All four of our kids are on antibiotics right now

Where do we collect our prize?

Kids these days

Overheard

ETHAN: "The Easter Bunny is just some dude in a rabbit costume who goes around and gives eggs to the moms and dads to hide. That's all he is."

"Who hath sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?"

In this case, it's the parents' fault. Bad genes.

But his new glasses do make him look very smart, both in the American and British senses of the word.

He put them on at the store for the first time today and looked around in absolute amazement. During the drive home, he said things like "That building is made of bricks!" and "I can see individual pebbles, not solid color!"

The crazy thing is that just a few months ago he did fine on an eye test. Now his prescription is the same as mine.

Science quiz with Emma

Why is the sky blue?
Because the flash is shining inside of it.

What is the earth made of?
Lots of stuff.

Why do oceans have waves?
Because it's salty.

Why is seawater salty?
Because it's water.

Why does the Earth sometimes quake?
Because it's round. Because it spins.

Where do mountains come from?
Sand.

Does the Earth get heavier when a baby is born?
No. Because the mom breathes and the baby gets fat.

Shiner

She fell in the tubby yesterday.



It was still looking pretty good today.


She's adventurous, and has been bonking her little head a lot lately. Today she even did a cartwheel down the stairs. No black eyes or anything from that one, though--fortunately.

Overheard

I made some mini chocolate cakes for lunch today. (Yes, popcorn and something with chocolate for lunch--it's a Sunday tradition.) Emma, as usual, was my sous-chef.

ME: Emma, do you want a whole cake?

EMMA: No, I want one without holes.

Overheard

GINGER: I can't believe [name deleted to protect the innocent] has never read a Jane Austen novel.

ME: I don't blame her. I can't read that stuff either.

EMMA, INTERJECTING: Dad. That's cuz you're not a girl.

Scheming

Me: Emma, when we go to Utah are you going to go snowboarding or skiing?

Emma: I'm going to go scheming.

Me: Scheming? What kind of schemes are you going to come up with?

Emma: Little ones.

I'm a bit late in posting this, but you know how it is. We had a lot of fun in Sundance last week with Bama, Pa, aunts, uncles and cousins!

Sophalophagus

Earlier this week

Before...


After...

We use a booster seat now.

Busted, again

The Sweet Tooth Bandit strikes again. This time we found her alone in the kitchen, where she pulled to the floor a plate of Christmas cookies that the neighbors had just delivered. Here she is, helping herself to the spoils:



It's not like she can see up to the shelf to know there's a plate of cookies there. She is clearly smarter than she looks.

Oh how we love that little girl.

Black Swans

I just got done reading a wonderful book called "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable" by Nassim Taleb. The author, an investor by trade, defines "black swans" as events that are unpredictable, that carry a massive impact, and for which we concoct an explanation after the fact that makes the events appear less random than they actually were.

The author believes that history is driven by these types of events--that we see the output of history but have little understanding of the mechanisms behind it (although we try to convince ourselves otherwise).

In a nutshell, his conclusion is that the future is impossible to predict. Knowing this helps us spend our time more wisely, and helps us position ourselves to benefit from "black swans". (He actually suggests turning off the TV, putting down the newspaper, and ignoring blogs, because they are not as relevant to events around us as we think.)

This is my favorite quote in the book:

Seize any opportunity, or anything that looks like opportunity. They are rare, much rarer than you think. Remember that positive Black Swans have a necessary first step: you need to be exposed to them. Many people do not realize that they are getting a lucky break in life when they get it. If a big publisher (or a big art dealer or a movie executive or a hotshot banker or a big thinker) suggests an appointment, cancel anything you have planned: you may never see such a window open up again. I am sometimes shocked at how little people realize that these opportunities do not grow on trees. Collect as many free nonlottery tickets (those with open-ended payoffs) as you can, and, once they start paying off, do not discard them. Work hard, not in grunt work, but in chasing such opportunities and maximizing exposure to them.

Hot chocolate mustache

I understand the mustache above the lips. That makes sense. But how do they always get a mustache under the lips too?