Alex Reaches Cloud Nine

Our baby is nine! We had an amazing time celebrating Alex's birth with him this year. He wanted to have a full party at home with all things flying. We had paper airplanes to fly, parachutes to drop, coke geysers that flopped for some reason. Alex and I were pretty proud of the nifty invitation we created on paper airplanes he folded. Along with me as the paper mache maker and candy stuffer and Gram as the decorater, Alex created a kicking pinata that was a helicopter. It was the highlight of the party, as when it was Alex's turn he was blindfolded and missed the pinata and instead pounded a birdhouse that was nailed to the tree to the ground (video)! When he saw what he had felled he just laughed and laughed. A big thanks to Daddy and everyone who helped get the tree house safely completed to use by party time, it was enjoyed....and the FOURT as the kids named it in honor of the Fourth soul we are waiting on will be loved and explored for many years of enjoyment....We had gingerbread cake with homemade whipped cream, regular and GF, pizza, regular and GF, We partied all afternoon and on into the night with a bonfire Kurt built for all. It was nice to celebrate before our new family member joins us, even if it was before Alex's real birthday, he didn't want to be interrupted by a mom in labor! I most enjoyed the night two nights after the party when Alex Emma and I slept on the air mattress in the treehouse. It was nice to lay there talking with them as the stars came out and play "i spy" with the shapes the trees made against the midnight blue sky. I made it out there all night before the bathroom called my very pregnant body inside at sunrise.....it was a beautiful sunrise, thanks bladder! It seems like both yesterday that Alex was born as well as a lifetime ago, in that it seems as if he has always been here leading us on into adventure. Happy Birthday to my Sweet Boy, you put me on Cloud Nine everyday.....Love, Mom (photos)

Imperial Moth Caterpillars

The imperial moth that Emma found after we got home from camping at Buck's Pocket had a lot of eggs hatch in her butterfly keeper. We have been feeding them sassafrass leaves and watching them grow. They are huge. They went underground today, two of them, and were larger and longer than Kurt's thumb by that time. We have put them outside in the keeper partially buried underground to wait and watch for them to emerge in the spring, they are a moth that pupates underground over the winter. It will be interesting to see when they emerge. Here is a link to a guy that Emma likes to visit his blog to see what he says about moths.

Freezer Paper Shirts

We have been wanting to do this for a while, make stenciled shirts using freezer paper. I highly recommend it as an easy way to screenprint one image on a shirt. Thanks to our friends for the idea. This is Emma's mermaid, that she drew and i made into a stencil for her shirt. Alex did a hedgehog, owen wanted one like Alex. You can see the finished items here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/KTBothwell/CreationsInOurLives?authkey=01IKrZq7O9U#5268692645544741314

Demonstration Team

After going to view the Korean Tae Kwon Do Team from Yong In University in Atlanta this past summer, which were phenomenal, Kurt and Alex got to be a part of a demonstration team this evening here in town. Grand Master Kim is a former member of the Korean demo team and the owner and instructor at their dojang. They did a demonstration with other students at a church in town for members of the Huntsville community. It was amazing to watch them break the boards and other items as well as perform the rolls and stunts incorporating what they are learning. I was proud to watch these two high-green belts, Owen was mesmerized as well. Congratulations on getting to experience demonstrating your skills!

See Kurt break a concrete block here: http://picasaweb.google.com/KTBothwell/LivingLearning?authkey=ikR7-1QMOeo#5268686895823269970

and see Alex break one of his boards here, he also did a jumping stunt, but i didn't get it to load:

http://picasaweb.google.com/KTBothwell/LivingLearning?authkey=ikR7-1QMOeo#5268687732260416802

Live N Learn 2008

We had an amazing five days at the Last Live N Learn Conference in Black Mountain, NC! Some of the highlights were the Amy Steinberg concert (see her if you ever get the chance, she understands and conveys beautifully what is divine and important in life), the bionicle funshop, the masquerade ball (thank you for the Thriller flashback!), seeing alex and emma dancing together, the lovely henna on my belly by Ginger Sabo!, the games funshop, the airplane funshop, all the talks and roundtables.....and the black bear mother and her three cubs that we saw on our way out. We will miss this gathering, but know that other conferences and more informal gatherings will continue to fill our unschooling community at large. We stopped to see Maggie and Michael in Knoxville on our way home. The kids enjoyed going down by the river to play in the water and I enjoyed the yummy food from Wok Hay made gluten free per their menu that you can only get in Knoxville! More trip pictures on flickr: photos