One
Let’s start off with this interesting little tidbit: My new dog tried to dig up my old dog. Yup.
Move along folks, nothing to see here.
Thankfully.
two
We’ve had a friend of Newt’s staying with us while her parents are on vacation. I know we’ve only had her for a week, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it: two children are far easier than one.
After all the times I’ve been told, “You must have it so easy, with only one”, that feels good to say.
three
We went to see The Avengers Friday night. By the way, it was awesome, but on the way home I found myself wondering: Is it really summer blockbuster time already? I’ll be running after the ice-cream man in no time.
three-point-five
As much as I love healthy foods, I also recognize that everything has its place. This is why I try to make it a summertime policy to always keep money on hand for the ice-cream man. It didn’t take him long to figure that out. Now, on those rare occasions that we choose not to buy, he parks in front of our house and plays his song for at least five minutes.
four
Cannibals. I don’t know why, but they are often on my mind.
What’s on your mind?
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one
Happy third day of spring!
This is the view from my living room window:
I am fully disgusted.
Except for the part where we cancelled school because of snow and spent the day reading and watching episodes of PBS’s Colonial House.
Sounds a lot like a school day, doesn’t it? Shhh… don’t tell Newt.
two Cookies are over. Can I get an amen! To thank me for my service as cookie mom, I was victim to the sweetest act of vandalism ever. Loved it.
It actually made me cry a little. In a good way. Especially when I saw the one signed by Newt:
Since her facination with Dr. Who (especially the 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant) has become a full-blown obsession, I was truly flattered.
two-point-five So, uh, Heidi, if cookies are over, what’s up with the sparse posting on ye old blogge?
Oh, that. Well, I’ve got a couple of other projects up my sleeve.
First of all: homeschool. We’ve buckled down, at Newt’s request. Another Amen would not be inappropriate here.
We are finishing up our first 12 weeks of Ambleside Online’s Charlotte Mason-style curriculum.
Non-homeschoolers, just smile and nod. This part will be over soon.
Can I just say that I love this curriculum? Of course I can. 1) I just did and 2) it’s my blog. I can say whatever I like.
Anyway, AO has breathed some new life into our school day. Very exciting stuff.
However, as such, I am trying ever-so-hard to block out larger portions of my day for this oh-such-important stuff.
Even though I still check in with social media far more than I probably should. I’m looking at you Facebook and Pinterest.
Second of all: I’ve been writing a middle-grade children’s book.
My book is about Captain Hook’s daughter. She’s stuck in a stuffy finishing school and desparate for adventure, but she may get more than she can handle when she is charged with hunting down the crocodile that killed her father.
Want a tiny sample?
Let me see, how to describe the girl…
Ah, I have it! Have you ever been privy to witness a great disaster, such as the burning of a circus?
Picture it: a great trumpeting of elephants and snarling of tigers. Ladies, both beaded and bearded, fainting of terror. A mighty bucket brigade made of midgets and clowns, sword-swallowers and finely dressed dandies, all shouting and sweating as they passed bucketsful of water up the line to the source of the flames. Now look to it, the great and tragic circus tent aflame, its colors more vivid than life, and all the more beautiful wrapped in disaster…
If you can imagine that, you will have a pretty good sense of young Jocelyn Hook.
Since I have been spending more time in that world, I’ve had less time for this one. However, I still intend to keep touch with y’all at least once a week.
[note: Heidi is not from the South, but the occasional ya'll still slips into her writing. In addition, she also called the library today to see how late they were open and asked about it with a fake southern accent: "Yes Ma'am, how late are ya'll open tonight?" Heidi is weird like that sometimes.]
three
I have the best friends. Earlier this week, several of us got together to learn all the insider tricks to cutting up a whole chicken.
After we cut them up, we did this:
Which, as you know, is not exactly a health food, but sometimes a girl needs some fried chicken. And, like I’ve said before, at least it was homemade.
We ate the chicken with a potluck of potato salad, deviled eggs, buttermilk biscuits and collard greens, while watching The Help.
Come to think of it, no wonder I’m ya’llin’ y’all today…
four
It’s been nearly 24 hours and it’s still snowing. Ya’ll better send over a St. Bernard with a barrel of brandy herbal tea on it’s collar. We may need it to dig us out.
What’s the weather like where you are? And if it’s nice, how do you feel about house guests?
one
I think I’ve figured out my preoccupation with baking lately. This is my dining room:
Yup, it’s Girl Scout cookie time (and I’d rather have homemade, but don’t tell the girls in Newt’s troop). I’m the cookie mom – in charge of inventory, ordering, scheduling booths and banking. It gets a little crazy around here from January to March.
You may have noticed that I am using a stack of Savanna Smiles as a table. On top of my makeshift table is a canvas box containing an electric blanket. Nestled in that blanket are three quarts of cultured milk, incubating into homemade yogurt. (See item two.)
