A Comet's Tail and Orbit

The kids finally finished studying the planets. We have now moved on to other object found in our Solar System. Like comets, "dirty snowballs".

They made their own "comet" using a Styrofoam ball, strips of tissue paper, and tape. They used a hair dryer to produce "solar wind" and learned that a comet's tail always points away from the Sun because it is blown back from the solar wind. So, when a comet is traveling away from the Sun, it appears to be going backwards.

They also made a comet's orbit on foam board. By using a marble, the kids were able to observe the changing speed of a comet as it orbits the Sun.

What's Up J'dawg?

What's Justin up to these days?

Basketball...Basketball....Basketball

His favorite shot is the three pointer.
But for some reason, whenever Justin wants me to watch, he misses.
Does this mean I'm bad luck?
I'm proud of Justin for practicing so hard. He's determined to make the basketball team this next school year. He's also spending three days of the week doing weight training. Watch out David! Your son may become stronger than you soon.

A Budding Photographer

Kirsten loves her camera. Her main subject to photograph is Dave-o.
She especially likes to video him. I'm so glad we live in a digital camera era.
I can remember getting my first camera at the age of 12.
It was a long rectangular shape which required a flash bulb that screwed in on the top and film.
I loved mine just as much as Kirsten loves hers.

Our Playstructure

Over the weekend, Kirsten and Steven noticed a play structure on our neighbor's lawn with a sign that read "Free". They ran inside the house to tell me that they took it for Dave-o to play on. They convinced me that he would LOVE it.

They were right. Dave-o loves climbing on and below it.

But, he's not the only one enjoying it. I don't think that Kirsten and Steven were ONLY thinking of Dave-o's happiness. Justin even enjoys tossing basketballs in it.

I also bought and read the sequel to "The Hunger Games", "Catching Fire". The book was staring at me in the face when David and I walked into Fry's Electronics, but I didn't notice. It was David who said, "Isn't that the book you want?" In the cart it went. I loved the second book just as much as the first, but, I am dying to know what's going to happen next! Unfortunately I have to wait 147 more days until the final book, "Mockingjay" is released.

Hunger

I am hungry for more...
Hunger Games!

A few days ago, my sister sent me "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and ordered me to read it. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! Deborah warned me not to read it at night, for fear of weird dreams. But I did anyways. I just couldn't stop. I MUST get my hands on the sequel, "Catching Fire". And SOON!!!!

Speaking of hunger...This evening, David experienced a self inflicted battle. A battle of Will Power. He desperately wanted to buy a slice of the Cheesecake Factory's, "Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake". He began to pace back and forth while muttering who-knows-what while I am trying to watch "Project Runway". I tried to block him out, but his pacing was stressing me out. I repeatedly told David to go and get it (anything to watch my show in peace), but he kept saying that it was too late, and he really shouldn't. I knew that it was serious when I saw him collapse on the couch and curl up in the fetal position. I grabbed the keys and said, "Let's go".

After dropping David off to order the dessert, I found a parking spot and met him inside. In his hand was the Cheesecake Factory menu and I heard him ask the cashier, "Is this number for one slice?" The man said, "Yes". I peered over David's shoulder to see what he was questioning. Underneath the "Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake" read: 19220 calories! WHAT! While walking back to the car, David tried to explain it away by saying that the cashier was probably wrong and the amount was for the WHOLE cake.

This is what I heard on our drive home.

"That's like eating 40 Big Macs."
"It takes me 1 weeks to eat that many calories."
"I'd have to go on the Elliptical for 100 days to burn all that off."
"That's 5 POUNDS of butter."
"There's no way that number's right."

Of course me being the supportive wife just laughed.

And he ate it.

All 19220 calories.

Oh...And I ate the "Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake".
Guilt free!

10 Month Milestones

It's a big, exciting world, and Dave-o's ready to take on every bit of it.
Here's what our busy 10 month old is up to.

He knows how to pull the lid off of a pen/marker.

He claps when we say, "Clap your hands."

He still likes holding my hair while sucking his thumb. But when I'm not available, Dave-o turns to his blanket for comfort. He loves feeling the silky binding

He's still a toothless beaver.
I have a theory: Maybe when his hair begins to grow so will his teeth.
Or visa-versa.

Dave-o LOVES balls. He takes after his big brother, Justin, in that respect.
Whenever he sees something round, he grunts and screams for it.

He has many animated expressions,but one of my favorites is when he wrinkles his nose.

