Pinewood Castle

Dishwasher: Good News, Bad News

Bad News: Sears can't send a repairman out to look at our dishwasher until Tuesday.

Good News: If the guy determines that the leak is caused by a factory defect, we get full credit (of the original cost) towards a new dishwasher and the builder's discount on a new one.

Bad News: The insurance adjuster who came out said that to repair our floor properly we would have to wait several months for the floor to be completely dry, replace the warped boards and have the entire first floor refinished.

Good News: If the leak is caused by a factory defect then Kenmore is liable for that cost too. DH really thinks it is - that the plastic bottom shows wear and the water is seeping through these little craters.

Good News: We went out to a Sears showroom to look at some models in case we do get a replacement. This Bosch looks good to both of us - stainless steel interior, 47 dBA and some extra feature that shuts everything off if a leak is detected. The screws that hold the door together look sturdier too.

Bad News: They sales guy thinks there is a 1% chance that Kenmore will say it's a factory defect, and even if they do they will only offer a fraction of the credit. He thinks we should buy from him this weekend and cancel our service call.

Good News: We think he just wants to make a sale on "friends and family" weekend. 

In the meantime, we stocked up on paper plates, etc. at the dollar store. I just love that some of you (or your kids) love doing dishes. I really don't mind if I can do them early in the evening, but these days I am all tuckered out by dishes time. My dh arrives home around 6:30, we eat by 7:00 and if we let the kids do the dishes they would get to bed really late and/or we would not have much at all time for our usual evening activities of read-a-loud, a decade of the rosary or crafts. My dh usually does the dishes which normally consists of knives, pots and pans, two French coffee presses, coffee mugs and the kids' stainless steel sippy cups (not really sippy - they have built in straws). 

So, we wait with anticipation, unsure of how much to hope for here. At least the kids are excited about the possibility of getting a big box to play in!

Appliance Dependence

First, Jamie's fridge went out the first day back to school.

Jessica's fridge followed suit.

Then Margaret's stove and oven went out, forcing an involuntary fast of microwaved soup.

Now, our dishwasher its leaking!

It appears that the bottom of the plastic tub is being eaten away and water is seeping through the powdery spots.

Yes, the tub should be covered by warranty, but that still requires a $$ service call and labor. Plus, many of the screws that hold the door together are stripped, have fallen out, and we have been thinking that the whole door will come apart any day. We could be looking at a substantial repair bill even with a warranty.

It would be nice to have a dishwasher with a more durable stainless steel interior and a quieter decibel rating.

It's only six years old. But don't we homeschooling families run our dishwashers more than most?

To replace or not to replace, that is the question!

Impromptu Cookbook Project

It seems I am constantly reorganizing here at Pinewood Castle! Just when I finally arranged a monthly file file system I started typing up my Circle Time Plans (which I need to finish, bty) and most of the crafts and recipes I had filed were transferred to that notebook. Trouble is, I don't like hauling my Circle Time notebook to the kitchen all the time so I decided to arrange my favorite recipes into seasonal 3 ring binders with page protectors.

This is also why I have been posting recipes - I am typing them up from recipe cards and magazines pages so that I can print them out for these notebooks. It's easy enough to copy, paste and share over here!

I figure I can print them out for my children when they fly the coop as well as bridal or baby shower gifts. I have also been doubling most of them as I go since our family has grown. This way we have leftovers or a second batch for the freezer.

I started out by moving them to a cardboard pocket folder a few months ago. I think the binders will be much better. Now I just need several more packages of page protectors!

Here's what I have so far:

The Fall Favorites and Winter Warm-Ups hold feast day recipes in the front, every day soups, stews and baked dishes in the middle, and desserts in the back third, and Thanksgiving in the very back. Recipes using apples, pumpkin, squash, beans, potatoes and cranberries go here.

Advent & Christmas/Winter Celebrations are my special recipes for feasts that fall from December through the end of Lent. This is also for Christmas cookie recipes, Liturgical Teas, Christmas and New Year's meal ideas and other seasonal treats. 

Meatless Meals are for Fridays, fast days and Lent. We don't give up meat for all of Lent, but do try to increase our meatless meals. This one holds plenty of soup, pasta, seafood and bread recipes.

Spring Specials will hold everything from Easter through about June. Asparagus, rhubarb, lamb, mint, lemon, stir-fry, salads and stove-top recipes have found a home here. 

I started Summer Cooking months ago to hold recipes using summer berries, zucchini, greens, salads, corn and tomatoes. I am also putting no-bake meals and grilled foods here.

I hope this helps us in our efforts to eat more seasonally and locally. I also hope it helps me find what I am looking for and better remember what we have eaten in years past!

Charting a Path to Sanity

Now that we I made peace with unfinished workbooks and are fully immersed in the business of enjoying our cool and short summer it seems we have traded one problem for another.

The problem seems to be this: the children think that since they are not doing school work that they are off the hook for everything else household and routine related.

Does this happen at your house too?

Hence, the spool of red tickets emerged from the depth of the pantry this week. (Remember Jessica's Ticket to Summer Fun post?) Last summer this system worked wonders. I have high hopes this summer as well. But we are doing things a little differently this year.

Tickets will be earned for the following items that are hot on my mind - it's back to basics this summer!