You may have also noticed that I have plywood floors. Still. Don’t ask. (See item three.)
two
Newt has been requiring a bit more sleep lately. She is already taller than me, could she be having another growth spurt?
Anyway, this morning as she slept, I started a batch of yogurt (see item one). When I pulled my starter out of the fridge I realized that I had another pint that had gotten buried in the back. Instead of boring old yogurt for breakfast again, I whipped up a batch of strawberry-banana frozen yogurt. Yogurt, fresh raw cream, strawberry jam and a banana – first in the blender, then in the ice-cream maker. I felt like an awesome mom.
Of course that didn’t stop Newt from arguing with every.single.thing I said today. Wrong side of the bed, meet my daughter…
She did like her breakfast though.
three
So the floors… you just had to ask, didn’t you?
Yes, we still have plywood floors. Such is the life of a do-it-yourselfer. It took several weeks to get the insurance sorted out and when they finally sent the check it was made out to the mortgage company. Once we got that straightened out, we went to work on the bathrooms. They are both nearly finished. Now it’s time to get started on the hardwood, but time is at a premium. Walt and I haven’t even been able to carve out enough time in the last few weeks to pick out the flooring together, let alone start work.
On the plus side…
… Give me a minute.
…
I got it. On the plus side, if Pepper scratches the plywood up, who cares?
Everything will get done, eventually.
four
This is my calendar:
There are so few empty squares. Thank goodness for Sundays. Is this normal?
Which brings me to five
This post has taken on a life of its own. I didn’t intend for it to be a treatise of how busy I am. I’m doing fine, but I do have a lot going on right now. Don’t be alarmed if things are quiet around here for the next couple of months. I’ll still be posting regularly, but it may not be more than a couple of times a week. If you have a favorite type of post you’d like to see (recipes, crafts, homeschooling, etc.) let me know so I can prioritize them.
six
Pepper is taking obedience school. She pooped in class this week. Nice, right? The rule is: If your dog goes to the bathroom during class, you must bring cookies for everyone the next week. And now we are back to cookies.
I’m thinking peanut-butter. Got a favorite recipe?
Sometimes I like to pretend that my life is a musical.
I often bust out into whatever song I feel is appropriate, much to the embarrassmentadmiration of my friends and family. Even when I’m not singing out loud, there is almost always a song running in the back of my mind. When I pay attention to it, I find that the words usually relate to whatever I am experiencing at the time.
For example: a couple of months ago, smack in the middle of my personal winter, I spent several days with The Lion King’s The Circle of Life running through my head. I had no idea why, and frankly, I was beginning to get a little annoyed by it. However, when I took the time to pay attention, I realized that the predominate lyrics I was thinking on were: There’s more to see than can ever be seen/More to do than can ever be done,
Lightbulb: I was silently belting out my feelings of anxiety and stress. Realizing that did absolutely nothing to relieve my stress, but at least I understood the soundtrack.
On a happier note (Ha! See what I did there? Song? Note? … Hello?), I’m pleased to report that for the last three days in a row, I have awakened to this song in my head:
Go ahead and listen. You can’t help but love it.
Here are a few things that are making me smile today.
one The flood water is receding. Note: It took me three tries to type w-a-t-e-r. My fingers kept wanting to type w-a-l-t-e-r. Walt is not receding. Thinning a bit, yes, but definitely not receding.
Not only is the water level going down, but we have had honest to goodness sunshine in patches over the weekend.
Me, suddenly bursting into song: I’m walkin’ on sunshine, yeah, yeah and don’t it feel good? This is the kind of thing that people who know me well have to put up with all the time.
two The slug slime came up off my couch. All I had to do was wait for it to dry, then scrape it off and then seal off and fumigate the entire area with napalm. Now it’s gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh-oh-oh-whoa…
three
Things are getting done. Hurray! Our remodeling/repair job feels like it is taking for-ev-er, but progress is being made. For example, we once again have two (count ‘em: one, two!) functioning bathrooms. The hall bath has received a complete makeover, including new tile flooring, new cabinets and sink, granite counter top, and a brand new no overflow toilet. Haaaallelujah, haaaaallelujah, hallalujah-hallalujah, hall-ayyyy-ay-lu-yah!
We’ve still got some finishing touches to do; I’ll share pictures soon.
three-and-a-half
Remember this?
We found that old window at a garage sale back in September and I had such big plans for it. On Saturday, I batted my eyelashes and sweet talked Walt into finally helping me bring those plans to fruition.
The following horror was our entry when we first moved into our house. If you have small children on your lap, you may wish to cover their eyes.
We have done a fair amount of work there: replacing the front and closet doors, tiling over the ugly vinyl (not pictured) with a pretty matte black granite, replacing and painting the wood trim, and utterly demolishing those terrible prison bars spindles. Still the area didn’t look finished. Without the spindles, we had a hole in the wall that looked to me like a walk up ice-cream counter.
