mad scientist

Last Thursday we had an unexpected day off of school (which meant no work for me). I watched Brook's kids so that she could work and the boys could all have fun playing. I decided to do a project. My family knows how I love PROJECTS. My kids ask for them sometimes. They can be art or crafts or science experiments. I got creative and googled "easy home science experiments" and it gave lots of web sites. I went with www.sciencebob.com/experiments/index.php It gave lots of great ideas. I chose to do two of them. They were really fun. You should try them too.

1. Bending Water with Static Electricity (I dubbed all of the boys Avatars since they were water benders---not quite air benders though). This is easy. You need only a dry plastic comb and a faucet. 1.) turn on faucet slowly so that you have a small stream of water flowing. 2.) comb through your hair 10-20 times (roughing up the hair for more static electricity helps, so does having thick hair). 3.) Now hold the comb close to the stream of water without touching it. The water flow should bend toward the comb. It looks cool. Now you are an official water bender!

2. Exploding Lunch Bag You will need 1small sandwich zip-lock bag (freezer bags work best), baking soda, warm water, vinegar, and a tissue. 1.) Put 1/4 cup of pretty warm water into the zip-lock bag. 2.) Add 1/2 cup vinegar to the water in the bag. 3.) Put 3 teaspoons of baking soda into the middle of the tissue and wrap it up into a pouch by folding the tissue around it. 4.)go outside or in the sink because messy. Work fast now! Partially zip up the bag closed but leaving enough room to slip the pouch of baking soda in. Put the pouch inside and quickly zip up the bag so completely closed. 6.) Put the bag on the ground or in the sink and step back. The bag will start to expand with gas and bubbles until it pops!

OK, besides doing these experiments, the next day, Friday, when I picked Sam up at preschool/daycare, they were doing science experiments so I stayed a little while and watched so Sam could see also. They did the mentos in diet coke experiment and we got to see the pop explode into a gush way high into the air. It was cool! Just another fun idea for a not so busy day.

It Is Finished!!!

Yeaaa! I just finished the novel I have been working on for the past year and a half to two years. I am sooo excited. I needed to tell someone, but it is so late so I had to post it and tell you! It is a novel about a ten year old boy in Rwanda Africa who loses his family in the genocide attacks by the Hutus against the Tutsi's. Eventually he ends up as a slave at a cocoa plantation and through some magic pages that are given to his uncle before the attacks, he comes to know Christ later in the novel. Anyway. That is a short summary. It feels so good to complete a project. I am already toying with ideas about my next project. I don't know if this novel is good enough to ever get published, or even if it is, if any publishing complany will even look at it with all the competition out there. It takes a lot to get them to invest in a new, unknown author. But at least it is done. I have done my part and leave the rest to God to use it as he will. Whew! Did I say I just finished it? Yeah, I am sooo happy.

Easter

Continuing to post pictures - these are from Easter at Mimi's house.

New Pictures---I haven't posted pictures in a while so here are some updates. Cute, crazy Maizie dog. Also, Sam's 5th birthday "Messy Art Party".

Words of Wisdom?

Here are some funny things my kids have been saying:

1. Sam likes to use the word "actually" in just about every other sentence.
2. He also seems to think the new cool word is "Lame". Riding home from "school" the other day he was talking about how girls were lame; which is actually quite funny because his best freinds at school are a couple of girls in his class.
3. Sam ordered a corn dog at a restaurant last weekend. The stick had a really sharp end where they had skewered the hot dog onto it. Sam looked at me quite seriously and told me, "Mom, I have to be careful eating it so that I don't spear my uvula!" Yes, he likes the word uvula a lot also. Can you tell he takes after his mom in his love for words? Word Girl!
4. Max brought up again how he looks like a professional dancer or ice skater in his school uniform the other night so I started singing "Tiny Little Dancer" by Elton John as I put him to bed. I couldn't stop giggling. He has really been into roller skating lately which kind of fits the theme. He has a roller skating party tonight for a friends birthday and also next weekend for his own birthday. I think we should make sure he wears his skating outfit/school uniform for these events. What do you think?
5. Sam is really into getting his nails painted. The girls that teach his class in the afternoon at his daycare/school paint all the girl's nails about every other week. They also do Sam's. He loves it. He likes them painted green or black and calls them his monster nails. His favorite is the first day he gets them painted. He sticks them up my nose and tells me to smell them. "Are they gross and stinky?" he asks. Lovely.
6. Max comes home (Sam also to tell the truth) with the fabulous stories made up by his friends. They can't possibly be true, but he believes them...all of them. So far he hasn't figured out the art of exaggeration or confabulation. I tell him it can't really be true and he acts like I am crazy or just not so smart because I don't understand and KNOW these things. Because these things are really, really true. How early do the teenage years start? Just asking.