We Actually DID Something!

I often feel like the laziest of all homeschooling moms. We're a one-vehicle family, so I don't go anywhere during the day. And if I do drive Dr. D to work, the wildest adventure is the library. But then I forget that we do go places on the weekends. And sometimes the places we go are actually interesting! Or educational! Or both! Most interesting of late was a trip to Bowen's Mills (I'd link to the website but the layout is so horribly terrible that I'll spare you) on the weekend of a Civil War Reenactment. Never mind that we're not studying the Civil War right now. It was incredible! Below, some visual highlights.



Union soldiers. Mud Pie did NOT like the noise. At all.



Confederate soldiers.



The cider mill - with lots of bees. Again, Mud Pie was not impressed by the noisy machines. In fact, I'm trying to think what did impress Mud Pie and I'm drawing a blank. She has a fear of anything loud, dark, smelly ... garages, trucks, cars, animals (but not her brothers! Though they do meet the requirements).



Oh, the apples! She did like the apples. In fact, about all she did was clutch her apple and cry.



We all (with one exception) thought the covered bridge was cool.



And I love the costumes. Actually, I do think Mud commented on the "pwety dwess" once or twice.





But the warfare was the big hit for the boys. Not that I'm surprised ...



Hi, St. Nick!



Caption: "Should we take 'im out or shoot 'im in the stocks?"



"Time to clean up your act!" (Groan - that's soap, by the way. In case it wasn't obvious.)

My impression of the event was awe. I walked around googly-eyed, in love with everything. "This is SO COOL!" I remember saying a few times. St. Nick got bored (we discovered later that he had a nasty cold coming on), Little Fish was his usual along-for-the-ride self, and I already mentioned Mud Pie's reaction. I am certainly going to look for more of these events, and eventually, wouldn't it be awesome to participate? Talk about Living History!

Secret Sister

Taking a moment from three sick kids (one is still sleeping - miracle or what? Or, my more paranoid mind wonders, maybe he's not sleeping, maybe he's tying all his blankets together to escape out his window). Anyway, I had a flicker of a deep thought regarding the Secret Sister event going on through the Tapestry of Grace email list, but one of the kids (not sleeping) came up and asked me something and the other non-sleeper asked me something else, and, well, that happens. Bye-bye Thought! Was nice knowing you!

Now the sleeper is awake (he really WAS sleeping) and I hear water running in the bathroom. Really running. Considering he's three, this isn't so good. Better check it out!

9:36am - Little Fish was the one in the bathroom, armed with a toothbrush and a plastic cup. "But Mommy, I wanted to make a waterfall!"

Back to Secret Sister: This will be my first time doing something like this (we get assigned a "Sister" and pray for her for a time and get her a special Christmas ornament) and I'm very excited. But also a little nervous. Most of my prayer life revolves around, "God, help me mop up this water without YELLING AT ANYONE." Or, more typically, those groanings I'm expecting the Spirit to interpret. Am I really going to be able to fulfill this end of the contract? To pray for my Secret Sister? Regularly? And not count that "Arrrrrgh, Lord, you know I've been wanting to pray for her..." as good enough?

I better. I promised to. But, to my Secret Sister, apologies in advance. You got stuck with the weakest of all SSs, and I'm sorry. I'll do my best. But I will get you a cool ornament.

Blue Screen of DEATH!!!

BWAHAHAHAAA! It's appropriate that the scariest of all scary things happened in October.

Some background: I'm the "designated computer person" in our household. I set them up, I install programs, I do backups, I fix them when they break ... Except, I don't know anything about computers! And I don't even like them!

A little more background: Two-plus years ago my brother gave us a desktop computer (HE is a true computer person), one he'd refurbished from someone else. We liked it, St. Nick learned to use the mouse, he played Starfall. A lot.

But then the computer acted funny. I rebooted it. But it didn't boot (lame computer joke: Boot and Reboot went out in a boat; Boot fell in so who was left? Reboot...). I got a blue screen with an error message. Some, apparently important file was missing. Huh? Dear Brother talked me through reinstalling the operating system (when his other suggestions didn't work). And then I reinstalled the wireless card, the anti virus, the kids' software, the grown-up software. Sadly, we'd lost our tax files. Anyway, it took me about three days (there's a biblical parallel there, I know). And, we were back in the saddle for a month, until ...

It broke again. The blue screen again. I fixed it on my own this time. It took me a mere four-ish hours.

I did this three more times before finally unplugging the thing and giving it back to my brother.

Then we bought a brand new desktop, a Dell. So, now we're out of background and into the story (can you guess it?).

St. Nick is older now - six, not four - and he is good at getting around on the computer. Really good. And he's curious. Reeeeely curious. As soon as I caught him typing "butt" into the Google search bar, I changed the homepage. But it got worse. Mud Pie's two-hour nap became the "sacred hours;" the computer hours. Sadly, St. Nick was constantly, constantly shunning educational sites for arcade-style games. This made him over-stimulated and me loony, not to mention guilty. I took the navigation bar away, and emptied out the history, and I tried to institute "No Screen" days. But St. Nick is determined and an expert complainer. I'd offer to read to him; we'd do crafts. But he'd sit though the story (fidget through it, more like) or slap some paint on the paper, and he'd say, "Ok, I'm done. Can I use the computer now?"

