Hallelujah!

This year Kevin’s parents got all of us tickets for the Messiah Sing In at Abravenal Hall as a Christmas present. Last night was the big night. Daniel and Nathan followed along and sang as best as they could. Nathan nearly sang in that big dead spot at the very end of the Hallelujah Chorus, but honestly I think he did great for being nine and sight reading Handel. Both boys think it is something we should do again. 

I did a lot of sight reading as well. I hadn’t realized just how many of the songs I had never sung before. And I was surprised at how few people were there, but I guess that is just a sign of the changing times. It seems like fewer and fewer people are engaged in the classical arts. But it is not something my family is likely to set aside anytime soon. I’m glad my boys enjoyed themselves so much. And that they have an appreciation for music that does not include an electric guitar. Not that I'm dissing rock music. I just love that they are so well rounded and can appreciate a variety of musical styles.

Matthew’s Solution to the Whole “Malia Standing Up and Pushing Out the Screen Door” Problem

She really is a good sport, you know. She didn’t even complain.

One Little Monkey...

So here’s the story: I took the boys to see a play (“Once Upon a Mattress”-very fun show!). Kev stayed home with Malia. Apparently she dropped a piece of Lego Duplo into the shape sorter and then stuck her hand in through one of the holes to get it out. Once she had the Lego in hand, she could no longer get her fist out. So she stuck in the other hand to try to get the same piece of Lego. And then she was stuck. She was clutching that single piece with both hands and she wouldn’t let go of the Lego. Kev had to wiggle his fingers in and take the Lego away to that she could get her hands out.

Who knew that we were in possession of such a fine monkey trap.

Pin With Abandon, Execute With Caution

Pinterest is a big thing right now. Most of you have probably used it. I have found about a million cool things on there. I’m not a huge pinner or anything. I don’t look at it every day. But it is fun. And I’ve picked up some neat tips. So when I pulled out one of my favorite sweaters and discovered that there were hideous yellow stains on it, I remembered seeing a pin about getting yellow stains out of white clothing and headed over to Pinterest to look it up. It is a simple tip: mix 2 parts hydrogen peroxide with one part dish soap and put it on the yellow spots. Let it sit for a bit and then wash. I tried it out last week but I didn’t let it sit for very long because I didn’t want to damage my sweater. The site where I got the info showed it being used on white t-shirts which can stand up to a lot more abuse than a sweater can. So I was cautious and nevertheless was pleasantly surprised that the stains were considerably lightened.

So today I had planned to repeat the whole procedure to see if I could completely eliminate the stains. I mixed, soaked, and then threw the sweater into the washer with a white towel to balance the load and without any detergent because there was already plenty of soap. If only I had really thought that one through before proceeding. But then all y’all would not have the pleasure of snickering at my lack of brain power... For those of you who don’t have front loading washers, here is a tidbit that will become vital knowledge in just a couple of minutes: if you get too many soap suds in the washer the water won’t drain. That is why there are different detergents recommended for use in your high efficiency front loaders. So when I happened to peek in partway through the wash cycle and notice that there were suds ¾ the way up the washer door window, I started to think that I might have a problem. But I had a white sweater and a big fluffy white towel in there so I was seeing those as well and it was not all suds, right? Right?! Wrong. When the machine finished the cycle there were still suds halfway up the washer window. Not a good sign. I ran one more rinse, desperately hoping it would at least decrease the amount of suds, but to no avail. If anything, the more it got splashed around the more voluminous the suds became. At that point I knew it was time for plan B.

Plan B involved laying a big baking sheet with sides and several towels down in front of the washer and arming myself with a medium sized mixing bowl (a good size for scooping suds), a roll of paper towels and a garbage sack. In spite of the lack of brains that began this whole adventure, I am smart enough to know that in order to get the suds out I was going to have to open the washer and that opening the washer meant that gravity was going to help those suds get themselves out of the washer…which it did. But due to my mid-disaster planning, I actually ended up with very little soap or water on the floor. I scooped up suds and deposited them in the garbage sack until I could get to the sweater and towel. Then I put those in the biggest bowl I own and placed them in the sink to be rinsed. I continued scooping suds and water until it was no longer deep enough to be scooped with the bowl. Then I sent Matthew for the turkey baster. The entire time I was doing all this I was thinking about all those t.v. shows and movies that feature an idiot who puts too much laundry detergent in the washer and ends up knee-deep in soapy water. I’m usually a pretty smart chick, but let me tell you that I have my moments…and this was definitely one of them. Although as far as stupidity goes, if this is the dumbest thing I do all year I will count myself as lucky.

(This is after I got the sweater and the towel out of the washer. All that stuff left in there is suds and about an inch or two of water. And that garbage sack? Completely full of soap suds. I kid you not. I didn't know what else to do with them. If you ever have an opportunity to buy a house with a sink in the laundry room, don't even think twice about it. Just do it.)

Once I had gotten as much water out as I could, I used paper towels to wipe away as many suds as possible. Then I ran another rinse cycle with an empty washer to see what would happen. Luckily for me, the water drained, the suds diminished and three pre-wash cycles later I was able to put the rinsed sweater and towel back in the washer. End result? Although they are not completely gone, those stains appear to be faded enough that I can wear my sweater without feeling like a slob. And the inside of my washer is squeaky clean. :-) It could have been so much worse. I was really hoping that I wouldn’t need to call Kev at work and tell him that we needed to call a plumber to come get me out of a watery mess. And I really, really didn’t want to mop the floor. (I know, my priorities are a bit mixed up. But I really hate mopping.) So in spite of losing my entire afternoon to the mishap, I think it turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

So let me comment on the whole peroxide/dish soap thing. It works. Just be careful how much you use. Or don’t be careful but then don’t come crying to me when you can’t find your turkey baster.

