More Mountain State Fair Entries

 So I missed a few when I shared the kids projects the other day. Like Cale's completed sculpture.

And their baking. 15 total baked goods. Things like snickers fudge, cookie dough fudge, orange chocolate truffles, peanut butter truffles, sweet potato yeast bread, pesto rolls, chocolate crinkles, apple muffins, apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies....

And spaghetti and meatballs cupcakes, skeleton cupcakes, spider cupcakes and sheep cupcakes....

A metal craft robot, bottle cap wind chime and a recycled bottle ice cream truck.

Pottery Rylan and Cale made in a class they took this year, which they entered in the pottery category.

 Rylan's biggest watermelon entry. It was a big one!

13 art pieces (one not shown)...oil, chalk, watercolor, pen, collage, crayon...

8 photos in all...the top 2 are Cale's and Cohen's. The rest are Rylan's which I showed last time.

When we dropped off the big entries were weighed:

 And today we dropped off a few more entries. Rylan's herbs and flowers in the flower show for a grand total of 95 entries between the 4 boys!

The Mountain State Fair: Project Round Up

 It's that time of year again. For the past 3 years my kids have enjoyed entering projects in the fair. Drop off day is Tuesday. Which means Monday will be spent in the kitchen- since Lakin is finally old enough for the competition we have a total of 11 baked goods to be entered. I capped them at 4 each and one didn't go through. It'll be a long day with lots of dish washing! I will apologize in advance that most of the pictures are from my phone and instagram!

This year the boys are entering more from the garden. Rylan is going for the largest watermelon.  I don't have a picture of it since it's still out in the garden. He had plans for other squashes- winter and summer, but with all the rain and other odd weather, the plants had a hard time. Cale and Cohen are both entering winter squashes seen below, and Lakin is entering his butternut squash (not pictured)

Cale, Cohen and Lakin have also been working on some of the craft categories, here are a few of their projects. Cohen's santa ornament made from a recycled coke can, felt and alpaca fiber. Cale's basket made from a hose and zip ties. 

This one has been hanging in the living room for months now. It's Cale's recycled decoration- a skeleton made out of  milk jugs.

Lakin's jewelry. Beaded earrings and a bracelet for the recycled jewelry category.  Do you remember Cale's peacock sculpture from last year? This year he's entering this Big Head as his sculpture. It's still a work in progress- which must be finished tomorrow! Cohen is also making a sculpture- of a beetle. And we have a couple more Christmas ornaments not shown as well as some art- oil pastels, watercolors, etc.

Of course, I have mentioned Cale's big pumpkins. The stems were getting soft- some sort of fungus I think- so we picked them since the bugs were starting to pick at the soft spots. We crossed our fingers that they would last until the drop off date.

But today this happened. The smaller of the 2 giants...rotted from the stem and bottom. It was great fun considering this occurred in the living room! It smelled TERRIBLE and took about 20 or more towels to clean up and Rylan, Cale and me to drag it out of the house- gagging all the way. We are still hoping the biggest will last. Like I said- not a good squash year. 

 

 This year Rylan didn't enter many arts and crafts- 2 pieces of art work was it. He did enter 3 model kits, a lot from the garden, baked goods and 6 photographs. My dad let him use his camera, and I thought he got some great shots!

So there are just a few of their projects. I'll post pictures of their baked goods on Tuesday once they are all done!

Topics of Study

 Lakin: Dinosaurs. With clay fossils and handwritten lists of dinosaur names by a little boy who normally "doesn't know how" to write. His beloved prehistoric predator documentaries on Netflix. Stacks of heavy dinosaur encyclopedias and a camera filled with photos of model dinosaurs.

Cohen: Whales, sharks and other sea life. With Blue Planet and Shark Week on Netflix. A list of whale species. Clay dolphins and an oil pastel orca.

 Rylna: Vehicles. With a list of questions about the inner workings of tractor trailers and the speed and cost of the fastest cars. Books on Modern Aircrafts and How to Draw Flying Machines.

