Neighborly Opportunity

Wait! Don't go! You're on the right blog :) These faces belong to our neighbors--so why are they on this blog? Well, it is because of the father-daughter dance, of course. Still not clear. Hmmm . . . okay, how about this?

Text from neighbor: "My girls are going to the father daughter dance tonight at church, Julia was wondering if Caelan would be available to fix her hair?"

Oh, man! How CUTE is that? Julia is the little one in the photo. The taller one is her big sister--wearing the very same dress that Caelan sewed just for her, last year! Hair and fashion design for a fancy outing :)

When Caelan accepted the challenge (she was still sleeping when the challenge arrived, so we had to wait an hour or so to present it to her ;), her hair model, Gabby, patiently sat and let the stylist-to-be practice several potential options from which the little girls could choose. Caelan then photographed the hairstyles and texted them to our neighbor for the dance-goers to ponder.

At the appointed time, she set out with a bag full of styling supplies--including a comb, bobby pins, a curling iron, some hair pretties--and her brother. Okay, so Graysen wasn't exactly part of the hairstyling session, but he's good buddies with the young ladies' brother, and his personality is pretty much, "If there's a party--I'm invited." :) So Graysen attended the salon session, but really wanted to share a copy of a very funny story he wrote about a knight and a king and some pizza. Our neighbors asked for him to autograph the copy he made for them :)

I just thought it was the cutest thing that the neighbor girls wanted their hair-styled for their special night out; and their mom thought it was pretty awesome too (because little girls are more likely to sit sweetly for the young lady neighbor of-whom-they-are-in-awe than for their own mom who is trying her best not to lose her cool in a hair raising situation ;)

Expanding Responsibilities

It's no secret that I am not a fan of ironing. I feel like the shirts for sure look better when I finish with them than when I start . . . but, man, not as perfect as I want them to be! Plus, I'm slow at it. And I burn myself a lot. For more than a week, the ironing board has been taking up precious real estate in our living room. During that time, I ironed a few things. Buck ironed a few things. Finally, Gabby says, "I'd like to learn to iron." You would! *Favorite child of the day* award goes to Gabby! :) 

We settled in for a tutorial, Brennen also watched (but he really just wanted to play the Sega and knew waiting politely increased his chances, especially since Caelan and G$ were out shoveling snow off the driveway :)

I went through the process once, completed a pesky dress shirt, and then turned over the steaming block of plastic and metal to my daughter. Gabby remembered every step and polished off several dress shirts in a row. Caelan popped in to try ironing the final product of the dress she made, but abandoned it for dinner. She did such a good job tutoring Gabby through a complex Algebra situation today, that I showed mercy on her equal dislike of ironing and finished the dress for her :) Gabby then swopped in and finished two freshly washed dress shirts--and the board is back in its cozy little storage nook. Mission complete! Hooray, that I have one kid (so far) who likes (yes?) to iron!

Another big responsibility growth area--Caelan opened her first checking account (minus the checks :) She had quite a packet of savings from her knitting and bear-making ventures, and it was time to put them into something more accessible than the home fire safe (ughh, the process of digging that thing out to cover business-related expenses!) Now, whenever she has a payment received, she can deposit in her account. If checks come in my name, it still works (since I had to co-sign, given her age).

After years of carrying exhausted gift cards and expired membership cards in her wallet, Caelan now has her very own debit card to help fill those clever slots. She handled the opening of the account, while I sat by and let her talk with the banker about options. She handled the activation of the account, while I sent her brother to frantically find her ss# before time ran out on the "enter now" screen . . . time ran out; she had to start over :) But it all worked out.

Pretty exciting, growing up things happening around here!

Capitol Building Project

Inspired by our visit to the state's first capital, Graysen built the capitol building from Legos!

Old School

Last weekend, Buck had to travel for work--again. Unfortunately it wasn't his turn to take this responsibility (again) and he got "stuck" with it. Fortunately, we were able to go with him to make the experience more pleasant and hopefully safer! Why safer? Well, the all-night work schedule doesn't leave much time for sleep in the hotel. Going to work at 10 PM and getting back to the hotel at 8:15 AM with an 11 AM check-out is pretty ridiculous. Mix in a potential massive blizzard, and it's just not the best time to be driving drowsy.

Once we found out we could go with him, as per my usual, I did a little trip planning research and discovered a hotel with beds for all of us AND a kitchen (yesss!!!). It is so much cheaper to pack food and cook our own meals. Buck's, of course, were paid for per diem. So that left the kids and I to chef it up while he enjoyed local flavors (take out) with us at the hotel. Did I mention the rate also included a full breakfast and there was a pool!? Why, yes, those things were also true. And even better, in my opinion, was the fact that there was a cupcake bakery built into the hotel! It had gluten free options (my current experiment) and a giant Herky statue in a chef's hat--I mean, winner winner cupcakes for dinner!! :)





But of course, we couldn't just stay in the hotel :) After Buck had napped a bit, we set out for the museums on the UofI campus. Historically, I never once actually visited these, despite my frequent class taking on the same floors and in the same halls. I knew there was taxidermy in the natural history museum, but I had no idea the number and variety of creatures therein contained! Wow! From a giant sloth (which thankfully no longer roams the plains, pew!) to stuffed rhinos, lions, a dodo bird, in fact every kind of song and predatory bird you can imagine--all frozen perfectly in time for viewing. It was pretty neat! The kids and Buck were constantly saying, "Whoa! Check this out! Look over here! This is so cool!" Yay! Fun, free, educational activity, and I took care of some sightseeing business I should have taken care of 20 years ago--although I'm kind of glad I didn't, because it was fun to experience it with my crew :)













Look! Bison for Auntie J! :)

I used to take classes in this auditorium! Crazy flashback, time tunnel, time travel kind of experience wandering these halls--remembering classes I'd taken, not remembering much of what I learned, but knowing I was for sure there :) 






We thought this bird egg display was so interesting! See the teeny-tiny hummingbird egg on the bottom right? The size of a tic-tac we decided . . .  clear up to that giganto Albatross egg. Around the corner, they had ostrich and emu and other REALLY big eggs. We're kind of into eggs since we have chickens now; eggs are kind of a big deal around here ;)



We had rad parking and time on the meter, so we decided to also walk through the Old Capitol building--also free, also very cool! Such stately buildings, and well-preserved. We liked the soothing colors, the heavy draperies, the incredible curving staircase, the senate chamber, and the quill pens and candles on the desks. Gabby checked out the library, Buck found some old year books (not the coolest year of graduates though ;), and of course, we found more bison for Aunt J! :)




Buck asked me what that castle towery-looking building is in the background distance. I told him, "It must be new, since I don't remember." He said, "Yeah, that doesn't look new, Miss 'I lived here three years.'" Lol. Brother Bob?? What have you got for me? :)

Back at the hotel, the next morning, a very tired Buck met us for breakfast. The kids and I went to the pool again--I got A LOT of reading done, which was super great! The kids are going to be so excited to read the book on report writing that I finished for them AND creative writing exercises for the growing mind ;) Both this morning and the day before, the pool looked like the first picture when we arrived--just us!! But not for long. On the previous day, a giant, seemingly -extended family arrived with A COOLER full of beer and a boom box . . . ummm, read the rules; my kids did :) They were pretty low key while we were there, but our kids didn't want to stay long with that many adult bodies in that small of a space. And then after breakfast on the second day, a whole flock of kiddos landed in the pool. These our kids had fun with, playing Marco Polo, diving games, Heads up 7-up, batting the ball around . . . this younger group was totally un-parentally supervised (read the sign people; my kids did! ;) and I kept a close eye on the little 4- or 5- year- old baby that the 10- to 12-year- old siblings? friends? were somewhat in charge of watching. Later, the girls told me several of the older kids didn't know how to swim!! Gasp!





After Buck's nap, and the kids' showers, we ventured out for more fun in the city--in a steady drizzle. First we went to the mall to wander and see what was happening at the ice rink. Then Buck remembered a waaaayyy distant (like kids in strollers distant) visit that included Whitey's ice cream. He is an ice cream connoisseur, so we had a little afternoon treat at his insistence (with no resistance). 




Our next quest sent us back to campus in search of parking for an orchestral event at the Old Capitol building. We did not find the conveniently located open meters as we had the previous day . . . instead, we parked several blocks away in the giant church section of town (I took classes over there too, once upon a time :) We splashed through the puddles, admired the oddly-shaped Cambus, and made it to the orchestra on time. See, vacation planning is a good thing!

It just so happened that this New York-based group of extremely talented young adults were playing a selection of music primarily composed by Beethoven . . . and we had just studied Beethoven that very week in our book of famous composers. Oh, and it was free! (I'm high-fiving myself at the moment, just so you know ;)

We were seated in the lovely senate chamber on the upper level of the building--chandeliers, oooh, ahhh! The lady behind us had a very strong European accent and a VERY short temper, so we got to *enjoy* some pre-show fireworks. I think Caelan might have learned a few new swear words that she missed during the movie. Oh, people! Such a world full of people.

The concert started with just two instruments and built to seven at its largest point. There was a violin (my favorite!), a viola, a cello, a French horn, a super fun bassoon, a double bass, and a very pleasant clarinet. This group strives to keep the most complicated classical music alive by learning and performing it, so it isn't lost. They were energetic too, for classical musicians--hair flying around, facial expressions all over the place, heads bopping, arms flailing--for 1.5 hours. Now, I thought the boys might wear out after such a long time, but though they became a bit fidgety toward the end, they all expressed their enjoyment of the experience afterwards.

During the concert, I held Buck's hand and as the soothing tones lulled him to sleep, I'd feel his grip relax, so I'd kind of move a little to wake him up. Poor, tired guy! He enjoyed the performance too, and didn't snore once! He insists he was not the only man asleep in the room--and he was probably right. That music just rocks you like a baby sometimes :)




After the orchestra experience, we had to have some balance in our interests, so we went to a pub to watch NFL playoff games :) The Wig and Pen is one of the more *known* restaurants on campus, although I don't remember going there much. It seems that many of the places I went, no longer exist :) I guess I should have chosen my dining experiences more carefully for long-lasting meal opportunities, ha!

Back at the hotel, we watched more football (I say *we* but I was reading my stack of books while *they* did most of the sportsball watching ;) Buck said several times that the business trip was so much better with us along than it would have been without us. Yay! And yay for valiant neighbors who will take care of the farm while we're away for a measly half dozen eggs plus one :) And yay for a blizzard that broke just long enough for us to get home, get the dog from the vet clinic, and get Buck to work safely (the drive home from work, not so great, but he made it!)

If You Build It . . .

Remember that fun little trip we took last fall to see the Field of Dreams? Well, my mom sent the kids the DVD for Halloween. I didn't get around to (re)watching it for content until Buck took the kids pheasant hunting, and I dug through a pile of schoolwork and grading. I can multitask :)

On the next blustery, stay-inside kind of day (didn't take long), all but Gabby settled in with me to watch the classic baseball movie about ghosts :) I told the kids ahead of time, "There is a lot of swearing in this movie, and they use God's name in vain quite a bit." Afterwards, Caelan said, "Those were all swear words I knew . . . except for a couple." Gabby says, "What were the new ones?!" Nice try, sister :) "I'm not telling you! Plus, I don't remember." Good answer :)

We skipped over the book banning scene in the gym, but I explained in brief what happened, and how that led to the next clue in the baseball puzzle. The three that watched with me said the movie was really sad, but really good.

A few days later, the boys were busy with their Legos--rebuilding the Field of Dreams. Since they've been there AND seen the movie, they had all kinds of reference points. See the trail of cars leading up to the field? The corn rows in the outfield? The lights around the park? Later they even built bleachers and put each of the main characters in their spots on the structure. "I need a little girl face for Karin . . . do we have a little girl face?"



