Fishing...

Today, I learned my daughter is a better angler than I am...

I suspect countless hours of Animal Crossing and Legend of Zelda is the reason for this. And, who says video games rot the brain.

Why FDR Quotes Won't Work on 8 year olds...

So Viv has been dealing with some issues surrounding a scary movie she saw. Coraline completely freaked her out. To explain further would require another Blog post... so I will save that for another day.

Since tonight was my 5th or 6th night explaining that everything is just fine and there is nothing to worry about, I decided to pull out the Old FDR Line" You have nothing to fear, except fear itself".

Thinking I was quite the sage of wisdom for pulling out such an appropirately timed line, I followed up by asking Vivian if she understood what that meant.

Nodding fervently, the following monologue ensued:
"Yes, I do. The other day I saw this movie Space Chimp, and there is this other world in outer space, where people have to wear helmets. And they all do the same stuff. Well, the helmet lights up if someone is scared, or something like that. So they go into this cave, where there is a scary monster, and this girl is wearing this helmet, she's really scared so it keeps lighting up. Well eventually this monster eats her, cause she is so scared, it finds her. Later, she comes back, and the other people were like 'oh, I thought you got eaten up' and she was like 'I was, you don't even want to know how I got out'. She came out the rear end of the moster, Mommy."

Winston Churchill ...
Space Chimps ...
Aliens ...
Space Monsters ...
Space Monster Poop.

Little did Vivian know that Franklin D Roosevelt was turning over in his grave.

Conversations with the 4 year old.

M (Mom): Christian stop pulling down on the front of my shirt.
C (Christian): Mommy what's that thingy?
M: What thingy? My bra? People don't want to see my bra, it's like underwear, so don't pull on my shirt.
C: Underwear?! Ew gross... Mommy, why is your bra made out of underwear?
M: It's not made out of underwear, it IS underwear. I wear it under my clothes.
C: Why Mommy? To hide your nipples?
M: Uh...
C: It's ok Mommy, I'm an expert of nipples
[End of conversation]

A Voicemail from Christian

The kids have learned how to use the phone. With a little prodding, Christian is able to recall my cell phone number. This is a good thing.

Here's my favorite voicemail, that I have been saving for a while now.

(click here if you don't see the video)

Your kids, future movie directors.

Chances are if you're a parent, you already have a digital camera.

I mean, it's the thing to do, right? As a parent (especially a new one), you should take gigs and gigs of photos of your little ones drooling, walking, sleeping or even making weird faces. I certainly do it and my flickr account can attest to that, not to mention, memory is CHEAP!

So, here's a chance to put your kids behind the lens.

How? By making a stop motion video. It's actually pretty straight forward.

Here are the tools we used:

• Canon Digital Rebel XT Camera
• Mini Tripod
• Paper
• Crayons / Markers
• Legos
• iPhoto '09
• iMovie '09
• and unbridled imagination

For you Windows XP users, you could use Windows Movie Maker. It's free with Windows XP SP2 and available here.

The Creative Process (total time: about one hour)

We had the kids put together a story line based on their interests. In our case, it was SpongeBob SquarePants. I'm sure it had something to do with them coming off of a Nickelodeon Marathon... It also helped that we had SpongeBob legos. So depending on what you have to work with go with what makes them (and you) happy. I'm sure with enough prodding we could have done a Star Wars themed movie, but, I digress.

When putting together the story we guided them to keep the story line short and to about four "scenes".

We then drew out story boards, just like they've seen on the extra features of many of the DVDs they have.

And starting building props and background images.

Production Process (total time: about one hour)

Once we had all the pieces that followed the storyboards, we set up the camera on a tripod in front of our workspace.

And, followed these steps.

1. Checked background
2. Place Props
3. Place / Move Characters
4. Snapp Photo
5. Repeat

And that was pretty much it.
Editing (total time: 30+ minutes depending on your OCD)

Editing was pretty easy, details on how that was done can be found on my other blog, which highlight using the iLife '09 Suite on the Mac. Doing it on Windows is just as easy, just drag and drop.

