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!

Mail!

Less than sixty seconds after I announced to the Engineer, "You got some mail today!" I found him at the piano. He had torn open the plastic cover to the latest Piano Explorer and turned right to the Music Corner.

He did his best, but this one will take him some practice to master.
Update:
After the Artist helped our neighbor's children make their dough ornaments, she made some of her own. The next day she painted them.

Craft Leader

Don't get any ideas that I would be a good craft leader, or even a person to ask about fun crafts for kids. The suggestion is likely to make me turn tail and run.

The Artist is a natural, however. Today when our neighbor's children came over to play she had a home made play dough for them. She led them in rolling and cutting out some ornaments. The first batch is baking in the oven as I type.The kids will not be here long enough to see their creations come out of the oven and cool, but tomorrow the Artist will bring them to their house and they can have at painting their ornaments at home.

The Artist included some ornaments of her own, and a nativity scene, a favorite of mine. Special thanks to National Geographic Kids magazine for the idea and to Grandma and Grandpa for the subscription!

Engineer News

Congratulations to the Engineer! He received his green belt in tae kwon do at the school Christmas party last night. In an unusual belt ceremony, the most recent test takers received their belts at a party rather than in class.

The previous class session, the instructor was unexpectedly unable to attend. Also, The Artist and the Engineer had been asked to demonstrate sparring with the satellite school at the Seven Hills Recreation Center the day the belt ceremony was expected. We were not sure when the new belt would come. But his smile and the big "Yes!" after he received it show it is appreciated!The next day, I found the Engineer lounging on the couch with a book. Yep, it is the dictionary. He was having fun reading the list of synonyms and antonyms. I'm glad he is starting to enjoy reading. I am also surprised at his choice in books.

TKD Test

Over the weekend it was the Engineer's turn to have a tae kwon do belt test. He was nervous and excited, both, on the morning of the test. I told him I thought that was appropriate. His nerves and excitement would help him to have a little extra energy when he started feeling tired.
It must have worked. He sailed through the test with lots of energy. At the end, it was time to break boards. Thank you, Artist, for helping your brother practice! He performed a brilliant back kick and broke the board. He did it so well, the instructor challenged him with a thicker board. Here he is holding his inch-thick pieces of broken board. He looks so pleased with himself. This test was also special for the Artist. It was her first time judging at a belt test. The Artist was nervous at first too, but soon she settled in and got used to the form she had to fill out. She wishes she could have watched her brother more, but she needed to keep her eye on a young lady who was testing for her red belt.

The Engineer will not be receiving his test results tonight. Instead my children were invited to the martial arts school's satellite location to do a sparring demonstration. Perhaps next week the Engineer will be sporting a green belt.

Painting

The Artist has been drawing for her art classes in school this year, but in her free time she has been doing some painting. This past week she made this little tray. Rick and I are so pleased with the way it came out, we will have to think of a place to display it.The photo was taken before the finish was applied, because I thought the finish might add a glare to the photo. The finish is applied now, and it provides a protective coat and a soft luster.

Panda-monium

Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, was filled with near and distant family, food and fun. As our meal was winding down we were talking around the table, getting ready to clear and wash some dishes before we started the coffee and brought dessert to the table.

Then my brother brought up a game he had played at a gathering with his friends a while ago. It is a word game with movie titles and word replacement. Can you see where this is going? Think of a movie title. Replace one word in the title with the word Panda.

For the rest of the meal we called out many movie titles. Then for the rest of the afternoon and evening they came more slowly, but always getting a chuckle from someone. And wouldn't you know it? The next morning, when I had hoped to be sleeping, my thoughts were still going to the movies and bringing pandas along.

I don't want to take the fun from you, but I will list a few of my favorites to get you started!

Seven Brides for Seven Pandas (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)
Full Metal Panda (Full Metal Jacket)
Panda on a Wire (Bird on a Wire)
While Pandas Were Sleeping (While You Were Sleeping)
Walk the Panda (Walk the Line)

Can you continue the Panda-monium?

