MilitaryKid drew up the following contract:

I will take total responsibility, except financial responsibility, which includes but is not limited to:

• poop duty two to three times a week
• cleaning up messes in the house
• brushing weekly
• feed daily
• walk twice daily
• provide clean water twice daily
• take dog out in the middle of the night
• obedience training

These duties will be carried out cheerfully and without being told to do so.

Signed,

December 30, 07

Pat agreed to MK getting a puppy! Oh my. She will join our family next week and make us an official two-dog family. Having Kaiser here for 2 weeks helped tremendously in showing Pat how nice it is having two dogs. Kaiser and Brutus got along tremendously, entertaining and playing with each other. It was so nice to have Kaiser here and soon we will have an 8-week old puppy.

This is something I’ve been wanting to share for the last 6 months; a project that I’m quite proud of and replying to a post at The Homeschool Library got me thinking that I really needed to share this.

High School electives are not something I really thought too much about when I was planning out ScienceKid’s high school program. My feeling was that they would take care of themselves. Somehow. My plan was to put him in charge of coming up with electives, and then it would be something he would really enjoy doing. Besides we homeschooling moms have enough to worry about with planning our kids education than to think about electives too.

I’m glad I didn’t worry about electives.

The project really started when ScienceKid admired wooden kayaks on the water where we vacation. He wanted to purchase one however either he or maybe DH suggested that he look into building one. Wouldn’t that be a great project! And how could I have ever planned such a cool elective for him? We’ve shared this project with college educators and the feedback was that this project is worth several high school credits in Woodworking. Who would have known, but that isn’t the reason SK took on this project. He is the one wanting to build a strip-built wooden kayak! Now, how neat and educational is that!

Early last year SK read kayak building books which reminds me that I must get those book names into my Homeschool Tracker Program. Next he researched kayaking companies, and kayak building kits before deciding to purchase a Guillemot Night Heron kayak kit. The BP’s arrived and SK got right to work.

He used the bandsaw to cut out the forms.

Doesn’t it look like a work of art?

More forms were made.

Next he made a stand for the kayak.

And this long board he is resting upon is the kayak’s form backbone. All the forms will go upon this.

He purchased cedar and other pretty, lightweight wood.

This is SK showing off how strong he is holding a 16′ long piece of wood.

Strips were cut from the 10″x16′ boards and the one project step SK was not permitted to perform alone. We’d like him to keep all his fingers and relied upon DH to do the strip cutting with SK pulling the strips from the table saw. Once the strips were cut the edges were routed. Darn, I don’t have photos of SK doing that step yet.

The forms in place, the first strip went into place.

This step was quite slow with SK checking angles and ’stuff’ before he was able to proceed.

Soon though the kayak began to take shape.

ScienceKid had decided to build a strip-built kayak and though this project is not complete he has already learned some valuable skills. The strips first went up the boat sides and then he met a new challenge. How to bend the strips so they would now run parallel to the ground?

He contemplated that for awhile and discovered a new friend.

Silver tape. Or duct tape. And do you know that Silence is golden but duct tape is silver. That’s what SK is often telling me.

I think by this point he has gone through 3 or maybe it is 6 rolls of tape.

Each strip gets glue on its edges before being placed. SK found early on that he could place one strip in place on either side but then you needed to give the glue time to dry before proceeding. 2 or maybe 4 strips per day was all that could be added. This is a time-consuming project!

Siver tape holds everything in its proper place while the glue dries.

Clamps, lots of clamps are needed too.

If you just happened by the shop while SK was working be ready! He is more than ready to discuss the ins and outs of kayak construction with you. Our neighbor is a gem and she loves the boys and really enjoys seeing what they are up to.

Another challenge SK had to solve was how to splice the wood pieces together near the bow and stern. He also had to figure out how to make lap joints between wood strips. The above photo shows both and I challenge you to find the wood joint. Hint it is 3 rows below the yellow clamp.

