House of Estrogen

Finding the Real Children within my Children

Have you seen the Caine's Arcade video yet? If not, it is a must-see. (It is at the bottom of this post.) I love this kid, and more than that, I love his dad. Kids are so spoiled these days (mine included) with iPods, iPads, Wiis, and 24/7 cartoons that it just seems to suck the creativity out of them.  Caine's childhood reminds me more of my own. One summer, all the kids in the neighborhood decided we were going to build a car. Imagine Fred Flintstone's car built with scrap lumber, a million nails, paint, and old roller skate or skateboard wheels, and you have a pretty good picture of it. We spent hours every day from sun up to sun down in the stifling Texas heat in my parents' carport building that thing. My mom's poor car tires suffered more than one puncture wound from the nails we left scattered hither and yon.  She just patched the tires and let us keep going though. We were out of her hair, out of her house, and using every bit of creativity, teamwork, and determination that we had.  After the car's short maiden voyage where we realized our engineering of the wheels really didn't work out so well, we turned the car into a lemonade stand. How's that for making lemonade out of a lemon?

I try to foster that environment for my girls. I kick them outside with the neighbors and tell them they have to play outside.  When Addie and I are taking our weekend siestas, the girls know they aren't allowed in the house unless someone is bleeding. They always manage to entertain themselves - usually with bikes, scooters, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, dancing, and friends.  They have yet to build anything the scope of a car or arcade though. Perhaps I need to enforce more boredom? We had enough cardboard from broken down Girl Scout cookie boxes that they probably could have built Six Flags if they had been inspired.

Perhaps next time they claim they are bored or ask to watch TV, I'll hand them some packing tape, empty boxes, scrap wood, a box of nails, and a hammer, and tell them to go away. I'd love to see the results.  I know somewhere under the layers of Lady Gaga lyrics, Temple Run high scores, and iCarly quotes, there are children with big dreams, endlessly creative minds, and boundless optimism that only children have.

Here is the Caine's Arcade video. It will make you smile, make you cry, and make you wish you hadn't bought your kid that handheld video game.

Christmas Wrap-Up 2011

Christmas was good to us this year. My dining room table made a rare appearance to host Christmas Eve dinner.  If you know anything about my dining room, this photo in itself is nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

This is my parents' first Christmas here since their move from Texas, so they came over for Christmas Eve dinner. My dinner plans involved cooking a pork roast. Unfortunately, I forgot to pull it out of the freezer early enough to thaw it completely. Since I was hesitant about serving up roast ala salmonella, I ran out and bought a Paula Deen ham on Christmas Eve. That sucker was great! Thank you Paula Deen!

My parents were in luck. They got to hear Addie's harmonica concert. It was as lovely as you might imagine from a hyped-up four year old with a new harmonica.

After Christmas jammies were opened and donned, JoJo read stories.

Then, I had a little fun taking bokeh photos of the tree,

and late that night, Santa stopped by. He stuffed the stockings and set out the baskets o' electronics.

I usually prefer still photos to videos, but I do love videotaping the girls coming down the stairs each Christmas morning. This year, I think Nina's reaction was priceless. I'm so glad I caught it on video.

You think she like her iPod?

Elise was pretty happy with her stash as well.

One of the things on Addie's list (along with a roller coaster, a fox, and a giraffe) was "little tiny people that I can push on a little tiny swing."  After puzzling over this request for a while, I finally realized that she was remembering playing with some vintage Little People that my mom's neighbor in Dallas had. As always, Ebay can usually get me out of any jam. Who would have thought that in 2011, a four year old would be asking for 1970's Little People? When she opened the gift though, she exclaimed, "It is just what I asked for!!"

In the afternoon, we spent time with JC's family. All the testosterone bearing family members (they are few and far between) received remote control helicopters. Papa looks like he was having fun!

 Addie continued her streak of good presents.

Maybe she had just opened her Cars Play-doh set. That was a huge hit. Most other toys were neglected the rest of the day while everyone played with Play-doh.

After a couple of science experiments,

 

a few rounds of new video games, too many desserts, and saying thanks that nobody's hair got caught in the remote control helicopter blades, we all settled down for a long winter's nap.

2011, Buh-Bye

From the clever folks at Jib Jab - Enjoy!!

In Your Face, Newsweek

My friend Cindy shared this video on her blog. I thought it was pretty amazing, so I'm sharing it here with you guys. The City of Grand Rapids, Michigan, created this video in response to being in Newsweek's list of America's Dying Cities. I can't imagine a better way to say "In your face, Newsweek!" I think they have sufficiently proven that they are definitely NOT dying. It is long but well worth the watch. Enjoy!

Surf's Up!

Go Bob Costas!

Gotta hand it to Bob Costas to ask the questions that needed asking. Sandusky doesn't sound even remotely convinced of his own proclaimed innocence. He sounds more like he is digging his own grave. At least that is a step in the right direction with this whole scandal. And how about that attorney? He has to be kicking himself for allowing this interview to take place. Of course, if he is dumb enough to say he would "absolutely" leave his children alone with Sandusky, then maybe he isn't the sharpest tack in the box.  Congrats, Bob... interview well done.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Fun Theory

A little Friday fun to put a smile on your face...

Just Because They Make Me Smile

I'm sharing a little more Youtube fun - Jake Bruene and Kurt Schneider. These guys make me smile. You don't necessarily need to watch every video from start to finish, but watch at least a little of each, and watch them in order. These guys are so flippin' talented and creative!

 

Just Sharing a Smile

After my ranting post yesterday, I thought I'd share something that made me smile this morning. Check out this kid, Sam Tsui, on YouTube. He does ALL the vocals on these videos. I'm not sure what I'm more impressed with, his singing, or the video editing! Both are very impressive. Apparently, he has been around for a while, so you may have already seen these. This was my first introduction to him though, and I think he's fantastic!  Enjoy!

 

And here is a link to one more that I couldn't embed for some reason: http://youtu.be/kvAboV8Qfb8

Just Because It Made Me Laugh

This video has absolutely nothing to do with anything related to anything here at HouseOfEstrogen.com, but it just made me laugh hysterically. It is quite possible that the cookies have stressed me to the point that the laughter is simply my brain's way of saving me from tearing my hair out and screaming obscenities at the Shout Outs, but I was truly laughing out loud watching this. It is Tom Hanks spoofing the show Toddlers and Tiaras. If you have seen the show, you'll likely find this especially funny. Even if you haven't seen it, I bet you'll get a chuckle anyway. Enjoy!