Snow Day

Where I live in North Florida snow is not unheard of, but it is pretty rare.  Snow that actually stays frozen long enough to play with is even rarer - maybe a once in 5 to 10 years kind of event.  Today was one of those special days.  When we woke up this morning we had a light dusting of snow all over the yard.  It felt pretty magical.

Since we have absolutely no infrastructure in place to actually deal with snow or ice on the road, and no one has any idea how to drive safely on snow or ice, everything was shut down including the kid's school and my work, and we had a snow day.

The boy loved playing with the snow where it had clumped together and gathered enough to make a 3-inch tall man.  It was the biggest and only snowman we have ever made here in Florida.

The girl was not quite as keen on the snow as her brother, but she did keep from freezing long enough to make a very respectable snowball.

Once we had all been thoroughly frozen we headed inside to enjoy some s'mores by the fire.

For all of you who are having a much snowier snow day than us, stay warm.

~Amy

Lucky Fish

Tropical Storm Colin came through town earlier this week, dumping a ton of rain, and filling the little lake by our house to over flowing.  We stopped by the lake on our nightly walk last night, to see how well it had drained in the intervening days, and came upon a surprise.  It seems that several little fish that had been living in the lake had been flushed out by the draining water.    We discovered them while they were valiantly attempting to swim back up the spillway into the lake, and away from the gaping maws of the blue herons and egrets that laid in wait next to the shallow stream formed by the draining water. 

The kids immediately sprang to action attempting to return the little fish to the deep waters of the lake.  Fire Beard ran back home in search of nets to assist in the rescue attempt.  I even got in on the action, but quickly found that the kid's fish rescuing prowess far exceed mine.

In the end we rescued about a dozen fish, and hope they are happy back at home.

Avatars

The countertop I had started working on last time is finished and looks really fantastic, but I won’t be talking about it in this post.  I really want to do it justice, and just haven’t had enough time this week to do that.  I did want to make sure I got in another post this week however, so I will be telling you about the family’s new avatars. 

Recently I have been working on updating the about page, and realized that it would be nice for my readers to have a mental image of who they are reading about.  The problem is that I don’t often show anyone’s face on the blog.  That’s because there are a lot of creepy weirdos out there, and I don’t want to make it too easy for them to figure out what me are my kids look like, and do their creepy weirdo thing.  Enter the Avatar.

An avatar is a symbol or figure that represents someone in a computer game.  While this isn’t exactly a computer game, the blog is on a computer, so close enough.

The kids already had the perfect medium for making avatars – Lego!  So I asked them to help me make some Lego minifigures that really reflected our family.  This is what I got back;

The Family Avatars

Let’s take this one by one.  Starting on the left we have Firebeard.  Husband, father, and Star Wars droid wrangler?  The likeness really isn’t too bad, but I have no idea what is going on here.  Perhaps the combination of the superhuman strength and and the hammer imply modern day Thor like abilities but with droids instead of goats.  When I asked the kids, they told me, “It's just fun.”  At least it is better than the drunken stormtrooper minifig they keep trying to use as his stand in for board games.

Firebeard

The little black figure is our Boston Terrier, Earl.  I think the food represents what Earl would like to eat, rather than what he does eat, even so, I am glad that clouds of gas are difficult to represent with Lego. 

Earl

Next is me, Gerwerken.  My figure is by far the plainest, lacking any outrageous accessory.  It looks pretty much like me, except that I rarely wear pants.  In one hand I have a coffee cup, and in the other I have the plans for “Taco Tuesday,” which sounds innocent enough, until you realize that in the Lego Movie the Taco Tuesday plan was basically the plan to take over the world, enslave the population, and crush creativity.  Was this a subtle hint that they feel crushed under my authoritarian regime, or just a bid for me to make tacos on Tuesdays?  When I asked the The boy about it he said, “that's what you need when you work in an office building job.”  I’m not sure what that says about office workers.

Gerwerken

Now the Kids, both of whom are riding dinosaurs.  I wanted to know what this might mean psychologically for them so I looked it up.  Dinosaurs symbolize the fear of no longer being needed or useful.  Perhaps Thomas the Tank engine caused a lot more psychological damage than I realized.

The Boy is on the right with the raptors.  He is holding a video game controller and a can of soda.  While the can of soda is wishful thinking, overall his Avatar is eerily accurate.

