More Uncle Fun

Despite a little rain we did a lot of site-seeing on Thursday. The Walters Art Museum was lovely, as always, even if two children let themselves get bored at times. After a quick picnic in the van we headed up to Hampton National Historic Site so Mike could tour the mansion. Dot joined him, but Jamie and I went to the farmhouse to play since he had already done that tour earlier this year. (There is only so much "no touching, no running, no shouting" that a 5 year old boy can take!) The weather cleared enough for some playtime on the farmhouse lawn before we were all tired out. A quiet evening of games was almost enough to finish out the day. Mike introduced his Monkey King shadow puppet to the kids, and before long we had the sheet hung, the lamp unshaded, and new puppets cut out for the show.

Enjoy photos HERE.

How green was my valley

Mike is in for a visit, and we began with hiking in a nearby state park. Check out just how green our spring is now that we have had so much rain!

More photos HERE.

Keep and eye out for more photos as the week goes by.

One down, a few more to go

James has finished his first year of math! We have a few more lessons in phonics, and the caterpillars have yet to become butterflies for science.
We have a somewhat clean house, but some rooms need work in order to be ready for the very-best-loved uncle to come visiting. However, we have a project ready for the kids to do with him...

Easter 2009

Note: this was supposed to be posted Monday.

Easter was yesterday and I liked it. I had to wake up at 6:40 or thereabouts and I had a nice dress. Jamie kept asking if he could have an Easter dress! Mom said he couldn't have an Easter dress but he could have an Easter shirt. Here are the pictures:

Meanwhile school is going on as usual.

love, Dot

New webkinz

Yesterday I got a Webkinz and the day before that Jamie got one. I got a tiger and he got a canary; here is what it looks like. Her name is Tamara. This is what she looks like online. Today is Padme's birthday so Happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Padme happy birthday to you. goodbye, Dorothy.

Ecstatic

Jamie has been overjoyed on two occasions this week. On Tuesday he bought his much longed-for Lil'Kinz yellow canary after a seemingly endless tour of local stores to find it. On Wednesday his new glasses came in. Here is the result:

Maybe not the best advice.

"An American woman who respects herself," said Mrs. Westgate, turning to Beaumont with her bright expository air, "must buy something every day of her life. If she can not do it herself, she must send out some member of her family for the purpose."

from An International Episode, by Henry James

Perhaps this was okay for the Mrs. Westgates of that time period, those women who were born into and married into such fabulously wealthy families. Not too long ago we American women were expected to do the same thing - magazines and tv showed us the fashionable outfits that were steals at just $500 (not counting the shoes), how our households should be decorated like a showroom, and the latest technology we could not live without.
For a short while we were expected to buy nothing but the absolute essentials. That could not last, not in our commercial society. While well-meaning people have shown us the DIY way of life, the way of recycling, the simple life, I do not expect to find Americans taking those suggestions anytime soon. Life is not hard enough for most of us, and we are not apt to suffer if we do not need to do so.
Even so, I will go out and plant my garden in the coming weeks. I will sew up clothing for my family, and will cook my own meals. I will recycle and re-use. In short, I will live as I have always. The current economic crisis has not hit my home.

Industrious Baltimore

The Baltimore Museum of Industry has been tempting me for awhile. It seemed like it would be very interesting to visit, but the price of admittance was a little high. Thankfully, they schedule a few homeschool days a year, with lower prices! We visited this past Wednesday afternoon for a tour entitled "Running Errands." The focus was on the circa 1900 druggist store and grocery store. The kids were taught about some of the local businesses (Domino sugar, Esskay meats, McCormick seasonings) and inventions (Noxzema, Bromo Seltzer). They were given a list of era-appropriate groceries and sundries and told they had a $5 budget - and they "ate" well with that for more than one meal. The day finished out with craft time - a collaged paper grocery bag.
The kids really enjoyed running around the museum, checking out all the displays. They could get up close and personal with some really dangerous looking machines (complete with neatly printed paper signs that warned of that danger)! It reminded me of why living history museums are so popular, and why we probably won't be returning to this museum anytime soon (at least at normal full price). It was just too tempting to touch!
Aside from the danger, there was a lot of interesting stuff to see. Part of me wants those "good old fashioned days", and part of me is thankful for all our modern conveniences!
See more photos HERE.