Publish and Share

Then post up to your favorite video sharing site and share with your friends and family. Here's the fruit of the kids' labors.

Let your kids be heard!

Interactive technology is always fun, especially when it's something I could introduce to the kids and let them run with it.

One great example, which had Vivian occupied for a good hour, was Zefrank's voice driven drawing tool.

It's a little flash application that allows you to control a brush with sound. A low volume sound guides the cursor counterclockwise; a medium-volume will straighten the line; and, a high volume sound will lead the cursor clockwise. It's actually kinda neat.

Eventually the whole family was howling at the computer trying to do our own vocal etch-a-sketch-like artwork.

Here's Vivian's masterpiece as it developed.

Here's a result of playing Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter" to the tool.

You know, if you don't know Frank, you're missing out.

Follow him at http://twitter.com/zefrank and visit his site often for some happy distractions.

A fun and cheap activity with the kids.

If you're looking for a fun, cheap and easy activity with the kids, try mixing corn starch and water to make a non-newtonian fluid called oobleck.

This past Friday night, Viv and I thought we'd give it a try.

For those of you that don't know. A non-newtonian fluid is a fluid whose viscosity is not a single constant value, meaning that the relation between sheer stress and strain rate in non-linear.

HUH?!?!

Basically, in regards to our activity, our fluid acted like a solid when struck or abrupt force was applied. When left alone or little force was given it acted as a liquid. Check out this wiki entry if you're interested in more information.

Just in case any parents are interested in trying this, just know this:

• it's definitely a fun and easy activity to do at home,
• It's non-toxic,
• can be very messy, and
• skip the food coloring. Viv and Pxian's hands will be green for the next week.

The recipe we used was from this blog.

Here's the video from our experience.

It's the simple things...

a futile effort
Originally uploaded by Knight Diver

Sights like this aren't uncommon with the kids.

We were going on an evening walk and the kids wanted to ride their bikes. This is understandable since we've made some great strides this summer; Vivian had graduated to having no training wheels, and Christian finally figured out the whole pedaling thing.

Needless to say, we just need to work on Christian's steering... he can't seem to stay on the side walk. With hindsight, I'm beginning to believe this might be something he does on purpose, since he found just about every rut from our house to the park.

It's the simple things in life that he enjoys... who knew pedaling with no progress was one of them.

No boys [g]irls only

Denied!
Originally uploaded by Knight Diver

It's a common phenomenon, I'm sure, boys wanting access to where the girls are, etc. And, I *KNOW* it gets worse as they get older.

This picture is of Pxian outside of Vivian's bedroom, the morning after Viv's first sleepover.

I told him, it's something he had to get used to. His disappointment quickly dissipated once we proceeded to go downstairs to make breakfast and watch Saturday morning cartoons.

Happy Earth Day

Vivian singing

Technorati Tags: Earth Day,Kids,Singing

How to Expand Ivory Soap - wikiHow

This looks like a fun activity to do with the kids.

How to Expand Ivory Soap - wikiHow

Snowball is in a contest...

So, I signed Snowball up for a photo contest.  It's Bissell's "Most Valuable Pet" Photo Content.  And you can vote for him by click any of the pictures below.

Here's the TinyURL to share with friends and family:

http://tinyurl.com/2f42tb

We did have some better pictures of Snowball, and I thought that I could change it after I uploaded it... but, apparently, you can't.  So, here are some below.  He also has a flickr photo set.

www.flickr.com

What is this?

This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Snowball. Make your own badge here.

The weekly prize is a new vacuum, the Bissell's Pet Hair Eraser...  which is something we need as that our old vacuum isn't working anymore.  {sigh}

From all the weekly prize winners, a grand prize winner is picked.

Bissell's grand prize:

1. Pet's photo placed on Pet Hair Eraser vacuum and package
2. $10,000 Donation to Pet Cause of winner's choice!

If Snowball wins, the $10,000 donation will be given to the Capital Area Humane Society. 

And remember kids...  don't forget to control the pet population be getting your pet's spayed or neutered.

