What I Loved About the Last Two Weeks (33rd Ed.)

Did you notice What I Loved About Last Week was missing last week? We drove to Illinois to visit my parents while Kansas Dad went up to Chicago for a conference.

1. Our best drive to my parents' house ever - no one threw up and hardly anyone cried. We stopped at a rest stop and had a picnic lunch. The kids loved running around and playing games. We made it in record time, too. (Let's not talk about the drive home, shall we?)

2. Second Son started saying "yep" our first day at my parents' house. I'm not really sure where he picked that up, but it's adorable. Over the past two weeks, he has started talking a lot more. "Yep" and "nope" get him far. He also says First Daughter's name and will ask for "more water," though he often means more milk. When he's in the mood, he'll repeat almost anything you name for him. Not that he's in the mood very often. He teases us with it, yelling stuff out when we start to move on to something else.

3. A morning on horseback. We visited friends of my mother who graciously let First Son, First Daughter and Second Daughter ride. They also hitched one of the horses to a pony cart and gave us all rides.

First Daughter would still be on this horse if it was at all possible.

4. An evening with fireflies. We let the kids stay up late one night and run around outside catching fireflies. We don't have many of them on our bit of Range, so it was a new experience for them all. They loved it! We let the fireflies go when we went back inside.

5. A night with Kansas Dad in Chicago. My parents graciously watched our children, with some help from my awesome aunt and uncle, while I hopped a train to join Kansas Dad at his conference. We had dinner with a dear college friend and her family and, the next day, I spent hours with them walking their neighborhood and enjoying a fabulous lunch. It had been about four years since I last saw her, so it was a very special treat to reconnect. (It was nice to hang out with Kansas Dad, too.)

6. Memorial Day at the pond. All the cousins came. We fished, we picnicked, we tried to take a picture of all the grandchildren. It was a great day. (Yeah, I didn't fish. Kansas Dad was in charge of that. Fish and bait don't bother me; I just find it really boring. If I'm going to sit around and stare at the water, I want to be holding a book, not a fishing pole.)

First Son's first fish!

First Daughter's first fish!

7. Ordering books! Sacred Heart Books and Gifts had a coupon code for free shipping. I took advantage of it and ordered most of what we still needed for next year. I love buying books! A few I'm most excited about: A Saint and His Lion: The Story of Tekla of Ethiopia and Saint Thomas Aquinas.

8. Lesson planning. It's a hassle, but I love it. I'm working my way through American History, Physics part I, and Financial Literacy right now. So many wonderful books we're going to read next year!

9. Fences that stand up. A big branch broke our picket fence a few months ago. Subsequent storms have weakened it further. Kansas Dad devoted a few hours on Saturday to a temporary fix. (Eventually, I think we're going to have to rebuild that part of the fence, but since we're not sure of the long-term fence situation, it made sense to avoid a big investment.)

10. Dinner with family. Kansas Dad's brother and sister-in-law were in town this weekend. We were a little wary of infecting them with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease, but were able to meet up for a dinner over the weekend.

11. Photo albums. I recently decided to start making photo books with an online service rather than ordering prints and putting them in albums myself. I finished the first album of 2012 over the weekend and ordered it. I also uploaded our May pictures and shared them with family. I am therefore officially up-to-date on pictures! (Not that I have met all my picture goals. Second Son's official picture on our wall is from when he was three months old and the family portrait hanging above our fireplace is more than five years old and is missing two kids.)

End of the Outbuilding

Just in case anyone is interested, the recent dumpster rental is the end of a project that started back in July 2011 when a friend came and smashed our falling-down outbuilding (which was a private menace, if not a public one):

There was still a lot of debris left when he carted off the big pieces of metal. Kansas Dad cleaned it up a bit here and there, but he really needed to rent a dumpster to just take care of the rest. (In the end, it also required a sledgehammer; every project is better when a sledgehammer is involved.) The dumpster came and went and now nearly all the mess is gone!!

I should show you a picture of what it looks like now, but it's pretty much a plain piece of concrete. I'm not sure what we'll do with it, but we're tossing around ideas like a basketball hoop. At the very least, it's a good place to use our sidewalk chalk and now there's little chance of large pieces of metal falling down on us.

What I Loved About Last Week (30th Ed.)

1. Our parish volunteer dinner was last week. A generous friend watched our children, who romped around her house with her kids and had a delightful time while Kansas Dad and I enjoyed dinner without kids.

