A Pair of Red Clogs

This week we have been reading A Pair of Red Clogs for kindergarten. The wee ones really wanted to make their own wooden clogs, which I am not crafty enough to pull off.

I am, however, crafty enough to cut "wooden" clogs out of cereal boxes and weave yarn through them - which seemed to satisfy their clog desires.

Then we created "kimonos" and they felt like the real deal. They put on a show for Kevin when he came home for lunch. Midway through the show though Bergen ditched the kimono for a Batman cape and insisted that Batman become part of the Red Clogs tale.

Ring Around the Rosy

The following blog was written by London Eli Scout, age 5.

That picture is when we were doing Ring Around the Rosy. And we liked it. We liked Piper with us.

I just holded out my hands and she holded onto my hands and we went around in circles. She likes playing Ring Around the Rosy.

I try to hold Piper.

Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin

Disclaimer: This story may make the Keigleys sound as if they deprive their children of holiday joy. In fact, we do not. (Or maybe we do - it depends on your perspective.)

It was Halloween day. In our house, that doesn't mean an awful lot. Or, well, anything really. For the whole of our children's lives we lived on the farm in Virginia where no honest soul dared traverse the long dark drive through the woods to get a measly candy bar from a stranger. Hence, no Halloween for Keigley kids. I bought Riley a bag of her candy of choice. The other kids were very young. They didn't know. They didn't care. It seemed to work out just fine.

So along comes our friend Jane on Halloween afternoon. She asks if the kids are dressed up. Well, they aren't currently naked - so....yes. She asks if we are going anywhere. We aren't. And then she tells us of a nearby college that decorates their dorms and passes out candy. Our Friday night held no plans. At all. And I like candy too. Especially bite sized amounts of candy.

"Hey kids, you should go find some fun costumes and wear them," I told them. They didn't even question me. They just ran to the dress up trunk and found some dandies. When they came back, dressed as tiny ninja, ninja boy, ninja turtle and, in Mosely's own words, "Ummm ....[cute head tilt and crooked grin]....I don't know." I told them that we were going to go to a college dressed up and say "trick or treat". They happily agreed. "Do you know what will happen when you say that?" Blank stares all around. "You'll get candy!" Then applause, glee, rapture, such joy as three ninjas and an I Don't Know could display.

We went to the college, we got our free candy. Bergen approached every door and first said "thank you" and then as he exited he followed it up with "shrick or shreat"!

As we got in the car Berg announced, "I like Halloween. Let's do it tomorrow!"

Grandfather's Journey

Surprise! Dad drove up from Florida to visit us recently.

We loved the surprise. The kids loved having Grandpa around. I loved having extra hands to help and Dad to chat with. He drove Riley to her co-op class. He read Stellaluna to the kids, shared a bedroom with Bergen, pushed Piper on the swing, made a campfire, cleared out a bunch of brush by the stream so the kids could have easier water access. He was a busy guy!

We took him to Look Up's chili cook-off and pumpkin carving evening. We visited Lake Jocasse and Bee Well Honey Market. Kevin made sure Dad had a Snow Leopard - Kevin's favorite beverage at his favorite coffee shop. We tried out the new Huntin' Camp restaurant, where animal carcasses adorned the walls in a truly Southern fashion.

All in all, it was a great visit! Come back soon Grandpa!

Candyland

One day a package arrived at our house. The outside of the box was decorated with cute drawings of a crow and pumpkins and the entire box had a feeling of fall.

The kids broke it open quickly and out poured treasures previously unknown to my children. Candy corn - - - they had never eaten it before. (Have I been depriving them?) Pez dispensers! What? Candy comes out of it every time you push this head? Amazing! And then something else.....a candy necklace!! At first, they thought stringing orange beads was the game itself, but then I let them in on the secret..... you get to EAT the necklace AS YOU WEAR IT!!! They couldn't believe it!

Mosely and London wore theirs proudly for days, munching a bead every now and then. London's original plan was to eat one bead a day until Christmas. In about three minutes, however, Bergen was sporting an empty elastic band around his neck.

