Halloween cont.

{ November 1, 2009 @ 3:14 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Tonight we all went to the local living museum to go trick or treating. Everyone but Maddie went under protest., it seems B only wanted omse candy aand K would have been happy to skip the whole thing. Well…since M really wanted to go and there was going to be candy…we went.  We left K with the option of spending her evening at the grandparents working on her term paper and, strangely enough, she decided to come with us ;)

When we got there I made asked the kids to pose for a picture. 

It was really windy…

DSCF1985

but after a couple of tries we managed to get a shot

DSCF1986

K dressed as a witch, M is Yumi from Code Lyoko and B was a race car driver (I know I said last night that he was a pit crew worker, that ’s what the costume said but he is now insisting he’s a race car driver).  I also dressed up…sort of.  I wore my best pair of flannel PJ’s, put my hair in pigtails and brought along ALice, my rag doll.  No picutres of me…that’s the perks of wielding the camera!  

We arrived just as it was getting dark which I personally prefer for Trick or Treating.  The kids hit a couple of houses and then B needed to use the bathroom (typical, I know every public bathroom in the tri-state area).  While he was in there I snapped a couple of shot, the first is M posing, the second is the decorated trees.

DSCF1990

DSCF1997

We had a blast gathering candy, watching the werewolves in the garden playing with their bones, listening to scary stories, catching a few mintes of The Corpse Bride in the outdoor theater and munching on kettle corn.  We avoided the bonfire because it was in the 70’s which was just downright weird.  There were several scenes going on inside the windows which varied from slightly scary to dowright creepy.  This one was more on the tame end.

DSCF1995

One of the last houses we stopped at was the Witches House.  The kids always enjoy her house because she’s dressed to the nines and because she gives out Witches Warts candy, one of their favs.

DSCF2005

After about 1.5 hours we’d done everything we wanted to do and everyone was getting hungry so we headed out.

DSCF2007

After a quick stop at the grocery store for frozen pizza and some GFCF chicken nuggets we went home, had dinner and went to bed.  Well….the kid went to bed, I’m still awake and updating this blog!

Halloween 2009

{ October 31, 2009 @ 4:38 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

We got off ot rather a slow start with our Halloween holiday here at School Down the Lane.  Scheduling issues kept us from deocrating until the second week in October…almost unheard of  for us!  Then I came down with the plague of the damned  Swine flu almost immediately after that.  Frankly, halloween has been the last thing on my mind!

That changed this week.  I was able to get in the (Halloween) spirit at last!

I put together good bags for my cheerleaders.  I bought pumpkins.  I planned our Halloween party. 

Which was tonight!

Yesterday evening the kids carved their pupmkins. 

DSCF1972

M didn’t want to carve…but she put in her order for a Jack pumpkin:

DSCF1971

B really got into it…he designed this one himself and couldn’t be more proud!

DSCF1967

Even C got into it and carved her’s with a picture of Cheese!

DSCF1969

With our outdoor decorations all set, we had our party today!  We had lots of good food, like chili (bloody guts), sliced hot dogs in BBQ sauce (worms), hummus, Buffulo chicken dip, salsa,  and the highlight of the evening……Mummy dogs!

DSCF1976

We also had lots of dessert like cupcakes,

DSCF1977

skeleton finger pops

DSCF1984

and decorate your own cookies.

Besides the cookies we had a couple of other fun things to do.  We had a potions table:

DSCF1982

and make a candle holder station.

DSCF1978

The candle holder activity came from one I found on Our Best Bites.  They used a mason jar, but I couldn’t find any so I got votive holders instead and just let the kids go free form with some Halloween tissue paper.  You can see the freshly finished holder in the picture…they will look less cloudy when dry, but ours aren’t dry yet.

Of course we also had some really good costumes

DSCF1974

and some not so good ones

DSCF1973

I’m not sure what W thought he was dressing as but M was determined to protect him from the humiliation of preseving it on film ;)

B’s costume was a bit cooler, he was a pit crew worker.  You can see him here pretending to drink spider vemon (which was actually white vinager).

DSCF1981

Everyone had a great time!  Now on to trick or treat tomorrow…hopefully M will actually put on her costume for that!

Out of quarrentine!

{ October 30, 2009 @ 5:08 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

we were all able to leave the house tonight and I must say…what a relief! 

