Seek * Explore * Discover

What are some great read aloud books for kids?

2009-11-17T19:07:00.004-07:00

We finished Winnie the pooh by A.A. Milne yesterday. I liked it, but I did not love it. My kids liked it but did not love it. Reading to my kids is something that I really enjoy. We read plenty of picture books but, I want to know what are some great chapter books to read aloud to small children.

Here is what we have read:

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, I will read this one again

Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White, my kids liked this one too!

Stewart Little by E.B. White I will read the others in this set later.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner this book kept their attention, but I think I should have read it a little down the road

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis this book was perfect for my son, he loved it

Mr. Poppers Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater which we loved and recommend for little children

Eddie and the Fire Engine by Carolyn Haywood - Loved this book and I recommend it for any and every little boy, it is very cute.

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Here is a list that I found that I think is pretty good:

This is a recommended list in the book a Thomas Jefferson Education. The ones that are bold are ones that we have read. I have noticed that we sure do have a way to go.

Classics to Read to Young Children:

Classics for you to read aloud to young children.
Aesop’s Fables - Aesop
Andersen’s Fairy Tales - Hans Christian Anderson
Beauty and the Beast
The Bible
The Blind Men and the Elephant
“Casey at Bat”
Charlotte’s Web - E. B. White
Chicken Little
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Cinderella
Dinotopia series - James Gurney
Dr. Seuss series
The Emperor’s New Clothes
The Fourth Wise Man
The Gift of the Magi - Carol Lynn Pearson
The Giving Tree
“God Save the Flag”
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg
Grimm’s Fairy Tales - Wilhelm & Jacob Grimm
“The Highwayman”
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstalk
Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
“Lincoln, The Man of the People”
“Little Boy Blue”
The Little Engine that Could
The Little House on the Prairie series - Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Little Red Hen
The McGuffey Readers
Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes
“Paul Revere’s Ride”
Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie
Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
The Pied Piper of Hamlin
Pinocchio, The Adventures of - Carlo Colladi
Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter
The Princess and the Pea
Puss-in-Boots
Rapunzel
Riki Tiki Tavi
Rip Van Winkle
Robin Hood, The Merry Adventures of - Howard Pyle
Rumpelstiltskin
Sleeping Beauty
The Song of Hiawatha
Snow White
Tales of the Arabian Nights
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Three Little Pigs
The Ugly Duckling
Tom Thumb
"Twas the Night Before Christmas"
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Winnie-the-Pooh series - A. A. Milne
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Frank Baum

Classics for Youth
For older youth to read and discuss with their mentors.
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Animal Farm
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
The Anne of Green Gables series - L. M. Montgomery
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
“Battle Hymn of the Republic”
Ben Hur: A Tale of Christ - Lew Wallace
The Bible
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
The Black Stallion series - Walter Farley
The Chronicles of Narnia series - C. S. Lewis
The Collected Verse of Edgar A Guest
“Concord Hymn”
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court - Samuel Clemmens
The Constitution of the United States
David Copperfield
Davy Crockett Legends - Irwin Shapiro
The Declaration of Independence
The Deerslayer
Don Quixote de la Mancha - Miguel De Cervantes
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Dred Scott Decision
The Education of Henry Adams
Eight Cousins
Emily Post’s Etiquette
Ender’s Game
“In Flanders Fields”
Flatland
The Foundation series
Frankenstein
“The Gettysburg Address”
“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”
The Great Brain series
Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift
Hamilton’s Mythology
Hamlet
Heidi - Johanna Spry
The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
History Reborn
Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of - Mark Twain
“I Have a Dream”
Ivanhoe - Walter Scott
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O’Dell
Joan of Arc - Mark Twain
Jo’s Boys - Louisa May Alcott
A Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
The Jungle Book
King Arthur and the Round Table - Thomas Malory
Laddie - Gene Stratton Porter
The Last of the Mohicans - James Cooper
“Let America be America Again”
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
The Little Britches series
Little Lord Fauntleroy - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Men - Louisa May Alcott
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
The Lonesome Gods
Lord of the Rings series
“The Man with the Hoe”
Mathmaticians are People, Too (2 volumes)
Moby Dick
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
National Velvet
Noah Webster’s Original 1828 Dictionary
North to Freedom
“O Captain! My Captain!”
“Old Ironsides”
Old Yeller - Fred Gipson
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
On Numbers
Paul Bunyan - Esther Sheperd
The Phantom Tollbooth
“The Present Crisis”
“The Road Not Taken”
The Real Benjamin Franklin
The Real George Washington
The Real Thomas Jefferson
The Robe
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel DeFoe
Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare
The Sackett series
The Saxon Math series
The Secret Garden - Francess Hodgson Burnett
Shipwrecked
Soldiers, Statesmen, and Heroes
Sonnets of Shakespeare
Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers
Stuart Little - E. B. White
The Summer of the Monkeys - Wilson Rawls
The Swiss Family Robinson - Johaan Wyss
Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of - Mark Twain
Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Trumpet of the Swans - E. B. White
“Ulysses”
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
The Walking Drum
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls
White Fang - Jack London
William Tell
The Yearling - Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Here are some lists that I found in my searching that gave me some new books to consider:

Colene Salley This list has a bunch of science themed books that look interesting, I don't think these are chapter books, but they still look fun.

Literacy, families and learning This s a fun list of reasons to read chapter books. There are some fun suggestions for future reading here as well.

Dragon Books This is a whole list of books for children that have dragons in them. My kids both love dragons. This will be a useful list.

Planet Esme's Shelf This is not a chapter book site, but I had to include this site somewhere. Great resource for picture books.

vintage childrens books my kid loves. Another picture book blog, but one that has books from my day. A must see blog.

Conclusion:

There are tons of great books out there. After looking at the options, I am still going to have a hard time choosing, but at least I know what direction to head. I am also aware that there are a bunch of not so good choices. Even some of the most popular books are some that I will never read aloud to my children. They can read them on their own. I must go read now, I am much to excited to blog anymore tonight.

P.S. If you have any favorite childrens chapter books to read aloud please share

Can I do better with my food consumption?

2009-11-03T22:50:00.003-07:00

I am a garden growing, water drinking, vegetable loving, home made food maker. I don't use many processed foods and make most of my meals from scratch. I want to be healthy and take care of my body, but in many ways I think that I can do better.

Here is what I am doing:

1. No Sweets Challenge

I am taking a no sweets challenge. I have decided not to have sweets for one year. Everyone that I have talked to, excluding my husband, has informed me that I am definitely starting this at the wrong time of year. We just celebrated Halloween and other great, treat, holidays are on there way. In fact every day for the past 2 weeks (this is when I started this challenge), I have had the opportunity to have some sort of sweet. The empty calories and fat that I have avoided absolutely blows my mind. Doughnuts, cookies, pounds of candy, and soda are among the things that were available to me. I have not had one. I was not aware of how many treats that I really do eat. I most likely would have eaten at least one per day for those 2 weeks.

Here are some websites with more information about sugar:

Calorie Count Sugar Facts

Sugar - Get the Facts

2. Enough is Enough

For most of my life, at least a couple times a week, I have eaten meals until I am stuffed or really full. I am starting to realize, sometimes enough is enough. My goal is to pay more attention to the portions that I eat and to be satisfied after eating, not satiated.

Watch the next video just for fun:

Conclusion:

My goal is not necessarily to loose weight, but I want to be healthy and take care of my body. Obesity is a huge problem in our world today. According to the CDC, Utah's rate of obesity has jumped from less than 10 % to over 20 % since 1985. Obesity is having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 30.

There are great websites availible for more information regarding obesity. Here are a few:

Obesity in America
CDC Obesity Data

CDC obesity data map Check out the map at the bottom of this page

I am all about making better food choices and staying healthy and becoming healthier.

Is that Real?

2009-10-20T21:56:00.005-06:00

My 4 year old, Mr. A, has been asking me lately "is this real?." This is in reference to anything from Yankees to the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. We have to be careful when we talk to him about fables, myths and fairy tales. It is important to know what is real and what is made up for the sake of a story.

Here is what I think:

It is important to know what is real, not to just believe everything that we hear. Today information is easier find, than ever before. We have books, media, internet, social media, blogs, facebook, texting, twitter and the list goes on and one. News or not news can spread like wildfire. But we have to be careful with what we do with the information that we receive. There are people out there who are trying to make a fast buck, as well as people who willingly and thoughtfully deceive.

Sometimes it is obvious that something is false, other times we have to dig to find out the truth.

We have to learn to filter all the information that is thrown at us, and come to know what is real, what is important, what is really important and what is none of the above. Made up stories have their place. I love fairy tales. My kids love to hear stories about Trik-a-tina and her life in the forest. But now a days most photo's are airbrushed, sad and hard things are brushed under the carpet and almost anything can be set up and made to look real on film.

As far as I know the video's in the post are real, the photo is still debatable. I think it is a hoax. What do you think?

Conclusion:

Information, people, places can all be real or unreal, and important or unimportant. My job is to figure out what is real and important and spend most of my time on those things.

Have I done any good in this world today?

2009-10-09T15:16:00.002-06:00

Have I done any good in this world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and helped someone feel glad?

If not I have failed in deed!

Our world is full of stuff, more conveniences than have ever existed. It seems like we have it all, but that is just at a surface glance. We are a people in need. The world needs more kindness, unselfishness, listening, uplifting, giving, charity, awareness, helpfulness and love.

I was thinking what are some small things that I can do to help someone in need?

Here is what I found:

Listen more.

See a need, fill it.

One day after a trip to the grocery store, I was trying to load my groceries and my children into the car. Someone offered to take my cart, this was a huge service. This has inspired me to look for the simple things that make a huge difference.

Don't litter and throw away trash.

Give others the benefit of the doubt, just like we give ourselves.

Don't judge.

Start a food drive.

Make and donate a blanket.

Take food to a neighbor in need, or not in need.

Rake someones leaves.

Hold your temper.

Shovel snow for a neighbor.

Offer to watch some one's kids.

Read to a child.

Practice patience.

Help someone move furniture (this was very helpful as one of our neighbors saw us moving couches the other day and came over to help)

Volunteer: at the food bank, for a community service project, at the library, as a poll worker, anywhere.

Look for the opportunity to serve, it is all around us.

Conclusion:

Have I done any good in the world today?

I hope so.

Let me know of some other things that you have done.

Are you happy?

2009-09-19T22:19:00.003-06:00

I recently read a children's book with the title "What do you love?" I did not particularly enjoy the book. The book was seriously lacking great pictures, but it made me start to think. This was a simple list of things that made the character happy. I asked my kids "What do you love." The responses were mostly about cousins. I am glad that my children have wonderful cousins that they love. Lately I have found myself making lists of things I want. Here is a small list of things that make my happy.

Here is what I found:

I love when I have cooked good dinners for a couple nights and have wonderful leftovers to eat.

I love when my dishes are done when I wake up in the morning.

I love when I finally finish matching the socks.

I love when I can feel the crisp coolness of the air when summer changes to fall.

I love when I can check to do items off of my to-do list.

I love when I finish reading a chapter book to my children.

I love when I have organized and cleaned a room in my house.

I love when there is time to play games after dinner.

I love when the kids are in bed by 8:30.

I love a good storm.

I love good music.

Jon Schmidt Love Story Meets Viva La Vida

There are many things that I love or that make me happy. Just making this list and writing down things that make me happy, makes me happy. I am planning on continuing my list until I reach 100 things.

In the meantime enjoy this video.

How to be happy Video

Conclusion:

It is good to know what I want, but it is also good to know what I have. There are many things that bring happiness into my life and that I love. Focusing on what I have instead of what I don't is the difference between being happy or miserable. Let me know what you love and what makes you happy.

~If you want to be happy, be.~ Leo Tolstoy

Have you tried something new lately?

2009-09-16T22:14:00.004-06:00

I am really good at coming up with ideas, not so good at the follow though and the actual doing of the items. So when I saw that the Utah State Fair had some baking competitions, I thought about entering and came up with some fun recipes. But I never thought anything would come of it. With some support and nudging from my family I entered the competition.

Here is what I did:

I entered two food contests at the Utah State Fair. The first on was a Make it with Malt-O-Meal contest. The food had to contain a Malt-O-Meal cereal.

I made Berry Colossal Crunch Bars:

4-6 cups Malt-O-Meal Berry Colossal Crunch cereal
½ cup butter
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups raspberry jam
1 ½ cups shredded coconut
1 12 oz. package white chocolate chips

Crumble Berry Colossal Crunch cereal in a food processor. Place butter in a 9x13 pan and melt in 350º oven. When butter is melted pour Berry Colossal Crunch crumbs into pan and smooth out. Layer each of these in this order: sweetened condensed milk, raspberry jam and coconut. Top with white chocolate chips. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350º, or until bars turn golden brown. Let cool for at least one hour before serving.

These bars are actually, surprisingly, pretty good.

The other contest I entered was Soup it up with Saco. This contest had to be a soup that contained Saco Cultured Buttermilk.

My entry was Butternut Squash Soup.

1 large onion
2-3 celery stalks
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 small jalapeño pepper
2-3 carrots
1 large butternut squash
2-3 sweet apples
4 cups chicken broth
½ cup water
2 Tablespoons Saco Cultured Buttermilk

Cut up all vegetables (onion, celery, peppers, carrots, squash) and apples into small chunks.

In a large stew pot or Dutch oven place ¼ cup butter, add onion, celery, peppers and carrots. Cook on medium heat until onions are clear then add the squash and apple.
Let simmer for 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth. Mix water and Saco Cultured Buttermilk together and add to soup mixture. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until all the vegetables are tender. Blend soup in blender or food processor. Garnish with sour cream.

I ended up winning first prize for my soup.

Competition fast facts:

Malt-O-Meal competition had 12 entries

Saco Competition had 8

6 of the 8 people in the Saco competition were also in the Malt-O-Meal competition

The first place winner of the Malt -O-Meal competition took second in the Saco competition

The three winners of the Malt-O-Meal competition were not desserts, all the others were

The soup competition had no duplicate soups: tortilla, broccoli and cheese, chowder, butternut squash, chicken, pumpkin, zucchini and roasted red pepper

I am a pretty competitive person. But it is a little scary to be judged like that.

There is nothing wrong with a little competition. I recently became a huge fan of the Britain's Got Talent competition, I was sad when I found out that Susan Boyle lost, and had to find out who would have taken first, ahead of her. Check out these videos to see the dance group that won.

Diversity Audition

Diversity Semi-Final

Diversity Final

Conclusion:

~The first and best victory is to conquer self~ -Plato

Trying something new may be hard, scary or risky. Sometimes it takes some encouragement and courage, but when it comes down to it, the experience is usually well worth it. With a win or a loss, I still had a good time. I met some fun people and won $150.00 in the process. "Something new" is something that I will try again.

What happens when...?

2009-09-10T22:39:00.004-06:00

I often hear suggestions on what we can do for our experiment from my children. Yesterday was one of those days. This is what I heard: "What will happen if we put ice in hot water? We should do that for our experiment." So today that is exactly what we did.

Here is how it worked:

We decided that instead of just having one bowl of hot water, we would try three bowls of water with different temperatures.

We heated up some water.

cooled some water down, And left some water at room temperature.

Before we put the ice in each bowl, we guessed what would happen. My daughter said, "the ice will melt." My son hypothesized that the water in the hot bowl would "turn to medium."

Then we put 1 ice cube in each bowl of water.

We watched and noticed that the ice did, in fact, melt. We felt the temperature of the water and noted that the temperature of all of the bowls of water felt colder.

We also noticed that the ice in the hot water melted faster and that it took more than one ice cube to make the water temperature "medium".

Conclusion:

Ice melts if it is put in water. Melting ice changes water temperature. Experiments don't have to be fancy to be fun.

How much water is enough?

2009-09-06T23:09:00.003-06:00

I have heard my whole life that 8 cups of water is a sufficient amount of water to drink per day, but as I have been pregnant, nursing, and working in the hot sun for the past couple months I wanted to know how much water is really enough.

Here is what I have found out:

I requested "Your Body's Many Cries for Water" by F. Batmanghelidj from the library about 6 months ago. I waited longer for this book than I did for Harry Potter book 7. The author believes that many of our current health issues are caused or made worse by our lack of adequate water intake.

Each person should be drinking half their body weight in ounces in water each day.

Example: person weighs 150 pounds, they should be drinking 75 ounces of water

This formula works under regular conditions. Under unusual circumstances: it is hot, you are; sick, pregnant, nursing, exercising, ecetera, more water is necessary.

Juice, soda, coffee, tea, or energy drinks are not a substitute for water. "Natural stimulants in coffee and tea are larger quantities of caffeine and lesser amounts of theophylline. These are central nervous system stimulants; at the same time, they are dehydrating agents because of their strong diuretic action on the kidneys." There is a huge difference between "fluids and water".

There are over 1,000,000,000 people in this world who don't have access to clean drinking water and for many who do, they don't get enough or choose to drink other fluids.

I am inspired by the story of Ryan Hreljac who as a 6 year old heard about how many people did not have access to clean drinking water and worked for 4 months to earn $70 to put a well in a village in Uganda. Since then and 10 years later he has "contributed a total of 502 water and sanitation projects in 16 countries bringing clean water and sanitation services to over 621,712 people." Click here to read more about Ryan and his foundation, Ryan's Well.

I also found this other cool site that talks about water projects going on through the world, check it out.
Charity: Water

A while ago I heard of a company that installs merry-go-rounds in villages that when the children play on them, it supplies the energy needed to pump clean water to the village. I found the website for this innovative way to bring water to communities.

I heard on the news the other day that the best water to drink, at least in Salt Lake is direct from the tap. The reason for this is that tap water is regulated by the EPA where bottled water is regulated by the FDA. The EPA apparently has stricter guidelines.

I even found a blog blog totally dedicated to the benefits of drinking water.

Conclusion:

I have a hard time comprehending that there are one billion people in this world, today that are without clean water. I can't even count that high. Many individuals and communities have been helped by a simple well or sanitary facilities. There is still more work to be done. We can all help, in some way. I watched a video that pointed out, that maybe everyone is not in a position to give money, but everyone can tell someone about the problem.

Until every person in the world has access to clean water -there can never be enough water. It is essential, it is life.

What are you going back to?

2009-09-01T16:29:00.002-06:00

Oh, I love this time of year. As the hot summer days turn into the cooler days of autumn, I start to reflect on this past couple of months. We have been absolutely crazy. I don't really like to describe my life as such, but in some circumstances it is necessary. We have been gardening, fundraising, entertaining, teaching, vacationing, problem solving, playing, and so much more. As I notice the beautiful apples growing on the trees and watch the kids in the neighborhood go back to school I wonder, what are we going back to?

Here is what I think:

I am hoping we are going back to routine. Back to a schedule that I can rely on. This is something that I have been missing in our over packed, wild, adventurous summer.

"A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine."

I hope that we will be going back to experiments. I miss our weekly experiment. It has been about a month now since I have done one. My kids miss it too. I have had this conversation one too many times.

son: "What day is it?"
me: "Thursday."
son: "Oh, we do our experiment today."
me: "Not today, we have other things we are going to do today."
son: "But I like experiments"
me: "Me too!"

"No facts are to me sacred; none are profane; I simply experiment, an endless seeker, with no Past at my back" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope that I can go back to reading. As soon as I find that reading is a great hobby it seems that there is never time to do it. I am sure that I can at least match my summer tally of 4 books for the fall.

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul." Johann Wolfgang von Goeth

I hope to go back to starting our day with a song. I have been hit and miss with this part of our day this summer. Starting the day with music, prayer and planning has been a huge blessing in our home. I need this back in my life.

