Pliers, anyone?

This half-dead itty-bitty baby tooth has GOT to go!  The ginormous permanent tooth is growing in whether the baby tooth moves out or not.  Scary.

Other than that -- life is life.  The kefir is going fantastically - we love our daily smoothies and my sourdough starter is still chugging away.  The house is finally almost recovered from my last stint of surgery / sickness.  The kitchen counters are visible, the floors are visible and the laundry is under control.  I've finally had enough energy to get things under control again.  Here's hoping it lasts for a while!

KEYfer or keFEAR -- however you say it.

Several months ago I was going through a course of antibiotics (shocking.  Oh, wait, that's just life as usual.) and my sister brought me a bottle of kefir.  It's a yogurty tasting dairy beverage.  Very tasty actually.  I had been on so many antibiotics that my body was getting really bad yeast infections as a result.  The kefir was a tasty way to help re-balance my body without a lot more pharmaceutical intervention. 

When I was recently banned from all dairy (those dietary restrictions have all been lifted but I still drink less dairy than I used to since it helps my skin and stomach be happier that way) my mom and I discovered coconut milk kefir.  I got a couple of bottles of strawberry coconut milk kefir and really enjoyed them.  However, the price was prohibitive for regular use.  Normal dairy kefir costs around $3+ per quart.  Coconut milk kefir is closer to $5.  Neither one is just jumping into my regular daily diet at that price!

Last weekend I was involved in a Saturday Boutique in Salt Lake that a friend had helped organize.  It didn't end up making me much money (which I had somewhat anticipated since I hadn't had time to make it a really nice display with new items since I was still recovering from my tonsillectomy and strep).  The woman who was displaying right behind me (so our chairs were side by side) and I chatted during the "down-time".  We got to talking about health products and I mentioned that I really liked kefir.  It just so happens that she makes her own kefir.  I had researched at one point exactly what kefir is and what it different between kefir and yogurt (trying to see if it was worth the cost) so I had learned a bit about how kefir is made but hadn't given it much more thought.  Sweet Anita offered to send me some real kefir grains so I can make my own.  She gave me some simple guidelines on kefir "production" and I was thrilled! 

A few days ago my grains came.  I dropped them into a glass container, added less than a cup of milk, and let it "wake up" from its time in the mail.  After about 24 hours I poured out the milk (now called kefir) and could see that the grains had already grown some!  That first batch wasn't ideal, as it was a "waking up" batch (I'm not very good when I first wake up either ;))  So I dumped that bit and poured in a couple of fresh cups of milk.  That was around 24 hours ago.

This morning I checked on the culture.  When I tipped the glass container the fresh kefir was obviously somewhat "gelled" I guess you could say.  So this afternoon I poured the kefir in small batches through a little bamboo strainer (I got at the health food store -- the kefir doesn't like metal) I put the now much-larger grains in a fresh glass container, poured on a couple of cups of fresh milk, rubber banded a cloth over the top, and set it back in its corner of the cupboard.

The fresh kefir I put in the blender, added about 1/4 tsp. of vanilla, a sliced up banana and maybe 1/2 c. of ice.  Blend it all up and it's a delicious smoothie!!!
Now here's my reasoning for even bothering with kefir:

(Source)

Easily digested, it cleanses the intestines, provides beneficial bacteria and yeast, vitamins and minerals, and complete proteins. Because kefir is such a balanced and nourishing food, it contributes to a healthy immune system and has been used to help patients suffering from AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, herpes, and cancer. Its tranquilizing effect on the nervous system has benefited many who suffer from sleep disorders, depression, and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

The regular use of kefir can help relieve all intestinal disorders, promote bowel movement, reduce flatulence and create a healthier digestive system. In addition, its cleansing effect on the whole body helps to establish a balanced inner ecosystem for optimum health and longevity.

Kefir can also help eliminate unhealthy food cravings by making the body more nourished and balanced. Its excellent nutritional content offers healing and health-maintenance benefits to people in every type of condition. 

