His Indian Name is A Whiter Shade of Pale

I have a confession to make. Although I puffed up immensely at the success of Jed's Halloween costume, I really didn't have to do much to achieve that success.

I wasn't that lucky this time around.

We weren't planning to attend our homeschool group's Thanksgiving party today, but things changed on Wednesday and so Thursday afternoon found us at Goodwill trying to find the makings of a Native American outfit.

You can judge for yourself how successful I was with that.





Jed was positively scandalized that he was wearing a ladies' top. And his moccasins are several sizes too large which caused him to continually step out of them despite the multitude of cotton balls stuffed into the toes. He made the headdress himself, out of pipe cleaners and skeleton leaves cut to look like feathers (in a very stylistic sort of way), which he insisted on wearing low on his forehead so that it resembled a unibrow.

The real clincher, though, was the make-up. I'll admit I was a little concerned about how white he looked in that shirt, especially around the chest, but I wasn't going to do anything about it. No need to worry...while I was getting dressed so we could leave in a few minutes, he was busily painting his skin with magic marker. A good idea, no? No. It looked like a beaver had built a lodge on his face.

So, instead of being on time to the meeting, we were at home trying to blend together all the hash marks he had made, amidst semi-loud protests of the physical abuse being endured. Apparently the spreading around of magic marker is irritating to the skin. Who knew?

Thankfully he took more magic markers with him in the car and applied his war paint. This prevented anyone from mistaking his Native American skin color for the jaundice that it more closely resembled.






The saving grace in all this...adorable turkey cookies!












How cute is that??

Ice Skating, Part 2

Doesn't this picture make Jed look like he really knows what's he doing??

He doesn't.

I don't know when it happened or why, but sometime during the previous week Jed apparently decided that ice skating is too hard and too risky.



That reminds me of the quote from Henry Ford, "Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right." He was bound to be right...he fell three times last week, and he fell three times this week in the first five minutes.




Oh well. He kept his smile about him at least. :)







When he wasn't sticking out his tongue in concentration, that is. :D

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Although it loses a bit of the impact now that it's November, these blossoms were a sight for our sore eyes back in April, since we hadn't seen anything like them in Maine yet. It was a sweet way to start our day at the zoo.

I'm not a big fan of zoos in general, but this one was nice....lots of "natural" habitats, beautiful trees and vegetation, and interesting walking paths.

And check this out - the equator goes right through the zoo!

Jed was quite disappointed to learn that he's not as tall as a baby giraffe.

Beautiful tropical birds.

Don't see too many of these around here.

Mad Skillz

I gotta tell you, I know I might not be the best photographer around, but at least I don't charge anybody.

Can you believe a Sears Portrait Studio wanted me to buy this picture?? Who takes a portrait with the subject just standing there, squarely facing the camera?

I gotta learn how to work my camera! And get some backgrounds and lights and an assistant. :)

Meanwhile, we've been up to our ears in the mass production of Christmas cards and ornaments. It looks like we're on track to have our Christmas preparations completed by the end of November.

It would be so nice to actually enjoy the month of December!

Ice Skating

Jed took his first skating lesson yesterday!

Unfortunately, next week will be his last lesson...and he's in need of way more than two lessons. :) But these were offered free to our homeschool group, and it was a nice chance to see if he likes it.

He does!

The rink has public skating every Friday from 12:00-2:00. I'm seriously thinking of giving it a whirl myself.

Tower City Center

I can count on less than one hand how many times I've been to a mall since we moved to Maine. They're just not around. I don't miss them that much, but it was fun wandering around one in Cleveland...and Tower City Center was really nice.







Located on the Huron Road waterfront, Tower City is full of musical memorabilia (including a Hard Rock Cafe)...





...and gorgeous windows.
























Jack is a friend from Missouri who was attending the same conference as Tracy. Jed had so much fun playing with him, he sent Jack a sucker when we got home.

I'm sure Jack was impressed. :)

Great Lakes Science Center

Another awesome place in Cleveland!

Museum of Natural History

This place was gorgeous!













I love big cities...so many great places to go...especially great in the winter. :)










We spent most of the day here, wandering around the outdoor exhibits when the weather permitted.










The view from our hotel, overlooking the Cleveland city hall (center), the Browns stadium (on the far left), and Lake Erie (blue stuff in the background). hehe









Sunset over Lake Erie (and the Cleveland Browns stadium).






Stay tuned for Day 3...

The Children's Museum of Cleveland

I've run out of photos to post - yahoo! Finally, something I'm caught up on. :)

Not to fear, though, dear readers (all 6 of you!)...I saved photos from a trip to Cleveland we took right after we moved, back in April.

I know what you're thinking...how could I have taken a trip to an exotic locale like Cleveland and not mentioned it before now??

I'm just nice that way...didn't want to make anyone jealous. :)

Our first day was spent at an awesome children's museum, with lots of things to play with, climb on, and pretend.








This ship's masting was so very cool.
















A cute snaggletooth grin, no?












Tracy volunteering to be the patient just so he can lie down for a few minutes.












Dinner with Keith, a good friend of ours from Missouri that lives in Cleveland now.












The sleeping diva.




Stay tuned for Day 2....

Jed's Monster

Mrs. Smith gave us a set of Cuisenaire rods a while back. I appreciated her generosity, but I was at a loss to know what to do with them. And I was too embarrassed to ask her, seeing as how she has a math degree and probably plays with Cuisenaire rods in her sleep, while I had never even seen them before.

Suffice it to say that math genius, I am not.

So I had them out one day and was doing the only reasonable thing a, um, shall we say, challenged person can do in such a situation...I was looking for help on the internet.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Jed was using the Cuisenaire rods to practice his mad scientist skillz with the creation of...

Cuisenaire Man

Famous quotes from Cuisenaire Man:

You are my creator, but I am your master—obey!
Beware; for I am intelligent, and therefore powerful.
Don't bother to scream.

For the geniuses out there...which quote is not real? (no Googling!)
And Mrs. Smith - please excuse my dear Aunt Sally (ha!)

All Things Bright and Beautiful

I started reading Design Mom a while back and was immediately hooked. However, occasionally I was a little put off by the uber-expensive things I found featured there.

I might have even left a comment to that effect.
If so, it was only after someone else was brave enough to comment on the issue.

Design Mom addressed this issue in an eloquent and elegant way. Since I can't find the original post, I'll have to paraphrase her by saying she posts beautiful things on her blog, not as an encouragement to indulge but simply because she likes knowing there are beautiful things in this world.

I love that!

It reminded me of the absolutely stunning art journal of my artist friend Kitten, into which goes pictures from catalogs and magazines of things she finds particularly beautiful or inspiring. So now, all those catalog clippings I've saved depicting achingly exquisite but painfully expensive items don't have to be a source of frustrated desire anymore. I can have them all...in my new art journal.

In that vein, I want to share with you one of the first clippings going in my journal...this gorgeous leaf lamp. It's sold by Cinnabar Online if you have the urge to splurge. Me? I'm happy just looking at the picture.

And I have an idea that looking through my journal will be more exciting to me than any pleasure I would have gained from owning something in it.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm sure you've all been tingling with curiosity to know how my garden {and I use that term loosely} fared this summer.

No?

Perhaps you don't recall how modest things looked at the beginning.





If you do, you probably had no hope of us ever reaping the fruit of our labors. I know I didn't.

And to be honest, things stayed somewhat on the modest side through the entire growing season (all two weeks of it) (just kidding) (but only a little), but I'm genuinely pleased that the plants lived at all.

It doesn't take much to make me happy. :)



This might look like an odd angle in the picture, but it's actually accurate...the weight of the three tomatoes on the plant pulled it over.

Note to self: stake the plants next summer.

You might have noticed something missing...alas, the brussel sprouts didn't make it. And there are two people living under my roof who are still celebrating the day they heard that sad news.

In the Doghouse

Jed's friend Grace came over last week and we celebrated Jed's birthday with an impromptu party.

I just about melted when I saw the darling birthday card she made. She even drew seven candles on the birthday cake!

The folks on the right are her and her parents, labeled lest there be any confusion. :)

I don't know if all little girls are like Grace, but she sure makes me want one awful bad.



This is Grace and Jed pretending to be dogs in the doghouse.

I'm not sure what part of a dog's behavior Jed is trying to imitate, but I think it's quite evident that he hasn't spent much time around them. :)

Thank you for your kind comments and well-wishes for Jed...he's feeling better today, with just a cold now. No tears for that!

She Shall Be Known by Her Fruit

There is a dear sister in our church that brings fruit as a gift for every family in attendance at our mid-week prayer meeting.

Most weeks it involves work on her part, in addition to her time and finances. Cutting up watermelon, pineapple, and cantaloupe are chores I don't enjoy, and it makes me appreciate her kindness all the more.

Fall weather has made apples the fruit of choice lately - and they don't require any cutting. :)

However, it doesn't look like we'll be sinking our teeth into any honeycrisps or fujis this week...this little guy is sick. Crying as I put him to bed because he felt so bad.

Hope they'll be praying for him tomorrow night.

Auld Lang Syne

I talked with an old friend this afternoon, and it was so very, very good. {Thanks, Diane!}

She asked about the house we're renting, and it made me realize I hadn't yet posted the pictures I took of it recently.

Here are a few of my favorites:

This is the view of the house that greets us as we enter through the mud room {mud room in Maine - awesome!}.

The dining room table is in the original part of the house, and the living area beyond that (including the stairs and the loft above them) used to be a porch and a shed that were incorporated into the house when it was renovated a few years ago.




This is my favorite room of the house, although I don't spend as much time in it as I would like. It's a tiny bedroom, but the perfect size for my supplies and a work table. I love the exposed brick and the old floor. I just wish it looked this neat in real life.








Paintings by Brad Davis. Not for sale.

Just in case you were wondering. :)















The upstairs bathroom is so cute...and get a load of that tub! It's hard to get Jed out of it.