"Those who wish to sing always find a song" Proverb quotes

Conclusion:

Fall is bringing us back to the good things that have fallen by the wayside. I am looking forward to all the great things to come.

Have you stumbled?

2009-08-28T22:10:00.002-06:00

I am a huge fan of stumbleupon. If you have not tried it, I will give you a brief overview of what can happen here. First you sign up, then you "stumble". Based on your criteria sites will be come up and you can give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

Here is what I have found:

The Worlds Healthiest Foods has a list of great, healthy foods. I liked looking through the list. There are articles about healthy eating as well.
When I'm Bored I make Soup This website makes me want soup everyday. The pictures are great.
Tastespotting shares great recipes from a number of other sites. If you open this one up, you will be there for hours.
Savory Sweet Life Yummy! I love to look here, everything looks so good.
Obsessed With Baking Honestly, this is a site for me. I would love to bake, cook like this.
Jessica's Dinner Party This is a new site, with fun ideas. I would like to try the stir fried potato side and the no knead olive bread.
CopyKat Recipes has recipes that you may have tried in a restaurant that you can make at home.
101 Cookbooks Honestly could the pictures be any better. You just have to check out this site. There are fun new recipes and the food looks great.

Conclusion:

After looking at this list of what I stumbled upon, you may think that all I care about is food. It is true that food is a huge part of my day. But I did find some other great stuff, that I will share at another time. As for now, you can try stumble upon for yourself or I will keep on stumbling and sharing what I find.

stumbleupon

How can I feed 40 people?

2009-08-17T22:14:00.005-06:00

I was recently asked to provide a meal for a large group. I have made big meals before, but usually with a team. This time it was just me for 40 people and it had to be transportable because it has to be delivered about 45 minutes away. How was I going to do this and what is a good meal to make for a large gathering?

Here is what I did:

I decided to make Cafe Rio salad. I love this salad and it is relatively easy to make. Here is the recipe:

Mexican Salad Café Rio Style

Chicken

Chicken breasts (plan on 1 large chicken breast per two people)
Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
2 cans Swanson’s chicken broth
1 pkg. McCormick dry taco seasoning

Generously sprinkle Lawry’s Season Salt on both sides of chicken breast. BBQ on grill until just done. Slice chicken into bite-size pieces. Put in crockpot with chicken broth and taco seasoning. Simmer in Crock-pot for a few hours. Very tender and flavorful.

Pork (from Julie)

Pork tenderloin
1 package Au Ju gravy mix
1 package Italian salad dressing mix
2 cups of water

Place tenderloin in a crock pot. Mix Au Ju, dressing mix and water together, pour over tenderloin. Cook on low for 6-8 hours on high for 4-6 hours. Shred with forks.

Salad Ingredients

Chicken breasts or pulled pork (see above)
Flour tortillas
2 heads romaine lettuce, shredded into ½ -inch slices
2 cans black beans

1 ½ c. rice (made with 1 can chicken broth and 1 can Rotel Mexi-Diced tomatoes, or mix rice with lime juice and cilantro)
Grated cheese
Salsa -

Tortilla strips or chips
Creamy Tomatillo Dressing (see below)

Tomatillo Dressing (most important part of salad)

1c. Mayonnaise
½ c. Buttermilk
1 pkg. dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
2 cloves garlic
1 c. cilantro
3 tomatillos

Husk and wash tomatillos. Mix all dressing ingredients in food processor or blender until well blended. Set up buffet in this order: tortillas, rice, beans, chicken, cheese, lettuce, salsa, dressing and tortilla chips. You can also add other condiments like guacamole, chopped onion, chopped olives, etc. Serves around ten people.

I ended up making both chicken and pork with the lime style rice. I also served watermelon and grapes.

For dessert I served browines. These are fast to make but a real hit. Here is the recipe:

Yummy Brownies

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cocoa

Cream sugar and butter, add eggs and vanilla. Sift the flour, salt and cocoa together and mix into the sugar mixture. Pour into greased pan and leave about 1 inch around the outside of the pan for the mixture to grow. Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Frost the brownies when they have cooled. You can use a chocolate butter cream frosting.

This recipe is from my mother. She one in a half times the recipe and it fits perfect on a cookies sheet. Then it can be cut into 35 squares that is 7 across and 5 down.

Conclusion:

I can make food to feed 40 people. It was not so daunting a task as at first it seemed. It seemed like most who ate this meal enjoyed it. As it turned out there were only about 25-30 people who ate this at the first go around. Later-I fed 10 more with the left overs and still have more.

What is the Ultimate Game?

2009-08-12T10:46:00.002-06:00

I have been playing Ultimate Frisbee the past couple nights and I have loved it.

There was a time in my life where I played ultimate a couple times per week. It really is a perfect game. No special equipment necessary. Only a Frisbee that costs about $10 and a field of some sort. The game can expand to house up to 30 people but can also be fun with just a couple people. You can play catch or flies up as well. It is a game that can be enjoyed by every age and gender. What a great game. In this season of family reunions, get-togethers and as the new school year approaches, I am thinking of other fun games to play with a group. Get to know you games as well as fun games for big groups. Where can I find games like this?

Here is what I found:

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." - Plato

First of all I know a couple fun games that I have played in the past.

Order Up This is a great game to play with a group of people who don't know each other very well. Divide the group into smaller groups, can have as many as needed. Up to 15 people in each group. One person then will yell out different ways to organize the group, these can be randomly picked out of a jar or just made up on the spot. Examples: alphabetically (by first or last name, birth month, reverse alphabetically, by age, by birthday, by birth month, birth order in family, height, phone number, whatever you can come up with. The first group in order wins a point. Play as long as the group is still engaged or until a specified point amount is reached.

Boogety Boo I love this game, kids love it too. Everyone stands in a circle. Each person looks at the ground and everyone says out loud Boogety Boogety Boo. When Boo is said everyone in the circle looks at someone in the circle. If two people are looking at each other, they are out. The game goes until there is either one or two people left in the circle.

Dice also known as Farkle This is a game taught to me by my husband's Grandma and Aunt. It is great fun, all you need is 6 dice. Each turn you can roll as long as you have dice that score points, or quit when ever you want, but if you roll and have no "counters" you loose all your points.

How to count your points:

1=100
5 =50
3 of a kind is 100 x's the number on the dice
3 ones is 1000
a strait is worth 1500

Once one person reaches a specified ending value (we play to 5000) then every one has one more turn. Highest score wins.

Here are the instructions according to Wikipedia.

Figure Eight is a game played with a large jump rope. Two people turn the rope while all the others line up in two lines on the same side of the jump rope. One person from line one jumps in and over the rope once then runs out and around the turner to the other line. Then a person from line two does the same but ending up in line 1. If it is done right the path that the jumpers make while running and jumping forms a figure eight. The lines alternate one after another. If you miss your turn you are out.

What are some other games and game resources.

Here are some websites I found that had some good lists of games. These sites would be a good place to start when planning a big get together:

Great Group Games
Group Games
Ice Breaker Games
Wilderdom
Games Kids Play
Deep Fun

Conclusion:

The Ultimate game does not exist, each game has a different goal. Some are to learn new skills other to get to know others. There are tons of games to play with groups and now we have the resources to find new ones. I love to play games. Playing games is a great way to get to know people and yourself. Through playing games we can learn, sportsmanship, team work, strategy, risk, logic, and about how to be a good winner or looser. Games can test limits and enhance vision. In the words of Jackson Brown:

"In the game of life, even the fifty-yard-line seats don't interest me. I came to play."

How do you measure success?

2009-08-02T20:51:00.006-06:00

I spent my whole undergraduate career learning that the more money you make the more successful you are. After this past week, I am sure that there are tons of other factors that go into the equation of success.

Here is what I think:

Revenue minus expenses equals profit. But where in that equation do I find the lessons learned, or the experience gained? Can I measure the fun time or the good done? How about hard work, or effort? What about the relationships formed or the future potential?

There is so much more to success than can be measured quantitatively or written on a balance sheet.

Money cannot measure success. This I know. Success cannot be achieved without failure. This I know. Failure cannot be overcome with out courage, passion, work, and persistence.

"In order to succeed, you must first be willing to fail." Anonymous

But you can't stay there. I mean you can't stay in the place where you are willing to fail. Failure must be overcome. If you stop doing something when you have failed you will stay a failure, but if you try again and again, if necessary, you stand a chance to succeed.

"Life's real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up." Anonymous

Three things that to me make a successful life:

1. Lasting, deep, meaningful relationships
2. Experience gained, Knowledge earned
3. Good deeds done

Almost everything that I have read about success deals with corporate or business success, but rarely do I read about success dealing with relationships, or with good lives. Our world is truly a world a that is infatuated with money. I know of plenty of people who have money, a great career, respect at work, and anything that they need, want or desire, but are complete failures.

How could this be?

David O. McKay said that "no other success can compensate for failure in the home." Could our relationships in our home be a better place to judge success than our wallets?

There are many people who once they graduate from college, never enter a library again. Success cannot be achieved without a continual effort to learn and experience. A formal education is not always necessary, but education is. Education allows us the ability to take advantage or be prepared when opportunities arise.

"The secret of success if life is to be ready when the opportunity comes." Benjamin Disraeli

This world is full of many needs. So many people suffer in different ways. Some lack the necessities of life. Others lack opportunities. There are many who suffer with health problems or loneliness. There are some really hard things in this world. Things that are unfair, unjust and should not exist. But they still do. Success cannot be achieved without being involved in a higher, bigger cause. Something that is not self driven. These deeds are good and charitable.

"Find a meaningful need and fill it better than anyone else." Anonymous

Conclusion:

Success and failure are often spoke of together. One after the other. I believe they will follow each other throughout my life. No, they cannot be measured by the amount of money I have.

Perhaps, I may not be able to measure the amount of success or failure. But I my priorities lie in cultivating lasting relationships with those who are most important to me, learning everything that I can, and doing good whenever and wherever I can.

The most important question to ask on the job is not "what am I getting?" The most important question to ask is "What am I becoming?" Jim Rohn

What is the past tense of the verb to squeeze?

2009-07-26T22:35:00.003-06:00

It all started over a nice taco dinner with the family a couple weeks ago. I used a word. Someone said it wasn't a word, we debated. I forgot all about it until today. The word is the past tense of squeeze. I said squose. What do you think?

Here is what I found:

The correct past tense of the verb to squeeze is squeezed. That is according to this fun site that I found.

verb2verbe

I also found another site that has words that we have heard that might not be in the dictionary.

urban dictionary

Definition of squose: The incorrect past tense of the verb to squeeze.

Conclusion:

I was wrong. I am happy to be wrong and be able to learn something.

Just because you have heard a word, used a word and know the definition of a word, does not mean that it is a word.

Where have I been?

2009-07-23T22:08:00.003-06:00

I have not blogged for a long time. Where have I been? What have I been doing? This week we have done a little of everything. A trip to the museum, swimming, fundraising, picking raspberries and beans, playing at the park, a little cleaning and organizing, finding addresses for a wedding, giving blood, and taking care of sick kids. We have really gone from one thing to another. This makes me think is there a way to simplify my life? Can I stop rushing around from thing to thing and even to event?

Here is what I found:

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.” - Henry David Thoreau

In order to keep my life simple for tonight, I am going to leave it at that. Here are a couple really good ideas on how to simplify.

Live Simplify
Simple Living Simplified
Get More Done

Conclusion:

A couple more days and I will allow time to sit and think about what importance each element of my life plays in my life. I am ready to snip out the things that don't really matter and become more efficient at the things that I have to do but don't love.

“Reduce the complexity of life by eliminating the needless wants of life, and the labors of life reduce themselves.” - Edwin Way Teale

How do we know the air is there?

2009-07-19T22:22:00.003-06:00

This week we did not do a science experiment. We ended up going to swimming lessons, then off for a hike in the mountains. It was well worth it. But, because of this I will back up and talk about an experiment we completed a couple months ago. We asked the question, how do we know the air is there?

Here is what we did:

We caught some air in a bag and felt that the bag had something in it. We made a loud popping sound with the bag. Watch this video to get a sense of what our experiment was on a but on a larger scale.

We gathered a few supplies:

a big bowl

a cup

a paper towel

We filled the bowl with water and put the paper towel in the end of the cup. When we submerged the cup upside down in the water, the paper towel did not get wet. I was actually surprised that none of it was wet. The air was in the bottom of the cup, so the water could not fill the cup up.

Conclusion:

The air is there, we cannot see, taste, hear, touch or smell it. But at the same time we see it and hear it when the wind blows the leaves on the tree. We can also feel it when we exhale. These experiments were really fun to do. There are plenty more experiments to do with air. We have done others in the past and will do more in the future.

I found this experiment in the book "Janice VanCleave's big book of play and find out science projects". This is a cute book with fun and easy science experiments.

What are some good preschool science experiment books?

2009-07-14T22:17:00.012-06:00

I have been looking for some good resources to use for fun experiments for my kids.

Here is what I found:

Mudpies to Magnets by Robert Rockwell, Elizabeth Sherwood, and Robert Williams. This books has a 224 experiments to try. The subjects range from forces to nature and from the human body to electricity. This book has given me a number of ideas to use and it makes me so excited to discover "stuff" with my children.

More Mudpies to Magnets by Robert Rockwell, Elizabeth Sherwood, and Robert Williams. I have not had the opportunity to read through this book completely, but I loved the first, so I am sure I will like the second.

Explore Spring and Explore Winter by Maxine Anderson. These books are great for showing the different seasons. There are 25 experiments or activities to do for both of these seasons.

Everybody has a body: Science from head to toe by Robert Rockwell, Elizabeth Sherwood, and Robert Williams. This book has great ideas of things to do to find out more about our body's. I am excited to use this book as one of my resources. It has so many fun ideas.

Slow and Steady Get me Ready by June Oberlander is not specifically for science, but has all sorts of activities that can be done with children. There is one activity per week until the child is five. I loved to read about the simple activities that can be used for small infants and babies to help the child learn about his environment, about his own body and about the things that he can do. This is a great book to start with.

Big book of play and find out science projects by Janice VanCleave is a fun book. We have done several of the projects found in this book. I could sit and read books like this for hours. If only I had hours to sit and read books. She also has a number of other books that I want to check out. This is the only one I have used so far.

I have also found a bunch of great websites and blogs that have great information, activities and ideas. I have stopped looking because I could honestly search forever and still find great stuff. Here are some of my favorites:

Utahs Natural Kids

Playful Learning

Play Activities

No Time For Flashcards

Conclusion:

There are tons of great resources available to help figure out what to do with preschool science. Now that I have resources the next big challenge is to plan. Where should I start? What do I want my kids to know or discover? In the forward of Mudpies to Magnets it says; "In planning, it must be remembered that acquisition of facts is not the goal of science for young children. Instead, we want the children to experience the success and joy that come from finding the answers to questions by doing things rather than by being told. In many simple ways, they can repeatedly be thrilled by their discoveries, particularly if the adults around them share their enthusiasm." I do have enthusiasm, I love to do experiments with my kids.

What does an apple taste like?

2009-07-10T10:54:00.008-06:00

An Irish proverb says "when the apple is ripe it will fall." I have also heard "The apple does not fall far from the tree," and "One bad apple will spoil the bunch." Apples are a important part of history. Jonny Appleseed, knew the value of an apple. He spent 50 years growing apples trees. Johnny Appleseed’s dream was for a land where blossoming apple trees were everywhere and no one was hungry. Even after 200 years some of his trees still bear fruit. Everyone knows what an apple tastes like, right? Well, I thought we would try it out. Apples were all on sale this week.

Here is what we did:

We gathered different colored apples and tried them. We had a Golden Delicious, Gala, Red Delicious and a Granny Smith.

Apples are my son's favorite fruit.

While eating, I heard words like: lemony, sugary and yummy.

We cut one of the apples from side to side around the middle instead of top to bottom. The seeds inside the apple make a star. There is a star inside of every apple.

This little poem comes from Annmarie on the Teacher's Net Early Childhood Chat Board-

The Apple Star

Take an apple round and red

Don't slice down

Slice through instead

Right inside it you will see

A star as pretty as can be!

Apple Tree

Author unknown

Way up in the apple tree

Two red apples smiled at me

I shook that tree as hard as I could

Down came the apples

Mmmm - were they good!

Here are some fun activities to do with apples.

Conclusion:

I have had plenty of apples in my life. I love to eat them, but I have never experienced an apple like I did today. I knew there were some that were sweet and some that were tart, but tasting them together really showed the difference. My kids loved tasting the apples. I loved to hear them find the differences in the apples as well as the similarities. If you try this experiment, be aware that eating a sweet one before eating a tart one really makes your mouth pucker.

Did you know that coconut is not a nut?

2009-07-08T19:55:00.010-06:00

A few years ago, when I found out that my son was allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, I had to look up whether or not a coconut is a nut. It is not. I was glad to find this out. For most of my life I was under the impression that I did not like coconut. After trick-or-treating each year I would give my mom any mounds or almond joys that I received. It was definitely a win/win situation. But when I recently saw a recipe for coconut chicken, I just had to try it. It was good and has now inspired my whole post on the coconut.

Here is what I found out:

As I said before, coconuts are not actually nuts. They are the fruit of the palm tree. This fruit has provided nutrition for many populations around the world for generations. It provides a source of meat, juice, milk and oil. It is highly nutritious. "The coconut palm is so highly valued by [pacific islanders] as both a source of food and medicine that it is called "The Tree of Life". Visit this website to find out more about the "amazing healing powers" of the coconut palm.

Coconuts are actually pretty tasty. There are a couple recipes that I love made from coconut. First, the one that started it all. I found the coconut chicken recipe on this website. Oh, boy it was good. It says to serve with mango salsa. I did not have mango, so I made a raspberry salsa. Yummy! The sweetness from the raspberries was very complimentary to the coconut on the chicken.

My four-year -old even gave it a thumbs up.
While I made dinner tonight the smell of toasted coconut filled the kitchen, and I could not help but wish for Somoas. (The chocolate, Carmel, coconut girl scout cookies) Here is a recipe I found for these. You can bet, I will be trying these out in the near future.

If you are still in need of more recipes that involve a coconut, I found a whole website dedicated to them. Visit this site to find recipes for coconut macaroons, cookies, candy, pie, frosting, rice and anything else Coconuty.

Coconut Recipes

Conclusion:

Nearly 1/3 of the world's population depends on coconut to some degree for either food and economy. Coconut is rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. I know I love a little pinacolata every once in a while and will be adding a couple more coconut recipes to my repertoire. Even though coconuts cannot migrate, at least on their own accord, I can still avail myself to their sweet taste and allow my thoughts to take me to the tropics.

How did they do it?

2009-07-05T22:42:00.006-06:00

My son, not too long ago, said that he would like to be a defender of freedom when he grows up. Last night as I watched the fire works, I could not help but reflect on the many lives that have been lost in the fight for freedom. As promised, I have been reading my George Washington book and have been amazed to learn more about the perils that the American troops had to endure in their fight for liberty. I have pondered many times the facts of that great revolutionary war and cannot figure out how the Americans won. How could a group of mostly farmers have overcome the great British Empire?

Here is what I have found out:

George Washington wrote "It will not be believed that such a force as Great Britain...could be baffled...by numbers infinitely less, composed of men often times half-starved, always in rags, without pay, and experiencing, at times, every species of distress which human nature is capable of undergoing."

Through eight years of fighting there were monumental successes, and huge disappointments. Hero's were made. Traitors and cowards were found. Losses were many. Somehow, American soldiers won.

