Disaster Averted

The sad crying of my little girl. Momma's voice: "Go show Daddy, maybe he can help." A disaster in the making...

On our recent vacation we forgot our camera. Rather than spend $10 - $15 each on a couple of disposables (plus $15+ per roll for developing and printing) I drove 40 miles to the nearest WalMart to buy an inexpensive digital camera.



I know, this is a link to Amazon, not WalMart, but this is the camera. And what a treat! This was a gift to our youngest, who was a bit jealous that big sister has a camera, Mommy has a camera, Daddy has a camera.... Well, big sister was given a camera for our second trip to China, so she got to take pictures of her new baby sister. This was updated to a Nikon digital camera within a few years. I think it is time baby sister gets her own camera - an inexpensive one, as she is like a bull in a china shop at times.

As I said, a treat. She documented our entire trip (and her inventory of the stuffed animals that came along), and was kind enough to let Momma use it from time to time. She got some great pictures.

But when we got home, we did not download the pictures to our computer hard drive. And at some point, when baby girl was trying to delete one picture, she deleted the entire flash drive. The absolute grief she displayed was something I had never seen from her before. Time for Daddy to put on his Superman cape and fly into action!

Actually, I did a relatively quick search and found a freeware solution to our problem. Free for individual users, easy to use, this software allowed us to recover all the deleted files. What a blessing! And we have one happy girl now.

The Sun - a great series of images

For astronomy buffs, this series of images are remarkable. It shows your students the sun using a variety of imaging technologies. Well worth a look.

Shorpy is a tremendous site featuring historical photographs. Click on the image above to take you to the site. The images are available as high definition .jpeg files, and you can even order prints if you like. This is a classroom in West Virginia, circa 1921. Want your kids to get a feel for school days back when? Are they reading the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, or the Fairchild series by Rebecca Caudill? Here's what it looked like - bare feet and all!

The Homeschool Blues

Bah-da-da-dum
Baby ain't got no motivation,
Bah-da-da-dum
She ain't got no drive at all,
Bah-da-da-dum
She's avoiding her schoolwork,
ya know,
She's gonna drive me up a wall, ohhh...

Don't you know I got it, Honey,
Yeah, I got the homeschool blues... ohh, yeah,
When the kids are goofin' off, y'all,
and I'm feeling lower than my shoes.
-Homeschool Blues, by "Big Daddy" Bell

Been fighting with the girls lately - no fisticuffs, of course (they'd take me in a New York minute), but just one, long argument trying to get them motivated to do their work. We are resorting to a stricter schedule of courses, which has worked so far (one day into the plan). My philosophy had been to allow them freedom in structuring their day and their interests, as long as the core subjects have been covered. It seems that they need more structure than that provided, so I am working to find a balance. We'll see how it goes.

The Curta Calculator

For kids interested in mechanical devices, for kids interested in history and how dire circumstances can still bring remarkable innovation, for kids wondering how calculators worked before the era of solid-state circuitry...

the Curta! Follow this link for some remarkable links on a page dedicated to this calculator. Scroll past the posters to find the good stuff.

This is a remarkable piece of machinery (I have a bias toward Old World design and craftsmanship), and the story behind it is amazing.

The short version is this: Curt Herzstark was born in Austria, the son of a man in the business of manufacturing calculators. He learned the trade and became a skilled craftsman - which likely saved his life. After the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938, his life changed dramatically - the more so after he was sent to Buchenwald. His ability to work on precision calculators was of value to the war effort, and when it was learned he was working on a portable four-function calculator, he was provided the means to continue and complete that work - to be a gift to the Fuhrer after the war.

At any rate, a remarkable man, and a remarkable story - and a remarkable design. Well, I'm off to eBay to try and find one (if I can afford it).

Back from Our Trip

Just back from 10 days in Idaho. We have a little cabin on the North Fork (or Henry's Fork) of the Snake River. About 20 miles by road from West Yellowstone, a little more than a mile from the Park border.

