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Powered by LifeTypeBecause he likes to compete with Brandon Sanderson, SD Smith is launching a new Green Ember book today. Our family loves the Green Ember series maybe even more than the Stormlight Archive.
I've mentioned before that the soldiers' oath has special significance to us now that Faith has literally given her blood for Grace and that SD Smith has supported our family with time, prayer, and gifts.
So... Will we hear about the Pilgrim in this first book of Lost Tales? We hope to find out soon!
Since I'm on a roll of typing out the insulation we've used, I figured I might as well post about our heating systems too.
We have five different heating sources for our home, and someday we'll get a sixth...
Someone just asked for advice on Facebook, and I figured I should save it here so I don't need to type it again when someone asks later.
We've had just about every kind of insulation in our house. So, more than you asked for, but hopefully useful. Also, if you don't know about it, you should go to nhsaves.com and have Eversource pay for 50% of your costs - a great program, we paid $3500 and save ~$1000 a year in fuel, plus the house feels warmer. Air sealing is the most important (one reason spray foams are better; the R value of cellulose and fiberglass goes to something around 1 or 2 if there is air movement)
In honor of the end of World War I one hundred years ago today, I post a picture of Joy hugging the tree that was planted in memory of her great-great-granduncle Harry Faulk.
See my mom's Armistice Day post for a few more details of my family's involvment in the war.
There are, of course, many examples of why Jon is a great Dad, but this is a particular one I'd like to record.
One evening, Jon and I were resting together in our bed. Suddenly, from the other room, we heard a panicked cry, "Someone help me!! AAA-AAA-AA-AAAAA!!" Jon jumped up and ran to the rescue. Jeremiah was clinging to the top molding of a doorway. He had climbed up the doorway to the top and then his feet slipped and he couldn't get his foot-grip back again.
But it didn't end there. Unlike many parents, Jon did not reprimand Jeremiah. Instead, he helped him "get back on the horse." Jon showed him how low his feet actually had been and reminded him how he often jumps from that high in other places. So after a few tries, Jeremiah discovered that Daddy was right, and now he happily climbs up doorways without fear and sometimes even jumps down from the top on purpose!
I am posting my backlog of pocket notes. Sometimes details are sparse.
6/29/16 - Noah's party, kids building brick fort, all the kids at the party working together. Yellow jackets
end of June, Nathaniel stepping up stairs, holding rail or wall
7/7-7/10 - Balloon Festival, hosting Richard, Jeff, Becky. Rain, parking
7/7 - Jeremiah calls grizzly bears, "jiggly bears"
7/16 - Jeremiah, "If Nathaniel is gonna die, you call NINE ONE ONE!!! before he dies."
7/19 - Joy, "72 hours! That's tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow."
7/24 - Jeremiah, when he saw Faith and Joy putting on shoes for church, "*I* want special shoes!"
Or: How This Mom Started Playing Minecraft
They say that a good way to show love is to take an interset in what the other person is interested in, even if you wouldn't care about it on your own.
I'm a busy mom and wife of an entrepreneur, right? I don't have time for video games. I have a house to clean, school to teach, dinners to make, diapers to change, invoices to prepare, bills to pay, laundry to wash ... blah, blah, blah.
But one day, my little Joy asked me to try Minecraft. All my kids love it. They play nearly every day, they collaborate, they watch each other, they coach and help each other. I have already put in the effort to be interested in their creations. But there is only so far you can go with intelligent questions without jumping in yourself.
I started in creative and peaceful. Joy and Faith taught me some things, and my generated world was interesting to explore.
Then Jonathan asked me to try survival and coached me through the steps. (Though I still insisted on peaceful at first.)
It has been fun to play around and discover things, build a house to my own liking, raise a rainbow flock of sheep, etc.
My questions now come from experience. Jonathan remarked, "It's so fun that you are actually interested in Minecraft now!" How to connect to your pre-teen? Maybe try Minecraft.
On vacation, I let them and myself do extra. We discovered the collaboration of multiplayer over wifi. We can be a team. I also see the different personalities of my children coming out. Each one approaches the game differently. Jonathan works for speed and efficiency, mining carefully in the right places. Noah thinks mining is mind-numbingly boring and avoids it when he can, preferring to get his treasure by killing monsters. Faith is matter-of-fact, cautious and deliberate. Joy makes beautiful, patterned structures. Jeremiah likes digging and building, digging and building, digging and building (and he is getting more deliberate, too.)
I also discovered the phenomenon that some other part of my brain works on real-life problems while I play. In a conversation with my sister, she remarked that I had been doing a lot of thinking. I replied that I thought I was just doing a lot of Minecraft. But she's convinced they're related. And that gives me a deeper appreciation for Jon's game playing as well.
In Minecraft, my kids are the teachers (even my five-year-old: "Mom... your inventory is full, that's why you can't pick that up.") I am the one learning, making novice mistakes, disregarding wise advice to my peril, and taking advice to my advantage. This is fun for them and it's fun for me. I'm glad I decided to take the plunge.
And now excuse me. I have to go shear a yellow sheep.
Highlights from my Mother's Day, in addition to playing handbells:
Nathaniel went in to the bid kids' room to give Jeremiah a morning hug and "hewwo!"
