Science Galore

As the start of the school year is just four days away (have I mentioned that I'm not excited about Aiden being gone all day?), we've been trying to cram in as much fun time as humanly possible. Rose Garden, Arboretum, Washington Park, Children's Museum, lots of other parks, library, board games, visiting friends, art projects....whew! And of course, lots of science experiments.

We woke up today and I realized that I was plumb out of ideas. We didn't really want to go to the park again and just sitting outside doing sidewalk chalk sounded kind of boring, so after a visit with a friend who is moving to Arizona, we jumped into some brand new science experiments.

First one up: Ivory soap in the microwave.

 Yep, that's it. (Take it out of the plastic wrap first. That was there just for pictures sake.) Set an unwrapped bar of Ivory soap on a plate and stick in the microwave for 2 minutes. Want to see what happens? Watch the video below. It will look like it's going to be hard to see into the microwave at first, but you'll be able to see, trust me! (Note: There is no audio. I was using our point and shoot camera instead of the video camera, and the point and shoot doesn't capture audio).

For those of you who couldn't/didn't watch the video, the soap turns into foam. Here are the boys poking at it.

 Tips for parents if you want to try this:

1. Yes, it does need to be Ivory brand soap. Other brands of soap will just melt.

2. It will smell like soap in your house for hours. Strongly. Ivory is slightly perfumed and microwaving it enhances that, so if you're sensitive to perfume-y scents like I am, make sure you have windows open and possibly a candle lit. The candle I have broke through the scent a bit for me and made it easier to handle. I still ended up with a slight headache, but it was worth it for the experience for the boys.

3. Let it cool before the kids touch it! It's hot.

4. It will make a mess if you let the kids play with it (which you should totally do - the stuff feels awesome). It turns into soap dust and will probably need to be vacuumed up. We took a large chunk and let the boys dissolve it in the bathtub later that night. Hey, they got clean.

The second experiment of the day was done with John's help. This time we took five simple ingredients: Strawberries, water, liquid soap, meat tenderizer enzyme, and rubbing alcohol. Can you guess what our experiment was?

DNA extraction!

The fuzzy stuff in the middle between the berry puree and the alcohol is the strawberry DNA.

This was a super fun experiment and while it required a little bit of time and work, it was fun to play with DNA (I don't get to say that often enough, methinks). We even took some of the DNA out by using the end of matchsticks and rubbed it in between our fingers. It felt like boogers. Also, my kitchen smells strongly of alcohol. Between that and the soap, it's a fairly clean smelling kitchen!

So that's what we've been doing. We'll try to make the most of our last four days of summer before Aiden heads to 1st grade and Nathan begins another year of preschool.

Happy 30th Birthday!

Happy 30th birthday to John!

He had to work today and things are a little busy just before school starts back up, so today was a low-key celebration. John and I will have about 24 child-free hours in a week and a half to really top off the turning 30 celebration. We also had a family party for him this past Sunday, and I made some chocolate "bundt cake" cupcakes for his co-workers this afternoon.

For dinner, we had homemade apple pie....

...and Philly cheesesteaks.  As much as I tried, they will never be as good as we'd get at 

Jim's Steaks in Philadelphia. Those things are amazing. Drool. Additionally, is Provolone more of an East Coast standard cheese? I had to go to the specialty cheese section to get it, which seemed strange.

It took me FOREVER to figure out what to get John for his birthday, but this afternoon we finally went out to get him a little something. Some new Discworld books (it's a British Sci-fi series) and a band saw!

Yes, it really is almost the size of our dishwasher. It's large and heavy. I figured since he's turning 30, he deserved a fairly nice present.

Funny story about buying the band saw. I head into Home Depot with the boys in tow, wearing my ballet flats, skinny jeans, with my perky little girly purse slung over my shoulder. I go to the guy in the tool department and ask where I might find the band saws. The utter look of confusion on his face was priceless. He leads me to them and stammers out, "Uh, these are the band saws". I say thank you and proceed to look them over. He comes back a few minutes later as I'm attempting to load a band saw into the cart. He offers help, still with a confused look on his face. Like, what on earth am *I* doing with a band saw/Do I even know what a band saw is/He sure hopes that I'm not going to actually try to use the thing, kind of look. I head to the checkout and wait, in between multiple elderly gentlemen, all of whom got the same confused look on their face when they saw what was in my cart. Apparently tiny mama Carrie with a large band saw is a strange thing to see. The cashier looked almost relieved when I explained that it was a birthday present for my husband. John and I had a good laugh about it when I described the scene later in the evening.