When I say "we", I mean my parents own the cabin. It was my great-grandfather's cabin, circa 1930. He was a jeweler in Pocatello, and had this as a weekend/summer place. It is in Targhee National Forest, so the land is leased. I have many fond memories of summers spent in Island Park, and I hope my kids have some too.

I hope to add some pictures soon, and a description of our "Little House on the Prairie" day - quite an experience for the girls.

The Value of Service

We had a lovely brunch at church following Mass this morning. Some gave short talks highlighting the various ways members of the congregation can help the Parish - Altar Guild, Flower Guild, service at the altar, cleaning, cooking - you name it.

I know it is popular, and sometimes even mandated, for students to get involved in "community service". For church-going kids, however, it seems as natural as breathing. Our girls have watched us model the concept - service to others, without expectation of reward, or even acknowledgment. They now exhibit the same "servants heart" in service to the church; they help cook and set tables, they help Mom clean, our oldest is very good at helping the altar guild (she even corrects her Mom), and they help Dad weed and trim bushes - they even took charge of some planters and filled them with a beautiful assortment of annuals.

In my mind, this is where the public schools miss the boat. Service given for a grade or as a requirement for graduation is not really voluntary service. Yes, the community gains, and the students perhaps learn something (although, they may learn the wrong lesson entirely), but they miss the larger lesson. They miss out on the joy of selfless service. They miss out on the idea that there is something (or some things) more important than their immediate desires. They miss out on the idea of duty.

Once learned, these basic values will serve them well in life. Our girls receive real pleasure in helping others, in giving of themselves - not just at church, but at home and elsewhere. Yes, there are times they would rather be out playing with their friends. And yes, we often allow them to do so - we are not slave masters. But when one asks, "Dad, wouldn't you rather stay home?" as I head out the door, I can honestly answer "Yes, but I have committed to (whatever), so I need to go." And that lesson is important for them to learn. As adults, we model those behaviors that our children will model for their children.

A DVD Cooking recommendation

I don't know why, but I am having trouble with Blogger not allowing multiple links in a single blog. This is, therefore, a continuation of the previous post.

For an introduction to Chinese cooking with a western flair, Tsai Ming had an interesting show on PBS. I particularly liked the curry/ginger oil he used on one show - adds great flavor without being overpowering. His DVD set is still available. Check it out. He is sometimes seen in re-runs on the local PBS stations.

Wok recommendation

I did use a wok for yesterday's recipe. My wife and I were cooking with a wok well before our trip to China; being fans of Chinese food, we learned early on to cook our own. That said, the wok is really more versatile than many people think.



This is the wok I use - carbon steel, it does need to be seasoned and hand washed. Once seasoned, it provides a non-stick surface that rivals any commercial non-stick surface. It requires a bit more care, but will last much longer than any non-stick pan I've ever owned. And it will allow you to cook at higher temperatures than most non-stick pans. We bought ours as a package that included a lid (essential for steaming).

Joyce Chen (whose name adorns the box of the above-linked wok) authored one of the first cookbooks we owned.

Left-overs

Alright, pretty exiting topic, right? Believe it or not, this is one of my girls' favorite meals. Easy to put together, cheap (a big plus), tasty, and if you have a young one who doesn't eat her veggies (like our youngest), you can sneak 'em past her!

I keep a few odd items on hand for this dish, but they are not essential. If you happen to have an Asian grocer near by, or a very well-stocked specialty isle at the local super market, look for Oyster Flavor Sauce, fresh ginger (although prepared minced ginger works too), and soy sauce (yes, available everywhere, but at an Asian market you pay less by buying it by the gallon).