Nathaniel belly laughs.
Jonathan sang all the verses of Fairest Lord Jesus while washing dishes.
Here are the brief notes I put together about our family vacation to Baltimore. This year, the entire Daley clan was able to come (Barbara, Phil, and all their children and grandchildren!)
Thursday drive down very good, even through NYC, thanks to google traffic. Looked up heights and stories of skyscrapers.
Picnic at rest area.
Orioles game street food for dinner.
King suite with pullout couch and kid o bunk.
Friday walking to aquarium. Bus back. Pizza for dinner.
Saturday industry museum. Really neat museum, I wish I could have seen it in more detail. I go home with littles in bus.
People getting sick. Jeremiah and I stay home for dinner. Others go to inner harbor restaurant. Adventure with top of the world and elevators and fire alarm.
Sunday pirates, science center. Portuguese take out.
Hotel pool, breakfasts.
Happy Mother's Day! I love you. Here is something I played in church this morning and thought of you.
Love,
Heather
On Saturday, March 26th, Jonathan, Faith, Joy and I participated in our first karate tournament. The whole family rose bright and early so we could drive the two hours and 15 minutes to Standish, Maine. This tournament is relatively small, with only about five dojos participating. Each division had two to eight participants, with an average of about four (though I didn't do the math.)
Faith's division, 5-7 year old purple belts, was first. There were six other kids competing with her, including her friend Evelyn from our own dojo. In the sparring category, she lost her first match, so that one ended pretty quickly. But when it came time for forms, that is when her practice and hard work shone. She was confident and crisp in her movements. She remembered everything and performed smoothly. She was first to go, and for whatever reason, they allow the first person to go again if he wishes, so she did it again after all the other kids had gone. She told me later that she almost told them that she had already had her turn, and then realized by how they said it that they knew she had gone already, so she just did it. It was so fun to watch her. And then the judges, not her partial mother, awarded her first place! Evelyn got second place. (More)
2/2 - Noah and I walked past the food pantry on distribution day, and saw a friend of ours heading there. He asked if she was donating food and I explained that she was receiving food. He wondered why she needed to get food from the food pantry, and we had a good discussion about the various reasons someone may need it. Our friend is an older single lady on a fixed income. I also brought up the idea that sometimes people make poor spending choices and that's why they don't have money for food. He picked right up on that, talking about people buying cigarettes instead of food. I also emphasized that it's good to have compassion for people even when they don't make the same choices we do, and try to help them make good choices if they're willing. And also how it's good to make sure kids get enough food even if their parents are irresponsible with money. It was a good discussion.
2/2 – Nathaniel came downstairs with help. He sat down facing forward and carefully scooted himself down each step.
2/3 – Nathaniel did the first four steps down holding my hand, all the rest all by himself. He was cautious careful and kind of wobbly. He was very proud and satisfied! That same evening he did the whole stairs all by himself!
2/3 - Noah came in holding a very small piece of fuzz and exclaimed, "With my microscope, I can see tons of colors in this piece of stuff!" He then examined lots of other things with the microscope.
2/6 - Jeremiah, eating a hard-boiled egg, "Look, Mom! A sun!" Me, "Yes! That's called the yolk." Jeremiah, "You call it 'yolk', I call it 'sun'."
2/10 – Nathaniel wiped my nose with Kleenex.
2/11 - Nathaniel can open the microwave door. He'll be playing somewhere in the kitchen, hear the beep and jump up and run to the microwave and open the door. So now we have to be on top of that, because usually the stuff inside is very hot! He also likes to open the door before it's done.
2/11 - Nathaniel was kicking a bottle around the kitchen like a soccer player.
2/11 - Nathaniel said "hello" with a clear 'l' sound. He copied me several times that day but has not said it again since.
2/11 - Joy remarked to me, "You can't count by zeroes. Zero...zero...zero...zero..."
2/12 - I took the baby gate down because Nathaniel wouldn't come down without me, but just stood there at the top and yelled.
But, 2/14, he decided to just step down into thin air and fell down to the landing. So the gate went up again.
This is our major birthday month, Jon turning 39, Jeremiah 3, Nathaniel 1, and Joy 5. We had our traditional big party for Jon, and a record number of pizzas were consumed (8). Jeremiah and Nathaniel just had Grammy and Papa over for small family celebrations. But Joy had a girls-only party, which was overall fun, but I like whole family parties better.
Jonathan has started being mistaken on the phone for Jon. He is thrilled with this development.
2/16 - Joy, remarking about three people on a see-saw, "It's a three-saw, because, one here, one there, and one there."
2/17 - I picked up Nathaniel and hugged him and said, "Oh, my baby!" He answered, "Oh, my mom."
2/21 - Overheard, Noah to Jonathan, "I'm allergic to dizziness, so count me out."
2/21 - Jeremiah practices screwing in a knob on the microphone stand in the cry room at church.
2/22 - Noah can whistle!
2/24 - You know you're a mechanical engineer when your one year old slams his bowl into yours and even though it doesn't break, you can see in your mind's eye the microscopic stress lines forming.
2/28 - Nathaniel practices putting a cap on a pen.