Considering my variety of health issues (including an excitable nervous system and messed up digestive system) kefir is a good option to help balance out those systems.  I'm sure you know that yogurt is beneficial for the digestive system, but it only goes half-way.

(source)

...but they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there.  But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match. 

As kefir ferments (similar to the way yogurt is made, but MUCH easier) the grains feed off available sugars.  This means that you can use regular cow milk  to make kefir and end up with a lactose-free beverage.  The lactose (milk sugar) is consumed by the kefir. 

Kefir is a much stronger probiotic than any yogurt and much more useful than any pill, powder, or capsule because it is more readily accessed and used by the body.

There's lots more information available about kefir, but I'm trying to not bore you completely.  I have found this to be a fascinating study as part of learning how to help my body improve itself.  As I play more with my kefir I will eventually come to a point where I will have available grains to share.  I have a few family members already "in line" to try this out, but if anyone else wants to try some when I have some ready feel free to ask and I'll do my best to not kill it.  Kefir is said to be a very hardy culture and can even be left for weeks to months in milk refrigerated if you need a break from the daily dose for some reason.  I'm excited to try more methods with my kefir, including cream cheese, other cheeses, sourdough bread, etc.  

I love it when something so good for you can also taste so good!

(note: none of these pictures are my own, but the are examples of what I'm talking about because I'm all about the visuals :) )

Wishy Washy

I finally have experimented with the homemade dishwasher detergent.  My first attempt was not encouraging I'm afraid.  The dishes were streaky, filmy, not super clean, and generally blah.
Today I got a very exciting package in the mail.  Michael, my sweet husband, got me a food processor!!!  I ran the laundry detergent and the dishwasher detergent each through the food processor and got a much happier blend.  The laundry one is all pretty and sunshiney.  The dishwasher one is finally blended enough to get everything all mixed up properly.  So I tried it again.
This time was much more promising.  I still should have prewashed a few things more thoroughly (even using Cascade I should have prewashed them better.  A few of them had been sitting for a while, lol.) but in general I did get a good clean.  I'm not as completely in love with the dishwasher detergent as I am with the laundry detergent at this point, but I think we're coming to a better understanding ;)  This batch is not a loss and I'm willing to give it another shot.

Here's the recipe:
1/2 c. borax (remember this from the laundry detergent?)
1/2 c. washing soda (also from the laundry detergent)
1/4 c. citric acid  (I found this behind the counter at the pharmacy at WalMart, but wasn't willing to pay the price.  Instead I used a substitute I'd read about -- about a dozen packages of lemonade flavored kool-aid packages.  No sugar added, of course.)
1/4 c. kosher salt
Mix all together VERY WELL.  The food processor did a much better job of this than I had myself.  Over time this will clump.  That's okay.  Just break it up a bit to scoop out what you need.  Like the laundry detergent you only need 1+ Tbsp. of this per load of dishes.  Fill the Rinse Aid compartment with plain white vinegar.  (I haven't tried this part yet because it was already filled with the blue stuff, but I'm going to try it when it's empty.)  The koolaid powder does give it a nice lemony scent :)


Edit:  I've found what looks like a good source for citric acid.  The stuff at WalMart was about $24 for 1 cup!  (That adds $6 per batch!)  This stuff (http://www.organic-creations.com/servlet/the-419/citric-acid-natural-skin/Detail) is a lot cheaper, though shipping appears to more than double the cost {rolls eyes} Even with that cost I believe it works out to about $1.65 per batch of detergent.  Might be worth it?  I wish I could try it out with real citric acid to see if it is worth it.  If any of you try it, let me know.

All choked up

Today was week 1 of voice therapy.  (Don't worry, those who anticipated a post about dishwashing detergent.  I'll get to it.  I just didn't today.)  My voice has had issues for several years, particularly over the last few months though.  Previous posts show the vascular lesion on my left true vocal fold and describe the muscle tension dysphonia I also "enjoy".  Today I got a new piece of information.  My throat is pretty messed up, lol.

Just below the jaw bones on the throat is the hyoid bone.  Then there's a space of muscles and membrane followed (in a downward path) by the voice box.  My muscles are so tensed up that there is no proper space between the hyoid and voice box.  I have to massage daily the space between the two and try to relax the muscles and move the voice box back and down to where it belongs.  Mostly I just feel like I'm trying to choke myself and I have bruises which are not liking me a lot.  After a few minutes though I can start to feel a bit of a space between the two.  The whole below-the-jaw space (bottom of the tongue) is very tight too so I also have to massage there.
Besides the bruise-inducing massages I am working on moving my voice out of my throat into my mouth.  My throat is trying to create all the resonance instead of taking advantage of the resonant qualities that should be relied on in the mouth.  A lot of it is just plain relaxation.
I'll be interested as this is treated to see if/how much it affects my dysphagia (difficulty swallowing).  Along with several other hallmark traits of MTD, dysphagia can certainly be an issue.  This may be part of the reason I had a 'clear' scope recently (meaning my esophagus didn't need a lot of dilation) even though I was having lots of trouble swallowing.
Right now I'm going to make a bold move and try going to sleep at 10:30.  Should be a blast :)  Two more doctor's appointments tomorrow and a lot of dishes waiting their turn!

Yay!!! I feel like a Rockstar... with only myself as a groupie...but still!

So it was that time again.  Time to replace the laundry detergent.  Ugh.  So many options.  So much money.  Not my favorite expense.  During my research of allergies, kefir, food replacements, etc. I discovered something interesting -- a recipe for making your own laundry detergent.  Actually I'd heard of it before but never really thought it sounded like something I'd care about.  Now I was intrigued.
Since this was my first time it took a bit longer than it may in future attempts.  I used a fine grater to grate the bar of soap which took a while.  In the end I used my blender (a food processor probably would have been cooler, but I don't have one of those.  Yet.  >hint, hint babe for someday ;) <  to make the powder finer so I could have done the same thing with a rougher grating.  Other than that thing it was really pretty fast and easy.  A little grating, a little measuring, a little blending and done.  The ingredients were all available at Reams.  WalMart had the Borax but not the others (though the borax was a dollar cheaper there). 

Here's my finished product.  I use 1 to 2 (in extreme loads) TABLESPOONS of this stuff per load of laundry.  No huge scoops.  I use about 1/4 c. of the white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser instead of other fabric softeners which can do bad stuff.

Benefits of homemade laundry detergent (besides the fact that I feel cool for making my own detergent :P )
* fewer allergens.  This is particularly good stuff for people with sensitive skin.  I wish I'd known this when my girls always had such bad eczema.
* cheaper.  This mix takes three ingredients.  I got borax for around $3, washing soda for under $5 (I don't remember exactly), and fels naptha for less than $1.50.  I used all the fels naptha but have plenty of the other two ingredients left for future use.
* "green".  I'm not a big "tree hugger" but I like to do what I can when I can.  Looking at this little reusable container sit on my shelf next to the big plastic jug I was using before really puts it into perspective.  Just two batches of my homemade powder equals one of those big jugs!  And my waste?  Two eventual empty cardboard boxes and one paper wrapper from a bar of soap.  Not bad!
* just as good.  I did a fair amount of research on this stuff before I tried it.  I saw person after person swear this was just as good as "big brand" soaps.  I even saw a photo blog of an experiment done between this detergent and Tide With Bleach Alternative.  There was no discernible difference.  Best of all -- I have finished running my first load through and sniffed and squished and everything.  It feels great and smells great!  I would never have guessed!
* nice on my washing machine.  The liquid fabric softener I was using at one point had left a lot of goo along the edges of the fabric softener dispenser.  I've put in my second load and after putting in the vinegar again I can already see the goo clearing out.  In fact, running your washing machine once a month with just a cup of vinegar is recommended to keep the hoses and stuff cleared out.  This is the same basic ingredients of any other detergent but less caustic, cakey, goopey, etc.