Day-old rice works best, but any steamed rice works. I use a wok, but again, almost any deep pan suitable for frying will work. I heat oil to smoking (I don't use non-stick pans so I can cook with high heat), add garlic, then throw in whatever meat I have left over. The picture below is some beef steak; ham, chicken, sausage, pork, or fish all work. Add some soy sauce and heat through. I move the meat to a dish, reheat the pan, add more oil, the in go the veggies. These can be left-overs, or fresh veggies, or frozen veggies, or a combination of all three. Shown below are fresh carrots, celery, and onion, and frozen beans and corn. The fresh carrots were cooked a minute in the microwave to soften them a bit. For a picky eater, chop the veggies fine enough that she cannot pick them out. As this cooks I add the ginger and a dash of Oyster Flavor Sauce. This stuff is not fishy, it just adds a nice flavor to the vegetables, and rounds out the flavor. Splash in some soy sauce, and add the meat back in. Here you go:


Pretty, huh? Next, add enough cooked rice that you think it will fill the kids, then add more. This can be tricky, because the rice will want to stick, so I turn the heat down and add more oil, or some butter. Stir it up, add more soy sauce, and serve it.


My kids love it, my wife loves it and asked me fix it for dinner tonight (well, she did most of the work while I was in my home office - I just cooked it and accepted the accolades), and I think we fed the whole clan, including second helpings, for under $3.00.

Homeschool begins again...

We are gearing up for the new school year. First and Fifth grades. This year we are going to use St. Thomas Aquinas Academy again. We used them in First and Second grades, and I think their curriculum recommendations are spot on.

Homeschooling is more challenging, as my oldest wants to only work on those items of interest to her. It is like pulling teeth to get her to work on a variety of subjects.

Well, that is why it is helpful to get outside advice from time to time.

Fun with Home Repair

I have some nominal ability to effect repairs around the house. Electrical work, however, has been something up with which I shall not put (paraphrasing Churchill). Recently, when our microwave oven died after plugging a radio into an outlet, I called an electrician for help. This happening on a weekend, the service wanted a credit card number for the "emergency service fee". I told them that I could cook on a stove top, so this was not considered an emergency. Schedule something for Monday, please.

In the mean time, I jumped on the internet to see if I could troubleshoot the problem. I came across a great web site, The Circuit Detective. This fellow has a great troubleshooting page (I had an open neutral in a circuit that ended at the microwave), advice, even telephone consultation if you are not near enough that he can visit in person. On top of that, you can order his book from Amazon!



Bottom line, with the advice from this site, about $9.00 worth of outlets (including a cheap tester), I effected a repair that would have cost $125.00 just for the service call, had I considered it an emergency.

Interesting side note: The electrical repair shop never did call me to set an appointment.

Special on iPods at Calumet

Yes, a blatant plug. Full disclosure - I (through my company, Camera Collectors, Inc. am an affiliate of Calumet Photographic. A new relationship, I hope they can supply items my customers may want, but that I cannot supply. With luck, I may make a buck or two as well.

That said, they are offering free shipping on iPods. My older daughter loves hers, and I was sufficiently impressed I may replace my MP3 player with an iPod (I have some Scot blood in me, so I won't do it until the MP3 player breathes it's last breath).

How does this apply to homeschooling? Please, if you haven't already, check out iTunes University. My MP3 player does not have any music. I have iTunes U college lectures on the Epistles, I have lessons on Biblical Greek (these lectures are downloaded free of charge), and a few audio books from Audible.com. I load Jack Benny's radio programs to listen to while traveling - driving at night, kids and wife asleep, and I'm laughing out loud.

Anyway - here is the link. If it looks like a good deal, try them out. I buy hard-to-find photographic gear from Calumet, and have always been pleased by their prices and service.

Free Shipping on ALL iPods at Calumet Photographic! while supplies last. no code necessary

To steal a line from Monty Python...

And now, for something completely different.... Technochicken!

Who has this much time on their hands?

Ugly Lessons

And I'm not referring to the ugly mug my kids see during their home school lessons. No, this was an unfortunate (but fortunately rare) lesson in human nature.

