The theme is still steampunk. If you’re wondering just what the heck that is, take a look at Wikipedia’s Steampunk page for starters.

Here’s what I’m thinking of making this year:

1. Riding Habit Bodice with a bit ‘o tweaking
2. Big Sky Riding Skirt could wear this one after too
3. Ladies Victorian Underwear

Or something like those. I originally found the riding skirt at Steampunk Emporium. But I’m not one to pay that much for a skirt… ‘specially if’n I can make it.

‘Course these are my grandiose plans and it is February. By October things could look a lot different!

I still need to make a good pair of goggles too. Mebbe some sorta hat. Earrings.

Day 2

Here’s the redo of what would have been the first advent stocking. Today it held bubbles, study lead on the Monroe Doctrine and an “eat out” coupon.

Sam settled on HuHot which usually I can tolerate with the help of Benedryl. Tonight however it’s taken Benedryl, GaxEx and ginger tea. Sigh. Don’t think I’ll be doing that again. :\

I’m also thinking that I won’t be able to get all 24 stockings done this year. Maybe I’ll do a few and make do with those then keep working on one a month so they’ll be ready for next year.

Found a great study tool today! Quizlet.com It links to Facebook too. A member on the Oerberg list set up a bunch of stuff there in support of Lingua Latina Familia Romana. It is free. Woot!

I am off to knit, drink tea and rest my knee.

Like Now!

By hook or by crook, I’m going to make this holiday special. I keep trying to do that as each holiday approaches but I keep letting things get in the way. Sometimes, I just don’t have the energy or feel like it. Excuses, excuses!

Watching “UP” gave me this gem: “Its the boring things I remember the most.” Or something like that. So I’m not going to let another holiday pass without giving it my all to make it a special family moment.

Enter the Advent Stocking Garland… I’m going to try to knit a smallish stocking for each day leading up to Christmas. Every morning I will put a new one out on the mantle with goodies for the kids inside. Sometimes there will be something special… like a “coupon” for a hot chocolate at Kaldi’s or eating out. Others it will be something we were planning on doing anyway… like get a live tree. The second one seems like a bit of a cheat to me at first. But then I remember what I’m trying to do here… make a conscious effort to make each day of the season special. Bob and I talked about going hiking with the kids to gather materials to make our own wreath for the door.

So tomorrow morning, this little stocking will go up on the mantle. In it will be a chapstick for each and a coupon to get hot chocolate at Kaldi’s. Yeah, okay so I was going there anyway to knit. To satisfy my educational urges. There will be a scrap of paper with a tid bit about Rosa Parks for some quick research.

This is actually the second stocking I knit, but I just found my cat eating the first one. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! I think it is salvageable.  My cat’s life however….

All yarn used will come from stash. I spent $10 dollars today getting cookie cutters for Thursday’s cookie tree making (again something that will be in the stocking to do). I want to keep track of the costs for next year.

Other things… I seem to have irritated the IT band in my right knee. Hiking Saturday left it mildly painful. I tried a couple of short jogs but stopped as soon as I felt a particular stiffness that generally precedes the pain. Sunday’s swim left everything else sore. Today’s Karate lesson left everything else quite fatigued.

Yes, I’ve signed up for Karate. Tonight was the first regular class… 1 1/2 hours. I was all thumbs, elbows and knees and none of them seemed to be in the right places. A couple of the other participants were talking about being “old” before class. HA! I got ‘em beat in that department. In fact I think I have many of them beat there. :\

Yeah, so I feel like am the old lady in the class. Kinda out of my comfort zone too. But the people seem to be genuine and caring. The group seems to be about more than just learning to beat the crap out of someone. It is definitely going to help me help Sam with Karate. I will enjoy practicing with him and I think I will enjoy the class more once I am more comfortable in my skin there.

I’ll close with a picture of the stocking Mirage tried to eat tonight. Sigh. She is SO glad I’m not the kind to just kick her out. HOwever, if she does this too much longer, I just might make an exception.

nearly chewed up stocking

I’ve uploaded pictures from today here. If you go here, you can see a picture of all the things my WDH made for me. He’s even uploaded plans for the yarn swift he made. It is really spiff! Did you see the two walnut nostepindes? The wood grain is so amazingly beautiful. One is going up in the Etsy shop. So if yer interested, lemeno. The other… is MINE!

So, with faith in Christmas spirit restored, I am looking forward to the next one.

I hope yours was as magical.

Repeat until Christmas

Made these yummies yesterday with this recipe. They’re Lucia Buns. Yeah, I know that St. Lucia’s Day isn’t until next week but we were talking about Christmas traditions from other places and we had time. Very easy. We were fresh out of saffron and I meant to use cinnamon but forgot. They were really yummy anyway. This is a recipe I’d really like to play with…. even if it has me running for the benedryl after I try a taste.

OK, to bed with me.

And Happy Thanksgiving.

Our feast today consisted of:

Inari-zushi (like the wasabi tree?)

Chicken-Char-siu-bao

and a Shabu-shabu pot

We are all very full (of thanks) and tomorrow we have a more traditional American Thanksgiving dinner.

I was glad to be able to make the trip. Reason number-the-next-one why I like homeschooling… when there is a family crisis in the next state, you can just pick up and go! No school to notify. No worries about homework backlog (well maybe a little).

I am also equally glad to be back home. Bob and I have not been apart that long (nearly 2 weeks) in, oh, twenty years. Seriously!

So now I’m hustling to get things done so we can start next week somewhat stress-free… create monthly grocery list and meal plans and juggle lesson plans to account for our unexpected “holiday.” Bills were paid earlier today. Gah.

I’m also looking at ways to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. MamaKohl has a neat Gratitude tree going. FamilyFun has several “tradition” ideas. I like the pressed leaf idea for the tree, the “familiar feathers of thanks” and the “Kernels of thanks” ideas. Will have to sleep on it.

This morning we were treated to a gorgeous sunrise. It was so freaking orange you’d think it was sunset… after a huge fire or something. There was even a rainbow.

After lunch we went on a listening walk. That was Jessie’s idea. We caught a leopard frog. Or at least I think it is. Could have sworn I ran across an entry for a frog that looks very similar… somewhere. The kids climbed the cedar tree. I’m going to make rabid tree climber out of Sam yet. I really enjoyed watching them climb. I think every kid should have a tree to climb.

Read a rather disturbing post today about the NEA (National Educational Association) and their current resolutions against homeschoolers. There is an online petition here that gives some of the details.

“The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. “

There sure is a lot of evidence to the contrary. Colleges are actively seeking homeschooled kids too. The petition link above includes a link to some impressive stats and more information (that I need to read).

Not exactly sure why this NEA resolution bothers me so much. I’ve seen other such things and ignored them successfully. Will have to spend some time thinking and reading more on it. Exactly WHY do I homeschool…? What makes ME think I AM qualified? Stay tuned….

Directions can be found here.

What I did differently:

• I used a plastic vinegar jug instead of a gallon milk jug.
• For the eyes and designs, I used sheet foam (‘coz I had some already) and hot glued it on.

What I’d do differently

• LED lights for eyes!
• space the legs out more
• wrap body in black feather boa
• Use different colored tape for “knees” for that orange kneed tarantula look
• dimensional fangs