Christmas Movie Jeopardy

Nothing prepares me more for the holidays than curling up on the couch with a fire in the fireplace, cuddling with the family, and watching a wonderful Christmas movie. Our family has a pretty significant Christmas Movie Canon, and it is now to the point that we have to schedule out our movies to make sure we have time to watch them all. Needless to say, we love our Christmas movies.

For a teacher party, I recently made a Christmas Movie Jeopardy game. It was a huge hit, filled with some more difficult movies and some that may or may not be on your particular Christmas movie list.

So gather your friends, fill up your moose-head glasses with eggnog, pour some syrup onto your spaghetti, light up the Christmas tree and challenge your friends. And you may just end up with a new Christmas movie to watch this season.

Building with Scrap Wood and Helping Your Kids Decide What To Do

One of the difficult things about living in Arizona is that it is like living on the face of the sun. A short trip to the store means getting third degree burns from the seat belt in the car while the air conditioning functions as a blast furnace. You have to park half a mile away from your destination for a sliver of shade from a scraggly desert tree, and your shoes melt to the asphalt as you walk across the parking lot. The idea of a trip to the store is so disheartening that you decide to skip the whole ordeal. By the end of the summer, when everybody is ready for a reprieve from the heat, we typically have a rise in temperature and it gets even hotter.

A few weeks ago when my kids were going nuts and I was trying to find some way to get them to burn up energy, my wife had a great idea. She recommended that I take them into the garage and let them hammer and nail some scrap wood. My three kids were all excited about going out and pounding nails into boards, my wife was excited about a quiet house, and I was excited about spending time with my kids in a place that somehow manages to be hotter than it is outside.

Building Lego Architecture Sets with Your Kids

Raise your hand if you loved Legos growing up...

Yeah, both of my hands are up.

Legos have changed quite a bit since I was a kid. The sets are much more detailed and intricate, and the variety of sets available is amazing.

One of my favorite collections as an adult is the Lego Architecture collection. I have been purchasing these sets for years and am amazed at the artistic details in each set. Some of my favorite sets are The Lincoln Memorial, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, and the skyline series (Chicago and Paris are two favorites). When I was in high school I thought about being an architect, reading about architecture whenever I could. Maybe these sets are a way for me to somewhat live that life.

So when my son asked several months back, "Daddy, can we build together one of the building sets that you have in your closet?", I felt like Lord Business from The Lego Movie. My knee-jerk reaction was to respond, "Buddy, those are daddy's sets. Let's play with some of your Legos." And then Will Ferrell's misguided dad persona flashed before my mind, and I didn't want to be that guy.

10 Tips for a Successful Family Road Trip

Last year my family and I took a road trip from Phoenix to San Diego. We embraced the challenge that can come with having three young children, then ages seven, four, and three, in a car for an extended period of time. This year, we upped the ante by planning a road trip with our now eight-, five-, and four-year-olds, from Phoenix to Chicago. My wife and I have made this cross country trip several times, and can do it in about 27 hours. However, adding the energy of three children into a car was a feat of strength. Prior to the trip, everybody I talked to about the trip thought we were crazy for driving. However, we had a wonderful time and created some great memories. Based on this trip, I have compiled ten things that helped us have a successful road trip.  

1. Take your time. For me, this is difficult. When I get in the car to go someplace, I want to get there. However, once we decided that we were going to slow down and enjoy the trip, I started to have less apprehension. We looked for stopping points along the way and made sure that we had plenty of time to rest, stretch, and have fun.

Greetings from the Petrified Forest

2. Look for fun things to do along the way. Because we slowed down, I started to look for fun things to do on our route.

We stopped at some concrete teepees, complete with dinosaur statues (not really sure how those fit together), in northern Arizona. We drove on a musical road in New Mexico. We saw the Cadillac Ranch in Texas. We stopped in Holbrook, Arizona, which reminded us all of Radiator Springs from Cars. I enjoyed looking for those great sites that are normally missed when flying down the interstate.

3. Have activities. My wife is the master of this. We used

How to Help Your Kids Sleep In: A Parent's Survival Tool

When my oldest daughter was 18 months old, she would often call us into her room when she woke up. Initially this was around 6:00. Considering that she went to bed at 7:00 in the evening, 6:00 didn't seem too bad. Then she started waking up at 5:45. Then 5:30. Then 5:00. All of a sudden our great little sleeper was driving mommy and daddy crazy. No matter what time she went to bed, she was awake and ready for her day to start well before I had my first cup of coffee. We needed a solution.

Enter Momo.

Momo is our best friend. Momo is a life saver. Momo is a plastic monkey clock. We discovered Momo on Amazon as we were looking for solutions to help our little early bird. Here's how Momo works. At night, when you're putting your child to sleep, you push a button and Momo closes his eyes. We turned this into a "Say goodnight to Momo" ritual. You explain that when Momo's eyes are closed, it's still night. Then, at the time you set, Momo will open his eyes and your early bird can begin to gather her worms. There is also the option to turn on jungle sounds when Momo opens his eyes to help wake your little one.

There are many child sleep aids out there - some with lights, some with colors, some with sounds. For us, open eyes and closed eyes were so easy to explain to our kids that we quickly grew quite fond of Momo. In fact, Momo is such a champion in our house that we have two - one Momo for each kid room. And Momo has been keeping Mommy and Daddy sane for the past five years. Our kids like the feeling of knowing what time it is before being able to tell time. Our oldest used to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and she would say, "Is it morning? Wait, I'll check Momo." And our youngest loves being able to announce to the family when it's morning because of Momo.

Thank you, Momo, for all of your service! We want our early birds to get their worms, but not too early.

Bruised Knees, Broken Wheels, and Perseverance: A Journey Toward Riding a Two Wheeler

 

Two years ago my mother-in-law bought my then five-year-old a two wheel bike. Big E hadn't learned to ride a two wheel bike yet, so I took this as the perfect opportunity to get her going. I envisioned taking her to the park, starting her in the short grass, having her ride up and down the field while daddy jogged alongside of her - basically I would have her riding a bike in ten minutes, maybe fifteen tops.

HA!

Two skinned knees, torn leggings, and a few tears later, I was carrying the blasted two wheel bike and my daughter home. Once I stopped crying, we tried again the next day. And the next day, and the next day. We were not progressing, so I talked with a friend of mine who worked in a bike shop for years, and he said that kids are ready for two wheels at different times. I figured that maybe Big E wasn't quite ready for two wheels, but this bike didn't have any training wheels. I jumped on Amazon and found some inexpensive, somewhat well rated, aftermarket training wheels.

So the new plan was to put the training wheels on, leaving them slightly off the ground, to help Big E with her balance. She would get the hang of balancing on two wheels and only use the training wheels on tight corners. She would be on two wheels in two weeks. Three weeks tops.

Look at those bends...

HA!

She rode the tar out of those wheels. They got so bent up that her bike would turn on its own because of the angle of the training wheels. I was so frustrated with the wheels, their cheapness, their poor quality. I was ready to blast them with a review on Amazon. And then I realized something.

The poor quality caused the wheels to bend. The bend caused the bike to pull and slow down. This caused Big E to try to avoid the pulling and slowing down, which caused her to balance, which caused her to learn to ride a bike on her own.

So last November, we decided to take the training wheels off. Big E and I went to the park, and with zero help from Daddy, she started riding laps around the park. No running, no skinned knees, no training wheels. Nothing but huge smiles from Daddy and daughter. And yes, daddy did shed a small tear that day, because I realized that my little girl is growing up. A two wheel bike means independence. But that independence was earned with the perseverance that Big E showed in her refusal to let cheap training wheels slow her down.

Independence earned with perseverance. That's a life lesson that I can definitely hold onto.

Family Movie Night: How to Make Your Favorite Movies Kid Friendly

Before my wife and I had kids, our movie nights were seamless. We could watch our favorite movies in perfect peace. Once we reached the point with our kids when we had family movie nights, we ran through the standard Disney and Pixar movies, and then my wife and I started to introduce our kids to our favorites. It's amazing the difference between watching Back to the Future as a couple and watching it with a four- and a six-year-old. Brow sweating, hands shaking, I watched with my finger on the mute button, waiting for the inappropriate language that I knew was coming, and dreading the inappropriate content that I forgot about. So we were faced with the option of not having family movie night until the kids are older, being stuck with repeats of G rated movies for the next 8 years, or sweating through every family movie night, waiting to mute, fast forward or pause.

Enter our family movie night magic maker: ClearPlay. In searching for a way to find edited movies, I discovered the ClearPlay Blu-ray player. This player works with DVDs and Blu-ray discs, and it has streamable filters that allow families to choose what is acceptable and what should be filtered out. Basically, ClearPlay is about putting the control into a family's hands without having to worry about content. Users are able to set filter levels for profanity, sex/nudity, substance abuse, vulgarity, violence, sensuality, and many more categories. You can choose levels of no filtering, least filtering, medium filtering, and most filtering for nine different categories. ClearPlay will either mute the movie during filter levels, or will skip the filtered out moment or scene. There are over 4,500 titles that have filters, with movies added every day.

ClearPlay has definitely enhanced our family movie night experience. We got to kick off our fun old fashioned Christmas by enjoying one of my favorite Christmas movies, Christmas Vacation, and the only sweat I experienced was from laughing so much and watching my seven-year-old's face as Clark Griswold flew down the hill on his greased up saucer sled.

By the way, this is not a sponsored post. I have not received any payment or incentive from ClearPlay. These are my unbiased opinions.

DIY Plinko: Great for Carnivals, Birthdays, Church, or Chore Selection

I am in my 13th year of being an educator, and almost all schools have one thing in common: school carnivals. When I taught, each homeroom teacher was responsible for a booth, and the competition was to see which homeroom would bring in the most tickets. Being the "mildly" competitive person that I am, I always inspired my homeroom to think of a booth that would not only win, but win by a long shot. One of my favorite booths from my years of teaching was the Plinko board.

For those of you who may not know what Plinko is, you obviously never spent time as a kid sick at home watching The Price Is Right from 10:00 to 11:00. It's the game where you drop a round or spherical object down a board, and it bounces its way towards a series of chutes at the bottom which label the prizes.

So as my school prepares for its Fall Carnival this year, of course I volunteered to build a Plinko board. Having done it before once or twice, I learned several things that helped make this the best Plinko board ever. The beauty of this is that it cost nothing. I did not spend a penny on it, since all of the pieces were from scrap, the paint was leftover spray paint that I have been looking for ways to get rid of, it only took about three hours, and the time spent with my kids was fantastic. So here we go.

2) Offset the marks for the nails

Cost: $0 (all materials were scrap materials on hand)
Time: about 3 hours from start to finish
Skill level: moderate

1) Decide how large the Plinko board will be. I found a scrap of plywood in the alley that was 33" x 48". I wanted it a little narrower, so I cut it down to 30" x 48".

2) Determine what type of object you will drop down it. Ping pong balls or plastic practice golf balls are my preferred spheres. Measure the width, and add enough additional space so the ball can fit through easily. This will be the spacing between the nails. For the practice golf pall, the ball is 1 3/4" wide, I added 3/4", so my nails are spaced 2 1/2" apart. Draw parallel lines down the board using this spacing. Then, start with the first line and draw marks through the line across using this same spacing.

5) Drill each cross mark

3) You need to offset the nails for the game to work. So on the second line, take half of the spacing and mark that (1 1/4" for my spacing). Now go across the second line and make the marks every 2 1/2".

4) Laying a long straight edge down the board, copy the marks from the first line on every other line (third, fifth, etc.). Each of these cross marks will have a nail sticking out. Then copy the marks from the second line on every other line (fourth, sixth, etc.). You now have the placement of all of the nails. For a 30" x 48" board, I used more than 150 nails.

5) Using a drill bit smaller than the nails that you will use, drill a hole through the board on one of the cross marks. Drive a nail into that hole to ensure that the nail is snug. If the nail is not tight, use a smaller drill bit and test again. Proceed to drill a hole through each of the cross marks. Make sure to drill through the board.

7) Begin nailing into the holes

6) Once all of the holes have been drilled the back side will be quite splintery. Gently scrape all of the splintered wood off (I used a small steel bar for this). Lightly sand the board on both sides.

7) Either on sawhorses or on concrete, drive a nail into each of the holes, being careful not to drive the nail all the way into the board. They need to stick out a little farther than the diameter of your sphere. This is a great time to use a little helper to either hand you nails or practice their nailing skills. For anybody who is Type A and feels that the spacing all needs to be perfect, remember that this is a game of chance and the only necessity is that the ball fits between all of the nails.

9) Ensure that balls cannot get stuck

*Note: the first time I built this I drove the nails all the way through until the head was flush against the board. This meant that the pointy part of the nail was sticking out. Since it was for a carnival and I didn't want a kid to get impaled on my board, I ended up having to buy a sheet of Plexiglas to cover the front. This was quite an expense. Since I wanted to spend $0 on this board, I decided that head of the nails would be safe sticking out and I can skip the cost of the Plexiglas.

10) Create chutes at the bottom.

8) Cut the legs and the pieces for the frame. I used scrap 2" x 4" for the legs and bottom of the board, and 1" x 2" for the sides. Attach these pieces to the board.

9)  Have a small partner practice on the board and make sure that there are no areas where the ball gets stuck. For any of these areas, add extra nails to divert the balls away from the "danger spots." Additionally, look for areas to add places where the ball can land in the middle of the board for high value prizes by adding additional nails to capture the ball. The balls seldom land here because of the way they bounce through the board, hence the high value.

12) Have fun!

10) For the bottom, cut some small scrap for slots where the balls will land. I cut the pieces with 45 degree angles to direct the balls away from the higher value slots. This creates a little more excitement. Attach these chutes to the bottom board, using wider spaces for lower values and narrower spaces for higher values, ensuring that the balls will actually fit into the narrower spaces (unless you want to be really mean).

11) Paint the board. I had seven cans of leftover spray paint from various projects, so I sprayed a background of black. I then lightly sprayed the other colors on top to create some depth to the colors.

12) Have fun.

11) Layered paint

 This is great for carnivals, church activities, or parties. But I also see the possibility for having kids choose their chores with this board. The possibilities are endless. But as is the case with most projects, the bulk of the joy comes in the building, especially with helpers.

For anybody who builds one of these, I would love to have you post pictures and tell me about your experience building it and what you built it for.

Bottom Detail

Easy, Inexpensive Repair to a Playhouse Roof

About a year ago our neighbors were getting rid of their playhouse. Their daughter was entering middle school, and they knew that our kids would love playing with it. Boy, do they know our kids. They are constantly in this house, making mud pies, sweeping, decorating, and just playing. I don't know why they love their "chores" in their playhouse so much more than their actual chores.

