12/52 - Science, Engineering, and Dessert

For Saint Patrick's Day, we continued an Ilvedson tradition: Blarney Stones. They are blocks of yellow cake frosted with vanilla frosting and coated in chopped peanuts. They didn't look much like stones to me; there must be something lost in translation.

Three generations making stones

Here is a recent exchange with Anders:

Anders: The boys had to use the girls bathroom at school today.
Mike: Did it look different?
Anders: Yes.
Mike: How was it different?
Anders: It was prettier.

I guess this aspect of male/female differences starts earlier than I thought. Before we know it, the girls' bathroom will have couches.

In the 'not so fun' category, one of the stairs to our bedroom collapsed underneath us a couple weeks ago. The screws holding up the bracket just sheared off. Oops. Thankfully, it was the fourth stair from the bottom, so we didn't have far to fall.

Since then, we removed all of the stairs (one at a time, of course) to check and replace the hardware. If one failed, how many more were ready to go? The second stair that I replaced had only one remaining screw holding up one side. Overall, just under 12% of the supporting screws were either missing or broken. (Of course we kept track!) The old screws were not only undersized but actually the wrong kind: sheet metal screws. Now that all of the screws have been replaced, we can walk a little easier. As an added bonus, the stairs are also much quieter.

As you might imagine, a 5 year old changes his mind many times about what he wants to be when he grows up. (Even now, are any of us really sure?) For the first part of the year, Anders wanted to be an artist when he grew up, very likely inspired by his Uncle Leif. But now he has changed his aspirations to science. He spent part of the weekend re-conducting some of his preschool science experiments with Grandma Donna.

While technically that last photo isn't a controlled science experiment - he's smashing a coconut with a hammer - he did learn what the inside of a rotten coconut looks like. And he's wearing safety glasses, so that totally counts.

Anders and I took a stroll through some of the earliest trees that we planted after we moved to River Ford Farm. These trees have established themselves pretty well and are now really starting to take off. This one is now more than twice as tall as Anders, and they are roughly the same age.

The leader - the main stem above the last ring of branches - is at least 2' feet tall and grew in a single year. Thankfully, Anders doesn't quite grow that fast.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to me! I am now officially the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. You're welcome.

My birthday pudding (chocolate)

I also had birthday Key Lime Pie and Banana Cake with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting. So you can have your blarney stones; I'll take my pudding, pie, and cake, thank you very much. :)

- Mike, Corinne and Anders