5-20-07

Blog #131

David

Spring & Allergies

   Springtime has been pummeling me.  My eyelids are swollen and red and my eyes constantly burn.  My nose constantly feels ready to sneeze and I have several sneezing fits every day.  I've never had it this bad and can't wait until spring and pollen are behind us.

   Brigitta went to her friend's (Owen) birthday party yesterday. 

 Here she is climbing on the plastic "rock" wall.

Svea also went to a birthday party Saturday, this one was at the Cuyahoga Falls YMCA.

 Swimming with noodles

 Sitting on a noodle

 Svea can Hula-Hoop five hoops at once for an entire two revolutions.

 The kids loved the rock climbing wall; here's Svea at the top of the easy section.

 Svea Hall, Queen of the Octagon!  When I reviewed these pictures the white spots had me very worried that the humidity from the pool had damaged the image sensor of the Nikon; all is well though.  I think it may have been chalk dust in the air or on the lens.

 Here she is trying a harder section; this is about as high as she got on this section.

 Last night Britta and Annika wanted to sleep together.  With a fear of Anni falling out of Brigitta's bed, we put her mattress on the floor.  Svea decided to join her sisters for a bit so Joan grabbed the camera.

 They all look happy now but Annika woke up rather unhappy at 4:00 A.M.  She kept saying, " I fell out, I fell out and bump my head."  Imagine if we had not put the mattress on the floor.  We moved her back to her own bed and she slept until 7:00.

 From December of 2006. 

   I set the screensaver on my PC to scroll through the pictures in our "Family Pictures" folder.  We have noticed that it would never show pictures newer than 2005.  I've determined that the screen saver in Windows must have a limit of looking at only the first 10,000 images or 256 subfolders.  Anyway I reset it to only look in the 2006 subfolder and noted the address of this particular picture when it came up.

 Harry Potter

   I've been a Harry Potter fan since just before book two was released in 1998.  Not only have I enjoyed them, but I see why kids like them so much.  I knew that many kids would be turned on to reading by these books  Now I'm seeing my own daughter dive into Harry Potter and reading.  Svea is a good reader but I've never seen her read for more than an hour at a time, or even in a day.  When she was in Kindergarten Svea wanted to read Harry Potter; she begged and begged.  Even though we explained that they were too hard and that she wasn't ready, she insisted that she was.  We finally gave in and I let her read it to me.  We would only read a paragraph or two a night; I looked at it as a word-attack exercise.  She burnt out after taking weeks to read only a few pages.  Yesterday she picked up Harry Potter again.  This morning she read while the rest of us ate breakfast and finally put the book down when she realized she was starving.  After breakfast she immediately went back to reading and read straight until lunch.  She is on chapter four already. Although I have never been concerned about her reading; I'm happy to see her passionate about it.  Now if only we could make her passionate about memorizing the addition tables... (This, I am concerned about).

5-15-07

Blog #130

Joan

Brigitta Graduates

   Brigitta graduated from Treehouse Preschool this morning.  Papa, Nana, Anni, David and I attended.  Brigitta was so excited and so very proud.  They wore little badges that read "Treehouse Preschool" on one side. After receiving their "diplomas", they  flipped the badges to reveal "Kindergarten Here I Come!"

After the short ceremony, refreshments were served.  Annika wanted nothing to do with the camera - just the cookie.

Although she may not look it, Bri was thrilled to get her certificate. Again, Anni is looking not towards the camera, but at her cookie.

Ah, the proud grandparents.  Brigitta wanted to wear her IHM uniform to her graduation today because it symbolized Kindergarten and "moving on".  I vetoed that idea reminding her that she will wear it EVERY DAY next year.

5-12-07

Blog #129

David

More In Living Color

   Lately I've spent way too much time playing around with the "High saturation full color people on high contrast black and white landscapes" - black & white color - dodge & burn effect.  Here's a link to a page with 22 old pictures that have been altered: In Living Color

Here are two of my favorites:

(Click on either picture to view in 1024 x 768 resolution)

Near Gold Cord Lake ~ Hatcher's Pass & Independence Mine - Alaska ~ 2006

Gold Cord Lake ~ Hatcher's Pass & Independence Mine - Alaska ~ 2004

5-9-07

Blog #128

David

Annika's First Boat Ride

   This last Saturday we were planning on attending cousin's first communion party and then the German Family Society's Mother's Day dinner.  Annika came down with pink eye the day before, so she and I went for a boat ride instead.  In spite of a fairly stiff wind, we had a great time.  We had graham crackers, gold fish, juice and bananas. 

Afterwards we watched two families of geese.

   Annika and I also stopped to watch a crew and two cranes move a rail car from an old set of tracks near the Tallmadge Circle to an adjacent restaurant.  I didn't realize that rail cars are not fastened to their wheel/axel assemblies; they just sit on them.  When the car is lifted the wheel assemblies stay on the track.  They had to set the car down on wooden blocks next to the tracks and then lift the wheel assemblies over the car to a newly laid set of tracks next to the restaurant.  I suspect it will be restored and turned into a dining car/room for the restaurant.

Power Wheels

   It all started the weekend of our garage sale; I picked up a $10 Fisher Price Power Wheels Fire Engine at a neighbor's garage sale.  I've always wanted to get an electric riding car for the girls but Joan wasn't crazy about them.  After watching Annika delightfully drive the Grimm's Barbie Jeep, however, Joan gave me the OK to get one.  We have an understanding that I just overdo things; one = some.  The next day I found a Barbie Jeep at another sale, again for only $10.  How could I pass up such a deal?  I've never seen these things for less than $25. 

   This weekend we stopped at a church rummage sale and I picked up a classic 1994 Barbie Lamborghini for only $5; its battery was shot. I have an old car battery; I figured I could keep the cost of the car at $5 if I jammed the battery in somewhere. The battery compartment under the seat is too small for a big battery, but there’s just enough space between the rear axle and the back of the car for one. I made a battery support out of some scrap 1/4” polycarbonate and snipped the plug off of the dead stock battery. I figured locating so much weight so far back should help it with traction since the plastic tires have no real tread and it will be running on grass; the girls might even get it to pop wheelies.  Well, it does/did.  It's prone to lifting the front wheels off the grass while it accelerates. Svea was driving and Brigitta was sitting behind her; they could ride a wheelie indefinitely. After 10 or 15 minutes of hard use I saw Svea with her arms up in confusion/frustration; and the Lambo was belching smoke. I got her off of it and could hear electrical arcing. I opened it up and saw smoke coming out of the motors and rear of the car. The insulation on wires from the battery had melted and shorted. After opening a gear box, I found that the motor drive shaft spun free inside the first little plastic gear and pretty much meted the inside of it. The other gear box appears to be OK, but I think the motor was smoking too. I’ll shelve it until I find a better battery and replacement gear.  I've found a website with a forum devoted to dads, like me, who modify their kid's Power Wheels: modifiedpowerwheels.com. 

In Living Color

I've been playing around with a new digital photography editing concept; it's a mix of black and white with a splash of color.

Click here to view in 1024 resolution

Click here to view in 1024 resolution