Categories
Family

Who Needs School?

Parent do!

Since last Wednesday the kids are on an impressive run, with a little help from MLK Day. They had school last Friday, then a delayed opening on Wednesday and a full day yesterday only to have school cancelled for today. For those keeping score, that’s 2.5 days in the last 10 and with the weekend it’ll become in the last 12. It’s an unofficial Winter vacation!

And from what I hear, there’s more snow on tap for next week. So their score is going to keep getting better. Which means they’ll be going to school into July at this rate.

Categories
Family

Sledding

As I type this, I’m being bombarded with requests for food. I suppose their hunger is an indicator that night sledding was successful. After all, the only thing more fun than sledding is doing it in the dark!

It was something of an unexpected bonus that with the recent rain and wintry mix stuff, the snow now has a hard shell covering it that’s strong enough to support the kids whilst they walk on it. It also happens to be slick enough that they can slide down the hill on their stomachs. Naturally, that’s more fun than using a sled.

Earlier this week, we took them out to a public sledding hill. While we were there, conservatively about 25 other kids percolated through. The hill itself is long and fairly steep and the snow is packed down so the sledding is very fast. All the little bumps along the way down the hill were magnified into mini-ramps. Some older kids had piled snow into a couple of actual ramps, one of which allowed a daredevil to catch some pretty serious air. Many kids took their chances on that ramp, all with spectacular results regardless of whether they landed properly or on their ear.

The, er, downside of the hill is that it’s a looooong walk back up the hill. Especially if the sledder made it down the main portion to the flat where they could continue to slide for roughly half a football field. Try doing that in 15″ of snow with short legs. To their credit, it wasn’t long enough to dull their enthusiasm for the ride down.

More snow is forecast for tonight. All the more chance to forge new sled trails. Winter fun has only just begun.

Categories
Football

Too Much Packer Optimism

In my previous post on football, I picked the Packers to win it all. Since then, I’ve noticed a lot of media people jumping on the bandwagon, talking about how great the Packers, and Aaron Rodgers particularly, are playing. I’ve even seen reports that Brett Favre thinks they’re the best team left in the playoffs.

If it gets much worse, I may have to rethink my pick. I think it was pretty clear that the Jets’ motivation was fed by the media narrative surrounding their game with the Patriots.

In other news, Patriot fans are sinking to new levels of pathetic. They’re blaming Belichik’s decision to bench Wes Welker for the opening series of the game this passed weekend for the loss. Truly, unbelievably, pathetic. Did any of those guys recall that the Pat’s opening drive marched right down the field and ended in a Brady pick? The mindset actually highlights one of my biggest pet peeves about most fans of winning teams- they assume that the reason for losses had nothing to do with the other team.

Categories
Bread

Brioche

I’ve never made brioche before. I only ever became aware of it from reading a book by Alton Brown. More recently, I was speaking with a hockey-Mom who bakes her own bread like myself and she spoke very highly of brioche. The Wife was so impressed that she started pushing me to bake a loaf, going so far as to dig up a couple of recipes on the web. I finally relented this passed weekend.

I don’t know if there is a classic brioche recipe out there. But the defining characteristics of a loaf are a dark, dark brown crust that is soft, an even crumb, a little bit of sweetness to the taste and a very soft texture. It’s like eating a pillow- without the feathers … or polyester.

Following is a recipe that I came up with based on the ones the Wife provided.

Categories
Football

NFL Championship Games

HAH! 8 playoff games and I’m 6-2. Not bad. The two I whiffed could easily have gone the other way. Let’s just call it 8-0 for the heck-of-it.

I didn’t see the Patriots game because I was watching the rest of the family skate. But reading the little bit of commentary out there, Pats’ fans have nothing to go on. They flat out got whupped and their golden boy Brady coughed up a stinker exactly when he supposedly never does. My guess is the New England sphincter reflexively tightened when Brady threw the pick on their first possession. Oh well. At least they beat the Jets 45-3 back in the regular season!

So with that, two more games:

  • Packers over the Bears
  • Jets over the Steelers

Meaning the Packers will be the eventual Super Bowl champs.

See how easy this is?

Categories
Family

Thoughts on Tiger Mothering

An article by Amy Chua has been getting a lot of attention for the past week. In the article, she describes a little of her parenting philosophy which includes some pretty strict control over her kids’ social lives, demanding A’s in school, and some pretty serious discipline when required. Mrs. Chua has a book coming out that the article is promoting, so perhaps some of the article can be explained as “not attention is bad attention.”

