Last Day of 2009

I have used part of Christmas time with the family carving a wooden spoon while watching some movies. I used my ax to get a sort of flat shape. Then I used a jigsaw to get the initial spoon shape, pocket knife to smooth out the wood and a sculpting tool to assist me with the bowl of the spoon. It turned out quite nice. The hardest part for me was the bowl part of the spoon.

Vacation Recuperation and a Book Recommendation

Well, many busy days have happened since returning from our trip to Cali. We usually joke about needing a vacation after our vacation just to recuperate. ;) And with all the things we needed to do after returning I feel tired just thinking about it all still. =)
Okay so here is a slight diversion, I have finished reading The Zero Game by Brad Meltzer and really liked it. I guess the only thing I didn't find as credible was the super-human strength of the bad guy, however, I could hardly put it down. It was an easy read and I found it quite intriguing considering I have not read a book cover to cover in a long time except for scriptures. Here is my Amazon Affiliates link to check out the book.


I have an idea for a book along these lines but it sure is taking a long time to come out of my head.

Are we there Yet? Don't I wish!

Location update: we are in Flagstaff! We had a wonderful night camping at Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo, TX. However, we "thought" we were quick in getting out of there =) but we weren't. Many beautiful places we have driven through, many bathroom stops it seems. We pushed to get here and hope to be off early tomorrow. Please let the grandparents know our location.

On our way out West

Being in the car too long makes us crazy! Crossing the state line this morning. We should be in New Mexico by night.

A Blessed Journey

We recently took a journey towards the middle of our state and camped at Lane Springs. It is a place we use often when we get off to a slow start on such journeys. The weather was wonderful and the mosquitoes seemed to be sparse. It was a nice time considering all the sickness little knight was going through, throughout the night. We brought our portable water closet to post outside the tent. After many trips during the night to the water closet, we got it down to an organized system of steps. He was a good little trooper. Here are some of us having fun outside the tent.

The New Piano

We now have a piano. We had the help of missionaries and another knight of the WP realm and the King. It is fun to have an instrument once again and it was "light as a feather" in comparison to the piano we left behind in the far far West. It has made musical notes ever since it arrived. No one really hears those keys which have a slight tonal problem as it is just a plain delight to play around on. The Duck Princess has already recorded the King's debut as "piano key plunker". They also had a name that tune game setup for me in the evening. Such fun! I think I knew 70% of the songs played. We are truly blessed in our lives and grateful for it.

Calm Surroundings

I really like where we live. It is so beautiful during each season in its own way. There's a beautiful view out every single window. Right now birds are chirping and the sun is not yet up, but the golden light on the fields and trees is so soothing.... Now, if the views and the neighborhood only came with a little more top soil! But our labors there are another story. Gratitude for what IS here can be as soothing to the spirit as the view!

The Carriage Ride

The Queen allowed little knight to control the steering wheel the other day as the carriage came up along the path. As little knight dismounted he said to Her Highness, "thank you for teaching me to drive."
Once inside the castle, he became thoughtful, proud of his new skill. He announced that now he knew how to drive the carriage, he could probably now take the King off to work if the King so desired.

Work and the New Economy

The "middles" have taken on new responsibilities since the "olders" have gone off on a crusade to California. It is like training the olders all over again. Grumbling, mumbling and "that's not fair" or "this is her job not my job" and "if I assign it to you it is your job". Of course, with the cow Brr is stacking up a nice pile o gold because she is milking early morning and night. Baba is also starting to want to milk and yet she does pretty good @ 1 "shilling" an egg gathered & cleaned. Our economy is booming! ;) (We don't pay for basic family-care chores.)
Change to all of the new responsibilities takes mental effort until they feel more like they can do it or want to and so I instituted a little monetary pinch of golden fairy dust-it seems to help. =)

Old Time Music Ozark Heritage Festival

I have a fun, interesting, and varyied life. One part of that life is to be the creative director/editor of commercials which encourage the surrounding communities to come and participate in the signature festival of West Plains, Missouri, the Old Time Music Ozark Heritage Festival. Luckily we don't have to travel far to tape the festivities for the next year. It is lots of fun to be there and to edit video. =) (click on the title's link to get to the commercial)

I love playing with Lego Blocks!

I really love playing with Lego blocks and creating things, well, okay, it's usually spaceships and having "good versus evil" battles. Here is a ship I made from lego blocks not long ago. I like to go over all the details of engines, guns, escape pods, symmetry (including color when I can), landing gear, speed, etc. Of course, my ship never lasts as the children wish to play with my creation or they need one of the pieces from the ship for their own creation. When I use a lego piece in a way they never thought of before it becomes more valuable to them as it spurs more creative things in them.

A Wonderful Father's Day

I had a most enjoyable Father's Day. It was very beautiful outside. After church we went out and grilled some hamburgers. Princess 2 had setup a chair for sitting complete with a fan via a 100 ft. electric cord from the house, umbrella to keep the mighty sun off my head, and a glass of water to sip as she took over the cooking duties at the grill.

The hamburgers were tasty. I just had to remember not to fill up on the main dish because we had a whole bucket of home made ice cream waiting to cool us off.

I am a blessed Father. :)

From Page, to Squire to Knight?

Thinking I could persuade the younger prince and princesses not to have any ice cream because I had just finished cleaning up all the dishes, I said, "You can only have ice cream if you wash your own dishes."

Benj quickly piped up, "I can do that. I know how to wash dishes. Joseph let me when I was his page!"