The Boy

The Girl is in the middle.  She is riding a dilophosaurus (the kind of dino that spits acid in the Lego Jurassic Park game), dressed as a princess, and holding a lightsaber.  Somehow, the little plastic figure gives off the impression of leading a marauding horde into battle.  So, it’s pretty accurate too.

The Girl

Stay tuned for updates to the about page using our highly accurate avatars, and don’t miss next week’s post on how the countertop turned out – it will be worth it.

July 4th

I hope you all had a wonderful July 4th.  Here are some pics from our celebration. 

The Calm after Battle.

It has been a harrowing few weeks for my family, hence the silence.  Two weeks ago I had a minor surgery that had me laid up for a few days.  Then last week my husband's dog attacked my dog.  Had I not been there, I doubt my dog would have survived the attack.  I am now fully recovered, but I cannot say the same for my dog. My dog has been with me for about 6 years now.  I adopted him from the animal shelter when he was a starved little puppy.  When I got him home I nursed him back to health, and he has been a wonderful loving dog ever since.  He is even highly tolerant of my children dressing him up and loving him to death.

My husband's dog came to us about a year and a half ago.  Someone my husband was working with picked him up off the interstate, and my husband, hearing the dog's story and knowing that the animal shelter was euthanizing every pit bull that crossed their door, took the dog home.  He initially intended to find the dog a new home, but upon taking him to the vet and finding he had heart worms, we decided to keep the dog during his treatment.  Well during that time we became attached to the dog, and decided to keep him.

He was a very loving dog, that was exceptionally gentle with my kids.  He was also a fully intact male, something we don't allow in our house.  After the heart worms were gone we took him to be neutered.  The surgery went well, but soon after the dog began developing a skin rash.

We have since taken the dog to several vets, and even a canine dermatologist.  None have been able to tell us what is wrong with the dog or give him more than temporary relief.  Still, despite the skin condition, he had been a wonderful dog till about 2 months ago.  That is when the first attacked occurred.

The first attacked was unprovoked and quickly stopped, but my dog came out of it with several puncture wounds, and a torn ear.  It also left me with the lasting impression that the dog was unstable, and potentially dangerous.  I believed that his skin condition had finally made him so miserable that even the slightest provocation could set him off.

Fast forward to last week.  My kids, my MiL, and I were playing in the yard with the kids, when my husband's dog again attacked my dog unprovoked.  My husband, who is a large man, had been able to stop the last fight with little difficultly, but he was not around this time.  I beat the dog with a metal pole that was in my garden.  I beat him until my hands were bloody, but still he would not stop attacking.  He had my dog's entire neck in his jaws, and I could hear my dog gasping for air.  Finally, I jammed the pole in the dog's mouth and wrenched it open.  Fortunately my MiL was there to help me pull the dog off, as he was not finished attacking. 

The outcome was the best that could have possibly occurred.  My husband's dog bit my own on the collars, and my dog ended up with only minor puncture wounds on his neck.  One leg had wounds numbering in the teens, but with care and antibiotics it is doing well now.  

My husband's dog is no longer allowed around my dog or my children, and we are at the moment trying to decide what should be done with him.  We have talked to a dog trainer in town that has little hope for him, and are in contact with a dog rehabilitation center, but his outlook looks bleak.

Back to the Daily Grind

We have been back for a few days now, but I always find it difficult to get back into the swing of things after leaving town.  It is especially hard when we cut ourselves off from all major modes of communication during the vacation.  Thanksgiving found us in the mountains of North Carolina.  There was ice on the ground, a chill in the air, a fire in the grate, and a cup of hot cocoa in my hand.  There we have no TV, no Internet, little cell phone phone connection, and only one radio station.  It is blissfully disconnected from modern life.

I decided not to bring any of my Christmas gifts/projects with me, as this was supposed to be relaxing vacation time.  I intended to relax, at least as much as is possible with two toddlers in tow, and I spent much of my time there curled up next to the warm fireplace with a good book.

My kids spent as much time as they could outside exploring the mountainside.  They were hoping to find snow, but instead found large and small icy pools all over the mountainside (the only ice we see in Florida comes out of the freezer).  The smallest were ice filled ruts in the road which they used as an ice skating rink.  The largest was a lake that they threw rocks at for at least an hour to see which would bounce off the ice and which would crack the surface.

