Some Assorted Photographs

This is Woodjie.  We've turned in the simple picture word cards he was using for "work" time to the preschool.  Quite a jump to the kindergarten skill books he now has on loan.  He isn't really doing these on his own, but I have him count the number of fishes, dots or apples and then hand him the card with the number word on it.  Ok, so I cheat on his preschool homework, so sue me.

Guess which bed belongs to an Elf, and which one belongs to an Emperor.  They both sewed their pillowcases themselves.  Note also that neither child will sleep with his head near the HEADboard.  They absolutely will not do it.  They put their pillows by the footboard and sleep that way, too.  Like bats.  Sort of.

This is a recent picture of me and Rose.  I am the larger round person.  Pretty accurate depiction actually.  See how I take up the WHOLE picture and am sort of looming over Rose.  She is smiling because she likes being loomed over.  Ok, what she actually said about the picture is, "I are talking to you.  You so proud a me."  :)

The chess tournament bag and violin collection near the door.  The violin used to take up a LOT less space when we rented a  half-size violin.  Elf was so little and cute.  Now, it's big old clompy violin time.  Ok, not really.  But the new violin sure seemed big at first.

The Riccar Pristine in all its glory.  I bought this just before my hernia popped and can no longer lift it.  It's sad.  Every time I want to vacuum something, I have to call the homeschooler over to bring it to the room I want to work in.  Guess he will never go to public school unless I get money to hire the housework out... yay.  It's reviewed here and wow.  The review is exactly right except no, it doesn't really cost $999.95.  Really?  Someone buys it for that much before taxes?  I bought mine new for about $700.  My last Riccar vacuum lasted over 10 years and was used extremely frequently. Scary thought... in another 10 years my homeschooler will be almost 21.  I'm thinking I may have to trade DOWN for a lightweight model by then.  :(  But these vacuums are the best.  Only thing is, you have to buy special bags for them and when you need to fix the vacuum, you must bring it to a special Riccar dealer.  Wal-Mart type vacuums are simply not the same.  Plus I find their belts fray and smell plastic-y and need changing all the time and the vacuums just don't clean as well.  Also the vacuums I've bought from W-M bust completely and utterly within a year.  Not even worth repairing.  Though I had an older (OLDER) Eureka I liked very well for a good while.  I will admit to being a dish and vacuum snob.  Yes, I will.  I am starting to notice that all the really awesome vacuums weigh about 50 pounds though and I'm not sure why that is.

If you go into the dealership with this card, you could win a Ford Fucus!  Just what you always wanted!

Blechh.  "Easter" Mellowcreme Candy and the Mellowcreme Pumpkins at Halloween time are NOT the same.  These bunnies and ducklings are disgusting.  Sometimes I think I will just throw them out.  Other times I find myself just handing one or two to small people who walk by the computer where I keep them (why?  Because everything is near my computer).  I always feel guilty after I hand these out as snacks after "I have it bunny" is requested.  "Mmm!" Woodjie says.  "Ee good."  Ee bad and I really should throw them away.  But that would be wasteful.  Ever have stuff just kick around like that and you can't quite decide what to do with it?  Thankfully when this conundrum happens inside my refrigerator, the item starts to rot and then I feel better about pitching it.  Maybe you did not want to hear that.