5 Dollars

My life as an at-home momma of 3 amazing kids...it's kind of like shoveling snow in a blizzard.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Carving Pumpkins!






After our Museum visit, we came home to fix dinner (taco pie...yum!) and then carve our pumpkins. Keithen even did a little of his own carving with one of the little saws. (It made me nervous, but he did a good job of being safe with it.)

Matt's jack-o-lantern is a Colts helmet this year.

I tried my hand at carving a spider pattern. (Maybe I should have picked one labeled "easy" instead of "moderate" because it took forever and didn't come out exactly right!)

Ruby got a little upset when I popped the first eye out of hers. We had drawn the face on together but I guess she had forgotten about the carving part. She kept saying, "I want my eye! I want my eye!" Bless her heart. Then she started throwing up around midnight so I figured that might have had something to do with her poor mood during the pumpkin carving festivities. I hope she is feeling much better tonight so she doesn't miss out on trick-or-treating!

Children's Museum - part II






The Norman Rockwell exhibit that is currently at the Children's Museum is pretty cool. I didn't think it would interest the kids before I saw pictures of it on Gina's blog. We went yesterday and I wish we had gone a little earlier in the day so we would have had more time in the gallery. (And also that I had changed the camera batteries so I could have gotten a few more pictures than I did!)

I know the one picture of Ruby is a bit dark, but it was one I was very glad to get. The print she is standing under is Rockwell's 1966 painting entitled "The Problem We All Live With." It's of a little first grade girl named Ruby Bridges who had to be walked to school by 5 federal marshals when she integrated the New Orleans school system. If you'd like to learn more about her, check out the book "The Story of Ruby Bridges" by Robert Coles.

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Children's Museum - part I



The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is amazing. If you haven't been there, you really should check it out. It's a world class, award winning museum. They recently purchased Ron's howler and Harry Hogwarts acceptance letter. (That's what is in the case Keithen's standing beside.) They currently have a great exhibition called Rockwell's America: Celebrating the Art of Norman Rockwell. You'll see a lot of pictures of that in the other post. They are currently working on installing Fireworks of Glass, Dale Chihuly's largest permanent sculpture of blown glass . Our family is really excited about that opening in the spring. We're going to be watching closely as they begin to install it in the core of the Museum.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

More Festival Fun!





The kids really enjoyed the Irvington Fall Festival today. Ruby danced to one of the bands and they all had their faces painted. There were a few booths with games they could play. Adults and kids alike attend the festival in costume and many people bring along their costumed pooches too. The kids loved seeing all the costumes and petting several friendly dogs. Some of the best cotumes we saw included a mouse caught in a trap and a dad who was dressed as a pirate pulling his pirate kids in a pirate ship. Ruby was excited to see a couple of other girls dressed as "blue princesses!" Keithen entered the Harry Potter Trivia Contest and tried his best at the climbing wall too. We snacked on nachos and cheese and also shared an ice cream treat from Marble Slab Creamery while having a short chat with Laura Pearlman. (Celeste, she says "hello!") Ruby also loved getting her picture taken on the "firefuck!" (YES...that's what she calls them.) As you can tell from the sleeping princess, everyone was worn out by the time we left.

Irvington Fall Festival



Keithen was brave enough to give the rock wall a try! He did a pretty good job but said it was kind of scary. Kaylee would have done it too, but I discouraged her. At $5 a pop, I figured she'd chicken out pretty quickly. I told her we'd give the one at the Children's Museum a try before doing a bigger one like that!

Harry & Hermione





Keithen (dressed as Harry Potter) and Caitie (dressed as Hermione Granger) entered into the Harry Potter Trivia Contest at the Irvington Fall Festival. They both did a great job, especially considering they were probably the two youngest kids up there!

Indiana's Witch Hunt - part II




Indiana's Witch Hunt

Today, at the Irvington Fall Festival, there was a group of people dressed in black and wearing witch's hats. No...they weren't just there in costume to enjoy the festival. They were from Rock Indiana! rockindiana@gmail.com

These people were passing out information about the kind of discriminatory legislation Senator Patricia Miller (R) wants to pass and asking citizens to help vote her out of office in the next election. (I posted about the assisted fertility legislation Senator Miller wanted to pass earlier this month - http://the5dollars.blogspot.com/2005/10/fertility-treatment-bill-dropped.html - if you're not up to speed on this issue.) I was so glad to see them there, marching right past the Republican booth passing out leaflets and talking with voters. We were there for several hours today and it seemed that the Rock Indiana! people were definately drawing a crowd around them and talking to lots of attendees.

It's important to note that, even though the issue was withdrawn from consideration earlier this month, this does not mean that it's going to stay dead. There is concern that Miller will try to sneak it through again by tacking it on to some other piece of legislation. We need to stay vigilant and work to get this woman out of office. There are so many more important issues that she could be addressing such as our record budget deficits, loss of jobs, education, health insurance, etc. But what has Miller spent her time on? Pushing her own beliefs and conducting a "witch hunt" of unmarried persons has been higher on her agenda than curbing our government's wasteful spending, advocating better health care for citizens and ensuring that our children have the kind of education that will prepare them for the future.

Show Senator Patricia Miller that her narrow-minded, Puritanistic views have no place in our state government. Contact her via email s32@in.gov OR call her at the statehouse 317-232-9400.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Waterman's Market Fun!





Corn Maze



Which One Will Make the Best Jack-o-Lantern?





I promise to post pictures of the finished jack-o-lanterns. We won't be carving them until sometime on Sunday.

Hayride



Ty - the Pumpkin Eating Dinosaur!





Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We went to Waterman's Market today to get our pumpkins for Halloween. They also have a fun fall festival there each year, including a corn maze, a pumpkin eating dinosaur named "Ty" and hayrides. As expected, the dinosaur was the biggest hit of all once again this year. There are so many good pictures, I don't know how to choose which ones to share with you!

Monday, October 24, 2005

Homework Time



Keithen usually brings home 2 pages of homework per night. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he also has reading homework. Kaylee and Ruby are homeschooled for preschool.

Tonight, Keithen and Kaylee sat at the kitchen table doing homework together while I cooked dinner. He finished his two pages and then helped her with identifying and writing her letters. It was very sweet to see them working together. I think they were both quite proud of themselves.

Keithen's Puppet Project


Keithen had to make a paper bag puppet for school this month for the "Book-It" program. He decided to make Harry Potter. Daddy did help a bit with attaching the trash bag for the school robe. I think he did a great job and we had to take a picture with him in his Halloween costume holding his puppet.

Richer Than Gold

I had a mother who read me things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings --
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a mother who read to me.
-- Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954)