Out with the Old, In with the New

When I first introduced Ryan to Play Doh, he didn't yet grasp the concept of color separation. Yes, you can place two colors together...but too much mushing and they simply won't go back to their original shade. Though this greatly annoyed his mother, he could really have cared less about color contrast. He was more interested with the mushing. And so, I called it a wash, and basically let him smash it all together until it was one consistent, ugly color.

But, as the weather became increasingly colder and we were forced to do more indoor play, I thought "We could spend the winter playing with Mom's Office Supplies She Asked You Not To Touch Twice, or, we could make some new play doh. Play doh that would not look like puppy droppings.

So I became Super Mom for one morning and searched recipes on the internet. I found one that was completely edible (not that you would want to eat it) and that I could scent (which I did, with vanilla and mint). We cooked it up, and Voila! Green, Orange, Red, and Blue. Made by special request. By the end of the day, however, it looked like this. Apparently we still don't understand the concept of color separation. And still, I am the only one bothered by it.

Also, we have been working on sharing. Note the piece given to me at the bottom of the picture. The rest is "For Ryan". Also note that we have started asking for specific clothing rather than being content with mom's choices.

(By the way, Dad makes realistic hoagie sandwiches - if you like gray tomatoes and lettuce. Mmmm)

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This weekend Phil is also replacing our furnace. Nothing like cutting it close, right? Being that it is the middle (ok, end) of October? But we have had an extremely warm fall (my dahlia's are still blooming) and that has allowed us to order the correct parts, destroy (litteraly) the old furnace, move the new furnace in place (no small feat) and then this week, hopefully, finish hooking it up.

We went with a corn-burning stove. This made me a bit nervous in the beginning, but it should turn out to be a really great option for people who, you know, live in the middle of cornfields. It would be like having 50 oil barrons in town to supply you with your winter's heat. Most importantly, it should reduce our heating bill by about 2/3...so maybe we can stop wearing parkas and snowboots in the house.

Sometimes, though, I think we can be a bit too independent. For example, I came home from an outing last Sunday to see this:

Its a picture of a nearly-400 pound box teetering halfway down the stairs. Five months of savings and our winter's comfort being held by two ropes and one chain.

Note that when I left, I reminded Phil of the house rule that he is not allowed on the roof when home by himself...since other humans are 3809 miles away and will not be able to readily rescue him should he fall to the ground. To be kind to his wife, he rigged this up instead.

"Oh good! You're back! I need you to go down there and push on the
furnace."
Blank stare.
"No, really, go push it - it's stuck on that stair."
"Good! I don't want that thing falling down!"
"Its not going to fall. Trust me. Just push it. You might have to kick it to get enough force."
"How do you know it won't fall?"
"Because I do. Didn't you take physics?"
"I remember the LAW OF GRAVITY. Did you go to a different school than me? Because I don't remember kicking valuable items down the stairs."
"Just get down there and help."
"Ok."

And so it went. And, true to form, my fears were abolished by my husband's physics savvy. I really do appreciate that he paid attention through school. Because now we will have sweet, wonderful heat instead of a crunched pile of metal at the foot of our stairs.