So I'm going to be lazy today, because I just worked the overnight shift, and I gotta be up at 4 am to work the 12 hour day shift tomorrow. Sick people, they need their blood, you know?
But this, this is a beautiful thing. You should go to this website, you should read all of the captions to the pictures, and you should laugh and laugh.
How to Be a Ladyperson During the Holidays
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Marginalia
I do this all of the time, much to the chagrin of some of my snobbier reading friends. At least I'm in good company.
http://simplicity.laserfiche.com/content/scribbled-margins-capturing-knowledge-marginalia
http://simplicity.laserfiche.com/content/scribbled-margins-capturing-knowledge-marginalia
Caterpillars that look like bird poop and an osmetarium
I was puzzled as to why a bird would get under our eves to somehow manage to poop on our tree, so I leaned over to look up to see if there was a bird's nest above it, or somewhere convenient to perch, and there wasn't. I leaned in and blew on the pile to assess it's wetness for cleaning purposes and out popped the caterpillar's osmeterium, a red fleshy organ apparently only possessed by swallowtail caterpillars. At least I didn't try to flick it off the lemon tree. Now we check on him every day! He grows really fast, we're waiting for him to turn into a chrysalis and then a butterfly!
 | ||||
| Here he is with his osmeterium! |
 | |||
| And here is 5 days later! |
Finally, here's my amazing family feeding the animals on the farm on 15th avenue carrots the day after Thanksgiving!
Friday, November 21, 2014
Melted Computer
So, No post for a while, but not because I've been overly busy, or no more busy than usual. Certainly not for lack of interesting things to post.
We recently melted our computer. Due to a combination of bad choices and, well, just more bad choices, we first drowned our computer in the bathtub and then melted it inside the oven.
More later, my phone is also broken.
We recently melted our computer. Due to a combination of bad choices and, well, just more bad choices, we first drowned our computer in the bathtub and then melted it inside the oven.
More later, my phone is also broken.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Being Ugly
In the United States we live in a society which values the way women look entirely too much. I'm actually really hard on myself, and I need to remember the amazing things my body has done.
My body has done wonderful things. It took me to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back, which was in doubt for a few miles there). It's run two marathons. It's recovered from 3 concussions. It's grown two marvelous people inside of it. I've put it through two very long labors only to be subjected to two C-sections and it's recovered beautifully. It dances, albeit not very well. It sings. It manages to get up every morning.
I'm so hard on it for not looking like it did 10 years ago, for not being flat where it should be and for being flat where it shouldn't be, but I should appreciate it for all of the things it still does for me, and for all the experience it's gained thus far. My aches should remind me of all of the things my body has stretched for, my wrinkles the wisdom gained with every new experience.
Here's an interview that Dustin Hoffman did about an epiphany he had while filming Tootsie. I think that a lot of men think this way about women, which is unfortunate. I know all of the Mom's I know are doing their best to raise little humans who value women as people first and women second. We also need to start being nicer to ourselves.
My body has done wonderful things. It took me to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back, which was in doubt for a few miles there). It's run two marathons. It's recovered from 3 concussions. It's grown two marvelous people inside of it. I've put it through two very long labors only to be subjected to two C-sections and it's recovered beautifully. It dances, albeit not very well. It sings. It manages to get up every morning.
I'm so hard on it for not looking like it did 10 years ago, for not being flat where it should be and for being flat where it shouldn't be, but I should appreciate it for all of the things it still does for me, and for all the experience it's gained thus far. My aches should remind me of all of the things my body has stretched for, my wrinkles the wisdom gained with every new experience.
Here's an interview that Dustin Hoffman did about an epiphany he had while filming Tootsie. I think that a lot of men think this way about women, which is unfortunate. I know all of the Mom's I know are doing their best to raise little humans who value women as people first and women second. We also need to start being nicer to ourselves.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Here's why we should be worried about the Ebola Virus
We do have a decent healthcare system in the United States, but if Ebola begins to spread, the health care system will very quickly be overrun.
We don't actually have the resources at 95% of hospitals to deal with an outbreak.
Doctors in the United States are not familiar with Ebola, which is understandable, because they never see it. The symptoms of this disease are very similar to influenza, especially in the beginning phases.
I've been following this outbreak in Africa, and it seemed as though authorities were strangely silent about it in the beginning. I don't think it's some sort of conspiracy, I just think people are in denial about what this disease can do.
We simply don't know enough about it, and the hospitals have no experience dealing with a disease so easily spread and so very deadly.
This disease spreads through contact with bodily fluids, yes, but it doesn't require close contact. It requires exposure to soiled garments, vomit, saliva, breast milk, sweat. Think of all the things you touch every day that have been touched by other people. Duncan did not have to lie about being in contact with an Ebola victim. Honestly, the disease in Africa is spreading so quickly that he could have ridden in a cab someone else had ridden in. He may have used a public restroom immediately after someone infected and shedding the virus.
