Today

The weather was unseasonably lovely today.  We tucked the garden in under a nice thick layer of straw.  There are still kale, onions, parsley, carrots, turnip greens, mustard greens, and salad mix peaking out.  

 We also did a bit of wood working.

These are all projects that are being prepared for Christmas.  I spent the better part of two hours cutting six boards for this step stool for Caedmon.  Um, I think I have always had a respect for people of all kinds who can make things - not the least of whom are woodworkers.  I have a new-found respect for them now.  I can cut plywood and two-by-fours for a chicken coop or flooring an attic, but I have never attempted to make anything nice.  Thank goodness, Caedmon is a happy soul and will be pleased as long as it is sturdy and functional which it will be - after another day of fiddling getting it together - I hope.  

Aroma

Owen and Caedmon love little chicks.  Who doesn't?  Our most recent set included a bunch of yard chickens from a local hobby farmer, and the selection included some Araucanas, mixed Jersey Giants, and who knows what else.  Among the unidentified birds who were fated for the freezer and then the soup pot was Aroma, a little banty for whom Owen has a special place in his heart.  He likes to carry her around

and love her.  And, mostly, she tolerates all the attention she gets pretty well.  He has even taught her to perch ;o).  She was spared in the recent processing because she's Owen's special friend and because she wouldn't really be large enough to eat.

And just in case you are wondering, she smells about like the rest of our chickens - a little earthy and not at all bad.  

Caedmon's Birthday

Caedmon is two now.  He survived the candles and enjoyed multiple celebrations of the important milestone.  He can tell you he is TWO!

I made the same treats for the second year in a row, and now they are officially Caedmon's Birthday Muffins.


Caedmon's Pumpkin Muffins (GF and yummy!)
1 1/4 c. rice flour
1/4 c. corn starch
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. cloves
1/8 t. ginger
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. guar gum
2 eggs
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. milk
3/4 c. rapadura (unrefined sugar)
1 c. pumpkin

Mix dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients, and mix well until no dry bits are left.  Spoon into 12 muffins cups.  Bake at 350 F for ~25 minutes.  Ice with cream cheese sweetened with maple syrup.


I also made him a set of - no, not tiny, graduated hats -

 felted stacking/sorting bowls using some stash left-overs (the purple possum did not felt-up).

Greenway

We've been taking a weekly, 5 mile walk along a section of the greenway in Murfreesboro with some other Mamas and children.  (We skipped this week as we were just getting over some colds.)  I can certainly tell a difference in Owen's stamina since our first walk a couple of months ago.  Every week we pass by a field with donkeys and Belted Galloway cattle, and on our last walk, the donkeys were close enough for some communion.

Abram and the boys took a walk along a different section over the weekend (while I stayed home and knitted and watched documentaries on Netflix - on the Dalia Lama, the Great Wall of China, and he canals of Venice - yes, that is what I do when I'm all alone :o).)  They saw a heron

and a turkey on their walk.  

We have enjoyed the greenway, and one day, Owen will be confident enough on his bike that we can start taking it along for him to ride while I walk with Caedmon on my back.

Unschool

Gardening (our poor, poor broccoli)

Gardening and fine motor skills (cutting)

(oh my, the cutting)

(and cutting)

(and cutting)

Physics (home-made parachute man)

(thank goddess for a tall set of stairs)

(It works!  Man is it hard to get a picture of a parachute dude in the hallway.)

Math (counting and patterns)

Snack (pomegranates are in season - yay!)

Physics (tower building from a moving rocker board)

Reading (Richard Scary)

Physics (What can these children not do on or with a rocker board?)

Art (drawing)

P.E. (tree climbing - wool hat . . . check, shoes and socks. . . nope)

(and fort building)

Biology (leaves)

Math (From the kitchen I hear, "Fourteen, seventeen, one, two, three, seven, eleven, fourteen."  I look in to find that Caedmon who is really into counting lately has found the Rook cards.  I. Can't. Wait.  Beverly, they are going to play Rook!)

Lean In A Little

This is what happens when you ask Owen and Caedmon to lean in close to each other.

Then this happens.

And then they're gone.

If Owen hadn't given himself a fancy yellow chin with face paint (better than the all-red face later in the week for sure), this might have been the Christmas photo for the grandparents.  As it is, they're pretty cute if I do say so myself.

Candy Fairy

Last year, Owen trick-or-treated for the first time.  We played candy fairy, and it worked quite well.
This year, we did it again.  After Owen had collected a bag of candy in Lauren and Steve's neighborhood, we let him have a couple of pieces that night and pick a few pieces to have after meals and the rest was left overnight for the candy fairy to collect.  In its place, he left a little Lego set which Owen put together before breakfast.