These can be ingredients?

I have not tried this recipe. I don't think it would be very well received by Jim... what with pineapple and circus peanuts in it and all. Not to mention the appalling lack of chocolate in any form.




Circus Peanut Gelatin

44 circus peanuts, divided 1 cup boiling water, divided
2 (3 oz.) pkgs. orange jello
2 (8 oz.) cans crushed pineapple (undrained)
1 (8 oz.) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

Cut 32 candies into small pieces; place in a microwave-safe bowl. Add 1/4 cup of boiling water. Cover and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir; microwave 1 minute longer. Stir until smooth.
In a large bowl, dissolve jello in remaining boiling water. Stir in candy mixture and pineapple. Refrigerate until partially set. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares; top each witha circus peanut.

Do you have fun with your food?

It's not often that I actually go to all the work of being super creative with my food. After all, if it tastes good and is healthy, does it matter much if it is "cute" or not? Plus, being creative usually makes bigger messes. (Especially once the kids find out, and want to join in.) Nevertheless, I like fun food ideas. Here are two really cute ones:
from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, the Flying Spaghetti Monster









And from Cake Journal, some Mupcakes

PBS wishlist

Oooh, the Masterpiece Theatre series of Jane Austen's books started off great last night! Persuasion was enjoyable, and I can't wait to watch the other 5 episodes. Someday I hope to own all 6 dvds.
With that thought in mind, I wandered over to the PBS shop online, sure that I would be greatly disappointed in the prices. However, I was happy to find that the prices are quite average. Perhaps I can slowly but surely purchase the set.
Another PBS series we enjoy is Secrets of the Dead. One of the best - Catastrophe. The theory is that the dark ages were caused by an immense volcanic eruption. Quite interesting, worth the time to watch. Other good episodes? Salem witch trials and the flu epidemic. Perhaps your library carries them...

Useful resource?

We are in desperate need of more shelving - we have too many books for the ones we have now. And yet we continue to buy more books! Things will continue this way, as I have found a new-to-us used bookstore up in Towson (about 15-20 minutes from our house), and this site. For those in Ohio, click here. In Minnesota, here. Never miss another great library sale!

The holidays

Now that we've gotten over our colds (and they were awful!), I have taken the time to upload our photos. Check them out here. We enjoyed spending time with our family and friends, but we are also glad to be back home. Now all we need to do is find places for all the gifts we brought home...

Happy 2008!

Jim was the only person at our house who was awake for the arrival of 2008. The rest of us were sensible, asleep in our beds. I missed it by only half an hour, as I had somehow stayed awake for the PBS show on Carol Burnett. It was funny...

Today we "celebrated" by having lunch at Panda Express. "Chinese for lunch, Chinese for lunch!" was Jamie's song as we left Lowe's parking lot. He happily ate up my Mandarin chicken, after he decided that he really does not like orange chicken after all. We are all stuffed. Mmmm.

The fortune cookies seemed to be written with New Year's day in mind. (Perhaps they always sound that way? "Somewhere in your future lies...") Here they are:
Jim:

Many pleasurable and memorable adventures are in store for you.

Laura:

There will be plenty of time to work hard; enjoy yourself!

Dot:

Every person is the architect of his own fortune.

Jamie:

An exciting opportunity lies ahead if you are not timid.

(By the way, the lucky numbers for Jim and me were the same!)

Tubas for Christmas

Once again we made the trip to the Inner Harbor for Merry Tuba Christmas. Once again the kids were greeted by many odd Santas, given too much candy, and got too tired of standing for us to stay for the entire concert. It was cold, even though we were well bundled, even though we had bought two lovely hot chocolates to share. The music was lovely, though.
Here is Jim's best shot of the tubas here in Baltimore:








And here is Jamie with "gas-mask Santa" (sorry it is blurry, it's hard to take photos with gloves on):

This Santa asked if our kids had been bad or good, and almost immediately Jamie head-butted Jim in the stomach. Dot received a piece of candy, and Jamie received a yo-yo for his bad act... but his happiness was short lived - Santa took the yo-yo back, telling us it was broken, and poor Jamie had to be content with a piece of candy.

"Christmas Facts and Fancies"

From the book 1001 Christmas Facts and Fancies by Alfred C. Hottes:

In Silesia a baby born on Christmas will become either a lawyer or thief.

In Spain everyone is admonished to treat cows very kindly because it is believed that cattle breathed upon the Christ Child to keep Him warm.

A dog which howls on Christmas Eve will go mad within the year.

