Sunday Funny

Remember Y2K? All the kerfuffle and concern that the world as we knew it would end when all the computers irreparably crashed?

And then nothing happened and life went on as usual.

~~~~~~~~~~

Not too long ago we had the sister missionaries over for dinner and they were looking at Mr M and my mission plaques.

so young....

We never got around to engraving our return dates, so they asked when I got home- 1999 or 2000 ( I started in July 1998, so it could have gone either way).

I said "2000. I was on my mission for Y2k and we had to be in our apartment by 6 pm New Years Eve in case people got stupid."

They looked at me blankly and asked "What's Y2K?"

Aaaand now I feel old.

I explained what Y2K was, but I could tell they didn't really understand why there was such a big fuss.

Later I realized they were probably 6 or 7 at the time, so it most likely wasn't on their radar.

Our Gluten Free Trip to Boston

enjoying a gluten free cupcake from Glutenus Minimus

When the kids and I went to Boston, we didn't bring the trailer. I thought about it, but it's all cleaned so we can sell it, the closest campground didn't open till halfway through our visit, and the roads were a big unknown (they turned out to be terrible, so I'm glad I wasn't driving the trailer on them).

So we embarked on a ten day trip with no kitchen to prepare our food and with plans to stay in hotels- something that has made me quite nervous in the past. I'd looked for hotels with kitchens, but hotels in general in the Boston area are quite expensive and the ones with kitchens seemed to be a bit more so. We ended up staying next to where Mr M was doing his training, which was outside of Boston, and neither of the hotel options offered kitchens. Our hotel room did have a mini-frig, a sink, a tiny counter space, and a microwave.

For the drive up there we brought sandwiches (GF, of course) and snacks to eat along the way. I knew we'd be eating enough restaurant food on our trip and wanted to have one more day of "real" food.

While we were in Massachusetts, we had breakfast at the hotel every morning. We were able to eat juice, yogurt, and fruit from the hotel dining area and we supplemented that with toast made from GF bread we brought and toasted in our GF toaster that we also brought. I prefer more protein for breakfast, but we didn't starve or get glutened, so it was a win.

Lunches had a bit more variety and because of our schedule were sometimes combined with dinner.
Chipotle - standard GF carnitas burrito bowl. A safe standby when made without lettuce or cheese, which can be contaminated.
Panera - turkey chili (meh) and chicken cobb salad. The food was ok, but it made me nervous to eat there because bread is everywhere. This was the day we walked a good portion of the Freedom Trail and we were hungry and hadn't seen anything else even remotely promising. We managed not to react to anything.
Stone Hearth Pizza- GF bacon and bleu pizza. It was ok, but I should have stuck with pepperoni. The bacon seduced me into trying something more exotic.... This is a Boston-area pizza place that has a dedicated gluten free area and seemed pretty knowledgeable about proper GF procedures. No problems after eating here.

Whole Foods - GF sushi  (a couple times).
New England Aquarium cafe - Chef salad and gross potato salad. The potato salad had sugar added to it. Who adds sugar to potato salad? Neither LMS nor I liked it.
Hotel room - Sandwiches we made there.

Dinners were fairly repetitious as we stuck to our known standbys.
5 Guys - hamburger wrapped in lettuce, fries
Chili's - ribs, chicken salad
Chipotle - burrito bowl
Hotel room - meat and cheese sandwiches with fruit, tuna sandwiches with veggies

We also found some treats:
Gluten free chocolate cake from Whole Foods - for LMS' birthday
Glutenus Minimus GF cupcakes - we found a cupcake shop right on the Freedom Trail that carried GF cupcakes from Glutenus Minimus. They were in plastic containers so avoided any contact with the gluten-filled cupcakes. It was fun to actually be able to sit down and eat something in a bakery.
Pinkberry frozen yogurt - They even brought out new containers of toppings for us, just to make sure there wasn't any contamination.

All-in-all, it was a successful trip. We didn't get glutened, we managed to eat fairly well, even being adventurous enough to try out a pizza place, and we didn't eat at 5 Guys or Chipotle every meal. It was a bit nerve-wracking to think about and plan, but the results were worth it.

