Hay Rides, A Little "Culture", and Flower Child Moments...

What a truly amazing last two weeks we've enjoyed!

Besides our regular routine, which is mighty amazing in itself...we managed to sneak in a few extras!

A field trip to the pumpkin patch!
Love those hay rides and choosing "just the right pumpkin!"  
I'm tellin' ya this can be a very long process...patience is in order!

The next amazing thing the little girls and I did was quite unexpected.  At the last minute, I had a friend offer 3 tickets for us to attend a production at The Morrison Center.  It was a Korean Cultural Night...if only I had the words to describe this night...what I can tell you is that I have a new found love of these beautiful people.  I went with a little apprehension...simply ignorance on my part...I left with an overflowing heart and eyes that had freely spilled over the edges.  I was moved at their kindness and sincere humility when addressing our Veterans.   They thanked them for their service in a way that touched me more than I had experienced ever in my lifetime!  Their music, dance and Tae Kwon Do exhibit were superb...breathtaking at moments.  I felt inspired to learn more of this people, I felt saddened at the state of North Korea and lastly I felt a longing to expose my children to people, customs and cultures throughout this world.  The latter, I do attempt to do on a very regular basis, but the feeling is stronger than ever.

We finished up a sensational month of learning and our 4 youngest kiddos particpated in The History Fair ~ I was so proud of their efforts.  They truly did some amazing work.  One presented The Statue of Liberty, another Castles, another The War of 1812 and lastly Leonardo da Vinci.  I could not have been more pleased with them.  They learned so much and presented what they had learned to an audience...love these opportunties for them!

At the end of our month, we always have a big ol' whoppin' party to celebrate the country we've studied for that month.  This month was Germany...oh my goodness, can I just say, their food is mighty scrumptuous!  We cooked and cooked and ate and ate!  Our menu included some wonderful salads ~ German Potato Salad and a Nudel Salad -- both were so yummy, lots of vinegar!  We also made pretzels, these were a hit!!!  The kids loved making them and eating them was quite a pleasure.  We decided to make Dampfnudels...wasn't too sure how these might taste...we were very pleasantly surprised!  They are basically a dumpling sort of goodie...only so much better...light and fluffy and deliciously sweet.  Then we topped them with a divine vanilla sauce and a bavarian creme that I'd have to say was the VERY BEST I'd ever tasted (and I made it!!!)  Love it when that happens!  We had samplings of Chocolate Nougat candies and a German Chocolate Cake.  Good thing we only do this party once a month or I'm afraid we'd be racking up the pounds!!!  The kids decorated our classroom to look like OCTOBERFEST in Germany...Blue and White are the colors of choice in Germany...the kids went crazy with streamers all over...it was fantastic! 

Each month we have a little book club featuring a book from the American Girls Series...we are currently working on Felicity...I LOVE THESE BOOKS!!!!  This month's book was Felicity Learns A Lesson ~ loved the lessons and the time I had to discuss all that this little gem had to offer.  We were able to get into a discussion of just why the colonists would have thrown tea into the water...at first my younger kids were appalled, by the time we were done with our conversation they understood so much more about our freedoms and why we must stand for what we believe in.  What a beautiful way to teach such an important lesson!!!

Halloween was very fun for our family...My favorite part was one evening when my daughter came to me and thanked me for not being too lame to dress up and have fun.  Now, had you seen me this particular evening, you may have thought I was crazy...I did!  And quite honestly I was a little uncomfortable with being dressed up in such a wild sort of way...FLOWER CHILD / Hippy!  But she thought I was great and was thankful for me...then I jokingly said to my oldest son..."I bet you wish I was a little more lame and wouldn't dress up"...I fully expected him to agree with me ~ instead he said, "Yeah, I'm glad you're crazy!"