Shanon posted a bunch of photos (some dating back to Halloween) last night, and I added a few (some taken today) this afternoon. Including this funky drummer.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Friday, November 17, 2006
How to make a wish
Luke sometimes likes to take baths by candlelight, and he did so tonight. After he finished brushing his teeth, I held the candle out to him.
"Make a wish," I joked.
"But it's not my birthday," he said. "And, anyway, it doesn't really work unless you just wish it was your birthday or something."
"What?"
"If you wish you were grown up and in a rocket, it doesn't work. If you wish that it was Halloween this minute but you could still eat the cake, or if you wish that the lights would go out and stay out forever, it doesn't work. You have to wish that it is your birthday, or wish that you have a cake or wish that you were having a party or something like that for it to work."
"I understand," I said. "Why don't you wish you were with the man who loves you most, and blow out the candle."
"Make a wish," I joked.
"But it's not my birthday," he said. "And, anyway, it doesn't really work unless you just wish it was your birthday or something."
"What?"
"If you wish you were grown up and in a rocket, it doesn't work. If you wish that it was Halloween this minute but you could still eat the cake, or if you wish that the lights would go out and stay out forever, it doesn't work. You have to wish that it is your birthday, or wish that you have a cake or wish that you were having a party or something like that for it to work."
"I understand," I said. "Why don't you wish you were with the man who loves you most, and blow out the candle."
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
New photos on Flickr (finally)
We have some new pictures on Flickr of the boys. This one that Shanon took of Luke is one of my favorites. You can also see Commander Lawson, the four-year-old astronaut.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Friday, July 07, 2006
Rocketboy
Luke's new thing is rockets. He has been interested in rockets for a few months now, so the July 4th launch of the Discovery was a big event for us. We watched the countdown on NASA TV on the web until the network news coverage started. We watched the "backflip" before the space station docking. We read about rockets most evenings, and he watches the tape we made of the liftoff every day.It's fun for me, because I'm learning more about rockets, too. I think I was more excited for the launch than Luke was. It can also be frustrating to read to him about this stuff, because he's almost exclusively interested in rockets blasting off. Not in space suits or satellites or Mars rovers. Space ships blasting off. His ideal book would be forty pages of color illustrations of rockets blasting off. Gets a little monotonous.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Rocking out
Luke and I spent Saturday making a cigar box guitar. I got a subscription to MAKE magazine for Christmas from my parents and from Katy (so now I have a two-year subscription! Thanks!), and the first issue I received featured a project for making a cigar box guitar. It even has instructions for adding a pickup to make it an electric guitar! Since guitars are one of Luke's favorite things, I knew that we'd have to give it a try.
The tobacconist downtown didn't have any spare boxes, so we got a little wooden craft box at Hobby Lobby. We got most of the hardware at Ace and the oak 1x2 for the neck at Home Depot. We did some other fun stuff on Saturday afternoon, so we really got started on the project on Saturday evening.
I told him that, when it was done, he'd have to take extra good care of it, and not leave it lying around, drop it on the floor, etc. All he wanted to know was "will I still be able to rock out?"
We generally had a great time with making the guitar, with Luke helping all the way. It was hard for him to leave the guitar along long enough for the epoxy to set, but he did it. We did have some rough moments toward the end when I was afraid that the hardware I bought was a little too big for it to all fit together. I had tried to warn Luke about that kind of thing in advance, telling him that not everything you make turns out right the first time, and filling him in on Dad's Law: it isn't much of a project unless you have to go to the hardware store twice.
But it was already a bit past Luke's bedtime when I told him that I thought we might have to wait another day to get different screws and washers, and he didn't take the news well. "No! Don't say that," he said, on the verge of tears. "You are a bad daddy!" Luckily, I didn't lose my temper with him, but reminded him that I had told him this might happen, and that I was doing my best. He calmed down, I tried again with the stuff we already had, and we made it work.
As the photos show, he was thrilled with the end result--it really plays, and sounds pretty good, though not too loud. Later, as we put the finishing touches on, Luke said "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said you are a bad daddy. I didn't mean it."
I put the photos on Flickr, and submitted a few them to the MAKE photo pool, which meant that little thumbnails of the guitar and Luke rocking out were on the front page of the MAKE blog for a while on Sunday night and Monday morning. Which is why some of those photos have been viewed hundreds of times. Then, on Monday evening, MAKE blogged our photoset, sending even more people to our photos. I only wish they had put the photo of Luke on the blog, instead of the photo of the guitar.
The tobacconist downtown didn't have any spare boxes, so we got a little wooden craft box at Hobby Lobby. We got most of the hardware at Ace and the oak 1x2 for the neck at Home Depot. We did some other fun stuff on Saturday afternoon, so we really got started on the project on Saturday evening.
I told him that, when it was done, he'd have to take extra good care of it, and not leave it lying around, drop it on the floor, etc. All he wanted to know was "will I still be able to rock out?"
We generally had a great time with making the guitar, with Luke helping all the way. It was hard for him to leave the guitar along long enough for the epoxy to set, but he did it. We did have some rough moments toward the end when I was afraid that the hardware I bought was a little too big for it to all fit together. I had tried to warn Luke about that kind of thing in advance, telling him that not everything you make turns out right the first time, and filling him in on Dad's Law: it isn't much of a project unless you have to go to the hardware store twice.
But it was already a bit past Luke's bedtime when I told him that I thought we might have to wait another day to get different screws and washers, and he didn't take the news well. "No! Don't say that," he said, on the verge of tears. "You are a bad daddy!" Luckily, I didn't lose my temper with him, but reminded him that I had told him this might happen, and that I was doing my best. He calmed down, I tried again with the stuff we already had, and we made it work.
As the photos show, he was thrilled with the end result--it really plays, and sounds pretty good, though not too loud. Later, as we put the finishing touches on, Luke said "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said you are a bad daddy. I didn't mean it."
I put the photos on Flickr, and submitted a few them to the MAKE photo pool, which meant that little thumbnails of the guitar and Luke rocking out were on the front page of the MAKE blog for a while on Sunday night and Monday morning. Which is why some of those photos have been viewed hundreds of times. Then, on Monday evening, MAKE blogged our photoset, sending even more people to our photos. I only wish they had put the photo of Luke on the blog, instead of the photo of the guitar.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
New photos on Flickr
We uploaded a small batch of photos to Flickr. Check back later today, as I forgot to upload at least one that I can think of.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Run, Sue, run!
Luke has a cold (as does Shanon; Nick is getting over his) and has been home from school the last two days. To kill a little time today, we looked at photos of Sue, the Tyrannosaurus Rex at Chicago's Field Museum, on the web.They have this little flip book that you can print out, cut into pages, and staple together. Flip the pages, and it looks like Sue is running. Luke thought that might be fun, so we printed it out and he helped me cut the pages apart. While he talked to Shanon, I assembled the pages and brought it in for him to see. I flipped it. No reaction. "Isn't that neat?" I asked. "Yeah," said Luke, "but when will they start running around?" I think he thought each individual picture would run around on its own.
It's hard to compete with the internets.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
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