Growing Everyday

We do lots of art around here. Sometimes, it is a little difficult to keep crayons and markers exciting when you seem to play with them all the time. So working on something new can change plain markers and crayons into new and exciting.

After Andrew’s ofice was all set up, we had plenty of cardboard boxes leftover to draw and create on. Beka and Jared had a fun time because it was on the floor and it was a bigger "canvas" then they are used to.

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With both kids in school, I hear that question alot. Jared especially has been full of facts lately. Here are somethings heard and learned over the past week

Did you know that….

• kangaroos heads are shaped like a deers head?
• kangaroos are nocturnal?
• if you cut a starfish in half you get two starfish?
• octopuses can grow new tentacles if one gets cut off?
• Rosa Parks had to ride in the back of the bus because people are mean?
• Avatar is the best show on TV?
• bean seeds grow faster than lemon seeds?

Andrew finally got some new office furniture for his office. It now looks AWESOME! He has room, light, and organization. When he ordered the furniture, he decided he would put it together. One night Andrew put some of it together. Along comes Jared the next day wanting to help. So the two men sat down and put the last of the furniture together. All Jared wanted to do was the hammering.

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"Can I hammer now, Dad?"

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Just a random photo of me trying to find something for the kids to do for awhile besides run around shouting "pay attention to me" over and over again The are mixing macaroni noodles and rice in order to develop pretend recipes.

Jared is very into the sink and float experiments. I think he just likes to put things in the water. Still, he asks to do experiments of this kind all the time. So I decided we would try different fruit in the aquarium to see whihc sank and whick floated. We used an apple, tangelo, lime, lemon, carrots, and grapes. First the children had to fill out a sheet predicting which items would sink of float.

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Next, we placed, aka dropped, the food in the water and marked down whether it sank or floated.

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Lastly, we peeled the tangelo, lemon, and lime to see if being peeled made a difference.

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Okay so for Beka and Jared that wasn’t the last step. The last step was to mutilate all the food into unrecognizable shapes, add salt to make the "witches’ brew or stew", and then taste it. I don’t know why all my science experiments disintegrate into making a mess, but at least the kids learned something for awhile.

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I read about this cool science experiment on a messageboard I belong to. You build up static electricity on a balloon and the bubbles will be attracted to the balloon. It was simply amazing. Beka and Jared could get the bubbles to land on their balloons. If the bubbles landed on the ground, you could get them to "jump" onto the ballon.

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Of course, the activity, eventually, disintegrated into stomping bubbles.
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One day recently and no, I don’t remember which day, the weather was beautiful with a hint of spring in it. (and yes grandparents I do know the same day in your town was more like a hint of summer…but I am not listening to that.) We made the most of it by staying outside as long as possible. To encourage staying outside, we played baseball, frisbee, and soccer. The playground here is still basically flooded so we didn’t get to do that.

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I just love how free and full of life Beka looks here.

Beka decided she wanted a dance party. So the boys were willing to dance with her. Well, it turned out she had more fun taking pictures of Daddy and Jared’s antics.

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Last Saturday, was beautiful here. There was just enough snow on the ground to play in and it was warm enough to stay outside for hours without feeling like you were going to lose some digits. And it was about time! The kids were going stir crazy staying inside. It was wonderful to go outside and actually play until we were tired instead of until we were so cold we couldn’t take it. Jared can’t wait for Spring. He is counting down the days. Beka is taking it better, but any chance she gets she is out riding her bike.

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