My Dining Room Hardwood Floor

This picture was taken behind the table featured a few posts ago. When we first moved into this house, we quickly discovered that every carpet in the house REEKED of dog urine. I don't know how, but we never noticed it on our tours, perhaps because we never sat on the floor. Next time I buy a house, I will leave the a/c off for an hour and roll on the floor, sniffing in the corners as part of the inspection. Yes, I will. I'll also interview the neighbours and ask them what they think about the area. That saved us from buying a beautiful old place with lots of bedrooms and huge cement lions, gates and the whole works. The school next door let us know that well, the police try, but kids like to hang out and cause trouble over there... Usually when someone nicely tells you um, THEY sure wouldn't buy a house there... you know it's probably not going to work out well. After we moved in here, we ripped up the carpet in most of the rooms and this is about the quality of the hardwoods underneath throughout the house. This is the quality... AFTER cleaning and scrubbing. This is as "clean" and shiny as it gets. We had a lot of gum and paint and cigarette butts under the carpet and padding. And a lot of sandy dirt! I don't know how, even with diligent vacuuming, floors could be that filthy underneath. I don't think I ever want wall-to-wall carpeting again. It hides far too many sins.

Ladybugs!

If you eat prepackaged foods at all, you may want to try the Healthy Choice portable kind that steams the rice. I found it AWFUL. I won't buy it again. But the container is the PERFECT size for ladybug-catching. It has nice BIG holes on top, but not quite so big that your ladybugs can escape. Freak your children out as they watch the ladybugs poke their faces out of the holes in a vain attempt to escape. Blush as you attempt to explain why the nice ladybug is giving her friend a piggyback ride. Yes, Elf, I think you're right... they really DO like each other. We also looked online and found out that ladybugs eat aphids and are good for roses. That's where we'll let them go when we're done with the entertainment.

My Living Room.

You don't see the couch or coffee table I'm standing by, but this is my living room. Someone likes me a whole lot and got me some flowers for my very favourite table. I blog from over there on the right. Yes, in a rocking chair. I got it from my neighbour for $25 and it's great. We keep thinking of buying office chairs, but then we never actually do. A long time ago, the lamps you see to the left used to have monstrous shades. These originals have regrettably been lost. (Woo-hoo! I mean, boo-hoo!) So I updated them. The windows used to have buggy cigarette-smoke-stained "valances" and three bare bulbs with some glass "thing" over 'em hung from the ceiling over this table. Also updated ($). I tried to disguise the computer area a little bit with the huge plastic plant from Wal-Mart. See? Now you don't notice my printer or the other things that keep piling on my desk. Ok. Tour's over.

Jesse James Farm - Souvenirs

Each of us picked a souvenir in the gift shop. Guess which one is mine??

Third in State!

Congrats to Patrick for placing third in the state at the 2008 Missouri Grade State Championship in Columbia, Missouri!! He went with his friends from the school's chess club.

The Jesse James Farm and Museum in Kearney, Missouri.

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***************This tour and museum is worth it. Kids under eight are *free* as well. The tour begins with a wonderful short historical movie about Jesse and his older brother, Frank James. Then you can wander about the exhibits featuring the boots and feather-duster Jesse James was using when he died. His wallet. His letters written under a pseudonym. Some coins and saddles. BTW, *real* outlaws have flowers embroidered on their saddle blankets. Yes, they do.

Jesse James Farm - Outhouse.

Brr... this is not a place I'd want to have to go to the bathroom in the winter. Fifty feet from the house in the wind in the middle of the night. Bleck, but I wouldn't want my home to smell of "chamber pot," either. It isn't like Jesse's mom could have lit candles to disguise the smell, either. Or used air fresheners. Thank God for indoor plumbing, would ya?

Jesse James Farm

You can take pictures and touch things, but they ask you to please not sit on the furniture. A chamber pot and other "personal" items are still around the house. It seems that the work is not done well inside or that they ran out of money halfway through. Possible, as our guide informed us the back porch was JUST replaced as a child fell through. I guess that's how they know when to make repairs. The inside is dusty but the overall value of the tour is such that I'd still recommend it. In the second picture, you can see the "original" sides of the house and the window next to the door is the one the Pinkerton people threw a bomb into the home, fatally wounding Jesse's stepbrother and making it necessary for his mother to get her arm amputated. The guide told us that this was probably because the mom had her arm around her baby and the blast came and got him full in the chest as she was holding him. I didn't take pictures inside because everything is out for touching and Elf and Emperor... I was afraid someone would bump into something and my hands needed to be free.

Jesse James Farm - Slave Cabin.

