Our Field Trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas

Hi friends! It's finally Fall in NW Arkansas! I've got the windows open and it's not supposed to hit 80º today! Sometimes that's as good as you get in the South---but I've also got walnuts and acorns slamming the tin roof over my porch and the leaves are turning a million gorgeous shades and I wouldn't trade it!

Last week, some members from our homeschool group took a tour of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. I decided to take just a few of the kids so I could spend some time in good discussion with them. Lynzie, Cainan, Selah, Avalon, and I got dressed up and spent a lovely morning out. We are blessed to have this awesome collection right here where we live!

Crystal Bridges was named for the nearby Crystal Springs that feeds the ponds surrounding the museum. It was opened in 2011 and is free to the public. 

John Cage Robot II, Nam June Paik, 1995

We began with a guided tour geared toward the younger kids. 

Endangered Species Series, Andy Warhol, 1983

Lynzie learned about Andy Warhol last year in an art class I taught so it was neat for her to see some of his work in person.

Rosie the Riveter, Norman Rockwell, 1943

Norman Rockwell is one of my favorites---I love his depictions of American life and history.

Coca-Cola (3), Andy Warhol, 1962

Here's the part where I get more honest than I probably should publicly. The museum bought this artwork at auction for $57 million. Fifty. Seven. Million. Dollars. It would take me all day to list the things that could have been done for this community with $57 million. I have a hard time buying the argument that this is a justifiable use of that kind of money for the future of Northwest Arkansas. Especially since---(oh y'all are gonna hate my guts!!) it's not even an original design. Andy Warhol is one of those artists that I want to put quotation marks around. Most of his stuff looks like he took advantage of a great big copy machine. Ok, don't stone me, moving on...

Hanging Heart, Jeff Koons

After a few more stops, we headed to the museum's restaurant, Eleven, for a catered lunch. We ended up sitting right underneath that big heart. It's only just now that I've read about it on the website and learned that it's made of steel and weighs over 3,000 pounds! Um...yikes?

We had a nice lunch of turkey sandwiches, chips, and apples. It was so great to sit in that sunny room and just enjoy my kids. Happy!

Night Zag Wall, Louise Nevelson, 1969-1974

After lunch we had the choice of seeing a special exhibit of work by Dale Chihuly or touring the museum on our own. The kids had some favorite things they wanted to go back and see so we opted to venture out on our own.

Supine Woman, Wayne Thiebaud, 1963

 This painting was the "most meaningful" to me because, on this particular day, I happened to be breaking in a pair of leather boots. OH MY. My feet were on fire by this point in the day---as were Lynzie's and Selah's as they'd chosen to wear heels. We all felt a little like Supine Woman. Ha!

Depression Bread Line, George Segal, 1991

On a more serious note, this exhibit actually did mean a lot to me. These children were here on a field trip with a school group. I wished we could join in on their discussion about the Depression Bread Line.

Passing by a window, Avalon spied this "big golf ball" outside and wanted to see what it was all about. It was 90º with about 90% humidity but we decided to be adventurous and go check it out.

American architect and inventor, Buckminster Fuller, created the Fly's Eye Dome as an answer to the need for inexpensive, portable housing in the early 1980s. Crystal Bridges recently acquired the dome, as well as Fuller's archives, and we were some of the first people to experience it in almost 40 years.

Fly's Eye Dome, Buckminster Fuller, 1965

A French Music Hall, Everett Shinn, 1906

Just about the time we began roasting, we headed inside to the part of the museum that Lynzie and I love best---the antique collection. She and I plan to go back (in sensible shoes) and check it out further soon. 

Summer Day, Frank Weston Benson, 1911

The Reader, Mary Cassatt, 1877

These are the oldest works of art we saw this day: a collection of six Colonial-era portraits attributed to Gerardus Duyckinck. This is the Franks family and they were painted around 1735.

Maman, Louise Bourgeois, 1999

On our way to the gift shop (postcards!!) we encountered this gigantic spider! Yikes!

To top off a great morning, we found a painted rock on our way to the car! Yay! What a fun day out!

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello Friends!

Well, as you can imagine by the last few weeks of bloggy silence, we arrived safe and sound in Arkansas and have been settling into our new home quite nicely! {Well, except for finding a snake in my bathroom this morning...but that's another post!}

I'm participating in the Happy Homemaker Monday journal prompts link up at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. Join us, if you can!

Looking out my window...

This is the view from my front window---a beautiful Rose of Sharon bush! It regularly attracts gorgeous butterflies and hummingbirds, including this butterfly with a damaged wing who visits daily.

I am thinking...

That tomorrow I will try to finish unpacking my kitchen and living room!

I am thankful...

I am thankful for this beautiful home Jamie chose for us! We are the only house on a forested cul-de-sac. There is lots of privacy and lots of wildlife!

One of my favorite things...

