Why I Hate Perler Beads

Do you know what Perler beads are?  They are teeny tiny little plastic beads that you place on a little pegboard.  Then you cover them with either Perler's special paper or waxed paper and melt the beads with a warm iron.  The beads then stick together and the design can be removed from the pegboard. 

Don't get me wrong.  Perler beads have provided my children with hours of crafting fun over the years.  They develop eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.  They also help with following patterns and encourage creativity.  The Perler website has hundreds of free patterns for endless projects.  They are also made in the USA.  But, all of these fine attributes come at a price.   So here is my top 3 list of why I hate perler beads

3.  Anything that comes in quantities of 5,000 up to 17,000 and is marketed to children has to be trouble. 
The great bead spill of 2008 comes to mind.

2.  Easy to lose.  No matter how well you clean up, there are always a few that escape.  It really hurts when you step on one of those little beads in the middle of the night.

1.  They fit very neatly up three-year old noses.  Yep, you guessed it, Sweetie put a green Perler bead up her nose.  We tried making her sneeze with pepper.  That method worked on the Crafter when she stuck a button up her nose at age three.  It did not work on Sweetie.  I called the doctor.  He suggested pinching the nostril without the bead and blowing in Sweetie's mouth the same way you would give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation .  He said that it had worked when his son put a bead up his nose.  I had the Crafter hold Sweetie's arms and attempted the procedure.  Blow #1 had no effect.  Blow #2 pushed the bead to where it was visible.  Blow #3 pushed the bead to the nostril opening.  Blow #4 blew the bead out.  It worked thank God!!  I called the doctor to thank him.  I am grateful that the bead is out.  I am grateful that the doctor gave us a suggestion to try at home before going in.

And that's why I hate Perler beads.

Eek! A Mouse!

And another and another! 

Three blind mice?  I don't think so.  I think at least one of these mice had super senses.  We are usually visited by a rodent or two over the course of the year, but last week's events were a bit out of the ordinary.

It all started while the children were watching their bedtime show.  I had just finished taking a shower when I heard meowing and banging in the kitchen.  Stripes the cat had cornered a mouse, and she was playing with it.  It was a gruesome battle.  I quickly tossed the dog outside, and pondered how to best get rid of Micky's relative.  Meanwhile, Sweetie decided that she needed to be in the kitchen.   Here is her version of what happened.  "Stripes got a mouse.  Blood.  It was yuck.  Stripes ate the mouse. (Chemist note:  Stripes ate part of the mouse.)  Don't touch the mouse.  It bleed.  It has germs.  Mama clean up with spray."

That about sums up mouse #1.  Shudder.

Of course if you see one mouse, there are probably more.   The Historian found a mouse trap and baited it with peanut butter and a Cheerio.  The next morning, mouse #2 had met his demise.   I felt that I had already done my mouse disposal duty and begged the Historian to remove the remains. 

The mouse trap was rebaited with peanut butter and a Cheerio.  The next morning the trap was empty.   Hmm....interesting.  Another Cheerio with peanut butter went into the trap.  The next morning the trap was once again empty.   Apparently, we had a very intelligent mouse living under the sink.   More drastic measures were needed.   The Historian wanted to give the Cheerio another shot, but I used a bit of moldy cheese instead.  The next morning the trap was not empty.  We had caught the fattest mouse I had ever seen.  The Historian thought that it should be my turn to remove the remains, but I acted like a girl and made him do it.   After all, the mouse I had to dispose of was no longer in one piece.

The mouse trap was baited once again, but there have been no more mice.

Wild Thing Starts Kindergarten

Wild Thing is my middle child.  He is not like his sister the Crafter.  She was the one who threw her book at age two and a half and cried about not being able to read the words.  She was reading by four and a half.  It would have been sooner, but I was scared to try to teach her to read until she turned four. 

Now back to Wild Thing.  He was not ready to read at 2.5, or 3, or 4, or 4.5.  He was busy being a boy.  The Historian would comment from time to time about what the Crafter was doing at the same age, and he would question why Wild Thing wasn't getting started with school yet.  I kept saying that he wasn't ready yet.  I let him play Starfall on the computer.  I read plenty of books and pointed to the words.  He just didn't seem ready.  They spark wasn't there.

Wild Thing turned 5 right after Christmas.  The Historian said that he needed to begin Kindergarten.  So I dusted off Phonics Pathways and began.  It has been slow going.   Now I am pleased to announce that Wild Thing has read not one, not two, but three Bob Books.  He is so proud of himself. 