Our hospital systems will quickly become overwhelmed if there is an outbreak in this country. There really needs to be a global effort to contain and eradicate this virus at it's source. It's not going to stop moving, and it's too hard to isolate everyone in this global society.
This virus kills as many people as the bubonic plague did. We came up with antibiotics to treat it, finally, but it killed 50-80% of the people who were infected, just like Ebola.
I don't think we need to be pointing fingers and blaming the Dallas Hospital, I think they did the best they could, but I also think the people at the top of these organizations don't realize how hard it is to get supplies, or the pressure placed upon the staff to do their jobs even when situations aren't ideal. there were a lot of mistakes made, but we need to stop making them. At least now it seems as though the government has a clear plan going forward.
I don't think we should panic, but I also don't think we should stick our heads in the sand.
We really need to focus a bit more on containing this outbreak than on terrorist sects right now. This has the potential to kill so many more of us, just as indiscriminately.
We don't actually have the resources at 95% of hospitals to deal with an outbreak.
Doctors in the United States are not familiar with Ebola, which is understandable, because they never see it. The symptoms of this disease are very similar to influenza, especially in the beginning phases.
I've been following this outbreak in Africa, and it seemed as though authorities were strangely silent about it in the beginning. I don't think it's some sort of conspiracy, I just think people are in denial about what this disease can do.
We simply don't know enough about it, and the hospitals have no experience dealing with a disease so easily spread and so very deadly.
This disease spreads through contact with bodily fluids, yes, but it doesn't require close contact. It requires exposure to soiled garments, vomit, saliva, breast milk, sweat. Think of all the things you touch every day that have been touched by other people. Duncan did not have to lie about being in contact with an Ebola victim. Honestly, the disease in Africa is spreading so quickly that he could have ridden in a cab someone else had ridden in. He may have used a public restroom immediately after someone infected and shedding the virus.
Our hospital systems will quickly become overwhelmed if there is an outbreak in this country. There really needs to be a global effort to contain and eradicate this virus at it's source. It's not going to stop moving, and it's too hard to isolate everyone in this global society.
This virus kills as many people as the bubonic plague did. We came up with antibiotics to treat it, finally, but it killed 50-80% of the people who were infected, just like Ebola.
I don't think we need to be pointing fingers and blaming the Dallas Hospital, I think they did the best they could, but I also think the people at the top of these organizations don't realize how hard it is to get supplies, or the pressure placed upon the staff to do their jobs even when situations aren't ideal. there were a lot of mistakes made, but we need to stop making them. At least now it seems as though the government has a clear plan going forward.
I don't think we should panic, but I also don't think we should stick our heads in the sand.
We really need to focus a bit more on containing this outbreak than on terrorist sects right now. This has the potential to kill so many more of us, just as indiscriminately.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
We Should Totally be worried about Ebola
I'm a medical technologist, I've been working in hospitals since I graduated from college 15 years ago. WE SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE WORRIED ABOUT EBOLA.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Nicolas Cage in Left Behind
The newest version of Left Behind came out in theaters on October 3. So, I've been waiting for this movie to come out since I saw a trailer for it 8 months ago on Reddit.
I first thought it was a joke, then determined it was real and desperately wanted to see it.
The Rapture is a mostly American evangelical Christian belief that Christian believers will be raptured at the end times. From the Latin root raptus, meaning to be carried away.
The history of it is pretty interesting. There's no real definite support for it in the bible. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of stuff about the end times, and some passages about the believers meeting
Jesus in the air, and some other stuff about tribulation...but essentially some different dudes over time have interpreted all these passages to death and decided on their own interpretations. It's a belief that became popular in the late 1700s, early 1800s based on some different guys interpretations of what the bible says. I mean, this is extrapolation of the vaguest kind. Times, times, and half a time (Daniel 7:25) is interpreted as 3 and 1/2 years...um...
If anyone is interested in reading more about what the rapture is, they can check out Wikipedia, which I feel gives a pretty good explanation. It also gives some links to some amazing people, like some guy named Increase Mather, and his son, Cotton. It's no surprise these guys were involved with the Salem witch trials.
There are also a lot of Christian websites those interested can immerse themselves in, and plenty of people who will spew hate at you for questioning their beliefs in the end times, as well. Anyways, I'm Catholic, so I don't get raptured. I pretty much wind up straight in hell.
But man oh man, The rapture is the stuff of Hollywood horror. Kids disappearing from their parents, teenager waking up to find their whole families gone. Then, what happens next? Torture for the next seven years.
As a story premise this is BRILLIANT. My husband was terrified when he was a child that everyone he knew would be raptured and he would be left alone. He used to wake up in the middle of the night and check to make sure everyone else was still in bed.