Finally the boat sides were starting to meet the keel.

This is where the fun began, the slicing sharp wood points so the joint would be tight, smooth, and look nice.

Through the fall SK would take an hour break from bookwork, go to the shop and lay in a strip or two.

Measure twice, cut once. Or is it cut twice and measure once?

LOOK, the boat bottom is complete!

Isn’t it beautiful!!

SK next has the boat’s top, and the fiberglassing step to complete. Oh, there’s probable a-half-dozen other steps I’m leaving out but that’s where he is at now. He is hoping to have the boat in the water this summer. I’ll let ya know!

In light of dealing with a clogged waste pipe, the main pipe from our home to our septic tank, and water all over the kitchen floor and basement first thing this morning, I’ve decided to share a joke I heard in the car last evening.  After dropping ScienceKid off in NJ for his camping trip in NY,  I picked up MilitaryKid’s best buddy and listened to 12yo humor on the drive home.  Here’s the best one though:

 Can the shoebox?

No, but the tincan.  

LOL!!!   I love kid humor.

Then there was the one about the 3 men who were captured by the cannibals and told to go out and pick 10 fruits.  One picked apples, one berries, and one pineapples.  Oh my, can’t write that one out but let me just say that none of them escaped, not even the one with the berries.  He laughed to hard when he saw the guy with the pineapples walk in.   Yea, boy-humor.

And they can use the bushes in the yard and I’m stuck here without having my morning coffee or my breakfast.  That plumber better get here soon!

This post is for Sue; in her Christmas card she shared that she enjoyed the recipes on my blog. So, I decided to share some of the food hits from our Christmas this year.  This one is for you Sue!

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As a teenager and young adult every Christmas was spent at my eldest sister’s home. The food was great, however since I don’t want to sound bitter or get myself depressed I won’t share the feelings that go along with the memories of those years spending every holiday at her home, with my parents. Nope, don’t want to go there.

On the plus side is that I do have many great recipes from those years. One recipe is Italian Snack Loaf. When we were first married (almost 25 yrs ago) I fixed this frequently but I just hadn’t made it for years. This year I decided to throw it together and it was just as good as I remembered it to be. It was so good that ScienceKid, who is leaving for a few days of winter camping in upstate NY, is taking half-a-loaf with him. This was the first time he had this dish, so for him to want to take it with him you’ve got to know makes it a huge hit.

One problem with making Italian Snack Loaf is finding a great bread dough to use. The original recipe called for using Morton frozen bread dough. Well, I can’t find that at my local store and frankly I like making my own bread. It isn’t that hard to throw a bread dough recipe together, really! A few weeks ago I made a batch of Pioneer Woman’s Dinner Rolls. Umm, they were just as delicious as her pictures. When I decided to make the Italian Snack Loaf I knew I’d use her roll recipe as the bread. It worked great.

Here’s what I did. First, make a batch of Pioneer Woman’s Bread dough. Take the dough as far as the step where she pinches off little pieces forming them into balls. Don’t do that step. Instead cut the dough in half and throw one-half into a plastic bag and into the refrigerator. If it is late at night or dinner is in an hour then throw both dough halves into the refrigerator and continue tomorrow or the day after with the rest of this recipe. (This is a great dough recipe and really is quite easy to work with).

Here are the ingredients we used for Italian Snack Loaf:

1# pepperoni, sliced thin or cube it. Either way I microwave it for 2 minutes and drain off the grease
1# mozzarella cheese, cube it
1/4# sausage, cook it and drain off any grease
Parmesan cheese
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
4 - 6 cloves garlic

Next, spread flour on your clean counter and roll the dough out, 18″ x 15″. I roll mine thin enough so that it is about 3/8 to 1/4″ thick. No, I don’t measure the thickness or the rectangular shape. I’m just trying to give you an idea of how big this flat dough is.