Enter new-old window: Please note the new curtains too. Love. Them.
Here is another peek at my window:
This afternoon Newt told me: “Mama- I love that she calls me that…
“Mama, if we sit right here on the couch and look at the front window and the entryway our house looks done. Let’s just not turn around briiiight eyes.”
Agreed. I’m not going to turn around and see my plywood and 70′s vinyl flooring (now with more asbestos!). …but the view I love the most is on my front porch lookin’ iiiin!
four
Our church has multiple congregations that meet in the same building. Every year we trade meeting times around. Last year, we went to church at 8:30. AM. Twice a month I had early morning meetings. At 7:00. AM. As in, in-the-morning.
Aye-yi-yi, that’s early.
This year, we meet at 12:30. Sunday mornings are slow and relaxed again. We stay in our pjs for awhile, walk the dog together, make breakfast… It’s heavenly. That’s why I’m eeeasy, easy like Sunday mornin’…
four and three-quarters
Newt made breakfast for us yesterday. I found her a recipe for pumpkin muffins and she went to work. They’re whole-wheat with no refined sugar, using honey instead, and oh-my-yum. The only modification she made (she is my daughter, after all) was adding some pumpkin seeds and walnuts to the batter.
Want some? The recipe is right here. Why are there so many songs about muffins, and what’s on the other side? Oh yeah, I also make up my own lyrics. Why not? It’s my show life.
As Cheryl Crow might say, this picture is apropos of nothing. Still I like it because I look much bigger than Newt, when in reality, my tiny little 5 pound baby has recently dwarfed me by growing a couple of inches taller and a few pounds heavier than me. Plus I'm wearing my hair in braids like a real Heidi should. (I do not normally wear my hair in a Heidi-like fashion.)
As part of their 6 Weeks of Bliss Challenge, Bliss.com double-dog dared me to share five things you may not know about me. Let’s jump right in with:
1. I have a whisker.
Only one, on the side of my chin. It sprouted a couple of years ago. Every time it grows out past the surface of my skin, I quickly pluck it. Even though I should be used to it by now, I am always amazed at both its coarseness and its under the surface length. I call it my boar bristle.
2. Reading did not turn me into a genius.
I used to think that the word gesture was like the word digest. It had a different sound and meaning based on context. Never mind that I had no clear idea of what the different meanings would be, I was sure that there was the regular sounding gesture with a soft g (jest-ure) and another with a hard g (guest-ure). Every time I saw gesture in print I read it with the hard g. This continued until one day, I happened to say it out loud and I realized that I had never heard anyone else say it that way. This realization was only two years ago.
3. I am afraid of heights.
I did not know I was afraid of heights until about 10 years ago, when I climbed to the top of a Mayan pyramid carrying a toddler-aged Newt on my back. The lack of railings at the top terrified me. I had this irrational fear that a gust of wind would blow my baby away. I was completely paralyzed and could only climb down once Walt took Newt and began to descend. Ever since, I get nervous in high places, unless they are completely enclosed, like a windowed office in a skyscraper.
4. Sometimes I have trouble finishing what I have started.
5…
Your turn. Tell me something I may not know about you.
I tell myself that I’ll make all these lovely and/or useful things someday, but truth be told…
I probably won’t.
Just looking at them makes me feel like I’ve accomplished enough.
two
Saturday night, Walt and I planned a double date with some friends. This is notable for two reasons: a) We have not spent social time with other people, on purpose, without kids, in a very long time. b) We chose not to get a babysitter.
Walt has been apprehensive about leaving our daughter home alone ever at night. I both understand and appreciate his feelings. He is our protector. He double checks the locks and keeps an eye out for suspicious looking people. I used to tease him for it until that time, several years ago, when his constant vigilance! stopped someone from breaking into our house.
Even so, a couple of weeks ago, when Walt asked me to get a babysitter so we could go on a date, I put my foot down. Enough is enough. Newt no longer needs a babysitter; in fact, she has begun babysitting for others. Sure, her own babysitting jobs have all been during the day, but I knew she could handle being home alone after dark. Walt was still nervous, so we compromised. We did not get a babysitter, but we did go out early and were home by 8.
Fast forward to this past Saturday. We met our friends and went to the movies. Although Walt seemed to be enjoying watching Tom Cruise accomplish impossible missions, he was a little preoccupied with his phone. Every few minutes, he’d double check it to be sure that he had not missed a call from Newt. And then, during a particularly exciting fight scene, somehow, he dropped his phone… under the seat of the lady in front of him.
He tried to retrieve it and couldn’t reach. There was no way he could leave it there. What if Newt called? I pictured him getting down on his hands and knees and trying to use stealth to get his phone back. I also pictured the lady who was sitting over his errant phone misunderstanding his intentions and laying him flat.
