Two recipe disasters in a row! I'm on a roll.
Thought it'd be nice to have fresh potato bread to go with supper tonight, so I whipped up a full-size batch of the stuff, then split the liquid in half and made one loaf w/ wheat flour and one loaf wf. Really, it looks beautiful. It has that delightful potato bread texture, and it smells delicious. Unfortunately, my bright idea to leave the skins on, well, wasn't quite so bright. Just for future reference, the skins don't bake up so nicely in bread. They don't affect the taste adversely, but they produce these awful, shiny dark spots in the bread. It's not a healthy sheen, at all, and it took me a bit to figure out what those nasty spots were. *shudder* Oh, well, perhaps they'll toast up okay. A little peanut butter and honey can cover a multitude of baking sins.
Most of us still feel like hammered dog poop, so we aren't setting the world on fire at the moment. The house gets tidied, the linens get washed, and that fairly wears me out. In spite of that, though, we're managing to do school pretty well. We're hitting about 95% each day, and are rotating the 5% we don't manage to get. So far, we're ahead of my beloved schedule by a full two days, though, even factoring in the stray 5%.
Zorak called this morning to ask if I'd been out to the road yet. (I hadn't.) He informed me we need a new mailbox. *sigh* I had forgotten about the joys of drunk teenagers on a dull winter evening, particularly out in the boonies. I guess there's just not much to do but vandalize mailboxes while you're waiting for your buddy with the ID to get more beer. Well, I hope they enjoy the concrete reinforced one we'll be putting up. There were Christmas cards strewn on the roadside, crumpled, wet, and dirty. That torqued me off pretty badly. Not to mention, mailboxes have gone up in price quite a bit! Oy!
Tomorrow we've got to get to the library. We won't be heading in to share the crud, but we do need to slip some books into the box and then run before they catch us. It's been a while since we've all been healthy enough to leave, and Zorak doesn't go into the town with the library, so the books are very, very delinquent. The library will be glad to have their books back, and I will be glad to be back on non-compounding terms with my late fees.
And really, that's about all I've got the stamina to put together. Some days are stellar, and some days... well, the prepare you to fully enjoy the stellar days. Today was a prep day. But that's okay, maybe tomorrow will be stellar!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Wednesday, January 3
Recipe No-Go
Well, I had to try. The Hillbilly Housewife has a recipe for egg and cheese pudding. I thought that sounded like a wonderful, hearty, warm lunch!
Evidently, I thought wrong.
Smidge did try one honest bite, but then pronounced, "No me like dis! No good." (Ah, well, break it to me gently, there, kiddo.)
James said the flavor is, "OKAY, but, mentally, it's the texture of bread pudding, which just doesn't go with these flavors. It's not you. It's not... bad, really. It's just me, mentally, I can't do it." (Oh, he is SO my kid.)
John ate all of it without complaining, but quietly disappeared when I offered him seconds. (Of course, when you grab someone by the shoulders and act like someone from a Dickens novel, "YOU liked it, though, didn't you? YOU thought it was good? Would you like MORE?" Yeah, that'll make even the most stalwart among us bolt for the nearest exit.)
Alright, mark this one off the list for inclusions. FWIW, I do agree about the texture and consistency. I'm an American, and as such, my puddings should be sweet. I get nauseaus just reading about the puddings in the Master & Commander books. The flavor was great, and as a quiche, or just a basic caserole (perhaps with pasta instead of bread?) it'd probably be good. But as it stands, it should have tasted like cinnamon and nutmeg, or maybe apples. I kept that thought to myself, though, so as not to skew their views of it.
On the plus side, Zorak's lunch for tomorrow is ready to go! (Maybe he'll like it? Don't worry, I'll pack extra other items, just in case.)
Kiss those babies!
Evidently, I thought wrong.
Smidge did try one honest bite, but then pronounced, "No me like dis! No good." (Ah, well, break it to me gently, there, kiddo.)
James said the flavor is, "OKAY, but, mentally, it's the texture of bread pudding, which just doesn't go with these flavors. It's not you. It's not... bad, really. It's just me, mentally, I can't do it." (Oh, he is SO my kid.)
