Counting Out His Money

On the walk home from Sunday brunch, Aleks tells Aunt Natty all the toys she needs to buy him. In trying to discourage this as impolite, I remind him that Natty doesn't have any money, but he does and if he saves up his money, he can buy the toys he wants for himself. He says he wants an Optimus Prime transformer. We tell him he has to count his money to see how much he has, then look online to see how much one costs, then we can go to the store and buy one. When we get home, we begin counting out the money.

First we dump out all his money and divide it into piles of different kinds of coins. Then Natty has Aleks count small stacks of coins. They start with stacks of four quarters, then stacks of five nickels. Then stacks of ten pennies. Aleks mostly has pennies and this is where the counting starts to be more than just counting. Over and over he counts to ten.

At one point, he stops at 9 and asks, "Why is 9 three 3s?" My jaw drops. I explain that this is addition and multiplication - that once you know all the numbers, there are easier ways of counting, mainly "counting by." I explain that you can count by 1s - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... You can count by 2s - 2, 4, 6, 8... You can count by 10s - 10, 20, 30, 40, 50... And you can count by 3s - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 - and this is how we know three 3s are 9. He finishes counting to 10 and starts over with more pennies. A moment later he asks, "Why is 4 two 2s?" I reiterate the counting by.

When they get to stacks of 10 dimes, Natty has Aleks try to count above the highest he can count normally - 13 - by explaining how the teens and twenties and so on work. He seems to get, if only momentarily, the concept of putting "twenty" or "thirty" in front of the lesser numbers. It was a big day for numbers for him. After all that counting, he forgot about Optimus Prime and decided to watch Harry Potter instead.
Amidst all the numbering, Bastian alternately tried to steal the money and spent time taking dimes in and out of Aleks' money jar (which still smells of pasta sauce, by the way).

Harry Potter Fanaticism

In all honesty, the Harry Potter Fever that grips our house is completely Mommy's doing and obsession. That said, the children bear it, and sometimes have fun. We have been listening to the books on tape since this summer and are now listening to book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

For Halloween, we decided on a Harry Potter theme and a much smaller Halloween gathering than in previous years. Initially, we invited only 3 of our closest friends and their families, but the gathering grew in the days leading up to it, much to our enjoyment. Mommy went temporarily insane with the details.

First, everyone was sorted. Each would take a turn sitting on the stool, having the Sorting Hat placed on their heads, and picking a house from the pumpkin bag.
The choices were badges I'd made, to aid in determining House Points for trivia.
There were four banners hung about the house. Slytherin was in Aleks' room:

Ravenclaw was Mama & Papa's bedroom:

Hufflepuff was, of course, by the kitchen:

And Gryffindor got a place of prominence in the dining room. Seated here are our upmoststairs neighbor, Jo, and next door neighbor, Chris, dressed as a witch and a Montrose Magpies quidditch captain, respectively.


Here is Harry Potter, aka Brad from next door, who boasts a real lightning bolt scar in the center of his forehead. Aleks insists he was Goyle, but the blond hair really suggests a young Master Malfoy.
This is him shouting, "Expelliarmus!" one of three spells he knows. The first spell he ever remembered was unfortunately the unforgivable killing curse, Avada Kedavra. He really belongs to the dark side.

Aleks insisted that we get him a Monster Book of Monsters to go with his costume. Mostly it spends its time attacking people, who in turn attempt to stroke its spine to calm it in order for use as a book.
This is the beautiful Dobby costume I made that Bastian refused to wear.
This is our lovely new friend, Heather, ("HQ"), dressed as a Slytherin student. Heather is a die-hard Harry Potter fan who was at JK Rowling's reading at Carnegie Hall when she announced the juicy info on Dumbledore's sexuality.
Mama, dressed as Professor Trelawney. Everyone knew immediately who I was.
This is Joy as Luna Lovegood, Danielle as Fleur Delacour, and Barbara as Madame Maxime.

Here's Lavinia as "Hermione Cat," which is when Hermione turned into a cat via the Polyjuice Potion in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Anna, dressed as Bellatrix Lestrange.

Aunt Natty, dressed as Luna Lovegood, eating cockroach clutsters:
Heather dressed as Ron, complete with knapsack, set for hiding in the woods in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Dan as a member of the Weird Sisters.
Papa as Godric Gryffindor:

The bathroom was done up to resemble the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor of Hogwarts, complete with Moaning Myrtle and mermaid painting.

