Science Saturday

Yesterday the local college hosted a Science Saturday at the planetarium which was free for all the local people. They do this once a month and we haven't made it until yesterday when we finally decided to go. They had all kinds of exhibits and classes to see. The kids enjoyed it for the most part. We got to see and touch a 15 foot python which by the looks of its huge belly had just been fed. I only got a picture of the tail because there were so many people there. We also got to make pictures using the mediums of shaving cream and food coloring, learn and play with lasers and test our aim with them, learn about how microbes help make the food we eat and then have some taste tests of rootbeer, crackers, cheese, and salami. We tried to watch a few of the shows in the planetarium, but we ran out of time. Sarah wasn't too cooperative because this happened to take place right during naptime and she was not happy, but we still had fun despite her crying and tantrums. We also got to look around at the museum and see some dinosaur bones, different minerals and rocks, and different skeletons of animals. It brought out the nerdiness of Aaron and me, but we enjoyed and hope our kids really like the science part of things as much as we did and still do. An added bonus is we got to sign off a few of Matthew's scout requirements along the way--which is always nice.

The Failed Experiment

Yesterday morning we only had 5 minutes before we (Josh, Daniel, Sarah and the neighbor kid) HAD to leave for school to make sure the kids were on time. I was trying to get Sarah dressed and her hair done and wasn't paying too much attention to what Daniel and Josh were doing. Josh decided he wanted to try an experiment. He wanted to see what the Nesquik powder container (that has a clear lid that doesn't fit very well) looked like upside down. Now that's a good thought in theory, but I am still waiting to see what it looks like too because when he turned it upside down to look the lid came off pouring powder all over ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Now this container of Nesquik had just been opened so it was almost completely full--meaning there was more powder to get spread all over the kitchen. I had to get Daniel out of the way since the Nesquik is loaded with milk products and frantically tried to clean it up while Josh had to go and find new clothes to wear since his were covered with pink powder all over. Did I mention he did this only 5 minutes we were supposed to LEAVE for school? The kids were still late for school, but it got cleaned up and Daniel didn't go into anaphylactic shock--so two pluses in my book. Now I will be keeping a closer look on Josh's "experiments" from now on. Here's a picture of the next fresh container of Nesquik with the clear lid that I had to open since our last one...well, is now empty. I am praying Josh learned his lesson and doesn't try it again.

We Took the Plunge

We finally did it. We bought the new "pre-owned" car. Now everyone can fit comfortably. The only downside is that it has doors that swing wide open unlike the van doors that slid open. We have gotten some nice door dings so far on Aaron's car from the kids bashing the doors open. I guess it will see a lot more wear and tear as the years go on. We plan on having this for a very LONG time. It has also required some serious maneuvering skills since it doesn't fit in the garage very easily along side Aaron's car. This is the view from our family room door into the garage: As you can see it is a pretty tight fit. It also is pretty hard to park in a parking lot. I will be looking for the pull through spots from now on I guess. When we were looking at the suburbans the salesmen kept referring to it as the big rig or the people hauler. Great. Oh well I guess if you need it, you need it right?!?

In other things I must say honesty is not always the best policy. Yesterday right after dinner I was sitting back in my chair resting my arms on my baby belly. That's when Josh exclaimed, "WOW, Mom! Your baby has sure grown a lot! (aka Wow, Mom, you're FAT!)" Aaron trying to help my self esteem whispered to Josh something like that's not very nice. Also lately, we have been really stressing the importance of being honest since we have had a few problems with that lately--like no one fesses up to the huge messes or the punching of the brothers, etc. After Aaron told Josh that what he said wasn't very nice he then told Josh to tell me how skinny and pretty I was. Josh just looked at Aaron like, "Are you kidding? Is this a trick question?" I guess that gave me my answer as to what I really look like. Oh sigh--I can't wait until I can start losing the weight instead of gaining it!! Kids can be too honest at the times when you need them to not be so brutally honest.

Bullet Proof Head

This morning as everyone was getting ready for school and the day I decided to let Josh take things a step further. This year we have been encouraging more independence so Josh has gotten into the routine of picking out his own clothes, socks and finding his own shoes. I thought I would see how much more he could do on his own so while I was waiting for Matthew's bus to come I sent Josh to comb his own hair. Josh has watched me comb his hair almost every day so I thought he should be able to do it. After Matthew's bus came and went I noticed Josh was still in the bathroom so I decided to check things out to see what was taking so long. It is never a good sign when they take THAT long in the bathroom. I walked in to find him muttering about how bad his hair looked. When I looked closer I saw he had drips of something running down all over his face and neck. On even closer inspection he hadn't even combed his hair he had only almost emptied a whole can of aerosol hairspray on his head. His hair was completely wet from the super hold hairspray with the excess running down his face and neck so I had to work fast after I finally got control over my laughter. Luckily I was able to comb it before the super hold hairspray set. He has had helmet head ever since it finally dried. He will probably not have to comb his hair again for the next month with so much hairspray on his hair. It is practically bullet proof. These pictures were taken tonight and there still isn't a hair out of place from this morning.

Adventures in Car Shopping

We have finally come to the sad realization that our almost 7 person family is not going to fit into our minivan when the baby comes--meaning we need to get a bigger car to fit everyone in including all five kids' carseats. I am sad about it because I was really enjoying not having a car payment...but I am trying not to think about that part of it. Since Sarah has been feeling better, we spent today out looking at cars. To see how everyone was going to fit inside the new car we brought along all four kids--yea, not so much fun. I must say they were better behaved then I expected, though. At one place we got this poor salesman who was a very young single guy with no children. Getting in the car, Matthew, within milliseconds discovered how to fold the middle seat in half while collapsing it forward with the touch of a button--unfortunately, Daniel was trying to climb in his car seat on the middle seat at that particular time so he got smashed by the seat with his car seat on top of him. That started Daniel into a fit of hysterical screaming which is normal for him at any given time, but not normal for the average young, single guy to hear. When I heard the screaming I went over and got things straightened out and settled. Then the poor salesman had to sit in the back seat with the kids so Aaron and I could sit in the front to test drive. Daniel was really excited to have a new buddy to talk to and turned into a Chatty Cathy telling him all kinds of things. Where's that mute button in kids when you need one? Daniel struck up the first conversation with, "Hey, my sister Sarah had a huge booger on her cheek, but I got it off for her." The guy just nodded and smiled and mumbled something like, "Um, yeah, ok." Then during the test drive the kids were getting loud and rather rowdy. Aaron asked the salesmen the rhetoric question, "And you wonder why we are having another one." The guy answered a resounding YES! before he thought about it. I just wanted to chime in--yea, us too. Oh the adventures in car shopping and parenting.

Whoa, What a Day!!

All I can say is Whoa, what a day about yesterday. It started out early in the morning when Aaron went out to leave for work and his car wouldn't start--that's never a good thing. Luckily, we are a three vehicle family so he ended up taking the truck to work instead while I still had the van. Later on during breakfast Sarah was crawling up on the table, but had only made it up on the chair when she tipped the whole chair over. I made sure she was ok and that's when I had realized she had broken yet another chair--grrr. This is broken chair #3 for her and I have only had the dining set for about 4 months. I guess you can definitely say it my dining set has been "broken" in, right?!? (Yes, the pun was intended.) You can still sit on the chairs, but the spindles on the back of the chairs are broken and they can't be fixed. I am in the process of ordering a dining bench to save the rest of my chairs from the Sarahmeister, but it hasn't come in yet. I am keeping a nervous eye on the rest of my chairs, but I can only keep a chair vigil for only so long :). The rest of the day, other than dealing with a sick baby, was good up until the boys came home from school. Now we have been working at adjusting Matthew's medication so he has had an extra rough time the last week and a half at school and at home, and, unfortunately, yesterday was no different. Let me just say his teacher this year hasn't been the easiest to work with either, but that's the way it goes. Anyway, his bad day was partly my fault because I sent Matthew to school thinking one thing would happen and something else happened instead. If you know Matthew he doesn't deal with change very well and it showed. Since he had a hard time with the change in plans at school, his teacher emailed me at the end of the day explaining to me about what had happened that day and what a hard time he and his teacher had had. Again it's never great to get an email like that. However, I must add that we have been trying to manage his medication and last week's medication trial didn't go so well. We ended up changing him to a different medication instead on Monday and we have seen a wonderful improvement in the few days he has taken it--so far so good anyway. (I am so thankful for a doctor that is willing to work with us and him so well!!) Hopefully, his teacher will start seeing the improvements in him soon. Anyway, I was mulling over Matthew's bad day and the teacher's email when I got a phone call. At the moment I answered it all the kids decided they NEEDED me and that was time to scream. I had to run upstairs and lock my bedroom door to keep the kids out so I could hear the caller on the other end. The caller ended up being Josh's teacher--again, never a good sign. I had to make sure she was really calling about Josh since he is one I would never think I would get a bad call from a teacher about. I was trying to listen to her while trying to block out the knocking and screaming at my bedroom door--not an easy thing to do, I must say. Why do kids always wait until you are on the phone to decide they NEED you right NOW and it can't wait? Josh's teacher wanted to tell me about what happened with Josh at school that day. I guess during recess Josh decided he would be cool like his friend and just go to the bathroom on the field instead of using the indoor bathroom. His teacher asked him why he did that and he said because his friend told him to do it. Ah--peer pressure at its best. His teacher and I both had a good talk with Josh about how to choose the right even if people tell you to do otherwise. Hopefully, Josh learned something. I am just hoping I don't get any emails or calls today from any teachers because I got my fill yesterday!! As for Aaron's car he figured out it was the battery--the huge pile of battery acid seemed to give that away. Hopefully, he can fix it and we can get back to normal, whatever "normal" is ;), later today. Whew--glad today's a new day!

Poor Sarah

I had all kinds of plans today because Daniel had play group and I would be down to one and a half kids which is prime time for grocery shopping and errand running. Those were my plans until I went and got Sarah out of her crib this morning and found a very snotty, red cheeked, teary eyed, sick baby girl. I tamed her hair down a little and wiped her face off for the picture, but this is basically what she looked like all day with a nice productive cough and slimy, snotty nose/cheeks to accompany it: I guess my grocery shopping and errand running will have to wait for another day. I hope she feels better soon. Sick babies are so pathetic looking. If there is one good thing about a sick baby is at least I got lots of baby loves today--poor thing.