Finding the right look...

I've mentioned in previous posts that my 6 year old son has been doing some experimenting with his personal style lately.

You may recall that at the beginning of the school year he was going for what I like to call "The Erkel" look. This uber-conservative style had him buttoning all of his uniform shirts to the top & tucking them into his pants so tightly that I feared he was limiting the mobility of the top half of his body. Since a lot of his time is spent in his school uniform his means of self expression is somewhat limited, so I tend to just let him do his thing.

One day about a month ago he declared that he wanted his hair put into "standing up spikes" for school that morning. I asked him what inspired this new style & he just said he thought it would look cool. So, I got out the gel & went to work. He got a couple of smiles & speculative glances, but overall he must have had at least some postive feedback since he's still at it. These days though he does it all on his own. "I don't need help Mom! I can do it myself!"

I have to say that I think he is starting to express his mood with hair gel. Some days he wets his hair & gels it into spikes on his head. Other days he gels it flat against his head and brushes it all forward (this look kind of creeps me out a bit & I can't seem to resist trying to get it to part off to the side) and then unexpectedly on other days he just leaves alone and goes au naturel.

My point is, I'm never quite sure what kind of hair style the day will bring. Case in point, this past Friday. Both of the kids were off school for teacher in-service days and the only plan we had for the day was a quick trip to K's pre-school for a 15 minute teacher conference. C had gone to the school back in the day & he was excited to see all his old teachers again. He was even more excited about the fact that we were heading to Toys R Us right after the conference so both of them could look around & start putting together a Christmas list (Santa Claus, Mr. Crackers' and I are trying to save a little money this year with all the pre-season sales that are going on).

Do you want to see what kind of hair style that the excitement of a no-school day paired with a trip to a toy store produces?

Wow-ee!
Yep, it's a "faux"hawk. I really have no idea where he's getting this stuff. I volunteer at his periochial school & I can tell you that all the boys I've ever seen there are pretty clean cut looking. I've never even seen a boy with long hair there.

His hairstyle made quite an impression with his former pre-school teachers. That is for certain.

What can I say? I guess he's trying to find his look. I'm a little afraid of what is in store for us in his teen years. If he's sporting a "faux"hawk at 6 what is he going to come up with at 16?! (shudder, shudder...).

I guess only time (& hair gel) will tell.

More bang for your entertainment buck.

Earlier this week we went to the end of season pizza party for C's soccer team. After dinner most of the boys dissapeared into the game room never to be seen again. After a few minutes I wandered to the back room to see what my hooligan was up to. Large groups of unattended 7-8 year old boys make me nervous.



When I got to the room, this was the scene before me. There are at least 9 boys clustered around a video game watching a teammate play. You'll notice that C looks like he is using the top of the game as some sort of hand hold. I'm not sure what he was standing on, but I wasn't going to tell him to get down. That would mean I would actually have to supply him with his own money to play games.

Playing a video game at your local pizza parlor = $.50
Letting all your friends watch you play for free = priceless!

Tales from the utility room...

About 2 years ago, Mr. Crackers & I bought ourselves a new water heater from a store that we'll call Smears. We've bought a lot of appliances from this company over the years (including a water heater that we installed in our previous home) and never had a problem until Mabel came into our lives (I have decided for no particular reason that I am going to refer to our water heater as Mabel for the rest of this post. It's just been one of those kind of days...)

Now Mabel (the water heater) worked really well for the first 2 months after we got her. We had hot water when we needed it & we never gave her a second thought.

Apparently though, Mabel was getting lonely & decided she needed some additional attention. So she decided that she would shut herself down overnight so that Mr. Crackers & I would be faced with an ice cold shower the following morning. This way she could ensure that we no longer took her powers of heating water for granted & would stop down and pay her a visit from time to time.

It didn't take more than a few days of cold showers for Mr. Crackers & I to call up our local Smears repairman to see what was going on. He came out & declared that the problem was that dirt & debris was getting into the water heater Mabel & causing the pilot light to shut off. All we had to do, he said, was get down on our bellies & use a shower brush to clean the screen near the pilot light and then use a vacuum cleaner to suck it all out.

