Crafty Critters

Luci and I have been crafty today--we made iPhones for Barbie and G.I. Joe,

a composition book for Barbie (along with a pencil!)

and the other day we made a dress for Barbie from an old t-shirt of Luci's.

Aren't they cute?

Luci wanted you to see the backs of the iPhones (her decorations) and the credit cards she made (hmmm, wonder why she thinks Barbie needs a credit card?  Oh yeah.  She's seen mama use her debit card a lot.)

Here are the youtube videos, showing how to make all these things:

Dress for Barbie dolls: (very simple!)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKQHvxK5qmY 

How to make an iPhone: (note:  I saved a photo of iPhones and printed them out to be "wallet sized" photos.  Perfect for Barbie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYGrpriHcdk   

How to make a composition book:  (Sorry, this video is kind of long--but it is nicely detailed.  I glued my composition book cover to the heavyweight paper.)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vu60P6O660&feature=related 

How to make a pencil:  (note:  we made them a bit longer for Barbie)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DY7oOxpeUM&feature=related 

Current Events

This is a post of several things--all of the photos were taken with my (not smart) phone.  So the quality is not so good.

But--this sunset turned out spectacularly!

Last weekend I got to go to The Great Homeschool Convention, Memphis-style.  Luci and JT went with me.  Luci got to take part in the Kids' convention, which was a lot like Vacation Bible School--she had a ball!  JT went to some of the Teen Track lectures.  He was not as thrilled, but he did hear some great speakers.  (Chuck Colson was on the docket until he got so ill in the past few weeks.  We were sorry to hear about his passing this weekend.)

Thank you to my Mom and Dad, who sent me some money so I could buy whatever I wanted while we were there, without any guilt or credit cards.  That was incredible!  THANK YOU!  (JT thinks most of it was spent on torture materials for Sophomores in High School, but, whatever.  I loved it!)

 While there, Luci got to hold a real, live baby duck!  JT did, too, but his photo came out even more blurry (is that possible?).

The hotel and conference center were right downtown, very close to the river.  There are several trolleys in Memphis, and one goes in a loop (perfect for we tourists who want to venture out some, but don't want to get lost).  We rode around and saw the pyramid, the Lorraine Motel (where Martin Luther King, Jr was killed--Luci kept saying, "that's where The King was shot"--not sure if she understood this was not Elvis, even though she had heard the story of his life several times), and we even saw the Occupy Memphis encampment.  We did not see any people out, though. (well, there is that one guy right there on the left--maybe he was part of that group, but he looked like he was just walking by, to me)  It was a beautiful day, so perhaps they were out working somewhere?  Yeah, I don't think so.

JT was wearing this t-shirt while we rode the trolley:

I told him he ought to get off the trolley and go preach to the Occupy Memphis crowd about earning one's own way, but he declined the invitation.

After we got home, we told Bryan about what we saw.  He said his friend (a college student, a pretty smart fellow) had never heard of the Occupy Wall Street group, so of course had no idea what Occupy Memphis was about, either.  We saw some of the inlaws this past weekend, and the ones around my age did not know what the groups were about, either.  I was stunned.  Hadn't they watched the news?  All three of my kids knew about the groups (Luci didn't know what they were there for, but she has seen them on the news).  They know about the presidential elections, about the shooting in Sanford, FL (Trayvon Martin) and quite a few other current events.  Even Luci has an opinion about Michelle Obama.


JT said it was because I watch the news a lot (love DirecTV for those 24 hour news channels!).  I guess I owe my news-hound status to my parents, who also had the news on a lot as we grew up.  Thanks, Mom and Dad! 


I can mark off "Current Events" from my list of things to teach my kids. 

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This Tuesday I went to the commissary all by myself.  ALL BY MYSELF.  Did I mention that I was all by myself?!

It was wonderful, just having my own thoughts and no squabbling from the back seat.  It's 75 miles to the commissary, and 75 miles back.  All.  By.  Myself.

In Limestone County, if the road is wet, they drop the speed limit to 45.  

Which meant only that I got nearly a whole 'nother hour of solitude as I tooled along at 45mph.

I cannot make this stuff up.

Yesterday we went to Jemison, to celebrate John's dad's 85th birthday.  The big to-do was held in Cindy's wedding chapel--the Jemison Wedding Chapel.  It is a lovely place--if you're looking for an historical wedding site, this is perfect.


Luci took the boys in to the chapel and showed them where people get married. 

See that place up there?  That's where you say your bowels.



photos from Grandpa's birthday in a later post.

I ♥ this!