Take an onion on Christmas Eve and cut it through to form twelve cups. Put salt on each and place in a row, giving each the name of a month. The months in which the salt is found wet on the following morning will be wet, and the contrary.

Eat a raw egg before eating anything else on Christmas morning and you will be able to carry heavy weights.

Some say that he whose appetite gives out first st Christmas dies first.

In Scandinavia some families place all their shoes together, as this will cause them to live in harmony thoughout the year.

Never launder a Christmas present before presenting it, as this take out the good luck.

The perfect present for Jim

Not that it would get done anytime soon...

Find it at Etsy, but expect to pay a lot of money!

homeschool gym class in winter

One good thing about homeschool is that you can be very flexible with the curriculum, especially in gym class. It doesn't matter much what you are doing, as long as the kids are getting exercise on a normal basis. Yeah, playing in the snow counts. Wonderful, isn't it?
You'll find a few more snow photos here.

Too busy for words...

Well, not really - but almost! The holiday season has picked up speed quickly, and is threatening to leave me behind in the dust. How's it treating you?

My new word for this season, which I picked up at Dress A Day, has nothing to do with dresses. The author of that blog has a rather different job - she is also the author of Dictionary Evangelist, which more closely relates to her occupation as a lexicographer. (Yeah, just look it up already.) Anyway, here it is:

Santagnostic

On another note, we treated ourselves this year to a new tv. Our old one (older than our marriage, which is now approaching 12 years) was slowly giving up the ghost. We found a good deal on a LCD model, and we are thoroughly enjoying it. The kids love that there are more PBS stations now, one of which is broadcast in Spanish all day long. You can see the tv (and how clear the picture is!) behind Jamie, who decided that he was not too big for his Snoopy sweater after all.

Good Timing

We are very sorry, Katrina and Joel, that we did not take you to the National Arboretum while you were here. We know it was on your list of places to visit, but as we had never gone and did not know if it was worth the trip. It is.
In the spring Dot had a class there, where she put together a bunch of plants in a small pot. (They didn't live through our dry summer.) Unfortunately, that day was bitterly cold, with ice hanging around. It was miserable weather to be outside. We planned to go back, but never made it during the summer.
We missed our desired fall activity, the Corn Maze. It just didn't work out. Not that it mattered much - the summer stayed around so long that it didn't feel or look like fall until just a week or so ago. The trees finally began their annual change of color, and we decided to really enjoy it down at the Arboretum.
Oh, and enjoy it we did. The colors were gorgeous, "Just at their peak!" according to the man at the welcome desk. The flame-like colors were amazing, tucked away here, bursting forth there. We went from one spot to another with "Oh, look at this one!" being said over and over again. It was beautiful, wonderful, awesome. (I feel as if I have overdone it with the descriptive words, but then again, check it out here to see for yourself.)

wishlist

Laura:
for real?
shelving installed throughout the house, a new van, an adjustable dressform, real jewelry, a handcrafted nativity set
more accessible?
any Burda magazine (Burda WOF in English, preferably with patterns still inside)
vintage sewing patterns
low shank rolled hem foot and invisible zipper foot for my sewing machine
gold & dark blue earrings (not crystal, preferably lapis or dark turquoise style stones, or dark sapphires)
Cooks Magazine/ Cooks Country annual recipe books
good quality stationery

Jamie:
Little Einsteins anything
Magic Schoolbus anything
Lego sets, preferable with animals or vehicles
Playmobil anything
Tool set

Dorothy:
Playmobil anything
Legos, especially characters
Books
Puzzle books
Bow and Arrow set
Cd/radio

How to play with a cat

Jamie has not had much luck playing with Norah - he is too agressive in his desire to pet, hold, and play with her. She runs away from him most of the time, and when she gets caught she will often fight to be free. Twice now he has been scratched by her. He is frustrated, and tells us that we should not have gotten a cat, but should have listened to him and gotten a dog.
Yesterday, though, he found a way to make them both happy. Norah gets to be free to sunbathe lazily, Jamie gets to spend time with her without getting scratched. It is really cute to see him "reading" a story to her.

my newest toy

Awhile ago I wrote about being a lurker on craigslist; I now wish to announce that I lurk no more (well, I still lurk, but I now have actually used the site in the manner intended.). Not too long ago I found an intriguing ad for a vintage sewing machine, only $20. Most used sewing machines will cost at least $50, vintage or not; just make sure they work. This one, a Necchi (from Italy), has metal parts, an important distinction from many newer machines, and it runs smoothly. It also has stitch options! Hooray! I can do more than the basic stright stitch and zig-zag! I need to buy a few more pressor feet, though. More new toys! The Necchi came with its manual, thankfully, which helped me figure out how to use it. After all, do you know how to interpret these signs?




