Short, fluffy vacation

Last night I dropped the kids off at Kuk Sool Won and headed for Aldi.  (Aside:  I got gas for $2.99!).  On the way, I had a sudden impulse to go to that gigantic furniture store that takes up a whole city block.  I was looking at all that cushy furniture, and the car just strangely turned in there and parked. So I went in and started flopping on the couches.  I went upstairs to the massive chair section.  I had just sunk into a billowy recliner when the lights went out. 

I fumbled downstairs in the dark and found the doors locked.  I started to panic, but then I realized that this could be a wonderful vacation!  I'd get a great night's sleep on my choice of comfortable beds, and no one would talk to me!  I only wished I'd brought a book or that the place sold TVs.  Then I remembered that the kids' class ended in less than an hour, and nobody would be there to pick them up.  They thought I was making a quick Aldi trip and would have no idea that I was trapped in the furniture store.  Oh well.  Eventually someone would call Mike, and he would go get them.

An employee was very startled to discover me, promptly shooed me out, and brought my vacation to an abrupt halt.  When I finally got to Aldi, the checkout girl said, "Oh, you got a haircut!"  I didn't even know that she knew I existed!  I wonder if she knows my name?

Harry

Noah read the entire Harry Potter series, and now he and Sarah are going around wearing bathrobes, carrying flashlights for wands, and casting spells on the cats.  Today they spent considerable time hovered over the sink with food coloring, making potions.  Whenever a poor, unsuspecting cat walks into the room, they point their wands at it and yell "Stupefy! Reducto!" and other things I don't understand.  Then they cackle gleefully if the cat stops moving or does whatever they expected it to do.  Once, they cast a spell on Shiloh, and she glanced at them and kept right on walking.  She sat down to lick a paw, and Noah mused, "Hmm.  Didn't work.  She must have giant's blood in her."  I didn't know what that meant, until someone explained to me that a giant is some kind of freakish humanoid that is impervious to spells.

This is all way beyond my comfort zone and scope of interest.  I can't get into wizards, humanoids, and other "fantasy" type books/movies.  That's not the stuff of MY fantasies.  Perhaps I'm missing a lot of great literature by being closed minded about it.  Fortunately, there's enough great literature (minus the freaks) to keep me busy for the rest of my life.

Meanwhile, I'm learning just enough about Harry Potter so I can commune with the natives.  I even bought them wands today to facilitate their play.  I went to Menards, found a 48" dowel for 64 cents, and asked the lumber guys to cut it into wands for me.  After they stopped laughing, they did it.  And then THEY started using them as wands, casting spells on each other and fellow employees across the store.  I didn't have all day to watch them play with my wands, so I said nicely, "You know, you guys could buy yourselves a dowel and make your very own wands."  They were contemplating it when I left. 

This is a new spell that Noah invented, called "Liftiosis!"

Kangaroo school

 Math and science: measuring 25 feet, to show how far a kangaroo can jump in a single leap (which is crazy far, by the way.  It's all the way across our living room AND school room!).

 P.E.:  seeing how far YOU can jump in a single leap.

Homeschooling is often a difficult drag, but sometimes it's just plain fun. 

Fancy guy

I dragged Sarah down memory lane with me this morning.  I was going through old photos, getting ready to use the scanner at the library to save them as digital files.  She looked at one showing Mike and I standing by a limo.  I told her that Daddy had arranged for a limo to pick us up when he proposed to me.  She said, "Whoa, I didn't know Daddy was such a fancy guy!  He must have really wanted you."    :)

Crafting on the porch

Sarah and I were gluing on the porch.  Again.  She could do this all day long.  When Noah woke up, Sarah convinced him to come out and glue too.  I think he agreed only so he could delay school.

 Making a doll hospital.

 Looking adorable in Noah's sweatshirt.

 Is this the most tortured Barbie ever?  No.  Just wait...

 Hospital curtains

 Extension cord to the iron.  Because hospitalized dolls must look their best.

 Bottles of medication

 My poor abused glue gun.