This was a good experience because it showed me we can do road trips without the trailer. We want to get an RV, but realistically it'll be at least a year or two before we can buy one. Since we're selling the trailer now (anyone want a 2012 FunFinder 189 FDS in great condition?), next summer's road trip will be without our own little kitchen. I've already started thinking about how we can make it work, and I think it'll be doable, though I'm still looking forward to when we buy the RV :)

DIY Baby Boy Vest and Bow Tie {Stash-buster Project}

What's cuter than a little boy in a vest and bow tie? Not much! Though the tiny baby teeth peeking out in the picture below certainly up the cuteness factor :)

While I was making a dress for LMS for her baptism (I'll post it soon, I'm just waiting on an old picture from my mom), I was thinking about a new outfit for The Little Mister as well. I decided he needed a vest and bow tie, and I'd make them for him.

I've seen little boy vests in blogland, so I just had to do a little search to decide on a pattern/tutorial. I ended up using a pattern I found here and combined it with a tutorial I found here. I shortened the length of the pattern since it was intended for a one year old and adjusted the angle from the shoulder to the first button to make it a little longer (I wanted the first button to be a little lower).

The tutorial that went with the pattern called for topstitching the lining to the outside fabric at the armholes, but that wasn't working for me, so I ended up using the tutorial I found here, instead, which called for handsewing the shoulder seams closed. I admit to taking the quick route and machine sewing them, but it turned out well enough that I'm leaving it as-is.

The outer fabric came from a pair of pants I found at Goodwill, the lining was fabric I already had, and the buttons came off an old pair of Mr M's khakis. The fabric had a bit of stretch to it, which is why topstitching the armholes didn't work out. You can see that I couldn't get the pocket flaps to line up right either, but it's less obvious, so after a couple re-dos I left them alone.

You can't see it, but the back of the vest utilizes the hem and side seam of one of the pant legs, which made less work for me :)

The second part of this project was making a cute bow tie. Most of the tutorials I found were for cotton fabric, though I did find some for turning a grown-up tie into a little boy tie. I knew I wanted to use real tie fabric, and I was able to make this tutorial work.

We don't have any extra ties sitting around right now (we're not sure where all Mr M's old ties disappeared to), so I found a clearance tie at Kohls. I meant to get one at Goodwill earlier that day but got distracted by LMS and forgot. Though honestly, I doubt the ties there were as cute as this one :)

I cut off the narrow tail of the tie and carefully took it apart and ironed it flat. From there I was able to use this tutorial. Instead of sewing snaps to the tie and shirts, though, I attached some elastic.

modeling the first version 

TLM wore the vest and bow tie twice while we were in Colorado, and while the vest didn't have any issues, the bow tie did. It ended up getting kind of smooshed, instead of keeping its shape.

When we got home, I took the bow tie apart and ironed some narrow strips of stiff Pellon to the inside back of the fabric to help the edges keep their shape better. I also changed the center gather a little, which should also help the bow tie keep its shape.

After wearing it during church on Sunday, it still looked as good as new:

Such a handsome little boy!

June 5k Results

Saturday I ran my June race.

This is the 3rd year I've run this race, which benefits a great cause: all proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

In 2012 I finished in 39:23, pushing the Little Miss in the jogger.
Last year, in 2013,  I finished in 40:02, while pregnant with The Little Mister.
This year I finished in 38:11 while pushing TLM in the jogger. Somehow I managed to finish the race almost 2 minutes faster than last year, which is very encouraging since my training to this point has been pretty minimal and my energy levels are still not up to snuff.

It was a great day for running. It was cool, but not too cold, at the start, though it did warm up as the race progressed and we moved away from the shade. Even then, it wasn't as hot and muggy as it's been in the past.

This is a challenging course. You're either going up a hill or down a hill- there's really no flat parts. At least none of the hills are super steep, but they are long enough to make you tired and winded, especially when pushing a kiddo in a jogger. Though TLM weighs significantly less than LMS, so at least there's that :)

A week and a half before the race I managed to spend some time on the treadmill doing hills and running hard, so I think that helped on Saturday. That's the only reason I can think of to explain why I was more than a minute faster than my May race, which had fewer hills and more flat spots.

