A while back hubby decided that the black out curtains in K's room should be on the pull rods. He even hung the pull cord according to directions to make it 'safe.' I thought that it was inadvisable but sometimes the best way to avoid saying "I told you so." is not to comment in the first place.
Yesterday when I went into the room K was standing with the cord wrapped three times around her neck "Mom, tied." I just about had a coronary. Somehow, she actually broke the cord.
In the evening when hubby fixed it to make it safer, he mumbled about how our children wreck so many things. I pointed out that someday that insatiable curiosity and explorative tendencies would make the wonderful outside the box kind of thinkers.
Showing posts with label anecdotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anecdotes. Show all posts
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
dare devil routines
This is not among K's most dangerous exploits but it is a new one. She takes all her bedding and stuffed animals and piles them up and then balances on top of the pile in order to reach the stuff on top of her dresser - so more things have been removed from her room it is beginning to look quite barren in there!!
And here is a pic of C from this weekend - Dad was using the leaf vacuum and she did not like it!!
And here is a pic of C from this weekend - Dad was using the leaf vacuum and she did not like it!!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
cute, deep, spicy
CUTE
Today as we were driving along, C looked up and saw a con trail. (If someone can explain to me why children get so excited by con trails, I would appreciate it!!) She observed the con trail and observed that it was getting bigger (the winds were dissipating it quite rapidly) she then said it looked like fiddle strings.
DEEP
If you have never read, Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest" you should. It will stretch you (to read him on the net, go here http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php). Today's devotion really wowed me...two days ago I didn't get the devotion I read, yesterday, I resented the devotion, today - wow. Here is part of it:
At first I struggled with it because often, we pray for God to give us strength to do His will. And frankly, I couldn't see how that would be wrong. I don't think it is, I think perhaps we need to pray for it a bit differently. We need to pray that we learn to love Him more. It calls to mind the old hymn:
1. More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee!
Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
2. Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
now thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
3. Let sorrow do its work, come grief and pain;
sweet are thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
when they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
4. Then shall my latest breath whisper thy praise;
this be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
this still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
SPICY
dried basil seeds - I can still smell them - what a wonderful spicy scent - different from the scent of fresh basil
Today as we were driving along, C looked up and saw a con trail. (If someone can explain to me why children get so excited by con trails, I would appreciate it!!) She observed the con trail and observed that it was getting bigger (the winds were dissipating it quite rapidly) she then said it looked like fiddle strings.
DEEP
If you have never read, Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest" you should. It will stretch you (to read him on the net, go here http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php). Today's devotion really wowed me...two days ago I didn't get the devotion I read, yesterday, I resented the devotion, today - wow. Here is part of it:
if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God
At first I struggled with it because often, we pray for God to give us strength to do His will. And frankly, I couldn't see how that would be wrong. I don't think it is, I think perhaps we need to pray for it a bit differently. We need to pray that we learn to love Him more. It calls to mind the old hymn:
1. More love to thee, O Christ, more love to thee!
Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
2. Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
now thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
3. Let sorrow do its work, come grief and pain;
sweet are thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
when they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
4. Then shall my latest breath whisper thy praise;
this be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
this still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ, to thee;
more love to thee, more love to thee!
SPICY
dried basil seeds - I can still smell them - what a wonderful spicy scent - different from the scent of fresh basil
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
hats and homes
I often wear hats. The other day, I put on a beret with the bit of nub at the top. C looked at me and said "Mom, you like an acorn." The girls always find some simile when I wear hats, I have one hat they call my baker hat (another beret but white and with pineapple crochet around the band).
A long but rather interesting quote from a book I am reading called 'Home' by Witold Rybczynski
I think that perhaps today, an effort to do the reverse needs to be made. Today, too many people shed lifestyles and homes like snakes shedding their skins today. We need to change, there is no doubt however, so many have shed so much that their connection with the past is lost. We need to learn to effortlessly and gracefully combine the old with the new again - not necessarily because we need to practice accepting the new but in an effort to embrace the past and where we come from.
