Today we celebrated Christmas. The boy's principal gift was a Gamecube. When the boys came down, Charlie looked over the gifts, but didn't see the Gamecube because it wasn't wrapped: it had simply been unobtrusively attached to the TV and was sitting, with the controllers, on the bottom shelf of the entertainment center. When he opened the first Gamecube game, he scanned the rest of the gifts, but still didn't see the Gamecube. The tension began to rise. Finally, after all the gifts were opened, Alisa asked him to grab a bag (from right next to the game cube) and start picking up the paper. He still didn't see it. Finally, we pointed out the last couple of scraps of paper (and a ribbon Alisa had casually laid over the controllers) and, suddenly, the boys saw it! It was a very merry Christmas.
For the Christmas feast, we got a smoked ham from the 
Lukasik Game Farm. (Unfortunately, as I write this, their page isn't working. There is still a BAD URL -- remove all of <, >, ",though.)
It was excellent. Alisa particularly liked the texture. I loved it, but it made me hanker for a Virginia country ham. A friend got one when I lived in Michigan.
I made a lot of progress on my DoggyMups adventure. I finished the Transmuppification Machine (which turns DoggyMups and Hotdogs into HotDoggyMups). I got the entrance to the Power Plant set up, so it will let you in -- if you have a HotDoggyMup. I've already built a switch in the Power Plant that shuts off electricity to the electrified fence around the Dog Pound. Tonight, I built a NinjaDogCatcher
, which will eject you from the Control Room, if you don't figure out how to release the DoggyMups in time. Now I'm working on a Clerk that will work in the Pet Store to distribute Magic Leashes (which you need to catch DoggyMups).
Phil has been working on Muppyville too. He had the goal of creating a robot that the children could talk to. To do his work, he created a Secret Laboratory. While he was working in his lab, one of the children came to talk to him and got Phil to follow him into a place where he couldn't get out of. The child returned long enough to taunt him and laugh at him. Phil figured out how to extricate himself (which is a useful skill) and then set about repurposing his robot to expel this particular child from his lab, if he ever comes back in.
I have mixed feelings about the behavior of this particular child. I have warned him several times about being friendly and courteous to other people, but with (obviously) limited success. At the same time, I realize that it's useful, to some extent, to have minor villains like this around. It's useful to learn that there are untrustworthy villains in on-line environments and it's nice to know, in this case, that the villain the children are meeting is just another child, and not some 30-year-old reject somewhere. Still, I'm tempted to newt him to make sure his parents understand just how obnoxious he's being.
All in all, though, I'm pleased with Phil's solution. It doesn't take people long to learn who is worth being friends with and who to hold at arm's length. Phil's solution is: don't listen to this character anymore and don't invite him to play with the things you create. That's probably punishment enough.