Gotta love Stewie - twice!

Super cool photo technology… by Microsoft

Hopefully we’ll see this kind of technology hit the mass market in the not-t0o-distant future.

Thanks to Daily Cup of Tech…

Wink Wink

Kevin has been trying to teach Lauren how to wink.  This morning as I brought Lauren into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for school, she looked into the mirror and started making funny faces ~ it appeared that she was trying to “practice” her winks.  After a while, she started talking to herself, “I can make my eyes blink… hmmmmmm….. soooooo smart!”

Oh my… it was all I can do not to burst out laughing… but boy!  She is not humble at all!

Drama Queen Lauren

Last night, after several attempts of sneaking out of the bedroom…and several spankings for not using her listening ears. Lauren unwillingly climbed into her bed. She was exhausted, but still managed to mumble her displeasure ~ in her usual dramatic fashion, she cried, “mommy doesn’t like me!” and then fell asleep… just like that.

Greasy Elmo

This happened a few months ago, but it was definitely a moment worth blogging… so here it goes:

Imagine being woken up by your 2.5 year old at 11PM ~ “mommy, help! I can’t get this off!” said Lauren as she tried to wipe something off of her face and hands. Sleepy eyed, I tried to make sense of what I was seeing before me ~ Lauren with this “shine” all over her… and globs of it in her hair, on her face, in her hands, all over her pj…. “what’s THAT Lauren?!?!” I asked (it was more like screaming). Before she could respond, in came Thomas with his hands stretched out in front of him…. covered with this same gooey thing… giggling and trying to smear more on her….

Apparently, Lauren and Thomas decided that they weren’t sleepy that night. So, after mommy went to bed and daddy was still working downstairs in the office, the two little monsters decided to have some fun of their own. Lauren went into Nicholas’s room and took a brand new tub of Vaseline off of the counter, brought it back into her and Thomas’s room, smeared the entire tub over their giant stuffed Elmo (from head to toe), and then proceeded to cover herself in Vaseline as well ~ all over her hair, her face, and her arms and PJ. Of course, Thomas had to help Lauren out too so his hands were completely covered in Vaseline as well. By the way, did I mention that the blanket on the floor, the wall where Elmo was leaning against, and the door/door knob were covered with Vaseline as well?!?!?!
Dumbfounded, I didn’t know what to do other than screaming bloody heXX and called for Kevin to get up here. Since we couldn’t wash Vaseline off with water, Kevin and I had to wipe it off of Lauren and Thomas with towels, and gave them another bath at 11PM. (Did I mention that they ALREADY had a bath before dinner!?!) Thomas was easy since he only had greasy hands. Lauren on the other hand wasn’t so fortunate… she went to school the following day (couple of days actually) with greasy hair. (Lovely)

As for the giant stuffed Elmo ~ there was no saving him.

Hollywood Movies Reenacted by Bunnies

Check out these hilarious 30-second versions of hollywood movies… Oh yea, all the actors have been replaced by bunnies.

HP Ink Bundling Pricing - Buyer Beware!

So I have an HP PhotoSmart 7550 printer which I use at home to print photos and other documents in color.  I’ve had it for years and it’s been a great printer.  I believe I probably paid about $300 for it when it was new (several years ago) and I’ve EASILY put at least 2-3 times as much money in ink into it.

Word to the wise, stay away from “remanufactured” ink cartridges.  My biggest fear was that the ink would be lower quality.  I was wrong… the ink seems to be comparable - to my untrained eye.  However, the electronics on these cartridges seem to be very flaky and unreliable.  I’ve tried Staples-branded ones and Office Depot-branded generic cartridges.  Neither has been reliable.  So for me, I’m sticking with HP branded ones.  If you take your empty cartridge back to Staples or Office Depot they’ll give you $3 for each one you take back — which helps lower the cost of those new cartridges… which brings me to my next complaint…

BE CAREFUL WHICH INK BUNDLING YOU BUY!

I recently had to replace all three cartridges at the same time (thanks to the issues described above).  Here’s how much they would cost if I bought them all separately at Staples:

• HP 56 Black Ink  –>  $19.99 each (in-store),  $18.99 each (online)
• HP 57 Tri-Color Ink  –>  $34.99 each (in-store), $33.24 each (online)
• HP 58 Photo Ink  –>  $24.99 each (in-store), $23.74 each (online)
• In-store total for all three $79.97
• Online total for all three $75.97

However, if you’ll notice, you can also buy “value packs” of ink…

• Two #56 cartridges = $35.99
• Two #57 cartridges = $62.99
• One #56 and One #57 = $49.99
• Two #56 and One #57 = $68.99
• …and finally…
• One #57 and One #58 plus 100 sheets of 4×6 photo paper = $39.99.

DO THE MATH, PEOPLE!

If you buy them all separately (three, single cartridges) you will pay close to $80 for all three.

If you buy the combo #56/#57 and then a single #58 you will pay about $75 for all three.

HOWEVER,

If you buy the combo #57/#58 and then a single #56 you will only pay about $60 for all three - plus you’ll also get 100 sheets of HP 4×6 photo paper.

Clearly the way to go is the latter - and that’s what I did.  I suggest you do the same.  If you use another manufacturer’s products, be sure to look at all their bundlings as well… I’ll be they use similar pricing practices to confuse lowly consumers.

Sports = Major Paydays

Take a look at these lists…

Sports Illustrated’s Fortunate 50 (US list)

Sports Illustrated’s International 20 List

I don’t think it’s any surprise that the elite level athletes are making some great money… but do you really think you know how much??

Do I think they get paid too much?  Sure I do.  But I also give them kudos for figuring out a way to work the system such that they can get paid those large sums of money in our society.  Who pays?  We (the consumers) do… by buying the endorsed products, by visiting the sports events, etc. Whether it’s worth it or not is purely a personal decision…

“mommy, just a minute”

This past Sunday I was in a hurry to leave the house to interview our new nanny for Nicholas.  Kevin was downstairs making eggs and hashbrowns for the kids, and asked me to go ahead and bring the kids down for breakfast.  Lauren came eagerly as she was “very hungry”… as for Thomas, he was so excited about the breakfast that he had to talk to daddy right away.  He looked out through the upstairs railing and started calling for Daddy.  “Daddy, Daddy, are you making me hash browns for breakfast?!  Daddy????”   I said, “Thomas, hurry up, let’s go get some yummy breakfast!” He ignored me, and continued to call for daddy’s attention through the railings.  (Of course, Kevin couldn’t hear him with the stove and fan on downstairs.)  I said again,”Come on Thomas!  Mommy is running late, let’s goooooooo!”  Thomas turned around and looked at me with this serious look on his face, he held out his index finger and said, “Mommy!  Just a minute.  I am talking with daddy.”  He then turned around and continued to call for daddy’s attention.   Meanwhile, I am standing on top of the stairs not knowing whether I should be mad that he’s making me run late, or laugh at what just happened….  I think my 2.5 year old son just told me to be “patient and not interrupt him while he’s talking!”

“But Daddy, it matches!!”

Last weekend, Thomas came to the dining table for lunch carrying a blue furry purse (with a big pink/purple daisy on it no less) on his shoulder.  He sat the purse down on the table and proceeded to eat his lunch.  I looked at Kevin with this “what the heck is going on look” on my face, and he responded, “well, I told [Thomas] that boys don’t carry purses, only girls carry purses.  But Thomas [who was wearing a blue polo shirt that day] said, ‘But Daddy, it matches!!’  Well, he’s right… I couldn’t respond to that, so I had to let him carry the purse. “

Oh my!  I think we’re in big trouble!!