Archive for November, 2015

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Family Conversations, Part 26

Nov

26

2015

Delta : Dad!
Me : Delta!
Delta : Dad!
Me : Delta!
Delta : Dad!
Me : Delta!
Delta : Dad!
Me : Delta!
Gamma : Dad, you’re supposed to say “what”
Delta : Dad!
Me : What?
Delta : I’m hungry.

The scene: Delta is crying.
Delta : What’s the last song on the CD?
Me : Good King Wenceslas
Delta : Gamma said it was Delta is a Bad Boy.
Me : Nope, that’s not even a real song.

The scene: Delta has just finished running up the driveway.
Delta : My head is beating.
Pause
Delta : My heart is in my head now!

Gamma : If fish don’t breathe air, why do they jump out of water? Is it like their swimming?
It took me a second to figure that one out.

Beta : Dad, Gamma hit me!
Gamma : He told me to!
Me : Did you ask him to hit you?
Beta : Yes
Me : Well, what did you expect?

The scene: We are on a long drive. Everyone is quiet and occupied, except for one child.
Gamma : Dad!
Me : Yes?
Gamma : Dad!
Me : Yes?
Gamma : Dad, what would you be like if you had no bones?
I offer some explanation.
Gamma : Dad, why do birds fly in a V?
I offer some explanation.
Gamma : Dad, how do people know what brains look like?
I offer some explanation.
Gamma : Dad, how does an air conditioner work?
I offer some explanation.
Gamma : So when it’s hot out, it gets even hotter because all the cars’ air conditioners take the cold air?
Me : I think so.
Gamma : Dad, how does salt melt snow?
I offer some explanation.
Gamma : Dad, when you cut paper, where does it go?
Me : It just separates, like you’re ripping it.
Gamma : But where does it go?
Me : ???
Gamma : Last time, you said it goes to the other side.
Me : Okay, that sounds right.
I had no idea he asked me that before. Must remember to offer only valid explanations to things.

There were many more, but those were the most interesting questions I could remember.

Me : Look, I just smacked a mosquito.
Gamma : Where?
Me : There, see the blood?
Gamma : Why did the blood come out?
Me : He was drinking my blood, and I hit him, so my blood came out of him.
Gamma : Like he was laughing when he was drinking so the blood came out his nose?
Me : No, his tummy was full of my blood and when I squished him he broke open.

I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me.

Psalm 22:14

Posted in Conversations | 2 Comments »

Vacation Recap, Lake Erie, Part 6

Nov

24

2015

We took a week to circle Lake Erie. We never visited Lake Erie itself, just a few interesting points.

Day 7

After breakfast in the hotel room, set out on another adventure. We could see the shuttle bus stop from our room window, and we waited until all the amusement park people had left. We were off to Hershey Gardens – the botanical gardens that are part of the Hershey complex and are thus included in the shuttle bus routes.

photo of a path in Hershey Gardens

The boys really enjoyed it. The gardens had a number of different sections:

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Posted in Travel | 2 Comments »

Kvartal Lessons

Nov

19

2015

My wife did not like our closet doors (they were large, heavy, and obtrusive), so we went to IKEA to procure an alternative method of hiding the contents of our closet.

Behold, the Kvartal:

photo of a Kvartal closet system from IKEA

I’m not going to go into details explaining IKEA’s closet curtain system and how it works, and I’m not going to give step-by-step instructions on how to install them. It was obvious enough from the instructions they provided.

What I am going to do is offer up my collection of Allen wrenches to the highest bidder.

For the Kvartal, you buy all the pieces individually. That lets you customize it to what you want. So we bought some rails, a few hanger thingies, and a few panels of fabric to go in the hangers. Oh, and the brackets for mounting the rails.

The downside with the modular approach is that, since they don’t know if you’re buying one piece or ten, they provide a little Allen wrench with each piece. It’s the same wrench, but I didn’t need 14 of them to install one closet system.

photo of a bunch of extra wrenches leftover from assembling IKEA furniture

For those who are keeping track: yes, there are only 13 in this photo. I lost one somewhere.

Sometimes, when I am assembling something, or fixing something, there will be a pile of spare parts left. In this case, I had a pile of spare tools.

Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords And strengthen your pegs.

Isaiah 54:2

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Vacation Recap, Lake Erie, Part 5

Nov

17

2015

We took a week to circle Lake Erie. We never visited Lake Erie itself, just a few interesting points.

Day 5

After breakfast at the hotel, we left Perry. It was a few hours – starting on some backs roads because Perry (or Castile, I couldn’t figure out which was where) is not near anything. The plan was get up, eat breakfast, and leave, Then, 4 hours later, we would arrive in Harrisburg and eat lunch and then pop over to Hershey since it is right next to Harrisburg.

Due to the lack of breakfast options, it seems that everyone ate lighter than usual, because people were hungry about halfway to Harrisburg. Or maybe it took us longer to pack up so we didn’t leave right after breakfast. I forget which.

Anyway, thanks to the magic or smartphones, my wife was able to find a restaurant that we could get to before the kids melted down. There were a variety of chains, but we chose a place we had never heard of before – Country Cupboard.

It’s in Lewisburg, and it is well worth a stop. It has a large restaurant, but it also has a candy store and gift shop and stuff. You may be picturing a Cracker Barrel. That would be inadequate. This place is more like a complex, filling an area comparable to a few Cracker barrels put together.

The kids liked it. A lot. In fact, Beta still asks if we can go to Pennsylvania, just so he can eat at the Country Cupboard again. The food was good. And it was a buffet, so the kids could get what they liked and in what portions. There was a lot of variety, and it was a decent price. Nothing bad to say.

We eventually made it to Hershey and went to the Hershey Lodge.

photo of the entrance to Hershey Lodge

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Soaps

Nov

12

2015

Soap operas have been replaced by Facebook.

That is all.

But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness.

2 Timothy 2:16

Posted in Life | 2 Comments »

Web Words

Nov

10

2015

Here’s something Gamma brought home that he did in school:

image of a first-grade crayon drawing showing bugs stuck in a web

Here’s a close-up, in case you want to try to read his bugs:

image of a first-grade crayon drawing showing bugs stuck in a web

In case you still can’t read them, they are:

  • fli
  • beedl
  • grasshopr
  • spidr
  • cricit
  • bee

My favorite part: the happy expression on the grasshopper’s face. The other insects seems resigned to their fate, but that grasshopper is enjoying the moment.

Yet these you may eat among all the winged insects which walk on all fours: those which have above their feet jointed legs with which to jump on the earth.

Leviticus 11:21

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Vacation Recap, Lake Erie, Part 4

Nov

5

2015

We took a week to circle Lake Erie. We never visited Lake Erie itself, just a few interesting points.

Day 4

After breakfast at the hotel, we left Rochester and headed for Letchworth State Park, voted the #1 state park in America. It was scenic.

Here is the view just after the entrance, at what I think was the first overlook spot.

photo of a scenic overlook at Letchworth State Park in New York

(more…)

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