Wordless Wednesday: Costumes

Last Few Pumpkins

 Leena did a Tron symbol for her pumpkin.

She's hoping to do a blue light inside.










Mxyl did a Divine Mercy image on his - it should look really cool when it's lit up!

Pumpkin Carving

 All sorts of interesting and creative pumpkins this year!

Oob decided he wanted to do a candle inside of a candle inside of a candle (the third candle is the actual candle in the pumpkin).

The design is both cut out and carved.






 Choclo did a pumpkin with Luigi on one side, and Waluigi on the other.

If you don't understand the reference, it's...complicated, but you can try watching this.

 Zorg went for creepy.

Klenda painted hers with a steampunk design, then did a Kirby inspired Dr. Doom carving.

Leena hasn't done hers yet, and I still need to get a picture of Mxyl's, so I'll post theirs later.

Poem of the Week: An Old Road

An Old Road

By Edwin Markham

A host of poppies, a flight of swallows;   

A flurry of rain, and a wind that follows   

Shepherds the leaves in the sheltered hollows

   For the forest is shaken and thinned.

Over my head are the firs for rafter;

The crows blow south, and my heart goes after;

I kiss my hands to the world with laughter—

   Is it Aidenn or mystical Ind?

Oh, the whirl of the fields in the windy weather!

How the barley breaks and blows together!   

Oh, glad is the free bird afloat on the heather—

   Oh, the whole world is glad of the wind!

HT: Poetry Foundation

Klenda and Art School

 We are just two weeks in, but Klenda is taking to Art School like a duck to water!

I thought her art was impressive going in, but the concentrated instruction and practice has had amazing results.

She's been doing watercolor (not shown), still life (oils), drawing, sculpting, anatomy, and portraiture.

For sculpture, they are having her copy fragments of Michelangelo's David.

It's an Atelier school, which means students of all levels study together and help each other in addition to their actual teachers.

For portraiture, they are having different models come in.

Right now she is working in charcoal.


So happy to see her so happy and making such progress!

Awesome Geography: Iceland and Norway

 For our art project, we did the Northern Lights in oil and chalk pastels like we had done another time.


For our snack we had Norwegian spice cookies.  They don't look fancy, but they are really good!

 For our active activity, we played Kubb, a yard game that goes back to the Vikings.

Basically you have some tall wooden blocks with a larger wooden block (the "king") in the center.

Then you try to knock them down by throwing a stick ("club") at them.  You have to knock down the king last.

Did the kids like being told to throw sticks at things?

Yes, yes, they did!

I believe the full game would involve 2 teams, each with 5 smaller blocks and their own king (and a somewhat larger playing space).

As it was, 3 small pins and a king, while throwing from 6-8 feet away was about perfect for us. 

Getting Ready for Halloween

 It's almost here!

 We've been painting pumpkins and webbing up the front porch.

This year we have a lot of actual spiderwebs which have been building up over the past month.  I'm not sure where the actual spiders came from, but the real and fake webs can stay for another week!

We will carve the pumpkins this weekend, which probably means roasted pumpkin seeds: yum!

I think I might also cook one of the eating pumpkins, maybe for pie,, or maybe to make candied pumpkin (double yum!).

Choclo and Oob haven't chosen costumes yet, which is fine by me.  I learned a long time ago not to set up costumes too early - they will invariably be tired of them and make something else at the last minute.

The older Zoomlians have picked out the candy they will be giving out, so the critical part is done!

Wordless Wednesday: Haircuts!

Day in Autumn

By Rainer Maria Rilke

Translated by Mary Kinzie

After the summer's yield, Lord, it is time

to let your shadow lengthen on the sundials

and in the pastures let the rough winds fly.

As for the final fruits, coax them to roundness.

Direct on them two days of warmer light

to hale them golden toward their term, and harry

the last few drops of sweetness through the wine.

Whoever's homeless now, will build no shelter;

who lives alone will live indefinitely so,

waking up to read a little, draft long letters,   

and, along the city's avenues,

fitfully wander, when the wild leaves loosen.

HT: Poetry Foundation
Image HT: Pixabay

Clothing Switch and Basement Overhaul

Since summer, my basement storage has been threatening to cave in and bury me alive.




Between the library sort, the retreat, home schooling, traveling, and what not, I was just too busy to deal with it.






 I kept pushing back the piles, and decided that when I did the seasonal clothing switch in the fall, I would deal with it all then.

After all, I would have to excavate to find the clothes anyway!

Much to my own surprise, I was able to go through most of the basement!

And you can even walk though it safely!

And find things you are looking for!

And everyone has warm clothes!

Thanks be to God!

I got to almost everything except the Christmas section... I'll deal with that next month!

Awesome Geography: Ireland

My friend Sara is actually Irish, so she was our guide to Ireland!

She set up an incredibly complex and beautiful craft where the kids created Celtic knots from shapes she had carefully cut out.

That had to have been a ton of work, but the results were really jaw dropping!







She also had made the best soda bread I've ever tasted, AND brought along some actual Irish butter (Kerrygold, I think).


SO good!!

She made it in these little muffins which the kids loved.







Then, for the active activity, she taught a little Irish Step Dancing!  Some of the kids were up for trying, and some just watched, but all were amazed!

Lastly, I give you this completely gratuitous cute toddler and bird picture, just because Mike and Sara's toddler just were enchanted by each other!

Organization and Pie (Amazing Things to do With Spices)

With all the recent busyness, a lot of regular housekeeping (and blogkeeping) had fallen by the wayside.

My cabinets, in particular were driving me crazy!  I like to get spices in bulk from Penzey's, but could never figure out how to manage all the little bags...

Klenda devised this ingenious system of yarn and clips, and I can't even tell you how happy it makes me!

I can find everything, and nothing spills!  It even made me want to organize my spice rack with all the bottles!

 To celebrate, we made this fancy and delicious apple pie!

You roll a regular crust up with cinnamon, then cut it into spirals to form a super fancy crust.

Did I mention it's made with caramel and Irish cream?

It was beautiful and amazingly delicious!!