I am a weak, weak woman.

What should happen last Friday? St. Nick and Little Fish were having a battle over whether we'd do Starfall first (for Fish) or Pharaoh's Tomb (hey! It's Egyptian! We studied Egypt! C'mon!) for St. Nick and I sent them both downstairs to, gasp, watch PBS. The computer had locked up during the skirmish, so I turned it off. When I went to turn it back on a while later, the blue screen. The "A Very Important File is Missing or Corrupt! Contact Your System Administrator Now!" screen.

My first response: "BUT I AM THE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR!" Horror, flashbacks, until I decided to box the thing up and take it to my brother. HE could fix the thing. After all, he owed me.

That problem solved, and "Sorry Bub, the computer's broken," message to St. Nick, I started thinking ... What if we didn't get it fixed? Or, rather, we got it fixed but gave it a new home, like in someone else's home? No more Starfall battles, no more "I'm BORED! I'm so B-R-D BORED!" when I turn it off. The solution seemed so simple. A financial loss, but we did get two year's use out of it. And we already had someone in mind who'd be eager to buy it.

My horror changed to gratitude. Not just for the Blue Screen of Death, but for all the blue screens (of death, I mean) I'd seen in the past two years. Without that aggravation and lost time (which is far worse for me than lost money), I would likely have seen this current crash as a blip on the screen. We'd have downtime; we'd be up and running again soon (I had the computer built with a second back-up hard drive, so all our settings and files are sitting there, waiting ...). But all those times of fixing and fixing and fixing just so the appetite of a six-year-old boy could be sated, well, it had turned me against the glorified game box. And that was the first step toward breaking free.

Really, it's me cackling, "BWAHAHAHAAAA!" Because, finally, we've vanquished you, computer monster!

Winter, Christmas, Advent Activities

A bunch of links at CatholicMom.com (how funny!). Some look great, but I haven't explored them much yet.

A fun link from that list on making old fashioned gum drops! (Refrigerated.)

Recipe: Old Fashioned Gumdrops

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 6-oz. package any flavor fruit-flavored gelatin
2 envelopes un-flavored gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice

Additional granulated sugar for coating

Directions

1. Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.

2. Spray a 9 x 9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Pour the gelatin mixture into the pan and refrigerate for 3 hours.

4. Cut the set mixture into 1-inch squares and carefully remove them from the pan.

5. Roll the candies in sugar until coated.
Your candies will be sticky. Keep a wet rag handy.

Refrigerate to store.

A link to other projects HERE.

Christmas Cookie recipes HERE.

All sorts of ornaments HERE.

And a recipe for Christmas Ornaments from Salt Dough.
Why link to it when I can copy it here? (I would probably not microwave them. I wonder what the directions for baking are? "Bake at 200 until hard. Huh. Ok, another link that says 250 for 2 hours.)

Oooh, but cool instructions for different kinds of salt dough ornaments, beyond cut-outs! Look HERE.
What you Need


4 Cups of Flour
1 Cup of Salt
1 1/2 Cups of Hot Water
Holiday Cookie Cutters
Decorations, Glitter, Paint, Beads, Etc.

Knead the dough and roll it out to cut out shapes with cookie cutters (just like if you were making sugar cookies). Place them on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Paint and decorate as desired. Most of all, be creative and have a lot of fun!

An alternate:
Salt Dough for Christmas ornaments

Salt dough ornaments have been made by generations of children, they are so much fun to create, and oh so easy for you to whip up a batch of dough. You can even experiments by adding food coloring to the dough before baking.

1 cup salt
1 1/4 cup water
3 cups flour
drinking straw
cookie cutters
string

Dissolve salt into water, then slowly add flower, stirring until mixed. Knead and roll, then cut out with shaped Christmas cookie cutters. Use a straw to poke a hole in each near the top. Bake at 200 degrees until hard. Add string to hang.

These can be painted with regular paint, and glue adheres well for decorating.

Fall and Thanksgiving Craft Links

I just found this fantastic website with a Freedom Feast program - telling this history of the first Thanksgiving, the constitution, and more. It turns Thanksgiving into a true celebration of American heritage and an educational event! Here is the link to Freedom Feast.

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A must-do Thanksgiving craft, a Turkey Hat! And in case the link breaks, here are the instructions:

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Scissors
Brown paper bags
Cardboard (cereal box)
Glue stick
Colored construction paper
2 small white pom-poms
Black permanent marker
Time needed: Under 1 Hour

1. From the brown paper bags, cut a circle 3 1/2 inches in diameter for the turkey's head. Next, cut a 3-inch-wide band to fit around your child's head.

2. From the cardboard, cut a strip 5 by 1 1/2 inches to use for a neck. Fold it three times accordion style, then glue one end to the back of the paper circle.

3. For a beak, fold yellow construction paper and cut out a small double triangle (1 1/2 inches along the fold). Cut a rounded L from red paper for the turkey's wattle.

4. To create eyes, draw a black circle on each pom-pom with the marker. Glue the eyes, wattle and one side of the beak to the head. Let them dry. Then, glue the loose end of the neck to the center of the headband.

5. Now, wrap the headband around your child's head; mark where the ends overlap, then remove the band and glue the ends. Finally, glue on construction paper feathers and wings.

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A leaf garland. Make two dozen or more leaves and write something for which we give thanks on each as added. Each person should add one each evening.

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Carmel apples! Yummy!
1 1/2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
6 tbsp. water
Popsicle sticks
8 to 10 apples (McIntoshes work well)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the brown sugar and water. Stir until it has a smooth consistency. Gently bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 3 minutes, until the pan's sides get steamy and the mixture is thin but somewhat sticky. Remove from heat. Pierce the center of each apple with a Popsicle stick, then swirl in the caramel syrup until coated. Place apples on a greased cookie sheet to harden. Refrigerate for at least 1 to 2 hours. Serves 8 to 10.

What Are Mothers Good For?

I don't know where that topic came from, but I'm wondering that right now. The downloads with iStock are flooding in, yet my bubble of euphoria is burst by my illustration application being rejected. Again. Me=failure. Never mind that I've never fancied myself a photographer, let alone an illustrator, and I've spent, maybe, 20 total hours with a free vector illustration program. Yet I'm making more on photography than I have on anything else in years. And I'm not doing much to get there, either. Just snapping photographs. Like that's hard.

So, I guess I'm wondering why I'm so deflated over the vector rejection (it's not like I can't try again). I'm not an illustrator, or a photographer, or a writer - not really. I'm a mother. In another window I have the upcoming homeschool plan open. I'm up to November planning with math, still in October for the other areas. I plan to plan through the end of December, then I'll do the planning for spring during Christmas break.

This is a task of motherhood, something I'm good for. The other stuff, that's just me having a little fun, and really, I should be glad vector isn't an option (yet!) because I don't have enough spare time for it.

Now, for the sake of being sappy and sentimental, what are mothers good for? Kissing hurts, sending naughties to time-out, rationing glue, baking muffins. Saying, "No dear, we don't put markers up our noses!" We're good for teaching our children how to read, how to trust, how to be honest, how to love. I'm not succeeding as well as I'd like on those things. So why not focus my energy there, and let vector shapes and squiggles go for a while.

Two Years of Thanks

June 25, 2005

We are waiting for you. Not patiently, even though you were due just a few days ago. Your grandparents come from out of town to take your big brothers out for malts and to the park, and to meet you. You have other plans.

Daddy and Grandpa install new air conditioners while I sit poolside at the hotel and watch your brothers swim. You kick and roll. You are swimming, too.

June 27

"Girls bake longer," the midwife says and smiles.

Daddy and I exchange a glance. We have no pink in your layette, not after two boys, but deep in some secret place, I know we should.

June 29

Thunderstorm and we lose power. The temperature indoors soars with the blessed air conditioner stagnant. "Can we birth with no power?" We worry. Will you pick tonight to come, in the dark?

We call the midwife, fluttery, impatient. "A birth by candlelight! How lovely - I do it all the time."

At ease, we wait. Soon?

No, not yet, you say. Power restores at midnight.

July 2

Too hot to sit, too sore to stand.

Achey, testy.

When will we meet you?

4:00pm ~ What is this? A dull ache, hardly unusual, but intermittent and regular.

"Is it time?" Daddy asks.

"I don't know," I say. "I don't think so."

6:00pm ~ We go out for dinner, Russ' Restaurant and I eat something - I don't remember now. Eight minutes between trips to the restroom. "Bladder the size of a pea," I joke and think nothing more.

"Are you in labor?" your grandmother asks.

I laugh. You are nearly two weeks late - I have resigned myself to being expectant forever.

8:00pm ~ Your brothers are tucked in their beds. "Should we call the midwife?" Daddy asks. I shrug. I feel a gentle tightening, not at all like your brothers. "Maybe."

10:00pm ~ "I think this is the night," I tell the midwife. "I'm not sure, though."

She ignores my hesitation. "Shall I come now? You know you labor fast."

I pause, a contraction. "No, these are so slight."

"Well ..."

11:00pm ~ "Shouldn't the midwife come soon?" Daddy asks.

I laugh at him. "Am I even in labor?"

11:30pm ~ Something changes. Subtle, like a gentle shift from a major to a minor key. "You should call the midwife," I say. "No great rush."

11:45pm ~ "Could you ... gasp ... call ... and tell her ... to get here ... NOW?"

July 3, 12:00am

Your midwife arrives at the door and takes one look at me. She sends Daddy out for the stool. Your brothers sleep soundly upstairs. "Let's have this baby!" she whispers.

12:42am ~ We meet you - tiny, pink, and only blue to dress you in.


Your brothers sleep through it all, but I will never forget later that morning; Daddy brings them downstairs and whispers in their ears, "You have a baby sister!"



Never before and never since have I seen their eyes light with such wonder. And even now, two years from that day, you are still filling us with wonder. For God's abundant grace which sustained you those floating months, for each smile, each word, each step, we are grateful.

Happy birthday to you!

Update: Read more pregnancy stories at CHBM!