To contribute to the festive spirit we decided to go with some friends out to JCW's and then to the festival of trees.
We learned:
- JCW's has a new location by Thanksgiving Point, and is our current favorite burger and shake joint in Utah.
- Melissa has difficulty with initials: "Hey, maybe this is Joseph B. Wirthlin's family's restaurant, the initials are J... um... wait."
- Our gingerbread houses are weak sauce.
- Trying to bid on a tree is darn near impossible.
- #2 cannot comprehend a certain word in the English language: "Don't". As in, "Don't touch".
- #3 hates, yes hates, crowds. She was happy as soon as she was away from people.
- Camera batteries run out at inconvenient times and so there are no pictures.
- Saturday is the worst day to go because of the crowds.
- That if you forget that you told yourself last year that you would never bring your children again, you will make that promise again this year.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
WQQG, UXU?
#1 has loved looking at comic strips since before she could read. She would look at pictures and just laugh. Once she could read, she started laughing at some funnies and would ask about the random comics.
She's bumped up a level again. This morning after breakfast she was reading the usual comics and asked if I'd help her with the Cryptoquip in the bottom right corner of the comics page. I said yes, even though I'd never succeeded at solving one. How do I learn new things lately? The internet. I found something about an applet Edgar Allan Poe wrote to teach how to solve Cryptoquips but #1 was anxious to get started so I went to the next Google search for clues.
The question was: What Strategies do you use to solve Cryptoquip?
There was just one answer:
Do you mean where one letter is substituted for another?
If so, I try to start with the smaller words. Look for words that have an apostraphy, such as won't can't don't, she's, etc. The letter following ' can only be a t or s and d and m. If two letters follow, it could be I've, I'll.
Also look at the word 'the'. You may find similar words; there, their, they, or them.
Does the sentence ask a question? It most likely starts 'Do' or Would.
With this brief explanation, we went to the daily Cryptoquip she found:
ORO AROM RB MZZQFD BQD DQ WRXJM ZQFMJD ZLFMJ. UM WGRLAMO LD'J BQD BLWM DQ ZXMG AZDUMF BRDXFM.
Clue: O equals D
From there we filled in all the D's then found the apostrophe and figured it was 'it's'. It took some work but she worked it out pretty much on her own. She kept track of what letters equaled. When we got stuck, we wrote the alphabet the opposite way and filled in the empty spaces with unmatched letters. She got some laughs with some letter substitutes. The most surprising part was when I thought I was helping quite a bit and she piped up without any guidance from me to figure out what z equals. It was amazing! And we had fun. We'll have to do that again. :-)
When you solve the puzzle, you'll know the Title.
She's bumped up a level again. This morning after breakfast she was reading the usual comics and asked if I'd help her with the Cryptoquip in the bottom right corner of the comics page. I said yes, even though I'd never succeeded at solving one. How do I learn new things lately? The internet. I found something about an applet Edgar Allan Poe wrote to teach how to solve Cryptoquips but #1 was anxious to get started so I went to the next Google search for clues.
The question was: What Strategies do you use to solve Cryptoquip?
There was just one answer:
Do you mean where one letter is substituted for another?
If so, I try to start with the smaller words. Look for words that have an apostraphy, such as won't can't don't, she's, etc. The letter following ' can only be a t or s and d and m. If two letters follow, it could be I've, I'll.
Also look at the word 'the'. You may find similar words; there, their, they, or them.
Does the sentence ask a question? It most likely starts 'Do' or Would.
With this brief explanation, we went to the daily Cryptoquip she found:
ORO AROM RB MZZQFD BQD DQ WRXJM ZQFMJD ZLFMJ. UM WGRLAMO LD'J BQD BLWM DQ ZXMG AZDUMF BRDXFM.
