Making A Home

Aunt Millie's Penny Pincher Party

Renee and I decided it had been too long since we had a party.  We brainstormed a few things... filed them away for later in the year, then settled on the Great Depression.  Because depression is fun, right?  Just kidding.

Renee's family was in the middle of the Kit series from American Girl.  So we took a little detour from Ancient Egypt and started the series, too.  We've had some great discussions about those times, and the parallels to our current day.  But back to the party! 

We don't like to do anything halfway.  So I started earlier in the week, sewing costumes for my kids.  (Not the shirts, obviously, but the skirt, knickers, and hats.)

 

All 19 kids looked great.  It was so fun to see them getting in the spirit of the times and the party.  Renee's younger boys even circled the deck when the guests arrived, with signs that said "Why don't you give my dad a job?"  Although I didn't get photos, Renee's kids had spent time earlier in the week making replicas of many depression-era posters and signs.  (Seriously, there were a lot of fun details, but I always seem to be to busy DOING the party to photograph it!  I'm lucky I remembered to grab my camera the few times I did!) 

First order of business... a soup kitchen!  "Free soup, coffee and donuts for the unemployed!"  Well, it was kids and homeschool moms, so we pretty much all qualified for the free lunch.  Renee made chicken noodle soup (with delicious, thick homemade noodles.)  And I made the beginnings of a feature from the books... hobo soup.  The idea was, in the hobo camps, everyone who could contribute something (usually a few tomatoes or beans or a can of something they got as pay for their work that day), would add it to the pot, and then everyone would share in the soup.  I made a base soup at home, then our guests contributed when they arrived - beans, corn, rice, canned tomatoes... even a bit of meat!  The kids enjoyed the novelty, and it was really quite tasty.  With our soup, we served day-old bread and water.  (And coffee for the grownups.)

After lunch, the kids had the opportunity to wash their own dishes, in exchange for a nickel to go to the cinema!

  

Today's feature film: "Kit Kittredge, An American Girl" 

 

  

After the movie (enjoyed by all, it seemed), we sent the kids on a scavenger hunt.  Each clue had a bit of information about the Great Depression and a "hobo sign" that hoboes used to identify those homes that were friendly to hoboes, or unsafe, among other things.  At the end of the hunt, the kids found day old donuts (I picked them up for half-price at Albertson's), broken cookies, and apple pie (baked by Renee), all foods mentioned in the books.  During their dessert, we listened to the song "We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover", from the Musical "Annie", about the conditions in a "Hooverville" - basically a homeless camp, for those put out of their homes by the economic situation.  Then the kids just got to play.  Some chose depression-era games (Like chess, shown here, but we also had checkers available, and Monopoly, which was invented during that era.) 

 

  

Another successful, educational party.

 

Mmmm....

Look what we found at the local college.  I had no idea there was one anywhere in our STATE until a friend mentioned it on Facebook.  It's actually the only one in the entire Northwest!

Chick-fil-A.  Delicious.

Chess Lunch

Sam wanted me to blog his lunch for the chess tournament.  Why not?  This blog will be turned into a family yearbook, and they are his memories, too!  If that's what he wants to remember, far be it from me to neglect that detail.

While Christmas shopping this year, I ended up at a Japanese store in our local mall.  I found these cute little bento boxes and thought they'd enjoy them, since they loved the muffin tin lunches we've done in the past, and it's the same sort of thing.

In addition to a sandwich, Sam had crackers, raisins, yogurt covered raisins, carrots, peanuts and teddy grahams.  But the best part was the paper inserts I found, also at the Japanese store.  In a chess theme.  Perfect for this event.

Chess Tournament

Saturday was a lot of fun.  I had imagined lots of downtime while Sam played his games, sipping coffee, reading up on emotional healing for adopted children.  I did... drink 2 cups of coffee.  And I did read... a few pages.  But mostly, I watched.

Between rounds, Sam did a bit of school work (that didn't get finished earlier in the week) and played some gameboy.  But there was surprisingly little downtime.

The first pairings were done randomly, chosen from among the 2nd and 3rd graders.  Most of these kids have been playing for years already and are a part of a chess club at their schools.  (As evidenced by t-shirts, hats, etc.)  Sam lost his first game against Barrett.  (Though we discovered the proper lingo is "Did you win or LEARN?")

Round two, they are matched with someone with a similar record (someone who also "LEARNED" in the first round.)  This was Sam's favorite round... they got all the way down to just their kings and ended with a draw, earning each a half-point.

Round 3, I finally noticed a couple of flaws... one in Sam's playing style (he plays like he's playing against his sister... always offering them chances out of each check, rather than playing to win.  Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to have a son who cares more about kindness than about winning.  It just didn't help his score any!)  The second flaw, was that Brian and I taught him to play, and neither of us knew about "stalemate."  The goal of a game is checkmate - when you have your opponent's king in check (where you could capture him in the next turn), and anywhere else he moves he'd STILL be captured.  Stalemate is when you DO NOT have their king in check, but anywhere they move, they would put themselves in check... which would be an illegal move (you can't put your own king in check.) With Sam's helpful playing style, he kept offering ways for the game to continue (wanting the game to last longer, rather than win and end it), and ended up cornering Lilly in a stalemate.  Again, 1/2 point. 

This tournament was a qualifier for the state tournament in Spokane in April.  To qualify, you have to win 3 of your five games (or get 3 points.)  For Sam to do that, he would have had to win the two remaining games.  Round 4, Liam trapped HIM in a stalemate.  This was the round that wouldn't end, evidenced by the empty boards ALL around them, and a judge sitting nearby (there was no one else still playing in his section.)  Another 1/2 point, and no way to pull out 3 by the end.  (Maybe there should be a trophy for the most TIES!)

Round 5, Sam played Job, and lost fair and square.  Though the judge was there, talking to Sam for close to 10 minutes.  I gather they aren't allowed to tell a kid they lost!  Parents had to stand on the sidelines, out of gameplay area (understandably, but I was out of earshot.)  The judge and Sam were going around and around discussing something, and I didn't know about what, since it was obvious Sam's king was in checkmate.  I found out later from talking to Sam, that he kept trying to make deals, to let the game continue (something we don't do, but I hadn't been careful about observing when he plays against his sister.)  Again, this is just a guess, but it seems like the judge had to keep discussing the game until both players state that it was a checkmate!  I'm not sure how well that works with an Asperger's kid.  Or at least with Sam.  Tell him he lost, he'll be fine with that, but sit there discussing it, and he's happy to hold your ear for the rest of the day! 

 

Anyone know of a local chess club that will include a homeschooler?

Retired!

One of our favorite school books (loved for it's ease and effectiveness), is retiring! 

You know what that means, right?  Both of my kids are readers!  Sam and I completed about half of the book together when he was 4.  He picked up the skills in no time and we dropped the book in favor of "regular" books.  Hallie also went through about half of the book when she was 4.  But for her, we took a break for the summer (last year).  She was having trouble getting the idea of long vowels, and I decided (due to her relatively young age) to just drop it for a while and try again later.  When we picked up the book in September, she just knew it.... we didn't have to work on any of it.  Her brain had processed the information during the break and she just took off reading!  We continued using the textbook, reading several stories per day and in December, she finished the book!  To commemorate this great accomplishment, and to celebrate the retirement of the book, I promised Hallie a cake.  A "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" cake.

We put off the celebration for a while - we seemed to always be getting foster kids or saying goodbye to foster kids, or contemplating foster placements or adoptions... but finally I got around to making her cake and celebrating her accomplishment.

We ate cake and gave Hallie a new book, which seemed the proper gift for such an occasion. 

 

So until the next child, TYCTR is going to the storage shed.  See you later, old friend.

(A little more info on the post from yesterday, we were contemplating the adoption of three children - ages 1, 2 and 3.  In talking with their foster mom, we discovered they had some great qualities - sweet, beautiful, fun - in many ways they seemed perfectly suited to our family... but once our social worker was able to read their records, we found out they also had some (maybe ALL) of the issues we were not willing to take on (and I assure you, the list of items we won't consider is VERY short.)  We had prayed for God to give us a clear answer about whether these were our kids, and we feel like He did that, in specifically listing those issues.  While we are sad, we are not distraught.  We know God has our family perfectly planned, and we are grateful to wait for His perfect timing and His perfect fit.)

Progress... not just silence.

So, it's been a little quiet here on the blog. It's not that I don't have anything going on... I'm just a bit preoccupied.  We are information-gathering on our best lead yet for adoption.  A friend called us just over a week ago to give us the number of a foster mom to contact, and we've been trying to connect social workers (our agency and the state) ever since.  Spoken with the foster mom several times now.  Things sound good... promising.  Brian and I have been praying.  Thus far we are at peace.  I shared what I knew last night with our homestudy specialist, and she was encouraging... cautiously optimistic... we should find out more today.  (I HOPE!)  If this placement works out, it would have to occur within 60 days... so things could be changing a lot around here very soon! 

Thank you to all who have been praying.  Please, please continue!  When we (know enough to) come to a decision, I'll share more. 

Dad at MOPS

(Guest Blogger: Brian, Hilary's Husband)

To those of you that did not know, I decided to be one of the room teachers for the MOPS group that Hilary goes to. I help to teach a group of about 20-25 4-7 year olds every two weeks, where we do a story, have a puppet show, some play time, and a snack. It is so much fun! I am happy that I decided to it!   A few things and funny lines that I have observed during this time are as follows:

There was a time where I had asked the kids to take their seats around the two tables. When I looked next, they were perfectly seperated; boys at one table, girls at the other. Ya know how some people try to make us think that the differences in the sexes are not there anymore? WRONG! I see the differences all the time!

I had a line today that made me laugh....

Child: I'm really smart. Do you know why?

Me: No. Why?

Child: Because my toes are painted! (Then the conversation ended....)

My kudos go out to all of the parents who have a child in my group as they are all amazing! I see kids supporting and helping each other each time. Way to go parents! Praise God for you...... 

Fun with Stimulants

We got a fun package in the mail last week...

 

Can you guess what's inside?

 

Green Coffee Beans!!  We ordered a variety of Fair Trade Organic coffees from Mexico, Sumatra, Peru, Columbia and Guatemala. 

 
We roasted them in our popcorn popper.  The first 2 batches (Columbian), I roasted to a light city roast.  The next two, a darker, Vienna Roast, from the Sumatran and Mexican beans. 

My first blend was just that - 50% light roast Columbian, 25% Vienna Roast Mexican Chiapas, 25% Vienna Roast Sumatran Mandheling Gayoland.

Granted, the brew looks a bit light on the day I finally remembered to take a picture of the prepared coffee... but trust me, it's good.  Delicious, fresh, fun... and only around $5/lb. 

We're doing a mini unit-study on coffee with the kids... about growing, picking, roasting, brewing, and the flavor differences between regions.  Since they both enjoy coffee anyway, we might as well have fun learning about it!

One More...

Just to show you it works for adult shirts, too. I made this shirt this morning (same freezer-paper method), and wear it proudly. :)

Freezer Paper

This is the new big thing.  Inventive, easy, nice results.  So of course, I had to try it.  And I was impressed with the ease and quality.  Just to make sure it worked before having our Keepers girls try it, I grabbed an old (stained) shirt of Hallie's to try the technique.

I used my Cricut electronic die cutter to cut a cat (and a word) out of a piece of freezer paper (you can find it in most grocery stores, near the foil and wax paper).  Keep in mind when cutting that the shiny side is the back.  If you don't have a die-cutter, you can either use the dies at your local scrapbooking store, or draw your own design (or print on your printer) and cut out the pieces with an xacto knife. 

Place your pieces on the shirt (shiny side down) and iron on.  The plastic backing to the freezer paper will make it stick nicely to the shirt.

Use fabric paint and a paint brush to fill in your design.  (Depending on the color of the t-shirt and the color of the paint, you may want to dry and add another coat or two of paint.)  The instructions on the fabric paint say to let it dry 24 hours... I just used a hairdryer and had it completely dry in about 5 minutes.  Peel the paper off of the shirt, leaving your beautiful design!  If you want to add another detail layer (I added the eyes, nose, mouth, and words), iron your next piece of freezer paper right over the dried first layer, and paint again, then dry and peel again.  When finished, iron your design to "heat set" your paint.

 

   
We had the girls working on their "home decorating" pins in Keepers on Monday.  We talked about organization, clutter, and keeping their rooms clean, then we did a project to help decorate their rooms.  In the interest of not ADDING clutter, we decided on pillowcases.  We pre-cut designs to choose from, then had the girls iron, paint, and dry them on the edge of their pillowcases. 

 

  
Unfortunately, partway through the project, one of the moms noticed we were using ACRYLIC paint, rather than fabric paint.  I'd purchased all the materials at Wal-Mart and didn't notice that the row of paint right below the fabric paint (in the SAME rack) was just acrylic.  So embarassing to have made that mistake, but as another mom pointed out, paint never comes out of what you WANT it to come out of, so maybe it would still work.  Sure enough, I threw Hallie's pillowcase in the dryer when we got home (to heat-set it), then washed and dried it normally, and it didn't change a bit.  Hooray!

Despite my error, the project was a hit, and I think most of us were itching to try it again soon.