It must be your birthday!
(Wait. Is it really someone’s birthday?)
Here’s a video I made for our float. It’s what i spent part of my day doing and I have no other material tonight. I think it’s ok if you watch it. Just don’t mock me too hard.
by Lauren 4 Comments
It must be your birthday!
(Wait. Is it really someone’s birthday?)
Here’s a video I made for our float. It’s what i spent part of my day doing and I have no other material tonight. I think it’s ok if you watch it. Just don’t mock me too hard.
by Lloyd 5 Comments
My favorite feature of my new iPhone is the slow motion camera. But I’m not very good at using it. I try slow motioning things all the time, but they never turn out quite like what I expect. Until now.
Last week was Macy’s birthday, and I was ready. I was ready mostly because the week before, for Bethany’s birthday, I was not ready. So thanks Macy and Bethany for this footage.
Sorry about the sudden cut-off at the end. It turns out that iMovie on the iPhone is iSmall and iHard for my old iEyes to read. Also, I may not have had my iGlasses on.
by Lauren 3 Comments
I have to give Sam some credit for this idea. Several weeks ago when Lloyd and the kids were building with Lincoln Logs, Sam said that they should have a green rug to be the grass. Good idea.
A few weeks ago my class was talking about addresses and neighborhoods. We used masking tape to makes squares on one of our tables to be our ‘neighborhood’. We had a spot for the buildings and a place for cars to drive. After a couple of days we jazzed it up with construction paper to be grass or dirt, with a pond thrown in for good measure.
Hmmmmm. That got me thinking – those scrapbook places have every kind of paper under the sun. Surely they have different kinds of Earth coverings?
Why, yes they do.
I added labels to throw a little literacy into the mix, then glued them back-to-back (different surfaces) and had them laminated. Normally I am not a fan of laminating because do we honestly need so many things encased in plastic for eternity?
I made an exception in this case.
Water has been the most popular by far. The boys (there is a small knot of boys who have taken ownership of them) gleefully have the cars splash into the ocean, and one of them (a boy, not a car) just got back from a family trip to Mexico, so block area has become a very nice beach resort. “Here we go, Mexico!”
by Lauren 6 Comments
Still working on the star for the float. Friday evening was spent poking the rest of the holes and today was spent adding a lamp kit to the lead pipe that will go on top of the stable.
There has been a lot of experimenting and thinking and thinking and thinking. I’m trying to do things right the first time and not spend money twice. The light that came with the star is a little 25-watt appliance bulb that just makes it glow. I’m trying to fit a 75 or even 100 watt CFL in there, but those still get hot. I hacked a holder that will make sure the star doesn’t touch the bulb. I’ve been testing it on a regular lamp base in the guest room. Here’s hoping.
I bent the wires while watching part of The A-Team movie. It was motivating.
Now if I could just get those wise men out of my yard….
The flashlight on my keychain broke off again. This is the second time that’s happened, so it was time for a replacement. I bought the two-dollar twin at Walmart, brought it home and thought, “Y’know, the same thing is just going to happen again. It’s that little thing inside that snaps off. Could there be another way?”
Yes, there was another way. It involved searching downstairs for a tiny screwdriver that I know is just going to get lost. Sorry, tiny screwdriver. Life is hard.
My original intent was to see if I could drill through the case and stick it on a keyring, but it turns out that my drill is at home and my backup drill Lloyd’s drill is in the trunk of his car. (He is/was gone.)
As it turns out, there’s a handy little hole inside the body of the flashlight. Some waxed twine and a couple of square knots later and I’m in business!
Take that, winter darkness.
by Lauren 6 Comments
I write this in frustration. There are reasons behind it but the big one I’m focused on right now is how often I’ve misplaced things and what a colossal waste of time follows that. You know about losing my phone this week already, but so far today I misplaced a drill bit and spent many, many minutes searching for it in frustration during the loooong process of working on the float today. (Remember playing Uno with preschoolers? That is how building the float with school agers is going. “Pick up that end, please. No, there. No, there. Here – put your hands right here and we’re going to lift. Lift now. NOW. Good grief, go get a tissue.”)
Then tonight I was watching t.v. and poking holes in the star that is going on top of the stable. I was using a pin and was about halfway done when I put my hands down on the couch and thought, “That’s enough for one day. I quit.” I raised my hands and the pin was gone. I searched and searched and yelled at myself. Wally got scared.
And now? Now I can’t find my iPad. I’ve already done the table/counter/car routine twice, so I’m just giving up and hoping it’s at school.
I am not going after it.
Update: It was in the spare room. Dang it. I’m leaving this post up anyway. Also – woo hoo!