I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

Baltimore will be having its white Christmas this year. There is more snow on the ground right now than we usually get in the whole of winter. The total amount for our area is listed at 20.5 inches.
To make our life a little easier (not much!) we shoveled twice yesterday while it snowed. This morning we shoveled the rest of the snow, the little bit that fell after it got dark, and the fort of snow at the end of the driveway left by the plows as they cleared the road. The kids played, of course, and went sledding.
See our snow photos HERE.

Lucky, lucky kids

Our kids are lucky - very lucky. We let them open their gifts before we leave on our holiday travels! Ever since we wrapped the gifts last weekend the kids had been begging to open them. They had poked, squeezed, and shaken every package, and couldn't wait any longer! Today was rough on them. They knew Jim was coming home early for our "Christmas" but they didn't know just how early. All day they were trying to distract themselves... but it wasn't working well. They sorted out the presents... and put them back under the tree. They played on the computer. They sorted out the presents... and put them back under the tree. They returned their library books and dvd's. They ate snacks. They sorted out the presents... and put them back under the tree.They took "naps." They took baths. And just when they couldn't stand it any longer, Jim came home. After a quick living room clean-up we let them do what they had been waiting for all day long. Presents!

Holiday traditions

We have quite a few holiday traditions in our family, and today we followed through with a Baltimore-based one. We headed up to Kenilworth to see the model trains they have set up around their center fountain. These are not beautiful, prize-winning layouts; they are FUN! It is as if you were told to use every toy figure you had (or could find!), and to somehow fit it all together. The kids had so much fun pointing out favorite characters (Bugs Bunny, R2D2, Jimmy Neutron, etc.) and pushing buttons to make different parts of the set-up move. My favorite? The Wizard of Oz section, complete with yellow brick road, flying wicked witch, and turning tornado!

Plates of cookies for Christmas

(cranberry cookies - a favorite for many people!)

This year I did a better job of planning out my holiday schedule. I knew I would need to start on things earlier than in previous years - if I wanted to get it all done without a meltdown!

This weekend will be my marathon. The cookie dough is all made, portioned out, and frozen. I will spend one day baking sheet after sheet of cookies, and one day dipping sheet after sheet of chocolates. Then I will make up cookie plates for friends, family, and the office. Hopefully there will be some left over for us!

This is my list of Christmas treats:

candied pecans
Oreo truffles
Buckeyes
Martha Washingtons (new this year, a cherry-coconut-pecan cream filled chocolate)
cream cheese mints
date pinwheels
frosted sugar cookies
cranberry cutouts
molasses crinkles

Are you hungry?

Pop Culture for Lunch

I had to sort through some stuff stored away in the basement recently. A good portion of the previously unopened boxes turned out to be things from high school, including a bunch of portfolios from art class. I wish I had time (and the studio stocked with supplies!) to do more of that sort of stuff. Oh well. For now I focus on the family part of life.

HERE you will find an interesting combination of art, pop culture, and parenting. Apparently some people have the time to keep up on their hobbies. Oh, if you look beyond the art you will find some unlikely match-ups; my favorite: Batman vs. Darth Vadar.

Thanksgiving weekend 2009

(Added: find more photos HERE)

Things went so quickly this weekend - I don't think we had a moment to sit down and really relax and talk with each other! We enjoyed the fast-paced fun, though.

Thanksgiving morning was spent preparing dinner for 14 (8 adults and 6 children). We squeezed the sewing room table and card table into the living room, and had just enough chairs for everyone. Dot made up place cards, and with some help was able to put together a nice seating arrangement. Dinner was, as most Thanksgivings go, amazing; wonderful food and wonderful fellowship! After we stuffed ourselves we sat around and talked for hours. The kids blew through the "planned" entertainment - decorating gingerbread houses (I think they ate more candy than they used on the houses!) and a shadow puppet show (thanks to Mike for bringing the Monkey King!). At the end of the day we were still fairly full, and so was the refrigerator.

Friday dawned sunny and chilly. We took our time getting ready, and avoided the malls altogether. No Black Friday sales for us! We did go shopping, though. Jamie wanted to share the local Asian supermarket with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mike. We found some treats, and then headed home. A few minutes later we headed out to the thrift store (yes, just one!). We didn't stay too long, but did find a few new things to take home. In the afternoon we played some, but mostly prepared for that evening's game night. No turkey made it's way to the party, but lots of games and friends did. Jim did get a chance to play Risk - all the way through - but he didn't win.