 Yesterday, my son Cainan's favorite blogger, Rosanna Pansino, was in Rogers for her baking line tour. I got up super early to be one of the first 300 to grab a ticket---then took Cainan and Lynzie out later in the afternoon to meet her and get a photo. They were so thrilled!

I am reading...

Last night I started Majestie: The King Behind the King James Bible by David Teems. Earlier this summer, I read a biography of Henry VIII and his six wives, followed by a biography of Elizabeth I. Now that I'm through with the Tudors, it's time to move on to the Stuarts!

I am hoping...

I am hoping to be finished unpacking and planning school by the end of the month so we can start up our school year in October!

In my kitchen...

Tonight in my kitchen I treated two little girls to some ice cream while their older siblings were at church with Daddy!

In my garden...

The kids discovered a composting set up back in the forested edge of the property. Super excited to learn all about how this works and begin preparing for our spring planting next year!

Tell me about your plans for this week---I'm so happy to be back home being a homemaker!

It's Almost Time to Go Home!!

Hey friends!! Well, we are on the home stretch...it's almost time to go home! Daddy will be here Sunday night and we will head home Thursday morning. So excited!!! I can't wait to show you all pictures of our new home!

Thanks for stopping by The Homemaking Party!

Worry-Less Eclipse Glasses for Kids Using a Paper Plate

With the big Eclipse event of 2017 just a few days away, I've been waffling between stressed and excited at the thought of viewing it with my kids. With nine children, any exciting event needs to be planned out well if I hope to keep any kind of order. It's especially important that our Eclipse viewing day is not chaotic because the slightest deviation from my instructions to them can cause permanent serious eye damage.

You've probably already made yourself aware of the important warnings and safe viewing practices put out by NASA and other reputable organizations. If not, be sure to check out NASA's instructions for enjoying the Eclipse safely.

The kids and I have been visiting my mom in Oregon all summer, which puts us very close to the path of totality. We'll experience about a 98% eclipse in the town we're in. Therefore, it is imperative that we have protection for our eyes the entire time we are watching the event. My big worry in all of this is how I am going to make sure the kids keep their eclipse glasses on---especially since they're way too big for most little faces.

Sometime in the last two weeks, I'm sure I saw this paper plate idea online somewhere. That, or I dreamed it. Either way, I don't think this is my own idea but I can't find the original post so I'm doing my own. It's not a worry-free hack...but it is a worry-less one! My sister-in-law lives about 90 minutes up the mountain in a town that will see 100% totality and she was able to snag us these neat eclipse glasses that have the date of the event printed on them. They'll be a special memento of the day and of our time in Oregon so I don't want to alter them in any way. This DIY allows me to make them safely work for each of the kids.

I began by tracing and cutting a rectangle into the center of the plate. I made it large enough not to obscure any part of the lenses but small enough that the glasses completely overlap all edges.

Then I cut two slits on either side of the rectangle to run the glasses through.

Next, I ran the glasses through the slits, and carefully pressed the glasses against the plate, taping them down.

Finally, I cut up to the nose opening on both sides to help it securely fit on little faces and voila!---a safer option for my little kids that won't be slipping off of their faces unexpectedly. The kids can hold this up to their faces when they want to get a glimpse of this awesome event. I'm going to have them practice looking down to the ground before removing it so they don't accidentally get an unwanted peek.

The most important part of this DIY is taking the time to explain to your kids why they can't look at the sun without the glasses. On a normal day, it's very difficult for us to look at the sun anyway, but on Eclipse day, it will be much easier the more the sun is obscured. The rays are still just as harmful though so we must use the protective glasses through the entire event. Only those in the path of 100% totality will have a precious minute or two to remove their glasses and look up when the moon is directly in front of the sun---but for the rest of us, it's glasses on the whole time!

Turning Lemons to Lemonade on the Columbia River Gorge

 Hello Everyone! Welcome to the Homemaking Party! 

When I was in the 7th grade, I won a button at the school carnival that read, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I took it home to my mom to have her explain to me the meaning---basically, when you're faced with hard times, you have two choices: negativity or positivity. 

Our family has had to choose to make a lot of lemonade the past couple weeks! To make a long story palatable, our van is toast. Toasty toast. We lost the engine last week and the van is too old to make the repair costs worth doing. So...the kids and I were stranded in Oregon unsure how to get home at the end of the month---for about 24 hours. Then the body of Christ began stepping in and we are well on our way to being able to afford a trip home on time. Yay! 

Anyway, this is just the kind of stuff that used to get me down. However, God has faithfully provided for our needs so many times that I didn't even worry this time! I knew it would work out---and it will!

So, on the day I had to go sign off the title to the guy from the scrap yard, I decided to take my oldest son Michael along and make it a happy day. First we stopped for ice cream---yum! Then we took the old highway along the Columbia River Gorge and found several spots with Oregon Trail ruts.

When we got to the town of Arlington, we stopped at the little park in town and I showed Michael my childhood swimming hole! I hadn't been there in at least 30 years!