2. Wednesday was the Feast of St. Athanasius, our family's patron saint. I have yet to discover what St. Athanasius would have eaten for a feast day, but I had some half-made cookie dough, so I finished that for our feast. They were delicious and the kids were satisfied.

3. We finished math!! We have one week of lessons left, though we'll spread it out a little so we can hang out with friends here and there.

4. Kansas Dad ordered a dumpster and then spent days loading it up with the remnants of our outbuilding and various home improvement projects despite a twisted ankle so all that garbage could be off our property! We have it for a few more days this week, but he really cleaned up the bulk of it over the weekend.

5. We spent a lot of time outside this weekend, enjoying a full Saturday without any other place to be. Kansas Dad and the kids went on a lizard hunt, made a jar into a home for a caterpillar (which has already started making a cocoon) and went tromping through some paths he mowed back into the woods a bit. Every one was hot and sweaty and dirty when we came in (straight to the bath!), but happy. (Those who are friends with me on Facebook also know we spotted a snake crawling up our window last week, so it was an interesting animal week here on the Range. I think Kansas Dad got a picture of that, but it will have to wait until I have time to find the camera.)

6. Last night, Second Daughter was in the downward dog position when she proceeded to hop across the room. Still in downward dog. I didn't know that was even possible.

What I Loved About Last Week (17th Ed.)

1. Second Son has always loved the dog. He's recently started trying to lead the dog around. For those who don't know Moses is real life, he weighs over 60 pounds and is nearly taller than Second Son. It's hilarious to watch the baby grab a hold of the collar and pull with all his might while the dog ignores him. Then the dog sees something interesting and wanders off, dragging Second Son behind, laughing hysterically.

2. Second Son is saying a new word or two each day. He is obviously saying "Jesus" and "Amen." He doesn't say "mama" very often, but he can. I've also heard him say "mo-om" like all those other kids.

3. Second Son yelling "Hooray!" or an approximation thereof along to When You're Happy and You Know It (his current favorite song).

4. Second Son has learned that taking off his pants is funny. I'll give you three guesses for the three people who initially taught him this was funny and then encourage him to do so on a regular basis. (Not that you need a hint, but they're the same three people who taught him it is funny to run away from any grown-up who indicates it's time for a diaper change.)

5. My new closet! The coat closet suffered disaster last week when a whole set of hooks came tumbling down. At one point, we had coats, hats and mittens for four kids piled waist high (my waist) in the closet. Kansas Dad and I went to a store and bought some shelves, rods and baskets. Then, he spent Monday night installing it. Now the coats hang, the baskets contain the hats and mittens and I'm breathing a little easier. Along the same lines, the knob fell off in our shower. Kansas Dad and I spent a few days turning the hot water on and off with pliers, but he bought all the stuff to fix it when we bought the shelves and then fixed it right away.

6. Being able to help a friend. It's nice to be able to set aside some lessons and run over to a friend's house when she needs a little help.

7. "The British Are Coming!" This cry has been ringing out in our house at random times as we begin our study of the Revolutionary War. First Daughter keeps asking what team we want to win. (Seriously, she asks almost every day. I'm not entirely sure how to answer.)

8. Our own room! Second Son moved into the kids' room this weekend. Kansas Dad spent an afternoon taking the crib apart and reassembling it. Now we just need to finish moving all the shelves, filing cabinet and, well, everything but the bed, out of the office so the girls can move in there. They are excited. Maybe that will be the news for next week! (Though I think Kansas Dad is going to have to address the washing machine, which is making a mysteries clanking noise as the drum rotates.)

Quiet Because It's Chilly

I really wanted to finish a post for Friday morning, but we hit some complications on Wednesday when our furnace stopped working. The thing chugged along all right until we had an actually wintry cold day and then it died when it was supposed to get down into the teens overnight. Kansas Dad loaded the kids and headed to his parents' house around 9:30 pm when the furnace people left and I gathered the last of our things for an overnight, opened the faucets a little and we all prayed the pipes wouldn't freeze.

They didn't. Thank God!

But the furnace people still couldn't get it working on Thursday. Luckily, Kansas Dad had managed to wrestle the shed door lock open and bring in our (very safe) space heaters. So we managed for one night and they fixed it today.

Now I have a bit of typing to do on meeting minutes and parish websites and other such important things so the blog must wait. (I couldn't type in the cold, you know!)

My Small Successes XXXVI

We had some wonderful successes this week!

