Jack-o-Lanterns!

I know - usually these wonderful, magical, carved creations are made BEFORE Halloween and used to light-up Halloween night.

HOWEVER, have I said lately that things have been just a bit CRAZY here??????????

I did take vacation days Halloween week with the intention of picking them up early Monday or Tuesdayand doing this activity with them then....we had purchased one LARGE pumpkin and two smaller ones on Sunday ....then ER came home with another small one partially cut on Monday.

On Monday after I did the music class in the morning - I got involved doing some projects at home that require small curious boys not be present! and didn't finish up until too late to worry about pumpkins - and I had really thought Tuesday would be better anyway....
Then TUESDAY around lunch time I emailed DH and asked him where he had stashed the pumpkins...they were still in his van....oh, well so much for that....and of course we didn't have time ON Halloween....what's a mama to do????
Well, we just carved on Thursday. I left work on time (haha) which felt early, came home, laid out the newspapers and we carved.

DH had a warm, glowing, pumpkin-y greeting when he arrived home from work!

We don't get any trick-or-treaters where we are, so it really didn't matter that we were a day late...the audience was the same as it would have been a day or two earlier.

Halloween!

Ok - I know this is overdue - but I'm trying to catch up!!

So this year Mommy was A WITCH - ok - not much of a streatch I know....
And I was going to re-cycle costumes for the boys, but then...I went to the Disney store with my mom and found 50% off BUZZ and WOODY costumes and just couldn't pass them up - the boys looked AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This year I continued the tradition of bringing music to the daycare as part of the Halloween celebration...and the teachers were involved too!

At the begining of October - RC's teacher asked me to be involved in this year's Halloween party, so I put together a list of kids tunes with Halloween words and the teachers each picked their 2 favorites. The Wednesday before Halloween I took a day off and taught the kids the songs.
On Halloween week I had Mon-Wed off, and went in to the cent again on Monday to go over the songs and have extra time with the kids. As with the other times I've gone in, each kid had a chance to help me "play" the violin...they really love that!
On Wednesday when I got tot he school for the party they told me I would also be "leading" the children's parade - unfortunately I was NOT prepared for that - and had to figure something out on-the-fly - it was kind of rough at first, but I found a groove that worked and went with it.

We all had fun!

For trick-or-treating we met up with the boys cousins again this year, and went to the local development and let the kids walk around for an hour or so....

The big YUCK this year was that I had to get on a conference call during trick-or-treating and then had to work from 8-2am after...and yes, on my VACATION DAY.

Music for Tykes

The boys have been in daycare for a year now. It has been a learning experience for us all.

We chose a community run daycare center for several reasons - location, cost and food. Yes food - our daycare center serves breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks a day - and usually the breakfast and lunch are hot meals. What our center lacks is extras like the "special programs", music & sports offered at the pricey daycares (which don't serve meals or charge mucho extra for that convenience).

Since then, I've been a mom with a mission! I have music experience! I have experience teaching music to young folks, I enjoy being goofy...my only obstical is WORK. Last year when I first thought up the idea of going to the daycare and offering special music days I was still working for Atilla the Hun, but I was in the midst of a transfer. And yes now I work for better folk, but it is still Corporate America and asking for a few hours off once a month (which was my original thought) is like asking for the keys to the corporate bank accounts. (Not that they have any problems asking you to work extra hours on a weekly basis). So, I haven't quite gotten up the gumption to ask....yet.
What I have done is to do it on my own time. The first one was last Halloween. I used some vacation days to have a long weekend over Halloween - with the intent of doing some extra things for the holiday with the kids and doing some extra fall housecleaning. I also offered the daycare a special music program for the kids ....
I figured I'd bring my violin and do the usual nursery rhymes etc - then the director asked me what my "Program" was going to be - which forced me to really think about it. Thank goodness! I went in with a plan.
At the time, my boys had been listening to one of my chant cd's in the car and LOVED the song Grandmother Moon. They would call to Grandma Moon during full moon nights and sing along with the chant. So...since at Halloween the dark hours are growing - I decided to do Moon and Stars - Our friends as the theme.
I had Twinkle little Star, Grandmother Moon and a couple of other songs, a book "The Moon Comes Home", and in a couple of the rooms I used Elaine Silver's "Half Moon Rising" . Beyond that I did Happy Birthday where appropriate, and kids favorites. I played in the rooms for each age group - and had a different wonderful experience in each room. One thing that did stay the same - from 12 mos up - each kid had the opportunity to help me play the fiddle.
My next opportunity came on MLK day. Miraculously my company gives this as a holiday, but daycare is open. This time I went without a theme - and it was OK. Having lived through the experience once - I knew what to expect from the age groups. I must say, that the pre-school teacher is one of my best friends when I do this. She would really LOVE it if I could do this REGULARLY and build on what I'm doing. She has repeatedly offered to do prep lessons or followup lessons with the kids.
I guess I just have to get up the gumption to ask for a few hours once a month from my boss...it really wouldn't cost him anything. I already work overtime....

Halloween Fun!

Halloween was a BIG event at our house this year.
I took Monday and Tuesday off so that I could do more with the boys, but the festivities began on Friday night!
Friday night was the day care center's Halloween Party - and they went all-out!!! The entry had a smoke machine and the lights in the whole building were dim to start...each of the offices/rooms was decorated and the staff were dressed up and handing out treats. Then there were refreshments in the cafeteria. For this event the boys dressed in last-year's costumes - and were "SUPER BOYS"!
Saturday we had a gathering of family and friends in the late -afternoon/ evening to celebrate the late harvest and to honor those who have gone before us. It was a rainy day, so the pumpkin soup I made was well received! We also feasted on pieroghi casserole with mushroom sauce, spinach casserole, chicken and beef satay, rack of lamb, sesame noodles, stuffed butternut squash, fresh bread and apple desserts. It was YUMMY!
On Sunday we held a tie-dying session - the first since just after our wedding....although it was cold and windy MANY items were dyed. Ronnie got to dye his beach towel for next summer and it came out nicely! Next time we'll get the boys more involved in this - when we remember to do it in warmer weather!!!!
Monday I cleaned house - it needed it after the weekend!!! And picked up the boys early from daycare to carve our jack-o-lanterns. Ronnie was definitely into it more than Evan. He directed the carving - The big pumpkin was to have triangle eyes and nose and some teeth! The smaller one needed circle eyes and nose and a "scarey mouth".
Tuesday I spent the morning at the day care center - violin in hand - doing some musical activities with each of the rooms. My theme for the day was "Moons and Stars" who keep us company through the dark time of the year. I played "Half-Moon Rising" (from one of Elaine Silver's cds), sang "Grandmother Moon", "Twinkle Twinkle" and I told them the story "The Moon Comes Home". The older kids loved the singing and dancing...the younger kids were just amazed at the violin. I let ALL of the kids(12 mos to 5yrs) take a turn helping me play! In the afternoon Grammy came to visit and we were all joined by Aunt Julie and Uncle Jim and cousins Caity Fiona and Seamus to go trick-or-treating. This year Ronnie clearly told me weeks in advance that he was going to be "BOB the BUILDER" and Evan said "Fireman"!!! So, that's what we were! Of course Mommy dressed up like...."a Witch"!
It was a wonderful holiday!!