diapers

For quite awhile we have used disposable diapers on Jamie, but now we are back to cloth. (We hope they make him more inclined to be potty trained!) I think that people are afraid of cloth diapers, but they aren't that hard to deal with... you don't even need to use diaper pins anymore. Granted, there is a big investment to be made up front, but after you buy your basic supplies you're done spending money on diapers. (Okay, yes, some people pay for a diaper service, and others pay for special detergent, but I wash my own with the detergent we use for our laundry. No extra expense.) Two other points in their favor - 1. What is cuter than a kid in a cloth diaper??? 2. Cloth diapers make the best rags when you're done potty training. Note: I don't expect others to do cloth diapering for me, and I don't do cloth diapers on the road or at night.

Anyway, last night I was washing diapers, and when I went to put them in the dryer I noticed something strange. Somehow a disposable diaper had made its way in the wash! (We think that Jamie was having fun with the diaper pail...) Ever seen a kid in a regular disposable diaper at the pool or beach? That diaper ends up 3 times its original size! All those little bits of stuff that soak up the moisture ended up in the washing machine... and our pipes. Thankfully they didn't clog anything! Yet...

Over Christmas vacation Dot took a trip downtown to visit Uncle Mike at the Statehouse. What a great field trip! Not only did they go all the way up into the cupola, but she also got a trip on the ferris wheel. Dot highly recommends making the trip if you are able to do so!

USPS

As you well know, the post office has raised its rates again. We had recently bought another roll of 100 37-cent stamps... about a week before they let everyone know the rates were going up! Thankfully there are plenty of 2-cent stamps to be bought, and now there are plenty of 2-cent stamps in our house.
If you ever send a letter to Linda, you will need to know that the postage is now set at 84-cents for an airmail letter weighing one ounce. (For peace of mind, sheets of office paper generally weigh 5 grams, or 0.176 ounces.)
Who can forget running ot the mailbox as a child, wondering if there was anything addressed to you? And the joy when you found that someone had written to you! Do your bills and junk mail bring you joy today? Cheer someone up, it's a bargain at 39 cents (or 84 cents for Linda)!

Polenta

Tonight my kids willingly tried something new at dinner. After all, anything fried is good, right? As I fried up the pieces of polenta I let them try a small bit. Jamie wanted more right then and there, but I told him he had to wait until dinner, "just a little bit." He ran to his chair and climbed in, ready for dinner!
Polenta, cooked cornmeal, can be creamy like mashed potatoes, fried or grilled. Some people use it as a "crust" for pizza. There are many recipes for different varieties of polenta - check it out on Recipesource.

Christmas pictures

Most Christmas pictures end up being shots of the living room full of people and gifts. These two turned out pretty well, don't you think?

Fredericksburg KOA

These are from our camping trip at the end of last summer. Note: the middle photo is Jamie, eating a s'more while standing in the "dishwasher." Just like his daddy...

Spring?

Actually, this photo was taken this past fall... but the kids are planning on playing in the sandbox this afternoon. The weather here is unseasonably warm - yesterday it was 62 degrees! I took full advantage of this and painted another wall in the living room. Dot went to gym class in shorts and a tee shirt, and didn't wear a coat! Wow! Is this January?

Art?

This week I took the kids ot the library. Not surprisingly, Jamie immediately headed for the videos (his favorite, Rolie Polie Ollie, is a "no check out fee" video, so I am happy to let him get it over and over and over again...), and Dot headed for the computer and then the Boxcar Children (She ended up checking out and reading three all in one afternoon!). I wondered around with Jamie, and found an interesting new book. Seen Art?, by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (I love it when they team up!) is an eyecatching book. Not content to try to flip through it while chasing two children, I stuck in my bookbag. When we got home I sat down to lunch and started reading. The story follows a young boy in NYC as he tries to meet up with his friend Art... the adults misunderstand him and send him on a hunt through the Museum of Modern Art. It is a cute little story, with the pun "Have you seen Art?" making children laugh throughout the book. While I am not an enthusiastic fan of modern art, there is some that I like; this book gave a good overview of some of the art in MoMA (not that I've ever been!). I think this book is a good way to introduce children to modern art.

music to my ears?