There were lots of games and activities available, including making a Charms bracelet, with letter beads and a list of spells.
On the left, "Expelliarmus!" and on the right, "Crucio!"
Our plants were labeled with canon-appropriate botanical tags. Here, Venomous Tentacula:
We had wands available for those who came without them at Ollivander's Wand Shop:
Care of Magical Creatures offered Pygmy Puffs from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes:
There were lots of sweets available at Honeydukes:
In addition to Chocolate Frogs and Blood Pops, we had Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Cockroach Clusters, Cauldron Cakes, and Jelly Slugs.We had a rousing game of trivia for House Points:
Hufflpuff won:Gryffindor was 2nd. Slytherin came in 3rd. And Ravenclaw was in 4th place.
For the House Cup, bookmarks were awarded to all the kids, and a poster and two books about the world of Harry Potter were given to top scoring families.
More plants with their labels, Mimblus Mimbletonia and Bubotuber (though no one had to squeeze out the pus), with Pigwidgeon sitting alongside them.
Our table was very festive, set with lights and candles:
Above the table were our Potions, again labeled from canon:
Amortentia and Murtlap Essence:
Wolfsbane, Polyjuice Potion, Skele-Grow, and Scintillation Solution:
At the end of the night, some of us got a little rowdy dancing:Where most folks remove parts of their costume as the night wears on, Anna added Jonas' Dumbledore costume on top of her own.
And we rounded everything off with some LolCats:

Lego Dreams

Aleks pretends to take a nap in his new Lego tray. The Lego tray is the most recent innovation for our Lego problem and seems to be the best solution thus far. Using a 56"x26" piece of masonite and 4 lengths of 2"x1" (measuring 54" and 26"), we created this large tray that utilizes the smooth surface of the masonite to slide under the bed, out of site. Lego still escape, but thus far remain in much smaller numbers than before. The sizing was what would fit under Aleks' bed easily. He can move the whole tray himself, but cannot seem to dump it.

Trick Or Treating

Our upstairs neighbor, a manager at the nearby Whole Foods market, invites us to come Trick-Or-Treating at the store. Aleks dresses as Darth Vader. Bastian initially tries to leave the house with nothing on but a hat and a giant dragon hand and a child-sized broom in hand. He gets dressed and fails to even wear the farmer hat I'd brought along, although he did enjoy a brief nap in the car and getting toffee all over himself.

Painting

While mommy tries to clean the house and prepare the five million necessary things for the Harry Potter Halloween Party, Aleks and Bastian use their new paints. Bastian paints with a rock, in addition to the brushes.Aleks manages to get paint on the wall, his belly, his arms, and his eyebrow.
Aleks paints a Harry Potter, a snake, and this skeleton, especially for the party, which we display on his bedroom wall.

Phonecall

Aleks talks on the phone to Grandma Cat and Grandpa Jim, who are on their first romantic getaway in probably half a decade. He tells them about all the Lego he wants them to buy him. They tell him that Great Uncle Tony wants him to come to Florida and go scuba diving. Grandma Cat saw a barracuda and a shark!

Lazy afternoon play

With the new gourds we picked up for fall decorations, Bastian plays "guys" having them attack and defend themselves against the Lego Gamorrean guard on skeletal horseback. This goes on for at least an hour on the dining room table.

All the while, Aleks works out his big battle plan, finishing off his elaborate game with a game board. For the last week, he's been scouring the Lego website and catalogs, deciding which Exoforce robot will be assigned to which of his friends for the epic battle he's planning. Today, he flattens a box and draws out the board they will play on, even assigning it the title, "Lego Exoforce Shoot Smash."

Done drawing, he points out the different elements to me, including which guys have to be unlocked with gameplay (much like his Star Wars Lego video game).

First, he tried to write on the box using a fork, which took quite a lot of time. I recommended the markers. He had me write out the title, "Lego Exoforce Shoot Smash," for him, which he then copied on to the board.

In this corner is some elaborate point system I don't quite understand,

and what looks like a shark, but which I am assured is not one.

Daredevil Dragonchild

While at the "big park," which, incidentally I loathe taking the children to due to the expanse and my complete inability to keep equal track of them all by my lonesome, Bastian manages to scale this dragon head, not quite falling to his untimely end 6 feet down, but still scaring the bejeebus out of me.
Having conquered it, he makes monster sounds.

Saturday Hike in the Woods

We decide to take a hike in the woods with our favorite homeschooling friends while Papa does more research at the Western Reserve Historical Society. Due to a Quilting Show at the Nature Center, a woman passed out bags of candy to my friend and I's children without asking our permission. Bastian ate two lollipops consecutively and we had to talk at length about littering because he tried to throw the used sticks on the ground. I carried lots of wrappers in my back pocket during our walk.

Aleks and Jonas hid from giants by the upturned roots of trees growing too close to the marsh.

The marsh is much quieter in fall than in spring and summer. We often see (and hear) big bullfrogs and once we saw a group of muskrats eating watercress here.

Bastian runs far ahead.

We all noticed the way the tree roots cling to the face of the cliff, half-exposed on the outer side.

