Homeschool and Etc.

Happenings at the House

2026-02-18T07:44:00.003-06:00

Well...

I've absolutely neglected this blog. I kept meaning to get back to it but then what do you say. Sometimes I just peek at other blogs but I don't know what to say to get back in touch... you know...

Perhaps I write my thoughts just to keep them in order.

Phillip, one of our French Angora bunnies.

All my children are adults now and the four eldest are on their own and I think their financial situation is precarious but I don't pry. Their lives are their own and they haven't asked for help - I'm proud of them and worried both at the same time. I suppose that's what parenting adults looks like.

The two youngest are at home and my son is going to community college and beginning his studies there. He'll start a new club (forming the rules and so on, figuring out the finances and chapter officers) and play the role of an Anglican minister in a school play. Rose is finishing her senior year of high school.

My mother in law was finally convinced to move out to senior apartments awhile ago, so we no longer have to worry about those phone calls about ohh, the taxes are past due and I need a new furnace (when it's about 15 degrees in Ohio where she lives). But weird things keep happening and here I'll have to triangulate a little with the sister in law from time to time to check up on her.

For example, from what I gather, recently she was sent little girl's underwear in the mail. I was a bit alarmed at this and asked her who sent it and she didn't know. She told me she carefully wrapped it all back up and sent it back to the person who sent it to her along with a letter telling the person who she is, where she lives, and probably lots of personal data such as the fact that she lives all alone and whatever and she has no money for their underwear "ministry."

I tried to get her to look around for this old mailing and even convinced her to dig about in the trash for a bit but I guess because of the holiday she had sent original "ministry" mailing in the trash out a few days prior apparently. And sure enough, she mailed the undies last week. I hate being just far enough away that there is no way to really "fix" or look after stuff. I tellya, if some weirdo sent me a pair of little girl's underpants in the mail today, the cops would be called and they'd think *I* am the weirdo for even talking about it... This is just not okay and I just feel so icky about my 86 year old mother in law receiving this stuff.

So on my list for today is dealing with regular household duties, driving "kids" where they need to be and calling sis-in-law about "girlie panties". Things like this are not really interesting or particularly bloggable week to week and nothing will come of it. But anyyyway. That is the sort of stuff I have been up to of late :)

Look Out, Dad!!

2024-10-07T17:58:00.001-05:00

My father is the purple dot above the blue weather station. He's juuust outside Milton's evacuation zone.

Well!

My brother and I just sat through Helene with our dad in Florida. We didn't plan our trip that way - we had booked it months in advance as our mother passed away in February. We wanted to go back to check up on the old guy. So Dad got to direct us to all the restaurants in the Tampa Bay Area he wanted to visit. I mean, what else do you do before a hurricane if you already have batteries? And have food portions tripled since I have stopped going out to eat? I think so. I also got to ride around town in a golf cart to visit his high school buddy and his wife who have retired nearby.

Helene was devastating in some areas of Florida and Georgia, but it was nothing much in the particular area of Tampa where my dad lives. The airport was closed and some of the bridges were closed for a bit. We weren't sure if I would be able to catch my flight back to Missouri, or if my flight would even exist. But nothing life-threatening was going on where we were.

This time it's a little worrying - hopefully Milton doesn't hit my father too badly, but he is hunkered down and hoping for the best. When you think about it, where would he go? Pretty much anywhere you go, everyone is already there OR it is already wiped out and devastated. Going north is going to be crowded and congested and the highways will be full. There is already so much devastation and wreckage north. Go south, and who says Milton won't come and cause hurricane damage there anyway?

My brother tried to convince him just to jump on one of the last planes, just go to Alaska or whatever random flight is available and see what happens! Dad is going to stay put and see what happens. I'll keep ya posted, hopefully I will hear from him that everything was not a big deal just like last time.

Spongebob's House Went to a Rave...

2024-08-28T16:23:00.000-05:00

This summer, I've been doing a lot of highway driving back and forth, going to Worlds of Fun where Woodjie worked this summer. One big benefit: he got a total of eight tickets and we've brought family members here and there throughout the summer. What you see pictured here is my souvenir. It's a men's medium shirt if you can believe that. I think it looks like Spongebob's house went to a rave. But I bought it with a matching pair of swimshorts because I am just that groovy.