Preparing for winter: Chopping Wood

During the past summer's hurricane season our neighbor lost a few trees; a water oak, a live oak, and a black oak. All of them make good fire wood, and all of them have been laying in the neighbor's pasture for months. A few weeks ago Mr. Incredible helped them cut the tree into pieces, in return for hauling some of the wood home. Today Mr. Incredible and my father-in-law used a rented wood splitter to break the logs into usable firewood.

Here is the family observing Grand-dad at work.

Mr. Incredible stepped in to help with the big logs. Manual labor looks good on my man.
Then my little man helped out with the big guys.
They grow up so fast.
Almost all of the dogs helped process the wood.

Here is my boy. See the intensity and determination.A little less determination.
This is my husband's boy. He is a very efficient wood processor.
My SIL's girl. The kid's dog was the only one that wasn't helping with the wood processing. He was too scared to go near the wood splitter.

This is what the stall in the barn that is used for wood storage looked like about half way through wood chopping.
We are not worried about any of the wood walking away. We have a "guard" dog.

Husband Interview

I saw this little interview on Gadabout knitter's blog, and I had to interview my own husband. So here goes...

Me: What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
Him: It’s a hobby that you really enjoy that also produces really practical things.

Me: What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
Him: Sometimes you tend to get “tunnel vision” regarding your projects.
Me: What do you mean by “tunnel vision”?
Him: A hyper focused state where every spare moment is spent seeing that to completion.

Me: What is something I have knitted that you recall as being good?
Him: All of the sweaters you have done have been beautiful. I really get a lot of use out of my socks, and I tried to eat the sushi. I coughed it back up, it was too dry.

Me: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
Him: Compared to cyclists, no.

Me: Do you have any hobbies?
Him: (Evil smile) Oh, yes.

Me: What are your hobbies?
Him: Cycling, rock climbing, automotive repair, civil disobedience.

Me: If we compared money spent on hobbies, who would win?
Him: Are you seriously asking me that?
Me: Yes.
Him: I think this is the first time I have won something that I had completely and totally no desire to win.

Me: Has my knitting in public ever embarrassed you?
Him: Of all the things you could do in public that is probably the least likely thing you could do to embarrass me.

Me: Do you know my favorite kind of yarn?
Him: Malabridgo. Is it?
Me: That is one of my favorites.
Him: Ah…... wait, ohh. The kind you are going to make with the bag of wool in the garage.

Me: Can you name another blog?
Him: (cracks knuckles), Gadabout Knitter, um, that chic that runs wooly bully has one, there is a thread on Ravelry about willy warmers, Debbie Stoller (hopeful look), the Australian guy that gets looked at funny on the railway (Sticks and String).

Me: Do you mind that I want to check out yarn stores everywhere we go?
Him: Nope.

Me: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Him: (thinking) I think I do; you use it to figure out if the gauge needles you use work for the yarn. Essentially you use it to size up and yarn and needles for the project.

Me: Do you read my blog?
Him: Uh huh (Nods head)

Me: Have you ever left a comment?
Him: (nose scrunch) I think I have.
Me: I don’t think you have.
Him: If I didn’t I’ve meant to.

Me: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit?
Him: I think the house has been cleaner since you have been knitting.

Me: Is there anything you would like to add in closing?
Him: A closing statement? I think any hobby is beneficial in that it provides relief from our life’s work. The point at which a hobby becomes an obsession is when it needs reevaluation. I am qualifying obsession as something that would cause you to loose site of your responsibilities and duties.
Me: Are you trying to tell me something?
Him: You specifically, no. This is for everyone.

The Incredibles

The other day I realized that in three short months I will have been blogging for a full year (Well okay, it hasn’t been consistent for nearly that long, but that is when I started it). I also realized that while I have mentioned the goings on of myself and my family, I have said very little about us. I also want to give everyone in my family an official name, because I tick myself off with all of the DH, DS, and DD stuff. Soon it will make me Deranged. Ha, ha! I love bad jokes.

At first I thought about using everyone’s actual nicknames, but since my husband is known as his nick name in most settings, I thought it might not be wise. Then I realized that names relating to fictional characters would not give away any privileged information, while at the same time saying a lot about ones personality if the character was chosen correctly. So……

Meet the Incredible’s:
Mr. Incredible – My Husband
Elastigirl – Me
Violet – My Daughter
Jack Jack – My Son

The reason I chose these characters will become more clear in the next few posts.