Happy October 31st!

Pumpkins have been carved. The Spud helped make a cute spider while the Beast insisted on carving his own "bat house." The Drama Queen drew out instructions for her pumpkin, and Daddy kindly did the carving for her.

Avast me hearties! These scalliwags had fun at the fall festival last night.

Our future veterinarian paused to pose before insisting that we make her a surgical mask to wear "in case she had to operate on her puppy."

Even Little Sprout got dressed up as the sweet little pumpkin she is! And her momma posed as a pumpkin smuggler.

The Beast's costume got double duty today since he got to wear it to preschool today! It's been a weekend of silly fun and family memories. Despite being homebound today due to the modified bed rest, I am doing my best to make it an exciting day for the kids. They are eating their lunch of ghost toast, carrot jack'o'lanterns, and hairy hotdogs now. . .

and linking up with:

Thirty-Four Weeks

(isn't it ridiculous how that maternity shirt doesn't even begin to cover my belly?!)

The Baby: The fruit/vegetable comparison for weight this week is a cantaloupe. Little Sprout is already head-down and moving around like crazy. When I was in the hospital on Tuesday morning, the entire time I was strapped to the monitors, the baby would not keep still. She was very annoyed at the weights resting on my belly and did everything in her power to dislodge them. Her heart rate was crazy high, with the highest being 198 beats a minutes. She was clearly very agitated.

Me: I am on modified bed rest, which is kind of crazy for a mommy of three. I am doing my best to refrain from much physical activity, but it is hard. I sit as much as possible while homeschooling the girlie, and I am blessed to have a hubby that is willing to do dishes, laundry, vacuuming, kids' baths, etc, in his evenings as well as some outside help (read: superwoman mother-in-law who cleans the house and entertains the kids and lets me rest). Basically any physical activity can trigger contractions, and we want this baby to stay inside me for at least a few more weeks.

The Siblings: The kiddies have been taking turns being my buddy while I rest. I'm not sure if they completely understand why Mommy has to rest so much. I am hoping these next few weeks go by quickly! Meanwhile, I am currently being served by the cutest little wait staff ever. :)

The Plans: After the little scare with all the contractions over the weekend, I made sure that all the hospital paperwork is in order and that the hospital bag was packed!

Iphone Photo Phun - Bed Rest

I just have a few photos to share today, since my view is a bit limited. After two days of contractions and general discomfort, I went in for my regular ob appointment and ended up spending quite a bit of my day being monitored in the labor/delivery ward to be sure that preterm labor wasn't happening. Long story short, the doctor was able to confirm that no active labor was taking place. However, since even light activity seemed to be stimulating contractions, she put me under strict orders to severely limit my physical activity and to sit/lie down whenever possible. Ha ha, says the mother of three incredibly active children. However, I really don't want this baby coming too early; so I am trying hard to rest when I can.

A wonderful friend was able to take the older two to burn off some energy at the pumpkin farm for the afternoon. This little guy got to spend the afternoon in bed with Momma. Thank goodness for Little Einsteins episodes on the internet.

And don't I look thrilled? In theory, putting my feet up and getting some rest time sounds great, but it's only been a day and it's already getting old. :)

Well, at least I can still blog. . .

Art Project #4 - String Pumpkins and Gourds

One of my earliest school memories is doing a project in which we wrapped string dipped in glue around a balloon in various patterns. When the glue dried, we popped the balloon and had a hollow string sculpture to display. While exploring Pinterest the other day, I was reminded of this simple project and thought it would be the perfect platform to make some pumpkin and gourd decorations for our home.

Project Title: Pumpkin and Gourd String Art

Materials Needed: orange and yellow cotton yarn or string, school glue, a shallow pan such as a cake pan or pie pan, several balloons, and glitter (optional). For finishing, you may want some green ribbon and decorative silk leaves.

Purpose: To work with the basic premises of sculpture and 3D art; to understand importance of structure to a 3D work of art.

First, gather your supplies. Blow up your balloons until they are a nice round or slightly oval shape, being careful not to make them too big. (If you want ornament-sized pumpkins and gourds, use water balloons.) Blow up a few extra balloons to entertain the 3-year-old.

Next, cut your string. Measure around your balloon with the string, leaving a little extra for overlap and cut. Use that string to cut many more pieces of the same size in both yellow and orange. Then make your glue mixture. The recipe I used called for one part glue to two parts water. I think it certainly could have used more glue - I would do one part glue to one part water next time. If you are a glitter lover like myself, whisk in some sparkly glitter into the mixture. This is a good opportunity for everyone to get a chance to "help."

