Egalitarian Fun

Last week I needed to mend the hood and zipper of Victor's winter coat.

Victor was very interested in my needles and thread. As I was encouraging him to go and play I thought, "If he were a girl, I would give him a little square of cloth and his own needle and thread to experiment with."

Why not? I'm equal-rights fun!

So I rustled up some white cloth and red thread (because we spent December reading the Grinch) and showed Victor how to push the needle through the cloth.

This is what he created.

It's a bird feeder. In his words, "You see, there is a tiny hole for the birds' beaks to get the food. But it is too tiny for squirrels."

Fingers Crossed

I don't want to jinx it, but Zeke has stayed clean and dry for five whole days.

My Secret Weapon: marshmallows. The full size variety.

Zeke apparently prefers them to race cars, trains, Bible story figurines (I know, go figure), or anything else I used to tempt him.

Socks

Do you need a good sock strategy?

Liz has a great one over at The Sommerkorns.

My sock strategy is the complete opposite, which makes sense because matching and folding socks is the icing on my laundry cake.

Also, most of my personal socks are distinctive and easily matched.

But I think I'll use her strategy for the boys, modified for their constant out-growing of things. I currently toss any sock that has a hole. The modification to Liz's method will be to buy fewer pairs of socks than she does, but to junk all of them when the supply has dwindled to the point of needing a re-stock.

Thanks, Sis!

Night Vision

Unlike Mad Gone Mom, we suffer through snow days in which everything is canceled despite a complete lack of snow.

Such as yesterday, a snow day on which the first flurries arrived around 3 p.m. By nightfall we had accumulated approximately half an inch (and another round of daily closings).

The boys wanted to go out and play in the dusting, but since it was dark and cold and since we lack all but the most basic snow-wear, I said no. I'm not that fun.

They individually explained to me that darkness was no impediment.

Victor: I can see very good in the dark. My eyes get browner and browner and then they can see things. It's like magic!

Zeke: I can see in the dark! My eyes are red and glow and I can see!

A Self-Depreciating Gesture

Do you ever read in books about a person holding out his hands in a self-depreciating gesture? I must have, or I wouldn't have come up with that phrase.

Well, a funny thing about Victor is that he has a self-depreciating gesture. If you tell him something new, like, "Victor, if you pull out that tab, the parts will click together," he will cock his head, spread his hands in front of him in a self-depreciating gesture, shrug just a little, and say, "Oh, heh heh, I did not know about that. Heh heh. That is good."

Well, East Coast Girls Are Hip

Last night at Mutual, the Beehives told me about a YouTube video called "Provo Utah Girls," by BYU's Divine Comedy club. (We all remember "Girl's Apartment," right?)

"It's to the tune of "California Girls," they told me.

Since I'm fun, I checked it out. It was easy to find, but I wondered if I had the right video because the song was wrong.

It turns out that there is a NEW California Girls song, one NOT by the Beach Boys. This one, according to Liz, is by the Elmo-related-scandal-maker Katy Perry.

Favorite Christmas Gift

Today for show-and-tell, Victor was assigned to bring his favorite Christmas gift.

He chose to bring his new pants.

They are athletic pants: brick red with a blue stripe down the leg.