The playhouse sat with its plastic roof baking in the hot Arizona sun. If you have never experienced Arizona, our sun does wonders for "indestructible" plastic. As the plastic aged, it became brittle. Did I mention that the house also sat under the edge of our lemon tree? So this past winter, as we were shaking lemons off of the tree, plastic shrapnel was flying. I could hear Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" playing every time a lemon landed on the roof and plastic sprayed in the air. By the time the lemon harvest was over, the roof was a roof in the loosest of senses. Something had to be done.

The old roof has seen better days.

I had a package of shingles that was left when we bought the house, and I also had a roll of roofing felt from a shed project that I did years ago. Essentially, I had almost all of the supplies needed to re-roof the kids' playhouse. If only I had some inexpensive labor...

The kids and I started by dismantling the plastic roof. I took care of all of the small, sharp pieces. They took care of the fasteners inside of the house. After about fifteen minutes, the roof was off. I was very happy to see a recycling symbol on the underside of the plastic, so we threw the pieces into our recycling bin and moved on to the construction phase.

Big A diligently unscrewing the old roof.

The next steps were to add horizontal braces for the plywood, screw the plywood into the braces and edge of the house, adhere a drip edge, felt and shingles, and sit back and enjoy. Here's the process in a little more detail:

1) We installed a horizontal cross piece at the apex of the roof using 2 x 2 scrap. This gave us a place to fasten the plywood where it came together.

2) We measured the roof line and cut scrap particle board to fit. We then screwed this down, making sure that the screws went into the existing and newly installed cross pieces. Note - please check the length of the screw. The first screws I used were too long and went through the horizontal pieces. Normally I would be fine with something like this, but my kids' heads go into this playhouse, so I really didn't want the sharp ends of screws sticking down.

3) I installed a drip edge around the perimeter of the roof. This was the only supply that I had to purchase. The drip edge prevents water from running into the edge of the wood roof base.

Such hard workers!

4) I installed the felt using construction adhesive. I didn't want to do anythings with nails, since I kind of like my kids' heads, eyes, noses, and every other part that goes into the playhouse. I didn't want to think about them messing around and smashing into the ends of nails sticking down, so I decided that construction adhesive would be my best friend for this project. I used clamps to keep the edges down while the adhesive was drying.

5) Starting at the bottom edge of the roof, I started installing shingles. I used construction adhesive for these as well. As I got to the end of a row, I cut the last piece with a utility knife to line up with the edge. I then started on that side with the next run, alternating directions.

Installation of the horizontal supports

In total, I spent less than $20 on this project. The kids now have a playhouse that will keep them dry when they're playing in the rain, will keep them in shade when they're playing in the sun, and will keep them safe since they no longer have to play around shards of broken plastic. Aside from all that, the new roof greatly increased the resale value of the house, which is great in the sellers market that we are experiencing right now in Arizona.

Now if I could only get the kids to replace the drapes and change out the faucet.

Plywood and drip edge installed

Last run of shingles clamped and drying

Little E is thrilled with the result!

The Great Family Road Trip: 5 Tips for Travelling with Young Kids

This summer we went on the Great Family Road Trip. We actually toned down our initial plan, which was to drive from Phoenix to Chicago with a three-, four-, and seven-year-old. We decided that it would be best for everybody's sanity to postpone the 27 hour (each way) car trip for a couple more years. Instead, we drove from Phoenix to San Diego. We had never been to San Diego, and it is one of the few trips that we have ever taken where visiting family was not the main event. Some friends flew into San Diego to meet up with us, so the destination included beaches, temperatures under 110 degrees, and quality time with good friends.

While spending more than thirty minutes in the car with your kids can seem daunting, and while it is easy these days to pop movie after movie into the DVD player to keep the kids occupied, that's not how we roll (plus we don't have a DVD player in our vehicle, so it really wasn't an option). Instead, we found ways to fill the hours in the car with quality time, family bonding and memory-making.

Car naps are wonderful, even with sand in your hair!

1) Road trip music is a must. When I was in college, making a cassette tape with some favorites was the way to go. The iPod doesn't have quite the same old school mojo, but it does make it so easy to create a playlist specifically for your trip. Here are our standards for every road trip that we take:


On the Road Again, Willie Nelson - This is the first song that we play after every stop
Holiday Road, Lindsey Buckingham - Our tribute to the Griswold's trip in the Family Truckster
Eastbound and Down, Jerry Reed - Technically it only works for one direction of the trip, but we play it anyway.
Drive My Car, The Beatles - Self Explanatory
Route 66, Nat King Cole - Classic
I've Been Everywhere, Johnny Cash - You can attempt to memorize all of the places he's been.

The first time in the ocean

We also add songs that pertain to the destination, so this trip's playlist included Surfin' USA, Surfin' Safari, and many other Beach Boys classics. The road trip playlist is a great way to expose your kids to various musicians and to create traditions that give grownups a much needed break from kid music. We had so much fun belting out these songs together and making up car seat dances. Good times. (Subsequently, if the kids get a chance to listen to their music, my wife and I will turn the music only to the back speakers. It is amazing how we can have a conversation while Pandora's Disney station plays in the back of the car.)