"Historians have expended barrels of ink in try to explain how America could have bested the British in war. How did it happen...No one could have foreseen the ultimate cost of that declaration if Independence. Who could have known that the British would send wave after wave of soldiers to the conies, trying to whip the rebels into subjection?And who would ever have supposed that those feeble colonies would have been able to beat back the mightiest nation on earth?"

The American troops did have their advantages though. They were fighting on their home soil, where the terrain was know to them. British troops had to sail on a ship for 2 months to arrive to the battle field. French monetary aid and later sending soldiers also helped. Finally, the British soldiers were merely fighting over the real estate, in contrast the colonists were fighting for their very well being. Their liberty and peace was at risk.

George Washington often encouraged his troops to pray. He also set the example of prayer. "Throughout the war, as it was understood in his military family, he gave a part of every day to private pray and devotion."

Perhaps George Washington's relationship with God (as well as many other's) that tipped the scale in favor of the Americans. Washington believed that the war was won because "God willed it so." He stated this over and over again in letters to "friends, acquaintances, governors, and members of Congress."

Conclusion:

How did the Americans win the war? "The reasons are varied and numerous, but rising above them all is the figure of George Washington. Washington was a the force that kept a ragtag army together through unthinkable trials: Washington's was the mind that saw the way to victory. With faith and steadfastness he varied neither to the right nor to the left. He pursued the ideal of liberty despite the dreadful trials of hunger, death and freezing winter, despite mutiny and inconstant militia, despite deceit and severe financial loss. If Washington had done nothing more than lead his country men to victory, if his public life had begun and ended with the turbulent years of the Revolutionary War, his name would deserve to be celebrated and revered for countless generations to come. "

Winning the war for Independence was nothing less than a miracle. Now the battle for freedom, the fight for liberty is ours. In order to preserve our freedom, which was bought at a high cost, our lives must be full of virtue. In the words of Alexis de Tocqueville we are reminded that "America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

May we all be defenders of liberty through the lives that we lead. Let us never forget the many people who have given their lives so that we can have freedom and the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Most of the quoted material was taken from the Book "The Real George Washington" by Jay A. Parry, Andrew M. Allison and W. Cleon Skousen

Can you find me?

2009-07-02T18:28:00.004-06:00

Today we learned about the on going game of hide and seek that goes on in the jungle, oceans, deserts and forests. Yes you guessed it...camouflage. I asked the question, what uses camouflage. Expecting to hear a long list of different animals, I was surprised the first item on the list was "tanks". After we discussed tanks for quite a while, we came up with a list of animals that use camouflage to hide: zebras, lions, tigers, giraffes, crocodiles, fish, monkeys, deer and bugs. We decided that we wanted to try camouflage ourselves.

Here is what we did:

We found a place that we wanted to hide. Then took a picture without camo. Then took a picture after.

In case you were wondering, it really works.

Conclusion:

Animals use camo to avoid being seen by their enemies. Humans stole this hiding secret from the animals and use it in many different ways. I remember hiding in the bushes with my camo on, while packing my paint ball gun. I will extend some advice for anyone who finds themselves in that same situation: the paint balls do hurt when they hit you. My four year old son, asked if fruit is uses camouflage. We decided in a way some fruit does. Example: bananas, they are green and blend in with the tree until they are ready to eat, then they turn yellow. Many other fruits do the same.

Can I move a mountain?

2009-06-30T09:42:00.007-06:00

"When Belva Lockwood was ten years old, she read that, with a little bit of faith, anyone could move a mountain.

She took the words literally.

Of course, Belva didn't try to move a whole mountain --after all, she was just a child. A hill seemed much more appropriate. She scouted around until she found the perfect one. She picked out a small hill outside her house and concentrated all of her willpower on moving it. She had faith in herself, and she was determined to move that hill, even if it was just the tiniest little bit.

The hill stayed put.

But Belva never stopped trying to move mountains."

Except from "Ballots for Belva" by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. (Visit the blog of Courney Martin, the illustrator, here)

Belva went on to be the first woman to graduate from the National University Law School, "practice law in federal courts and the first to argue a case before the Supreme Court of the United States." She worked hard to try to get the laws passed so that she could have a vote. At the age of 54 she became the first woman to officially run for president of the United States. She did not have a vote, but nothing said that she could not be voted for. Grover Cleveland was the winner of the election, but Belva did get votes. She died in 1917, three years before women were officially granted the right to vote.

Belva may not have moved a mountain, but when someone told her "it has never been done before" or "it will be really hard", she did not shirk her task, she stepped up to the plate and gave it all she had.

After reading about Belva, I started to think about the mountains that I face in my life. Can I move them, or at least summit and conquer them?

Here is what I found:

Sir Edmund Hillary said "it is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." He knows plenty about mountains, he was the first person (along with Tenzang Norgay) to summit Mount Everest.

We all have hard things in life. I often tell my kids that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. William Faulkner said the same thing in a different way. "The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

William Blake said "Great things are done when men and mountains meet." I believe this with all my heart. There are millions of examples of people who have been faced with the impossible, accepted the challenge and conquered or died trying. Think of Joan of Arc, George Washington, Nathan Hale, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King.

In the children's song "Going on a Bear Hunt" there is much truth as each time a challenge presents itself, we sing, "we can't go under it, we can't go over it, we have to go through it."

Challenges, our mountains, need to be faced head on.

Conclusion:

Mountains can be conquered, summited and moved. We simply need to take it on one pebble, one step or one day at a time. Faith, work, and time are the ingredients needed to move mountains.

Does it float or sink?

2009-06-25T17:12:00.005-06:00

Today we wanted to know what kinds of things float and what sink.

Here is what we did:

We gathered items, guessed whether or not they would float and then submerged them in the water. Some interesting things we found:

sometimes we guessed right and sometimes we were wrong

a bowl floats, until it was full of water, then it sunk

a plastic bottle floats on top of the water, but if it is filled with water, it floats under the water

flip flops floats

apples float and are fun to bob for

Conclusion:

We can make guesses and check our guesses with an experiment.

How do I change a habit?

2009-06-23T09:54:00.005-06:00

I had a habit, not necessarily a bad one, but one that I wanted to change. Every morning I would turn on Curious George and Sid the Science Kid, cartoons, for my children. We never watched for more than an hour. During this time, while my children were entertained I would get ready for the day, shower, or whatever I needed to do. I don't think that there is anything wrong with letting my children watch T.V., but I did not like that I felt dependent on it. I wanted to change this habit, but how could I do it, my children were used to our routine and I thought that I needed it?

Here is what I did:

I did not turn on the T.V. one morning. My children asked to watch the show and I explained that we were not going to watch that morning. Surprisingly, they were alright with that. Instead of sitting around staring at the T.V., they decided to play house. I loved that. The next morning, my son woke up and found a book to look at. Three weeks later I am truly glad that I decided to turn the T.V. off.

Watch a Curious George clip Here. Most of these are science experiments.

Play a Curious George Game here. There are math and logic games.

Conclusion:

I am not necessarily anti-T.V. but I am against feeling like I had to turn the television on, like we were dependent. Now, if we do happen to watch a show, it is because I want to, not because I feel like I need to entertain my kids or distract them while I get things done. I have realized that my kids are capable of being self-starters. They are more motivated and creative ever since we stopped the habit.

What are the responsiblities of a Dad?

2009-06-21T21:07:00.003-06:00

Happy Father's Day Dad! I have a wonderful Dad. I have been grateful for his influence in my life.

Here are 2 quick stories from the Reader's Digest about fathers.

"On the day I received my learner’s permit, my father agreed to take me out for a driving lesson. With a big grin, he hopped in behind the the driver’s seat. Why are you not sitting in the passenger seat? I questioned. Kiersten I’ve been waiting for this day ever since you were a little girl. dad replied. Now it is my turn to sit back hear and kick the seat. " --submitted by Kirsten Wiley

"While flying from Denver to Kansas City, Kansas, my mother was sitting across the aisle from a woman and her eight-year-old son. Mom couldn’t help laughing as they neared their destination and she heard the mother say to the boy, “now remember –run to Dad first, then the dog.”--submitted by Karla J Kasper

I recently had to give a talk about dads and I have learned a bunch of neat things.

Here is what I learned:

In the proclaimation to the family, it is stated that "husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children."

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."~~Author Unknown

Here is a video about a great father.
Click here to see a video about Rick and Dick Hoyt. Father and son who share an amazing bond.

Next, the responsiblities of a father are also outlined in the proclaimation to the family.

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. "

Fathers are to preside over their families:

Quoted from an article, written by a veteran criminal court judge, titled “Nine Words That Can Stop Juvenile Delinquency.” The nine words suggested by the judge were “Put Father back at the head of the family.”

Responsible to provide:

As fathers, we are expected to provide for the physical needs of our families. To meet the physical necessities of our family we should:
· 1. Work at an honest job. (Does not matter what it is as long as it is honest and satisfying)
· 2. Budget family resources in cooperation with our wife.
· 3. Teach our children to work.
· 4. Direct a program of home production and storage.

Provide for spiritual needs of family:
· 1. Teach the gospel in the home.
· 2. Have daily family prayer.
· 3. Make our home a place that invites the Spirit of the Lord to abide with us.
· 4. Pay tithes and offerings to the Lord.
· 5. Hold worthwhile family home evenings.

President Joseph F. Smith's counsel applies today: "Do not let your children out to specialists . . . , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth."

Protection for their families:

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection."~~By Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)~~

You may recall the story about a child trapped in a hole in the ground who could be extricated only by sending another, smaller child into the tunnel. One little fellow was approached to see if he would be willing to go down and rescue the one who was lodged. The lad said, “I am scared to go in that hole, but I will go if my father will hold the rope.”

This much is evident, said L. Tom Perry, “that Satan is working overtime to enslave the souls of men. His main target is the fundamental unit of society – the family. …It appears to me that the crosshairs of Satan’s scope are centered on husbands and fathers. Today’s media, for example, have been relentless in their attacks – ridiculing and demeaning husbands and fathers in their God-given roles.”

James E. Faust said that fathers need our help to fulfill their roles and that we need to "give him love, understanding, and some appreciation for his efforts... In terms of giving fathers love and understanding, it should be remembered that fathers also have times of insecurity and doubt. Everyone knows fathers make mistakes—especially they themselves. Fathers need all the help they can get; mostly they need love, support, and understanding from their own."

American general Douglas MacArthur, who said: “By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder—infinitely prouder—to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’"

Conclusion:

A couple years ago, in the news paper James E. Faust read :“Social scientists across the political spectrum tell us that father absence is a stronger predictor of criminal behavior than family income, education, or … race. ...And while individual youngsters can manage life without father reasonably well in many cases, few are able to come unscathed through fatherless communities."

Father's are so important to our society. We need them in our homes. We need them to preside, provide and protect.

Have you seen trees?

2009-06-18T22:34:00.006-06:00

"Have you seen trees?" by Joanne Oppenheim, illustrated by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng, is a beautiful book.

"Have you seen summer trees?

Shade-me-from-the-light-trees.

Whisper-in-the-night trees.

I can hear the trees!...

A million trees, a billion leaves,

a forest with a zillion trees.

Have you seen trees?"

This book inspired us to look at our trees.

Here is what we saw:

We saw maple, cherry, peach, apricot, catalpa, and pine trees. We saw green leaves and some sort tree with purple leaves. We found apples, peaches, apricots, blossoms, a spider and some aunts on the trees. We picked some leaves and made rubbings of them. We noticed that all the leaves were different from the different trees. We also put some leaves in a big book to dry. There were some branches that did not have any leaves on them. After touching the different trunks of trees, we discovered that some bark was smooth while other were rough.

Conclusion:

We have seen summer trees, we have watched them up close. As the seasons change we are going to notice the trees again and see what happens throughout the year.

Are You Generous?

2009-06-16T20:46:00.004-06:00

I guess the real question that I want to know the answer to is: Am I generous? I would like to go ahead and give myself the benefit of the doubt and say yes. I give of my resources, time and talents. But I have a really selfish side that makes me hold back. Well, I read a book tonight that is making me evaluate what I believe about generosity.

Here is what I found out:

In the Quilt Makers Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, illustrated by Gail de Marcken an old lady sits and quilts. These quilts are the most beautiful in the whole world. She will not sell them. In the still of the night she searches for those most in need of her blankets and gives them without a word, then returns to her home to start sewing again. When the King hears about her gift of quilting he simply has to have one of her quilts. After unsuccessfully talking her into giving him one, he finally agrees to do what she requires. She asked him to give away all he owns. If you have not read the book, I will not tell the rest, you must read this book. This is an amazing story.

Here you can visit the Quilt Makers website.

I love the foundation for better life commercials. Here is the link to watch all of them. Beware, if you are anything like me, you may need a tissue. Bellow is the one about generosity.

Here is one more inspiring story about giving.

Conclusion:

There is more that I can do but where do I start. While raising my little family I have all sorts of excuses that are valid. But how can I teach my children about generosity if they can see that I am, in reality, selfish. I need to make room in my life for more giving, serving and kindness. No need to leave the kids behind, I will simply have to bring them along for the journey.

Is there such a thing as impossible?

2009-06-12T21:37:00.006-06:00

"I have learned to us the word impossible with the greatest caution" -Wernher von Braun

I am asking a question about impossible tasks because I have just been asked to help out with something that is huge and almost seems, well, impossible. I hope this is the last time I say "I will do whatever you need me to." While reading a book about Buzz Aldrin yesterday I was inspired by the way that he looked at the word impossible. It was more like a challenge, not a wall. Is there really such thing as impossible?

Here is what I have learned:

Do you think that Copernicus, Galileo or even Newton ever thought that a man would have actually landed on the moon? They studied the heavens, watched the stars and were inspired by the moon. Their discoveries, some not popular, laid the foundation to turn the impossible dream of landing a man on the moon into a possible reality.

Orville and Wilbur Wright dreamed of flying, but were not born with wings. "If birds can glide for long periods of time, then...why can't I?" Said Orville Wright. Impossible did not mean a thing to him.

Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of the airpla

Roger Bannister was determined to run the mile in under 4 minutes. The world record of 1.4 seconds slower was unbeaten for 9 years. Impossible? But yet do-able with the will and hard work.

The song the "Impossible Dream" tells of a man trying to do the hard things.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong were 3 of 400,000 people who helped land a man on the moon.
Men, including Orville and Wilbur Wright built a machine that was heavier than air, but yet, can fly.
Many people have run a mile in under 4 minutes.

All of these events were at one time thought to be impossible.

Conclusion:

Impossible in many cases simply means it has not been done yet, not that it can't be done. I believe all the following sentences:

I can do hard things.

I CAN do hard things.

I can do HARD things.

As the tasks in my life seem to get more challenging, I will rise to that challenge (hopefully!!!).

How should I discipline my children?

2009-06-10T15:10:00.003-06:00

This morning we had a cereal fiasco. At breakfast, I left the kitchen for a couple minutes. When I returned there was cereal all over the floor and apparently it had been thrown, not spilled. I started asking questions like, who did this, why did you do this and who is going to clean it up. They answers were: my 4 year old, I don't know and my 4 year old. My son proceeded to tell me that he did not know how to clean it up. I told him to use the broom. He explained to me that "that is not my way." I asked him what his way was. His way was with the vacuum. To make a long story short, the cereal was cleaned up by him and hopefully he learned that if he makes a mess he is in charge of cleaning it up.

With my parenting problems in mind, I ask the question how should I discipline my children?

Here is what I found:

One book that I read about parenting that has helped me tremendously is "Positive Discipline" by Jane Nelsen.

This book has helped me in a number of ways.
I love that Dr. Nelsen talks about how to be kind but firm. As parents we don't have to yell and be mad all the time. We also don't have to make our kids feel bad to make the behavior change. Natural consequences are a better learning tool than our man made consequences ever will be.

Positive Discipline talks about treating children with respect, allowing them to choose to be good and has examples of different situations and a possible solution. Each child is different, some solutions may work for one child but not for another. Another thing that I learned from Positive Discipline is that there is always something that can be done. Here is Jane Nelsen's website.

Positive Discipline

Here is a parenting blog that I found interesting.
Here is a website that has radio shows with tons of different parenting topics. Just go to the tab "listen to past shows" Look for a topic of interest and listen at your pleasure.

Here are some last thoughts from Jane Nelsen on how to be a better parent.

Conclusion:

There are many disciplinary situations that are hard and worse than spilled cereal, but there is always something that can be done. Discipline does not mean that I have to yell or be upset. I am inspired to be a better parent and I will seek to be kind and firm. Thanks Jane Nelsen for all 18 of your books that help us to be better disciplinarians with our children. Check out her books at your local library.

How much food should I make?

2009-06-08T14:45:00.004-06:00

Because I just had a rather large gathering in which food was served and I love to have parties in general, I wanted to know if there was some sort of a food quantity calculator out there somewhere. I am one of those people who totally over estimates and ends up with leftovers for weeks. I guess that it is better to have too much than too little. So, I searched the web.

Here is what I found:

Party Food Planning Guide This is a sort of helpful website, but does not help in all situations.

I don't serve liquor at my parties. Most of the party calculators involve drinks. Don't people eat anymore?

I found a couple of great books to read at Secrets from a Caterer. I have not read these books, but found them highly recommended from the many people out there wanting to know how much food to prepare.

There is no fool proof way to estimate how much to make. The type of gathering has to be considered as well as the type of guests. A book club meeting is totally different from a Superbowl party.

Here are some "Rule of Thumb" ideas (pulled from about.com) to follow while planning a gathering that involves food.

Always round up your estimates, don't round them down.
Anticipate which food selections will be most popular and serve more of them than the general portion guidelines suggest. For example, shellfish appetizers are always popular, so serve as much as your budget allows.
The more choices you offer, the smaller your calculation of individual portion size should be.
That said, you can assume your guests will taste everything on a buffet, but the tastes will be small. However, overall consumption per individual will be greater than if there were fewer choices.
Add "bulk" items to your menu. For a sit-down dinner have plenty of bread to fill in any hungry spots. When hosting a cocktail party, nuts, olives, pretzels, etc. provide a little extra security that you'll have enough for all but requires no extra work.

Here are basic guidelines for individual serving sizes of various foods. Multiply these estimates by your number of guests and, once again, always round up your estimates.

Portion Size Per Person

HorsD'oeuvres

6 bites when preceding a meal.
4 - 6 bites per hour when horsd'oeuvres are the meal.
The longer your party and the larger your guest list, the greater the number of selections you should offer.

The Main Meal

Poultry, meat or fish - 6 ounces when you have one main dish, 8 ounces when you offer two or more main courses.
Rice, grains - 1.5 ounces as a side dish, 2 ounces in a main dish such as risotto.
Potatoes - 5 ounces
Vegetables - 4 ounces
Beans - 2 ounces as a side dish
Pasta - 2 ounces for a side dish, 3 ounces for a first course, 4 ounces for a main dish
Green Salad - 1 ounce undressed weight

Desserts

1 slice cake, tart or pastry
4 ounces creamy dessert such as pudding or mousse
5 ounces ice cream

When serving two of the above, reduce each by a little less than half.

A Few Other Menu Planning Tips

Don't repeat a main ingredient. For example, don't serve a shrimp appetizer and shrimp main dish.
Consider the colors of the food that will be served together and make sure there is variety.
Offer both hot and cold foods on a buffet.
Mix textures such as a crisp potato galette served with a soft vegetable puree as side dishes.

Conclusion:

There is no such thing as a fool proof calculator to help plan quantity of food for a party. Each event and menu is so individual that it has to be taken on a case by case basis. I am glad to have a few resources to pull from. I guess on this topic experience is the best teacher.

