What-What?! Week of November 1st

Tried to type October in the title of this post.  I am not ready for it to be November!

This week has been incredibly busy.

Saffron Turned Eight!

Saffron had her birthday party last Sunday afternoon, and just turned eight on Thursday.  Her party was a proper kid party, and we had an extra four kids in the house, bringing the total up to seven.  With that and parents, it was a tight squeeze!

Saffron's cake was chocolate with mocha frosting, and decorated with Fruity Pebbles for a rainbow look.  Saffron helped with the Fruity Pebbles.

She got lots of presents, including (a lot of) books, craft kits,  and Legos.

About ten minutes after everyone left, she had started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and had finished it by the next afternoon.  After that, she started on building her Lego sets.  She got two from the Lego Elves line, and has played with them intensely.  Like, she doesn't usually play with Legos for long periods of time, but she's spent hours with these.

Halloween 2015

Yay, everyone had a costume for Halloween!  It was close, as I was sewing armor circles onto Osric's jacket that morning. :P

As you can see, Corwin dressed as Darth Vader, Saffron as Hermione Granger, and Oz was Thor.  I made Saffron's skirt and scarf, as well as Osric's cape and jacket decoration.

We decided to try Trick or Treating at the mall this year, but we won't be doing that again.  It was just no fun -- stand in line and walk around in a big circle.  There was little that was exciting to do, so mostly it was drudgery.  After a bit, Oz started getting bored, so he and I did other things.  At one point, he climbed into a car ride, and while I was just going to let him sit there and play in it, when he pushed the start button, it started!

Then we looked through a toy store, and shortly after that, we left.  The kids were all tired and frustrated.  So, lesson learned.  No mall for Halloween for us.

Later, we went out Trick or Treating in our own neighborhood, which was a lot more fun.  There were a fair number of houses giving out candy, and a fair amount of kids out trick or treating, too.  After we were done, the big kids took turns handing out candy.  As the night wore on, it went from little kids, to big kids, to big kids not in costumes.  After the first set showed up without costumes, I decided we were probably done. :P

This weekend, we also have Peter's dad visiting us, which has been a lot of fun.  We haven't done a ton of exciting stuff, but just having him in the house has been quite enjoyable.

What-What?! Week of March 30th

A few days ago, I posted about my revelation related to the pronunciation of my name -- and how the English language is at fault.  Check it out if you'd like to read some general ranting. ;D

Cooking:  Chocolate Color Flow Battlemechs

Red velvet cake, topped with cream cheese frosting, lasers and long range missiles.

My husband's birthday was on Friday, and to celebrate, I made him a cake using a technique called color flow.  Using chocolate and candy melts, I outlined, then colored in two 'mechs to go on his cake.  The outlines were traced from pictures that I found on the 'web, which I size adjusted and simplified.


Just after I piped outlines.

I like the technique because it can be done in advance, and the supplies needed are pretty cheap:  I did these with chocolate, candy melts, and ziplock bags; no fancy ingredients or even a piping tip needed!

The Catapult 'Mech

I have learned a few things from this:  One, make sure that the hole in the ziplock is very small, otherwise it spews all over.  Two, for filling in the outlines, thin the candy melts with just a bit of oil;  I did this for the blue 'mech, and it improved the look and ease immensely.  Three, after all parts are colored in, go over the entire back of the figure with candy melts to strengthen it, and make it easier to transfer to the cake.

The Grand Dragon 'Mech

I definitely plan to use this technique again, and hope that next time, it's even easier and better looking.  The baby's birthday is next, and we're talking about helicopters or hot air balloons.  I'm very excited for it!

News:  The Zeigarnik Effect and Quest Logs via The Psychology of Video Games

1400 quests?  I've done a lot more than that.

I came across this interesting article about the Zeigarnik effect -- how people tend to remember details better about a task that they started, but have yet to finish, than a task that they've already finished.  As far as its application to video games, I've experienced this effect while playing World of Warcraft -- that game is very easy to turn into a long list of boxes to check.  This becomes particularly evident when you look at the achievements system, some which include requirements like having to complete large numbers of quests, or uncovering the entire map for each location.  It's a pretty interesting read, so I suggest you check it out.

(img via wow.joystiq.com)