In the Spirit of trying to get back on the Simple Wagon

I thought I would repost a list of our Daily Routines, from last November, when I was in the height of being ON the wagon.

http://simplelandl.blogspot.com/2008/11/our-daily-routines.html

Now, some of this had had to change. Now that I co-homeschool with my sister, we can no longer do Town Day on Friday. I can't really do chores during the day either because I am teaching preschool from 9 am to Noon, and teaching the homeschoolers from 12:30 pm on to 3 pm.

But the ideas are still very good. I tweaked them to accomodate our situation last year, and I can tweak it to accomodate our situation now.

Halloween 2009

Well, Halloween has come and gone. We went to Halloween Farmer's Market, and then we had a thing at the Public Library that we wanted to go to, but it was cold, and Jelly Bean was tired (she has been sick off and on lately) so we went home and took a nap to rest up for Trick or Treating.

Here's some pictures from Farmer's Market:

Happy Aloe - Ween!

Flower looking for something to spend her Boo Bucks on

(she ended up with some beads.) We were all cold.

Definitely cold. Jelly Bean dressed up as a sweet vampire, and Super was uh, Superman.
After this, we went home to rest up for
neighborhood Trick or Treating.

Here we are in yet another set of costumes. Super is crying because I couldn't find the "right" gloves. I made them create costumes that they could layer clothes under (Jelly Bean has about 3 layers under that pinafore) or that involved a coat. At this point, they weren't happy about it, but after they had been out a few minutes, they were glad. (Oh, in case you can't tell, Jelly Bean is Laura Ingalls, Super is a Fire Fighter - same costume from last year, and Flower is a vampire.)

Here is Super afterwards.
I knew that some candy would cheer him up.
It always brings a smile to my face!

We had some macaroni and cheese afterwards to warm up.

After this, Flower and Super helped hand out candy until 8 pm, and all the kids were asleep by 8:30. I stayed up until 10ish, and then to bed because I was feeling really sick. I stayed in bed all day Sunday. I slept for about 18 hours.

Maybe I was just tired because I'm feeling better now.

Happy Halloween! Hope you had a nice day.

First Round of Trick or Treating

Last night we went to Trunk or Treat at our church. The idea is kind of like it sounds. An adult stands by or sits in their trunk and hands out candy while the kids walk by. But last night, it was raining. (Shocking. It's only rained about 25 days this month.) So it was moved indoors. So the kids walked across the stage to show their costumes, and then walked around the gym while the parents sat on chairs in a square handing out candy. And then we went home. My kind of easy trick or treating.

I'm very anti-spending much money for costumes, so the grand total for all three costumes was $5. I bought Flower's sandals at the thrift store for $1, and Super's costume at the thrift store was $4. Jelly Bean wore clothes and used accessories that we already had around the house, so I spent $0 on her costume.

Next Up - Montgomery Academy Halloween Party! And then Trick or Treating at Farmer's Market, and then Neighborhood Trick or Treating.

And the funny thing is I don't really like Halloween. Well, that's not totally true. I love it when kids create creative costumes themselves or using costumes from clothes they already have. But I hate all the candy giving, and I really hate all the spooky/gory stuff. Next year, I think I'm going to do a Fall Festival Party at my house. We can do fall activities, you can dress up, but only if you dress up as a real person (either living or dead) but you don't have to. And we will have fall harvest food - apples, pie, muffins, that sort of stuff. It sounds WAY more fun to me.

Flower and her friend during the costume parade.
Flower is Cleopatra and her friend is a Cubs fan.

Jelly Bean dressed up as a detective.
Can't quite tell from this side view.

Super as Spider Man.

A Close Up of Super and his girlfriend. Doesn't she make an adorable Snow White? She normally has light blond hair, but it was super important to his girlfriend to have BLACK hair like the real princess, so that is black hairspray in her hair.

Have I mentioned that they really are going to get married?
I have it all planned out and everything. Just kidding. Mostly.