Do we know how to collect data?

2009-06-04T13:41:00.004-06:00

We wanted to do something fun for a summer science project. So we joined the Great Sunflower Project and our packet finally arrived. Now we have to figure out what our part of this project is.

Here is what we have to do:

First we have to plant some sunflowers. Lucky for us we happen to have a huge patch growing in our garden already. Next, two times a month, once we have flowers, we have to collect data about the arrival of bees to our garden. For 1/2 hour each time we sit and write down how long it takes before 5 bees visit our flowers.

This will be an exciting project for all of us. We are learning about differences between different kinds of bees as well.

All the following are frequently called bees: bumble bees, honey bees, wasps, yellow jackets, green bees, and carpenter bees.

Here is the website if you want to be part of the Great Sunflower Project as well.

Conclusion:

We are so excited to be part of this effort to find out more about bees and be able to learn how to collect data. This is a fun, easy, and exciting way for us to be part of something big.

What is a Gazpacho?

2009-06-02T09:45:00.004-06:00

The pea's are almost ready and I am hankering for some yummy pea soup. I have never had pea soup before, but I want to try it. Is the soup I want to make a gazpacho or a bisque, a chowder or a compote? I am pretty clueless when it comes to cooking terms. I found a pretty cool website that can help me out.

Here is what I found:

A Gazpacho is an uncooked soup made from vegetables.
A Bisque is a thick soup that may be prepared with a cream or water base cooked in a chicken or seafood broth.
A Chowder a type of soup that contains a variety of ingredients that may include potatoes, other vegetables, milk, cream, meats, and herbs made into a hearty food that is always served hot.
A Compote is Preserved fruit that has been stewed or cooked in a heavy, sugary syrup to be served as a dessert.

Recipe Tips Glossary Here is the website that has a dictionary of cooking terms with pictures.

After looking up these terms, I have found that I don't want a gazpacho, bisque, chowder or compote, but a cold soup.

Here is the Cold Pea Soup Recipe that I am going to try. I can hardly wait.

Conclusion:

As soon as the peas are on, I will eat some right away, then make some cold pea soup. I am excited to find a place to look up recipe terms and to try something new.

How does that song go?

2009-05-29T13:24:00.005-06:00

A couple recent events have lead me to as the question; "how does that song go". My husband and I have sung songs from our youth to our children, I have been surprised at the different words that we use in simple songs. One example is the eensy weensy spider. I never knew that some people sing the itsy bitsy spider. Believe me people are passionate about their version. I actually looked this one up a long time ago and found that either version works; although I will continue to the sing the eensy weensy spider. I was also wanting to teach my kids some patriotic songs since Independence Day is only a couple weeks away. As I started to sing "This is my country, Land of my birth." I found myself not really remembering all the words. Because of these experiences I have found a couple websites that are exciting for me to have bookmarked.

Here is what I found:

Songs from the U.S.A. Flag site Here is a site that has some patriotic songs with lyrics. This site is very professional but it did not have some of the songs that I wanted so I had to keep looking. My search brought me to:

Bus Songs This website had over 2000 children's song lyrics, divided into categories. You can also search alphabetically. They also have videos and music clips. One thing that fascinates me is the origin of nursery rhymes. This site has numerous articles that talk about the background of some nursery rhymes.

Songs For Teaching This website caught my eye because it breaks down the songs into different school subjects. I love the animal section. My kids have been very specific about what animals they like. I am excited to get to know some new songs about their favorite animals.

Niehs Kids Page I enjoyed this site because it had the lyrics and you can listen to the tune. There are not as many songs on this site though.

There are many, many sites that have lyrics to children's songs. These are a couple that I enjoyed and found useful.

Sometimes though, it is nice to make up your own words. We have loved singing the "Bulldozer went over the mountain" and "She'll be flying in her spaceship when she comes." I like to sing songs that relate to what my kids are interested in. We have changed the words of songs to include my children's names, and to include different topics such as, space, alligators, knights and babies. My children love to hear songs they love, sung in different ways.

If you have never heard of Jim Gill, I will tell you about him. He is a children's song writer. Sometimes he takes songs that are well known at puts a spin on them. Other times his songs are completely new. My kids love his music. We turn it on and dance around the room. Here is a sample.

I was recently introduced to Raffi. You can listen to his music here. I like him. Besides, he sings my version of the Eensy Weensy Spider song.

I also love anything Janeen Brady from Brite Music. These are collections like: Take your hat off when the flag goes by, The Safety Kids and the Standing Tall Series.
Conclusion:

In our home, we sing songs all the time. It is nice to have a place to double check the lyrics and find new songs to add to our old songs. We love to make up our own songs too, now we will know many different tunes to use. Do you have any children's song artists that you love? Leave me a comment!

How do I find review information on baby gear?

2009-05-25T11:10:00.004-06:00

I was recently in the market for a couple new pieces of baby gear. First, I wanted a baby monitor. Second, I wanted a double stroller. These for me were major purchases. Things that I wanted to research before I bought. Where do I find information to help me in my research?

Here is what I did:

First, I talked to plenty of other parents who had opinions. I gathered their advice and set to work comparing what they said to what I found on-line. My sister has loved her double stroller, but I was not sure that the price was right for me.

Next I consulted consumer reports. This is a great website with plenty of free information and for a minimal fee all information is accessible on the site. They rate things from cars to baby monitors. They also have rated food products, have information about recalls and product safety. One thing that I have found with consumer reports is that the information can be a bit outdated and they may not have the exact model that I want information about. This was the case with the double strollers. The stroller that my sister had was not even tested. I had to continue my search.

Another place that I looked was on Amazon. Many consumers leave feedback and their reviews for products. Even if I don't purchase from amazon, I can see what customers have thought about what I want to purchase. Now this kind of review only helps if people have left reviews in the first place. I am going to start to be a reviewer. I will try to leave helpful reviews for people who follow after me for, I am thankful for the people who have left reviews for me.

I am also a member of a couple of mother's forums and email groups, where I can ask real time reviews from other people. This is a great resource that has only been available for a short time. I love connecting with other mothers.

There are also blogs that review products. One that I have recently come across that I have enjoyed reading is Reviewing Baby Gear. This is a fun site because I can search by category or simply find ideas about new products that I would not have heard of otherwise.

Here are a couple other product review sites that look fun:

Moms Favorite Stuff
The Impulsive Buy
Green Gear

After all my research here is what I purchased:

The stroller, recommend at first by my sister, review not found in consumer reports, great overall report through amazon, recommended by blog Reviewing baby gear and a good deal at Costco.com:

Phil & Ted's Graffiti Sport with double kit and lazy Ted.

The baby monitor, recommended as a good buy through consumer reports, and we had a gift certificate to Sears where it was on sale:

Summer infant secure sounds.

Conclusion:

I am glad that there are so many resources available when I am in need of information. The biggest challenge is focusing on relevant information that can help to speed up the decision making. Do you have any favorite product review sites?

Whose Garden is it?

2009-05-22T14:45:00.014-06:00

Today for our experiment I read a book called "Whose Garden is it?" by Mary Ann Hoberman. A woman passing an amazing garden asks the question, "whose garden is it?" Of course the gardener claims the garden first, but then all of the bugs, animals, flowers, weeds and even seeds claim that it is their garden. Here is an excerpt:

"It's mine!" the bird twittered from high in a tree.

"The worms in the garden were put there for me!"

"Not so!" sighed the worm. "Why, I make the soil fine,

that's why I'm put here. This garden is mine!"

"It's mine" the wasp grumbled. "I've built a fine nest here."

"It's mine,"buzzed the honeybee. "You're just a pest here.

I pollinate flowers. It's easy to see

This garden would not even be without me!"

"Or me!" bragged the butterfly. "Begging your pardon.

I too, spread the pollen all over this garden."

Reading this book made us think, what bugs and creepy crawly things live in our garden?

Here is what we did:

We went on a bug and creepy crawly, wiggly creature hunt. We took a shovel and went out into the garden. We tried to think of places we could look to find bugs. My four year old immediately started digging. He was in search of a worm. My 2 year old looked to the sky. Some bugs fly. We were able to spot some bugs right away. We took a walk to the back of the yard and watched the honeybees for a while. They are so fun to have in our yard. We also moved a log and a cinder block to see what might be living under those. We were able to see some spiders, worms, slugs, a lady bug, rolly polly bug (potato bug), some red bugs, green bugs, flying bugs, crawling bugs, helpful bugs, harmful bugs. This kids loved searching and finding. While digging my son observed that there were tiny holes in the dirt, probably dug by worms. He was so excited about his discovery.

Do you see the bugs we saw? In the pictures bellow there is a worm, slugs, moth, ant, potato bug, honeybee and a little red bug in which we do not know it's name.

We also read some other books that had to do with bugs and crawly things in the garden:

"bugs poems about creeping things" by David L. Harrison

"Bumblebee, Bumblebee Do you know me?" by Anne Rockwell

"Wiggle and Waggle" by Caroline Arnold

We loved the worm song in "Wiggle and Waggle"

We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm.

Digging in dirt is the life of a worm.

We dig and we sing all day long,

Our wiggly, waggly, gardening song.

While reading these books my 2-year old announced that the dragon fly was her favorite.

Conclusion:

We have bugs in our garden. I have a creepy crawly feeling knowing how easy it was to find so many. The kids however loved to watch the bugs they found. They observed how some moved very fast and some were slow. Some had legs and some had none. Some had wings. I had no problem keeping them interested in this project. In fact, I think we are going to have to go out again in search of more. We really want to have a picture of a lady bug, but the camera ran out of batteries on us.

How do hives work?

2009-05-19T13:11:00.007-06:00

Last year as we heard about the mysterious disappearance of millions of honey bees, I thought we should get a hive so that our garden did not suffer due to lack of pollination. It did not happen.

But, this year we have become beehive hosts. Our bee keeper is Annette from Hansen Hives and she takes care of the hives, we provide the flowers. We are so excited to have a hive, without bees we would not have all of our lovely vegetables and fruits and would not have chocolate. Up until this point, all my knowledge of bees cam from the book "the Secret Life of Bee's". Which, by the way is not really about bees, but does have some excerpts from bee books and thoughts about honey. Now, I have talked with an expert and read a bunch of stuff and have found that bees are totally fascinating.

Here is what I found out:

Bee's are the ultimate model for a thriving corporate empire. In fact there are essays and books written on that very topic. (click here to read about the beehive corporate model) Each bee has a job and is responsible for that job. There are no supervisors or managers. The jobs just get done. All of the worker bees are female. They take care of the queen, feed the babies, clean the hive, build the honeycomb, gather pollen and nectar, create temperature control (if too hot, they fan the hive from the outside and if too cold they huddle together and shake to make the temperature go up), and they guard the hive.

During the life cycle of the bee it will graduate from each task and finally end up a forager, gatherer of pollen. A bee's whole lives work will amount to less than a teaspoon of honey. That much is eaten on one slice of bread. In our hive currently there are about 30,000 bees, and an average beehive can hold up to 50,000 bees. Honeybees will gather pollen up to 5 miles away from the hive, but will only go as far as needed, flying as fast as 20 mph. to make 1 pound of honey, nectar from about 2 million flowers needs to be collected. Our hive will produce between 30-50 pounds of honey.To communicate with each other, they dance. They also use the angle of the sun to make their way back to the hive. If the queen dies, the bees will make another one. This is done by feeding a larvae Royal Jelly. In the winter the worker bees, kick the drones out of the hive. They have not use for them and don't want to use their precious food storage on feeding them.

The one really great and useful thing that I learned from the book "the Secret Life of Bees" is to send the bees love. A bee does not want to sting, for it looses it's life if it does. A bee will only sting to protect the hive or if it is afraid. I have taught the kids to simply walk away and send them love when they see a bee. Never flail your arms or try to shoo the bee away, that may scare it.

Here is a list of really cool websites to visit to learn more about bees and honey:

Bee Links

Here is another fellow bee host and what she has to say about her hive:

Arrival of the hive

Conclusion:

I have loved learning about bees. They are simply fascinating creatures. I am continuing to learn more and will share what I learn in later posts. I am excited to learn how to extract and actually taste fresh honey.

What should we do this summer?

2009-05-18T22:07:00.003-06:00

I am really excited for all the fun things that we will do this summer. There have been way to many summers in my life that have come to a close and I wondered where did all my time go. This time will be different. I am going to make a list of things we want to do and start checking off the list. Where do I start to plan my summer?

Here is what I found:

Utah Family - This website has a day to day list of activities, where they are happening and a map, so we don't get lost. It includes special events as well as on going events, including story times and events at museums along the Wasatch Front.

Family Fun This website had ideas for games, parties, food and other fun ideas.

101 things to do when there is nothing to do - Here is a list of 101 things to do when there is nothing to do. This is a great list to have around for long car rides.

Today's Mama Today's Mama also has a calendar of things to do. Check this out on a daily basis to make sure that you don't miss something really cool.

volunteer match This website is great for matching people with opportunities to provide volunteer service. Just type in your zip code and you will receive a list of ideas on what you can do to serve. If you still can't find something that fits your personality you can always dial 211 and ask for more service options there.

There are some things that must be done every summer. For me these things include: swimming, fireworks, barbeque, gardening, hiking and homemade ice cream.

Conclusion:

I have started my list of things to do this summer, it is not done yet, but with these resources I will be able to plan my summer so it does not woosh away like so many in my past.

What comes next?

2009-05-14T14:28:00.003-06:00

Our experiment this week consisted of trying to figure out what comes next. Some times things always come in the same order. Sometimes we can choose the order and sometimes there is no order at all.

Here is what we did:

We made a chain to represent the days we have until our family comes in from out of town.

We made a calendar so that we can track the weather through out the next couple months and even up to a year.

We made little shapes to put on our calendar to represent different types of weather.

First, we gathered our supplies: paper, paper cutter, glue stick, plastic bag, tape, calendar paper (printed from here), and markers. Making our chain:

Because we have family coming in from out of town in a couple weeks, we wanted to have a visual reminder of how many days until they come into town. First we choose 3 different colors of paper. Then we cut the paper into strips. We choose the order of the colors and put the chain together. Before we picked the order of colors it did not matter what color was first, but once we choose the order we had to make sure that we choose the next color to go next. For the next couple weeks we will take one link of the chain off each day so we can see how long we have until our family is here.
Making our calendar:

I had the kids write the first letter for each month. My 4 year old did pretty good at this and found that many of the months started with letters that were in his name. My 2 year old loved that she was able to write an O, she is very good at this letter. Then we talked about the months of the year and how they always come in the same order. We also talked about the days of the week, they always come in the same order also. As I wrote the numbers on the calendar each of the kids took turns counting as high as they could. Numbers also have a specific order.

Making our weather pieces:

The kids drew pictures of clouds, suns and rain. Then we cut the pictures up into little squares. Each color will represent a different kind of weather. We will have to make some that represent snow when cooler weather comes. We put these pieces in a plastic bag, in no order whatsoever.

Conclusion:

It was fun to anticipate the arrival of family with a fun experiment. Every day activities can be made into fun learning experiences. I told my son at least 2 weeks ago that we would be making a weather chart. He was so excited about it that he kept reminding me that we needed to do it. I loved the reminder that some things really do need to be in order, but for others it does not matter. This experiment has many applications: we do our jobs first, then we play. You can eat your chicken first or your watermelon. You have to put on your socks before you put on your shoes. I can use this lesson and translate it into my own life. I hope the kids learned something too.

Are we prepared for summer?

2009-05-12T16:46:00.006-06:00

We are so ready for summer. As the weather has started to be nice, we can hardly stand to stay inside. As the summer approaches I am reminded of numerous times last year that we took off on an adventure and forgot the sunscreen or my kids found so sort of water and I did not have a change of clothes for them. I decided that now is the time to prepare for our totally spontaneous summer.

Here is what we did:

First we made a mental list of things that we need to have with us.

Here is what we came up with:
Paper towels
Change of clothes for all children
Hat for each child
Snack, in case we are out too long
Sunscreen
Lotion
Hand sanitizer
First Aid kit
Extra Water
Jackets -we rarely need these in the summer, but if they are needed we will have them
Tool Box
Jumper cables

Picnic blanket
Blanket to cover car seat so little legs won't get burned
Tissues
Comb
Garbage bag - can be used for a mess or wet clothes
Stroller

A book - This is a necessity, never be caught with some time to read and not a book

Next, we gathered the items, organized them. Then we placed them in the car.

We will also bring along our water bottles (each person has a specific color) and diaper bag

Inside the diaper bag:

Plenty of diapers

wipes

Benedryl

EpiPen

Tylenol both for infants and kids

Extra outfit for baby

Binkie

I happened to come across some plastic containers that fit perfectly under my seat. This was difficult since most containers are 5 inches tall or taller. I only had clearance for 4 inches. Most of the items are organized in the containers.

Now, in case we can't think of things to do this summer, here are some lists of ideas:

101 Things to do this summer

Another 100 things to do this summer

Summer Fun

cheap things to do on your summer vacation

And specific to where I live:

Utah summer fun

Conclusion:
Summer - bring it on. We are ready for adventures of many kinds. There are a couple more items that I should have in the car. They are: flares, a pocket knife ( I have one on my key chain) and items for the kids to play with in case of a break down. I will be working on collecting these and organizing our swim bag.

What is my role as a mother?

2009-05-10T21:18:00.004-06:00

~God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.~

I woke up this morning to overhear a conversation between my 4 year old and my husband.

A: When she comes out, I will jump out and yell surprise.
N: Why don't you just say Happy Mother's Day?
A: I want to hide and say surprise.

Well, when I joined the rest of my family in the kitchen my 4 year old jumped out from under the table and yelled "surprise" as my 2 year old yelled "Happy Mothers Day"! Then I was fed breakfast and given cute cards and I owe yous for hugs and kisses. What a great morning. As the day went on, I had to send my 4 year old to his room for doing something naughty. I told him that I would come talk to him in a couple minutes. At the same time my 2 year old, who was wearing under ware had an accident and my newborn was needing to be fed. Luckily Dad was home and took care of the clean up while I sat down to take care of the baby. All of a sudden I heard "Mom, when are you going to talk to me?" I had forgotten about my son, in his room. Luckily dad took care of that too. All of this made me think, what is my role as a mother?

Here is what I came up with:

First, I asked my kids. My 2 year old daughter thinks that a mother's role is to "clean up".
My 4 year old son said "to cook for me." I asked him if that is all and he said, "well no, you also need to play with me and start PBS kids and sing to me."
My baby, if he could talk would say that a mother's role is to feed their babies at any time day or night.

Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day
With little time to stop and pray
For life's been anything but calm
Since You called on me to be a mom
Running errands, matching socks
Building dreams with building blocks
Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes
And other stuff that children lose
Fitting lids on bottled bugs
Wiping tears and giving hugs
A stack of last weeks mail to read
So where's the quiet time I need?
Yet when I steal a minute, Lord
Just at the sink or ironing board
To ask the blessings of Your grace
I see then, in my small one's face
That you have blessed me
All the while
And I stop to kiss
That precious smile

As a mother I clean cloths, make food, organize, wash dishes, clean bathrooms, change sheets, match socks, vacuum carpets, sweep floors, and then I start all over again. But that is not all. In between all of that stuff I sing, read stories, dance, build buildings, change baby doll's clothes, play with trucks, kiss boo boo's, color, and sculp with play dough. But that is not all. On top of all that, I take care of a garden, mow the lawn, push kids in swings, grocery shop, visit the library, host a play group, and try to fit in an bit of exercise. Where one activity ends another one has started or is half over. As I look at my to-do list that seems to multiply, as I complete one item 3 more are added, I ask myself, what are the most important things? The kids have got to be the most important, for the laundry, dishes and toys did not make me a mother it is the children that did. As I think about my mother the one word that immediately comes to mind is love. I believe that a mother is given love to fulfill her role. That love will help me to teach, comfort, forgive, guide, create, inspire, and elevate the souls that have been in trusted to my care. It will also help me to create an environment that is safe, clean, organized, lovely, and inspiring.