John ate all of it without complaining, but quietly disappeared when I offered him seconds. (Of course, when you grab someone by the shoulders and act like someone from a Dickens novel, "YOU liked it, though, didn't you? YOU thought it was good? Would you like MORE?" Yeah, that'll make even the most stalwart among us bolt for the nearest exit.)
Alright, mark this one off the list for inclusions. FWIW, I do agree about the texture and consistency. I'm an American, and as such, my puddings should be sweet. I get nauseaus just reading about the puddings in the Master & Commander books. The flavor was great, and as a quiche, or just a basic caserole (perhaps with pasta instead of bread?) it'd probably be good. But as it stands, it should have tasted like cinnamon and nutmeg, or maybe apples. I kept that thought to myself, though, so as not to skew their views of it.
On the plus side, Zorak's lunch for tomorrow is ready to go! (Maybe he'll like it? Don't worry, I'll pack extra other items, just in case.)
Kiss those babies!
First Day Back to School
No pictures. Mid-year pictures don't count. (Heck, I haven't even managed to mail out the Christmas pictures yet - school photos? Probably not 'til college, folks.)
However, it was a pretty good day. The boys were surprisingly easy to guide and teach. Zorak spent his day of mourning off hunting for deer, so the kids and I dove into our studies. By the time he returned home for lunch, we were done with most of the stuff and taking a well-enjoyed game break.
School Day Highlights:
James - loving Delta. Yay. Thrilled to have "designated free reading time" included in the homeschool schedule. (He loves to read - reads in the morning, before he gets up, and reads at bedtime, as well. But he just doesn't quite understand that if you want to go read a book during the day, go read a book. If I'm reading a book, he'll come sit with me and read one of his own, and if I suggest it, he's all over it. But for some reason, he needed a slot set aside just for "free reading". Somehow, seeing "30 minutes free reading" on his schedule of things to do was like getting a "Pass Go, Collect $200" card. Huge highlight of the day.)
John - really able to read his Latin book independently now, and he is so thrilled. So he read the Latin lessons today. So proud! Also, I gave him a Reader to work through, along with his very own checklist to record his progress. This step meant a lot to him (more than I'd figured when I put it together), and he cannot wait to fill in the "I read all ten stories myself!" certificate. This is such good stuff.
James lost another tooth today. John is still in awe of the process, convinced he'll never lose a tooth of his own. He didn't ask for this one, though, so that's good.
Miss Emily awoke this morning with a raging case of pink eye. So, back to Mom's pharmacy. Three treatments with that stuff and she looked a WHOLE lot better, although she's still fairly miserable. Even with the goop, she spent most of her day standing and dancing. She's begun cruising comfortably the past week, and will walk all over the place if you give her a finger to hold on to. It won't be long before she's walking all over the place (and bruised just as thoroughly).
Smidge, so far, has avoided the strep, the pink eye, and the ick. I don't know how much longer his luck will hold, but hopefully Long Enough.
And on that note, I'm not going to push my luck any more than I already have. So, I am off. A good night's rest, and an early start in the morning, and we'll keep moving in this general direction.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
However, it was a pretty good day. The boys were surprisingly easy to guide and teach. Zorak spent his day of mourning off hunting for deer, so the kids and I dove into our studies. By the time he returned home for lunch, we were done with most of the stuff and taking a well-enjoyed game break.
School Day Highlights:
James - loving Delta. Yay. Thrilled to have "designated free reading time" included in the homeschool schedule. (He loves to read - reads in the morning, before he gets up, and reads at bedtime, as well. But he just doesn't quite understand that if you want to go read a book during the day, go read a book. If I'm reading a book, he'll come sit with me and read one of his own, and if I suggest it, he's all over it. But for some reason, he needed a slot set aside just for "free reading". Somehow, seeing "30 minutes free reading" on his schedule of things to do was like getting a "Pass Go, Collect $200" card. Huge highlight of the day.)
John - really able to read his Latin book independently now, and he is so thrilled. So he read the Latin lessons today. So proud! Also, I gave him a Reader to work through, along with his very own checklist to record his progress. This step meant a lot to him (more than I'd figured when I put it together), and he cannot wait to fill in the "I read all ten stories myself!" certificate. This is such good stuff.
