A Week, Briefly (3/4/19)

"I was glad Aunt Hazel had scented my hands with toilet water before I left . . . "

~Letter from Pat to Bets, Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery

I read this line one night, and three thoroughly alarmed faces turned up from their quiet work.

"Toilet water!?!?!?!"  The unspoken question broadcasted from each face.

I stopped reading and explained, "Toilet water does not mean water from the toilet.  It means a light perfume."

And the room erupted in laughter.

The transition from shock to knowledge was just too much, and we laughed until we hurt.

"I was picturing her sticking her hands in toilet!" Mister Man said once he could gasp the words out clearly enough.

And we laughed again.

(Yes, I did explain that there were no flush toilets on a Canadian farm one hundred years ago.)

Church was cancelled on Sunday--so we had a jammie day at home together.

We did a lot of perfectly normal things this week--Morning Meeting, Symposium, Academy (during which we finished our literature anthology and pulled out new books), MOCSA (graduation is next week!), church activities, work, dance, independent school.

Nature Angel spent time one morning helping Brother learn to crochet.  Her verdict?  "I think we will try again next year."

Nature Angel embroiders, too.

Ladybug finished book one of Rod and Staff Arithmetic 1!

One of Mister Man's science activities--after learning about rays.

He finished the book--at least everything in it that he could do completely independently.  There are probably 30 projects that he didn't do because he needed help, and he wasn't interested in pausing long enough to get help.  I'm saving the book and hoping to do some of the activities with him to revisit what he whirled through so quickly!

Nature Angel is crocheting an afghan.  Baymax "read" her a story one day to entertain her as she worked.

Nature Angel is featured a lot this week!  She's typing her journal these days.

And we had rather an unusual number of special events.

1.  Sir Walter Scott offered to take the kids on a walk one afternoon, and I said, "Yes!  Thank you!!"  He left the two 4-year-olds at home because they aren't very good walkers, and he wanted to have a bit of an adventure.

He got more than he'd bargained for!

One of his favorite walks follows a set of active railroad tracks for a little while . . . in fact it follows the railroad tracks over a bridge.

And, yes, they did hear a train approaching while they were on the bridge.

Sir Walter Scott ordered the kids to get across as quickly as possible and get down the hill away from the tracks.  They obeyed, but Little Princess and Ladybug went the wrong way.  Sir Walter Scott yelled for them to follow him, and Little Princess turned around.

Ladybug did not.

The train was too close for Sir Walter Scott to retrieve her.

When he saw that she'd gotten off the tracks, he got himself off with the other 5 kids, and prayed.

It was loud and scary, and Ladybug was separated from the family.

When the train passed, he raced over and found her curled up in a ball in the snow.

He simultaneously chewed her out for running away from him as he hugged her and told her he was glad she was safe and sorry she was scared.

We've let the kids talk it out, and we've used the experience as a teaching tool for always following Mom and Dad in order to be safe.

2.  Super Star was making dinner for the 2 small children she was babysitting on Wednesday night.  The children's mother warned her that the stove burner was touchy but said to go ahead and use it.  Once the meal was cooked, Super Star turned off the burner.  But it stayed on.

And then it burst into flames!

Super Star called the mother who told Super Star to bundle up the kids and get them out of the house and then called 911 (a good thing because Super Star didn't know the address of the house).  She stood outside in the freezing cold with a toddler and an infant while firefighters took care of the danger and gave her the all-clear to come back inside.  Then she fed the children their dinner and put them to bed.

The mother came home from her work meeting when the meeting was finished, gave Super Star a tip, and asked her to babysit again next week.

And Super Star accepted.

3.  We had another dance show on Thursday.  This one was a black-and-whites only show as there was no space available for changing costumes.  The audience seemed less engaged during the show, but some of the audience members asked us for contact information to engage us for shows at other facilities, so that's lovely. :)

The kids are exhausted after a show.  Belle fell onto the couch and didn't move for 2 full hours.

And Mister Man was in tears until I told him to climb into bed with a book.  I think he re-read this whole book before he emerged ready to face the end of the day.

4.  The engine fell out of the teen car on Friday morning.

The three teens were on their way home from seminary when the car started shaking violently and came to a halt . . . in an intersection.  Pixie did not have a chance to pull out of traffic to safety, and it was a dark, foggy morning.  The details make for a long story, but in summary, they received help from kind strangers, our bishop (who passed them as he was driving his kids to get doughnuts before school--he skipped the doughnuts and came to the girls' assistance as soon as his kids were safely at school), Sir Walter Scott (who was off work), and AAA.

Our mechanic says it is utterly fixable as soon as he finds a brace to replace the one that snapped.

And while it is not a cheap fix, it is going to cost far less than we thought it would, so we are counting our blessings.

Pixie pointed out several other blessings:
     a.  They were able to drop their friend who carpools with them safely at school before it happened.
     b.  It happened when Sir Walter Scott was off work to help.
     c.  People were kind.
     d.  Pixie has spring break from her college class and her dance classes all this week to come, so we don't have to juggle cars (very much) while we wait for the repair to be finished.

Most people say, "Is that a real thing?" when we tell them the engine fell out.

Yes, actually.  Yes, it is!

4.  Pixie's dance studio had a recital for their teen/adult program.  The stage was very small, and my reaction to Pixie's dancing was that it was so restrained and inhibited until she got to the Bollywood number at the end--then it was total joy and freedom of expression.  I said, "Clearly Bollywood is your love!  It was joy to watch you!"

Pixie is wearing orange pants.  She was the only student from this class who was willing to perform, so the studio teachers all danced with her.

 In answer, she told me that they'd had to modify all of the dances she was in except for the Bollywood number, and she and the other students were struggling not to fall off the stage.  They had to cut leaps and turns, and the whole effect, while still lovely, was not as powerful as it could have been if they'd been allowed freedom of movement.

She said that Bollywood is not her passion--it's fun, but her soul is most stirred by ballet and jazz.

I'm glad to learn why she seemed so inhibited.

Now I want the chance to see her really dance . . . if she can make my heart sing while she just has a little fun, I'd love to watch her throwing her whole being into her true passion.

I hope someday to do that.