Conclusion:

The to-do list is not necessarily chucked out the window, stuff still has to get done, but my focus has been realigned. My job is to love my husband and my kids. That is all. Everything else falls into place when I remember who I do, what I do, everything for. Motherhood is not some complicated equation full of unknowns and derivatives, it is simple. Motherhood = Love.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.- Famous Tenneva Jordan

Where do plants come from?

2009-05-09T15:35:00.008-06:00

The experiment for the whole summer will be watching our garden grow. And realizing that plants come from seeds and not all seeds look alike. Our garden takes a lot of work, but after tasting of the harvest we know that it is worth it. We love to involve our children in the work.

Here is what we have done:

First we gathered some seeds, paper towels, and plastic bags. We looked at the seeds and guessed what would grow from them. We placed the seeds in the paper towels and then into the plastic bag. Then we filled the bag with water. We will check back on this in a week or so to see what happens.

Next, we planted some herbs. These are already existing plants that we want to see grow bigger.

Last, we planted our actual garden. There are many hands that helped to put this garden together. So far we have planted: peas, lettuce, onions, flowers, corn, watermelon and corn. Some of these were actual plants and some were from seed. We will be watching the garden as it grows to see what progress happens.

Conclusion:

We have enjoyed looking at and planting seeds. The feeling of actually planting something and having it grow is amazing. Our kids will have the opportunity throughout the summer to watch the seeds that they planted grow and become something that we eat. Although it is a long process from seed to food, we can already see the peas that were planted from seed, growing and will soon be about to taste of the fruits of our labor.

~There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler

Have I finished all my Spring Cleaning?

2009-05-07T09:07:00.004-06:00

This week's experiment takes a couple days, so check back on Saturday to find out what we did. In the mean-time, because spring is pretty much half over, I was wondering what should I be working on as far as spring cleaning goes.

Here is what I found:

I found a list of things that should be done inside your home and outside your home in the spring to make sure that winter did not cause any damage and to get things ready for use.

On the Outside:

1. Schedule a family garage clean-out. Create efficient storage for sporting goods, camping equipment, recreational vehicles, and garden tools. You'll have the jump on summer fun!
2. Inspect, clean and repair outdoor furniture.
3. Tour house exterior and grounds. Make a list of any needed seasonal maintenance.
4. Inspect the roof for winter damage: leaks, missing or broken shingles or tiles. Arrange for any needed repairs early; roofing contractors can be hard to find during summer's construction season.
5. Use a sunny Saturday to scrape, prime and paint peeling spots on trim or woodwork. You'll protect wood against Summer's heat and moisture--and prevent a more difficult paint job come fall.
6. Clear away any remaining dead foliage and weeds from beds and lawn. New growth will be protected from damage or disease.
7. Begin major Spring landscaping projects. Spring is the time to put in shrubs and trees, but check with your local extension office for specific planting recommendations for your area.

On the inside:

1. Changing seasons, changing clothes. Hold a family wardrobe check as you bring out warm-weather clothing. Sort winter clothing for discards and donations before you store.
2. Hold a garage sale! Declutter house and garage to turn trash into cash. Build your yard sale savvy here.
3. Pick a weekend and enlist the family for Spring cleaning. Many hands make light work! Reward the team with dinner at a pizza parlor.
4. Wash windows inside and out.
5. While at the window area, check drapes and window treatments. Vacuum any dust; send dirtier drapes to the cleaners.
6. Move furniture and vacuum beneath it.
7. Arrange for a spring inspection of cooling systems. Don't wait for the first hot day! Air conditioning firms will give better service when they're not busy.
8. When the weather warms, deactivate heat system humidifiers. Check the system manual for instructions on how to power down for the summer.
9. Drain sediment from hot water heaters.

Here is a checklist from the housekeeping Diva Martha Stewart. She has some good ideas of things to do, that I might overlook.

Conclusion:

With summer only 6 weeks away, and a garden to plant and attend to, I am finding that my to-do list is growing and not shrinking. It is good to make sure that the once a year things get done and I am glad to have a list to start on and even happier that I have already completed some of the items on the list. I have been thinking for a while that it would be nice if spring cleaning, at least the inside part, could be done in the winter, when it is too cold to play outside. Now that the weather is warm and the sun is shining, we really don't want to be trapped inside cleaning the ceilings. Next year I am going to do things a little different.

What should I read next?

2009-05-05T11:46:00.006-06:00

I just finished a book called "Laddie: a true blue story" by Gene Stratton-Porter. It was a cute book about the relationship of a girl and her family especially her older brother. This book also handles topics of education, learning, and love. There is also a crazy neighbor and a big mystery surrounding him. I enjoyed this book, and suggest it as a read aloud book for children, but now what. What should I read next?

Let's face it. I have a book list long enough to last me my whole life and I am always finding more books that I need to read. It is hard for me to set my priorities when it comes to what to read next. This made me wonder is there an ultimate reading list out there somewhere? A must read book list that would help me prioritize?

Here is what I found:

Classics that endure- 167 books, a great place to start when selecting a book

Must read books, the essential man's library - I liked this list, there is a picture of the book along with a description.

Classics List - The person that compiled this list, not only had a book, but a deadline for reading the book. I thought it was a great idea. With so many books to read and so little time a list with a time limit could be useful. This book list will take 15 years to complete.

The Ultimate Reading List - This list has a tons of books and their awards listed. There are also good quotes about reading on the sidebar.

Thomas Jefferson Education 100 Classics and Classic for Youth and Children - I have been working on this list for the past couple years and have loved it as my starting place. I am always looking for good books to read to my children, and this has a bunch.

Reading through history I love this blog, it is an online book club. Even if you can't read the book in the same time frame, there are some great discussions about books and ideas on what to read.

Sometimes the best books can come from a suggestion from a friend. I became a member of Good Reads a while ago so that I could see what my friends were reading and share reviews of the books that I read. Also, on this website you can look up a book and read reviews and comments from people you may not know. It is a great source for finding good reading material.

Conclusion:

Not all books are created equal. Books can be inspiring, uplifting, educational, and make us think, but they can also be trash or a waste of time. Making a good choice in what to read can make all the difference. Since I don't have an unlimited amount of time I want to make sure to spend my reading time on the best books out there. Compiling my list will help me to do this. By the way the next book is The Real George Washington, I finally got it from the library.

Where do green eyes come from?

2009-05-04T06:51:00.004-06:00

I know that brown eyes are dominant and blue eyes are recessive, but I have green eyes, so how did that happen? Two of my children have beautiful brown eyes, and the third is still too young to tell. He currently has blue. At my last doctor's visit with my baby, my doctor said "looks like he's going to have blue eyes." Both of my other children were born with blue eyes, but they changed to brown. I want to know where green eyes come from and what are the chances that my baby's eyes will stay blue.

Here is what I found:

Eye color is not just the choice between brown and blue, even though that is what was taught in biology. It is much more complicated. Eye color is based on more than just a 2 gene system. It is called a polygenetic system. Because eye color is a more complicated process, 2 blue eyed people could even end up with a brown eyed baby. Which seemed to me to be impossible before reading articles on this topic.

Most Caucasian babies are born with blueish eyes, but may change. Eye color is usually set by 9 months old, but can change for up to 3 years.

In my search for answers on this topic I found a eye color predictor. Click here to enter, the mother's and father's eye color and eye color genes and the calculator will predict the eye color of the child or children. This predicted that out of 3 children for me and my husband, all three would have brown eyes. For the next nine months, I will be observing my baby to see if the eye color predictor was right.

I found this chart on this website. The probability of ending up with each eye color is listed.

Eye color facts:

Brown is the most common eye color worldwide.
Green is the most rare.
Blue is the most common eye color in Caucasians.
Less than 3 percent of the worlds population has red hair and of those only about 3 percent have brown eyes. ( I am married to one of these rare specimen)

Conclusion:

Apparently green eyes are caused by a gene mutation and are completely complicated to explain. I am excited to watch to see if my baby will end up with brown, blue or somewhere in between eye color. This is all very interesting to me. Genetics is a complicated process where "normal rules apply, unless they don't".

What is that smell?

2009-04-30T17:10:00.004-06:00

With our experiment this week, we did not have a taste test, but a smell test.

Here is what we did:

I gathered some cups, paper towels, rubber bands and smelly things. After I placed an item in each cup I covered them up and we tried to smell them. The smell was not coming through the paper towel very well, so I had to poke little holes through it.

The kids took turns smelling and making guesses as to what could be inside. We discovered that some smells are very strong and some are not. Some we recognized, but could not remember the right name, and others we did not know at all.

Then, we opened up the cups to see what was really inside. I had used lemon, onion, cinnamon, vinegar, and vanilla.

Conclusion:

The best part of this experiment for me was after the kids opened up the cups and smelled the items again. I could see them remembering what they had smelled before. Apparently the sense of smell is highly attached to our memory. Smells become more meaningful to a person if there is some event attached to the smell. This experiment was fast and easy, but we did learn a little about smells and how things have distinct smells.

Are You Inspired?

2009-04-28T11:21:00.001-06:00

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dream yourself to be." -Pantanjali

This weekend as I sat around, sick and unable or not wanting to do much, I was reminded of a truly inspired duo. I watched the Iron man competition and could not help but cry as I watched Dick and Rick Hoyt. If you have never heard of them you have to read on. If you have seen them before it is always great to be reminded of what power comes from doing something for someone else.

Here is what I found:

Dick and his wife Judy were told that their little baby was totally disabled and to put him in an institution. They were determined to give Rick the best life that they could. They put him in public school, helped him find ways to communicate and showed him love. When Rick was 15, he expressed interest in running in a race to help benefit disabled people. Dick said that he would push Rick's wheelchair. After the race, Rick communicated that during the race he did not feel disabled. Dick, the father had to help Rick race again.

Rick is now 46 years old, he is a high school graduate, and also graduated from college. The Hoyt team is closing in on their 1000th athletic event. They have been inducted into the Iron man hall of fame and will continue to compete.

Dick still says that Rick is the true athlete and that he is loaning his arms and legs to his son.

Conclusion:

Dick and Rick live inspirational lives. They are true heroes to any who hear of their story. After seeing what they have accomplished it makes me believe that I can be more. I try to teach my kids that we can do hard things. I hear "but it is too hard" all the time and my response is, "we can do hard things." Through persistence, desire, passion and inspiration we can conquer our trials, overcome our challenges and become more. Whatever we want to do, we can do, so let's go on and do it.

"The experience mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain--he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem--he is challenged by it. Mountains are created to be conquered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved. It is better to master one mountain than a thousand foothills" - William Arthur Ward

How do I survive a Pandemic?

2009-04-27T09:49:00.004-06:00

Because of the declaration of a national emergency regarding the swine, I thought it might be timely to discuss procedures of how to survive a pandemic. I cannot take credit for this information. This information was compiled by a neighbor of mine who is in charge of emergency preparedness for our neighborhood.

Here is what I found:

If an influenza pandemic appears, we could expect the following:

*Given the high level of global traffic, the pandemic virus may spread rapidly, leaving little or no time to prepare.

* Vaccines, antiviral agents and antibiotics to treat secondary infections will be in short supply and will be unequally distributed. It will take several months before any vaccine becomes available.

* Medical facilities will be overwhelmed.

* Widespread illness may result in sudden and potentially significant shortages of personnel to provide essential community services.

* The effect of influenza on individual communities will be relatively prolonged when compared to other natural disasters, as it is expected that outbreaks will reoccur.

HOW TO PREPARE

1. Draw up a Plan. Outline the steps you and your family need to take, both pre-pandemic and during. Identify responsibilities for each family member. Make lists of supplies required. By establishing a plan now, you will avoid becoming a victim of the panic that will grip the general population.
2. Keep Informed. If and when a virus mutates so that it is being spread from human to human, it is likely to start in Southeast Asia. Pay attention to the news. We might only have weeks before the pandemic reaches North America, but with international travel so fast and easy it could be much sooner.
3. Prepare Your Child for Home Schooling. Most flu outbreaks get their start at schools. You can be certain that the schools will be closed. And if they're not, you should give very serious thought to keeping your children at home.
4. Minimize Contact with Others. Most flu virus can be transmitted for two days before a person is showing any symptoms and for a week after symptoms have disappeared. You never know who isn't and who might be infected. If possible stay home. Every time you go into an area where there are people you are at risk.
5. Wash Your Hands Often. Sneeze particles can travel across a room at 600 miles per hour. If the person sneezing has the flu, everything in that room is covered with flu virus. And when you touch anything, the virus is transmitted to your hand. Eventually it will be transmitted to your mouth. Your only protection is to wash your hands, well and often. Each washing should involve vigorous scrubbing with soap for at least 20 seconds.
6. Stock up on Food & Water. Supermarkets only have enough food for about a week or less. It's critical that you stock up on enough food to last you for the duration which could be 3-4 months. 7. Buy Enough Anti-Viral Medication for Every Member of your Family. Currently there are two drugs that can help mitigate the effects of the avian flu virus. One is called oseltamivir, or Tamiflu. It comes in a tablet form. The other is zanamivir, or Relenza, which is inhaled. You will need a prescription for either of these drugs. They should be taken within 2 days of the onset of symptoms and taken twice a day for 5 days. These drugs are in very short supply, especially Tamiflu which is considered the drug of first choice. You should attempt to secure enough for your family as soon as possible, since once a pandemic hits they will be impossible to obtain. Currently you should be able to buy them at your drug store, or you can order them online.
8. Stock up on Face Masks. You will need to wear these when you absolutely have to come into close contact with others. Make sure that your mask has a rating of N100. The more common N95 masks will not give you enough protection.
9. Exercise. According to the American Council on Exercise, research has shown that moderate exercise (such as brisk walking) brings about measurable changes in the immune system, sending white blood cells zipping around the body to find intruders and kill them. But after a few hours, the immune system returns to normal so it’s best to exercise regularly.
10. Spread the Word. Regardless of how much coverage the flu threat is receiving in the media, most people are reluctant to act. Desperate, panic stricken people are arguably even more dangerous than the virus. The more people surrounding you who are prepared for the pandemic, the safer you will be.

Whether or not it will happen this year, and whether or not it will be as catastrophic as many virologists are predicting, one thing is clear: There WILL be a pandemic of unimaginable proportions some time soon. We can either bury our heads in the sand and hope it won't happen, or we can begin taking immediate steps to ensure that in a worst case scenario, we've given ourselves and our loved ones the best possible chance for survival.

How Flu Viruses Spread

A flu pandemic is an outbreak of illness caused by a new flu virus that spreads around the world. Because the virus is new to people, nearly everyone will be at risk of getting it. -The main way that illnesses like colds and flu are spread is from person to person by coughs and sneezes. This can happen when droplets from a cough or sneeze of an infected person move through the air and make contact with the mouth or nose of people nearby. -Droplets from an infected person can also make contact with environmental surfaces (like the tops of tables). The virus can then be spread from those surfaces if a person touches the droplets and then touches his or her own eyes, mouth, or nose before washing his or her hands. -The virus also can be spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes into his or her hands and then touches a surface (like a phone, remote control, or toy) before washing his or her hands. Another person could become sick if he or she touches that surface and then touches his or her own eyes, mouth, or nose before washing. Flu viruses and other germs can live 2 hours or longer on hard environmental surfaces like tables, doorknobs, and desks. Surfaces are likely to be touched much more often than they can be cleaned and disinfected. Thus, it is important to wash your hands often, keep your hands away from your face, and keep such surfaces clean to help prevent the spread of germs.

How to Stop the Spread of Pandemic Flu Virus from Environmental Surfaces

Use good hygiene practices-Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze; put the used tissue in a waste basket and clean your hands. -Cover your mouth and nose with your upper sleeve (not your hands) if you do not have a tissue and need to cough or sneeze. -Clean your hands as soon as possible after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose. -Use soap and water and wash your hands for 15 - 20 seconds; or -Use alcohol-based hand wipes or alcohol-based (60-95% alcohol) gel hand sanitizers; rub these on the hands until the liquid or gel dries.-Clean your hands often when you or others are sick, especially if you touch your mouth, nose, and eyes. -Always clean your hands before eating. -Carry alcohol-based hand wipes or alcohol-based (60-95% alcohol) hand-sanitizing gels with you to clean your hands when you are out in public. -Teach your children to use these hygiene practices because germs are often spread at school.Clean and disinfect hard surfaces and items in homes and schools. Follow label instructions carefully when using disinfectants and cleaners. Pay attention to any hazard warnings and instructions on the labels for using personal protective items (such as household gloves). Do not mix disinfectants and cleaners unless the labels indicate it is safe to do so. Combining certain products (such as chlorine bleach and ammonia cleaners) can be harmful, resulting in serious injury or death. Keep hard surfaces like kitchen counter tops, tabletops, desktops, and bathroom surfaces clean and disinfected. Clean the surface with a commercial product that is both a detergent (cleans) and a disinfectant (kills germs). These products can be used when surfaces are not visibly dirty. Another way to do this is to wash the surface with a general household cleaner (soap or detergent), rinse with water, and follow with a disinfectant. This method should be used for visibly dirty surfaces. Use disinfectants on surfaces that are touched often. Clean the surface as explained above before using disinfectants. If disinfectants are not available, use a chlorine bleach solution made by adding 1 tablespoon of bleach to a quart (4 cups) of water; use a cloth to apply this to surfaces and let stand for 3 – 5 minutes before rinsing with clean water. (For a larger supply of disinfectant, add ¼ cup of bleach to a gallon [16 cups] of water.) Wear gloves to protect your hands when working with strong bleach solutions.Keep surfaces touched by more than one person clean and disinfected. Examples of these surfaces include doorknobs, refrigerator door handles, and microwaves. Clean with a combination detergent and disinfectant product. Or use a cleaner first, rinse the surface thoroughly, and then follow with a disinfectant. Use sanitizer cloths to wipe electronic items that are touched often, such as phones, computers, remote controls, and hand-held games. Use sanitizer cloths to wipe car door handles, the steering wheel, and the gear shift.Use recommended laundry practices. Gently gather soiled clothing, bedding, and linens without creating a lot of motion or fluffing; for example, do not shake sheets when removing them from the bed. Clean your hands after handling soiled laundry items. Use washing machine cycles, detergents, and laundry additives (like softener) as you normally do; follow label instructions for detergents and additives. Dry the cleaned laundry items as you normally do, selecting the dryer temperature for the types of fabrics in the load. Line- or air-drying can be used to dry items when machine drying is not indicated. Clean your hands before removing clean laundry from the washer or dryer, especially if you have coughed or sneezed on your hands.Use recommended waste disposal practices. Toss tissues into waste baskets after they have been used for coughs, sneezes, and blowing your nose. Place waste baskets where they are easy to use. Avoid touching used tissues and other waste when emptying waste baskets. Clean your hands after emptying waste baskets.

Resources for more information

Pandemic Flu
Survive the Flu
Center for Disease Control
Pandemic News
Pandemic Plan
Bird Flu Manual
Bird Flu Family survival

“While the Federal Government will use all resources at its disposal to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic, it cannot do the job alone. This effort requires the full participation of and coordination by all levels of government and all segments of society... perhaps most important, addressing the challenge will require active participation by individual citizens in each community across our Nation."George W. Bush, President, USA

"Pandemics are global in nature, but their impact is local. When the next pandemic strikes, as it surely will, it is likely to touch the lives of every individual, family, and community. Our task is to make sure that when this happens, we will be a Nation prepared."Michael O. Leavitt, SecretaryU.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Conclusion:

Some may think that in this day of modern medicine we are immune from a pandemic, but this is not so. Not only could this happen, it will happen some day. We need to prepare. After reading through this information I have found a number of areas that we as a family can do better at. What if we can't leave our home for a week, a month or even months? Do we have enough food? Do we have face masks? This has made me do a mental inventory of what I have on hand and I will be working towards being more prepared for whatever may come.

What's for dinner?

2009-04-25T09:21:00.002-06:00

Now the question about what is for dinner is an extremely important one. I pretty much ask myself this question every day. I am starting to feel a little more competent with my cooking and have some websites and cookbooks that I use all the time. Because this question is so much a part of my life, I thought that I would share some of my favorite sources.

Here is what I found:

I love America's Test KitchenAmerica's test kitchen. Every recipe that they share has been tested and tried many different ways and the cooks show the best way to prepare the item. The trick to the website is that only the current episode recipes are free. Make sure to copy all the current recipes before the new season starts. They also have cookbooks that you may purchase. I have checked them out from the library.

Cook's Country is the same people that made America's Test Kitchen. I love these recipes as well.

The Food Network is another place where I have found recipes that I love. My favorite chefs are Rachel Ray, Alton Brown and Paula Deen.

Real Simple has a compilation of simple recipes to prepare.

Another website that have used to find simple good recipes is Everyday Food. This show is Martha Stewart's way to connect to people who don't buy double processed dutch chocolate and have fancy dinner parties everyday of the week. At the above link there are only a couple recipes available, but if you go to Martha Stewart's Website website, you can find the recipes from everyday food as well as all of the recipes from her show and magazine.

Since Barbecue season is soon to start, I'll share a great place to find fun, different and good BBQ recipes. Barbecue University has tons of recipes and will even explain how to set up the grill for the best grilling.

There are a couple of general recipe sites that are fun to look through if you are looking for a specific recipe:

All Recipes
recipezaar
Cooks.com

I have a couple very impressive friends that have blogs about food. Here are the links:

Cook Book Junkies
Kitchen to Kitchen

Here is a fun baking blog that a cousin of mine introduced me to:

bakerella

My favorite cook book right now is called "Favorites". It is available through the Make a Wish Foundation of Utah. It is fabulous. I have made almost all of the salads and main dishes and have never been disappointed. Here is the link.

I also love my homemade cookbooks. I have a couple from my neighborhood, and some from my family. There are plenty of online sites that will help to put together a one of kind cookbook for a family, friends or neighbors. One that I heard was a good one is called Taste Book. I have never used this site, nor made a cookbook of my own. It looks like books from this site start at $19.95. I know that there are sites that start lower than that, but this is hardbound with a nice cover.

Conclusion:

I love food and am learning how to be a better cook. Because of the Internet finding new recipes has never been easier. I will continue to try to improve my skills and find fun new meals to try. If you have a favorite cookbook or food website please let me know, I am always looking for new places of interest.

Can you feel the beat?

2009-04-23T10:12:00.006-06:00

Today, for our experiment we wanted to use our sense of hearing.

Here is what we did:

First, I gathered a whole bunch of different kinds of music. Some with slow beats, some fast, some fluid and some staccato. Our music collection included: Charpentier, Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Schubert, Elvis, Josh Groban, Apoctolyptica and others.

Next, we listened to the music and danced to the beat. The first song was fast, the next was slower. We could feel the difference between the two songs. My four year old especially liked the march we played. He marched around the room the whole time. My two year old loved the twirling songs.

During one song, my four year old said it "sounded sad, like we were in prison." He did not feel like dancing to that song. He picked up a book and read instead. On the next song he was dancing again.
Finally we took out our crayons and markers and listened to the music, drawing what the music made us feel.

By my four year old

My drawing

By my 2 year old

Conclusion:

Different songs have different feelings. I could actually feel that music had color, shape and motion as I listened to these songs. Music can affect our mood and change our whole demeanor. My kids really liked to dance to the music and could feel the power and emotion of the different songs.

What is your carbon footprint?

2009-04-21T11:11:00.005-06:00

In celebration of Earth Day, tomorrow, I thought I would find out what our carbon foot print is and find ways that I can reduce it.

Here is what I did:

I found a number of websites that will calculate my carbon footprint. Here is my favorite. I liked this one, because it does not ask for specific and exact numbers. One calculator I found asked for information direct from my electric bill. I do not need to know exactly what my impact is on the earth, but in general was good enough for me. As it turns out I am better than average at 74 when compared with the U.S. (130), but compared to the world in general, we have a long way to go (28).

Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970. That is really not that long ago. Senator Gaylord Nelson announced that Earth Day would be April 22. Over 20 million people participated in this grassroots attempt to bring awareness to our impact on the earth. Because of this first earth day, President Nixon started the Environmental Protection Agency. There were many laws that were passed because of the participation in the first Earth Day. Among these were the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and indangered species act.

Currently there are 175 countries that participate in Earth Day and is the largest secular holiday in the world. In the southern hemisphere Earth day is celebrated in the autumn.

So what can we do to be part of this huge day? We can look into events in our neighborhoods and participate. Plant a tree, pick up litter at a park, go on a hike, or walk to work. Most of all we can calculate our carbon footprint and look for ways to reduce it. Some ways that we can reduce our impact on the environment are:

1. Walk or ride a bike as often as possible, especially on short trips.
2. Replace old inefficient appliances in your home and unplug appliances if not in use.
3. Change light bulbs to efficient environmentally friendly ones.
4. Recycle and use recycled products.
5. Don't put hazardous waste in the garbage can. Look for the places that accept these products and have them handled correctly.
6. Make sure that tires on your vehicle are properly inflated and change the air filter regularly.
7. Plant trees and plant a garden.
8. Turn down your heater and turn the air conditioner up.
9. Buy renewable energy.
10. Support your local farmers market.

Conclusion:

I can give my self a pat on the back for not being as big a contributor of carbon as the average family of my size, but there is always something more that can be done. I encourage everyone to make a conscience effort to make some change in their life to help our earth. I have had the opportunity to travel to more than half of the states in the United States and a couple countries around the world. I have seen beautiful deserts, oceans, lakes, mountains, valleys, rolling hills, streams an landscapes. I have also seen litter on the streets, guck in the air and beautiful places trashed by people who did not care about their impact. We have been truly blessed to live in a beautiful place and we should do our part to take care of it.

How old is my baby?

2009-04-19T22:49:00.002-06:00

My baby was 4 weeks old on Friday and will be 1 month old tomorrow. One month is thought to be pretty much four weeks, but they are really never the same except in February 3 out of 4 years. This made me think, how did our calender come about? Why does February only have 28 days when there are so many months that have 30 and 31 days?

Here is what I found:

There have been a number of calendars throughout the history of the world, some more accurate than others. Our current calendar is called the Gregorian Calendar in which the American colonies adopted in 1752 under Britain's rule. The earliest countries to adopt this calendar were Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Holland, and Poland and that was in 1582. China adopted the Gregorian Calendar in 1949, until then they used a completely different system.

Early calendars were often based on the seasons, or in warmer climates that did not have pronounced seasons the idea of a year was based on the moon. There were also some calendars that were based on the time that had passed since something important happened.

The Egyptian calendar was 12 months 30 days each, making a year only 360 days. Because the solar year is actually longer than this, as time went by the summer was happening in the winter. They had to make an adjustment to bring the seasons back in alignment with the sun.

The best Lunar calendar "was based on a 19-year period, with 7 of these 19 years having 13 months. In all, the period contained 235 months. Still using the lunation value of 291/2 days, this made a total of 6,9321/2 days, while 19 solar years added up to 6,939.7 days, a difference of just one week per period and about five weeks per century."

The Roman Calendar had an extra month Macedonians that was 22 or 23 days every other year. The reason for this was because the other months only had 29 or 31 days, except February that had 28. (Romans believed that even numbers were unlucky) This calender was so off that Julius Caesar ordered reform of the calendar and made 46 B.C. "445 days long by imperial decree, bringing the calendar back in step with the seasons." Julius Caesar also moved the beginning of the year from the spring equinox to the first of January.

Pope Paul III ordered reform once again on the calendar and the new system is the Gregorian, which we use today. "Most of the mathematical and astronomical work was done by Father Christopher Clavius, S.J. The immediate correction, advised by Father Clavius and ordered by Pope Gregory XIII, was that Thursday, Oct. 4, 1582, was to be the last day of the Julian calendar. The next day would be Friday, Oct. 15. For long-range accuracy, a formula suggested by the Vatican librarian Aloysius Giglio was adopted: every fourth year is a leap year unless it is a century year like 1700 or 1800. Century years can be leap years only when they are divisible by 400 (e.g., 1600 and 2000). This rule eliminates three leap years in four centuries, making the calendar sufficiently accurate."

This current calendar is about 26 seconds off of the solar year, which takes 3,323 years to build up to a single day.

Conclusion:

I suppose my son was 4 weeks old on Friday and will be 1 month old tomorrow, but if he were born in February he could turn 4 weeks old and one month old the same day. It was fascinating to read the history of our calendar and find out more about people who discovered how long a solar year was, It is crazy for me to think that people can actually calculate how long a solar year is down to 26 seconds. Our current calendar has some weird things to it, like the 28 day month and the leap year deal that goes on every 4 years, but I suppose it works good enough. There have been other ideas on how to track years and months, but no changes have been adopted since this Gregorian calendar was accepted. Do you have any ideas on how to make the system better? I will think on this myself.

Are We Prepared?

2009-04-17T21:59:00.001-06:00

I recently listened Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe on a book on tape. This is a tale of a sailor who is shipwrecked on an island. In effort to not spoil the book, I won't tell much more than that, but I was simply amazed at the things that he was able to accomplish while there. I rather enjoyed this book and it made me think, "am I prepared to handle the trials in my life?" Hopefully we will all rise to the challenge when difficulties come, but I believe that there are some things we can do in advance of our "shipwrecks" to prepare.

Here is what I found:

There are many different kinds of preparedness: financial, emotional, educational, temporal, physical. Each area of preparedness will help us to conquer the challenges that we will face in our lives.

Financial preparedness includes saving/investing, getting out of debt, preparing for death, and having financial information in order. There are many people who can help us prepare financially. A financial advisor, attorney or accountant can become great assets when dealing with our different money issues.

Emotional preparedness is completely abstract to me and hard to explain. I have found that the best way to emotionally prepare is to turn my thoughts to eternal and spiritual things.

To be able to act correctly in certain situations we simply have to have the knowledge to know what to say or do. This is where our educational preparedness comes in handy. We should always be seeking knowledge of all sorts. Anything that we can learn can be helpful in some situation.

Being able to sustain life through food, shelter, clothing and water is temporal preparedness. Much of the information that I have found on the Internet involves this kind of preparedness.

Physical preparedness is treating our bodies right. This includes exercising and eating healthy. In many natural disasters we need to be able to have physical strength to survive.

Here is some information I found to prepare for huge disasters:

Each region had different disasters that are more likely to happen. I found a website that will show which disasters are most likely to happen on a state by state basis. Click here and about halfway down the page locate your state and you may be surprised by what you find. The huge major disaster waiting to happen in my area is an earthquake. I often overlook the other disasters such as "flooding, tornadoes, drought, landslides, terrorist attacks and now the possibility of a Pandemic Influenza."

My goodness there are tons of great websites to help us to prepare for "the big one". They will teach us how to gather a 72 hour kit, prepare our kids, make our homes safe, how to remain calm and on and on. Here are some websites that I am finding useful in my quest to be prepared:
Fema This website has a list of each individual disaster and what to do to be prepared for that specific event. There is also a section for kids that has games, information and activities to help prepare children for whatever may come.
Are You Ready? This is Fema's book on how to prepare for any disaster. It has a checklist and talks about assembling a disaster supplies kit.
Be Ready Utah This website has specific information about where I live and also has information about setting up a family preparedness plan. There is also information for kids plus added information for seniors.
Putting down Roots in Earthquake Country This pamphlet has great information about earthquake preparedness.

The list is endless as to where to find information about becoming prepared for natural disasters, but this is not the only thing to be prepared for.

I know how to change a tire, but could I really do it if needed? For many of us our first line of defense in an emergency is our cell phone, but what if we are not in a coverage area or not able to dial right away. In some situations we don't have time to loose composure and we have to act fast. Knowledge is key in these situations.

Here is a list of stuff that can be put in a car for an emergency car kit.
Here is a website that has information on how to handle some common medical emergencies.

Conclusion:

The information on how to prepare, what to prepare for and why to prepare is endless. I could spend the rest of my life researching this topic. The point is that we just have to do it. When something happens, whether it is the birth of a baby, a child falling and getting hurt or an earthquake, it is too late to prepare. Now is the time to prepare, then we will be ready to act.

Can we tell what something is without looking at it?

2009-04-16T10:43:00.008-06:00

Since the sense of touch was left out of our 100 Days Celebration, I decided that we need to experience our ability to feel, textures and shapes. So, I asked the question "Can we tell what something is without looking at it?

Here is what we did:

First, we watched this video about the seven blind mice:

We talked about this story and the different guesses as to what the object was that the mice were touching.

Next, I gathered a bunch of stuff with different shapes and textures and asked the kids to do the same. We hid the objects from each other. Then we put things in a box and covered it with a towel, we had to guess what the object was and also describe it. The guesses were usually right, but, every once in a while someone was stumped. I heard words like, rough, soft, and pokey.

The Objects

Conclusion:

We decided that it is great that we have the ability to touch and feel. Even objects that are made out of similar material feel different because of their shapes and different parts of the same object can feel different. I loved that my kids really were excited about gathering their own things for this experiment. They watched me with curiosity to see if I could guess what they had put in the box. I think that we will experiment with more of our senses in the future.

What do I do to solve our book problem?

2009-04-15T20:13:00.003-06:00

We love books. At any given time we have our maximum allotted amount checked out from the library (30 books). We also have a good amount of our own books. I love to have these available and ready access for my kids to use, but we have a problem. Each time one book comes off the shelf, all the books come off the shelf. So I ask the question, how do we solve this problem?

Here is what I did:

I took the problem to the kids. I called a cleaning counsel. After discussing the problem with the children, I asked them to come up with solutions. They decided that it might be best if we find another place to put the library books, (this is something that our cousins have done and it seems to work well). We just happened to have a small shelf that could be used for this. The kids chose the location of the new shelf and helped to put all the books away. After separating out the library books we found that all of our books fit on one shelf.

Conclusion:

Kids can come up with solutions, even if they are 4 and 2. When kids are involved in the solution then they are more willing to participate and do what needs to be done. Today is day 2 with our new plan and the books were not all over the floor. I am love our new plan and am exited to see how my children implement it.

How big is 100?

2009-04-10T22:55:00.006-06:00

Today is the 100th day of the year so we decided to have a hundreds party. We asked the question how big is 100?

Here is what we did:

First we took one penny put it in a container and shook it.

Next, we counted 10 pennies and listened to what 10 sounds like.

Last we counted out 100 pennies.

We found that if we count to 10, 10 times we get to 100. While shaking the container, we heard what 100 sounds like. My son said that 100 sounds "loud". We could definitely hear that 100 was bigger and louder than 10.

After hearing 100 we wanted to taste 100. We counted out 100 nerds (the candy).

We compared our 100 nerds to 1 licorice and 10 jelly beans.

After eating the candy my son said that 100 tastes "good".

Conclusion:

One hundred is a big number, but not so big that we can't count to it. It was exciting to experience a number in so many ways. We used most of our senses to find out how big 100 was. We saw 100, we heard 100 and we tasted 100. We also compared 100 to smaller numbers. On top of all this, we counted to 100 a few times. Now we know the size of 100.

What are some signs of Spring?

2009-04-07T14:57:00.010-06:00

Spring has sprung but how do we know that? Today we went on a treasure hunt for proof. For the past two weeks we have been in a snow then melt pattern and we have not been able to feel spring. Today we not only felt it, but we saw and heard it as well.

Here is what we found:

Flowers growing

Buds and blossoms All sorts of green stuff that was not around in winter

Swings in the trees, these were taken down for winter

We felt the heat of the sun

We heard birds singing, we tried to capture them in a picture but they flew away

Here is video of Elvis Presley singing Spring Fever, since that is what we now have:

Conclusion:

Spring is really here. It was fun to watch my kids look, feel and hear spring. This was a great activity.

Is there a substitute for heavy cream?

2009-04-05T16:49:00.003-06:00

I was making some soup today and the recipe called for heavy cream. I did not have cream so I was just going to use milk, but decided to search to see if there was a better substitute. I found three:

Cream, heavy 1 cup

* 3/4 cup milk plus 1/3 cup butter or margarine (for use in cooking and baking)
* 2/3 cup buttermilk plus 1/3 cup oil
* Evaporated skim milk or equal parts of part-skim milk ricotta cheese and nonfat yogurt beaten until smooth (this mixture cannot be heated because of separation)

This made me think is there a website that has a great list of ingredient substitutes that can be used in a pinch?

Here is what I found:

There are tons of websites that have lists of substitutions for ingredients. They all have basically the same information with little differences here and there. Here are 3 different sites:

e-cookbooks This one would be an easy list to print and post somewhere it your kitchen.

Joy of Baking This one is nice because it has links to information about some ingredients.

recipezaar I like this list because it has some really weird ingredients and those are the ones that most often are not available.

Conclusion:

I know that I have cookbooks that have lists available as well, but if I really needed a list I wouldn't know where to start. I love having the Internet available when I am cooking. Another thing that I am learning is that if I can think of "it", there is a website dedicated to that very idea.

P.S. The soup I made was very yummy. I found the recipe in Mary Engelbreit's "'Tis the Season Holiday Cookbook". Here it is if you want it:

Cauliflower Soup

1 ½ Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 ¾ cups chicken stock or two 14 ½ ounce cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 head cauliflower, cored and separated into small florets
1 potato peeled and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 ½ cups heavy cream or half-and –half
½ -1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Chopped chives, for garnish (optional)

In a large heavy pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook stirring, until it is translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add the stock, cauliflower, potato, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower and potato are very tender, about 18-20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. In batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth. (the soup can be made up to this point up to 2 days ahead, let the soup cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.) Return the soup to the pot and stir in the cream. Heat over medium-low heat until hot (do not boil), then gradually stir in the cheese until melted and smooth. Transfer the soup to a tureen and serve immediately. Liberally garnished with chopped chives, if desired. Serves 8.

Have you read "The 5000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen?

2009-04-03T22:29:00.003-06:00

I just finished "The 5000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen. This was an amazing perspective on how our founding fathers saw and pictured the role of government. Skousen addresses 28 principles that must be followed and understood to have "peace, prosperity and freedom." You can read a list of these principles here. We as a nation have deviated far from the principles that our founding fathers held in high regard. I have been trying to learn more about our founding fathers, the revolutionary war and the Constitution.

