Already using Christmas presents, the boys and I had some fun with some "clean" art. These are our sketches with washable crayons for the tub, starting with A Cow, by Jesse. 
Monday, December 26, 2005
Bath Time Fun!
Already using Christmas presents, the boys and I had some fun with some "clean" art. These are our sketches with washable crayons for the tub, starting with A Cow, by Jesse.
Santa Lights
Camera trickery? Nope. This picture was taken through a special pair of glasses that makes you
see Santa's face in the Christmas lights!
I'm not sure exactly how they do it, but it is pretty amazing and lots of fun to see! 
see Santa's face in the Christmas lights!
I'm not sure exactly how they do it, but it is pretty amazing and lots of fun to see!
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Better Picture
Here is an "improved" picture of Eric in his performance. Prior to and following this moment he was delighting the crowd with his antics. He kept pulling his arms out of his sleeves and into his shirt. I waived at him trying to get him to put his arms back out of his shirt. He waived Missy and at me but each time his hands zipped right back in. I was in the far back with Jesse and when Eric finally noticed him he decided to waive. I was trying to get Jesse to waive back and Eric continues to waive all this time. Other people didn't see anyone responding to his waiving and (having no idea who he is waiving at) suddenly start to waive back at him. So, Eric smiled and waived at them too. At one point, knowing that we wanted him to put his arms back out he attempted, and actually accomplished, crossing his arms inside of his shirt and sticking each hand out through the opposite sleeves. People all around us were snickering and laughing. One of my friends said that Eric literally had him in tears he was laughing so much! It was quite funny and many people had to tell us how cute it was afterwards. One woman assured me that her son used to be the same way but turned out well (graduated college and now has a good job). I'm not too worried!
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
HOUDINI DOG & AN ANGRY MEAL?
We all ventured out early this evening in the better cold to our appointed time and place to make an attempt at a family photo WITH DOG. It could have gone better, but also could have gone MUCH WORSE, to say the least. The photographers block the studio room off in attempt to keep the dog in, but of course, in a split second Tucker finds his small window and is loose in the mall. Luckily, he came right back to Jon -probably spooked by still being inside a strange place- rather than actually being free in the outdoors. Too many mobile or maybe "animated" props created some difficulty in what we ended up getting but such is life. In response to the "Say Cheese" command, Jesse seriously told our photographer "Tucker doesn't talk. He can't say that." We all laughed which poor Boo did not find to be funny then turning him (temporarily) sad. Good things we have CUTE KIDS, eh? The session doesn't seem to be available via the web but we can let you know if you'd like when it does to check what we were able to capture in the most recent session or "episode" as things typically play out for us.
On the way back, having two more obligations to tend to, we decide on a quick meal at Mickey D's. Our eldest son says "Oh good...because I want a happy meal!" and younger brother chimes in with a tainted perspective saying "well, I want an ANGRY meal because I'm angry." We were going to ask if they served those, although they certainly don't advertise such for quite obvious reasons :)
On the way back, having two more obligations to tend to, we decide on a quick meal at Mickey D's. Our eldest son says "Oh good...because I want a happy meal!" and younger brother chimes in with a tainted perspective saying "well, I want an ANGRY meal because I'm angry." We were going to ask if they served those, although they certainly don't advertise such for quite obvious reasons :)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
The Capacity to Shock!
Nope, I’m not talking about modern culture, Hollywood, politicians or anything like that. Rather, I am referring to those confounded capacitors! Last night there was a slight accident with a heavy object (our laptop computer) falling on our home computer. This caused a slight dent in the case and while I was not home, Missy reported that it then had a terrible smell, stopped working and would not turn on, as if it were unplugged. Even though I was not home, the accident was mostly, if not entirely, my fault. You see, I had previously placed the laptop on the floor in the corner of the dining room after returning from our weekend travels. Deciding yesterday that this was not a good place for it to stay I put it up where the children could not step on it, etc. Apparently it was also a place where it could fall onto its cousin below.
Feeling culpable (and hoping to avoid any large expenses) I decided to investigate. I confirmed that the plug and outlet were not the problem and then “opened her up.” Seeing that the dent was directly over the power supply (and since it seemed to be a power problem) I decided to start there. I removed the power supply and disassembled it, looking for something obvious. To my surprise, I actually found something obvious. A black, scorched looking area on the bottom of a circuit board (under the leg of a resistor) and a matching spot on the metal case of the power supply unit. After digging out the old multi-meter I determined that the resistor was still functioning as were multiple other points that I tested. I then found a 3 Amp ceramic fuse and tested that (being ceramic you cannot simply look to see if it is burned out)…no current was passing through it.