The box was a huge success - the kids loved it and the Little Willow looks so cute in her little orange striped shirt! (And I ate the rest of the candy corn.)

Thank you Nan Sally!!! As the kids say, "You're the best!"

The Cupcake is a Man

The Keigley kids love cupcakes.


I think it is because Kevin often tells them this silly made-up story about a time when he used to be an ankle-biting cupcake himself. That's right. I typed that correctly. Kevin was a cupcake. Who bit ankles.



London named his stories "The Cupcake Is A Man" and Kevin is currently working on illustrating a copy of his tales.



So we decided to make some cupcakes.






We made them from "scratch". (What does that even mean?) We used real cocoa and flour and all that great stuff. It's actually an infamous Polly Boone's Mom recipe that I have loved ever since Polly Boone shared said cupcakes in class oh-so-many years ago.






We made the icing from the same "scratch".



And then I let the kids color and frost the cupcakes all by themselves. Hmmm. See the results. Heavy on the icing, but tasty nonetheless.

Alexander and The Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Okay..... the title is overly dramatic. But then, I think I am overly dramatic. And I am pretty sure I have five children who are..............ummmmmmmmmmm............ overly dramatic.

What can I say?

Today, at the lodge, as I was standing within almost arm's reach of Bergen, I said, "Come on, son. It's time to go." And, amazingly enough, Bergen did not argue or say no. In complete obedience (what in the world??) Berg came running to me. The only problem was, between he and I stood the open tailgate of a truck.

Down goes Bergen. Hard.

Fortunately, the tailgate missed his eye......thank the Lord and he recovered within a few minutes. Jane cleaned up his eye - because I am bad with blood. (Thanks Jane.)

So that was today.

Sigh.

Ira Sleeps Over

Last weekend the Joersz family traveled in our direction to spend a few days with us.

We got really excited about company coming and we even cleaned the house ---- it lasted about a day. (sigh.)

Although we were sad Emma and Jon didn't arrive in time for Survivor and The Office viewing/bonding, we understood and were happy to see them Friday morning. We ate lunch and headed straight to our favorite orchard - Skytop. (I think I deserve some commission from those people. Or free apples. I'd take free apples.)

We picked apples, ate dougnuts...you know, the things you do on fall days at an orchard. Beckett and Piper enjoyed their backpack rides and Colton, London, Riley, Mosely and Bergen had fun picking and eating apples and playing on the playground. Bergen fell from the trapeze rings face first in the dirt after shouting to me, "Look at my flip Mommy!" This time it was only a bloody lip. Hmmmm.

After dinner we enjoyed a little campfire with s'mores - I don't think Cole likes chocolate. What in the world??

When kids crashed out (Beck and Piper shared a room - so cute) we watched the latest Indiana Jones flick. It was....exactly what you would expect.

Saturday we enjoyed the zoo, more apples as snacks and a tasty lunch at Copper Canyon Grill. Oh my --- spinach nachos were delicious. The kids all behaved well - and it's a good thing because we adults were terribly outnumbered!

Thanks Jon and Emma for spending two days with us...for enjoying our noisy wild house. Next time you come you may just get your own room, instead of having to sleep on the floor in the living room!!

Abe Lincoln Grows Up

Riley has been reading a book written by Carl Sandburg about Abraham Lincoln. (Yes, of course it is for school.)

Last weekend a Lincoln celebration was held at the home of Sandburg, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography about Lincoln.

Since Sandburg's home place is in nearby Flat Rock, Riley and I headed north for the good times. We listened to another Lincoln biographer talk about conspiracy theories concerning Booth and enjoyed a concert by a fiddler/banjo player creating Civil War time tunes. We checked out the goats and listened to a couple play their hammered dulcimers. The best part, however, was listening and watching an Abe Lincoln impersonator - John Mansfield. He was great. Very Abe Lincoln-ish!

Actually, one of the best parts may have been the incredibly delicious barbecue we ate after the celebration down at Flat Rock Village at Hubba Hubba's Barbecue. Oh My!!