trying to raise curious, kind, funny kids

2.14.12

Valentines Day

This morning, Matt surprised me by taking the morning off and treating me to breakfast and a morning at The Modern. I loved it. Perfect day and it’s only noon.

Also, I love that George calls Valentines Day, “Valentimes Day.” I suspect, this time next year he will have figured that out. Sigh.

2.12.12

Date Night with George

Last night George and I went on a movie date night to go see, “The Miracle.” We were running late so while I was driving there, we talked about the possibility of missing the movie.

Me: George, just so you know, we might get there too late and all of the tickets may be sold out.

George: Will you scream really loud if they sold all of the tickets?

Me: I might scream loud if they DO have tickets. I’ll be so happy, I might scream for joy?!

George: Will you scream so loud the birds will fly out of the trees?

Me: (loving his perspective on life) Wow! That’s loud. Yes, I think I will scream that loud.

We got there, and crazy enough, got the last two tickets for the movie and sat front row. I didn’t scream so loud the birds flew out of the trees, but I did find a deep sense of joy come over me as I held his little hand and ran down the theatre hallway to find our seats. We had a great night. The movie was fine… not awesome, but good. But the company was outstanding.

Here we are heading back home. Complete with a glow stick from the chocolate milkshake we shared during the movie.

2.11.12

Dot coms

I love how my kids call websites “dot coms.”

What are you guys looking at?

George: this is the dot com that teaches you how to read.

2.11.12

George is reading.

One of my favorite things is not the sound of my children reading, but more specifically, the sound of my children reading to each other. Up until recently, Francis has taken the lead. However, our George is becoming quite the little reader and it is so fun to see him gain confidence and excitement for books.

Here he is with Sam in the kitchen after school. I also love Sam eating his banana. Kids with bananas are cute.

2.9.12

Ice Cream Scoops / Pizza Cutters

For Christmas, Sally and I decided to give our families homemade ice cream scoops and pizza cutters. I bought the kits from Rockler. The ice cream set comes with a stainless scoop and collar, both of which are supposed to be epoxied onto the turned handle. For four of these, I found out after the fact that the wood shrinks enough to pop the seal between wood and collar. Best practice is to let the turned handle sit for a few days and then seal the collar and scoop in there with a ton of epoxy.

The pizza cutters presented a different challenge. They’re designed with a threaded insert that you torque into a hole you’ve drilled in the handle. This way, you can unscrew the metal portion of the cutter and throw it in the dishwasher. Handy. The problem is that the insert they ship is not really made to withstand the pressure of mounting into hardwood. I broke a couple of inserts and then bought some brass replacements that finally stood up to the pressure. But even then, a couple of them split the rosewood handles upon insertion. After several failed attempts, I ended up with these rosewood-handled pizza cutters/personal defense devices.