1. Kansas Dad fixed the dryer. It's been squeaking horribly for at least two months. He took it apart (three times), ordered parts, replaced them, put it back together, got it working, and even fixed the little knob on the top that's been broken for almost two years. I am still getting used to not reaching for the pliers to start it up. He also replaced the stereo in the van. The old one chewed up and spit out a CD (one of my Music Masters, of course). It's wonderful to be able to listen to CDs again!

2. We took the kids on a field trip to the State Fair on Monday. It was dollar day and Kansas Dad didn't have any classes so off we went! We learned a few things about taking our kids to the fair. Next time we're going to let them ride for a while as soon as the rides open and then wander to look at animals and other curiosities. They only rode four rides each at the end of the day and were perfectly happy!

3. I got up and exercised yesterday. It was still dark. The first number on the clock was a 6!! Then, because I was up and the kids were sleeping, I was very productive. I recognize the value in this plan, but that doesn't mean I'll successfully manage to do it again. We'll see tomorrow morning...

Head over to Faith and Family for more small successes!

Love Is Spinning

The spinning whirl of our washing machine, on its third load since Kansas Dad wrestled it apart, dug through it, researched online, bought a tool to test the electronics, tested it, researched more online, ordered a part (overnight), and repaired it.

This Valentine's Day we received a functioning washing machine. Clean clothes are a beautiful thing.

Weekend Update

Kansas Dad and I were ambitious in the kitchen last night. We made pumpkin masoor dal and were pleased with the results. The dal is not spicy, but we added some cracked red pepper (only one tablespoon) to the topping so mixed together it had a little heat. We could only find brown lentils, so we missed out on the nice orange color shown in the picture. It certainly made a lot of dal! We'll be eating it tomorrow again. Does anyone know if dal freezes well?

Other news on the Range:

We had no water pressure Thursday night. Kansas Dad bought a bunch of gallons of water and we lived without running water overnight. We were very happy the plumber was able to get it fixed on Friday for much less than we feared. Our pressure tank, though, is apparently on its death bed, so we'll be saving up for a new one. For the moment, though, we have better water pressure than since we moved in and our pressure tank isn't cycling every few minutes.

Due to the lack of water, the kids and I spent Friday morning out instead of on our lessons. We visited the library and a big park. I think spending some extra time outside in the beautiful weather we've been having is a perfectly adequate use of our time. Soon enough it will be too cold to venture out every day.

Kansas Dad tripped and sprained his ankle Saturday night. He says it's not as bad as it could be, but he's on crutches. (First Son still calls them crunches and First Daughter calls them scrunches.)

Second Daughter said mama this morning. I'm not really counting it because she was just mimicking me, but I anticipate the real thing soon.

First Son carried an alligator and snake he made yesterday to church this morning, intent on giving them to his Sunday School teacher. Once there, though, he refused to give them up. He told us, "I need to think about it a little more." So home they came. His teacher was quite understanding.

Candy Experiments

We didn't have water, but we did have fun! We tried out some of these candy experiments.


I'm pretty sure First Daughter ate another piece of candy every time I turned to talk to First Son about what we were doing. First Son ate his share as well. I don't know how much they understood, but they liked seeing the colors, dissolving the candy and watching it fizz when I added some baking soda (if they were acidic).

I think we may make candy experiments a post-Halloween tradition.

As for the water, it seems our pressure tank isn't working. We'll be calling a plumber about that in the morning. We have plenty of bottled so no worries yet. The kids and I may make an unplanned field trip tomorrow, though, so we can be out of the way. Kansas Dad had to cancel his classes. His students are probably celebrating.

Love Is in the Sink

Kansas Dad spent pretty much all day Saturday on an inside project dear to my heart.

He replaced this sink.


With a lovely new one:


And this box, which has been sitting in our living room since we moved in last September, getting more and more dilapidated...


has been kicked out!

Query VI

The box says "easy-to-install." In what universe does cutting a hole in the wall mean easy?

Kansas Dad is installing the new bathroom sink! He's already been to the store and back once.

It's the Little Things

I missed the fun of posting some Small Successes last week while my parents were in town, so there are lots of things to choose! Having my parents around gave us a lot of time to work on a few things together -- like hanging pictures. (I picked the place, Kansas Dad did the hammering, as always.) Second Daughter especially likes having the pictures all around. She points to them and jabbers because she recognizes us. Now I just need to order updated pictures for some of the frames so there are pictures of her!

Here are my official Successes:

1. I finished the dressing frames for our preschool next year. Mostly these are for First Daughter, but First Son could use some button help as well, so hopefully they get a lot of use. My mom was an amazing help in getting these done and there will be (eventually) a complete post on them.

