Science Experiments From the Science Party

BENCH RESEARCH INSTRUCTIONS

Do These Experiments With Adult Supervision Only!

Water Sucker

1. Place candle in center of pie plate half full of water. (Water may be colored, if desired.)

2. Light candle and set a glass over the top. Observe what happens.

Explanation: Fire needs oxygen to burn. Once all of the oxygen is used up in the glass, the candle burns out. The resulting vacuum sucks the water from the pie plate up into the glass.

Puffy Soap Float

1. Gather various types of soap and a bucket filled halfway with water. Predict what will happen when the soap is put into the water.

2. Place a bar of Ivory soap in a microwaveable container and microwave on high for 2 min.

Explanation: Different types of soap vary in density. Some soap, like Ivory will float because it is less dense than water. Most other soaps are more dense and will sink. Two processes occur when you microwave the soap. First, you are heating the soap, which softens it. Second, you are heating the air and water trapped inside the soap, causing the water to vaporize and the air to expand. The expanding gases push on the softened soap, causing it to expand and become a foam. The appearance of the soap is changed, but no chemical reaction occurs. This is an example of a physical change. It also demonstrates Charles' Law, which states the volume of a gas increases with its temperature. The microwaves impart energy into the soap, water, and air molecules, causing them to move faster and further away from each other. The result is that the soap puffs up. Other brands of soap don't contain as much whipped air and simply melt in the microwave.

Elephant Toothpaste

1. Disolve 1 teaspoon of yeast in 2 Tablespoons of very warm water.

2. Stand a 16 oz, narrow neck bottle in a cake pan. Put a funnel in the opening. Add 3-4 drops of food coloring to ½ c peroxide and pour the peroxide through the funnel into the bottle.

3. Add a squirt of dish detergent.

4. Pour the yeast mixture into the bottle and quickly remove the funnel.

5. You can touch the bottle to feel any changes that take place.

Explanation: The bottle will feel warm to the touch as this is an exothermic reaction. The yeast works as a catalyst, which makes the peroxide molecule release an oxygen atom. The released oxygen mixes with the dish detergent to make foam.

Egg in a bottle

1. Light a strip of paper and drop into a glass bottle. Or pour a little very hot water into the bottle. Wait a moment.

2. Place peeled hard boiled egg on mouth of bottle. (Diameter of opening should be smaller than egg, but at least half the diameter of the egg.)

Explanation: This is just a variation of the water sucker experiment. How can you remove the egg without damaging it? (Hint: use tongs and hot water pouring from a tap.)

Lava Lamp

1. Fill 2 liter plastic soda bottle ¾ of the way with cooking oil.

2. Add water almost to top. Add about 10 drops of food coloring.

3. Add pieces of Alka Selter and put lid back on.

Explanation: This experiment demonstrates some science you already know...oil and water do not mix. Even if you try to really shake-up the bottle, the oil breaks up into small little drops, but the oil doesn't mix with the water. Food coloring only mixes with water. That's why it does not color the oil. In addition, the Alka-Seltzer reacted with the water to make tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. These bubbles attached themselves to the blobs of colored water and cause them to float to the surface. When the bubbles popped, the color blobs sank back to the bottom of the bottle.

Milk Fireworks

1. Pour milk into a cake or pie pan.

2. Drop drops of food coloring into milk.

3. Dip a q tip into dishwashing soap, then touch milk.

Explanation: Surfactants, or “surface active agents,” are substances like soap and detergent, which have specific chemical properties that affect the surface tension of a solution. Surface tension causes the surface layer of a solution to behave like a fragile elastic sheet. When a surfactant (such as detergent) is submerged in water, it, penetrates the ‘elastic sheet’ that exists at the top of any quantity of water. This causes a reduction in surface tension of the solution, as well as an emulsification (mixing together) of two incompatible substances, such as oil and water. This ability to emulsify is what allows soap and detergent to “wash away” fats, oils, and grime from hands, dishes, and other surfaces. Try using milks of different fat contents and observe the differences in reaction.

Oobleck

1. Put 1 c. of water into a bowl.

2. Slowly stir in 1.5 to 2 c of cornstarch. The amount needed will vary. Start with a spoon to stir and end with your hands!

Explanation: Oobleck is a non-newtonian fluid. That is, it acts like a liquid when being poured, but like a solid when a force is acting on it. You can grab it and then it will ooze out of your hands. Make enough Oobleck and you can even walk on it! Oobleck gets its name from the Dr. Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck where a gooey green substance, Oobleck, fell from the sky and wreaked havoc in the kingdom.

For more fun with science, check out www.stevespanglerscience.com.

Country Studies

I mentioned country studies in my post about my schedule. I thought I might explain a bit about that. I have mentioned my idealistic desire to home school and my realistic decision not to. To get the best of both worlds, I thought it would be fun to do some supplemental home schooling with the older kids. So, we have been studying Eastern Hemisphere countries. We don't have a set class time and none of it is mandatory. Madeline is the one who has most gotten into it, although everyone ends up experiencing some of it. I don't have any set plans as to when we move from one country to the next. I just do when it feels like we've covered enough. For each country I try to find:

Picture books and
Juvenile non-fiction books. (We read both of these at the bus stop.)
Juvenile Historical Fiction or other fiction. (Maddy and I read these. Sonlight's Eastern Studies Curriculum was a good resource for ideas for these.)
Adult Fiction (Just I read these.)
Movies from Netflix, both fiction and non fiction (We are always watching movies, so this doesn't add more time, either.)
Activity (These do take a little extra time, but are fun so no one complains.)
Food (Some bought at stores or restaurants and other I make for us.)

We also have a Children's Atlas, a large wall size map of the world to find and mark locations, and two wonderful books: The Material World and Children Like Me. We started at the beginning of the school year and so far we have done the Pacific Islands, Australia, Antartica and are about to wrap up Japan. We didn't do it during Dec., so I estimate it'll take us another 6 months to get through the next 8 countries I have planned. I know I have learned a lot and am enjoying it. I hope my kids are, too. I'm hoping it will give them a greater appreciation for the diversity of our Heavenly Father's Children, and a greater appreciation for the blessings they have in their life. I also have a field trip for me planned. I am planning on joining dh on a conference trip to Malaysia next year!

No School and Homeschool

The phone just rang to announce that there is no school tomorrow. Again. This will be the 5th day of no school in the last 5 days of scheduled school. (We had a week-end in the middle.) Now I am wondering if there will be a token day of school on Friday, or if this will turn out to be an 11 day long mid winter break. If I had known, this would have been a great opportunity to take a special trip somewhere. Out to UT to see my family and take the kids skiing. Or someplace warm. I'm not sure I really remember what warm outside weather was like...

On the bright side, we have been very blessed in these storms. We only lost power for a few hours, while many, even a short distance away, have been without power for days. Electricity seems to influence almost every activity we do anymore, so we really feel its loss. We do have a gas fireplace for warmth, and a propane camp stove for cooking, so we wouldn't be completely without survivability. I would miss hot showers and dishwasher, though!

We have had lots of opportunities to perform service. Mostly pushing stuck cars, but also things like straightening Daddy's shoes and baking him cookies. And we've worked on Faith in God, Personal Progress, Scouts and Duty to God. The kids think I am evil for it, like they shouldn't have to do anything on this bonus vacation. Which only reconfirms my knowledge that homeschooling would not work for me.

At least not for the older kids. I've been homeschooling Cyrus and Elsie for preschool and love doing it. I've done this with all the kids, trying various things. I think what I started doing this year is my favorite. We are doing a literature based program through Sonlight. First, we spend 20 to 40 minutes each day reading. Me to them, and Elsie to me. We read poetry, scripture stories, literature books, and nonfiction science and social science books.

Elsie learned all her letters playing at starfall.com when she was 3, so I started teaching her to put them together and read. I use the Teach your Child to Read in 100 Lessons. It is a helpful book for progression, but sometimes proceeds at a pace that is too fast or too slow. So, when it seems like it is getting burdensome or too tough, we pull out supplemental reading material: Bob books, Dick and Jane, and other readers I saved that the older kids brought home from school. Actually, I always include them and she chooses which. After spending some time on some easier stuff, she often then feels up to the challenge of progressing further with the lessons. She just finished lesson 67.

We then also have table time. We have been working on fine motor skills with cut and paste books and coloring books. During this time we also use Developing The Early Learner, The Nursery Manual and The Friend magazine, Handwriting Without Tears, Saxon K Math and Speechercise for Cyrus' speech. I have seen a lot of progress in them so far.

