Howard Family Blog

C is for...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:04:00 +0000

Clay and Cupcakes! Today, Wed 7/23, is Day 3. We really started on Monday, but I didn't get to posting everything until today. I'll try to keep up, but don't hold your breath.

The kids made Clay Characters, including Cactus, a Cobra, the letter C, Candle, Colored rainbow, and others, which may not have started with the letter C. Later Ilea helped mom make cupcakes, and both the kids decorated them. Yum!

The C thing kept going with Chicken and macaroni and Cheese for dinner. Then we Cleaned up. We also Chatted, Changed sheets, and the kids are going to sport Camp tonight. I spent time on the Computer doing some appraisal Comps. Kipp also found a music video for them called Crazy frog. They love it! I have to say it does grow on you. While they are at camp, I'll be making Cards.

B is for Books & Build a Barn

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:27:00 +0000

Day 2, Letter B. Did you know that if you read 8 books Barnes & Noble will give you a free book? What a deal! Both my kids have done that, and you just print out a form to fill out. They have a selection of books for different grade levels that you can choose from, about 30 books or so. Ilea chose a book by a favorite author of our, Bruce Coville. It's the first in a series called Into the Land of the Unicorns. Kyler chose Tale of Despereaux, under protest. He wanted Pokemon, but funny enough, B&N doesn't consider that quality literature! They are making a movie of Tale of Despereaux which should be out at Christmas. He'll love it.

Then we came home and built a barn from a box. The kids were both creative, with horses, straw from straws, and lots of color. It kept them busy for a long time. 2 down, 24 to go!

(Copy of) The ABC's of Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:21:00 +0000

We got this idea from the Littles. They are doing an activity each day based on the alphabet. So for our first day we did Astronomy. Ilea had received a glow-in-the-dark solar system, so we put it up on her ceiling. (We later arranged it to be proportionally correct - it barely fits in her room). We also checked out a few books on Astronomy, and I read one out loud while the kids colored in an old space coloring book we had. We learned a few new things! For instance, did you know that Venus' day is longer than it's year? True! Plus, we learned a trick to remember the planets in order. My(Mercury) Very(Venus) Excellent(Earth) Mother(Mars) Just(Jupiter) Served(Saturn) Us(Uranus) Nine(Neptune) Pizzas(Pluto) - although we know the last one just got booted! Anyway, we're off to a great start! Stay tuned!

Camping

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:10:00 +0000

This year we went to Scenic Beach, on the Hood Canal. It is a really nice campground, small, with secluded sites.

We did a little letterboxing on the way over to the camp, in Bremerton. Then we set up camp and had dinner. The kids liked wading in the water, but Jenny thought it was too cold.

Sat we mostly letterboxed some more, in Silverdale. We also saw WallE, then went to Red Robin for Jenny's Birthday Burger. We like to camp in style! Back to the site for smores, swimming, and enjoying the fire.

Sun we came home. All in all it was a good weekend. Our air mattress stayed up both nights and it didn't rain! Success!

Spectrum Glass

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:15:00 +0000

Yesterday I went on a tour of Specrtum Glass Manufacturer (http://www.spectrumglass.com/stained-glass/) with my friend Ramona. It's up in Woodinville, and they said they are the largest manufacturer of stained glass in North America! It was a really neat tour. First we saw hundreds of crates of glass, ready to ship. I can't imagine how much it was, although the guy kept spitting out numbers.

They have 4 main furnaces, and at least 2 of those furnaces have 4 smaller furnaces that can hold additional colors for mixes, and run 2 shifts a day, 7 days a week. One of the main furnaces does nothing but clear glass. They have about 450 products, which you can see on thier site. Then the other furnaces do different colors. They run through all the colors in about 3 months, then start making more. We saw where they mix the dry products in a huge drum that rotates. Then it goes into a furnace where it slowly melts. There is a robotic arm that ladels glass from the main furnace to a smaller furnace. Then it slowly extrudes. He showed us the big rollers they use for the textured glass. We saw clear seedy glass being made, and they do that by injecting tiny air bubbles in it. We also saw them mixing a 2-tone glass, amber and red (I love that color, and have some of it at home). One guy ladles in the red glass by hand to an amber base, and another man uses a hoe to swirl it around right before it's extruded. It goes down a long annealing tunnel, and at the other end it's ready to handle. They have 2 automatic glass cutters that trim off the edges (it's thicker), and then they cut the sheets to size with another big robotic arm. Then 2 guys look at each piece to see if it has any problems before packing it into the crates, or cutting it down to smaller sizes.