2. Hanging things! Kansas Dad and I had some time to shop by ourselves last Monday while Grammy watched the kids so we finally picked a little valance for the kitchen window. Now we can wash dishes in the evening without going blind from the setting sun shining into our eyes.


You'll have to forgive the mess on the sill. I wanted to leave in the bright red zinnia Kansas Dad and the kids grew (one of the few the bunnies didn't eat).

While my parents were in town, Kansas Dad and I had some time to shop the local Catholic bookstores for a crucifix for our living room. (We hate taking the older ones to those shops because there are so many things to play with break there.)


It's above our poetry and religion bookcase, which I think looks wonderful when it's not being used as a resting place for everything else. As you can see, I cropped it for the picture.

Last, but not least, Kansas Dad finished repairing the clothesline and we used it! (Until the rains came.)


3. I experimented with making chocolate graham cracker animal crackers and learned the hard way that you have to separate them completely before baking. The best thing to do is roll the dough out onto parchment paper, cut the cookies individually with lots of space between, pull up the excess (to roll out later) and bake. Beautiful, but time-consuming.


We also learned the graham crackers are much better when sprinkled with sugar before baking. Not that it kept us from eating them. I have crumbs left I intend for a pudding pie this weekend.

Head over to Faith & Family for more Small Successes!

Shelter from the Storm

A few years ago, when my husband said he wanted to live in the country and farm, I said ok.

When we were looking at homes, all I wanted was a basement. I am, after all, Kansas Mom and I quake in humble fear of the tornadoes that tear across our home state every year.

Guess what we don't have?

That's right. We have a gross crawlspace, the entrance to which is half-blocked by the stairs installed by a previous owner at the side door.

So, when we bought our farm, my husband and I talked about a storm shelter. I believe my sentiment was pretty much, "I will follow you to the country. I will help you farm. I will learn to can and all such things. It will, however, be your job to research, purchase and supervise the installation of a storm shelter before the spring storms are upon us. I can guarantee I will be one unhappy anxious wife without one."

A few days ago, there was a tornado warning with a wall of clouds right above our house. Today, they came to dig the hole.


And install the shelter. Through a series of decisions, most of them by others, our shelter resides well within view of the living room window, but I'm ok with that.



It's not too pretty on the inside, but it's solid. We'll be stocking it soon with some blankets, water, flashlights, and other necessities, though I hope we'll never have to use it.

I am very grateful for my shelter and I hope my husband knows how much I appreciate his work to give me a greater sense of security. I know it is only God who can protect us from the storms, but the installation was quicker and less expensive than we anticipated, His handiwork. Even if we never have to huddle inside as a tornado rages overhead, just having it in the yard eases my mind, and that's a kind of shelter, too.

Honey Do List

Kansas Dad has been hard at work around the house. I have been meaning to post all his home and farm improvements including painting the kitchen (including the cabinets), painting the trim in the living room, installing a new floor in the master bath, installing a new toilet in the master bath, installing walkway lights along our front path, filling the hole the size of a small Volkswagon at the end of our driveway, cutting our cabinet so the fridge could be pushed back, re-attaching the door handles on the fridge and probably a lot of other things I can't remember right at the moment. I just want you to understand he's been hard at work and all of these things made me very happy.

But this is what has warranted a post. It is fantastic, and it only took him ten minutes!

Humming

The dryer is running.

The dishwasher is running.

The washing machine will run as soon as the dishes are clean.

And I'm about to settle down in front of Lost from Netflix (shh...don't tell me what happens!) for the second night in a row with three loads of laundry to fold.

The kids and I are spending two days (and a night) away from home so Kansas Dad can tackle those fume-producing jobs (painting and something with the bathroom floor that involves bleach) while the weather will be warm enough (in January!) to leave doors and windows open. Who knows what wonders will await our return on Saturday night?

Those pictures are still waiting to be organized and there are thank you notes still to write, but I'm happy with my lot.

The Digital Age

I love my digital camera. I really do. I love taking pictures with it, finessing them on the computer (getting rid of that pesky red eye) and ordering prints online. I just slide them into albums in date order and love flipping through them. (So do the kids.)

But after a big vacation, I do not love going through all the picture one by one. I've finished one day's worth and am up to this:


First Son and First Daughter all snuggled up and ready for the long drive to my parents' house.

Only about a hundred to go.

I did skip ahead to bring you this, though:



We had a little leak which Kansas Dad thought he had clamped shut until he could repair it, but apparently some water was still escaping. It's at least six feet across and a foot tall. It's not growing anymore, but it's not clear that it's melting, either, despite at least a few hours above freezing every day.

Kansas Dad plans to splice that hose back together this week (and get our ice maker up and running again).

Good News

First Daughter had a return visit to the dentist this morning to check up on that tooth she knocked loose. She was not too keen on participating, but opened up without too much hassle and without any crying or gnashing of teeth. She was particularly thrilled with her Tigger toothbrush.

We finally stopped by the library in town. It's distinctly possible we own more books than they do (certainly so in children's books), but there's a story hour on Thursday mornings that has me excited for the kids. The librarian and the other ladies I met there were very welcoming.

Our water softener has been chugging away for a week now, without incident. I had planned a funny post about how our water is half rock (coming in at a staggering 28.6 GPG) and with a reference to a certain scene in A Christmas Story, but I'm too tired. Suffice it to say, the dishwasher works and I thanked God for it on Sunday morning.

Praise and Thanksgiving!

Our pipes didn't freeze last night!

Getting our crawlspace winterized just jumped ahead of the water softener in the priority list.

One Year on the Range

Today, we're celebrating. Our Home on the Range has been online for one year! So we're taking a look back...

A few milestones:

• Kansas Dad finished his dissertation and then successfully defended his dissertation.
• First Son graduated from diapers and pull-ups.
• Kansas Dad had minor surgery and then, as soon as he was feeling better, dislocated his ankle (and was in a cast), just three weeks before my due date.
• Second Daughter was born.
• We bought a house.
• Kansas Dad started his first official tenure-track full faculty position.
• Kansas Mom switched from full-time to part-time.
• First Son started his reading lessons, making us an official "formal" homeschooling family.
• This blog has been visited more than 3900 times, which is more than my previous two blogs combined (from May 2004 through October 2007).

I think we managed to hit all the most stressful good milestones! We have indeed been stressed, but we have also been blessed. Our children are healthy, our land is fruitful (and it's ours!), our pantry is full and our hopes for the coming year are expansive.

Some things we learned:

• Christmas Eve is not always fun.
• How to build a square foot garden, dissasemble a washing machine, repair a computer, install a dishwasher and (coming soon) rebuild a water softener. (Kansas Dad did, at least.)
• I love Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education.
• Our favorite way to prepare pattypan squash (whole wheat chocolate cake; seriously, it's fantastic).
• You can trade books you don't want for books you do want, just for the cost of postage. (I've received 41 books so far!)
• It is difficult, but not impossible, to care for a preschooler, a toddler and a newborn while packing everything you own and then unpack it while caring for a preschooler, a toddler and an infant.
• Some people (we won't name names) do not take very good care of their houses.
• Some babies really are good sleepers. Some toddlers are not.
• Our new parish is delightful.
• The mice will always be with us.

Last, but not least, I leave you with my favorite post.

Sometimes, It's as Simple as Asking

Kansas Dad and I have been married for over ten years now. I remember when ten years seemed an age and yet now I feel we've barely begun. (That's a good thing; I'm so excited about our future together!) My husband can still surprise me. For example, I always knew he enjoyed flipping through home maintenance books. I never imagined he would attempt a massive resuscitation of our water softener (saving potentially thousands of dollars, but certainly hundreds). In fact, he's tackled almost every single one of the tips in this post over at The Simple Dollar.

A few months ago, Kansas Dad mentioned that he really only likes strawberry and raspberry yogurt. What? Really? Ten years and he never mentioned that? I eat yogurt because it's good for me, not because I particularly like it. When I do eat yogurt, I like a little variety -- mostly berries, but different ones. So at the grocery store, I was picking a few of these and some of those, a variety.

Well, once I knew what he liked, it was easy to accommodate his request. Now our fridge is stocked almost exclusively with strawberry and raspberry yogurt. (Kansas Dad has been doing most of the grocery shopping recently, with my list in hand, and has been choosing variety for my sake. How sweet is that?)

A few weeks later, Kansas Dad remarked, "It's so nice to reach into the fridge and always pull out a yogurt I like."

Since then I've been struck a number of times by how easily we could have the desires of our heart if we just opened our mouths and asked. If you think about it, it's an obvious concept that applies to every aspect of marriage. (Yes, every aspect of marriage. Your spouse cannot read your mind.)

I wonder if it would also apply in our prayer lives. Of course, God knows exactly what we're thinking and dreaming and hoping...but perhaps sometimes he's waiting for us to ask.