 There she is, the most tortured Barbie in history.  She has had her hair butched, her face drawn on, and her hand cut off, among other things.  Sarah just snipped her hand right off with scissors.  I asked her why, and she said, "Her hand was all sticky and yucky."

The Pet Pantry guy delivered our cat food, so I decorated it with scraps.  That's the extent of my craftitude.

I also made this guy.  Brave spider killer dude.

Legal driver

We had school at the DMV today.  My kids learned how to renew a driver's license.  I passed the vision test, which was a joke and took all of five seconds.  I had to take the written test too.  I took it 8 years ago, balancing a kid on each knee.  This time was much easier, because they stood behind me and gave their input.  I'm pretty sure Noah would have passed it. 

There were two people taking it at the same time as I was.  The one lady kept trying to get me to help her, even though there were signs everywhere about the penalty for cheating.  I said, "You can do it!", gave her a little encouraging thumbs-up, and ignored her.  Then she moved on to the other guy taking the test.  They were discussing how hard it was and how they should have studied and what they thought the answers were.  The woman failed first and said she knew she was going to fail all along.  A few minutes later, the guy failed his too.  I missed the question about how far from the intersection you have to start signaling your turn, but I passed.  The people who failed got to review their wrong answers and take the test again, which is also kind of a joke.

While I was waiting to get my picture taken, I said, "I forgot about the picture.  I wish I would have done something with my hair."  Sarah said, "Oh, I can fix it for you!" and started mauling it around with her hands.  I made it out of there in less than an hour and don't have to deal with it again for several years, so yay!

Piggy casserole

I was scrounging through the fridge, trying to come up with something for dinner.  Sarah and her friend were crafting on the front porch, while Noah was entertaining the little brother of Sarah's friend.

The only possibility I saw was the container of leftover pork and rice that we're all tired of by now.  I chopped up the pork and dumped some frozen peas on top.

 I like these glass containers with lids.  I can store leftovers in them, but also put them in the oven, microwave, and dishwasher.

 Meanwhile, I cooked some green pepper, onion, and garlic in butter.  Can't go wrong with that.  It was around in here when Sarah came in and asked, "What's for dinner?"  As if I knew what I was doing, I replied confidently, "Piggy casserole."  She gave me the crooked eye, but said it smelled like ham & corn casserole, which she likes.  So far, so good. 

 When the veggies were soft, I stirred in some flour,

 and added some milk and chicken broth. Somewhere around in here, Sarah's friend came in for minor first aid for a glue gun burn.

 Added some garlic salt and pepper.

 Dumped it all in the leftovers and peas and stirred up the whole mess.

 Put some cheese on top, because that makes everything better.

Ground up some bread heels and topped the whole thing with those.  Blessed it and put it in the oven at 350 for about half an hour.

It wasn't the greatest, but it kept people alive another day.

Gotcha Day #9

Today we celebrated having Sarah in our family.  Noah was sick, and I did mostly whatever Sarah wanted for most of the day. 

 We spent countless hours doing doll crafts involving hot glue.  We also made up songs about Marty (who likes hanging around when we're on the porch).  I would sing a line, and Sarah would rhyme the next one.  I sang, "Marty has soft fur behind her ears" and I thought Sarah sang, "It's softer than fluffy tears."  I said I'd never heard of fluffy tears, and she said, "Not fluffy tears.  Fluffeteers.  Like puppeteers."

 I let her torture the poor patient cats by putting hairbows on their ears.

 Sarah, Marty, and I had a picnic in the back yard.

 Mike and I took her to McDonald's for dinner.

 McDonald's playland

 Chicken nugget smile

 When Mike took a call for work, Sarah used his head as a plate. 

 She did some gymnastics at DQ.

I think she had a happy day.

Practical math with padded walls

I was explaining to Noah how geometry relates to real life.  I said, "Someday you might be building a house for your family.  You're trying to figure out how much carpet to order for your kids' bedrooms.  Will you need to measure the perimeter of the room or the area?"  Noah said, "The perimeter.  My kids are going to need carpet on the walls!"