History Field Trip

Later this spring we will be going on vacation, and one of the places we want to visit is Biltmore House. We were a little concerned that it might be tricky with an energetic five-year-old boy. We decided to do a trial run closer to home.
Just north of Baltimore sits Hampton National Historic Site. The house recently reopened after being retrofitted with fire suppression and air quality systems. I highly recommend taking a trip there, if possible. The house is beautiful, and filled with original period furniture. The grounds are spacious and lovely to walk, though the gardens need a lot of work to be returned to their former glory. The rangers are friendly and informative, leading tours on the hour at the house. There is a good balance between the hands-off visual beauty of the house and the hands-on, physical beauty of the grounds. Thankfully, they also have a kid-friendly, hands-on display at the farmhouse.
Jamie did fine; we let him run around on the grounds prior to the one hour tour of the house. We just might be able to make it to Biltmore after all.
See more photos HERE.

Finally, a snow day!

When March arrived on Sunday, we were commenting on how things were getting green in our yard. Even some of last year's lettuce was growing again! However, it wasn't to last. A winter storm warning was in effect for that evening.
We got somewhere between 4-6 inches of light, fluffy snow. Some of the surrounding counties got more, though, and it seemed as if everyone proclaimed it a snow day! Even Jim got the day off! (We still had school... homeschoolers don't really get snow days!)
After a bit of shoveling, Jim and I joined the kids for some fun in the snow. Check out the photos HERE. For now, enjoy this bit of a spill with Jamie:

Addendum to the previous

For those of you who had not heard of the book and author from the previous post, here is an interview to read.
I highly recommend the books - and not for children only. I enjoyed reading Leepike Ridge and 100 Cupboards, and I am looking forward to Dandelion Fire!

For someone in Columbus!

If you live in Columbus, and you plan on giving a gift to Dot this year, and can make it:

The time has come (the walrus said) to get out and push the new book. Dandelion Fire releases on February 24th, and I will be on the road celebrating that fact in the traditional way (with readings, school visits, a smiling face, a cramping and inky right hand). For those interested parties, here’s a list of the public bookstore events on the roster:
Saturday, February 28th, 2:00 p.m.
COVER TO COVER
Address: 3560 N. High Street, Columbus, OH
- from Nathan D. Wilson's blog

Dorothy has read his Leepike Ridge and 100 Cupboards, and enjoyed them greatly. However, she had to get them from the library... wouldn't it be great to have them (and the new book!) on her shelf, possibly signed by the author?

Just a thought...

What a sweetheart!

Valentine's Day has come and gone once again. Once again we did not celebrate... yet. Have you ever tried to go out on Valentine's Day on a weekend? Everyone else is out there!!! We put it off for a week, and will go out this coming weekend when things have settled down a bit.
We used the long weekend to do some work around the house. While most of the work was piddly - cleaning, doing dishes and laundry, etc. - some was more substantial.
Our bedroom has had an ugly old pink ceiling fan for quite awhile. We were inclined to leave it be, as it did it's job. However, it had not been able to run without being noisy, and no amount of WD-40 would fix it. Time to go to Lowe's!
At Lowe's we found a Hunter ceiling fan that was named "The 5-minute Fan." It was 90% pre-assembled, and should be able to be installed in 5 minutes (or thereabout). They didn't plan on dealing with our old house! Here is what awaited us after we took down the old fan:











Yeah. And the old wiring really wasn't the problem. The mounting bracket had to be attached to something other than just plaster. After a lot of work, many trips up and down the stairs to find tools and fasteners, and another trip to the hardware store, Jim was finally able to install that bracket. That took a lot longer than 5 minutes. (Of course, that wasn't Hunter's fault... that is just how things go in this house.)


(The peanut gallery!)





Once that was done, the fan did go up in a very short time. It looks great and runs well. It is a marked improvement on the old pink one!









Other projects in the works - two quilts and a dress.

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.