Tag Archives: pictures

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Snowshoe Commute

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We had a mega-snowstorm here on Thursday, dumping a good 8-10 inches on our neighborhood in Saint Paul (better than the 18″ recorded just 100 miles north in Superior, WI!). In any normal year this would have produced a snow day, but after missing 4.5 days of school already, we stayed open. Many teachers and students faced multi-hour commutes. For me, it was just a matter of strapping on the snow shoes and trudging my usual mile. It was fun, and I tried not to be smug about the five stuck cars I passed on the way. Below are two phone pics I shot on the way. Alas, I couldn’t figure out a way to compose a selfie that included my snow shoes. (I need longer arms… or a fish-eye lens.)

The back yard from our stoop, including the ice fort.
The back yard from our stoop, including the ice fort.
Fresh snow is magnificent.
Fresh snow is magnificent.

 

 

Griffin, Maggie, Photo

Ice Castle

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The Inspiration

Rainbow Igloo picture posted by Aunt Alli last year.
Rainbow igloo picture posted by Aunt Alli last year. Turns out that this was beyond our carton count and engineering ability this year. (Click for the original website about the rainbow igloo project.)

Preparations for a more modest structure

Over 100 milk cartons collected.
Over 100 milk cartons collected.
Lesson: Don't leave ice bricks in the sun on a black table no matter how cold it is.
Lesson: Don’t leave ice bricks in the sun on a black table no matter how cold it is.

Construction

Construction begins.
The walls begin to rise.
Drizzling water to help cement everything into place.
The bricks are mortared with a slurry of snow and water. Drizzling additional water helps cement everything into place.
Careful mounting of spiked merlons on the parapet.
Careful mounting of spiked merlons on the parapet.
Finishing touches.
Finishing touches. (Mostly testing the integrity of the wall and adding mortar where necessary to tighten things up.)

Ice Castle!

Tall battlements.
Tall battlements.
Ice castle!
Ice castle!

 

Griffin, Maggie

Two Plates

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In the interest of science, I present the following two exhibits.

Exhibit One

February 15, 2014 photo of Maggie’s place setting after her breakfast. Rather than looking at the cute heart plate, observe the clean black tablecloth around the edge. Maggie is 21 months old.

Maggie's plate. Maggie is nearly two years old (one year, ten months).
Maggie’s plate. Maggie is nearly two years old (one year, nine months).

Exhibit Two

February 15, 2014 photo of Griffin’s place setting after his breakfast. Note the tablecloth. Griffin is 4 years, 10 months old.

Griffin's plate. Griffin is nearly five years old (4 years, 10 months).
Griffin’s plate. Griffin is nearly five years old (4 years, 10 months).

Additional Data

  • The photo of Griffin’s spot was taken after he had already attempted to clean up his area.
  • Breakfast menu was identical (strawberry shortcake with crumbly biscuits) except that Maggie declined the strawberries and requested a poached egg. (To my eye, the strawberries and egg had similar properties — slipperiness, difficulty of fork stabbing, etc. — so these data are still valid.)
  • Both ate with forks and occasional fingers.
  • Both had similar napkins.
  • Neither had substantial adult intervention.
  • This situation is not an anomaly. Maggie’s area is typically significantly cleaner than Griffin’s, although she has notably inferior control of her fork and other eating tools.

Hypotheses

Competing explanations:

  1. Developmental stages. When Maggie is four, she will be just as messy. Was Griffin more fastidious when he was one? Memories are fuzzy and unreliable, but I don’t think so. We can test this in a few years with another set of pictures. (Strawberry shortcake for breakfast, February 15, 2017!) Update: See Two Plates, Revisited for the 2017 results.
  2. Core personalities. Griffin’s gene mix is less inclined toward maintaining a clean environment. (There is some evidence to support this from other arenas.)
  3. Parenting. Our methods of teaching Griffin and Maggie were somehow different, leading to these divergent results.
  4. Gender. I’m often skeptical of this, but perhaps there is a gender component.
  5. As a nod to my years in California, I shouldn’t omit the possibility of planetary influences… Aries vs. Taurus, anyone?
  6. Or, the Chinese lunar calendar was big in my family, so maybe it’s an Ox vs. Dragon thing!

 

Griffin, Photo, Recipes

Pigs in Blankets

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Pigs in Blankets
Pigs in Blankets

This is hardly an ambitious recipe, but while on solo-parenting duty this weekend, I remembered how much I loved Pigs in Blankets as a kid. Griffin was excited about the idea, so we decided to do it from scratch. We bought old fashioned wieners from the butcher down the street and eschewed Bisquick. They were delicious, so I thought I would jot down the recipe we used here, for future reference.

Ingredients

1 cup  flour
½ tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
¼ cup grated cheese (we used sharp cheddar)
½ cup buttermilk
6 hot dogs

Then the usual dough making operation: mix dry ingredients, cut or massage in the cold butter until crumbly, mix in cheese and buttermilk (don’t over-mix). We rolled the dough out lightly on a floured board (again, trying not to overwork the dough) and cut into six similarly sized sheets. Wrap dogs, bake on greased sheet at 400° for ≈12 minutes.

Griffin was quite pleased
Griffin was quite pleased
Griffin

Project Runway, Here We Come!

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Griffin, much occupied with career thoughts these days, is now considering the world of fashion design. Two hours before attending a wedding yesterday, I went into my closet where I had set aside my best summery linen shirt for the occasion. Griffin, attempting to reboot my wardrobe, had made some alterations.

Griffin's first creation
Griffin’s first creation

Note the asymmetrical slashing—very fashion forward. Worried that I might fall back on other shirts, he proceeded through ten shirts with a similarly whimsical Jack-the-Ripper mystique. These were, in fact, my ten best shirts; I had put them at the front of the rack as I considered which shirt to wear to the wedding. (And, my wardrobe does not overflow with wedding garb.) Griffin astutely ignored the oversize denim and flannel, the maroon corduroy, the checkered seersucker, the ink-stained taupe, and any shirts missing buttons. Luckily for the bride and groom, my little fashionista missed a duplicate oxford at the far end of the rack, so I was able to attend the wedding in something other than my Republicans for Voldemort t-shirt.

Time to go shopping. And lock up the scissors.