“dad, will you play legos with me?”
“sure!”

Hours later, kids are in bed.

The medium: legos.
The subject: production gear.
Always production gear.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

All emerged unharmed and happy. Whew.

and just in case you’re interested in a slightly related post….

“Hey, can you make the cookies made of crack?”, my husband asks me.

(He’s referring to the addictive qualities of a specific Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie.  There are no narcotics involved. Really.)

So I made the cookies made of crack, and I thought it’s about time I share this ridiculous goodness with the world.  So here you go.  The best cookies in the world.  (Originally my mom’s recipe)

1 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown suger
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups oatmeal
7 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (or more… whatever amount of chocolate you want)

mix well shortening, sugar, eggs & vanilla.
add remaining ingredients, mix well to blend
bake at 350 on greased cookie sheets, about 8 minutes
(best removed from oven when not completely browned… will cool to a more chewy consistency!)

Make them.  Today.  But please use their powers for good, not evil.
YUM.

So I lost my phone. It was about 9am when I looked for it to make a call, and it wasn’t in any of the 36 normal landing spots at home. So I looked in the 17 alternate landing places to no avail. I even looked in the couch. I began replaying the day before… when did I last have it… when did I last use it….I even tried the ‘find my iphone’ feature, but my phone wasn’t connected to a network anywhere. Hmmm…. And with a gut-blanching suddenness I remembered. I had taken it outside the night before while this was happening. Because I wanted to take pictures.

I remembered that there had been a bit of a scuffle, so I put my phone down to help out.  I remember thinking, “I HAVE to remember to take that back inside”. Then, my son had a bit of an accident on a scooter, so I had to help him get into the house and quiet the screaming. I forgot about the phone. Where did I leave it? Here.

Wondering what that is, exactly? Try this view.

I PUT IT ON THE BUMPER OF THE CAR. (I know.) When I realized all of this, my husband had already met a friend for breakfast and had returned home, driving this car.  He looked at the bumper… and was convinced the phone had gone with him. Because it had been raining, and the phone shaped outline implies something was sitting there in the rain. Be still my heart. He, being an amazing husband with a great appreciation for personal communication, retraced his steps.

And he found my phone.

My phone rode on the back of his bumper, in the spot pictured above…. for about 4.5 miles… …down our bumpy driveway… …through a half mile of washboard gravel road, including several hundred feet through a construction site (none of which Neil drives through with, say, great restraint)… … a few miles of 5 lane suburban roadway, including several stoplights… … IN THE RAIN… … to this restaurant.

He found the phone lying face up in the parking lot. In perfect condition. (pause to offer thanks and absorb the ridiculousness of my own actions)

He is, and has been for 15 years now, My Hero.

I began replaying the day before… when did I last have it… when did I last use it….I even tried the ‘find my iphone’ feature, but my phone wasn’t connected to a network anywhere. Hmmm….
And with a gut-blanching suddenness I remembered.

I had taken it outside the night before while this was happening. Because I wanted to take pictures.

I remembered that there had been a bit of a scuffle, so I put my phone down to help out.  I remember thinking, “I HAVE to remember to take that back inside”.
Then, my son had a bit of an accident on a scooter, so I had to help him get into the house and quiet the screaming.

I forgot about the phone.
Where did I leave it?
Here.

Wondering what that is, exactly? Try this view.

I PUT IT ON THE BUMPER OF THE CAR.
(I know.)

When I realized all of this, my husband had already met a friend for breakfast and had returned home, driving this car.  He looked at the bumper… and was convinced the phone had gone with him. Because it had been raining, and the phone shaped outline implies something was sitting there in the rain.

Be still my heart.

He, being an amazing husband with a great appreciation for personal communication, retraced his steps.

And he found my phone.

My phone rode on the back of his bumper, in the spot pictured above…. for about 4.5 miles…
…down our bumpy driveway…
…through a half mile of washboard gravel road, including several hundred feet through a construction site (none of which Neil drives through with, say, great restraint)…
… a few miles of 5 lane suburban roadway, including several stoplights…
… IN THE RAIN…
… to this restaurant.

He found the phone lying face up in the parking lot. In perfect condition.

(pause to offer thanks and absorb the ridiculousness of my own actions)

He is, and has been for 15 years now, My Hero.

Last year, the kids and I did this for my husband for Father’s Day.  I got to learn about video editing very quickly.  This year, it happens that my husband is out of town… has been for a while… and will still be gone for a bit. It was going to be tricky to mail him something, so…. once again I turned to video. Keep in mind, this was made exclusively for him.  You might be thinking “sheesh. this is loooong…”  or “she really could have tightened up the edit”.  Yes. This was all about daddy seeing his kiddos.  Hope you all had a great Father’s Day with people you love.  

Happy Saturday.

Two years ago, our daughter decided she wanted to decorate her Valentine’s day box to look like something related to ancient Greece, the period of history she was studying in school. A brilliant idea.  I imagined Greek columns drawn on a kleenex box.  She had other plans. When daddy heard about what our little girl envisioned, the two of them went to work and created this:

A bit challenging as a container of cards, but creative and unique nonetheless.  She recently told us that she remembers being sad that daddy wouldn’t use real water. Ohhhh, how the mighty have fallen. Last year, her class studied the Middle Ages.  Once again, daddy and daughter went to work.

It’s a medieval castle.  With flowers. I think possibly I was more involved in this one, because it’s very square and box-shaped and not nearly as unusual. But the cards had to go in and out through the drawbridge, so there is that.

This year, we’ve moved into American history. 

It’s Abraham Lincoln’s hat. It’s brilliant.  I’ll send 29 chalky little candy hearts to the person who can tell me what it’s made from. 

So this is our unintentional Valentine’s Day tradition: Historically appropriate card collectors. We probably have one more year where our daughter will want to do this, but our son is in kindergarten, where everyone decorated oatmeal cans this year. I figure we should get a jump start on next year and start thinking about something vaguely Aztec. By the way, in the background of picture 3, you can see a bag of Kit Kats. I convinced the kids to attach Kit Kats to their cards this year.   Because when mommies sneak into their kids’ candy stash, there needs to be something more substantial there than little candy hearts. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!