Clue: O equals D
From there we filled in all the D's then found the apostrophe and figured it was 'it's'. It took some work but she worked it out pretty much on her own. She kept track of what letters equaled. When we got stuck, we wrote the alphabet the opposite way and filled in the empty spaces with unmatched letters. She got some laughs with some letter substitutes. The most surprising part was when I thought I was helping quite a bit and she piped up without any guidance from me to figure out what z equals. It was amazing! And we had fun. We'll have to do that again. :-)
When you solve the puzzle, you'll know the Title.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Another first.
#1 decided to amaze us by doing another thing way before expected.
Falling asleep while praying.
Your knees are going to ache there kiddo, but you get used to it...
Thanksgiving week quotes
Perhaps the best way to summarize the week is in quotes:
"I don't think we've ever had a turkey quite that good, ever, that was amazing." - Richard
"This is my mom, we call her mom, except for Dad, he calls her Melissa. That is a weird name for a mom." - #2 introducing Melissa to the family as if they don't know her.
"#2, for the fifteeth time, his name is Richard, not 'that guy'."
"What is that brown thing on your face? (pointing to Richard's mole) Is that part of your face? Have you always had it? Oh." - #1
"Where's Richard?"
"Oh, he left once Melissa organized the puzzle. He could not find any of the pieces."
"Who would have thought we could finish a 1500 piece puzzle in four days. I think that's a sign of how much fun we're having." -David
"This season is the season when we come together and all hate together. And what a better thing to hate than turkeys? And what better way to hate 'em, than to eat them by the millions. ... I thought one turkey would not be enough... Ya I can see how 3 pounds of meat each would leave us unsatisfied...A turdunkin - it's a chicken, inside of a duck, inside of a turkey. Although impressive, I think they stopped short...ya they were real underachievers. ..." -RedvBlue
"Why not start balderdash at 10:30 P.M.?"
"Eleven gnomes out of thirteen at the Thanksgiving Point Museum isn't bad."
"Her name is pronounced Jen-nay." Then #2 creates a song... "Jen-NAy Hoff-MAN, JEN-nayyyy Hoff-man" "She's not Jen-ney Hoffman, she's Jen-ney Piercy." #2 continues the song, "Jen-NAYYYMagie, Jen-NaYmag-GIEEEEE."
"#3, I'm your Nannie, you're supposed to like me. Oh, don't run away... :("
"Given this land, if they live, righ-a-sleep" -#2
"I don't think we've ever had a turkey quite that good, ever, that was amazing." - Richard
"This is my mom, we call her mom, except for Dad, he calls her Melissa. That is a weird name for a mom." - #2 introducing Melissa to the family as if they don't know her.
"#2, for the fifteeth time, his name is Richard, not 'that guy'."
"What is that brown thing on your face? (pointing to Richard's mole) Is that part of your face? Have you always had it? Oh." - #1
"Where's Richard?"
"Oh, he left once Melissa organized the puzzle. He could not find any of the pieces."
"Who would have thought we could finish a 1500 piece puzzle in four days. I think that's a sign of how much fun we're having." -David
"This season is the season when we come together and all hate together. And what a better thing to hate than turkeys? And what better way to hate 'em, than to eat them by the millions. ... I thought one turkey would not be enough... Ya I can see how 3 pounds of meat each would leave us unsatisfied...A turdunkin - it's a chicken, inside of a duck, inside of a turkey. Although impressive, I think they stopped short...ya they were real underachievers. ..." -RedvBlue
"Why not start balderdash at 10:30 P.M.?"
"Eleven gnomes out of thirteen at the Thanksgiving Point Museum isn't bad."
"Her name is pronounced Jen-nay." Then #2 creates a song... "Jen-NAy Hoff-MAN, JEN-nayyyy Hoff-man" "She's not Jen-ney Hoffman, she's Jen-ney Piercy." #2 continues the song, "Jen-NAYYYMagie, Jen-NaYmag-GIEEEEE."
"#3, I'm your Nannie, you're supposed to like me. Oh, don't run away... :("
"Given this land, if they live, righ-a-sleep" -#2
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Grab Bag
Here's a grab bag of comments and events of this week...
I.