This, unlike the farm which was carefully restored using the original materials whenever possible, is a reproduction of a slave cabin that was on the premises. It would have been absolutely miserable to spend a winter in these conditions. There is no insulation and no chinking between the boards. The shack is about the size of a medium-sized modern bathroom.

Jesse James Farm - View From the Creek.

Jesse James Farm - Running About.

We were permitted to take pictures just about everywhere except inside the museum. The boys ran up and down the paved path from the house to the museum and tired themselves out. Elf and Emperor had races and rode their "horses" all over. There were shouts of, "I'm Jesse and you're Frank!" heard from all about. Eventually poor Emperor became exhausted and sat down to rest.

Jesse James Farm - Nature.

This place isn't too far from where we live, but we found amazing numbers of daddy longlegs, ladybugs, birds, butterflies and other animals. We wandered down to the creek about twenty yards from the farm where Jesse and Frank must have played as boys and found this snake. It's going sideways across the picture and is near a big stick. It was only about a foot long, but an exciting find. One could easily imagine the James boys taunting snakes with sticks and leaves as we did over this bridge. Nearby were several very small fish or tadpoles. It was hard to tell which as as wet as the ground was that day, we didn't want to slip into the creek because we got a closer look. As I was buying some souvenirs, a staff member led the boys out to pet a woolly caterpillar. I'm thinking they would LOVE if Dad were to buy some of the moderate acreage near the James farm that is for sale right now. The countryside is simply gorgeous.

Bug-Catcher.

G is here with his ruler (spider-webby) and his container. Inside? A VERY LARGE brown recluse that would hide behind the toilet until you sat down and then slowly... slowly... would creep out. How could I have missed this thing two inches wide until the children brought it to my attention? Ohhh... it was hard to catch, too. If it knew you were coming for it, it would hide in a crack where the walls meet behind the shower. If you sat on the toilet it would come out slowly... slowly... (shudder) Patrick is hoping to capture a spider in the next day or so so that the spiders can be set free AT each other outside and the boys can watch the ensuing spider fight. By the way, Patrick also had to go to the doctor. Brown recluse bite, infected with icky drainage and the size of a tennis ball. Um, Patrick said it wasn't that bad and he could just squeeze it regularly to keep the swelling down and he wonders why I was SO INSISTENT on taking the kid to the doctor. Just when we got the upstairs (hopefully!!) bug-free, the downstairs is full of brown recluse spiders creeping up to bite your legs while you pee.

Patrick Playing in the Orchestra.

A short video snippet of Patrick playing in the orchestra last night. You can see him next to "Sarah Palin" on the cello.

At the Concert.

We brought our new book about the orchestra, purchased from Sonlight. This book has everything, including a CD to listen to each instrument in the orchestra. It has charts to help you "locate" each instrument as it plays. It arrived literally minutes before we took off to watch Patrick play in the orchestra.

Elf was so excited to hear the music playing, I thought at times he might fly out of his seat!! Emperor enjoyed himself well enough, but kinda slumped toward the end.

Pictures at My House.

A few weeks ago, I was trying to take pictures of all kinds of everyday items for a "rec id" book for J. It would be a book with his bed, toothbrush, pillow and other things he uses every day. This was my attempt at a "TV" picture. Somehow, someone ALWAYS gets in the way when I'm trying to take pictures. This time it was the girl's fault my picture didn't turn out well.

Pokemon Guy.

I bought some of these and embedded them in cakes this year for the older boys. I can't pronounce most of their names. It seems these are either very cute or very demonic-looking. This one is pronounced "soo-do-woo-do" or something like that. And he isn't a tree, he's a rock. The boys could tell you all about each character, its unique properties, and what it would best be suited to fight. It's actually very complicated.

Woodjie Dancing

Woodjie (J) loves Veggie Tales. You can tell he really wants to sing along with the song as well. His favourite guy seems to be Bob the Tomato.

TV Watchin' Outfit.

Diaper. Shirt. Shrek ears. Note the happy stim because Bob the Tomato is on. Bob is our friend. "TV" is one of the few signs J still does. It's really just a sideways "V," but you'd better catch on fast. And break out the Cheerios because this monster is hungry.

Star-Spangled Tea

Back to Tea on Tuesdays with Lori! Our theme today is the Star-Spangled Banner. The boys are trying very hard to learn this, but some of the guesses they make at some of the words are interesting. We made hot dogs and star-spangled apple pie for lunch. American as it gets. We also read a comic book on Francis Scott Key.

My Shopping List.

Someone hasn't figured out that he needs to disguise his writing and hide the "requested" item among other plausible entries. Yet.

Watching.

************ ************ ************ After the game, it was time to watch a praying mantis that climbed onto our entryway brickwork.