Little E was not a fan of the waves. The girls were.

Big A working hard on the USS Midway

2) Look for activities that your kids can enjoy by themselves or with each other. Little E, our three-year-old, loves playing trains. In the car we used a cookie sheet with sides and he was able to play with a little wind up train from the dollar store. That was good for almost an hour of entertainment each way. All three also love playing Guess Who (although the rules seem to be in a constant state of flux), and it is pretty self-contained, making it a great car game. Lacing cards also went over well with the seven-and-under set.

3) Make memories together and get to know each other better. We bought a book of Mad Libs and wrote several stories together. If you get creative, this even works for younger kids. (Instead of asking Little E for parts of speech, we would say, "name something on your body" or "what is something you can do." "Belly" and "go potty" were his go-to answers). The oldest got to reinforce her parts of speech. And of course we all laughed when we read about Potty Ice Cream. We also had a book of conversation starter questions. We would have the kids pick a number, and we would go around the car giving each person a turn to answer the question. Some of them were harder for the kids to understand, so we would either adapt the question or move to a different question. My wife had a Mary Poppins' bag of activities ready to go for this trip, but these activities where we engaged with our kids, created something together and laughed together were the simplest and the most fun.

The kids' commissioning after the scavenger hunt on the Midway

4) Never underestimate the power of snacks. Our kids eat more in a two hour period than many small towns consume in a week. We packed up what should have been sufficient food for a trip up Mount Everest, and our kids attempted to clean us out before we left our street. But many small snacks along the way helped keep them occupied. We would give them time frames ("You can have this fruit bar now, and then you need to wait 20 minutes until your next snack."). Trader Joe's has fantastic healthy snacks for kids. Target also surprised us with a broad range of natural and organic packaged foods. The key is novelty! By the way, small paper cups or other containers are a must for things like cherry pits to prevent the kids from putting them in the cup holders or door wells.

5) Kick car-sickness to the curb. One of our kids is notorious for getting motion sick. I think she inherited it from me. We spent part of several trips cleaning vomit off the car seat and digging through luggage for a change of clothes... Not our favorite memories. Then we discovered the wonderful world of peppermint essential oil. Peppermint helps with nausea. So a little dab of peppermint oil behind the ears and on the back of the neck (parents should apply to the kids and should avoid the eyes. Trust me on this one), and a peppermint to suck on, and we had no vomit on this trip. It was amazing! She did complain a couple of times about feeling car sick, but we dabbed on some more peppermint essential oil, gave her a mint, and she made it through.

While I initially had some stress about this road trip, we all ended up having a great time. The kids enjoyed a change of scenery, we all enjoyed the cooler weather, and my wife and I enjoyed not having to clean up puke in the car.

But the destination was not what was important. The time we spent together was. We created some tremendous memories. And the fact that I never once had to yell "If you kids don't stop fighting I'll pull this car over, so help me God" made this a win in my book.

The 19 Best YA Fiction Books That Grown Ups Will Love Too: A Summer Reading List

When I was a kid, I loved summers. Summers meant spending hours playing outside, running through the sprinklers, watching for the neighbors to set up their Slip 'n Slide, and staying up all night reading. I developed my love for reading through the summers, and I still remember many of the books I read in my childhood. Summer reading was when I experienced the first book that made me cry (Where the Red Fern Grows. Seriously, has anybody not cried at that book), the first chapter book I read multiple times through (The Great Brain series), and the first book that I remember containing profanity (The Catcher in the Rye. I hid it under my mattress because I didn't know what my parents would think of it). Summer reading developed a passion that I carried into adulthood.

I am still an avid reader. I read every night before going to bed; in fact, I typically cannot fall asleep unless I read for at least a couple of minutes. Many good books have kept me up late in the night, and some books have given me the thrill that comes with an all-nighter without scholastic deadlines. I read The Hunger Game series when it was first published. I pre-ordered the second book, got it after work on a Wednesday the day it came out, and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting, finishing at about four in the morning before going to work the next day. It was worth it.

While my kids love books, they are still in the Good Night, Good Night Construction Site phase. I can't wait to read great adventure stories with them when they're older. So here is my attempt at pointing you towards some great fiction books to enjoy with the Renaissance Dad Seal of Approval. This means that if you read any book on this list that you don't enjoy, I cannot approve of your rationale for not liking it. So here is the list, in no particular order, with a brief description of the book without any spoilers.

1. Robin: Lady of Legend (The Classic Adventures of the Girl Who Became Robin Hood), by R.M. ArceJaeger - There have been many Robin Hood stories, but this one is written with a fantastic twist. Without changing the story much at all, Robin Hood is a woman in hiding. Great adventure story that is Renaissance Dad recommended for junior high and older. It is a book that is on my "re-read this summer" list.