I daresay I improved my crochetwork and learnt to do a granny square! I sorta cheated and used YouTube. The thing with YouTube is that you can pause it, slow it down, and go over over over OVERRRR the same 1.2 seconds about 500 times and skip the stupid ads. You just can't ask any questions.

I had to have something to do while waiting in the parking lot for Woodjie...

Emperor, Elf and Patrick have settled into an apartment nearby and sometimes I see them, pretty much just in passing. Their stuff is mostly gone and my house is surprisingly full for having only four people. I look back and wonder how we held so many folks here before.

Woodjie's First Job!

2024-05-31T19:29:00.000-05:00

School just got out a bit ago here. Woodjie is working as a line cook at a restaurant in the big city this summer. His uniform also comes with a little beanie. He'll be a senior next school year.

Bringing Garbage Home

2024-03-07T07:53:00.002-06:00

Some people up the street were throwing this table away. It was in pretty bad shape and one of the legs was off. I've glued the leg back on, stripped it, sanded it, and stained it. It is still not any sort of heirloom quality but free is free... and I have several "children" here at home who are (hopefully) thinking of leaving the nest one by one again soon. So this will work as one of several pieces of first furniture.

Ignore the trash on the floor. Right now the table is dry enough to be taken out of the high traffic areas of the house, but not dry enough to put things on just yet. I still have all my sanding/ stripping supplies nearby too.

What A MESS.

2023-06-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

Maybe my bloggy friend Virginia has seen a six and a half-foot tall curly-top kid driving about in a grey car with Missouri license plates since last November, because Emperor and Elf now live in the suburbs of Firebird City. Patrick joined them in April. I'm going through the stuff they left (everything but one suitcase each, thanks guys) and boxing it up. And finding graffiti from ages past.

This is what I am left with. You would think packing up all the stuff they had would mean I had MORE room but apparently not! Packing things into boxes makes the items inside expand by about 60 percent. Scientific fact.

Not sure why I am trying to paint a room full of boxes, but since I no longer do laundry and flip the dishes about in the dishwasher so much I don't have much else to do... Well, there is the poison ivy in the rock garden but I am pretending not to notice that... the house seems veryyy empty with only two children in it.

Polish Festival in Weston, Missouri!

2023-05-15T17:04:00.001-05:00

I went with a friend last weekend to the festival in Weston, Missouri. There was a band playing Polish music, lots of Polish food for sale, Polish outfits and almost every sort of trinket from Poland you could imagine. These bunnies are Polish pottery cookie jars.

Honey pots with little drizzlers.

Um... can you tell that Kansas City has a bit of an unhealthy obsession with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs?

One of the shops downtown had works from several metalworking artists as well as some stained glass.

Here's what I bought. A giant bowl with bunnies. I love bunnies!

And my mug. It was a great day!

Go Away, Greitens.

2022-05-20T20:13:00.000-05:00

Junk mail from Missouri First Action, top clipped to remove my address.

The "establishment thugs in the D.C. swamp" attack former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens for his "America First" values? Ew. Let's see... he cheated on his wife, left office in shame and even got indicted by a grand jury. If you're feeling brave, google "50 Shades of Greitens" sometime and see what this guy got up to. Ages ago I thought he was just not conservative enough... no... now I know it's way more than that.

The Robinson Family Photos

2022-05-14T00:25:00.000-05:00

My great-grandmother Ruth Ida Robinson (1889-1970) is tending a cow on her farm in Weedsport, Cayuga County, New York. Here are a few pictures from her photo album.

Here's her son! I knew him as Granddaddy, but his name was Ross Robinson Monroe. He was born in Cayuga County but grew up in Toronto, Canada.

This is Ruth's brother/ Granddaddy's uncle, George Gates Robinson. During this time, it was almost mandatory to give the oldest son the mother's maiden name as a middle name.

What a fun bunch of people! I would not have ever thought any Robinsons to have been informal, having met some of the older folks myself, but the album had a few surprises...