The Western Ride

How about a wonderful ride in a wagon? This fun picture was drawn by Swoop. She and her sister are out for a friendly drive in the wild hills around the castle. I always try to scan in these images before they go to far from the castle.

Kris the American Idol

So we traveled to Conway, Arkansas last weekend for a Society of Children's Books for Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) conference for the Queen and we saw all of the "We love you Kris!" signs in almost every business's windows. The courtiers all thought they were talking about me and said so. We had not been following American Idol at all, but we eventually figured out what it was all about. Then this morning I read that he won. Here is a legitimate link to the full song: No Boundaries (It is pretty catchy, but I am told it is not his "best" song.)

Way to Go Kris! ;)

Envelope Art & Letter Writing

Maybe you have been lucky enough to receive an envelope with an image like this bunch of crazy opossums, playing dead, hanging from a tree, dropping apples on the dog's head, all under a starlit sky. T has lots of talent. =) Well if you'd like your very own envelope art you can always write a letter to T, and she will see what she can do.

New Baby Lambs!

These are the best lambs on the planet being held by a wonderful girl. Their names are Charlee (sounds like Charlie) and Arlis (like Old Yeller's Arlis). Their mother is Arabia.

(T's an angel, sweet, kind, loving, gentle, adorable, and she loves cave crickets. Well really she loves it if they are already dead and she doesn't have to touch them.)

Digital Scratchboard

I have been meaning to share the fun art work that T does so we will start with something done Christmas day 2008. This one is on a digital canvas the day we opened the software and tablet. She is really good.

Getting used to New Technology

I am getting used to my new PDA an iPod Touch, so much so that I tried to touch my computer monitor when I heard the "new message" sound (from the iPod Touch sitting on my desk) to open up a new mail message! I had to laugh at myself. It reminded me of when I have a laptop on the desk by my computer and I use the desktop mouse to try and move the laptop cursor.

One thing I really like about the iPod Touch is being able to read/go through my Outlook e-mail/calendar while my desktop computer is still trying to load the OS and start up etc. It feels more productive and is a lot of fun.

The Calf

Our new calf died of a vitamin B deficiency on March 27th. Being new to cattle and all it was not a fun way to learn. He was only one month old. We are sad.

Morning Attitude

This just in from Castle Headquarters:
Little Knight woke up with a few thoughts on his mind:
"I'm thirsty. . . .
"I'm thirsty AND I'm hungry." (thinking . . .)
"I'm thirsty, hungry, play-ey, but NOT work-ey!"

It's just a cute innocent way of saying, "I have needs, this morning, Mom, and I am really interested in getting to the fun stuff, but no chores, thank you. I'm not interested."

Potions in My Mouth

RLB "Do you know what?"
Me "What?"
RLB "I can make potions in my mouth."
Me "Huh?"
RLB: "I just put some carrots and potatoes and other things in and chew for a while till it all becomes smooth like liquid."

Do you have a CPR?

"Dad when will you borrow the CPR again?" We have been watching Star Wars and some of its lingo has rubbed off on Little Knight. So when we borrowed a VCR to watch some of our video tapes (including Star Wars) it was dubbed a CPR (C3P0 & VCR). :)

The Peanut Butter Cat

Well, coming home was quite the surprise. We had a new kind of animal on the farm, a "peanut-butter cat". The Queen had a deep cut on her finger for her gallant efforts of trying to cut a hole in the plastic 18-ounce peanut butter jar. She hoped to somehow free the cat from its new found hat. To me it was a laughing matter but the courtiers were close to tears because they believed this new creature would have to remain a peanut butter cat.

Our eldest acted quickly on inspiration to put oil on the cat's head around the opening. I put on my gauntlets (gloves) and then held onto the peanut butter jar. The cat did the rest. Pop! I wish I had taken a picture. =)

The Heater Tornado

Last night those of us who normally sleep upstairs "camped" out in the basement with the rest of the crew because of the severe thunderstorm and the tornado Watch our county was under. I am thinking to myself as I hear the excessive wind outside that I really don't know what a tornado sounds like--although I have heard explanations that it sounds like a locomotive. Well, to me a lot of the thunder rumblings outside sounded strong and powerful enough to qualify for a "tornado". So amid all the whooshing of the wind and beating of the rain upon our metal roof, I fell asleep. Around 1:00 a.m. our heater's motor kicked on and I jumped with a start! "Honey! I think. . . . . Oh, never mind, it's just the heater." :P

Am I still five?

The day after Benjamin turned five he woke up and wondered out loud, "Am I still five?" He had waited so long, it seemed, to be five that it might not still be true. . . "Yes, dear, you are still five."

I'm pretending Mom's the boss.

Benj, "Mom, can I have one of these crackers? (The small, square, crackers which come with 'peanut butter' or 'cheese' in small packs, which we get on special occasions.)
Dad answers, "No, you can have a regular (saltine) cracker."
"I am not asking you Dad. I am asking Mom."
"But I am the 'boss' Benjamin."
"Well, I am pretending Mom's the boss right now. . ."
"Oh."

So where did all the knights go?

As the knights were out taking longer than usual (having a picnic) the king kept wondering what should be written next because the first post was so motivating to write. Each time a thought would come up to make the king's post list the rest of the castle's to do items also clamored for his attention. Even the great foes of the forest had taken large amounts of his time pie


(A worthy opponent who fell.)

and the cow kept giving milk after it took up residence in the barn.
Good intentions also assuaged the king. =) Alas, 2008 is gone and now it is time to try again.

I think the knights have returned. . . I'll go look.