Wordy Wednesday- Chalkboard

I made my little chalkboard with eek.  I think it turned out great. My chalkboard is just a piece of scrap lumber sprayed with chalkboard paint.  I used regular chalkboard chalk.

It's Batty Up in Here - Lighted Bats

My super handy husband and youngest son whipped up some lighted bats. This project is from Rogue Engineer. The cut out the rough outline of the bat with a band saw.  Then used the router to get the precise edge. My husband had made a bat pattern out of MDF.  That is what he attached the rough cut bat too.

ready for paint

We used a 10 string battery operated lights from the dollar store. The flashing was the smallest roll we could find $11 and we had the spray paint and plywood.  We used staples to attach the flashing on first bat and then switched to screws for the remaining bats. We hung them in our front windows with our lit up eyes

October Reading

I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit.  Check out what everyone else is reading.

My reading has slowed to a trickle but I did manage to squeeze out one book.

Walk to Beautiful by Jimmy Wayne is his story about his life and his connection to foster care.  Jimmy Wayne is also a country music star and just as his career was about to take off when he decided to walk from Nashville to Arizona to raise awareness about foster care and those who were about to age out the system.  I love Jimmy Wayne's heart. Jimmy Wayne was lucky to be taken in by an older couple in his teenage years.  It saved his life. Jimmy had this to say about them, " Bea and Russell didn't talk about loving God and loving people, they just did it."

Podcast Love

In the past couple of years, I have grown to love podcasts.  It's not too late to get in on the podcast listening bandwagon.

Podcast 101 - New to podcasts this is the 101 for listening.  I usually listen from their individual websites from my computer.

Serial - loving Season 3 and I also listened to Season 1
This American Life - probably the podcast series that got me into listening to podcasts
Last Seen - investigation about an art heist that happened 28 years ago Boston
Reply All - they investigate internet things and they are also very funny and knowledgeable

*** my favorite scrapbooker Becky Higgins is launching a podcast tomorrow with her friend also named Becky- Cultivating A Good Life  I cannot wait

Halloween Tradition - Haunted House Craft

At the beginning of October, I did some emergency early morning babysitting.  I love this craft because I always get 100% participation.  I have yet to have a kid not want to do this. I know it is total sticker sneeze but even taking stickers off the sheet is a fine motor activity.  There is also usually a good conversation about what is scary. I think with older kids you could do a lot to extend this activity.

materials
haunted house template - I made mine in photoshop
dollar store stickers
black construction paper for house
colored paper for background paper
white colored pencil
exacto knife - older kids can do the cut out of windows with supervision - 10 plus
crayons - neon colors for embellishment

Additional Resources

template- Sarah Jane has a more detailed haunted house template I have used in the past
Draw a Haunted House - Art Projects for Kids

September Reading

I am linking up to the Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit. Check out what everyone else is reading.

I seem to be stuck in a golden age non fiction reading binge.  Earlier this year I read the Big Burn which is our county's reading book for 2019. Well, I ended up reading, The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan about the Biltmore.  I thought it was fascinating and because I read the Big Burn some of the big historical figures of the time also were big influencers on the forest surrounding the Biltmore such as Gifford Pinchot. George Vanderbilt built this massive house but it was really his wife and later their son in law John Cecil which allowed it to be the nation's largest privately owned home. I haven't had the opportunity to visit the Biltmore.

I guess my reading this month could also be summarized as books about really really rich people. I can not lie, I read books about the rich. I read Crazy Rich Asians. This book didn't disappoint.  I can see how this could made into a movie. I haven't seen the movie yet. Anyone seen the movie?

Autism Linky

Hey Washington Residents at long last the Able Accounts for Washington State have launched - Check out your options

Dear School; Stop Calling Me to Pick Up My Kid

Grocery Worker lets Autistic Teen Help Stock Shelves

Coding and Autism

This Optical Illusion Could Help Scientists Detect Autistic Traits

Senators: Do More To Help Disable Americans Be Employed- more on Able accounts and letting more people able to have these accounts