The kids, all hopped up on candy.




After lots of posing for photos, they walk off down the wall.

Our kids were not the only ones with illegal treat bags. Candy corn litters the pathway as though Hansel and Gretel had been this way previous to our passing.

Aleks carries his treat bag on a stick like a hobo.

We convince the kids to look for different colors and shapes of leaves.

Though the forest floor is littered with fallen leaves to the point of being carpeted, we only really seem to find oak, maple, and ash. Ultimately, the kids have little interest, but still I wind up with a bunch of bruised leaves in my purse.
We pose for a group photo. Anna always has her eyes closed in pictures.
At the topmost point of the ridge is a series of three Indian mounds, covered in moss. The point is so breathtaking, it is no wonder anyone would deem it holy ground, fit for spiritual practice.

The point overlooks Rocky River itself.
Aleks asks if we can see the big fish that we see during high waters in the spring and summer.
Bastian tries to climb through the fence.
The autumn colors are really starting to show.
The centuries of erosion are evident in the cliff face.
Bastian runs off on his own again, stopping only to watch some joggers pass by.

The kids note some fungus growing on the side of a tree.

On the way down the immensely long staircase, we spot an injured bumblebee.

Fascinated, everyone watches for awhile.

The bee eventually makes his way to the edge of the staircase to avoid further squashing.

Afterwards, we go to a pumpkin patch to stock up on decorative squash and gourds for our Harry Potter Halloween Party.

The boys run all over, piling lots of little pumpkins and gourds into our wagon.

Bastian pretends to be a monster and gets a ride back to the car with our purchases.
Aleks stands in front of long rows of bell peppers.

He points to a bird flying from the brush. I think it's a pheasant.

Aleks helps push the wagon back to the car.

C is for cookie

After a trip to the library, we make a grumpy stop at the local coffee shop. Aleks doesn't want to take our cookie and go, though I have more errands to run. We watched, immobilized for a few minutes while Wiggles and a repairman set up a giant ladder to put up more track lighting.
It was very suspenseful, particularly when we had to walk underneath to get back outside.
Luckily, all turned out well and no one was hurt!

Rainy Day at the Nature Center

Finally, autumn comes with an appropriately miserable, cold, and rainy day. We take a trip to the Huntington Nature Center with some friends. The boys spend a lot of time peering into a tidal pool.Aleks and his friend, Jonas, spend time trying to say anemone. They do a fine job.
Bastian regrets his short stature because it's hard for him to see over the edge. The grown-ups have to take turns giving him a boost.There are lots of starfish in the tank.
Including this chocolate chip starfish, presumably named for the chocolate-chip like nubbins protruding from its skin.
Bastian is particularly taken by this yellow fish, a Yellow Clown Goby.
In addition to the chocolate chip starfish, there was this strawberry starfish perched nearby the anemone.
The boys were also quite fond of this box turtle display.
Aleks managed to reach a big grown-up turtle. Bastian kept trying to climb in with them.
We explored space a bit, reveling in the weird way we all looked under the black light.
I was incredibly fascinated by a giant picture of the Orion Nebula, but the boys wanted to just climb around in a huge hollowed log and chase each other around in circles. The boys watched a timber rattlesnake.
Aleks tried to speak in Parseltongue to it, which it really responded to, moving towards him as he hissed.

The Boys Sing...sorta

Here's the boys doing some singing/primal scream therapy together until Bastian decides he's done and would prefer to watch Aleks play Star Wars Lego II some more.

Assassin Bug, take 2

Aleks finds an assassin bug in the front garden. In putting it in the magnifying bug jar, he accidentally has a leg removed.
We feel bad, but harass him for a bit before I can convince the kids to release him, however damaged, back into the wild to hunt and kill pests. Our luck with these things doesn't seem so good. I hope we don't attract cockroaches as karmic payback.

By Post, Not Owl

Sending the Hogwarts letters for our Harry Potter Halloween Party invitations.

During Bastian's bath, I let Aleks get out his dinosaur stamping set. By the time Bastian is out of the bath, I've forgotten about it though. I go back to work on the computer while Bastian does some stamping. When our lunch is ready, I see that Bastian, once clean, is no longer.Bastian's dino stamping:
Aleks' dino stamping. A man with 2 bladey things, spaceships shooting back at the pterodactyls, and the rest of the dinosaurs are making plans:

2 giant spider women and a dinosaur shooting back at them.
2 pterodactyls shooting back at a giant spaceship and one pterodactyl that got shot and they shot down lightening water at the bridge so that the car cannot get to them so the guy can kill the dinosaur with the long neck:
3 pterodactyls shooting back at this giant spaceship with their super lasers and there's a volcano right there:
Aleks makes faces: