In case you thought things were dull right now...

Life this past week has not been what we had anticipated. On Monday, Hope dropped -and broke- a mercury thermometer (yes, the kind you're not supposed to have anymore) by the bed. In cleaning it up, I found mercury mostly on the hardwood floor, but also a tiny bit on the back of the bed and on the toy box which doubles as a night stand. I never did find the glass "tip" of the thermometer which has led to our current household project: tearing up the floor so we can get access under the heater where there was a crack where glass or mercury could conceivably fall.

The "before" shot

How the room currently looks.

If one were to google "what to do when a mercury thermometer breaks" you will find all kinds of articles on how your home is now a toxic waste site. In cleaning up this mercury, you should wear old clothes, which you will be throwing out along with anything that could have possibly come in contact with the mercury. If we had carpeting, the advice would be to remove it and have it replaced. The articles are filled with stories on how entire families have been poisoned by a single thermometer and small children have been forever harmed.

But yet, I remember playing with mercury from a broken thermometer- my mother showing me how. In our home. Without throwing our clothes away afterwards.

When I called poison control, the lady on the other line advised me to clean it up the best I can and get on with life.

Which now includes tearing up the floor in order to make sure we got it all from around the heater area. Sigh.

On The Back Porch

The dog resting in the planter boxes. Anything she can crawl or sit on, she will!

Artwork

Hannah has been making bookmarks to give as gifts. Here are a few of the black and white sketches. Now she will copy and color them before she wraps them up.

It's That Time of Year Again...

When one's home is deluged with catalogs for the Christmas season. Today we received a catalog that is new to us- Hammacher Schlemmer, which says it has been in business for 159 years.

Apparently I had too much time on my hands this evening, as I leafed through the pages and discovered things I never knew existed:

The Animatronic Singing and Talking Elvis- a deal at $299.95 Sings eight of Elvis' most acclaimed songs. 37 monologues recorded from interviews AND a karaoke feature so you can sing along with Elvis! Includes a remote control!

The Rotating Dual Disco Ball for $59.95

Golf-Ball Finding Glasses- they block out 80 percent of dark colors to help you find your wayward golf balls.

The Interactive Robotic Panda- the scariest looking toy I've ever seen. Frighten your children for only $139.95

But, after sifting through the germ killing light wands, thermal blankets and action sports hands- free cameras, I did find one item that piqued my interest:

THE SNORE RELIEF WRIST BAND- $79.95
"...It uses electrical signals that gently(!) stimulate the median nerves located at the inner wrists without waking you...and when the device detects snoring, it releases a signal that gently(!) stimulates the body to shift position, stopping snoring. "

So, I guess this giant wristwatch looking thing zaps you on your arm whenever you snore! I can just imagine the joy on Brian's face when I buy him this for Christmas...

Snow on the Windswept Plains...

Jacob made a snowman out back today, named Pinocchio.

We had to brush the snow off the trees since it was a heavy, wet snow- about 6 inches total in our area.

Hannah took her first standardized test yesterday- the PSAT. She even entered a public school gymnasium too!! :) This was a good experience for her, learning test taking skills. She also now realizes that a lot of algebra will be in her future...

Quilting

The weather this weekend? Thunder, hail, rain and snow. Perfect for sewing!

A Favorite Book

When Hannah was little and we were thinking about homeschooling kindergarten, several catalogs recommended this book for reading around Thanksgiving. So, trusting those recommendations, I bought "Stories of the Pilgrims" by Margaret B. Pumphrey and read it to Hannah (and Abby) that November. They loved it and I was amazed at what I didn't know about the Pilgrims! By the end of the book, I felt I had a much fuller understanding of what the Pilgrims went through not only in through their time in England, Holland and in the New World, but also in those early days after the first Thanksgiving. I had no idea that the winter after the first Thanksgiving they didn't have enough food (since more settlers from England came to join the colony). I marveled at the courage of these people in facing all that they did! After reading this book for the first time, I knew that homeschooling was for me. It showed me what "living books" could bring to an education and how much I had missed in my schooling by being given only textbooks to read. This was the book that "lit the fire" for me and I look forward to re-reading it to my children every year (even though Hannah claims she has memorized every word by now).

Even though this is a children's book, I learned so much from it. It was fun last year to do additional research into what exactly the Pilgrims didn't like about the English church. I hope to purchase a book or two on original writings of the Pilgrims to deepen our understanding, especially now that my little kindergartner from way back when is now in high school!


Other books we have enjoyed reading in the weeks before Thanksgiving:


This book is a great read aloud for the younger years or as a reader for around 2nd through 4th grade (depending upon reading ability).


I would place this book for third/fourth grade through sixth grade. Beautiful pictures, written from the point of view of the Pilgrims.


This is a fun book that should answer any questions one might have- such as "What would you eat and drink on the Mayflower?" "What could the Pilgrims take with them?" "Were the people on the ship friends?" "How did the Pilgrims spend their first Christmas?" and so on.


Nice book to read after books on the Pilgrims to show what early Colonial life was like for the children.


Another book to read about early Colonial life with lots of photos of re-enactors from Williamsburg.

A Few Cute Nephew Pictures (and a Cute Brother and a Beautiful Sister-in-Law and a Handsome Dad, too)

Little Jackson is getting bigger! And even cuter (if that's possible!)

School Days

Gluten Free Toll House Cookies

Makes 4 dozen small cookies

2 1/4 cups Gluten Free Mix (see below)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla
1 1/2 chocolate chips (we used milk chocolate and white chocolate chips)

Mix together the gluten-free mix, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt.
Cream the butter until white. (This is SO important in gluten-free baking. By creaming the fat in the recipe for a few minutes, it helps immensely with the texture of the final product). Add both sugars and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add the egg and vanilla. Blend well. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before baking.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place mounds of the cookie dough on the cookie sheet, leaving 3 inches between the mounds. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges will be set byt the centers will be soft. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.


Gluten-free mix:
Makes 3 cups

Mix 2 cups brown rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch and 1/3 cup tapioca starch. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Taken from "Gluten-Free Baking" by Rebecca Reilly

The Vocabulary of a Mother- Sung to the Tune of the William Tell Overture

Some days, I can really relate to this video! (Especially the "brush your teeth" and "put your clothes away" parts!)
(This video is three minutes in length)

More from "The Gift of Dyslexia"

Abby is still working through the program outlined in the book by Ronald D. Davis, "The Gift of Dyslexia". One of the curious things that happened once we went through the section on finding the "orientation point" was that Abby was able to articulate for the first time what makes it so difficult for her to read. (I had asked her many times over the years what the letters were doing on the page- jumping, turning, moving around? She always said that the words were still/not moving). For Abby, when she sees the words on the page, the letters seem pushed together and she cannot "see the spaces around the letters" to be able to tell which letters she is supposed to be reading. This was also the reason she had to give up piano lessons- she couldn't tell exactly what line the note was on, since all the notes seemed "squished together".

And the struggles with the different typesettings! Not being able to read a book whose type style was different! (She still struggles with this one). From the book:

"When disoriented, a dyslexic's "optical character recognition software" isn't getting a clear picture of the characters on the page- it's trying to read the equivalent of a poor copy, so it makes more mistakes." (page 33)

"Today, thanks to computerized typesetting, we have a wealth of styles to choose from. Graphic designers can express themselves even further by warping, bending and otherwise distorting type styles. This makes the printed page look more artistic but less legible, especially to dyslexics who are adding distortions of their own every time they come across a word or symbol that causes them to disorient." page 34

Here are a few more of Abby's clay figures:

again: a basket of laundry needed to be folded yet again

this: this is my house

these: these flowers

as: as the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee

For the first post on "The Gift of Dyslexia", click on the "school" category on the sidebar.

My Boy

Sunday Afternoon

Cutting out a new quilt

The pattern makes little "spool" shapes. We are making our quilt at least twice as big as this pattern calls for (28" by 28"). We are using the charm squares from Moda's "Roman Holiday" Christmas line. Abby and I are going to be making this quilt together. Or maybe I'll let Abby do it all !!

In the Sewing Room

I was asked this week if I had been doing any sewing lately. I answered that I hadn't- then remembered a few projects in the last month or so.

A wool skirt for fall

I ordered this fabric from ebay from a seller from England. It is from the "liberty lawns" line and I just love this fabric! I only have a yard of it, so I will need to be creative in what I can make. For now, I'm happy just looking at it.

Abby and I made her birthday outfit using a 1950's pattern. She looked very cute in it.

This picture doesn't do the blouse and skirt justice (plus the fact that it is not ironed in this photo!).

We have been busy with other projects in life right now, but as cooler weather moves in, the sewing bug may return.

And since I'm on a roll...

A new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners.

At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, Genesis 3:10."

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.

Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked."

Family News

A (belated) welcome to two of the most wonderful newborns in the world...

Sol Solace was born to Del and Debra on September 22 at 12:11am (on Dad's birthday). She was 6 pounds, 8 ounces and 20 inches long. We received some beautiful pictures of this new little one and she is just lovely.

Joy and Virgil welcomed Malachi Lee on September 13 at 2pm. He was 8 pounds 7 ounces and 20 inches long. We look forward to seeing pictures of him!

More family to love- yeah!

And here's one more for you, Dad-

Two men dressed in pilots' uniforms walk up the aisle of the aircraft. Both are wearing dark glasses, one is using a guide dog, and the other is tapping his way along the aisle with a cane.

Nervous laughter spreads through the cabin, but the men enter the cockpit the door closes, and the engines start up. The passengers begin glancing nervously around, searching for some kind of a sign that this is just a little practical joke. None is forthcoming.

The plane moves faster and faster down the runway, and the people sitting in the window seats realize they're headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport property. Just as it begins to look as though the plane will plow straight into the water, panicked screams fill the cabin.

At that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air. The passengers relax and laugh a little sheepishly, and soon all retreat into their magazines and books, secure in the knowledge that the plane is in good hands.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit, one of the pilots turns to the other and
says, 'You know, Bob, one of these days, they're gonna scream too late and we're all gonna die' !!

