You may think that you have come up with a great idea--cold water and ice from the door of the refrigerator, but I am here to tell you that unless you include a water lock on said dispenser you are seeking the wrath of the mom. Picture the situation. A two-year-old discovers that if he pushes the dispenser in the door, water will come out. It does not matter if his cup is in the right place or if his cup is too small or if there is even a cup there. Water will come out. Without the lock, the water will pool in the reservoir, spill down the door, puddle on the floor, and run under the refrigerator. Mothers will have to use seven or eight towels a day to wipe up the spilled water they discover every time they come into the kitchen.
Homeowners, don't fall for the advertising, especially if your neighborhood is filled with first-time homebuyers. The family who buys your home will not bless you for thinking of their convenience. They will curse you every time they have to pull the refrigerator out from the wall to wipe under it. They will question your sanity with statements like, "Why didn't they spend the extra on a counter depth fridge instead?" They will threaten to ship their children and the fridge to your house in Florida so that you have to deal with the clean-up.
Think of the young moms. Think of the young children. Think of the fish who want water in their rivers. Don't buy the water and ice dispenser in the door of the refrigerator . . . unless it has a lock.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
&#$(!*&#))(*$(*&Z(*&
We try to have clean mouths, but we are not perfect. A swear word here or there never hurt anyone, we think. And then we hear the words tumbling out of the mouths of our babes. All of them. At the same time. Justifying the curse word that they chose to use. On Christmas Eve.
It all started with the Bourne movies. The actress in the movie plays a German and she swears in German. To keep from swearing in front of the children, my dear sweet husband started using her German swear word when he was frustrated. "Scheisse." Then, S. and F. both started using it. My dear husband repented, but the damage was done. Finally, he sat down and explained that one really shouldn't say "schiesse."
Fast forward a few months, frustrating months, with the occasional English swear word being shouted as boys blatantly disobeyed or ignored their parents, or injured each other. At dinner tonight, Christmas Eve, A. poured his milk out. F. looked at him and said, "Dammit." My eyes went wide and then even wider because he kept repeating it. I tried explaining that we really shouldn't say "dammit." S. jumped in with his own, "dammit." R. tried helping me (in between laughing while wiping up the spilled milk.) But the boys persisted.
Me: "It isn't a very nice word, F."
F: "But dammit is a good word. Dammit, dammit, dammit."
A: "Dammit, dammit, dammit."
For the sake of the world, I tried not laughing as all of my children swore with such jubilation on Christmas Eve, but I failed. I laughed. F. thought we were laughing at him, and started to cry. I hugged him and explained why we were laughing and why we really shouldn't say "dammit."
Dammit, it was a hilarious moment at the dinner table.
It all started with the Bourne movies. The actress in the movie plays a German and she swears in German. To keep from swearing in front of the children, my dear sweet husband started using her German swear word when he was frustrated. "Scheisse." Then, S. and F. both started using it. My dear husband repented, but the damage was done. Finally, he sat down and explained that one really shouldn't say "schiesse."
Fast forward a few months, frustrating months, with the occasional English swear word being shouted as boys blatantly disobeyed or ignored their parents, or injured each other. At dinner tonight, Christmas Eve, A. poured his milk out. F. looked at him and said, "Dammit." My eyes went wide and then even wider because he kept repeating it. I tried explaining that we really shouldn't say "dammit." S. jumped in with his own, "dammit." R. tried helping me (in between laughing while wiping up the spilled milk.) But the boys persisted.
Me: "It isn't a very nice word, F."
F: "But dammit is a good word. Dammit, dammit, dammit."
A: "Dammit, dammit, dammit."
For the sake of the world, I tried not laughing as all of my children swore with such jubilation on Christmas Eve, but I failed. I laughed. F. thought we were laughing at him, and started to cry. I hugged him and explained why we were laughing and why we really shouldn't say "dammit."
Dammit, it was a hilarious moment at the dinner table.
Monday, October 10, 2011
First day of school
S. started kindergarten this fall, and he was very excited. His class started with 24, but now has 27. His teacher, Mrs. Tracey, seems to be nice.
It started off with two hard weeks where S had to learn to navigate the difficulties of a new school, a big class, and a full day. But, he pulled through and has made some friends. I'm not 100% sure what happens, because the stories that S tells are more imaginative than factual, but I've been there and I'm not too worried.
It started off with two hard weeks where S had to learn to navigate the difficulties of a new school, a big class, and a full day. But, he pulled through and has made some friends. I'm not 100% sure what happens, because the stories that S tells are more imaginative than factual, but I've been there and I'm not too worried.All in all, we've missed him during the day, but F. likes having the chance to be the oldest.
Randomness
We slaughtered our broiler chickens back in August. We went to visit them a few days before. Notice that the black/brown chickens (layers) have a full measure of feathers, but the white in the second (a broiler) does not. A little grotesque, but they were and are tasty. We're having another chicken tonight.
One afternoon, while I was quickly checking my email, I looked up and found this. F was exhausted.
There are many other pictures I have to post, but both cameras have dead batteries (which I found out this morning when we went to the farm). I'll pick some up, upload pictures, and then stick in a post of pictures (and maybe some descriptions).
One afternoon, while I was quickly checking my email, I looked up and found this. F was exhausted. 
There are many other pictures I have to post, but both cameras have dead batteries (which I found out this morning when we went to the farm). I'll pick some up, upload pictures, and then stick in a post of pictures (and maybe some descriptions).6 (six)
Boris, these are some of our friends and family.
Friends and family, this is Boris, the baby dragon, and one of the key characters in the series, My Father's Dragon.
Boris joined us for S's birthday party this August. I have to admit that he had a wonderful time and serious regrets his having to visit the garbage truck or recycling truck this week. (We'll miss you too, Boris. We just don't have space for a dragon.)
We read the story months ago, and when we started thinking about how to do S's birthday this year, we thought of going on an adventure (like Elmer in the book) to rescue a baby dragon. So we did.
We introduced the tigers to bubble gum with a gum shewing/blowing contest. (Those pretend bubbles were great!)
We taught a lion how to groom his mane.
We escaped from a gorilla via an obstacle course.
We ate lollypops with the alligators.
Finally we saved the baby dragon.
After our adventure, we went inside and ate cake and ice cream and drank blue Koolade.
It was riotous fun, and we're so happy to have a 6-ear-old at the end of it.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Family Hike
We went on a family hike in preparation for my sweet husband taking the 11 year-old scouts on a 5-mile hike. We went to Starved Rock, a park about an hour away. Supposedly two native American tribes were in the middle of a war, and one killed the other's chief. In retaliation, the tribe was forced to the top of the stone mountain, where they starved to death. Not the greatest story, but a great legend.
We ate lunch first, and then hiked around for a while. F. and A. started off in the backpacks, one of which broke, and then at the end we all walked back together. Here are some pictures.
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