#2 has learned how to ride a bike. #1 is terrified of it, but still wants to learn (Jedi mind tricks work - you dooo want to learn to ride a bike, these aren't the training wheels you're looking for.)
So, while #2 rides ahead, David has been jogging next to #1 holding the bike making sure she does fall, but that's not the funny part. As she rides, she rocks forward and back, psychotically repeating to herself "I'm holding on, I'm holding on, I'm holding on." She alternates between that and "just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling." Issues. Serious issues.
It doesn't help when Tim looses control and runs directly into a mailbox and endo's over the bars right in front of her. Then she also starts shaking uncontrollably.
II.
#2 told me a joke that apparently Melissa told him.
"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Banana orange."
"Banana orange who?"
"Aren't you banana orange i did not say, um, hahahahhahahahahaha."
III.
Our washer died. Roger Demming from our stake is a repairman and did a good job resurrecting it and gave us a decent price on the repair. The problem? A sock got eaten by the filter. Apparently washing machines do eat socks!
IV.
#3's sense of humor is set to "stun". She is at the stage where she laughs at all sorts of un-funny things, and never seems to laugh when things are funny.
V.
Got a funny email this week...
Post your own funny dialogue explaining this one...
I.
#2 has learned how to ride a bike. #1 is terrified of it, but still wants to learn (Jedi mind tricks work - you dooo want to learn to ride a bike, these aren't the training wheels you're looking for.)
So, while #2 rides ahead, David has been jogging next to #1 holding the bike making sure she does fall, but that's not the funny part. As she rides, she rocks forward and back, psychotically repeating to herself "I'm holding on, I'm holding on, I'm holding on." She alternates between that and "just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling." Issues. Serious issues.
It doesn't help when Tim looses control and runs directly into a mailbox and endo's over the bars right in front of her. Then she also starts shaking uncontrollably.
II.
#2 told me a joke that apparently Melissa told him.
"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Banana orange."
"Banana orange who?"
"Aren't you banana orange i did not say, um, hahahahhahahahahaha."
III.
Our washer died. Roger Demming from our stake is a repairman and did a good job resurrecting it and gave us a decent price on the repair. The problem? A sock got eaten by the filter. Apparently washing machines do eat socks!
IV.
#3's sense of humor is set to "stun". She is at the stage where she laughs at all sorts of un-funny things, and never seems to laugh when things are funny.
V.
Got a funny email this week...
Post your own funny dialogue explaining this one...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The rivalry - why we can't all get along
One of the most enjoyable parts about going to school at either BYU or the UofU can be the rivalry, unfortunately this can also be one of the greatest causes of angst.
Let's review the rivalry to figure out where we can go right and where we can go wrong.
Both schools were founded by Brigham Young.
The U began as the University of Deseret in 1850, took a hiatus for financial reasons, and then reopened as a commercial school without the religious ties of the initial charter. In 1894 it formally became the University of Utah and moved towards the State institution of now. The next year was the first match between the U and the Y: a scoreless baseball game that ended with a bench-clearing brawl.
BYU began as a break-off of the University of Deseret as Brigham Young Academy. It retained its religious charter under Karl Maeser (whose educational philosophies were explored in a master's thesis project by yours truly). Years later, it obtained university status and moved to complete ownership and control by the Church.
The original bitterness of the rivalry came from the "little brother" syndrome of the schools, but over time this original meaning was lost. Sports dominated the basis for the argument. Though, in the last 39 years, (seems to be post-Vietnam) the rivalry has taken on a personal and bitter flavor.
This occurred as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints increased in membership. Brigham Young University applications increased as more members sought to have their children in a largely LDS environment. Though the U of U is also largely LDS, the out of state tuition costs eliminated many of the potential applicants. The academic requirements necessary to obtain admission for BYU rose rapidly. The quality of education offered at the two schools has remained very close even though the difference in admission requirements has increased yearly. (According to U.S. News & World Report, and the respective school's websites: the GPA average/ACT average difference is now BYU 3.8/29 to Utah 3.5/23. The schools are ranked 113th and 119th overall).
