Happy Halloween!!!

It's finally here!!!! We'll be spending the day baking and getting the house ready for our pre-trick-or-treat party.

I found this article about Halloween this morning. I love it but hesitated to post it for reasons I'll explain below.

It touches on so many things I care about. The message about talking to, and even (gasp!) taking candy from strangers reminds me of my own first dilemma about that issue while walking in a park with a then-toddling Riley (now 10). We were approached by a sweet, friendly homeless man who wanted to chat and whose heart seemed truly warmed by the antics of a carefree, joyous little kid. Fear and judgment (the automatic, prejudicial kind) and rote "don't talk to strangers" rules popped into my head and conflicted with compassion and unity and the *other* kind of judgment (as in gut feeling/intuition) that this guy was okay. It was an early instance of rethinking how I wanted to live with my child and started me on a path toward a more mindful, present, principled approach and away from pre-ordained rules and have-to's and because-I-said-so's.

The author also talks about trick-or-treating as an excellent example of free-market economy. I had been thinking the last few days about trick-or-treating as a perfect example of a voluntary "gift economy," something I just heard of recently and have been trying to learn a bit about. I would have thought those were opposite conclusions, but then I don't understand large economic systems very well! There's always more to learn!

The reason I hesitated to post it is that it is obviously anarchist, an ideal I share but, because of the popular & unfortunate image of chaos and violence associated with the word "anarchy," I tend to use the term "voluntaryist" as it is more clearly about nonviolent/peaceful & truly voluntary relationships. I love that the author of this article was able to talk about that kind of anarchist vision: genuine community and genuine, people-driven giving and the motivation of gratitude and joy in contrast to that of force & violence inherent in coercive institutions.

Off my soapbox and into my kitchen...

Happy Halloween!

I carved my first pumpkin!

Can you believe I'm 36 years old and, before today, I had never carved a pumpkin?! My Dad always carved ours when I was a kid, and then for some reason Matt has just always carved the ones we've had together.

Anyway, today I drew & carved the face for Seth's -- he wanted "monster-angry."

Maya drew hers and cut the top off but wanted me to carve the face.

Riley drew and carved his. He didn't like pulling out the "guts," so Maya and Seth and I did that, separating out the seeds for roasting.

We sat outside telling different versions of the Jack-O-Lantern story -- some that I had read and some that they knew from cartoons.

Maya made up a story with hers -- a mystery about a villain that had cancelled Halloween.

Heroes

Here's Maya and her toy chimp, Fifi, outside the Omnimax Theater at the Cinci Museum Center. We went to see a film about one of her heroes, Jane Goodall.

My Kids' Hopes & Dreams

I really will try to keep this rant to a minimum. I knew I shouldn't watch the debates a couple nights ago. Knew it wouldn't add anything to my peace or joy or sense of freedom. I *really* knew I should turn the TV off when they got to the last question about education, phrased in a way that made children sound like tools. But I watched and I listened. And I heard two men with their own goals and agendas talk as if those should be the goals and agendas of everyone -- that our children need to be molded and shaped to compete and dominate internationally.

My kids can figure out their own goals, their own agendas. They can live their own *dreams*. So far, their lives don't seem to have anything whatsoever to do with international competition or domination.

While I was turning this stuff over in my head yesterday morning, griping and grumbling, I found comfort in two things. First, was a collage of pictures I have hanging on my wall. Pictures of my kids playing & laughing & just being themselves. In one frame I have this poem by Kahlil Gibran:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and the daughters of

Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet

They belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

But seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward

Nor tarries with yesterday.

Here is a version sung beautifully by Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Second, I found a paper Maya is working on for girl scouts. She was writing & drawing her ideas for how to live out the "girl scout law." It's an image I have seen her draw numerous times. It's inspired by Amy Steinberg's song, Exactly. I have Maya singing part of it as my ringtone on my phone: Peace, Love, Free; Peace, Love, Free...

Evans Apple Orchard & Cider Mill

This was our second year visiting Evans Apple Orchard & Cider Mill with homeschooling friends from Georgetown, KY. Definitely one of our favorite trips -- a really fun, interesting, welcoming place.

Seth watching one of the goats while we waited to begin our tour through the cider mill


Heading through the corn maze in search of the pumpkin patch


Our friend, Anthony, and my headless child, Riley trying to be scary


Maya with friends Michael and Jacob on the way back from the pumpkin patch


Seth at the playground


Maya at the playground

Dragons

We tend to go a bit overboard when we go to the library -- so many things catch our eyes, and we bring home as much as we can carry. Recently I was going through a huge stack of books, seeing what each of us had brought home, and noticed that we had each happened to pick at least one dragon-themed book. I put them all out together on our kitchen table, and we spent the morning enjoying stories and making pictures.


Ri & Seth


Seth's Oruborus dragon


Maya's dragon

Perseid Meteor Shower Campout

In August we went to a Perseid Meteor Shower campout at Caesar Creek state park in Ohio. There was free camping on the open lawn area for wide open viewing away from city/town lights. We played quite a bit in the sand and water. There were lots of astronomy-themed crafts and activities set up, and several astronomers brought out their mega telescopes to share. As the sun set, however, the clouds thickened, and the kids fell asleep before it cleared enough to see any of the meteor shower. We still had a great time, though, and are looking forward to going again next August.

Snake!

Cool moment, terrible photo! Maya and Seth saw this snake in a friend's driveway last week. It hung around in the driveway, letting us get fairly close (well -- maybe close would be a bit of an exaggeration -- this picture was as close as I ever got) and watch it for a nice, long time before it headed off into the grass, where it was amazingly well camouflaged. We figured the picture might not come out well since I had to take it with my camera phone, so we tried to pay close attention to its features so we could look it up in the field guide when we got home. We couldn't quite identify it from our field guide alone but used the extension service's Kentucky Snake Identification site and then Google and Google Images to narrow it down. It turned out to be a rat snake.


Maya and Seth's excitement and interest remained for quite a while after we got back home:

Here they're looking at one of their favorite snake books/model kits, Uncover a Cobra.


Here's Maya, who can amazingly and quickly find anything she needs in her very full and often very messy room, playing with some of her snake toys. (I cannot do that -- I just see a sea of "stuff." But she's really good at spotting things in those hidden picture puzzles, too. Oh, and finding lost keys!)

Learning Through Play

Last week Matt had to work night shift, so we took the opportunity for Maya and Seth to do some things Riley doesn't enjoy so much anymore. He was able to stay home while Matt was there-but-sleeping. Here are some pictures from our afternoon at Totters Otterville.


The outdoor splash area.


Post office




Maya organizing a group building project


The grocery store

Maya's Room

Inspired by this post from Danielle Conger's blog, I decided to take pictures when I cleaned Maya's room a couple weeks ago for her. She spends a lot of time in there pretending and playing with all sorts of things, and it quickly gets overwhelming. I don't clean it up every week, but once I (or occasionally she and I) get started on it, I always enjoy the treasures I find in there and the stories she tells about what she was doing with this or that -- little peeks into her imagination.

The beginning


Some drawings


A homemade paperdoll and a dressed up Raggedy Ann


The beginnings of a doll she's making


Some extra mouse cage litter (hey, at least it wasn't used mouse cage litter) as play pet food


A pipe cleaner leash


The gift of a clean slate for the next round of creations

Rainy Day Fun and Learning

Drawing, writing, and playing with play dough




Games (Apples to Apples Jr. and Cranium Cadoo)




Building with Lego's with a neighborhood friend




Researching and reading about Big Foot, Yeti, and Chupacabra; playing Adventure Quest; and goofing around with another neighborhood friend




Gliding on pedal-less bikes