Fun to see their imaginations in 3-D, and it revved their baseball dreams just enough to make the twice-a-week practices (IN JANUARY!) even more fun to experience :)

To Market, To Market

You'll never believe what's happened! Now that Fantasy Football has concluded, Buck has the kids talking about trading STOCKS like he used to have them talking about trading PLAYERS.


"How's your Amazon doing?"
"I don't have Amazon, I have Netflix--they made me $60 today."
"How much did you pay for those?"
"I got some free ones from another company . . ."
"I wonder how the pharmaceuticals will do tomorrow."
"Are you buying or selling?"

And on, and on--lol! Buck found an ap that lets the kids trade stocks, sell stocks, and buy stocks within the ap--just among our family (Buck is also marketing). They really seem to enjoy it, and they're beginning to recognize the stock market codenames (abbreviations?) for various companies on the exchange. At least these are mostly names I recognize at the dinner table! Ha!

I think it is fun that they are interested in this and that Buck is giving them a chance to see how $50,000 can rise and fall in a week. Just another way Uncle C's computers are helping educate the crew :) They can hardly wait to check their stocks!

Deer Little Knits

I can't handle the cute!! The little newborn hats Caelan made are so tiny that my wool dryer balls fit inside them perfectly. I told Buck this amount of cuteness made me want to have a baby to put into the knits. He might have given me the, "You are crazy!" look (I get that often ;)

My friend Geneva (actually, I used to be her Bible study leader in CA :), who requested these knits is a family photographer in Washington. She said she'll send copies of the pics she takes, using these little antler hats, booties, and adorable diaper cover . . . and Caelan can put them into her portfolio. Ooh, a portfolio! I hadn't thought of making one of those. However, I do have a few options I've taken myself . . . ;)

Back of the diaper cover with its cute little tail . . . and the front with the buttons! Also, the hats are free-standing with their antlers up in the second picture (it's hard to tell). Eeeee! The cuteness :)

Chicken Pie?

Goodness how we've laughed this week! Okay, so I have this huge box of protein shakes that Buck bought for me last year. I wanted chocolate, but my disparaging remarks on the shopping list concerning the chocolate mistakenly led Buck to purchase the vanilla instead. I thought, "Okay, I'll try it. Can't be worse than the chocolate." The vanilla shakes are so thick and the flavor is so strong that it is how I imagine drinking birthday cake batter might be. I've kept a couple in the fridge, willing myself to drink them gone, so that I feel okay about buying another box of chocolate.

Out of the kindness of their hearts, and probably a solid dose of curiosity, the children offered to help me drink the long-ignored vanilla shakes. Well . . . gulp. They solidified . . . clumpy, gooey, plopping in the cup with whey? around them in a light liquid form. We tried shaking, stirring, mixing . . . and eventually straining the gloop. Oh my carrots--SOOO nasty!!


Okay, I thought, so maybe it's the ones in the fridge--they're cold, they've been in there awhile, maybe they clump after a month? Nope! The ones on the cupboard shelf are the same way!! We were gagging and laughing so hard trying to come up with a way to drink this mess.

I even asked the internets, "Can my dog eat protein shakes?" Umm, no, wrong kind of protein. But chickens . . . chickens can eat just about anything :) So, since it was super cold and they haven't been eating their corn much and they need calories to stay warm and lay eggs . . . we decided to make chicken pie :) We mixed in some crumbled cookie bits from the girls' initial experiments with trying to get Caelan's Christmas cookie press to work, slopped those protein-packed liquid gelatins on top . . . and boom, chicken pie :)

Let me tell you, those birds loved that cookie/nasty protein lump pie! And yet, we still have 12 of the 18 shakes left!! TWELVE! That's a lot, that is a whole lot :) I'm not sure I'd even feel right about giving them away . . . :)

You Have a Face Like a Painting

I don't often play the games that fb highlights, but this one intrigued me :) There's a google ap that focuses on arts and culture. With a massive online gallery, they launched a facial recognition (if you can call it that) program that matches your selfie with a famous work of art in their online gallery. If you need a good laugh, it is seriously worth the free download. I was ROLLING! I'm hoping mine are the LEAST accurate of the bunch, LOL!