2-4. The Staff and the Sword books (Book 1 - Cast of Stones, Book 2 - The Hero's Lot, Book 3 - A Draw of Kings), by Patrick W. Carr - This is a story about a boy, Errol Stone, who gets pulled into in an adventure to save his kingdom. It is a fast-paced medieval fantasy and is the kind of book in which the end of every chapter leaves me saying, "One more chapter before I stop." Parenthetically, Patrick Carr is a high school math teacher, and this is his first series. Renaissance Dad recommended for junior high and older. I have read it through twice, and I might hit the hat trick this summer.

5-8. The Hangman's Daughter series (Book 1 - The Hangman's Daughter, Book 2 - The Dark Monk, Book 3 - The Beggar King, Book 4 - The Poisoned Pilgrim), by Oliver Pötzsch - This is historical fiction about a hangman in 1600's Germany and his daughter. It is very fast paced, and is probably the most well-known book series on this list, although I have yet to meet anybody who has read any of these books. The author, Oliver Pötzsch, started writing the books as he was looking into his family history and discovered that he had Bavarian hangman roots. I should also mention that the first chapter of the first book makes it seem as this may be a gruesome series, but it is not as dark as it initially seems. Renaissance Dad recommended for high school and older.  

9-11. Blood of Kings series (Book 1 - By Darkness Hid, Book 2 - To Darkness Fled, Book 3 - From Darkness Won), by Jill Williamson - This is another medieval fantasy type series following a boy and a girl trying to figure out how to handle their magical abilities in a kingdom that is half covered in darkness. Similar to The Staff and the Sword, this is fast-paced and is difficult to put down between chapters. Renaissance Dad recommended for junior high and older.

12-14. The Safe Lands series (Book 1 - Captives, Book 2 - Outcasts,  Book 3 - Rebels), by Jill Williamson - Set in a futuristic dystopian society, a self-sufficient village is destroyed, several members are taken prisoner into the walled city inside the Safe Lands, and the one young man who was not taken must figure out how to enter and free the people of his village. I now officially read everything that Jill Williamson writes, and you should too! Renaissance Dad recommended for high school and older.

15-16. Children of Occam series (Book 1 - Containment, Book 2 - Equinox), by Christian Cantrell - set in the future, the first settlement on Venus seems to be thriving until a couple conceives and the society realizes that they do not produce enough oxygen for one additional member. The father must scramble and see if he can solve the oxygen problem, but what he discovers will change the society forever. Christian Cantrell is a software developer, and some of the technical writing in this series may seem a bit overwhelming to some, but it is worth it. Warning - Equinox was just released in March, and there is no future release date for what is sure to be the third book in the series. You may want to consider this if you really hate cliffhangers. Renaissance Dad recommended for mature high school and older.

17-19. Lion of War series (Book 1 - Day of War, Book 2 - Covenant of War, Book 3 - Song of War, by Cliff Graham - This is a historical fiction series following King David and the mighty men that fought with him. Graham is very clear that while he attempts to stay true to the biblical accounts of King David, he wrote these stories from a fictional standpoint since there is a lot of detail that is not included in the biblical accounts. Renaissance Dad recommended for junior high (boys) and older. Production on a Lion of War movie is currently underway.

So, Renaissance Dad readers, you now have an extensive reading list for some great literature. While I know that tastes vary from person to person, these are all books that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I have read most of them numerous times.

By the way, Renaissance Dad is now on Facebook. You can visit my Facebook page, like it, and get all of the great Renaissance Dad updates there. I'd also like to hear any feedback that you have about any of these books.

Happy reading!

Easy Homemade Teeter Totter

Look at that joy!

Remember when you were a kid and parks had all of the coolest things to play on? I remember my uncle taking me to the park by my grandparents house. It had metal monkey bars that erased your fingerprints in the summer, a metal slide that seared through your way-too-short shorts, and long wooden teeter totters that always managed to pepper your bottom with splinters. It also had a merry-go-round type thing with metal bars. My brothers and I would hold on, and my uncle would spin it as fast as he could. Eventually we would go flying off and/or jam some joint (elbow, knee, crotch) on the metal bars. Yes, those were the good old days.

Trust - Will my sister drop me like a bad habit?

One of my favorites was the teeter totter (or seesaw for my readers across the pond). All kinds of fun games came from those, but unfortunately since most of those games ended in a cracked head or a broken arm they are seldom found in parks now. So what is a Renaissance Dad to do...? Make one, of course.

Before I go on, I need to give the standard warnings. Like anything that kids get their hands on, they can get hurt on a teeter totter. They can also get hurt having a pillow fight, putting rocks down each others' pants (yeah, that really happened), or jumping from the couch to the coffee table while playing "The Floor Is Lava." So please use discretion and supervise your kids.

While this is not an instructional, step-by-step as to how to make a teeter totter, you can see by the pictures that the design is quite simple. It is made from two eight-foot 2X6 boards and one eight foot 4X4 redwood post. I used the redwood post because redwood is naturally moisture resistant and insect resistant, and I figured that if it can handle those two things, it should be able to handle my three kids. This also means that it does not need to be painted. The 2X6 boards were painted using some left over exterior paint.

