Cooking Club, out on the town

Friday Night

Combined Cooking Club, out on the town

All of my pregnant friends.... and me. ;)

Michele, Rochelle, Traci, Megan, Tracy, Amy, and me

We have one due in Dec, one in Jan, one in March, one in April, and 2 in May!!
Yes, something is definitely in the water!!

Rochelle and Megan

Michele and Amy

me, Tracy, and Tracithe giant sandwich and hot dog at Hammontrees Glowing Traci and Tracy
Rochelle and medessert time at the Common Grounds! Mmmmmm....
These ladies are so much fun!!

Yesterday we went to a costume birthday party, and now we're preparing for a family to come join us for Halloween firepit dinner, trick-or-treating, and then cards with my family tonight.

Phew.

I'll paint again...soon.

What are YOU up to for Halloween?

Snapping Turtle

I snapped the picture to get the baby turtle, and captured some toddler-orange-eaters as well.

The sex of the baby snapping turtles depends on the temperature at which the eggs are incubated.

He (or she, who knows what the incubated temp was?) is now happily swimming around our kiddie pool, munching on reptile & amphibian food.
We also ended up with a little froggie friend. :) Oh, the joys of a boys' world.

Blog search tip: If you are interested in what we've studied before, you can click on the homeschool label, or the links to the right. If you are looking for information on a particular subject/ animal/ craft, then use the search bar on the right-hand. Hope that help the gals who emailed me. :-)

Playdates and Paintings

Yesterday we went to my sweet friend's home to play in her backyard "park."

Hammock Craziness

Fantastic Climbing Tree, with a ladder leading to the largest limb

Motorized Trucks, 'nuff said

Zip line! Seriously, we need one of these!

And yes, that's my 3-year old "baby" riding across the yard!!

"HOLD ON TIGHT!! DON'T LET GO!!"

He took off before I could grab him. Freaked me out!

And random paintings, some older some newer;

A good example of what happens when you paint on the wrong kind of paper! I need to smash these between some heavy books.

And that's a wrap, folks. All for now.

from the studio

Okay, so technically, it's a drafting table in my kitchen. I would love to have a studio someday! A girl can dream! And dream I will.

Dream in color, mixed media

canvas board

drawn, painted, penciled, decoupaged, scratched...
clean and messy, bright and stark


It's one of those pictures that didn't look quite done.
But it is.
I like it
just like this.

Sock Sewing

I once overheard a woman in the mall declare, "I'd never wear that; it looks homemade!"

Hm.

I would love to have the time and energy to make everything we wear. And all of the toys that my kids play with. And all of the curtains, cushions, and quilts that we use.

When I don't have time, and I do have money, I choose to buy handmade as often as possible. Etsy is wonderful. Support those people!

Okay. So, on Thursday, Fred drove us to the zoo and I had time to kill. And socks to use. :)

My little Dash will turn 6 in a few weeks, and this will be one of his gifts.By the time we got home, body parts were everywhere.

He was ready for memberment.

(okay, that's not actually a word, but it should be.) button eyes...floppy trunk....

all hand-stitched, with love, for my little guy. Don't worry-- tight stitches!!

Surprise Field Trip

Fred has been working a really crummy night shift, 6pm-6am. It's been a difficult adjustment, but we're trying to make the best of it. Seeing as how he was off on Thursday, he wanted to do something special with the kids. A surprise field trip. We simply told them to get all ready, pack water bottles and notebooks, and then waited until they guessed where we were going. Our destination was about an hour away... but they guessed it within 10 minutes. We don't head that direction often!

Thankfully, we invested in zoo passes back in the spring, when we actually had a tad of money to spare. I'd much rather spend our money on experiences than more material items that we don't need.

My Papaw came with us. It's been just wonderful to have him living here. He comes on most of our field trips with us, teaches history and Spanish to the kids every day, and plays cards with Fred and me at least once a week. He's also fixing my pantry shelves for me!

All of the kids love Papaw, but LittleLad gets especially excited when he sees Papaw pull up in the driveway. He talks Papaw's ear off, I think. :) Papaw also takes a LOT of pictures. Which is pretty nice, seeing as how I am usually the one behind the lens, and miss out on actually being in any pictures with my family. Boardwalk through the wetlands. Yes, I was wearing a tank top in mid-October. I believe it reached around 86 degrees in Tulsa on Thursday!
The kids were just as excited with the turtles as the penguins. They even jumped up and down when a squirrel crossed our paths.

I love this picture that Papaw took...

Giant tortoises

That zoo lady in the blue shirt was telling us that

that turtle the boys were petting came to the zoo in 1927. SHEESH.

And do you see what I was up to on the car trip...? It's all done now, and I'll share pictures tomorrow.

Plant Yourself in a Book

Gives a whole new meaning to "book worms,"doesn't it??

I. Love. This.

I mean, I love it.

We've already hashed through my defacement of books here.

Books should be loved.

And, if they're no longer being read,

then they should be used and loved in a different way.

This is my way.

.

This one was snagged for a quarter at a sale. Unloved...

until upcycled.

We (meaning I) cut a hole in the cover, and through most of the pages.

Doesn't need to be very deep. Then line your hole with a plastic baggie. I failed to get a picture of that step.

Choose a small plant or grass seed, and pot it in your hardback!

Talk about a conversation-starter centerpiece!
Admittedly, that project was more for me, than for the kids.

Then I did a "school project," just to say I did one. ;)
Take an empty, clean bottle, and cut the bottom off of it.
Use a hole puncher to punch two holes, across from each other,
in your open bottom section.

Choose a small plant, and stick the roots in through the bottle spout, like so.Fill with dirt.Thread ribbon or twine through your punched holes, and hang your plant.

Yes, it grows upside down.

Why?

Because plants only need 5 things to grow:

soil, sunlight, clean air, water, and space to grow (not much space, for small plants!)

They receive all of these things upside down.

Most plants will bend towards the sunlight.

Why try upside down gardening?

It's a space saver, keeps plants out of reach of ground-crawling pests (including children!),

and because it's just plain neat!

After we completed ours, I realized that we probably should have put the roots through a small hole in a coffee filter, at the spout of the bottle, to prevent any soil from leaking out during waterings. I think ours will be okay, as it's in there pretty tight.

Just a tip, in case you are inclined to try it. :)