Princess Crankypants

"Me: Shhh! What does Ms. Parham say when it is time to take a nap at school? Lex: You’re..."

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:03:19 -0500

“

Me: Shhh! What does Ms. Parham say when it is time to take a nap at school?

Lex: You’re talking too! What do your co-workers say when it is time to take a nap at your work?

”

"I’ll ask Santa for… a clock, a new toothbrush and some toys… like a BIG Lego..."

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:18:18 -0500

“I’ll ask Santa for… a clock, a new toothbrush and some toys… like a BIG Lego Starwars with two Darth Vaders and Boba Fett and a speeder trooper, a new pillow, a Lego mini figure who is a hockey player. And a card inside my mail of “I’ll shoot your hand off! I got you, Captain Hook! PEW PEW PEW!””

Dragon Egg

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:12:35 -0500

At bedtime Lex is a baby dragon. He curls up in brown blanket, and calls “Caw! Caw!” for mommy dragon to come.

I say “Oh my, what’s in this egg? Is it a chicken egg? Is it a turtle egg? Is it a platypus egg?”

“Caw! Caw!” says the egg.

“It’s not a chicken… Or a turtle… Or a platypus… It’s a BABY DRAGON! And it it hatching right NOW!”

Baby dragon hatches. “Caw! Caw! Noo Noos!”

Sweet baby dragon loves his momma. He curls up to my left side, and we snuggle together under brown blanket. After awhile he relaxes, all limp and twitchy. And then, tenses with effort, stretches, rolls away from me. Moving off to the land of his big-boy dreams.

Science Fair

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:55:44 -0500

I have known for awhile that there was a toddler/Primary science fair coming up, but thought they were making projects as a class. That may be, but Monday I learned we also should be making a science exhibit at home. The fair is this Friday.

In the car on the way home, I asked Lex what kind of science he was interested in. “Building robots!” Of course. “Bat bots! And the cape is a robot and it goes up. And…” He has something specific in mind. And it would have blasters, fight bad guys, and fly with a jet pack. And a robot cape.

We cannot make a Bat bot by this Friday. Instead I ordered a $5 “Nervous Grasshopper” solar powered robot kit. It is supposed to be relatively easy to assemble the “robotics” meaning no soldering. And when you shine a flashlight on it, it jitters around.

So today we will talk about Solar power. Tomorrow we will build a display box and find his flashlight. Thursday, build the bug. Friday, Science Fair.

Boba Fett at bedtime

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:29:28 -0400

Boba Fett at bedtime

Ironman at CMoR Halloween Hoopla

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:25:58 -0400

Ironman at CMoR Halloween Hoopla

Spidey at the neighborhood party

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:24:20 -0400

Spidey at the neighborhood party

Dash at Home

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:23:18 -0400

Dash at Home

Trick-or-treat… FOR JUSTICE!

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:16:26 -0400

Trick-or-treat… FOR JUSTICE!

Halloween

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:14:36 -0400

We went a little overboard on dress-up costumes from Target. Lex wanted to be a hybrid Super-Spider-Bat-Boba Fett hero/villain.

The Captain was a surprise last-minute contender, based solely (I believe) on the fact that he had already WORN all the other new constumes at least once. It was the only one still on the original hanger after school on Monday, and so was the favorite. He was Spiderman at another party, and Darth Vader and Boba Fett at home over the weekend.

He is intensely interested in all things super. Or evil. Loves the Captain Underpants book series. The one about the wicked Wedgie Woman we read in full every few days. He is deeply fascinated by the distinction between naughty, bad, wicked and evil. The dark side of The Force. Justice.

The Great Pumpkin

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:28:27 -0400

The Great Pumpkin

Botanical Gardens

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:26:34 -0400

Botanical Gardens

Biodome

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:22:15 -0400

Biodome

Metro

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:20:32 -0400

Metro

Biosphere

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:19:12 -0400

Biosphere

Hotel ITHQ

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:15:17 -0400

Hotel ITHQ

Millennium Falcon

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:55:08 -0400

Millennium Falcon

November Already

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:46:33 -0400

I can hardly remember what we did this weekend, much less months ago. September, Zac’s birthday, not a big one, at the end of the month. He got a Lego Millennium Falcon set and put it together with help from Lex. We went camping with friends to celebrate, to Virginia Beach. We found hundreds of beached horseshoe crabs, file clams, skates egg cases, and I swam in the ocean. It rained some, but was wonderful.

10/4 was our anniversary. We always get Mekong to celebrate. Nine years married, and we dated for five before that, almost to the day. A long time.

Two days later, my dad turned 83. Born in 1928, now he has an iPad. A lot of change in his lifetime.

Mid October we flew to Montreal for the Çingleton conference. It was a fantastic trip. Lex and I met some of the folks who made our favorite iOS apps possible at the first night cocktail party. During the day we went to the Biosphere and Biodome. And we were thoughtfully invited to the banquet… The ITHQ delivered “The Royal Menu” with wine pairings, based on what some folks named William and Kate had prepared when they took a culinary course there, apparently. It was amazing. We had all day Sunday and Monday for family exploring the botanical gardens, Insectarium, around the old port, and the Centre des Sciences. Spectacular.

After we got back, and mostly unpacked, Grandpa Joe and Mimi drove out from Indiana for a visit. They arrived on the Friday we had our dog Django neutered, and drove directly to Central Montessori where we were participating in a chili cook off and silent auction. The next day there was a birthday party for a little girl in Lex’s class, followed by home improvement projects, a trip to the park to drive RC trucks and helicopters, and lots of fun grandparent adventures.

Monday they installed our new gas fireplace. It looks terrific.

Wednesday was Diwali, and there were delicious treats to celebrate at my work. Indian food is my all time favorite. I was still not eating much, since the following day was the final weigh-in for our Skinny O Lantern contest. Everyone throws in $20, winner take all. This was my third win in a row, and I’m retiring. Lost 45 pounds and won a total of about $700.

Late Summer Adventures

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:11:18 -0400

Our friends were married on Topsail Island, on Monday 8/22/11. Zac was their photographer. Everyone stayed with them in a big beach house Saturday til Wednesday. Our kids played in the surf, caught coquinas and sand fiddlers together, blew bubbles as Suzi & Melissa walked down the aisle, built sand castles, swam in the pool, drew pictures on the shore, dug holes in the sand.

Labor day, we camped together at their family’s almost-finished house at Lake Anna. Tents, barbecue, boathouse. Sea-doos and waterskiing. Chinese takeout. Not exactly roughing it. Such a great time.

The next weekend, Angela came for a visit with her St. Bernard, Ursula. Django suffered from unrequited love. It was the final hurrah at the LGRA pool. We all went off the diving board enough to last all winter.

This Saturday we had breakfast from the Boka Tako truck while we walked around St Stephen’s Farmers’ Market, then went to the Faberge Family Day at VMFA, which included a musical version of Peter and the wolf story, making gilt egg prints, and working with matryoshka dolls at the tactile table. After lunch and a nap, we took in the new weather exhibit at CMoR, then went next door to the Science Museum and saw the IMAX movie “Sea Rex” - because who doesn’t like underwater dinosaurs?

Sunday. Fall is in the air. We met up with other friends and their two girls at a marina in Whitestone and sailed almost to Urbanna. Good to be out on the water.

My boy knows turtles. Only 3! How can he know...

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:21:06 -0400

My boy knows turtles. Only 3! How can he know ‘carapace’ and ‘plastron’ already? http://blog.supervillainlex.com/