Unfortunately the Christians have yet to use the story gold that history has handed to them. Unable to stop beating the audience to death with their evangelical message, the story crashes and burns. Sometimes less is more guys. I may not have accepted Jesus into my heart in quite the way you have but I'm not a moron.
I can only assume that editing choices and directing were also dictated by the need to be nice instead of actually telling someone that the choices made were perhaps not the best.
A movie based on the rapture should be like a zombie flick, not really about the zombies, but about what the people do in response to the zombies. How do they react when placed in this confusing/terrifying situation.
Instead we get a nice Muslim man, who isn't saved because he's Muslim (nice isn't enough to get you saved), a dwarf with a lot of issues about being short, and a busy business man who also isn't saved, because he had no time for Jesus or family, oh, yep, and a drug addict, and lots of mom's missing their kids.
There is an HBO show called the leftovers that just came out this year based on the rapture that I'm told might get it right. Looking forward to watching it.
I
The Rapture is a mostly American evangelical Christian belief that Christian believers will be raptured at the end times. From the Latin root raptus, meaning to be carried away.
The history of it is pretty interesting. There's no real definite support for it in the bible. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of stuff about the end times, and some passages about the believers meeting
Jesus in the air, and some other stuff about tribulation...but essentially some different dudes over time have interpreted all these passages to death and decided on their own interpretations. It's a belief that became popular in the late 1700s, early 1800s based on some different guys interpretations of what the bible says. I mean, this is extrapolation of the vaguest kind. Times, times, and half a time (Daniel 7:25) is interpreted as 3 and 1/2 years...um...
If anyone is interested in reading more about what the rapture is, they can check out Wikipedia, which I feel gives a pretty good explanation. It also gives some links to some amazing people, like some guy named Increase Mather, and his son, Cotton. It's no surprise these guys were involved with the Salem witch trials.
There are also a lot of Christian websites those interested can immerse themselves in, and plenty of people who will spew hate at you for questioning their beliefs in the end times, as well. Anyways, I'm Catholic, so I don't get raptured. I pretty much wind up straight in hell.
But man oh man, The rapture is the stuff of Hollywood horror. Kids disappearing from their parents, teenager waking up to find their whole families gone. Then, what happens next? Torture for the next seven years.
As a story premise this is BRILLIANT. My husband was terrified when he was a child that everyone he knew would be raptured and he would be left alone. He used to wake up in the middle of the night and check to make sure everyone else was still in bed.
Unfortunately the Christians have yet to use the story gold that history has handed to them. Unable to stop beating the audience to death with their evangelical message, the story crashes and burns. Sometimes less is more guys. I may not have accepted Jesus into my heart in quite the way you have but I'm not a moron.
I can only assume that editing choices and directing were also dictated by the need to be nice instead of actually telling someone that the choices made were perhaps not the best.
A movie based on the rapture should be like a zombie flick, not really about the zombies, but about what the people do in response to the zombies. How do they react when placed in this confusing/terrifying situation.
Instead we get a nice Muslim man, who isn't saved because he's Muslim (nice isn't enough to get you saved), a dwarf with a lot of issues about being short, and a busy business man who also isn't saved, because he had no time for Jesus or family, oh, yep, and a drug addict, and lots of mom's missing their kids.
 |
| My companions giving their best Nic Cage impersonations |
There is an HBO show called the leftovers that just came out this year based on the rapture that I'm told might get it right. Looking forward to watching it.
I
Monday, October 6, 2014
Sometimes People are Just Nice
Last Sunday, with my kids in the car, I ran out of gas. I used to run out of gas a lot when I was younger, something about wanting the universe to conform to my needs of buying more cigarettes and not gas, and trying to will my car to continue running on nothing.
It's been a good 10 years I would say, since I ran out of gas. I was on my way to the grocery store to overbuy snacks and things for my kids because we had a new babysitter coming on Monday (and it totally makes me nervous, so I want to make things super easy so the newbie never wants to kill himself throughout the day) and to get money out of the ATM. Luckily I decided to drive up 7th Street instead of getting immediately on the highway. I knew we were relatively low on fuel, but the little orange light had yet to come on, so I thought we were safe, at least until after I had gotten a coffee.
Well, now I know the little orange light is broken.
We managed to coast to a stop halfway into an empty parking lot. I then managed to push the car by myself all the way into the parking lot, but it was still sitting in the middle of the lane, and no amount of coaxing (or cursing) could get it to move one more inch.
Stinko was screaming his head off, and up stepped my first angel of the day, out on a Sunday morning walking his boxer with his girlfriend, he took a minute to help me shove the car into a parking spot. Hooray! The gas station was only a block and a half away, and I had Eli's little front carrier, so I decided further help was unnecessary. I
did drastically underestimate the amount of time it would take me to walk a block in a half with a two-year-old, especially when the terrain is riddled with fresh rain puddles. My second angel of the day was the homeless guy who offered to pump the gas into the can so I wouldn't have to lean over with Stinko's legs dangling into the fresh gas stream.
