19 posts tagged “family”

So here's how yesterday went, in short order:

1. No morning paper, even after we both called like 3 times.
2. Walked Princess (my daughter) to the school bus stop.
   
3. Physiotherapist came and visited-- helped me to correctly sit on our low couch and to get in and out of our Honda Civic safely.  She told me that I still needed to walk more-- so every 15-30 mins, I have to stop whatever I'm doing here on the computer and take a short walk.  I got swelling in my feet from standing too long.
4. Princess Thunderstorm (Cimmy) got to take most of my staples out at the post-op appointment.  Sorry, I don't have any souvenir pictures-- my son spilled some of them on the floor.  (He was quite happy to be out and running around.)  No more bandages-- the ANRP wants the wounds to breathe and air out.  He gave Cimmy some iodine swabs to keep them clean.  No soaking (i.e., no pool time at the gym) until the 8th week, or about December.  That's OK, I suppose-- maybe I can get a new swimsuit for Christmas.
5. Visited City Hall to visit some friends I used to work for.  It involved steps, but I had been taught to step safely by the PT as well.
6. Stopped at the grocery store on the way home for a pumpkin and some ingredients for lunch.  Jonagold apples were on sale, so I got a few since it was so close to lunchtime.  Made a very nice soba noodle salad when we got home.  My son had fallen asleep but he woke up quickly.  Cimmy said she thought it was because the rain woke him up.
7. After my daughter got home, we went out to fly kites as the wind was good.  Brought some soup I had been cooking in the slow cooker.  Cimmy actually joined in for a bit, which she doesn't often do, and despite some frustrations getting her diamond kite to stay aloft.  The winds were changing direction a lot.  After flying the Nexus, everyone said they were cold, and the sun was setting, so we went home.  Everyone ate some of the soup I made-- it really did turn out good.
8. We had Family Home Evening and talked about showing love by action.  Then Cimmy and I helped Princess write letters to her Nana and Pop and to her great-grandparents.  These were pictures created for the project:
   
   
   One is tracings of all the right hands of our family, and the other is tracings of all our right feet.
9. Wished my uncle (Dad's younger brother) a happy birthday.  Maybe he'll see it.
10. After family scripture study and prayer, I crashed and went to sleep-- but only for five hours.  Gah.
    

which probably meant that I was in pain in my sleep.  Gah, it's invading my dreams now!

In other news, we provided part of dinner and a birthday cake for my mother earlier.  Cimmorene always does such a good job with a mix, which is why I ask for them for my birthdays.  Mom asked for chocolate, which we were happy to do since yellow cake mixes get mixed with root beer and sesame seeds and go to board game nights.

Cimmy as well as I were quite pleased to get high praise from Mom.  I'll leave it at that.

Jak is having fun

Snapshot 1

Swerve

Flying high

We had some moderate success with the Nexus (a traditional stunt kite) but after repeated crashes, the spine broke.  (No worry-- it's replaceable.)  The Snapshot was much nicer as there was no frame to break.  We took some reels from the Koi design stunt kite and used those as the dual lines that came with the kite are still tangled.  This worked great since we could control how much length we wanted to start, although once that kite's in the air, you don't want to change it.  It was much easier to learn how to control the kite, and although the lines twisted occasionally, that wasn't a problem-- and a few times I was able to untwist them while still in flight.

To clarify, Cimmy just helped and took pictures while I was flying.  Princess busied herself with the new play garden tool set she got, using one of the sand pits for track & field events.  There's not a picture of her this time, but Cimmy did get a picture of herself and Jak Jr.

Have a bite of my apple

"What is your favorite food?  When you cook for your family, what do you enjoy cooking most?"

If you've read my wife's reply, then first I have to say: I'm the cook, she's the baker.  She likes to make muffins, tarts, pies, and such, while I like to cook a variety of dishes for dinner.

I think my favorite thing to cook is pozole, really.  There is always more than enough for all of us and it lasts for weeks, but it's very cheap and most everyone who has eaten it (wife, daughter, apartment handyman, parents, etc.) likes the way I make it.

If you search the tag 'cooking' in my VOX, you should find what I've made in the past... unless you've been reading already, and then you should be somewhat familiar :)

1. Hand mixer again-- the contact points on the wiring for the switch need to be secure-- either just a little bit of solder or stripping back the wire a bit and reconnecting.  The copper strands are fraying a bit.

2. Installing a roll-out keyboard tray on the computer desk.

Father-in-law will be by tomorrow to help out with that, with mother-in-law and Trinity (sister-in-law) accompanying, provided I can get an appointment rescheduled.

Following up on a recent post and a lovely responding post by I-Luv-Eeyore:

Tonight's Family Home Evening was about Chores and Responsibilities.  Some time before, Cimmy looked into a website called Handipoints to encourage good behavior and responsibility from Princess.  We mutually agreed that we could all use the site, although we spent most of the time following up on Princess's progress, which gave me some time and opportunity to see how the site works.

Here's a screenshot from the homepage:

Handipoints

Crossposted to LJ, itemid = 993, security = public, mask = 0.

What do family members do that makes you happy?   Describe a happy moment.

For starters, I would refer to Cimmorene's After-School Challenges for my daughter.  She has also posted about making play dough for Princess.  (In fact, Princess is playing with it right now.)  Then there is the post about going to a SF/gaming con and that there was activities the whole family could enjoy.   Then there is taking my daughter to Chuck E. Cheese.

Right as of this moment, I am very happy to have a nice wifey that is willing to take care of me when I am sick and get crushed-ice drinks (smoothies, slushies, etc.) to soothe my throat.

Crossposted to LJ, itemid = 971, security = public, mask = 0.

In this post emily sears mentioned teaching home schooling, and so I figured I would write about what Cimmorene is doing with our daughter.

She calls it "After School Challenges".  They are divided into five categories:

• Art
• Math
• Reading
• Science
• Writing

After School Challenges