Dave-o now understands the meaning of the word "no", even though his need to explore is often stronger than his desire to listen to me.


Dave-o's way of communication? Point and grunt.

I love my little man.

Picnicing Among Wildflowers

The warm sunshine and the possibility of seeing wildflowers brought us to our favorite trail off of McAbby. Sure enough, the flowers were out, beckoning Kirsten to pick them and put in her brother's ear...AGAIN.

We found a secluded picnic bench to rest our weary legs and refuel.
A funny incident happened soon after we ate.
James' curiosity compelled him to kick over a large rock (the size of a basketball).
I don't know what he was expecting to find, but it sure wasn't DOG POO.
To make matters worse (or funnier, depending on how you look at it),
the poo got all over his shoe.
EWWWWW!

Then it was time to explore again.


I LOVE Springtime!

Dave-o vs. Goliath

Does this picture appear strange to anyone else?

Dave-o looks so...tiny!
And Steven looks...well... like a giant!

More Fun With Slime

James was experimenting with his slime and came up with this.

He wrapped the slime around a plastic flute and began to blow...
And blow...
And blow...

Steven tried to do the same with a straw, but it didn't get as big.

Painted Eggs

Last week's history was spent studying the first Russians. Because of Russian Orthodox roots, they have many festivals to celebrate. A week before Easter, for example, is egg decorating time (sound familiar?). Some blow out the insides of a raw egg and paint a beautiful scene on the shell. Or the eggs are boiled with onion skins. We have never tried blowing out the raw egg, so that's what we decided to do. Here are a few of our favorites.

Kirsten's..........................James'

Steven's.................................. Mine

A Boy Story

One sunny spring afternoon Dave-o sat on a shady hillside while watching his servants romp around on the hot playground equipment.

Dave-o quickly became bored (you can hardly blame him for having the attention span of a 9 month old). Soon, he noticed something white peeking up out of the grass. Dave-o's curiosity overtook him and he reached out to touch this delicate little specimen.

Before he knew it, Dave-o's girl servant came running over to him apparently excited about his discovery. Dave-o heard her call the thing a "pretty flower" and the next thing he knew, the girl was putting this flower behind his ears and even on his head.

Dave-o wasn't sure what to think about all of this.

His ear began to feel itchy.

No, this wasn't right.

It was at this moment that Dave-o knew what it meant to be a boy.

Flowers are for GIRLS!

School With Dave-o

Dave-o makes doing schoolwork a challenge for James. James prefers the floor to a desk and for some reason Dave-o likes to plop himself down right on top of his books. I think it's a game to him. I also think James likes Dave-o doing this because he continues working on the floor.

We're Going Green

St. Patrick's Day was always a fun holiday at my home growing up. My mom would bring out all of her treasures and nick-knacks that she had bought while serving a mission in Ireland. I remember they smelled of cedar from being stored in her cedar chest, waiting for March to come around to be taken out and admired. The food she made that day would mysteriously turn green (of course the leprechauns were to blame for this). I always loved listening to my Mom's stories of Ireland. And I still love to hear them today.

Each year I try to make St. Patrick's Day enjoyable for my family as well (minus the Irish decorations). This morning the kids woke up to green pancakes and green juice.

In the afternoon, they listened to the Irish Tenors and made green slime.
This entertained them for hours.

For dinner? Green eggs and ham (well...we didn't have ham so bacon was cooked instead).
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Green Slime
Stir together 1/2 cup of white glue and 1/3 cup water.
Add drops of food coloring if desired. Set aside.
In a jar with a lid (canning jar), combine 3/4 cup warm water and 2 tsp. Borax Laundry Booster. Have the kids shake the jar until the detergent is dissolved.
Pour this liquid into the glue mixture and stir.
The slime forms immediately.
Take it out and knead the slime until the liquid is out of it.
Store in a ziplock bag. If it the slime dries out, you can place it in water to rehydrate it.

Note: You don't have to use a canning jar. I thought it would be more fun for the kids to shake it rather than stir it.

Saying No

Sometimes it's okay to say "No".

Pool Crashers

Can it really be that warm outside?
Steven thought so...
That is, before he made the jump.
Once his body hit that frigid water he was quick to climb out.
Steven said that the pool was colder than the ocean.

These two lovebirds seem to disagree with Steven.
Yes. They're back! And this time our pool doesn't look like a pond.
While taking some of the kids to the park, Justin called me from home to tell me about these two pool crashers. He even took pictures of them to show his dad (who was not thrilled).