Finally, a mom of two saw me walking back down the street, Stinko strapped to my front, with Chompy in hand, eating a Spongebob ice cream and still jumping in puddles, and took the time to stop and give us a bottle of water and a couple of pairs of sunglasses, because hey, it gets hot out here in AZ. All of these little acts of kindness helped me weather the storm in good spirits. I know I complain a lot, but sometimes people are so darn nice.
It's been a good 10 years I would say, since I ran out of gas. I was on my way to the grocery store to overbuy snacks and things for my kids because we had a new babysitter coming on Monday (and it totally makes me nervous, so I want to make things super easy so the newbie never wants to kill himself throughout the day) and to get money out of the ATM. Luckily I decided to drive up 7th Street instead of getting immediately on the highway. I knew we were relatively low on fuel, but the little orange light had yet to come on, so I thought we were safe, at least until after I had gotten a coffee.
Well, now I know the little orange light is broken.
We managed to coast to a stop halfway into an empty parking lot. I then managed to push the car by myself all the way into the parking lot, but it was still sitting in the middle of the lane, and no amount of coaxing (or cursing) could get it to move one more inch.
Stinko was screaming his head off, and up stepped my first angel of the day, out on a Sunday morning walking his boxer with his girlfriend, he took a minute to help me shove the car into a parking spot. Hooray! The gas station was only a block and a half away, and I had Eli's little front carrier, so I decided further help was unnecessary. I
did drastically underestimate the amount of time it would take me to walk a block in a half with a two-year-old, especially when the terrain is riddled with fresh rain puddles. My second angel of the day was the homeless guy who offered to pump the gas into the can so I wouldn't have to lean over with Stinko's legs dangling into the fresh gas stream.
Finally, a mom of two saw me walking back down the street, Stinko strapped to my front, with Chompy in hand, eating a Spongebob ice cream and still jumping in puddles, and took the time to stop and give us a bottle of water and a couple of pairs of sunglasses, because hey, it gets hot out here in AZ. All of these little acts of kindness helped me weather the storm in good spirits. I know I complain a lot, but sometimes people are so darn nice.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Motherhood Crisis
Yesterday I had a Mom crisis. I took my kids to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. We usually go on Tuesdays, it's right next door and both of the kids really like it. It had cooled off a little bit, meaning it was only 93 degrees instead of 110, and I though they would enjoy getting outside to play on the climbing stuff and the giant colored worm-tube thing they have, especially since lately Chompy is getting really brave about what she can and can't do.
Unfortunately, although Chompy is very interested in climbing, she is not so interested in wearing pants. Sometimes, it's worth the effort to wrangle her into shorts, or pants of some type, and sometimes it's not. She's a pretty headstrong gal, and she can really fight you. I'd already fought with her about toothbrushing, barrettes, biting her brother, throwing things at the cat, and pooping in the bathtub yesterday, so I decided if she didn't want to wear pants, she didn't have to.
I didn't think anyone would care, but as usual I was wrong. We said hi to about 6 different employees on the way in before we made it up to the 2nd floor and outside. I pushed my stroller into the corner and lifted Chompy out and she immediately made a bee-line for the stairs leading down to the play area.
That's when one of the "playologists" (they really call them that, okay? I didn't make it up) approached and asked if my child had pants. I said yes, I have some in my diaper bag, but she doesn't feel like wearing them today! I expected a laugh or an understanding nod, but instead got a rather snooty, "We usually like for children to wear pants." Well, me too, lady, me too, but it just wasn't happening this morning. I just said, "Oh well, I'll try and re-pants the girl later."
Now I can understand if my kid was freezing to death, but it's 95 degrees. I would also understand if she wasn't wearing a diaper because, hello, hygiene. She was wearing a diaper, and pants really served no practical purpose, so aside from it being socially unacceptable, there really was no problem. I'm not a big fan of rules for the sake of rules, or doing something just so it looks a certain way.
I was feeling pretty self righteous about it, too. What right does that lady have to tell me my child has to wear pants if she doesn't want to? There's a whole holiday devoted to not wearing pants. Chompy's just a hipster in the making.
Then it happened. Chompy was playing with a little boy named Max who was about two. They seemed to be having a great time. I was excited because she made a friend and seemed to be having fun. Chompy and Stinko actually have a lot of cousins they get to play with, they just live really far away, and they LOVE other kids. The mom kept trying to get Max to stop playing with Chompy, though. I thought to myself, my gosh, what if it's because my daughter isn't wearing pants. I'm raising a child who won't be able to make any friends because she's too weird and I didn't bother to teach her that she needs to wear pants in public.
