Hottest Vet in Town

See my husband.


See my husband sew.

See my husband sew up the raccoon-inflicted wounds of Feather, one of our three remaining hens.

See me add this to my list of "101 Reasons Tim is Cool." (Yes, the list exists. I started it when we were dating.)



Special bonus: Photo of daughters and two friends at co-op this morning. We don't do Halloween, but do you think I was really going to let pass an opportunity for them to wear those costumes in public, after all that blood, sweat and tears?


Not on your life.

Summer Photo Layout

I recently decided it might be possible to actually keep separate scrapbooks to send off with each of my kids when they (gulp) leave home one day. How might I do this, and keep up the family albums? Well, the family albums will take priority, and the kids' albums will be for layouts that are about them as individuals (accomplishments; Mom's random thoughts, etc.) But here's another key: I can use Photoshop to create photo collages, print out three of them, stick them onto some nice background paper, add some journaling, and ta-da! something to stick into each child's album.

For example, I give you ... Summer 2008 in Review. (In the family album, some of these events will merit, if time allows, their own pages, but in the kids' books, they're part of a summer-y (haw haw)).

I took this:



and this:

... and then printed it out at Costco, added a couple tiny pictures sticking off the side plus the journaling, and adhered it to some cherry orange cardstock with spiffy photo corners. No scanner, but here's a picture of the finished product!

Ye Olde Renaissance Festival

The title's a joke, folks, because my husband and I find it hilarious that any time one visits a place that celebrates any aspect of the past 1000 years, there's gotta be a "Ye Olde ____" in there somewhere.

Sure 'nuf, we found it at the Renaissance Festival! This is a yearly event in bucolic Plantersville, and we made the overnight trip with some friends who are the ideal traveling companions because not only are they super laid-back, but they also like to DO stuff. It's a tricky combination, but we're pretty compatible that way.

Because I am certifiably insane loving and ambitious, I managed to finish the girls' costumes about five minutes before we left the house the night before. The workmanship is, sad to say, rather shoddy -- my precocious eight-year-old niece could probably have done better. And I even chose the sleeveless version! Clearly, there is no future for me in costume design -- if I sew at all, I should probably stick to beanbags and cute little drawer sachets. Or patterns that bill themselves as "No-Sew." Because when Tim arrived home Monday, about thirty minutes later than I had expected him, not only was I frantically re-stitching a hem, but also throwing together a butternut squash soup and, um, thinking about packing. It wasn't the warmest welcome he's ever received.

But Tuesday dawned bright, cold and clear, and from a distance of about five feet, the girls looked gorgeous. And, since the festival turned out to be a bit of a 500-year-old shopping mall, we found them some adorable hats to match. Seriously, if you have a pile of money to burn, you could make out with some amazing additions to your dress-up box. Be still, my beating credit card.


Ian was in a state of ecstasy over the whole event. Armed with homemade battle-axe (duct tape, foam, PVC piping), he whirled like a dervish over the fairgrounds, soaking up the shows, rides, wooden armor for sale. We allowed them each one souvenir and one ride/attraction. You'll be flabbergasted to learn that while the girls chose hats and the merry-go-round, Ian had no trouble deciding on a handmade sword and a round of shooting at the archery gallery.


Highlight for our crowd? The JOUST. Too, too, cool.


I was pretty impressed by some of the OTHER costumes seen about the grounds. Clearly, there are folks out there who know what to do with scissors and a sewing machine. It takes all kinds to make a world.




(OK, I know this is TOTALLY off-topic, and I DO NOT discuss politics on this blog, in fact up until a couple days ago I really hadn't decided for whom to vote, but can I just say how irritating I find it that Obama has purchased this half-hour commercial spots on all the major networks tonight, which he can do because he is LOADED with cash, which he was able to do because he conveniently decided to ignore his promise to accept public campaign financing and take private contributions instead? His excuse is that "the system is broken," but hey, the other guy is working just as hard under the same broken system because a promise is a promise. I'm sorry, but the slipperiness under questioning and the media bias is really getting under my skin. Having lived through the nineties tends to make one wary of charisma without trustworthiness. Crucify me if you will. That's just how I'm feeling right now, and as Tracee likes to say, it IS my blog. Heh.)

Why I love my husband

... Because he stays up until midnight with me helping me sew the girls' costumes for the Renaissance Festival (because I really excel at PACING MYSELF on these projects). We leave tomorrow night with our friends the Dixons, and the gowns must be done or there will be a crisis of epic proportions.

