Overheard

ETHAN: Andrew, did you know that Cole is famous? If we can figure out how to extract DNA from extinct creatures we can be way more famous. WAY more.

This is a root beer blog.

Bulldog vs. Bundaberg vs. Maine Root

Bulldog won. Maine Root is pretty good too, but Bulldog was the clear winner. One of my new all-time favorites. (You can find it at Cost Plus.)

It turns out that Bundaberg is Australian for "blech." Andrew disagreed, and said it was his favorite of the three. He can have the other bottles of it that are left in the pantry because the rest of us could hardly swallow the stuff.

Sisters

It was 41 degrees outside

Tennis anyone? In flip flops?

Ethan wanted to share this with the world.

His naan bread looked like Godzilla tonight. He can't bring himself to eat it.

Emma's birthday party

We went to the local paint-your-own-pottery place. It was a lot of fun! Emma made a very life-like unicorn. And her friends gave her many fun presents to play with.

Our family will celebrate again next week with something other than a pet rat (I hope).

Overheard

ANDREW: Stop it, Emma. You're being peevish.

Overheard

ME: You're so ticklish!
SOPHIE: No. I Ophie.

Overheard

ETHAN: Can I play a game on your iPhone?
ME: No, we're not going to do that today.
ETHAN: Please? I'll give you all my money!

A medley of songs for her most devoted fans

Sophie sings her greatest hits: the "ABC" song, the "granmudder house" song, and the "mother" song.

"Pinkle pinkle little star" didn't make the cut. Maybe next time.

P.S. She loves to watch this video of herself, and while she does her mouth is open and her tongue is jammed behind her bottom lip. All of our kids do that when they are proud and embarrassed at the same time.

Overheard

EMMA (in one-breath staccato): I-want-a-pet-rat-for-my-birthday-but-I-won't-have-enough-money-to-buy-one-because-I'm-choosing-the-birthday-party-option-instead-of-getting-money-because-now-I'm-friends-with-Amanda-and-Sofia.

OK so maybe we do need to cut back on the junk food. :-)

Or not. Another taste test. Local favorite, Mug 'n Bun won in a landslide, although the Americana came in strong. The boys in our family liked all of 'em, while the girls in our family were more refined in their tastes. Emma was not a fan of any this time.

The Mug 'n Bun root beer tastes like vanilla and caramel, and the taste kicks in really strong at the end. It's good stuff, Maynard.

The Americana is creamy with a very slight licorice flavor. Just enough to make it interesting, not gross.

Crime scene

It was suspiciously quiet in our house this morning. So I went into the kitchen to investigate. I found the cookie rack moved to the edge of the counter:

And Sophie hiding under the table with her loot:

Busted. Once again.

I just landed at Indiana's new airport

It's super nice.

The popcorn

While Bama and Pa were here we tested out the sampler box of popcorn that I bought on my way home from a business meeting. The company makes over 240 flavors, and we tested about 10 of 'em. Overall, the kids were not impressed.

Andrew doesn't like pickle-flavored popcorn.

Sophie, on the other hand, likes almost everything.

Pa chased the popcorn down with some of the world's best ice cream.

The popcorn was fun and interesting to try, but probably not something we'd add to our regular rotation. (Not that we have a regular rotation of junk food around here, even though this blog would make you think otherwise.)

(The popcorn, by the way, was a far cry from this, which, if you ever get the chance to try, you must. Oh man that is good stuff.)

O pioneer!

Overheard

(While driving Bama and Pa back to the airport yesterday.)

ANDREW: Dad, can I play on your iPhone?
ME: No.
ANDREW: Pa, can I play on your iPhone?
GINGER: No. Let's just have fun together without looking at a screen for a while.
ANDREW: How are we supposed to do that?

Overheard

Ethan and I just watched a video that shows some mice battling a scorpion. The mice are not affected by the scorpion's sting. The following conversation ensued:

ETHAN: The sting doesn't kill the mice?
ME: Nope.
ETHAN: Does it feel good?
ME: I don't think so. It probably hurts the mice. It just doesn't kill them.
ETHAN: Like green beans?

Boo-yeah.

The election results at the kids' school

The kids got to vote at school today.  Here are the results:

Students only:

McCain: 346
Obama: 330

Including teachers:

McCain: 361
Obama: 343

One reason we like it here: even the teachers vote Republican!

Waiting to vote

Overheard

GINGER: Did you pay your tithing from the money you got for your tooth?
ETHAN: No.
GINGER: Do you know how much you have to pay in tithing?
ETHAN: Well did Obama win yet?
GINGER: Obama won't make tithing rates go up.