Oh, is that all??

To me this seemed seemed a little strange, since I had lived on my own for almost 20 years & had never had to do this before. When I conveyed this sentiment to the Smears repairman, he said that these new water heaters were extra sensitive & that as long as we regularly cleaned her out that we could expect Mabel to have a long and healthy life.

And so, I got down on my belly every few weeks to clean out Mabel's nether regions with a shower brush (see exhibit A above). And every evening for the next 18 months, I would check the pilot light on the water heater before I went to bed.

But despite the cleanings & my vigilant checking of the pilot light, Mr. Crackers & I spent the next 18 months playing a game of Russian roulette "the shower edition". We'd have weeks go by where hot water was plentiful & we rejoiced in our warm morning shower. Then, randomly we would wake up (even though I checked the pilot light the night before) & we'd be faced with water cold enough to freeze the tenders off a polar bear.

Finally, after the frequency of the cold showers started to wear on us, I called the local Smears repairman again. He came to the house & after a quick check told us "Oh, it's the pilot light assembly. That has gone bad on a lot of these models. All we have to do is just change that out & everything should work again for you."

I told him our story about the ritual cleaning of the water heater & he shot me a look that said "Hey there crazy, do you mind leaving the utility room so I can get to work actually fixing your problem?" So I left him to his repairs feeling a little silly for having spent the past 18 months cleaning a water heater whose actual problem was a malfunctioning pilot light assembly. But, as long as the problem was fixed and we had hot water, I was ready to let bygones be bygones.

After that last visit, all was well again for a couple of months until.... yep, you guessed it, once again we were facing arctic morning showers. Needless to say, Mr. Crackers & I were starting to get more than a little cranky about the whole water heater problem. Mabel was definitely becoming a gigantic thorn in my ever widening backside.

I told the third Smears repairman all of our woes the moment he set foot in our house. I led him downstairs to the utility room explaining what had occurred at all of the previous visits & told him that we were really, really tired of the cold showers. As I turned to leave him to his job, he stopped me & said "Don't move! I can tell what your problem is just by looking at your hot water heater. Come over here."

I figured he was some kind of hot water heater whisperer or something. Clearly this man had a gift. I walked over to the water heater & looked where he was excitedly pointing. Apparently the problem as our flue. It was not venting properly. He could tell that by all the SCORCH marks on the top of the poor old Mabel. When I looked, I discovered he was right - Poor Mabel's topside had 4 distinct scorch marks. Yikes!

After receiving this concerning news we called our HVAC guy to look at Mabel's flue & since he was there we asked him to go ahead & do the annual service on our furnace. The furnace was rapidly approaching the 20 year mark & we'd been hoping to extend the life of it a bit by making sure we got serviced and checked every year.

Well, the good news was that the flue was going to be easy to repair, the bad news was that our furnace looked like it was not going to quite make it through the winter.

"How bad is it?" I asked. "Are we right on the edge of needing a new furnace?"

The repairman looked at me kindly (& kid of pityingly) and said. "Well, let me put it this way: your toes are already over the edge and you are starting to lose your balance. Even a slight breeze could push you right over. My recommendation is that you start thinking about a new furnace."

It's a good thing we had a lot of cash lying around the house that we didn't know what to do with. Oh wait... I must have gotten us confused with another family. We didn't have piles of cash, but we did have a problem that needed a serious solution. After the initial panic subsided, we were able to secure a short term interest free loan from the bank of kind-hearted and generous family members (or KHGFM).

After receiving many bids & getting many worried looks from HVAC contractors who left our house after seeing our furnace asking us "You have a working CO monitor right?" We finally got a new furnace (& AC unit since that was also teetering very close to end of it's natural life) installed yesterday.

Here it is....TA DA!

Isn't it beautiful?

OK, I know it's pretty utilitarian looking. Man, you'd think for all the money these things cost they could make them look a little prettier. I mean can we add a little color here? How about red, or even a nice chocolate brown color?