A picnic!

When going out on the town, hats and gloves are a must!

Granddaddy with his aunt Jo and dog, Sport.

Granddaddy again in the same outfit riding a horse. He may actually be quite young in the photos because he was just under 6ft 5 as an adult.

Only in Kansas

2021-12-04T18:33:00.000-06:00

Dear Family Genealogists,

As you know, the only way to do things properly is to do them yourself. What makes the state of Kansas unique is that it allows you to order your own death certificate a bit early. This way, you can walk to the courthouse yourself and file probate and save your oldest boy the trouble.

This is SERIOUSLY NOT A SNARK POST. This is REALLY a real and true copy of part of the application for a copy of a Kansas death certificate. It is absolutely unaltered except for the oval I put around "self". What I will clarify, however, is that if the dates you put down on your application don't exactly match what the state has on file, the bureaucrats get to pocket the money and give you a slip of paper that says "no record" and laugh at you.

I sort of like the idea walking into probate court early and cashing out toward the end of things though.

True Story: My Mother, the Ex-KGB Agent

2021-11-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

Unrelated photo of a "car phone" at the gas station about a mile from my house.

My mother's cover has been blown and my parents have since moved, so the story can be told now...

Al had a new Cadillac. Every now and then, he'd hobble into his garage to find the trunk of his car had been popped open and the interior lights on. Sometimes the garage door would be wide open! This occurred regularly, and he knew why.

What would happen was that my mom would use her KGB spy brainwaves to do this, rather like a remote control. This is just what Russian operatives do. I think it is their primary mission, actually. Popping elderly Americans' trunks open, as well as leaving interior lights on and garage doors open, are huge priorities under the Putin administration. Every Russian espionage specialist knows that it leaves the victims vulnerable to theft and/or dead car batteries.

I'm not sure how Al acquired this special knowledge, but he saw right through this whole scheme and what's more, he had had enough! He courageously shuffled over to my parents' house, armed with his broom. Al shouted several statements about how he knew what was going on, and shattered a brand new window.

Admitting that my mother was a spy at this point would be the rational course of action. But my parents called the police! Al made a daring but feeble grab for an officer's weapon, vowing to "take care" of my mom and her spying ways. But the police were younger, way faster, and in on the whole spy ring themselves. They even turned Al's family against him! His adult son showed up and arrangements were made to take the old fella away for an involuntary evaluation. This nefarious way of dealing with people who see truths others don't is called "The Baker Act" in Florida.

Years later, Al died and all of his estate went up for auction. There, amongst the bric-a-brac of his life up for sale, was his broom.

Kittinger Buffalo Spanish Renaissance Table Makeover!

2021-10-09T12:23:00.001-05:00

Isn't it gorgeous?? It's even better than the picture. So soft, so pretty... and there are nuances in the stain and the woodgrain you don't see here. It's a good sturdy size too.

A detail to show you how intricate it is.

But when I got it? I paid $20 and felt I might be overspending a bit, but I was inspired by this YouTube channel to go ahead and give refinishing a go. Someone decided they were going to make this their arts and crafts project and went absolutely nuts with the paint. That's not brown stain... that's PAINT. And it's painted over with garish red and silver and...

Some crazy Christmas pointsettia design. Nope, nope nope nope.

I used Citristrip and some Saran wrap. After it settled in a bit, I'd wipe off the paint with cloth I never would use again, wipe again with mineral spirits, use a bit of 0000 steel wool and some more Citristrip... repeat repeat repeat.

Lots of work and bunches of sanding later, the walnut table looks like this.

The final thing to do before wiping the table down and applying an "espresso" stain is to get tiny bits of sanding paper and a seam ripper and really get in those grooves to remove junk and clean the table up. I'm very happy with the result, although it was a LOT more work than I thought it would be. If you want a pretty much identical table of your own, they're actually for sale here with the original stain.

Bathroom Freshen-Up

2021-09-29T01:06:00.002-05:00

I worked on my bathroom and freshened it up. This is the "before" picture featuring the mirror with that globby water stain in the corner. Old 1980s wooden towel rack. Plastic toilet paper dispenser. Chipped off-cream cabinet that has yellowed a bit....

