The Dog Ate My Nunchuk

This is what you find when you don't make the monkeyboy put his Wii remotes away before bed, then get home from being out all day (when you didn't even want to get out of bed,) and the dog has missed you:


And this is the culprit asking to be let out afterward. Probably to vomit wiring.

From Zeroes to Donuts



That's the name of a Curious George episode that's been Brent's favorite for a little while here, in which the Man with the Yellow Hat teaches George about zeroes and the sly monkey [ab]uses his new knowledge to change an order for 1 dozen donuts into a very exciting (to the donut lady) order for 100 dozen donuts.

Brent is seen here practicing for his own pastry coup.

Out of the Mouths of Babes #2



This is Brent's new buddy, born while I was taking a new clearance rack baby dress off of it to toss in the laundry. I set the hanger aside to rip off tags and next thing I hear is, "Momma, look! Bones!" and I am being chased around the bedroom by a skeleton. Funny, I always thought those hangers looked like really skinny Thanksgiving turkeys, but there ya go. This one's a scary skeleton dude. I love imagination.

Speaking of which, I imagine AT&T better get their asses in gear and not land anymore episodes of Supernatural or America's Next Top Model on my DVR that I can't! hear! :grumble, grump: If I were deliberately watching silent movies, I'd at least expect those text boxes that keep me up on the dialogue.

Ta-dah!



Tonight was season premiere night for Smallville and Supernatural -- and a fine evening it was. :D Good thing, because it was a frustrating day.

Brent was supposed to go swimming today with Daddy and Aunt Kate but Will had to work, which I did not know, and I was nearly out of diapers and took hours to get myself to the store and back, which I could not control, and then found out Kate only had until late afternoon to hang out, which I did not know. So, Brent got robbed for the second time this week. What am I going to do when he's old enough to realize it and adds his disappointment to my frustration? :( Guess the lesson is, don't make plans that include anyone but me because it sure seems like the whole world is unreliable lately. Or are my expectations of the folks around me really so unrealistic?

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Today at the grocery store, Brent suddenly flung out a pointer finger and shrieked, "Momma, look!" (I see and hear that about a hundred times a day.) "Yes, Brent. Trash." "Yeah, trash. Momma?" "Yes." "Da baby." (Referring to his little sister, sleeping in her sling and giving me a hellacious backache.) "What about the baby?" "Da baby in da trash!" "Uhh, no." And I swear I heard the old lady browsing fruit juices next to us snickering.



Thanks, Kim at Ravelry, for the idea for this blog post.

Imagination Movers, review

They live between your ears...


Their new show on Playhouse Disney (daily at 9 cst) premiered on Saturday and I'm a fan so far! I mean, um, my son loves them. Yeah, that's it.

Their show seems based around problem solving and critical thinking skills, but I've seen plenty of vocabulary and basic comprehension concepts like "open, closed, open closed" when they're playing with doors and plenty of interpersonal skill modeling, as the friends support and encourage each other and those around them. The music of course is cool, and the peripheral characters are not too obnoxious. My 3 yr old belly laughs at them every show and is already talking to me about what he learns.

The plot model is that the Movers are in business solving problems, though they don't seem to have any customers but themselves. The episodes I've seen include "No Noise is Good Noise," in which their music is interrupted by a mysterious, loud sound, "The Tooth Hurts," in which Warehouse Mouse is afraid to go to the dentist, "Bad Hair Day," in which Scott is embarrassed of his hair but the newspaper needs a photo right away, "Puppy Problem," in which a lost dog shows up on the warehouse doorstep, and "Too Cool," in which their warehouse is freezing cold and they have to figure out where the cold is coming from (full episode of that one available for viewing here.)

For the moms: Kids' music combined with cheesy 80s references and the guys aren't hard on the eyes. How can you not love them??

Scholastic Books, by Weston Woods

My cable provider (AT&T U-Verse) has a Video On Demand channel that offers nothing but video adaptations of Scholastic books, and they are FABULOUS. Brent absolutely loves them. The problem is that the individual videos only play for about 6 weeks at a time, and that's not nearly enough time for Mr. Again, Again! to get bored of them. (This is the boy that still watches his Animusic DVDs almost daily after nearly two years after getting them.)

So I found them online at their official website here:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/

$59.95 for a single video. EEP! The reason for this, I found, is that Scholastic is selling these to teachers, and the price includes the public viewing licensing fee. So, I have spent a couple of months looking high and low for an alternate source for these precious videos but have come up empty handed. Until now!

And it was such an obvious, simple solution. I called the "Order by Phone" number posted at that Scholastic website in order to beg, cry, and vent my frustration at them. But I didn't have to do anything of the sort. I just mentioned that I wasn't a teacher and the rep said I could order the videos at their Home Use price of $14.95. Well, THAT I can afford!

So, lesson learned: It never hurts to go right to the source and just ask for what you need. The worst they could say is 'no'. And if they say 'yes' it sure saves a lot of trouble.

(By the way, I highly recommend these video books for any young reader!)

Alas...



This doesn't count as knitting content because 1) it's crochet, and 2) I didn't make it; Ana did. It's a cool two-tone raglan pullover made out of Cotton-Ease. I'm looking forward to cool enough weather to put it on him for real.

I'm just posting it because, even though it's blurry, it's damn cute. But then I think any picture of my boy is damn cute. :)

Too much time in the blue chair

Thanks, Monique from Ravelry, for the fun quiz link. Here it is if others of you wanna geek out with us:
http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-harry-potter-husband-test

I got Mrs. Weasley Twin. which I can concur with. And who can complain about being matched up with a pair of brothers? ;) Here's the results blurb:

Your perfect HP man is Fred and/or George Weasley.



Laughter is important to you. You want a guy who's never boring, who can always put a smile on your face, and who can pull the best of pranks and never get caught. Or possibly two such guys. Because let's face it, they're pretty much a two-fer. You get one, you get both. Even if one of them's only a friend, he'll still be around so much you'll feel like you're married to him, too. Sure, they may not seem like the most mature guys in the world, in a traditional sense, but just ask them about their business plan. When they drive you nuts by relentlessly testing their latest inventions on you, you can console youself with that huge stack of cash and dragon-leather jacket. Besides, you know you're powerless against those stereo smiles.