Dryers and Stoves

This has been a cranky day for some. Well, a cranky day for *one.*  😀

The dryer vent got cleaned out for the first time since we moved in. That's twelve years of dryer lint! I feel like we are lucky/blessed/fortunate to not have had a lint fire. The cranky one didn't want to help with this. I sent Luci down to watch and take photos (mama break!).

As the boys were cleaning out the vent, I tried to cook. The oven went out! John said, "Now I know what to get you for Mother's Day!"  It's given us some trouble, so he decided to get a new one for me. Happy! It comes tomorrow.

Apparently, I post too much on Facebook. I have fun reposting funny or interesting items or Bible verses and encouragement, and also telling about what goes on here at our house. I have decided to get back on the blog and try to keep a record of our days here.

This Week

We are still getting plenty of use out of the easel that Mom and Dad gifted to us a while back.  Luci made a checklist of things for her to do during her day:

Slep  (sleep--get out of bed in the morning)
Et      (eat)
Play   (I think you can figure this one out!)
Slep  (sleep --go to bed at night)
Chorz  (chores)

Please, someone tell me:  How can she spell phonetically but not be able to read?

Luci grabbed my camera and had a photo shoot with her Barbie and Ken dolls...

Not too shabby of a photographer, huh?

I've been canning or freezing many things that John has grown in his garden.  I learned that I should not have cut the banana peppers because it looks a lot like canned calamari.

We have so many pickles (the cucumbers did quite well!) that I told John, "No more!"  He brought in two dozen cukes last week and I nearly cried.  We've started giving them away.

Saturday!

Today was fun! We had soccer, and a field trip--



We went to FAME Recording Studios after the soccer game. FAME has recorded some of the best-known musicians in the USA. Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Anka, Shenandoah, Alabama, here's a list. Terry Pace gave us the tour (Skynryd's not on there, but Terry said he'd played there, too). It was wonderful getting to go into this building that has so much mystique around it. Aretha Franklin played this piano! Terry Pace speaking to us.

As the lecture went on, another couple came into the room and stood next to us. It was such a nice surprise! They turned out to be a couple that I met years ago at McDonald's. Bryan and I used to go several days during the work-week, at breakfast time. We ate breakfast there a lot, up to the time when I had to start ordering Bryan's breakfast (he ate off my plate)--we ate there until it got too pricey. :) Anyway, this couple was always so nice to us. Their children and grandchildren lived far away, and so did my parents. So it was a good friendship.

The entrance to the recording part of the building:

Remember the song, Mustang Sally? Wilson Pickett recorded here in this studio. Here's Wilson Pickett --

Our soccer day: At Upwards, the game is always ended with a prayer. We love Crystal, Luci's coach.

This year's soccer t-shirt:

Luci keeping her eye on the ball (for once)

Bryan doing chores on Friday

JT was such a good helper today.

Can we open presents NOW?!

That's what Luci says every day as she looks longingly at the stash under the tree.

Our advent calendar, which I made in 1995. JT marvels that it is older than he is. All three kids take turns putting ornaments on...even Bryan. It's almost Christmas!

Of course, Santa can't come until all the doll babies are dressed and looking spiffy. Here, Luci is giving her animals swimming lessons. (?) The boys had their chores, too. Kathy, I want you to know that the house is now tidy (including the kitchen counters!) so why don't you two come for another play date?

Yesterday Clay came over to play video games with the boys in the Man Cave. Don't have a picture of that. Kailey (Clay's sister) and her friend Kaitlyn came over to see Luci. I heard the camera clicking, and this was the result:

When the Chores Don't Get Done....

Bryan's chore for Tuesday is doing his laundry. He was out of pants, so he came to school in this! How funny. And then, Luci and JT wanted to get in on the act. Luci's Batman suit is one I made for Bryan eons ago.

I Don't Miss This....

Raking and burning leaves! It was such an annual chore, taking up much of October and November. And hoping that, as they burned, only the leaves would vanish and not the woods adjacent, nor the house.

We have woods on one side of us here, and two trees in the front and two trees in the back. But somehow they don't make a problem for us. This is our Camelot!

Arthur:

It's true! It's true! The crown has made it clear.

The climate must be perfect all the year.

A law was made a distant moon ago here:

July and August cannot be too hot.

And there's a legal limit to the snow here

In Camelot.

The winter is forbidden till December

And exits March the second on the dot.

By order, summer lingers through September

In Camelot.

Guinevere:
And I suppose the leaves fall into neat little piles?

Arthur:
The wind whisks them away all together!

Camelot! Camelot!

I know it sounds a bit bizarre,

But in Camelot, Camelot

That's how conditions are.

The rain may never fall till after sundown.

By eight, the morning fog must disappear.

In short, there's simply not

A more congenial spot

For happily-ever-aftering than here

In Camelot!

Doin' Stuff with Papa

JT talked about helping Papa with his grandfather clock even before we got to Idaho. For some reason, this is a really big deal to the kids. Maybe because they aren't allowed to touch it at any other time. Luci got in on the act, too.
Another fun job was loading the squirrel feeder. After our trials and tribulations with squirrels at our house in Alabama, I find it pretty funny that Mom and Dad encourage the little beasts. (The squirrels, I mean. They also keep feeding the grandchildren, and they keep showing up, too.)

Luci wanted to help but ran off before the job was finished. JT loved this chore, too.