Four to Two Wheels



Will has been working on learning to ride his bicycle without training wheels.  After hearing about my friend's daughter's success with a Balance Buddy, I couldn't wait to tell Gordon about it.  Rather than buy one, Gordon created a homemade one. 



William is doing well, though he refuses to admit it.  He can balance on his own as long as he thinks someone is holding the balance bar.  The moment he realizes noone is helping him balance, he starts to get wobbly.



I hope he gets confident in his ability by the end of the summer.  We'll certainly have plenty of time to practice!

Baby Birdies!

Dianna's party ended with two little "party crashers".  Two birdies took their first flights from their nest.  The first one seemed to just appear in the middle of the backyard, not far from where Dianna and her pals were playing.  Not long after, Gordon witnessed the second one take flight.  They were leaving the nest located in the eaves of Gordon's shop!

The girls were all in such awe of these little birds.  

I was too.



Summer Fever

I went in to the elementary school to volunteer today.  First, I did a bunch of photocopying for Mrs. P (Will's teacher).  Then I headed over to the library to help Mrs. A with some year end tasks.  Finally I walked back to the cafeteria to eat lunch with William and Dianna.

The kids in the cafeteria were pretty chatty today.  They were louder than normal.  They weren't using their listening ears when Mrs. Y and Mrs. W were talking to them as a group. 

With only 18 more days left of school, I think Summer Fever is setting in.  Of course, it doesn't help that we're experiencing a rather drizzly, overcast day today.  Rain = indoor recess.  No chance for the students to run off some of their energies. 

I feel so badly for the teachers this time of year.  I bet they're all counting down to the end of school too!  They all deserve a glass of wine and a scrumptious dessert (or two!).  I pray these next couple of weeks aren't too crazy for them!

Rock Star Birthday Party

We had Dianna's birthday party on Saturday.  Before her friends arrived, we surprised Dianna with her gift from us.  A new bicycle!!

Later on in the day, Dianna's friends all arrived to celebrate her special day.  Dianna has chosen to have a music themed birthday party.  She and I created a "Birthday Party Soundtrack", which the girls listened to during the party.  The girls lip synced and danced their way throughout the party!  Each girl was given a copy of the soundtrack to take home with them.

Below are random pictures I took during Di's party:



Birthday Cake Success -- sort of!

This is the cake I made for Dianna's birthday party today.  I baked a layer of devil's food chocolate cake.  I poured caramel sundae sauce on it.  I topped that with a layer of vanilla ice cream.  Finally, I finished it all off with whipped cream.

I had never made a cake like this.  I didn't use a recipe -- just had an idea and "winged" it.  I'll chalk this up to a success, even though it wasn't perfect.  Dianna and her friends all loved it.  That's all that matters, right?

Next time I make a cake like this, I know what to do differently. 

10 Years = gone in the blink of an eye

Dianna turns 10 tomorrow.  Hard to believe it's been that long since she first joined our family.  I swear, it was just a couple of years ago!

We'll mark her entry into the double digits with a birthday party tomorrow.  Dianna has invited five of her closest friends over.  She has requested we serve grilled cheese sandwiches, apple slices, and Doritos. 

Oh, and cake.

I'm making a special layer cake for Di's party.  The bottom layer is Devil's Food chocolate.  I will smooth caramel over the cake.  Then, I will spread softened ice cream over the top.  After getting re-hardened in the freezer, I will frost the cake with whipped cream.

Sounds yummy, no?

Letter to Will

Will's best bud, Talon, mailed him a letter.  Will was excited to receive some mail just for him!

Once I got a look at what Talon wrote, I couldn't NOT share it with all of you!

May Flowers Showers (?)

If the April Showers didn't arrive until May, what does June bring?

We'll enjoy the belated showers while we can!

  

Horseback Rider

Grace finally started taking horseback riding lessons about a month ago.  She's thoroughly enjoying herself!  I finally remembered to grab my camera (and leave the house early!) on my way to pick her up today.  I was able to snap a couple of quick pictures as the kids were all returning to the paddock at the end of their lesson.  Sorry they're not close up -- I'll try to get more another time.

Grace is riding the white horse in the center of these two pictures....

Happy Mother's Day!

I was treated to breakfast in bed this morning.  This is a picture that Gordon snapped before heading upstairs with my food.  It was one of my favorite breakfasts -- fried eggs topped with fresh salsa, two slices of cantaloupe, and cinnamon raisin toast.  YUM! 

May all of the Mothers who read my blog be as spoiled and loved on today as I have been. 

Window Shopping

Dusty and Ashton were born barn cats. 

They were transported into the lap of luxury when we adopted them.

I think they miss the freedom of being barn kitties.



Eco-Friendly

If you ever visit the Crazy House and have the urge to test out one of our thrones, you may wish to keep this in mind:

The Crazy Kidlets are ALL notorious for doing their business as quick as possible and then running out without flushing. 

This isn't something they've always done.  Once upon a time, the kidlets enjoyed flushing.  I remember that was the best part of potty training -- getting to say "bye-bye, pee.....bye-bye, poop". 

Just the other night, after discovering the water in the toilet upstairs had mysteriously been changed yellow, I was exasperated.  I started griping to Gordon that I didn't know how or WHY our children suddenly seem unable to press down on the handle when they're done pottying.  I told him that I simply don't understand where we went wrong.

Gordon reasoned that the children aren't lazy, they're conserving water consumption -- they're ecologically conscious!

Makes me seem like such an awesome mother when you think of it that way, don't it?!?

Nora-ism

Nora, while looking at the money in her wallet:  "I could buy anything at the store....like Oreos...or milk...."