I'm thinking of hanging Christmas lights on it...what do you think? We spent so much money that I feel like we should be doing more with it than just using it to heat our house. I'm considering using it as a backdrop for our annual Christmas Card portrait.

We'll save the new AC unit for the Easter pictures this spring.

Oh and by the way, we had hot water this morning for our shower thanks to Mabel and her brand new flue.

October: the month in review

OK, OK...so it's been about a month since the last time I even signed into my blogger account. Apparently reliability & consistency don't rank too high among my blogging virtues.





October always seems to be the busiest month of the year around the House of Crackers. Between soccer games, anniversaries, birthday parties, hayrides, and Halloween, we seem to spend every October running around like crazy people. By comparison, even December seems peaceful.


Now that I am in the final week of the month, I feel like I can finally start catching my breath a bit. I still have to host the Halloween party at K's pre-school on Friday & we still have a hayride & a soccer tournament to face before the month closes, but I think I am starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.





Just to catch up a bit (if there is still anyone who still visits this blog in the off chance I actually write something), I thought I'd fill you in on what has gone on here at the House of Crackers over the past several weeks:

We always kick off October getting the house ready for Halloween. Mr. Crackers and I have always loved Halloween, even before the kids were born. We used to host an annual costume party when we lived in Atlanta. It was great fun & we'd go nuts getting the house ready & picking out our costumes... but that's a story for a different day.


While we don't throw a Halloween party anymore, we still love decorating the house and now that kids help out too, it just makes it even more fun.

We don't do anything too spooky, just a few ghosts hanging from the trees & a small yet tasteful graveyard. Usually the leaves on our large maple tree don't fall until after Halloween, but this year they have started falling a bit early.

I think it's helping with the overall ambiance. At least that's the story we are telling our neighbors. It sounds better than saying we won't get around to raking the leaves until after Halloween is over.

Around mid-month I attended K's field trip to a local farm. I would call it a pumpkin patch, but that would be generous since there were very few actual pumpkins there. I wouldn't have minded much except for they charged $7.00 per person to go on the hayride, which meant I paid $14.00 for the 2 of us to ride about 400 feet in a wooden wagon, and then hunt through a pumpkin patch cleverly disguised as a field of briers to try to find a pumpkin.

It was like Where's Waldo. I mean, look at that picture, can you even spot another pumpkin? I'm telling you, these pumpkins were hard to find. The few that we did find were either green or rotten. There wasn't a single pumpkin there larger than about 5 inches in diameter. K is proudly holding the largest, non-rotting pumpkin that we were able to find. Thankfully pre-schoolers can't carry very large pumpkins anyway, so they left the hayride as satisfied (and very, very muddy) customers.

Later that same week, Mr. Crackers took a day off of work and we headed over to a nearby Children's Museum for the day as a special treat for K's upcoming 4th birthday. We had a great time & even found that they had a Star Wars exhibit going on.

Is it just me or does it seem like every other post I write has some reference to Star Wars? It probably won't be a surprise when I tell you that C's Halloween costume this year will be Star Wars related. I bet I can guess what will dominate his Christmas list as well...

Later that same weekend we hosted a neighborhood party for K's 4th party. We invited a lot of the neighborhood kids for the puppy themed event. We played games, did a craft & of course had a pinata. Here is K whacking "Burrito" (yes, she named it) the puppy pinata.

I found the whole puppy pinata visual a little disturbing. It seemed wrong to be encouraging these small children to whack the dog as hard as they could until all of his guts spilled out. It was even more disturbing once poor Burrito lost his head.

Poor, poor Burrito. The kids weren't sad though....they were thrilled that Burrito was hiding packets of Skittles & M&M's inside his tired, broken little body. Rest in peace Burrito.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the month (at least for me) was the visit from our good friend KK. She & I have been friends for about 15 years. We met back in Atlanta when we were both still working for the company that sponsors that big parade on Thanksgiving Day. We hit it off instantly & have been close ever since. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and one of Cameron's Godmothers (he had two - who couldn't use 2 Godmothers?)

