Even with just a little bit...

We didn't get much snow - only about an inch. We did get ice on top of the snow, though, enough to make it very slippery, and enough to support weight without breaking right away. Jim came in from clearing the walks and told us to get ready for some sledding. The kids were ecstatic! We let them slide (sled is not quite right) down the driveway - as long as there was an adult at the end to catch them! Jim could not let the day go by without a try - he went down the driveway, too!

Snow!

It is finally winter here in Baltimore. We have had a few days of cold weather, and a few flurries, but no real snow, no real storms. It is nice to see snow covering the bland greys and browns of winter.

Not much of a holiday

Yesterday was a federal holiday. While Jim had the day off, it didn't mean it was a vacation. We worked anyway. Jim helped Dorothy clean her room. I did school with James, worked on my quilt top, and shoveled the snow that fell in the afternoon. Still, that wasn't the worst.
When we woke up we could hear that the street was wet - but not from snow or rain. We looked out the window to see a stream running down our street! Not long after we discovered that we had very little water pressure. Scratch laundry day.
After a while I went to prepare lunch, and found that there was no gas to the oven. No hot water, either, as the water heater is run on gas. Scratch baking and cooking other than in the microwave. Sometime later we lost all water to the house. Scratch doing dishes or running the dishwasher - or brushing your teeth!
We called both the city (for water) and BGE (for gas). BGE came out sometime in the afternoon. It took a while to get the problem located, but in the end it came down to a corroded pipe broke and filled with water. They worked through the evening, and sometime before 11 we had gas restored to the house (but the water heater could not be turned on, due to the lack of water!). It is very hard to sleep with jackhammers working outside your window.
Sometime after BGE was done the city came through. They worked during the night on the water problem. I heard the water come back on around 5 am - just about the time they began to use the jackhammer again! They will have to fix the large holes in the street soon.
Today we have to light our water heater pilot light so we can get back to work. And then it will be crazy, trying to catch up on everything that didn't get done yesterday!

These past few weeks

This week has been busy - too much new stuff to put away, too many bowl games to watch, too much back-to-school! In a semi-quiet moment I sat down to edit some of our photos from "vacation." You can look at them HERE.

It was great fun to see everyone, and it actually was relaxing, other than the 8-hour trips to get there and back. We got and bought some really nice things - too much to fit into the car for the trip home. Thanks to those who hosted us, thanks to those who entertained us, thanks to those who gave us gifts. We love you all!

Lego sets

"It's just what I wanted!"
Jamie was thrilled to receive two Star Wars Lego sets, and even more thrilled to have Daddy help him put them together this morning. Jim wisely warned us to get a picture of them then, because they wouldn't last long in their original, intended form. And he was right - they now cover the computer room floor as they get changed into another "ship."
Here you can see Jamie playing with them at the end of the "photo shoot." Check out the cheek action as he does his own sound effects!

Christmas at home

It's not fair to your kids if you open your presents and then order them to leave them at home as you go on vacation. And it's not good to take all those presents with you - invariably they will lose pieces, and they'll be getting more presents anyway...
So, we opened our presents last night. The kids were happy with their loot, and were very happy to be able to play with it all today. Even Norah had fun...








Merry Christmas!

The plate 2008

Every year I put together a plate of Christmas treats for a certain number of people. Here is the result of this year's work:








date pinwheels, molasses cookies, lemon-iced cranberry oat cutouts, frosted sugar cookies, fudge snowtops, oreo balls, buckeyes, and strawberry candies








Those of you from Calvary, do you remember these strawberry candies? I found that the recipe was in the older church cookbook, and they seem to add a nice dash of color to the plate. They are incredibly sweet, though! I remember loving them as a kid - I guess my taste buds have changed some.