B has been feeling better for almost a week now and he’s been driving. me. crazy. 

 M was so ready to go back to school.

K and W never really got very sick and have been slowly going stir crazy.

I have been getting way to used to sitting on the couch, staying up too late and sleeping in.

In short we all needed to get out and socialize…STAT!  Off to the dance studio!

We all got a little something tonight…B got to breakdance, K got to teach and hang with some of the other teens, I got to talk with some other moms and teach cheer (one of my favorite things!), M got to use my laptop and dance and even W had fun…he went to Home Depot ;)

Tomorrow is our Halloween Party which should be a lot of fun and then Saturday it’s off to the local museum for trick or treat! 

It’s good to be back to normal…..or at least what passes for it around here LOL!

 

oink update

{ October 24, 2009 @ 1:28 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ } · { Leave a Comment }

So let’s see……since I last posted I have developed bronchitis and recovered from both it and (mostly) the swine flu.  B  has progressed through the worst of the flu and also developed bronchitis.  We are both on antibiotics and recovering.  I’ve even gotten to the point where I can do something physical and not dissolve into a coughing fit.  B is not,,,but despite that fact he was darn upset with me when I wouldn’t let him go to breakdancing ;)

Also M came down with it on Wednesday.  I got a call from school saying that she had a fever and please could we come and get her?  Umm…yeah. She’s been home ever since.  The coughing started Friday and then so did the vomiting :(   She’s in bed right now with a bowl.  Right now K says her chest “feels tight” and W has been complaining of congestion all day. 

I think we’ll be spending the weekend on the couch…again.

The good news is that I tested posative for swine flu. Why is that good news you ask?  Well, because we have an “official” case in the house everyone can now be treated with antivirals.  W picked them up this morning and everyone has had their dose.  I’ll admit to being more then a little nervous about using them but in the end, after weighing the pros and cons, we decided to go ahead and take them.  By we I mean everyone but me.  Apparently it’s too late for me.

Let’s hope it does some good because having W and K out for two weeks is not really going to work. K is taking two academic classes outside the home, taking two dance classes and teaching two cheer classes.  W is..well…kind of a baby when he’s sick and besides with both of us unable go into public places who will buy the food?

Just kidding.   Kinda.

Still not a lot of school going on although K has been able to attend all her classes this week and keep up with her work as well as read her Brit Lit so that’s good.  All bets are off for next week there but B and I should be able to pick things up again.  I have some work to catch up on for cheer too so spending the week at home might not be too bad a thing.

Or maybe I’m just trying to find a silver lining where there isn’t one.

Before and After

{ October 21, 2009 @ 12:52 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

and no, this isn’t an ad for the style Channel.

After several days of sleeping and a couple doses of antibiotic (I ended up with bronchitis!) I finally feel well enough to chronicle B’s extreme mouth makeover.

The drama started on Tuesday when the hospital called up and informed us that the surgery had been changed from 11:30 to 3:00. 

8^0

They expected a 10yo with hypoglycemia to go from Wednesday evening until after surgery at 3PM without food or drink?!?! Pardon my language but WTF?  After several phone calls we determined that the delay was due to “equipment problems” (doesn’t that give one the warm fuzzies?) and that the only way to avoid this was to reschedule his surgery….the earliest we could do it would be January.

Uh…no.  3PM it is.  We ended up keeping him up until 11 and giving him a snack before bed which didn’t keep him from waking from surgery famished.

Then the day of surgery they called us in early and then made us wait for hoouuurrss in the boring waiting room.  We were bored enough to take some “before” pics of B’s mouth (warning…it’s not pretty)

DSCF1932

They finally called us in at 2 (we’d been waiting 2.5 hours at that point) and B got gowned up and  onto the bed.  The nurses were wonderful and we were doing pretty well at this point.

DSCF1933

Then the bit….er…I mean the anethesiologist assistant came in. She proceeded to be a real ray of sunshine by 1.  informing us how much of a risk we were taking by letting them do surgery while B had a cold and asthma (not what either dr said and I asked specifically) and suggesting we cancel.  She backed down after I asked to speak to Dr. L. 2.  pressuring B to get his IV before being sedated (we were told this was NEVER done with children) and 3. trying to take B off to the OR without W or I while B was asking repeatedly that someon come with him.   She even had them take the bed out of our sight while W was suiting up!  Um…NOT OK! 