I started to homeschool preschool with my kids because we couldn't afford out of home preschool. But now that I can afford it, I still don't want to. I know how quickly this period of their lives passes and I want to cherish this time with them. Ideally, I don't think kids should be pushed into learning things before they are ready and I don't think I do that. Elsie and Cyrus get to choose every book we read and when we stop reading or whether we continue working on other things for the day. I think kids really thrive in a child led learning situation, where I provide materials and guidance and they enjoy and progress at their own pace. I don't think that is so easy to do in a group situation.

A perfect illustration of this happened last week. Elsie has been taking gymnastics in a class of about 8 children. Because of the impending storm, Elsie was the only one to show up on Friday. So she had a one on one lesson with the teacher. Because she didn't have to wait for other children to have their turn with the teacher, she progressed through the entire normal class curriculum in a fraction of the time it usually takes. They then spent the entire remainder of the time trying out every single piece of equipment in a very, very large gymnastics center. She says there are 5 trampolines alone. It was her favorite lesson ever!

There are two things that I think kids get in a group preschool situation that they don't get through homeschool preschool. One is socialization skills. I remember in college one text said that was the main purpose of preschools. I think with having four siblings, nursery, play dates and playing with the other kids during our exercise group, they get plenty of opportunity for that. The other thing is the ability to functional in a institutional or group setting. Elsie gets some of that by going to primary and gymnastics or swimming class, but she may have to learn skills that the other children have already learned once she starts school in the fall. But, I think that her academic base will be strong enough that she can focus her resources on learning those types of skills. And learning those types of skills is easier to do as a 5 yr old than a 3 yr old, anyways.

Sometimes, I wonder what would happen if I didn't turn my children over to the school system at age 5 and kept homeschooling them. They seem to have almost all lost their enthusiasm for schoolwork as they have gotten older. Although Maddy hasn't completely yet. But, then again, it is much easier for me to get the littler kids excited about doing chores than the older ones. I fear it would be a constant battle to get them to do their work. Plus, I just don't think I have the organizational skills to keep up on all the different levels of schooling needs.

But, that is my fantasy. Spending days with my children, walking through the woods identifying trees and observing wildlife behavior, sketching wildflowers, counting acorns and reading great literature together on a quilt in the shade. Yeah, right. As I look around at the mess my house has become by this time of day whenever we have a snow day, I know that is truly a fantasy!

Nature Study Class

A friend and I exchange taught our daughters again this summer. She taught them sewing (and they made some darling things!) and I taught a nature study class. I had never formally taught a class on it before, but we've been learning a lot informally over the past year, so I thought it would be fun to expand on it. We tried lots of fun things like pressing flowers, pounding flowers and leaves, mounting insects and making a mollusk collection from shells we gathered at the Cape. We also live in a beautiful part of the country and tried to spend quite a bit of time enjoying the nature around where we live. I wish I had taken my camera more, but here are a few photos showing what we did:

Bookmarks made from the pressed flowers:



We had a class on butterflies when the butterfly bush was in the heighth of its bloom. We saw three types of butterflies that day. A silver spotted skipper enjoying raspberry blooms:



An Eastern Swallowtail:


Later that day we went to a park near the lake and discovered an injured Tiger Swallowtail. There was quite a bit of damage, but the girl's wanted to try to bring it home and nurture it the best they could. Bringing it home was a bit of a trick, but it seemed to like holding onto one of our dd's friend's shirt. The girl's called her "the butterfly ambulance." When we got home we gave it water (in sand) and a blossom for nectar. Unfortunately, it passed away the next day. It was a great opportunity to carefully examine a living butterfly up close. Their tongues are amazing to watch how they roll them up. (It's actually a tube called a proboscis.)



On one of our jaunts into the local nature, we visited the botanical gardens and traipsed through a wooded area that had a myriad of mushrooms and fungi, and tree stumps and logs with holes in them. We called them fairy houses and pretended the mushrooms were their furniture. So, later we thought it would be fun to try building a fairy house of our own in the woods in our neighborhood:



Building the swimming pool:



Elsie and Cyrus enjoyed tagging along. This is Cyrus asking for a hand through a rough patch of ground:



And my own little woodland fairy:



It is fun how nature is so appealing, no matter how old you are. Cyrus is so funny. He gets so excited whenever he sees insects and makes this loud, joyful belly laugh. We always know when he has found something exciting.