Now comes the part of assembling the items. First I use my garlic press and send those 6 garlic cloves through it and directly onto the dough. Spread the garlic out so that you don’t get all that great flavor in one bite. Sprinkle on the herbs so that they are evenly dispersed. I probable use about a TBL of each across the dough. No, I never measure; just use what ‘looks right’. Finally I sprinkle on the parmesan cheese and here I do try to cover just about every inch of the dough with some cheese. Next evenly disperse the pepperoni, mozzarella, and sausage onto the dough. The surface now looks similar to a pizza minus the tomatoes. It is OK if there’s some dough not covered with sausage, mozzarella or pepperoni.

Next you will roll the dough into a sausage shape. Roll it so that the rolled dough is 18″ long when you are finished. Next you are going to lift this onto the cookie sheet, greased and sprinkled with cornmeal. If you don’t have cornmeal don’t fret about it, it will all still be good. Yes, at times I have trouble putting it onto my greased and sprinkled with cornmeal cookie sheet but then I bend it like a horseshoe.

Place a clean dish towel over the dough’s surface and leave it alone for 2 to 3 hours in a warm place.

When it has risen nicely (you’ll know, it will LOOK risen), 2 or 3 hours from when you first placed it onto the cookie sheet, preheat your oven to 350 F. Once the oven is to temperature, pop the Italian Snack Loaf in, and bake for 20 minutes. It might take an extra 5 to 10 minutes, at least it does in my present oven. The bread should have a nice tan look to it.

Remove from the oven. Place the Italian Snack Loaf on a wooden cutting board and slice off 1″ thick pieces.   This is great as a snack, or a meal with some red wine and a salad. Ummmm.

Next time you make it, put in your favorite pizza toppings; mushrooms, green peppers, olives, ham, …. make it your way.

Last evening after the presents were unwrapped, the stomachs were all stuffed, the dishes washed, the boys were off playing their new Age of Empires game, I turned on my PC. And there it was, a comment from a reader:

Hello, I just wanted to stop by and tell you Thank You!!! This particular blog about Brutus saved my dog’s life today. A couple weeks ago I stumbled on your blog and apparently retained the information about hydrogen peroxide. My Pomeranian got into rat poisoning at my Dad’s farm today and I rushed him inside, got the peroxide in him and he vomited all of it out. TMI, I know. But I really wanted you to know how eternally grateful I am to you for having shared that experience. I believe it saved my doggy’s life and he means the world to me!!!!

Thank you so much, and Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Thank you for the best Christmas present! Saving a life, wow. Who would have known that a post here might have such an effect? WOW!!

We have a few items to wrap this evening; ScienceKid is hanging fiberglass in the workshop’s ceiling area while Pat watches, MilitaryKid is watching Christmas movies, and I’m re-organizing my pull-out shelves. Pat left a note–the BUILDER is NOT responsible for OVERSTUFFED shelves. Yea, very funny. He enjoys finding me with something disorganized since that is not me. Ok, they were bulging a bit but moving a few things around and installing 2 more shelves helped allot. Needless to say I have very little to do to prepare for Christmas. Strange, very strange.

Yesterday however was a different story. I started shopping at 7am, and once home got to cooking. Liver pate, deviled eggs, apple strudel, chocolate mousse, hummus, Italian Snack Loaf, and probable something else I’m forgetting that I made. We’re headed out tonight for take-out Chinese, cruise through neighborhoods to look at lights but I think we will forego Christmas church service. Chinese take-out is what we always ate on Christmas eve for our 16 years in New England but since I knew Dad didn’t like it we went with something more traditional the last 5 years here in Delaware. This year he is not here to enjoy Christmas with us. And I need to do a few things different too. Or the same as they used to be years ago. I wish we could find a traditional Christmas church service, with tradtional music, and candles,…. but that’s not the case at our church.

Tomorrow we’ll have apple strudel, Amish sticky buns, chocolate milk, OJ and coffee for our breakfast. We enjoy breakfast while we open gifts and we try to make the opening of presents last for a few hours. Lunch will be Italian Snack loaf. Afternoon snacks will be deviled eggs, liver pate, Cajun crabmeat dip, and garlic shrimp. Dinner will be standing rib roast, roasted potatoes, cole slaw, Green beans with onions, and chocolate mousse for desert.

I hope the boys enjoy their presents and have lots of memorable fun tomorrow. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Puppy Bows. I love seeing a dog greet another dog; dropping down on his forearms so his chest and face are on the ground while his butt is high in the air. He’s saying, please play, don’t you want to play with me, as his tail wags wildly. It is a wonderful signal dogs use with each other. Our Brutus is always quick to whip his puppy bow out shortly after meeting a dog. He so wants to play and so it was when he met Kaiser. Kaiser though reacted with a snarl, a growl, a snap, and more snarls and growls. He was ready for a fight and quite ready to start it. These two dogs met three times over the last couple weeks so Kaiser would get familiar with his dog sitting family, us. After each visit I commiserated with dh about the growling and snarling and snapping Kaiser displayed and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into when we told our friends we would take their dog for awhile. Each visit Brutus gave Kaiser several puppy bows too, never giving up that maybe Kaiser would change his mind about playing with him.

On Kaiser’s defense he is obedience trained and when one says sit, he not only goes into a sit but stays in a sit until you release him. Same with down, he is a pleasure to walk, and is crate trained.

On Monday Kaiser came to our home for his stay with us. I hoped that with the owners gone Kaiser might be less aggressive and stop his growling, snarling, and snapping. It didn’t happen. We took the dogs for a 3 mile walk with both dogs heeling throughout the walk. Caser Milan would have been pleased I’m sure. Back home Kaiser continued to react nasty to Brutus if he walked close to him. Too many times to count I yelled NO, put the dogs into downs and stood over them waiting for the tension to disappear. In our home we quickly found that Kaiser would start fighting with Brutus so the dogs were both in a continuous down with one of us constantly watching them. ScienceKid took Kaiser out for a run hoping that if we drained some of his energy he would be better behaved toward Brutus. In the evening we walked the dogs again, both behaved beautifully on the walk. Back home again Kaiser snarled, growled, and snapped at Brutus when he came close. And yes, I wondered what on earth we had gotten ourselves into.

Tuesday and Wednesday were a repeat of Monday. I became even more concerned that our Christmas Holidays were going to be tension-filled, stress-filled dog sitting. It was like living with a Dennis the Menace and Mr. Wilson.

Brutus as Dennis “Please Mr. Wilson, won’t you play with me. Please, please, play with me. Here I am, see me jumping around and puppy bowing to you, please play with me, PLEASE.’:

Kaiser as Mr. Wilson, always answered, “No, leave me alone. I’m a grumpy old-man and I don’t want to play with you, Just go away. Leave me alone.”

In a way I felt like I was back to supervising 3 and 4yos again. Constantly watching their behavior, stepping in when one crossed the line and placing them in time-out to cool down and get themselves back under control. Never a need to spank or hit, just a take-control when things turned sour, let them know that I will control things until they learn how to control their behavior. Until then I was there to keep them safe, put them into a time-out, aka a down; and do it consistently and constantly until they learn to behavior correctly.

This morning I let Kaiser out of his crate, took the dogs to the back door and told them to SIT. Both sat immediately and looked at me. Ahhh, what a sweet sight, if only it could last. I opened the door, went out, and gave the dogs the release OK word. Both headed out into the yard with me watching their every move, me ready to scream NO when the fighting began.

Then the miracle occurred. Kaiser waltzed over to Brutus and puppy bowed. He PUPPY BOWED to Brutus. They played, they played spithead, and waltzed around each other, and played. There weren’t any growls, or snarls, or snaps. It was wonderful.

Now we have another problem. Kaiser wants to play with Brutus in the house, and of course puppy Brutus is always ready to comply.

