Costuming

You know that thing where you, personally, are an intense introvert, and you are living with one or more (okay, three) extroverts?  And, you do your best to support your extroverts in their extroverted activities, because, you know, you love and adore them, and you want them to be happy? 

Well, that's how I got involved in our local community theatre. After a few years of Thomas repeatedly asking to get involved in acting, we finally got him down to New London Theatre in Snelville for an audition, and he got the part of Tim in their modernized production of A Christmas Carol.  Thomas then got a part in their next production, Mad: The History of The Hatter, a fusion of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.  Then, at the next audition, David got talked into trying out, and ended up getting the part of Judge Danforth in The Crucible (Thomas will be apprenticing in lighting).

And that's how I ended up sewing costumes.  Three Puritan dresses with accessories.  Thank you, honey, for mentioning to the director that I can sew ;)

So, I started with the accessories ... caps, cuffs, aprons, and a collar.

Dining Room turned Sewing Room

Gathering an apron

All the pretty pins lined up in a row

Nice, crisp, white Puritan Accessories

Next up, an actual dress....

STEM Fun

Michael, as you all probably already know, is the mechanical/engineering genius of the family.  He takes a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) class once a week at a local homeschooling co-op, taught by one of the moms in our homeschool group.  Usually Michael runs off to his class while I hang out with Grace with the other moms, but today I was the Parent Assistant, so I got to take some pictures.  And, lovely, it was an outside activity.

Today's activity was all about bubbles.  Actually, something to do with surface tension and light refraction and stuff like that.  But, it ended up with blowing bubbles, and that's what really counts ;)

Part one: using a variety of devices to determine which device could make the largest bubble.

Bubbles from straws (small)

Bubbles from bottles (rocked)

Tag this technique for next party

Next, what happens when you blow bubbles through a sock?

Sock bubbles???

Finally, the best part.  Trying to freeze a bubble with dry ice.

Please do NOT freeze your face off!!!

This was the trickiest trick to do, but when it worked it was really, really cool.

There is actually a frozen bubble in there

Another First Part Four

At last!  The end of The Saga of The Broken Arm!  Today the second cast came off.

The arm looked good, inside and out, and Doc gently wiggled those wires out of Thomas' bone (ick).

The arm will need to be stretched and worked a bit to get it back to its former strength, but no pysical therapy should be needed at this point.  Thomas, as you can imagine, is happy to have his arm back.

Math Madness

One of our lovely homeschool moms, Stacey, put together two math workshops for our group.  She was a math specialist in the public schools in her former life, and had PILES of math manipulatives in her garage.  So much stuff, in fact, that she sent each family home with their own stash.  So, right up front, I gotta say "Thank You!" to Stacey for 1) sending home goodies and 2) tricking my kids into thinking that math is fun!

From the second workshop, I think the biggest hit had to be the geo-thingies you use to make shapes with rubber bands.  Michael decided that if he put two boards together, he'd have more space to make pictures.

Getting creative

William and I played the symmetry game together.

Wrestling with the Rubber Band Ball

Thomas mostly hung out in the back corner with the older kids.

No caption came to mind

Believe it or not, there was actually talk of a Math Club meeting on a regular basis.  How geek-cool is that?

Michael with his take-away

Cast Party

This month Thomas participated in New London Theatre's "Broadway Bound" production, a program designed to draw and encourage younger actors.  Thomas appeared in a play written by a student called "Mad: The History of the Hatter", sort of a "Wizard of Oz Meets Alice in Wonderland" thing.  Thomas was an evil scarecrow.  With a cast.  But, at least it was a red cast to match his red costume.

"Cast" party

Here is the cast of Mad after Opening Night.

Another First Part Three

So, back to Dr. Patel for a follow-up to Thomas' surgery.  This is what the arm looked like under the splint.  Notice the correct angle of the wrist (thank you, Dr. Patel), and just a couple of scars.

A little closer look.  Wait, what is that on the lower right?

That would be heavy-guage wires sticking out of my child's arm.  I'm happy we don't have to mess with those.  Another cast is going on, for another three weeks.

Thomas opted for a red cast this time (at my suggestion), so it will sort of blend with his red costume while he is on stage.

