Taking a Break

I have thought and thought about this but I will be taking a short blogging break. ALL of my kids are sick. ALL 5!!! On top of that, I have been having some major fibro flare ups. On top of that, I have been so crazy busy that I have barely had any time to stop and collect myself. No time to get my creative juices flowing again. I have noticed that even my writing has been somewhat stilted and forced (what little bit I have been doing).

It won’t be a long break, more than likely just a couple of weeks. I am hoping that will give me some time to get everyone better and get myself in a better place health wise. Stress is a major factor in fibro and I have been doing quite a bit of stressing lately.

You probably won’t even notice that I’m gone. 😉 But just in case I wanted to give you a little heads up.  I still plan to take part in Fly on the Wall and the Secret Subject Swap. I wouldn’t miss those for the world. 😉

Hopefully when I come back full time I will have a bunch of great sewing, crafting and schooling things to share with you!

 

HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

P.S. You can expect ONE more post from me this week. I will be posting pics of Cailey and Colin in full costume even though I doubt they will actually be well enough to go trick or treating. 😦

 

 

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday we took Cailey and Colin to a local pumpkin patch. We had SUCH a blast! There was so much to see and do! Even though it was freezing that day we still had a really great time.

The first thing we did was hit the corn maze. We let Colin lead us through it. He loved it. It was a HUGE maze cut into the shapes of different animals. He lead us all through the frog shape and then decided we were done. Too much other stuff to see and do!

They absolutely loved the petting zoo. Even though we have had bunnies and goats in the past, they still loving interacting with them. I think this was their first experience with a sheep!

We took a lot of silly pictures. This is one of my favorites. LOL

We got to take a hayride. Since we were some of the few there that were not with a school group, we got the hayride and big pumpkin patch all to ourselves! FUN FUN FUN!!! Colin jumped off and grabbed the first pumpkin he saw! I didn’t even get to snap a picture! Thankfully Cailey took a bit more time and I got the exact moment when she found hers.

This was one of their favorite parts of the whole day!!! I caught Cailey in mid-flip! LOL

 

 

 

Their pumpkin choices! 😀

 

 

We did ALL kinds of stuff! Corn maze, hayride, pumpkin patch, corn tub, bouncy pillow, petting zoo, fudge, hot fudge cake, ginormous slides, and a bunch of stuff I know I’m forgetting. We are definitely making this a yearly tradition, but maybe we should go a little earlier in the season next year. We froze our tushies off!! LOL

 

 

 

 

Costume Preview

So here is a little preview of Cailey and Colin’s Halloween costumes. I didn’t do them up like we will on Halloween but I did want to show how they look so far. We will go full make-up and hair on Thursday. I can’t wait!!! 😀

 

BUT we are hitting cold season here at the house. My oldest, Jacob has a really terrible cold and now 2 of the other kids are getting sore throats! NOOOOO!!! Cailey and Colin missed Halloween last year because they were both sick!! We don’t want a repeat!

 

In case you are wondering exactly what Cailey is this year, here is a picture of a Jinafire Long doll.

 

 

 

I used a pattern for the main dress but put quite a bit of my own twists on it. I matched the fabric up as best as I could. All in all, I am very proud of it.

Underneath the dress is a 2 piece gold lame outfit, made to look like Jinafire’s scales. Hopefully it will also help to keep Cailey warm.

 

Colin’s was a bit easier. I drafted a pattern for the pirate shirt and used eyelets for the first time. MUCH easier than I thought it would be.

 

 

 

HAVE FUN TRICK OR TREATING!!!

 

 

Halloween FUN – Printables, Crafts, Activities and More

 

 

 

Here are some resources that would be great for a Halloween unit or just a fun Halloween themed break from the norm. 😉

 

 

HALLOWEEN

Halloween Lapbook  and Notebooking Pages – Homeschool Helper Online

Halloween Printables and Activities – Spoonful

Halloween Printables, Crafts and Activities – Activity Village

Halloween Coloring Pages, Crafts and Lesson Plans – Crayola

Halloween Worksheets – Education.com

Halloween Printables and Crafts – DLTK-Kids

Halloween Coloring Pages – Coloring.ws

Jack-o-lantern Theme Pack  and Halloween Theme Pack – Gift of Curiosity

Candy Corn Math Pack – Royal Baloo

Halloween Worksheets – School Sparks

Frankenweenie Activity Sheets – Saving Dollars and Sense

Halloween Counting Printables – Over the Big Moon

Halloween Worksheets – abc Teach

Halloween Printable Pack – 2 Teaching Mommies

Halloween Printable Tot Pack – The Intentional Momma

Halloween Activity Pack – Nick Jr.