It's good to know my girl has her priorities straight!  ;D

Cultivating Creativity

 Gordon has a monthly subscription to The Family Handyman.  It's one that he received as a gift a few years back.  We've both really enjoyed this magazine.  It has articles on everything from woodworking to household organizing to landscaping to vehicle maintenance.

Just the other day, we received the June 2012 edition.  I haven't had a chance to read the entire magazine just yet, but I have leafed through it a little.  Earlier this afternoon, I stumbled upon this article:

In case you can't read it, it says:

"DON'T TOSS THAT TRASH

     Taking apart a broken gadget like a fan or toaster is great for young minds and fingers.  Kids get to unscrew things, learn how something is put together and have fun (cut off the cord for safety).  If you don't happen to have anything broken lying around, you can buy small appliances cheaply at yard sales or thrift stores.  Look for older versions.  The newer appliances are mostly snap-together plastic.

     Skip electronic devices, which might have potentially dangerous parts.  Capacitors, for example, can hold voltage long after they're disconnected from a power source."

I had never thought of it like that!  Gordon knew best, though -- he's been giving William broken parts, pieces, and gadgets for a while now.  William LOVES to play with them.  He takes stuff apart.  He puts stuff together.  He pretends to hook things together with old shoelaces and cords.  He's made pretend computers, televisions, and (most recently) a DJ stereo system.

His room looks something like this at all times (it's a good thing he has that spare bed to work on, huh??):



Now the only problem we have is that Will often asks to have various appliances/parts/components if he thinks they're broken.  Like (most recently) my HotShot one-cup water heater (for when I make a single cup of tea or hot cocoa).  I had stowed it away a few months back, in an effort to clear off the kitchen countertops.  I pulled it out a couple weeks ago, intending on bringing it with me to a Scout meeting. 

The good news is that he wasn't too disappointed that he couldn't have it -- but he DID ask if he could have it if/when it DOES break!

A new Rank!

 This past Saturday, Dianna tested for the next belt level in karate.  She passed with flying colors!  She is now a proud Blue Belt. 

With Shaolin Kempo Karate (the type of karate she studies), the belt levels are:
     White
     Yellow
     Orange
     Purple
     Blue
     Blue with Green Stripe
     Green
     Green with Brown Stripe
     Brown
     Black

Dianna's almost half-way to achieving her black belt!!

This is a picture of Di with one of her instructors, Shaun.  ALL of the instructors at her karate dojo are soooooo awesome.  They really enjoy what they do -- you can tell by how much fun they make their lessons each week!

I Found Your Camera.net

Ever lose your camera, a camera memory card, an ipod, or other electrical gadget that has the ability to take pictures?  If yes, you should check out http://www.ifoundyourcamera.net/.  I just learned about this website last week.  The creator posts pictures from found memory cards/cameras.  So many people have been able to find pictures they thought they'd lost forever.

I have never lost my camera or memory card, but I think I'm going to continue to check out this website.  You never know if/when you'll stumble upon a friend's digital media.  Maybe one of YOUR friends has lost images posted on this site.  You won't know if you don't check it out!

**  No, I am not being paid to endorse this website.  I just think it's cool that people care enough to try to locate the owners of these cameras/memory cards.

Fridge Fiasco

This is a picture of the burnt out refrigerator part.  It STILL stinks.  It's called a Starting Capacitor. 

I call it the Flux Capacitor.

QUICK -- Who can tell me where that's from?!?!?

Back to the fridge fiasco....

The good news is that we've ordered a new fridge.  Even better, it will be picked up tomorrow.  I can't wait to get the sleak, new, freezer-on-top, black fridge here and filled with groceries!

The bad news is that Gordon may have been able to fix our old fridge afterall.  He was talking to a guy from work about it.  This guy had recently ordered a universal starting capacitor for a fridge he was working on, but it turned out that wasn't what was wrong with his fridge.  So he gave the part to Gordon.  Gordon installed the part just a little while ago.  The fridge appears to be working.  We're letting it run, to see if it's truly going to keep things cold. 

Worst case scenario, Gordon has wasted a little bit of his time, trying to repair a broken fridge.  Best case scenario, we get to keep the old fridge, moving it out to the garage, for extra food storage!

Spirit Week

This week at the Elementary school is Spirit Week.  The days each have a designated theme.  The kids LOVE this week.

*Most* of the kids love this week.  Not William.  He's been pretty non-participant-like all week long.  Except for Hat Day, in which he created a hat using a small Dixie cup and yarn.  And he wore a sweatshirt with our town name on it for the "TOWN" Clothing Day.  (It wasn't really "town"....it was our town's name, but I won't be posting our town name....gotta protect the innocent and all that....)

The "TOWN" Clothing Day wasn't really his choice though....I told him to wear the sweatshirt. 

Here is a picture of Dianna on Hat Day:

Unfortunately, William wouldn't allow me to take a picture of his hat creation.  I wish I could have -- it was too stinkin' cute for words!

Tomorrow is Pajama Day.  I wonder if Will is going to want to participate in that?

A Family Curse?

There was one thing we did while in VT on Spring Break that I did not mention in my previous post.

We helped Mom clear out her house refrigerator and freezer.  We moved all of her perishables into the fridge located in her garage so they wouldn't spoil.  Her house fridge was on the fritz.

I'm beginning to wonder if there's some sort of family curse surrounding refrigerators.

I woke early this morning to find a strange smell in the kitchen.  After spending more than a half hour searching out the origin of the smell, Gordon and I finally concluded it must be the refrigerator.  Almost an hour later, as I was putting Gordon's lunch together, our suspicions were confirmed -- the foods in my freezer are starting to thaw!

I guess I'll be heading out to appliance shop today.