O Christmas tree

Years ago we strove for an elegant Christmas tree; that was before we had kids. Kids bring home hand made ornaments. Bright, multi-colored ornaments. Now we have a bright multi-colored Christmas tree so all those kids' ornaments match. It works - we actually like the overall look of the tree. It's fun! It's kitchy! It's green - we have upgraded to LED lights set on timers. The kids *like* to help decorate the tree - they pick out their favorite ornaments: the ones they made, the ones with their pictures in them, the ones that are their favorite characters (robots, unite!).

Family movie night

Prince Caspian came out on dvd this week. Redbox had a copy, thankfully, and we quickly snatched it up. After dinner we all got our chores done and our pj's on - the movie is a long one, and we wanted the kids ready for bed when it was done. We turned off the lights, piled on the couch, and started it up. Nearly 2 1/2 hours later we had a hard time getting ready for bed - the movie was so exciting!
We thoroughly enjoyed the movie. They did a very good job on it. Even Jamie stayed to watch the whole thing! We can't wait for the next one (which isn't supposed to come out until 2010!).

New PJ's

Today Jamie helped me to cut out a pair of pajamas. The fabric has been in my stash for a while, I just never got around to using it. A very excited boy looked over the patterns with me, and picked out a vintage kids' pajama pattern. He told me that he wanted it all, even the hat.
Yes, the hat. An old-fashioned elf-style hat, complete with pom-pom. And he's thrilled to wear it.

Gym Class

This year we tried to come up with a gym class for both kids that didn't take up too much of our time. Many little league sports not only demand your weekly practice, but also every Saturday (or Sunday!) afternoon, along with a fundraiser on top of your regular fee. We weren't interested in that sort of organized sport, and truthfully, neither kid was either.
Our local park and rec department offers many classes, and one interested Dot. Both kids would be in the same beginner Aikido class, and the fee was economical. I signed them both up for one month to try it out. Jamie decided that there was not enough running and talking for him, but Dot really took to it. For the first month or so she was the only student in the class. The teacher brought in his girls to help out, and now Dot regularly practices with/against them. Dot really enjoys the class, but comes home sore from all the falls they have to take!

Winter visitor

We have an old house. Old houses often have problems with winter visitors such as mice, bugs and spiders. Our cat Norah delights in taking care of mice and bugs. She doesn't seem to notice the spiders much. This year, however, we have a different kind of visitor - one we have had before, and don't mind too much - a snake! (Last time the snake stayed near the sump pump, but this year it seems to be enjoying the laundry area. In the picture it is on the hem of a dress.) We investigated, and found that the snake is a Northern Brown Snake, or DeKay's snake. It is small, and will remain so, as adults grow to 13 inches long. It is not venomous, but we will not be playing with it. We are happy to let it deal with any bugs in the basement. I'm not sure how Norah will deal with it if she ever sees it, though!

National Arboretum, 2008

Everyone has a place they go to enjoy the fall colors, it seems. For us, it is the National Arboretum in DC. Last year we hit it at the peak of color; this year we were ahead of the change a bit. It was still beautiful, and we walked forever! Dorothy's friend Tashy came along with us for the day. See more photos in my album.

Planning ahead

Call me crazy, but I've already been planning for the holiday season. Yes, Christmas will be upon us soon, in the mere blink of an eye! Don't miss out on the most important event of the season, the most memorable, the most fun and family friendly! Yes, I'm talking about Merry Tuba Christmas!
Make sure to check out your state's offerings HERE.
As for me and my family, we will be downtown at the Inner Harbor on December 6th. We are already looking forward to the music and the biker Santas. (What better way to hammer home the *truth* of Santa than to show your child more than 50 Santas in one location, many in odd themed Santa outfits... "Gas-mask Santa", anyone?)

Almost finished

We are finished for this year, at least. I think we did pretty well for our first real stucco job. While Jim and I did most of the work, even the kids had a hand in the finished product!

bounty

This year was hard for my garden. While we did enjoy eating fresh produce, there wasn't the usual over abundance. We had trouble with a fungus or mildew attacking many of our plants. I thought that potato bugs had eaten the blue potato plants - we didn't have any of them left in the garden. Oh well.
I dug up many sweet potatoes and looked to see if there were, perchance, any blue potatoes at all. There were! Yay! While it's not enough to get us through the winter if we have another great depression, we will enjoy quite a few good dinners from that harvest.