Here is what I have done:

I read the Constitution. Did you know that very few Americans have read this document? I need to read it again and again.
I decided that I would start my study of the founding fathers with George Washington. I am waiting on hold for my copy of "The Real George Washington", I am number 6 on the list. In the mean time I have checked out and read some children's books about him. My kids are really wanting to know more about George Washington, mostly because of the fabulous CD Take Your Hat off when the Flag Goes by. This music is one of the best ways to introduce to young children the Constitution, founding fathers, Declaration of Independence, and many other ideas that make our country unique.
I also found some really fun websites to visit, regarding the constitution. Here is a list:
National Center for Constitutional Studies
Constitution Facts
Learn the Constitution
The Charters of Freedom

Conclusion:

As a citizen of the United States I feel it is my duty to understand the role of government in my life and my country as a whole. It will take me a long time to gain this knowledge, but it will be worth it. With this knowledge I will become a better, more informed citizen and voter. "The 5000 Year Leap" has relevent information concerning our Founding Fathers and the constitution and is a wonderful resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about this topic. I highly recommend this book.

Why should we not eat the snow?

2009-04-02T22:25:00.005-06:00

I have a little girl who will, honestly, pick up a black ball of snow and start to eat it. I decided that I needed to show her what is in the snow.

Here is what we did:

I gave both my children a cup to fill with snow and sent them outside. I also filled a cup full of snow. We put all of the snow together in a bigger bowl and watched it melt. This was white snow, only a day old. We then compared the melted snow to tap water. The picture does not do it justice. The snow water was plain old dirty.

Conclusion:

Snow has all sorts of yucky stuff in it. Even if it is white. I am not against sticking out your tongue and catching snowflakes, but after this experiment I have learned that the snow is more gross than I even knew.

Where did April Fools Day come from?

2009-04-01T10:54:00.006-06:00

For most of my life my April Fools jokes have consisted of telling people they had a spider on their shirt. That is a great joke if you want to try it. There were 2 years, while I was in college, that I tried something more. I remember sitting up till all hours of the night trying to think of something that we could do as a trick for our across the hall neighbors. We (my roommates and I) had actually started the planning process almost a week in advance. We took an inventory of our supplies and then we just thought about it. The best we could come up with was to tie their door shut. The joke backfired though, because the one of our roommates, who was not helping with the joke, was the one who was caught in the trap.

The best April Fools joke ever was when we (my roommates and I) planned a surprise birthday party for Mary, of course her birthday is not on April 1. But she is one of the most spontaneous and fun people I have ever met, so it might as well have been. At first, when I started to invite the whole neighborhood to her party, people did not believe me. They already suspected that I was going to fool them, but I must have been pretty convincing since everyone showed up. Mary had no idea this was happening. When she came home from work she walked in the house and was greeted by a huge, welcoming "surprise." To which she responded, "It ain't my birthday." She did receive some gifts and we ate birthday cake. Mary would always sing an April Fools day song. I never learned all the words, but I found it on the Internet. You can listen to the tune here. Here are the words:

YOUR HAIR IS THE COLOR OF TOMATO SOUP,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
THERE'S A GREAT BIG GORILLA IN THE CHICKEN COOP,
APRIL APRIL FOOL!
Refrain: LOOK OUT THE WINDOW,
WHAT D' YA SEE?
PEACHES ON THE CHERRY TREE.
I FOOL YOU, YOU FOOL ME,
THIS IS APRIL FOOL'S DAY!
2nd Verse: THE CAT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CUSTARD PIE,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
THERE'S A DOG IN THE KITCHEN AND HE'S TEN FEET HIGH,
APRIL, APRIL FOOL!
(Refrain)
3rd Verse: THE PIG IN THE PARLOR HAS A BIG CIGAR,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
THERE'S A TWO HEADED ELEPHANT IN DADDY'S CAR,
APRIL, APRIL FOOL!
(Refrain)
4th Verse: THE COW IN THE CLOVER GAVE THE HORSE A KISS,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
YOU CAN'T EVER SING A SILLY SONG LIKE THIS, 'CEPT ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY!
APRIL APRIL FOOL!

My neighbors woke up on one April Fools Day to a for sale sign on their lawn. They had phone calls about this all day. I am not a great fooler, but I have been fooled once or twice in my life. Here is one of my favorite pranks documented on video:

This got me thinking where did April Fools Day come from anyway?

Here is what I found:

No one really knows where the tradition started. There was a "giddy spurt of practical joking...around the coming of spring since the time of the ancient Romans and Celts". There was a day called All Fools Day in Europe in the Middle Ages. There are tales of tricks in Roman mythology. And tales of trickery in France and Scotland. Here is a list of the 100 best April Fools Jokes of all Time. It is some interesting reading if you have the time.

Conclusion:

April Fools Day can be really fun and exciting. Many people are tricked and many are the tricksters. We don't know where this tradition started, but as for me I will probably be the on to let you know that you have a bug on your shirt on this fine holiday. HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!

What was it like to see The Statue of Liberty for the First Time?

2009-03-28T22:29:00.006-06:00

I have been asking this question for several weeks now. It started to stir in me when I watched a Reading Rainbow episode that we checked out from the library. The title was "Watch the Stars Come Out". The main book was about a brother and sister who boarded a boat and sailed to America to meet their parents who were already here. They traveled by themselves, the older of the two being 10. This was based on a true story. After sailing for months, crammed on a boat, watching people die, they cheered for joy as the Statue of Liberty came into view. This symbolized freedom, liberty, opportunity and especially hope. So, I ended up crying by the end of the episode especially as they played the Neil Diamond Song Coming to America:

Far
We've been travelling far
Without a home
But not without a star
Free
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream
On the boats and on the planes
They're coming to America
Never looking back again
They're coming to America
Home, don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're travelling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm
Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm
Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America
Got a dream to take them there
They're coming to America
Got a dream they've come to share
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
Today, today, today, today, today
My country 'tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
Of thee I sing

Pretty much everyone in America has some sort of immigrant in their line. I went to the Ellis Island Website and looked up one of my relatives that came from Avendal Norway. There she was. Arriving at Ellis Island on October 13, 1911 from Liverpool, England at age 16. I visited Ellis Island and Liberty Island the summer of 2002. The exhibit on Ellis Island is amazing. I could start to feel how one might have felt coming to America, most did not speak English. Many spent their last cents for passage, many were children traveling alone. Some were given new names. Some were rejected. My Great-Grandmother was 16 when she reached Ellis Island. "The day I left, my father had to go to work. He couldn't get off. The ship passed the sawmill where he worked on a small island outside our big island. He got off work just long enough to row across the little bay over to our island and crawl up on the mountain side and as the boat went by he sat there waving to me with a big dish towel he had brought. He lived for 30 more years after I left, we never saw each other again." The pull to come to America for great opportunities and liberty was so great that she had the faith to begin her journey. Would I have had that much faith? Could I boarded the boat, not knowing what really lay ahead?

Conclusion:

I have no idea what it was like to see the Statue of Liberty for the First Time as an immigrant. But, when I saw her for the first time, she meant something to me. She symbolizes opportunity to become, faith to take a leap into the unknown and hope that freedom and liberty will prevail. I wonder if these things matter to us anymore. Do we simply take them for granted? Do we even know how lucky we are?

What are the causes and cures for teeth grinding?

2009-03-26T20:57:00.002-06:00

A month or two ago I noticed a small chip on my son's tooth. I had no idea where it came from. After talking with my husband we figured it must be due to the fact that he grinds his teeth at night. I did not know for sure, he is a rambunctious kid and always jumping off of things. I wanted to know if grinding teeth can really cause chipped teeth.

Here is what I did:

I googled teeth grinding and found a fabulous website that explains everything about teeth grinding.

Did you know that the clinical name of teeth griding is bruxism?

Both adults and children can have problems with grinding teeth. This habit can be caused by stress, but most often in children it is caused by the alignment of the teeth. I always thought that my son had rather nice, straight teeth. I guess maybe his bite is off a bit and so he grinds his teeth. I read on this website on the Teeth Grinding in Children page that children usually out grow this habit and is nothing to worry about unless it continues after permanent teeth come in.

Conclusion:

Grinding teeth can cause chipped teeth and even the loss of teeth, but since my son is so young, I guess that his teeth grinding is nothing to worry about. I am going to ask my dentist next time I see him to confirm what I have learned. It is interesting to know that there is a whole website dedicated to the causes, symptoms and cures of teeth grinding.

What was your favorite children's book?

2009-03-25T21:18:00.003-06:00

I was watching Jay Leno last night and he told a joke about old children's books (you know from the 80's) and how they had a high incidence of lead in them. The punch line was "It is a good thing that kids don't read books anymore." Well it made me think about all the books I loved as a child. We really had good books back when I was a kid.

Here are some of my favorites:

Books illustrated by Eloise Wilkin

Baby Dear: My parents gave me this book sometime when there was a new baby in our home. It is about a little girl who takes care of her baby doll while her mom takes care of the new baby. When I had my second baby my sister gave me another copy of this book, I read it to my children all the time. It is such a cute story.

My Goodnight Book. What a sweet book. This book shows all the things that a little girl does before she goes to bed. I love how this book includes saying prayers before going to bed. I recommend this book to anyone who has a baby girl.

Fix it, Please. This story is about a little brother and sister who are always breaking things. A plate, a button, and a doll are among the things that need to be fixed. Mom, Dad and even a doctor are called upon to "fix it, please". I can't even estimate the amount of times that I asked my parents to read this book to me. This book is out of print and hard to find.

Books by Richard Scary

Busy, Busy World. This is a collection of short stories based on characters from different countries. I still own a copy of this book and my four year old is totally in love with this book. I loved the Castle in Denmark story. My brother and I would have my parents read this book to us constantly.

The little pink books. I don't know the name of these books, but they had a bunch of little golden book stories. One of my sisters found them (there were 3 of them) left at the school, we took them to the lost and found and were told if they were still there after a certain amount of time then we could keep them. Well they ended up being ours. I loved these books. There were many bedtime reading sessions that were filled with stories from these books.

Others:

Little Black Sambo (this is not longer in print)
The Pokey Little Puppy
The Monster at the End of this Book
The Bernstein Bears

Conclusion:

I have a number of books that were read to me as a child that I still love and when I think of them they make me happy. How important is it to read to my children? Tonight I spent an hour reading to my kids. This time is precious and I would not give it up for anything.

What is Jaundice?

2009-03-24T15:42:00.003-06:00

None of my newborns have had Jaundice, but I have heard of so many that do, so I wanted to know exactly what it was.

Here is what I did:

I googled Jaundice and read the article from Wikipedia. There are different types of jaundice and they are caused by different things. I really wanted to know what neonatal jaundice was caused by. Here is what Wikipedia said:

Neonatal jaundice is usually harmless: this condition is often seen in infants around the second day after birth, lasting until day 8 in normal births, or to around day 14 in premature births. Serum bilirubin normally drops to a low level without any intervention required: the jaundice is presumably a consequence of metabolic and physiological adjustments after birth. In extreme cases, a brain-damaging condition known as kernicterus can occur; there are concerns that this condition has been rising in recent years due to inadequate detection and treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Neonatal jaundice is a risk factor for hearing loss.

Another article that I read stated that pretty much all infants after birth have elevated bilirubin and normally nothing has to be done about it.

Conclusion:

I have heard of jaundice and bilirubin before and I just accepted these terms but knew nothing about what they were. After reading a couple quick articles I feel like I have a little grasp on what they are and why there could be concern for high levels of bilirubin.

Where do babies come from?

2009-03-22T09:04:00.005-06:00

After reading the title of this post, you may be worried about what I am going to write. I am not going to talk about what we learned in health class in eighth grade. We already know how babies happen, this is about more than that.

Here is what I did:

After nine months of being pregnant, I finally met my little baby. He was born on March 20. I have been able to spend quality time with him while being here in the hospital. I watched his movements. I examined his his face, eyes, and little nose. I cuddled with him and watched him sleep. I observed his tiny hands and feet wiggle. I watched his tummy expand and contract with each breath. What precious moments.

Conclusion:

After my observations I have come to the absolute conclusion that babies come from heaven. I have no scientific evidence, but no doubt in my mind it is true.

P.S. We did come up with a name!

What is the best baby calming/sleep book?

2009-03-21T21:41:00.002-06:00

There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to see him asleep.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

When my first child was born, I might have been a little prideful in my knowledge and abilities as a mother. I had 5 younger siblings that I helped to take care of and I babysat other kids in the neighborhood, how hard could motherhood really be? So, after my second baby was born I had learned a little from the first and checked out a baby sleep book called Baby Wise from the library. I also dabbled in a book called The happiest baby on the block. My second child really slept better, faster and longer than my first ever did. But I wanted to know which baby sleep book is really the best.

Here is what I did:

I read 5 different baby sleep books and here is a review of each of them:

The no-cry sleep solution by Elizabeth Pantley: While reading this book I discovered that this mother of four really loved her children. She talks about children and babies in such a way that there is no room for doubt in this area. Most of her philosophy was have patience-the baby will learn. One way, according to Pantley, to help facilitate learning is to keep a log of the baby's sleep schedule, including night-time and day-time. After logging the sleep patterns for a couple days the mother then should evaluate what changes should be made and make them. She also is an advocate of co-sleeping for a couple months, which is something most of the other books warn against. I liked this book for a couple reasons:

1. She talks about cuddling, loving and holding the baby. Actually cherishing time that is spent with a newborn. I love that.

2. She advised mothers to come up with a plan and follow through. Each baby is different, there is not a solve all solution. I believe that every child has a different personality, likes, dislikes, needs and wants. No other book I read really addressed that there could be different solutions for each child.

I did not like this book for the following reason:

1. I felt like the book left me hanging. It told me what to do, but never really gave the solution.

The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D. This book's focus is to calm the baby and then the child will sleep better. There are many references to how people in older cultures calmed and cared for their babies. Main lessons learned from this book include the 5 "S's", including; swaddling, swinging, shushing, side or stomach sleeping and sucking. It delves into each "S" and tells the best way to use these tools and the best way to take them away when it is time.

I did not like this book for one reason:

1. It seems to say that there is really no reason why a baby should cry for an extended period of time. Even babies with colic should be able to be soothed with these tactics. Now, I have never had a baby with colic but I am sure that there are just some times that babies cannot be soothed. Sometimes they just need to cry. I am going to make sure to implement these tools when my baby is born and I will let you know.

I liked this book for a couple reasons:

1. It seems do-able. The steps are easy to follow and some of them are even taught at the hospital.

2. It suggests taking away the binkie or pacifier or whatever you call it around 5 or 6 months. This is great advice for me since my 2 1/2 year old still wants hers to sleep.

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg with Melinda Blau The main concept in this book is that when a baby cries, the cry means something. Something I should have learned with my first. I would just nurse him if he cried. It is a well organized book and has ideas about everything from dressing your baby to infant massage. There is an acronym that she uses. EASY E for eating, A for activity, S for sleeping and Y for you. It does seem easy enough.

There were a few reasons why I did not like this book:

1. She refers to the mother as mum. I just did not identify with that. She is a British author so she used British words. I had to make myself remember that I was the mum that she was talking about.

2. After explaining the different cries that babies have, she seemed to say that as a mother I should be able to decipher my baby's cries and know what my baby was in need of. I know that there are mothers who are really good at this, but I just was not. As my baby gets older I do better. I think that this could make many mothers frustrated and feel inadequate.

The reason why I liked this book:

1. The author is truly loving in her speech. She is encouraging and gives good examples.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. This book's focus is on the following 4 elements of sleep: duration, naps, consolidation, and schedule. Most of the other books talk to the reader like they are going crazy almost desperate for an answer. This book has a different tone. As the reader I felt like the author was talking to me as a person who just wanted information about what is best for my child. The book is organized by age, which is great, most of the books talk about sleep until children are 1 or 2 years old. This book goes clear to adolescence. There are also specific chapters on special sleep problems and colicky babies.

I liked this book for many reasons:

1. It is a great reference organized in a way that is easy to go back to on second or third babies for a quick reminder of what to do.

2. The advise in the book does not end in toddler hood.

3. The tone of the book was logical and practical. This did not have excessive examples and stories.

On Becoming Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam, M.D. This book made a huge difference for me from baby one to baby two. I always would nurse baby one to sleep. Then he would wake up when I put him down. He would fight sleep even though he was so tired and miserable. With baby two, due to advice from this book I changed how she was put to sleep. She would wake up from her nap, I would feed her and then have her awake time and she would fall asleep on her own. I had many comments from random people on how great she was at calming herself. She also had a binkie and as mentioned before, she still does. Many of these factors including individual personality could have made the difference. I will let you know in a couple months what I think.

There was really nothing that stands out to me that I did not like about this book. As my brother would say "it was my steeze". It spoke to me in an easy, do-able, encouraging, understanding and convincing way.

I liked this book for several reasons:

1. It was very encouraging.

2. The plan was easy to follow and did give solutions and problem solving for people who needed additional help.

Conclusion:

There are many books written about sleeping infants. I have read only 5. Each book has it's own style. Most of the books say exactly the same thing in exactly different ways. Baby Wise is the one that I liked the best. It spoke to me. My second choice would be Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I guess that the most important thing about calming babies is that we don't get overwhelmed. I remember being so sleepy and walking around like a zombie with my first child, never knowing if this part of my life would ever be the same. Now, I will remind all new mothers, "This too shall pass." Each stage of motherhood had it's challenges, but focusing on these will allow missing some of the sweetest moments. If you are feeling overwhelmed, there are plenty of people to talk to as well as books that can give solutions and support.

Please let me know what you think. What book worked or did not work for you.

Do broken cookies taste the same as perfectly unbroken ones?

2009-03-19T08:25:00.003-06:00

Due to the fact that I have tons going on today, I will not be doing an experiment. We did this experiment last year and it was so fun. I highly recommend this to anyone who has ever had a child cry over a broken, pancake, cookie, etc.

When I was little my mom used to make Norwegian pancakes. They are a lot like crepes. Every once in a while while turning the pancake it would break. For some reason many of us would prefer to wait a little longer than take the broken one. How silly. My boy started to have this same problem. If I did not break the graham cracker the right way he would cry. So I had to ask the question and test to see if broken cookies taste different.

Here is what we did:

We gathered supplies - cookies, milk.

We ate 5 different cookies prepared in different ways and compared the taste.

Cookie #1. Just a plain old cookie.
Cookie #2. A broken cookie.
Cookie #3. A cookie that we had placed in the freezer.
Cookie #4. A cookie that we heated for a couple seconds in the microwave.
Cookie #5. A cookie dunked in milk.

Conclusion:

A broken cookie tastes just the same as a plain old cookie. Some of the things that we did changed the taste a little, but for the most part we really liked the cookies, no matter what we did to them. I still refer to this experiment even though we did it a long, long time ago. My children can remember that broken food tastes the same.

How do you do your laundry?

2009-03-16T15:58:00.003-06:00

Not to long ago my cousin sent out a journal entry in which she explained her laundry system. I also attended a household management workshop, in which I learned of another process. They were both completely different, but worked for each of these women. Here are some different ideas that I heard from these women:

1. One sorts by person not by color.
2. One has her kids do pretty much all of the laundry. It is divided into 3 tasks, gathering and sorting, changing the load, and sorting the clean dry laundry into each person's basket.
3. Have one central hamper for bedrooms close together. There does not have to be one in each room.
4. Use a timer to remind you to change the load and keep the system going.
5. Put used but clean clothes back in your drawer or closet, just because it was worn once, does not mean that it needs to be washed.

These are all ideas that I don't really use of had not heard of before, but I thought that I would pass them along. Pretty much any size family can have laundry done in one day as long as someone is home. It is harder if you work outside of the home all day.

I also found my Lazy Organizers system in her blog. Here it is:

My new laundry habit of doing one load of wash a day and hanging it to dry
is going great. Laundry is pretty easy at our house. If you are having
trouble
with laundry then:

1.You probably have too many clothes.
2. You have too many clothes.
3. You need to get rid of some of your
clothes.