It was amazing. Tons of noise, glass breaking constantly, machines and furnaces running. There were lots of places where the fires/furnaces were exposed. They don't allow children under 12 to come to the tour, and I can see why. There was tons of glass shards on the ground, even though the main areas were swept, and I was afraid to touch anything. The guy giving us the tour was nice though, and answered all our questions. It only took about 1/2 an hour, but it was really interesting. I loved seeing my very own glass made! The only bummer was there is no gift shop, or any purchasing, and you can't take any pictures. I thought maybe they sold broken pieces or something, but no. It was still neat.

When Ilea Grows up

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Ilea recently informed me that she didn't want to be an author any more, something she's been planning on for a few years. I asked her why she changed her mind. She said she really hates writing with pencils because they get dull and you have to sharpen them all the time....

I mentioned most authors use computers these days, so there's still hope.

Don't kill them!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:10:00 +0000

I had another talk recently with Kyler on the cycle of life. It started with some Alpacas we pass on the way to school. Over the last few year the herd has grown and they have a baby now. Kyler thought they may have caught the original 2 Alpacas in the forest. I told him no, they come from South America, and we got into a discussion of herd animals in general. I explained how they are farm and work animals, like our cows, used for milk, hair, and maybe meat. This last thought horrified Kyler, even though we've had talks about the food on our table and where it comes from. Finally he said, "I hope no one goes out to kill an animal for food! They should just go to the store instead!"

Kyler

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:05:00 +0000

One day Kyler asked me out of the blue - Why is someone mad at Shane? I had no clue what he was talking about. Kipp has a friend named Shane that Kyler knows, but we hadn't been talking about him. I asked him to clarify - which Shane and what were they talking about?
Kyler: You know, that song - I'm mad at Shane (he sang the tune)
Mom: It says "I'm not ashamed!"

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/n/newsboys/im_not_ashamed.html

The lyric is in the first line...

Another Kipp Howard

noreply@blogger.com (Kipp) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:40:00 +0000

Recently, I created a Google Alert for my name to see what kind of things came up over time. Most of the top hits are from my questions and answers for various technology related topics. And, even though I have a relatively unusual name (especially with the double "P"), there are apparently a few other Kipp Howards out there.

Tonight I received a Google Alert in my email that linked to the first picture of another Kipp Howard. Hey, he has more hair than I do!

There is also another Kipp Howard who is a Sales Rep in Kansas City.

It is kind of weird for me, but I'm sure a lot of folks have more common names and this isn't a big deal for them.

I believe that Ilea will probably never hear of someone with her first and last name. There are a few other Ilea's out there but they are pretty few and far between.

Salmon Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:18:00 +0000

Hi All,

I had been approached about a stained glass project back in June. We talked a bit, and then they got busy with other things. Recently I was contacted again, and in a short time we had this project finished! My customer lives in the house with the blue roof, and his brother-in-law lives in the one with the green roof, 2 doors down. This unique neighborhood is on the Gig Harbor side of Point Defiance, down a big hill. We had to carry the window down the hill to them in the end. They supplied me with the photo, and we went from there. The final panel was 56.5"x18", and went between a room with lots of light and a stairwell. It was a fun project!

Crazy Freezer

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:13:00 +0000

OK - I've been really good about freezing things since we got our freezer in the garage. This time I was freezing bags of pomegranate juice. Apparently one had a very slow leak. You can see the bags of juice on the upper shelf, and below it was this perfect stalagmite of pomegranate juice! It was dripping so slowly it just kept building up! Science in action - I love it!

Who?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:08:00 +0000

Ilea, our fabulous reader, has been mispronouncing a word recently. We've been giving her a hard time about it. The word was Olivia, which was the title of one of her books, and she was pronouncing it like All-i (short i) - vah, more like the word Olive-ah. We teased her and told her how it was pronounced. She finished the book and we thought she was done. Then today while we were in Starbucks, Ilea lost a tooth. She said something about her sal-i-vah! We laughed!

Spring is in the air?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:18:00 +0000

So as I take down our Easter decorations, I'm enjoying the sight of the snow coming down outside! Poor Kyler (and Kipp) were at soccer practice, and they finally called it off. Our heater was fixed this morning, YEAH! and the house is up to 67deg! Wahoo! It sure is fun to look at when you're in a cozy house!

Spring Outside, Winter Inside

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:57:00 +0000

Well, it's been a rough couple of days. Sun evening our furnace started making a noise like an animal being tortured, so we had to turn it off. We got really lucky and a repairman was able to come out Mon morning by 8:30. And he even knew what the problem was. But because of our brand of furnace it will take a few days to get the part. Yesterday the house was 60deg, and got up to 63 by 5pm. We've borrowed 2 space heaters and had our sad little fireplace going, but it didn't help much. This morning was 58 deg upstairs, and it's 55 downstairs right now. (It was 28 deg the last 2 nights). The kids have their sweaters and mittens on. We have at least one more day to survive! What an adventure!

Report Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:43:00 +0000

Kipp was reviewing the kids' report cards, and making comments on what Ilea's teacher said. He picked up Kyler's report card, and I said, "Ilea's teacher is a lot more verbal." Kyler piped up, "Yeah, I would sure think so!"

Mom: Why do you say that?
Kyler: Because if you forget your homework or do anything wrong, my teacher get really really mad!
Mom: What do you think VERBAL means?
Kyler: SUPERMAD!

It felt good

noreply@blogger.com (Kipp) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:38:00 +0000

Tonight, Kyler and I, went to a Thunderbird game with the Littles for scout night. As we were driving there, Fred drove off of the Alaskan Way viaduct towards the Key Arena and we went over one of those bumps that makes your stomach lurch a bit (roller coaster style). Here is the conversation after that lurch:

Sue: Did that make your tummies tickle?
Everyone (except Kyler): Yeah!
Kyler: That made my private parts tickle.
Everyone: [chuckles]
Kyler: And, you know what, it felt good.
Everyone: [laughs]

Kyler's mouse

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:02:00 +0000

So while we were at Petco trying to sell cookies, Kyler looked around at the pets. He decided he wants a mouse (this has not been approved yet). He excitedly asks Rochelle (the other mom there) and I if we want to see which mouse he has picked out. So we go over to a large cage with 25 identical small white mice running in every direction! He points to one and says, "That's the one I picked out!" It was hysterical! Keep you posted on this one....

Girl Scouts

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:59:00 +0000

Ilea has been selling Girl Scout Cookies this year. It started pretty well, taking pre-sale orders around our neighborhood. People were pretty willing to buy from her, and she really enjoyed it. We got most of them delivered (quite a bit more work) but she really enjoyed that too. She comes bouncing in, and even asked if she could get a job selling cookies when she grows up! So tonight was our first "Site" sale. We were at Petco from 4 - 5pm, right after school. Well....Not so fun! An hour of standing in a drafty doorway, not selling very many boxes turned out to be a different story. We have a number of more hours to go, so we'll see how excited she is next year!

Fabric Gift Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:53:00 +0000

I am so excited! My friend told me about how they use fabric bags. She said that they have been doing them in her family for 30 years, started from another friend (whose grandmother or mother sewed old tea towels and fabric scraps together to save money). She sews fabric bags with the ribbons attached. It makes wrapping a snap, and they are keepsake bags, used over and over in the family. I cleaned out my closet, as well as going to the fabric store. I bought lots of Christmas fabric at 70% off, about a yard each. I ended up making 74 bags of all sizes. This was our first test. I have 11 presents for Kyler, who is turning 7 tomorrow. It took less that 15 min. to "wrap" them and tie the ribbons. I was so excited! Worth any amount of money for that! I wonder if you could get work as a professional gift wrapper? Anyway, I had 2 foam swords, that were long and awkward to wrap, but there was a bag big enough. Plus weird shapes for Star Wars and Lego stuff. I am thrilled. I can't wait until next Christmas! Many of the fabrics are sentimental to us also. The blue/green one near the front is from a Pool coverup robe I made Kyler. The purple/black leopard is from Ilea's pajamas, and the small blue stripes near the front is from Kyler's old PJ's that I had made for him. I don't sew a lot, but I can manage a bag, and it was a great way to use scrap fabric that I couldn't bear to part with. They really look great, and the Christmas ones are going to be really pretty!

David Allen (GTD) presentation at Google

noreply@blogger.com (Kipp) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:14:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my Getting Things Done (GTD) post, I'm reading a book by David Allen. I'm about half way through it and I'm just to the part where he walks you through setting up the system. I haven't done that yet, but plan to on one of the next couple of weekends.

Recently (in 2007) David Allen did a presentation for the Googlers on GTD and I just finished watching it. If you don't know anything about GTD, take some time (46 minutes) and see what this GTD thing is all about. He has a dry sense of humor and a pretty clear style of speaking:

New pictures from last year

noreply@blogger.com (Kipp) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:03:00 +0000

Yeah, we have been pretty lame about posting pictures even though I made the posting method easier for myself. Anyway, with a lot of work from Jenny, there are a bunch of new pictures from our family that you can check out if you are so inclined.

Getting Things Done

noreply@blogger.com (Kipp) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 18:44:00 +0000

Every once in a while (years in this case) I get on a organizational kick. It first started back in '91 or 92 when I started using my Dad's Franklin Planner system that he got from work but he couldn't get into. This included watching a few hours of Hyrum W. Smith in a Franklin system video. This system was pretty exciting and I used it for about 5 years to some degree of success.

The next stage was when I moved into the electronic world when I purchased a Palm Pilot Professional. This was a great tool and I used it for about 5 years as well. I upgraded to a Palm V and that ended my use because the hand writing recognition was atrocious. It made using it very frustrating and my old palm was just too limited in memory (1MB). So rather than reverting back to a paper based system, I pretty much stopped using it hoping that I'd find some technological solution that didn't cost me excessive amounts of money.

After this, I went for a number of years without an effective time management system. Over those years I've felt that I have not been very productive in my personal time management (and I'm sure Jenny would agree ;). Recently I've been reading a few articles about David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) and all of the people that have taken his ideas and customized them for their own use. So I got David Allen's book for my birthday this year. I just started reading it last Tuesday and I have that same optimistic feeling I had when I watched the Frankly system videos. I keep thinking that this system has potential and will help me get more organized.

I'll add comments here as I get further in the book and start implementing the GTD system.

Great Book

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:48:00 +0000

Hi All,

Most of you know I read quite a bit, and I don't usually review books. But this one was so great I wanted to share it with you. It's called Cosmic Christmas by Max Lucado. It is the Christmas story told from the viewpoints of Gabriel, the angel who spoke to Mary. It was so neat! Very visual, and really got me thinking more about the story I am so familiar with from a different viewpoint. It's only about 60 pages, and great for your whole family. I'm reading it to our kids now. I hope you enjoy it too!

Ilea's 9th Birthday!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:35:00 +0000

I can't believe my baby is almost in double digits! She is in 3rd grade. Ilea chose a Backward Party this year. We sent out Thank You notes to let people know about the party. We told them Good bye, and "I'm sorry you came" when they arrived. Most of the kids, including us, were dressed backward! We made backward nametags, and taped candy to the outside of our goody bags, like reverse pinatas. We had presents first, then cake and ice cream. The cake was cupcakes turned upside down. We played Silent Chairs, where you march in silence, and sit when the music starts. We played Pin the Donkey on the Tail. We had a reverse target game, where you shot over your shoulder to the target, which had the smallest points in the middle, and larger points on the outside. Last we had a relay where the kids were blindfolded and the others had to direct them on a path. It was all a lot of fun.

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:24:00 +0000

This was a fun Halloween! The first year that Ilea could really help with her pumpkin. Kipp had to help a bit, but she cleaned out the whole thing. Jenny had to do all of Kyler's.

Ilea was a Vampire this year, her first scary costume. Kyler was a bat. They had a lot of energy, and went all around the outside of our neighborhood. It was a chilly night, but not freezing, and not raining.