Note the decorative chalk designs

Two boards make up the legs and two boards make up the uprights. There are two spacer blocks between the uprights to give space to the post, which is attached using a threaded rod with locking nuts holding it in place. Two board cutoffs make up the seats, and the handles are made from 2X2 scraps with round dowels running through the tops. You will also notice in the picture from the side that there is a hole above the pivot point. When I originally built this that upper hole was the pivot point. Then I realized that my then three-year-old was about five feet in the air. I modified and moved the pivot down, which lowered the maximum height. I can still move it up to daredevil level in their older years.

The whole project took me about two hours to cut and put together, not including the time to paint it. One thing I realized is that the handles do not work really well. The kids put so much torque on the handles that they regularly break off. A little more engineering with longer lag screws, anchor sleeves, and some wood glue solves this problem. However, if I had it all to do over again, I might choose simple rope handles. All of which leads me to this realization: some projects, especially ones that are tested out by kids, need to be fixed and modified on a regular basis. This is part of the wonderful world of engineering for kids who operate outside the realm of normal physical constraints. This is part of being a Renaissance Dad. 

Fun, Free Event for Kids: Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics

The end of a satisfying project

When Big E, my oldest daughter, was 2, I discovered a magical event at our local Lowe's Home Improvement store - Build and Grow clinics. These Build and Grow clinics occur about every two weeks or so and give kids the opportunities to build a wide variety of wood projects. The pieces are pre-cut and pre-drilled for nails, the picture instructions are easy for older kids to follow, and the wide variety of projects help keep the kids' interest. And did I mention that these clinics are FREE?!? That's right, the Lowe's clinics are FREE.

Each child gets a free apron, free safety goggles, the project, and an iron-on patch for their apron (I have used a variety of methods to attach the patches to the apron over the years, and I still find that, while the iron-on patches are great, nothing beats the speed of a hot glue gun). For each additional week, kids get the project and the patch.

Little E hammering away

As I was getting the kids ready to go to this week's clinic, I looked at Big E's apron (actually two aprons since we ran out
of space for the patches on the first one) and counted up the
projects that we have done together - 45. She and I have done
45 projects together. We regularly look at the apron and remember projects that she made as gifts: the pet leash holder for great-grandma, the planter trellis for mom for Mother's Day, the race for her little brother. And then as the number of kids have increased, we have added to the fun by taking brother and sister to the clinics.

So why the Build and Grow clinics? What is the point? Here are the things that I have learned and experienced through taking the kids to Lowe's:

Big A working her assembly skills

1). It is more important for the kids to have fun than for the project to be perfect. I have witnessed many parents at these clinics take over the project and hammer away while the kids sat on the floor. I admit that in the early years I was one of the parents who insisted on "helping" the kids put stickers on the projects so they "looked better." Eventually, however, I realized that the joy in the project is not in the finished
product, but in my kids finding satisfaction in completing a project. Be a help, but let your kids do the work.

2). This is a great opportunity for kids to learn to swing a hammer. Lowe's supplies little hammers for use during these clinics. As my kids have grown through the years, they have learned how to properly hold and swing a hammer. Having the pre-drilled holes helps alleviate any
frustration from bent nails.

Big E showing her independence

3). The projects make great gifts for parents and grandparents. Usually, around Mother's Day and Father's Day, Lowe's offers projects that would be appropriate gifts - picture frames, planters, keep sake boxes, etc. My kids have loved giving some of their projects to loved ones, and they can proudly tell them that they made it.

4). I love free interactive entertainment for kids. I love it even more when it is something that helps mold my kids into Renaissance Moms and Dads. The younger kids are getting great practice follow my verbal direction. My older daughter is gaining spacial reasoning skills that will help her assemble Ikea furniture all by herself someday. (I wish someone had taken my wife to Build and Grow clinics as a kid.)

Smiles and satisfaction for completed projects

If you haven't visited a Lowe's Build and Grow clinic with your kids, I highly recommend it. This is age appropriate for kids from 2 to 12 or so (I've seen parents with infants at these clinics, and that might be a bit young to learn to swing a hammer). If you don't have a Lowe's in your area, check with your local home improvement store and see if they have a similar program. I know that Lowe's also offers the kits to purchase through their website, so ordering some online is an additional possibility.

Four years of projects, 45 patches, and endless quality time

I can't tell you the number of times my hands have been hit with tiny hammers as I held pieces together for my kids to nail. Nor can I tell you the number of burns I have sustained hot gluing patches onto their aprons. And then there are the countless times I have tripped over small wooden toys laying around the house. And yet I smile as I'm writing this because I have even sweeter memories of time spent with my kids. The joy of my 2-year-old asking me, "Daddy, wanna go to Lowe's with ME?" The giggles as they hammer and put stickers on their projects. The smile on my wife's face when she receives the gift of two hours of solitude. These are the building blocks, figurative and literal, of what I love about Lowe's Build and Grow. This is why Lowe's is the place for a Renaissance Dad (Lowe's, if you're reading this and want to sponsor my blog, please let me know).