What struck me most about what she had to say in the article is that her approach to parenting is familiar to me. She sums it up pretty well with her final sentence:

By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

These are pretty much the goals the Wife and I have for our kids. We are not pushing them to become doctors, lawyers, musicians or athletes. Rather, we’re trying to equip them with skills that will allow them to succeed at whatever they do.

Categories
Admin

Cool Picture

It was actually colder when I went to get the picture, but I think my handling the thermometer raised the temp.  Negative temperatures aren’t all that common around these parts; though, we’ve been seeing negative temperatures more frequently in the last couple of years than I recall back in the 90’s and early 00’s.

Categories
Family

Speaking of Jokes…

The boy has been telling jokes lately. Here’s a sample (actually, I suppose this one is more a riddle):

the boy: Dad, what flower do you have on your face?

me (after thinking): I don’t know.

the boy: A “tulip.” Get it? Because you have two lips…

me: Very clever.

More recently, he realized there’s another answer to his riddle: an “iris.” Get it? Because your eye has an iris…

So now we have no chance of getting the right answer.

Categories
Football

HA HA! I Get It!

So Wes Welker does a little media appearance yesterday and everyone walks away dazzled at the number of times he used the words “feet” or “foot.” My initial reaction was that this non-story had to be the silliest sports media coverage of all time.

Then I remembered- they’re playing the Jets. Who are coached by Rex Ryan. Whom, it has been revealed, has a foot fetish.

And now it not only makes sense, but I think it’s the most brilliant bit of trash talking of all time.

Categories
Misc

The Day After

Brilliant sun today along with some impressive cold. The snow finally stopped yesterday evening around 7PM or so. The kids spent the entire afternoon outside working on their snow fort. Right now, it’s more tunnel than fort, but they want to work on hollowing it out some more today, possibly making it big enough to sit upright in there.

While watching a little TV and doing nothing for awhile, the Wife and I noticed that the kid’s school popped up on a “closings” list. There was some initial confusion- we were surprised to see the decision to close school for today made so quickly. Personally, I was figuring on a delayed opening. But we were able to confirm it a little later. So the boy and the lass will have plenty of opportunity to perfect their snow fort.

I’m not as sore as I thought I’d end up after all the shoveling. Score one for me. I am tired though, so I’ll have to call it a “push” overall. The kids are no worse for the wear. No surprise there. Likewise, the Wife is fine.

So that wraps up the Winter Weather blogging. At least for now. It is only January after all. There’s still plenty of time for Mother Nature to throw some more at us.

Categories
Misc

Winter Wonderland

Plowing was a cinch the second time around. I’m still exhausted.

Pics after the jump.

Categories
Misc

Snowstorm Update

We’re still here. The kids are outside building a fort in the pile of snow I shoveled off the deck. It’s roughly eight feet high and 10 or 11 feet across. The boy and the lass could make a living room out of it, complete with plumbing if they wanted.

I started shoveling and plowing at 9 o’clock. I finished at 1 o’clock. The driveway is partially protected by tree cover and was 8 inches at it’s lowest. Further down where it’s open to the sky it was 13″ when I started. The hardest part was how quickly I ran out of places to put the snow. Because of how I plowed, I left a portion unfinished while I plowed the up near the road. By the time I returned, the snow was over 16″.

The snow on the deck was ridiculous. Easily 20″. I think the disparity is because we’re kind of in a hollow- at the bottom of a hill with only our backyard (where the deck is) open to the sky. As a result snow tends to kind of get captured and settles in.

Anyway, I’m pretty much exhausted. I’ve got some pictures but I’ll post them a bit later. It’s still snowing- I’d say another 2.5″ has fallen on the portions of the deck that I cleared.

Despite my exhaustion, I’ll say that the snow is simply magnificent. I told the kids this is possibly a once in a lifetime sort of snow and they should enjoy it. So far, they are.

Categories
Misc

12″ And Counting

They were predicting 5-8″ overnight. As of now, there’s 12″ and the snow is still falling. Now they are calling for an additional 8-12″ and looking at the radar, it’s entirely possible.

This isn’t a “blizzard” in the technical sense, but I think it lives up to the spirit of the term better than the last one did. I’ll post pics later.

Categories
Football

NFL Divisional Round

So, not too bad for taking a minute to make predictions. The only game I missed was the one where the team with a losing record for the season beat the team with a winning record. I think that’s forgivable.

So that sets up the 4 divisional games:

  • the Ravens over the Steelers
  • the Jets over the Patriots
  • the Packers over Atlanta
  • the Bears over the Seahawks

As a bonus, I fearlessly predict that Oregon will beat Auburn tonight.