There are my two boxes of ingredients sitting on the shelf of my laundry closet waiting to be needed again.

If you want to try making your own, here's what I did:

1 bar Fels Naptha
     this is a fantastic stain fighting bar soap.  You find it on the laundry aisle.  Look high or low, it's usually there but not in the "prime" space since it's too cheap and effective ;)  I've used this stuff before and it's the only thing I used that really got rid of "baby" stains.  It's a good soap to know about anyway.
1 cup Borax
     likely to be "20 Mule Team" brand.  Like I mentioned, I found this one at WalMart even. 
1 cup Washing Soda
     DO NOT buy "baking" soda.  That's a whole different thing (In WalMart there were boxes of baking soda right next to the borax.  Don't get them confused.)  I found Arm & Hammer Washing Soda at Ream's in the laundry section. 

Grate the Fels Naptha bar (like I said, I will use my regular box grater next time).  Mix together with borax and washing soda.  Blend in a blender or buzz in a food processor until it looks powdery :)  (In the blender I had to do it in small batches and frequently un-impact the powder from the bottom.  Thus would a food processor be nicer for this step, but not essential.)  In all honesty I didn't measure exactly.  Gasp!  I poured a cup or so of each of the two powders into the plastic container which has a nice lid with an opening from the dollar store.  Then I added the grated soap.  After the blending I put it back in the container and it's all set.  I did use a bit more powder than it called for, and it seems to work great. 

Tomorrow I have to get some dishes done, then I'll let you know how the homemade dishwasher detergent works :)  It uses most of the same stuff so it seemed reasonable to make them at the same time.  Fingers crossed!

Purty

I showed the kids how to make dandelion chains the other day.  Kate managed to make one stick together and the sunshine was beautiful for pictures.  So of course I took a bunch :P

Kate's School Projects

This display is in the hallway outside of Kate's classrooms.  It shows all the Flat Stanley's in the 2nd grade and where they have been.  Lizzie and Sabrina had a lot of fun looking at all the different pictures.

Stanley's Continental US Exploits

Stanley's more Far-Fetched Exploits

The points marked on the map include:

USA (including Hawaii and Alaska)

Australia

China (That's ours!!!)

England

India

Japan

Korea

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

Here's Kate's Stanley on the wall (Ha Ha ... he's also on The Wall)

The reason we were by Kate's class today is that it was the exhibition of their animal reports and habitat dioramas.  That's what we did during her Spring Break.  It was lots of fun to see all the animals the kids did their reports on and the various habitats made of everything imaginable.

Lizzie looking at Kate's report.

Each child made a clay animal as an art project and painted them.  This is Kate's cheetah habitat.

What a cutie :)  She got full marks on both projects.  Actually -- funny story -- she was looking at her grading sheet from her report and was concerned so she brought it to me.  She said it didn't make sense and that the addition was wrong.  The sheet showed 5 or 6 grading criteria and the points available for each and at the bottom the total out of 40.  Sure enough, the individual points add up to 50, not 40!  So Kate got to show her teacher the next day and she changed it in the grading book to 50.  (Simple mistake, but I was impressed that Kate caught it!)

P.S.

I have strep.

Perky, perky, perky!!!! (or at least I tried)

It's time for a nice perky post about life.  Let's see what I can come up with...

1- Went on a fantastic Girl's Night Out sleepover in a gorgeous "cabin" in Heber last weekend  (Kate was incredulous that I called a house so much nicer than ours a "cabin").  I actually slept for a few hours (after a very long week of severe insomnia that was refreshing).  Good times, lots of laughs, great games, junk food... the whole shebang.  The only down side is that the posh beds were equipped with feather pillows and down comforters.  (Yes, feather is one of my allergies.)  At least it was a comfortable congestion ;)  Thanks so much to my SIL Melissa for setting it up.  It was a much needed and appreciated break in the usual routine.

(In the morning we saw this cute bird hanging out on the bird house.  I got this picture through the window.)

2- After the rough week I had just after my surgery due to skipping my meds I swore I'd never miss again.  It was time to refill my prescription last week so on Tuesday we went to pick up my meds and another one at the same time.  I had one or two left so no biggie, right?  I hadn't realized that I was out of refills (I haven't had to request a refill for a year so I didn't even think to check.  Bad.) but the pharmacy faxed a refill request to the doctor's office right then and there.  Problem solved, right?  Ah, I wish.
Two days later I was back at the pharmacy (Sabrina had strep.  Goody.) and asked to fill my prescription too.  Unfortunately the doc office hadn't responded yet to the request for a refill.  So I called right then (noonish on Thursday) and left a desperate message requesting the refill asap, knowing that my doctor is out of the office on Fridays.  I never heard back, but called the pharmacy another few times to see if it had come through.
By Monday I had been off my meds for several days (after finally getting mostly "normal" again from the last mess up!!!) and life was not so good.  I called first thing in the morning and firmly requested a refill IMMEDIATELY.  Didn't hear back.  So I called a few hours later and they got the doctor to approve it and the nurse to send in the approval while I waited on hold.  Phew!
Apparently I was fortunate when I skipped the meds for a week.  I don't know if it was just being post-op or if it was the pain meds or what, but I only hit a few of the withdrawal effects that time.  This was worse in so many ways.  I didn't actually have hallucinations this time (thank heavens!) but I had the brain zaps (not easy to describe but VERY real and NOT NICE), severe anxiety, anger issues (not usually an issue for me), crying over EVERYTHING (think pregnancy hormones x10 at least), tingling across my face and arms, nausea and vomiting....  not good.
I learned on that last call that the doctor had been out of the office for the previous week and why didn't I call a week early to get a refill?  WHY?!?!  My insurance won't even cover it that early!  Even if I have known I was out of refills I wouldn't have called any earlier.  There are multiple doctors in the office yet they apparently have nothing in place to cover refills if one is out of the office or to inform patients that there will be no response for "x" period of time.  Just out of luck.
I left a detailed message that evening for the doctor's medical assistant letting her know exactly what happened as a result of being off my meds while I waited to hear back.  If I had known the doc office wasn't going to help I would have tried to figure out SOMETHING to at least cover the gap!!!  I was pretty unhappy about the whole situation.  So now I have a couple of sample packs to keep in the cupboard in case of another "gap" situation.  So all's well and all that, but it was a frustrating and scary situation.  Now I just have to get re-stabilized on my meds again.

3- I miss singing.  I haven't been able to sing since before the holidays last year.  If I sing a full hymn at church I'll have a sore throat for a day or so.  If I sing everything at church, including nursery, I will have a swollen, inflamed, sore throat for most of the next week.  So I have had to give up singing.  I can't even read too long out loud with much modulation.

My ENT did a laryngoscopy about a month ago which showed pretty severe muscle tension dysphonia.  They planned to start me on voice therapy after getting recovered from the tonsillectomy.  So this morning was the first step in the voice therapy -- having a videostroboscopy.  The professional videostroboscopist did the exam then said "I've seen a lot of vocal cords, but I've never seen anything like yours."  (something very much like that at least).  She showed me the images of my vocal cords working.

(Above: healthy vocal cords.  Below: my vocal cords "adducted")

You can see the slit where they come together and that thick black line (it's actually bright red) on the left vocal cord.  The bright red line is apparently unusual and unique to me.  Special me!  When we looked at the "slow motion" action of the stroboscopy the red line was particularly rigid and the edge that comes together was "fluttery".  It didn't move the same way as the other one.
The doctor took a look at it and said it could be trauma from the intubation during my tonsillectomy 4 weeks ago.  I sure hope so!  So now I get to spend the next 4 weeks having voice therapy once a week to try to relax and re-train the dysphonia issue.  Then in a month they'll do another videostroboscopy and see if the vasculitis is gone.  If not... then they get to do something with lasers.  Sounds like fun!

Well, I tried to be perky.  Things really are looking up in many ways.  I am loving the warmer weather and the sunshine.  I'm glad to be well enough to be back to church in nursery.  I love those little children!  They always make me smile :)  Michael's work, while always busy, is going well.  My three little girls are so happy and cheerful.  It would be hard to always be down in the dumps with such rays of sunshine always around.  The laundry is caught up (mostly) and I've started tackling the piled up dishes.  I had fun sitting in the sunshine for a while yesterday making dandelion chains with the kids and missing the daisies that grow in the grass in Oregon.  Dandelion chains just don't sound as pretty as Daisy Chains.  I have a severely sore throat but I've had no fever so I'm quite sure it's an effect of massive seasonal allergies.  As long as I keep sucking throat lozenges I can most stand it (eating food is a whole different matter).  So really life is good.  We're just going to keep on keeping on :)

Flat Stanley Visits China pt. 4 -- Flat Stanley Finds A Way To Go Home‏

Kate -

Ever since the visit to the Great Wall, Stanley had been round instead of flat.  He liked being round, but he knew that he couldn't mail himself home until he got flat again.  He looked and looked for some way to become flat again.  He thought about asking a car to run over him, but he was worried that being run over might leave him partly round, partly flat, and entirely dead.  He could see many cranes lifting heavy materials high into the air so people could build tall buildings, and he thought that maybe he could ask someone to set those heavy materials on top of him.  But he couldn't find any way to get a message to the crane operators.  Since he couldn't speak Chinese, he had to rely on hand gestures and body language to tell people what he wanted.  Maybe if he could talk directly to the crane operator, he might be able to convince the crane operator to smash him.  But he couldn't find a way to climb up and talk to the crane operator.

While Stanley looked for a way to get home, he traveled to other places in Beijing.  One night he went to see the Olympic Stadium called the "Bird's Nest", and the interesting looking "Water Cube" from the Beijing Olympic Games.  But no matter how hard he looked, Stanley couldn't find a way to get home.

One morning, Stanley was walking down the street.  The wind was very cold, and he was hungry for some breakfast.  There were many people selling different kinds of breakfast.  Some sold long, skinny pieces of fried bread.  Others sold something that looked like a thick, hard pancake.  A very busy street vendor was selling something that looked like a burrito with scrambled eggs inside.  But the thing that really caught Stanley's attention was the man selling roasted sweet potatoes.

Stanley bought a sweet potato.  It really was hot, and the inside was golden yellow.  It was very sweet.  While he ate the potato, he looked at the barrel where the man heated the sweet potatoes.  It looked like the man had wired a barrel to the back of his bike, put some coal inside, and attached some baskets for holding the potatoes to the outside of the warm barrel.  The barrel was comfortably warm.  Stanley stood as close as possible to the barrel.  After a minute he held his hands over the warm barrel.  That felt good in the cold spring air.  He wondered if the barrel would be comfortable to touch.

Suddenly, Stanley knew how he could become flat again!  He waited for the man to sell all of his potatoes, then asked him to take the barrel off the back of his bike.  He lay down on the sidewalk, and by using hand gestures, he asked the man to roll the warm barrel over him.  As the warm barrel squashed his feet, Stanley felt his feet becoming flat.  The man rolled the barrel back and forth over Stanley until he was completely flat again.  Stanley had a full stomach, he was warm, and he was flat again!  He thanked the sweet potato vendor and rushed off to mail himself home.

Since Stanley had learned how to stop a taxi, he went right to the side of the road and waved his hands at the first taxi with a red light.  The taxi slowed down, but when it pulled up next to Stanley, the driver looked around in confusion.  Since he was looking at the edge of Flat Stanley, and Flat Stanley was so thin, the driver couldn't see him there at all!  The taxi driver said something in Chinese and drove away.  Flat Stanley tried two more times, but each time the driver couldn't see him when he stopped next to Stanley.  Stanley didn't feel warm and happy anymore.  He felt cold and frustrated.

Then a man with an interesting bicycle stopped outside the building next to Flat Stanley.  This bicycle had three wheels, like a tricycle, but the back was flat like a pickup truck.  On the back platform were many flattened cardboard boxes.  Stanley guessed that the man was gathering the boxes to take them to the recycling station.  Surely the man would pass a post office while he was gathering more boxes...  Quickly Stanley jumped on the back of the bike and slid between two boxes.  In a minute, he felt the bike moving.  The boxes protected Stanley from the cold wind.  Each time they stopped, Stanley peeked out to see if he could recognize a post office.  Finally, just as Stanley was beginning to feel that he would never get home, he saw the FedEx sign!  Stanley slid out from between the boxes and jumped to the ground.  He filled out the mailing form and slid into the envelope.  He was going home!

After two days, Stanley arrived at his home.  His brother helped him out of the envelope.  As he thought about his adventure, Stanley decided that traveling by mail was a little inconvenient.  But he thought about the fun things he had seen in China and smiled to himself.  If he ever had another chance, he thought, he would certainly go there again!

Uncle Dave

The End

NOTE from me:
Thank you SO MUCH Dave for making this such a special project.  For those who don't know, Dave is my oldest brother (he's #1 of 8 and I'm #7) and I was quite young when he moved out of state to attend college.  In fact, I believe I'm closer in age to his oldest son than I am to him!  It was so fun to actually have a project in common :)
Love, Janelle

P.S. Make sure you haven't missed any episodes of "Flat Stanley"  I've been posting pretty much every day this week!

Flat Stanley Visits China pt. 3 -- Flat Stanley and the Iron Wolves

Kate -

Stanley went to the 798 Art Factory in Beijing.  It's an area of Beijing that used to have many factories.  When the factories' equipment became outdated, some artists bought them because it was a really cheap way to get a large work area.  The factories had large windows that let it a lot of natural light, and the floors were strong for making large sculptures.  As people began to learn about the 798 area, the artists began to display their work for people to look at.  In the end, 798 Art Factory because a famous place with many art galleries and outdoor sculptures.

Stanley's favorite place at the 798 Art Factory was the Iron Wolves.  This area was an open area between some factories, where an artist put many iron sculptures of wolves surrounding a huge metal man with a sword.  It looks like the wolves are attacking him, but the man is  defending himself.  Stanley wished he could be as brave as that guy.

After he saw the iron wolves, Stanley saw a scary guy in a cage.  The scary guy was really big!  He had muscles everywhere, and sharp white teeth.  Stanley felt very afraid that someone might let that guy out of his cage.

The next sculpture was really funny.  It was four little laughing guys with broken teeth!  The little guys had more arms than heads...  Stanley laughed with them.

Finally Stanley saw a huge red lumpy guy who looked like an alien monster!  Stanley thought of the scary guy in the cage.  He thought that maybe this big red scary guy was dangerous, and he had escaped from a cage.  Stanley turned around and started to run, but he tripped on the curb and fell into a mud puddle.  Stanley tried to scramble to his feet, but someone grabbed him and picked him up!  Stanley heard someone speaking words he couldn't understand, and he struggled to escape.  He was too afraid to say anything!  Then he realized that a nice Chinese lady had picked him up.  The big scary guy wasn't moving.  He was just a sculpture, and even though the sculpture looked strange, it also looked kind.  The lady used a tissue to wipe Stanley's face and hands clean.  Stanley couldn't understand the nice lady's words, but he could tell that she was kind.  He told her "Thank you" and went to find his friends.  He brought them back to see the sculpture of the red scary guy and told them that sometimes people who look different or speak in a different way are actually very nice.