An acquaintance of my older daughter was creating a ruckus in the parking lot between several buildings in our townhouse complex. An owner (middle aged woman) came out to holler a complaint. She was obviously already in a bad mood - who knows what had happened in her day (or life) to upset her - and this boy became the target of her ire. Being a nosy neighbor, and knowing the boy, I suggested to the youngster that he quit making such a din, as the lady was upset enough. That suggestion lasted as long as one would suspect with an eleven-year-old boy, about five minutes.

The next time our irate neighbor approached the boy his sitter intervened. This girl has anger issues of her own. Imagine being seventeen years old, oldest of six children, in charge of watching and schooling all five siblings for a majority of each day (the youngest still in diapers) as momma works afternoons and nights, and pappa is gone (a divorce the children learned of when the legal papers were left lying about) - no social life, no contact with kids outside the immediate area, in a crowded two bedroom townhouse all day - I think the anger and attitude are understandable, right or not.

Long story short, the two short tempers ended up choking each other until the seventeen-year-old hit the pavement. Police cars, firetruck, ambulance... more excitement than this quiet neighborhood has seen in many years.

Sad situation, but it does provide a "teachable moment". The kids learned some of what leads to the anger, how the situation escalates, how people should and should not handle these problems, and a quick Bible lesson in turning the other cheek. Sometimes good can come from bad.

Busy Week

Here is the problem with a blog - I don't write consistently. Lots of fun this last week, though.

We finally made the home-made cheese referenced below. It was fun, and I figure it counts as home economics and chemistry. It needs a little something - a great texture, but a little bland. I think with a little garlic, maybe some herbs, it will be delightful. Next step, aged cheese!

Adoption vs. IVF

Much has been said about the anniversary of the first child born as a result of in vitro fertilization. My wife and I went through a series of fertility treatments, including in utero fertilization, but fell into that category of infertility known in doctor-speak as "I dunno".

The result of our long journey is our two daughters. While this response to an article on National Review Online does not mirror our experience exactly, it does reflect many of our experiences and certainly reflects the feelings we have toward our daughters.

Make meals interesting

Sometimes when feeding the kids it can be helpful to make a meal a bit interesting. This doesn't have to be a major project. For instance, this simple arrangement (shown before the corn dogs were added to the plate - yeah, a real gourmet meal) is easy, but got a rating of "Cool!" from the girls.

Now, before you get the idea I think I am a presentation genius, I should direct you to some real pros in the field. The Japanese serve lunches in cute compartmented stackable Bento boxes, Bento being a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal. The creative cooks make their lunches resemble people, animals, cartoon characters, landscapes, and the like. This style is called kyaraben, and one example is shown below.

You can click on the picture to go to a blog with more examples. I don't recommend the blog for the kiddies, as some entries have questionable language. The page with the examples of creative food is safe, and well worth a visit.

The Periodic Table on Video

Very interesting set of videos on the different periodic elements. British professor, enthusiastic lab assistants, and some exciting experiments (sodium is a natural). Our 5th grader was somewhat interested; our 1st grader bored after the first glance ("Is that a wig?" was the remark on seeing the professor's wild mane). I think it is neat!

Deadly plants

This is an interesting link to a description (and pictures) of some of the deadliest plants known. Some important information, especially since some of these are decorative plants readily found. Our youngest just returned from a trip to Idaho, along the Snake river. There are plants growing in the marshlands that are quite poisonous, and that yield seed pods that look deceptively like pea pods or green beans. It is important for kids to know what they can and cannot eat.

Idaho adventure

Our youngest daughter just returned from an eight-day trip with her grandparents. She is an adventurous type, and aside form some slight homesickness (and a bit of disobedience that caused Grandma second thoughts) she did quite well. Got to spend some time with my sister and her husband, who live at a distance, and some time with distant cousins, and even rode a horse.

Her sister has made this trip in past years, and was more homesick. That may be part of the reason she preferred to stay at home this year. Also, she got her own room for a whole week. She doesn't like to admit it, but I think she missed her little sister.

