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

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!