Purple teeth!
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
8 Pounds
My friend, LaDonna, called Monday to invite us along on a blueberry-picking excursion. Wendy, a lady from her church, grows blueberries and allowed us to come gather from her crop since their family wasn't consuming them all (thank you, Wendy!).
I've always wanted to do such a thing, but was hesitant considering the heat we've endured lately. Did I really want to be laboring in the sun with three possibly irritable children? I am so glad we took the chance! Very fun! I thought the kids would make it difficult to do any picking, but they were great little workers and now we have blueberries- lots of them! Weighed on the bathroom scale, the bag came to nearly 8 pounds.
One large plastic container is in the fridge, the rest are washed, dried and frozen. Using a cookie sheet, I flash froze them before putting the berries in a Ziploc bag so that they wouldn't clump. It worked really well.
My friend, LaDonna, called Monday to invite us along on a blueberry-picking excursion. Wendy, a lady from her church, grows blueberries and allowed us to come gather from her crop since their family wasn't consuming them all (thank you, Wendy!).
I've always wanted to do such a thing, but was hesitant considering the heat we've endured lately. Did I really want to be laboring in the sun with three possibly irritable children? I am so glad we took the chance! Very fun! I thought the kids would make it difficult to do any picking, but they were great little workers and now we have blueberries- lots of them! Weighed on the bathroom scale, the bag came to nearly 8 pounds.
One large plastic container is in the fridge, the rest are washed, dried and frozen. Using a cookie sheet, I flash froze them before putting the berries in a Ziploc bag so that they wouldn't clump. It worked really well.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Knit One Purl One
I haven't had much time to knit lately, and I haven't been back to the knitting group at Threaded Bliss Yarns since I last wrote about it during the making of Samantha. Currently, I'm working on the Ribbi Cardi from ChicKnits and am nearly to the armhole shaping on the back piece. I've decided to do the ribbed (rather than flat panel) version and plan to do the collared version rather than the rolled neck, or mock turtle. All of the yarn from the Sweater Mistake of years ago is finally being put to use. Yay!
In other knitting news, I received a rejection letter from Knitty yesterday concerning my Fall Knitty submission. Not defeated, today I sent the pattern on to chiagu (I see Crumpets in my knitting future). Not much more to say about that (due to secrecy) until someone takes it or I decide to quit trying and just offer it up for free on this website.
I haven't had much time to knit lately, and I haven't been back to the knitting group at Threaded Bliss Yarns since I last wrote about it during the making of Samantha. Currently, I'm working on the Ribbi Cardi from ChicKnits and am nearly to the armhole shaping on the back piece. I've decided to do the ribbed (rather than flat panel) version and plan to do the collared version rather than the rolled neck, or mock turtle. All of the yarn from the Sweater Mistake of years ago is finally being put to use. Yay!
In other knitting news, I received a rejection letter from Knitty yesterday concerning my Fall Knitty submission. Not defeated, today I sent the pattern on to chiagu (I see Crumpets in my knitting future). Not much more to say about that (due to secrecy) until someone takes it or I decide to quit trying and just offer it up for free on this website.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
California
It's been awhile since our California trip in April/May. But I think we're finally getting all of that film developing complete. One particular roll of 36 on the camera seemed to take a bit of time to shoot off. Regardless, I thought these were some sweet ones. Enjoy.
By the way, only one more roll (probably partial) from the old 35 mm Minolta to develop until we are entirely film free! I'm really enjoying the Rebel. So far, we've only printed from our home printer- but I really look forward to taking it to Wolf Camera and seeing a high quality print from this baby!
It's been awhile since our California trip in April/May. But I think we're finally getting all of that film developing complete. One particular roll of 36 on the camera seemed to take a bit of time to shoot off. Regardless, I thought these were some sweet ones. Enjoy.
By the way, only one more roll (probably partial) from the old 35 mm Minolta to develop until we are entirely film free! I'm really enjoying the Rebel. So far, we've only printed from our home printer- but I really look forward to taking it to Wolf Camera and seeing a high quality print from this baby!
Friday, July 22, 2005
Best Artwork Title Ever
My Dad Threw My Mom A 50th Birthday Party, I Didn't Go, I Was Living Out Of StateEveryone Still Talks About It, I Didn't Know It Was Such A Big Deal, I Should Have Gone
You might have to click through the gallery to get to that particular piece, but it's all lovely to look at. He does some amazing stuff.
Link via ljc.
My Dad Threw My Mom A 50th Birthday Party, I Didn't Go, I Was Living Out Of StateEveryone Still Talks About It, I Didn't Know It Was Such A Big Deal, I Should Have Gone
You might have to click through the gallery to get to that particular piece, but it's all lovely to look at. He does some amazing stuff.
Link via ljc.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Back to School
As always, we're busy around here. More so than normal, I believe, because it is school preparation time. "Back to School" doesn't apply to this family; this will be the first time. This is so big I can't really wrap my head around it yet: Grant is starting kindergarten in September. My first born. My little boy. My five year old. Oh. My. Goodness.