Uncle Dave

Flat Stanley Visits China pt. 2 -- Stanley and the Taxi

Flat Stanley decided to see a few interesting things in Beijing.  He went to Tian An Men Square, but it was too dark to take a picture of him there.  He tried to get a taxi driver to take him from Tian An Men Square to the Temple of Heaven, but he had a few problems.  He stood on the edge of the road and waved his hand whenever a taxi went past.  At first, he was confused because none of the taxis would stop.  Then he realized that many of the taxis were already carrying people.  He could see that empty taxis had a red light showing that someone could hire them.  But even the taxis with a red light ignored him.  He was a little frustrated, but Beijing people are really warm hearted.  After a few minutes, a man noticed Stanley's problem and explained why the taxis would not stop.  He said the street that goes past Tian An Men Square is so busy that the taxis are not allowed to pick people up.  The man walked with Stanley to a corner and showed him a good place to stand.  Stanley waited there for a minute, then a taxi with the red light came down the street.  Stanley waved his hand very anxiously, and the taxi stopped!  Finally he got a ride to the Temple of Heaven.

Here's a picture of the Temple of Heaven in the dark.  It was really mysterious there because of the mist.  Stanley walked around through the trees and listened to people playing music.  He really enjoyed it!

Flat Stanley visits China pt. 1 continued -- additional pictures

To clarify, for those who have not had a 2nd grader in this generation...
Flat Stanley is a book series about a little boy who has a bulletin board fall on him and smush him flat (without actually hurting him).  He discovers that since he is so flat he can slide himself into and envelope and mail himself all over the place and learn about new places and people.  It is a pretty typical 2nd grade acitivity for each child to color and cut out a "Flat Stanley" and mail him to a friend or relation somewhere else.  They get to take pictures of him and write about his experience in someplace new.  The class then gets to see and hear about all sorts of new places around the world that can be learned about just through their peers.  In Kate's class they have Stanleys going to Afghanistan, Africa, and a few other countries (besides China, of course.  And no, the other countries don't *all* start with the letter "A").

So here are a few more pictures of Kate's Flat Stanley at the Great Wall of China.  My brother happened to be going to China on a business trip just at the same time as the project happened.  He sent back fantastic pictures and incredible stories which the kids just lapped up.  I believe I have 3 more stories to share, but you'll just have to wait your turn to read them ;) 

To read the story of Stanley's visit to the Great Wall again, here is the post.

Silly Baby -- 2003 edition

I love those quirky pictures of babies :)  So I decided to post a few "Silly Baby" posts of those best pictures I've got.  These are all of Baby Kate between ages approx 6 months to 18 months.

Baby Baseball!

Michael made this baseball bat for Kate on the lathe at my brother's house on New Year's Eve.  It was a long time favorite chew toy :)

 Daddy, that computer is boooooring.  I like the lamp!

In case you can't read the shirt, it says "Hershey's: I'm Drooling".  Total shirt win!

The sleep mask says "Do Not Disturb".  "I wanna sleep like DADDY!!!"  (She isn't actually sleeping during this picture, she was just pretending.  Michael wore the sleep mask since he was working graveyards and had to sleep during the day.

"Clipping Coupons is such a drag!"

"What?!  This isn't a TOOTH brush?!  You gotta be kidding me!"

 "What use is a phone book if I can't READ?!"

"How come nobody says what to do if the shoe *doesn't* fit?!"

"DOGPILE!!!"  Oopsie

"Where's the VISA?"

Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks.  That big brown spot on her tushie is actually hot chocolate she spilled, then sat in.

"M&Ms!  SCORE!!!"

You gotta love the hair.  No product added.  That's just the way it grew.  It's Aunt Jenny's little Q-Tip :)

"mmmmm.... Root Beer!"

Mini Bath for a Maxi Blowout

Best Piano Teacher ever!  (The dog, that is ;))

Better than "Fat man in a little jacket"

Mommy walked away and left a HOT TUB behind!

"This doesn't look right"

This is the half-size patterning project I made for a class in college.  No, it didn't fit Kate.

Ahhhhh, the magic of chocolate!

I know it was a tiny kitchen, but seriously?!  I didn't make her sit on the microwave cart to eat.  Often ;)

Ingenuity Win.  Make your own stairs!

Room entry Fail.  Just a little more to your left, dear.

Perhaps she needs a "this way up" arrow on her tummy.

Bedtime Fail.  At least she went to sleep eventually.

For a baby who never slept it sure did manage to catch up to her!