3rd Grade Pictures, E-Learning Style

A few days ago I realized we were not going to get our typical 3rd grade school pictures since we are doing elearning for the foreseeable future. And so, mama had to fill in. Can't forget her 3rd grade year! Must document everything!

So we started with just a generic picture. She's at the place where she doesn't want me to help with the hair, the clothes, well, basically anything. So this is all Rebekah. Including where she wanted the picture to be taken. Also, notice the space themed shirt. She is still all about space. 

She asked for a few crazy photos and I happily clicked away. 

But in reality I thought a plain background would like more "professional" so I had her move to the bare wall. But honestly she looks just as sweet with either background. And she liked the first one better. I'm learning to let her have her way when it really doesn't matter in the long run. She's happier and I'm happier because there's less fighting.

The Bee loves the tongue pictures. 

So here's to 3rd grade. At home. On the computer for 8 hours a day. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Sure love my strong little girl. 

Cooking? Really?

A few weeks ago I wanted to get Rebekah motivated on - well, anything. I asked her if she could learn to do anything what would it be. She said she wanted to learn how to cook. Cook? Really? That's has to be my least favorite thing. I was hoping for music, or sports, or something else but cooking? Ugh. 

However, it's what she wants so I gave her a couple cook books to look through. She marked several recipes and we narrowed it down to two. Her first one was trail mix. 

Don needed to help mom out with something so we brought our ingredients and made it at mom's. Rebekah did everything from reading, measuring, stirring, and so forth. I redirected if and when needed. 

The directions said to cook in the slow cooker for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. About 2 stirs in Rebekah was wondering if we really needed to cook it for that long and stir it that many times, but we persevered. And the final product was wonderful! 

Next was an ice cream torte. It called for a spring form pan which I did not have so we used a pie pan. Rebekah working on mashing the cookie crust. 

 

So hard not to lick the fingers. It's definitely a work in progress. 

Finished product. It was rather good as well. She's not as precise as I am (I would make sure there's exactly the same amount of ice cream to fudge filling to crust ratio throughout the torte where as she's more some here, some more there, etc) but it still was wonderful. I'm sure she'll hone her techniques as she goes. 

This last week we worked on a raspberry chocolate chip tea cake. 

You put some of the batter down then some raspberry jam (which she doesn't like raspberry so we went with old faithful strawberry) and the rest of the batter on top. 

She was quite pleased with the results as was I.

Showing were the strawberry jam went.

Very tasty indeed. 

She was moving on to some other dessert and although I do want to encourage her I also need her to not make so many desserts during quarantine so Don and I are pushing for a main or side dish. However, she has quite the taste for sweets. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

A "Lot" of Changes

Don is constantly looking for the next possibilities. About a month or so ago his goal to get a position up in Indy at the "DBU" was realized. Since then (and even before then) we have looked at many (oh so many) houses and patches of land for sale hoping that one would catch our eye. We've looked everywhere from Trafalgar to Noblesville to Greenfield to Westfield. We've studied school districts scores and sizes. We've considered distances to temple, to work, to Costco (more important than you know) and to doctor's offices. We finally settled on New Palestine or McCordsville. Even made an offer on a house in New Palestine which (gratefully) fell through. Found a few things in McCordsville we liked but most were homes that needed some major renovations. One place I knew I didn't want to be, one place we (I thought) never fully considered was Pendleton. 

And yet here we are. See that thumbs up and cheesy grin on my face? Oh yeah. Pendleton, here we come. 

Don told Rebekah about a month ago that he got a job in Indy. Before that I had talked to the Bee enough that she knew a "new job" meant a move and she cried heavy tears. It must be hard being a little girl trying to find her way in the world of elementary school and friends, finally feeling somewhat settled after a few years and then boom, time to leave again. However, one good thing about Pendleton is it will be somewhat like coming home: she knows a few kids in Maple Ridge, a few in East, and a few in Pendleton Elementary. The lot we found is in Pendleton Elementary, however in a few short years (how does this happen so fast? I ask you!) she will be going to Pendleton middle school which all the elementary schools feed into. It's not starting over, it's coming back.  

Don picked out a nice lot with a view of the pond. He knows I like to sit outside and take deep breaths, stack rocks, and calmly meditate on the state of life while I look at the beauties of nature. So, there's that. The back yard will be east facing so while I'll have no sunsets over the pond I'll have beautiful sunrises. 

Then there's the house. I wanted a master downstairs. Not too many houses have that option except a ranch. I also wanted an upstairs loft / bonus room for the Bee, hoping that she will bring her friends over to the house and hang out rather than going elsewhere; with the bonus room I / we won't be in her face all the time making that an actual possibility during the teenage years. Ranches don't have bonus rooms. However, this floor plan has a bonus room option. Right in front of the "dining" room (which will be a music / library room since we're not "dining" people) will be stairs going up to said bonus room. All in all we're talking 2,682 square feet. Which is good because when we lived in Pendleton before and had 2,700 square feet it was much too big and I felt completely overwhelmed with maintaining and cleaning so I'm very grateful we didn't go that big again. (I find myself pondering how well my sarcastic tone transfers through the written word....) 