All in all, I think we ushered John's 30s in pretty well. Even thought the childfree weekend isn't for a week and a half, I am quite excited about my plans for John. But it's a secret, so I can't tell you. Yet.

Happy birthday, honey! We are very happy to have gotten to celebrate with you today!

Hmm....

This is Aiden's desk. He is six. Those are his molecular drawings on the right. 

I think we might be dealing with some boredom in 1st grade.

On a related note, we have been in contact with the director to the school district's TAG program. They start by doing multiple observations of him during class and we can request that they begin that at any time during the school year. We've decided to let him settle into the 1st grade routine before having them start the observations, so we'll wait until we're a month or so into the school year. I would also like to find some sort of parents group for myself and I believe the school district has one. It would probably be helpful to know how other parents handle certain situations and keep their kids adequately mentally stimulated. Most days I just feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants.

Apology

Aiden had gotten in trouble for fighting with Nathan and was sent to his room. He knew that he needed to apologize and after a few minutes, sent this note out.

Aiden was scolded for being rude and was sent back to his room. I waited until he was gone to laugh so hard, tears streamed down my face. Parenting is a never ending adventure.

TGIF

This week has been one of the longest and stressful weeks I've had in a long time. Already on the schedule was the final for the very last math class I needed. And then at the end of last week, I was called by a local preschool, asking me to come in for an interview on Monday. So that was added in to everything. The interview was for an educational assistant position, but I haven't heard anything yet. If it's supposed to happen, it will happen. And if it doesn't, someone else probably needed that job more.

Once the interview was past me, I focused hard on getting through the final. As many of you know, math and I do not get along. Tests and I do not get along. Add the two together and it's a complete disaster. My mind goes blank, I start shaking, my asthma kicks in, I feel sick to my stomach. Worst test anxiety ever. It's no wonder I bombed my SATs. Anyway, I really wanted to just get through the math class and be done with my math pre-requisites. This term's math had more sense than last term's and I had somehow managed to pass last term (but barely), so I was hoping I could pull it off. After the final, I did not feel good about it. I got to the car and cried, then went home and ate a bunch of comfort food. What was done was done and I just had to wait. Then this morning came and I received the email from my professor. I had passed. And not only had I passed, I had somehow managed to get a 'B' in the class (thank you, extra credit assignments!!). I screamed. I am done with math and it feels great! It may sound silly, but I honestly didn't think I could pass all three math courses on the first try. I've gone back and looked at my final grade a few times just to make sure I read it correctly! I am so excited to move onto next term and focus on my library/education courses (plus one extra pre-req computer course that I wasn't able to get permission to skip, since it's a pre-req for two courses that are pre-reqs for five other courses).

I am so happy that it's finally Friday. Now I have six weeks before classes start for me again and I get to enjoy spending time with my kids before school starts for them in three weeks (I am NOT ready to have a 1st grader, but that's another topic!). I am seriously going to enjoy my weekend!

Bullying

Have you spoken to your kids about bullying? As nasty of subject as it is, we've had numerous conversations with Aiden about bullying. Bullying comes in many different shapes and forms. It can carried out over a long period of time or it can be a fleeting moment from someone you just met. Aiden had never experienced it first hand - until yesterday.

We had been invited to a BBQ (I won't say where because what happened is no fault of the people hosting the event) and even though we knew one, maybe two people there, we decided to attend. There were probably around 6-8 kids in a medium-sized backyard, so it was easy to keep an eye on them. And then a guest arrived with his nine year old son. The son immediately started behaving like a lunatic: running around screaming, chasing other children with sticks and baseball bats, taking toys from smaller children. Translation: He was being a bully. Aiden recognized this and informed me that he was trying to stay away from the kid as much as possible. And in case you're wondering where his dad was throughout this, he was standing right there. Yep, watching his kid torment other children and not doing a darn thing about it. I was convinced someone was going to get hurt, so knowing that Aiden was doing his best to stay away from him made me feel slightly relieved.

