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Boots kept Sparkles company during the bad days

Sometimes this past week seemed really long yet the days flew by in a blur. Two occurrences made the days pass slowly. My husband had meetings most of the week that kept him from spending his lunch hour with us. I felt a bit lonely without him and forgot to eat lunch a couple of times. Sparkles also had a really bad week with her uc pains, which exhaust her. She went back to bed several days and slept this week. She recovered a bit by Friday and was able to enjoy a mostly pain free weekend.

flat tire and grey day

On Thursday I managed to run over a roll pin and end up with a flat tire. Fortunately, I managed

to pick up the pin near our home. At least I wasn’t stranded anywhere. Oldest learned how to operate a jack and change a tire (life skills lesson, yay!!! ). Luckily, the tire did not need replacing and only required a simple plug to keep on rolling.

Littlest turned six on Friday! My husband only worked a half day so he could spend the rest of the day with the birthday boy.

Pikachu cake

Sparkles baked his cake and my husband did the decorating. This year Littlest wanted a Pikachu cake. I have no idea what a Pikachu may possibly be or if I am even spelling it correctly. All I can say is it is a cute little yellow critter. Littlest was delighted with his cake and presents. The older three spent the rest of the evening helping him build marble runs. Sparkles even gave him twenty dollars of her own money. She told me she felt bad that she didn’t feel well enough this week to make him a card. She can be a total sweetheart to her brothers at times.

On Saturday morning we took everyone to Best Donuts for a treat and then went down to the Mennonite grocery shop. Sometimes the deals are nice but not always. We do like to get our cheese from them because we can buy it in full size blocks and save money. Amish and Mennonite cheese is often better than anything available in the local grocery store anyway.

Later, my husband took me out for a ride in his sweet Mustang. I rarely get to ride in the classic so the afternoon ride was a real treat for me. We drove through Scott county, Switzer and Stamping Ground before returning home. I practiced taking pictures from a moving vehicle and asked questions about the engine and

exhaust sounds. The Bluegrass Region is beautiful and I was delighted to ride shotgun and gaze at the rural landscape…to me that is about as perfectly romantic as a moment can get. Just us, cruzin’ on a country road.

We took the younger three to some trunk-or-treats over the weekend. Oldest stayed home and watched episodes of Sherlock. We decided he was old enough to start watching certain shows and movies. He and my husband have been watching some classic horror films together lately. They watched Nosferatu and several of the classic Frankenstein movies before watching Young Frankenstein together. I watched some of those with them but when they opted for Jaws and Christine I found something else to do. Oldest now wants to read Jaws and Christine so I told them he could when he finishes The Three Musketeers.

We were tired by Sunday morning and opted to sleep in and continue looking for a church community next week.

I spent the weekend experimenting with some bourbon ball recipes. I can make  the old fashioned recipe just fine but am trying to make a buttercream version now. The first batch I made did not have enough boozy goodness so I modified a second batch. I am hoping these will turn out better. I also started a new knitting project today. I plan to make a mesh shawl with a beaded fringe and maybe a matching floppy hat. I’ve only completed about ten inches so far…another fifty or so to go.

The book I am reading this week is pretty good, Dinner with Buddha by Roland Merullo. I love the road-trip genre anyway. But this story is about a retired (forced to retire from the writing industry) North Dakota boy from a successful New York City career, traveling the West with his brother-in-law, a Russian-Tibetan Monk, just sounded so intriguing to me. I’m not a Buddhist, nor about to become one but the insights the writer provides are fascinating. I identify a bit with the main character in his attempt to make sense of spiritual matters, daily life and reconciling our place in the bigger picture of the sufferings of humanity.

Homeschooling chugged along nicely this week. Littlest wrote his first words in cursive and passed his first spelling words. In history he is still working through his first book but I plan to take his first notebooking experience nice and slow keeping it fun and light. Oldest sat at the computer with him this week and helped him navigate around Clever Dragons (an education computer game that goes through 8th grade). Pretty soon he will be able to sign himself in, use a mouse and keyboard all by himself and start learning to use the computer.

Middle Boy is at that stage where he tries to see what he can get away with. He tried to skip some of his writing assignments this week. I guess he thought I wouldn’t notice so he spent part of his free time on Sunday finishing his work. Oldest and Sparkles did the same thing when they were nine so I wasn’t surprised at all.

Sparkles managed to get most of her work done despite her illness. She likes to get up early and get her school work out of the way. This week I am encouraging her to just sleep in and let her body heal. Healing matters more than long division.

Oldest pulled excellent marks on his exams this week so I told him he could get his work done as he pleased for the week. The memory work for last month was the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley. Littlest even started reciting it with us by the end of the month. The older three recited the poem perfectly. November’s poem is Death, Be not Proud by John Donne. The kids do not care what poems I choose in the future for them to memorize so long as it is not by Shakespeare.