Every day we encounter things that can bring us down. Some are simple like an impatient person in the checkout line---some are really big like being stranded 1,800 miles from home with nine children. If we choose to make lemonade out of those sour experiences, we might discover fun things like bits of history, a great swimming hole, or ice cream!

The Autumn Pen Friend Exchange is open to new participants at my blog, The Victorian Letter Writers Guild. I'd love to have you join!

Visiting the Children's Museum of Eastern Oregon in Pendleton

Welcome to The Homemaking Party! Today is Kynthia's birthday---she's 6 years old! We are having a great time celebrating our fourth oldest daughter.

Cainan (13) was given a free pass to the Children's Museum of Eastern Oregon and since the activities are mainly geared toward younger kids, he decided to take Brenna, 4, for a special day out last Friday.

The pretend grocery store was Cainan's favorite part of CMEO when he was little and Brenna loved it too!

I sat at a table in this pizza shop and wrote letters while they played restaurant. 

The Alice In Wonderland tea party room had a verrrry low ceiling! Ha!

When they'd played for a couple hours, I let Cainan pick out a souvenir for Brenna. He chose a wooden flute and they each got a snack. It was a great day out!

We are going home in 29 days!!! I can't wait! Did I tell you all we got a house? I can't remember...but we did! It's gonna be great. I can't wait to show you all around!

Taking Daddy Home

We had a great visit with Daddy over two weeks, but had to take him back to Boise to meet his plane on Friday. We stopped at the top of the Blue Mountains to get some photos.

This picture doesn't come close to capturing the vastness of the mountains and canyons behind us! We were standing at the edge of a very steep drop off. We had fun imagining the early pioneers, as well as later travelers, making their way down the mountains into the valleys below. The freeway wasn't put in until the mid 20th century. Amazing!

We've got about five weeks left until we head home. Can't wait!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Good morning! Welcome to The Homemaking Party! We have really been enjoying our time with Daddy these past few days. He will go home on Friday and the kids and I will stay here in Oregon for six more weeks. There's good news though...we've got a house! Yay! I'm so excited to move into our new home!

Hope everyone is having a lovely summer!

This Week's Linky Parties

Hello everyone!

There will be no linky parties the weeks of July 2-16 as we are spending time with family and going to pick up Jamie from the airport for a visit!!! Woo Hoo!!! 

Come back Wednesday July 19 for The Homemaking Party and again on Saturday July 23 for Vintage Show & Tell!

Vintage Show & Tell: Tales of a Wayside Inn by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Welcome to Vintage Show & Tell! 

The following is an article I originally wrote for my literature blog, Belle's Library. Today I was thinking about it and realized it would be the perfect thing to share for Vintage Show & Tell! Check this out...

You know those times when you have something to share but you don't know how to properly express the level of awesomeness that goes along with it? That's how I'm feeling right about now. Last summer, I picked up this 1915 copy of Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn in the books-for-sale section of our library. You've read before about our library's awesome shelf of antique books that sell for super cheap---it's irresistible! I try to pick up Longfellow when I see him because I plan to save them for our own Evangeline---four year old Brenna Evangeline.

The reason I got so excited about this copy is because of what's written inside. Don't worry, I'll show you in a minute...just let me tell my story! If you're not familiar with Tales of a Wayside Inn, here's the scoop: Originally published in 1863, the book is narrated in turns by fictional friends who are staying at the real-life Sudbury, Massachusetts inn and are telling stories in the form of poems. The Wayside Inn was actually known in real life as The Red Horse Tavern. It was established in 1716 and was a popular hangout for Harvard students until it closed in 1861 upon the death of the owner. Longfellow visited in 1862 and was inspired after receiving a tour of what he thought to be a "rambling, tumble-down building." 

In 1897, the inn was reopened by a man who wanted to restore it and fill it with the beautiful antiques he'd collected on his travels. One of the pieces he added was Daniel Webster's desk. In 1923, Henry Ford bought the inn and that's where this book comes in.

Just like Longfellow's group of friends who stayed at the inn, Mr. Glenn L. Davis and Mr. Max Herzog visited the inn with their wives and recorded the event by signing the inside of this book on August 28, 1930. What's more, they signed it on Daniel Webster's desk! Whomever owned this book also thought it was a special memento because they came back to it 25 years later to record the fire that destroyed Webster's desk in 1955, along with many other beautiful antiques and much of the inn.

There is so much fun history to be read about The Wayside Inn---it's still operating today! It's located along the Old Boston Post Road---one of the oldest in the country, having been in operation since 1673. George Washington passed through there in 1775 on his way to Cambridge to take command of the Patriot army. In fact, it's recorded that both Washington and LaFayette passed by numerous times. Henry David Thoreau noted in his journal that he left his horse there in 1853 while attending to other business in town. 

So, what do you think? Pretty awesome, huh? 

How I love books! Beautiful, wonderful, holders of history.

Thanks for stopping by Vintage Show & Tell! Have a lovely weekend!

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