It all worked out in the end.  B agreed to the IV and handled it like a pro, he handled everything just fine and W got into the OR before B went under despite Ms. B!tch’s best efforts.  The surgery ended up taking two hours, and since the dentist told us 30minutes to an hour I was getting a little panicky. We were out of the hospital by 5pm and by 7pm B was demanding rice.

Oh, and I didn’t get to eat lunch until 3pm because I refused to eat in front of poor B. Of course, by the time I got a chance to eat the caf was closed so I had to eat out of the vending machines.  Mmmmm…snickers, smartfood and diet coke…the lunch of champions!

It was not without it’s trial and tribulations but all in all it was definately worth it!  In the end he had 25 (!) teeth rebuilt and the results are nothing short of amazing.

DSCF1934

The gaps were left there intentionally since B has an underbite and will need braces to correct that.  Dr. L was pretty darn proud of his work, justifiably IMO. 

I’m just glad it’s over.

Oink Oink

{ October 18, 2009 @ 12:53 am } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

pig_14

It appears we have fallen victim to the swine flu, or at least I have. We have no confirmation of this yet, as my swab (does that word bother you as much as it does me? I always think of CSI!) was just sent to the CDC this morning but the dr said she would be very surprised if it wasn’t the swine flu. I have all the symptoms; sore throat, body aches, stuffy head, clogged chest, cough, loss of appitite and energy, fever, nausea….every single symptom.

And what fun it’s been too! Every since it struck Thursday night (right after B’s dental surgery..thank goodness it held off until then!) I’ve basically either sat on the couch, laid in bed, laid on the coach or sat in bed. Oh, and I did take that trip to the dr’s office for my swab (eeewww). The worst part for me has been the fever. I never get fevers…even when I’m really sick, so this is new…and icky. I am having hot and cold flashes and am having trouble staying hydrated. Oh, and my head feels like it might just blow up. But other then that I’m fine :)

The one I’m really concerned about is B. What with the asthma and the fact that he was vented for his surgery right before it struck he is at high risk.  He started sneezing and coughing yesterday evening and is complaining of a sore throat (which could be from the vent).  No fever yet…but then I had some cold symptoms before the plaugue struck too so I’m keeping a close eye on him.

At least when I’m awake.

The encouraging thing is that the dr seemed to think I’ll be fine and to just “treat it symptomatically” which I am doing for both of us with advil, sudafed, benadryl and as much lemon propel(me) and apple juice (B) as we can stomach.  My blood sugar keeps fluctuating wildly, it was 209 before lunch and 83 before dinner, and I generally feel like crud but I have faith I’ll be just fine in a few days.

I only hope to be able to say the same for B.  We geared up for possible trouble by dragging out the nebulizer, making sure we have plenty of inhalors and thaqt he takes his meds (he’s been known to skip the morning dose of flovent given half a chance).  I also have the promise that if I test posative they will give the antiviral to everyone in the house. 

Of course by the time they actually hear back from the CDC I’m betting everyone in the house will already have it. 

Did I just write “hear back from the CDC”?

Now I feel like I’m on an episode of Medical Investigation.

Obviously there isn’t a lot of school going on here, at least not of the formal sort.  Between B having surgery, having to rest after surgery and now the flu there have been a lot of video games being played and a lot of TV being watched.  At least B has chosen Zoo Tycoon and Age of Empires which have a little educational value and we watched a marathon of Magic School Bus so that must count for something right? Frankly I’m having a hard time caring right at the moment.

Hopefully things will be back to normal soon.

Pumpkins and Moons and Shrunken Heads…oh my!

{ October 14, 2009 @ 3:18 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , } · { Comments (1) }

We decided that we would put up the Halloween decorations here at School Down the Lane. After filling speciemin jars, hanging up spider webs and setting up gravestones we were all in the moood for some Halloween crafts! What did we decided to make? Halloween cut out cookies and shrunken heads of course!

I made the executive decision to use a sugar cookie mix for the gluten full cookies, as well as some of those pilsbury ready to bake chocolate chips cookies. I would normally consider that a cop out, but we were pressed for time and hungry for cookies! Plus, I figured I was making GFCF cookies from scratch so that had to count for something…right? Right? Work with me here people!

