Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Housewife Nirvana

Firstly, let me say how much I love your comments!

Pom Pom, Lisa, Cheryl, Ginger, Michael, Amy, Ms. Twinkle Toes, Mari, Claudette, Julie and even crusty old TJIC- you are all such generous readers. Your comments thrill me. I don't write back as often as I should, but please know that you are why I keep writing.

Secondly, brace yourselves. I have now exercised for three days in a row. I am up to fifteen minutes. I also ate a salad for dinner. The next thing you know I 'll be telling you that math is fun.

Thirdly, I thought I would give you a little homeschooling update. It's going so very well. I have no idea why I waited so long.

Rebecca hasn't been this happy in years. She loves writing and I love being able to give her the time and freedom to write. Being able to spend six weeks on multi-digit multiplication instead of two has been very helpful as well. We do not move on to a new concept until she has mastered the old.

Lily, it turns out, loves math. She really is the strangest child I have ever met. She is always looking for patterns and relationships in numbers.

Another benefit of homeschooling is that we could spend a few hours in the middle of the day decorating gingerbread houses.

I have to confess something to you right up front.

I used a glue gun to put them together. I have a strong childhood memory of watching my mother attempt to put a gingerbread house together using frosting. I learned many swear words from her that day as her house kept collapsing.

That is why I used my glue gun. Duct tape would have been all wrong for this project.

After putting the houses (store bought) together, they looked like this.



Rebecca chose to do a big one.



Lily chose a teeny tiny village and was kind enough to let me decorate two of her houses.

There was candy involved in this project.


See those Necco wafers? Completely disgusting. Great for roof shingles though.

My approach to gingerbread house decorating is to keep it simple.





I have to brag about this snowman a little bit.



Isn't he cute?

Rebecca and Lily go for broke when decorating their houses.

I love how Rebecca used candy to create shutters and flowers.


It's so cheery!

Lily added a deck to hers.


The girls collaborated on this one. It includes an ewok bridge and an ewok holding a sling shot.


It was a perfect afternoon. The children were cheerful and polite. There were no wedgies, nor were there any burping contests. There wasn't any whining.

Housewife nirvana.

8 comments:

Cheryl said...

First, kudos on the 3-days-in-a-row-exercising and eating a salad. Woot! Woot! Keep up the great work.

Lily has obviously been gifted with that funky analytical math gene from your Dad so she's actually just a chip off the old block one generation removed.

Love the houses. But that was one harsh comment about NECCO wafers. Harsh, I tell you! Do you realize they're made in Lynn or Revere by the New England Candy COmpany? Where's your candy loyalty, woman?! Besides, the white ones are cinnamon and the browns are chocolate. What could be better?

Thanks for the kind words. I figure if I keep encouraging the folks whose blogs I like and love, they'll never stop entertaining me. It's kind of a pay it forward thing with a little bit of a karmic twist.

Lisa said...

Oh my! How very lovely your houses are! I am so glad you love homeschooling! It sounds like you are all very happy! I am also impressed with your sticking to diet and exercise this time of year. I really need to but there is too much going on right now. I am so stressed I am eating very little. I also found some sinful cookies the other day but the recipe has yet to arrive and so I am spared the pounds I will gain when I make a panful and eat them all! hehe I really am not happy with anything else so I'll wait! Keep up the good work. I hope you hid those chocolate bars so good even you cannot find them for a while. hehe
Hugs, Lisa

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

What wonderful fun - but I do LOVE Necco wafers. Did you know they are made by the same people that make those little candy hearts with sayings on them at Valentines?

Pom Pom said...

I watched Julie and Julia again tonight and now I want to read cookbooks, and eat the things I make.
Hmmmmm. Nine days until I have to submit to Wii lessons. Did you see the imaginary present for you on my blog?

Ginger said...

Your gingerbread houses are so cute. I think glue is a great idea...will hold it for a long time. Had to laugh about the frosting comment.
I've never decorated a gingerbread house, looks like a lot of work, and that candy is too tempting. I'd probably eat it before I got it on the house.
I'm so glad you like all our comments...I sure love reading your blog and you always make me laugh. You have the BEST sense of humor!!

Anonymous said...

NECCO -- New England Candy Company made right down the road from you in CAMBRIDGE MA doll face. My old landlord used to work for them until he retired. I love them. I do not love the licorice flavor but I do not think even Sonny liked that flavor. Thanks for the shout out! xo Mari

ps I can honestly say I have never seen a gingerbread house with a deck or an Ewok. Those are the most creative houses ever!

Julie said...

OMG I thought the dog picture had disappeared. (the real reason I come here) Now you are obviously under some kind of delusional illness that makes you a)exercise b)not mention eating chocolate c)make bizarre welcoming candy houses with ewoks with slingshots.
I do love your blog's honesty and almost full disclosure. I love "real" moms who can see the wonder of their children while at the same time pondering how much they could make auctioning them on ebay on those bad days. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Interesting post... Looks like flash memory is really starting to become more popular. Hopefully we'll start seeing a drop in solid-state drive prices in the near future. $5 32 gig SDs for your Nintendo DS flash card... sounds good to me!

(Posted using OperaMod for R4i Nintendo DS.)