Radiated Frog

Our frog seems to be getting bigger! Either that or this is his big brother.

This picture is of the frog on the outside of a door.

This is taken from outside with Lucky's glowing eyes in the background.

Griffin and the frog eyeballin' each other.

Griffin has no fear when it comes to touching frogs and critters. I, on the other hand, jumped about a foot when the frog jumped onto my shirt!

Dinner at Jim & Auntsie's

Last night the boys and I were treated to an excellent meal at my Uncle Jim and Aunt Nancy's house. Griffin has taken to calling Aunt Nancy by the name "Auntsie". I'm not sure if he misunderstands what her name is or if he is trying to be efficient.

After not having any of Lisa's meals since she left for France over a week ago, I truly appreciated the kind offer of a real meal. It took me a while to adjust to adult conversation. lol I resisted the impulse to ask Jim and Nancy if they needed a potty break at least.

We had a traditional ham and mashed potatoes meal. The ham gravy is from a recipe my 85 year old grandmother developed. As far as I can tell it's very similar to regular ham gravy except you add several handfuls of sugar! My family loves the sweetness of it. I could eat it all day long. Those that have married in to our family are not generally as fond of it. They probably have more sophisticated taste. ;)

The boys enjoyed P B & J sandwiches followed by ice cream. Two servings each. The adults had a berry pie hot from the oven with vanilla ice cream on the side. :D

This is a Test, Only a Test

Just making a post to see if the RSS feeds is working to the mrxcooks forum.

Danger Mouse

I realized on Tuesday that I hadn't let the boys watch any television since Lisa left for France. Actually, I should be accurate and say that they haven't watched any television since Wyatt left. He is the only one of the boys who can fully operate the 400 disk dvd player.

The boys do not get access to regular cable tv. We only allow them to watch dvds that we have selected. We load them up into the big dvd player and they can select them from an on-screen menu.

The Brady Bunch is a long running favorite with only season five to go. They have also been enjoying Leave it to Beaver. Yesterday I added Danger Mouse season one to their DVD collection and turned it on for Griffin and Harry. So far it seems to be a hit. I also ordered Lost in Space season one.

The only problem with our system is that the boys will grow up and have fond memories of television shows that are not common for their generation. They will get strange looks from others when they recall watching Leave it to Beaver while others talk about Power Rangers. I don't think that is such a bad thing.

Time Saving Child Labor

Discuss by clicking here.

The One Day Rule

You have probably heard of the five second rule regarding food dropped on the floor. Well, I use the one day rule for sippy cups.

The one day rule states that you only need to rinse a sippy cup in hot water before reusing if it started out clean that morning. At the end of the day you stick them in the dishwasher. I cannot seem to find a reference to it in wikipedia though.

Child Labor

There is a kink in my plan. After investing much time and effort teaching Cooper how to properly remove the dishes from the washer I realized that he is too short to put them away! Damn.

The Supplies

If you followed the adventures of Mr. X and kids when Lisa went to Germany last year you might notice a similarity in the picture of the supplies this time around. In mathematics the term "similar" has a specific meaning. Basically, the attributes are the same but the measurements are different. In this case (so to speak) you'll notice a much larger pile of wine crates! I learned my lesson last time and had my wine guy deliver half a truck full last week. :D Since it is important to have a contingency plan I also have a supply of rum and a key lime tree.

We are fully stocked with the six basic food groups; peanut butter, bananas, mac & cheese, milk, orange juice and wine. I also laid in a bunch of diapers and wipes. I felt like I was hurricane planning as I completely packed my basket at the grocery store today. We're only planning on leaving to pick up another digital camera as Lisa took our only one to France with her today!

Things You Cannot Put in Your Carry-On Luggage

With the new restrictions for carry-on luggage the boys will need to rethink their plan to stow away to Paris!

Lucky looks depressed about it all. It seems he cannot fit into any of our bags. He's a smart dog. I think he realizes that Lisa is going away more than Harry and Cooper do at this point!