James lost another tooth today. John is still in awe of the process, convinced he'll never lose a tooth of his own. He didn't ask for this one, though, so that's good.
Miss Emily awoke this morning with a raging case of pink eye. So, back to Mom's pharmacy. Three treatments with that stuff and she looked a WHOLE lot better, although she's still fairly miserable. Even with the goop, she spent most of her day standing and dancing. She's begun cruising comfortably the past week, and will walk all over the place if you give her a finger to hold on to. It won't be long before she's walking all over the place (and bruised just as thoroughly).
Smidge, so far, has avoided the strep, the pink eye, and the ick. I don't know how much longer his luck will hold, but hopefully Long Enough.
And on that note, I'm not going to push my luck any more than I already have. So, I am off. A good night's rest, and an early start in the morning, and we'll keep moving in this general direction.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Monday, January 1
1st Quarter of '07, 3rd Quarter of 06-07...
Whatever you'd call it. Let's just go with January, '07. There, that sounds right. I haven't quite figured out where our school years end and pick back up again. We don't break the boys' studies into yearly chunks for progression. They work until they're done, then we move on to the next book.
This method works great on paper, but it does make things a bit wonky with scheduling (which I do in abundance, and then promptly set aside once our normal routine emerges, rendering all the scheduling irrelevent). I don't do the scheduling for them, though. I do it for me. For several reasons: even if I do ditch it, the planning gives me a general idea which direction we need to be heading; it helps clarify which books are gathering dust and which need to be beefed up a bit; I enjoy it. It's fun. Even more fun now that we've found the electric pencil sharpener. Mmmm. I do love a freshly sharpened pencil and a blank sheet of paper. WOOHOO!
For daily scheduling, I use the auto-fill daily homework sheet from Chart Jungle. Ten minutes in the evening before bed gives me a leg up on the next day's plan. Think of it this way, if you need to be somewhere in the morning, and you *know* your car battery is going to be dead in the morning, wouldn't you plug in the charger before you went to bed? (Assuming, of course, that you all have chargers, and not just jumper cables, like normal people, right?) So. My battery isn't good with quick starts. We like the daily forms.
The rest of my planning, I do with Donna Young's Quarterly Planners. Just a general outline, in 9 week increments. As I pointed out to the boys, it's paper, not stone. But those wonderful grids make me happy! The boys don't ever have to see them - the pages go into a binder.
A happy, gridded, filled-in, organized binder of glee.
My glee is bound. My pages are printed. My schedule is in place.
The kids are asleep. The menu is written up.
And... we just found out Zorak's off work tomorrow. :-D (The humor being that we usually take off school when Daddy's home. It's easier on everyone. All that work, when I could have gone to bed early!)
G'nite!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
This method works great on paper, but it does make things a bit wonky with scheduling (which I do in abundance, and then promptly set aside once our normal routine emerges, rendering all the scheduling irrelevent). I don't do the scheduling for them, though. I do it for me. For several reasons: even if I do ditch it, the planning gives me a general idea which direction we need to be heading; it helps clarify which books are gathering dust and which need to be beefed up a bit; I enjoy it. It's fun. Even more fun now that we've found the electric pencil sharpener. Mmmm. I do love a freshly sharpened pencil and a blank sheet of paper. WOOHOO!
For daily scheduling, I use the auto-fill daily homework sheet from Chart Jungle. Ten minutes in the evening before bed gives me a leg up on the next day's plan. Think of it this way, if you need to be somewhere in the morning, and you *know* your car battery is going to be dead in the morning, wouldn't you plug in the charger before you went to bed? (Assuming, of course, that you all have chargers, and not just jumper cables, like normal people, right?) So. My battery isn't good with quick starts. We like the daily forms.
The rest of my planning, I do with Donna Young's Quarterly Planners. Just a general outline, in 9 week increments. As I pointed out to the boys, it's paper, not stone. But those wonderful grids make me happy! The boys don't ever have to see them - the pages go into a binder.
A happy, gridded, filled-in, organized binder of glee.
