Dishwasher

Yesterday I received notice in the mail that my dishwasher had been recalled. Bummer! I was instructed to call a technician for a free repair, and not to use the dishwasher in the mean time, due to fire hazard.

Nice.

Well, there is no time like the present for the kids to learn how to do this job by hand. They have lived their entire lives in a home where machine washing was the way to acomplish this housekeeping task.

For the first two meals I washed and they dried. It was immediately evident that I have way more expertise in this area than they did. From now on we will take turns with the washing, rinsing and drying. Here they are, having their first go at it.

Outside

The mounds of sooty now at the bottoms of all the driveways are slowly melting away. At last. I was so tired of looking at them.

The ice dam on the eave over the back door is significantly smaller. And so is its corresponding ice ridge that formed a formidable obstacle to getting out of the house via the back door safely.

Today the Wii was not a recess tool during the break from studies. The kids got to don their jackets (not coats -- hooray!) and play outside on the new scooters they got for their birthdays.

They are off to the races!

Perch

Today the Artist is 13. Unfortunately , she and I are both a bit under the weather with colds. I'm hoping we will both feel much better by tomorrow for her party.

Today she enjoyed breakfast in bed. That's a nice treat now that she is an "older kid" and nice when you're not feeling well. I hope she was able to look around from her perch on her bed at her newly painted and decorated room with the new bedding and curtain set she picked out and feel special for her birthday.

It is a great coincidence, and lucky for the Artist, that today is the first broadcast game of Spring Training for the Cleveland Indians, thus no school work was scheduled for today. I make this day my own personal holiday. I am eagerly awaiting the call from Tom Hamilton's press box perch, "...And today's first pitch, and we're underway from Goodyear Ballpark..." Once I hear that it will be spring time.

The Engineer demonstrated yesterday the most unusual posture for doing schoolwork. The Artist used to do this too, and I cannot figure out how it can be too comfortable. He is perched atop his chair like a chicken on its roost.

New Sheers

They are far from perfect, but hopefully I'm the only one who will see the imperfections. The Artist is pleased, and I expect Rick will be too. And I only had to rip out a hem twice. (Go ahead and laugh!).I'm happy the job is done, but still wishing I could have done better. I am consoling myself with the fact that the material was not wasted, and next time I will not be working completely pattern free, I can use these as a pattern.

Kim, Thanks for your hint. I was able to keep from using it by eliminating the ruffles on the top and bottom of the rod pockets. I don't miss them.

Christmas

It is a heart warming feeling I get when I see the Christmas tree lights reflected in the bow window fourfold. May your Christmas be blessed with many heart warming moments and the certain knowledge of our greatest blessing, Christ our Savior.

Snip

The hardest part of any sewing project, for me at least, is cutting the fabric. If I make a mistake I can waste big dollars in one small snip of the shears.

The Artist has been waiting ever so patiently for me to put curtains up on the new french doors she has leading into her bedroom. I bought the fabric at a super sale, so I was pleased with myself. Boy, was that short-lived!

Just about the time I pulled in the driveway after my trip to the fabric store, I realized I would have to make my own pattern and cut the fabric to size. All this without a proper work space. Yikes!

The dining room table is way too small. So is my living room floor.
I held my breath and cut the fabric. I think (hope) it will be okay. One of the pieces is crooked enough that the hem may be mighty skinny in one area.

I pressed under and sewed the raw edges and then measured again. I still hope it will be okay in the length. I found I have some lee-way in the width. I may even need to cut 8 - 10 inches from each panel so that they fit on the little 16-inch curtain rods.

Next time I take this project out, I'd like finish the top pocket rods on both curtains. That will take time, space, a ruler and a ripper. I have the latter two, the former two are hard to come by. My deadline is the Artist's birthday, in March. Here's hoping!

Bake Sale

The youth at church frequently hold bake sales. This year, the Artist is participating for the first time.

She loves to bake, so I buy her ingredients and happily leave her alone in the kitchen. I think the Christmas Star Cookie recipe she found looks interesting. And she had fun with the process.

After working solo for a little while, the Engineer pulled up a step stool to watch. Soon he was declaring that she was the chef, and he was the helper.

The recipe is from a Bible Food Fun cook book the Artist received as a gift several years ago. She has made several of the recipes from the book, including the fish (shaped) pizza and the cheesy lions featured on the Amazon dot com link. All have been quite good so far.
The candies melt and give a stained glass look, they are so pretty!