The next problem? Radio Shack doesn’t carry that size ceramic fuse (nor do the two other places where Jesse and I checked). They had normal glass ones, but not wanting to have to repeat this transplant operation should it fail to withstand the heat inside the computer I decided not to try those. Feeling determined, I broke into one of our old computers that we must have been saving for just such a situation. While the power supplies were wired and connected differently, guess what I found inside? A ceramic 3 amp fuse! Yippy! I put this fuse into the current computer’s power supply and then proceeded to plug the unit into the wall, while still outside of and disconnected from the computer to avoid any mishaps and observing for any problems (you know, like smoking, sizzling, cracking, popping, etc.). All seemed to go well so I unplugged the unit and began to fidget everything back into…”AAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!” “What was that daddy?” Oh, nothing. Just a vocal reaction to the unexpected JOLT passing through my left hand and up my arm! Strong enough to surprise me and cause me to drop the unit to the table, but otherwise, no harm done.
After that I successfully returned everything to its previous position and plugged things back in. As you can guess (since I was able to post this) it was a successful mission! Not the sort of thing a stay-at-home-dad usually has to tackle but interesting nonetheless! I’m just happy that nothing else was wrong and I didn’t have to pay someone else to fix it or try to sell me a whole new power supply!
I posted some pictures above. It made me wonder how the computer feels about being a part of posting such intimate pictures of itself on the internet. Hmm.
Until next time! Blessings!
*** I guess I should explain that capacitors are electrical components that hold a charge (electricity) even after they are “unplugged.” The computer power supply has these (and other like minded creatures) in order to “condition” the power coming from the outlet to the computer. This provides for a more stable and consistent power supply to the delicate computer circuitry than the standard voltage straight from the wall, which can fluctuate significantly. I must have inadvertently touched two points on the bottom of the circuit board that connected to one of these causing me to "complete the circuit."
Feeling culpable (and hoping to avoid any large expenses) I decided to investigate. I confirmed that the plug and outlet were not the problem and then “opened her up.” Seeing that the dent was directly over the power supply (and since it seemed to be a power problem) I decided to start there. I removed the power supply and disassembled it, looking for something obvious. To my surprise, I actually found something obvious. A black, scorched looking area on the bottom of a circuit board (under the leg of a resistor) and a matching spot on the metal case of the power supply unit. After digging out the old multi-meter I determined that the resistor was still functioning as were multiple other points that I tested. I then found a 3 Amp ceramic fuse and tested that (being ceramic you cannot simply look to see if it is burned out)…no current was passing through it.
The next problem? Radio Shack doesn’t carry that size ceramic fuse (nor do the two other places where Jesse and I checked). They had normal glass ones, but not wanting to have to repeat this transplant operation should it fail to withstand the heat inside the computer I decided not to try those. Feeling determined, I broke into one of our old computers that we must have been saving for just such a situation. While the power supplies were wired and connected differently, guess what I found inside? A ceramic 3 amp fuse! Yippy! I put this fuse into the current computer’s power supply and then proceeded to plug the unit into the wall, while still outside of and disconnected from the computer to avoid any mishaps and observing for any problems (you know, like smoking, sizzling, cracking, popping, etc.). All seemed to go well so I unplugged the unit and began to fidget everything back into…”AAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!” “What was that daddy?” Oh, nothing. Just a vocal reaction to the unexpected JOLT passing through my left hand and up my arm! Strong enough to surprise me and cause me to drop the unit to the table, but otherwise, no harm done.
After that I successfully returned everything to its previous position and plugged things back in. As you can guess (since I was able to post this) it was a successful mission! Not the sort of thing a stay-at-home-dad usually has to tackle but interesting nonetheless! I’m just happy that nothing else was wrong and I didn’t have to pay someone else to fix it or try to sell me a whole new power supply!
I posted some pictures above. It made me wonder how the computer feels about being a part of posting such intimate pictures of itself on the internet. Hmm.
Until next time! Blessings!
*** I guess I should explain that capacitors are electrical components that hold a charge (electricity) even after they are “unplugged.” The computer power supply has these (and other like minded creatures) in order to “condition” the power coming from the outlet to the computer. This provides for a more stable and consistent power supply to the delicate computer circuitry than the standard voltage straight from the wall, which can fluctuate significantly. I must have inadvertently touched two points on the bottom of the circuit board that connected to one of these causing me to "complete the circuit."
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