A long but rather interesting quote from a book I am reading called 'Home' by Witold Rybczynski
"That most nineteenth-century revivals were creative instead of historical greatly facilitated innovation. Since form was not expected to follow function - only tradition, and that loosely - it was not difficult to introduce devices such as gasoliers or electric lamps into the home. Either they were fitted into familiar shapes - hence the gas or electric chandelier - or, if this was not possible, they were treated in a "traditional" manner. As it was not necessary to adhere strictly to historical precedents, this was not difficult. A bit of swag here, some encrusted flowers there, and the ventilating tube or the bathtub was readily incorporated into the overall decor of the room. It is easy to scoff at the way that the Victorians made new devices conform to old, nonmechanical tastes - that criticism is the staple of many books on industrial design. But it was precisely the absence of any perceived contradiction between tradition and innovation that accounted for the rapidity of change during this period. The ornate kerosene lamps, chandelier style gasoliers, and richly decorated ceiling fans that collectors prize so highly today are a reminder of how effortlessly - and frequently how gracefully - the new was combined with the old. Whatever new invention came along, however innovative it might be, the Victorians felt comfortably at home with it."
I think that perhaps today, an effort to do the reverse needs to be made. Today, too many people shed lifestyles and homes like snakes shedding their skins today. We need to change, there is no doubt however, so many have shed so much that their connection with the past is lost. We need to learn to effortlessly and gracefully combine the old with the new again - not necessarily because we need to practice accepting the new but in an effort to embrace the past and where we come from.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
random, random, random
When I was nine, my Mom started working nights. Previously, she had been a stay-at-home Mom. However, that was no longer practical and so Mom worked nights part-time as a nurse's aid so she could be home during the day and we would not have to go to daycare. Dad worked in town which was about two miles away so he would come home at lunch to check in on us. I am not sure how old I was when I took cooking and baking in 4-H. The only specific thing I remember learning was how to use the egg’s shell to separate an egg. As a result, I have never had an egg separator. I don’t know if it was immediately or a couple years down the road but it became my responsibility to make sure there was food for Dad at lunch. I remember pouring over the Betty Crocker cookbook to come up with something different to make. Dad never got a balanced lunch and I am amazed that my father wasn’t ever admitted to the hospital for severe heartburn. I was fond of making homemade fried onion rings for him. Other times, I made cheddar biscuits. Over the years, I developed a few specialties – two of which he was particularly fond: Extremely Spicy Beanie Weenies (I developed a knack for spicing them so they didn’t burn until after you swallowed) and Goulash.
I remember that the summer I lived in CA with my husband’s family, I would often make them goulash. I made it quite a bit when we were first married and then didn’t make it for years. Recently, I actually wrote down the ingredients and fine tuned it until I have a low heat version that my whole family will eat (it is easy to spice-up – just increase the amount of the warm spices to suit – when I was young I used to put raw serranos from the garden in it to).
Goulash
1 jar bbq sauce
1 can corn drained or half a bag frozen corn
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup vinegar
1/2-3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Spanish paprika
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp liquid smoke
1 pound browned ground beef
1 pound noodles
Mix first thirteen ingredients for sauce and warm in a large sauce pan. Add the browned beef let it simmer while the noodles are boiling. Serve over noodles.
Or do as I often do…put the sauce in the crock pot all day about an hour before serving add the ground beef. And when hubby calls to say he is coming home, boil the noodles and mix it all together.
Today, we ran to the store to get some medicine for K’s ears. She is working on her two year molars and is having a great deal of pain and last night we ran out of medicine for her. We’ve discovered that over the counter ear meds gives her a great deal of relief so after running it past the doctor it is our number one line of defense for her. After the store stop, we went to one of our favorite walking trails along Coon Creek off Egret. It was a fun walk until K decided stand up in her stroller while I wasn’t paying attention. I was trying to help C get something out of her sock and K knocked the stroller over. I know, I know, I should buckle her in...I just hate to cause she resents it and yells and then my ears resent it and I yell back.