We're closing on the end of The Saga of The Broken Arm...

Another First Part Two

So, on Monday I took Thomas to Dr. Patel for his two-week follow-up.  It was a good thing our Doc scheduled the follow-up, because the x-ray showed that not only had the fracture not progressed in healing, it was actually now a pretty significant break.  With bad angles.  Something a mother should not see an x-ray of when it involves one of her child's bones.

And, just how does one manage to break their arm when it's in a cast?  You got me.  J, our nurse friend, is an x-ray tech, and she say she sees this in her job.  The cast is put on when there is swelling, the swelling goes down, and there's wiggle room.  Enough to rebreak.  I suspect Guitar Hero is to blame.

So, here we are at the surgery center, and Thomas is being prepped for surgery to realighn the bone and pin it in place so it will heal correctly.  Another thing no mother wants to see her child go through.  But, the staff is great here, very patient, good about explaining what their doing and what to expect.  Thomas is anxious but calm.

Here's what the cast (the failure!) looked like by the time it was ready to come off.

Here's the nice nurse taking a saw to my child's arm to get the cast off.  A little nerve-wracking.

After the cast came off, it was time for a pedicure.  No, actually, since the hand had not been washed in a couple of weeks (have to keep the cast dry), a bit of gentle scrubbing was in order.

Nope, this is not what a normal wrist is supposed to look like.

All prepped and ready to go into surgery.

And, not so happy coming out of the anasthesia...

The arm was wrapped up in a fixed splint, which is to remain in place until our follow-up visit.  This is good, because it means I won't have to do any wound care (one of my least-favorite things to do).  The Doc did not need to put permanent pins in, but put two wires through the bone to hold it in place while it heals. And, yes, he did need to "remove some healed material" while he was in there, a delicate way of saying he had to rebreak it and dig out some new bone.  Bless Dr. Patel's sensitive soul.

So, the splint will remain in place for a couple of weeks, when we will get it x-rayed again to be sure the arm is healing properly.  In the meantime, a couple days of rest is in order.

Another First

Today we celebrated another Family First.  A broken arm.  Let's hope it's the last

Actually, Thomas fractured his left wrist during our homeschool group's Park Day on Thursday.  Running up the short climbing wall, he slipped and landed on the metal platform on his left arm (his right was apparently gripping a sword or battle axe or some such).  His buddy came and got me, and by the time I got to him he'd been laying very still in pain for a few minutes.  He was unable to sit up for a few minutes more, and by that time our friend, J, the nurse, had come over as well.  She checked him out and rendered her opinion: it could be broken, or it could just be bruised.  We opted to take him home, ice it, keep it elevated, and see how it looked the next day. 

The next day it looked better; the swelling had gone down, and it was not as painful.  He decided he did not want to miss out on his buddy's overnight birthday celebration, so I took him.

The day after that, he and his friend auditioned at our local theatre for an upcoming production.  After the autiditon, Thomas decided it was time to see a doctor and get the arm checked.  Our local Doc-In-The-Box took an x-ray and confirmed it was fractured.  Nice and clean.  No rush, but we'd need to get him to a Pediatric Orthopaedist on Monday (it was Saturday).

So, here we are at the Ortho office.  After another x-ray confirming a nice, clean fracture (no jiggling required), and the PA popped on a cast faster than I could have imagined possible.  Green, of course, just like a creeper.

Ready to head home, obviously not a lot of pain.  But hungry.  Of course.

I was given the honor of being the first to sign his cast. 

For those not familiar with Mine Craft, that's a creeper face...

So, to weeks in a cast, and then back to the Ortho for a recheck.



Pumpkin Joy

We were gifted a Very Large Pumpkin at Christmastime (unfortunately not before David had baked his Christmas pies partially using canned pack because we couldn't find pie pumpkins). Now that the hustle and the bustle is done and we've just about recovered from the holidays, we got around to processing our VLP. Results: enough fresh (to be frozen) pumpkin guts for fourteen deep dish pies. Pie all year long!

Project Le Pew

Our primary project today was malodorous.  I stayed inside.  Can you guess what these guys are digging up in our back yard?