She travels a lot and keeps herself busy with work and her passion for photography. Even though we keep in touch pretty regularly, time has flown by & she hadn't seen my two hooligans in a couple of years. I was thrilled that she was able to make the trip north for a visit. It's amazing how easy it is to hang out with good friends, even if you haven't seen them for ages.

The highlight of our weekend together (at least for my 2 hooligans) was a visit to our local pumpkin patch where low & behold they had pumpkins. Oodles of pumpkins & not a one was rotten or green ... and most measured significantly more than 5" in diameter.

We all looked around for a bit & took the opportunity to take our annual pumpkin pickin' pictures before paying for our booty & taking it back to the car.

Now all we have to do is carve them. Oops, I guess I need to add that to the to-do list this week as well. Maybe that light at the end of the tunnel is a little farther off than I thought.

Party dresses

One of the highlights of my daughter's morning is our walk out to the mailbox. She loves to open the door & see what came for her. Usually the answer to that question is nothing. But on occasion she receives postcards from her grandparents or from traveling friends.

Typically I hand her all of the toy & kids' clothing catalogs that come to the house since she loves to look at them while I fix lunch. Usually her interest in the catalogs is relatively short lived. She looks at them once or maybe twice & then moves on to a different activity.

This pattern was changed about two weeks ago when we received a catalog from The Wooden Soldier. I handed K the catalog before I even looked at it & she was immediately hooked. She poured over it the entire day. She even brought it to her brother's soccer practice that evening so she could look at it some more.

It's two weeks later and she has been carrying that catalog around with her almost ever since. It was getting really ratty, but thankfully we received another catalog from the same company at the end of last week. This is really good since most days she wants the two of us to look at the catalog instead of reading stories before her nap time.

She has already picked out her two favorite dresses.

She has told me that I should buy her this first dress for her 4th birthday that is coming up in October. According to her "It's a beautiful party dress"...

She's right about that, but I think it might be a little dressy for the "Puppy Party" theme she has picked out. The vibrant red corduroy would make a really pretty Christmas dress. I can already envision how cute she'll look in the holiday family picture. And the best part is that it is only $92.00! Umm...what?! Wait a second here... I don't think I've spent that kind of money on a dress since I purchased my wedding dress 12 years ago.

It is a pretty dress, but seriously I cannot part with that kind of cash for a something that will be worn at a birthday party for a 4 year old where everyone will be wearing dog ears & running relay races with plastic bones (honestly I couldn't spend that much on a dress for a 4 year old even if the theme were Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. No sir, I'm sorry but I just can't do it.)

Ok, on to the next. Maybe she just happened to pick out the one pricey dress in the catalog. What's your next favorite K?

Oooh. Good pick. Very pretty & the ivory satin is so practical (for sitting and staring off into space with your clean hands folded neatly on your lap). The price of this number is a mere $119.00. Holy Guacamole! What's going on here Wooden Soldier? You are killing me.

Now I'm not saying that these dresses aren't beautiful, because they are. And I'm not saying that this company is a little nuts for selling dresses at this price point, because I am sure that there are a couple people lots of people who think that $119.00 is a perfectly reasonable price to pay for a dress for a 4 year old. All I am saying is that none of these people happen to live in my house or anywhere in my neighborhood.

It should come as no surprise to anyone (except for K - who at 3 has no concept of the value of money) that she will not be getting a dress from the Wooden Soldier for her birthday this year. Instead, I'll be trolling through Target & Ebay to see if I can find an acceptable substitute for about a quarter of the price. Wish me luck.

I'm a little nervous about the fact she's not even 4 yet & her taste levels are running toward dresses that cost over $100.00. I can't wait to see what she's going to want to wear when she's ten. I'm picturing diamond studded jackets and platinum shoes.

A room with a new view

Those of you who have read this blog in the past know that Mr. Crackers loves a good project. Most of his endeavours have happened outdoors, primarily in the backyard. In the past few years he has built a playhouse, a patio and a play set (I'm sure he's also built things that don't start with the letter p, but the alliteration thing is working for me today...).

Normally, I (kind of) head up the projects inside the house. Mostly because they tend to be smaller & involve wall paper removal or paint -- things that are well within my limited scope of home improvement expertise and don't have to be completed before the first snowfall ( I tend to have a problem letting my projects languish a bit before completion).