As usual, your humble author figured on having some free time, since the little one was gone and the older girl likes her independence. Free time means time to work on my business, and on projects of my own choosing. I was wrong again. Between Vacation Bible School at the church, and an unexpected call out of town to attend our Diocesan Synod, I had less time than usual. Always seems to work out that way.

Well, we are glad to have our baby girl home. All is back to normal... complete chaos.

A classic save

OK, one more video. I am not a huge baseball fan, but almost anyone can appreciate (and enjoy) this tremendous, unbelievable save.

An exciting dinner

My girls invited two of their friends over this evening. It has been in the planning for a week. The four girls (ranging in age from twelve to six) fixed a very impressive dinner for the two sets of proud parents.

My girls have been interested in cooking since they could sit on the counter and help us make meals - pouring, stirring, whatever they could do to help. As they get older, they do more. Our ten-year-old makes entire meals with minimal help. In fact, she created a basic spaghetti sauce recipe that is truly one of the best I've had. There are the occasional kitchen disasters, or meals that just don't quite come together, but overall her skills are impressive.

In this case they used a couple of recipes from Cat Cora's book, Cooking from the Hip".

We were able to meet Cat last year at The Taste of Colorado, a local celebration where restaurants provide samples of their specialties, musical groups perform, artisans set up stalls, trade groups hold court (the girls got some neat educational materials from the mining industry), and companies hold promotional events. Cat was promoting Sensodyne toothpaste, and part of the promotion involved free cookbooks for those who could answer cooking related trivia questions. Your humble author had a right answer, and sent his excited daughter up to collect the autographed book and meet Cat Cora. Understand that the Food Channel is one of the few television channels we allow our girls to watch, and they loved the Iron Chef America program when Cat was involved. Wow, talk about a kid who couldn't quit grinning for quite a while! The Sensodyne rep who was kind enough to take our daughter's picture with Kat and email it to us. Cat was a great treat to meet.

At any rate, the dinner tonight was terrific. The kids had fun, the parents had a fine meal, and the girls got some experience as cooks and hostesses. As I type this, the four girls are upstairs having a sleepover. Bless their little hearts, and thanks be to God for such a wonderful blessing.

A couple of videos for fun

Here are two videos. The first is just for fun. I am no fan of rap, hip-hop, and the like (my girls are not allowed to enroll in hip-hop lessons), but this is a fun video. The music is innocuous, the footage is vintage - no misogyny, cursing, drug use... it is just fun.



This next video is a result of my error - that is, I told my inquisitive ten-year-old that cheese can be made easily. So on-line I go, and I found this remarkable blog with a video to match!


I will let you know how it goes.

Are our kids too busy?

My wife and I have been having an ongoing discussion about dance and gymnastics. Our oldest girl is ten, and a very fine dancer. She seems to have a natural talent for it. Our youngest is six, and has a talent for gymnastics. They both are involved in each, but the ten year old has been invited to participate in a competitive dance group, and the six year old has been invited to participate in a competitive gymnastics team.

The problem is this: each of these groups require a tremendous amount of time. We declined to put our six year old in competitive gymnastics because it would require between seven and twelve hours of gym time each week. For a kid in kindergarten! Likewise, dance became an issue this week as our ten year old was invited to a more advanced dance company. This requires at least five to six hours per week. We negotiated with the school, and she will be going for one hour per week during the summer. We decided that she needs time to play with other children in the neighborhood - you know, time to be a kid.

Dance and gymnastics have been great for the girls. They enjoy the activities, the recitals, the exercise. But sometimes a kid needs unstructured, undirected, random chaos... I mean, fun; the type that can only be provided by fifteen or twenty screaming kids of varying ages.

Perhaps coincidentally, the very morning we are dealing with this, I read an article in National Review about the same topic. We are fortunate in our neighborhood. Seldom are the children here indoors (except when studying).