New Entry Shelf

I was decluttering the house, but I put that on hiatus for two weeks while I built several pieces of furniture to help with organizing things. This is one of the pieces I built.

The old console table in the front entry:

it doesn't look terrible from this angle

this was the angle that was bugging me

even paint wouldn't have been able to fix it

I built a console table for the entry awhile ago, then altered it a bit, but I haven't been super happy with how it was looking. I knew I wanted to sell it at our yard sale, so I first had to build a replacement. I've actually had my eye out for a replacement for some time, but haven't been able to find anything that would fit in the odd dimensions available. Hence the need to build a shelf that would fit.

I modified this plan to fit the space: I made it shorter and narrower, and added turned legs. I wanted it to look a little fancier than the 1x3 legs would allow for, and it needed to be up off the floor so the heat vent below it can function properly.

The two pieces have the same purpose, the new shelf just has a nicer look.

Below are a few pictures taken while I was building it. In the first picture you can see the longer, skinnier leg I was originally going to use (I had them already and wanted to use them rather than buy something else), but they just didn't look that good with the squatness of the shelf. On a trip to Lowe's I found the slightly shorter but significantly more robust legs that I ended up using. They really look so much better than the skinny ones.

Despite having to buy the legs, this still qualifies as a stash-buster project: if you look closely at the insides of the side panels and the backing you'll see the remains of glue (backing) and paint (side panels) leftover from other projects that I started but didn't finish because I changed my mind. Good thing paint covers up things! Since our shed is overflowing with wood of various types and sizes, using what we have is important and factored into my calculations when I figured out what I needed for this and the other pieces I built (those will be posted in future weeks).

Here the shelf is all built and ready to be caulked and painted. I'm not sure why it looks like the top is bowed, but it really isn't.

Undecorated, but sitting in it's new home. If you compare it to the console table, it's several inches wider, but about the same depth and height. I'm pleased with how it turned out!

There's now plenty of space for library books on the bottom shelf and our cd/tape player/radio and audio books on the middle shelf. I haven't quite decided what I want on top, but the current setup looks ok for now.

much better side view

Sunday Funny

One night I went to get River for his late night feeding before I went to bed and found him like this:

those are his jammies underneath him

Two thoughts:
1. He's following in Sunshine's footsteps a little early. I had to safety pin her into her sleepers to keep her from taking them off, and even today she prefers to sleep without pjs on.
2. Sunshine decided he needed them off.

We talked to Sunshine the next day and she said "his foot was sticking out (this was a snap-up sleeper, not a zip-up sleeper), so I thought he wanted them off."

Unfortunately, this wasn't quite as helpful as she thought.

Irish Music Day Camp

Last week Sunshine attended the local Irish music school's day camp (she attended in 2013 and 2012 also). As in the past, they spent the week learning songs on the tin whistle and fiddle (if they could already play the fiddle), singing songs, learning Irish vocal and stories, doing crafts and baking (gluten free scones in Sunshine's case), and preparing a drama presentation for the parents.

On Friday the parents gathered to watch the kiddos and see what they'd been doing. We brought our new camera, so we actually managed to get some fairly decent photos this year, unlike in past years.

River and I waiting for the show to start

Sunshine played "Britches full of Stitches" on the fiddle, but we only have video of it

I don't know how to pull a photo from a video, so no pictures of that

Sunshine(far left of the line) also played Peg Ryan's on the tin whistle 

-she already knows it on the fiddle

they performed a play that incorporated singing, dancing, and storytelling

here they're singing a song about being an old maid- hence all the head scarves

Sunshine is second from left

dancing during the play

Sunshine has her back to the camera and is on the far right

more dancing during the play

Sunshine is kind of facing the camera, on the far left with her hands raised

Sunshine had lots of fun and can't wait for classes to start up again in a few more weeks.

Harry Potter's Birthday

Two weeks ago we ran into the library to pick up a couple books I'd put on hold. What started as a 5 minute in-and-out turned into an hour-long adventure when we realized there was a Harry Potter-themed scavenger hunt going on and it would be followed by a "feast".

{warning: crappy indoor photos ahead}

The scavenger hunt was quite clever- they gave the kids a list with subjects to look up and the call numbers where they could find them. It was a great opportunity for the kids to learn how to find books using the Dewey decimal system. Some were real books, but they also put in some fake books.

In each designated book was an envelope with crests from the various houses. The brown paper "books" scattered through the shelves had knuts, sickles, or galleons hidden in them. The "coins" could then be redeemed at Honeyduke's for candy.

After the children had time to find the crests and some coins and eat some candy, they moved into the meeting room for butter beer (root beer floats), pumpkin juice (V-8 splash), cauldron cakes (sheet cake), and pretzel wands (I can't remember what they called them). Sunshine only had the root beer float, but she still had fun.