Recently though Mr. Crackers decided the time had come for him to put his creative stamp on something inside the house. He had won a small incentive bonus at work for a job well done (go Mr. Crackers!) and decided he knew exactly what he wanted to do with the unexpected influx of cash. He wanted to re-do C's bedroom.

He's been brainstorming ideas for the room for quite some time (I think I've mentioned before that Mr. Crackers is an idea man). I hadn't really ignored his designs but I figured they were far-off, if we win the lottery, type of ideas. (You know what I'm talking about... ideas like re-doing the kitchen, or buying a new car, or going to vacation in Hawaii... Good ideas without funding are really just dreams, and both of us do love to dream!)

But Mr. Crackers was ready to put his (newly earned) money where his mouth was.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I thought I'd show you a picture of C's room before the re-do. There were no issues with C's room as it was. His bed & dresser were the same ones used by Mr. Crackers when he was a boy, but they were in pretty good shape. It was a comfortable room, but one that was dominated by a full size bed that took up a lot of the floor space. Despite this, we've had years of fun playing with Lego's, dress-up clothes and Hot Wheels on the floorspace that was available.




(Please note that these pictures are pretty old & that C has not slept with rails on the side of his bed for a couple of years. I should also point out that the photos were taken in December & that we don't normally keep a Christmas tree in his room year round).


In short it was a good room for a growing boy, but Mr. Crackers thought we could do better.

His vision for the room included a loft bed which would give us more floor space for a desk & room to play. So with these ends in mind, we headed to our local Ikea store.

Low & behold, they had just what we were looking for & last weekend we got the whole thing set up. I have to say, it's pretty awesome.

Once I got over my initial fear that C would fall out of bed in the middle of the night & break all of the bones in his body, I have come to love this room. C loves it too. Not only does he have a lot more room to play, but he's got a big boy desk that's entirely his own. He spends hours at that desk drawing his favorite scenes from the Star Wars movies & looking at his favorite books & magazines.

The real unexpected bonus of the room is that I have stopped nagging C to make his bed since I can't see it anymore (frankly, making the bed when it is 5 feet off the floor & fit tightly into a corner is a near impossible task that I can barely do myself. Mr. Crackers has not only given his son a cool room, he's also manage to eliminate a chore for him!).

The shelving units are so cool. I love how much space he has now to display his books, stuffed animals & of course his many, many Legos...

I really can't believe how great the room looks. I'm really impressed that Mr. Crackers was able to visualize this layout & get it all accomplished for so much less than I thought possible. Mr. Crackers & Ikea seem to be a formidable team.

I'm also really happy that C has done so well in his new higher bed. Thankfully my fears of a fall have not been realized. He's been in the new bed for a week's worth of middle of the night bathroom runs & has never even stumbled down the stairs let alone taken a fall. I think I can relax a bit now.

We'll be putting all the finishing touches on the room this weekend. I found some Star Wars vinyl decals which will go up to replace the pictures from the movie Finding Nemo that have decorated his walls since he was an infant.

Well done once again Mr. Crackers! You are a good Daddy. C will be loving this room for a lot of years to come.

Tuesday mornings make me smile

There are times that even though my children don't look much like me, I know they are mine.

K has been wanting to take ballet lessons for quite a long time (which is really saying something since she's not quite 4 years old). This fall she was finally old enough to take lessons so we got her signed up for the Tuesday morning class & bought all the appropriate paraphernalia.

I myself never took ballet lessons, I was missing the all too important "grace" gene that is crucial to success as a ballerina. I seemed to gravitate more toward sports where falling down a lot & injuring myself was a little more acceptable.


As you watch this video, I think you will see that I may have passed on this lack of grace & coordination to my youngest child. K is in the black skirt closest to the teacher who is attempting to teach them all how to execute a curtsy (just in case you were wondering...)



The good news is that grace isn't required for the 3 & 4 year old pre-ballet class - just a willingness to participate & have a good time. I think we've got those two items covered in spades.