We recorded some songs at the church this week…there is only about 15 minutes of tape left to fill, I think.
Tuesday evening, I baked twenty dozen cookies. I was planning to give a couple of boxes full of cookies to some friends of ours, and I thought that if I made somewhere around 250 cookies, it would be more than enough.
Wrong.
Everybody began eating them with such a vengeance, I was afraid there would be none left for those friends of ours, so I quit in the middle, leaving a big bowl of dough, which I would bake after everybody went to bed. I had already used up one large bowl of cookie dough.
So guess what the urchins did, when the cookies were gone? Yup, that’s right. They ate the dough. Well, not all of it; I rescued it in time.
I finished baking them later (the cookies; not the urchins), and, after they’d cooled, I packed two boxes full. I knew better than to leave them out (the cookies; not the urchins)…there would be none left! (But I did have an entire platter piled high with cookies for certain youngsters for dinner the next day.)
I have now finished sewing one of Lydia’s Easter dresses and am half done with another for Victoria. Lydia’s is of white eyelet with small yellow and orange flowers printed on it, and the sash and ruffled collar are yellow seersucker. Victoria’s is turquoise taffeta, and it will have lots of white lace on it. When I am done with it, I will make another for Lydia, to match Victoria’s. I am a very principled person: when sewing, I often work on the principle of “Whatsoever ye shall sew, that shall ye also rip”--I put the same tucks in the front of Victoria’s dress three times before I got it right. Taffeta is slippery.
I just sewed an old-fashioned metal zipper in Lydia's dress...I like to ensure that my children have good posture, especially on Easter Sunday. Well, actually, it's because it was free... but, YYYAAARRRPPP! The poor child! I do hope I did a good enough job sewing it in, that she won’t feel it. I've now sewn five dresses for Easter--and I have spent only the money it took to buy two spools of thread.
Tuesday, Hannah and Dorcas, along with their friends Joy and Suzanne, went to Lincoln to get the fabric Hannah had ordered a couple of weeks earlier. It’s a lovely shade of dark purple. She got sixty yards. She also got a lot of flowers for her bouquet, for corsages and boutonnieres, and for Victoria’s basket, which she is crocheting with ivory thread. When she is done crocheting it, she will starch it to make it stiff.
There were several nice days this week, and the children enjoyed playing outside. Last night, it finally snowed! Of course, we had to go driving…we went out on Shady Lake Road to see the deer. The roads were quite ‘slickery’--ala Caleb. Wheeeee! Somebody get the sled! By morning, we had two or three inches of snow on the ground. It started snowing again this afternoon, and it is still snowing now. It looks like at least an inch and a half of new snow already. I like snow.
At Quail Run, where Larry works, there has been an ongoing problem with their mowers. Every time they need to start them, it seems, they must be jump-started, for something has drained the battery flat. They can use them all morning, turn them off at noon, eat lunch, come back out in fifteen minutes--and the mowers are all dead again. Technicians from the company in Omaha have serviced them, rewired them, tried all sorts of things--to no avail. Sooo… they set Larry on the problem.
By the time the afternoon was over Wednesday, Larry had figured out what the trouble was--and corrected it. The mowers had been wired wrong from the company, and when the technicians modified them, they didn’t improve things in the slightest.
Larry’s boss was delighted. “I can’t wait till our next meeting in Omaha, when I can tell those men we’ve learned what the trouble is!”
That brand of mowers has the same problem, all over the country. Seems to me Larry should receive some sort of remuneration for his solution, don’t you think?
Bobby and Hannah have been looking at refrigerators. They didn’t get one yet, because the one they thought they might get was too big to fit into the spot in their kitchen…and the next size smaller was more expensive than the bigger one, since the bigger one was on sale…so they will buy the smaller one next Thursday, when it will be on sale. They got a new bed--a queen-sized canopy bed--at J. C. Penney’s, and now they are looking --somewhat aghast at the prices--at quilts, bed ruffles, canopy, canopy drapes, and curtains.
At Jr. Choir Thursday, we played ‘Categories’--and the category we chose was Foods You Eat Hot. I have one row of children stand up at a time--there are three rows with about a dozen children in each--and then, one after the other, each child names something from the category. If he cannot think of something within ten seconds, or if he names something that has already been said, he must sit down. When we get to the end of the row, the entire row sits down, and the next row stands up. When a child has to sit down, he may not get up again throughout the rest of the game. The winner is the last child standing, who has named a proper item each time it was his turn.
