חֲנֻכָּה

Liz and I were up late last night, so this morning was a boys' morning. I decided to do something a little special, so I got up early and planned a little breakfast. Though we are a little late for this year, we learned about Hanukkah, the festival of lights. If you don't know why Hanukkah is celebrated, you can do your quick and dirty learning here, but I encourage further study because it is a beautiful tale of captivity, liberation, faith, temples, and miracles.

For our celebration this morning we enjoyed sweet potato latkes with eggs and read a story about he interaction between George Washington and a Jewish soldier at Valley Forge. It's based on a second-hand record, but I like to believe it's a true story. Not only is it beautifully told, but the author draws parallels between the two wars to help illustrate the struggle of a nation and the sweetness of liberty. We read from Hanukkah at Valley Forge and talked about the Maccabees, the miracle of the oil, and the symbolism of the Hanukkiah. Our book is also beautifully illustrated in lush watercolors that paint the story; we like pictures.

I learned this morning that Daddies never do it the way other people do, and the opportunity to share themselves with their children is a too infrequent delicacy. Joyful morning.

First Bank Accounts

We have been giving the boys an allowance for a while now but half of that allowance is to be saved for college/missions. The boys have been begging us to open accounts for them to put that money in, so we finally got around to it today. It only took 2 hours to open three minor accounts--I couldn't believe it! Not only could I not believe how long it took but I couldn't believe how well the boys behaved. They were amazing! And now they have bank accounts! Yay! And they are excited to save more money and manage their money responsibly. It is very exciting to see! Way to go boys. :)

Leave, leaves everywhere!

Well, no fall would be complete without raking leaves and raking leaves is no fun without jumping in leaves! We were very blessed with a very beautiful day for the task. This weather can stay as long as it would like! The boys and James helped me make the biggest leaf pile I have ever had the pleasure of creating. I must admit that we stole some of the leaves from our neighbors but since they moved this past weekend I don't think they'll mind.

Michael thought it would be fun to make a nest in the leaves. They are so creative!

And yes, I even got in the leaves. It has been awhile since I have been in a leaf pile!
And where was Jacob? Unfortunately, he is sporting a pretty high fever, so he was laying in the kitchen watching James bake. Hopefully he will get better soon!

Carving Pumpkins with Daddy

I must admit that I love having James home on Fridays! He still has to get some work done but it is nice to have him around! Last week he had pumpkin day on Friday. The boys got to carve pumpkins with daddy and roast pumpkin seeds. We even had pumpkin ice cream for desert! Here are some pics of their creations!

Mummies

What better field trip than to see mummies the week of Halloween! A mom in the area was planning a trip and decided to make a group field trip out of it, and I am glad she did! We went up to the Putnam Museum (in the quad cities) and watched a movie on mummies. It was fascinating to learn about the discovery of the tomb of the pharaohs. It amazes me how little I knew about mummies.

Then, we had a tour of the mummy exhibit. I didn't realize there was a real mummy so close. It was really fun to see.

It is amazing to watch a group of home schooled children sit and listen and try to ask as many questions as they are allowed.

Michael really enjoyed writing his name in hieroglyphics!

Then, we wandered around the rest of the museum and enjoyed the children's discovery area as well as the mammal exhibit. They got to make their own pyramids, play with tornado machines and play with puppets in a huge tree. It was really cute to pretend to be different animals in the tree. Everyone had a great time and learned a lot! What a great trip.

Mini vacation

Last month the boys and I took a mini vacation to visit grandma and grandpa Hutchings. It wasn't a very long visit because James ended up not being able to find a flight to join us but we had fun anyway. The boys got to write books with grandma, start growing grass and hear many grandpa stories! I just relaxed--it was great!

But we also got to stop at a hotel on our way there and back which the boys loved! We didn't get there until after midnight but it was fun anyway! Darn traffic. :)

Bright Futures

There is this great place in town that lets you check out toys. Well, they also have educational toys, etc. I love it and so do the boys! I just had to blog this cool little smock thing that we had fun playing with. So cute! It was really fun watching them play and act out what it would be like without their lungs, brain or whatever it was that they were missing. The brain was the best because they couldn't talk, think, see or anything else. It is amazing what a difference your brain makes. It was a great time and educational!

It is hot!

The funniest thing happened yesterday and I just had to blog it. We were eating Adobe style pork stew (I don't know the technical name) and Joshua came to us and told us it was hot. James asked if he meant spicy hot or warm. Joshua then said slowly and loudly 'It is HHHOT.' We gave him some more water hoping it would solve the problem and tried not to laugh too loudly but had a great laugh in bed last night. :)

Handy Man

It's been a handy few days for me. I'm not finished with my handiness yet, but I'm celebrating while I still can. Yesterday I caused a small explosion in my water heater, but today I'm on top of the world again. Tomorrow just might be tire swing day.