Categories
Family

Awards and Accolades at the Age of 6

I meant to jot this down yesterday, but got sidetracked by Pinewood Derby preparations. I showed the boy and the lass how to polish the axle nails for the wheels using my drill press and they were both thoroughly engrossed in the activity for the afternoon. Also, there was much painting going on.

The boy was paid a nice compliment yesterday after his hockey practice.

He and I were in the car ready to head out. One of the volunteer coaches was parked next to us and as I started to back out, the coach motioned to the boy while looking at me. Clearly he wanted to make a quick comment so I stopped and rolled the window down. Again, motioning at the boy he said “He’s a great kid and a real pleasure to work with.”

I’ve spent more than a few pixels here documenting some of the boys tougher moments. It’s nice to spend a few showing that, for all those other moments, he has a lot that are good moments as well. Enough for other people to notice.

Categories
Football

The Team to Root For

Clearly, we all have to root for the Seahawks. Because even though they lost more games than they won (But HEY! They won their division!), by winning the Super Bowl they will definitively prove that they are the best team in football.

Incidentally, doesn’t this show why a playoff in college football would never really solve the purported problem that the polls and BCS aren’t solving? I’ll be more blunt- the problem of choosing the best team can’t be solved because on any given day, a no-win bunch of losers can have fate smile upon them for an afternoon. Even against the supposed best team in the country.

Categories
Family Woodworking

Pinewood Derby Cars

The boy’s Pinewood Derby race is coming up in a couple of weeks. The pack supplies a kit for the boy since he’s a Scout; we purchased a second kit for the lass since we figured she would want in on the fun as well. This week they both decided it was high time that their cars got done. Neither of them is capable of handling a saw, and it sure would be a shame to let the equipment in the garage go to waste. So I had myself a little woodworking project.

Still, I wanted the projects to be as much theirs as possible. Towards that end I had them each select the style of their car. I simplified the process by doing a quick search and then taking them to Maximum Velocity. The lass chose the Sports Car, which is the hot pink one under Car Plan 4. The boy chose the Formula One car under Car Plan 3. No commentary regarding their selections.

After the jump are some pictures to show how they came out.

Categories
Misc

Global Warming Update

The South is supposed to get as much as 12 inches of snow today and tomorrow. This might not be such a big deal if by South I meant Antarctica. But we’re talking about the snowy peaks of Birmingham, Alabama.

Last year, when the Northeast was pasted with feet of snow, we were told that this was in line with global warming predictions because it showed an increase in precipitation. So, even though temperatures haven’t increased enough yet for it all to be rain, the storms were consistent with “Global Warming Theory.”

So now, we’ve got a cold front that stretches all the way down into the deep South of the US. And, as we all know, the South is known for receiving gobs of snow with great skiing and snowboarding. So the “increased precipitation” in the South that is resulting in all the snow is still certainly consistent with “Global Warming Theory.” Don’t pay any attention to the cold temperatures.

Incidentally, after the snow is done falling, it’s supposed to get really cold. Don’t worry, I’m sure the cold snap is still consistent with “Global Warming Theory.”

Categories
Football

Wild Card Predictions

No in depth analysis; no litany of BS about what coach or player is causing some drama that might have an effect on the game. In fact, this while line of commentary you’re reading at the moment is my only attempt at fluff for my Wild Card predictions. For all the goofballs out there crunching numbers on Cray Supercomputers, allow me to demonstrate just how easy it is to make predictions:

  • Saints beat Seahawks
  • Jets beat Colts
  • Ravens beat Chiefs
  • Packers beat Eagles

There, see how simple that is? Maybe I can get a job as a professional opinion giver…

Categories
Family

The Right Carrot

Santa delivered the kids a couple of handheld gaming devices this Christmas. Specifically a Nintendo DSi for the boy and a Mobigo for the lass.

As it turns out, he also handed the Wife and I a significant amount of leverage over the kids. It’s taken only a couple of days for them to grok the concept of “earning Wii time” as they now call it. So far, without complaint, they are helping with laundry (the boy actually brought down the kids basket without being asked), the dishes and feeding the animals.

Each achievement is quickly followed with a “Did we earn some Wii time?” at this point. So their motivation is pretty clear. But still, they are contributing and they seem to be making a connection between acting now so that they can play later.

Also, if they can earn time by helping out, they can also lose time through misbehavior. At some point, we might actually have to come up with some kind of system to determine just how much time they earn. Right now, though, the kids aren’t concerned with that level of detail.

That’ll probably be next week. After they decide that we didn’t give them enough time over the weekend.