To help me plan for the class I used The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock online. I really want a copy of my own! There is also a blog that posts nature challenges that go along with this book and her family's experiences in following them.

Second Annual Pioneer Days

The girls enjoyed our Pioneer Days last summer so much that we decided to do them again this year. This time we did it on Pioneer Day, July 24th, and invited a couple of friends over to do it with us. The boys weren't gone on the trek this year and didn't really want to participate, so we limited it to 2 days and only 1 night. We did many of the same things we did last year, but also did some things new, like making corn husk dolls and playing traditional yard games. I did make sure that we spent some time reading some family histories of our pioneer ancestors to them. By candlelight, of course! It was very tiring and I'm thinking every other year might be easier and maintain the specialness of the whole thing.

Relief from the serious photos...



Making butter...



The bathroom facilities...



One of the best things was the food. The pie and bread were tasty, but none of us were to impressed with fried green tomatoes. And, yes, those are Little House on The Prairie Books for reference!



Corn husk dolls. I used to make these when I was a kid. Its funny how you don't forget how to do things sometimes, even when it is decades later before your try again.





An old fashioned sing around the piano.

Seedfolk and Garden Planning

It may be snowing today, but my thoughts have turned toward spring!


My two oldest daughters and I just finished reading Seedfolk by Paul Fleishman.

We started reading together in the evenings again. I wanted to spend more quality time together, read more good books, and jump start reading scriptures better as a family. We had tried at bedtime before, but with a cranky tired 2 yr old, it didn't work out. So, I'm putting Elsie to bed a little earlier, and then starting to read books with the girl's to get a habit started. Soon, we will read books AND scriptures and get the rest of the family to come join us. That is the plan anyways.

So, back to the book. It's the story of a community garden in Cleveland that brings together a diverse group of neighbors. It is told in the voices of 16 people, each with a different background and life story. We really enjoyed reading it and discussing it together. It allowed my girls a peek into a world very different than their own. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after we were done that I found this teacher guide, complete with discussion questions. It also made me excited to start planning my garden for this year!

(Warning: The book does introduce a couple themes, drugs and teen pregnancy, that might be too much for younger children, but are a good spring board to the subjects for older ones.)

So, I've planned our food garden. We will be growing:

Maestro Peas
Mesculen Mix Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce (New)
Mediana Spinach
Detroit Dark Red Beets
Blue Lake pole beans
Gurney's Pride Zuchinni
Spirit Hybrid Pumpkins
Straight 8 Cucumbers
Mammoth Dill

Plus tomatoes, bell peppers, basil and oregano plants bought locally.
And the already planted, strawberries, raspberries and cherries, of course.
Next, I need to plan for the flower beds, decide on a replacement a shrub that died last year, and put away all the snowmen decorations!

Art Class

My two oldest daughters are really lucky to each have a friend their
age that both lives in our neighborhood and goes to church with us.
They have enjoyed spending a lot of time together this summer. Most of
that time has been unstructured fun time, but the mom of my daughter's
friends and I have also tried to give them some structured learning
fun, as well. So, every week they go to their friends' house for
cooking/baking class, and every week they come here for art class.

It has been really fun teaching them art. I've tried each week to teach
them a little art appreciation, talking about art history and focusing
on a different master artist each week. Last week we were learning
about "Abstract Expressionism" and "Action" art, with a focus on
Jackson Pollack. And so our project was, of course, to do a painting in
his style:




They called it "Kitty Slip" because it looked like a kitty slipped through the paint. At the end of summer we will have an art show to show of their work and sample some of their tasty cooking. It should make for a fun evening!

O Pioneers...

My husband and son left on Monday to participate in a pioneer trek, a recreation of the experience of handcart pioneers. Here is my husband, dressed and ready to go. (Marvin left early and I missed getting a picture of him.)