The kids sat at four tables and talked about their favorite books, characters, houses, etc. The library ladies running it got in the spirit and dressed up.

she said she lost the pig nose she'd been wearing

such a clever idea!

I think we'll have to add this to our list of things to do next summer. 

Did you celebrate Harry's birthday?

Parent-Child Mud Run

(taken from kind of far away, so not good quality)

I have two races planned for August, and one was the first Saturday of the month. It was a two mile parent-child mud run that was purely noncompetitive and we did it just for fun.

And it was fun.
And very wet and muddy.

There was probably 10 obstacles we went through- some were just mud, some were muddy water. The muddy water obstacles allowed us to wash off some of the mud, but then the next mud obstacle put it back on :)

before we started

our cheering section

Mr M and River waited while Sunshine and I walked the race (she hasn't quite figured out that it's ok to lose all your energy while running a race). Since he was spectating, he was able to get some action shots, which I haven't had too many of lately.

walking from the final obstacle to the final muddy water hole

Sunshine was cold by this point (it wasn't a super warm day and we'd had to stand around at one of the last obstacles that only two people could do at a time) and she wasn't very excited anymore

the final muddy water hole

no pictures of me pulling Sunshine in (she balked at the last second) because it's on video :)

I did hang onto her the whole time, but she got completely wet

after we extricated ourselves from the mud hole

notice Sunshine's fake smile- she was a bit upset with me for pulling her in :)

they had a wash station set up where we tried to rinse off all the mud

but we still found mud in our clothes when we got home

I thought the whole thing was fun, and Sunshine agreed until she got a bit chilled. I think she's willing to give it another go next year, and hopefully it'll be a bit warmer.

August 2 mile:          ~40 min?    Mud Run with Sunshine
2nd July 5k:             35:27
July 5k:                     34:15
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:                    ---

Fried Laptops Aren't the Same as Fried Eggs

fyi: if your computer shows this screen, then shuts off before actually doing anything, 

that's not a good thing

Last night I got my laptop back after it being out of commission for a week. Somehow my hard drive got fried and had to be replaced. A word to the wise: back up your computer on a regular basis! I'd just started running my backups again about a month and a half ago after my computer first started acting glitchy. It'd been about 10 days since the last backup, so I lost a few documents, but nothing too important or irreplaceable, and our photos are all linked via the cloud, so they weren't lost.

Being laptop-less hasn't been a complete disaster since I've been outside working on projects, but it did keep me from getting any posts up. I found that while I can write posts on the iPad, I cannot add pictures to them. Well, I can add one picture, but then I can't format it or change anything else in the post because the iPad freezes up. I thought about back dating last week's posts, but I don't have time for that, so everything will just get shifted back a week. It's actually kind of disgusting, since I've finally gotten to the point where I can plan out posts for most of the coming month, adding posts to the lineup as I think of them. So I have all these ideas of things to write about, and I'd assigned them to certain days/dates, and now my whole schedule is off.

Awhile ago I realized that I can divide most of my posts into certain categories, which I can then assign to certain days of the week.
Sunday: Sunday Funny
Monday: House projects (remodeling, etc), woodworking projects
Tuesday: Family life
Wednesday: Running, health/nutrition, Cub Scouts
Thursday: Stash buster projects, sewing projects
Friday: Homeschool

I've been blogging for more than 6 years and it's taken me that long to finally figure out a schedule. Of course, the focus of my blog has shifted a bit over the years, so it's been one long evolution.  In any case, I'll start posting regularly again now that I can edit my photos and finish up posts.

Lots of Building Going On

I was decluttering the house, but I put that on hiatus for a couple weeks while I build several pieces of furniture to help with organizing things.

I spent the last week and a half building several things.
* a queen bed frame
* a hanging bookshelf
* a new entry shelf/table
* a play frig
* new toy bins and shelves

I had hoped to have at least one of them done to post today, but that didn't quite happen. They're all built, but I haven't had a chance to finish sanding and paint them. Once I finish painting them, it's back to decluttering the house.

Sunday Funny

On a recent rainy day Sunshine was a little bored. The result:

She spent at least half an hour putting every single clippy she owns in my hair. It felt like I had a helmet on. But she had fun and it kept her busy for awhile, so it was worth it. Though I'm not sure it was worth it enough to allow her to do it again the next time it rains, like she's planning.

Book Review: The Smartest Kids in the World

image source

I recently read The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley. She compared test results from past PISA tests (international achievement tests given to 15-year-olds), and according to the results, kids in Finland are the smartest. South Koreans scored very well also and Polish kids have made impressive improvements in recent years. United States teenagers have consistently scored in the middle, so Amanda talked to students, educators, and politicians in Finland, South Korea, and Poland to find out what they're doing to get the results they're getting. She also corresponded with US teens who went to Finland, South Korea, and Poland as exchange students. They were able to give her information about the local schools, curricula, study habits, and so on of students in each country.

As she discussed what each exchange student experienced, she also talked about the education policies and practices of each country and what was working for them. Some of the things that she talked about that caught my attention are:

- The need for more exclusive teacher training colleges that only accept students in the top percentage of classes, rather than accepting anybody who applies. Quality teachers with rigorous training who get paid enough. Education standards, but autonomy in reaching/teaching those standards (no micro-managing) because quality teachers can handle it.
- Delayed tracking- no gifted/talented programs or heading off to vocational school till 16. It seems to be the labels that make a difference: "gifted", "accelerated", "average", "remedial", etc.
- Little to no school-sponsored sports (they pull away funding and focus from education)
- Parents read to children from a young age, but aren't necessarily involved at school (PTA, parent-teacher conferences, etc).
- Expectations- high expectations lead to higher results, low expectations lead to lower results/more dropouts/etc. An expectation that children will work hard and that going to college matters is important.
- An attitude of "school matters" is also important.
- More/higher technology doesn't necessarily mean more learning is happening. Finland has quite low-tech classrooms- chalkboards instead of smart boards. The students didn't use calculators either.
- Allow teenagers to be more autonomous- no helicopter parenting.
- Allow kids to fail while still in school, before they go to college and get jobs and it really matters.
- Make sure each child has a solid foundation in math early on- they can't learn and use new concepts if they don't understand the previous ones.
- Kids need to learn critical thinking and problem solving- not just how to answer a multiple choice test.

Obviously, this is not all that was talked about in the book, so I recommend reading it yourself. As a homeschooler, I felt like parts of the book highlighted some of the reasons why we homeschool. It also made me think about some of my attitudes toward schooling. In general, we have fairly high standards for Sunshine, but I do make excuses for her in some instances because of her (and my) ongoing health issues. I'm not sure that I'm doing her any favors when I do that. It also underscored the need to make sure our children are firmly grounded in their math facts from the beginning and after each new concept is added. I also plan on teaching our kiddos critical thinking and problem solving- not just how to choose the right multiple choice answer.

We've actually started this already, since the curriculum we use (books recommended in The Well Trained Mind) encourages children to summarize in their own words what they've listened to/or read, as well as answer open-ended questions regarding what they've heard/read. In the younger grades this is focused primarily on reading comprehension, but as Sunshine gets older we'll branch out to include math and science. I thought this book had a lot of good food for thought.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

The Three-Volume Novel

Have you ever read or watched "The Importance of Being Earnest"?

You can read it here, and the 2002 movie version with Colin Firth is worth watching.

In one scene, the nursemaid who was caring for baby Jack admits to writing a three-volume novel. Lady Bracknell disparages it as a "three-volume novel of more than usually revolting sentimentality."

That line brought to mind the ubiquitous trilogy. It seems like almost every author (young adult in particular) out there is planning and writing trilogies. When I read a debut novel and it's touted as the first in the "blah blah trilogy", I can't help but think of three-volume novels. And then I wonder if this particular trilogy is of more than usually revolting sentimentality.

Anyone else see the parallel between three-volume novels and trilogies?

How to Downsize Your Household in 5 Easy Steps

our basement bathroom is the dumping ground for items we're getting rid of

1. Apply for an overseas job that would require shipping our household goods overseas (with a weight limit) and living in a much smaller house than we currently do.
2. Second-guess ourselves and ask "Are we crazy? Could we really do this?"
3. Make a list for each room/space inside and out and sort everything into categories: "take with", "store", "sell/donate/toss", and realize that it would actually be doable.
4. Don't get the job.
5. Decide to go through with the downsizing anyway.

When we moved into this house I went through and found a spot for everything and got rid of a lot of junk that we'd been hanging onto. Finally unpacking every single bin and box made it possible to see just what we had (like the duplicates of some books because I forgot we already had them since our books were in boxes for so many years). As the years go by, the amount of stuff we have has gradually increased, and inevitably it does not all get used. Having a large house has allowed the amount of stuff to creep up on us because there's random spots throughout the house that we can squirrel things away in. Especially in the basement.

So, after living in this house for more than 3 years, we're sorting and getting rid of a lot of stuff. Some of it survived the last purge, but some of it has only been around since we moved into this house. We're really trying to only keep things that have a purpose and will actually be used. If it hasn't been used since we moved here, there has to be a really good reason for keeping it. Since Mr M and I both come from pack rats who like to keep things "just in case", this is actually a challenge for us. Realizing that we can replace something if we really need it (even though we haven't used it in the entire 13 years we've been married, so the likelihood of that happening isn't very high) makes it a little easier to be brutal when sorting.

Just one example: this means that the majority of my fabric stash got put in the "sell/donate/toss" pile. I find myself buying fabric for specific projects and rarely use what's in my stash. So why have a stash if I don't use it? There's no reason to keep things if they never get used. I did keep the cutest fabrics that might actually get used (I'm teaching Sunshine how to sew this year, so I need to have some fabric on hand), but they're a small fraction of what I had. I also kept a few pieces of clothing to be repurposed, but got rid of the rest I'd been saving, since I still haven't done anything with them.

In addition to all the smaller stuff, we'll also be selling some pieces of furniture. I've been trying to get the furniture situated in each room, but some of the things we have just aren't working as well as we'd hoped. So I'm currently building some more pieces, mostly for better storage options. Between the decluttering and the building, I've been pretty busy, but I'll try to get pictures posted as I finish each project.

What are we planning for all that stuff in the basement bathroom? We'll be having a yard sale in a few more weeks, I'm listing some things on ebay, and whatever doesn't sell will be donated to the thrift store or tossed. That's in addition to what has already been thrown away as we've sorted through everything. We also have a mountain of old papers to shred. We're hanging onto all our old tax info, but there's no reason to horde old electric statements from 2004. Yes, we were, but not any more.

The challenge going forward will be to be more intentional with our purchases and not allow the clutter to accumulate again.

How do you keep the "stuff" from taking over your house?

Sunday Funny

River got pretty excited about the tiny camo hoodies at Bass Pro Shops a couple weeks ago.

Just look at that face- doesn't it look like he's asking "Please can we get it? I can't wait for my first camp!"

Unfortunately for him, we didn't get it. Maybe when he's a bit older :)

Second July Race

it was an overcast morning

I ran another 5k on Saturday. As the half marathon approaches I'm getting nervous about my mileage, so adding in an extra race or two should help me keep on track with my training.

I finished in 35:27, just over a minute slower than the 5k two weeks ago, and my second-fastest time this year. I had half-hoped to finish faster than last time, but I wasn't expecting it and I'm still happy with the time. This race was out and back, with the out being mostly rolling downhills and the back being mostly rolling uphills. Not the easiest course, but cooler temps made it a little easier than it would have been. The humidity would have been unbearable if the temps had been any higher, though.

My knees were bothering me last week, so I only walked during the week- no running. Since my knees are feeling better this week, I think the knee pain was from standing for hours in the basement while decluttering. Laminate over cement provides no cushioning, especially on the occasions when I neglected to wear shoes, which was very stupid of me. In any case, I wasn't sure how my knees would handle actual running on Saturday, but they did ok. The first quarter mile or so they felt creaky, but then they warmed up and didn't feel too bad.  I was able to run the first mile in 10:50, the second mile in 11:09, and the third mile in 12:23, with an overall pace of 11:24. I managed more consistent pacing than the last 5k, but I still need to work on it.

My next race is in a week and a half, but it won't be competitive at all. It's a two mile parent-child mud race that Sunshine and I are doing, and we're just going to have fun and finish :)

2nd July 5k:             35:27
July 5k:                     34:15
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:                    ---

New Shed

When we bought the house, I built a wood base and attached our collapsible shed to it to store our bikes. Over the last few years we've used it store various items. In the last year the shed has really been showing its age as rips appeared in the fabric and this happened this winter:

It collapsed under the weight of the snow every time it snowed this winter, and several of the support poles shattered.

We've still been using it to house the generator, recycling bins, and a few miscellaneous items, but it's  been such an eyesore. We draped a tarp over the stuff inside, trying to compensate for the massive hole. Not sure if it added to or detracted from the overall trashy factor.

We shifted the shed and platform to the left a few feet when Mr M re-did the kitchen stairs.

We've been looking for a replacement, and thinking about our options. The original plan was to build a small shed, but after pricing materials, we decided it would be cheaper to buy one. And it would be a lot quicker to put together a kit shed. Time is an important consideration since we never seem to have enough of it.

We finally purchased a shed from Sam's (we looked at Lowe's also) and spent an afternoon putting it together. Before we could build, though, we first had to tear down. Not that it took much work to tear down the old shed that was barely standing. 

With the platform cleared off, we moved it a few yards away from the house and deck. I think the longest part of this project was getting the platform level. Seriously, that took a lot longer than we anticipated. 

We finally got the platform level and started putting the pieces together. It was pretty easy to do- even Sunshine helped screw in screws.

River supervised :)

By that evening we had the shed put together and the side of the house looked like this:

So much better!

And there's the new shed, off to the left. It's slightly smaller than the old shed (5x8 instead of 6x8), but it's quite a bit taller. A little extra headroom makes it feel a lot roomier than the old shed. That and we can install shelves and use some of the vertical space more effectively.

We need to clear out the dead leaves and bring in some gravel to level things out a bit now that we can actually see this space.

It just looks so much nicer. We can't get over how good it looks!