Inexpensive DIY Doll Bunk Bed

Doll bunk bed, with actual bunk bed in background

Years ago I built a bunk bed for my girls. It was a fun project, and four years later the bed is still standing, so I must have done something right. And then my middle daughter, Big A, decided that her dolls needed a place to sleep. She turned our wine rack into a doll bed, and also commandeered every laundry basket and couch cushion in the house. So enter the Baby Doll Bunk Bed project.

When I initially thought about making toys years ago (please see the Heirloom Toys article if you missed it), I imagined I would have piles of cherry, oak, and walnut toys that my kids played with. But as I thought about the doll bunk bed, I realized that the greatest thing for my daughters would be for them to have a doll bed that matched their bunk bed.

Here is what I did to make a bed that fits an 18 inch doll (like American Girl or My Generation). I started with one 2x2 and two 1x3 boards. I used the 2x2 for the posts, and the 1x3's for the horizontal pieces. I cut the 2x2 into four 18-inch pieces for the posts. I then cut four 18-inch lengths of the 1x3 for the side rails, plus eight lengths of the 1x3 for the end rails.

Don't try this with a store-bought bed

Using a pocket hole jig (if you've never used a pocket hole jig before, you must. They are easy to use and create very nice joints), I attached four end rails to two posts, and repeated for the other side. I then attached the two ends using the side rails. When everything was together, I filled the pocket holes with some wood filler, sanded it, and painted the whole thing white to match my girls' bed. Meanwhile, my wife took some scrap pieces of foam from the fabric store that we used for "mattresses" and covered them with some small pieces of fabric. We hot glued these to some pieces of plywood, and attached the plywood using small scraps of wood to brace the plywood.

This entire project cost about $15, with the bulk of the cost being the "mattresses." It took around two hours from start to finish. And the girls love the bunk bed. They often make sure to tuck their dolls into bed before they go to sleep.

At my house, my wife often tells our kids not to climb on the furniture, with one exception..she says, "Did daddy make it? Then it's safe to climb on." So this bed also doubles as a ladder, step stool and seat for my rambunctious crew. And we can store our wine, sit on our couch, and do laundry again. Win-win-WIN!

Homemade Heirloom Wood Toy for Less Than $10

When I was in college, I spent several school breaks visiting my roommate's family in Ohio. One time at Swartzy's parents' house, he showed me some of his old toys. They were mostly wooden and handmade by the Amish (if any Amish are reading this, you can sponsor my blog for a rocking chair and/or a jar of apple butter). Even at that time, I remember thinking that it would be really cool for my kids to have wooden toys like those. And then I thought that it would be even cooler if it were something that I made. More than a decade later, I made this for my daughter when she was 18 months old.

It started with a visit to the local lumberyard. When I say "lumberyard," I am not referring to Lowe's or Home Depot. This was a visit to a lumberyard that has a wide variety of woods in many different sizes. They have a bin at the front of the store with scraps - pieces of wood that are too small for many projects. But these are ideal for most toys, and because they are scraps, they are quite inexpensive. I purchased five different pieces for $1 each. In addition, I used some scraps that I already had in my workshop.

First, I made the base. I cut and sanded the shape that I was looking for and determined where the stackable pieces would be centered. I then drilled 3/4-inch holes, and glued in 6-inch pieces of a 3/4" oak dowel.

Next, for the square pieces, I measured the largest dimensions and cut that square, drilling a 7/8" hole in the center (I wanted it to be easy for my daughter to place on the dowel). I then made the next square 1/2 of an inch smaller, and repeated for the next four squares, with a total of 5 stackable squares.

Next, I made circular pieces using the same method. I used a compass (remember the wonderful instruments from Geometry that we used to poke holes into our shoes? They actually have a real life purpose. Aside from poking holes in shoes). I used a ruler to find the radius of the first circle, and then made each subsequent circle 1/2 of an inch smaller in diameter, for a total of 5 circles. Finding the center was easy, as I had a mark from the point of the compass already in the wood.

I made sure that all of the pieces were sanded smooth. For this particular project, I did not apply any finish, since I knew that my kids would inevitably chew on it. Actually, once everything was smooth, it looked so good that I took a bite. 

Finally, I wanted this to be a pull toy, so I installed wheels. I used wooden knobs from the hardware store (about $.75 each), and used wooden pins to hold them in place. The wooden pins were glued into the base, making sure that the glue did not get on the wheels. I then tied a decorative piece of rope through a small hole in the front, and I had a wonderful toy that has brought my children years of joy!

As a woodworker, this was a fun project because I used many woods that I never would have bought. The platform is made from purple heart, which is normally an expensive wood. But using the scrap allowed me to get away with an expensive looking toy at very little expense. The basic shapes also made this a project that I would recommend for most beginners. It requires nothing more than a drill and bits, a jigsaw (you could use a circular saw if you keep the cuts to squares only), and sandpaper, although an electric sander really speeds the sanding steps up.

With a little time, you will have a project that will be handed down from generation to generation. I would love to hear from you if you have similar projects that you have made for your children or grandchildren, or if you remember a handmade toy that somebody made for you when you were a kid (i.e. I'm looking for new ideas of things to make).