Nov. 10, 2009 - Remembering our Veterans
For weeks I had been thinking we'd go to Colonial Williamsburg to celebrate Veteran's Day. There will be a parade for all veterans, cannon volleys, speeches from historic speakers and fife and drums. I knew it would be a special treat for my husband, who retired last winter after serving 24 years in the USAF. However he works for a private company now. Even though they are based at the Pentagon, he has to work. I keep forgetting he doesn't necessarily get Federal holidays off anymore. I think reality hit my husband this afternoon, when he asked if we could watch a Veteran's Day movie. I explained that we've recently watched the last of all of our WWI movies. "Sgt York" is the traditional Veterans' Day movie for us. I'm going to have to think of something meaningful to remember this important day for him.
In the meantime, the significance of the day means more to the kids and me, now that we have completed our studies of World War I. We've read about the trench warfare, the endless wait for battle that gained little, and the frightening new technology in weaponry, airplanes and chemical warfare. We've watched the utter hopelessness in "All Quiet on the Western Front." Told from the viewpoint of a German soldier, it revealed the agony of the war itself for the soldiers of every nation. Even though "Anne of Green Gables" is based on a series of Victorian books for girls, the third part of the trilogy is about WWI. The second part of the movie shows the horrors of the front lines and trenches of the Western Front, while Anne works as a Red Cross worker while looking for her husband, a Canadian doctor who has been conscripted by the German army. Anne returns to England with an orphan baby and her best friend's husband, who lost his arm due to an infested wound from battle. Swept up into intrigue and espionage, Anne returns to France with hidden jewels to help the Underground. We see the end of the war...the armistice. In graphic cinematography of the movies, we experienced the horrible trenches, the exploding bombs, the wounded soldiers waiting for hope, the dead waiting to be buried.
The most poignant of all the WWI movies, was the end of "All Quiet on the Western Front." As the war ended, the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, we see the results of the final shot, encapsulating the theme of the movie. Also in school, we've pondered the depth of meaning in the poem, "In Flanders Field."
In years past, I remember my husband being called out in the middle of the night to arrive on base with his duffel bag to fly around on a plane...exercises. Keeping that duffel bag packed, my husband placed it in a readily handy location. How many times did I stumble upon it...wondering? How many times did I walk into the downstairs powder room and found a ghostly gas mask staring up at me from a cleaning solution in the sink, in preparation for the next exercise or deployment? How many times did we cancel family vacations, events or activities so he could be on call, available at a moments notice? How many "buckets" was he put into, waiting for deployment to the Middle East? How many times did we hold our breaths, trying to prepare for his times away? Assignments stateside and to Korea were many. The deployments to the war zones strangely eluded him...and it made us feel guilty...fully aware of the families who sacrificed as their loved ones did go to the war zone. My husband's career field engaged him in safer zones, in support of those overseas, working long hours as needed for the mission. Our sacrifice was easy, as compared to those who sacrificed the most.
To all those who did go to the war zone, thank you. You sacrificed so we could keep our freedoms at home. Your life is different because of the sacrifice. Your family's life is different because of the sacrifice. Serving wasn't easy. Serving was dangerous. Serving gave us freedom. We salute you.
Nov. 9, 2009 - "Mom, You're Just Not a Gadget Gal"
A few months ago, my son intently looked at me and seriously said, "Mom, you're just not a gadget gal." With my husband's retirement from the USAF and a move from San Antonio, Texas (where I lived most of my life) to the Washington DC area brought about sudden crash courses in my learning how to use....
....a lap top where the keys must be spaced differently from what I was used to. My fingers usually fly when I type and I rarely made mistakes until I used the lap top. Now I was making nothing but mistakes. I was making a gazillion typos, bringing up other web pages, and closing down my page by the mere attempts of striking the keys. Then there was a "ghost" feature that mysteriously appeared while I was typing. I accidentally found a setting to get rid of that ghost and my fingers have finally learned to fly on a lap top!
