a little piece of Bolivia

Saturday, we went to the Que Pasa festival at the science museum in celebration of Hispanic heritage. The event was all day...but we got there pretty late. We walked up just in time to see this....

..a Bolivian dance troupe.

What are the chances?

Juan Pablo said he almost cried. For just a minute, it really felt like we were back in Bolivia.

The rest of the festival was nothing to write about...so I won't... the day ended with Isabela getting her thumb smashed at one of the exhibits in the museum. I thought it was broken, but now it's just purple and bruised up.

t-shirt pillow

One of the easiest crafts we've ever done. We've been saving some t-shirts of the kids' for awhile. They were too small, but we still liked them and didn't want to get rid of them. So I thought we could make something out of them one day and put them in my material stash.
So yesterday, Isabela wanted to sew something and just because God is good, I had happened to pick up a bag of stuffing for .50 cents yardsaleing on Saturday... so she said, "Let's make a pillow."

Here are the super easy directions:

1. Cut the front of the shirt in a rectangle using pinking shears.

2. Fold the rectangle in half, inside out, and pin. (The fold is already one side of the pillow.)

3. Sew up the other three sides leaving a small hole for turning it right side out and stuffing.

4. Turn right side out.

5. Stuff.

6. Hand sew the hole closed.



It is VERY comfortable and we love it.

our fall table

Finally.
I've finally done something I've been wanting to do for probably two years. A nature table. Or a seasonal table. I don't even know what you call it, but I know I've been wanting one.
I mentioned it to my cousin the other night, and as soon as I got off the phone, I started gathering things from around the house. At first I thought I'd only be able to find some pinecones from outside. But it turned out I had a lot more than I thought. The kids were very excited about it. I brought over a small table, just their height, that is rarely used...then let them arrange it how they wanted. Joaquin was very particular about where things should go.





So what's on the table? Who knows now. Here are some of the things it started out with:

A corn husk doll we made last year
Some apples we made from red material, stuffing, and pipe cleaners
A bowl of wooden beads
A bat
A bear
Leaves
Pinecones
Pumpkins
A Native American play set
Books on fall and apples
Fake cherries in a pail( I know that's not fall, but they look good and are fun to play with)
A cinnamon stick
Candles that smell like cinnamon and pumpkin and fall
A native american rattle made from a stick
Totem poles we made last year



Diego loves it and is the one that spends the most time messing it up. It doesn't look this neat anymore, but I try to clean it up everyday so that it's still fun to play with. We'll put more thanksgiving stuff out in November, change the books each month, and change the stuff each season and holiday. So even though I can't seem to be able to decorate the house much, I think I can handle this.

pumpkin patch

This was our weekend to go to the pumpkin patch....and by our weekend, I mean we had a coupon for two free people based on our zip code. We still paid $24 dollars for the kids, but it was definitely worth it. This year, everything is included...hay, corn, sand, ducks, goats, you name it.

The corn maze was unbelievable. I thought the kids might get tired of it after awhile, but they loved it.


And I liked how they made it educational by asking questions about bees to help you choose which way to go at the crossroads. We knew some answers, guessed some, and will always remember the ones we got wrong that got us lost....hives stay at a temperature of 93 degrees, and....well...I already forgot the other one. But it was definitely educational.


Cheese.


Did you know corn had roots that looked like this? I had to look it up when I got home...these are the brace roots that help keep the stalk stable. It also has normal roots that run deep underground.


Oops...wrong way.


I knew he'd take off if I let him out of his stroller.


I was a little hesitant to let Diego ride the wagon barrels, knowing how he likes to stand up in his high chair now. But I pulled the seat belt nice and tight. He seemed to like it.



But this was his face after the second time around.


Here's that big smile again...I think that can of soda had something to do with it.


"Peanuts!" Oh, that's corn. I saw some little kernels on the floor in the bathroom later...I guess it was in their pants, too.