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Birthday Week for Littlest Sometimes this past week seemed really long yet the days flew by in a blur. Two occurrences made the days pass slowly.

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Pizza night. Yum. #pizzanight (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Tonight's choice while blogging, Basil Hayden Bourbon on ice. #bourbon #jimbeam #basilhayden (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Days of Knights #fieldtrip #daysofknights #medieval #livinghistory (at Elkhorn Creek)

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My friend the Knight Templar and his Paternoster Cord. "Memento mori." #medieval #livinghistory #daysofknights #fieldtrip #reenactment (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Rough ulcerative colitis morning. So grateful we chose to homeschool so my sweet girl can rest when she needs to. #ulcerativecolitis #ulcerativecolitislife #gotguts #homeschooling #thisishomeschool #ulcerativecolitiswarrior (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Poetry tea time #homeschooling #homeschoolalliance #homeschoolingrocks #bravewriterlifestyle #poetryteatimetuesday (at Elkhorn Creek)

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A little bourbon, dark chocolate and blogging tonight. #bourbon #jimbeam #chocolatelover (at Elkhorn Creek)

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A peek at our week...we morphed into unschoolers for a wee few days. Back to the routine and our books next week. #homeschooling #homeschoolalliance #homeschoolingrocks #charlottemasoneducation #projectbasedlearning (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Littlest is modeling the two hats I knitted this week while the kids made their own projects this week. #homeschooling #projectbasedlearning #knitting (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Boots loves to help with knitting! #homeschooling #homeschoolingrocks #charlottemasoneducation #knitting #cats #catsofinstagram (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Learning to knit...the slip knot totally slayed them... #homeschooling #homeschoolalliance #homeschoolingrocks #charlottemasoneducation #projectbasedlearning #knitting (at Elkhorn Creek)

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I really should have tried to keep a daily diary this week. So much happened that I am sure I’ll miss capturing most of the week. I’m considering writing a nightly draft this week for the next weekly post…maybe.

This week we vacationed and crammed our days full of field trip opportunities. Sparkles turned eleven on Monday and Oldest turned thirteen on Tuesday. I’m now the parent of a teenager. I asked Oldest how it felt to be in his teens and he replied that he does not feel any different…just his “same old self.” I let him know that particular feeling about getting older doesn’t really change no matter the number of years.

On Monday we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. We found a path we had managed to miss the first two times we went and explored the rain-forest center too. We saw the new baby giraffes and watched the red panda roam around. Littlest (or was it Middle Boy?…not sure) wondered if we would see a rabbit. Just as soon as I doubted there were rabbits at the zoo we found a black floppy ear bunny in the barnyard area. Figures, right? Littlest wore his Batman cape most of the day (the week really) and got a bit miffed a few times when people asked him if he was Batman. He would either ignore the commenters or inform them that Batman isn’t real and he was just wearing a costume. Some of the creatures in the nocturnal building did react to Littlest’s bat cap. Maybe it was the ears sticking up…who knows? One particular owl just followed him from one side-to-side. Even though it was amusing it also kinda creeped me out. I like the nocturnal critters, it is one of my favorite places to visit at the zoo. The sand cat is my favorite just because she is so cute. The place is also covered in poetry about the animals and night-time. The homeschool-mom nerd in me loves the poems…

Later, in the afternoon, we went to Chamoda’s Candy Cafe. If you are ever in Cincinnati or near by then stop at this wonderful candy store. They let the kids sample nearly everything and I believe the store motto must be “try before you buy”! The chocolate was very tasty and they have the best gummy candies I’ve ever tried. My husband doesn’t even like gummy candy but he did enjoy Chamoda’s gummy bears. The kids were in candy heaven and Sparkles got extra treats since it was her birthday.

On Tuesday we headed out to Mammoth Cave. On the way we stopped by Best Donuts in Lawrenceburg. We treated Oldest to an extra donut for his birthday. One of the owner’s treated me to a fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon roll…best ever!!! We then loaded back up and traveled to Mammoth Cave and arrived in time for the 9:30 a.m. tour. I always said that I would never-ever go in Mammoth Cave. Traveling deep under the earth far away from sunlight is frightening to me. I found enough courage to trek with my family 250 feet below the surface through narrow tunnels and dark caves. I did it. Never going back. I’m not gonna fuss about it too much since one of the tourists was a ninety year old lady from Alaska! Her younger husband (all of seventy-three years) complained how difficult it was to keep up with her. I’ll bet they have an interesting story. Littlest wore his bat cape and a few people asked if he was scouting for a new Bat-cave. He posed by the “do not touch the bats” sign. He thought the cave was okay but that it would have been more fun if he would have been allowed to climb on the rocks off the path…the rangers were not crazy about that idea.

After leaving Mammoth Cave we went to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. We looked around at the corvette displays and I slept through the history video. The most interesting (and sad) part of the museum was the display about the cave-in that happened a couple of years ago. They marked the floor where the sink-hole developed and the edges of the cave. I’m glad that I experienced the cave-in simulator after touring Mammoth Cave!

Wednesday and Thursday were spent here in Frankfort. The Kentucky history center was very nice and had several interactive exhibits that the kids enjoyed. After ward we went on a tour of the Old Capitol which is actually the third capitol building…the first two burned. If you have kids the tour is way too long! We were pretty excited when the alarm suddenly went off and we had to leave! We then went to the Kentucky Military History Museum which is housed in the old arsenal…a really cool looking fort overlooking the river. I liked the military museum and was surprised to see Santa Anna’s epaulettes! We then went up to the old graveyard and visited Daniel Boone’s grave. His grave gives a nice view of the capitol building and valley. Right over the stone wall you can still see the path where ammunitions were brought from the arsenal (the military history museum) to the river below. We met a fella (from Buffalo…or Boston…I don’t remember but one of those big cities that begins with a “B”), he told us that Boone’s bones may not be buried there at all. Some say parts of his remains are still in Marthasville Missouri. Anytime I hear talk about moving bones around it reminds me of the movie Poltergeist…which gives me the willies.

After visiting the graveyard we drove up to Fort Hill which overlooks downtown Frankfort. Military fortifications were built there to protect the pro-Union government during the Civil War. We plan to visit again when we get to the Civil War in our studies this spring. The park has several walking trails, earthen fort embankments, an 1880’s cabin and exhibit/visitor center and living history programs. We are looking forward to learning more about the Fort Hill.

The next museum we visited was the City Museum. Here we learned all about the history of Frankfort. The first drawing of Frankfort was done by a British POW during the War of 1812. We learned about the assignation of Governor Goebel, that Frankfort is a mispronunciation of Frank’s Ford and on and on…The City Museum and the Military History Museum both tie as my favorite museums in the city. They are both kinda laid back kid friendly places. Our last touristy visit in Frankfort was to the state capitol. Wowser!!! The building and grounds are beautiful and opulent. It really is something to see…

Friday we toured the Ale-8-1 factory in Winchester. Middle Boy loves Ale8, he could hardly wait until Friday. We got to see some of the bottling process, smell the secret formula and enjoy (some of us anyway) a fresh cold bottle of Ale8! Littlest wore his bat cape again to the delight of nearly everyone he encountered. He resignedly explained he was not Batman. “I am Sam, not Batman”, was a bit of a mantra this week. We then went home and crashed for the day tired from all of our fieldtrips and explorations this week.

Saturday was a nice visit with our friends Cindy and June. I love them both to pieces and never visit with them often enough. Shannon and I cooked up a great big ham dinner, we feasted and had a great time. I made an onion-less version of hashbrown casserole. I had to make the recipe up while shopping at the grocery store. The recipe calls for a can of cream of chicken soup but since one of our guests is allergic to onions and Sparkles’ Ulcerative Colitis doesn’t always get along with onions I had to start reading labels to come up with alternative ingredients.

Alternative Hashbrown Casserole

mix together in large bowl:

1 tablespoon chicken base (Better Than Bouillon)

I can evaporated milk

I pint sour cream

1 teaspoon pepper

melt one stick of butter in 13×9 pan while preheating over to 350 degrees Farenheit

add one thawed bag hashbrown potatoes to mix in bowl and then mix in two cups shredded sharp cheddar

pour potato mixture into pan with melted butter, top with a handful or two of shredded cheddar, cover with foil and bake 45 minutes

remove foil and broil until lightly browned on top

If you do not have Ulcerative colitis or an onion allergy then add a small diced onion and two diced cloves or garlic with the hashbrowns. Or just use the cream of chicken soup recipe on the internet. Also my ingredient volumes are approximations…I didn’t measure anything.

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Sunday Journal: Field Trip Week I really should have tried to keep a daily diary this week. So much happened that I am sure I’ll miss capturing most of the week.

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Coffee with a warning label! Just what I need for our upcoming project - schooling week! #homeschooling #coffeetime #projectbasedlearning #deathwishcoffee (at Elkhorn Creek)

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Touring Ale-8-1 today. #homeschooling #fieldtrip #ale8 (at Ale-8-One Bottling Company)

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Exploring the beautiful state capitol. #fieldtrip #frankfortky #homeschooling (at Frankfort, Kentucky)

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Batman at Capitol City Museum. Base is from the state's second capitol building. #homeschooling #fieldtrip #frankfortky (at Kentucky's Capitol)