It’s OK, I’ll take this new situation any day over the one at the beginning of the week. Four days down, umpteen more to go.

So we’re riding home from seeing our friend’s puppies and take the overpass over Rt 95. “Look down there. It looks like a parking lot.”

“Yea, that store must be really crowded.”

Now, Military Kid has never been one to have great conversational skills, or one to be a talker, or one to articulately express himself however lately he has been coming out with some very witty statements. Such as the one he made this afternoon. I chuckled, and asked him how he came up with such a great comment, to which he replied; “well, you said it was a parking lot, and I saw lots of cars. I guess I could have said that the store must be really popular and crowded since the parking lot is so full.” Aye, just not something I would ever have thought to say about Rt95.

Things have been rough here and as my mom always told me; ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything.’ Which means I have had to be quiet.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did and had a celebration full of traditional food and seafood. It was good, for the most part. DH had the boys busy with things and I was supposed to be able to use the time on Friday, Saturday and Sunday planning out ScienceKids new courses however my PC’s AC Adaptor died and so I had no pc juice. Without my PC I could not plan. I could not put the course lesson plans into Homeschool Tracker, and oh my, I really was like a ship out of water. I even spent one day mowing the lawn and bagging leaves. Timing has been off all year for me.

But I’m back and the courses are planned out. We are excited about them too. I’ll share the first one with you, Introduction to Computer Science.

ScienceKid realized at his last YESS session that he is way behind the PS kids computer knowledge. He’s familiar with sw programs such as Word and ExCel and is able to surf the net exceedingly well, but he has not done any programming. When SK gets concerned about being behind he goes overboard with concern and that is just what happened right before Thanksgiving. He wanted to learn all the programming languages right then and there, and he had such urgency to do this too that I knew he would not accept waiting until next fall to get started.

And while we school with a classical approach we are not rigid in our plans, and particularly not with a high schooler. Adjustments can be made and that’s just what I was quite willing to do.

First I posted on my favorite homeschool high school forum, WTM, for feedback on what other folks have used and got pointed toward having SK learn Java. DH and I weren’t sure this was the right step for SK and so I looked a bit more. Sometimes however, we forget, or at least I do, about resources right in our own backyards. Or in this case the resource sitting on my shelf placed there on the recommendation of my niece, a woman with a PhD in CIS, and one who has taught many beginning CIS courses. I pulled the book off the shelf and consulted with my trusted independent source, Amazon.com book reviews. The reviews made the choice really simple and I soon sent an email off to said-niece for recommendations on how to get SK started in this book/course study. I also requested a course syllabus that I could use, after-all, why should I reinvent the wheel?

You’re dying to know the book, right? It is ‘How to Design Programs, An Introduction to Programming and Computing‘ and it can either be purchased or read online for free. The course outline we are following is a NE’ern U college course niece recommended. SK has worked through the first three chapters or sections of the book which is considered just the first week of this CIS U211 course and he is having a blast. He and his cousin have started emailing questions and answers too so it looks like he will have a great support system to take him through this. Today he told me that to fit this in with his other courses, since he doesn’t want to drop anything off hs plate, he will do lots of programming on Saturday’s. What a kid!

Oh, taking a week and a-half per section instead of the one week per section pace of the college course DS should finish up this course by May. Next year I’ll have him take a Java programming course and maybe he’ll be ready for the APCIS test in the spring.

Which brings me to another point I’d like to make, although I know I’m preaching to the choir, maybe. I have fallen directly into the role so many hs’ers who have gone before me told me I would fall into once my child got into high school. That role is one of facilitator. Teaching is my role for math since that is my love but as far as the other subjects where my skills are lacking, such as AP Biology and Computer Programming, I have found others to teach my child. Teaching is a minor role now but finding resources for my ds to use, and being there to listen and talk with him is really my new roles.

High School years are really so much more fun than the earlier years and I really do need to share more about this, so watch for that to come soon.