The Start of Summer

     Most of this past weeks activities have already been blogged about; we did an experiment with gummis (Growing, Disappearing, and Rubberizing Gummis) and stamped with apples (Apple Stamping).  The girls and Eli also had a good time swimming in their little pool. Nathan has it set up with the slide gaining into it again this year.  Eli especially loves it and tries to get in it anytime we are in the back yard.

     One of the bigger things that happened this week is that Bria finally decided she might be able to read after all. She read  a little book to Nathan and 2 others to her grandma.  Hopefully she will have a bit mover confidence now that she has done it.  We also got the girls signed up for the summer reading program through the library. They are signed up as family readers and only have to read 60 minutes a week. I am pretty sure we read around 60 minutes a day in this house!  

The first book Bria read all the way through!

     The other big thing that happened was my little bird decided to leave. The last time I saw him was Thursday right before dinner. I tried to feed him, but he wasn't hungry.  He was definitely eating on his own, and really was becoming quite the juvenile delinquent. I was always having to search for him and had already had to climb a tree to get him down. Still I am a bit sad that he just left.  Occasionally when I call him he will call back from the neighbor's tree (usually), but I can never find him way up in the branches. I did have Nathan put up a bird feeder, so hopefully I will see him again. Nathan doesn't think it will be until next year though, so I may not recognize him.  I am happy with the fact that I at least gave him a chance!

Stuck in a tree

      I was also able to make invitations for Eli's birthday party.  It is hard to believe he will be a year old in less then a month! It always seems to take so much effort to get my scrapbook/card making stuff out these days.  I am happy to have it out of the way; especially with Bria's birthday not far behind.  Swimming, reading, and partying...that's how our summer is starting.

Apple Stamping

     Last week Bria checked out a book about 2 hamsters named Max and Mo. While attempting to find apples to eat they made some apple prints with paint. The girls immediately wanted to try!

Max and Mo Go Apple Picking

     There are actual instructions in the back of the book, but I figured it was surely straight forward enough I could figure it out.  Maybe I should have read the instructions because our prints didn't turn out nearly as nice as their pictures. We started with 2 apples. One we sliced across the center (horizontal) and one we sliced down the middle (vertical).

     After putting on old shirts I let the girls each choose some paint for the apples. We decided to try multiple colors on the same plate. Then we just put the apple in the paint and on to the paper.  The girls had trouble getting enough paint in the middle of the apple, so some just looked like outlines.

     For some reason they were not to enthusiastic about being messy (very strange for them), so they didn't paint long. They even tried to use paper towels to hold their apples which just slipped out.  In the past we have also done this with peppers (when cut horizontally they look like clovers).

Let's Go Camping!

School is out for the summer.  Time for a family vacation!  What better way to spend your time together than around a cozy campfire eating s’mores and telling fun stories with people you care about?  Camping can be a great bonding experience for families.  Below are some fun tips to get your started.

Plan

Pick a camping spot – Involve your family members in choosing the location for your camping trip.  Learn about the area and plan some outdoor activities you could do while camping (e.g. hiking, canoeing, swimming, biking, bird watching, games, etc.).  Here are some great places to start:

• National Park Service 
• Minnesota State Park

Make a packing list – Make a packing list for your family and let children use the list below to pack their own bag for the trip.  Be sure to check it before you leave to make sure all necessary items are included and to add a few extra sets of clothes.

•  Pajamas
• Stuffed animal
• Sleeping bag
• Pillow
• Flashlight
• Sweatshirt
• Long pants and long sleeved shirts
• Shorts and t-shirts
• Socks
• Camp shoes
• Swim suit
• Hat and sunglasses
• Bug spray and sunscreen

Plan meals ahead – There are lots of fun ways to prepare food in the outdoors.  Check out some kid friendly recipes here.  Purchase your food at least a day in advance and store items in a cooler with plenty of ice.

Practice

Try it out - If you or any of your family members have not been camping before, take the time to practice setting up your tent and camping supplies in your own backyard; or venture out to a local park.

Take notes – Doing a test run close to home allows you to see what additional materials you will need when planning for events like bad weather or medical emergencies like scrapes, cuts or blisters.

Go

Arrive early – It is helpful to plan on getting to your site before dark.  It usually takes some time to set up camp and you will need to see what you are doing.  Take time to orient yourselves to the location by finding the bathrooms/showers, water pumps and garbage facilities, if available.

Everyone helps – Camping is a family activity and everyone should help out.  Give children little tasks help set up and help around site as adults work on the tent or starting a campfire.