So far we have eaten blue mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, and a medley of roasted potatoes. Our favorite so far? Baked sweet potato chips! They are easy to make and delicious to boot.











Last night I scrubbed the largest sweet potato (it was a monster!), cut off the pointy end, and used this dangerous old tool to slice it up. (Do you remember the one Mom used? I have one made by the same company. Lots cheaper than buying a new, good quality mandolin!)











After tossing the slices with a little oil I put them in a single layer on the baking sheet. A little salt and pepper went on before they were popped into the oven while I fried up some tilapia.








And here they are, the finished product, just begging to be eaten. Well, they don't have to beg - they get eaten quickly at our house!

It's done!

Oh, did you think I meant the stucco? Or the basement? No, we still have miles to go on those... it's Jamie's quilt that is finally done. I had finished piecing the top wa-a-a-y back in February, and worked on hand-quilting it together all summer. I was able to put the binding on this week. After a quick turn in the washer and dryer it was happily received and put to immediate use.
Did you know that you are supposed to label your quilt once you have finished it? Giving it a name is also highly recommended... this one is "Yellow Katamari" (check out the Namco Katamari website if you need help to understand why!).

As to the basement - the carpet is gone. The painted floor is peeling, which means we must remove and repaint. That means we cannot put the sewing room back to normal yet. Which leads to me not knowing what to do with myself!

Ah, but the stucco job is nearing it's end. We have figured all the surfaces covered with at least one coat, some just need their texture coat. We did figure out how to do that, after much head-scratching and experimental applications. Hopefully we can get that done before the frosts come!

update on the Christmas lists

To add to the kids' wish lists:

Playstation 2 "Beautiful Katamari" or "We love Katamari"
David Macaulay's books: Mill Mosque Ship

Work Progress

We got up the first coat of stucco last week. The recipe for stucco is simple, but it still took us awhile to get it to the right consistency. Jim and I worked for a couple hours, finishing up in the dark. Sometime later this week we will put up the second coat, and possibly the top coat. It all depends on the weather - and our schedule.








This past weekend we used our Smithsonian Museum day card to visit the Calvert Marine Museum. It is an enjoyable museum. The kids really liked the ray tank and the hands-on play room.











After the museum we stopped by the Ensminger's house for a few hours. Our kids love to play with their kids. They hit it right off last time, and were so excited to see them again. They never want to leave!











But leave we did, because it's good to get home early on a Saturday, especially when you have to teach Sunday School the next morning.
So, back to the weather. We had such a rainy weekend! We awoke on Saturday to a downpour. When we left at 8:30 there was standing water in our yard, and a small rushing stream alongside our house. It tapered off throughout the morning, but continued to shower occasionally.
Okay, now back to coming home "early" on Saturday. As we were driving back into our neighborhood I thought, "How nice! It's only 6pm. I'll be able to clean up the house, get dinner ready for tomorrow, and maybe we'll be able to have someone over after church!" That was a nice thought. Too bad that the basement was soggy. All that rain had caused a bit of a flood in our basement - the bathroom was soaked, along with half of the the sewing room and laundry room. Most of our stuff was up off the floor, and was salvageable, but we still threw lots of stuff away. I have a pile of laundry to do yet - rugs, etc. Jim and I quickly grabbed dinner and went to work cleaning up the mess. Thankfully we have a steam cleaner - it pulled up the water from the carpet, and put down a nice bleach/detergent solution to combat any potential mold/mildew. By 9pm we were exhausted and disgusted with ourselves. After turning on a fan we jumped into the shower to wash off. The kids went right to bed without a fight, and we followed shortly thereafter.
So, how was your weekend?

Less damaging than my sister

Jim let me know that this was my year... and that I will not be of as much importance as my younger sister was a while ago. I'm only subtropical, while Katrina made history as a hurricane. Oh well.