Caught in the Act

Diana learned how to get on the counter without a chair.
Pretty good climbing skills.
Pretty bad sweet tooth.

Favorite Part of the Day

When I was almost done with my mission, I was blessed to serve with one of my best friends. We started a tradition that I've kept until today: the Favorite part of the day. At night before we said our evening prayer, we'd take a minute and list some favorite part(s) of the day. Maybe that's how she became a favorite companion. I love asking my kids and husband that question--and then telling them mine, too. It is a nice way to end the day.

Try it sometime soon.

Today my favorite part of the day is the quiet time I had alone with Bryn. She threw up this morning and spent the day in bed. In the evening, Nathan took the other kids to run an errand (Jumpstarting his car--which wouldn't start earlier in the day at a friend's house--but I digress).

I stayed home with Bryn and we read stories from the Friend magazine that arrived yesterday(a Church magazine for kids--if you didn't already know that). She picked them out and I read, cried, and kept reading. She knows I am going to cry when we pick up that magazine, at least from time to time. She let me bring her water, a cool cloth, and rub her head. I loved every minute of it, and while I would not wish sickness on her, it was nice for both of us to slow down our typical pace and BE together. Her being home also gave us time for 3 games of UNO, of which she won 2. She has a long history of beating me at games, and loves it.

ps Andrew had the same flu on Tuesday and it only lasted 24 hours, so I expect hers to be gone at 7 am tomorrow morning.

A hole in the wall

I found Andrew's book just in time: 102 Creepy, Crawly Bug Jokes" reappeared today. I was tidying up my bedroom for some guests we will be having over the next couple of days and I found Andrew's joke book. I also found these little holes in the wall of my closet. I saw 5-6 holes, but they were crawling with about 20 termites.

What kind of bugs get splinters?
Termites.

Andrew's kindergarten teacher gave him a great boy joke book at the end of his first year of school. It has come in handy on a few occasions. I read every joke tonight looking for more with termites. That's the only one. I could use more.

I don't really like bugs, or any other thing that lives in my space that isn't supposed to be there. Like the lizard in the apartment on my mission, or various spaces I lived in Chicago with mice. Add termites to the list.

Our termites number well over 20. (I know much more than I want to know about termites after talking to the first pest control guy who came to make an estimate). They come up through the ground into the wood in your house through "tubes" which you can see on the foundation of your house if you have them. They found 11 tubes on my house today.

It's a great day to be a renter and not a homeowner, even at my age. I might go on vacation when they come to fix it. He said that if you find 3 tubes or less, you can spray outside the house and that should be enough. But in our case, they will have to drill through the foundation every place there is a plumbing hole to fumigate the ground beneath. Every sink, faucet, shower, tub, toilet, water heater, etc. I might never come back.

This post is mostly for my dad, who I called in a panic when I found what I thought were maggots coming out of my closet wall. (Nathan was in clinic treating patients, probably with maggots, and didn't answer his phone. That is another story for another day. Maggot therapy. I will just say that they use it, and it works.)

Thank goodness it's not maggots and only termites. There really might be a first time for everything. When was the last time you said to yourself, "Thank goodness I've got termites!?"

Corny

Our Memorial Day weekend plans changed when we realized we couldn't get the air conditioner in the mini-van fixed until after Jun 1st. :(

We planned to go to Houston to the temple and to drive on a little further to dip our toes into the Gulf of Mexico. That trip is postponed for awhile, but we are having fun at home this weekend.

In the afternoon, we filled 15 of our new canning jars with corn. The kids helped shuck the corn, I cut, and Nathan prepared it for the jars. It was fun to work together on something we can use later. In between duty, the kids were out in the backyard playing. The weather was so nice today, only high 70's, so the windows were open and I called them when it was time to shuck more corn. I called them "Corn Team." They came running each time it was their turn to help. I'm pretty sure that A & B will be the only kids who answer "We canned corn" when they go back to school on Tuesday and are asked what they did over the weekend.

I learned that shucking and cutting could be done outside, sparing a lot of kitchen cleanup, but will have to buy more corn to apply that knowledge. This was the first time we'd tried canning corn. I thought it would work well in pint jars, since we now have an abundance of them.

Recycle and Reuse

In Chicago we had curbside recycling, and I thought that was the best way to do it. If you want to recycle here, you must take your own things to one of two sites on designated days. Thankfully, the drop-off site is right by Nathan's office, so once or twice a month he takes a few minute break to help us take care of our recycling. All the kids love it. Their favorite thing to recycle is plastic, because they get to peer over the sides of the semi-truck sized container to see how full it is, adding our milk jugs to the pile. They have been known to squabble over the privilege of plastic recycling.

There is a kind older man who works there. I think his name is Ed, aka "Recycling Guy."

Around October, I asked "Recycling Guy" if he ever got canning jars.

He said, "Too bad you didn't ask last week, I had to get rid of a bunch of them. But the next time I get some, I will set them aside for you. You just remind me about it."

So I've been reminding him every now and then, and today was our lucky day.

We came home with 8 quart jars, 44 pint jars, and a box full of jam jars of assorted shapes and sizes. The best part is that most of them had lids on them, so they were fairly clean. We truly scored!

"Recycling Guy" was happy we could use them and we promised him some freezer jam in return for his kindness.

Maybe curbside recycling isn't the best . . . . . thank you "Recycling Guy" and the lady(ies) who left them! I will happily reuse.

Finished Woodworking Projects

The lowest grade I ever received was in 9th grade woodshop. The reason? I never finished my final project. I think my teacher was generous with the grade he gave me. At some point during the class, I got scared of the tools. I don' t know how I spent my class time--because I obviously never finished my stool. Wonder if my dad has that wood sitting around somewhere . . . ? Hope not.

In Cub Scouts, (at least at Andrew's level) some woodworking is mandatory. I approached it hesitantly, but am happy with the finished project, seen here. Nathan talked me through it from shopping at Lowes all the way to the last screws. Thanks to him--it's done. And thanks to Scouting, I can now say that my most recent woodworking project is a finished woodworking project.

The Webelos and Bears made this toolbox, the Wolves boys made bookends. Each boy got to use a handsaw, measuring tape, C-clamps, and screwdriver. I think they had fun, too. One finished toolbox left my home tonight, two in varying stages, and two more stayed here because they need quite a bit more work. Three sets of completed bookends and one more than halfway done. Oh how I love a finished project!

I also enjoyed working with wood growing up. My dad had a box of scrap wood that he let us use without needing to ask his permission. I don't remember making anything spectacular out of it--anything for that matter--just fun to use my imagination and my hands. I remember practicing driving nails and pulling them out again. Dad also made the wood blocks we played with, which he did keep for his grandchildren. They are a treasure.

I almost forgot the best part of this project. The first day I cut wood, Caitlin came out into the garage, watched me pushing and pulling the saw back and forth and burst into laughter, saying, "That's funny. A mom working?!"

Andrew stayed home from school today with a headache, so he spent several hours working in the garage with me getting wood ready for tonight. Hopefully he will remember that we were together the first time he used a saw, because he's my unfinished project.

(p.s. I am giving this toolbox away, but will be building another one with Andrew when he's a Bear. Thanks to grandparents, he already has tools to store in it).

Riding Lawn Mower

Can your lawn mower do this?
Shorter grass, Sears. Time with Dad, Priceless.