Tag Archives: Halloween

Faires, Punnett Squares, Beauty, Art Jounaling and Halloween…

November 2, 2012 Karen 21 Comments

Sometimes I feel like those old Timex watch ads….Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.† So no new news on the job front.† Still January from all I have heard.† My boss is trying to find a rental for us at least for a few weeks.† That being said….

This was a very.good.week.† Keilee looked at me last night and said “I almost hate turning 13 [in January] because 12 has been the best age and I have had the best year”.† My heart just about burst…I mean my girl said this has been the ‘best year’ and I have been laid off 6 months of it.† Anyone who thinks that kids only want ‘things‘….WRONG.

We went to the Renaissance Faire over the weekend. It was cold. Seriously cold.† But we braved it out for about an hour and a half.† We have been going to the Ren Faire for years and years.† The wizard in the purple? I have pictures of Keilee with him for about 4 years.

We are both loving our new schedule. I don’t think I will ever go back to full lesson plans.† This makes this ‘unschooling’ Mama and her ‘lesson plans’ daughter happy!† Keilee spent hours one day learning about Mendel and genetics and Punnett Squares. Here are a couple†of resources we used. SpongeBob Genetics† and†Pardon the Punnett† Seriously she worked on it 4 hours.† Then she insisted we go to the library and get books.† I so love days like that.

Co-op and practice was cancelled this week for different reasons.† We reveled in staying at home and having NOT ONE SINGLE PLACE we HAD to BE!

There is this gorgeous tree a few miles from us where I always take Keilee’s picture every year.† It isn’t quite all the way turned but it is still glorious.

See how big it is compared to Kei?

Keilee also did so much Art Journaling this week.† I have tried to get her to do it showing her Jessica’s great stuff but she hasn’t been very interested. This week she did 3 pages and she said, “I thought it was harder than this, I thought you had to be an artist, but I love this Mom”.† She is making “Month” calendars and putting her pages in the month she did them.

Halloween day Keilee and Nomad performed a routine they had been working on all week.† They do one every Halloween.† Keilee also did some graphing and a Halloween Logic Puzzle

Halloween night we went with some of our best friends Trick or Treating.† Keilee was a Punk Mad Hatter and I was something that we never quite figured out.† We went to a few Trunk or Treats, then Brit spent the night and I took the girls out for a little longer.† It was cold, cold, cold and there were people everywhere!
Thursday, which was NOVEMBER 1st, was spent learning about Day of the Dead.†† If I had money I would take Keilee to Mexico to see this holiday up close and personel.† We have both always been a fan of Dia de los Muertos.† She did another Art Journaling page and made some skulls with clay.

This is my favorite picture of the week.† Keilee in a cotton field.† She looks like a cotton fairy.

My favorite resources this week are CK-12.† Have I already listed this? If so forgive my crazy brain. :)† They do have great resources.
My other favorite resource is a book Keilee is reading.† It is “The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell” by Chris Golfer.† She is loving it.† She has made maps and NB pages and a world in Eden [app similar to Minecraft] about it.† It is suppose to be Book One is a series.† She said the coolest thing to me last night.† “There just isn’t enough hours in the day for all the amazing things I want to do Mom”.† [smiles]

This is a dialogue between Kei and I.† I adore this child and thank God for her every day.
Me:† Oh my Gosh, They are making “Mockingjay” into 2 parts!
Kei:† What!?†
Me:† Yes they do that sometimes to make more money.† Remember Harry Potter and Breaking Dawn?
Kei:† [outraged] Well they won’t get ONE DIME from us!
Me:† Well I don’t know about YOU but I will be there!
Kei:† Well…[huffy] FINE then!† We will pay with NOTHING BUT DIMES!† All dimes is what we will give them!!
Me:† Oh yeah baby,† that will show them!

Keilee and I are praying daily for the people affected by Hurricane Sandy.† So much destruction and so many lives touched.

So November starts with us very broke and very happy.† Our life is so blessed even though there are nothing but 0’s in my bank account.† Life is funny and wonderful and oh so beautiful.† Hope everyone enjoys this first weekend in November.

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

I LOVE this quote! It kinda sums up our week.
†Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.† ~Albert Einstein

Happily linking with
Mary @ Collage Friday
Susan @ Favorite Resource
Savannah @ It’s a Wrap
iHomeschool Network @ Homeschool Mother’s Journal
Kris @ Weekly Wrap Up

HomeSchool, Learning, Learning all the time

Story-Telling, Fashion Designing, STAN & Black Cats…

November 1, 2010 Karen 4 Comments

What a last few days we have had!

Thursday we went to the Story-Telling Festival in Athens.† It was so great.† We both love story tellers and it is quickly becoming a lost art.

Kei made Halloween outfits for some of her Webkinz.† She did a great job!

Hippo Lion — Henrietta the Flower and Leo the Bee

Webkinz — Leo the Bee, Henrietta the Flower, Shanti the Witch, Magic the Princess, Mushmellow the Angel, Lietus as Mother Nature, Hedwig the Hippie

Thursday night we went to my sister-in-laws school Fall Festival.† Kei and I had a blast.

I work from home.† My boss has been in Atlanta filming Last Valentine.† He surprised Kei and I by stopping by on the way to LA.† It was so great to see him.† He is an awesome boss.† We took him to Cracker Barrel and he was amazed by how much food they brought us.† 🙂

Halloween afternoon my brother called and told us that my nephew had been attacked by wild dogs.† We went to the ER and saw him.† He ended up with 32 stitches!† I felt so angry and sad.† I can’t believe people let big dogs run wild.† Seth had a pocket knife and fended them off with that!

This is my brother’s scarecrow.† Isn’t it awesome?

Kei carved the pumpkin Halloween afternoon.† I don’t do carving.† If you know me you understand why.

Nomad was a pirate.† For about 10 minutes.

Nomad Pirate — Nomad the Pirate Matey...

Halloween night we went trick or treating with our friends.† Kei was a punk, black cat.† She looked awesome!

We went over to Gina’s and then to Cathy’s neighborhood to trick or treat.

Kei Ben trading — Kei and Ben trading candy...

Except for Seth, it was a great week.† Today is November 1st.† I can’t wait to see what great adventures lie ahead for this month!

Be blessed,

“Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable, the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown
along the street or road by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese.
Both are warnings of chill days ahead, fireside and topcoat weather.”
~ † Hal Borland

Friends, Holidays, Learning all the time, My beautiful child

Bump in the Night…

November 2, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

Halloween has come and gone.

Kei loves Halloween!† Almost as much as Christmas and her birthday.† Remember when we actually looked forward to birthdays? 🙂

We started the Halloween week by going Trunk or Treating at our friends church.† We had a great time.

Then Kei made a witch nose and finger with Play Dough.

Saturday morning [Halloween] we went to our church for a Halloween celebration.† It was awesome!† We ate hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans and all the trimmings.† Our church rocks!

When we got home my brother brought us a pumpkin.† We then carved it.† Ok I am not the best carver in the world.† Kei wanted a vampire.† What she got was…a big mouthed something or other.† She did better on the eyes and nose than I did on the mouth!

Saturday night we got Kei decked out in her Mother Nature costume and were off to get candy!† Some of the people around here really get into the Halloween spirit so there were spooks, Mass† Murderers, scary music and fog at every turn.

When we had collected our fill of candy and half freezing to death we went out to my brother’s house where he had a Scavenger Hunt for the kids.† Heather and I drove the kids around to various locations for clues.† You haven’t lived until you have been to a graveyard on Halloween night with a full moon!† Also did you know some people put lighted crosses on graves?† I couldn’t believe it.† The kids loved it and the only complaint was that it was too short.† Thanks Eddie for inviting us!

And now it is November.† EEP!

Enjoy,

Holidays, HomeSchool

October is Creeping By…

October 21, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

It has been a good week.

Kei got a new box.† It is amazing what you can do with a box, where you† can go, what you can be.

It is a window to imagination…

My Daddy has millions of acorns.† Kei and went over there and got some and painted them orange.† [Which is harder than it sounds.† Anyone know a better way to anchor these little guys while you are painting them?] Then she drew pumpkin faces on them.

We had to punt the Edward Scissorhands idea.† Too expensive for this year, so she is going to be Mother Nature.† Which is very apropo for her.† We went to look for ideas at the Halloween store in town.† They have some of the coolest stuff!

We had to, of course, take the required ‘I’m so scared’ picture.

Today she was playing with clay and made this cute little clay family.† I thought they had a Gremlin ‘flavor’.

All in all, a very good week.† Of course, it is supposed to RAIN tomorrow.

Stay dry,

Friends, Life

Delicious Terror…

October 17, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

That is what my Mom always called it.† She loved scary movies, and scaring us to death.† She didn’t grow up in an era of Halloween and Friday the 13th and Saw.† She loved things like The Bad Seed, and Alfred Hitchcock.† I remember being very small and rushing home from school to watch Dark Shadows with her.† [See I was a vampire girl from wayyyyy back]

Last night we went to Gina and Bobby’s for food and fear!† We had a blast. Their house was pimped out in true Halloween fashion.

RIP Brit, Kei crying, Cody way too happy!

The food was yummy and we enjoyed eating with friends so much.† Then it was movie time.† Poltergeist was the thriller of the night.† Kei, Bobby and I had seen it, Brit and Cody were newbies and Gina had never watched the entire movie.

We loved it and there was a lot of hugging together from the girls.

Then we loaded up the car and went to Cry Baby Hollow.† This is a bridge that is a local legend.† I had been there when I was a teenager but Kei had never been. The legend I had always heard is that a woman threw her baby off the bridge and at night you can still hear the baby cry.† Also if you leave candy on the bridge, the baby comes and gets it.† Another part of the story is that if you put your car in neutral it will either roll forward or backward or rock back and forth, and sometimes there are little baby hand prints on your windows!!

So off we went.† It was cold and drizzly, a perfect night for ghosties.† We turned off on the ‘road’ and it was perfect; dark and spooky and raining and DARK!† The bridge is very short; about 8′ and has no side rails.

the-bridge — I wanted to get in Gina's lap but Cody got to!

When Bobby put the car in neutral, it ROLLED!† There were squeals of delight and fright from the car.† We had to turn around and do it a few more times and each time it rolled.† The best time was when it rolled backwards! Up an incline! <insert Twilight Zone music here>

Then we got out and walked to place the candy.† Did I mention it was raining?† and DARK?† The kids placed their candy and Brit swore she saw a shadow in the rushing water below.

I the kids were very glad to be back in the car.† On the way home Brit and Kei decided the entire “Rock-A-Bye-Baby song was written for the Cry Baby Hollow Legend.

We had a blast and stole Brit to come home with us to protect us from ghosts spend the night with Kei.† Thanks Lackeys!!!† We loved it.

Happy Saturday,

HomeSchool Girls