When we came to James Wright, Bobby’s ten-year-old brother, he said, “Shark.”
I told him, “That’s for making boots; you may be seated.”
Everyone laughed, including James.
Then I realized, “Oh, people do eat shark cartilage; stand back up.”
He stood.
Then it occurred to me, “Hey! It’s supposed to be food that you eat hot. Sit back down.”
He sat. And then he said, in a very quiet voice, “Well, uh, I meant grilled shark steaks.”
So I said, “Oh! Why, sure; I think I have heard of that! Stand back up.”
He stood.
Penny made a face. “I have never heard of such a thing.”
So I said, “Sit back down.”
He sat.
Then I said, “But I think I have; stand back up.”
He stood.
I said, “No, sit back down.”
He sat.
“Stand up.”
He stood.
“Sit down.”
He sat.
“Stand up.”
He stood.
By then, the other children were laughing, and finally James realized I was teasing him, and then he laughed so hard he nearly sat back down. I sure do love those children!
School mornings around here are always a bit of a scramble, trying to get everything done in time. I must keep a vigilant lookout for certain small things… such as:
I only just managed to collar one child as she was attempting to make her escape out the door; she'd forgotten to brush her teeth. She was steered back to the bathroom and the toothbrush. Why is it, I wonder, that the child whose breath is most often reminiscent of elderly raw fish is invariably the one who forgets this little routine?
Another was collared--literally; I was just fixing his collar, when it occurred to me that I'd fixed that very same collar yesterday! He was duly ordered back to his room to put on a shirt he did NOT wear yesterday.
They finally trekked off to school, all decked out to their mother’s liking.
Nowadays, Lydia has become quite efficient with a curling iron and a comb. She fixes her own hair, and it looks mighty cute, if you ask me. (You did ask, didn’t you?) Hester, on the other hand, is content to let her mother (or an older sister, in a pinch) do her hair.
Teddy is drooling over silver trombones...and that's probably about all he'll be doing for a good while, too; they are not cheap. We did find some on the Internet, from New York, that are not too bad a price… And then we found some that were over $10,000!
The littles had a grand time writing out Valentines Friday afternoon. Victoria thought the boxes were all for her, because "Valentine" starts with a "V". She was so excited, because Hannah helped her fill out Valentines for all the little children her very own age. "And I will give them to them?? With a balloon??" She beams in delight. "Oh, won't they like that!" She tips her head and smiles smugly. "And won't they all like me!!!"
Do you remember our neighbor dog, Mandy? You'll recall I said the neighbors didn't feed her enough, and she's much too thin... and her bones didn't grow strong enough in her legs, and she limps. Well, now she has a cold--and a bad cough. This is probably on account of the fact that the lady, who is a real Clean-It sort of a person--she goes around out in her yard picking up microscopic pieces of lint (at least, I think that’s what she’s doing), looking remarkably like a chicken--gives the poor dog a bath at least once a week--and sometimes puts her outside before she's quite dry. And it's been cold lately. The dog sits on the cement sidewalk and shivers awfully. I tell you, if that dog survives, it will be a miracle. And if it doesn't, there will be a whole passel of broken-hearted little Jacksons in the house next door.
Joseph is working on a project for school... it's for science class, and it has to be something that demonstrates simple tools, such as a pulley, a lever, a screw... ummmm... uhhh... a hammer? a magnet? Anyway, he is going to make a neat little tilting trailer that will hitch onto his red hummer. When Keith was in that class, Larry helped him make a swiveling crane whose bucket raised and lowered, and opened and shut. The motor was a power window motor from an old car. The next year, Hannah made a mobile with all sorts of sewing supplies or sewing machine parts--it had to perfectly balance, so we used bobbins to get everything just right.
The following year, Dorcas made a ski lift, using popsickle sticks for the chairs, Polly Pocket dolls to go in them, and Larry used a little motor to operate the pulley and belt system for the lift. There was one small incongruity in Dorcas’ composition, however; one we didn’t notice until it had been carted off to school and subjected to the intense scrutiny of all her classmates: One of the tiny Polly Pocket dolls who had been affixed to the ‘snow’ (cotton) on the ‘mountainside’… was attired in a swim suit. Betcha that was one cold Polly!
Teddy, when he was in the ninth grade, made a miniature Columbus Auto Sales shop, with doors that opened and shut with pulleys and screws. He had miniature tools of all sorts, and small cars and trucks inside. All of the children received a couple of 100%s for grades, and some got a few more points as extra credit.
