Fall art projects

This morning I was thrilled to click here and see two art projects I wanted to make and I was even more thrilled that I already had all the materials I needed. Isn't that the best! Here's my little fall fairy hanging over the nature table.
We used a silk leaf to make some salt dough creations (I guess the veins of actual leaves don't show up as well on the salt dough). I finished one of mine and it is on the nature table.

J and B will hopefully finish their projects tomorrow.

A very good trip to the library

Yesterday I stopped by the library to drop off/pick up some books and there happened to be a book sale going on. I almost didn't look at the books because it was 3 p.m and the sale had been going on since 10 a.m. I thought chances were pretty slim there would be anything there I'd be interested in. Well, I was wrong. This book shelf is filled up with all my lucky finds for under $10. J has already read one Roald Dahl book (Roald Dahl is her favorite author) and she is reading another book right now. I can not tell you how excited I was (I even found a 1/2 dozen books for myself)-there really is nothing better than coming home with bags full of books. :)

Just had to pass this along

It made my day yesterday when I first saw it. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btXr9tDU_Vw

Tut Tut the game-created by J

J is participating in a learning co-op on Mondays. Each month there is a different theme. September's theme is archaeology. They've created time capsules, did an archaeology dig, and they're meeting with an archaeologist from UVM on Monday. Each month they need to read one book relating to the month's theme and give a presentation on the book. You can just talk about the book, do a book report or a project of your own choosing. J chose to create a board game based on the book. Here is the book she chose:
It's about 4 children who open a magical book and then travel back in time to ancient Egypt. They have quite a few adventures in ancient Egypt before locating their book and returning home. Here is the game board she created:

These are the four children who traveled back in time. She made them out of Sculpey.

If you land on certain spots you either move forward or backward depending on the card you pick. Here are some of the cards:

She also had question mark spaces. If you land on one of these spaces you have to answer the question before proceeding forward. The questions all relate to the book-she tells you which chapter the answer is in. If you haven't read the book thoroughly, you may be in trouble! She had a great time making the game and I thought it was a very creative way of presenting a book.

It's official...

It's fall!

Welcome fall, we're ready for you!

A little bit of cuteness-B recites his first poem

Just the two of us-harvest time

I can't remember the last time I had a few hours out with just J doing something fun. Most days I'm at home with both kids and on the weekend we're together as a family. Today I suggested to J that we head to the local harvest festival (just the two of us) and amazingly, she agreed. I say amazingly because two of her neighborhood friends had just come to our house wanting to play and she passed up playing with them to go out with me. If you knew my daughter you would know how much she LOVES playing with friends. So, I was thrilled.
Out we went to the apple orchard. First stop was the craft shed. We picked up a couple crocheted dishcloths and checked out the train. Then J wanted an apple cider slush. . .yum!

She tried her hand at making cider.

Then we put our order in for Dizzy's home made donuts. We were told to come back in about 30 mins. to pick them up. That was just the right time to grab a bag and head into the orchard.

It didn't take long to fill our bag up with some lovely macs.

We got back just in time. . . here come our donuts!

We ordered powdered, cinnamon and maple.

These could be some of the best donuts I've tasted, all fresh and warm. We picked a spot under an apple tree and gobbled them up!

Before heading home we checked out the marionette show and spoke with someone from the local recycling center. She gave me information about various field trips and activities we could do with our Earth Scouts group and I left very excited and full of ideas. I can't wait to do more of these special outings with J!

Just a bit of advice. . .

If you're taking your children out on a boat ride while your spouse stays home and naps, don't call the house three times and when your spouse doesn't answer send an email that says only this: Call me right away!!
Your spouse may just wake up, read the email and think something dreadful has happened.

P.S-Every thing's o.k except for a tantrum and a car that needed $400 worth of repair work. The children had the tantrum, not the husband.