• complete Morning Routine before breakfast
• complete daily housework
• lend a Helping Hand throughout the day
• finish a chapter book
• finish a "fun book" on their shelf (to make room for next year's school books!)
• be caught doing good and wonderful things

Here are my charts just revised and re-posted:

• Morning Routine - my girls know what to do by know. My son has a picture chart, as in  photographs of him doing each step.
• Daily Cleaning is posted upstairs in the hallway: Download Chores - Upstairs Copy
• Helping Hands is posted in the kitchen: Download Helping Hands - kitchen
• House Rules are posted too: Download House Rules
• and the Ticket Exchange chart: Download Tickets to summer fun

*** I might add for clarification that I do work alongside the children and "inspect what I expect" whenever possible, especially with the 6yo!

For each ticket earned I write the child's initial on the back and place them all in a jar on the kitchen counter. At the end of the week we will count them up and see if, collectively, they earned enough to make an exchange.

Today they were amazingly motivated. They even invented a Nice Club that performs various acts of charity such as bringing me bouquets of Johnny Jump-Ups, giving gifts of painted rocks and wiping the porch with wet rags. Four tickets have been earned for finished Thorton Burgess and Boxcar Children books. For the first time ever, the two children not on kitchen patrol are doing the dishes and actually enjoying their time with the water and suds.

With dishes done earlier we have had more time to reinstate an evening rosary, albeit interrupted by someone's toot setting off the "explosive gas" alarm and a toddler who alternates her pious kneeling and folded hands with flinging her rosary across the room with a smile you can surely imagine.

"Habit is ten natures" as Charlotte Mason says. Hopefully the habits (the good ones) cemented over the summer will continue on into the next school year and will be applicable to their studies. I also desperately hope that our littlest one will, over time, learn from the good example of her older siblings. Especially during the Rosary!

Cleaning House

I do hope to resume regular blogging (and my 5 a.m. exercise routine) in the near future. In the meantime, there has been so much TO DO! Spring and fall always usher in a burst of change in my life.

First I caught a bad cold after staying up late two nights in a row. That's all it took for major congestion to move in and steal my voice for a week. I attended the MACHE conference and I do still mean to blog about it.

Then there was Easter and ham and lamb and potatoes and chocolate. And chocolate. And chocolate.

In the midst of this there was the overwhelming urge to spring clean, put away winter clothes and purchase needed summer clothes and shoes. I might also mention the big summer planning session I had scheduling soccer, T-Ball, introductory karate, a session of ice skating and swimming lessons at the Y.

Oh, and the basement. For a few exciting weeks my DH and I had decided to finish the basement and make a school room for morning seat work as well as a bathroom and exercise room. We mapped out a schedule and for some reason thought we could pay as we went along. Can you guess what happened next? Yes, we quickly decided that a summer-long DIY project would be WAY too much stress for us at this time.

So.

I re-arranged and cleaned our current classroom. We are still planning a paint job - maybe a refreshing green or robin's egg blue with this rug from LL Bean and this desk (for me) from IKEA. This is due to the fact that sitting in kids' chairs for two hours really does a number on my low back!

While I don't have any pathetic before photos of my mess, here are some "after" shots:

I moved all my Catholic Mosaic and seasonal books by the sofa to free up some classroom bookshelf space

I moved all of my "teacher help desk" stuff away from the kitchen table and carved out a spot for myself in the learning room

The toddler loves to pull up a chair beside me at these kids' sized desks but they will have to go soon!

In the meantime I enjoy having some space by my mom books to plan to week -

My new label maker is working overtime these days updating files

And here is the current TO-DO file holder -

I cleared off enough to designate TODDLER SHELVES, though she is still too much of a pitter-pat to apply herself very long -

I am also in the process of making toddler acticity bins for each day of the week. These are in the front hall closet -

The science/art/music shelf

And our liturigal/circle time table with holy water in the teacup (for now)

I am also meaning to post about candle decorating sometime soon!

Here is another wall of the classroom

And our new schedule with house cleaning moved to a time slot AFTER seatowrk is finished. Much less stressful for me and easier to begin the school day on time!

For the basement, we decided to move down the toys-with-many-parts such as these -

 

And the Waldorf toddler play stands/kitchen

Another HUGE task was the periodic cleaning of the girls' room. All because we thought a shelf like this would help keep their room neater -

 

But after we filled it the room still looked like this:

Notice that Sunshine gave up and is talking to her siblings out the window?

Two big trash bags later it looked like this:

 

Fairy Town was moved to the floor of the closet

 

And a dress-up corner was arranged

The BOY project the same day was this:

 

The mud room looks slightly better without winter coats and the mitten tree doubles as a hat rack.

Now here are the spaces I DREAM about being clean and organized:

 

 

The next challenge I am facing before returning to the blogging and exercise world is waiting for my little toe to heal. Yes, I broke my tow by walking into a door frame on my way to change a poopy diaper. My foot is bruised and swollen and all I can do is to take Advil, Tylenol, buddy tape my toes and elevate my foot with an ice pack for days on end.

My toddler however LOVES mommy's new hobby of lying on the sofa. I'm really present to her these days as she climbs all over me!

Easter blessings to everyone and please pray to Dr. St. Gianna (whose feast day is coming up on the 27th) for quick healing!

It Came!

The back-ordered mitten tree arrived just in time for the temps to reach 32 F and make for wet mittens! (I would link to it, but Plow & Hearth says it's no longer available.)