Soooo much sanding.to get the old paint off and rough up the cabinets. Soooo much sanding. Many days of work wearing a respirator, sweeping, more sweeping and then just taking a bath in the bathroom. No one could really use the bathroom for about four weeks because I couldn't possibly get it all done in a weekend.

After: Here's a view looking toward the door. The walls are no longer beige and I hung about a million of those Dutch Royal Copenhagen plates old ladies like to collect in the bathroom because... I like them.

The mirror doesn't look so crummy now! This is sticky tile from Amazon. It's sort of like a textured Contact paper, but much more sticky and much better for this project.

I used cabinet paint and added new knobs! I also cleaned the floor after I took the picture... oops. Sometimes you get so involved in a project and there are so many steps you miss little things. It's all finished now and I'm enjoying the results very much - it's a much more updated look.

National Roller Dance Competition!

2021-08-15T16:42:00.001-05:00

Woodjie went to nationals in Cedar Rapids this year. If you're interested in seeing some of the outfits and various events in the competition, you'll see Woodjie roll into the camera view at about the 4 hour 51 minute mark at this link. The USARS event went on for several days. Many skaters were actually well above 55 and some in their 70s and 80s, all sparkly and still dancing.

Star Trek Roller Skating!

2018-08-08T19:39:00.001-05:00

Woodjie LOVES the audience.

I made these little outfits for the children and they danced to the Star Trek: Next Generation theme song together at a recent skating competition in Union, Missouri! They came in second for the regional pairs dance in their division.

Hello!

2018-02-26T00:34:00.004-06:00

I've been neglecting my blog for a bit and doing about 50 different things (none of them too very well, but I'm busy nonetheless). I've finally found something for Rose's hair when she skates. She's supposed to have her hair up but she has a bunch of sensory issues and she sure doesn't like ponytails or buns. But this handy item from the Hair Jeweler *really* works and I hear no complaints from the kid about it. Eventually (after a few hours) it does fall out or start to bother her scalp a little, but this is the best solution going by about a million miles. I actually bought the Mommy-Daughter set and she has more hair so she's the mommy.

Here's one of the smaller sizes. I have to fluff up my hair a bit and use a ponytail to keep the pins in.

I've also lengthened this skating dress by cutting off the sleeves and adding a panel up under the skirt where it won't be noticed. Rose and Woodjie have outgrown the $200 skating outfits I bought new in September. Oh well. Doing it cheaper by making it all myself this time.

Something interesting happened to D today. He was travelling on the highway and minding his own business when some guy on a yellow ATV nearly hit him head-on going the wrong way. He said it was quite the chase and maybe it would be in the news?

Yep. But D never noticed the guy was naked. I guess when you are in fear for your life because of oncoming traffic and whatnot you don't bother to look at what sort of pants the other driver is wearing. Or not wearing.

My Great-Great Grandmother

2018-01-16T00:32:00.000-06:00

This is my great-great grandmother, Catherine Cavanaugh. She was born in 1860 and this photo (which I have digitally filtered from the original, which has yellowed) was taken in 1865. Isn't she cute? Both of her parents were born in Ireland, so for this little branch of my family tree, she is the first to be American from birth.

Roller Dance Competition!

2017-10-21T22:42:00.000-05:00

We just got back from a roller dancing competition in Union, Missouri! That's near St. Louis. We had a great time and met people from several states. Do you like the kids' new outfits? Many of the people competing from our roller rink got the same costume so we all matched. The same person who did our outfits also did the same outfit in other colours for other rinks. Well, it makes finding your people a little easier.

The children won several events, including the dance competition. Frankly, there was a much more advanced pair of skaters in their division, but they weren't moving together so well and apparently that's a big big deal in dance pairs. Our coach taught Woodjie and Rose a simple dance and he taught it over and over and over.

It's good to be home, though.

Rose wearing makeup for the first time. Apparently that's a thing to do at these events so we splurged.


D took this photo of Woodjie and I cropped it and used a filter.