I had been doing my best to make sure either John or I was outside at all times to make sure Aiden was safe from this kid. And then it happened that John and I were inside at the same moment for about 30 seconds. In those 30 seconds, this nine year old targeted my six year old, chased him down behind the side of the house where no one could see, shoved Aiden hard into the dirt, and held him down. I heard Aiden screaming like he was being murdered and suddenly a few of the older kids were running to their parents, saying that the nine year old was hurting Aiden. I am so thankful that the older children were able to clearly state to other adults what was happening so that there was no mistaking what had occurred.

Aiden was screaming and crying so hard, he couldn't speak. He was covered in dirt from his head to his feet. His entire right side was covered in scratches and was bleeding. I was furious. Since John was there and the other kids were giving clear information, I immediately took Aiden into the bathroom and locked the door. I couldn't deal with this bully and his ignorant father. It wouldn't have been constructive or pretty, and I didn't want to cause a scene at someone else's house. There is no way I would have been able to get a word out without yelling or cursing. I had the overwhelming urge to take that child over my knee and give him a spanking he wouldn't soon forget. But I couldn't (and shouldn't) do those things, so I felt it best to lock myself away to help Aiden.

It took a full 30 minutes to clean Aiden up and get him calmed down. In that time, I could hear some commotion out in the living room. From what I could gather, the child hid right after he attacked Aiden and it took a few minutes for his father to find him. I heard someone talking with John and then the sound of the front door. John told me that the father and the boy apologized and then promptly left. Good. If they hadn't left, we were going to. I wasn't staying in the same place as that child. Aiden was finally cleaned (except for a few splinters that I couldn't get removed without making him bleed more), he had stopped crying, and I was to the point where I could show my face without looking like I was about to punch someone.

Now, I am glad that the father apologized for his son's attack on my child. However, it might not have happened had the dad dealt with his son's initial behavior in the first place. There is a reason children should be given rules and boundaries and punishments, and it was painfully obvious that this child had never experienced any of that. Sadly, I do think that the only reason he apologized and left was because there were 30 other people staring at him and his bully of a child. He was probably embarrassed, and rightfully so. I am angry at that boy for attacking Aiden. But I am more angry at his father (his mother was not there, so I don't know what the family situation is) for allowing that kind of behavior.

I am immensely thankful that other children were aware of a bullying situation and knew that they needed to immediately inform adults of what was happening. It is so important to teach children about bullying - not only for their sake, but for the sake of other children as well. We had a long talk about bullying when we got home. The discussion was little different now that he'd experienced it and now he knows that it can happen at ANY time, even from someone he just met. We ended up being up for about two hours in the middle of the night after he had a nightmare about being beaten.

This was a nasty experience. And it was a horrible reminder of how awful children to be to others, and how clueless some parents can be. No one wants to think of their child as a bully, but if you see that kind of behavior coming from your child, please deal with it and don't just assume it will go away. You never know when someone might get hurt.

Back!

We're back! We went away for four days to attend the memorial service for Jerry Sugden. I knew that I wanted to be there for Liz and Rusty, and John graciously used vacation time in order to allow us to make the trip - even though he didn't know him personally. It was an odd feeling, being there. Multiple people made the comment that it kept throwing them off not to see him around because he's "always been there". I knew exactly what they were talking about. The church was PACKED with people and the service was beautiful. We laughed, we cried, we launched a rocket in his honor (yes, you read that right). It was perfect.

While it obviously wasn't the point of the trip, I was able to see so many people that I have not seen in years - at the memorial service and again at church the next morning. Liz was able to make it over from Germany (the passports for the baby were taken care of quickly in order for them to make it over to be with the family - thank you to all who kept them in prayer) and I got to hold little baby Amelie (two days in a row!).

 Isn't she ADORABLE?!

Smiling baby time with Delonna and Lois!

It was an emotional weekend, especially since I ended up having to spend a few hours with my mom for the first time in almost four years (my brother Paul turned 13 while we were there, so it was a family birthday party). My thoughts and feelings on our "relationship" (or lack of one) were not swayed. No thank you. I have many things I could say regarding the few hours that I saw her and none of them would be good, so I'll just keep them to myself.

There were additional activities that I was hoping to do while we were in town (going into Seattle, taking the boys to one of the playgrounds I spent a great deal of time at as a child, etc), but it was almost too hot to have the boys outside for long periods of time and there just didn't end up being a great chunk of time to do many additional outings. But we got lots of time in with my dad, my siblings, and many wonderful friends. I am so glad that we made the trip.