Today I got out Luci's next year Science and History/Geography.  They say SECOND GRADE on the front cover!

Luci was so excited.  She jumped right in and did the first lesson in each book, taking it very seriously.  Luci even went outside to draw a picture of her house, instead of doing it from memory.

Yes, she is wearing pajamas and polka-dotted rubber boots.  Wouldn't you, if you could, while doing your schoolwork?

There's JT running to the mailbox.

Checking Luci's work.  And yes, he's in his pajamas, too.

Our azaleas are about two weeks behind everyone in town. I guess we are just far enough north for the lag.  I'm so glad.  They look great, still, even after a frost that hit last week. 

Heard Today

Taylor Swith--that pretty country singer pictured here


Violent--what you might know as purple


Tutorial--okay, so she knows how to pronounce this, and what it means!

Easter Joy

The weather the past few days has been absolutely gorgeous--70s, low humidity.  What I consider perfect weather.  Easter Sunday was just the same--beautiful!

Here are Luci and JT today.  Bryan was at a friend's house. 

Luci with our azalea bush.  (Our trees and bushes bloom/sprout a week or two after things in town.  We are just far enough north to make them that much later.)

JT's solo shot.

John checking the blueberry bush (that JT mowed over two weeks ago!  Why, JT, why??  Thank goodness it's growing again. And if you know a foolproof way to keep weeds out of the brick walk, let me know!).

Now, for the special gift that the Easter Bunny left:

Conversation this morning:

Luci, look!  This bracelet has Christian symbols on it.  A cross, an angel, a Bible.

How did the Easter Bunny know I wanted that?

Later:

Daddy!  Look what the Easter Bunny brought me!  A church of Christ bracelet!

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And later in the day:

The power winked off for about a minute after lunch today.  JT was in his room, in a crucial part of his video game, and we hear, "Nooooooo!"

I said, "That used to happen nearly every day at our old house (meaning the power flashing off and then back on). "


Luci said,  "Wow.  He sure was a whiny kid!"

She's gonna be a doctor!

JT got a tick yesterday
 Where was it, Luci?  
It was on the squishy of the leg!



I have lots of vocapularies to carry my blood all over.



I know how to say "poop" in Science...feces!

A Good Mommy

Not me.   Luci!   She's a good Mommy.

Luci calls me "Grandma" when she's playing with her babies. 

She explained why while rolling her eyes (seems she thinks I'm a slow learner):

Because you're their Grandma.  Your Mom is my Grandma.  When I'm married, you'll be my babies' grandma.  That's how the system works!

Pretty in Pink

This is so cute--it's from Family Fun magazine. Directions: 2 days before serving, open a jar of pickled beets and replace the beets with peeled hard-boiled eggs. Completely submerge the eggs and return the jar to the fridge. After two days, drain the eggs and pat dry. Cut and assemble as shown. Add carrot triangle for nose, chive whiskers and black sesame seed eyes.

St Patrick's Day

That photo is from 2008.  What a cutie!  Everyone is Irish on St Patrick's Day.

Luci is convinced she is a true princess.  Ever since she heard the story about Papa (my grandfather) researching family history and finding a King Brian Boru in Ireland, Luci has been so happy to call herself Princess!  "Since he is a king, that makes me a princess!"

I have no clue if we are truly related to King Brian.  But it makes a neat story, and makes Luci so happy.

A little early for Easter...

But the weather's been so nice, I let Luci wear her Easter dress.

On Sundays, I am always fixing my hair at the last minute, so I always ask one of the boys to go take a photo of Luci when she's wearing something new.

JT got the job this time, and took her all the way out to the swing.  Notice that she didn't get her white socks or sandals dirty in that stuff underneath the swing!

Yes, I know.  White shoes before Memorial Day.  When it's warm, we wear white.

Where is the smile??

After the Storm

We had some bad weather today--and the prospect of tornadoes.  Thank Goodness it's all past us now, and this is what greeted me when I stepped out on our deck.

Gluten Free with Disney Cruises

We informed our server that Luci, JT and I needed gluten free items.  It was easy from then on at every meal.  We ordered each meal the night before--so, we ordered Monday's dinner on Sunday night.

Everything we got that was gluten free was wonderful, and you could not tell the items were gluten free at all.  The texture of the breads was fantastic.

Here is a roll that Luci poked and added butter to:

Since Luci could not eat the regular meals that were designed for kids (chicken nuggets, pizza, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti), she got STEAK or a juicy chicken breast every night with her choice of vegetables.  Here is her steak served on a Micky plate.  Our server cut it up for her!  I didn't even have to do that.  Love vacations where I don't have to do anything.