Math is going very well.  Kindergarten Saxon was boring to him, so we are working through Singapore 1A.  I haven't wrapped my mind around this one yet.  He really seems to understand it.  What's even stranger is that we do a lot of it orally because his writing is really, well it looks like a five year old boy's writing.  Sometimes we do "block math" for a change.


He also enjoys pattern blocks. 

 

I'm back...I think

January was a whirlwind of activity.   The Crafter's play practice schedule pretty much took over.  Add some colds (Sweetie and the Crafter), an ear infection (the Crafter),  and a round of the dreaded stomach flu during play week (Sweetie, Wild Thing, the Historian, and me), and you can see why the blog has been neglected. 

I thought that I would get back into action last week.  After all, the play did have a successful three night run and everyone was on the mend.  I guess the cat felt neglected and decided to need emergency surgery.  Fun.  This cat is eleven years old.  He had a cataract in one eye that detached.  I noticed that his eye looked bigger.  I took him to the vet, and she said that his eye was getting ready to rupture.  Five hundred dollars later, we now have a one-eyed geriatric cat.  After recovering from surgery, he is like a new cat.  He's been catching voles, antagonizing the dog, and playing again. 

So this week has been fairly ordinary.  We haven't had any extra appointments.  I've been trying to get us back on some sort of schedule.  We have been doing "school lite" since Thanksgiving, and it's time for that to stop.   More later.

Wordless Wednesday: Haircut Edition

Sweetie Before

Sweetie After

Snow Day

I am waiting for an email about what will happen with the Crafter's play.  We didn't get 2-4 inches of snow as predicted.  We got closer to 7 inches of snow.   We don't get much snow in central NC.  Everything shuts down.  The interstates are OK, but the secondary roads are iced over and very dangerous.  This means that the play is on hold.  There is still a small chance that it will be this weekend, but I don't think that will happen. 

Since I'm sticking close the phone and computer, I thought I would post some pictures from yesterday.

 
LOOK OUTSIDE!!!

 
Sweetie's first real snow


The Crafter all bundled up


Wild Thing running very slowly for a change

Christian Youth Theater

I've been missing in action for many weeks now.  Nothing bad has happened.  It has been a busy time around here.  First there was the end of semester craziness at work.  Then there was Christmas with all of the family gatherings while the Historian put in lots of overtime at his job (praise God he has a job).  After that we took our vacation to Myrtle Beach, and then it was time for the beginning of the semester craziness.

By this point, things should be calming down and the monotony should be settling in.  But not this year.   The Crafter is in Christian Youth Theater (CYT).  It is a wonderful ministry, led by a wonderful woman.  There are several CYT's in the country, but ours is has a spiritual twist.  Mrs. N. write the plays herself and gives a different interpretation to classic stories.  Beauty and the Beast becomes a tale of how the sin of bitterness turns a person into a beast.  Through the Looking Glass becomes an allegory of the book of James.

The Crafter's play is Snow White.  Instead of seven dwarves, there are nine fruits of the spirit.  The mirror is the voice of God, and the antidote for the poison is Jesus.  The Crafter has the part of Lovey, one of the fruits.  She has worked hard and is excited about the play at the end of the week. 

We are praying that the weather won't be so bad that the play has to be cancelled or postponed.  We are under a Winter Storm Watch and may get 2-4 inches of snow.  That may not sound like much, but it's a big deal in NC.

Wordless Wednesday

Myrtle Beach in January

Woo Hoo! We got our lawsuit settlement check.

A couple of months ago, we received a very official looking letter from an attorney's office.  It stated that the Historian was listed among the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against his former employer.  Apparently they did not correctly calculate part of his severance pay when he was laid off several years ago, and he was now going to get that money--minus legal fees of course.   We should expect the check to arrive in 4 to 6 weeks.  We thought it would be nice to have some extra cash coming in around Christmas.

Well, we waited and waited, and I forgot about it.  Then a couple of days ago, we get a certified letter containing the check.  With great anticipation, the Historian opened the letter.  Then I heard him laughing.  Guess what we got? 

Drumroll please....

A check for $0.81.  Yes, $0.81.  That is the net, not the gross amount.  Before taxes it was $1.33.  I'd better try not to spend it all in one place.

Too Many Loose Ends

Life is busy at Bradford Academy these days.  Responsibilities and activities are snowballing.  Much is not getting done.  It's mainly my fault.  Some of it is not my fault.  Some things could have been dealt with properly if communication took place more than 2 days before the event.  Now that would make a good post., but priorities have to be made. 

I am also dealing with some health issues.  It's not really bad, but I do need to see a doctor.  I am trying to hold off until 2009 because we have very high deductible health insurance.  I have had to let some things go, and the blog is the easiest.  I hope to get back to posting after final exams, but if not
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