Herein is where I believe we have all gone wrong.
Look at some of the other bitter and hate-filled rivalries in college sports, (i.e. Wisconsin v. Michigan, Duke v. North Carolina...) there is a pattern: (1) Both school draw from the same pool. (2) One school has harder entrance requirements. (3) Those students who are denied admission to said school go to the other with a chip on their shoulder. (4) They create a strawman argument (for those not familiar with logical fallacies, this means they create a false image of a person or thing that is easy to hate and then spend their time hating the perception they have created until they cannot see the difference between reality and fiction).
Putting this into terms of our rivalry, students wanting a higher education in the state of Utah often apply to both schools. Those denied entrance to BYU often go to the UofU. Some of them create a false image of BYU students as being child-producing-fat-mindless-holier-than-thou-robots-etc... This false image is perpetuated to the other students with anecdotal evidence and the strawman grows bigger. In response, some BYU fans respond by accusing UofU students of being the opposite extreme: intoxicated-slutty-stupid-etc. Both parties become increasingly bitter and spiteful of the opposition as the "regular" fans encounter the "extremists" on both sides and move towards the greater extremes themselves.
There are pregnant-holier-than-thou-robots at both schools. There are drunk-whores at both schools. Let's keep it to the field. If you win, you've got bragging rights for the year. If we do, take your lumps. I don't expect that we will all get along, but I think we can be intelligent about the great competition that comes from the history and proximity of the schools.
So BYU fans, this year let's show some decency, maturity and courtesy for those who help raise the level of our game.
Let's review the rivalry to figure out where we can go right and where we can go wrong.
Both schools were founded by Brigham Young.
The U began as the University of Deseret in 1850, took a hiatus for financial reasons, and then reopened as a commercial school without the religious ties of the initial charter. In 1894 it formally became the University of Utah and moved towards the State institution of now. The next year was the first match between the U and the Y: a scoreless baseball game that ended with a bench-clearing brawl.
BYU began as a break-off of the University of Deseret as Brigham Young Academy. It retained its religious charter under Karl Maeser (whose educational philosophies were explored in a master's thesis project by yours truly). Years later, it obtained university status and moved to complete ownership and control by the Church.
The original bitterness of the rivalry came from the "little brother" syndrome of the schools, but over time this original meaning was lost. Sports dominated the basis for the argument. Though, in the last 39 years, (seems to be post-Vietnam) the rivalry has taken on a personal and bitter flavor.
This occurred as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints increased in membership. Brigham Young University applications increased as more members sought to have their children in a largely LDS environment. Though the U of U is also largely LDS, the out of state tuition costs eliminated many of the potential applicants. The academic requirements necessary to obtain admission for BYU rose rapidly. The quality of education offered at the two schools has remained very close even though the difference in admission requirements has increased yearly. (According to U.S. News & World Report, and the respective school's websites: the GPA average/ACT average difference is now BYU 3.8/29 to Utah 3.5/23. The schools are ranked 113th and 119th overall).
Herein is where I believe we have all gone wrong.
Look at some of the other bitter and hate-filled rivalries in college sports, (i.e. Wisconsin v. Michigan, Duke v. North Carolina...) there is a pattern: (1) Both school draw from the same pool. (2) One school has harder entrance requirements. (3) Those students who are denied admission to said school go to the other with a chip on their shoulder. (4) They create a strawman argument (for those not familiar with logical fallacies, this means they create a false image of a person or thing that is easy to hate and then spend their time hating the perception they have created until they cannot see the difference between reality and fiction).
Putting this into terms of our rivalry, students wanting a higher education in the state of Utah often apply to both schools. Those denied entrance to BYU often go to the UofU. Some of them create a false image of BYU students as being child-producing-fat-mindless-holier-than-thou-robots-etc... This false image is perpetuated to the other students with anecdotal evidence and the strawman grows bigger. In response, some BYU fans respond by accusing UofU students of being the opposite extreme: intoxicated-slutty-stupid-etc. Both parties become increasingly bitter and spiteful of the opposition as the "regular" fans encounter the "extremists" on both sides and move towards the greater extremes themselves.