I'm still not training as much as I should, but I'm gradually getting there. With the half marathon rapidly approaching I think I'll be adding extra races in July and August. In July I'm planning on a Fourth of July 5k plus another 5k a couple weeks later. I'd like to do a 15k trail run in August, but I'll have to see how I feel and how much running I'm able to do in the next few weeks. If I'm not feeling up to the 15k, I'll back off and do the 7k option, but for the sake of training I need to do the 15k. At the end of August I'll do the 4 Mile race I've done the last four years.

TLM hung out in the jogger. He stayed awake all through the race again (just like during the May race), finally falling asleep right at the end.

LMS ran the kids race again. She doesn't yet love running, but I keep hoping :)

2014 Race Results:
June 5k: 38:11           Ran with jogger
May 5k: 39:23          Ran with jogger
April 5k: 37:40         Color Run
March 5k: 37:33  
February 4.5 miles: 1:49:55  Mud Run
January: ---

8 Months

This was the month where The Little Mister became mobile.

The month began with him starting to pull up on low items (so not into an upright standing position) like the fireplace and LMS' doll cradle.

Little Miss Sunshine is determined to teach him how to walk and will hold his hands and help him walk around the room.

Halfway through the month he had a massive jump in his development.

During one week: He started full-on crawling (short distances) one day and the next day he cut his first tooth. A few days later he was pulling himself to a standing position in his crib (we had to lower his mattress quick!) and the next day his second tooth broke through.

you can just see a glimpse of a tooth :)

so pleased with himself!

The following week: At the beginning of the week he started pulling himself up to a standing position while standing on the couch, using the couch back cushions to hold onto and by the end of week he was pulling himself up on the couch while standing on the floor, and he was using the couch as support while he walked sideways to get what he wanted at the other end of the couch (aka cruising).

he likes to chew on his blanket (I talked about them last month)- I'm sure it feels good on his gums

Now he crawls/scoots/pulls himself around on the floor quite rapidly and is pulling himself up on anything he can: toys, furniture, baby gates, you name it. He seems quite fearless, so I'm expecting him to walk on his own sooner than LMS did. That was at 14 months, despite the fact that she was cruising long before she started crawling.

I caught him licking the baby gate. Gotta investigate everything. 

Maybe it's because it was smooth and cold?

TLM had his first plane ride this month. LMS had hers at one month old when we went to Mr M's great-grandmother's funeral. The first two flights were red eye flights and he slept through most of them. When we came back it was morning and he was awake for a lot more of it and wiggly. But he only fussed on one descent because he wasn't nursing/sucking his thumb/sleeping. Not bad statistics overall, and while those around us might not have appreciated his fussiness, at least he wasn't all-out screaming.

hanging out with Aunt J before the baptism started

We flew to Colorado for Little Miss Sunshine's baptism and he got to meet a lot of relatives, who all wanted to hold him because he's so stinking cute :) He's old enough to realize when people aren't mommy or daddy, so he showed some reluctance to allow others to hold him. He did warm up eventually and allow most people to hold him for a few minutes, though he didn't appreciate all the cousins who wanted to hold him and carry him around like a doll.

he did like swinging with cousin K

being smothered by LMS and cousins N and A

I say this every month, but TLM really is a happy baby, and such a cutie. He lights up when he sees any of us: he gets this great big smile on his face. He giggles at the funniest things- one morning I had the hiccups and he sat and giggled after every one. He likes funny voices. I was reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears to LMS, using different voices for the bears, and he giggled each time I changed voices. It's fun to see just what tickles his funny bone.

He's learned how to roll his tongue. Mr M and LMS both have long tongues and can touch their noses with them. I expect TLM to follow in their footsteps. Mr M can even fold the tip of his tongue backward (which looks kind of icky, but hey, it's not something I can do). TLM has started rolling his tongue and slurping his saliva, which is funny to listen to- you don't expect someone his age to be able to do that.

overexposed photo (still don't have the camera settings figured out yet) of him playing with his tongue

He's eating more and more solids. Most of the time I put his food on his tray and let him feed himself, which is what I did with LMS, too. For some reason he likes it when I spoon-feed him, which I find interesting. It's like it's too much effort for him to feed himself, or it's too messy- I'm not sure which one. I'll feed him a few bites then leave him to it and he'll usually be good to continue eating.