Here's one for you, Dad-

On Halloween night, a teenager went out with his friends, hoping to create a little innocent mischief. The next morning his dad asked him if he had anything to do with tipping the outhouse over the night before.

"Yes, Father," he replied. "I did it. I cannot tell a lie."

His father said, "You know you'll have to be punished."

"But Dad," the boy said. "George Washington's father didn't punish him when he told the truth about chopping down the cherry tree."

"I know." his dad said. "But George Washington's father wasn't in it at the time."

Fall Dessert

One of our favorite desserts in cooler weather is made from baked apples. We take 6-8 apples, sliced (and one or two pears, if available) and raisins and put in a baking dish. Then we top that with apple juice (about 3/4 cup or more), orange juice concentrate (a couple of spoonfuls), cinnamon, nutmeg, and a good drizzle of honey.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 min- 1 hour, depending on how much you are making. Serve hot alongside vanilla ice cream for a delicious fall treat!

Knitting with Grandma

The Gift of Dyslexia

For the past two weeks Abby and I have been working through the dyslexia program outlined in the book "The Gift of Dyslexia- Why Some of the Smartest People Can't Read...and How They Can Learn." By Ronald D. Davis

One of the main points of the book is that people with dyslexia think in pictures, so as they come to words in reading that they have no mental pictures for (what is the picture that comes to mind when you think of "a" or "the"?), the running mental picture becomes confused and the mind disoriented. The program first works to help the person find their "orientation point" in the brain which helps them be able to make sense of the information the eyes are sending them, then to help give them the pictures they need to be able to read without becoming disoriented so often.

Abby has been making clay figures of the most common "trigger words" (words that trigger disorientation) to give her pictures so these words should be easier for her to read. I remember being so frustrated with her when she was seven years old and could never seem to read "the" or "and" or any number of small words. As I read through this book, I was filled with sympathy for Abby's struggles. I am always amazed that although reading has been such a challenge for her and it is so clear that she doesn't see the words the same way I do, she has never given into discouragement. I admire her gentle, patient persistence so much!

We are hopeful that this program will help Abby be able to read with more ease and fluidity.

A few of Abby's clay figures- the word "doesn't": clay figure of an oven- it doesn't work.

"a": a bunny

"isn't": It isn't cold outside (so why are you all bundled up?)

"the": the snakes

"into": It is turning into fall

"was": It was a beautiful flower (and now it's not)

We also made clay figures of all punctuation marks and math symbols. We looked up their meanings in the dictionary and reviewed everything several times. Last week Abby made the entire alphabet, upper and lower case, to see if she had any "trigger" letters- she triggered on "G". She had to say the alphabet backwards and forwards from memory smoothly without any mistakes (I still can't say the alphabet backwards without peeking!).

As we put more words into pictures for Abby, we hope to see her reading become easier for her. She feels that just being able to find her "orientation point" before reading or working on math has been helpful.

If nothing else, this program has shown me how creative and detailed Abby is with clay figures!

Happy Birthday, Abby!

On Saturday we celebrated Abby's entrance into teenagerhood with a cake decorating party. (Notice how clever the mom is to have her children decorate their OWN birthday cakes!)

Opening gifts from friends

The girls ate the cake that Abby decorated. Each of the party girls decorated their own cake to take home. The day before the party, Hannah made 6 two-layer cakes and a batch of cookies for decorating. Whew! I think she deserves some kind of prize for that!

A happy party girl!

A friend decorating her cake

The table set for the tea party afterwards. Cucumber sandwiches with mint, chicken salad sandwiches, fruit salad, cheese, fresh vegetables, fudge, little candies, cake (of course), and tea with sugar cubes with pastel flowers.

Since I do not publish pictures of other people without their permission (especially children), I am not showing the cute pictures we have of all the girls. But trust me, they are fun!

Useful Latin

While picking out books on Latin at the library, I came across "Latin for all Occasions". I offer this example for your reading enjoyment and intellectual stimulation:

Salve, o alienigena! Est mihi nomen Midas. Rex sum Phrygiae, terrae clarae quae in Asia Minore est. Propter casum infelicem, omnia quae tango mutantur in aurum. Cuius multa milia librarum mihi sunt hoc autem quasi vexatium onus deponere pervolo! Ergo transmitte mihi, sis, numerum rationis tuae in argentaria taberna, et numberos chartularum fidei tuarum, et numerum chartulae largitionis senioribus publicae, et monem avi tui materni. Numeris receptis, ilico tibi remittam navem onustam lateribus aureis. Mihi gratum facies manus meas exonerans his rebus! Tibi multas gratias ago!

Translation:

Greetings foreign person! My name is Midas, and I am King of Phrygia. Owing to an unfortunate accident, everything I touch turns to gold. I have tons and tons of the stuff- I'm dying to get rid of the darn stuff! Please send me your bank account number, your credit card information, your social security number, and your mother's maiden name, and I will immediately dispatch to you a boatload of gold bricks. You'll be doing me a big favor by taking it off my hands! I am much thanking you!


And we feared Latin might be dull and outdated.