Halloween Printables and Paper Crafts – Squidoo

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Activities – Education.com

40 Quick Halloween Crafts – The Country Chic Cottage

Halloween Chapter Books – What Do We Do All Day

100 + Halloween Ideas for Kids – My Small Potatoes

Halloween Books for Boys – Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Halloween Activities – Apples 4 the Teacher

50 + Halloween Activities for Kids – Growing a Jeweled Rose

Halloween Poems – Squidoo

Halloween Crafts for Kids – Parents.com

20 + Halloween Crafts – iVillage

Halloween Info for Kids – Smart Stat

Halloween History – History.com

40 Halloween Facts – Random History

The History of Halloween – Social Studies for Kids

 

 

HALLOWEEN SCIENCE LINKS

Halloween Science Projects – Chemistry About.com

Halloween Chemistry – ACS

Halloween Science Experiments – Kitchen Pantry Scientist

Halloween Science Experiments and Ideas – Science Bob

10 Experiments for Halloween – Babble

Candy Experiments

Halloween Science Experiments – YouTube

 

 

 

 

HAVE FUN CELEBRATING HALLOWEEN!!!!

 

 

Halloween Projects and FUN

I thought I would show y’all some of the fun Halloween things we did over the weekend.  We plan on doing many more in the days leading up to Halloween.

SKULL CAKE!!!! This was a lot of fun to make with the Wilton skull cake pan. My icing was a bit of a mess with this one. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

We did leaf rubbings. Cailey had much more fun with it than Colin did.

 

 

 

 

 

We made paper bag pumpkins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we made fun decorations from a kit we got at World Market.

 

SUCH a FUN weekend!!!!

 

 

 

Bat Unit Study Resources

In the days leading up to Halloween I will be posting different resources for a bunch of different studies that you could do. I’m starting with bats and will also try to get spiders, Salem Witch Trials, Romania and Halloween in general up in time.

As always, most of the resources I list are free unless marked with $$$. I try to cover a variety of ages. All the books can be found at your local library, on Amazon or Paperback Swap.

The pictures are clickable links.

There is a whole series of these. Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Ballgame, etc.

Nocturnal Animals Lapbook – Homeschool Share

Stellaluna Lapbook – Homeschool Share

Bat Coloring Pages – Coloring.ws

Printable Bat Templates – First Palette

Life Cycle and other printables – Kidzone

Bat Printables and activities – Activity Village

Bat Coloring Page and activities – Classroom Jr.

Bat Printables – Education.com

Bat Mini Helper – Currclick (free, even though it’s on Currclick)

Bat Printables and Activities – A to Z Teacher Stuff

Printable and Info  and Bat Info and Activities  – Scholastic

Printable Crafts and Activities – DLTK-Kids

Coloring Pages and Art Ideas – Crayola

Printable Bat Craft  and Other Bat Craft   – Learn Create Love

Bat Coloring Pages – AnimalPlace.net

Worksheets, Lesson Plans and More – Teacher Planet

Bat Activity Sheets  – School Express

Printable Bat Diagram – Vintage Printable

Printables and Info – A to Z Kids Stuff

$$$ – all things below this line are NOT FREE

Bat Nomenclature – Pinay Homeschooler

HOAC Bat Lapbook – Currclick (check the price on HOAC first)

Bats and Spiders Unit Study – Currclick (check the price on Amazon first)

Bat Notebooking Pages, Lapbook and more – Christian Homeschool Hub ($25 a year for unlimited downloads)

Games, activities, crafts, etc.

Bat Unit – About.com

Bat Lesson Plans – Bats Live

Bat Crafts – Squidoo

Bat Facts – Squidoo

Wild Kratts – Going Batty and Building a Bat Home

Bat Crafts – Family Crafts About.com

Bat Catcher Game – PBS.org Zoom

Bat Lesson Ideas – Education World

Bat Info and Activities – Bat Conservation International

Bats! Why Should We Care?