Now she looks a little more like a detective!

She decided MONTHS ago that she was going to be a detective and what she was going to wear.

I think Spidey needs some sleep!

Flower

Flower and her BFF

A pic of the crew - my kids and Flower's friend, and my sister's children. My nieces were a witch and a monkey, and my nephews were a scarecrow and a zombie pizza delivery guy.

(The pizza guy has an actual broken leg. The cast and crutches aren't part of his costume.)

Well, it is done . . .

Remember this post?

Well, in case you don't feel like clicking the link, remember this picture?

We bought this playset at the end of August. And then Mr. Simple was gone many weekends, and it rained, and rained, and rained. And only had help one weekend, way back in early September, and that was one guy. But he has kept at it, working on it when he could. By early this October, it was functional. The rock wall, slide, rope wall, and tire swing and the beams for the swings were all up. The only thing left to do was put the roof on. And then it rained. And he was out of town. This weekend, he decided that he was going to finish it, rain or shine. It rained Thursday. It rained Friday. It sprinkled on Saturday. It sprinkled on Sunday. It rained off and on today.

But he decided to do it anyway. He did it when he could. When it wasn't pouring. And today, right before dinner, he finished. He was excited.

So were we. The kids love it. I love it. I'm so glad that we bought it. It will provide many years of fun.

Thank you Mr. Simple for all your hard work!!!!

Autumnal Celebration, Part 3

This is the weekend for the Big Autumnal Festival. It is our favorite fall festival. I blogged about it last year too. The kids were super excited. And it was a perfect fall day - not too cold/windy/bright, etc. It was sunny with just a slight chill in the air. We got there, listened to music, looked at what the artisans were making, went in the Nature Building, did bubbles, pumpkin bowling and pumpkin bobbing, ate s'mores and drank hot apple cider, and we decorated pumpkins. We had a VERY fun day.

We listened to some music from Todd Carey . . .

Did bubbles . . .

and dropped a marble in the homemade marble run . . .

Talked to a basket weaver . . .

Looked at all the dyed yarn . . .

And Jelly Bean spun some yarn . . .

Super went through the gourd arch . . .

And Jelly Bean grew some horns . . .

They were SO excited to go to the observatory . . .

To look at the moon . . .

Look at those cute kids!

Flower on a covered bridge . . .

And Flower decorating her pumpkin . . .

Jelly Bean sucking on a spider sucker . . .

Jelly Bean's pumpkin

Super's pumpkin - complete with arms and "a blaster."

Flower's pumpkin

Super hauling our loot . . .

Scooter waving Good-bye!

Pretty As A Picture

Last Sunday was the annual children's program at church and I took some pictures of the kids when we got home. It has been cool and rainy for, uh, forever, and Sunday was a nice, warm, fall day. Our leaves haven't turned colors yet, but there is finally some color on most of the trees in the area. Click on the pictures if you want to see them larger.

Look at that sweetness between the girls.

As always, The Silly Face Picture.

Super. I asked him what he was doing.

He said "Relaxing in the sun."

I like relaxing in the sun too, little dude.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas??

Well, it's not snowing here, in case that's what you are worried about.

We have made the decision to buy one present for the whole family.

However, that doesn't mean that everybody is just getting one present. It just can't be purchased. Or, ideally, you can't need to buy additional supplies either. And we are shooting to have presents done by November 30th, so that gives us just over a month to finish. Which really isn't much time.

So there has been the scheming of what to create, and the beginnings of present-making. I need to sit down with the children and have them help me come up with ideas, because they are all infinitely more creative than I am. I do have a couple ideas though, and I'll post some partial pictures here as I go along (but not the whole thing because I don't want anyone finding out ahead of time!)

Sometimes, I think it would be nicer if we celebrated Christmas in March or April though. It would be nice to have all this excitement of craft-making to keep us busy through the dreary winter months.