november doings

It has been so beautiful here.  Clear skies, blustery winds, stunning colors.  We've been out as much as possible, as much as the sniffles and achiness of early winter colds will allow.  Everyone has their theory about what the slight chill will do to their stuffed noses/heavy heads/achey bones, and some days no amount of Mama coaxing will make it happen.  But last week we got out to Turtle Hill to see our friends and to help with the construction of their neighbor's earthbag house.

Above, Ani jumps over the boundary wall of the round structure.  The trench is being filled with urbanite - broken concrete and gravel.  First the pieces have to be sorted by size and then bagged up.  Call in the child labor!

The goal is 180 buckets, filling 90 bags. We maybe filled eight bags in the hour we were helping.   Everyone got a turn at breaking up the bigger chunks, safety glasses in place.

Even me!

photo by Eliza

photo by Eliza

photo by Eliza

Group photo with TOOLS!

A good compromise between vigorous outside activity in the sunshine and lounging on the couch in the warm house is some playing in the backyard.  Cards, which eventually turned into lying on our backs, watching for maple seeds falling down towards us, with their magical spin.  Which lead to peeling them open to look at their seeds, scrounging for walnut hulls and shells and marvelling that there are still things starting new shoots in the yard.

There were sleepovers this weekend, full of Wildcraft and hiking and Monsters University.  We've had some Family Math time - fraction play - and lots of drawing, painting, and listening to the audio version of Mister Max by Cynthia Voigt.

Eliza and Dan start a month of rehearsals this week for a local production - Appalachian Christmas Carol - and these slower flowy days feel like a good way to regroup before the busy-ness that will come.

Drawing, painting. Pajamas. Stories.

And today? It snowed. Snow. In Southeastern Ohio. Snow. Beautiful.