Here's an email Hannah wrote, concerning her wedding preparations: Searching for hats is a trying ordeal. I found some that look exactly like lampshades, and some that more closely resemble the foot of a white rhinoceros. There were even a few that looked remarkably like alien spacecraft. I shall decide which hats to get, depending on whom I choose for my bridesmaids, and what my opinion of them happens to be at ordering time. (snicker)
Someone wrote back: "Suggestion: The little caps with the propellers on top are in style this year."
Hannah replied, "This would indeed be an excellent idea, for the church sanctuary at times is quite stifling. However, I am not sure... can you adjust the uplift on those things? I would not desire that the smaller members of the wedding party commence levitation."
Friday night, we made a very necessary excursion to Wal-Mart, where we got Hester, Caleb, and Victoria new shoes.
Victoria is particularly delighted with hers, because they have butterflies embroidered on the sides; and, on the bottom, butterflies can be seen through the clear plastic sole.
Saturday afternoon, I asked her, “Do you want to go show Grandma your new clodhoppers?”
She wrinkled her nose. “No, Mama; but I will show her my new shoes!”
Caleb is particularly delighted with his, because they have Velcro pockets on each of them.
And Hester is particularly delighted with hers, because the employee who was helping us looked us over and then, after finding out what size Hester wore, she climbed up and removed a box from a top shelf. The shoes she handed us were tan suede T-straps, cute little flats that just exactly fit Hester. The shoes had been discontinued, and had been marked down to $5.00. Now, how did that young girl, who sported the in-style clunky heels and platforms of the day (ugly as sin, if you ask me), several earrings in each ear, both in the lobe and at the top of her ear, too, and had glitter sprinkled liberally all around her eyes, know that folk such as we are would prefer those more old-fashioned little skids?
Putting on Victoria’s tights yesterday, I said, “These are almost too big.”
She replied, “Are they almost yours?”
As I type this, we are listening to a video--one of five--my nephew Robert just gave us of my father preaching. These are the only five videos of his preaching in existence. We only got the video camera the same year Daddy died, and he was not able to preach very often, for he was not well.
This video was taken on Easter Sunday, and Keith and Hannah sing together Early In The Morning. They were ages nine and ten, and Keith is singing the high tenor. And it’s really high. One would never believe that could be him, after hearing him now--he sings a low bass!
This sure brings back a lot of memories of my father. My family and friends and I often meet people we hardly know who tell us how much my father meant to them, how much he helped them... and he hadn't even told us about it! He was not the sort to say, as the Pharisees did, "Be ye warmed and filled", and then go his merry way without doing anything for a person; no, he doled out money, he doled out food, he gave people shelter--he even gave away a whole volley of cars in his lifetime--and he was not at all rich, not at all.
When my brothers and sister were little, my parents once stayed up late every night for a month before Christmas, carefully handpainting all the children's plain little wooden building blocks. And then, at Christmas time, they gave them back to the children, all wrapped in colored paper--and it was one of their few Christmas presents, because money was tight.
That was because my mother had been sick and nearly died, and not long after that, my father was sick and nearly died. And the doctor bills used up every bit of money they might have had for Christmas presents. But the children were delighted with their blocks.
This story was always ever so touching to me... if I tell it to the children, I wind up crying over it.
Today is my brother Loren and his wife Janice’s thirty-second wedding anniversary. And tomorrow will be Lawrence and Norma’s ninth anniversary. We have not yet gotten them a gift, and I have no idea what to get. Maybe a box of food items? Hmmmm…
Hester had the flu today, so Larry stayed home with her in the morning; I stayed home with her tonight. Keith had a cold, so he and Esther didn’t come for dinner today. His younger siblings miss them when they are gone.
Do you like to drool over our menu? Here it is: beef vegetable stew; fruit salad--pineapple, peaches, apricots, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, pears, and mandarin oranges; oat bran muffins; chef salad; and cookies and cream ice cream.
This morning the Wrights quartet sang Jesus is Mine, one of my favorites. Also, congregation sang Hallelujah, We Shall Rise, another of my favorites. Susan outdid herself playing that one; I wish you could’ve heard it.
Oh, rats. The snow has stopped. Botheration. I think I shall move to Jackson Hole. Just look at this:
New Snow in the Last 24 Hours:
11" at the Summit and 6" Mid-Mountain
Snow Depth:
86" at the Summit and 83" Mid-Mountain
Total Snowfall:
329" at the Summit and 288" Mid-Mountain
HAPPY
VALENTINE’S
DAY!
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