The message was "banyo"
It meant you need to learn Spanish.
We had a new young visitor in our 4 year old Sunday school class.
She seemed shy and quiet while I showed her where to hang up her coat and encouraged her to join us in the circle for our story.
After a few minutes she stood up and said "banyo".
It seemed urgent and neither I or Jesse understood.
She repeated "banyo" with a tone of concern.
So I began my guess with "brother" it starts with B and I saw one with her when she entered the class so I thought maybe she missed him. Wrong. I then remembered that I think brother is Hermano.
Jesse and I knew "banyo" seemed familiar.
Then it came to me "bathroom"
I told Jesse to open the door to the adjacent bathroom so she could see where it was and see if we had figured it out correctly.
"Banyo" is bathroom.
This is going to be an interesting class.
We colored out puppet craft and I showed her how we were putting it together.
A lot of showing and talking that I am sure the did not understand.
I complimented her coloring by saying "mucho bien" I hope I told her it was good.
After a bit one of the preschool coordinators brought us her registration and said that out new learner knew very little english.
Jesse and I chuckled and let her know that we had figured that one out.
Now I just need to figure out how to teach a lesson in Spanish.
Not being blindsided I think I will Begin next week with, "Ola, Mi amo es Senora Renee."
I think that means. "Hi, my name is Mrs. Renee".
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Empress's New Table
Once upon a time there lived an Empress.
She had traveled to many lands and lived in many castles while her husband campaigned for the Air Force.
During that time she done her duty very well and provided him with 4 heirs.
But that posed a problem...
Where to feed the residents of the Emperor's household?
The table was too small and was from back before he had conquered many dragons and obtained loot.
"This will not do", says the emperor to the fair lady who had stood by him through many campaigns, provided him with the children to carry on his name (literally), and faithfully served him.
So in honor of their eleventh year of wedded bliss he decreed that a new table be presented to the Empress.
But the day of the anniversary came and a plague was besieging the castle inhabitants so it was not to be.
But fear not, the noble grandparents Morgan enter to care for the imps, I mean prodigy, so there should be no delay in the quest to acquire the Empress's New Table.
The Emperor and Empress traveled long and far for about an hour to the land of Ikea.
Braving fierce downpours and blazing lightning they brought home treasure boxes that would lead to the fulfillment of the noble decree.
They all slept dreaming pleasant dreams knowing that soon the decree would be fulfilled.
The Next Day:
Behold the labor.
See the castle inhabitants toiling to create the Table.
All day they toiled.
When they had finished it was discovered they had looted the wrong table from the land of Ikea. It was too big.
Unfortunately the laws of the land of Ikea state that there shall be no returns of open boxes or built items.
A messenger was reached and a plea to correct the problem was made.
The return message was to return the item to the store and they would inspect it and then....
they could not say.
Really they could not say.
For all they knew they would be making a pointless journey only to have thier hopes and dreams and anniversary gift decapitated.
But the table was disassembled and the wisest members of the court were gathered to put the pieces back into the boxes. This feat was not for the weak minded or those impatient. Fortunately they packaged it neatly.
They packed the caravan and went to plead their case in the land of Ikea to the managerial leader.
The Emperor was convincing.
The work of the wise court was brilliant in their packaging and they were complimented on the excellent condition.
The Managerial leader agreed with the insight that it was better to get a smaller table rather than buy a bigger castle.
They gave us special Ikea money that is only good for trade in Ikea.
No problem.
The table to please the Empress was available for trade here so soon all would be triumphant.
The table they seek is missing from its shop.
The Empress went to the courier in Blue and Yellow and noble said, "Sir, the Bjursta table in not in its bin and the sign on it said to seek you". Well it was something like that.
"the spy system (Internet)said not more that 2 hours ago that you had 5 available
for trade".
He looks and says, "we are out of stock."
She laughs.
The empress laughs.
The poor Ikea man was probably concerned about the crazy female laughing at the bad news.
If he read my blog he would have been more frightened because he would have had confirmation that the Empress was crazy.
He took pity on her and told her that there would be 5 more for trade the next day. (He probably is calling off tomorrow just in case the crazy laughing Empress returns for the third day in a row.
So behold the Empresses New Table.
Yes it is invisible but don't tell her.
She had traveled to many lands and lived in many castles while her husband campaigned for the Air Force.
During that time she done her duty very well and provided him with 4 heirs.
But that posed a problem...
Where to feed the residents of the Emperor's household?
The table was too small and was from back before he had conquered many dragons and obtained loot.
"This will not do", says the emperor to the fair lady who had stood by him through many campaigns, provided him with the children to carry on his name (literally), and faithfully served him.