Our House is a Zoo

Literally. I've been told by visiting family members on more than one occasion that our home is a zoo. Too true. It bears a particular resemblance to the monkey-house with a few cats and a dog thrown in to boot.

Today the boys took it to a new level. Every once in a while we are not paying attention to the boys closely for too long of a time. You can hear them in the background while you read your paper or drink your coffee. On some occasions a subconcious tip rises up to let you know you should check on things. More often than not it is too much silence. This morning it was not so much a subtle tip as getting hit over the head with a "look at this" bat. In fact, that is pretty much what Wyatt said to me as he came laughing into the family room.

Lisa and I followed Wyatt and Griffin into the living room where they had set up a Cat Zoo. Several Thomas trains had been dragged down from the playroom to provide the basic cages. This was no old school zoo with animals trapped in metal cages. Wyatt tried to recreate the cat's natural environment as new age zoos do by putting a scratching post into one of the trains!

Like many successful zoos, this one expanded beyond the original animals. It eventually included two cats, one Harry, a North American Griffin and a Labrador.

Feeding Time at the Zoo

Olive or Twist?

Did you ever have one of those moments where you realize that you have missed something fundamental and obvious all along? I just had one of those.

The last few nights I have been reading Oliver Twist. I was talking to Lisa about it, and a few minutes later, she walked by and said, "Olive or twist?". As Emeril would say, "BAM!". Not sure how I've missed that one all these years. Especially after reading the part where the character responsible for the naming of Oliver is drinking gin while telling about naming him.

Makes me wonder what else I'm missing.

Cheap Entertainment

Life is easier with four young boys when you find simple ways to keep them occupied. Many people will claim that the biggest benefits of the web include democratization of the media, efficient supply chain management, connecting geographically diverse groups with common interests, working as a force to free people and nations, etc... Personally, I believe that the most important thing to come out of the internet revolution is a cheap and easy way to keep your kids occupied.

Clicking on the pictures to the right will take you to just a few of the many simple ways to entertain your children for hours on end while you drink your wine.

Staging

Lest anyone think otherwise, the pics of Cooper below are not staged. This is simply a day in the life of Cooper. I just happened to have a camera at the ready.

If All Else Fails...

You can always learn to pick up trash. The guys on the trash trucks are unionized in many large cities. Full benefits and all.

This One, Dad?

There's always the restaurant industry. I'm sure many great chefs started by delivering food and beer to the patrons.

Backup Plan

Not everyone can be employed in the high tech vacuum field. It's good to have a backup plan in a more stable industry.

Career Planning

When Lisa went to Germany last year I put Wyatt, Griffin and Harry to work. Cooper missed out since he was with Lisa. Being under one year old may have helped him avoid the more strenuous labor anyway. This time it's going to be different. muhahahaha

Besides, isn't it the job of the father to provide career advice to his sons?

I Know What Women Want

I thought I knew what women wanted when I was in my twenties. Know I know the real answer. An industrial sized washing machine.

Griffin has the flu and seems to have thrown up more food today than he has eaten in the past week. I think that Lisa would trade anything I have ever bought her for the washing machine pictured above. I'll be sure to let Santa know. While I'm at it I think I'll put an offer in on "Venus of the Rags" by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. It was created in 1967 and made from plaster and fabric. You can view it at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Smithsonian's museum of international modern and contemporary art.

The description on the Smithsonian website says:

"In Venus of the Rags, Michelangelo Pistoletto contrasts the solidity of Classical statuary with a mound of painter's rags. By facing the plaster cast of Venus into the wall, the artist underscores the need to turn away from the ancient past, toward a future in which conventional standards for making and assessing art are less certain. Like his contemporaries Jannis Kounellis and Giulio Paolini, Pistoletto was associated in the 1960s and 1970s with Arte Povera, a loose federation of Italian-based artists who, like many in the post-World War II era, sought to merge art and life. Pistoletto originally installed the sculpture in an Italian neighborhood, outside the traditional art context of a gallery or museum, to comment on the relationship between art and society." Bla Bla Bla

They are wrong. It is a mother, with a sick kid, in the laundry room.