Inspiration

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

~Albert Einstein~

It began when Tom went to chop up a fallen tree in the backwoods. Grace and Xander decided to work on their 'Civilization'. Grace had conceived an idea about building houses while waiting for Xander during his Mandarin chinese class and wanted to test those out. Their original structures were built of short sticks of wood, placed at right angles to form -- in Grace's case -- squares or -- in Xander's case -- rectangles.  Looking at Grace's 'tee pee', Xander remarked, "I don't think it is quite big enough." 

"It is big enough to sit in." She replied firmly and that was that.

Tom had been chopping the tree into long lengths and the children spotted this. They asked if they could use some for their civilization. When they explained their project, he helped them create the skeleton of a Tee Pee.

The kids considered the Tee Pee and decided it needed something... FURNITURE! Xander built himself a table and came in to get 'supplies'. When he returned, he discovered that Grace had decided that his table needed a chair and she was building one for him.

Xander sat down to test the chair and was pleased with the result.

Meanwhile, the two older boys, who had been working on Minecraft, took a breather and noticed what was going on outside...

"Can we do this too?" they asked their sibs.

"Of course! We can build a village!"

Building the Tee Pees became a communal event as some of the originals collapsed. The reconstructed ones involved several children and new ideas about how to add stability to the structures -- including the idea of tying the three main sticks at the top.

Covering the Tee Pees became an occasion for trade: Xander discovered a stash of 'waste cloth' -- the other kids wanted to use some for their Tee Pees, so they began trading objects that they thought valuable. In some cases, a person had nothing to trade and it was decided that cloth could be donated.

There was a lot of laughter and comradeship in this impromptu project. And the children were still talking about their village (which by group consensus they decided to name 'Village') on their way to the Halloween Pony and Costume party.

This morning, first thing, the boys checked their Tee Pees. Despite a night of wind and rain, the Village is still standing.

Halloween Graveyards

                           The best laid schemes of mice and men

Go often awry,

And leave us nothing but grief and pain,

For promised joy!

-To a Mouse by Robert Burns-

         

                      I am very experienced in mislaid plans... perhaps because mine are always too big, too grand, too many for the time I actually have. Yesterday is a good example of mislaid plans which somehow -- thank heavens -- though they went a bit awry, still came out looking something like successful.

                 The plans began because my eldest son was invited to a birthday party. Knowing that my younger son, Xander, would feel left out, I suggested to James' mother that James' little sister,Grace,  and Xander's very best friend, should come to our house for their very own party.  In preparation for that visit, I began to plan. Halloween is just a few days off and the children all have been clamouring for Halloween preparations and I decided that this would be a wonderful opportunity to do just that. I had seen recipes for              Melting Witch Pudding Cups 

And Spooky Spider Cupcakes

              Since I was going to be collecting Grace at noon, I figured that we would start with lunch -- Mummy Hotdogs (A simple variation of 'Pigs in the blanket' with the hot dogs sliced into skeletons then wrapped in croissant rolls and baked) followed by our cooking adventures. In my idealized day, these domestic moments would be followed by a trip into the October sunshine where we would do a Scavenger hunt. When they had hunted to their hearts' content, I would leave them to continue building their civilization while I returned to clean up the mess I had no doubt we would have left behind.

      My plans went south as soon as I mentioned them to my youngest. I said 'We will make...' and he piped up "A CHOCOLATE GRAVEYARD!"

I blinked. "What?"

"A Chocolate Graveyard!"

          Being Xander, he already KNEW everything that was involved. Having lived with him for eight years, I knew enough to go with the flow. 

"Okay, we can make a Chocolate Graveyard too." I conceded.

         "One for us and One for them" he clarified. "Grace can make one to take home."

"Okay" The death-nell to best laid plans had sounded.

       We dropped Jason off and collected Grace then the three of us went shopping at the dollar store and Grocery store. We bought gummy skeletons, candy eyeballs, chocolate wrapped eyeballs (for rocks), black decorative icing, eight large bars of Hershey's chocolate (for the base of the graveyards), two disposable cookie tins, mini-marshmallows, gummy worms, oreo cookies in chocolate (dirt) and vanilla (sand), and plastic bags of crushing cookies.

     By the time we got home, both children were hungry -- "FOR CHOCOLATE!" Grace told me longingly. I was gently firm 'Real food first or your tummies will hurt.' She was as good as her name. "Yes, my tummy would probably hurt. What will we eat?' I was all ready for that. "Well, I was thinking... Mummy Hot dogs?' I waited eagerly for smiling faces... Instead they both looked at me solemnly, these two children who are so alike that they might be twins. No. Okay. So... Sigh. What do you want? Grace decided on a 'regular' hot dog while Xander opted for a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. They had the same reason for their choices: the simpler their food choices, the sooner they could begin building their graveyards.

