What I Wore Wednesday

I LOVE this plaid wool skirt and was impressed with myself for sort of following a pattern/tutorial to make it. The gores are not all the same size because I was running out of fabric, but it is symmetrical and the colors are so great for winter. And, I always did want to be a librarian so it's OK if by the end of the day my glasses are a little low on my nose and my hair is in a bun. At least I have cute boots instead of the flats I was originally going to go with...pic courtesy the 5yo, and I also love it, crooked and all. Here's a close-up of our blurry smiling faces:
I'm pretty sure Puxatawny Phil was wrong, it sure looks like the beginnings of spring out there to me!

beware the casual dinner invite

I might just put you to work while you're here ;-p. Don't worry, at least you'll have a cheering squad.

In other words, my dad and brother came over.
There was a lot of pointing, grunting, and adjusting but not a single cross word uttered and not a dent left behind.
and by the end of the day the cast iron tub had made the fateful voyage from upstairs bathroom to front porch.
Maybe probably admittedly, there were a few scuff marks and dirty looks but I'm ok with that!

The remaining rotten floor felt so lonely that it broke up and moved downstairs as well. Crowbars may have been used to coax it along.


At least the dinner I invited the laborers family to wasn't taking place at my own house! Thanks Pastor Joe and associated youth group, the spaghetti and dessert were GREAT.


Now, who wants an antique clawfoot tub?!

guilt-free sloppy joes

step 1: find your favorite recipe for sloppy joes.
step 2: replace the ketchup with tomato paste and maybe a bit of bone broth to thin.
step 3: add some chopped carrot in with the onion and garlic and celery.
step 4: replace the ground beef with turkey or (better yet) venison. Mine was sweet italian flavored and had a bit of pork sausage in with it.
step 5: use half as much meat as you normally would and add an equal portion of soaked and then really really well cooked beans (like lentils). Mash a bit if desired.
step 6: season a bit extra (b/c of the beans). I used creole seasoning.
step 6: serve open faced on whole wheat roll.
step 7: add a serving or two of veggie on the side.
step 8: don't tell anyone you did steps 2-6 until AFTER they say yum. Which they will.

tot school

Once again, I'm copying an idea found on several other homeschooling blogs: a post all about what the tot does while the olders do school.
*beads on a knitting needle*

*push the brother around*When I make up the older boys' bins full of schoolwork for the day, I try to also include at least 2 bins for the baby. The Montessori crowd call the "prepared environment," wherein our home is set up for learning so that it comes about naturally.
*key in a little plastic container: open, insert, shut. open, remove, shut.* *snakes (or straws or sticks) in a colander*
*balance blocks on the trailer*
*balance in the now empty basket and fall over. repeatedly.*It seems to me that if he is doing something that imitates real life, a "legitimate" activity, or real work, he is more focused and the activity keeps his attention a lot longer than a mere "toy" might. So, pint-sized brooms with real bristles, clean containers from the kitchen found in the tub, wipes and spray hiding behind the mirror, etc.
*chopstick+playdough*
*Bible reading*
Sometimes this buys us a few more minutes of attention for the olders and their work. Other times, not so much. Win some, lose some! Note that I did not include pics of the stuff he does when I do NOT prepare his environment! (read: huge mess).

rip. pull. stab. hook. tug. slip. repeat.

because of *course* I need another hobby. For the record, this is the tutorial swagbucks told me to use, and I cannot WAIT to finish my yellow and white patchwork duvet cover so I can make matching bedside rugs exactly like the ones in the tute. I've had a discarded jean pile for a couple of years (yeah years) with this project in mind. It took me all of 2 tv shows to dispatch of that pile, and as you can see this is not a very big rug yet! Anyone want to donate to the cause?

What a pretty plate

Our dinner was so pretty and so well received (Boy #1 had seconds of everything, Boy #2 almost finished his thirds, and boy #3 cleaned his plate...with a bit of help from the dog) I thought I should probably document the event. Except that's not really true. Really, I just wanted to show you the pretty Meyer China plates I picked up for $0.50 each at my local thrift store. They are the same color as my classic Buffalo China pattern, but prettied up a bit. I especially like that there is a little tiny lip around the edge; it's very helpful when spooning food AND keeping it on a plate is still a challenge.

What you see: mixed veggies, baked sweet potato fries, and baked lemon pepper tilapia with chives and collard greens (oops, thought I was dumping more frozen chives until it was too late). yummy. What you don't see: pictures of the kids eating. You're welcome.

