Autumn!

I guess it won't come as a surprise that I love fall since I've never changed my blog header from our tree's autumn foliage. It's 80% love of fall color and 20% laziness.
We're getting really excited about Halloween! Max and Bess have been busy putting up our decorations this week.

I don't know what it is about fall, but as soon as it's here I instantly go into soup-making-mode. I don't know why. It's just beginning to get cool in our part of the country. Nevertheless, we're eating soup. This week I made Midwest Chowder and Cream of Broccoli-Cheese Soup, both of which were really good. Next up, Chicken and Dumplings. While not a soup, it still seems right for this time of year.
And yes, I said Chicken and Dumplings. Our vegan and vegetarian days are at an end. After my last visit to the hospital, I found out, along with my MS symptoms, I'm extremely anemic. I'll be on mega doses of iron for at least 6 months. To be honest, it didn't really come as much of a surprise. I've been so tired and often depressed for a few months. I just didn't feel right. I'm not blaming our diet completely; there are plenty of vegetarian options for iron, but I always had so much energy as an omnivore, and I didn't as a vegan. When I discussed this with the family, my husband and Ethan admitted they had been overly tired as well and craving meat for a while. So our five years as vegans and a few months as vegetarians are over. It was a hard decision. We love animals. Hell, we don't even kill spiders if we don't have to. Charlotte's Web and James and the Giant Peach made all the kids staunch protectors of spiders. But I am convinced now that we are meant to be omnivores. I could give you all the reasons, but if there's one thing vegans hate it's former vegans who claim health reasons for eating meat, dairy, and eggs. I know, because it used to annoy me too. So I won't add to that. It's not an argument I want to have. I'll just say, this is a choice we're making for our family. It's our choice. Actually, that's pretty close to what I say to people who question homeschooling, so I've had practice.

What We're Reading This Week

Bess is reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Max is "reading" The Lego Adventure Book 2 for about the thousandth time. I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Bess and I just read the chapter on the Trojan War in A Child's History of the World from BookShark, so we're following that with Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne.

What We're Crafting

I'm working on Bess' Halloween costume. She's going to be a witch this year. I found a $3 hat at Target along with a $3 broom. She and I are making a no-sew tutu with spiderweb pattern mesh cloth. We're using a fabric pen to draw stripes on a pair of old tights. I think it's going to be pretty neat. I'm surprised. I'm not very crafty. My Halloween projects usually end with me saying, "Who wants to go to the store and just buy one of these?"

What We're Watching

Fireplace for the Home on Netflix. This is what we poor non-fireplace-owners do when the rest of you lucky people are scenting the neighborhood with the wonderful smell of firewood burning. It's not quite the same but it's not bad.

My next posts will be a review of Horizons Math and of BookShark 1 mid-year. We're at the halfway point, 18 weeks of 36. Since every time I even say the word BookShark my page views increase exponentially, I thought a review might be helpful for those considering the program. Spoiler Alert: We love it. However, I know it wouldn't work for every family, so I'll make sure to give an in-depth look at the curriculum.

I hope you're enjoying the fall weather as much as we are! Until Next Time!