In many ways, I'm getting extremely excited. We've done quite well lately with setting aside "lesson time" to work on reading and writing and learning activities. Mostly, it is to foster a love of learning and to establish the routine of Mommy as teacher. But, even without much pushing, he is latching onto the skills for reading and surprising me with a word here and a word there. "You're reading Grant! Good job!", I say to keep him fueled and encouraged.
Since we decided to enroll him in the Academy rather than public school, I will be homeschooling Language Arts and Math while he attends New Song on Wednesdays and Fridays for all the extras: Spanish, Chapel, History, Art, and Science. I've been busy doing my curriculum research for Language Arts and Math (...if anyone can research its me!). Making decisions has been a fine balance between obsessing over reviews and catalogs, and reminding myself that "it is just kindergarten". This isn't a matter of life and death, but it isn't to be taken lightly either. And I must remind myself to pray. Because I know that God led us to this path and gave us peace about this choice, I know that He will add grace to the details.
Yesterday, we received Grant's school calendar in the mail along with the text and book list. Eeeek! So exciting! This year's History involves a great deal of US History, so some of the biographies on the list were for Ben Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. Soon we'll be getting a supply list in the mail for the things to bring to class. I'm sure this won't be the case next year, but this year I can hardly hold myslef back from wanting to purchase it all RIGHT NOW. Staplers, pens, pencils, wide rule paper. And he needs a backpack. And a lunch sack. I started thinking about all of the options out there and wondered what the other kids are buying. While I don't want to teach my kids to worry endlessly about having "what all the other kids have", I don't want them to have the really odd, strange lunch box. LIKE I DID AS A KID.
In elementary school (20 years ago!), while normal kids were bringing a brown paper sack or a rectangular lunch box (with the matching thermos) for their lunches, I was carrying a little cooler. The style has changed very little, and it was red with the top handle- just as it is now. I stuck glitter heart stickers on mine. Boy, that thing was big for a first grader! And I was so embarrased but never had the heart to say anything to my mom. She thought it was perfectly reasonable because it had room for a "blue ice" block at the bottom to keep my food cold. In high school, my friend Vera Ranola even recalled that monster of a lunch box and brought it up once. But I guess my mom was just ahead of her time, because in a quick browse, I noticed that a lot of the lunch sacks these days are equipped with a compartment for blue ice.
And backpacks. Do I get him one of the regular ol' backpacks or the new ones with the pop up handle and wheels like luggage? Hmmmm.
This is crazy, is this really happening?! (Wasn't it yesterday that he was born? And wasn't the day before yesterday when I was "playing school" and I was the little kid?)
As always, we're busy around here. More so than normal, I believe, because it is school preparation time. "Back to School" doesn't apply to this family; this will be the first time. This is so big I can't really wrap my head around it yet: Grant is starting kindergarten in September. My first born. My little boy. My five year old. Oh. My. Goodness.
In many ways, I'm getting extremely excited. We've done quite well lately with setting aside "lesson time" to work on reading and writing and learning activities. Mostly, it is to foster a love of learning and to establish the routine of Mommy as teacher. But, even without much pushing, he is latching onto the skills for reading and surprising me with a word here and a word there. "You're reading Grant! Good job!", I say to keep him fueled and encouraged.
Since we decided to enroll him in the Academy rather than public school, I will be homeschooling Language Arts and Math while he attends New Song on Wednesdays and Fridays for all the extras: Spanish, Chapel, History, Art, and Science. I've been busy doing my curriculum research for Language Arts and Math (...if anyone can research its me!). Making decisions has been a fine balance between obsessing over reviews and catalogs, and reminding myself that "it is just kindergarten". This isn't a matter of life and death, but it isn't to be taken lightly either. And I must remind myself to pray. Because I know that God led us to this path and gave us peace about this choice, I know that He will add grace to the details.
Yesterday, we received Grant's school calendar in the mail along with the text and book list. Eeeek! So exciting! This year's History involves a great deal of US History, so some of the biographies on the list were for Ben Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. Soon we'll be getting a supply list in the mail for the things to bring to class. I'm sure this won't be the case next year, but this year I can hardly hold myslef back from wanting to purchase it all RIGHT NOW. Staplers, pens, pencils, wide rule paper. And he needs a backpack. And a lunch sack. I started thinking about all of the options out there and wondered what the other kids are buying. While I don't want to teach my kids to worry endlessly about having "what all the other kids have", I don't want them to have the really odd, strange lunch box. LIKE I DID AS A KID.
In elementary school (20 years ago!), while normal kids were bringing a brown paper sack or a rectangular lunch box (with the matching thermos) for their lunches, I was carrying a little cooler. The style has changed very little, and it was red with the top handle- just as it is now. I stuck glitter heart stickers on mine. Boy, that thing was big for a first grader! And I was so embarrased but never had the heart to say anything to my mom. She thought it was perfectly reasonable because it had room for a "blue ice" block at the bottom to keep my food cold. In high school, my friend Vera Ranola even recalled that monster of a lunch box and brought it up once. But I guess my mom was just ahead of her time, because in a quick browse, I noticed that a lot of the lunch sacks these days are equipped with a compartment for blue ice.
And backpacks. Do I get him one of the regular ol' backpacks or the new ones with the pop up handle and wheels like luggage? Hmmmm.
This is crazy, is this really happening?! (Wasn't it yesterday that he was born? And wasn't the day before yesterday when I was "playing school" and I was the little kid?)
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Apparently they didn't get the memo
The pest company came yesterday and sprayed around. We ended up going with U.S. Pest- the one that I mentioned uses the EcoSmart product line. They were so complete in their free inspection. You should see the blueprint-esque drawing the guy did of the house with a rather detailed map of all the ant activity (organized by type of ant) that he found on our property. He talked with me and answered all my questions. I feel more excited than a normal human probably should about all of this! We haven't yet seen how well their plan has worked because it should take some time for all the colonies to be affected (I can't wait!).
In fact, yesterday was a horrible ant day. Many more than usual! And last night, a rather thick line was creeping through the kitchen to the pantry and into a bag of sugar. I wiped up all the ants, threw away the sugar bag and later wiped again to be thorough.
All day today, I have seen ants trudging in a line to where the sugar was and turning around in confusion. How long before they get the hint?
The pest company came yesterday and sprayed around. We ended up going with U.S. Pest- the one that I mentioned uses the EcoSmart product line. They were so complete in their free inspection. You should see the blueprint-esque drawing the guy did of the house with a rather detailed map of all the ant activity (organized by type of ant) that he found on our property. He talked with me and answered all my questions. I feel more excited than a normal human probably should about all of this! We haven't yet seen how well their plan has worked because it should take some time for all the colonies to be affected (I can't wait!).
In fact, yesterday was a horrible ant day. Many more than usual! And last night, a rather thick line was creeping through the kitchen to the pantry and into a bag of sugar. I wiped up all the ants, threw away the sugar bag and later wiped again to be thorough.
All day today, I have seen ants trudging in a line to where the sugar was and turning around in confusion. How long before they get the hint?
Monday, July 11, 2005
FOR SALE
It took a lot of convincing, and a very good deal, but I am converted. We're going digital! Now we're looking to sell the 35mm camera and all accesories.
SLR body, two lenses, filters, and additional flash.
It is almost sickening how very little we'll be able to get for all this stuff. A great deal for anyone who's never had a proper camera before. Perfectly suitable for experimenting with photography knowledge or capturing high quality images.
It took a lot of convincing, and a very good deal, but I am converted. We're going digital! Now we're looking to sell the 35mm camera and all accesories.
SLR body, two lenses, filters, and additional flash.
It is almost sickening how very little we'll be able to get for all this stuff. A great deal for anyone who's never had a proper camera before. Perfectly suitable for experimenting with photography knowledge or capturing high quality images.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Yesterday contained one of those "perfect mommy moments". It's vital to hold onto those memories; they help you through the not-so-perfect mommy moments. We read Psalm 150 and talked about praising God with music and dance. So, with some homemade "instruments", we created a glorious praise and worship service. Paper towel tubes were our trumpets, old tins filled with dried beans made rattles or drums, glasses of water and a spoon made a xylophone. There was dancing, and lots of noise. We sang of all the things we were thankful for and praised God for his goodness . Grant actually said, "God you are so good because you take care of my owwies!". I think the Lord was very pleased.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Safe
Though it doesn't soothe the aching hearts of those who've lost someone today, I was thakful to call my family in the London area and know that they were safe. I was unable to reach Grandma and Eric; their phone line was busy. Did get hold of my uncle Steve who said his son, Mark, goes into London early for his banking job and missed the attacks by an hour or two. Mark and his girlfriend are stranded in London, though, until the transportation systems figure out what to do. I guess most lines are closed down. Kings Cross. We've travelled through the Kings Cross stop umpteen times.
I can't even begin to think how this will impact politics and attitudes toward America. For now, I'm just praying for people.
Though it doesn't soothe the aching hearts of those who've lost someone today, I was thakful to call my family in the London area and know that they were safe. I was unable to reach Grandma and Eric; their phone line was busy. Did get hold of my uncle Steve who said his son, Mark, goes into London early for his banking job and missed the attacks by an hour or two. Mark and his girlfriend are stranded in London, though, until the transportation systems figure out what to do. I guess most lines are closed down. Kings Cross. We've travelled through the Kings Cross stop umpteen times.
I can't even begin to think how this will impact politics and attitudes toward America. For now, I'm just praying for people.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
The ants are becomming intolerable. The DE powder I put down is having little to no affect. I think there may be a colony of ants under the house in the crawl space. But I'm no pro. While I still would love to have a chemical free house, I am entertaining options tomorrow with two pest companies who will come to inspect. One of them looks to use EcoSmart organic approved products. I am excited by this potential. Cross your fingers.
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