Girls with Power Tools

For the first time, our school's girl scout troops get to do their own pinewood derby. Look it up. It's cool.  Because (a) girls are good at design (b) girls are good at using tools and (c) girls are good at applying physics concepts. 

Erin learned how to use a sawzall:

Chiseling: 

Belt sanding (not shown) and other cool stuff. 

Robin was content to color her block rather than shape:

And then gave us all a riveting rendition of the "Roses are Red" poem, beat-poet style. 

I love Girl Scouts!

Just a bit of Life, the Universe, and Everything before bedtime

Last night, just after Brushing and Flossing, and before starting Snuggly Reading Time before Lights Out.
E: Mom, what is at the end of space?
M: Well, some people think at the end of the universe there's the edge of another universe.  And at the edge of that, another.  Like a bunch of bubbles.
E: Ohhhhh.... that's great! Because then the aliens are in the different universe.
M:  Maybe.  But some people think that at the end of our universe, there's nothing.
E: (with fearful look)  But then, noooooo.  Then that means the aliens are in OUR space.

How To Make A Scientist

OK, we bought this kit from a friend's recommendation.  It came with everything you need on a wet bench: a beaker, flask, funnel, goggles, test tubes, test tube racks (very important), tweezers, beaker, magnifying glass.  And 10 experiments outlined on laminated cards. Granted, we'd already done every experiment on the cards, but because we now have the official tools of the trade, the experiments took on more luster. 

I walked them through 4 or so experiments on the cards, a bit concerned this would be a play land flop - an expensive toy that has about 5 minutes play time before ending up in the recycling bin.   

Then, a few hours later, the girls took the lab equipment into the bathroom and started running their own experiments. 

This is what I'd hoped for. Forget the laminated cards, we're gonna need more vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring!!!!

Lil' Daisy

Erin had her first Daisy Girl Scout Troop meeting tonight. If I could have bottled all the adorable and cute happening in the room, I'd be a pinterest/ravelry/etsy maven.

She made a poster of the Daisy patches she'll be working on the next two years, she shared at circle why she wants to be a Daisy, she learned the Girl Scout sign, and took her first Girl Scout Pledge (mention of God as suits the child's belief.  Nice.) There's about 20 of the girls from her Kindy group participating.  It feels like a big crowd, but no doubt it'll taper over the years.

Erin was thrilled to participate tonight, and Mama was super excited about all the activities offered this year.

Translation

We've purchased some toys lately from eBay, some coming from China.  One was the water beads.

Instructions include:
When the flower want to oxygen and nutrition, I will help you too much.


And some body painting crayons:

It isn't include injuring, could direct drawing on your skin and easy cleaning, bring more happy to your festival and cosmetic party.  Not only could be as present but also Suite for prancing for the birthday party, Christmas dance, festival painting,    DIY, and painting education, rooters    , game, etc. (sic)

Wordy Wednesday: Strange Subterranean Grubs

You may wonder where the dirt clods came from.  Well, last week Erin came inside after digging in the dirt screaming she'd seen a yellow jacket (or jaguar in her vernacular) flying into the ground.  We had a yellow jacket problem last year, set traps early this year, and are trying to be pro-active about eradicating the problem before it starts.  So Brian heads out with a shovel and some protective clothing with the intent of digging down and finding the nest.

Instead he finds this:

A pretty large, slowly moving, juicy looking insect nestled about 6-10 inches under the ground.  No wings, but winglets (my own term: perfectly formed but mini wings), 6 legs.  First thought?  Queen.  Quick search revealed nope. Not a yellow jacket, not a bumblebee, not anything we can quickly ID by a google search.  We put it to rest.

A week goes by and the dirt clods resulting from the excavation are perfect for throwing.  Erin asks for more dirt to throw, I pick up the shovel and dig further into the pit already started.  And another big, juicy bug emerges. It really looks like a bug that's not quite done with development.  Puny, squirmy lets.  Itty bitty wings plastered to its body.  Eyes pasty and the same greenish-yellow as its body.

Out comes the iPhone, a quick picture, a Facebook post, and lots of minds on the question of "what in tarnation is this bug?!?!?!"

Hats off to Jenna Mc for finding this.  Reading through this blog post, the ID process went much as the FB discussion did.  It is a cicada nymph. I had no idea these insects lived here.  I remember hearing that they spent decades underground.  And now I feel really bad about killing two of them.  And I will feel even worse this summer when we tear apart the back yard dirt patch to put in a shed and veggie garden.