Set ground rules – It is important that everyone knows what is allowed and what is not.  The rules of the campground should be followed, but also camping etiquette and being polite such as:

• Be safe (e.g.  parents/guardians know location of children at all times, campfire safety and  ticks checks)
• All food and garbage put away
• Keep noise level down
• Use only your campsite (no running through other campsites)
• Keep pets on a leash and supervised

Relax and have fun - Take some time to do the activities you planned to do together!

Growing, Disappearing, and Rubberizing Gummi's

     I had considered doing the expanding gummi bear experiment for a while, but never remembered to until seeing it the other day on pinterest. So while it was fresh in my head (and I was headed out of the house) I bought gummis. We ended up with dinosaurs, but I figured they would work just as well as bears.

     When i asked the girls what would happen when we put the dinosaur in water they quickly remembered our naked egg experiment (Naked Eggs) and said they would grow.  So I decided we would also try the vinegar and corn syrup like we did with the eggs.  They thought they might grow with the vinegar and they would shrink with the corn syrup.  We started with three bowls: one of water, one of vinegar, and one of corn syrup.  The girls each ate a couple dinosaurs and then each chose one to put in each bowl.  

Water

Vinegar

Corn Syrup

     After just a few hours you could already see some changes. The dinosaurs in the water were larger. The ones in the vinegar were smaller and the vinegar was changing color. The ones in the corn syrup appeared the same.

Water

Vinegar

Corn Syrup

     Left overnight you could really see changes. The dinosaurs in the water were bigger, and when you felt them they were squishy and broke apart easily.  The dinosaurs in the vinegar had completely dissolved. The dinosaurs in the corn syrup still appeared the same. However when you took them out to feel them they were pretty hard and rubbery.

Water

Vinegar

Corn Syrup

     So really the dinosaurs worked similar to our egg. The water flowed in by osmosis making the gummis bigger, the mild acid of vinegar dissolved them, and the corn syrup sucked out the small amount of water in them (again through osmosis)  leaving behind very tough gummis.  So it isn't really rubber, but it sure felt like it trying to stab it with a fork. Nadia also wanted eat them. She had a real hard time getting a bite!

Teaching tools

     Here are a couple of our (homemade) teaching tools.

     The girls are working on reading, and I can across some very colorful kindergarten sight word flash cards. http://www.education.com/slideshow/kindergarten-sight-words/kindergarten-sight-words-a-are/  Instead of using them as flash cards I thought the girls might like them as magnets. They can use them to make sentences kind of like the little magnetic word sets everyone seemed to have on their fridge in college (you know the ones). All it required was printing, cutting, and sticking the words onto a sheet magnet from hobby lobby.  1 sheet magnet isn't enough even if you cut all the words as small as possible! I keep intending to go over them with clear acrylic, so they will hold up better, but that hasn't happened.

     The second is a clock made of paper plates. Just 2 paper plates (1 bigger then the other), a brad, 2 hands cut out of paper, glue, and a marker to write numbers. Pretty straight forward really. I tried to make the short hand point at the hour and then big hand point at the minutes.  I think it helps when they actually look at it!

     These are quite a bit older, but they were easy to make and use.  Basically you need some cardboard, paper, scissors, permanent marker, and tiny clothespins (got mine at Hobby Lobby).  Trace something circular on the cardboard and cut out. Then do the same with the paper. If you don't want to mess with circles you could just make straight lines. Divide the paper into the number of sections you need and draw your lines, letters, dots, or whatever really; then glue the paper to the cardboard.  Write the corresponding letter, number, etc on the clothespin.  Then they can match them. We did upper and lowercase letters, numbers through 1-10 and 11-20 (on the back of 1-10).  After doing it I realized it would have been easier to use little stickers for the dots to count, but drawing dots worked too.

     This last one is newer, but the girls haven't played with it much. I think it will be better for Eli once he is a bit older. It is a number snake made of plastic eggs.  Here are the instructions I used for it: http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2012/04/number-snake-threading-made-with-plastic-eggs/  Cutting between the holes is not nearly as easy as it sounds, and most of my holes did not come out very pretty.  You definitely need small, sharp scissors! I did numbers 1-20, but I suppose you could make it as long as you want. I have considered making some to count by 5's and 10's as well.

Ike Devastation to Houston Could Have Been Worse

The Houston Chroniclethis weekend featured an article depicting the dangers of a Category 4 storm in the Houston-Galveston area. Experts predict such a storm could cause $374 billion in damages in Harris County. These damages only include those caused by wind—flooding is another issue. If a hurricane were to strike the Galveston Coast directly, its wind damage could affect neighboring counties for miles.

With hurricane season just around the corner it’s important to be aware of the possible dangers associated with them. In September 2008, Hurricane Ike smashed into the Gulf Coast, killing 20 people and causing $25 billion in damages. This hurricane initiated the largest search-and-rescue in United States history, as well as increased awareness for these unavoidable natural disasters.

In Lessons from Hurricane Ike (Texas A&M University Press, 2012) edited by Philip Bedient, the damages to the Houston-Galveston area are examined further. Bedient, a Herman Brown Professor of Engineering at Rice University, directs the research team at the Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center. Incorporating SSPEED’s research with colorful maps and vivid photos, Bedient presents a straight-forward read on predicting and preparing for hurricanes.

“Ike revealed just how vulnerable the Houston-Galveston region is to a major storm, but Ike also helped us visualize the ‘worst-case’ storm scenario from our region,” said Bedient. “The main lesson from Ike is that we can avoid catastrophic damage from future storms if we choose to act.”

Although the last direct hit to Galveston was in 1915, it doesn’t mean it’s safe from further hurricane damage. Precautions are necessary for the upcoming summer of hurricane season. According to Bedient, if Hurricane Ike had hit 50 miles down the Texas Coast, damages would have quadrupled.

Lessons from Hurricane Ike shows that in the past decade there has been both increased hurricane activity and a higher incidence of powerful storms. Bedient gives a history of hurricanes affecting the Gulf Coast and methods for predicting and preparing for them. There is no telling what size storm will hit the Gulf Coast this summer; being informed and aware is necessary.

By: Madeline Loving

Tail Feathers and Tail Bones

     .Just finished an interesting week.  It started off busy with family and friends coming over on Sunday. Luckily Monday was Memorial Day, so we all got a little chance to rest (catch up on cleaning).  The girl were going to spend the night with their grandma, and Nathan wanted to pick goose berries, so the 3 of them headed out after dinner. After they left Eli and I decided to take a walk. Almost immediately I saw a baby bird sitting by one of our trees right next to the sidewalk. At first i wasn't going to do anything, so we just continued out walk. After we returned and got Eli into bed I went back out to check on it and take some pictures.  It was still there, and while I could hear the mama bird yelling at me when I got close I never saw her come down to it.  After I took a couple pictures, I made a clicking sound to get its attention for a picture of its face.

  I got its attention! It was hungry!

Well I couldn't let the poor thing stay hungry, so in I went to research what to do with it. I came across an ornithology site that said what I already knew, most baby birds do not make it even when in the nest with mom. It did say you could attempt to give it a mixture of kitten food, hard boiled egg, and meal worms. Well  I had adult light cat food and eggs, so that would have to do. Added some water and mixed it up in the magic bullet. Found a little pair or tweezers to feed it with as well as a shoe box and some paper towels to make it a nest.  Went out and put the little guy in his nest and moved him to another tree away from the sidewalk. The mama bird was still yelling at me as I did it, but she still hadn't come down to feed baby.  I left him under the tree just in case she would come down.  Every time I went out he was hungry, and I never saw another bird go down to him. They always caused quite a racket when I went out there, but never came down. So I fed him every hour with my little tweezers not even knowing how long he would live.  Luckily birds (even babies) sleep all night.  He stayed in his little nest by the tree until early Thursday when it began to rain. I didn't want him wet, so I brought him in and stuck him in the kitchen in a cat carrier.  He seemed content there, so I have kept him there. He changes every day, and my hopes are to get him released as soon as he can eat and drink on his own. We have a long ways to go, and I sure hope he makes it! I will definitely be posting a more in depth bird post at some point.
     You would think a baby bird would be enough excitement for one week. But no, I had to go and make things more difficult. We picked the girls up Tuesday evening, and the went home and immediately to bed.  Wednesday morning, early, around 8, I managed to miss the chair I was sitting on and bruise my tail bone. The pain was so intense that for the first couple hours I couldn't stand more then a moment without feeling like I would pass out.  After that it was manageable, but very difficult to get around or do anything.  We managed to get through the day, and the next day was a bit easier.  Didn't get a whole lot accomplished other then feeding the bird (and the kids), but we got by. Luckily I was able to make it to work Friday (with my bird). It still hurts a bit especially when I bend over, but I'm healing.
     Friday evening I noticed Eli's second tooth poking through (he got his first the Friday before). Then Saturday I was able to get him to take a few steps. He had to be encouraged quite a bit, but he ended up taking 5 good steps in a row for me. He is growing too fast!  We also made the bird a new house Saturday evening, but that will wait for another post.

Tooth number 1; no picture of number 2 yet. You can see it a bit under his gum here.