Waugh family fun

Last night was a blast...IU women's game to watch my niece, then dinner and games at home with inlaws, nieces and their friends. Mother Bears, Apples to Apples, Skippo, NBA 2K14 tourney...and so many cookies. Not a quiet night, but a blast.

Weekend Furniture Refit

This past weekend I had to make room for a family Christmas present - a new, bigger TV!  We had this nice, rustic pine entertainment center, but the new TV wouldn't fit in the hutch, and the pine finish didn't match any of the wood in our house. So...Dan got to destroy and remake. I had fun. Here's the progress (yes, I'm bragging):

It's not perfect (and the pictures aren't great)...I learned a few things (like shop lighting is really important when sanding/staining).  It's still a really deep piece of furniture for the space...but it's not the prefab pressboard stuff I hate either! 

Funniest video ever

Thanks Brian for recommending this. My life will never be the same again.

 

New Camera Fun

I've been on a forced 'stay-cation' while Lynn is in New Orleans. I decided to use the two hours Luke was in preschool on Tuesday to get used to my new camera. Ellettsville has some interesting stuff if you're looking through a camera.

Indianapolis Indians Game

We had a good time at the Indians game last night. Early inning were a little rough with the sun directly in your eyes, and that seem to make some little ones a little grumpy. But, a little food and the sun setting turned it all around and we had fun. Caleb got a few autographs - though you can't make them out and I don't knew who signed the yearbook. We left after the 9th with the game tied 5-5. Eventually the Indians won 7-6 in the 12th. Jury is still out on whether the boys like good seats at a Indianapolis game or the cheap seats at a Major League game.

From Baseball game in Indy

From Baseball game in Indy

Fun Science Experiment

Caleb and a few classmates had to put together a science experiment on lithium. For extra credit, they wanted to do an experiment. I remembered lithium reacts with water, but the hard part was getting my hands on some lithium. Ah, take apart a lithium battery! Here's some picks of the fun:

Taking apart the battery with pliers took over an hour - maybe even two. These things aren't meant to be taken apart - they're built like mini-fortresses.

Watch out, if you take this on, the fumes are strong and not at all good for you. Do it outside.

Also, the battery will likely short on you and get very hot. Could even catch on fire. If it gets hot, put it down for a while to make sure it doesn't catch!


This is what you're after - the battery core. After taking it apart, pull the core out, then unroll it. The lithium is in there with some paper (stinky) and aluminum foil.


Here's a video to show you step by step.


Then, drop a piece in the water. Really, it's not all that impressive. It's kinda like AlkaSelzer. Fizzzzz.

But then get a little more imaginative!


Lite it Up!

Yeah, like pyrotechnics. Sparks. Incredibly bright burn. It was awesome.


The finale!

Before throwing a big piece in the water, light a match and have it ready. When you throw the piece in, hold the match over the fizzing metal. It's letting off hydrogen gas. Great, bright, red, long burning...

the boys weren't disappointed!

New Heavens and New Earth

We concluded our eight week series on "Heaven, Hell and Everything In Between" this past week. I tried to answer a few lingering questions, but more importantly, pick up some the pieces (details) and put together the big picture. I used Prezi for the first time. Not sure I'll use it again, but it was fun. I'm embedding the presentation here. I would recommend going full screen (under MORE). Just use the right arrow key to advance, left arrow key to go back.

Luke Dancing

It'll make you smile.

My Homemade Desk

We couldn't find a good, small, cheap desk for the boy's room. Nor could we find good plans. So...I designed and made this very simple desk. I probably have $30 and 10hrs into it. It came out reasonably good given the tools I had. I learned a few things, especially about glues and stains, but I'm happy with it. Next up, a bookcase for our bedroom. (It is square and level, thought the pictures make it look cattywampus).

Great Day in History

Today is a great day in US History - a day that marks the reversal of a great wrong set right. Thank you Utah for your vote!

The best news I've heard (since I heard coffee helps fight gout)

This came to me via Jesus Creed from CNN:
"Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts.

For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.

The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months.

For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub's pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.

His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.

But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.

Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent.

"That's where the head scratching comes," Haub said. "What does that mean? Does that mean I'm healthier? Or does it mean how we define health from a biology standpoint, that we're missing something?"

"I'm not geared to say this is a good thing to do," he said. "I'm stuck in the middle. I guess that's the frustrating part. I can't give a concrete answer. There's not enough information to do that."

Two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food. He also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks.

Blatner, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said she's not surprised to hear Haub's health markers improved even when he loaded up on processed snack cakes.