Bat Educational Resources – BatConservation.org

Bat Info, Games and Quiz – Bats 4 Kids

Bat Video – Nat Geo

Bats Facts and Videos – Kids Nat Geo

How Bats Work – How Stuff Works

Bats – Animal Planet

Bat Facts – Bat Rescue

Listen to Bats – Bats.org.uk

Bat vidoes, activites, x-ray and more – Incrediblebats.com

What Do Bats Do in the Winter – YouTube (look over on the right for more great bat videos)

Bat Crafts – Spoonful

Bat Crafts – Artists Helping Children

Montessori Bat Unit – Just Montessori

 

 

SHEW!!! There you go! 😀

 

HAVE FUN HOMESCHOOLING!!!

 

 

Grandma’s No Bake Cookies

 

 

That is my Grandma. She was just the sweetest, most giving lady. I love and miss her SO much.

I always said that she looked like the granny with Tweety Bird! 😉

 

I was very blessed to receive the copy of my grandmother’s recipes from my mother. My cousin made them one year for Christmas and gave them to all the aunts and uncles.

My grandmother had 15 children. Can you believe it?? 15! And people look at me crazy because I have 5! 😉

 

 

Here is my grandma’s recipe for no bake cookies!

 

 

 

 

 

Mix into pot:

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1/4 lb butter (8 tablespoons)

 

Put the above on medium heat and cook until it starts to boil. Let boil for approximately 1 minute.

Remove and cool for one minute.

 

Now add the following:

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 cups quick oats

Mix and drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool and enjoy!

 

 

HAVE FUN COOKING!!!!!

 

Fly on the Wall – October

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 14 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

 

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

http://BakingInATornado.com                                     Baking In A Tornado

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                                Just a Little Nutty

http://followmehome.shellybean.com                          Follow me home . . .

https://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/                Stacy Sews and Schools

http://thesadderbutwisergirl.com                              The Sadder But Wiser Girl

http://www.menopausalmom.com/                                 Menopausal Mother

http://mooreorganizedmayhem.blogspot.com/                Moore Organized Mayhem

http://www.theinsomniacsdream.com/                     The Insomniac’s Dream

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                      Spatulas on Parade

http://www.therowdybaker.com                              The Rowdy Baker

http://www.trashyblog.com/                                       Trashy Blog

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                            Dates 2 Diapers

http://sorrykidblog.com/                       Sorry kid, Your Mom Doesn’t Play Well With Others

Sooooo, this month has been rather dull. NOT one single person has done ANYTHING remotely silly or funny. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AROUND HERE????? Maybe they are just getting better at hiding it from me??? Maybe we have the 6 weeks of school burn out???? Not sure but something HAS to change!!!

Don’t worry, I do have something to post, although it’s not our normal craziness…. Instead I have CUPCAKES!!! Hmmm, that might be even better than our normal craziness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First we made zombie cupcakes from a kit we got at World Market.  A word to the wise, make sure you have powered sugar…. The green stuff that comes with it is NOT powdered sugar and the icing will taste like dog doo…. Yep. Definitely BLECK!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we made Jack Skellington cupcakes! These were so much fun!!! And since the icing was store bough, they were very good! LOL

I used a regular chocolate cake mix and cream cheese icing. Then I used black Wilton Sparkle Gel to draw on the features.

 

 

 

 

Last we make Jack O’Lantern cupcakes! I used food coloring to make the cream cheese icing orange and the same black Wilton Sparkle Gel for the features.

 

 

 

Last Saturday I took Cailey and Colin to the Lowe’s Build and Grow.  They have been having SO MUCH FUN at these little workshops!!!! On Sunday, Joann’s will have a Monster’s University make and take. I think we HAVE to go to that one, too.

 

 

If you want to see what else we’ve been up to in this month check out What We Did Last Week  and Busy Homeschooling Days.

 

 

Right now I am eyeball deep in Halloween costumes!!! Colin’s is completely finished but I only have the pieces cut for Caileys. YILES!! I need to get moving!!!

 

Coming soon to a blog near you –

My Grandma’s no bake cookie recipe

Halloween themed study unit resources

Cailey’s Jinafire Long costume and Colin’s pirate costume

 

 

Now, don’t forget to check out all the amazing bloggers taking part in this month’s Fly on the Wall!!!!

