Science Fair 2012

Whew.... today was "science fair" day today at our house. I am happy to report that we all survived. However, we did blow up a soccer ball in the oven! Aaron's question had something to do with whether or not the temperature of a ball would affect how high it bounces. SOOOOO.... momma had a basketball and a soccer ball in her freezer AND in her oven at different points today. Interestingly, per our family arrangements for science fair, DAD and Aaron were the ones in charge of the experimenting phase..... MOM and Aaron were working on the poster phase of project.

When they turned on the oven to put the basketball and soccer ball in the oven, Scott scoffed at me when I insisted that my good kitchen pan be covered in foil in case the ball melted because I didn't want to ruin my pan. The original plan was to put them in at 170 (the lowest setting on our oven) for 30 minutes.... I kept saying, "Are you sure?! I don't think this is a good idea...." but I was informed that I shouldn't be micro-managing this part of the project (since Aaron doesn't know what it means to micro-manage, I will let you guess who said this to me). :) At around the 8 minute mark, I opened the oven and said, "It smells like rubber. I really don't know about this...." 15 minutes into this part of the experiment, I heard a loud pop, and yes, the soccer ball had exploded out one of the seams.

I'm VERY thankful that my oven is fine even though the soccer ball is not. Also, I'm VERY thankful to be FINISHED with science fair for this year. My neighbor said something to me about one day doing four science fair projects at the same time. I nearly drove myself to an institution just thinking of that! Really though, Aaron is SOOOOO proud of the end result; it was worth it (I think.......)

I learned a few things and was reminded of a few things today, too....

* I am convinced that a "mom" did NOT come up with the idea of a science fair.
* I don't really like science that much.
* I am kind of a maniac about my scrapbooking supplies, as evidenced by my reaction every time I saw the boys digging through and using my scrapbooking tools today. Oops.... THIS was a new experience today.
* I'm glad that none of my kids really love soccer after the events of the day. Sorry to the soccer ball though.
* "Science fair" with elementary students is hard. It's hard to know how much to let them just do and how much to step in and help. It's.just.hard. Parts of the poster were ALL Aaron.... parts involved more of Aaron AND mom. I think that is probably okay.
* Aaron gets extra credit in science for completing a science fair project which I think is awesome.... but do mom and dad get extra credit, too?!!! ;)

And in case you were just dying to know.... YES, Aaron confirmed his hypothesis, and the higher the temperature, the higher the ball will bounce!

*** Also, to my Mom and Dad, thanks for enduring those crazy middle school science fair projects. When I think back to all the mold and yuckiness that we had growing in those Ball jars all over the kitchen counter, it's kind of crazy. But you better believe that I KNOW the answer to the question, "WHY BLANCH VEGETABLES?" Sorry, I can't remember what Topology is now though.... but at least Wikipedia can tell me! Also, thanks for the stencils today; I smiled when I saw the "Harvey's" pricetag on one of them! :)

2 1/2

Our little Ellie is stretching us... challenging us... pushing us...

The other day, Scott paused as he was looking at Ellie and said, "You know, we always said that Aaron was strong-willed. Yeah, I really don't think he was...." (I think that we are actually just losing brain cells and have trouble remembering.... I know that I am!)

Two hours later, after much reflection, Aaron asked us what that meant. Oops. It was cool though to explain to him that being strong-willed CAN be a great thing as a person grows up and that a lot of very strong-willed children do really awesome things in their lives (ahem... just look at your mother, Aaron! ha) ;) BUT.... it CAN BE really, really hard when a child is 2... or 3... or 7... or... or... or...

I'm glad this conversation happened. It was a reminder to me that we will live through this stage with Ellie. I believe that God will answer our prayers and use her passion for good. That she will be a world-changer one day.

I am also thankful that she has SOOOO many sweet moments, too. Seriously, as hard as the hard moments are.... the sweet moments are SO much sweeter....

Rocking her every night.... singing "You are my sunshine" and "Jesus loves me"

Her sweet little hands, grabbing both sides of my face, pulling me in to plant a big ol' kiss on me

The way she loves on her baby dolls.... and loves on the real baby of our house, too

Every time that the boys are wrestling with their daddy, and she can't wait to dive on top of all of them to join in the fun

How she spins in circles while she dances and gets "dizzy"

The pure joy that she finds in a simple game of patty cake or itsy-bitsy spider

The way she runs into the kitchen when I am cooking, begs to be lifted up, to always look into the pot to see what I'm cooking.

I really, really love this girl.... yep, even in the hard moments.

And her daddy is already praying for Ellie and her momma and the teenage years, so I think we'll be okay, right?!! ;)

Our little darling...

... NINE month old!

Wow, this little girl is such a blessing! We are so thankful that Audrey is a part of our family!

The tale of two teeth....

So, I knew that this one had some new teeth....
But because this one brushes his own teeth most of the time, I hadn't noticed his newbies until a few weeks ago. Yes, I gasped. I didn't know this could happen. After showing a picture to our wonderful dentist, he assured us that this actually does happen often (and that his son's teeth look exactly like this right now). He said that Isaac's tongue will gradually push the new teeth forward and that his front, baby teeth WILL get wiggly at some point. He also continually reminds us to keep saving for braces and expanders for this itty bitty mouth.

Hmm. I'm always learning something new as a momma!

Before I became a mom....

I had no idea that there would be a morning in February of 2012 when I would witness my 2 year old sitting in the middle of the dining room table, licking salt off the top of the salt shaker. I also had no idea that it wouldn't really phase me.

I didn't understand that "princess sprinkles" could bring more joy to that same 2 year old than I could even imagine.

I thought that furniture was just for sitting. I had no idea that it could be the perfect source for creating new imaginative thoughts and gross motor play. Also, before you leave yucky anonymous comments about boundaries or lack of them.... no, we do not pick THAT battle. And yes, that is why we bought our furniture on Craig's List. We will have pretty and untouched furniture someday. Someday hasn't come yet, and I am SO thankful.

I thought that the drive home from church with my children would include glorious conversations about all that God was teaching them and about how much they had learned that morning. Instead, our conversation this week included Isaac ADAMANTLY and RANDOMLY declaring, " I AM SO GLAD THAT I WILL NOT EVER HAVE A ZIPPER!!!" (back story.... the kids have always called my c-section scar a zipper.... vertical incision + staples = looks like a zipper). He also told me that he was thankful that one day his wife will be the one with a zipper instead (um... not if she is lucky, buddy! But we didn't go into THAT conversation on the way home from church....)

I had no idea that there is nothing cuter than a 2 year old all bundled up to play in the snow for the first time of the winter.

I didn't know that there would be countless numbers of crafts in my home (did I mention that I'm not very crafty?!)

I had no idea that I would laugh so much.

I had no idea that I would cry so much.

I had no idea that I would love so much.