And that is why I am not yet posting about the campout.

But I will. Soon.

Weekly Wrap-Up

We are getting ready to leave on a campout with a bunch of other families from the kids' AWANA club, but I wanted to post something brief about this week's learning. I'm updating my widget to show links.

Books We Read:

The Witch of Blackbird Pond (with Ian)
Children of Summer (with Ian)
Mitch and Amy (Ian)
Eyewitness Book of Natural Disasters (Ian)
Grandfather's Journey (with Eliza)
The Hello, Goodbye Window (with Eliza)
Little House on the Prairie (with Eliza)
The Best Nest (with Caroline)

Also, with some friends in our backyard we tried out the Diet Coke/Mentos Fountain (with experiment: does it work as well with mint Tic-Tacs, mint altoids, mint Dentyne gum? Answer: no. But they still taste good!)

Pursuit of Happiness

A happy childhood.

It's that elusive gift I think most of us strive to give our kids, but tend to lose sight of as the vision of their distant adulthood weighs upon us. What do I do now that will, as far as it depends on me, ensure that they're happy, productive, fully functional adults some day, engaging in satisfying relationships, contributing to their families, grounded by a strong conscience, etc., etc.?

But what about today? A mom on one of my local homeschooling lists commented recently that she thought a happy childhood is underrated, and it got me to pondering. I think our culture actually idealizes the concept, but when push comes to shove, much is lost in the rushing of our children from place to place, activity to activity, always one eye on the clock, and then wonder why they're so distractible. I'm as guilty as anyone else, but as God is my witness, I'm trying. Honest.

I don't know what my own three will think of their childhoods one day, but a day like today, not extraordinary by any means, gives me hope.

Happiness is ...

Spending the first thirty minutes of your day rolling around with your siblings in your parents' bed, giggling, shrieking, and falling into a giant pile of blankets.

Blow-drying your own hair. Oh, and doing your own mascara.


Finishing your math and Latin exercises and taking two hours to build an elaborate marble run (because at our house, schedules and to-do lists tend to be suggestions).


Taking a walk to the end of street and back because Mama says you need sunshine and fresh air, which really means that SHE needs sunshine and fresh air. Shhhhh.

Getting "smiley faces" for snack (apple slices with almond butter and chocolate chips)



Picking out the peanut butter and measuring rice from a bulk bin all by yourself at the grocery store.

Crying because your little sister's bare feet forfeited you a library foray, but having your tears dried with hugs and kisses and homemade popcorn.

Sitting on the front steps, waiting for Daddy, and cutting up old catalogs to make favorite-thing collages.

Knowing that every time your mom or dad says the words, "I have something important to tell you," they will, without a shadow of a doubt, be followed by, "I really, REALLY love you."

Fun Links for Ya

Not feeling particularly creative tonight, I thought I'd share a few links for your enjoyment:

Freerice.com -- This site has quizzes in all sorts of categories (I favor art and geography; Ian goes for English vocab and does quite respectably), and for every correct answer, sponsors will donate grains of rice to feed the hungry in a Third World Country. We can now feel good about getting sucked into an online game. :-)

Timez Attack -- We downloaded the free base version of the game, and plan to purchase the full version when it fits the budget. The most fun way anyone's ever come up with to drill multiplication tables. A huge hit here.

Shabby Apple -- So totally not an educational site. It's, um, a DRESS boutique. I allow myself to window-shop here occasionally, and maybe next time I sell an article, I will actually purchase something, like the "Antiquated" black dress or the "Ballerina" purple one (their prices definitely seem reasonable to me, though). How nice to have something NOT mass-produced in China (on my to-write list: a rant about how EVERYTHING these days seems to be MADE IN CHINA, probably by exploited factory workers. Hmph.). And these ladies support women in third world countries with micro-credit small business loans. And they have the cutest little-girl dresses. AND they have a "fit to flatter" feature so you can figure out from afar which dresses you should even consider. A few brief questions, and I discovered that I am, surprise, surprise, a "pencil" figure -- thank you, Shabby Apple ladies, for not calling it "stick." My dear husband would not like me to categorize myself this way, so I'm gonna whisper it softly: I am curve-challenged. ;-)
(Hey, if you check out the site, leave me a comment to tell me which dress is your favorite, or if you're feeling very revealing, what "fit" you are. Just for fun. Because we're all friends.)