Heidi to the rescue! I learned forward and quickly explained the dilemma. The lady and her male companion jumped up and joined Walt in the search. The man next to them got on his hands and knees and began feeling around in the dark recesses. My friend lent her cell phone to use as a flashlight. Tom Cruise did something. What? Who knows, we all missed it.
The phone was found. Newt had not called.
When we got home, we discovered that she had eaten half a box of graham crackers (stale from about a year ago), played hours of wii and put herself to bed (when she heard us drive up). Pretty much what we expected.
Look out world! We have moved into a new life phase…
three
On Saturday, before our date, we drove over an hour to our nearest Ikea, successfully navigated our way to the self-serve furniture department (without a map!), and placed on our cart the shelving unit we had pre-selected from the internet. Boom! Ikea almost done in under 30 minutes!
And then I realized that Ikea’s idea of white is really cream.
In and out in 30 minutes! Without buying anything.
one
Last night I had a dream.
A funny dream.
So funny, in fact, that I woke myself up by laughing. Walt heard me and became alarmed because he thought I was crying sobbing uncontrollably. I could not really speak because I was laughing so hard, but after a few moments I was able to convey that I was fine. Eventually, between gasps and giggles, I explained that I was laughing because I dreamed about a funny hilarious poster. I have tried to recreate it for your viewing pleasure.
Now, I am aware that my dream poster is not as comical as my nighttime hysteria would suggest. I mean, it doesn’t really even make sense. If one is calm, why the crapping of oneself? And if one does happen to do so, how will that help them to keep calm?
Absurd, yes, but it kept me laughing, much to Walt’s concern (quote: “I thought you had lost your mind.”), for quite some time. Every time I would start to calm down I’d crap myself, an image of that poster would pop into my mind and I’d be off again.
I actually laughed myself to sleep.
I have giggled off and on all day.
Truth be told, I’m laughing about it right now. You know, Walt may be on to something.
two
My whole life seems to be under construction right now. However, I am certain that the end results will be beautiful. Our house repairs are moving along and we hope to be able to go home this weekend. However, we have arrived at the DIY (money-saving) part of the job, which means a whole lot of hard work. So far we have painted nearly every room in our house. In the days and weeks to come, we will be installing and painting new baseboards, crown molding, door and window wrap and new doors, laying new wood flooring and tile, as well as putting in some new bathroom cabinetry. Not all of these items were damaged in the great flood, but doing a lot of work ourselves has enabled us to pay for the upgrades.
I’m simultaneously excited and exhausted, which has resulted in some strange behavior. (See one)
three
Speaking of construction, how do you like the new digs around here? The site re-design is the work of the lovely, talented and very affordable Kristi from Creative Kristi Designs. She still has a few finishing touches planned, but even as is, I love it. What do you think?
Since I was changing things up anyway, I felt it was high time my commenting system got an overhaul. I installed Disqus, which will make it much easier for me to respond to your comments on site and for you to interact with each other. I’d love to hear your thoughts and/or suggestions.
four
I used the Keep-Calm-o-Matic to recreate my oh-so-amusing dream poster. I may have to have it printed onto a mug for Walt. Maybe then he’ll see the humor. I think I may now be able to cross a certain someone off my Christmas list…
1. The Candy Monster came. He/she/it had to leave an IOU since he/she/it did not have time to make it to the store. Newt and I went to one of our favorite bookstores today to redeem it. She got a paperback version of one of the Harry Potter books. We have the whole set in hardcover, but Newt thinks paperback is “more comfortable” to read.
2. I finished Newt’s quilt last week:
3. I have the best friends.
4. Confession: I love real food, but while running errands today, I stopped at Taco Bell. I ate two Taco Supremes. I wish I hadn’t done it, but I can’t say that it will never happen again.
5. Speaking of tacos and confessions, I really like Chipotle. No one else in my family liked eating there, so I might have manipulated Newt into changing her mind about them by showing her this video:
6. Newt likes Chipotle now.
7. Another confession: the Candy Monster takes the Halloween candy and gives it to Santa, who uses it to fill stockings. Recycling is a good thing.
8. Newt and I sat on the driveway for an hour today watching a man replace my windshield. We even took photos. He said had never experienced customers like us – I guess he doesn’t work with many homeschoolers?
9. We ignored a science project in progress to watch said windshield replacement. I was tired (perhaps from the Taco Bell lunch?) and just sitting on the driveway seemed far more appealing.
10. Number 9 was another confession, wasn’t it? It feels good to get these things off my chest.
I spent last evening writing up my post for this week’s the reading chair, but something strange happened and it reverted back to an earlier draft. Sorry – I may recreate it for tomorrow, but in the meantime here’s something else to look at:
