The art of finding (or not) lost things

For 30 years I've kept a protractor in the top drawer of my desk. Have I used it in the last 25? Um, no. But I swear it has been there. Until tonight, when the boy forgot his at school and it is missing. (Luckily, the girl keeps a protractor in her top desk  drawer, so,we're good). I did find some treasures while digging...let's see what we have here....

 (in the interest of full disclosure, this is not a desk drawer, but rather a beer box, because my drawer was too full.  This is technically the "extra" stuff...but the protractor should have been in the actual desk drawer...):  A whole bunch of name tags...um, were we having a party and didn't use them?  A really old cell phone, a pick (hmm, I've been wondering for 10 years where that is)...10,000 pens and pencils , giant eraser, recipe box that used to hold addresses





A Pirates of the Caribbean "journal", acidity test strips (no, I have no idea why or from when or, why...), silly putty, bar of soap, really old camera,










No protractor...d' oh...Maybe I should clean out the drawer more often...

School Projects...

 This project brought to you courtesy of The Boy.  What, you may ask, is he working on?  The fourth graders have been assigned to create a "biography bottle", notecards, and 3-5 minute speech about a famous person.  Here, is John F. Kennedy under construction!


























I will try to remember to put a photo of the finished product at some point..in the meantime, here is a picture of The Girl's project from four years ago--

Clearly it is Sacajewa...and no, no one knows why she is wearing a pin from Girl Scout camp....

The Boy writes his autobiography

Recently The Boy had an assignment to write his autobiography--it was a month long project and included pictures as well as text.  Here is the text, with pictures of his pages included:

I was born on December 10, 2004.  I had my first Christmas when I was 15 days old.  That's 2 weeks and 1 day old!  I met my sister, Claudia, and slept under her bed because my parents didn't know where to put me.  I also met my dog, Indy and two cats, Tigger and MJ.  Obviously, when I was born I had fun.

 When I turned one I learned a ton!  I had mashed potatoes for the first time in a restaurant because my mom didn't order anything for me.  I had my first fire drill at my daycare, The Three Bears.  I said my first word, which was "dada".  Obviously, I had fun when I was one.

At the age of two, I knew what I wanted to do.  I went to Storybook Land in South Dakota.  I moved into a new house because our fire alarm wasn't working at my old house.  I got my own room in my new house because I didn't want to share anymore.  Obviously at 2, I had fun.

When I was three, I became free.  I got my first guitar for Christmas. I got a new cat because our old one died.  Obviously, when I was three I was free.

I turned four and I learned more.  I went to South Dakota to pick up my sister because she left a few weeks earlier.  I went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder home because I wanted to learn about her.  I also went to Seattle to see my Aunt and Uncle get married.  Obviously, I went on many trips when I was four.

At five, I learned to thrive.  I started my last year of preschool so I could go to kindergarten and got my first teacher, Mrs. Hays.  I went to Disneyland because my family and I had planned to go.  Obviously, I had fun when I was five.

When I was six, I played with sticks.  I wrestled with my dad when football or racing were on.  I went to Michigan to see where my grandfather, Jim, and my mom were born.  I went to South Dakota again.  Obviously when I was six I played with sticks.

When I turned seven I thought about heaven.  I went to New Hampshire to see some relatives get married.  I went to South Dakota again to learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I went on a nature walk because I wanted to.  Obviously, I had fun when I was seven.

At the age of eight, I don't want to be late.  I went to South Dakota to see my grandparents.  I went to Michigan to see my cousins.  I had the best birthday party when I turned eight because I watched Indiana Jones with my friends.  Truly, I had fun when I was eight.

Seriously...I can't make this stuff up.....

More interesting homework

The Boy's next interesting homework assignment was to write a blog about his adventures with Super Mario, the Tech class mascot. We had a lot of fun pictures of contrived activities.  I wondered if anyone actually had real adventures, or if everyone created activities, like we did.  In any case, at least this homework was fun!

The Boy bakes...

A few weeks ago The Boy came home with an assignment to read Chocolate Fever, make "something chocolate" and take pictures. In hindsight, many of his friends made hot chocolate, so maybe our project was ambitious, but, hey, you can't go wrong with hot fudge chocolate sundae cake, can you?

Her you see the recipe, in the cookbook full of family recipes that my mom made for my brother and I.  The picture on the page would be my brother and I on Easter when I was probably The Girl's age.

 Like any good cook, The Boy gathered his ingredients first...

 Then he gathered his tools and put on a Union Jack apron--a Fourth of July gift from our English friend--get the irony?

 We had a conversation about how to measure flour...no packing

 Mix the dry ingredients...

add the wet...

 stir it all together

 and pour/scrape it into a pan--a heart shaped one, in honor of Valentine's day, in this case.

 Next comes the sauce

 He is very serious about this project.

 Ready to go in the oven!

 Get the toppings ready, while the oven preheats...

 Then wait patiently...

 Looks like it is done!  See how the sauce has sunk to the bottom and then bubbled back to the top?  Yum!

 Spoon it up, add ice cream, and...









eat it up!









I suppose you would like the real recipe....here it is:

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
1 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 t salt (although I usually leave it out)
3/4 C sugar
2 T cocoa
1/2 C milk
2 T oil
1 C chopped nuts (I usually leave these out, too)
1 C brown sugar
1/4 C cocoa
1 3/4 C hot water

Blend flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and 2T cocoa.  Stir in milk and oil.  Add nuts if desired.  Spread in 9x9 inch pan.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and 1/4 C cocoa.  Pour hot war over entire batter.  Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  The cake mixture will rise to the top and the sauce will settle to the bottom.  Cut into squares (or spoon out). Serve warm with ice cream.