I'll give you a hint... this was the motto on the side of their truck.  The truck featured a pump and high-pressure hose.

And, yep, here it is.  The malbehaving object.  Our septic tank.  (Aren't you glad I waited until it was cleaned out before I had the picture snapped (by Thomas)?).

Apparently, methane (which septic tanks hold quite a bit of) over time breaks down the concrete that parts of the tank are made of.  (Isn't that thinking ahead?).  So, the "T" on our particular tank had pretty much completely fallen apart, so it was not draining properly into the leach field.  So it was creating a bit of a marsh in the back yard.  (Ick).  So after about three hours and $1,800 later, this is what our newly repaired septic system looked like.

Can't hardly tell there's an $1,800 hole under that newly leveled dirt, can you?  However, it did inspire Michael to dig out the Tonka's and work on his how little project.  In the leachy mud.  (Ick).

Kids Creeper Hat

Every child I know is obsessed with MineCraft (as well as some adults I know).  If you know anything about MineCraft, you know what a Creeper is.  I set myself the challenge of making the perfect kids' Creeper hat, and began my on-line quest.  I'd found some knit creeper hats, but most of the patterns had the Creeper face sewn on after the fact.  I think you all know how I feel about "finish work", so that was a turn off.  Plus the hats were a basic skull-fitting type, so not very MineCraft-y, since everything in MineCraft is blocks.  

Then I found a pattern for the face done in crochet color work.  It was perfect to create that "pixellated" look.  I had Thomas pick out the perfect green-to-white-verigated yarn, and got started on a basic hat pattern.  But, as I progressed, I was stymied about how to handle the crown.  Finally, I decided the crown had to be squared off, to create a "cube" appearance.  Viola!  The perfect kids' Creeper hat!

I didn't really follow a pattern (except for the face), I just kind of made it up as I went along.  So, if you want to duplicate this hat and need a little guidance, let me know and I'll try to walk you through it. :)

Something New

Okay, two somethings new in one picture.

I've suspected for a while that William's vision was not great.  He seems to need to be awfully close to whatever screen he's in front of to see what's going on in his video games.  Then, when we attended Thomas' performance of A Christmas Carol at New London Theatre, I lent him my glasses so he could see something written on a whiteboard on stage, and he asked me if he could keep them for the rest of the performance.

So.... time to go in for an eye exam.  We do this every year anyway, to check for D complications.  Last year the opt doc said he was a bit near-sighted, but we mutually agreed to hold off of the glasses to see if it could be corrected by reducing screen time, forcing focus from a distance, etc.

Apparently not.

Today, we picked up William's first glasses.  He was really excited, because he's going to have one more thing in common with me.

On the way home from picking them up, we stopped off at the library to return some books, and saw this machine outside the newly-remodeled building.

That, my friends, is William with his new glasses, standing in front of the new book-dispensing machine in front of our library.  I'd never seen such a thing before, and hope to see many more in the future.  Way better than soda, junk food, and video dispensing machines, no doubt.

Oh, and there was actually a third new thing, at the library.  The book return slot on the outside of the building talks.  It just about scared the pee out of me when I went to return something.  A talking book return really is one of the last things one expects.  Ever.

Walk Three

Sunday was a lovely day for a Walk, and our family participated in our third JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.  Although Team ThunderBear shrunk a bit this year (David and Thomas were helping friends move, so William, Michael and I represented our Team), we were still able to raise almost $2,000 in contributions for JDRF's very important work.

We tried out a different Walk location this year, Tribble Mill Park, which is closer to home, and we preferred it over the previous years' location.  The event was set up next to a lovely lake, and the Walk was around the lake on a paved path through a wooded area.  Beautiful and shady and less crowded, but still with the same entertainments for the kids.

All-important free cotton candy

William climbing the wall.

Michael not to be outdone by big brother.

William with a local legend ... Choppy, the mascot of our local Gwinnett Braves.

A brotherly moment about half way through the Walk.

William did great this year - his BG stayed just about within normal range, so he did not get as fatigued as prior Walks.  He even gave encouragement to Michael when his feet started hurting.