The mom finally managed to collect her son and put his shoes back on, which took about twenty minutes, and they disappeared inside. I felt guilty. It started to get too hot to play outside. I wrestled my child into her shoes and up the stairs. After she was worn out, I managed to get her pants on her before she got back into the stroller.
Then I realized that that other mom was also the mother of a two year old, and probably had to fight her own battles, and probably didn't even notice. She was probably thinking, "For God's sake I'm about to pee my pants and it's going to take me twenty minutes to get his shoes on!" I like to think so, anyway.
Plus, Chompy made friends with another kid wearing a diaper and a Batman cape. The day was a win.
 |
| no pants were worn in this picture. |
I didn't think anyone would care, but as usual I was wrong. We said hi to about 6 different employees on the way in before we made it up to the 2nd floor and outside. I pushed my stroller into the corner and lifted Chompy out and she immediately made a bee-line for the stairs leading down to the play area.
That's when one of the "playologists" (they really call them that, okay? I didn't make it up) approached and asked if my child had pants. I said yes, I have some in my diaper bag, but she doesn't feel like wearing them today! I expected a laugh or an understanding nod, but instead got a rather snooty, "We usually like for children to wear pants." Well, me too, lady, me too, but it just wasn't happening this morning. I just said, "Oh well, I'll try and re-pants the girl later."
Now I can understand if my kid was freezing to death, but it's 95 degrees. I would also understand if she wasn't wearing a diaper because, hello, hygiene. She was wearing a diaper, and pants really served no practical purpose, so aside from it being socially unacceptable, there really was no problem. I'm not a big fan of rules for the sake of rules, or doing something just so it looks a certain way.
I was feeling pretty self righteous about it, too. What right does that lady have to tell me my child has to wear pants if she doesn't want to? There's a whole holiday devoted to not wearing pants. Chompy's just a hipster in the making.
Then it happened. Chompy was playing with a little boy named Max who was about two. They seemed to be having a great time. I was excited because she made a friend and seemed to be having fun. Chompy and Stinko actually have a lot of cousins they get to play with, they just live really far away, and they LOVE other kids. The mom kept trying to get Max to stop playing with Chompy, though. I thought to myself, my gosh, what if it's because my daughter isn't wearing pants. I'm raising a child who won't be able to make any friends because she's too weird and I didn't bother to teach her that she needs to wear pants in public.
The mom finally managed to collect her son and put his shoes back on, which took about twenty minutes, and they disappeared inside. I felt guilty. It started to get too hot to play outside. I wrestled my child into her shoes and up the stairs. After she was worn out, I managed to get her pants on her before she got back into the stroller.
Then I realized that that other mom was also the mother of a two year old, and probably had to fight her own battles, and probably didn't even notice. She was probably thinking, "For God's sake I'm about to pee my pants and it's going to take me twenty minutes to get his shoes on!" I like to think so, anyway.
Plus, Chompy made friends with another kid wearing a diaper and a Batman cape. The day was a win.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Week 9: Robot Battles!
This idea was pulled from the interwebs about 3 years ago. It was the second year I was married and my husband and I actually did this one night with dinner guests and it was easy and super fun. I got the idea originally from Red Ted Art.
I modified it for grandparent camp this year a bit, by making it a robot battle. I will say the kids under 3 weren't very interested, but buddy the kids from 3 until 9 were completely into it. The best thing is that the robots were made out of all craft materials and recycled things that Grandmother and Grandpap had on hand. The motors are 1.5-3V hobby motors that cost between 1-2 dollars.
Materials:
Hot glue gun and hot glue
1.5-3v craft motor
1 AA battery
electrical tape or soldering iron
anything you can think of to make a cool robot
We probably should have used the double sided foam they used on Red Ted Art. The vibrations tended to wiggle loose the hot glue pretty quickly, but it worked okay without it.
1. Hot glue the battery to the motor and attach the wires, one to each end of the motor. Make sure the motor spins.
2. Attach something to unbalance the spinning end of the motor. Each of the kids chose something different. Some used plastic beads, some bits of wire. The point is to unbalance the motor enough so that it vibrates.
3. As soon as you verify that it wiggles, let the creativity begin! The only important part is to make sure the motors end can spin. We attached at least one end of the wire with electrical tape so it could be un-attached to stop the vibrations. Building our robots.
The kids really loved seeing how each of the robots moved, and building something that moved on it's own. Modifications went on and on, and we didn't even get through the battles completely, but I don't think anyone cared.
I modified it for grandparent camp this year a bit, by making it a robot battle. I will say the kids under 3 weren't very interested, but buddy the kids from 3 until 9 were completely into it. The best thing is that the robots were made out of all craft materials and recycled things that Grandmother and Grandpap had on hand. The motors are 1.5-3V hobby motors that cost between 1-2 dollars.