Saturday started too early for the kids. Jamie wished that we could move to Ohio so we could spend more time with Uncle Mike, Grandma and Grandpa. It was sad to see them go! I don't know if we would have made it through the weekend without them around to help. Thankfully Christmas is just around the corner, and we will see them again soon.

We were able to put up our indoor Christmas decorations. It was time to break out the Christmas music, too. At first the kids were helping to put the tree together... but then they got bored, and went to do their own thing. Jamie kept asking why we had to wait until Christmas to open presents...

WAIT for Christmas?! The days are flying by, and the holidays will be over before we know it! I hope we can slow them down enough to enjoy them all!

Homeschool, Holidays, and Houseguests

We have reached the time of the year (and of the school year) where things increase in intensity. I would prefer to put aside school altogether until the holidays are past, but with some of the curricula we must push through, or we will not be done by the time summer rolls around. Thankfully there are only a few subjects like this; however, the student is not altogether willing to do the work, so it is still a struggle some days.
The holidays are such a joyful time - and yet filled with stress as well. The work of giving is hard. Buying presents, making holiday foods, going to special events; all can be fun or grating, depending on your attitude. Thankfully we have lovely decorations and beautiful carols to look and listen to as we do this work, to make it less of a chore.
This year we have a new experience - house guests for Thanksgiving. We never travel for this holiday - it is too short of a weekend for that long of a trip. (Besides, we will be making that trip in just a month!) We have enjoyed sharing our table with other families, just as others have done for us in the past. We will do so again this year, but we will also be adding in Mom, Dad, and Mike. Our house will be full - and full of joy. We are excited about the chance to work together on this holiday. It will be nice to have others helping to bring up tables and chairs, to prepare food, to corral kids!
All in all, I am looking forward to this holiday, to the beginning of the holiday season, to the work to make it all wondrous and exciting to my family, and in the end, to myself as well.

Reformation Day Party

Our party was small this year, but fun nonetheless. We had many swordfights, great food, and wonderful fellowship.
Find photos HERE.

Rose Hill Manor

This afternoon we took a field trip out to Frederick, Maryland to visit Rose Hill Manor. The historic house was the home of the first elected Governor of Maryland, and has been made into a nice museum. The kids enjoyed the hands-on aspects, and the carriage museum (no photos allowed, sorry!) was a nice addition to the normal historic home tour. Even though it was misty and grey, we had a nice time.
After the tour we headed over to the used bookstore Wonderbook, one reason Jim agreed to come along with us on this trip! We all found a few things to buy, but still made it out without filling more than one bag. Maybe we have learned some discretion?
For dinner we ate at a local favorite, Barbara Fritchie Fine Foods, a diner easily recognized by the giant candy cane out front. While the decor inside seemed hard pressed to make up its mind whether it was a 50's diner or and 80's restaurant, the food was good. We all came away overly-full.
The kids agreed that today was a very good day!
See photos here.

Upcoming Reformation Day

Next week we will be gathering with other families from our church to celebrate Reformation Day. Period-appropriate costumes are encouraged. Last year the kids felt left out because I did not buy them the cheap-o knight/princess costumes from the store. I promised them that I would make some for this year. Thankfully the patterns were fairly easy, or I would have never gotten them done! (Oh, and Jamie will not be wearing jeans with his tunic!)


All this, and just in time to see that the Anglicans are welcomed back into the Catholic church. It's almost like the Reformation never happened...

Backyard Baseball

With Jim finding a source for Ragballs online, and with me finding an aluminum tee-ball bat at the thrift store, we have been spending a few minutes outside on good nights, pitching a few balls (and hitting fewer!). The kids have enjoyed taking a turn at bat, and sometimes even made fielding fun.
If you don't mind a blurry one-minute video, take a look at how it went down the other night.

Influenza Care

We were trying to be careful this year. We got our flu shots on Friday, and planned to get the H1N1 vaccine when it became available. The kids have been listening to the public service announcements given by PBS, and have started to try to sneeze into their elbows.
Somehow we still fell prey. Jamie has tested positive for flu - most likely H1N1, since influenza A is not really showing up in our area. Jamie is getting snotty and Dot is coughing sporadically. Tamiflu has been prescribed (and now they say that H1N1 is becoming resistant, and it won't do any good!). The kids want to "protect" Jim when he comes home, so they want facemasks. Hmmm. Let's consult this chart by the CDC:

Home Caregiver to person with influenza-like illness: Avoid being caregiver. If unavoidable, use facemask or respirator Other household members in home Facemask/respirator not recommended

Read that first recommendation again, if you would:

Caregiver to person with influenza-like illness: Avoid being caregiver.