Cale: Volcanoes and Earthquakes. With a mud packed volcano. Baking soda, vinegar and red food coloring. A second attempt with a few additions to make the lava flow more impressive and longer lasting. National Geographic and Discovery Channel videos of eruptions and the history of Pompeii. And of course a little volcanic duct tape creating planned for tomorrow.

We started something new this week. More record keeping and accountability. Learning contracts and a couple project helps to get them moving forward and digging deeper. Yesterday I met with each of the boys to go over their new contracts and to discuss my expectations and theirs. I asked them to pick a topic to study while we tried this new system and with the exception of Cohen they all picked something new...Dinos, Vehicles and Volcanoes/Earthquakes. And so far, 2 days in, I am seeing some good changes coming.

School. Home. Holidays.

 School 

We've been very relaxed lately with schoolish stuff. But here is a little of what they have been working on. Rylan has continued his tree list (of every tree he has seen). He's up to about 200 or so. Cale and Lakin spent some time creating with clay. I handed them a box of toothpicks and they went to town making creations like the one pictured. Cohen has spent a lot of time with the How to Draw Whales and Sharks book. He's getting pretty good at them too.

 Home

 

 I rearranged the school/play room. I moved a couple of desks in and a shelf out. I wanted to give Rylan and Cale their own space. Which Annika promptly took over.

Annika's room also got rearranged- you know the whole big girl room thing. The crib was taken apart, a full size mattress brought in. A tall shelf out and a shorter and wider one moved in.  She loves her knew room- rug, bed and the fact that she can almost reach the dolls she's not supposed to get down.

 

 Holidays

 

We went low key this year for Halloween. I really hate all the [junk] candy they get. I don't like how it makes them act or the increase in stomach complaints. Usually I give in, but this year the kids pulled together their own costumes using clothes and supplies already on hand and a trip to the thrift store. The little community center down the street held a trunk or treat last Saturday. It was small, very small. But it gave them the experience they wanted from Halloween.

Yesterday we attended a Halloween Festival for the local homeschoolers put on by our co-op. I made cupcakes for the cupcake walk, there were games, crafts, pizza, a bonce house. The kids had a great time. And when we got home Rylan made pumpkin cookies for their Halloween treat- which I much prefer to the junk they would have received anywhere else!

On Burnout, Writer's Block and Moving On

I've been feeling rather burned out lately. Well, make that very burned out. You know when you feel stressed and exhausted. Physically, mentally and spiritually.  It tends to happen when I put on a happy face too long. When I smile and push back and ignore that stress.  But there comes a point when you just can't anymore.

I used to write a lot when I was younger. Being published was a big goal of mine.  Then along came a time of extreme burnout and I got blocked. Sometimes I joke that I have had writer's block for over 10 years. Words used to flow from me- poetry, stories, etc. But they stopped. In the basement I have a box full of pretty books and journals filled with words. And seeing those books make me a little sad. Sad that I don't write much anymore and sad to see how my pretty books have been replaced with cheap 17 cent notebooks bought during school supply season at Target. And those notebooks don't exactly scream inspiration!

I think that tends to be the cause of burn out in moms. They put themselves last in a long line of responsibilities. They don't feed themselves and they lose their identity as a person and become simply "mom".  So I am trying. I've admitted to myself that if I want to feel better- I do have to take care of myself some.  I am trying to relax some of my requirements and checklists. I am trying to find time to do something for me- that has nothing to do with the kids.

But still, life goes on. Kids still need me, dinners need to be made, laundry needs to be done, the house needs to be swept and animals need to be fed and cared for. We sold Johnny last week. That was hard for me. Animals are a soft spot for me and I need to learn that we can't keep every animal that lives here on our farm. Especially the bucklings. Johnny was the first kid born here. And he was very sweet.

But in exchange for Johnny, we got Poppy. She's a Nubian doe, with one kidding under her belt. That is about all I know about her and she is still pretty skiddish around people. We are slowly trying to warm her up to us, but she still runs and comes back to eat once we've gone.

We should find out in the next couple days if our bid for the Nubian buck from the Carl Sandburg Farm was accepted. And if it was we will also be looking to rehome Thor...which I am sure will be equally as hard to do.