 

 

Secret Subject Swap – Take 2 – October

Welcome to Take Two of October’s Secret Subject Swaps. This week 12 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

http://BakingInATornado.com                            Baking In A Tornado

http://thesadderbutwisergirl.com                    The Sadder But Wiser Girl

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com                       Evil Joy Speaks

http://www.100lbCountdown.com                      100lb Countdown

http://followmehome.shellybean.com                    Follow me home . .

http://www.menopausalmom.com/                          Menopausal Mother

http://dinoheromommy.com/                              Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

https://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/            Stacy Sews and Schools

http://thisisdiscoveringme.wordpress.com/              Discovering Me

http://www.itsyummi.com                                      It’s Yummilicious

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                                  Dates 2 Diapers

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/                       Confessions of a part-time working mom

What was your favorite thing to imagine as a child?

It was submitted by: dates2diapers2.blogspot.com    

I was an only child so I had LOTS of time to play by myself. Most of that time was spent in imaginary worlds. When I got the chance to play with my cousins, I would try to drag them into those worlds as well.

The very first thing that I can remember ever imagining on a regular basis  was WONDER WOMAN!!! Complete with Underoos and yellow jump rope!

(pic from Wikipedia)

No one else was allowed to be Wonder Woman. *I* was Wonder Woman!!!!!

Now, tell the truth! Nothing but the truth!!

I was also obsessed with Charlie’s Angels. I wanted to be Sabrina!!

(Wikipedia)

For my 4th Birthday I received a Sabrina doll and I was in HEAVEN!!!!!

Then I discovered reading……. I became Laura Ingalls! My cousin and I were ALWAYS arguing over who got to be Laura. Neither of us wanted to be that goody-two-shoes Mary. Although, our behavior was more reminiscent of Nelly.

In between I was Clara Barton or Amelia Earhart. Whatever book I was reading at the time. Although, I always went back to either Wonder Woman or Laura Ingalls.

All in all I think I see a pattern here. LOL I wanted to be a strong woman. Most of them are easy to see but if you think about it, living on the prairie and putting up with Nelly wasn’t easy! 😉

PLEASE, go check out all the amazing posts!!!!!

My Recent Reading List

I have been doing a bit better with my reading lately, getting in a few more books than my recent average. I thought I would share that list with you.

(The pics are clickable links to Amazon)

 

 

I picked this up at the library Monday (I am also writing this on Monday. Shhhh!!) I’m not very far into it but I am already hooked. AND I’ve already been creeped out!!! LOVE IT!!!

One word, read NOS4A2 by Joe Hill before reading this to “get” a certain part. 😉

NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! 😉

 

 

 

A WONDERFUL historical fiction book about Catherine the Great.

We follow the life of a bookbinders daughter as she enters the court of Empress Elisabeth. She is in the court when a young Sophie (soon to be Catherine) comes to be the bride of Elizabeth’s nephew and next in line to the throne.

Absolutely captivating, but I wish I had known that the 2nd book wasn’t out yet!!! LOL

 

 

 

 

I absolutely LOVED this book!!! I never realized how little I actually knew about the French Revolution!

I have such a great respect for Madame Tussaud and all that she endured.

 

 

 

This is absolutely the BEST titled book! I was completely and totally CREEPED out the entire time!!!

Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until a few minutes ago that this was a sequel! WAH!!!! I had a feeling that I was missing a few things in the story, mainly to do with a couple of the lead characters. BUT even though I missed the first book, this was a very captivating and scary story!

 

 

 

 

We’ve all heard the story of Godiva’s naked ride but do you know WHY she did it?? I have never heard the WHY of it. Not to say that this book is accurate, but now I have an IDEA of the WHY! 😉 It was a very good story! I feel in love with the main characters and could barely put this book down.

 

 

 

 

Having Downton Abbey withdrawals???? Then this book is for YOU!!!!!

I screamed and cried in frustration all throughout this book!!!! I was aching to find out more when I closed the book. NOW I see that there are sequels!!! YAY!!! Thank you, Amazon! LOL

 

 

There are more… LOTS more…. If you want a longer list just click on my Goodreads box over on the right side. 😉

 

HAVE FUN READING!!!