New Glasses

We're home from vacation - more about that later. Right before we left, Zoe picked up her new Disney Princess glasses - check them out! She looks awesome!

Monsters vs. Aliens Part II

Not to be outdone in legos, the Monsters vs. Aliens theme continues.

Reminder, here are the Real Monsters.

And here is the kids' version. B.O.B. and Insectosaurus are dead-on, aren't they? But just in case you couldn't identify them, at least the girls labeled them.

Monsters vs. Aliens

I love my kids lego art - the girls are amazingly creative. I can't wait to get them to Legoland!

Here are their latest creations.

Have you seen Monsters vs. Aliens yet? If so, these will look familiar....

Movie creatures------------------>>>>

Lego versions. Here we have the full cast: Ginormica, B.O.B., Dr. Cockroach, Missing Link, and Insectosaurus. Proportionally sized too.








I have to admit, B.O.B. is my favorite.

Happy Easter!

It's called a spa.

Zoe: Why does that sign say Men's Warehouse?

Laura: Because that's the name of the store. They sell men's clothes.

Zoe: Only man clothes?

Laura: Yes, only man clothes.

Sophie: Well is there a Woman's Warehouse?

Laura: No, but there ought to be.

Sophie: Well that's not fair!

Zoe: Yeah! Since they don't have one for ladies, they should make a.....Fancy..... Ladies..... Relaxing...... Place! That's much better than a warehouse!

Yep, kid needs glasses

At least she's got style too! Check out those stylish spec's she picked out!

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

At the girls' last annual checkup, Zo failed the eye exam and the Dr. said she should see the Optometrist. Her appointment is tomorrow. She's been fine about it, including the possibility of needing glasses. Even said she pick out some cool ones with skulls on them. Until going to bed tonight when she suddenly got nervous about it.

"Glasses? I might really need glasses? Oh no!"

All I could think of was this Brady Bunch episode. Unfortunately I can't find the whole episode...

Gay Marriage Redux

I want to repeat a quote from one of the articles on Iowa's ruling yesterday:

Iowa lawmakers have "excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification," the justices wrote.

To issue any other decision, the seven justices said, "would be an abdication of our constitutional duty."

I'm just so utterly pleased with how strong yet simple their stance was, really impressed. As in - FINALLY A COURT SAW THROUGH THE RELIGIOUS BS AND GOT IT RIGHT.

From Matt Cole's article on the Huffington Post I quote:

What sets the Iowa opinion apart is a passage near the end. After dealing with the arguments the state offered to justify the exclusion of same-sex couples, the Iowa Supreme Court addresses head-on what it says is the "unspoken" reason many support the exclusion: religious opposition.

The Court says that while many oppose marriage for religious reasons, religion cannot justify a law excluding gay people from marriage. "State government can have no religious views," the opinion says, "either directly or indirectly expressed through its legislation." "This proposition," the Court goes on to say, "is the essence of the separation of church and state."

That proposition ought to be obvious, but in the last 25 years, it seems almost to have disappeared from civic discourse in America. It took guts for the Iowa court to say what virtually no other government official has been willing to admit. By bluntly pointing out that religion has driven much of the debate, and reminding other courts and legislatures of their obligation not to enshrine religion in law, the Court gave a deeply practical rationale for insisting that marriage exclusions either be based on rigorous logic and evidence or be struck down. And it is that down-to-earth honesty that will, I believe, make this a deeply influential opinion.

And then today! Yippee, we followed Iowa with Vermont! Vermont is the first state to have the legislature legalize gay marriage vs. the judicial process. What a day! Perhaps (do I dare hope) soon we'll see a similar ruling in California? Three days in a row of good news would be most welcome!

And in other news - this amusing article: Rick Warren Lies About Prop 8 to Larry King

Are you kidding me?

Laura and I can get married in Des Moines, but not in San Francisco. And all this time I thought we were living in the gay mecca of America. Turns out we were wrong. Apparently Cedar Rapids is the place we should have been living. Maybe we'll move and open a gay and lesbian B&B catering to wedding crowds. Go figure.

The dark side of energy conservation. Literally.

For future reference, in the dark, Kid's Crest and regular Crest look exactly the same. They do NOT however taste the same. Fruit punch sparkle toothpaste? Not good.

Also for future reference - that container of carmel syrup in the back of the pantry that seems like a reasonable substitute on your vanilla ice cream when you run out of chocolate? Be forewarned - just because it's caramel colored, doesn't guarantee it's actually caramel. And note - sugar free maple pancake syrup, while surprising, is not entirely horrible poured over vanilla ice cream. Whew knew?