Pumpkin Carving

Today we carved our first pumpkin since we have had Marlena. Marlena loved getting her hands dirty pulling out all the filling. We saved some seeds for roasting.

Scott and I cut our different construction paper for the eyes,nose and mouth so that Marlena could chose which ones she wanted.

She taped on the pieces where she thought they looked best.

Here is a picture of Marlena helping her daddy with a Dora Bandage after he cut himself trying to carve the pumpkin.

The finished product!

Starfall

Starfall!!!!
http://www.starfall.com/

Me and Marlena's favorite website. This is a great website for learning the alphabet and reading skills. This is a free site and easy to navigate.

I think we will be using this a lot this week since it is raining all but one day this week! Our whole yard is a complete swamp.

Rainy Days and Worms

It has been raining a lot here. I was trying to stay indoors but then I remembered my favorite days were going outside in the rain or after the rain with my sister and playing. So we have been making aluminum foil boats and giving pasta shells a ride in the gutters. We have also been worm hunting! The first day we find a dried leaf and give the worm a ride down the gutter. Marlena also builds a worm house out of leaves. After she has played in the water and let the worms crawl all over her arms and hands I tell her we were going to have to take a bath. She asks me if we are going to wash her hair. I see the clump of grass clippings in her hand and I know where this is going. The big smile on her face made me tell her "Go for It!" She places hand fulls of wet grass clipping in her hair. It is a good day.

Day two of worm hunting is a little more interesting. I'm trying to not project my fears on Marlena so I have held snails in my hands, let spiders walk across my arm and try not to flinch when I see a wasp fly by my head. I don't even mind little worms but on day two of worm hunting we saw the biggest, ugliest worm I had ever seen. I did not want to touch it! Marlena had no problem picking it up and examining it, she wanted me to hold it too. This I just could not bring myself to do. I am proud to say she is braver then me. She looked at the worms tail (or was it his head)and says "Look Mama, it has a finger!" which was about as big as my index finger so know why she said that. Luckily she did not want to play with it long. I was glad we could get back to the aluminum foil boat.

The Birds!

Grackles! The are all over the place this time of year! Usually congregating in parking lots or phone lines. We got out of a restaurant and we saw them covering the parking lot. It looked like a modern Alford Hitchcock scene. As we walked to the car I overheard a guys saying he was going to run his car threw them. We got in the car and I ask Scott to get closer so I can get a picture. While I take the picture another car excitedly drives threw the carpet of Grackles. "Hey, that guy had the same idea that I did," Scott says. I ask him if WE are going to drive threw them too. "Yes," he giddily replies. I don't know why I was surprised since three other guys had the same idea. I asked Scott if I could leave the window open. I wish I had a picture of his face when I said that! I have to admit, it was fun.

20-30 minutes of free time

Here Marlena is washing the dishes. I do not ask her to do this, she actually volunteers. I am able to get 20-30 minutes of free time with this activity! She washes the plastic recyclable out (yogurt cups, applesauce cups). Give her a scrub brush and a little soap and she is set. She gets to learn about responsibility and likes the feeling of helping her mama out. I like it too and I get the 20-30 minutes to load the dishwasher, pick-up toys or relax!

Latin Playground

My sister discovered this CD and I have to say, I highly recommended it. I am definitely going to add the rest of these to Marlena's Christmas wish list. They have French Playground, World Playground, Brazilian Playground and much more. We have listened to this CD for a solid week (no exaggeration there) in the car and I have not gone insane yet. She is starting to sing the songs in Spanish too . . . so am I! She likes loves the different instruments like guitar and maracas. It is a great CD to dance to, check it out!
http://www.amazon.com/Latin-Playground-Various-Artists/dp/B000066RKP

You can listen to the songs here:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Putumayo-Presents-Latin-Playground/e/790248020129/

THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/trailer.php

We are having a free viewing of this movie here in our area. It can also be seen on Netflix.

Synopsis of Movie:

Birth is a miracle, a rite of passage, a natural part of life. But birth is also big business.

Compelled to explore the subject after the delivery of her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to question the way American women have babies.

The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.

Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?