Trick Or Treat !

This was a night of juggling! To make a long story short- Vayda and Ravyn went to friend Jojos house to trick or treat so dropped them off.
Then Elanee, Maya and I met friend Emily in Romulus. We collected her then joined with our neighbors Jeff, Tina, & Saige and friends Lindsey, Ryan

and their little guy Jordan to walk around their apartment complex. We bumped into some girls from Girl Scouts and they joined us.
Everyone was very welcoming and friendly. It was a nice time.
Chocolate always makes a girl smile!

We took Emily and Saige home with us where the girls promptly did the big dump and sort all over the kitchen table. Now they are all in the family room watching movies and enjoying a sleep over party.

Halloween night- getting ready

Tonight is Halloween. This year I told the kids to please just surprise me!

They did by doing such an awesome job with ALL items we had around the house.

(A no $$$ Halloween!!! Yippee!)

Vayda turned herself into a pretty victorian porcein doll. Ravyn was the harvest goddess from an online video game. Her mom made her costume from scratch! No pattern. Wow.

Maya Rae combined a dancers dress and an old Halloween costume for a dramatic devil.
Elanee cracked us all up with her insane 80s prom queen costume. She used my prom gown, combat boots, arm warmers and a rats nest of a wig.
Grrrr!
They are ready to go ;)

Beyond World War Two

Vayda has always grumbled about Social Studies. She says 'all they teach is war war war'.

That does seem to be the general theme of things. So, this year I told her to plan her own SS program. She chose a number of countries she wants to know more about.
Because I am German- and she is half German- she decided to start with Germany. It occurred to both of us that Germany is an old place with a vast, rich history but the only thing anyone ever teaches about Germany is the ugliest part of its history...WWII.
I told Vayda she could choose her own format but she had to "prove" to me that she learned something. So, she chose to do a lap book. This is just a file folder with info on all sides.

Always a corn ball!

She put a world map on the front and colored in Germany. A little context always helps.

Her study was mostly done online but she also checked out several books from the library. She focused on things that are relevant to her like clothes...old and modern.

And, music. Who knew Germany has a metal band that is similar to Metallica !?!

And, food of course. German chocolate cake is on the list. We are planning to buy several items and have some friends over for a buffet style dinner of German foods.
She turned the back of the lap book into the German flag and touched on classical music and German made vehicles. She spent several weeks reading web sites about German culture and learned so much more than shown here. It was an excellent project that made her appreciate the culture.....and created a renewed interest in Social Studies.

Drying clothes

Clothes Wracks

Well over a year ago we were out viewing a home our family friend, Tommy, had renovated. As we were enjoying our tour I noticed the laundry area and comment that there wasnt much room for a clothes dryer. Tommy matter of factly stated that the buyers could use clothes wracks to dry their clothing. He said that he grew up using them. I instantly thought how that could never work in our home. After all we have TONS of laundry and who wants wrack with underwear hanging sitting in the living room!?!? Days later it dawned on me that we could put wracks in the bedrooms!!! So, I went to Walmart and got each of the kids a wrack for their rooms plus one for the kitchen (for dishtowels & napkins). I invested in a nice big fancy one for Jody and I as we have to share and our clothing is the biggest. Turns out that with the winter forced air heat, the clothes dry really quickly. The kids take their wet clothes to their own rooms and hang it themselves. I actually end up handling their laundry LESS. Since we upgraded to the front loading washer last Xmas things are even better. The washer rings out the clothes to almost dry so I am able to do several loads a day and everything is dry by the next morning.

Maya at school in October

This is Maya hard at work on a school day in October. :)

How lucky is she that she can dress like a scarecrow on a Tues in mid Oct? I cannot help but think how many 3rd graders would love to pull that off. Here Maya is learning about Aulstralia using her Top Secret Adventures program. Its lots of fun!

Jody turns 51 !

On Tues evening we celebrated Jodys 51st B-day. I made him chicken parm and spagetti for dinner. Vayda kindly made his chocolate cake. She thought it was very funny to upgrade him from age 51 to 381 ! (Fun with recycled Bday candles;) Maya gave daddy a box of great gifts including a beaded bracelet and necklace. I remembered his Bday then forgot so I didnt get him anthing :( but he had just returned from a great weekend of play watching and dinner out with his dad and step mom so I dont think hes too neglected.

I'd bet there is a picture of him at his 4th Bday that looks just like this one with the overalls and everything :)

Meet Javari

Javari Walter Mylonas

Born to Angelica Gomez and Jonathan Mylonas

August 1, 2008 ~ 8 lbs 2 oz...20 inches

This little guy is the cutest thing I have cuddled in a LONG time! He is oh so sweet!!!!

He looks just like his mommy, I think.
The day we met him he was interested in all the visitors and was very busy making lots of drooly bubbles :)
His Aunts Elanee and Vayda really enjoyed getting to know him.

Javari found Maya to be a very interesting girl.
Angelica says I am a 'step-grandma' now. ahhhhhh! Could she be sweeter?
Uh-Oh. I think that makes me old. I dont care. That little guy is just to adorable to pass up.

Visiting Angelica

The girls and I made the trip to RI and Mass in order to visit Angelica and meet John and Javari.

This was a humongous deal. The last time the girls all saw each other Angelica was 4, Elanee 2 and Vayda 3 mo!

Now Angelica is grown and is such a SWEET young woman. She lives with her boyfriend, John and has an adorable little boy, Javari.
Pedro came to see everyone. Elanee and Vayda havent seen him in 3 yrs (and another 4 prior to that) and Angelica only saw him once since she was 4! This was his first time seeing Javari. It was intense for all of the girls as they all carry mixed feeling about Pedro. It was just great for them all to experience something truely positive with him. Babies have the power to make people forget their misery ;)

Pedro's sister, Aunt Millie, came to see everyone too. She is super cool! The girls and I all really liked her alot. Just an all around, easy to like, person.Elanee helped Angelica with lunch. She learned to fry plantains.
One of the most impressive people we met was John, Angelica's boyfriend and Javari's dad.

I was seriouly impressed by him. Hes just 19 and a wonderfully attentive father. He spoke highly of being there for his son. But, more impressive was the way the baby watched him and responded to him. That was proof that he was walking his talk. I think Javari is a lucky boy to have such a solid, dedicated father. John is proof that no matter what you come from you can choose your own reality.
Angelica was so happy to be with her sisters again after so long. It was just sweet.
Making this trip was a big effort for me but it went SO well and I am SO happy I did it. I had always hoped that Elanee and Vayda could connect with Angelica at some point. I am just happy that I was able to make that happen for them now. I am also happy that Angelica grew into the type of person I'd want my girls to know. Its just awesome for them~for us all~ to have this connection.

On Saturday Heather's stamping group met in her dinning room.

I met two very nice ladies~ Josselyn and Monique.

There was lots and lots of chatting, scrapping and stamping. Heather made this awesome paper cake to keep her cake plate company.

I thought I was sick of stamping but with all the cool new (to me) stamps and new papers and do-dads~ and cool company~ I was in stampin heaven! I ended up making 25 cards over two nights.

Taveling to RI

This past weekend Elanee, Vayda, Maya Rae and I made a long drive to Rhode Island. We stayed with my friend, Heather, and her kids Madison, Harry and Carrie. None of us have seen each other in several years so it was a regular reunion! The kids had a great time hanging out.

Heather and I spent every night up way too late stamping and chatting.
It was a great time :)

Sciencenter Monday

Monday was a free day at the Sciencenter in Ithaca if you were the proud owner of a particular bank card. We are so I jumped on the freeby.
The girls and I always have fun at the Sciencenter. This time we saw cute frogs
and giant tad poles.
There were nasty giant cock roaches....YUCK!!!!
There was this cool hovercraft chair!

Maya got to ponder the wonders of make believe atoms in a micro lab.
We all had fun with the infared camera. Mayas nose was really cold.

We discovered that the wiggling suspension bridge makes mom sea sick :P

What a fun afternoon.

Spinning at the Sciencenter

The Sciencenter had a cool spinny display. The girls had a blast

spinnin on this and that. Cool pix too!

A walk at Sampon

After Sunday classes Jody, Maya Rae and I went for a walk at Sampson.

Here is the dutiful husband driving the ladies to the park.

As we were entering the park we saw a huge group of bikers. There had to be 100 Mennonite ladies in pastel dresses in varied groups riding their bikes with digital cameras dangling from the handle bars.
We parked way up into the park and started walking.
Maya was excited to show me something that she and daddy discovered on one of their previous hikes.
Ta-Da!!!
The thing about Sampson is that well before it was ever a state park it was a Navy base. The Navy left in the 50s (I think). The people left but the buildings remain. Some are in shambles but many are like time capsels.
We were able to ID various buildings and find wich room was once the bath room, office, brig, shower room, barroks.
The size things was the most impressive. Something were so huge while others were so short or thin. It just goes to show how people have changed over the years. Jody had to duck under most every door.
He got adventurous here and climbed down to an basement level.
Maya had fun on her bike and the fall scenery was glorious. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Sunday Classes~

A couple of Sundays ago Maya and I went to the Mead's house for Sunday classes.

All the kids gathered together for singing and prayers.

After that the little ones went outside for a walk in the woods and to find proofs of God in nature.

The bigger girls stayed in and shared insiteful thoughts and conversation about independant investigation, personal perspective and tollerence.

They covered their eyes with the vales of greed, love of the material world etc and tried to make their way to spiritual trueth. Then they shed the vales and tried again.


It was great fun and they learned alot.

A second home coming!

Vayda was lucky to be invited to go to home coming at another school with friend, Mollie.

So, just one week after her first home coming she put her black and lime green gear back on and went off to dance a jig again. The girls looked great and had a nice time.

Stockin up on hay

As we get thinking about winter coming we are thinking about feeding the critters.

Normally we just buy hay 4 bales of hay at a time and bring it home in the van because thats all we can stuff under the hen houses.
This year, however, we are van free. The back end is busted and will cost over $500 to fix so we are using our other two rusty crusty vehicles instead. That means we can only get 1-2 bales at a time. This is a pain. Sooooo-
I suggested that we put up that car tent that Daniel left here. It was intended to house the family herloom Mustange but Jody never found time to assemble it. Now the Mustange is in Virginia with Dan and we had the tent in a heap in the garage. I did the wifely thang and nagged the bajebers out of the husband. It was a big job that was going to take an entire day so he wasnt really eager to get started.
But- this weekend just ended up open so he got to it. The first pic is him clearing the land for the tent. The A frame that has been there for a year had to get moved. Jody used the swing blade to knock down all the tall grass. Then he mowed. That was yesterday.
This morning he and Maya went out and made a start at assembly. Ben joined in shortly after. They worked all day long.

Maya was really proud that she really helped daddy all day. When it was done she annoynced,

"It was WORTH it!!!"

This is the worlds best play house as she sees things. She cannot wait to get it filled with hay so she and Saige can play in there all winter long. This is as close as she'll get to having a barn I suppose.
Its huge. I thought it would be smaller. We can hold as much hay as we can ever afford! Tomorrow I am calling a neighbor to see if he'll deliver 20 bales to get us started.

We'll move the feed cans in there as well as the mowers. That will free us space in the garage and make Jodys life a litte easier. Jody says hes just happy to have this project out of the way.

Pumpkins for sale

Pumpkins for sale.

We planted a bunch of pumpkins this year. The other day the girls and I got them pulled and moved up front.

Most of them are small but we have one giant one. We have sold a few. I guess I've made my seed money back at least. Mostly it is nice that I dont have put $ out to buy the kids pumpkins for Halloween. I like giving them away too ;)
Tonight we took a few with no stems and steamed them for dinner.

Getting Ready for Winter

At this time of year there is little I could ask for beyond a full cupboard and freezer and wood!

It is beyond joy for me to see this giant tangle in the yard. Behind this heap is the little wood furnace. (thats the black house looking box in the background) We still need to get the $ together to do some repairs on the unit before it can work for us but I dont care.

This pile of wood makes me smile :)

Wow! Cow!

Wow! Check out these photos! Quiet the change in 15 mo.

Critters in the fall

The critters have gotton so big! Thats what they are supposed to do of course :)

The goat and cow are enjoying the bales of hay I've been buying.

We are getting ready for a big shift. The cow goes to butcher on Thursday. We didnt buy a calf this year so we wont have a cow all winter. This will be a lovely thing. The goat will move to the cows pasture and shelter. Thats ALOT more room for him. The cow did a number on the fencing, however, so I will have to do some repair work before I can move him. I will HAVE to get him a lady friend ASAP or he will be terribly lonely.

The ducks are a favorite for everyone. They are just too cute waddling all over. We still havent finished filling their tractor tire pond. Water is always so stressed over here. Unless I do it myself a bucket at a time- I dont think it will ever get done. The ducks are just here for cute factor. We ordered 3 girls and a boy but thought we had gotton 4 girls. But, yesterday I really got looking at them and found that we actually have 2 boys and 2 girls. :) They are free to go where they will so they are all over eating slugs and all that slimes. They have gotton good at holding their own against the chickens. We are hoping for babies in the spring.

The turkeys are huge! We've got 2 hens and a tom. The hens are always smaller. They will be with us till the end of November-ish. Depending on what we do for Thanksgiving, one of the hens may be for that dinner. The other and he tom will be in the freezer. After the cow goes they will move into the goats pasture so they can finish on grass. Good stuff! I am proud to say that I cook up one ugly but darn good bird!

Vayda's First Homecoming Dance

Yesterday, Vayda went to the homecoming dance at Romulus.

This was her first dance ever and a very big deal.

We spent 12 hrs on Friday shopping for the perfect dress.....it doesnt get more perfect than black and lime green so ya know! Of course, with the dress comes all the extras...
You gotta get the lime green earings... You must find the black net arm warmers... Dont forget the lime green rubber bracelets!... Theres the under armor to concider... And- an outfit is never done till you hunt down the perfect lime green shoes...Then a dab of hot pink lip gloss, a little eye liner, lime green eye shadow, gel and hair spray and finally some green and black nail polish and-

Poof! Perfection!

At 7:30 Jojo and her cousin came to collect Vayda. They were stunned to see Vayda so polished and gorgous! There was a lot of squeeling and giggling then they were off to 3 full hrs of dancing glee.