Legos. Still Killing It.

Last week I read a comment (somewhere - who knows?) claiming that the new sets Lego sells preclude creativity. They're good for building that one thing, this person said, but nothing else.

Nope. Iain receives Lego sets. He builds the item (Y-wing fighter, train, police car, helicopter, doesn't matter). Then he rebuilds it as something else. He makes secret compartments (see below, the red box full of Lego "gems"). He makes moving, multi-function arms. He makes legs, uses wheels, and builds new "pewers."

In short, worry not about the young. No set produced by Lego can repress the impulse to customize in little kids.

Donuts

Iain, to his teacher today: "Did you know that when dinosaurs were alive there were...no donuts?"

The horror.

He is also experimenting with grading systems. He's urged me to institute a grade called SAI (Sad and Incompetent). Of course he graded himself YEC (You've Earned Cents). Apparently, if you get a YEC the teacher chucks pennies at you.

I'm not committed to these new grading systems, of course.  Just considering them. Iain's very enthusiastic, though.

Photos from Laurie and KP's house in Teasdale. Pretty pretty.

The Best

"You're the best, Mom." Iain said.

"The best mom you've got." I replied.

"So far." he said.

He wins.

Tony, We Love You

Above, Tony and Iain checking out a half-frozen creek in Capital Reef National Park. There were several tracks across it, so they spent a minute or two speculating about wildlife.

Anyway.

The thing is, I never actually made decent baked potatoes. Ever.

Recipes say, "Heat the oven. Poke the potatoes. Bake for an hour. Voila!"*

No. This is a lie.

But Tony...he knows things. So he said, "Oh, you microwave them for 14 minutes, then bake them at 375 for an hour." Really?

Yes. Really. They're good. Really good. I've made them thrice. Every time: really good. And now Iain says "You make good potatoes, mom." We've decided to call them Tony's Potatoes.

We miss you, guys.




*Please note for the record that I even tried the recipe offered by Alton Brown. Nothing worked for me. Nothing.

The End

We made a gingerbread house while the Boys were here. It featured two houses, four little gingerbread people, and a Christmas tree. Iain insisted that there be a "girl house" and a "boy house." Gingerbread people admire the Shakers, apparently.

My lady ginger people sported candy pearls. Their house had a fully-decorated roof, too.

Iain, on the other hand, decorated his gingerdudes with M&Ms and Skittles, made his snowman into a cyclops, and gave his house a minimalist roof and a candycane mustache.

From above you can see that the two houses have a peppermint walkway to link them. Like you would. And a nice jellybelly border in case you want to stray into the garden. Also, on either side of the entrance there are rounded flower patches. The front of the property is fenced with gumballs and candy canes. The photos don't show it (human error) but there are snowdrifts of marshmallows along the back of the houses, too.

[And a jam jar inside the girls' house because Mommy can't remember to take out the supports before she puts on the roof.]

Next: when kindergartners attack.

Iain grabbed the meat tenderizer Miriam gave us (first used in gingerbread demolition last year) and went to town.

Bam! Bye-bye, boys' house.

He really enjoyed breaking it into small pieces.

And then it was all over. I remembered, too late, the fact that picking candy bits out of the wet, cold, wintery grass is a pain in the butt.

Goodbye, pretty gingerbread house. See you again next year.

What is the sum of all positive integers?

S=1+2+3+4+5+ . . .
S=-1/12
Really!

Experts? Bah!

From the New York Times:

“A substantial body of social science research confirms,” the [Utah] brief [to the Supreme Court seeking a stay on gay marriages] said, “that children generally fare best when reared by their two biological parents in a loving, low-conflict marriage.”

Lawyers for the couples challenging Utah’s ban on same-sex marriageresponded that the assertion “is not true.” For evidence, they cited “the scientific consensus of every national health care organization charged with the welfare of children and adolescents,” and listed nine such groups. The view of the groups, the challengers said, “based on a significant and well-respected body of current research, is that children and adolescents raised by same-sex parents, with all things being equal, are as well-adjusted as children raised by opposite-sex couples.”

Utah responded that it would not be swayed by “politically correct trade associations,” referring to, among others, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association. “We are not ruled by experts,” the state’s brief said.