Rubiks Cubed

Beth got me a Rubik's Professor (5x5x5) for Christmas. I had a Rubik's Cube Icon (3x3x3) and a Rubik's Revenge (4x4x4) already. So now I have quite a cool collection.

The colors on the Rubik's Cube Icon are white, silver, light gray, gray, dark gray, and black. It's the same as a standard 3x3x3, but essentially grayscale instead of the other color palette (white, blue, red, green, yellow, and orange)

I came up with a blog post idea the other day and decided that Sunday afternoon would be a good time to get it done. However, I was asleep for most of Sunday afternoon (I could make another blog post just about that, but this is not the time) so I went for Sunday evening instead.

I am NOT interested in a speed record. As you all know, I have 2 speeds- slow and backwards. I only put the clock in the background so that you could see that it really can be done and in a reasonable amount of time. In fact, not a single photo time span was uninterrupted. Besides solving the cubes, I straightened up the den a bit, sang some songs with Seth, dressed Kaitlyn after bath time, took the pictures, participated in various conversations with Beth, and generally fulfilled my normal Daddy Duties.

I'm also not trying to brag. I just wanted to showcase one of my Christmas presents. I'd be happy to teach anyone how to solve any of them- they're really not as difficult as they look. Just ask if you're interested.

Starting with all 3 cubes thoroughly mixed:


The Rubik's Professor is now "set up", which (to me) means the remaining solution is no harder than solving a 3x3x3.


The Rubik's Revenge is now "set up" as well.


I only meant to solve the top (white, in this case) faces in this picture, but I got a little excited and just about solved all of them. Sheesh. Anyway, all but the bottom layer is solved on all of them.


And, finally, the cubes are completely solved.


And here's a shot of the other sides, just so you don't think I pulled off all of the stickers just for the picture. ;-)

A Learning Moment

I was sitting at the computer desk the other day and the kids were surrounding my chair. We were playing- making funny noises, talking, and basically enjoying our time together.

Seth put on my shoes and hat, muscled his way through the cluster of kids so that he could be right next to me, and said, "I'm being you" (meaning me). The girls thought that was pretty funny, so they started babbling to me as well. They all wanted my attention, so they were jostling each other to be the closest to my chair. Since Seth is a good head taller than the girls, he was the most successful at staying close to me. He announced again, "I want to be just like you, Daddy."

I was touched by the sentiment, but conflicted emotionally by what I saw the kids doing. They were fighting- pushing each other to compete for my attention. I understand it, but it makes me sad to see them fight.

And then it happened- just like in some dramatic novel. My thoughts were swept away and drawn to a circumstance recorded in the New Testament. I could picture the Savior talking with Peter, the chief apostle. He was trying to convey the same emotion to Peter with his plea "Feed my sheep". I could almost hear Him say it because I felt that same emotion in my heart. I love my children dearly and I want them all to be happy. But since there's only one of me, I need them to be kind to and show support for each other. They can help me keep everyone happy.

So, as gently as I could (not at all meant to be critical of his actions), I plead with my son. "Seth, if you want to be like me, you should be kind to your little sisters like I am." He looked around and realized that he had been pushing and then stepped back to let the twins get closer to me. He understood. Just like Peter did, he showed me that he loved me.

You have the RIGHT to remain silent

I would like to preface this post by making it clear that I mean no disrespect to any officers of the law. I appreciate the service of all of those that protect our liberties- whether they serve in the military, the local law enforcement, as law makers, or as interpreters of the law. Thank you all.

That said, after watching this video, I can pretty much guarantee that I will only participate in police investigations if I am compelled to do so.
http://www.bspcn.com/2008/10/27/how-to-deal-with-the-police-if-you-get-pulled-over/

Even if you are completely innocent and you are a trained professional (a lawyer, for example), you risk saying something that could implicate you. It's best just to keep quiet.

Rob's mom's hall bathroom

For Rob's mom's birthday, we painted the hall bathroom - take down the peeling off pastel (1990's) wallpaper and paint over the avocado green pattern wallpaper. (Raise you hand if you ever owned an avocado green appliance!)

The Bathroom before us:

guess I could have put the toilet seat down before I took that picture!

The shower tiles are still avocado green and the linoleum is still pastel, so we had to pick a paint to blend those two. (I am going to do a curtain later to finish the look, but I needed color swatches before I went to the fabric store.)

The bathroom after us:

Dave thought I was lost when I went around the house looking for pictures that might match the colors. :)  (If Rob wants to post progress pictures, he can. And Jared, I was given express permission to post on here! I'm not hijacking Rob's blog!)

Sometimes a video helps to see a room better. 

(We're not hgtv, but I think we did pretty good.) :)

The Den Du Jour

My buddy Frank was telling me the other day about a newly-learned husband skill: Compromise.
He said, "Here's how it works. I want something one way and she wants it another way. We compromise and do it her way." I believe we can all read between the lines of that one, but just to be sure I asked him, "So, when you 'compromise' you really just end up doing what she wants? You're the one that's 'compromised'?" "Exactly," agreed Frank. Good man!

This rearrangement was a compromise, but not like the one described above. The piano isn't as convenient to access as the other way, but the Reading Station survived. And since I didn't want as much focus on the TV, my comfy chair got placed completely out of its view.

The Family Room

This den arrangement is already outdated, but I have a bit of a different perspective and thought I'd lay it out for my audience.

The Reading Station
You can tell that the babies have become interested in reading, because we dedicated an entire section of the den to that very activity. Space is limited but there's always room for a good book.



The Social Club
With the couch and the comfy arm chair facing each other, and the piano to the left, Family Home Evenings were wonderful. We could all interact nicely and the piano was (for once) convenient. And one of my favorite things was that the role of the TV was minimized, downplayed even.


Unfortunately, this arrangement didn't last long. Look for another post with the latest setup soon.

Hey, Rob - I rearranged while you were at work, so you have time to fix the toilet and sink when you get home!

I think there must be some kind of group for people who constantly rearrange their houses...if there were, I'd be in it. "Rearrangers Annonymous"

We're backtracking on the toddler beds - they do great getting into them at night (not so much for naptime), but they don't understand that they do not HAVE to get up at 6 am! So, until they learn that, we'll use a crib and a playpen - we got rid of that other crib - not enough room for that much stuff!

The original with cribs:

(Toddler beds replaced the cribs, with the one by the door way perpendicular to how the crib is now.)

How I changed it to squish in a bed, a crib, a playpen, and one toddler bed (for transitioning one twin at a time)! Seth and Carolyn transitioned at this age, and were super easy! (but then again, everything for them was super easy compared to twins...)
(The playpen's only temporary and the remaining crib will be replaced by a bed later...)

On to the den next (yes, in the same day - when I'm on a roll, I can't stop!)

I told the missionaries we rearrange about every three months. (They had been here about that long, and corrected me.) "You've changed it three times since I've been here!"  So, on August 14th I took this...

Another angle....

Then on September 26th I took this: (OBVIOUSLY, you can see why this did not work out - we constantly had to move the couch so we could see the tv, then put it back...)

And this is today's arrangement (October 6th). 

Two notes:

1. I say "Today's" arrangement, b/c who knows if I'll change it tomorrow! and 

2. Did you notice that I DID change once a month, and the dates are getting closer!? 

(maybe I do need therapy...haha...actually, this is therapeutic for me! It has saved me the trouble of packing up and moving to a new house every time this house feels cramped. I just rearrange and it's like I've got a whole new living room...nice, huh?) You should try it. Actually, invite me over - Can I help?? :)