There are pregnant-holier-than-thou-robots at both schools. There are drunk-whores at both schools. Let's keep it to the field. If you win, you've got bragging rights for the year. If we do, take your lumps. I don't expect that we will all get along, but I think we can be intelligent about the great competition that comes from the history and proximity of the schools.
So BYU fans, this year let's show some decency, maturity and courtesy for those who help raise the level of our game.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Please
Most the time the children do well on car rides... but sometimes they ask questions constantly. Towards the end of our trip down to Provo, we'd had enough.
"Dad are we about there?"
"Don't keep pestering dad when he's driving, we'll get there when we get there."
(Once we were in the Toys R Us parking lot)
"Dad, can we park there?" (Pointing at a spot)
"We'll park where I darn well please"
(After about 15 seconds of thinking about what that meant, he determined he was getting a lesson on courtesy) #2 ask, "Please?"
After getting a list of everything in the store as their wants (hello my little upcoming FHE on greed) we sent the children to the car with Melissa, I took care of some business transactions. Upon getting to the car, #2 proved more keenly aware than previously thought.
"Did you buy us Toys dad?"
"I bought some boxes."
"Boxes with Toys in them?"
"Boxes made of cardboard"
"With trucks inside?" he said with childlike glee
(It doesn't help when Melissa is cracking up in the passenger seat.)
"Boxes to take to California."
Then with greater excitement in his voice, "To put there at the Christmas with Toys in them?"
"Who wants to go to Costa Vida for dinner?"
The whole family responded in chorus, "MEEEEEE."
Shin Tzu taught that one of the great tactics in war is distraction, bless his cold, dark heart.
"Dad are we about there?"
"Don't keep pestering dad when he's driving, we'll get there when we get there."
(Once we were in the Toys R Us parking lot)
"Dad, can we park there?" (Pointing at a spot)
"We'll park where I darn well please"
(After about 15 seconds of thinking about what that meant, he determined he was getting a lesson on courtesy) #2 ask, "Please?"
After getting a list of everything in the store as their wants (hello my little upcoming FHE on greed) we sent the children to the car with Melissa, I took care of some business transactions. Upon getting to the car, #2 proved more keenly aware than previously thought.
"Did you buy us Toys dad?"
"I bought some boxes."
"Boxes with Toys in them?"
"Boxes made of cardboard"
"With trucks inside?" he said with childlike glee
(It doesn't help when Melissa is cracking up in the passenger seat.)
"Boxes to take to California."
Then with greater excitement in his voice, "To put there at the Christmas with Toys in them?"
"Who wants to go to Costa Vida for dinner?"
The whole family responded in chorus, "MEEEEEE."
Shin Tzu taught that one of the great tactics in war is distraction, bless his cold, dark heart.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It's not just for plaque anymore
#3 definitely takes after David's ancestry. There's pirate in her blood. Need evidence? She climbs any and every mast or object in the house. She walks every plank or dangerous precipice she could fall from (laughing the entire time). She pillages any toy village, food cupboard, and bathroom drawer in the building. Oh, and don't even get me started on her "booty". (Her uncle would add a joke here about her only treasure being a sunken chest...)
Anyway, in her latest adventure she plundered the dental floss, pulling out about 45 feet of the nasty unwaxed kind. (What kind of dentist gives unwaxed floss?) So, after calming down, Melissa braided the flaxen cord and led her children carefully down to... the basement. Where they all jump roped. #2 never fell, even though his jumping angles were... askew.
Anyway, in her latest adventure she plundered the dental floss, pulling out about 45 feet of the nasty unwaxed kind. (What kind of dentist gives unwaxed floss?) So, after calming down, Melissa braided the flaxen cord and led her children carefully down to... the basement. Where they all jump roped. #2 never fell, even though his jumping angles were... askew.