Materials:
Hot glue gun and hot glue
1.5-3v craft motor
1 AA battery
electrical tape or soldering iron
anything you can think of to make a cool robot
We probably should have used the double sided foam they used on Red Ted Art. The vibrations tended to wiggle loose the hot glue pretty quickly, but it worked okay without it.
1. Hot glue the battery to the motor and attach the wires, one to each end of the motor. Make sure the motor spins.
2. Attach something to unbalance the spinning end of the motor. Each of the kids chose something different. Some used plastic beads, some bits of wire. The point is to unbalance the motor enough so that it vibrates.
3. As soon as you verify that it wiggles, let the creativity begin! The only important part is to make sure the motors end can spin. We attached at least one end of the wire with electrical tape so it could be un-attached to stop the vibrations. Building our robots.
The kids really loved seeing how each of the robots moved, and building something that moved on it's own. Modifications went on and on, and we didn't even get through the battles completely, but I don't think anyone cared.
\
The battle circle. Whoever pushed the other robot entirely out of the circle first won! This was great because it's entirely random, so the littler kids had just as much of a chance of winning as the older kids.
The kids chose so many different materials to build their robots. This one is made out of a toilet paper tube with yarn and pipe cleaners attached.
Pipe cleaners and toothpicks!
The bead attached to the front of this motor is what causes it to vibrate.
This project was fun at our dinner party and fun for the kids. Two AA batteries wired together will allow the motors to spin faster...a 9v battery will burn out the motor pretty quickly, though.
This project was a blast!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Flood in the Desert
So I only work one day a week...okay I should rephrase that to I work one day a week at my easy job and 6 days a week at my hard at home job. We had a massive thunderstorm in the middle of the night. I left 20 minutes early for my shift, knowing that Phoenicians are terrified of wet roads. Seems as though in this case their fears were justified.
This is the I-10 headed west at 43rd Avenue. They closed the highway just in front of me. I watched the police rescue a couple from a baby Toyota.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Week 8: Big Kid Wall Art
When my husband and I rented a house in Baltimore, we really wanted to put some art on the walls that we did ourselves, and we looked into buying canvases. Holy Toledo that stuff is expensive!
For a canvas that is only 2 by 4 feet it costs almost 40 bucks, and that's before you buy anything else, plus, we wanted something bigger.
So, my amazing husband found something better.
Hollow core doors from Home depot. He bought three for 20 bucks a piece. They are super light and easy to hang with a wire and a couple of nails.
They are awesome.
One we used to make our own giant chalkboard to hang on our wall, and one I painted with Chompy when she was about 8 months old. It's hanging in our living room now above our couch. It looks sort of like an abstract map of the world.
So the other day when Chompy and Stinko were restless, and it was 114 degrees, we decided to break out the last board and give it a go.
So in the above picture, notice the chaos is contained. I actually had to coax Chompy onto the board and dip her hands in the paint. She ate some, she crawled through it a couple of times. She enjoyed it. Notice how clean the floor is.
I grossly underestimated the chaos that doing this with two children, one of whom is a human tornado.
It started out pretty well. I had the sense to roll up the carpet at least. I am using washable paints. Stinko is not interested in eating the paint, so that's a plus.
For a canvas that is only 2 by 4 feet it costs almost 40 bucks, and that's before you buy anything else, plus, we wanted something bigger.
So, my amazing husband found something better.
Hollow core doors from Home depot. He bought three for 20 bucks a piece. They are super light and easy to hang with a wire and a couple of nails.
They are awesome.
One we used to make our own giant chalkboard to hang on our wall, and one I painted with Chompy when she was about 8 months old. It's hanging in our living room now above our couch. It looks sort of like an abstract map of the world.
So the other day when Chompy and Stinko were restless, and it was 114 degrees, we decided to break out the last board and give it a go.
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| Chompy painting when she was Stinko's age now. Home made finger paints. |
I grossly underestimated the chaos that doing this with two children, one of whom is a human tornado.
It started out pretty well. I had the sense to roll up the carpet at least. I am using washable paints. Stinko is not interested in eating the paint, so that's a plus.
Stinko belly flopped into the paint immediately. Chompy is wearing her painting shirt.
The painting shirt was useless.
I threw the kids directly into the bathtub, which I had to fill and empty twice.
The hand print on the chair is due to Chompy deciding she needed a paintbrush halfway through and climbing up on the table to get one. Luckily the paint is washable. I am, however, still finding paint to wash, and we painted two weeks ago.
The art looks fabulous on the wall, though! When we get the other one hung it will look even better!
Simply beautiful! 8 foot by two foot wall art for 25 bucks! Win!