I didn’t take any pictures of the ghost and pumpkin cookies I made or the chocolate chip ones, but here is a nice shot of the GFCF ones.

DSCF1925

We also decided to make Shrunken Apple Heads. I used the instructions from Our Best Bites http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/10/crafty-in-kitchen-shrunken-heads.html.

I peeled everyone a granny smith apple and dunked them into a big pan full of water with lemon juice and salt. Then I let everyone go to town carving faces into the apples. Once that was done we put them all on a pan and stuck them into a warm oven (warm from the cookies!). After about a day they looked something like this:

DSCF1927

and this

DSCF1928

and this

DSCF1930

These heads are nowhere done shrinking, the instructions said it could take up to 2 weeks for them to finish drying out. I have ours in a low oven in an attempt to get them to dry faster them that. As of today they are still spongy!

The Power of Pictures

{ October 12, 2009 @ 4:34 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

My kids are visual (or two out of three are).  What does that mean?  It means that they more easily learn things when they can see them, as opposed to hearing (auditory) them or doing (kinesthetic) them.  What does this mean to our homeschooling?  Well, it means a lot of things, but most of all it means that talking at them will not really get my point across. 

We’ve used various resources to address this issue, amoung them computer programs, movies, books with lots of pictures (ala DK and usborne) and posters.  Lately we’ve re-discovered a new resource….graphic novels. 

I say “re” discovered because we’ve read them for years.  M is somewhat obsessed really interested in graphic novels and has been reading them for years but it was only recently I recognised their educational value.  It all started with a Graphic Classics version of Dracula, found at a school book sale. and expanded from there.  To date we have read Dracula, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Frankenstien,  Around the World in 80 Days and Beowulf.  The only thing keeping us from reading more is the money to buy them.

I know some feel that even the abridged versions of classics are not 1. worth their time and 2. a good idea in general and I can only guess how they would feel about what are essentially comic books forms of these stories (and I’m guessing it isn’t posative).  I, however, feel quite differently. 

For one thing it’s been proven that children respond more posatively to a story line they are already familiar with (which brought us the horror that is Dora the Explorer) and for another these books really resound with my visual kids.  B absolutely loved 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a graphic novel and we plan on moving on to an abridged version this year.  As much as I love Jules Verne (and I do!), I’ll wait a few more years before reading the full length book to B and M.  I would like them to fully appreciate it and since they will already be familiar with the storyline it will allow them to enjoy it more fully. And Beowulf..most kids don’t get to expereince that wonderful story until they are old enough to tackle the Middle English which is just silly to me.  It’s a great story, why not let my kids hear it now, in a form they can actually understand?  We’ve read it in graphic novel, abridged, as a picture book and K has even tackled to original.  Each has been able to assimilate the tale at their own rate.

Even putting aside the “educational” merits of graphic novels there is much to love about them.  They are great for kids with limited ability or desire to read.  The language is not so simple as to be borning to older kids who are late reading bloomers and the pictures will often clue one in to what the words might be so they can helo with sight word accumulation. They are great for visual kids since, you know, they have all those pictures :)   Manga (a Japanese form of graphic novels) is a great introduction to Japenese culture.  Plus manga generally comes with age ratings, which are very handy!

Some of them, of course, are quite silly and melodramatic,but probably no worse then the glut of chick lit currently on the market (or “cough”  Twilight) and even they can be good entertainment.  Sometimes you just want something fun, or silly or scary to read.

Speaking of scary….I plan to pull Beowulf out for a Halloween reading this year. 

The one with pictures :)

Apple pickin’

{ October 10, 2009 @ 10:05 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

We made another trip to the apple orchard today.  K was unable to go with our homeschool group to pick last month because she was sick and M didn’t come because she was in school.  Add that to the fact that there weren’t many heirloom variaties available for picking the last time and we knew we would be back later.  Turns out later was today!

It was a beautiful fall day…sun shining, wind blowing, a nip in the air…it made apple picking immediately spring to mind.  After a quick check of the orchards website to discover that the Black Oxfords were ready for picking (they are K’s fav) and off we went! 

The first thing we did was visit Ben the goat. 

 DSCF1912

DSCF1911

Ben is seriously the biggest goat I have ever seen and he has a personality to match.  He really loves attention and comes over when you call him!

Next we visited the cafe to get our apples picking bags, get info on what was being picked and snag some whoopie pies.  There were only 4 left so W bought 3.  Here he is enjoying his.