Grammar Lessons

Neither the Artist nor the Engineer are particularly enamored with Grammar. It is not at the bottom of the list for them either. It is merely a school subject in the middle of the pack, slightly annoying to both of them.

Interestingly, both my children prefer grammar this year, compared to past years. The difference is the curriculum. We abandoned A Beka in favor of Shurley Grammar. The Artist tells me she is learning more and the explanations are more clear. The Engineer loves his jingles and the concreteness of the work involved with classifying sentences. The colorful pages with cute little animals on them did not endear A Beka to him. Black and white pages with charts and paragraphs of text with a jingle CD do the trick.

Today it happened that both kids were assigned expository paragraphs. Here they are suffering through the chore (he he he).I am amused that the Engineer felt a need to tell me that writing paragraphs is his second least favorite part of grammar class. His least favorite parts, he continued, "are writing in the journal and taking tests." Then with much enthusiasm he added, "But I don't complain about it!"

Thames & Kosmos Kudos

The Artist began this week's science experiments today using her Thames and Kosmos C1000 chemistry kit. She was off to a good start, but soon the instructions became ambiguous. Specifically, they said, "Add a shot of soda water." Oookaaaay. The instruction book lists the items from home that I will need to provide, and neither a shot glass or a jigger is listed. So just what do they mean by a shot?

A shot as in "...add a shot of Tobasco sauce to the roux..."? Or as in, "Add a shot of Bailey's Irish Creme to the hot cocoa"? The accompanying cartoon-like illustration shows liquid pouring directly from a bottle. That's no help.

On the off chance that I might reach a real person rather than a machine, I called the company. That is how I learned the somewhat off-putting price of the chemistry set was worth it. I received great customer service.

First, a automatic directory gave me clear choices. Then my call was quickly answered by a live person. I briefly explained my question and he got his copy of the manual to see exactly what I was reading.

The representative did not have a definite answer to my question. Instead he suggested I try the measured shot from a shot glass and see if that amount would work as expected. Furthermore, he instructed that I should call back if it did not work so he could replace, at no charge to me, the chemicals used in the failed attempt.

That is top-notch customer service, I could not ask for better. I did call back, though, to let the representative know the measured shot from a jigger was the correct amount. Perhaps the change will be more clearly noted in the next edition of the instruction manual.

Thank you Thames & Kosmos! I am a happy cutomer.

Pumpkin Prep

Here's one of our autumn pumpkins just heading into the oven to be baked. This one is destined to become breads and soups.

After baking at low temperatures for a few hours the skin will easily peel or be pulled from the flesh. Then I can puree it and it will be ready for use. Maybe tomorrow we will have pumpkin soup for dinner.

Chores

Setting, Mom setting the table for supper. Child, anxious for dinner, wants to sit at the table 15 minutes before the food is ready.

Mom: Go make your bed, you left it unmade all day.

Child: Oooohhhhhhh (whiney).

Mom: You know that is something you are supposed to finish before school in the morning. Don't whine.

Child goes into bedroom. Mom sets table and calls family to supper.

After dinner, Mom sees this:I know it is harder for him to make his bed when it is against the wall, but even taking that into account, this is not going to pass inspection! Poor kid will not be happy with me.

Artist & Crafts

The neighbors are enjoying a craft time with the Artist this afternoon. She led them through making paper plate lions first. You can see them on the table. Now they are beginning some Thanksgiving turkeys.This seems to be her forte. I have little patience to lead crafts like this myself.

Chores

Twice a year we have a dreaded chore -- changing the batteries in the smoke detectors. It is dreaded because the noise is bothersome, especially to the Engineer. And also because one of our alarms seems to come down easily for battery replacement, but remounting it is quite a trick. I'd like to pass this chore along to the kids, but it will be a long while before they can do it. Rick is just tall enough to manage the first floor detector. This week I plan to change up the weekly chores that the kids do. The Engineer is able to handle more work now than he could a year ago. And the Artist can have a little of her work changed around too. More dishes for the kids and less for me--Hooray!

Autumn Joy