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Welcome Diner Film Contest
Super proud of my Phoenix family! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law and their theater group Howl Theatre participated in a film competition for the Welcome Diner downtown and they WON!
We went to watch the screening last week but it was too hip for us, they didn't start the movies until way too late and Chompy refused the sleeping.
You can watch the video here through the link or down below on the blog!
We went to watch the screening last week but it was too hip for us, they didn't start the movies until way too late and Chompy refused the sleeping.
You can watch the video here through the link or down below on the blog!
Week 8: Decorate Cookies
This past week my family got together for annual Grandparents Camp, which is a chance for all of the cousins to get together and do fun kid stuff together when we're not all overwhelmed with a special occasion like Christmas or New Years or a baptism or birthday. It's just an excuse to get together and do fun stuff, so everybody comes up with great entertainment ideas, so for the next few weeks I'm stealing everybody else's. I'm too worn out after this week anyway!
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| Ages 2, 5, and 6, all enthralled! |
This is related to the cook with your kids, but even better, actually. My kid Chompy is absolutely interested in cookies, ALL OF THE TIME. So decorating cookies is a hit. The age range of kids decorating cookies was 18 months to 9 years, and everybody had a blast.
I cannot take credit for this idea, this one comes from Auntie Bean, who made the cookies in advance and stored them in a plastic container to be available at all times. She also had the brilliant idea to make many different colors of icing and put it in clear squeeze bottles like these available from Amazon.
You can also buy them from Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, pretty much anywhere. They're pretty cheap, too.
I'm not sure what kind of icing Bean put in these, but I know milk, powdered sugar and food coloring mix together to make a good squeezable icing.
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| Those are some professional cookies! |
Auntie Bean actually made amazingly delicious sugar cookies from scratch, but in case of a cookie emergency, you can also buy the ready made ones, or the dough you just have to pop in the oven like these.
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| Grandmother helps the littles |
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| Cookies go well with milk! |
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| Stinko watches his big cousin put on the finishing touches. |
We decorated the heck out of these cookies ALL WEEK LONG! It's a great activity for a rainy day in Ohio, or a scorcher here in Phoenix, and they keep really well. Brilliant! Sprinkles are a bonus!
Special thanks to the rest of the Duck family for letting me use pictures of your absolutely beautiful kids!
Friday, August 1, 2014
Week 7: Go for Ice Cream! Melt is Phoenix Fabulous.
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| Melt in Downtown PHX |
Nothing beats a cool treat on a really hot day, and Phoenix is hot. Although I don't really understand why the weather guys are freaking out over 114 degrees Fahrenheit. Is there really such a big difference between 107 and 114? I don't think going down to 111 should be allowed to be referred to as "cooling off" but whatever guys.
There's a super hip area in Phoenix near Roosevelt strip. I'm not very hip or super, but I do know some people who are, and they told me about it. It's full of funky art shops, a tattoo parlor and vintage stores. One of the most popular places on this strip is Jobot Coffee shop. I was told it was fabulous by my awesome artsy friends and family, and I guess it was a little too hip for me. I went in when I was 8 months pregnant, because my husband needed a caffeine boost before our home birth class with the midwives. We bypassed McDonald's because hey, go local, right?
When we arrived at Jobot we were ignored for a good ten minutes by the barista who was obsessively, lovingly cleaning a chalk board with the intensity that only someone stoned out of her mind can muster. There was only one other customer. My husband ordered a latte, and I tried to order a decaf coffee. The withering look that come out of the barista's eyes was backed with every ounce of her 22 year-old know-it-all scorn.
"We don't HAVE decaf coffee," She snorted through her condescending smirk.
because why would ANYONE EVER order a decaffeinated coffee.
Oh honey, at that moment I cursed her with every ounce of my 8 month pregnant in 110 degree weather in the summer of Arizona rage, and darling, that's a lot of rage. I wished upon that young girl the joy of being being pregnant in August, after having endured the worst morning sickness imaginable. I wished upon her heartburn to keep her up all night in tandem with severe sciatica. I also added in a baby that liked to move around and keep her awake, and a bladder so over active that she couldn't sleep for longer than ten minutes at a time. Hemorrhoids, varicose veins and insomnia were added to my mental list. In short, I wished that woman a world of future pregnancy hurt.
So that's when my Jobot boycott began. My husband continued to go, but I made fun of them. A lot. There is such a thing as being too hip, and I felt like Jobot had crossed the line (I mean, even my mom has decaf coffee at her house, and she's not running a coffee shop).
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| plenty of nice comfy seating |
This post is not about Jobot, however, this post is about Melt, the ice cream shop on the same strip, that happens to be owned by the same person, John Sagasta, and even though the ice cream girl was super hip, she was also super nice and awesome, serving up samples of fruity pebbles ice cream to my two year old with a smile. Also, it's all decaffeinated, so it won't keep my 7 month old breastfeeding baby awake, either (oh man I forgot to curse that girl with clogged ducts, we'll just add that to the list).
