d'oh! R.I.P. HP Slimline motherboard

Bit the dust today. No pictures for a while, except the ones I make on this here mac with a pretty awesome painting program and my mad mouse skillz. The good news is that I had just backed everything up.

The better news is that as I was attempting to resuscitate its cold dead lifeless carcass, I just happened to turn the computer tower around and notice that it has a 2-year warranty (so we're covered with 50 days to spare) instead of the expired 1-year warranty like I thought. Therefore, HP is going to reincarnate the motherboard for free. [happy dance on its warm grave]

The case of the malfunctioning washing machine

Our washing machine has been ill, presenting symptoms of long cycles, incomplete draining, suds cycles, and very damp clothes that have clearly not been properly "wrung out." After trying various home remedies (i.e. Peter checked the external drain hose for clogs and I tried using less soap and doing smaller loads), we called a doctor.

He showed up before 7am, had the problem diagnosed just from our description, and quickly started open pump surgery and removed 5 baby socks that were clogging the arteries. He was in and out in about 10 minutes, and left us with a working washer and the bill for 99 U.S.D.

Anyway, just wanted to confirm everyone's suspicions that washers do, indeed, eat socks and that appliance repair people make about as much in an hour as medical doctors.

Mahb'led- the grashuse sea

After a rough sleepless night (around 4am the whole family was awake for various reasons), we sent ourselves on a cheery picnic in Marblehead (on an island near a lighthouse, of course), and invited Laura and Tim to join our party.
Calvin rejoiced at the plethora of rocks, and told how to properly throw large rocks in by "getting closer and closer until they hit the water." How true.

A massive hunt for geodes was launched, and we found quite a few. We tried to split them open using various methods (the 'throw them really hard against the cliff' method was my favorite), but met with limited (zilch) success.Peter told the kids they could only take one rock home each, and this is what Bryn tried to slip by. Good try.
Oh for the love; would somebody just pinch her cheeks already!

Cousin Longfellow would be proud

Bryn composed this fine piece of poetry. I have no idea what inspired it, since we haven't seen the beach in many moons.

Translation:
Untitled
The Gracious Seas
At morning's dawn
The seagulls fly so beautifully
On the beach is little Anni
So cute
Her mother watches near
At the beach

She brought this masterpiece out and gave us a reading...well, more like a singing. Then she informed us that the proper interpretation is that Anni's mother was watching because Anni was so cute.

Done and doner

We had a very enjoyable preschool experience this year reminiscent of the old one-room classrooms of yore when all the age groups met together. It worked out remarkably well; the younger kids acted more maturely because they were with the older kids, and the older kids developed healthy self-esteems because they were with the younger kids. I liked the running-with-the-pack atmosphere. After some remarks by the teachers, the kids each said a few choice words about what they thought about preschool, and then we had snacks. A lovely end to a lovely year.
Helga dons her cap (she asked for this hairdo by referencing a witch on one of her halloween t-shirts)
totally the top guy in school
Love that face

the traditional eating of the cap

Here comes the sun (dooo doo doo doo)

It's too quiet...

It was Saturday night and the kids had just taken their baths. I was rocking Ivy in the front room when I realized it had gone quiet, and panic set in. Anyone with small children can testify about the gravity of this situation. We're talking code blue...as in scissors cutting siblings hair and wedding dresses, marker on the baby's face, real water filling the fake plastic kitchen sink in the kid's bedroom panic. But nothing could have prepared me for what I found when I opened the kids' bedroom door...















Yes, aliens have abducted my children and replaced them with these copies that, by themselves, went and found PJs, beds, and books, and set to quietly reading in the dusky twilight. If you see the actual Bryn and Calvin streaking naked through the streets of America (with scissors in their hands), tell them we love them and will (sort of) miss them.

Silent i

A conversation that occurred this evening:

Bryn: "Joke" ends in i, right Dad?
Peter: No, "Joke" ends in silent E. There's no such thing as a silent i, only a silent E.
B: But there are silent Bs and silent Cs. [earlier today she was talking about climb and lamb]
P: Well, there are silent Bs, but I don't think there are silent Cs. [after considering it for a moment] I guess there are silent Cs if they're before Ks, like in "kick."
B: Right!
P: And in "luck" and "duck" and "truck."
B: [she smiled] Or "F%$#!"
P: [flabergasted to silence]
B: "F%$#." That's a funny word. It's a good joke. right? F%$# F%$# F%$#. I just made up a word. Isn't that funny? [she then runs into her bedroom laughing uproariously; Peter is still bewildered as to how to respond]

[Bryn came out a few minutes later still snickering]
B: Do you remember when I said "F%$#?"
P: Yah...about that, we need to have a little talk about that word...

MS Word-less

We are in a sad state here at our house. Our main computer (running Vista) is ill and showing very curious symptoms (it works, but slowly, and then randomly freezes up with jibberish on the screen and stops running-please let me know if you think you know what's wrong). We've mostly stopped using it until we get the external hard-drive I ordered so we can back up everything before repair attempts are begun.

This is the computer I use to process all my photos, scans, and videos, so I feel like my third arm has been cut off. Happily, we were recently the recipients of a nice (and free!) Mac from some wonderful people via the RS List serve, and still have access, but none of my media interfaces with it, so no eye candy for a while.

All this is to say, if the blog is lame for a while, blame Bill Gates. If it's lame after we fix things, blame me.

Ready for action

Food Construction, Railroad Building, Demolition...here he comes! Thanks Kim and Darin and family and everybody that made this apron possible.