K, NYC, and Cirque Du Soleil

My good friend Steph, offered me a day in NYC to see Cirque.
How can you possibly pass that up?
Well, you can't.
She only had 2 tickets, and I have three equally loved, deserving kids.
I played fair, kept my mouth shut, and waited to see how it would all play out,
M was at her grandparents for a two day spoil fest.
I asked if E wanted to go to Daddy's work and eat Doughnuts, of course he did.
I told K that I had a surprise lined up for him and I on Saturday and left it at that.
He was pretty good about waiting, and did not bombard me with a thousand questions.
We got up around 6:30 to eat breakfast and were on the road by 7:30.
I was babbling while driving about what a great day we were going to have, and that we are going out for lunch with our friends, and that we were going to NYC!
And I look in the rear view to see the contorted face of a crying boy.
What! What did I say?
Is he hurt?
I dunno...
I start trying to figure out how all of this wonderfulness has caused such sudden, deep sadness.
Finally he says I miss E, I want him to be with me and the fun.
Shit.
That was too sweet, and now I feel like a big turd for picking one, and leaving the others sort of clueless.
And of the position I had put K in.
I knew there was going to be hell to pay after the cat was out of the bag, but I wasn't expecting this so soon.
We talked about how E was in for a special day with Dad, and how it was thoughtful, and how much he loves his little bro.
I don't know how I got such a sweet pea, but I did.
When we arrived at our friends and got into to their car, he was feeling much better!
I was not allowed to take any pictures of the actual outstanding performance but here is the rest of our day!:

AND I found another Ripley's believe it or not museum.
On the same street that Mary Poppin's production is playing!
I think you know what's gonna go down soon....

We came home to eat cake and wish Grandma a very happy birthday.

It was a stelar day among great friend's, such opportunities, and memories that will last us a long time.

And it was just me and my boy, and you can't beat that.

Native American Museum

We learned of a trip that was going to gear up to go here.
This place has been on our radar for some time, and since you just can't beat a group rate, we signed up!
It was a great place.
Here is our tour in pictures:

I think I love the field trips even more than the kids. There are so many amazing places to visit. And it doesn't get more hands on than that!

Project terrarium

We had an old fish tank in the garage, and since I dismantled the salt water set up, I had a pretty nice light sysytem just lying around.
What could one do?
Well tell me, really, what is cooler than carnivorous plants?
Not much, we suspected.
So I read all I could about substrate, and light values, and what could coexist nicely.
We decided on Sundews and Butterwarts (pings), and a pitcher plant.
And I wanted some air plants ( Tilandsia) to fill it out on the vertical levels.
So I poured over this website, picked some beauties, and we began tank prep!
And so it began by glueing down the backing,

Those clever kids thought of using the books to weigh it down so it would not bubble!
The long awaited arrival!

Stage one, looking bare,

Post Tilandsia, much better!

inhabitant shots,




Little moss carpets have begun to grow along the base of the plants. I am really hoping it will make a lush carpet of green.
How pretty would that be?
We can't wait to watch these plants reproduce and fill out.
It really is a gorgeous thing to stare vacuously in, and it's carnivorous!
Can't beat that!
We now discuss the very high probability of carnivorous bog gardens outside this year.
Hell yeah.

dead deer, entrails and the deer cam.

Ok, it's been a good long while since we utilized the dead around here. If you wish not to see a hunted buck, his innards, and all that, try back in a day or so.
Mmmkay?
So about a week ago, A heard the sound of a shotgun blast.
Not too unusual as we live in the woods, and it's deer season and all. But when he headed up to do barn chores, he spotted a hunter very close to our property with a deer kill.
The Hunter was nervous that he would be diffcult, or against hunting, or something. He and A had a nice chat and everything was fine.
He called me from the barn to tell me the news.
I did what any other sane Mommy would do, we headed up there!
I talked to the kids, told them what to possibly expect, and they were rearing to go.
They were not mad, grossed out, or even a bit reluctant.
You can tell that by the racing to the scene.....

