Sorry, no blogging... for now

I have had a lot going on, some things that I will blog about later (when I have time) and some things that don't require extra explanation, so here are my excuses for the last 1.5 weeks and the next little while to come...
No Posting Excuses: planning and attending Ward Pool Party, celebrating Danielle's birthday, being a single parent while Dave was in Montreal, watching kids so Jane could pack up, cleaning up, watering the garden, making meals for children, sleeping, watching Jane's kids again, grocery shopping, planning and attending Trent and Jane's going away party, being a single parent while Dave was in Montreal... again, having to say good bye to my brother and his family for 10 months, dropping my sister off at the airport and saying good-bye until next summer, spending a couple hours at the hospital, watering my garden again and again hoping to save my plants after several days of neglect, dealing with a difficult child (okay, really I have 3 difficult children), wondering and worrying if Spencer's new teacher is really going to work for him, stressing over needing to drive all the way to Ashburn to pick up a medical form that I forgot to get on Monday, needing to return over-due movies, make a clothing donation, get school supplies, fill up 2 cars with gas, pick up a few things at Rhonda's house, and go swimming one more time before school starts. That's not everything, but the big things that I need to do...

About a little girl... read the captions to get the stories

Eye Obsessed

So, got a new camera (thank you, DAVE!!) and have been completely obsessed with trying to take a perfect picture of an . think they are both disgusting and beautiful at the same time. Anyway, have fun guessing who these all belong to. :)

Bounteous Harvest 2: Cucumbers

I'm waaaayyy behind on posting. I took this picture of my first cucumbers back in July. Since then, I've harvested around 20-30 of them. My kids loved the first 5 of them, after that, they lost interest and I was able to eat them for several weeks after they did before I finally got sick of them. So now, I am giving them away to anyone who will take them. I have more pictures somewhere of Miana in my garden so I will find those and post them soon... Most of my cucumbers were bigger than these first ones.

Breaking the silence... with Chewy Box and the Bunny Hunter

I think I have posted before about my children and them calling things by the wrong name. I don't have time to find the post, so you'll have to look. But here are some that we have come across most recently, (even if I already posted about them)...

Some months ago, we were meeting Daddy at the video store. Carter says, "Are we going to Mythbusters?" Spencer, somewhat annoyed said, "It's not Mythbusters, it's Blackbuster."
I was reminded of this the other day when once again, Carter said, "and we can rent it at Mythbusters, right?"

My favorite thing is to listen to them talk about Star Wars characters. They discuss the big hairy guy, called Chewy Box and talk about the mean and scary, Bunny Hunter... ooohh, just hearing that makes me cower in fear, watch out for the Bunny Hunter (for those of you who haven't yet figured it out, that's Bounty Hunter.)

So next time you're in the mood to rent a movie, try the place where they don't like the color black(or is it a place where they investigate urban legends), and maybe check out the movie about the big hairy, chewy guy who fights with a man who hunts tiny, adorable rabbits.

UPDATE: I found the old post, it was in February click here

Curiosity and Science Sunday

I have a friend who has been working with Spencer on some academic things. There was a moment when I needed to describe Spencer's academic needs to his school and I asked for her opinion. She said, "Spencer always has an experiment going on in his head." I thought about this and what she meant and it's true. He's always thinking about something... how it works, what he could do with it, or perhaps what would happen if... He only pauses from these thoughts to play with friends.

The other day, he was playing outside and later that evening I went out to get something and found these cups all lined up on the deck. At first glance, they look like they are full of water.

Then I found this container inside the house on the kitchen table, empty.

If you can't see it clearly, it says, "Miracle Bubbles." I asked him about it and he simply said, "I just wanted to see." See what? What would happen? How much was in the bottle? I don't know, but the experiment seemed to be complete. The answers to the questions are: There was enough bubble solution to fill 9 cups about 3/4 full and if you leave them out all day, likely you will have bugs and spiders that investigate and eventually get stuck and die in the solution.

Due to Spencer's curiosity and our never-ending struggle to harness his energy for good, we have decided to implement Science Sunday. We don't do it every Sunday, but on Sunday afternoons when we are spending time with the family and we don't have other obligations (naps?) we think of an experiment we can do with the kids. This was Dave's brillant idea and I wish I had thought of it! Our first experiment was a couple of weeks ago, we made oobleck. Definition from Wikipedia: a substance that is used as a science aid to teach children about liquids and solids. This oobleck is created from cornstarch or potato flour and water in a ratio between 2:1 and 3:2. Though initially it acts like a viscous liquid, applying pressure quickly will make it appear to be a solid for a short time. The oobleck also behaves unlike conventional solids or liquid when thrown in the air, molded, heated, or vibrated.

They had a blast!! I love Science Sundays!