Someday, when I finally take it in for its cleaning, I'll ask if this machine can do double needle stitching. The manual has a page on it...

Too much effort

Every once in a while I am assigned to make a treat for Jim's office. Most of the time it ends up being Pride of Iowa bars, sometimes pepperoni bread, and sometimes it is whatever cookie takes the least amount of time to make. They are always happy with what is brought in. Jim's co-workers seem to have a high opinion of my creativity in Christmas ornaments, too, and I wonder if I will always be able to live up to it. Here is one way to do that. However, it requires too much effort... and too much candy! Maybe we should plan it as a party game?

Costumes and Candy, oh my

I'm not sure exactly what our final word is on the whole halloween thing. Sure, costumes are fun, candy is delicious, but there is a lot of not so good stuff that goes along with that. We don't have to worry about it this year, as halloween falls on a Wednesday - we have home fellowship group at our house that night.
Have you noticed how evil and scary the whole celebration is becoming? Every year new horror and slasher movies come out for this season, costumes become more gory, and new "haunted houses" pop up around town. In our neighborhood there are decorations - some simple: orange-and-black lights, jack-o-lanterns, blow-up Frankensteins, white fabric ghosts; some are more morbid: "funny" grave stones, "hands" and "feet" emerging from a "fresh grave." When did that become acceptable?
Jim claims we celebrate halloween a day late - at the candy clearance sales. Jamie claims that Uncle Michael and he are going to be dressed up as pumpkins together. (Not true, but that is what he thinks...) What are you doing for the holiday?

Whirlwind week

Mom and Dad came in for a visit this week. It wasn't a relaxing vacation in the least, but Mom and Dad seemed to take it in in stride, and the kids loved all the excitement, but me? I'm ready to recline on the couch and not get up until next month. Am I getting old?
Monday: tire playground, hike in forest, picnic lunch; H-Mart (korean market); grocery store; thrift store; dinner at home; watched "The Nativity Story" on dvd.
Tuesday: traveled up to Lancaster, PA for fast food lunch and Sight and Sound's "In the Beginning", traveled back to Baltimore in time to eat lunch and run out the door for Jamie's swim lessons.
Wednesday: general work around the house; trip to Sandy Point State Park where Jamie got soaked even though we weren't swimming, so we went to Goodwill for dry clothing; dinner at home; clean-up for home fellowship group.
Thursday: small home improvement projects; trip to Inner Harbor to tour the USS Constellation; picnic lunch; Dot's field trip at the Walters Art Museum; home in time to relax a little before eating dinner and running to Jamie's last swim lesson.
Friday: Mom and Dad pack up and leave; Jamie is sad that we cannot go with them, but is glad to get his room back; Dot, Jamie and I meet Jim for lunch - probably the most we have seen of him all week long.

end of summer garden

Most people have piles of produce by the end of summer, but not me. This summer we have one further and further into a drought, and it has caused most of my plants to suffer. Weeds don't mind drought, and they have done well in the garden... The tomatoes have fallen to some virus or such. The squash and watermelon fell to squash bugs. I thought the potatoes has also been eaten of bugs, but it didn't bother me much. This is the first year I have planted potatoes, and I didn't follow directions (I hadn't actually read any directions), so I didn't have high hopes for them anyway. Imagine my surprise, then, when I did some work in the garden Saturday evening, and found that the potatoes had actually produced! The white potatoes had a small pile of fingerlings, and the sweet potatoes had some small, funny-looking tubers, also. It was enough for a delicious saute to accompany our London broil on Sunday afternoon, and enough to encourage me to try again next year - and to follow directions!

Learning to swim

Jamie is now old enough to begin swim lessons at UMBC here in Catonsville. He is very excited about the lessons, but doesn't fully trust his teacher, Juan. It doesn't help that they are in a competition pool, so the water is over his head. Juan has taught him a very valuable skill - if you get water in your face, just spit. It remains to be seen if he'll actually learn any swimming skills, but at least he's getting more comfortable in the water. He has made a few new friends, and it's fun to watch them play while they sit at the edge of the pool. Jamie might not like to learn to swim, but he loves his swim lessons - he cries when we have to leave. Oh, and yes, we are still warm enough to have the lessons outdoors!