So skip Coldstone at the Arizona Center and take a walk down to Roosevelt and 5th Street and have some local Superstition Farms ice cream down at Melt. It will cool you off, AND it will make you cooler.
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| great selection! |
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| Chompy sharing with Stinko! |
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Week 6: Children's Museum of Phoenix
The Children's Museum of Phoenix's mission is to engage the minds, muscles and imaginations of children and the grown-ups who care about them. The Children's Museum has been in its current location at the old Monroe School building since 2008, but was actually originally founded in 1998 as the Phoenix Family Museum by a small group of volunteers. From 1998 until 2008 the Phoenix Family Museum visited community events and schools all over the valley and engaged the imaginations of over 275, 000 participants through a program called Museums Without Walls (MWW).
The Museum has been in its current permanent location at 7th Street and Van Buren Street in downtown phoenix for six years and continues to add new exhibits all the time. Just this past February, they opened an outdoor exhibit partially sponsored by the Arizona Diamondbacks. It has some pretty amazing play spaces including a super long climbing tube and a cactus maze. Musical instruments dot the lawn, and the outdoor visuals are so inviting it's hard to walk by without wanting to go inside and see what else is there is to play with. They also added a super cool hot dog stand to go along with the ice cream stand inside on the third floor just outside the noodle forest.
The website is pretty good, and explains in detail all of the things the museum offers, but honestly I wasn't really sold until we had been inside. Sometimes we visit museums as a family, and it's made up of things that grown-ups think will be fun for kids, but actually aren't very fun for kids. Thirty minute long videos, even about things that are fun, aren't very fun for kids. This museum is the opposite of that. Everything you wish they would have they do.
A whole room devoted to building forts out of couch cushions? Check.
A giant room that consists of rolling balls down super long ramps? Check
Car tracks to race cars down? Check
A place to paint and color and craft? Check
Lots of grown-ups (ahem, playologists, as the museum likes to call them) around to tell you you're doing a great job and to play with you? Check
Also, this place is super eco-friendly. If they can recycle it, they do, and there is some pretty amazing art in this building made out of old silverware, milk cartons, guitars, plastic bags and anything else you can think of. We have been there once a week since we moved to Phoenix, and we find a new favorite thing every time we go.
Only a few complaints, sometimes it gets super busy with school groups. Parents can check before they go and see how many groups are expected on the web site, though. Some parents complain there's not enough to do for older kids, and I could see that as a problem eventually. The memberships are a little confusing. I'm still not sure exactly how ours works, and we've belonged for almost a year. I'm going to get a better explanation this year when I renew.
Chompy is two, and there's plenty she can't do yet. Stinko is only months and he's really getting into the baby areas. Whoa, did I mention that in every space there's something for the older kids to do, there's a safe soft place to put your baby down to crawl around. Yep, they thought of everything. This is the place I go to on hot days where I can take a break and sit down and let the kids play. It's the ultimate indoor playground, with an extra bonus in that I don't have to chase Stinko around and make sure he's not eating cigarette butts.
I have taken everyone in my family to the Children's Museum in Phoenix. There are things to engage your little ones attention on every side.
The Museum has been in its current permanent location at 7th Street and Van Buren Street in downtown phoenix for six years and continues to add new exhibits all the time. Just this past February, they opened an outdoor exhibit partially sponsored by the Arizona Diamondbacks. It has some pretty amazing play spaces including a super long climbing tube and a cactus maze. Musical instruments dot the lawn, and the outdoor visuals are so inviting it's hard to walk by without wanting to go inside and see what else is there is to play with. They also added a super cool hot dog stand to go along with the ice cream stand inside on the third floor just outside the noodle forest.
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| outside play area completed February 2014 |
A whole room devoted to building forts out of couch cushions? Check.
A giant room that consists of rolling balls down super long ramps? Check
Car tracks to race cars down? Check
A place to paint and color and craft? Check
Lots of grown-ups (ahem, playologists, as the museum likes to call them) around to tell you you're doing a great job and to play with you? Check
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| Chompy in her fort |
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| ceiling decorated with umbrellas |
Only a few complaints, sometimes it gets super busy with school groups. Parents can check before they go and see how many groups are expected on the web site, though. Some parents complain there's not enough to do for older kids, and I could see that as a problem eventually. The memberships are a little confusing. I'm still not sure exactly how ours works, and we've belonged for almost a year. I'm going to get a better explanation this year when I renew.
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| Washers with giant bolts. This actually makes for a pretty cool visual and audio effect. |
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| Koi painted on floor of the eating space |
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| chompy waiting to get in |
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| chompy and stinko, happy until it's time to go. |
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