But seriously though, I think it will be okay. I'll need to get the Bee on board with helping me clean, which is a good skill for her to learn anyway. I'm also grateful for "Snow White" our little robot vacuum. Every time she turns on and I hear those four beautiful words - "Starting the clean up" - it makes me feel good inside knowing someone has my back (or floor in this matter) and is here and ready to help. Here's hoping I don't wear her out too soon. 

The front of the house should look something like the following. As far as color, I'm thinking a nice costal blue with grey brick. However I think Don prefers the traditional creme and red brick. I'll keep you posted. 

Doesn't quite look like 2,682 square feet, does it? But it is. We've done the math. Several times. I guess in the case of real estate the camera takes off 20 pounds. 

And so here I sit, pondering the next chapter in team Walker's book. One of the stipulations for this move was that we needed to be where ever it would be for the next 10 years: Rebekah would finish school here. That would be the longest we've been anywhere. Could we see stability in our future? It would seem like it, however that's usually when the ground gets pulled out from underneath so for now I'll just think of the possibilities, live day to day, take deep breaths, stack rocks, calmly meditate on the state of life while I look at the beauties of nature, and enjoy the ride. 

Birthday

Every year it comes around. When I got a text from my aunt Jackie wishing my a happy 29th birthday Rebekah quickly corrected the misunderstanding by assuring me that I was not in fact 29, I was 45. And there you have it. 

I got a few cards from Don and the Bee. 

Even attached some to my door like I do to her door every birthday eve. 

I got the slippers I've been asking Don for. He picked them out and everything. 

Then he and the Bee made me a carrot cake. 

I didn't realize how nervous it would make her. She was a nervous wreck thinking dad was going to burn down the house. 

But after I promised to stay in the room they persevered. 

And Rebekah started to relax into the experience. 

Got to run the timer and everything. 

The next day they put the frosting and the decorations. 

A smily face and a heart. 

Mom came down and made her famous potato salad, baked beans, and deviled eggs. Don made hamburgers and hot dogs. It was a great meal. Then we cleaned up, played games and had cake:

A happy birthday indeed. 

Birthday Trip 2020 Style

 With my birthday approaching and Covid still running rampant, I started to feel sad that we weren't doing our annual birthday trip. I looked up overnight trips but didn't feel good about any of them. So I found a day trip. We were planning on going Friday evening but a realtor called and said he had a house "in pristine condition" for us to see. The realtor has worked with us for a few months now and knows I'm incredibly picky especially when it comes to cleanliness. So we went to see the house which was indeed NOT pristine and I think our realtor may be loosing patience with me. But that's another story. 

So, we went on Saturday. After I mowed the lawn and completed other such house work while Don took Rebekah to a primary drive through activity (got to love Covid). When he got back with discussed the house again while I was finishing up with the kitchen. After all this I was hoping to reschedule, being exhausted, but Don persisted and we went. 

Rebekah is not the best road tripper, and GPS took us some crazy route, but we got there eventually. Once we got to Brookville I noticed a statue. Since I always have to know everything I stared down the statue until I saw "Lew Wallace" as we passed. I had to have a picture of the author of Ben-Hur, so Don turned around. 

Born in Brookville. Impressive. 

I also learned much about Major Lew Wallace (Major General from Indiana during the Civil War) as I read up on the battle of Shilo. And I read his book of course. Highly Recommendable. 

History is everywhere. We drove on to find a beautiful overlook of Brookville Lake. 

Rebekah throwing a stick downhill. There's quite a big drop off a few feet from where she is standing. 

After spending the last 6 months inside an immediately around my house, this was beautiful and I soaked up every moment. So good for my soul. 

Pictures of us:

The plan was to stop at Metamora on the way home. Metamora is listed as one of the top places in Indiana to visit and so since we were out that way I thought we'd drop in. I was hoping for some incredibly overpriced fudge or something. However when we got to the town I knew nothing in that place would be entering into anyone in my family's mouth. It was slightly frightening. Maybe they let it go during Covid but it was sketchy at best. 

However there were a few shots I got as we wandered the main part of town. Metamora was a canal town so we walked the canal which honestly was much prettier and well maintained outside the town than in the town. 

Rebekah's doing some great poses lately. 

The canal boat. People would ride on top and a horse would pull the boat, attached by a rope. 

Up by the lock 

The lock. The wheel was added sometime after they stopped using the canal. 

They did have a few touristy things: 

But really the canal was the main attraction. 

And the railroad track. Rebekah the rebel. 

Another awesome pose. Pure attitude. 

Right next to the lock. 

Rebekah found a very large old tree with branches almost touching the ground. She had to climb. 

Love it. 

So good to get away for a few hours.