Lately Jamie has been trying to talk more - but it is not always very clear. In fact, most of the time we can't understand him. Oh well. It will come in time. Hopefully...
Anyway, he is entertaining us now with a song - his own song... it goes something like this (no, it goes Exactly like this): "Na, na, naaa!" Imagine its tune being sort of superhero sounding and you probably have it right. Imagine it being sung loudly, in stores, over and over! Yup, toddler entertainment, there's nothing like it...

holidays

We are home again, and recovering from our trip. All of us have been sick in one form or another; when you get that many people together in one house someone is bound to get sick. Thankfully we are mending, and we hope to have a much healthier rest of the year.

It was very nice to see family, although we didn't get to see everyone this time around. Unk and Bean were much missed in Columbus (I think we might have been able to squeeze them into the attic???), and I wish we could've gotten together with the extended families. Hopefully next time! (Wouldn't it be so nice to live nearby?!!) It was nice to see friends, as well. Too bad that it is cold and flu season, or we would've visited more. I guess we have to make a trip in the summer!

Everyone seems to have enjoyed the holidays; we received wonderful presents and came away with too much to eat. God has blessed us greatly!

Santa comes early...

Okay, so we don't really believe in Santa in our house. Our kids are the ones who ruin it for all their friends. Yup, there goes another childhood dream.
We did our own Christmas tonight. A trip to Double T for dinner (James ate my eggs, but there was enough corned beef hash - absolutely delicious! - for me to have a good dinner too) and then home for stockings and presents. This year Jamie knew what to do, and he did it. He tore into those presents and had fun the rest of the night. Poor thing had to go to bed without his new Duplo train... lots of crying. Hopefully it will bring good dreams of playtime for tomorrow. Dot is happy with more playmobil and a copy of American Girl magazine. She can't wait to do her two new crafts, but we won't open them until we get back from our family Christmases.
Jim was eager to play with his new toy, a joystick that plugs into your tv - with Ms. Pacman, Galaga, and other "old" games on it. Even the kids wanted to play with it. I am happy with my new kitchen toys and cd. To top it all off, my long-awaited LL Bean slippers arrived today, and I am so happy! They are so comfortable and warm. No more cold toes while washing dishes!
Wonder of wonders, the house is still clean from all my work today. Let's hope it stays that way!

good books

Lately I have entrusted a lot of my reading time to one man - James A. Michener. His books, while long, are very good reads. They combine the fiction I like with the history I like. On top of all that they also have quite a bit of geography, but don't let that put you off; the descriptions often make you feel as if you have been there your self, and want to go back for more.
Michener was not a Christian, and it shows through in his books sometimes. For example, in Centennial there was a whole chapter dealing with the evolution of the animals of the west. It was hard to read, to tell the truth. Also, as he tells the stories of the people you sometimes get exposed to bad language and questionable morals.
Overall, his stories are incredible, pulling you into those families, following their histories, successes and failures. If you had the time, you would want to read the whole book in one sitting (but that is hard to do, since most of the books are well over 600 pages).
Right now I am in Mexico, with wonderful descriptions of bullfights. I keep wondering if this really agrees with what Mexico is like. Hey, Joel, what do you think?

ornament

Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I received an email from Jim telling me he had a task for me. I was to help make an ornament for the office Christmas tree, something to do with the theme of a security enhanced Christmas.
Last year I made a small tree for Jim. It had penguins (Tux, from Linux) and little cardboard cd's on it. Dot loved helping me make the ornaments, and wishes she could see the tree again. (Alas, we cannot go to his office, and he cannot take pictures there...) Why couldn't they just use last year's tree???
Anyway, by the time Jim came home I had a list of word ideas. He liked the idea of a safe, so we went to Joann's after we ate dinner. I found a small square unfinished wood frame ornament and some silver cardstock tags - all on clearance! When we got home I painted the frame silver and started cutting up the cardstock. Jim printed out a picture of Tux with a Christmas tree, and we mounted that in the frame. TaDa! Tux's Christmas is "safe"!

Sick

Last week Jamie had a runny nose, but seemed to get better by the weekend. However, Sunday morning he was running freely again, so he couldn't go in the nursery. We had to go to church for the morning service, so Jim sat with him in the foyer. By the time we got home, though, we were feeling quite tired as well, so we decided to stay home in the evening. (Skipping church, can you believe it???) It's a good thing we did, as I definately have caught the cold now, too.
This bug is mean for a cold. No temperature, so you're not really 'sick', but you are really tired, almost like when you have the flu. I wish I could spend the day in bed... but I have two kids and a mountain of laundry. So, caffeine is my friend. I am sure the kids will get away with more than they should, but I will be happy just to make it through the day.