Being overweight is the central problem that leads to complications like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, she said.

"When you lose weight, regardless of how you're doing it -- even if it's with packaged foods, generally you will see these markers improve when weight loss has improved," she said.

Before his Twinkie diet, he tried to eat a healthy diet that included whole grains, dietary fiber, berries and bananas, vegetables and occasional treats like pizza.

"There seems to be a disconnect between eating healthy and being healthy," Haub said. "It may not be the same. I was eating healthier, but I wasn't healthy. I was eating too much."

He maintained the same level of moderate physical activity as before going on the diet. (Haub does not have any ties to the snack cake companies.)

To avoid setting a bad example for his kids, Haub ate vegetables in front of his family. Away from the dinner table, he usually unwrapped his meals.

"I wish I could say the outcomes are unhealthy. I wish I could say it's healthy. I'm not confident enough in doing that. That frustrates a lot of people. One side says it's irresponsible. It is unhealthy, but the data doesn't say that."

Great Family Vacation

We got back last night from a great, though too short, vacation in Michigan. We stayed in Grand Rapids (because we like Homewood Suites!) and visited a different beach each day we were there - Holland, Grand Haven and Saugatuck. Each beach was about 45 minutes away, but there were all clean, fun, and each was a little different from the others. Each town had a great little downtown area (shopping for Lynn and ice cream for the boys). There was an awesome museum in Grand Haven that was free and Craig's Cruisers was a blast. I'd recommend the Michigan beaches to anyone looking to get away from Indiana for a quick vacation! I hope we get back there next year for a little longer vacation.

McCormick's Creek

What an awesome day! The boys and I headed out to McCormick's Creek State Park at 9:30 this morning. We hiked, watched dragonflies, played in the creek, saw a whitetail deer, a few small fish and scores of minnows, had a picnic lunch, played on the playground and made it home in time for naps. That's my kind of day!

My Picnic Table

Here's some pictures of the picnic table I just finished. It took me about 4-5 hours of solid work. For someone who knew what they were doing, it would probably take 3 hrs. I followed some plans I found online. The plans were good except one thing. If you're going to countersink the bolts, you'll need a spade bit bigger than 3/4". Using a 3/4" bit didn't give my ratchet enough room to bite the nut and tighten it. It was the biggest frustration of the whole project (which could have easily been solved by going and buying a 1" spade bit. The whole project cost $110 dollars for wood, nails, bolts, etc. (that doesn't count the $150 saw I bought this spring, without which the job would have been much harder). It's a massive picnic table - 8ft long and approaching 250lbs. Its' a Sherman Tank of a table - but it's mine.

Family Pictures

I haven't posted any family pics in a while...so for grandma's and grandpa's, here's a few:

Easter Sunday.

Luke being, well, Luke.

Caleb being goofy. That doesn't happen too often.

Jake lost another tooth.

Caleb had to dress as a favorite character from a book. Guesses?

Jake went on a field trip to Peden Farms.

Our house has gone to the birds

Birds tend to build nests in weird places around our house. Last year, it was on the kids playset, right at the top of the slide. We moved it, the bird rebuild it. This year the bird built it in the wreath on our front door. Every morning, I walk out the door and the bird flies away, scaring the crap out of me. Three little eggs, which will mean three chirping baby birds soon!

The New Karate Kid

Oh, I can't wait to take the boys to this one. I remember seeing the first one with my family. We went home and practiced our karate in the living room. Then I kicked my brother through the window! It wasn't all that dramatic - he didn't go flying through it, but he did break it with his arss and we had to call mom and dad to help him get out (he was stuck half in and half out). Lesson: don't mess with Dan.

Quiche

I have grown tired of the same old stuff for breakfast, which for the past few years has consisted of chocolate donuts, chocolate dipped granola bars, pop tarts or frosted mini wheats. So, I decided to bake a quiche and just heat a little bit up each day. Here's the recipe that I started with

4 eggs
2 cups of milk
3/4 cup of biscuit mix
1/4 cup of butter softened
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
diced ham
chopped up broccoli
8 ounces of cheddar cheese

I despise broccoli, so I replace with a bunch of jalapeno peppers. I didn't have ham so I added four strips of bacon, crumbled up. I used Cheddar Jack instead of cheddar.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 10in. pan.
Mix ingredients into a bowl and beat. Pour into pan.
Bake for 50-55 minutes.

It turned out great. My first quiche! Can't say I ever thought I'd bake a quiche.

fair and balanced cartooning

From another friend (who just couldn't help himself):

fun cartoon - and oh so true

This was passed to me by a friend at Church last week: