Weapons of Mass Instruction

Ok, raise your hand if you got spanked as a child! ... Yes - my hand is up. I did get more than my fair share of "whoopin's." I know my brothers got their's too! Spankings around our house were meted out with pretty much whatever was at hand as needed but the "Red Paddle" was the official disciplinary instrument - made by my dad at some point, it was simple and effective ... and a very telling shade of red. This thing had a serious impact on us. When we wanted to argue, debate, plead or whatever, the Red Paddle was the ultimate arbitrator!

We knew what it meant and even went to great lengths to 'get rid' of it. It got hidden in progressively harder to find locations - under dressers, behind cabinets, etc. At one point, it was lost so long that we really thought it was gone for good! But, lo and behold it has returned!

This Christmas the gift that most caught me off-guard was - YEP - the RED PADDLE! I couldn't believe my eyes! It is not a fearsome thing to behold but it certainly stirred some memories. I do feel honored that I was chosen to be it's recipient, but I was a little sad that Matt and Jake wouldn't have it. Now that we all have children, this is going to become more of a practical need! But, it was more out of a (warped!?) sense of nostalgia that I decided to make them replicas of it.

The replicas are authentic in size, shape and thickness. I struggled with whether I should send them - didn't want to communicate anything negative. This was just a humorous way to share the memory. Of course, it is a "working" model, too!

Please Be Make Plaster Car Fun!

Cheryl found a fun gift for Isaac for Christmas (among the many fun gifts that she is so good at finding) - a "Make a Racer" kit. It allows you to make a working race car out of plaster of paris and some plastic accessories that come in the kit. It even included paint. What it didn't include where directions written by an English speaker!

The directions read like the output of some of these automated translators (likely because it was!). Phrases like "step 2 ... Cuts open the bag of plasters and put them into the mixing bowl." and later the warning that began, "Be reminded ..." made the instructions somewhat difficult to follow!

After having a bit of a laugh at some of the directions, I grabbed Isaac and we got started making the car. The mixture instructions were vastly miscalculated, though and I wound up with far too little water in the plaster. I had put it in a zip-loc baggie thinking I cut just cut the corner off and let Isaac squeeze it in ala pastry tool ... uh no. He looked at me after a second and said it was too hard, so I tried. By brute strength and determinaton I managed to extrude something that bore little resemblance to anything I'd discuss in proper company and certainly not a race car. I then again tried to enlist Isaac in mashing the ... uh, extrusion into the race car mold.

Half an hour, Oila! later we had a very hard plaster model of a ... uh, extrusion. Isaac was non-plussed - he was ready to add wheels. I pointed out that the plaster had been too hard to put in the axles and promised that we would try again with better plaster. The failed model quietly disappeared later that night.

The happy ending is that after a trip to Hobby Lobby (a favorite store in our family) and a second attempt with more legible instructions, we did manage to produce a car worth of the roads! Isaac has yet to paint it but he did help spray it green until he can find time to 'detail' it!

Fish Food and Family

Right after new year, Isaac and I had a special guys night - one we've been planning for quite a while. We went out for fish! I love fish - we grew up often eating fish that we or a friend had caught. We ate catfish, bass, perch, the occasional variety of fish that dad would catch off shore on a trip with his coaching staff.

This made it all the more interesting when I fell in love with a gal that doesn't like fish! How can it be?! Well, menu doth not a marriage make! While our marriage never suffered from this difference, it has presented some interesting situations - like when I brought Cheryl to Arkansas for the first time and my family celebrated with a fish fry! She did well though - even tried some.

Isaac, on the other hand, is quite the fish lover. He and I have been talking for weeks about our fish night. Right after New Year's we finally found the evening to do it. We headed out to Sea Island for a fish dinner. It was a blast - fun mainly for the alone time with my boy but also for a chance to have fish. Soon, we're going to have to find a place to fish. Maybe it will awaken my 'fishing' gene that has proved recessive since high school.

Holding on to Three

Isaac turned 4 yesterday. It was a grand event (video and further blogs to come!) but it was a little bittersweet this year. There is something about 4 that marks a change. I think Isaac noticed it to. We were spending a little extra special time with him Sunday night - the last night of "3-dom" when Cheryl noticed his birth mark was nearly gone. Sure enough, the red blemish on his left side was all but gone. It hit Cheryl a little harder than she probably expected, but Isaac's reaction was a lot more emotional. Parents can often tell the difference between a childish fit and real emotional anguish and this was all too real. As we comforted him, Isaac began to sob. His "special spot" was gone. We had always called it that with a smile when he asked about it. We never could have guessed it meant very much to him. He was crying and began to say he didn't want to be four. He wanted to stay three forever. It might have been cute or funny at another time, but this night it was not. We didn't tussle his hair and say it's all OK. We sat there with him on the floor in the bathroom and struggled with many of the same thoughts. He hid nothing. The openness of a four year-old is complete, but behind our comforting Cheryl and I knew we each wished time could just slow down a bit, too.

Our Newest Addition - Oliver!

I've completely missed the window of anouncing our new puppy, Oliver, but I still want to make my own introductions (Cheryl pre-empted me!). I did have the priviledge of going to get him the other day - a flying four hour, round trip drive to Columbus where I met the breeder for the hand off. Oliver wasn't "Oliver" at that point but, he was just as cute. He rode without a whimper all the way home.

The Introduction - The introduction was a blast, the kiddos followed clues around the house leading to the big reveal at the garage door! They were shocked, stunned, giddy, apprehensive and even concerned with where we got him (Isaac was anyway). What a great memory

The Name - My brother Matt answered our question about good names saying that dogs tend to 'name themselves' once you meet them and get to see their character. He was right. In order to avoid letting Isaac come up with one on his own - which would have inevitably led to a dog named "Dog" or "tu-tu" or "na-na" - we had some names thought up ahead of time for him to choose from. But, all the names we had prepared immediately fell by the wayside. Within a few hours, Cheryl had mentioned "Oliver" and it stuck. It fits perfectly both his regal appearance and playful attitude.

I had my reservations about a dog. But on the whole I'm really enjoying this. It is a blast to have a dog around the house - it brings back a lot of memories from my own growing up years. I'm happy that we took the time to find a good dog that will fit our lifestyle too! Low maintenance, just the right size, smart and loads of fun with kids!

BTW - if you are interested in a Boston Terrier, Pug or Chihuahua we know a good breeder!

Bloggers Block

Ahhhh! What is this? I can't seem to get a blog out these days! I think that I've got "Blogger's Block!" It may come from my rising standards of what I'll post. I don't know why I'm letting the bar go up, but I find myself lately not posting stuff while I wait on the right thing. Actually, lately I've been silent on a lot of topics because I don't want to get my blogs out of order. Since we've had a monumental event in our household about a week and a half ago (see next item...), I've been trying to get that posted before I do anything else... Stupid. I know. So I'm stopping it here. Let the blog flood flow!

Christmas Pics

I've posted a small collection of pictures from the holidays in Arkansas using google's web ablums through Picasa. Enjoy!

Overheard at the Landes House

This is a funny one from the Christmas break. At one point, I noticed I was sitting in the kitchen with Isaac, my mother and my pappaw (mom's dad). Pappaw noticed it, too, and we commented on how neat it was to have four generations together.

I tried to explain it to Isaac: "Pappaw is Ma's father; Ma is my mother; I am your father; and you are my son."

The wheels turned for a bit and then he looked back and asked, "Can you say that in Spanish?"

A little background: we often check out books at the library that have spanish translations or words in them. I can't for the life of me tell where that connection came from, though!

The Golf Ball Game Needs a Name

One of the big hits during this year's Christmas trip to Arkansas was the "Golf Ball Game". What is that? Well, that is a bit tough. It is a lot like horse-shoes with points being scored for throwing an item around a target, but the item is two golf balls connected with 14" of rope and the target is a PVC pipe contraption.

With our New Year's Eve Party in mind, I set out to make one of my own yesterday and it wasn't too bad. Isaac and I hit the Home Depot and got about 60 feet of 3/4" PVC, 12 T's and 12 elbows and the cord. Then we headed to Academy for the golf balls. I was a bit funny explaining to the eager sales person that I didn't need anything special - just 12 colored balls that could have a hole drilled through them.

The game took about an hour to make. I cut the PVC into it's pieces with my table saw and connected them to make the 'targets'. Then came the fun part - drilling holes in golf balls. I had a couple of slip ups which meant some scuffed up balls and one clamp with burned out pads where the ball got loose and spun on the bit. Isaac helped with every step, though and we finally got it all done!

I did meet someone else who has played it and they added some interesting rules, like the one where if you get all 3 throws on the same 'rung' you get to TRIPLE your score for that round!

If anyone out there knows of an official name or rules - I want to know!