DSCF1913

Once armed with picking bags we hit the orchard.  There were plenty of Black Oxfords, Golden Delicious, and Macoun but if we wanted any Zabergau Reinette (which is my fav) or Cortlands we needed to use the picking stick as they were rather picked over and most of the fruit left was up high.

DSCF1915

We got a 1/2 peck bag of heirloom apples and one of regular.  Besides having several heirloom varieties available for picking, all the apples at this orchard are certified organic and so is the apple cider! 

While W paid B played on the tractor.

DSCF1918DSCF1916

I’m already planning some yummy apple treats!  Hmmmm…apple tart, apple muffins…maybe some warm spiced cider.   Yummy!

Habitat at Home Workshop

{ October 7, 2009 @ 10:18 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Today we ran a workshop at our local library for homeschoolers.  The purpose of the workshop was to make some birdfeeders out of household materials.  Since this was a pretty mixed age group I went pretty simple with the bird food/feeders and other stuff.  We ended up making a pine cone birdfeeder, a hanging fruit kabob, a log suet feeder (and the suet to go with it), some squirrel chow and a water bottle bird feeder.  Basically I set up stations, explained to everyone how to make the various items and let everyone loose.  I wandered around helping where needed.  K and B made some stuff while W’s main job was to drill the holes in the log suet feeders.

Of course I forgot my camera (are you surprised? I wasn’t.)  but I have tried to replicate what we did with some photos I took when we got home. 

First the pine cone feeders.  I don’t have any pictures for this one because my kids had already hung their’s out and I don’t have any decent pine cones at home to replicate.  It’s pretty simple though; wrap some wire around the stem end of the pine cone, coat it in peanut butter and roll it in bird food.  I found it was easiest to give each child a plastic knife for the communal peanut butter and then had them share a 9X13 pan half full of bird food for rolling.  Almost every child there (ages ranging from 4yo-10yo) could do this on their own.  Have plastic bags on hand for storage, they’re messy!

Next was the Hanging Fruit Kabob.  This was also very simple.  We sliced apples and oranges crosswise and used  florist wire to attach them to each other.  The trick here is to *tie off* the first peice of fruit with a loop of wire and then to *sew* the wire through the other peices as opposed to just threading each peice of fruit onto the wire. 

Here’s a picture of the one K made hanging in the tree:

DSCF1900

The next few were a little more complicated. 

For the squirrel chow you need:

chunky peanut butter
vegetable shortning
stale bread, torn into peices (you can use fresh bread too, but this is a great way to use up stale)
peanuts

I didn’t really measure very precisely, if at all.  Basically you take 3 scoops of chunky PB and melt it in the microwave.  I heat it in a pyrex bowl, 30 sec at a time until farily liquid.  At this point add 1 scoop vegetable shortning and stir until the shortning is melted and incorperated.  Then, add bread pieces and peanuts and stir until bread is coated but not soggy.

To serve to the squirrels (that sounds so funny to me, makes me think of the little critters sitting at tiny tables with napkins in their laps!) just stick it in a disposable pan, a bowl or just throw it on the ground or snow.  Alternately, you can make a feeder by cutting a large window in the front of a gallon jug and nailing that to a post or hanging it by the handle. 

Here’s a picture of ours in a pan out in the tree out back.

DSCF1908   

To make the suet feeders you need the big guns.  You start with either a log about a foot long and 3″-4″ in diameter OR a 4″x4″ post cut into a foot length.  Then you use a drill and the appropriate bit to cut 1″-1 1/2″ indentations into the wood.  You want them be about 3/4″ deep.  These are where you will put the suet. If you use a 4″x4″ post you will also need to drill a hole for a piece of dowel since it will be too smooth for the birds to grip and eat.   Here’s an example of each read to stuff.

DSCF1901

Next you need to make the suet.  We made a very simple version since I had to bring enough supplies for 10 people.  You can jazz it up by adding different nuts, dried fruit and better bired food if you like.  Out version involved taking some vegetable shortening and add enough bird seed and peanuts that it looked something like this when it was mixed up:

DSCF1902

Then stuff the holes of the feeders with the suet and put the rest away for later.

To make the bottle bird feeder use these directions on Animal Planet (we got the directions for the log suet feeders there as well).

« Older entries