Life in Our House

Last night while DH and I were sitting in the playroom discussing DS's birthday gift (we've had our eye on this, but due to the cost DH is going to make it instead), that same little boy proclaimed he wanted to play with playdough. Since it was so close to bedtime, DH and I said no, wait until tomorrow. He seemed to take it in stride, and wandered back to the kitchen.

A few moments later, we came to collect him to go upstairs. Upon entering the kitchen, however, we discovered that while DS had taken our "no" to playdough seriously, the dictum didn't apply to his paint. Take heart: the situation is not nearly as serious as it could have been! While he was in his paint basket and had opened a bottle of green paint, he had poured the paint from the plastic bottle into an old baby food jar that was also in the basket. He then replaced the cap on the original plastic bottle.

There was only one drop of paint in the cupboard, a small smear on the floor, and a little bit on two of his fingertips. Thanks to the magic of Crayola and their chemical-loaded washable paint all was cleaned up in a minute. I put a cap on the baby food jar and we went off to bed.

Here's a photo of DS's handywork. Not too bad for a not-quite 23 month old, is it? I promise I did not clean up these jars one bit.

So add pouring and squeezing paint jars to the list of things he's accomplished in the past month, along with the lock and doorknob on every door in the house (so far he's escaped once and locked me out twice), climbing to the top of his dresser to play with his CD player (he can climb down too), and potty learning.

I feel like I've aged.

Creating a Child Friendly Environment: Table and Chairs

We've been working very diligently over the past few months to outline our homeschool philosophy and create a very loose "pre-school curriculum" with our son. As time has gone on, it appears that we are becoming "eclectic" homeschoolers, embracing parts of the Waldorf, Montessori, and Charlotte Mason philosophies/approaches. I hope to do a series of posts detailing what our days look like in the coming days and weeks.

Here you can see part of our playroom (what was a formal dining room-- note the wallpaper) and what we've done to create a child friendly environment. Part of our inspiration came from Barbara Curtis's book, Mommy Teach Me.

DS is playing with his play dough here, and working on cutting out a star. His table and chairs were an early birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa. For some reason, he likes sitting facing the wall. Wouldn't be my choice, but hey!

Behind him, you can see one of the clotheslines we have strung to display various pieces of art, DS's creations, religious images, etc. We have three of DS's fingerpaintings on our other portion of clothesline. Above the clothesline are our corkboard and whiteboard. Neither are in use right now, but they should be again soon! His rocking chair is on the far left, as well as a basket of books: his Bible, book of the saints, etc. I'm working on the logistics of creating a better reading corner for him: moving all his books to one location and finding a better way to display current library and seasonal books.

Tagged

Emma tagged her readers:

What I was doing 10 years ago:

Homeschooling, playing my flute, and dancing.

Five things on my To Do List today (since it's so late, here's part of tomorrow's list):

1. Laundry: finish bedding, diapers, DS’s clothes
2. Make yogurt
3. Exercise
4. Tissue paper collage with DS
5. Nap!

Snacks I enjoy:

Cheez-Its (so bad but oh-so-good)
Water
Empire Apples
Oatmeal Muffins

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

I would pay off our mortgage first. Then I would set up trust funds for our children and make sure ours and our family's retirement was secure. Invest some, donate more.

Five places I have visited:

Washington, D.C.
Central/Northern California
Barbados
Montreal
Iowa

Five jobs I have had:

Tour Guide
Resident Assistant
Library Clerk
Teacher/Librarian
Mother

Easter Bread 2008

Last year I showed pictures of my first attempt at making Easter Bread. This year, I thought I'd give a peek at the process! There are quite a few steps, and the bread rises three times so we started bright and early (7 AM).

First things first-- dye the eggs! Coloring raw eggs is a delicate business, but we didn't break one!

Scalding the milk and adding the sugar, lemon, and butter.
Skipping ahead, because kneading is the best part!

While we wait for the dough to rise (twice!), here's the view from my kitchen window this morning. Bright but only about 20 degrees.

Just 'cause she's a cutie and wasn't causing trouble, here's Miss Lena:

Looks good! Time to braid.

The dough is separated into fourths, rolled out, and braided. The eggs are tucked in and will cook as the bread bakes. I made one circle and one loaf to save eggs.

Voila! Ready for Easter dinner tomorrow.

Pay it Forward

If I have any readers left after my long absence, let's get things moving again!

Here's a chance to get a surprise in the mail from me. My surprise will be coming from Perri (who lives in Indiana), one of my favorite bloggers.

Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment that says you want to receive something from me and you want to Pay It Forward. The first THREE to agree to Pay It Forward at their blogs will get a gift from me. Email me your mailing address at zuzu822@hotmail.com.

2. The three winners must do the same thing on their blogs, so the Pay It Forward challenge will continue throughout Blogdom.

I'll be back to regularly scheduled blogging soon!

Lenten Cleaning: Kitchen Cupboards

I had several items on my to-do list yesterday, including my routine cleaning of the kitchen (refrigerator and floor), but it was all put on hold when I discovered a nasty surprise at about 8 AM: I was innocently reaching for a dishtowel, but instead… evidence of mice! Evidently, overnight a group of mice had a jolly time racing through my kitchen cupboards, but acting very irresponsibly by not cleaning up after themselves!

Fortunately, I had already made supper and had bread rising, so my other plans for the day were put on hold as I bravely worked section by section, emptying drawers and shelves, scrubbing the cupboard and all its contents. As a reminder, here’s what my kitchen cupboards look like:

I love this old cupboard, but because it is so old there are gaps that allow mice or other creatures to find their way in from the basement or under the floor. Until yesterday, I hadn’t had any visitors, but now we’ll be filling in those gaps as soon as possible!

It took me all day and countless buckets and sinks of water to clean everything to satisfaction. I also did a huge amount of decluttering! My kitchen table was full of a few extra appliances (rice cooker, anyone?) and gadgets and accessories (huge dip bowl that looks like a chili pepper!) that I just don’t use or need. My goal was to have the bottom shelf in the lower section completely empty, and I almost managed! All that’s there are several large serving trays, a basket, my Christmas plates, and a few extra settings of flatware!

I didn’t take any before pictures because, well, that’s just gross, but here is what everything looked like when I was finished (minus the dishes and mugs still drying in the dishwasher):

Left space for my crockpot which I was using. Look at that wide open pace on the bottom!

Lenten Cleaning: Downstairs Closets

I wrote out long descriptions of my work today but I lost it all, despite Blogger's claim it was saving my work. I'm far too tired to type it all again, so you'll have to use your imagination and trust me when I say things are in much better shape now.

I didn't take a before of this closet since all I did was add the basket on the top shelf to organize hats and mittens and bring shoe boxes over.

If I feel up to it tomorrow, I'll come back and add more information!