Yes, the CDC wants you to avoid caring for others within your home. Truthfully, I think that if the kids start coughing and sneezing too much, and really want to be safe, we might rig up some facemasks out of scraps of cloth. As it is, we have already been exposed to each others germs repeatedly. Jim, on the other hand, might want to get a hotel room!

Minding your children

Part of being a parent is to know what your kids are reading. Jim takes this job seriously... (reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid)


Another part of parenting is to involve your children in chores around the house. There are some that they find rewarding - like Jamie's carrots. He planted a whole row, and these are the two that sprouted and grew.
And here are the other things harvested that same day, ready to be enjoyed with dinner.

Secret Agents

After being introduced to "Get Smart" Dot decided to have a spy themed birthday party. We made up the invitations to look like manilla folders with coded messages inside, printed out some fingerprinting forms, and put together a basket full of things to use as disguises. The girls had so much fun becoming secret agents, getting a "badge", and being fingerprinted.
The food was good, the company was great, and the presents were all well received. The party was over too soon for the girls (but not soon enough for Jim!), and the supplies were (eventually) all put away.
You, however, can review the remaining evidence, if you would so desire.
I accept this mission.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This Friday evening we went to a Bowie Baysox game with a group from our church. Jamie was thrilled to get to hug the mascot, and to collect his "prize" from the kids club. He was also happy to be able to sit with his friends - and be picked to play a quick game between the 5th and 6th innings!



Each of the three kids got a t-shirt and a chance to throw a rubber hoagie onto a large mat. Whoever threw it the furthest (with it still being on the mat) won an insulated lunchbag. Jamie and his two friends waited very impatiently for their game, and when the time came, they each did their best. The first girl got it halfway down the mat, the second girl threw it beyond the mat, and Jamie threw it wide to the left. He wasn't happy that he didn't win - but he finally realized that getting to play the game was a pretty big deal (Dot didn't get to play!!), and that he didn't need another lunchbag anyway, because that was the kid's club prize that night.


The game was long and slow, but it was fun to be with friends. The fireworks at the end were quite nice, and the kids love to get to run the bases after the game.

No haggling!

Jim was quite tense this week, with all the uncertainties that go along with new car shopping, not to mention the cash-for-clunkers program. He can relax now, as we finished it up last night at Carmax. We are the owners of a new 2009 Toyota Rav4!
The kids were extremely sad to see the old minivan go (they both cried!), but are thrilled with the new car, although Jamie wishes it had a moon roof. Jim and I are happy that we don't have to worry about the van breaking down somewhere... and that the van was eligible for the CARS rebate!
Check out more photos HERE.

Kid's summer vacation

Things are busy here, and much more messy since the kids got home. In between dealing with them, their messes, and the possibility of a new car purchase, I posted the photos from their time in Ohio this summer.

Check it out HERE.

Done, done, done!

At the end of our hallway...

The bathroom door is done! We have privacy once again!

What does it take to slow you down?

Oh, what plans we had for these weeks without the kids around! We would clean and organize, we would build things, we would re-do things! And what have we gotten done?
You saw the door. The door is still in the same condition, due to lack of more paint stripper and room to work. And neither one of those is easily resolved. You see, the van is nearing it's death, and it is not willing to go quietly. Last week I found it with a flat tire - so it spent a day in the shop getting a new one. Unfortunately we forgot (didn't think to) tell the shop not to open the driver's window - I had heard a familiar sound recently, the sound of the window's electric drive motor breaking. Thankfully the window was up, and I planned for it to stay that way until we traded it in for a new vehicle. But the tire shop didn't know that, and now the window is down, the van is parked in the garage, and there is no where to set up the door on sawhorses in order to strip the paint off the other side.
Our time is rapidly diminishing, and we haven't finished a single planned job. Oh well.

Summer 2009, project #1

The reason we won't be having guests in our home anytime soon:

It's time to work on the bathroom door! In previous years we have done the walls and the window. The door needed to be stripped (and so does the door jamb, and I'll plan to tackle that as soon as we buy more paint remover), and this seemed like the best time to do it.

Peel Away 6 is the product we used. As promised, it removed the paint - and our door had a lot of paint on it, including 2 coats of gloss or enamel. It didn't have an awful toxic smell (almost pleasant, really!), and I didn't have to wear gloves while working with it. I applied the remover Monday morning, and after 2 hours of removing hardware and scraping (not hard) on Tuesday afternoon most of the paint was gone. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Birthday wrap-up

We finally fulfilled a promise made to Jamie - today he got to use his birthday money at the new Lego store. He was thrilled by the store! I think he could've spent all day (and all our money!) there, but we managed to get out after only half an hour.
His purchase: Anakin Skywalker's ship, complete with R2-D2.

