Electricity Week

Week 2 of summer was electricity week!

Crafty Tuesday: We made lightning glow bugs

Wet Wednesday: We learned that water and electricity don't mix and then we played in the backyard in water on a new slip in slide. Although, I wish I had an electric pump to do all the blowing! I had to use my lungs the old fashioned way... and it took forever!! 

Thinking Thursday: We licked a 9V battery, made a wet circuit from a lemon, made sparks from mintogreen lifesavers, and played around with a junior circuit board learning how to make a light switch, fan and sound maker. We also learned that lighting is 6 times hotter than the sun and watched a great display of it in our afternoon thunderstorm!

 The mintogreen lifesavers actually do make a green/blue spark! We found that it's better to see it in the dark, and pliers work better than a hammer. My bathroom floor was a total mess, but it was worth all the fun!

Poor Eli has an earache :(

On Fun Friday we went to Thanksgiving point's Museum of Natural Curiosity. It was a blast. There were so many things to see and do that we didn't get to fit it all in. We'll definitely want to go back! Eli was sick and running a fever and not up to most of the visit, so he'll want to go again when he feels better. Some favorites were getting weighed in grasshoppers, pouncing like a panther light game, jumping like a tree frog, climbing like a monkey, and playing in the water works section. The kids got to stand in a wind tunnel where the winds blew up to 85 MPH! It was a very cool and educational experience for all ages from Isaac to Jackson! Our friend Sophie joined us for the trip.

Next up, FIRE!! 

April Fool's

Always a fun minor holiday at our house. Silly pranks and goofy jokes to make others laugh....

I made the kids "eggs" for breakfast. It was really white yogurt with a canned peach in the middle. I think they were expecting something was up because they all approached the table a little timidly. Maybe I was presenting breakfast in a "too-nice" tone. ha ha. Usually mornings are hectic and I'm rushing people to hurry up and get done in time for their ride to school!

Zoey tried to get me back with Isaac-played-in-someones-poop-in-the-toilet trick. She had some help from her dad. The "poop" was really melted chocolate that they smeared all over his face and the toilet. The scent tipped me off! Can't trick me when it comes to chocolate vs. poop!!

I sent Jackson to school with an empty lunchbox with a note that said "April Fool's!" I was ready with a  happy meal to replace the empty lunch though, so his hungry tummy didn't suffer too long!

1st week of summer!

I gave each of the kids an opportunity to pick a subject they would like to learn about and we are taking turns spending time learning all kinds of things about that subject. Jackson picked lava, fire, and electricity. Zoey picked rainbows, clouds, and the ocean. Eli picked building, bugs, and fire too. They also spend time writing in a summer journal each day and a summer school workbook.

We started with rainbows and have incorporated rainbows into our daily summer schedule that worked so well for us last year:
We have "Mom store Monday" where they redeem there tickets from doing chores for items at my store, "Time to get crafty Tuesday", "Wet and wild Wednesday", "Thinking Thursday", and "Fabulous Fun Friday". It's an awesome schedule for us and gives the kids something to look forward to each day.

Week 1: Rainbows! For crafty Tuesday, we painted rainbows on fish and made sun twirlers and learned the colors that appear in rainbows and in what order.

On Wet Wednesday we played a water game with rainbow sponge "bombs" and "ate the rainbow" for our snack..

On thinking Thursday we did some science experiments with a prism and learned how to create an experiment and record our results. We made a rainbow from the sun, and learned what happens when we shine light through water, what changes when we add milk to water and shine light through it, and learned that light can "bend".

For fun Friday we visited a rainbow park and fed rainbow trout up the canyon! Eli got to touch a couple of fish. They loved watching the swarm when they came to feed!  A successful rainbow week!

Can you find Jackson, Zoey and Eli?

Swim Lessons

We had to drive a little farther than we wanted, and pay a little more than we hoped, but we got some really good private swim instructors for the kids this summer.  I was kind of annoyed about the situation going into the lessons since things changed from what we had pre-payed for... and they wouldn't work with us to get our money back....BUT The instructors are doing a fantastic job of getting the kids water safe and swimming pretty good. Even though all the kids have come down with earaches and a mild cold/cough, I'm thinking the positives outweigh the negatives with the lessons this year. Maybe someday we'll have our own backyard pool and won't have to worry about catching other's viruses from the pool!  

We have a family reunion this year at Lake Powell and we really wanted to get the kids to be as comfortable as possible with deep water swimming. 

Jackson is ready for swim team next year! He has a beautiful dive and getting individual help in improving the details of  his strokes. 

Zoey is learning to coordinate her legs and arms and is becoming more comfortable in deep water. She loves to dive and she loves to dive for rings. She always checks to see if I'm watching her, and when I catch her eye I give her a thumbs up or wave to let her know I saw her :)

Eli is fearless in the water but he just doesn't know how to swim. He is coming along really nicely and get the concepts quickly, and forgets them just as quick :) He always amazes his instructors! And he won't--absolutely won't-- dive head first!

Calvin is very timid and afraid of swimming. He's afraid of floating on his back and the safety measures the instructors try to teach him about staying alive in deep water. He cries most of the lessons and has even thrown up. It's pretty rough on him....but he's learning. We're trying to get him to float for 60 seconds on his own. He started at 5 and is now up to 25 seconds! It's improvement!

Spring Soccer

Another year of Spring Soccer! This year was so wet that most games and practices were rained on. Soccer boys don't quit because of a rain shower though! 

Jackson isn't very competitive, he just enjoys being part of the team and playing with friends and getting a treat and drink at the end of each game. His team was pretty good this year and won most games even though an official score wasn't being recorded :) Kids in his age group are starting to understand how the game is played and using their heads, chest and bodies to block, punt, and bounce the ball to where they want it to go. It's starting to get fun to watch, but a little sad to see the competition involved as well. Jackson got his medal at the end of the season which, for him, was worth it all! 

It's raining, it's pouring!

We've had a really, really wet May. The rainstorms have only been broken up by momentary bursts of sunlight. In those moments, the kids rush outside to get a dose of fresh air. I love that! Zoey asked if she could splash in the puddles and I said "Go ahead!" Of course, the boys couldn't be left out of the fun.  It was fun for me to snap these pictures of them playing! How carefree it is to be a kid. 

Calvin turned 3!!

 Calvin was so excited for his birthday. We made a countdown chain for him and wrapped his door just like what we did for his big brother Jackson just a few weeks earlier! His request for a birthday dinner was fish and Brussel sprouts.... ya my kids like that stuff. I did encourage him in that direction though, because really, he had no idea what his favorite dinner was!

He requested a fire truck cake and I did my best to accommodate, albeit I'm no professional cake decorator! Calvin, who is normally a very patient kid, was very impatient in waiting to eat his cake. It barely made it to serving time looking much like these pictures...he dragged his fingers through the frosting so many times! I'm glad I got a few pictures right away, but even here you can see some finger marks already! This was a true test of patience!

Calvin is a fun and happy boy. He loves to laugh and play. He loves to build with Legos and hide in forts. He loves to help in the kitchen and garden. He wants to be a part of the action, no matter where it is or what's going on, he just doesn't want to be left out. He's sensitive and sweet and loves hugs, kisses, tickles, wrestling with dad and story time. This is such a sweet age for him.  He says the darnedest cutest things! A little while ago when we had a late spring snow and he said, "Holy mokelsy, is it Christmas?"

 He got a fire truck and a flash light and a big blue ball. Aunt Carissa got him a transformer and Grandma Gray got him a monster truck, which he loves, loves, loves! He's so excited to be 3, and he's already telling people that he's 4! He is doing really well with his potty training! We love having him. smooch smooch.