After covering your work surface abundantly with newspaper or an old tablecloth, begin covering your balloon with string. Dip one string into the glue mixture until the entire string is completely soaked. Wrap the wet string around your balloon, making sure that the ends overlap a little. Continue wrapping soaked strings around the balloon, making sure to cover large spaces so there will be no big holes in the sculpture. I found that my young ones, including my kindergartener, struggled with this. They all wanted to bunch up the yarn or toss it haphazardly across the balloon. This is a good time to explain why it needs to be tightly wrapped and spaced out in order for the structure to survive. It is also a good time to help so that frustration doesn't last. Art is supposed to be fun!

Keep wrapping your balloon until you are satisfied with the coverage. If you are not sure, "overdo" it!

Here is a good example of what your balloon should look like, although I would have covered some of those holes even more. Leave the balloons on the newspaper to dry. When the strings on the top of the balloon feel dry, turn the balloon over so that the underside strings have a chance to dry also. We did ours on a Friday afternoon, and they were completely dry by Saturday morning. Next, carefully pop the balloons and remove the broken balloon from inside your string sculpture. Three of our sculptures didn't make it - they collapsed into a stiff pile of string due to inadequate coverage or too much bunching. Also, I think the glue mixture was a little weak, as I mentioned before.

Tie another piece of string to the top of your gourd or pumpkin sculpture for hanging. We then used a short piece of green ribbon and a decorative silk leaf tied to the top to make them truly look like pumpkins and gourds. I think they would be just as cute with just the green ribbon or perhaps some green felt leaves glued on.

And then be sure to hang up your creations! We are definitely going to revisit this project again at Easter time and make pastel eggs to decorate our home. By the way, if you insert a small wrapped candy or prize inside the balloon before you blow it up, your sculpture will have a fun surprise center!

Thirty-Three Weeks

The Baby: Little Sprout is weighing the same as an average pineapple now, and I swear she is just as scratchy! It's as if she is trying to claw her way out of my tummy! All her bones are hardening and getting ready for birth. The child is sitting (or jumping, or kicking, or somersaulting) directly on my bladder.

Me: I am doing well. The last few days I was fighting a cold, which is always interesting when one is pregnant. Of course the hubby was sick too; so that made for a fun family dynamic. Three extremely healthy and exuberant kids plus two sick, tired, and grumpy adults is an equation for disaster. But we muddled through just fine. I am struggling to find clothes that stretch all the way over my baby bump. I certainly don't want to go out and buy anything though so I am trying to figure out how to make the current collection of maternity clothes/hubby's shirts work.

The Siblings: All of the kids have been excited about feeling the baby kick in the past few days. They giggle hysterically and demand that I "make her do it again, Momma!" Of course, I am not able to do that, but I have found that just "popping my belly out a little" satisfies them just as much. The Beast discovered a manual breast pump among all the baby things and has subsequently had a lot of questions about "milk machines" and boobs in general. Joy.

The Plans: This coming week, I think I will go ahead and get my hospital bag ready. I just have this feeling that Little Sprout is going to be a bit early. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking. :) We still don't have a place set up for her to sleep yet; so I'm putting that on hubby's to-do list this weekend.

I am hoping to find some time later today to sneak in a little nap. Dinner is in the crock pot, and if the kids cooperate, I might be able to squeeze one in. Just seven weeks to go!

Iphone Photo Phun - Mallrats

Well, I missed out on my Iphone Photo Phun post last week. Certainly it was a very busy week, but when I actually thought of it, I weighed my options of fishing out the phone cord, downloading the photos, and writing an legible post on my blog or I could go to bed. Sorry, peeps, the bed won. And the bed (or couch, or somewhat comfortable corner of the living room floor, or the kids' bed) continues to win out in many of the blogging vs. sleeping battles I've had lately.

Anyway. So there's a bunch of photos this week:

In Oregon, when you have three children screaming like banshees and racing up and down the stairs at breakneck speeds, you get a desperate need to take them to a park or playground. Only it's fall in Oregon, which means rain, rain, and more rain. So I take them to the mall for exercise. And while I'm waiting for the Spud to screech that he's done poopin' in the potty, I decide to take a preggo photo.

We like to start out our mornings with coffee and the newspaper.

We have to settle for wet leaves around here. We'll take what we can get!

Big jump for a kid with sensory integration disorder!

The Beast tests out one of many ridiculously awesome mustaches we purchased at the dollar store for Halloween fun.

