Just to be clear, our house is not deprived of certified kid-friendly building tools. Within various bins and boxes (and occasionally spread across the floor), Carmen and David have ready access to: Magna Tiles Kapla Blocks from a clearance sale at a grocery store, of all places, with enough blocks to make a railroad bridge [...]

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  he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.  If you give us a clogged condensate line coming from our air conditioner last Sunday night just after we send C&D to bed, we’ll realize that we can’t really unplug it.  So, we use a hacksaw and cut it open.  We could just add a [...]

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  The pony bike project is done, at least for now. Additions to the stock Xtracycle components include: Big Apples: Schwalbe tires for a cushy ride with great handling and durability. Copper foot rests: a simple spot to place those patas. BFL-2010 LED bicycle front light: easily as bright as a car headlight. A liberal [...]

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As these aren’t stellar pictures Matt didn’t use them for his previous blog entry, but I decided to post them here, anyway. They demonstrate how hard it is not to smile wide when you’re being pulled down the street on a pony. Yee-haw.

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Tonight was the maiden voyage of the world’s first horse-themed three-seat bicycle. Like all great projects, it isn’t done; a mane and tail (made of wool yarn), saddlebags, and maybe a few flowers for decorative accent and better visibility are planned. But the seat, rack, and mechanical systems all cleared the rigorous engineering test of [...]

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We have something nasty at our house.  The flu?  A really bad cold? C&D are spending a lot of their time horizontal on the furniture or even on the floor.  (But not the bed . . . too many connotations of sleep there!)  I totally understand—I’m sick, too. Now and then, though, we all have [...]

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I’m tired.  Too tired to play with C&D, too tired to blog, too tired even to watch TV on mute. Not quite ready to fall asleep, earlier this evening I pulled out my new knitting needles and yarn.  Halfway through the evening’s second knit row, Carmen found me in the bed and began stroking the [...]

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