So in honor of their eleventh year of wedded bliss he decreed that a new table be presented to the Empress.
But the day of the anniversary came and a plague was besieging the castle inhabitants so it was not to be.
But fear not, the noble grandparents Morgan enter to care for the imps, I mean prodigy, so there should be no delay in the quest to acquire the Empress's New Table.
The Emperor and Empress traveled long and far for about an hour to the land of Ikea.
Braving fierce downpours and blazing lightning they brought home treasure boxes that would lead to the fulfillment of the noble decree.
They all slept dreaming pleasant dreams knowing that soon the decree would be fulfilled.
The Next Day:
Behold the labor.
See the castle inhabitants toiling to create the Table.
All day they toiled.
When they had finished it was discovered they had looted the wrong table from the land of Ikea. It was too big.
Unfortunately the laws of the land of Ikea state that there shall be no returns of open boxes or built items.
A messenger was reached and a plea to correct the problem was made.
The return message was to return the item to the store and they would inspect it and then....
they could not say.
Really they could not say.
For all they knew they would be making a pointless journey only to have thier hopes and dreams and anniversary gift decapitated.
But the table was disassembled and the wisest members of the court were gathered to put the pieces back into the boxes. This feat was not for the weak minded or those impatient. Fortunately they packaged it neatly.
They packed the caravan and went to plead their case in the land of Ikea to the managerial leader.
The Emperor was convincing.
The work of the wise court was brilliant in their packaging and they were complimented on the excellent condition.
The Managerial leader agreed with the insight that it was better to get a smaller table rather than buy a bigger castle.
They gave us special Ikea money that is only good for trade in Ikea.
No problem.
The table to please the Empress was available for trade here so soon all would be triumphant.
The table they seek is missing from its shop.
The Empress went to the courier in Blue and Yellow and noble said, "Sir, the Bjursta table in not in its bin and the sign on it said to seek you". Well it was something like that.
"the spy system (Internet)said not more that 2 hours ago that you had 5 available
for trade".
He looks and says, "we are out of stock."
She laughs.
The empress laughs.
The poor Ikea man was probably concerned about the crazy female laughing at the bad news.
If he read my blog he would have been more frightened because he would have had confirmation that the Empress was crazy.
He took pity on her and told her that there would be 5 more for trade the next day. (He probably is calling off tomorrow just in case the crazy laughing Empress returns for the third day in a row.
So behold the Empresses New Table.
Yes it is invisible but don't tell her.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Frugal Art
I am cheap.
I like to think I am creative.
I am a nut who hangs cardboard boxes on her walls.
The one above the window is cardboard also.
Cost: .50 for a sheet of scrapbook paper.
The other supplies were leftovers from other projects.
I like to think I am creative.
I am a nut who hangs cardboard boxes on her walls.
The one above the window is cardboard also.
Cost: .50 for a sheet of scrapbook paper.
The other supplies were leftovers from other projects.
Family Jokes
Our wedding anniversary is a running joke in our house.
Our first one occurred 2 weeks after the birth of Devonae and I was still in so much pain and having a kid who has to eat every 45 minutes around the clock was less than romance inducing. We sat on the couch and watched TV.
The following one we cleaned the house.
And the ones following have followed the pattern.
We know to expect work not romance on our "special" day.
This year we were stuck at home with 4, yep all 4, sick kids.
Good thing we know what to expect. Jesse predicted it 5 days before.
So I bought myself some flowers with coupon codes and reward points.
Happy Anniversary to Me.
Flowers I bought from Jesse for myself for .64 cents.
That made our day special.
The joke of me buying myself flowers on the cheap.
The joke of Jesse guessing right how our anniversary would turn out.
The humour of spending the night with 2 sick kids snoring between us in our bed.
The joy of knowing that we don't care that our "special" isn't special because we have fun sharing our life together all 365 days of the year. Anniversary included.
Our first one occurred 2 weeks after the birth of Devonae and I was still in so much pain and having a kid who has to eat every 45 minutes around the clock was less than romance inducing. We sat on the couch and watched TV.
The following one we cleaned the house.
And the ones following have followed the pattern.
We know to expect work not romance on our "special" day.
This year we were stuck at home with 4, yep all 4, sick kids.
Good thing we know what to expect. Jesse predicted it 5 days before.
So I bought myself some flowers with coupon codes and reward points.
Happy Anniversary to Me.
Flowers I bought from Jesse for myself for .64 cents.
That made our day special.
The joke of me buying myself flowers on the cheap.
The joke of Jesse guessing right how our anniversary would turn out.
The humour of spending the night with 2 sick kids snoring between us in our bed.
The joy of knowing that we don't care that our "special" isn't special because we have fun sharing our life together all 365 days of the year. Anniversary included.
Crazy runs in the family
So last week I was having a bad, hormonal, depressing day.
I was missing Becka and while I could have medicated myself with food I decided to Do Something rather Eat Something. Besides I probably would have had to share food with the kids, and I was not in a sharing mood.
Thanks to Jesse's dad who put a floor up in our attic so that we could clear some of the stuff in the garage, the garage seemed a good place to start.I began my craziness in the garage.
I cleared everything away from the door so I could move the heirloom sectional into the family room.
Managed that just fine by myself.
I am an independent type when I get crazy.
Everything was going fine and dandy until I tried to maneuver one of the corner pieces up by the fireplace without clearing the junk out of the way first.
The chair snagged itself on the clutter and I had to lift it high and twist myself to get it in place.
I hurt my back.
I found it funny that all the crazy painting balanced on a chair 8 months pregnant, last minute nesting moving bookcases up and down staircases by myself in my ninth month of pregnancy I never hurt myself. (the craziness has been around for a while)
At this point I actually thanked God for my migraine because otherwise I would have been in a lot of pain without all the painkillers in my system. I am a bit nuts.
So here it is inside the house.
I did it all by myself and all it cost was a couple of bottles of painkillers that I already had on hand.
But craziness has no boundaries and the drugs were still working so why stop.
My lack of a backsplash irked me.
So I will paint it.
I have the paint from the mantle in the garage so its free.
I like Free.
Of course it looks all nice and clean for the photos but the before was a sight to behold.
Part of my painting reasoning was to avoid cleaning the kitchen. Not very rational, I know.
Nor practical.
I had to move everything constantly to get it out of my way and it was a big pain.
Bigger than the pain in my back and head cause the have drugs for that but not for stupid.
And look I had to clean it anyway cause who wants to show off the accomplishments with dirty dishes and food all over. I am not that crazy.
I finished the backsplash and the kids told me I needed to do the soffit too.
So I did.
They were right. It is nice to know that crazy people have smart kids.
Day 1 of crazy ends.
Day 2 arrives.
Crazy is a long term ailment and was still hanging around.
My closet doors irk me.
I should fix them, I have the paint in the garage and it is FREE.
Now I had primed the ones in the kitchen but they were off white and needed a coat of white top coat.
Below is a picture of the ugly brown cheap crap I had on the walls.
The girl is doing her best to make the doors look better but it is a lost cause.
So I painted them.
Since I had the primer and paint out and am still crazy might as well paint the laundry room doors, coat closet doors and the cabinet in the bathroom.
So day 2 since I was injured I paced myself.
I painted the furnace room doors.
Painted the pantry door.
Primed and painted the laundry room doors.
Primed and painted the coat closet door.
Primed and painted the bathroom cabinet.
Painted the cabinet hardware.
Got on my hands and knees and scrubbed my kitchen and bathroom floors.
The craziness was wearing off because I did not do the cabinets in the 2 bathrooms upstairs.
I was missing Becka and while I could have medicated myself with food I decided to Do Something rather Eat Something. Besides I probably would have had to share food with the kids, and I was not in a sharing mood.
Thanks to Jesse's dad who put a floor up in our attic so that we could clear some of the stuff in the garage, the garage seemed a good place to start.I began my craziness in the garage.
I cleared everything away from the door so I could move the heirloom sectional into the family room.
Managed that just fine by myself.
I am an independent type when I get crazy.
Everything was going fine and dandy until I tried to maneuver one of the corner pieces up by the fireplace without clearing the junk out of the way first.
The chair snagged itself on the clutter and I had to lift it high and twist myself to get it in place.
I hurt my back.
I found it funny that all the crazy painting balanced on a chair 8 months pregnant, last minute nesting moving bookcases up and down staircases by myself in my ninth month of pregnancy I never hurt myself. (the craziness has been around for a while)
At this point I actually thanked God for my migraine because otherwise I would have been in a lot of pain without all the painkillers in my system. I am a bit nuts.
So here it is inside the house.
I did it all by myself and all it cost was a couple of bottles of painkillers that I already had on hand.
But craziness has no boundaries and the drugs were still working so why stop.
My lack of a backsplash irked me.
So I will paint it.
I have the paint from the mantle in the garage so its free.
I like Free.
Of course it looks all nice and clean for the photos but the before was a sight to behold.
Part of my painting reasoning was to avoid cleaning the kitchen. Not very rational, I know.
Nor practical.
I had to move everything constantly to get it out of my way and it was a big pain.
Bigger than the pain in my back and head cause the have drugs for that but not for stupid.
And look I had to clean it anyway cause who wants to show off the accomplishments with dirty dishes and food all over. I am not that crazy.
I finished the backsplash and the kids told me I needed to do the soffit too.
So I did.
They were right. It is nice to know that crazy people have smart kids.
Day 1 of crazy ends.
Day 2 arrives.
Crazy is a long term ailment and was still hanging around.
My closet doors irk me.
I should fix them, I have the paint in the garage and it is FREE.
Now I had primed the ones in the kitchen but they were off white and needed a coat of white top coat.
Below is a picture of the ugly brown cheap crap I had on the walls.
The girl is doing her best to make the doors look better but it is a lost cause.
So I painted them.
Since I had the primer and paint out and am still crazy might as well paint the laundry room doors, coat closet doors and the cabinet in the bathroom.
So day 2 since I was injured I paced myself.
I painted the furnace room doors.
Painted the pantry door.
Primed and painted the laundry room doors.
Primed and painted the coat closet door.
Primed and painted the bathroom cabinet.
Painted the cabinet hardware.
Got on my hands and knees and scrubbed my kitchen and bathroom floors.
The craziness was wearing off because I did not do the cabinets in the 2 bathrooms upstairs.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Don't Get Run Over
So it is snowing here again.
The roads are slick.
Our driveway has a bit of a slope that can give difficulty when the conditions are bad.
Today they were bad.
Kids hollered that Dad was home but could not get up the drive so I start getting ready to go out to help him. (I was planning on shoveling a path through the 1/8 inch of snow to give his tires a bit more traction)
Danny asks, "Are you going to push him"?
I inform him noway I don't want to get run over.
As I get my coat out of the closet I look out and see he made it up. I open up the door and greet him and say I was preparing to help him.
Then the car slides down our drive into the street.
Jesse runs along side his "baby" as it drives away leaving him behind.
I am yelling," Don't get run over" again and again.
She (the car) stopped partway in the street and managed not to get hit or run anyone over.
I went out and scraped the 1/8 inch of snow, sleet stuff off the drive and Jesse made it up without problems and the car has managed to stay put for a while now.
Jesse now agrees with me that our next house will have a less steep drive.
(not that this one is excessively steep)
Now if I could just stop checking the driveway to see if out car is still there.
The roads are slick.
Our driveway has a bit of a slope that can give difficulty when the conditions are bad.
Today they were bad.
Kids hollered that Dad was home but could not get up the drive so I start getting ready to go out to help him. (I was planning on shoveling a path through the 1/8 inch of snow to give his tires a bit more traction)
Danny asks, "Are you going to push him"?
I inform him noway I don't want to get run over.
As I get my coat out of the closet I look out and see he made it up. I open up the door and greet him and say I was preparing to help him.
Then the car slides down our drive into the street.
Jesse runs along side his "baby" as it drives away leaving him behind.
I am yelling," Don't get run over" again and again.
She (the car) stopped partway in the street and managed not to get hit or run anyone over.
I went out and scraped the 1/8 inch of snow, sleet stuff off the drive and Jesse made it up without problems and the car has managed to stay put for a while now.
Jesse now agrees with me that our next house will have a less steep drive.
(not that this one is excessively steep)
Now if I could just stop checking the driveway to see if out car is still there.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
A Partial Before and After
The top of my microwave was a clutter magnet.
The shame of my shortcomings is so great you will not see a before picture of my sins.
So I cleaned it up.
Unfortunately the pillar of plastic containers holding the honey, butter, and Cinnamon was unsightly.
I needed a box or a basket to gather they together in.
Behold the box... from the recycle bin in the garage.
Before
After
Of course this project was free with stuff I had on hand, I went digging through the trash for goodness sake. Just took a bit of elbow grease to clean up the mess and craftiness to prettify the box.
I think I have a bit of touching up to get the handles the right color but for now I am satisfied.
The shame of my shortcomings is so great you will not see a before picture of my sins.
So I cleaned it up.
Unfortunately the pillar of plastic containers holding the honey, butter, and Cinnamon was unsightly.
I needed a box or a basket to gather they together in.
Behold the box... from the recycle bin in the garage.
Before
After
Of course this project was free with stuff I had on hand, I went digging through the trash for goodness sake. Just took a bit of elbow grease to clean up the mess and craftiness to prettify the box.
I think I have a bit of touching up to get the handles the right color but for now I am satisfied.
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