...a cell phone which I rarely used in San Antonio. With the move across country I finally learned how to plug in phone numbers so that I could keep in touch with my parents, our real estate agents in San Antonio and Virginia, etc, etc, etc. Then we moved into our house and my phone basically sits in my purse. When a friend of my son's came over, I had to ask the boys how to put in the phone number for the friend's mom. What can I say...I forget things I don't use all the time.
...a GPS, which I've dubbed Lee because describing him takes a lot of adverbs while we are on the go. He likes to drive us through downtown Washington DC. However I've learned to reroute him so he will take me out and about via easier routes. Interesting-lee, he gets lost once we reach our own neighborhood. I'm glad I have that much of the area figured out!
...television cable which in Northern Virginia apparently requires numerous mega monster electrical cables and three remote controls. That's crazy! I still haven't figured out how to use the VCR or DVD or any other doo-dad on the machine. My husband says I'll never figure it out. Hmmmm, that sounds like a challenge.
... the telephone answering machine which is now more complicated than a simple push of the button.
...learning a new phone number took me months. Numbers aren't as friendly to me as letters. I tried to give someone my phone number the other day. He thought he remembered the prefix, which was wrong, but since he put the wrong number in my head, for the life of me I could not remember the correct number.
...the clock on my nightstand is beyond comprehension. I purchased it when we moved into this house because my husband gets up at 4:30am to get ready to arrive at work by 6am. 4:30am is too early for me! I want to wake up at 6am. However I couldn't figure out how to set the alarm, so my son set it up for me. Now my husband turns my alarm off on Friday nights and sets it up again on Sunday night.
...and now a new sewing machine which the moving company recently paid for! I have been busily sewing window treatments, Year 4 Unit 1 costumes, and researching and gathering supplies for new colonial costumes. I want to make my daugter's dress more historic. My son wants me to make a warmer and more accurate Lafayette costume for winter and a gentry outfit for summer. I've not had much time for sewing, due to lesson planning and studying. We've also been sight seeing, either at historic places or at Lowes, my husband's favorite store. When he runs out of projects, he takes me shopping. I can't complain. I'm thankful my husband is perking up the house. Alas, my sewing sits on the table during the hours we are at Lowes. The few times I get to sew, I optimistically think I'm going to be extremely productive, but something always happens.
I've been sewing on a piece of silk and the tension has been too tight. I thought it was due to the flimsy fabric. Tonight I finally took a look at how to fix that. I'm not great at figuring out tension. Remember I'm not a gadget gal. It appeared that the top tension was too tight, so I decreased the tension but it didn't make any difference, not even at a 1. I tried a piece of cotton and had the same problem. Oh dear, my new machine is broken. I resorted to my old machine which is broken from the move, but at least the tension still works. As I sewed on my silk, the tension problem kept nagging me. I finally sat at the computer to do some googling.
Specifically I googled, "Pfaff Expression 2.0 tension". Oh, no. I found a lot of comments about the exact same problem I had experienced. They users all sold their Pfaffs and purchased other machines. I felt awful. I looked through my google search and found another forum (not Pfaff), where the thread was about the Pfaff Expression and opinions of it. Everyone loved it! One lady had a thread gunking problem. She took her machine to the Pfaff dealer and found out she was doing two things wrong. One, she was threading her machine with the presser foot down. Hmmm, I thread the machine with the presser foot up, so that's not the problem. Second, when she inserted the bobbin, she didn't listen for the click when she moved the thread around to different parts of the chamber. Hmmmm, this could be my problem. I've always suspected that I was not putting in the bobbin correctly. The thread was always flowing too freely from the base of the machine. However the insertion method is completely different from any I have worked with and is quite intricate. I went to the machine, took out the bobbin, moved the thead around the different parts of the chamber until I heard the click. "Click!" Do you know how wonderful that sound is????? I've never heard that before! I finished threading, replaced the cover, and started sewing. Eureka! The seam was gorgeous!!!!!!
Since Pfaff users sometimes find my blog for information, I wanted to be sure I posted this little tip. Also it will make great reference for me. Since I'm not a gadget gal, I might forget if I am ever away from sewing for months at a time!
Nov. 8, 2009 - Censorship
I find it amazing, that blog entries get pulled because the powers that be "think" it is offensive. What happened to free speech? The posting I am refering is a jab at the government, but nothing hateful. There is no malice in the post. There are no threats in the post. It is merely an opinion. Have we really gotten to the point where we have to have sensitivity police? If the post I am refering to was an harsh attack on our government, then I might understand. If the person posting was filled with hate, then, yes, perhaps they should take their hate elsewhere. But to just block a post because the picture refers to the stupidity of the government???? Wow! In our history, didn't the government give less than what was promised to Indians, or, Native Americans for those needing PC lingo? Doesn't our government have a history of promising much and giving little? Facts are facts and sometimes it helps to deal with those facts by poking a little fun or making a joke.
It is the liberal, touchy-feely, everyone has to get along and be equal kind of attitude that put the current admministration in place. Everybody play nice and don't say anything...that way you won't offend.
Hello, socialism......here we come full steam ahead!
I find myself weary of people that want to dictate everything others do and say. I miss the America of old.
Nov. 8, 2009 - Hospitality
Over the weekend I worked on some articles to do with Hospitality
My weekly, Live life with your Kids! newsletter. It is free to subscribe and then you can dig around in the archives. (This week's was titled "Show Hospitality")
Character Notes on Hospitality - these are just a collection of thoughts that I will be discussing with my kids over the next month.
Children need to be involved - an article listing some of the things that happen around our home.
Nov. 6, 2009 - JR Convention
Hi all! It is a great day in the Lord ! Roosie,Hoopy and I are in
Hey everyone! We are back! Our crew brought home 17 medals today. Hoopy and Roosie both got several first place medals. Hoopy has 5 medals total and Roosie has 7. They all did a tremendous job and I am so proud of them. Well it is late and I am tired so goodnight all! Blessings! ~ Nikki
Nov. 6, 2009 - It's deja vu all over again
This was the scene this morning as I gazed out of my (very dirty) living room window.
Haven't we done this before?
Yep. Same scene, November 2007.
The same two guys fixed our water line today. The baby-faced backhoe driver has grown a beard over the past two years, which is reassuring. When you have a man directing heavy equipment that near to your house, you like to know they've made it through puberty.
This time, we had not just one leak, but two. Apparently, we have some sort of strange soil chemistry that caused the brand new copper water line to corrode, pit and leak like a sieve. Lucky us!
The good news about all of this? After it was all over, we had easy access to lots of freshly dug soil to use for our "worm parfait" science experiment.
Hopefully the night crawlers will survive. They're hardy creatures, but you've got to wonder what is in soil that burns holes through metal.
You'd best back away from the dirt, guys.
Nov. 4, 2009 - It doesn't happen every day!
There are two incidents that have happened around here in the last week or so that I just shake my head over – it doesn’t happen every day – thankfully! Let me tell…
The other day Pete had an early start to his day. He was filling up with fuel at the 24hour BP at 3.00am. As he was at the bowsers he felt the car drop down – he just thought the car was adjusting to the weight of the fuel but then the car started up and started to drive away on him. He looked up and there was someone in his car – driving it away. Someone was stealing his car – and he was standing right there!! He had the presence of mind to pull out the fuel hose, jump in the back seat and whack the gear stick into Park. The car stopped. He realised the woman in the car was so ‘out of it’ drunk that he got out of the back and walked around to help her get out of the car. She was very drunk, very distraught and had no idea!! Obviously she was still able to steal a car though.
I am personally very impressed with Peter's presence of mind. I would have had no idea what to do.
Second thing happening in our life is that we have acquired a Bull – he’s not a pet bull, he isn’t even really our bull but he seems to like us. Next to our farm there is a scrub block and it appears as if this bull has lived there quite happily for some time. But he has since found our place and seems to like the company. He has been right upto the house yard fence, grazes down near the chook shed, and today has been enjoying the shade of the mango trees. We would like him to be gone! He is very big.
Bull grazing on old bale of hay down near chook shed and veggie garden
Bull near backyard play area
Nov. 3, 2009 - Pumpkin Stuff
Over a month ago we started seeing pumpkins galore being sold. We've never seen anything like that in Texas! In San Antonio, I used to either buy our pumpkin the last week of October or buy it early and store it in the refrigerator. It is so warm in Texas, the pumpkins go bad quickly. Last year we managed to grow a pumpkin in our garden, which I needed to harvest when we returned home from our Virginia vacation in mid August. That was stored in the refrigerator for the end of October and barely made it. This year I hesitated to buy a pumpkin early. How do they fare in Virginia? I let the kids each choose one and had them set them on the front porch. They survived! Now what to do with them?
We don't do Halloween. We have no interest in Halloween costumes. No interest in trick or treating. No interest in fall festivals. However the kids do want to do something quietly at home. I thought I'd put the kids to work to hollow out one of the pumpkins so I could bake a beef stew in it. Then I had also planned to make a pumpkin cheesecake. The other pumpkin they could carve and we could watch a movie.
Well, I was gone from the house most of the day, trying to find things for our Year 4 Unit 1 costumes and for a warmer Lafayette costume for my son. By the time I got home, the pumpkins were spoken for. The family had done their traditional gospel pumpkin, with a lot of help from their dad. I think my son drew the symbols and my husband cut them out. Hmmmm, I think this is the first year my husband did the pumpkin with the kids. Usually I do it with them, but my husband wants window treatments and the kids want costumes for their unit celebration and Colonial Williamsburg, so my husband was happy to give me a pumpkin break this year. ;)
Then they wanted to do a Colonial Williamsburg pumpkin. This year CW provided several pumpkin carving patterns at their web site. My son wanted to do all of them. I couldn't afford that many pumpkins, so he had to choose one. Actually my daughter chose one, the Governor's Palace. Here is my son carving it, while my daughter picks out the seeds. My husband likes roasted pumpkin seeds.
Here it is. I am impressed. This was my son's first pumpkin to carve and he did it entirely himself. He had a bit of trouble with the intricacy of the pattern, so he said he improved a few parts. Can you imagine me shaking me head? He reminds me of Patrick Henry. If I could go back in time, I'd love to meet Patrick Henry's mother and ask her specifically what her son was like as a child. I have a feeling we would share a lot in common.
It was a bit late to start a stew and there were no more pumpkins to bake it in. The family decided they wanted snack food. Earlier in the day my husband had gone to the store and bought the cupcakes and candy corn. He went back out and bought snack food.
Then we settled down to "Arsenic and Old Lace." I'm a huge Cary Grant fan and my husband is a Theodore Roosevelt fan. It's a hilarious movie and sort of where we draw the line at the end of the month. =) For me anyway, if I watch anything more intense than this, I'll have nightmares. I've had enough bad dreams this month as it is. Since we recently studied WWI and the Bolshevik Revolution and watched movies about it, I've had quite a few sleepless nights. "Arsenic and Old Lace" was a fun movie to lighten the mood from our recent studies! That's why I like Cary Grant. He can be sophisticated, yet hilarious, at the same time!
Nov. 6, 2009 - A Day in the Life
We were recently gifted "A Day in the Life," which is a DVD/CD-Rom series from Colonial Williamsburg. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We have had a terrific time watching this. Last week we watched the first DVD and the other night we watched the second DVD. (You can see samples at the link above.)
There are eight segments, telling about a day in the life of eight different people from different segments of 18th century society on the eve of the American Revolution, set in Williamsburg. Taken from historical research, we learned about men and women who were slaves, free African Americans, gentry class, middling sort and apprentices. One of my favorite things about this is that all of the stories intertwined, showing that people across the spectrum of social class did interact with each other. We learned how they interacted with each other. We also learned/reenforced lessons in customs/life situations for different social classes, politics, economics and differing roles for men and women of the day. Additionally, there are many references to events we are all familiar with (the Boston Tea Party) as well as references to scenes from Colonial Williamsburg's Revolutionary City.
My 16 year old daughter's favorite story was about a gentry girl named Prissy. Her day consisted of the type of schooling she had, to train to one day be the wife of a gentry husband. She learned how to supervise the household, practiced her French with a tutor and took dancing lessons. (My daughter is often asked by the townspeople of Colonial Williamsburg if she is training in such a way herself. Um, no....) Prissy's story was intertwined with that of an apprentice and a young slave boy named Dennis. Someone needed to make the dessert for Prissy's party, but the best cook for this particular receipt (recipe) was the slave who seriously injured her leg. Surprisingly, the dessert was made and it was as delicious as ever. It becomes a bit of a mystery trying to ascertain who made the intricate dessert???