        I have my faults but I am extremely easy going about other peoples' creative endevours. The 'graveyards' were not 'graveyards' as I might have made them but the children had an absolutely wonderful time making them. I lost count of the number of times they jumped up to go wash off their hands (Hands, it seems, are the preferred tool for creating chocolate grave yards. They are most useful for 'ripping up skeletons', 'moulding' -- spelling deliberate -- chocolate and arranging eyeballs).

When the two of them emerged from their graveyard creations, they noticed the sunlight glinting in through the backyard window: 

         

and set off with the scavenger hunt sheets before I had even realized that they were done. With silence descended, I decided to begin the cleaning process. Periodically I would catch glimpses of golden brown heads as the two of them flitted past my windows then suddenly the front door slammed.

"What now?" they chimed.

They spotted the Melting Witch Cups and asked "Can we eat those?"

"Sure" I agreed, handing them each a cup and a spoon, "Why don't you take these out to the front porch?"

Off they went. Silence again. Then the door.

"Are you done already?"

"I've eaten my Witch." Xander announced. The pudding was untouched. 

"You don't like the pudding?"

"No."

"Well, I am eating the Witch's guts! I think they are DELICIOUS!"

           Xander went off to use the restroom and Grace explained that they had been discussing religion. She allowed as how she was rather puzzled by the idea that God was everywhere... but that she thought the idea of heaven was rather cool and that she was looking forward to getting her very own rainbow dog. I blinked. Rainbow do? 

'"Yes" she said, "In heaven, you have the things you like best. I like rainbows and dogs."

Ah.

    We talked a bit more when Xander returned and it was agreed by both children that they really were tired of people telling them that they shouldn't be sad when someone died.

"My friend Grace died and I still cry cause I miss her." Grace informed me. "I think it is stupid to tell someone not to cry."

I agreed but suggested that perhaps when people said things like that they were telling it to themselves as much as to other people -- "Adults do sometimes talk out loud to themselves, you know. Sometimes they tell you things as much to make themselves feel better as to help you feel better." The children considered that and decided that they could live with that. Off they went to continue their discussion on the nature of God, Heaven and the Universe at large.

    When witch guts were eaten and deep philosophical conversations had been concluded, Xander and Grace went off into the far beyond of the backyard to explore. What precisely they had gone to seek, I did not know. They returned in great excitement because they had heard 'A NOISE'! 

'A loud NOISE'

'A loud noise?'

'A loud NOISE'

'Show me.'

We walked out the door and up the driveway. As we walked they took turns demonstrating the nature of the 'NOISE'. Was it mechanical? No. Was it animal? Yes. Was it a dog barking? No. We headed down the road toward the wild space between yards. As we passed our next door neighbor's house, what did we spot but our neighbor, a neighbor's shepard dog, Sadie, our dog, Lincoln, and two rambunctious orange tabby kittens. The 'NOISE' was forgotten.

Children and kittens ran everywhere. Shrieks and rescues and dodging and petting and yelps later, the children decided to rename the kittens (who belong to a neighbor farther up the road but were being babysy Mr. Marion at  that time) Fangblade and Zorroette. The kittens, of course, were oblivious. When we walked back to the house (Grace's mother had called to let me know that the party was over) the kittens followed, evidently unwilling to surrender their new playmates. We returned them to Mr. Marion, our neighbor, and bundled into the car.

'I like Fangblade' Grace announced wistfully.

'Zorroette is really cute' Xander agreed at a tangent.

I waited.

'I really want a kitten.' Grace concluded.

'How many cats do we have, Mommy?' Xander asked.

'Four' I replied, knowing what was coming.

'I think if those people don't want to keep her, I am going to want Fangblade for my kitten.' Grace decided

'I think we need another kitten.' Xander agreed.

' They are in and out cats.' I noted. 'Maybe the neighbors will let you pet and share the kittens... so you can 'kind of ' have them.'

Neither child was satisfied, of course. But then, the best laid plans...

P.S. The 'NOISE' it turns out was probably a bear...

King Tut Hay Maze

                                                           Entrance to the King Tut Maze

     One of the joys of Autumn and childhood has got to be corn and hay mazes and this year, in honor of the King Tut Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center, the Schilter Family farm near Olympia, Washington has created a King Tut Corn Maze. The temptation of this maze was just too much... we had to go. I contacted friends who also homeschool and together, the boys and I and James(13), Grace(7) and Deena (Mom) traveled up.  The drive took about an hour but the kids, all of whom are good friends, were so busy chatting that I don't think they noticed. They tumbled out of the car when we arrived still in full voice.