The water heater, you see, didn't need a new thermocouple. I couldn't have replaced it anyway because it was all new-fangled. The plumber said the problem was simply a design flaw, although I'm lucky to have the one I have because everyone else did it worse. The solution? Clean it more often (which we really shouldn't have to do more than twice each year.) The explosion? It was just a little gas build up that sent me flying while I was, for the fortieth time in a week, relighting the pilot that was slowly suffocating under the duress of the (again new-fangled) sealed burner chamber. Good thing I was flying of my own accord, don't you think? Didn't even singe my eyebrows. You might say it was all bang and no bite. You also might say I'm a lucky man; yes, say that.

The real victory came tonight when, in under five minutes, I replaced the headlight of my sad little car. Now, you may all scoff at so simple an accomplishment, but it's important to understand that:

1. I am an artist, and as such I do not fix things, I create them.
2. I don't have a handy attitude; I thoroughly believe that others, more gifted and mechanical than I, are more than willing to fix my little problems and take the extra money it costs to have them perform these tasks for me. I mean nothing demeaning by it; I really appreciate that there's someone to do what I, on a normal basis, cannot.
3. I don't mind paying someone else to make my life easier. That may sound ridiculous and pompous, but I put it in the same category as air conditioning: things I could do without but pay extra so I can choose not to.

But today I defied myself, shifted my paradigm, if you will, and took on a small task, spent $5 on the new light (should've sprung for the pricy, blue-light halogens, don't you think?) and put it in myself. I even maneuvered around the strangely designed retainer spring on the lamp. I'd have taken photos, but Liz took the camera to Virginia, and you don't want a lousy iPhone photo of that expectation defying accomplishment.

Memory

As anyone who knows me well knows, I have no memory but my boys have incredible memories, and they proved it today. Joshua got out our Bob the Builder memory game and asked me to play. We set it up after making sure everything matched-yes, I'm a crazy face. Then, we played. I was worried it would take all day because there were 35 matches to make. But soon enough Joshua started finding matches and we were off. In the end the score was Joshua 23, Liz 12. What does that say? Maybe I should ask. . . I wasn't even reading a book while we played, I actually tried. Hmmm. . . I guess I'd better practice more. :)

Great Homeschooling Moment

Occasionally great ideas hit me and when they do they are AWESOME! I was grateful to have one today as the boys were mourning the loss of the neighborhood kids to school. I let them watch a Bob the Builder while I did a little work and Bob taught them about building bridges. I came out to check on them and they were engrossed in the project Bob was working on when inspiration hit . . . 'would you like to build a bridge?' I asked. Of course the answer was a resounding YES! Here are some fun pics from what came next! I must admit that they wanted to build a suspension bridge but I didn't have the right kind of rope--one day I'll have it all! Enjoy because I know we did!

New Closet

I had no idea what difference a closet in a box could make but let me tell you, it is amazing! I forgot to take a before picture but just imagine one rod across the top with one shelf over it. That was it.

And now after James' magic touch with the help of the magic closet in a box, plus a few extras I give you our new closet! And I love it, so I hope you love it too!

The new school room in action

As you already know James' sisters family came to help us out this week, so they also got to help us break in our new school room today! There was painting, coloring, games, puzzles and much more (even a little math!) I had to take some pics and enjoy! It is nice to have a little normalcy back!

The finale!

OK, so it's been a long couple of weeks. We've missed family dearly since leaving the family reunion, but we've been busy, busy, busy with our house. We only had a few projects that really needed to be completed before school started, but they were rather intensive for me who was, at least at the beginning of the process, quite a novice with handy things like tools and sheetrock mud. So armed with a few well-thought plans, a careful budget, and a nearby Lowe's and Menards (I think they know me by name now,) I set out to turn our downstairs into exactly what we needed.

Project 1 was books. We have books. We have more books than I care to admit, and I know I'm excited to grow that collection into the space we created. We now have fifteen feet of built-in bookcases that also hold our sheet music, television, games, and some nice knick-knacks. They're not perfect, mostly because of cheap wood, but they'll last for years and I'm going to love them. They even have adjustable shelves that the boys helped me create.

Project 2 was school room, and this involved a little more effort. We removed molding, carpeting, and painted to match the back of the

bookcases in the family room. I thought it would be nice to create a cohesive multi-room feel, and now that it's done, I don't regret it a bit. After that was IKEA, and despite the joy of my favorite flat-pack store, the visit was one of the worst in history. Everything around which I had planned my rooms had been discontinued in the last month and had sold out completely. So, in a panic I started running around IKEA trying to re-plan the space for the same, or less money. I finally succeeded, and we returned, ready to throw ourselves pell-mell into the joy of the new projects. Yesterday Joe and I laid the floor replaced the molding, which conveniently matches the new floor, installed the desk, removed the ugly blinds, hung the cabinets, and rolled out the pretty rug. Today Liz took over and unpacked the stuff (I never interfere during this process) and tonight we are enjoying the well-earned fruits of our labors. There are a few photos of the process as well as a video tour of the two rooms. The first two photos are the Before photos—first the family room, then the office. The video is its own joy.

Two new photos

We had these taken at the Family Reunion last month. I love family photos.