My 14 year old son's favorite part had his favorite actor with all the contests (as my son put it). This was a fun story with a great deal of humor and action which we all enjoyed. This segment told the story of a young gentleman, named Daniel, who lived on a plantation near Williamsburg. Daniel was the quintessential gentleman of his day, who was discovered by his father and another gentleman (who were the focus of the previous segment about politics) while quoting romantic Shakespeare, substituting Juliet's name for the young lady he was in love with. He was a bit embarrased at getting caught and tells his friend, Percy, about it. Percy plays Daniel's literary foil, teasing Daniel unmercifully and pridefullly challenging him to a series of contests. The contests include horse racing and fencing. I could tell my son was experiencing these exciting activities vicariously through his favorite actor. My son got to go horseback riding in Colorado a few years ago and he had visions of galloping off into the sunset across the top of the snow covered Rocky Mountain peaks. However, he got a plunker of a horse who wouldn't budge. My son also enjoyed the fencing scene, because he taught himself fencing moves a few years ago when he portrayed a French Musketeer. My son has seen very little fencing in any of the movies we have. This was his first opportunity to see how fencing works. While watching, he was calling out the different moves and techniques. How he would have enjoyed being there and participating! We all had a lot of fun seeing who played the fencing master. Absolutely unpredictable! Then probably my daughter's favorite part was when they attended the ball. Percy was talking to one of the young ladies while dancing. My husband couldn't understand why. I reminded him that during the dances back then, it was quite proper to talk while dancing. We've had the opportunity to dance with costumed characters at Colonial Williamsburg. My historic dancing partners spent their time talking pleasantries with me while waiting our turn to dance and while dancing. It was a lot of fun! While studying Pride and Prejudice, set a bit later than the CW era, my daughter and I learned that dancing was one of the very few times unmarried men and ladies were allowed to touch, by holding hands while dancing. Dancing was an extremely special event and a form of dating. I assume this was true even in the Colonial Era. However, we found out that romance was the last thing on Percy's mind. He was merely talking to the young lady to unmercifully tease her and his friend Daniel. He was quite the trouble maker. It was all presented quite humorously. Daniel and the young lady definitely knew their proper manners. Sigh...poor Percy. Perhaps he will become a gentlemen when romance slips into his heart.
There is also a CD-rom which has a student role playing game. Additionally there are numerous excellent lesson plans and activities. These are set up exactly like the Electronic Field Trips. (samples are at the link above) We haven't done any of these yet, but we are looking forward to them!
Nov. 1, 2009 - My sister, myself
Since my only sister was seven years younger than me, I've always watched Lydia and Abigail's relationship with a sense of curiousity. Sure, I have a brother near my age, but it's not quite the same as having a sibling of the same gender. I never would have dreamed of shooting Legos at him with a crossbow, and he certainly wouldn't play Barbies with me. Now, had I suggested that he shoot my Barbies with Legos from his crossbow, we would have been in business.
Lydia and Abigail, however, are two peas in a pod. Abigail makes sure of that. When Lydia plays soccer...
Abigail joins in, too.
Unfortunately, they were on separate teams this year. Abigail was NOT happy, but then again her idea of playing soccer mainly consists of wrestling with her friends on the team. She got over it.
Lydia loves to read. She can read an entire 150 page book in one sitting.
So guess what? Abigail wants to learn to read, too. She's making great progress, with big sis helping along the way.
Naturally the sisters love to dress alike.
On multiple occasions.
Yep, Abigail tries to imitate Lydia in about every way possible.
And Eliza? She also emulates one of her big sisters. She'll crawl on top of anything and everything.
She'll attack from behind and give sloppy kisses and bear hugs.
And now there's the matter of a certain red monster...
I only hope Abigail will be as patient with this little mimic as Lydia is with her.
<- Last Page • Next Page ->