*** Tuesday morning: Last night Dot woke me up around 1am to ask for anti-nausea medicine. I had just given her a dose when it came right back up. So now we are dealing with the flu, too. Just in time for Christmas... Oh well, she seems to be doing a little better this morning, but we'll take it slowly.
*** Tuesday lunch: Dot asked for tomato soup, then proceeded to eat it with animal crackers. I think it must have been a very short, possibly 12-hour bug.

Merry Tuba Christmas

This Saturday we went downtown for our own family Christmas Tradition - Merry Tuba Christmas. Here in Baltimore it is held at Harborplace mall - right on the inner harbor, out in the elements. It can get quite cold with the wind, so it's a good thing there is no seating for the crowd. We all cram together and stay as warm as possible.
The official count for the tubas was 175 musicians. They didn't count the crowd... but it had a good turnout. Jamie was particularly happy to see a few dogs enjoying the music, too. Both kids were surprised to hear the Constellation fire a cannon at 4 pm. (Someday we will take them on a fieldtrip to that ship!) We were all happy to get back to the car, though, in order to warm up!
To round out our family day we all ate soup (it's hard to beat tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches!) and watched Christmas videos... and ate up a lot of our Christmas cookies!

not for me... yet.

I get quite a few update emails from different companies, most of them dealing with foods. This one made me think of a few family members and friends. They, of course, are gourmands and wouldn't really be interested in something like this...
I am not interested enough yet. The email told me that homecafe now can make tea as well. However, it isn't that hard to make a good cup of tea.
I sure could use a good cup of Earl Gray right now... with a little milk and sugar... yum!

when the cat is away

As a stay-at-home mom and a home-schooling mom I have found that I distinctly lack time to myself. I have had to rework my schedule quite a few times... perhaps it is a good thing I am somewhat spontaneous. One thing I have had to "fit in" is my internet time. Obviously, when Jim is home the computer is generally being used by him. Dot is another computer hog, but she usually leaves it in Windows, and it takes a long time to reboot into Linux. When I do want to be on the computer I have to fit it in with cleaning, laundry, cooking, teaching, etc. I also need to decide if I can leave the kids by themselves.
Today I left Jamie in the living room watching Cat in the Hat so I could do my email. Of course, I found myself interrupted when I heard him taking his diaper off... I went out and reattatched it, and came back to finish online. However, when I was done, and went back out to check on him, I found him without a stitch of clothing, standing on the couch (minus cushions), having a puddle at his feet...
Some things you can take pictures of to use as "blackmail" in the future (i.e., teenage years); this was not one of them. I will have to remember this one...

commenting troubles, 2

Earlier this year Jim bought a "new" (used) computer for us. When he got it up and running he informed me that while we would have Windows on the system he intended us to use Linux for the most part. I have been learning some of the Linux programs, and it is easy enough to use for the internet, but a couple of my programs do not have a Linux counterpart.
One problem I have found is the increased security in the web browser. Somehow I cannot sign in on any MSN blogs - including KJ, Linda, and Andy... That is why I haven't posted a comment in ages. Good thing we still have email.

Castoff cast

This morning Dot became normal again. (As normal as possible, I suppose!) She no longer has a cast on her arm, which is good, because it was getting quite stinky. At this moment both Dot and Jamie are in the tub, splashing water all over the bathroom. I am sure the mats will need to be wrung out. After six weeks of incomplete baths, Dot is now clean from head to toe. Hooray!

Both kids have been sporting a new look after our visit to the doctors office. Dot has an ace bandage on her arm, and Jamie has been trying out the castoff cast.

gingerbread

Dot has been looking forward to decorating for Christmas. Last night we put up the tree and greenery, and they look pretty good. Our tree is getting the hodge podge look that comes from having kids - there are more handmade ornaments every year. It makes for good memories, though.
Today we put together the gingerbread house. I broke from tradition, though, and did not use the mold that I usually use. This year I got a pattern online for a thatched cottage. We even used shredded wheat for the thatching! Dot is a little disappointed, though, as she has to wait to do the decorating. We will add snow and sprinkles when we do our cutout cookies - lots of frosting in one day!
In the meantime the kids will enjoy the leftover gingerbread. Both Jamie and Dot love gingerbread, so it never sticks around long at our house!