My favorite part was the hay bales.


It looked like so much fun, although I did hear a lot of sneezes and some "ouches"...maybe it's pokey.


But it's definitely fun. I'm kicking myself that I didn't climb up there, too.


A huge pile of heaven for Diego. Sand.


Oh, and there were pumpkins, too. After all this, plus corn cannons, duck races, goat walks, moon bounces, a pirate's cove, and paintball...the pumpkins were almost an afterthought. But there's nothing like sitting on that bale of hay, bumping along as the tractor makes it's way to a field spotted with orange.

God smiled on us today...the skies darkened as we rode out to the fields, but the first drops didn't fall until we were on our way home.

timber!

The casualties of homeownership. We have so many projects we'd like to do, but with JP working so much and me chasing Diego from one danger to the next, not much is getting done. BUT....a coworker of JP's came the other day to cut some dead trees down that were surrounding our house. Besides being ugly, they were always a little threatening during lightening or windy storms.

We were all outside to watch the first one come down. It is amazing if you've never seen it up close. This huge tree starts falling towards the driveway, only to split in mid-air, with half breaking off and heading for the parked cars. A very close call. Isabela and I echoed the same statement, "That was scary!" Then Joaquin runs over to look at the fallen tree shouting, "That was awesome!"

We're all talking about it, when Joaquin starts screaming. He's just standing there screaming and won't move as we're yelling at him to run...yep, yellow jackets. Juan Pablo had to go over and pick him up and me and all the kids ran into the house. He only got stung twice but it was pretty frightening.

Juan Pablo went out later to try and kill the nest...normally I'm against the killing of nature...but for the safety of the kids, I supported this. It turned out the tree had fallen on the nest.

Here's the hole!


And some of the hive.



And here's our old bench...you'd think a tree might have fallen on it...but JP was smart enough to move it out of the way...then forgot he moved it, and ran over it with the truck.

lost tooth

I met up with Isabela at school the other day...her class was in line to go into the library. As I went over to hug her, I caught a quick glimpse of a little smile and it looked different. I pried her arms off me to get a better look, just as her teacher was coming over to tell me she had pulled Isabela's tooth out this morning! It was quite a shock, since it was barely even loose!
Can you see her excitement? She got a tiny blue treasure chest to put her tooth in, and she's now hoping all her teeth will fall out at school.

henricus park

Publik days at Henricus Park was this weekend. This is a replica of a colonist town and a Native American village and is a great place to take kids to see and experience life back then.

This Native American greeted us at the entrance and told about herself. If your kids are brave enough, they can ask any questions they want to these reenactors.


This time around, I was in love with all the different fences I saw. Some were tall to keep people out, some were low to block off gardens. But they were all made with sticks and were so natural looking. Maybe I just want a fence so bad I can taste it, but it made me want to go home and chop down some trees and get to work.


The kids enjoyed playing in the Native houses.


There was also a replica of a boat that cute little Sami called a pirate ship. I think it might have been.


And there are some beautiful views there...they shot a real canon off of here...SUPER loud.


The kids' games are always a hit at these things...

...especially the ring toss.


I'm not sure these four would last a day in this village.


But a couple of hours didn't hurt them.

dino sighting

I saw an elusive dinosaur running around our house the other day and tried to get a picture.


I did catch a glimpse of his face...wow, he's fast though!


A monkey tried to hold down the dinosaur so I could snap a shot, but he wiggled free. It was quite a zoo that morning.

marbles

I am really amazed...Diego has no desire to eat these. It's pretty impressive.

chess anyone?

state fair

I wish I'd had one of these at the county fair we just went to! This is an Educational Expo Guide for the VA State Fair (September 23-October 3) that you may want to print out if you're going to go. It will help you find some interesting things for the kids to see, besides the gigantic ferris wheel they'll be begging to get on, and those tricky games you know you'll never win.

VA State Fair Expo Guide