My glee is bound. My pages are printed. My schedule is in place.
The kids are asleep. The menu is written up.
And... we just found out Zorak's off work tomorrow. :-D (The humor being that we usually take off school when Daddy's home. It's easier on everyone. All that work, when I could have gone to bed early!)
G'nite!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Sunday, December 31
New Year, 2007
We did not need strep. Gotta call the doc in the morning and swear on a stack of prescription pads that we are not living in a festering cesspool. Honest. And it's John, too, poor, goopy-eyed, sinus-laden John. It just hasn't been this kid's winter. However, he's handling it quite well...
He's been chillin' on the couch with hot tea, his fuzzy robe, pirate slippers, and a good movie. Other than the fever, painful throat, and chills, not a bad way to pass the evening, really.
It's been a low-key week here. Lots of time spent together, learning new skills...
(Leaning 101 - evidently, it helps.)
(Motor Skills - Love the Tongue Of Concentration, there.)
(Basic Mechanics - better Thomas than my phone!)
The boys got a kick out of telling Smidge at supper that he'd better eat up because Zorak and I weren't going to feed them again until next year. He didn't quite get it, but they cracked each other up. (Sometimes it's good to have someone who always "gets" your sense of humor.) We'd thought about letting them stay up, but they were more than ready for bed by eight, so we tucked them in with the promise of "celebratory ice cream" tomorrow, and fireworks once the rain backs off a bit.
And on that note,
May 2007 bring you food to nourish your body...
Love to nourish your heart...
And the joy of anticipation with each new adventure!
Happy New Year!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
He's been chillin' on the couch with hot tea, his fuzzy robe, pirate slippers, and a good movie. Other than the fever, painful throat, and chills, not a bad way to pass the evening, really.
It's been a low-key week here. Lots of time spent together, learning new skills...
(Leaning 101 - evidently, it helps.)
(Motor Skills - Love the Tongue Of Concentration, there.)
(Basic Mechanics - better Thomas than my phone!)
The boys got a kick out of telling Smidge at supper that he'd better eat up because Zorak and I weren't going to feed them again until next year. He didn't quite get it, but they cracked each other up. (Sometimes it's good to have someone who always "gets" your sense of humor.) We'd thought about letting them stay up, but they were more than ready for bed by eight, so we tucked them in with the promise of "celebratory ice cream" tomorrow, and fireworks once the rain backs off a bit.
And on that note,
May 2007 bring you food to nourish your body...
Love to nourish your heart...
And the joy of anticipation with each new adventure!
Happy New Year!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Oh, the Humidity!
97% right now. Oy.
I still haven't adjusted to the humidity level here. In New Mexico, if the humidity hits 20%, you wouldn't even think of painting. It'd never dry properly! Here, if we got down to 20% humidity, I'd let the kids starve for 24 hours straight while I painted every flat surface we have. Maybe even trim. I might even paint things that don't need painting, just in case.
So, it's been a quiet weekend here. We're missing church again because the kids haven't quite shaken the snot monster yet. They aren't miserable, but I am every time I hear *that sound* and have to shout, "DON'T SUCK IT IN!" And the little ones? They've burned a month's worth of calories going rounds in the Ultimate Toddler Fighting Championship each time we need to wipe their wee noses or, God forbid, use the snot sucker. That alone is worth not subjecting fellow congregants to. And so, we are cloistered safely at home with a full array of tissue choices and plenty of water. It's good.
And today is the last day of 2006. Man, I remember when I thought 1999 would *never* get here. And now... well, obviously it made it. And thar it went! No desire to get reflective. It's been a good year with plenty of reflection, the occasional bout of wallowing, and a lot of plans brought to fruition. I have no idea what we're doing, but it seems to be working, and honestly, I'm afraid I'll screw it up if I try to pinpoint just what it is. We're going to head into 2007 with the general philosophy,
And kiss those babies!
~Dy
I still haven't adjusted to the humidity level here. In New Mexico, if the humidity hits 20%, you wouldn't even think of painting. It'd never dry properly! Here, if we got down to 20% humidity, I'd let the kids starve for 24 hours straight while I painted every flat surface we have. Maybe even trim. I might even paint things that don't need painting, just in case.
So, it's been a quiet weekend here. We're missing church again because the kids haven't quite shaken the snot monster yet. They aren't miserable, but I am every time I hear *that sound* and have to shout, "DON'T SUCK IT IN!" And the little ones? They've burned a month's worth of calories going rounds in the Ultimate Toddler Fighting Championship each time we need to wipe their wee noses or, God forbid, use the snot sucker. That alone is worth not subjecting fellow congregants to. And so, we are cloistered safely at home with a full array of tissue choices and plenty of water. It's good.
And today is the last day of 2006. Man, I remember when I thought 1999 would *never* get here. And now... well, obviously it made it. And thar it went! No desire to get reflective. It's been a good year with plenty of reflection, the occasional bout of wallowing, and a lot of plans brought to fruition. I have no idea what we're doing, but it seems to be working, and honestly, I'm afraid I'll screw it up if I try to pinpoint just what it is. We're going to head into 2007 with the general philosophy,
Don't mess with what works, even if you're not sure why it's working.Just smile and nod, folks. Smile. And. Nod.
And kiss those babies!
~Dy
Friday, December 29
Renovation Tidbits
So, it's official. We have begun our One Room Per Weekend plan, in which we finish off the Niggling Bits (the ones that give me hives when I think about not having finished them ten years from now). I guess you could also call it our Mental Health Insurance plan.
This weekend is "The School Room". (If you remember the "before" pictures, it was the one with "Security by Georgia Pacific" in the captions.) Aside from baseboard, which will have to wait for another payday, the School Room will be c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y done by Sunday night. Zorak put up the trim around the door today. I figured out what to do with the window treatment for that door. The window and door trim gets painted tomorrow, curtains hung, shelving installed. We'll bring up the old kitchen table to use as a puzzle table/private workspace, and I'll do a little last minute tidying and sorting of the paperwork. Yay.
I'd still like to put some quotes on the walls, but am not sure what I'd like to use. There are so many good ones. I don't want anything serious, or somber. I really loved one that was shared on the boards this week:
Oh, I'm glad there are others who love pocket doors! We do, too! We put them in the bathrooms, and WOW - nobody gets injured in the constant chaos that is a six-person-one-bath home! The master bath is so small, that the pocket door really saves a significant portion of the space in there, as well. (It'll be nice when we get that one finished.) We also put one in the laundry closet in the hallway - no bruised and battered foreheads for little guys bolting down the hall on laundry day! Yippee! We'd have put them in everywhere, if there'd been enough wall space to do so. And we did contemplate putting one there, at the end of the hall, even. When we bought the place, the hall had doors (standard, not pocket) closing off the sleeping quarters from both the living room and the foyer, but the house was so closed-in and creepy that we threw everything wide open. Now it feels a leetle nekky, so we've re-thought the door at the end of the hall. :-)
And yep, we're vaulting the ceiling in the living and dining areas. (Melora, I may take your suggestion and dub that phase the "Very Interesting Project" - that's code for "Really Bad Idea", isn't it?) The house has 8' ceilings. They feel somewhat cave-like and constricting after living in homes and apartments with 9' ceilings. It's stunning what a difference a foot makes. Because of the actual structure, we can't reasonably raise the entire roof, and it'd be cost prohibitive to add a second floor at this point (thus, raising the ceiling in the process!) So, with a little math, a little trusswork, and a lit-tle. more. patience, we can give the living space a better feel, make a clearer delineation between the living and kitchen spaces, and create some awesome architectural interest to the Basic Box. Plus, when we add the den, it'll tie the spaces together with a smoother transition, so the den won't look like an add-on.
But I try not to think about those things. They make me whiney and despondent. For now, I will think of The School Room - and how there are no more things to be done there this year. Or there will not be after this weekend. (Baseboard doesn't count, because of the bullnosed beading - it's all one continuous room, as far as the baseboard is concerned. Really. Just, go with me on that.)
