Stages

Building the stage for Tom Sawyer took up a great deal of the day yesterday.  Here are some photos.  Hopefully I can keep up.  

Many hands make light work

C helping

We start with a stage and then build an extension, complete with center ramp and stairs.  We'll also add side panels that run the length of the room as a "backstage" area.

B is running lights this year.  He purchased them this summer and has been teaching himself to use them.  Whoot!

Fall Back

This weekend marks the end of Daylight Savings time and "falling back" an hour.  I feel more like I am falling behind.  It's normal for this time of year.  We start school and all of the activities that follow that, which includes the homeschool play.  This year we are performing Tom Sawyer.  I have Muff Potter and Clara Rice (school girl) living with me.  Miss K's birthday is smack-dab in the middle of the play season, which adds planning a party to the mix.  My mother-in-law is moving tomorrow, which has been low stress for me, but not so for my husband, so instead of the direct stress it could bring, I get the back end.  Hmm... But, all is not lost or even stressful.  We have had many good moments in the last couple of weeks.  So much so that I had time to take pictures, but not post them until now.  

We carved pumpkins

Finished product

Ate mummy muffins for a snack

Birthday Party Monster Bookmark Craft

Finished a sweater

Received a violin

and blew out more candles!

Bridging

It seems the children's loads rotate between the three.  Some weeks seem very Scout driven or school needs or youth group activities.  This week has very much revolved around Miss K.  

She has done so much growing up this year.  We look to celebrate her 12th birthday in a couple of weeks.  If she were reading this over my shoulder, she would give you the exact number of days and perhaps the hours down to her sleepover.  (She is my Matilda--without the magic.  :))

Tuesday evening Miss K "bridged" from the younger American Heritage Girl groups to the older girls and became a Pioneer.

"Before" as Explorer

"After" as Pioneer

  Miss K is also learning to expand her view from self to others and one of the many ways she is doing this is through service time.  Her AHG group stresses the importance of service to God, community and country.  This weekend she and I attended an Operation Christmas Child Packing Party.  To learn more about this Samaritan's Purse, the overseeing organization, or to help click here.  We each were able to pack 4 boxes.  There were so many people who turned out for the party that it went very quickly.

Stepping into Arcadia

Mom II and I were able to take a short field trip to downtown Arcadia this week.  Her doctor's office is there and she showed me around the town before her appointment.  We visited Hartley's Antique Store where I felt young and old at the same time.  We popped in to the freshly renovated liquor store and giggled over some funny looking bottles and names of local wines and spirits.  We peeked in the windows and back doors of some other establishments, including the Arcadia Arts Museum, which was closed.  I love the fact the town has turned this train station into a museum.  The backside of the brick cornerstone says "gymnasium", so I was a little confused, wondering where in the world the gym would have been.  Anyway, this spot will be one I will return to one day.

The place we lingered was my favorite, but I don't remember the name of the store.  It sold weavings, looms, yarn and supplies.  They even offered lessons, which Mom II signed up to take.  I think I handled every yarn and completed project in the room.  

Maybe my mother would like to visit with me one day soon.  She and I both go a little nuts over this sort of thing.  Thank you for the fun afternoon!

Apples and Birthday

How many of you claim Autumn as your favorite season?  Many votes would be cast in my family, although I remain a strong Summer vote.  However, many of my favorite people and things are celebrated in the Fall, including my mother's birthday and picking apples.  These photos are all from this weekend.  

Miss K taking a bite

H and my nephew with their haul

Birthday girl and my hubby enjoying a campfire

My sister created this great cake

Close up of the cake

Yearbook Photos

How does a homeschooling family have a yearbook?  Easy!  We belong to a fantastic homeschool group which has a family willing to put one together annually.  We all take our own photos and submit our group outing photos too!  This is our family's photo for our 2013-2014 school year.

Sophomore, 8th grader and 7th grader

Biology Lab

School days fly by and drag simultaneously.  Fun and extremely boring.  At least we cover the entire gamut.  (Finding my silver lining.)  This year, our fun has come from Biology, especially lab.  We've been studying bacteria most recently and we took a field trip in our backyard to collect specimens to grow cultures to study under our fancy-schmancy microscope.  (The microscope can be connected to our laptop so we can all study the same slide at once.  I have to say, watching amoeba swim across my screen at 400 power is pretty durn cool.)  Here are some photos of our labs.

Prepped lab tray next to lunch  :)

Collection--lake water combined with each "food" for bacteria

Kids sketching what they observe from the collection area

After 3 days of waiting for our bacteria to grow, we were blown back by the stench of our collection while we viewed them under the microscope.  Tomorrow we take another look.  Think I might keep the trash can handy...blek!