I don't regularly give him packaged foods- but I'm ok with the occasional applesauce mixed with apple juice (which is what's in the GoGo Squeezes), and he thinks he's such a big kid when he gets to hold the packet himself

He has a funny way of sitting up- first he'll get up on his hands and feet with his bum in the air, then he'll kind of roll his hips and plop on his bum.

getting in position to sit down...

He thinks he's so grown up:

He was excited when he found Nanny lying around the other day. 

If LMS likes Nanny so much, she must be something special, right?

DIY Rope Framed Mirror

I found this rope framed mirror at Target awhile ago. I like the texture, but it seemed a little small: I wanted something larger for our guest room.

On a recent trip to IKEA, I found a large round mirror that didn't have a frame. I realized right away that it would work perfectly for this project.

I bought manila rope from Lowe's in a couple thicknesses, and then sat down and played around with the rope and the mirror to decide how I wanted it to look.

I used Gorilla glue to attach the rope to the mirror, then used strips of packing tape to hold everything in place while the glue dried. I also put some weights (books and boxes of stuff) on top to make sure it dried flat.

The next day, I took everything off, and this is what I found:

Yeah, not quite what I was going for, but not completely unexpected. I did use Gorilla glue, after all, and it does expand as it dries.

I should have just used hot glue.

Oh well. I cut off the worst of the dried glue, then hot glued more of the thinner rope over the spots where the dried glue showed.

I think I actually like it this way better. Though I'm still not sure about the hanger part. It's not functional, it's just there to cover up the ends of the ropes. It would have worked better if I had thinner rope, but I couldn't find thinner sisal rope (and I wanted all the rope to match), so I had to use what I had.

The last thing I had to do was clean up all the adhesive residue: between the tape, the Gorilla glue, and the hot glue, the mirror was quite a mess. After alternating between rubbing alcohol and white vinegar and some liberal use of elbow grease, I managed to get the mirror reasonably clean.

I'm not sure that I saved any money on this project, but I did end up with a larger mirror than what was available at Target. I hung a hook from Lowe's on the wall for the mirror to "hang" from. It's actually supported by some clips that came with the mirror on the bottom and sides.

And I like how it looks in our guest room:

Sunday Funny

We use the Life of Fred books as part of our math curriculum. First I read it to LMS, then she reads it to me, and both times we discuss the questions and concepts contained in each chapter.

LMS was reading a chapter to me and I heard her say: "Weird n tiny 1, weird n tiny 2, weird n tiny 3…"

I didn't remember that part of the chapter, so I took a look and this is what I saw:

Exactly what she said: "Weird n tiny 1, weird n tiny 2, weird n tiny 3…"    :)

A Brief Tour of Concord Literary Houses

Slowly getting my Boston posts done. I think there's two more after this one.

Concord, Massachusetts proved to be quite a hotbed of literary activity, which we discovered as we drove through Minuteman National Historic Park, which stretches from Concord to Lexington.

While we drove around Concord, we found Ralph Waldo Emerson's house. Wikipedia claims it's a museum, but I'm pretty sure we saw a "Private Residence" sign. In any case, we didn't go inside.

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, but we didn't stop by his birthplace because we didn't have time. When we consulted a map, we realized that Walden Pond was also in the Concord area. It was cold and drizzly and we didn't have time to trek out there, so we missed that, too, unfortunately.

As we continued on, we found Louisa May Alcott's house. The tour was a bit pricey ($10, I think?), so we didn't do it, but we did wander through the gift shop full of all things "Little Women".

Just a couple houses down from the Alcott home was a house called The Wayside, which was under renovation and closed to the public. At various points in time, the Alcotts also lived at The Wayside (they called it Hillside), as did Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Sidney, who wrote the Five Little Peppers series.

part of the house got cut off because I was taking a picture of the turkey roosting on the fence

we only learned the significance of the house later on

It was interesting to find the houses of so many well-known writers in such close proximity. Maybe there was something in the water? :)

When we toured Salem, we stopped by the house that inspired the "House of the Seven Gables", by Nathaniel Hawthorne. We got there after closing so weren't able to tour it, but it looked like an interesting house, though not like what I had imagined. I had always pictured a building with more severe, straight lines, not a building with as much character as this one has.