In older news, Jamie's pool party was wet, but not because the kids got to swim. Due to a bunch of rain moving through our area we had the party indoors, which was a bit of a disappointment to all the kids, but they had a good time playing together after all.

Jamie chose the birthday candle himself -a duck? a quail? It has been sitting on our shelf for awhile. He was quite adamant that it be used instead of regular birthday cake candles!

We adults had a good time, too, talking and relaxing together. No one had lifeguard duty!

Eventually it cleared up enough for the kids to play outside a little - but the trees kept "raining" on them as they played, so they didn't spend too much time outside.

A little whining about not swimming, a little cleaning up after the guests left, and we were able to relax the rest of the Saturday afternoon.

Six Years Ago

Six years old must be quite grown up. Jamie decided that he would get up on his own now, dress himself, and pour his own juice now that he is six. He did quite well. But six-year-olds may still need a nap, especially after a long day of playing with friends. I had to wake him up when Jim got home early - but there was no whining; presents could be opened!
And such lovely presents they were! Lego Batman! Indiana Jones game and musical toothbrush! Lego Star Wars shirt! Robot book! Money!!!
What fun it is to turn six!

Cheap summertime fun

We do not have a pool in our yard, we do not belong to the neighborhood pool, and there are no inexpensive city pools nearby. What to do when the day warms up? Slip-n-slide. At Wal-mart you can buy $5 instant fun.
Apparently, though, my kids need a little more homeschool for the year. They don't know how to slide! After a few times of being "thrown" down onto the mat, Jamie has gotten the idea. Dot still needs some practice. Go do your homework - 10 more slides!

Graduation and Memorial Day 2009

Our busy month of May is almost done. We have completed our traveling for awhile, and we are ready to be at home and back to normal. Well, as normal as summer break can be...
The graduation went well, and the work to set up and clean up wasn't too terribly taxing. "Many hands make light work" certainly proved true. The ceremony was a nice tribute not only to Amanda, but also to her mom and family. There were many friends and family members in attendance at the reception, and plenty of good food. It was good to see everyone!
In between preparations we were able to wash cars and do a little yard sale shopping. Amazingly, it was "The Great American Treasure Hunt" weekend in Norwalk, and we enjoyed looking over tables and tables of items in three blocks of downtown. Thankfully, we had a little extra room in the trunk of our car to stash away a few treasures.
On to Columbus, where we packed as much as possible into fewer than 24 hours. As always, Mom and Dad made us welcome, loved and comfortable, and Mike came over to help spoil our kids. Andy and his family came down for the holiday weekend, and Doug and Lori came over to visit for a little while as well. The kids were thrilled to be able to play with their cousins (and it helped them to run off a little extra energy before we got into the car for the long trip home!).
If you are interested, there are more photos HERE.

Vacation 2009

We are home from a wonderful vacation. The mountains were lovely, so lovely that our photos cannot do them justice. However, if you would like to see way too many photos of the Great Smoky Mountains and the Biltmore, look HERE.

(It took me a very long time to get the photos ready, so as I find time I will add captions to explain them.)

Day in DC

We spent over 12 hours away from the house on Friday. Most of that time was spent in DC. We watched a Chinese puppet show called, "The Birth of the Monkey King" at the Freer Gallery. Jamie thought it was great! We ate our sandwiches outside on the steps, enjoying the beautiful weather.
A short trip through the Natural History Museum let us see the dinosaur bones (and half the student population of DC, it seemed!) before we traipsed over to the American History Museum to see the Muppets and the Star Spangled Banner.
We hopped on to the trains again to make it over to the National Zoo before we were done for the day. Unfortunately, most of the animals must have been napping or hiding. We did enjoy seeing many colorful and interesting birds, although neither penguins nor pandas were to be seen.
The trains ran punctually and we drove up to Laurel to meet the Ensmingers for dinner. The food at Don Pablos was good, and filling. Somehow the kids all had energy to run after dinner, and there was a nice park behind the restaurant where they could. Jamie found that walking all day without socks can be painful - he now has a burst blister.
Jim successfully talked Dan into heading up to the Family Game Store with us, where we all were tempted by colorful and exciting games of all kinds. We are all on budgets, though, and can't buy everything we wish for, even if it would be educational. We did leave with a new game - maybe you could come by some time and play it with us?

More pictures HERE