loved the women's session this year. The speakers tackled some serious issues that I had been hoping for more counsel on. It was awesome. And cool that they announced the temples in the women's session. It was a little interesting, though, explaining terms like lesbian and suicide in the middle of the meeting to the eight and nine year old girls who were attending with us!