Our Spooky House

In order to get out of the annual ritual of pushing Michael around our large and hilly neighborhood in his all terrain buggy I proposed that we make a "spook house" in the garage for Halloween this year.  Trick or treaters could take the tour before gathering their treat.  Both Michael and Anna thought this would be fun.  Anna was so into it she didn't even want to do the house to house door knocking thing this year.  So using some tarps and silliness here's what we created.

We warned the visitors to go quietly so they wouldn't wake the old man in the chair.  Michael loved holding really still until a kid got very close and then saying "boo".  Three middle school aged girls in matching fairy outfits were the highlight of the evening.  They screamed and carried on to Michael's great delight.  We had a fog machine going and the light in the pot beside him flashed on and off and made a thundering noise to create a stormy effect.  The camera flash hides how dark it really was in this "spook house".  The eyeballs on the tarps lit up.

Outside the tarps Anna had a ball squirting a little water over the top to shock visitors and letting a big black traveling rat with red glowing eyes loose to run around people's feet.

Pictured above is the candy bowl troll. 

We had a ball but I think we'll stick to something simpler and easier to clean up next year.

One Of My Favorite Costumes Ever

A few year ago my sister Pam (second from left) and some friends duded up for a party.  I just hope Robert Lilienstern doesn't see these pictures and get any ideas.

Meetings and Parties

If I could sum up this week I'd have to call it "Meetings and Parties".  It is Saturday morning and I'm a little wiped out.  It's past 9 AM and Michael and Anna are both still fast asleep.  They're a little wiped out too.

Monday afternoon Anna and I went to her parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Brodt.  Anna is doing great in school.  She showed me a project she and two boys have been working on together before school starts.  They designed a home blueprint using a set of restrictions, a budget and a lot of creativity.  It involved various mathematical calculations, reading comprehension, attention to detail, cooperation and creativity.  Not bad for a nine year old.

Tuesday I actually stayed home and washed clothes and cleaned on the house.

Wednesday morning I met with staff at Michael's school (OCMS) and we placed him in a new science class that they created after first quarter.  The instruction will be at a slower pace and be less stressful for him.  Turns out quite a few kids had trouble with the main science class pace during first quarter.  I then went to Buckner Elem. and helped with Wednesday folders, then made copies for academic team.  After lunch I went back to OCMS with Michael's all terrain buggy so he could participate in the PTSA Olympics. 

Thursday I met a friend for lunch and we had a good time catching up.  She and I worked together at least once a week last school year when she was the Buckner PTA President and I was the Treasurer.  We both kind of miss those weekly work/gab sessions so try to get together once a month or so.

Thursday afternoon I helped Mrs. Brodt and Mrs. Fotos with academic team practice.  Anna made the team and I will do this probably every week.  Part way through the practice I walk over to OCMS and bring Michael back, and he does his homework in Mrs. Brodt's classroom while practice is going on.

Friday morning the playground committee met with the school district facility rep and Buckner principal to go over the playground plans and get the approval process going.  Looks like there will be some major improvements in place soon.

I returned to school at 1pm for Anna's classroom party.  This very creative mother made tie dye t shirts for the kids to decorate with sharpie pens. 

After school we went to Dr. Petrucci for Michael's monthly chiropractic adjustment.  A year in a wheelchair left him with some spinal curvature and he gets out of whack easily due to low muscle tone and lack of coordination.  Sometimes he's in good shape and sometimes Dr. Petrucci asks me if I dropped him or if he had a wreck.

While in LaGrange we stopped at the home of Michael's friend Travis.  Travis hadn't been in school all week and Michael wanted to see what was going on.  Travis had his tonsils out earlier in the week but was up for visitors and so the kids had a good time with him for an hour or so.

We came home and ate and then dressed up for the Halloween party at the McKinney's.  In case you can't tell Anna went as a sheep (another scary home project by Dawn...Anna made and sewed the ears on the sheep's headgear herself) and Michael as a judge.  I tried to put flour in Michael's hair to make him look old.  He told me you don't have to be old to be a judge cause John Brown is a judge and he's not old.

The party was a lot of fun.  Michael was one of three judges for the costume contest.  The winner was Dillon Kopp...how many kindergarten boys do you know that are tough enough to dress up as a cheerleader?  He won the contest.  There were games and good food and lots of fun with friends.

Here are Shelby (zebra), Anna (sheep) and Dillon (yes, it's a boy!) 

The McKinney's basement is well equipped to entertain a crowd.

There's a lawnmower/utility garage connected to the basement on the lower level, and it makes a nice man cave.  We ended up with a pretty rainy night or we would have been around the pool deck.

Anna's piano teacher called and her lesson is at noon.  Looks like the rain is going to pass so I am going to shower, get organized and decorate the garage...if all goes well the Spooky Ripley Caverns will be open by dark for tours by all little trickertreaters that dare enter!!  If they are brave enough and live through the tour without wetting their pants they will recieve a treat from Michael.  Not sure yet if Anna is going to do the door-to-door thing or stay with us so she can scare the heck out of unsuspecting "big kids".  

Vacation Day

This week the kids are on fall break from school.  Due to John's work demands we opted for a quiet week of sleeping in at home and playing with friends in the neighborhood.  John was able to take the entire day off yesterday and we decided to visit Frankfort, the capital city of Kentucky.

We left home late morning and decided to have lunch when we arrived.  John spied a Big Boy restaurant and of course that's where we had to eat.  John has wonderful childhood memories that involve a JB's Big Boy.  It was a rare and exciting treat for him to eat at this place when he was young so the site of the "big boy" makes him all warm and fuzzy.