Technorati Tags: Pets,Snowball,American Eskimo Dog,Bissell,Pet Hair Eraser Vacuum,Photo Contest

Snowball has his own page! How Crazy is that?

Visit my family

Technorati Tags: American Eskimo Dog,dogster

Snowball needs a new toy...

Technorati Tags: pets,fetch,fetchbot 9000

Snowball

So, things with Vivian's birthday gift fell into place.  We adopted an American Eskimo puppy about two weeks ago, and let me tell you...  he's like a third kid.  Except, he enjoys being in a crate and whines much less...

The human kids enjoy the crate as well, but children services won't let me keep them in there while I'm out of the house.  Sigh...

Technorati Tags: American Eskimo,Kids

Jelly versus Jam

In case you didn't know, there is a difference between Jelly and Jam...  You know the difference?

Jelly is made from the fruit juice.  While, jam is made from both the fruit and juice.

At least that's what I've been told.  Interested in reading more? 

Go here.

So, why the blog of fruit preserves?  No reason...  it's just that we finished making the kids lunches for tomorrow and it consisted of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches.

Doesn't that sound yummy?  This kids think so, and that's all the matters.

A Meme

I stumbled across Lina's blog Uncool and found this meme, 

Bolded statements are true about me.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college she finished when i was in junior high
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent.
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school.
17. Went to summer camp.
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home.
25. You had your own room as a child
26. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
27. Had your own TV in your room in high school
28. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
29. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
30. Went on a cruise with your family
31. Went on more than one cruise with your family
32. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
33. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

Technorati Tags: Meme

Almost there...

Kids grow up quickly and suddenly... one moment they are babbling, helpless, little bundles of drool, the next moment they are miniature people with opinions, their own set of likes and dislikes and they can communicate.  It is quite a miracle.

Here's another thing that amazes me. 

For the past seven years, we've had to purchase diapers.  This is from the time my daughter was born up to now. 

Seven years!

Seven years of buying poop and pee-pee collectors, in all of Pamper' different varieties:  Toddlers, Cruisers, Trainers, Swimmers. 

On only a couple of occasions, two different sizes.

I do have to say that we were lucky that diaper purchase for Vivian and Christian overlapped for a little over a month. 

I remember the time when we decided to stop buying Vivian diapers.  This period of time also coincided with us trying to get here in to a "no diaper" zoned pre-school.  We flat out told her:

We are not buying you any more diapers, you're a big girl and you know how to go to the potty and you need to go to school.

And, it worked. 

So, why am I blogging about this now?  Well...  these past couple of days, my son has been keeping his night time trainers dry!

I don't know if I'm happier b/c I can confirm the fact that my son is not going to be in diapers throughout High School and College, or that we're getting rid of another monthly expenditure.  (Yes, there was some celebration when we no longer had to buy baby food and formula)

Light at the End of the Tunnel...  here we come!

Superstores!

There's something to be said about the conveniences made available to us with the creation of these large department superstores.  Wal-Mart, Meijer's, Target are all doing it.  Now a days, you can pick up some home items, clothing for the kids and this weeks grocery all in one place.  How great is that?

Furthermore, prices are so cheap, it's almost ridiculous to go somewhere else to purchase things.  Especially when it comes to kid's clothing or toys.  So, as a parent always watching how money is spent, I really have no choice.

Along with the good, there's always the bad.  Wal-Marts has always had a bad reputation of treating their employees like crap.  As well as roughing up manufacturers in selling items in bulk way below acceptable margins.  There are also numerous problems brought to communities and their small businesses when a superstore takes root in their area.

But, the one thing that gets me...  the biggest gripe I have is how large these places are.  And, consequently how it never fails that once we get to the farther point from the closest restroom my boy has to "go potty."

UGH!

Technorati Tags: children,wal-mart

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...

As a father who has two very active kids, I have built over 50 GB of pictures of the things we do. 

It's just so easy when you have a subjects like these:

I take pictures, it's what I do.

Technorati Tags: Children,Photography