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. Abraham Lincoln
cool article I found on using buttons:
http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/buttons.html
I remember that the summer I lived in CA with my husband’s family, I would often make them goulash. I made it quite a bit when we were first married and then didn’t make it for years. Recently, I actually wrote down the ingredients and fine tuned it until I have a low heat version that my whole family will eat (it is easy to spice-up – just increase the amount of the warm spices to suit – when I was young I used to put raw serranos from the garden in it to).
Goulash
1 jar bbq sauce
1 can corn drained or half a bag frozen corn
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup vinegar
1/2-3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Spanish paprika
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp liquid smoke
1 pound browned ground beef
1 pound noodles
Mix first thirteen ingredients for sauce and warm in a large sauce pan. Add the browned beef let it simmer while the noodles are boiling. Serve over noodles.
Or do as I often do…put the sauce in the crock pot all day about an hour before serving add the ground beef. And when hubby calls to say he is coming home, boil the noodles and mix it all together.
Today, we ran to the store to get some medicine for K’s ears. She is working on her two year molars and is having a great deal of pain and last night we ran out of medicine for her. We’ve discovered that over the counter ear meds gives her a great deal of relief so after running it past the doctor it is our number one line of defense for her. After the store stop, we went to one of our favorite walking trails along Coon Creek off Egret. It was a fun walk until K decided stand up in her stroller while I wasn’t paying attention. I was trying to help C get something out of her sock and K knocked the stroller over. I know, I know, I should buckle her in...I just hate to cause she resents it and yells and then my ears resent it and I yell back.
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. Abraham Lincoln
cool article I found on using buttons:
http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/buttons.html
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
October
October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again. Hal Borland
Well, I finished up the photos from Saturday's shoot - there are some nice shots - but my ratio is way lower than I like. I am doing these gratis for my friend - so I think I've convinced her to go out again tomorrow...
This morning was fun!! I was the homeroom helper for C's class today. Her teacher Mrs E said they haven't had a lot for their helpers to do until today!! I took down the old artwork for all four of Mrs E and Mrs D's classes and put them in their folders, I cleaned off name stickies with fingernail polish remover and I got to help administer a simple exam for the children's knowledge of the alphabet for the parent teacher's conference. C did well - but I let her teacher test her!!
C liked having me there too. She seems a bit of an outsider but given her family genes - there isn't much surprise in that...
I should go and work on Christmas gifts...supper is in the crock - so I am good to go...If you are curious, supper is spaghetti. I use one jar of extra chunky musrhoom Ragu, one pint of homemade sauce from the freezer (my parent's recipe - I freeze lots of sauce every year), some tomatoe paste, more mushrooms, wine, Italian herbs, anise, cayenne, garlic, and about an hour before supper, I will add the ground beef, dehydrated tomatoes (I think dehydrating my own tomatoes is just about the coolest gourmet thing I do - they taste sooooooooo wonderful in almost any tomatoe recipe) and a few dehydrated zuchinni (just a few - the flavor is very intense).
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
fun things
Yesterday was not so great a day...C was just a difficult human - disobedient, crabby, mean to her sister etc. I was late for Bible Study again because of one of her tantrums. As I listened to her screaming, I decided I needed to do something for myself so decided that after Bible Study, we would go to Goodwill.
I did well at Goodwill. I got 11 little golden books for 30 cents a piece. Including some classics that we had but were in poor condition (The Shy Little Kitten was one), some by illustrator Eloise Wilkins, and some fairy tales. My children have more collections of and individual books of fairy tales (and nursery rhymes for that matter - two of the Eloise Wilkins books were her Mother Goose with different covers). Three different wooden shelves that I can decoupage and use as gifts. Two clipboards (I love clipboards for collage). A wrapped Walnut Hollow clock form - can't wait to decoupage it!! Two plates for the girls (Aladdin and Lion King). A plate from a tiered candy dish that has three sections. I am taking some advice from Lisa (Groggy Froggy) and using it for beads. And my most exciting purchase a huge swan soup tureen with a lily pad leaf for under it...I think I will use it to store supplies as it suits how I decorate down here in the basement. Of course, last night I regretted the spending of money, when Tim came home – he was upset about the car – the Subaru is almost ten years old and really starting to show age but as he pointed out there is nothing we can do about it. To me it is not so big a deal...the engine is sound and will run forever – Subarus do that but appearance is important to him and we do not have the money to work on it.