So, once again, we want to give a great, big "Thank You" to everyone who sponsored William this year.

Brad and the Securitas team
Terry
Joanna
Melisa
Martha
Mary
Dreux
Grace
Charlotte
Ian
Laura
Dianne
Gretchen
Rachel
Kimberley
Harriette
Stacey
Faby
Sarah

THANK YOU!!! :)

Big Fish at Moon Shade Hollow

What does Papa Bear do when we come to Moon Shade Hollow?

FISH!

Big ol' cat fish. Yum

My New Funky Feet

Here they are, taking a little rest after their first official "work out".

So, why are my feet wrapped in these goofy glove-like things and looking a bit like they should be attached to the legs of The Creature From The Black Lagoon?

These are "five-finger shoe-less" shoes.  The first time I saw a pair in the athletic shoe section of the sporting goods store, I almost fell on the floor laughing.  "What the hell are those supposed to be, and why would anyone ever wear them?" was my initial response.  And that was just about the end of the matter.

Til I came across someone who was wearing a pair.  A very reasonable, intelligent, health-minded person.  Not a whacked-out sports junkie who spends every waking moment climbing rocks or running mountain trails or jumping off cliffs.  Just a nice, normal kind of person.  So, we had a conversation about them.  She assured me they were very comfortable, very good for your feet and legs, and she wears them almost exclusively, not just for exercising, but for all-day, everyday activities like shopping and breathing.

So, I did some research.  I asked around.  I read some reviews.  And I decided these just might be a good idea.  And, I decided that now would be a good time to get started, so I would have plenty of time to break them in (in reality, it's actually retraining my feet and legs, not breaking in the shoe) before the JDRF Walk later this month.  I'd already started aerobic walking again in preparation for the Walk, and needed to replace my ancient sneakers.  Might as well "do it right" and get some really "good" walking shoes.

What is supposed to be so great about these shoes?  Here's a pretty good article about it which goes into some detail (be sure to check out the pictures of feet).  But, in a nutshell, "shoe-less" shoes are designed to strongly encourage you to walk in a natural manner, as though you are barefoot, while giving your feet protection.  Traditional shoes encourage you to walk (and run) heel-toe, which is hard on your joints and which is why you see all of these expensive athletic shoes with fancy springy gizmos on the heel to absorb some of the shock from this unnatural stride.  Your natural, bare-foot gait should have your foot striking the ground either across the middle of your foot (arch), or on the ball of your foot; toe-heel instead of heel-toe.  It's a completely different way of walking.  You're actually using all of the muscles in your feet and legs that were put there to enable bipedalism.

So, on Wednesday the boys and I made a trip to REI (always an event) so I could try some out and possibly get a pair.  Now, these funky things are not cheap, but you can easily spend as much on a good pair of athletic shoes.  And you want to be sure you're getting proper size and fit.  Everything I've read led me to the conclusion that you want to try these on, preferably with the guidance of someone who actually knows what they're doing.  REI fit the bill, so that's where we went (also, with my member rebate I saved close to $40).  I quickly found someone who knew what they were doing and actually had a pair that they used.  We measured my foot (they come in European sizing), settled on the KimodoSport as the best option for my proposed use, and I slipped on a pair.  I had done my homework, so knew there is definitely a trick to getting these things on without looking like Mr. Incredible trying to squirm his oversided self into his old super hero spandex, and managed to get them on fairly easily.  My first impression?

I'm pretty sure I released a sigh indicative of a small o.  The most comfortable and cozy things I had ever put on my feet.  Like slipping them into goose-down socks.  With support.  Wow.

So, I bought 'em and wore them most of the afternoon for casual running-around stuff.  You have to train your feet and legs slowly with these things, or suffer the consequences.  Thursday, I wore them around the house, but not for running errands, and wore them most of Friday and Saturday.

Today was the big test.  I wore them on my half-hour low-aerobic morning walk (I've been easing back into an exercise routine...subject of another post).  Results?  They felt really good.  I was a bit cautious in my gait and where I was stepping, but was able to get my heartrate where I wanted it.  At the end of the walk I could feel a bit of grumpiness in my right arch, but I was pretty much expecting that from my flat feet having to actually work while walking.  Most surprising, though, are the muscle groups that I can feel got the best workout from my walk:  my posterior thighs and butt.  That's right, I am walking, on mostly level terrain, with my butt.  Go figure.