Thanks to everyone on FB who helped solve the mystery!

New Toy

The newest McMiller is not a person, but a very cool thing:

Our neck of the woods has very little light pollution.  No street lights.  Few neighbors.  No flood lights.  So, hopefully this summer will provide lots of night time stargazing opportunities.

Fish!

We went to the Steinhart Aquarium for the first time in some months.  Robin was fascinated with the large fish tank across from the elevators.  She spent about 15 minutes talking, pointing, making faces at all the fish.  There was one that was staring back at her for a good 5 minutes before moving on.  

One of the best things about having kids, one of about the 4,205,677,147 reasons why kids are cool, is they show you wonder you forgot about. 

Welcome to the 21st century, Ashleigh

I got an iPhone!

On Friday, I took the kids with me, bought 10 minutes of their distraction with some doughnuts, and got an iPhone.  Brian got his for Christmas but I waited because (a) I wasn't entirely sure I wanted/needed it and (b) my upgrade didn't kick in until today.

As for (a), I've quickly come to wonder, "how on earth did I live with out this?"  I have the iPod touch, and the iPad, which others have said they couldn't live without.   I loved my iPod touch to no ends, and the iPad is useful but a little meh.

But the iPhone.

In all it's teeny electronic glory.

It feels like it's already permanently attached itself to my left hand.

As for (b), well, I've had the thing for nearly 3 days now and really can't understand what I did before I had it.  And I've only made 2 phone calls.

Thankful for warranties

We bought a new iMac in November.  It's already in the shop.  I probably should have taken it in a few months ago because it was having strange connectivity issues with the router and the wireless keyboard and mouse from the get-go, but I'm pretty forgiving of technology.  The issue finally got so bad that every time the computer would wake after "sleep" it would need to search for the internet connection for a minute or so, then the keyboard would drop out for a few minutes, then the mouse.  I had self-assessed the problem via iMac forums to be a configuration file issue, but took it to the Genius Bar nonetheless.  It is a new, expensive computer still under warranty after all.  They suspect a hardware problem. Hopefully we'll have it back in a few days.

Now, at this point in my life I loves me some Apple.  Our house is lousy with iThis and iThat.  But I think I've visited the Genius Bar about 10 times in the last 2 years.  I mean, I go there so often that they guy I usually got has said, "Wow, Robin is getting big."

Just ranting here.

A Very Crafty Sunday

It's raining and chilly over at the Orinda branch of Casa de McMiller.  We decided to take a lazy Sunday and just relax a bit.

Relaxing here means doing projects, of course!  And thanks to my newest obsession, we had lots of half-finished projects on the docket.

A few things we did:

Autumn leaves from coffee filters and washable pens,

A height ruler from a 1"x8"x6' board, some stain and a sharpie,

An earring holder, and repurposed Balinese-sculpture-as-ring-holder, 

And with this morning's leftover oatmeal, a delicious oatmeal snack cake with broiled frosting.  It smells soooooo good, it's difficult to wait until it's cool enough to eat. 

Sigh.  What a relaxing day. 

Solar Prominence

Ever wonder what's going on up there 93 million miles above your head? Here's some radness.

Scott Horsley Bakes You a Pie

Blast from the past here.  For those of you who don't know, the guy in the photo was once a San Diego NPR reporter before he went to Washington.  This is from 2002.

We were living in this tiny 500 square foot apartment in Ocean Beach.   The local NPR station had an online fundraising auction and we bid on item that I swear was entitled "Scott Horsley Bakes You a Pie": a homemade pie from Scott Horsley that included hand delivery.

This cherry pie, made by the man in the apron, set us back $40.  Total bargain.  Unfortunately for him, we goofed on the date and he knocked on our door a week before we had expected.  B and I had just finished a rare argument and I was just out of the shower when he knocked on the door.  B and I were still pissed at each other, so undoubtedly it was rather awkward for Scott (Sorry, Scott!).  The pie was delicious. I still have the tin.

Scott Horsley, if you're reading this, my husband and I have felt terrible about this incident for the last eight years.  

P.S. you're awesome.  We cheer for you every time we hear you on the radio.

Weeknights, 6 P.M.: The McMiller NewsHour

Here's what you can often see after dinner at our place: our eldest daughter, literally waving a pom-pom, shouting:

"Go Hari, Go Hari, Go Hari!!!!"