While the girls napped, I cleaned. Then the most exciting time of the day occurred. They started waking up. I could here K opening and closing drawers in her room but didn't think much of it. When I heard the crash, I still didn't think to much of it as I figured she simply pulled out a drawer, so I did not hurry as I went upstairs. Imagine my surprise and fear to open the door and see the dresser pulled over onto the ground and not K? Fortunately, she was in the corner and safe...how she avoided being smashed and hurt under it, only God knows and I am sure it was by His Grace. I called several friends in my mental distress and my dear friend in Florida said that there had been news reports in the past week of a child being killed in a similar incident.
When Tim came home, he spent his evening putting child safety latches on all the drawer pulls. The girls were wild but he still thought I should go to prayer meeting. So I did and it is good. I am so glad that they have resumed prayer meeting. It is so refreshing to spend time praying to God with fellow believers.
I will post a few pics of my parents and the girls from this weekend. In one, I am amazed at the expression of C and my Mom - they look so much alike!!
I did well at Goodwill. I got 11 little golden books for 30 cents a piece. Including some classics that we had but were in poor condition (The Shy Little Kitten was one), some by illustrator Eloise Wilkins, and some fairy tales. My children have more collections of and individual books of fairy tales (and nursery rhymes for that matter - two of the Eloise Wilkins books were her Mother Goose with different covers). Three different wooden shelves that I can decoupage and use as gifts. Two clipboards (I love clipboards for collage). A wrapped Walnut Hollow clock form - can't wait to decoupage it!! Two plates for the girls (Aladdin and Lion King). A plate from a tiered candy dish that has three sections. I am taking some advice from Lisa (Groggy Froggy) and using it for beads. And my most exciting purchase a huge swan soup tureen with a lily pad leaf for under it...I think I will use it to store supplies as it suits how I decorate down here in the basement. Of course, last night I regretted the spending of money, when Tim came home – he was upset about the car – the Subaru is almost ten years old and really starting to show age but as he pointed out there is nothing we can do about it. To me it is not so big a deal...the engine is sound and will run forever – Subarus do that but appearance is important to him and we do not have the money to work on it.
While the girls napped, I cleaned. Then the most exciting time of the day occurred. They started waking up. I could here K opening and closing drawers in her room but didn't think much of it. When I heard the crash, I still didn't think to much of it as I figured she simply pulled out a drawer, so I did not hurry as I went upstairs. Imagine my surprise and fear to open the door and see the dresser pulled over onto the ground and not K? Fortunately, she was in the corner and safe...how she avoided being smashed and hurt under it, only God knows and I am sure it was by His Grace. I called several friends in my mental distress and my dear friend in Florida said that there had been news reports in the past week of a child being killed in a similar incident.
When Tim came home, he spent his evening putting child safety latches on all the drawer pulls. The girls were wild but he still thought I should go to prayer meeting. So I did and it is good. I am so glad that they have resumed prayer meeting. It is so refreshing to spend time praying to God with fellow believers.
I will post a few pics of my parents and the girls from this weekend. In one, I am amazed at the expression of C and my Mom - they look so much alike!!
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
switching furniture around, again
Yesterday morning, when I went to wake up K, she was sitting on top of the armoire in her room. She apparently climbed from the bed to the armoire. Whene I opened the door and she holds out her arms and says 'help me.'
I called for Dad so he could see and that is all she needed to hear...then she knew it was something remarkable and she starts laughing and says 'funny.' After I get her down she kept jabbering on about how funny she was...she is hard not to laugh at even when she is being naughty!!
Needless to say, her room got rearranged, again.
I called for Dad so he could see and that is all she needed to hear...then she knew it was something remarkable and she starts laughing and says 'funny.' After I get her down she kept jabbering on about how funny she was...she is hard not to laugh at even when she is being naughty!!
Needless to say, her room got rearranged, again.
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