Teaching Children About Healthy Boundaries

2017-09-19T00:22:00.002-05:00

This video is hilarious, I think mostly because all of us have dealt with men like this at one point or another. I actually used this video with Rose today in an effort to talk a little bit about appropriate boundaries. Sometimes you need to ask people to leave you alone firmly. Elf popped into the room, saw what was on the computer, and told me that the little kids shouldn't be watching language this inappropriate. Of course he didn't know such words existed at that age... yes, I over-coddled the kiddo. Hopefully he's gotten over it.

How to Pronounce Place Names

2017-09-15T14:04:00.002-05:00

These are the cities of D'Moin, Boy-zee and Shy Ann.

Arkin-saw.

Ignore that second C. Con-et-ih-cut.

Controversy time! Miz-zour-ee or Miz-zour-ah. Depends largely on whether you are native to the state and/or rural. The second pronunciation is more local and paraded out by politicians at election time. But when speaking in Washington, DC, it's magically time for them to say Miz-zour-ee. True story. Can you tell we're working on "place name pronunication" in our homeschool this week?

Our Eclipse Day!

2017-08-21T22:16:00.002-05:00

We're a bit north of downtown Kansas City, so we were in the path of the totality today. Imagine the sunset happening in a circle around you... all those reds and oranges and such... but no sun on the horizon. Eerie. Crickets and cicadas going crazy and all still before the sky turned black.

The students at the local public schools just rolled with it today - there was no way anyone would get any good studying done so they might as well. They were good enough to give all the children - including the high schoolers - the approved solar glasses and some time outdoors to view the eclipse this afternoon.

In our homeschool, we watched videos about the eclipse and watched it live in other locations. We doodled the various sorts of eclipses and did a little writing, too. It was a good day.

In between the "Is it almost time yet?" inquiries, we even got some mathematics finished.

The Trees Are Down!

2017-08-19T09:42:00.001-05:00

We used Walker Tree Service as they're the fellows you see about town on the power lines, licensed and insured etc etc. Which is a good thing as one of these huge branches fell sidewise and cracked my new siding. It's ok - no one is hurt and I trust they'll fix it.

This should also give you an idea how thick and large the trees were - and hopefully, how many leaves we will NOT be raking and mowing this fall!

Now it feels sort of empty on that side yard. We also removed a tree that was starting to block our view from the back windows. Much more sun hits our lot now.

Roller Dancing!

2017-08-10T23:25:00.001-05:00

Woodjie and Rose are working hard with a roller dance coach on their routine as there is an invitational competition in a few months. When they actually compete for real, they will have matching sparkly outfits just as you would expect with ice skaters.

Hello From the Top of the Hill!

2017-07-27T12:12:00.000-05:00

We live way up on a hill, so when there is flooding, sometimes we can see little rivulets far beneath us in the neighbours' yards. We're pretty safe. I think about a half cup of water got into the basement right where the main water line meets the ground - not even enough to worry about, thankfully. Other people in the area are not so fortunate!

In other news, we've had our old deck torn off and we're replacing it with an Azek stairway. It's pretty much a wooden frame and then over that we'll have this plastic-y wood. Which I think is pretty nifty. If you live in the US, they will send you a few samples and that's how we picked our colour. (Deck-builders don't always have samples in the full range!) I'll show you a picture later when it's all finished and the ground dries up enough to wander into the back yard. Presently the contractors are out there getting rained on and working with power tools (really).

Unfortunately we had a little damage when they were putting in whatever they attach to the house to keep the stairway/ deck in place. Not a big deal - it's not structural, but it's not going to match once it's repaired. Look how close they got to the electric lines contained in that metal pipe, though!! Oh well. Always something when you own a house, eh? I'm grateful they didn't zap right through that and kill themselves/ knock out our power indefinitely.

And the tree guys come soon, too. And then that will be it for projects and big outlays of cash for a good while (knock wood/ plastic simulated wood).

Happy Father's Day!

2017-06-18T08:41:00.002-05:00

Long Island City, Queens, 1950. My father is the twin on the right. He remembers the hats as being yellow. One great/ hard thing about being a twin in the Barron family was that they had to dress exactly alike until they were something like 13. When one child got dirty, they were both required to change.