Pizza from Flo's 8 Cafe, on the deck near the pools--Gluten Free!!  It was WONDERFUL. (you had to special request this)

Gluten free hamburger buns and hot dog buns were also available (special request, also).  I think the fries were not fried in a dedicated fryer--so they were not truly gluten-free.  Luci and I had no problem with them.  JT had a little bit of a problem, but not enough to quit eating them.  :) 

The magic pizza shells.  I am on a quest to find these.  So far, amazon.com is the only place I've found them (and a whopping big charge it is for shipping, so we haven't gotten them yet!).

The Dream

Right after New Year's we headed to Florida to go sailing with Mickey on the Disney Dream.

before boarding:

I am so glad that Disney has their lifeboat drills before ever leaving port.  The Costa Concordia tragedy was scary to see on the news.  Until that accident, cruise ships did not have to have their emergency drills until 24 hours of leaving port.  Disney makes sure you show up and know what to do.

After the drill, there is a huge deck party.  We saw JT, and once he saw us, he turned around and headed the other way.  I thought this might be the last time on this trip that we see him!  We did see him at breakfast every morning.  Notice his jacket?  It was COLD!

Gorgeous Dream, docked at Castaway Cay.

Security for kids has increased since our last Disney cruise.  Love what they do now.  Luci wore this armband all week.  It's waterproof and has Luci's emergency info as well as allergy info stored on it.  The kids' program workers can pinpoint where Luci is when she's wearing this.

On Castaway Cay, the teens have their own hangout. 

JT's back there, somewhere, hiding from us!

We were at Castaway Cay twice on this trip--the first day, it was COLD!!  Luci was not deterred, and still went into the sea.

Being goofy with Goofy.  Look above Goofy's head--JT was so tickled that he was tall enough to put up antennae!

Chip and Dale signed Luci's autograph book---Chip put hearts around all the Princesses; Dale added moustaches and beards.

Before going into the kids' club, you must wash your hands.  These are so cool--sanitizes your hands in 10 seconds or so.

One of our dining rooms--Animator's Palate

Going into the Royal Palace....

the servers were dressed as Royal Guards

and the dessert menu looked like an invitation to the ball!

The bread was served in a coach....

and our Princess

Frank Lloyd Wright and WC Handy

Thursday we went on a field trip right in our own back yard, to a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright!

The Rosenbaum House was built in 1939 for a young couple named (bet you can guess!) Rosenbaum.   It's the only structure in Alabama built by FLW and the only home designed by him in the Southeast  that's open to the public.

The side of the house that faces the street is actually the back of the house.  

The roof lines...the house is sided in cypress

A view from the living room

Game cabinet in the boys' room

Luci can reach BOTH countertops in the original kitchen--it is so tiny.   That was the whole kitchen--where you see brick in front of Luci is the edge of the kitchen.

Dining area

Can you see the Eames chair in the background?  One of the few pieces of furniture in the home not made by FLW.

Study for the professor (John, I'd like something like this! but not in the basement, if you can manage that--cozy, with books and sort of hidden, but not quite.  Got that?)

Further into the study.  The desk, like the dining room table, is built into the wall and cannot be moved.  It's made of plywood, stained to match the cypress siding on the walls and on the outside of the home.

The living room.  This is a smallish sort of home, but the living room is large enough to hold a baby grand piano. All of the furnishings were owned by the Rosenbaums, and most of the furniture was built by FLW--out of plywood!  The furniture held up extremely well in a household with four boys.

View from the back, which was really the front of the home

A sprite designed by FLW.  It looks Oriental.

Under the cantilevered carport. We joined another family for this trip.  Luci is with the girls from the other family.

The house is very interesting.  It has been restored to its original state and is worth the trip!

We also went to the W C Handy birthplace, not far from the Rosenbaum House.  WC Handy is known as the Father of the Blues...not because he invented them, but because he was the first to publish music in the blues style.  His parents were not thrilled with his choice of vocation and took quite a bit of time to warm up to it.  I'm so glad they did not squelch his love of music, because he truly was a gift to the world.  We have a music festival every year before school starts--lots of music, much of it free!  You ought to come.  It'll be the last week of July, most likely.

The museum would not let us use our cameras past a certain point (that point being the place where things were starting to get interesting, boo!).  These two paintings are in the newer part of the museum.  You do get to go into the actual home WC Handy was born in, and our docent was a great storyteller.  I'm so glad we had her for our guide.

I love these paintings.

Then they made me turn off my camera.