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!