 

The Hay Ride

After paying for our tickets -- a small 5$ fee per person which included not only the Maze but a hay jump, petting zoo, hay maze, hay pyramid, and play ground, we loaded up onto the tractor and enjoyed a ride around the farm to the corn maze entrance. The children got that extra frission when the Tractor driver told them handed them maps to the maze, pointed out the entrance and the exit and told them that he was sorry but he wasn't quite sure where the Mummy was... Keep in mind, all four kids are Minecraft crazy...

Entering the Maze

Like a Minecraft Zombie

As a part of the Adventure, the Schilter Family Farm provides each maze explorer with a puzzle map. Within the Maze are nine clues. The Map has nine Hieroglypic puzzles that the clues are designed to help the explorer solve. Upon completion of the Maze and the puzzle, the explorer turns in his/her sheet for a chance to win tickets to the P.C.C. King Tut exhibit. The Grand Prize includes overnight accommodations at a Downtown Seattle Hotel and transportation to the event...

Solving Hieroglyphs

Photo borrowed from: Submitted by Kiersten Throndsen, KOMO Communities Reporter

Saturday, September 22nd, 2012, 11:30am

Initially the older two read the map carefully and tried valiantly to decipher to what part of the large image (see above), the map referred. The younger two, though initially they followed, quickly became disenchanted with this methodical approach. Rebellion was brewing. Mothers stepped in. Peace was restored by allowing the youngers their chance at leadership... which devolved rapidly into a mad charge through the maze.

The Maze was HUGE. After an hour and a half wandering around, the children were hungry and thirsty. Granola bars solved the one but we had no water. Told that we could leave to go get water but that this meant we'd have to end the search for clues, the kids responded by charging off at a dead run. Remarkably, they found the exit almost immediately:

The Exit

But the exit was NOT where they wanted to be and they re-entered the maze: "More CLUES!!!"

Back and forth and around they ran, switching leadership randomly. The first set this time were the youngers and, much to the bemusement of the moms, this time THEY had the map and were busily reading it and orienting it. And, after another hour or so, they found....

The Mummy

And... A MOUSE!

There were nine clues total and after two and a half hours, the children had solved six of them:

Clue number six

They were finding the clues out of order and often finding the same clue more than once, a fact that, strangely enough, did not seem to discourage them. And when they finally solved all the clues, they could not find the exit! This was especially odd as they had found the exit repeatedly during their clues search... but although they tried NOT finding the exit, in an attempt to 'trick' it, they finally gave up and simply walked through the corn to the side of the maze.

We hiked back to the main portion of the farm through the Pumpkin fields to the place where we were going to eat lunch.

The Pumpkin Fields

The kids, of course, checked the pumpkins out and all of them, without exception, were determined to pick pumpkins larger than they were...

They discovered the Hay Pyramid:

And, despite claims of starvation, spent a good half hour playing king (and Queen) of the hill.

Finally, however, we made it to the long picnic tables where we ate lunch -- rapidly (smile) -- before the children headed off again in search of more adventure.

Kittens

Seven weeks old 

Piglets 

Goats 

Hay Jump

They learned, amongst other things, that Hay, though it can be soft, can also cut, that chickens -- though they look big -- can squeeze through the smallest spaces, that piglets can move very fast.  Watching them, I thought how wonderful it would be to have a large enough covered space to be able to provide a Hay Jump/Play area throughout the winter months. Strange to think, in these electronically driven times, how much joy hay can provide.

A wonderful day was had by all and Pumpkins too -- though smaller than initially desired...

The way of a Homeschooled child

This morning,Jason (11),metaphorical cap in hand, stood before me:  'Mom, I have something I would like to do -- all by myself. I know what to do. I have the recipe. It is really simple. We have all the ingredients. I will clean up after myself and it can count as Math AND Science.'

I waited for the other shoe. He waited. I waited. I finally broke. 'What?'

'Chocolate Chip Cookies.'

His little brother(8) jumped up and down. 'Can I help?'

'Of course!' he answered. '

And we should EAT some of the raw cookie dough, just to make sure that it is okay...' the younger added. Right now they are collecting ingredients.

The younger just commented, sotto voce, 'Vanilla smells great but it tastes awful by itself.'
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Two cookies per boy later, I enter the kitchen to discover that of the five trays of twelve cookies each, only a handful are left. This is NOT because the boys have eaten them, however. Instead, as the slamming front door and loud discussion [ "NO! You will walk BESIDE me as we go to their front door!"] attest, it is because they are delivering cookies around the neighborhood.  It has become a favorite past time, to make something and share it throughout the neighborhood. Never are the boys happier than when they have something of their own to share.

_______________

Jason is totting up what lessons have been completed... and what still need to be done. Laugh. I should put him to work creating Unit studies. He is very creative in designing them.