After lunch we made our way into downtown and stopped at this scenic overlook.  The Kentucky state capitol building is in the background.

Here are Michael and Anna on the porch at the downtown visitor center, also known as the Gooch House.  There is no shortage of old buildings in this area.

The Frankfort Cemetary that overlooks the city is big and full of history.  The most famous resident is probably Daniel Boone.  We didn't stay long but would like to go back and explore further.

Civil War era graves

These steps and walkway are all part of the monument in honor of the 20th Governor of Kentucky.  His family members are in the smaller graves to the left.

This is the Kentucky Vietnam War Memorial.  The names are etched in the concrete base, and it was designed so that on the day a soldier died, his name will be in the shadow created by the monument.  The shadow is visible in this photo.

Our last stop of the day was the Capitol building.  We parked in the handicap sticker lot and this was the "grand entrance".

The decor gets a lot better when you find the elevator and get out of the basement.

This place was deserted yesterday.  Here we are peeking into the House of Representatives' Chamber.

There are plenty of places to visit in this town and so I'm sure we'll go back when we have a day to play tourist.  Michael spied a military history museum and I'm sure he won't forget it.  You'd think that when you've seen one gun or tank you've seen them all, but evidently not.  He really enjoys those types of displays.

Another Performance

Click on the following link to see Anna play a new song on her keyboard.


http://s548.photobucket.com/albums/ii359/dawnripley/Videos/?action=view&current=022.flv

Our first Middle School Field Trip

On Thursday I went with Michael's 6th grade class on a field trip to Kentucky Down Under.  There were about 250 kids on 5 or 6 coach buses and we traveled around 2 hours south of Louisville.  It was a very cool day and the entire day was outdoors.

At Kentucky Down Under, we toured an underground cavern, checked out a couple of bird atriums, visited the kangaroo pen where Michael petted a full grown and tame kangaroo, plus enjoyed some demonstrations about sheep and Australia's history and Aboriginee population.  The day was a lot of fun.

At one of the bird exhibits, we were given a small cup of nectar to hold, and that attracted a dozen birds to a person almost immediately.  It was kind of like being attacked at first and it freaked Michael out.  I held the nectar out in one hand and onto him with the other, and as we stayed calm we found ourselves with birds sitting on our heads and all up and down my arm.  They were especially beautiful and brightly colored and Michael enjoyed it very much. 

At another exhibit the kids "volunteered" me to milk a cow.  Dang that would be a pain if one had to do that every single day. 

The cave tour was awesome but traveling through parts of it with Michael was challenging.  It can be slick and damp in spots and the lighting is poor.  He did really great though and was adamant about wanting to go through the entire thing with the rest of the kids.  Luckily, I can still help him around pretty well.

Kentucky Down Under is built on the side of a small mountain and involved lots of walking and lots of hills.  It is such beautiful country this time of year with the leaves turning colors.  I took Michael's jog stroller...just threw it in the bottom of the coach bus, and that worked great for him.  But Michael's friend Breanna has cerebal palsy, she walks with crutches, and her little legs were giving out by mid morning.  I tried putting both she and Michael in the jog stroller and found it impossible weight wise for me to push.  I had spied some golf carts at the entrance earlier, so I went to the visitor's center, explained my problem and the folks there provided us with a chaperoned ride the rest of the day and stashed the stroller for us.  Pictured is Zolan and Breanna on the back and Michael in front with a KDU staffer.

Part of being a chaperone is the joy of keeping children who are not your own in check.  I also took on the duty of sitting near the back of the bus where the noise and excitement is highest.  Michael was up front right behind the driver with a buddy and the aides and teachers were up there too, so I wasn't needed.  The kids are really a great bunch, very respectful and good natured.  I really enjoyed being with them.  The only issue was when I looked back and found we were missing a few girls.  They were all in the "potty closet" doing who knows what.  So I kicked them all out and told them no one was allowed in there unless they "had to go" and for the rest of the ride I had kids asking permission to pee.  I know most of their mothers and they know it.

In the spring the school is taking the 6th grade to the Newport Aquarium on the Ohio/KY border and then to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game at the stadium.  John is going on that one!  What is the educational benefit of a baseball game?  I have no idea.

Carpet-the Dirty Kind

The Farmer's Wife recently suffered the death of her vacuum cleaner.  A replacement was found  and once put to use it was discovered that her carpet held enough dirt to plant taters in.  This I believe is the norm in most homes.  Maybe not mine, because my husband, who from here on out I am referring to as "the IE guy", has a real aversion to dirty carpet. 

It is almost a sickness.  During the course of the day a child may accidentally drops a marker or something on a shoe may be drug in, leaving a spot on this light colored rug we have quite a bit of in our home.  Then the IE guy comes home from work, and I don't know if it's an actual inspection he just does every night or if he needs to look up when he walks, but for sure before bedtime he will have discovered the spot and be at it with carpet cleaner and a rag. 

Once or twice a year like clockwork the IE guy shampoos our carpets, all of them.  And we have a big house so this takes the better part of the day.  And he is just disgusted beyond words with what comes out of the cleaning machine.

Recently the IE guy made a proclamation...no more carpet in our home...or at least very little.  It's just too dirty.  So as time goes on and he finds the time, cash and motivation to do home projects, I expect to see some perfectly good albeit slightly dusty carpet disappearing.

Sometimes I wonder if I married my mother.