Overall, I think these funky feet are going to do the trick for me.  They're comfortable, and both protect and support my feet in ways that will build the strength in my feet and legs that I'm looking for.  I'm reviewing the audiobook "Younger Next Year For Women", and The Boys point out that people fall more often as they get older not because they trip more often (they don't) or because they're clumsier, but because they don't have enough strength and agility in their legs to catch themselves before they exceed their tipping point and crash to the ground.  So, strong, agile legs equals no broken hip.  Sounds like something to work toward.

Cool New Gizmo

Yesterday William had his quarterly checkup with Dr. A, our Pediatric Endocrinologist.  Despite being sick with bronchitis for about six weeks (which has finally passed, thankfully), his A1c was 7.5.  Not too shabby.

While we were there, Dr. A showed us a new blood glucose meter that is used with your iPhone or iTouch.  Really.  How cool is that?  Well, of course we had to have one, so Dr. A wrote us a script and we picked it up on our way home.

And here is William (aka Thunder Bear, aka Funny Bill) demonstrating his new iBGStar glucose meter.

So, I told you that story to tell you this story...

On October 21st, our family and friends will be participating in our third JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.  You all already know why we're walking, and why JDRF's support of research is so important.  (If you don't know, check out some of the Diabetes links on the sidebar.)  So, please take a moment to go to William's JDRF Walk fundraising page and either join Team ThunderBear, or give whatever size donation you can.  Your support means the world to us.

Thank you!

Reusable Travel Coffee Filter Pouches

This is a project that David has been kicking around for a while. He travels frequently for business, and though he usually stays in pretty decent hotels, he consistently has one complaint: the in-room coffee service. It's really great to have a personal-size coffee maker in the room, because, really there are times when you just can't wait for coffee.  But, that convenience can be offset by a certain lack of . . . savory-ness.

Because David is leaving for London tonight, this project got gently shoved to the front of my project list.

David is a coffee snob. Let's just be perfectly blunt on that point. He has been roasting his own coffee for a couple of years now, perfecting his own personal blend and spreading the Coffee Joy among friends and family.  He is so much of a snob, he won't even allow for grinding the beans the night before and setting the timer to automatically brew in the morning. The beans must be ground moments before being gently spooned into the coffee machine basket and immediately brewed.

So, you can imagine how disappointing a pot of freshly-brewed hotel-room coffee from a plastic bag might be to someone like David.  

He's been (gently) bugging me for several months to make some reusable coffee filter bags that he can use on the road, to be filled with his own personally blended, personally roasted, personally ground coffee. (I told him that taking a coffee grinder to London was just a bit over the top; he's just going to have to settle for pre-ground grounds).

So this morning he came home from picking up his dry cleaning and handed me a Jo-Ann's bag that just happened to have materials for this project. (Don't you love a man who can self-sufficiently shop at Jo-Ann's?). So, you know, I kinda had to put aside other projects to work on this project.  And here it is in a nutshell . . .

Unbleached cotton fabric, of a fairly loose weave.  Roughly cut it into 4" x 10" rectangles.  Double-fold and seam all four edges.

Sew one side of a strip of velcro on the right side of one short end.

Fold up into a pouch with right-sides out, and sew up the side seams.

Sew the other strip of velcro on the "flap" remaining.

Tada!  A reusable coffee filter pouch just about the right size for those personal coffee makers.

I actually whipped up three for this particular trip, and still had plenty of material left to make more.

Obviously, a more skilled seamstress will be able to make a better finished product. I'll let David post a review of the performance of this particular project when he gets back from London . . .

Visit

Yesterday we received visitors from Arizona: My dad and step-mother.  We enjoyed a lovely visit, shared dinner and a little wine, breakfast this morning (compliments of Chef Thomas), and a short shopping excursion, before Dad and Martha packed up in their little car and continued their journey to Virginia.  

Although the visit was brief, it was a good opportunity for the kids to get to know their grandfolks a bit better.