The Great Germy Potato Experiment!

For school we have been talking about germs - what they look like, how they are transferred, what we can do to keep ourselves from getting germs, etc. The kids have really enjoyed it so far and we have another week to go! For a science experiment - we decided to see what germs would do to a potato. Take a look:

Here we are starting out with the sliced potatoes - they will never be the same again!

We decided that Grady probably had the germiest germs - so he rubbed all his germs on the innocent potato and then we labeled and bagged it up!

The next potato Grady washed his hands with soap and water and went at another potato, labeled and bagged it up!

Ellison's turn - the third potato, Ellison used hand sanitizer to germ-free her hands. Labeled and bagged.


The last potato slice, Ellison washed her hands with soap and water and then also used sanitizer.

Here we are predicting what will be the cleanest and which one will be the dirtiest! We shall see! I know you all are sitting on the edge of your seats wanting to know the outcome!

Here is a quick shot of Grady working on school. (for those that haven't seen our school room!)

Beach....in March?

My Aunt Jan came for her Spring Break - so of course, we headed to the beach!!! Isn't that what you do on Spring Break?

The impossible task of getting all kids to look at me at once! This is the best I got!

G enjoyed throwing rocks all along the beach! Aunt Jan showed him what "skipping rocks" was all about! She is soooo good!

I gave each kiddo a baggies to put their "special" shells and rocks in. Of course, E got to work right away! Her baggie was full in no time and she wanted to show me each one right away!

R had fun throwing rocks as well! He went closer to the water than what I thought any of them would!


My little H in motion! "I can throw here mom?! What a blast!" H has a serious issue with throwing things in our house - so he went to town!

All the while, Aunt Jan and I were trying to shield the baby from the wind.

We had a great time with Aunt Jan and want her to come back as soon as possible! E is still carrying around the note you left her! We love you AJ and thanks for spending your Spring Break with us!

Bath Fun!

It has been awhile since I have taken the camera up for some bath-time fun!

Wet + Kiddos = FUN TIMES

My Over-Achiever!

So Ryan and I had put the kiddos to bed around 8pm tonight. Ellison asked if she was going to take a shower tomorrow and I said no, because we had her new, Big Girl gymnastics class starting tomorrow. Ryan said he was excited to hear what new things she was going to be learning. We kissed her goodnight and went downstairs and started some work on the computers. All of a sudden, we hear a thump. Hmmm, mischief a'brewing! So this is the following conversation as it went:

Ryan: Ellison, I just heard a loud noise downstairs. Do you know anything about that noise?

Ellie: Well, I thought I needed to practice my gymnastics for tomorrow.

Ryan: Um, what exactly were you practicing?

Ellie: I thought I needed to practice my sumersaults.

Ryan: I think we have learned from this that we don't do somersaults in bed, right?!

Ellie: Yes Daddy.

Oh my little girl! She always keeps us laughing!

Today's new word....

Today's new word - muffin sacks

Muffin sacks in my house are the holders that you put muffins in when you back them.
Now you know!

G's Thoughts....

1. What is something mom always says to you?
You love me

2. What makes mom happy?
When we listen and obey you

3. What makes mom sad?
When we don't listen and obey

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
You scare me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don't know

6. How old is your mom?
25

7. How tall is your mom?
25 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
cook

9. What does your mom do when you are not home?
I don't know because I go away - play games or something? Mommy, what do you do?

10.If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know that one

11. What is your mom really good at?
Cooking

12. What is your mom not good at?
Grilling

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Take care of us

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Vegetables

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
That you cook for us and we don't have to cook

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I don't know

17. what do you and your mom do together?
Cook

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Because we say the same things.

19. How are you and your mom different?
Because we usually don't say the same things.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you cook for me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Getting a baby and getting married

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
I bet, Applebee's

E's Thoughts....

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you - that's easy!

2. What makes mom happy?
That I do right stuff

3. What makes mom sad?
That I do wrong stuff that I am not supposed to do

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
By kissing me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don't know

6. How old is your mom?
16

7. How tall is your mom?
Big

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Color

9. What does your mom do when you are not home?
Take a nap

10.If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know that one.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Doing computer

12. What is your mom not good at?
Not good at baseball

13.What does your mom do for a job?
Drive the car

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Ice Cream

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Mmm, maybe when I say funny things.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
A doctor

17. what do you and your mom do together?
Build potholders

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Cuz maybe we both have the same clothes on.

19. How are you and your mom different?
That we have different clothes and they are not the same

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you hug me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
That Daddy kisses me

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Jump Yard, maybe?

But....

So another cute story! This was awhile back, I took G to Target to get a few items. One of them was the Butt Paste ointment we use on the diapered children of the house. I swear by this ointment by the way. So I was in the correct isle looking for it and I asked G if he saw it anywhere. He got excited when he saw it and said, "Here it is Mommy. Here's the....." pause - he didnt' know what to call it. He looked at me with those large brown eyes and said quietly, "I don't want to say that word here, Mommy". I just started to laugh at my rule-follower!

Fast forward to last week....
G learns sight words in school and his new one last week was the word but. Now, I have never heard this word (used in the rear-end concept) come from G's mouth, so I didn't think it was going to be a big deal. Well he was sounding it out on Monday to learn it for the week. As he was reading the flashcard, he eyes go up to me and he gets a sly little smile on his face. I then realize he knows what the word is and I try to pass it off, however, mommy got a little childish and started to giggle. So he says, mommy I don't want to say that word. I explained the difference, and he can now say the word but - but he still looks up at me and gives me a cute little smile!

Snow Bunnies

Snow, snow, and more snow! Southern Maryland got pounded with snow last weekend and we had some VERY happy kiddos! They were very excited to head outside and get to play in it! Here we are, all dressed after about 20 minutes of Ryan and I dressing, layering and stuffing clothing to try to get the kids to stay outside more than 10 minutes!

Well, we did a good job dressing everyone because they stayed outside for awhile! You can see how much snow we got - it was around 10 to 12 inches. We only lost one child once while outside and soon found him due to his red coat! He lost his boots and was trying to recover them!!! Brrr...

Snow angels aplenty!

I must admit, H was not a big fan of the snow! It was rather windy at the time, so the snow was coming up and hitting him in the face. We kept trying to explain to this almost-2 yr old that if he stopped crying, his face wouldn't be as cold from the wet tears.....that never got accomplished and he was the first one inside!

This is R's interpretation of the snow!

The following day, I let G and E go outside during nap time while the younger boys slept. They had a blast. I truly didn't think E especially would be out there long, but alas, they surprised me once again! I finally called my sister to see how long was too long to let a 5 yr old stay outside in chilly weather! He was outside for 3 hours and I still had to call him in! He was loving it!



Yes, the fascination of eating snow - I will never understand!

Here is our sad attempt on the first day to make a snowman. Ryan and I were doing all the work, so we just stopped and started throwing snowballs! Yes, now E is eating the snow!

We had a great time with the snow and learned we need better gloves! The snow is melting and now it is just slush, so the snow-playing days are over, but it sure did give us a break and something new to do to pass the winter days away! We are officially ready for Spring now!