Turkey Art

First, I printed the simple turkey line drawing and the kids outlined it with a Sharpie. 

Then they colored them beautifully with oil pastels. Don't forget the horizon line.

 

Fully colored. Lovely.

Now take a black oil pastel and cover the whole thing with black. 

Really, Mom, are you sure? Yep.

Now you can scratch away using a toothpick, skewer, or popsicle stick. 

Try to follow the direction of the grass and the sky/wind and the feathers.

They loved the final product.

I did not love the little balls of black oil pastel all over the wood floors. 

My advice: take it outside to brush off all the scraped bits of black.

 

Peter wanted to do something a little different. I love this project. There are step-by-step instructions as to how to draw a turkey. 
I did it with Hannah and Will three years ago.

November Gold : 1000 Gifts

In the golden light and raining of leaves, I am overwhelmed again by his goodness to me. The gift lift continues with photos all taken by Hannah. 

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What I find when I upload the photos from her camera. Beauty through her lens.

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The sound of the basketball on the driveway.

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Reading on the patio. Leaves falling on the pages.

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Root beer and pork BBQ at the farm.

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A stroll around the neighborhood. Slow. Savoring the late afternoon.

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Japanese maples flaming red.

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Blue Jays and Cardinals at our window interrupting math lessons.

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The flutter of beech leaves in the backyard.

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Finding evidence of beavers on our hike. Fascinating.

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A weekend without soccer. I love it, but...

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My sweet second grade Sunday School class.

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A babysitter that comes with ingredients to make cookies with the kids.

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November Dinner Club. The beginning of our sixth year.

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That when able to choose, they stay outside all day long. 

I love that she took a picture of the sky.

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How happy Will is with a ball. Any ball.

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Neighborhood flashlight play after early dark.

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When learning about the Yamato Dynasty of Japan extends to a sushi lunch out with Dad.

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Birthday parties at bounce places.

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An hour to sit and catch up with Patti.

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Mr. McLendon.

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Evening worship gathered around tables.

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His overwhelming grace. And inexhaustible patience with me.

Rocklands Farm Market

My Young Farmers completed their program by working the market today. 

Serving customers, preparing lunch, giving tours, and even a few farm chores 

made for a perfect way to spend a sunny and mild November Saturday.

Hannah helped Megan prepare the salad.

Will loves Bone Dog

 

Anna and the boys feeding the chickens. I so wish I had gotten a picture of Anna with the kids. They love her.

I snuck down to the basement to see the wine being bottled and corked.

Well done, TJ!

Rocklands Red

Celebrating Eleven

Hannah and her best friends celebrated her birthday with and a night of little sleep
and a lot of giggling. Thankfully there was that extra hour for a little more rest -
"Fall Back" is a brilliant night for a sleepover! 

Such sweet girls! I snapped a quick photo on our way to church Sunday morning.

Chicken

Our last class at Rocklands Farm was all about chickens. I snapped a few photos with my phone.

We hung out with the egg-layers, fed and watered them, then collected eggs. 

Hannah and Will learned how to catch a chicken. Peter wanted no part of this.

Next we learned about meat-birds and we *slaughtered* a chicken! I'll spare you the photos. To my surprise, my husband was less than thrilled to see the play by play in photos. But really... we slit the jugular, pulled out the feathers, cleaned it out (complete with a *spectacular* anatomy lesson), and then brought it home to cook. Hannah and Will were into it. Peter not so much... must take after Dad. : )

Eleven

 We celebrated Hannah today! Eleven years old! 

I am so blessed to be her mom.

She got a whole lot of birthday love from her brothers.

We had a great day and ended with a fun family birthday dinner with the Flemings. 

Hannah's dinner request: chicken enchiladas and homemade apple pie. 

Happy Birthday sweet girl.

Pumpkins and Candy

Update: Sandy was kind to DC. We had no damage and never lost power for which we are very, very grateful. But our family in NJ was hit hard. We are so thankful they are safe... but their road back to normal will be long.

a few Halloween pics...

What we came up with from what we had on hand. : )

And now what to do with all this? The orthodontist is offering $2 a pound... I think we may cash in. After we eat all the Reese's, of course.