Cool Multiplication Video Game

I came across this multiplication video game called "Timez Attack" via a math blog I follow. There's a free-bee version and a paid version. I've only seen the free one but it's cool! Your character has to escape the dungeon by opening doors and defeating the ogre behind each one. The only way to defeat him is to answer multiplication problems -- if you answer too slowly or incorrectly, he gains strength; if you answer correctly he loses strength until eventually he keels over and you can steal his key to open the next door. Isaac thought it was very cool! This is a high-quality game -- excellent 3D graphics. Anyone familiar with Bugdom? It looks that good. Here's the link for those who may want to download it.

http://www.bigbrainz.com/

Yard News

Spring has finally arrived! After a very long, cold winter we finally welcomed five days of temps in the 50s and even 60s. There is only one small patch of icy snow left in the yard, and even the mud is beginning to firm up. I anticipate that last snow spot will melt tomorrow -- only 161 days since it arrived last November.

I did a quick yard walk this evening and saw many beautiful, wonderful, amazing and long-overdue signs of life -- the irises are poking new spears through the dirt, new growth is visible on the strawberry plants, one green leaf is emerging from the chrysanthemum, fresh bright hollyhock and four-o'clock leaves are showing and the lilacs foretell a bushy summer (hopefully with blossoms too!). I was also encouraged to see that the lower stems on my rose bushes still bear a hint of green (most of the branches are black -- frozen to death), and that the poor mini evergreens that look so terribly brown are budding as well.

In other exciting yard news, Wade and I (but mostly Wade) put the lattice up on the arbor we (but mostly Wade) built last summer. Now it's ready for climbers -- clematis, raspberries and some unnamed wild thing a neighbor offered to give me cuttings from.




This is such a happy time of year!

And I Quote...

Isaac: "Mom, I really appreciate all the time you spend with me, but I would appreciate it even more if you would roller blade with me."

How could I say no to a request like that? So OF COURSE we roller bladed in the basement for half an hour before breakfast :)

Juice or Wine?

Tonight our church had a Communion service, which was basically a Good Friday service but without a full-fledged sermon (just a mini one -- Pastor Brad can't get up there and not do SOMETHING). Before passing the juice/wine, Pastor Brad alerted us to the fact that the cups on the inside of the tray were wine and those on the outside were grape juice, so each participant could choose which to partake of. As the cups approached I thought about the options, and whether there was any benefit to choosing one over the other. I really couldn't think of any reason why one would be superior, although I felt like I should have some sort of conviction on the issue. Ours is a small church so I didn't have long to ponder it, and either my cup was misplaced or Pastor Brad got his juice and wine sections mixed up in the announcement because what I got was not what I expected -- so all that brief pondering was for naught. But it made me wonder if anyone out there has a decent argument for either juice or wine or if it even matters in the least. Thoughts?

... and counting

Yesterday marked five months that we've had snow on the ground in our yard. Today is day 152.

Yeah, yeah, I'll post something more interesting soon.