It's very possible that we may finish this house soon enough that Smidge retains no permanent recollections of The Way It Was!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
This weekend is "The School Room". (If you remember the "before" pictures, it was the one with "Security by Georgia Pacific" in the captions.) Aside from baseboard, which will have to wait for another payday, the School Room will be c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y done by Sunday night. Zorak put up the trim around the door today. I figured out what to do with the window treatment for that door. The window and door trim gets painted tomorrow, curtains hung, shelving installed. We'll bring up the old kitchen table to use as a puzzle table/private workspace, and I'll do a little last minute tidying and sorting of the paperwork. Yay.
I'd still like to put some quotes on the walls, but am not sure what I'd like to use. There are so many good ones. I don't want anything serious, or somber. I really loved one that was shared on the boards this week:
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid.What a great quote. Zorak thinks that may be a John Wayne quote. Anybody know?
Oh, I'm glad there are others who love pocket doors! We do, too! We put them in the bathrooms, and WOW - nobody gets injured in the constant chaos that is a six-person-one-bath home! The master bath is so small, that the pocket door really saves a significant portion of the space in there, as well. (It'll be nice when we get that one finished.) We also put one in the laundry closet in the hallway - no bruised and battered foreheads for little guys bolting down the hall on laundry day! Yippee! We'd have put them in everywhere, if there'd been enough wall space to do so. And we did contemplate putting one there, at the end of the hall, even. When we bought the place, the hall had doors (standard, not pocket) closing off the sleeping quarters from both the living room and the foyer, but the house was so closed-in and creepy that we threw everything wide open. Now it feels a leetle nekky, so we've re-thought the door at the end of the hall. :-)
And yep, we're vaulting the ceiling in the living and dining areas. (Melora, I may take your suggestion and dub that phase the "Very Interesting Project" - that's code for "Really Bad Idea", isn't it?) The house has 8' ceilings. They feel somewhat cave-like and constricting after living in homes and apartments with 9' ceilings. It's stunning what a difference a foot makes. Because of the actual structure, we can't reasonably raise the entire roof, and it'd be cost prohibitive to add a second floor at this point (thus, raising the ceiling in the process!) So, with a little math, a little trusswork, and a lit-tle. more. patience, we can give the living space a better feel, make a clearer delineation between the living and kitchen spaces, and create some awesome architectural interest to the Basic Box. Plus, when we add the den, it'll tie the spaces together with a smoother transition, so the den won't look like an add-on.
But I try not to think about those things. They make me whiney and despondent. For now, I will think of The School Room - and how there are no more things to be done there this year. Or there will not be after this weekend. (Baseboard doesn't count, because of the bullnosed beading - it's all one continuous room, as far as the baseboard is concerned. Really. Just, go with me on that.)
It's very possible that we may finish this house soon enough that Smidge retains no permanent recollections of The Way It Was!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Post-Holiday Daze
I awoke this morning at some awful hour to the sound of Zorak's phone playing the Radetzsky March. That sounds like something out of a horror film when it wakes you from a dead sleep. I stumbled into the living room, prepared to do battle with an evil clown and its demonic calliope, only to find my beloved preparing to head out to go hunting. Really, a good old alarm wouldn't serve the same purpose? So now, he's out the door, and I'm sitting here, a little dazed, wondering if I should just go back to bed, or do something productive.
We're all a bit dazed, actually, in spite of the fact that we've cut our turkey intake with a good deal of ham. We're full to the top of good things, new things, and things in general. We're floating in an eddy created by the swirling of necessities and luxuries coming together. (Yes, I know, everyone should be so fortunate. That we acknowledge our blessings, though, doesn't make us any better at handling them.) I don't know about the others, but I'm ready to take the tree and all the trimmings down NOW. I'm ready to get back to the business of schooling and building and preparing for Spring (which will come far too soon for me to be ready for it!) I'm done. I've had my fill. And next year, I think we're going to put non-blinking lights on the tree.
I also think that when we vault the living room ceiling, we're going to add a pocket door at the beginning of the hallway. There's a lot of cleaning I could be doing while everyone sleeps, but the light and noise will drift straight down the hall and before I could make any actual progress, all the little ones will be awake. Yes, a door would be handy.
And, as if on cue, John's up. Why is he up? He's never up this early. Well, he looks happy, and says he's hungry. Time for the day to begin!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
We're all a bit dazed, actually, in spite of the fact that we've cut our turkey intake with a good deal of ham. We're full to the top of good things, new things, and things in general. We're floating in an eddy created by the swirling of necessities and luxuries coming together. (Yes, I know, everyone should be so fortunate. That we acknowledge our blessings, though, doesn't make us any better at handling them.) I don't know about the others, but I'm ready to take the tree and all the trimmings down NOW. I'm ready to get back to the business of schooling and building and preparing for Spring (which will come far too soon for me to be ready for it!) I'm done. I've had my fill. And next year, I think we're going to put non-blinking lights on the tree.
I also think that when we vault the living room ceiling, we're going to add a pocket door at the beginning of the hallway. There's a lot of cleaning I could be doing while everyone sleeps, but the light and noise will drift straight down the hall and before I could make any actual progress, all the little ones will be awake. Yes, a door would be handy.
And, as if on cue, John's up. Why is he up? He's never up this early. Well, he looks happy, and says he's hungry. Time for the day to begin!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Wednesday, December 27
Sometimes You Just Can't...
...buy locally.
We try. We really do. But sometimes it's just. not. in the cards.
Seven years ago, Zorak ventured into a Christian bookstore to buy me a nice Bible for Christmas. He explained to the saleslady that he's not a believer, but his wife is, and she's very into study, theology, doctrine and history, and he'd like to find something nice. She knew "just the thing", and he came home with a woman's recovery bible! (Because, obviously, any woman who'd marry a non-believer must have been into drugs and prostitution? What in the world???)
Fast-forward to this year. Zorak would like to give me a copy of the Vulgate. He's heard me mention this, and knows it's one of my goals to master Latin to the point that I can enjoy reading the Scriptures in Latin. So, off he goes to the local Christian bookstore, where the following conversation with Bookstore Lady (BL) ensues:
Z: Hi, do you have any Latin Bibles?
BL: Any what?
Z: Latin Bibles.
BL: LATIN Bibles?
Z: Yes.
BL: LATIN?
Z: Yes. Do you carry Latin Bibles?
BL: *blank stare*
Z: You know, the language? Latin?
BL: OH, LATIN. Um... no.
*insert general awkward pause*
BL: I don't think they've ever translated it into Latin.
He left. He bit his tongue and left. And then he couldn't share this story with me until Christmas. But I don't have to wait to share it. Even though my book hasn't arrived yet. Hmpf.
Although, honestly, I am nowhere near competent enough to read it yet. This was on my "one of these days" lists. Technically, I'd asked for a Kitchen Aid Mixer, because making all this bread with a wooden spoon is KILLING my arm, but he wanted to get me something just-for-fun. So, in keeping an honest girl honest, I broke out my Latin (which has been woefully ignored this month) and got back to writing my declensions. He sat down to watch me for a couple of minutes and then suddenly, this panic-stricken look came over this face.
"Oh, this isn't like if you said you wanted to lose weight this year, and then I went and bought you a treadmill, is it?"
*giggle* No, honey. It's not. But even if you had, I'd love you for it. I may not use it, but I'd love you for it. ;-)
And in other gift news...
The boys LOVE their Gamecube. We're allowing free rein for as much of the school break as possible, just in the hope that the stunningly addictive newness will wear off a bit. Then it will go into a more orderly slot. Today, I noticed the boys were getting a bit twitchy with one another, and so I set the timer and we turned the thing off at the *ding*. The boys dispersed to do other things, occasionally meandering back in to ask if they could play one. small. game. (No.)
James brought me a handful of coins and said, "Um, Mom, if I give you... *counting* um, 60 cents, will you let me play a game?"
I had to chuckle. "No," but then I had to ask if that was a bribe or just good old-fashioned entreprenurial thinking. It was a bribe, but after I described what a bribe is, he quietly returned his coins to his piggy bank and wandered off to do something else.
Really, though, they've all handled it very graciously. They let Smidge play and don't ride him about the fact that he goes the wrong way most of the time. He's moving and he's part of the team - he's happy. They don't throw spiky turtle bits at him or point out that he loses every time. They cheer one another on, and take their own hits with good humor. As long as that continues, I'm okay with this thing.
Miss Emily has a Dino Drop-N-Whatever. It's a ball thing with tunnels and lights. Although she loves it without the lights, so hey, that's fewer batteries I have to keep track of. Yay. She is one very happy little girl!
And, now that it's taken me three days to get around to posting about Christmas (I did post this morning, but we had a one-second power outage just as I hit "publish" and the computer went down), I'm going to go play for a bit. Zorak wants to race at Waluigi Stadium!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
We try. We really do. But sometimes it's just. not. in the cards.
Seven years ago, Zorak ventured into a Christian bookstore to buy me a nice Bible for Christmas. He explained to the saleslady that he's not a believer, but his wife is, and she's very into study, theology, doctrine and history, and he'd like to find something nice. She knew "just the thing", and he came home with a woman's recovery bible! (Because, obviously, any woman who'd marry a non-believer must have been into drugs and prostitution? What in the world???)
Fast-forward to this year. Zorak would like to give me a copy of the Vulgate. He's heard me mention this, and knows it's one of my goals to master Latin to the point that I can enjoy reading the Scriptures in Latin. So, off he goes to the local Christian bookstore, where the following conversation with Bookstore Lady (BL) ensues:
Z: Hi, do you have any Latin Bibles?
BL: Any what?
Z: Latin Bibles.
BL: LATIN Bibles?
Z: Yes.
BL: LATIN?
Z: Yes. Do you carry Latin Bibles?
BL: *blank stare*
Z: You know, the language? Latin?
BL: OH, LATIN. Um... no.
*insert general awkward pause*
BL: I don't think they've ever translated it into Latin.
He left. He bit his tongue and left. And then he couldn't share this story with me until Christmas. But I don't have to wait to share it. Even though my book hasn't arrived yet. Hmpf.
Although, honestly, I am nowhere near competent enough to read it yet. This was on my "one of these days" lists. Technically, I'd asked for a Kitchen Aid Mixer, because making all this bread with a wooden spoon is KILLING my arm, but he wanted to get me something just-for-fun. So, in keeping an honest girl honest, I broke out my Latin (which has been woefully ignored this month) and got back to writing my declensions. He sat down to watch me for a couple of minutes and then suddenly, this panic-stricken look came over this face.
"Oh, this isn't like if you said you wanted to lose weight this year, and then I went and bought you a treadmill, is it?"
*giggle* No, honey. It's not. But even if you had, I'd love you for it. I may not use it, but I'd love you for it. ;-)
And in other gift news...
The boys LOVE their Gamecube. We're allowing free rein for as much of the school break as possible, just in the hope that the stunningly addictive newness will wear off a bit. Then it will go into a more orderly slot. Today, I noticed the boys were getting a bit twitchy with one another, and so I set the timer and we turned the thing off at the *ding*. The boys dispersed to do other things, occasionally meandering back in to ask if they could play one. small. game. (No.)
James brought me a handful of coins and said, "Um, Mom, if I give you... *counting* um, 60 cents, will you let me play a game?"
I had to chuckle. "No," but then I had to ask if that was a bribe or just good old-fashioned entreprenurial thinking. It was a bribe, but after I described what a bribe is, he quietly returned his coins to his piggy bank and wandered off to do something else.
Really, though, they've all handled it very graciously. They let Smidge play and don't ride him about the fact that he goes the wrong way most of the time. He's moving and he's part of the team - he's happy. They don't throw spiky turtle bits at him or point out that he loses every time. They cheer one another on, and take their own hits with good humor. As long as that continues, I'm okay with this thing.
Miss Emily has a Dino Drop-N-Whatever. It's a ball thing with tunnels and lights. Although she loves it without the lights, so hey, that's fewer batteries I have to keep track of. Yay. She is one very happy little girl!
And, now that it's taken me three days to get around to posting about Christmas (I did post this morning, but we had a one-second power outage just as I hit "publish" and the computer went down), I'm going to go play for a bit. Zorak wants to race at Waluigi Stadium!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)