One final word of advice: if you do not own a turkey baster, go out and get yourself one posthaste. I only use mine for actual basting once or twice a year but I use it for more random things than I had ever thought I would. So go. Buy yourself one. When you are in the midst of a stupidity induced near disaster, you’ll thank me.

The First Snowman of the Season

How Malia felt about being left inside while I went outside to take a picture:

Running With Candy

Halloween was busy for us this year. I spent the morning at the elementary school watching the costume parade and then the fourth grade Halloween program. Nathan has been super excited about it for weeks. He is one of those people who loves performing and being in the spotlight…can’t imagine where he gets it from :-). Although it was exactly the same program that Daniel did two years ago, it was still fun to watch and that Frankenstein song still makes me laugh.

After the program I only had a few minutes to spare before I had to pick up Matthew from school. Then it was home for lunch, put Malia down for a nap, and prep our Halloween dinner.

Daniel had plans to trick or treat a bit later in the evening with a couple of friends, so after dinner Kev and I threw Malia in the stroller and took Nathan and Matthew out to trick or treat. Trick or treating is a bit of a tricky procedure for Matthew since he is allergic to so many things. We asked him if he wanted to 1) take whatever he was offered and trade it in for safe stuff when he got home or 2) have us take a bag of Matthew friendly treats to fill his bag when there were no safe choices. He chose the second option, just like he does every year. But honestly, I think that for Matthew trick or treating is more about running around the neighborhood in his costume than it is about the candy. He would run to a house, ring the bell, take a quick glance into their bowl to see if there was anything safe for him (usually not), and take off running for the next door. Repeat…repeat…”Hey! Wait for us!”...repeat…repeat…”Slow down!”…repeat…you get the idea. He didn’t even bother to get a safe treat from us when the offerings didn’t work for him so I just started sticking handfuls of candy in his bag once in a while.

Halloween in our neighborhood is a bit like a block party. People sit out on their porches, whole families walk the neighborhood, there are hot dogs being grilled, doughnuts and hot chocolate, some years there has even been fire grilled pizza. It is a great neighborhood to live in all the time, but Halloween is especially fun. The adults get just as involved as the kids.  At one point in our wanderings we happened to see "Captain America" riding around the neighborhood on his motorcycle. Needless to say, Matthew was totally stoked. And the Cap was great. He told Ironman he had been looking for him earlier because he needed his help.

We managed to get everyone's costumes ready in time and while Malia was cute...

Matthew was "super"...

and Daniel was a bit retro...

Nathan was the talk of the school...and the neighborhood.  I've been trying to convince him to be spaghetti and meatballs since he was about five and he finally gave it a go. All day I kept hearing comments like, “Look! It’s spaghetti and meatballs! That’s so cool!” He put most of his costume together by himself and I think it turned out great!

Squash Offerings 2012

For FHE tonight we carved our pumpkins and made homemade doughnuts. Matthew needs a doughnut for his class Halloween party on Wednesday and since doughnuts are one of those things that we just cannot buy for him, we make them instead. I’ll admit that I don’t do it very often because they can be kind of labor intensive, so Matthew can count all the times he has eaten doughnuts on one hand. But really, I don’t mind the work so much when his response to a warm, glazed and sprinkled doughnut is, “That…was…AWESOME!!”

Before I show you how all our Jacks turned out, I want to share a couple of soundbytes from the evening’s festivities. We had a big bowl that everyone was using for their pumpkin guts. I was speeding up the gutting process by picking up the whole pumpkin and dumping the guts into the bowl instead of trying to scoop them out. Daniel thought this was a great time saving technique and at one point he asked, “Can I take a dump?” Kev and I laughed ourselves silly. And once Daniel realized what he has said, he laughed to. I just love that my kids are just as wacky as their parents!

Matthew has gotten old enough that he can do a lot of the actual carving by himself. He was vigorously sawing away at his Hulk-O-Lantern when he stopped and said, “My cheeks shake when I do this.” (Chuckle) He may be old enough to carve his own pumpkin, but he still has just a bit of baby chub in his cheeks.

Without further ado, here is how it all worked out:

 

A Girl and Her Boots

Malia has a thing about shoes. All summer she would shuck off her sandals as fast as she possibly could, but then it got cold and I started putting shoes on her so she couldn’t pull her socks off. They were cute shoes, of course. She never even tried to take them off. In fact, she prefers to have them on.

Then it got cold enough for her to wear the rockin’ boots that my sister-in-law, Danna, gave us for Malia’s baby shower. I love these boots. If they came in my size I would totally wear them. And Malia seems to have inherited my fancy for footwear. This morning I got all her clothes out and as soon as she saw her boots she started complaining. She grabbed them and held them out to me, holding her feet up as well. She complained the entire time I was changing her diaper and getting her dressed. Then we put the boots on…and she was perfectly content. She sat and admired the boots for a bit. She would not let me take them off her, even at nap time.

I’m equal parts proud and ashamed that my daughter has a thing for purses and shoes.