PregnancySeptember 29, 2009
Paper munché
Last week I mentioned that while T. and I were engaged in our Thumbelina diorama making, L. set to work drawing dozens of clone troopers on a long stretch of easel paper. This was one project we could undertake, at least. In the past few weeks he’s had a handful of very ambitious ideas—including construction of a life-sized battle droid.
September 23, 2009
Diorama dreaming
I have a thing about shoebox dioramas. You know, those charming shoeboxes filled with miniature scenes? When I was in elementary school I remember making lots of dioramas. I loved the challenge of coming up with creative ways to make my shoebox scene come alive. Sadly, I think, dioramas have fallen by the wayside in elementary school curriculum--L.
August 24, 2009
Future Me
Setting: Me at the computer, Sunday afternoon. Scott is gone for the afternoon, taking care of some family business, and the kids are playing "Star Wars" in the family room--building intricate block structures for L.'s Star Wars action figures to inhabit. I'm attempting to seize a sliver of time to get some work done at the computer--desperate to do so because I don't want to spend my Sunday night working. L., who has spent the last twenty minutes delivering a monologue to T. on the ins and outs of the different clone troopers walks into the office.
"Hey Mama!"
"What?"
August 18, 2009
Hooked!
I was getting T. ready for bed the other night when she asked suddenly if I knew what an hypothesis was.
"Tell me," I said.
She paused for a minute, to recall the information, and said, "it's an idea you can test!"
July 31, 2009
School Supply Sales = Fun !
How can you resist the 25 cent crayons? Maybe your willpower is stronger than mine, but I stock up on crayons like Crayola has gone bankrupt and it's the only way I will get "Burnt Sienna" this time of year.
In light of all the cheap supplies I thought I would post some links to awesome crafts based around crayons. On my site No Time For Flash Cards I have a fun earth friendly melted crayon activity today but here are some more amazing things to do with those crayons!
July 28, 2009
Manna from neighbors
On Saturday we returned home from an afternoon out and about and found a huge bag of corn waiting by our front door. Although there was no name attached, we knew the corn had come from our neighbors diagonal to us. We've also, in the past, been the lucky recipients of vine-ripened tomatoes, knobbly homegrown cucumbers, and the odd green pepper or two.
June 25, 2009
Grow crystals, grow!
For Christmas this past year, my sister gave L. this really nice crystal growing kit which, alas, we haven't tried yet. It's not that he's uninterested in crystal growing, but growing crystals takes time, and patience, and the ability (and desire) to follow some rather lengthy sets of directions in order to achieve the desired results. And while L.
June 16, 2009
Priceless
Monday was declared Mama's Day Off (Summer Session II teaching begins tomorrow) and Scott and I decided the night before that we'd let the kids pick: Mudcats baseball game, or a day at our favorite science museum. We half expected both of them to pick the museum, and were thrown when T. picked the museum and L. picked the baseball game. We then did what all good parents must do when faced with such a choice--we flipped a coin.
June 12, 2009
86 days and counting
I enjoy going to our neighborhood pool--I truly love it. And I definitely enjoy packing a post-swim team practice poolside dinner for us all (well, minus L. who refuses to eat food at the pool). But it's hard work to get it all together some nights--really hard work--made even more difficult when your kids are, after a full two and a half weeks of summer vacation together, starting to get on each other's nerves and you're not only cooking dinner ahead of time, but also playing referee, diplomatic mediator, judge and jury, and sometimes fed-up dictator.
June 8, 2009
Just because
We did something sneaky and wonderful and utterly spontaneous on Friday, because sometimes we're like that. Weeks ago, when Scott and I were sitting side-by-side on the couch making up our course syllabi for the first summer session he told me he was building in an afternoon off--just because, and that I should too. I looked at my syllabus. Maybe I should build in the same day off? Family time ideas began to percolate--a trip to our favorite museum, or better yet, a beach day. One glorious beach day to sit by the ocean, watch L. in his element run and dash into the waves, T.
