March recap

What a crazy month. I'm still recovering...hence my post about March halfway through April.

There are a gazillion pictures in this post, so just scroll to the bottom if you wanna know where we're headed after Brandon graduates...yup. The Air Force finally made a decision.

Moving on. We spent a large portion of our homeschooling on Jemma's science fair project. (I don't think I EVER participated in a science fair, let alone as a kindergartner! Lucky bum.) She helped plant and tend a winter garden at my parents' home, so we used that experience as our platform. From there we talked about what seeds need in order to germinate and what plants need to grow and produce "fruit". We planted seeds in a glove (google "garden in a glove" if you wanna do this with your kids. Very cool.) to demonstrate what is needed for germination and also seeds in little cups to show the extra stuff seeds need to continue growing after germination. Putting her tri-fold together was probably the funnest part and Jemma was super proud of the finished product. :)

Here she is with her board and starters in the cups.

The Hickman Science Fair was very cool. TONS of different displays. We could have spent hours there if we'd had the energy to do it all!

Chinchilla. Did you know they can't get wet? Neither did I. They clean themselves by rolling in volcanic ash. Hmm.

Rooster and chicken. The kids dropped to the floor as soon as they spotted what was in the cage. You can't see it in the picture, but Gavin is lying on the floor on his tummy with his hands propped under his chin. Too cute.

Jemma in front of her project. She told me that she wanted to stay there a while in case anyone else wanted to take her picture with it. Funny girl.

There was a brother and sister there who did their project on the development of frogs. They must live out in the country cuz they had a gazillion tadpoles...HUGE tadpoles...and frogs...maybe they were toads...dunno for sure. Anyway, it was AWESOME. They were letting you stick your hand in a bucket to see if you could catch a tadpole, and then after catching it, they helped you identify which stage of development it was currently in. None of my kids wanted to stick their hand in the bucket, so we just watched other people do it. They also had several GINORMOUS frogs that we they were showing the kids.

Look at that guy! He is a MONSTER of a frog.

Tadpole and frog.

Jemma wanted to see the big frog again, so these boys pulled it out. She backed up as soon as it was in sight and then the boys offered to let her hold it. She instantly backed up further and said, "Oh, no no no. I just wanted to see it." Cute little farm boys probably couldn't understand WHY this girl didn't want to get her hands on that slimy frog! I took the bottom right picture while she was telling the boys she didn't want to hold the frog. Cracked me up.

We also had a picnic that night on the school grounds. Too bad it was so darn COLD! We brought a blanket to sit on and ended up covering up with it instead!

Picnic menu: 7 layer bean dip, fruit salad, capri suns and chocolate chip cookies. It was yummy. :) PS. My mom came with us. Thanks Mom for comin' along and helping me keep track of the kiddos. (Especially Gavin.) It was a fun evening.

I had to throw this picture in here...no Jemma doesn't wear glasses. She went to a 3D movie with her Nina, popped out the lenses when she got home and has been wearing them around saying they help her see better.

One day we decided we tired of all the book curriculum and we were just gonna do a bunch of science experiments. This one was called "raining color". You put water in a glass, top with a layer of oil and then drop food coloring on top. The food coloring remains in drop form on the oil, but when you push it through the oil into the water with a toothpick, it instantly bursts and disperses through the water. It was a good way to introduce the idea of water soluble vs. lipid soluble.

I remember doing this experiment in grade school - you fill a cup of water to the "brim", place a piece of paper/3x5 card on top and carefully flip upside-down.

The pressure from the air is pushing harder on the paper than the pressure from the water...and there you go.

We found this one on pinterest.

Vinegar+baking soda= exploding zip lock bags.

My kids loved it!

My sister Sharee found a pattern for a "Celtic Twist" and my mom spent an evening with me laying out the blocks, pressing them for me, etc. so that I would get it done and be able to enjoy them put together as a runner during March. I LOVE YOU MOM! And thanks Sharee for sharing this pattern! It would make a really cool quilt. LOVE mostly white quilts.

We also got to see the Gariety's for a couple days just before St. Patty's, so we made (and devoured) some rainbow cupcakes. Jemma and Carter are not pictured because Jemma couldn't wait long enough for me to get the camera before finishing hers off, and Carter refused to try his...so I ate two. :)

Yum.

I feel a little silly putting a picture of this banner up, but it was my one St. Patty's day decoration, aside from my Celtic table runner. :)

Jemma doin' rainbow math.

And....now that we're through all the pictures I had for March...

We are moving to Warner Robins, GEORGIA. It was ranked 5th on our list, so it came as a bit of shock initially. We are (mostly) over the shock now and busy making plans and researching the area. We requested a family friendly location, and apparently Warner Robins is ranked the #1 city to raise a family in Georgia, so I think we're off to a good start! Plus I love peaches. ;)

Childrens Choir

One of Jemma's (and my) favorite things about Hickman Charter has been the choir class. Brad Thompson taught the class. I got to work with him in performance settings during my childhood-teenage years and he is INCREDIBLE. True to Brad fashion, this was no typical choir class. He taught these kindergartners to read music and use Italian musical terms in a fun, engaging atmosphere. He's punctual and detail oriented, but knows how to be flexible and turn almost any circumstance into a learning opportunity.

March 20th was the day of her last class and Spring performance. Sad. Especially since we will not be here next year to participate. :( Anyway, here are some pictures from that night and even a quick video of Jemma's performance.

Typical Jemma...trying to get a picture of her looking at the camera is almost impossible. She is so easily distracted! Thank goodness for SLRs or I never would have captured the picture on the right. ;)

Jemma and some of her class.

Jemma and her buddy Elise. They were also in a science class together and became good friends. Their personalities were SO similar.

Jemma and I have been thoroughly enjoying the hair ideas on pinterest lately and she requested I do a side fishtail with her hair that night. A little time consuming for one who is not very good at the fishtail, but it turned out pretty cute...I think I need to add less hair at a time next time...it kinda looks like a regular french braid...whatever. It's just hair, right.

It was fun to watch Jemma's class each week, so I'm glad we got this on video so we can remember how cute it was in the future.

Enjoy!

Dissection

Do you wanna know what that is in the picture?...that reminds me of a movie line..."Do you know what that is highness? That is the sound of the shrieking eels." (name the movie). Anyway, we had a night theme goin' on for home school and had been talking about owls. Come to find out, Hickman Charter had owl pellets available (sanitized, I might add) so I thought that might be really cool for the kids to see. For those of you who are unaware, an owl pellet is a regurgiated mass of undigested parts of whatever the owl ate. Yes, I have to admit, it was kinda gross...fur and bones all over my kitchen table left me seriously sanitizing when we were through. But, it was also very interesting...and possibly even fun! Anyway...here's what it looked like when we started:

And here's the best we could do at separating things out. I should have put a ruler with this picture so you could tell how teeny all these bones were. It's a miracle we managed to get this much out without snapping them all into even smaller fragments!
They gave us a diagram with the pellets so we could figure out what kind of animal skeleton we were looking at...turns out ours was a mouse. Surprise surprise. The other things on the diagram were: bird, mole and rat. I was really hoping for a bird or mole...just something less ordinary.
Jemma diggin' fur out of the skull.

There it is all cleaned up!

And, another shot.

We had to soak some of the bones in water for a while so the fur and what not could be scraped off/out easier...here's Carter keeping an eye on things.

And, after the dissection was all over (and CLEANED up) we painted owl masks.

Gavin had gotten up from his nap at this point and was permitted to join in the fun. NO, I did not let him participate in the dissection. Can you imagine the mess he would have made!?!?!

Side note: I really need to make these kids some art smocks...I have a pattern and gobs of fabric. Now all I need is time. ;)

Airplane Museum

During Brandon's last break ( yes, that was 6 weeks ago...) we went to an old air force base to see what is now an airplane museum. It was impressive. TONS and TONS of aircraft. And better yet, they're old aircraft with tons of history behind them.

It was RAINING (that's in caps because it wasn't just a little drizzle...it was really raining, and all the planes were outside...and we're dorks and didn't bring umbrellas...), but the kids were good sports so we walked around in the rain for almost an hour checkin' things out.

Cool helicopter. These look like they would be scary to fly...not a whole lot in front of you.
Takin' a break in a gazebo to escape the rain. Carter looks ticked...it's been so long now that I don't remember why...it's possible he didn't want to sit on that railing.

I thought this 750lb. bomb was pretty impressive...

...until we came to this plane and saw...

...this explanation...

...about this big ol' bomb. 42,500 lbs. makes 750 lbs. sound like nuttin'. Kinda scary stuff if you ask me...and this baby is from the Cold War. Makes me a bit nervous about what kind of bombs they've got now.

There was lots of space to run around out there. So, the kids did...

...and Gavin tripped and face planted right in a pile of dirt. Awesome.

All in all, we had a great time ckeckin' out all the planes, and don't worry; we got the dirt washed out of Gavin's mouth. ;)

Mischief Maker

Dear Gavin,
You're taking your afternoon nap right now. The house is resting too. When you're awake, nothing is safe. So, (internal sigh of relief), for the next hour and a half, there will be peace. :) Here's a little peek into some of the stuff you do EVERY DAY, ALL DAY LONG.

Play in the Vaseline.

Fling margarine all over the kitchen...

and smear it all over the inside of the fridge. (I guess I can be grateful you did this with the cheap stuff and not with real butter...one whole pound of margarine smeared all over the kitchen, fridge and you = 45 minutes of de-greasing. You owe me big.)

Innocent and adorable toddler play - you LOVE to be outside,

and in the bath, but you leave the bathroom floor completely covered in H2O by the time you're done. Splash-oholic.

You LOVE a good bowl of ice cream,

and putting on your daddy's deodorant.

Coloring is no fun if you have to do it on paper, so you color on the floor and walls and yourself.

If I can't find you, you're sure to be in garage or in the kitchen...and if it's the latter, I'm sure to find a disaster.

But when you do make a mess, you're happy to help clean it up,

and I guess that helps me keep my cupboards a little more organized.

You wear me out little man, but I can't imagine our family without you.

ps. You recently learned to get out of your crib, so, at 21 months you are sleeping (like a champ) in your toddler bed. Youngest of all our children yet. Jemma and Carter were pretty proud of you, and I'm pretty sure you thought you were big stuff too...here's a little video of you in action, mischief maker.

What will they say next?

Before I allowed myself to check anyone else's blog, I vowed I would update my own today. :)

So, it's been three+ months since my last documentation of the things my kiddos say, so here goes:

Carter: "I wish you could say 'you can have lots of treats' all the time!"

Me: "Carter, I'm tired of your whining."

Carter: "Well, I'm tired of your sewing."

8:30am

Carter: "Can we watch Rio?"

Me: "Later."

Carter: "Daddy said 'later' too."

...a few seconds pass...

Carter: "Ya know, this is later."

Jemma to Carter: "Squeeze your own nose!"

Carter: "Gavin, push yourself!"

(My kids have issues with keeping their hands to themselves.)

Jemma to Carter: "You know why I have to do my exercises every single day? So when a bad guy comes to get me, I can punch him really hard."

Carter: "I don't like mermaids cuz they have booboos."

Jemma: "Mermaids don't have boobies Carter."

Carter, pointing to the Little Mermaid's chest: "What are those?"

Jemma: "Those are shells."

Me: "Oh Gavin, I think you have a poopy diaper."

Carter: "That's not Gavin. That's my bweath."

Me: "That's so nice of you to play with your brothers."

Jemma: "I know. I just love hangin' with my boys."

Carter: "Can I marry my friend?"

Me: "If you're in love with them and they love you too."

Carter: "Are you in love with Daddy?"

Me: "Yes I am."

Carter: "Oh, I'm in love too."

Me: "Really. With who?"

Carter: "With Reagan."

Me: "Oh, how do you know?"

Carter: "I don't know. I just am."

I am NOT a big fan of cereal, especially presweetened stuff...it's like sugar filled air with NO nutritional value and I'm hungry 30 minutes after I eat it...what a way to start the day. (And yet, 3 days out of 7, what's for breakfast in the Reed home...) Anyway, the other day, Jemma talked me into buying Lucky Charms. This is what Carter said (very excitedly) when I finally pulled them outta the cupboard: "Jemma!! Mommy bought Yucky Charms!"

Somehow the kids and I ended up talking about what a "crush" is...I defined it as when one person thinks another person is cute and likes them, to which Carter replied,

"Probly I'm a crush, cuz I'm cute."

I am learning to truly love homeschool - but there are certainly still days when Jemma gives me a run for my money. There was one particular morning when she wanted to play before reading to me and when I didn't budge she proceeded to throw a fit. When Carter interrupted her ranting, Jemma turned to him and said (in a high pitched wine), "We're trying to have a concentration here. We're kinda mad with each other."

I was talking with Carter about controlling his anger - alternatives to yelling and screaming. Ater explaining a few options Carter said, "Or I can punch them and they can fall down". I guess I'll have to keep working on that one.

Someone knocked on the door on a Saturday morning and I was unshowered, bra-less and still in jammies - I didn't recognize the person so I told the kids it was a stranger and that we needed to be quiet and not answer the door. Jemma's response was, "It' a stranger?! He's coming to take the kids!?!" and Carter's was, "Don't worry Mom, I'll get my gun."

Carter, as previously displayed, has become quite interested in marriage. First it was Reagan, and now it is Aunt Emma. Apparently he was eyeing her the other day while she was typing on her computer and when she asked him what he was doing, he told her, "I was just thinking if I could marry you." THEN, today Emma watched him and Gavin while I ran Jemma to a science class and when Emma left he was really sad.

Me: "Do you like your Aunt Emma?"

Carter: heavy sigh "Yes. I love her."

Me: "Ya, she's pretty fun."

Carter: "Who's she married to?"

Me: "She's not married yet."

Carter: "Probly she'll marry me."

Me: "She can't marry you. You're part of her family, and besides, she's too old for you."

Carter: "She's not old! Her hair is brown!"