The new winter hats at the Children's Place are to die for. Seriously, how cute are my three little raccoons? Like the frugal shopper I am, I am waiting for a good sale and may even pick up a tiny baby one for Little Sprout. :)

The kids are valiantly holding onto a giant Burmese python at a reptile show we went to at our local library. I am staying a respectable distance away, thank you very much.

The Beast is going to be a pirate for Halloween this year. He has no idea who Jack Sparrow is, but he sure loves this getup! Too bad he will be a short-haired pirate with an uber-fake mustache.

Hurray for the temporary Halloween store at the mall! We can go in every time and marvel at how shiny and fast-looking Lightning McQueen is. We can also hurry by the racks and racks of costumes that really ought to be reserved for the bedroom, if you know what I mean.

happy Iphone photo phun!

Three Little Pumpkins - Soon to Be Four

We made our annual visit to the local pumpkin farm last weekend. The day was cool but surprisingly not rainy; so we had to take advantage of the weather. There are dozens of pumpkin farms to choose from in our area, but we started going to Lee Farms when the Drama Queen was just a year old and have made it a tradition. I love that most of the activities are geared towards younger kids, but let's face it - the real reason we love going to Lee Farms is to eat their phenomenal pumpkin and apple cider donuts!

It just so happened that on that same day, Old Navy was running one of their "one-day-only" sales on their puffy vests. Since the kids needed some new winter wear anyway, we stopped there first and scored cozy vests for the whole family.

The Spud got his tractor fix.

The Drama Queen was sweet and helped her brothers find pumpkins before she chose hers. She is getting so grown-up these days!

The kids eagerly anticipated their apple cider donuts.

I enjoyed waddling all around the grounds, watching the kids excitedly choose pumpkins and run through the hay maze. It will be really fun next year with four kids!

We have the kids pose here every year. Mr. Beast is catching up to the Drama Queen in height and has already passed her in weight. Makes me want to stop time for just a little while. . .

Face painting was a first this year. The Spud decided half-way through that he was finished; so his pumpkin looked a little funny.

And this is my absolute favorite photo of the day. It was such fun to see the Beast enjoy himself without getting overwhelmed or having a meltdown. It is usually really hard to get him to pose for a photo anyway, and I love this candid shot of my little man.

So pumpkin carving will be in the near future for us. We can't do them too far ahead of time because here in rainy Oregon, carved pumpkins rot much more quickly.

Thirty-Two Weeks

(happily unbalanced)

The Baby: Little Sprout is moving around like a little crazy woman. Now the size of a large jicama (3.75 pounds), she is certainly making her presence known. Complete strangers have stopped to stare at my shape-changing belly, and a few have even asked if they can "feel it." Um, no. It's crazy enough when you're sitting in church and your friends are pressing on the side of your belly to make the baby dance. Babycenter tells me that I should be gaining about a pound a week now, with half of that going directly to Little Sprout. At that rate, we will no longer be able to call her "little"! If all goes according to previous pattern, she will be my biggest baby. The Drama Queen weighed in at 6 lb 3 oz (she was three weeks early though); the Beast was 8 lb 8 oz at birth, and the Spud was 8 lb 12 oz.

Me: I am doing way better this week emotionally than last week. For the rest of this pregnancy, I am sure I will be putting "tired and hurting" as my status; but it is not too bad. Despite the much cooler temperatures now, I still run our air conditioner every night to stay comfortable. Whatever that is. Insomnia has also kicked in - so Netflix and my Kindle have been keeping me company in the wee hours of the morning. Well, that and the ever faithful bathroom. We are good friends lately.

(me playing around with our three-way mirror in the bathroom and avoiding the kid knocking on the bathroom door and shouting, "Momma, are you peein' in there?")

The Siblings: The Drama Queen is really ready for her little sister to come join the family. She has a baby dolly named "Jennifer" that she takes with her everywhere, stopping frequently to change her diaper, bathe her, and feed her. Last night she informed me not to worry if she was up a lot during the night because Jennifer wasn't sleeping through the night yet. Looks like I am going to have one awesome helper!

The Plans: I finally retrieved our infant car seat from a friend who had been borrowing it. It makes me feel better that that is ready to go. I also spent some time this week thinking about all the details - where the kids will go when all the action starts, what vehicle we will use, etc.

As of today, I technically have 54 days to go. It sounds like a lot still, but with the thousand and one activities we have going on at this time of year, I know it will speed by. After all, thirty-two weeks have already flown by! (and speaking of thirty-two, a certain momma will be turning that number just a few days before her due date.) hmmm.

What Do Water Striders Eat?

"Mom, what's this?"

"Um, that's a mosquito, baby."

"What do mosquitos eat, Momma?"

"They eat blood."

"Yeah, they suck your blood."

"And what's this, Momma?"

"Um, that's a horsefly."

"What do horseflies eat?"

"Garbage and yucky stuff."

"Cool. What's this one's name?"

"That's a praying mantis, baby."

"And what do praying mantises eat?"

"Um. I think they eat other bugs. And sometimes the mommy praying mantis gets cranky with the daddy praying mantis and eats him too."

That's just a small snippet of the daily conversations I have with the Beast. His copy of World's Weirdest Creatures is well-worn, and I have learned far more about bugs and other creepy crawlies than I have ever desired. Due to his autism, the Beast has developed an obsession not necessarily with insects, but in general of "what eats what." I have answered questions about what polar bears eat and what penguins enjoy eating, and I have also frantically googled the answers to such questions as "What do fireflies eat?" and "What do hornets eat?" He will often ask the same question throughout the day if he is fascinated with the answer. I try to change the subject, but he is very persistent. Every week, I peruse the library for other interests that he might enjoy, but for now, the kid is fixated on animal eating habits.

And while I certainly do not claim to be Jeeves, I am becoming quite the expert on the subject. . .

Round-Up Sunday

Rainy day. Dark day. The Beast tossed and turned all night. His noises and crying kept the Drama Queen awake. I had to drag both of them out of bed at 8:45 am in order to get the Beast to school in time. One look at the Drama Queen's tired, grumpy face and I knew that homeschooling would be futile. And that's okay - we all need a break now and then. I've got 150 white chocolate truffles to make for a ladies' conference anyway. And stacks of laundry are awaiting folding and sorting. Not to mention that a certain preggo momma that got up several times during the night with the Beast wouldn't appreciate a nice nap.

So with that, I leave you with some pics of the family all dressed up in our fanciest Western duds for Round-Up Sunday at our church.

Foam/suedeish hats from the dollar store. Matching plaid outfits were bought last year at Crazy 8 for our visit to the pumpkin patch.

The Beast

The Drama Queen

The Spud

Momma and all four kiddos - Little Sprout made it impossible for me to button up my shirt all the way, heehee. Believe it or not, this is the best pic we got of all of us.

the not-so-little baby and I - love that little man!

Yeehaw! Off to pretend I'm being productive. . .

Art Project #3 - Pointillism Apples in a Bushel

Project Title: Pointillism Apples

Materials Needed: white paper, school glue, glue stick, craft paint, q-tips, sticks/twigs, leaves, brown crayon, scissors

Purpose: To teach students about the art form of pointillism. Also is helpful in cutting and gluing practice.

First, gather all of your materials. For the bushel basket, I printed off this image here and cut it out as shown (minus the apples). For the apples, I printed off this image here and traced it six times on a sheet of white paper. The kids helped me gather small leaves and twigs for the project.

Next, set up the painting station. I used a divided plate for our three colors - red, green, and yellow, and gave each child three q-tips. I should mention that although it is not pictured, I did end up setting everything out on newspaper to protect the table! :) (If you have older kids, you can teach them how to mix red with various amounts of white to make different shades of red for their apples, and so on.)

Demonstrate how to dip the Q-tip into the paint and then make a dot in the apple shape without dragging it around like a paint brush. Have your child fill up the apple shape with as many dots as they can without blending them together. Your child may wish to do two or even three colors on their apple to make it more realistic looking. Explain that pointillism is painting with tiny dots so that they become blended in the viewer's eye. You can even demonstrate that putting a bunch of blue and yellow dots close to each other will make it appear green from a distance.

Once your child finishes painting her apples (or gets tired of it!), set them aside to dry. Have your child glue the bushel basket to the bottom of a blank sheet of white paper and then color it brown.

Next, use the school glue to make thin lines on the bushel basket and attach the twigs. Break the twigs to a smaller size if necessary. Remind your child that this glue does not dry instantly; thus they must be careful not to bump the previously placed twigs on their basket.

When all glue and paint has dried, give your child a safe pair of scissors and instruct them to cut out their apples. This is good practice for following a curved line with scissors. Help them if they get frustrated.

Use the glue stick to glue the apples wherever the child chooses in the bushel basket.

Finally, squeeze large dots of school glue to the top of each apple and gently set the stem of each leaf in the glue dot. Set the whole project in a place where it will not be disturbed until the glue has dried.

My daughter chose to write "A is for Apple" on her project, and we hung all three projects up as pretty fall decor when they finished.

I say "A is for Adorable"! :)