The NewsHour starts with Brian and Erin singing together: "Baa bum bum buh bum BUUUUMMMMMMM, Bum bum BUMP"

After Jim Lehrer introduces himself, we say: "Hi, Jim!"

New Seat

We saw one of these in action by another family in Yosemite - they clipped it onto the picnic table and viola!  Instant camping high chair.  So of course, we had to get one for our little Robin.  It came today and the verdict is.... total win!




A bit hard to tell from the photo, but we have it clipped onto our countertop.  Erin is in her Learning Tower.  The three of us did a "cooking show" (made some baked goods) and Robin laughed and chewed the measuring cups the entire time.  This is gonna be great.

Which brings me to the soap box portion of this blog post.  There's constantly new innovations in baby gear (and everything else too).  Most of the new products are unnecessary, but sometimes something comes along, such as this little seat, and it's just radtastic.  These probably were around when Erin was a baby, but we were unaware.  I know we'll get lots of use from this.  And for those people who are on the fence about having a second child (I'm tempted to post a link, but I'll respect your privacy.  You know who you are.) just think about the new, interesting, beautifully designed, wonderful things have been put on the market since your first little one was a baby. Just sayin'.  Shopping opportunities abound.

Restore my hard drive, restore my faith

Good ol' Computadora de McMiller was on the fritz yet again. Our iMac, purchased just about 2 years ago, fizzled out on us when I was in labor with Robin. Maybe something about the coming of a second child sent it into hiding. I took it into the local Genius Bar to get it fixed. One day, one rebuilt operating system, and $85 later it was as good as new. Well, close enough anyways.

Then over the last few weeks things on the computer got progressively slower, just like right before it died the first time. So, I made the appointment, luged a toddler and a baby into the Mac store, and set them to work. There's really not a big story here, just after a lot of miscommunication between the Genius and me (apparently the term senescence is not generally applied to computers. Who knew?) the computer was repaired. There were some glitches with the hard drive that got smoothed out. A few observations about the local Mac store:

1. They have two computers, at mini tables, set up near the genius bar with lots of kid games loaded. Brilliant.

2. They apparently have no bathroom needs. Or at least they determine a recently potty-trained toddler not worthy of using their bathrooms. Maybe they have an iMop nearby.

3. The Geniuses will talk to you in english. With very simple terms. So simple it becomes redundant and void of information.

4. If you have a cute baby, they spend extra time with you.

L-I-B-R-A-R-Y!!

The girls and I went to story time at the local library.  It was great - they had one geared towards 0-1 year and another for 2-5 years.  We went to both.

Turns out they have a great summer reading program for both age groups.  For the babes, we do 16 "reading ready" activities such as sing a song, clap to a rhyme, and talk about what we're looking at.  The reward is a new board book.  In two days we're already done!  For the 2-5 age group, it's reading time.  20 minutes per chunk.  45 chunks.  Ummm.... correct me if I'm wrong, but that's 15 hours of reading.  Man, things get tough when you're not a baby! We're already on hour 3 though, so it shouldn't be a problem.

One thing the director was saying was kids need to be read about 1000 books from birth to when they start kindergarden to be ready for school.  I did a little math, and Robin should be ready by age six months.

2 bullet point quick post

• At the Cousin's house this evening, I watched Erin and Robin's cousin J (the one that share's Erin's birthday + 12 years) eat canned cranberry sauce with a spoon.  Teenagers are way cool.  The other two cousins, S and B, were also awesome at keeping our little Erin quite entertained. Oh, and happy birthday B!  (That really should have been 3 bullet points.)
• I've got a new little side project.  Keep your fingers crossed it'll blossom. 

Rise and shine

December 25, 2008: Fancy espresso machine received

December 27, 2008: Fancy espresso machine breaks.

February 3, 2009: Broken fancy espresso machine replaced.

November 1, 2009: "Stats" feature states 1084 cups of espresso made by fancy expresso machine.

Book for baby nerds

As Brian mentioned, Ms. A in Colorado attending the AACR annual meeting.  In between seminars, networking sessions and marathon poster sessions (seriously.  There's miles of posters) there is also a vendor fair featuring all the products you could ever want for your lab.  One booth was a little different.  

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press displayed the requisite laboratory manuals and over-everyones-head science books, but there was a small section for children's books. How cool is that?  This will be way better than an "Erin's Bike" Colorado license plate as her present!