Super Charged Science

The kids & I are doing an e-camp this summer through Super Charged Science. This is one of the fun, free experiments that you can do. Check out their website for some free super cool science stuff.

How does a microwave work ? MICROWAVING IVORY SOAP
Microwave a bar of Ivory soap for 2 minutes & see what happens. Then check out Super Charged Science to explain the science behind it all.

Even if you only sign up for the free stuff Aurora Lipper sends lots of cool experiments, videos & free teleclass info right to your e-mail !

Straight From The Garden

The other night I went to pull out a head of lettuce to make a salad & there wasn't enough. So, I headed out to the garden and picked some spinach & lettuce. Luckily, we had enough for each of us to have a small bowl. How awesome is that ? I checked yesterday and we already have enough lettuce & spinach growing back for another salad this week. Yippee ! The radishes are also from our garden. I can't wait for all the other delicious veggies to grow.

Other things growing in the back yard,

Baby birds ,

Mammoth worms,which have been great for our garden

Our crazy radishes ,which I'm sure we will never run out of

Our praying mantises are also spotted frequently in the garden. There were so many that even after giving lots away to gardeners we sent a small army of them out into our back yard. The 4 we were going to keep as pets died. They were just too small & fragile. We told the kids that after they grow a little in the garden maybe we can try to keep one as a pet.

Heritage Festival

Grandpa loves his grand-babies !

We've had a few gorgeous days in between the rainy ones. Last weekend we went with my mom, step-dad & sister to the Heritage Festival ( A local community festival ), enjoyed a beautiful Saturday & got our first farmers tans & sunburned noses of the summer. Here are some of the fun things we did......

Vania pushes Queenie Kylah around :)

Uncle Adam & baby Leia

Ice Sculpting--Took awhile but figured out this guy was sculpting a goldfish. We kept stealing chunks of ice for the kids to keep them cool.

This was an 200 year old John Deer motor they were using to make homemade ice cream.

This is a Geo rock that we picked out to have broken open.

The boys with new ping pong guns. ( I'm still pondering why I purchased these :)

Mantis Mania

Last night was very exciting & buggie ! Our praying mantis's FINALLY hatched. We have been waiting for 5 weeks now for them to hatch . Which to the kids seemed like an eternity. Just when we started reading the pamphlet on what to do if they didn't hatch... boom, there they were 100- 200 of them in the little pagoda from Insect Lore.
Today we released some of them into our garden, , my mom's garden & then anyone who could take them. We are keeping 4 for pets :) We'll see how that goes. The kids are crazy excited looking for aphids to feed them & worrying about who has the better habitat. It's making me buggie ! But I'm glad they are having fun.

Geocahing

Zane, Vania & I went out this week and took a shot at geocahing which turned out to be really fun. On our first trip we found 1 out of the 3 hidden containers. This weekend we went out with the whole family and found 2 out of 3 hidden containers. Not too bad :) Sometimes there are trinkets to exchange. Other times just a log to sign. Either way it is always an adventure just to go on the hunt. We will definitely be treasure hunting again ! Here is where our GPS led us......

Under a bridge

Into A park

up a tree
into the forest

Look Mom !

Well , the soccer season has finished for Zane & Zoe. Kind of a bummer since a lot of the games & practices were cancelled due to all the rain this spring. I didn't even bring my camera to the field. It was hard enough to keep track of everyone & keep them ( myself included ) out of the mud. Adam coached Zoe's team this season which was really cool. And Zane made the 1 goal for the Esteps the very last game at the last second, that I didn't see. Not all was lost, and as always they worked hard & had a great time. Better luck with the weather in the fall !

Carson & Vania have started their second round of tumbling. They really enjoy going to their "flips ". Carson can do a back flip now & Vania has learned how to do a cartwheel & round off. All day long she is cartwheeling through the house. It has become her mode of transportation, even through the library ( which i don't think is too appreciated ). I put some videos below of their new stunts :)

Happy Mother's day

Happy Mother's Day ! My mom , sisters & I try to get together at least once a week with our kiddos. Last year my step dad lovingly gave our mom's group a name. So, we are now the Mother Clucker's Club. A bunch of hens who get together & cluck :) My brother in law surprised us with T-shirts for Christmas with a cool Mother Clucker logo on them. I'm so glad to get together with my girls. Every mom needs her other hens when raising a bunch of chicks !

Sun !!

Finally, a sunny day yesterday :)So we took advantage of the weather to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE ! Zane has really been into BMX'ing lately. A whole new sport for us along with a lot of new lingo to learn. A lot of fun for him ( worry for mom :) It's nice to be able to go to the skate park during the day when it's is not crowded. Then Vania is able to ride her scooter around too :).

Rain Rain Go Away

I'm ready to start building an ark ! The rain here is never ending. We were supposed to finish up soccer at the end of April. Now we are into May & still can't get the games made up due to the fields being drenched everyday. It has been a bummer of a soccer season.

At least the rain is good for some things though. Zane built a raised flower bed last fall. This spring we turned it into a square foot garden. About half of the bed is planted .Onions, lettuce, carrots & radishes are springing up everywhere. The other half of the bed will include our pizza garden, with all the ingredients to make our own sauce & some toppings ! Yummy.


Praying for Mr. sunshine to come out soon !
Bambi

Race to Nowhere | Share

Race to Nowhere | Share

Adam & I went to see this film last night hosted at our church. It was a great film and brought up some really great points about the education system in America. If you get a chance it would definitely be worth seeing. I learned a lot especially about the pressures being put on the kids & the impact it is having on them , especially high school students. This is something everyone should be aware of . Click on the title above & it will take you to their webpage.