Neat mac tech site

I'll post about our fun holidays in a bit, but this site has been a bit low on the Mac tech content, mostly because I haven't done much Mac or Tech with the hectic times of Christmas. Just found a new fun site: Mac Zealots. They have a nice list of the best shareware of 2005 on it.

Tis the season

Well, here's some updates on the teeth. DS did indeed lose his first tooth, at the very beginning of December. The tooth fairy left a dollar in quarters (deemed "boring" by DS, oh well!) and no other teeth seem quite ready to drop out yet. DD went to her first dentist appointment yesterday, and it was a raging success. No cavities, and she must have been the happiest patient there. She even remembered the hygenist's name from last time (Pam), even though I didn't have a clue! The only bad news is that she's got a major overbite, not being helped by the pacifier habit she has yet to kick. There was much discussion about it at the dentist, then again at home, but she isn't even close to being ready to give them up. Last night, she woke up in the middle of the night screaming "I need my ba-ba.. I can't give up my ba-ba" (ba-ba being her name for pacifiers). Poor thing had dropped the pacifier and was terrified that we had taken it away. So.... we'll work on it. Really.

Christmas fever is growing stronger each day. We made sugar cookies the other night, and I cut them out, and the kids decorated them. Some were DD cookies, some were DS cookies, and some were "teamwork" cookies, where they both contributed sprinkles. DS had his own "finishing touches" (his words, not mine) to help distinguish his cookies from the pack. Apologies in advance to anyone who eats them for the sheer quantity of sprinkles on the cookies, but they were really having a grand ol'l time.

The last holiday story is about wrapping presents. DD is thrilled to help, while DS could really care less. She even learned how to make a tape circle (ie. a loop of tape sticky on all sides, for holding on bows). I'm so proud. You can say what you like about gender roles, but she's definitely getting set for being able to beautifully decorate presents, while DS will do the ol' drop-n-roll (prefected by his dad during a gift wrapping event at work many years ago).

Hmm.. abosultely no links in this post. Sorry. :)

Adventures in dining

Well, this post isn't really about kids or technology, but I feel like writing about it anyway. :) I finally tried making risotto at home tonight. It was a qualified success. Everyone ate it, and most everyone liked it. It was a bit al dente for my taste, and I would definitely use more broth next time. But, I stirred and stirred for 20 minutes, and the broth got absorbed, and the rice got creamy, so all is good. I followed the package directions, which had a smaller quantity of liquid. There's a very fun writeup about risotto here, written by someone who really loves their risotto. They recommend more liquid, which I agree with.

DS loved it, had lots. DD looked at it and said "I want teriyaki sauce!" "Honey, it's not that kind of rice." "Teriyaki sauce!!" "How about some parmesan?" "Teriyaki Sauce!!!" Well, she ate it, teriyaki sauce and all. Sigh.

For the Birds

And here's another DS story. We went to a local farmstand/Christmas tree store this weekend, and DS fell in love with this huge decorated wreath. Not the wreath so much as the decorations on it, which included a faux red bird, a cardinal with feathers and all. He wanted to buy the wreath, just to get the bird. Well, no. So, we agreed to maybe look for a red bird at a craft store sometime. So, today we head over to JoAnns, where everything Christmas is 50-60% off. Did everyone start celebrating Christmas so early that it's already over?!?! But anyway. We find many red birds to choose from. Eventually he settles on a small pair of cardinals, and he names themm... CandyCane (the boy) and Sweet (the girl). All DD wants from JoAnns is Cinderalla stickers (also 40% off, so why not?) - she's got simple, consistent desires.

We come home and DS wants to show off his new "pets" to Dad. Dad has a simple enough question: They're identical, so how do you tell them apart? Aha! Off DS rushes to get a marker. A few artfully placed marks later, and suddenly CandyCane has a few black "scars" on his back, and the identity crisis is solved. The birds played with each other all afternoon, and CandyCane even ate dinner with us (he prefers the carrot sticks over the celery sticks).

Someday we'll have to buy him a real pet. But for now, fake red birds seem to do the trick.

A night out

A night out
Originally uploaded by The Mac Momma.

Last weekend, we went to see a local production of "White Christmas", as performed by 6 to 14 year olds. The kids got all dressed up, and even Froggy got to come (he behaved quite well, aside from a few random ribbits). Both kids enjoyed the show, and now when they hear a Christmas song they say "We heard that at White Christmas!". So, something stuck in their minds. Best question of the night: upon hearing a song about "mistletoe", DD asked "Mommy, what's mistle?" I guess she figured she knew what a toe was!

SuDoWhat?

Ok, I know it's a craze sweeping the nation, but I've just tried out a SuDoku for myself, and they're very fun. Hard, but fun. Not being able to rush out at 10 at night to get a book, I instead found a neat site that will give you a daily puzzle. They even have smaller puzzles for kids, and I think I'll have DS try them out tomorrow (esp. if it turns out we have no school due to snow!!). DD already "wrote" in her answers, of course.