We freaked the hunter out, as the kids were approaching, rapidly, he was doing his best to stand in front of the creature while nervously spouting " Hi, I have a dead deer here! Call your kids!"
I was calmly wandering up there with " I know, we know, they are fine about all this stuff, and really excited to see him"
He was uneasy.
But as the kids took interest in this animals story, his beautiful body, his strong antlers, all the ticks fleeing his luke warmness, some where in all that, he relaxed.
I tried to take a decent, most non bloody shot that I could.

He really was beautiful. We have never noticed how his colors, grays, browns, tans, reds, and whites, meld into each other so perfectly. Or that the horns near the base have this striking orange stuff there.
Is it fungus?
Anyway, we eventually pulled ourselves away so the hunter could finish field dressing him.
When I went up later to feed the animals at the barn lunch, I noticed a lot of Vultures in the trees at the kill site. Thats when I noticed the pile of innards left behind.
Now around here, innards and remains are gold!
My synapse, my only one I am sure, let out a snap, crackle, pop.
DEER CAM OPPORTUNITY!
It was rather funny, because we had a family of vegetarians over just then, these guys in fact.
And Odie, that scurvy dog, kept dragging around intestines, and testicles, making quite a scene.
That's always fun times,

at a playdate...
Anyway, just around dark the kids and I strapped our beloved camera to a tree there, and the wait was on.
Would it be a raccoon, fox. coyote, possum, bobcat, or a weasel?
The next morning, bright and early, A brought the contraption down.
It said we had a ton of images!
We
captured a

Red Tailed Hawk,

just filling his belly!
Well, at least it wasn't another opossum!
But one day, I would just like a fox, or coyote, or pretty please a bob cat!
All in all, it's the mystery, suspense, and the big reveal that we all love.
And close up shots of Natures full circle is pretty amazing too.

Lots of doings

We have just been living life as usual. These last Autumnal days are jammed packed. We are trying to get out in the elements before the true "It's too cold" settles in these parts.
So we have been:
Walks in the woods,

with my girl.

and wearing our crazy pants.

Seeing Seussical,

playdates,

focusing,

and teaching little Bro.

Old Sturbridge Village!


Learning checkers,



dipping candles,

Pomander balls,

making candle holders

from tin.

Cabellas!

Alpaca

farm visit,

and M is really digging working on latch hooking!

Some other interesting adventures as well, and they contain death, blood and guts, and the return of the deer cam!
Awfully exciting times!

Gearing up

Getting psyched up for Halloween happens for us generally about 10 days before the big event.
Our last week and half, has been saturated with festivities making Halloween come faster. It is simply because we are so busy having fun, that we don't remember that each day has 24 hours, and that Halloween is so many minutes away.
So we,










And then before we knew it we started these!


And then evening approached, so we invited a few friends over,

and then there was much to do,

because the time had finally come to,



With bags full, we headed to the local farm to see a gazillion glowing gourds!

Wow.

And then when the sugar high dropped, we quietly drifted off.

Orange!

K has been taking Karate for the past 6-7 months. He seems to like it most days. The class is held at 5-6 p.m. He is usually so tuckered out from all the days playing and activities, that I have to convince him, or shower him to give him enough energy to pull it off...
However, I just discovered that on Saturdays, there is a 9:30 a.m. class! We tried it last week, and he did well and was rearing to go!
On Monday, he had his first test, and he did pretty fine.
He graduated from white to orange.
Here is some of his testing photo's. This was not his whole class, just a few of the kids who wanted to get tested for promotion.
Dude, it was 1 1/2 hour long test. It was really hard to contain E, and keep him semi quiet for the whole thing...
I bet you that was harder than the test.
I should get some sort of belt, too...





See that broken board he is clutching? He chopped it in half with his deadly, stealthy, little Ninja hands!

We went to the local diner to celebrate.

He totally deserved a foot long, don't you think?