Do like a duck does

On wet days like this, I miss our ducks. I hope you're enjoying them, Mr. Craigslist guy with big ambitions for a small property. All that to say, today we went out to play in the mud for awhile, just like ducks. quack.

Boy#1 worked HARD (his emphasis) at spreading hay. About 90 pounds at a time, *if* you can believe it. Until he found an earthworm. Then he played HARD (my emphasis) at finding the perfect new home for wormie, complete with hay to sleep under and dirt to sleep on and neon orange walls to give a sense of...containment.


Boy#2 quickly tired of spreading hay, preferring instead to use his "dirtbike" to flatten some ruts in the yard and his new shovel to flatten some dinosaur heads (giant snowballs).


Boy #3 discovered that the sidewalk makes a perfect escape route,

and was NOT thrilled to be re-routed back to our area again. Mollification came in the form of snack. And then he wanted to nurse on the porch before going off on another rambling adventure. Yes, we still do that and no, it's not weird.


Even the dog was out, if only by default. According to her, cold mud is only slightly more appealing than whining almost all alone in the house (apart from the sleeping dad).


I spread a little hay and took a few pictures. The lilacs are forming buds, I cannot wait to see them in full bloom for the first time.


The grape vines are looking pretty dead, but I pulled a bunch of them over to our side of the fence (neighbors don't seem to want to harvest) and I know from last summer that this vine still produces yummy concords.


I also grabbed a handful of tiny bulbs to bring inside to force. I don't know what they are, they were a surprise found in the side yard when I was planting a little tree last fall. I'm hoping for daffodils, but they're pretty tiny. Do snowdrops have bulbs? And, for the record, this is why I don't *do* my nails. Though I have heard mud is good for your skin?



PS: If you have a kid who still likes picture books, do try to find Do Like a Duck Does at your local library. Super cute, even for a girl with no rhythm like me.

Saturday School

K-Nex. May look like snowflakes, vehicles (I may have helped a bit), and sunrises to them, but it looks like hand-eye coordination, basic math concepts, and cooperation to me :)


Boy#3 played with the wooden beads in this bag, a small pie tin, and a basket for almost the same length of time.
Hooray for quiet(ish) activities while the H sleeps off day 3 of working nights. Which sounds weird, but I didn't know how else to put it so there you go.

fuel for the road

banana-orange-coconut(oil)-flax-kefir smoothies and real peanut butter on real bread. yum. off to grannyboo's house we go!

baby, it's cold outside...

...a fact that we do not take lightly in this house. In honor of making it all the way to the end of January with the thermostat set at 58 degrees (just doesn't seem right to turn up the heat on a poorly insulated house, ya know?), the boys and I have been working on a lot of winter/snow related things during our school time. I haven't taken pics of every activity, but these ones were fun and I happened to have the camera ready. We have:

*made elmer's glue melting snowmen:
*rolled dice and drawn a corresponding # of icicles on a house, roll a dice and build a snowman (both from 2teachingmommies)
*made snowflake observations and snow vs. temperature observations (as they relate to shoveling) and talked about the water cycle (also 2teachingmommies)
*painted winter scenes with white paint. The one time I tried giving them other colors this week, Boy#2 had yellow paint and declared that he was "making yellow snow!" to which his older brother replied, "that's awkward..." Yes, I had a hard time stifling my snort.
*studied a few tracks in the snow and made our own tracks,
*looked at recipes for borax snowflakes (but haven't made them yet)
*read a ridiculous number of winter-themed books, both from my own collection and the library and talked about sequence, character, rhyme, illustrations, etc.,
*counted and traced numbers (boy#1 went on to write the words himself):

*traced pre-writing pages and completed snowflake puzzles from confessionsofahomeschooler.com, (under that page is a letter search sheet. I printed one for each letter of the alphabet, and boy#2 really enjoys placing beads on the designated letters): *worked a lot with starting sounds as they relate to objects one encounters in the winter,
*problem solved how to climb snowballs without falling (answer: shovel steps): and land with style:*pretended we were snowmobile drivers carrying cargo and injured eskimos where it/they need to go:
*decorated and eaten cottage cheese snowmen (I think the flash surprised boy3!), pancakes, and played with sparkly snow playdough,
*and I'm sure there's tons more I've forgotten.

BTW, I've seen other blogs post about what their youngest is doing while the olders are schooling, so I thought I'd copy that idea. Boy #3 would like to be a part of every single blasted thing we do, so once the songs and fingerplays and weather is done and the older 2 begin their bin work, he tries his level best to be as entertaining as possible in hopes they'll sneak away and join him. You've already seen him drawing on the mirror, we also have fun sliding popsicle sticks into the opening on a travel mug, rearranging my silverware drawer:*role-playing as Davey Crockett chasing down a bear (or maybe he's a raccoon and Davey is off camera chasing him? Not sure. Either way there was a lot of screeching and growling.)
*emptying the laundry baskets and filling them again,
*eating everything in sight...you get the picture. Normal toddler stuff ;-p

PHEW, no wonder I'm tired at the end of the day. Here's hoping for an early spring.

fish filter on the cheap

so...we have this fish tank. In Mississippi, it was home to a blue gill and a placo for a long time while D was a single sailor. After we were married, a couple of crayfish were added to the mix and ate up just about everything else, so we started over with some cheapo Walmart guppies and goldfish. They were easy first pets, and kept both us and our other first pet (a precocious kitty) well entertained. Before too long Katrina hit and 2 things happened: the fish all died and precocious kitty turned into crazy kitty.


Fast forward a few years and we're in a new house with new kitties and new fish. Same tank. After a few batches of fish, I think these ones are finally going to make it (apparently tropical fish like warm water. Who knew?!). New problem: these guys are DIRTY! Filters are ridiculously expensive, but thanks to the internet, padding ripped from some (new) prefolds, hot glue, and a carton of carbon, I have a solution. They seem to like it =)

wherein I get dressed up and apply makeup(!)

A couple of my friends and even a few blog acquaintances have posted recently with pics of them wearing (gasp!) makeup and real outfits. They each mention that they feel so much more capable and womanly when fully dressed. Which reminded me that I used to do that (and feel that) once in awhile too, way back when. So this past Sunday when I happened to have a few minutes more than usual, I used them to get a bit more dolled up than normal. Felt weird, I'm not going to deny it. Since when do I have naturally curly hair, you ask? Since I quit using regular shampoo methods and started "plopping" for awhile after every shower, that's when. We're not going to mention the eye wrinkles, mm-kay? thanks.
Of course, I couldn't help but turn the camera back on the photographers (both took pics of me, only one made the cut) in their finery. Boy #3 wasn't available for the photo op as he was still eating breakfast. Or messing with the cat. Or something. I don't really remember. But last Sunday he looked like this (don't worry, he had different pants on for church that actually fit and matched):

let there be light!

from this (and trust me, it got a whole lot worse in the 8 months since that pic was taken):

to this:

makes a pretty big difference in my satisfaction level with the entry. All it took is a step ladder, about 10 cloth wipes, and my handy dandy clean anything spray (this recipe is more in line with what I currently use, now that I think about it).

Actually, I'm probably going to relocate this chandelier to the water closet (because it's not big enough to be called a bathroom) when that's done and get something a little more in line with my aesthetic for the entry. Eventually. Think Barn Light Electric except much cheaper. Anyone want to go auctioning this summer?

bare necessities

When we moved into this old house less than one year ago, we had a list (about a mile long) of "things we'd like to do first." A few of things were so high on the list that we began working on them before we even moved in, like the kitchen faucet, which leaked. A lot. Some things put themselves at the top of the list, like the former tenants. I will NEVER forget the sound of a new swarm of bees right outside my window. Thank God (I'm serious) for bee hobbyists who are willing to take 2 days out of their lives to re-home a hive of grumpy honeybees.

We also tore down a barn, erected a shed, tore out some carpet and replaced a few outlets. The rest of the list falls under the "need more money" category, and will be dealt with....eventually. The house is basically liveable as-is, and the longer we're here the more we tweak "the list " and prioritize.

This winter we moved one particular job to the top of the "need more money" list. So high, in fact, that we might be allocating the vast majority of our tax return to it. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:

I'm aiming for: a light fixture of some sort and new wiring to that fixture, working toilet, smaller clawfoot tub, new cork floor, repaired and working sink. Perhaps an outlet or two and maybe even a small surprise extra that my dad thinks "just might work." Everything else is great but not critical and will happen, as they say, eventually. Really, I'm just looking forward to being able to bring kids down the hall in the middle of the night in the sub-zero weather to pee as opposed to down the stairs and through the first floor. Here's hoping we actually receive a tax return this year!!