At our house

The kids help with laundry. My 10 year old
son does his own and my eight
year old daughter is in charge of putting the
rest of our laundry away.
1. We all have a minimum amount of clothing.
2. We each have our own towel that we reuse a couple times before washing.
3. Each bed has one set of sheets that we wash and put right back on the
beds.
4. Laundry never piles up or we would have nothing to wear, sleep in or
dry off with.

I decided to write down how our laundry system works, or should work, so that I have an official system. Lately, due to laziness, the need to have a nap in the afternoon or some other unknown reason, I have had one or two loads left at the end of the day. I am still working on getting the last load done for this Monday and it is 10:15. I am hoping in the next couple months I can once again finish in one day. Maybe I need to implement the timer to remind me to change the load.

Here is what we do:

1. We do laundry on Monday. I choose Monday because I have something else that I do every other day except Friday, and Monday is the better choice for me.
2. We gather all the laundry from around the house and sort it.
3. My four year old is in charge of turning the washing machine on and adding the soap. (He often goes to his grandmother's house on Mondays so when he is not around I do his job)
4. The trick is to keep the laundry moving. My 2 year turns on the dryer after I switch the load.
5. As the laundry comes out of the dryer I fold the household stuff, my clothes and my husband's clothes, the children's clothes are sorted right into their laundry baskets and they are responsible for putting them away.

Conclusion:

There are many different ways to do laundry. Some prefer to do a little each day other choose one day and get it all done. The most important thing is to pick a process and stick to it so that the laundry does not pile up and become overwhelming.

What is in a name?

2009-03-15T09:36:00.003-06:00

The name of a man is a numbing blow from which he never recovers.
~Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media

We have been given the privilege, so far, of naming 2 children and are in the process of finding a name for number 3. My mom always said that choosing a name for the baby is the hardest part of having one. She would know she had to find 8 names. William Shakespeare said:

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.

But would a rose really smell as sweet if it were a elephant or a tennis shoe? I am not so convinced. These words were those of a Romeo that was in love with his family's sworn enemy and his name no longer meant what it always had.

After the birth of this child, we are responsible for his every welfare. These duties include, feeding, clothing, sheltering, making a safe haven, teaching, disciplining, mentoring, providing a stimulating environment, and the list goes on and on. On top of all of these duties, which alone seem overwhelming and daunting, we are responsible for that which he will be called for the rest of his life. We still do not have a name.

Here is what we have done:

We have researched on line to see what names are out there. We have looked different origins, biblical names, popular names, trendy names, family names, unique names, not popular names and all the names in between. In this process we have found some fun websites:

baby name wizard This website tracks the popularity of names over time, go ahead look up your name.

Name Mapper This page will map where a name is most popular. Example the name Sophie is most common in Utah and pretty popular nation wide, but the name Margaret is not in the top 100 names in any state west of the Mississippi. I looked up my name and it showed up in the top 100 names in New York and New Jersey, that is it. If you need a girl name Esther is a great one.

Social Security Administration Popular Baby Names This website tracks popularity of names per year and also give the current top names. You can also look up how popular your name is today.

After searching over the 4000 websites full of 20,000 names each my husband made his list and I made mine. There were a few duplicate names, but not many. So we continued on our search.

I found an article that stated "there is no definitive evidence that a name affects an individual child's popularity, mental health or achievement level. ''There are people who want to sell the idea that your name is your destiny, names aren't your destiny any more than your shoes are.'' She pauses, then adds, ''Well, O.K., maybe your shoes are your destiny.''

I also found a website that helps you to "understand the powerful force your name exerts in your entire life."

I heard from someone, who I don't remember, that there are even companies that will gladly help to find you the perfect name for your baby for a small fee.

Conclusion:

What is in a name? It could be everything or nothing but as for now we are still in search of the perfect name. I have confidence that we can come to a conclusion. If not we can always name him "boy" which is of English origin, meaning boy. It is very unique, not making it into the top 1000 names in for the past 9 years. Wish us luck for our little one could arrive any day.

Are we going to organize today?

2009-03-14T12:33:00.005-06:00

Yesterday as we were driving, my four year old asked "Mom, are we even going to organize today?" This made me laugh, maybe because for the first time in 3 pregnancies I feel like I am nesting. I have really felt a drive to become organized. With the help of my cheer leading organizer, my niece, and my 2 organizing gurus (Or Not to Keep, Lazy Organizer) I have started on a journey of organization that I will never return. Because I don't want my kids unorganizing in another room while I am creating harmony in another, I have brought them along for the journey. I assign tasks that they can accomplish or let them choose what part they want to play in the straightening up. Do you know what I found out? They enjoy being part of this cause.

Here is what we have done so far:

Cleaned out the linen closet
Organized the kids bedroom closet
Established order in the silverware drawer
Straightened up the pantry cupboard
Cleaned off counter tops and evaluated what really needs to be there
Sorted children's books (gave away books that we do not like, threw away or fixed books that were broken)
Cleaned out 2 cupboards in the bathroom
Bought shelves for our storage downstairs and started on the long process of having that organized
Went through the children's clothes and put away all clothes that were too small
Brought out baby clothes and found a place to put them
Moved the plastic children's plates from a high shelf down to a lower shelf that they can reach
Found some unused space in my kitchen for items that are used less often

Conclusion:

Organization is a way of life. As someone who has been thought of as a lost cause, I am assuring you that anyone can do it, but you have to choose it to become it. Kids can help and be part of the organization, they don't have to be out of the house or distracted for projects to be done. My house is still a mess, but I can go to certain places in my home and feel at complete peace with what is there and how it is situated. I am still learning new tricks and processes that will help me to stay organized and I will continue on my journey and share some of the things that I learn along the way.

What happens when we mix stuff with water?

2009-03-12T19:22:00.008-06:00

We like to mix things, so that is what we did for our experiment this week.

Here is how we did it:

We gathered items:

clear containers

spoons

water

sugar

salt

corn starch

pepper

soap

oil

Then we mixed:

Sugar and water - the sugar disappeared

Salt and water - the salt disappeared

Although the same thing happened for both of these items, the final mixture was not the same. We know because we tasted them.

Corn Starch and water - if you have never tried this, you should. This mixture makes something

that behaves like a solid when you are constantly molding it, but it drips like water when it is not being molded. See this way cool You Tube video for a fun experiment to do outside in the summer.

Pepper and water - The two mixed but stayed the same. We could always see the pepper separate from the water.

Soap and water - When mixed really fast this made bubbles.

Oil and water - The oil and water did not mix. There was a definite line between the two.

The best part of this experiment is where my kids took it. After we had mixed all of the items. My 4 year old son added some soap to the oil and water and we watched the mixture mix together. The soap made it possible for the oil and water to become one mixture.

Conclusion:

Mixing things is fun. Kids will love it, especially when the items are not just randomly picked, but that they have different properties when mixed. I am sure that my kids will ask to do this experiment again.

What should we do with computer games?

2009-03-09T14:36:00.002-06:00

I have a four year old that would play computer all day everyday if I would let him. He loves to type and play math games, I spy, pbskids.org games and other games that we pick up from the library. Although I believe that these games are teaching him some great skills, sometimes enough is enough.

Here is my new computer time plan:

Each child will have an allotted amount of time per week to use the computer. When the time is gone it is gone. I have chosen 2 1/2 hours for him. That is 1/2 hour a day. I handed out his time this morning and he turned in 1/2 hour to play. When his time was up, he stopped playing. Of course he could have used all of his time today, but he did not.

Conclusion:

So far this computer time quest has worked out great. I did not have an upset kid when I said that his time was over. We will have to re-evaluate in the next little while to see if this is too much computer time or too little or if our whole plan needs to change.

What is going on with the National Debt?

2009-03-08T11:45:00.000-06:00

This is not a political blog and never will be, but last week when I was watching the President Obama's address to congress, I was completely bothered by one thing that took place. As President Obama made this statement:

My budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue. It
reflects the stark reality of what we've inherited - a trillion dollar
deficit...

many in attendance cheered. I suppose it was due to the word inherited. But do these highly educated political figures not understand how serious the situation is? How could anyone clap at a trillion dollar deficit?

Here is what I did:

I went to the U.S. Treasury Department website and looked up the budget for the U.S. The total budget for 2009 was $549,971,000,000 with an approximate deficit of three trillion dollars. Which are really big numbers so I converted it to my understanding. These numbers are comparable (if I did my math right) to a family who makes $50,000 per year going into debt $272,000 per year. No family could survive spending like this. The only difference between the Government and the family is that that the family has earned the money the Government has been given stewardship over public funds and a responsiblity to spend them in the best possible way. The money that is being spent by Government belongs to the people. Currently the National Debt exceeds 10,000,000,000,000. Please visit the National Debt Clock below to more fully grasp the greatness of the situation.

Visit the U.S. National Debt Clock

There has been lots of talk lately on decreasing the National Deficit, but that only makes the amount of debt we incure each year go down.

Conclusion:

I am glad that people are talking about reducing the National Deficit, but am surprised at the lack of respect for the real figures. I hope that in the near future there will be talk of real fiscal responsibility with public funds that will someday lead to change.

What happens when we mix colors?

2009-03-05T16:19:00.005-07:00

We wanted to know how to make different colors.

Here is what we did:

We gathered paper bowls, water and food coloring. I allowed each of the kids to use blue, red and yellow food coloring. One bowl for each color. Then, they mixed colors in other bowls to see what happened.

Conclusion:

They now own the knowledge that red and yellow make orange, red and blue make purple, blue and yellow make green and all the colors make black. They also know that mixing some of this and some of that can make varying degrees of brown. I had already done this experiment with my son, but my daughter was too young to participate last time. It was fun to see her mix colors and find out for herself what colors she could make.

What is going on in here?

2009-03-03T15:32:00.004-07:00

This is our silverware drawer. Although most of the silverware was in the right place this space has bothered me for a while.

So here is what we did:

We took all the contents out of the drawer, organized them according to type and pattern. (I had my kids do most of this.) We found that we had 3 different patterns in the same drawer. After choosing my favorite, I put all the others in a zip lock back in our china hutch. There is no need to have that much silverware accessible for everyday use. I kept all of the serving pieces out regardless of pattern. I washed out the drawer and the organizer.

Conclusion:

The silverware drawer is organized and not full of non-essential pieces.

Why do we let fear paralyze us?

2009-03-02T12:36:00.004-07:00

After reading Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink I ask the question why does fear paralyze us or make us do really stupid things. In the story, a rumor starts that the nearby Indians are going to attack. The town lock down system is initiated. All the townspeople congregate at one location ready to defend their homes, families and way of life. Caddies father said, "I believe we are safe, I trust our Indians." Even though problems with neighboring Indian tribes had never existed some of the townspeople want to attack before being attacked. Caddie believes her father and leaves her home to warn her Indian friends. While others cowered a little girl stood up with courage to do the right thing. I won't tell you what happens, just read the book. Why do we let fear or ignorance paralyze us or allow us to act crazy or stupid?

Here is what I believe:

It is easier not to do things that make us afraid. We don't have to step out of our comfort zone. Most of us don't face life threatening situations like Caddie, but we do have opportunites to do the right or wrong thing often. Sometimes we allow fear to overcome us because we do not understand the situation correctly. Maybe our misunderstanding is rooted in ignorance, pride, laziness or need to be accepted. I have been in situations similar to Caddie's, where I should stand up for someone who is being mistreated. I have also been in other situations where I was afraid to do the right thing. Sometimes I have overcome the fear and sometimes I have not.

Conclusion:

We must not allow fear to rule our lives. How? That will have to be another post.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. - Seneca (Spanish -born Roman Statesman philosopher)

Is our home the only one that still has Christmas lights up?

2009-02-28T14:40:00.002-07:00

With February coming to an abrupt end soon, I thought that I would confess that our Christmas lights are still up. No, we do not turn them on anymore. I wanted to know how many people were in our same position.

Here is what I did:

I took a really not scientific survey of people who are signed up for a website called Pinching Your Pennies. I had 12 responses in 2 days. Here is what I found:

12 people responded
7 still had them up
1 did not put up lights because she is trying to be green
1 is still waiting for her husband to put them up
2 had them down about mid-January
1 had hers professionally done so they stay up all year, but are hidden under the eaves of her home

Most of the people who still had lights up were waiting for snow to melt or for the weather to get warmer. One of the responders said that she recently saw a home all a glow with lights and reindeer still turned on.

Here are the questions that I asked:

1. Did you put up your Christmas lights or have them installed professionally?
2. Approximately when did you take them down or are they still up?

Conclusion:

We are not the last people to take our Christmas lights down.

How about you? Leave your comment and tell me about your Christmas lights.

Can we build a catapult with things we have on hand at home?

2009-02-26T21:18:00.006-07:00

I have been wanting to build a catapult or something to launch things into the air ever since I saw the book "Cool Distance Assistants" by James Hopwood at the library. We did not have enough room on our card to check it out that day, but we will find it again and see if there is anything else that we might want to try. We wanted to know if we could build a catapult with things that we already had at home.

Here is what we did:

1. I went online and found that there are tons of different ways to build catapults. Some are huge, mechanical and used for competition. I found some that were a little simpler, but we did not have all of the items to make them. We came up with our own idea based on what we saw on the Internet.

2. We gathered the materials needed for 2 catapults, one for each kid, which included 2 long (5 or 6 inches) pieces of wood, 2 short pieces of wood (1 or 2 inches), 2 plastic spoons, paper to make ammunition, and a glue gun.

3. We glued the small piece of wood to the long one.
4. We glued the spoon to the top of the small piece of wood.
5. While the catapult was drying we tore up some paper and made little "cannon balls" that we could shoot. We also gathered a couple bowls that we could use to practice our aim. Here is what happened:

We found out quickly that our hot glue was not going to be strong enough to hold the catapult together so we reinforced with duct tape. We also found that our catapult was shooting everything strait up into the air and landing right where we shot from. We needed to slant the catapult to aim better. After a while we were learning how to aim and have a sure shot. My son decided that we should pretend the catapults were boats and we started to have a battle. This was his favorite part of the experiment and he played with his "boat" for and hour.

Conclusion:

Catapults are not hard to make and almost any home would have the supplies on hand to put one together.

Have you ever been hungry?

2009-02-25T13:41:00.007-07:00

My question about hunger came up while reading Black Boy by Richard Wright. Mr. Wright was born in the south in 1908. His family was very poor and his description of hunger is very different from what mine has ever been. Here are a couple quotes:

Hunger stole upon me so slowly that at first I was not aware of what hunger really meant. Hunger had always been more or less at my elbow when I played, but now I began to wake up at night to find hunger standing at my bedside, staring at me gauntly. The hunger I had known before this had been no grim, hostile stranger, it had been normal hunger that made me beg constantly for bread, and when I ate a crust or two I was satisfied. But this new hunger baffled me, scared me, made me angry and insistent. Whenever I begged for food now my mother would pour me a cup of tea which would still the clamor in my stomach for a moment or two:but a little later I would feel hunger nudging my ribs, twisting my empty guts until they ached. I would grow dizzy and my vision would dim. I became less active in my play, and for the first time in my life I had to pause and think of what was happening to me.

My mother fell ill and the problem of food became an acute, daily agony. Hunger was with us always.

How can the word hunger be used for something that I feel after missing maybe one meal or even for not eating for one day and also be used to describe the way that Mr. Wright felt for most of his life? The word does not even seem to capture what he felt.

Conclusion:

I have hungered for food before and felt like I need to eat right away, but I have never experienced true hunger.

How do I make my Linen Closet (Cupboard) more Functional and Maintainable?

2009-02-23T13:40:00.010-07:00

You may not believe it but here is a picture of my linen cupboard. It is stuffed full. It wasn't always this bad, even up until a couple weeks ago. Two things happened that made me realize something has to change.

1. We built a fort, this means that we took blankets down and used them and simply squished everything back in the cupboard.

2. I had to move some items out of the drawers below to make room for our new baby's cloths. These items were also stuffed into the cupboard without thinking.

As I opened the cupboard today to pull out some new towels and sheets, I knew this would be my project for today.
Here is what I did:

1. Pulled everything out of the cupboard

2. Folded everything and inventoried was was in there, here is what I found: 3 bedspreads, 5 beach towels, 6 knit baby blankets, 6 crib sheets, 1 crib mattress cover, 5 wash cloths, 4 hand towels, 13 kitchen towels, 1 dust cloth, 12 cleaning cloths, 2 cleaning towels, 8 bath towels, 1 fitted twin sheet, 1 flat twin sheet, 5 flat queen sheets, 3 fitted queen sheets, 1 hanger, and 2 bath rugs.

3. Assessed each item and decided how many, if any needed to be in the cupboard. The first thing to go, was the hanger, next the bath rugs and next the kitchen towels.

4. Ended up with a functional number of items, easy to access, and easy to maintain.

Here is what I learned:

Enough is enough. Since we only have 4 people in our home. We don't need 8 towels in the cupboard. I can store these other places in case of company or other need. We now only have 2 towels in our linen cupboard and 2 on our towel holder. The towels for the kids I have hung in the bathroom on hooks. I will wash and exchange these each week on laundry day. For our bed sheets I only need one extra set to exchange on wash day.

Put things where they are used. Kitchen towels have no reason to be in the linen closet. They should be in the kitchen. Crib sheets are now located in the kids bedroom, easy access for a middle of the night sheet change if needed.

Some things just work. The bedspreads are not used often. I exchange these from time to time. I could find another place to put these and use the shelf for something else but that upper shelf is not extremely usable for me since it is high and I am short. I left these where they were. I also kept all of my cleaning cloths. This might seem a bit excessive, but when I clean, so do my kids. We go through cleaning cloths fast, I want them all.

Just because it is a towel does not mean that it goes with all the towels. I moved all of our beach towels out of the cupboard. We use these when we use these, but when we don't they don't have to be accessible.

Conclusion:

I can have a functional linen closet that is easy to maintain.

Why do we have to wear seat belts?

2009-02-19T16:49:00.006-07:00

Why do we have to where seat belts? I have answered this question many times in the past couple months. My son, 4, wants to sit in the back of the van, that would mean that he is not in his car seat. Besides the obvious answers: because it is the law, and because it keeps us safe, I wanted to show my kids through an experiment why seat belts and car seats are a good idea.

Here is what we did:

1. Made a ramp out of stiff cardboard
2. Gathered cars
3. Gathered figures that would fit on the cars
4. Found something that would block the way of the car coming down the ramp (a piece of wood)

First we had a great time sending the cars down the ramp and crashing them into each other. Next we put the figures on the cars. (The figures were supposed to stay on, but they did not) Then we put a road block, simulating an accident. (The figures were supposed to fall off, but they did not) Although the experiment did not show exactly what I wanted it to, we did learn that accidents can happen at anytime, a short trip around the block or a long vacation and that we did not want to take chances. We can learn more from failure than we can from success. This experiment also reinforced the idea that asking questions, and finding answers is really fun.

Conclusion:

We will continue to use our car seats and seat belts and encourage all those who read this to do the same.

Questions, Questions, Questions

2009-02-17T10:34:00.001-07:00

Every day I am hounded by questions. How does this work? Where does that come from? What is this or that? When can we...? And the infamous: WHY? with a never ending circle of questions to follow. As I grow older I am finding that instead of having more answers, I have more questions. There was a point in my life where I thought I knew not everything, but close to it. Knowing that I know very little has made me yearn for more. More what? I think it is knowledge, experience, and intelligence. This blog will help me find the answers to questions that my children and I have. I will share with you experiments, research and general information. My goals are to gain my own education and inspire my children to love learning.