Isn't he handsome? The girls and I were jealous and decided we would have our own pioneer experience while they were gone. Did you ever see those PBS historical reality shows, such as Frontier House and 1900 House? We tried to recreate our own version. I'll let the girls journal entries tell the story:

Emily:



June 12, 2007

To be a pioneer is fun, but hard! First, we built a loaf of homemade bread. Then we got 3 and a half bucketfulls of cherries. It was fun! When I was a pioneer girl I felt that I hardly had any free time. I would bring in water from the well. Then I would wash in the basin. Then I would watch Cyrus while Mom built dinner. What I liked best about being a pioneer is when we picked cherries for a homemade pie. Yumm! What I did not like about being a pioneer is doing all that work! Not very much play time, and always work, work, work! What I learned is pioneer life is hard. I want to do it again!

PS. We also made butter!


Maddy:



June 12, 2007

We picked cherries and made a pie. We fetched water from the well. We waltzed. We lit candles. We swam in the pond. I crocheted. It was fun. We ate pancakes, eggs and sausage. We built butter and bread and biscuits. We weeded, pitted cherries, broke beans and picked peas. I hope to do this again!

Mom:

We also read histories of our pioneer ancestors, bathed in a big wash tub in the kitchen with water we heated on the stove and did rag curls. Well, I didn't bathe in the wash tub or have rag curls, but the girls did. I did do some laundry in my big black enamel pot and rinsed it out in the pond (wading pool). In the dark. So my neighbors wouldn't think I was nuts! And for the record, we cheated. We chose to stick with modern diapering and toileting. Because I really am not crazy.

I learned:

I would not have made for an attractive pioneer. The "no make up, hair parted down the middle and worn tightly in a bun, hairy leg" look does not become me.

Their lives were focused on feeding their families. The vast majority of my time was spend gardening, picking produce, cooking and cleaning up after meals. As long as there had been enough food, I would have liked this part of pioneer life. I really enjoyed the cooking, baking and gardening.

Their lives were simpler, but much more exhausting.

They spent a lot more time interacting with each other.

After spending two days thinking about what kind of lives my ancestors lived, I started to consider what they would think about the way we live today. I decided they would have been in wonder about many things such as refridgerators, freezers, cars and phones. But, they would have considered much of what we fill our lives with as excessive and unnecessary. And our use of resources as wasteful.



It was a good learning experience and a fun way to kick off our summer!

Works for Me: Reading Time

Time again for Works For Me Wednesday!

I've seen many reading incentive ideas, but never one as simple to execute as the one I use. Bedtime at our house is 8 pm, but lights out is not until 9 pm, as long as you are quietly reading in bed. I think most kids would willingly read if it was the means for staying up an extra hour. My youngest usually falls asleep before 9, but she, with the others, manages to do a significant amount of reading each night. Like most proud moms, I think my children are bright, but I attribute the fact they all read well above grade level due to this one thing we do. The potential of losing bedtime reading time is also an excellant behavioral motivator. They are more likely to cooperatively get ready and go to bed, if doing otherwise means an earlier lights out.

Works For Me!

Be sure to check out Shannon's list of other Works for me Wednesday tips!

Works For Me: Teaching Patriotism

So often, the fourth of July is spent preparing and eating food, spending time with family, and enjoying fireworks. These are wonderful, and the source of great memories. But, often the meaning of the holiday gets lost for us big people, and sometimes is never found for our little ones. A spirit of patriotism is not something that should be left to school teachers to give our children. It is something we should be teaching our children ourselves.

I recently found online a list of ideas to use in helping instill a sense of patriotism in our children. I think the best way to do this is to take your children to historical sites and talk about what happened there and how that blesses our lives today. Unfortunately, that isn't all that easy, especially if you live on the western side of the country. Here are four ideas from the list I found:


-Flag colors and symbols. Talk to your children about the symbolism of the flags colors and symbols. Then, on the 4th of July, have everyone wear those colors. You can buy everyone a new matching article of clothing, use ones you already own, or let them decorate white t-shirts with blue and red fabric pens.

-Have a birthday party for America. Make cards to display on the fourth of July. Include in them your gratitude for our freedoms and a "gift" for our country-something you will do to be a good citizen in the next year. Display these on the fourth. Don't forget to have a cake and sing Happy Birthday!

-Music and Literature. Preceding the fourth of July, take time to learn patriotic songs, especially "The Star Spangled Banner". This is a focus I am working on in my piano practice. Or, memorize a patriotic poem, such as "Paul Revere's Ride", or the Preamble to the Constitution.

-Veteran Devotional. Honor a veteran in your family, or invite a veteran friend to your home for a special devotional. Sing patriotic songs. (This would be a good time to present a patriotic poem you have memorized) Ask the veteran to share their experiences and feelings about America. Be sure to open and close with a prayer of gratitude for our freedoms.

This year, the fourth of July is on a Tuesday. So doing the birthday party or devotional on Monday night for Family Home Evening would be a great way to kick off the holiday! I am planning on doing the American Birthday Party one that night. For more ideas and more information on the idea's above check out LDS Living Magazine.

What have you tried to help your children learn to love their country?

And don't forget to check out the rest of the Works for Me Wednesday posts at Shannon's Rocks in My Dryer!

Works For Me: Family Night

Once again, it's Wednesday and time to participate in
Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer's Works for Me!


I definitely cannot take credit for this Wednesday's Works for Me. But, I can heartily endorse it. In fact, this is the most important Works for Me Wednesday I've shared so far. By far! This is something we do every Monday night called Family Home Evening. This is a program endorsed by my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is a night that is reserved for just family time.

Each family has their own way of doing things. Sometimes we just do something fun as a family like go out to eat, swim, go to a park or movie. But, most nights we follow the following agenda:

Welcome
Song
Opening Prayer
Scripture
Greeps, Gripes and Grumps
(This name is based on the book Cheaper by the Dozen. It is an opportunity to
praise and problem solve.)
Go over the weekly calendar
Lesson
Family activity (usually a game)
Treat
Closing Prayer

It takes us about an hour. Everyone takes turns doing everything. We use the above "assignment board" to keep track of who is in charge of doing what. Whoever is in charge of sharing a scripture also conducts.

The Benefits:
-Greater love in the family
-An organized time to teach spiritual principles to increase faith and gospel knowledge
-promoting family togetherness and unity
-The presence of the spirit in the home is increased
-Skill development for children: conducting a meeting, problem solving, gratitude for others, ability to speak in front of others, ability to prepare a lesson, cooking skills to prepare treats, good sportsmanship
-Increased family organization and planning
-Opportunity for one on one time as older family members help younger family members prepare for their parts.
-Greater Obedience of children to their parents
-Listening and Reverence
-A weekly date with my husband, because we take the time to plan for it

We usually do our preparations on Sunday, which is a great Sabbath Day activity as well.

Here are two great resources for planning your own Family Night:

Family Home Evenings at LDS.org. For more information on the program and its benefits, plus many resources for planning.

Deseret Book's FHE Lesson Archive. A source of close to 200 complete family home evening lesson plans including a quote, song, scripture, lesson, reinforcement activity and treat recipe.

Works For Me!

(Be sure to check out Shannon's link above for more great Works For Me Wednesday ideas!)

Money Lessons

Lessons learned about money issues this past week while shopping and having a neighborhood garage sale, including a kid's "lemonade stand" :

1. My junk is junk. No one wants to buy it. Used clothing, even if it is like new, is snubbed. Total take: $5 and change.

2. Marvin's (age 12) junk is not junk. Used toys sell well at garage sales. Even the ones the dog has gnawed on. His total take: $12 and change.

3. Emily (age 8) is Frugal. When I took her grocery shopping she left her money in the car at the regular store, planning instead on making her purchase(s) at the discount store we were visiting second. She also helped her younger, nonfrugal sister find a "buy one get one free deal" on chips.

4. Emily should also probably go into sales. She convinced her sister into buying her a necklace, a bracelet and a cat sculpture at the neighbor's garage sale. She also sold more ice cream and soda than any of her siblings on a cold spring morning. (Probably had to do with that dramatically sad face she made while sitting on the fence, all dejected and penniless like.)

5. Money related math: Calculating cost per item, calculating retail value of items, calculating gross and net sales, dividing profits, calculating tithing and savings on said profits.

6. If you let Maddy (age 6), buy as many things as her money can buy- she will. And then weep that she has no more money when she finds yet another thing she must have. Her purchases in the last few days: 2 large bags of potato chips, two necklaces, a bracelet, cat sculpture, a travel mug, large bag of cheese puffs, a tie, a robot dog, a talking stuffed puppy, a stroller toy, ice cream, a used camera, a stuffed whale with a baby, and a set of soda can insulators. Final money: 15 cents.

7. Maddy is, however, a very generous person, as she gave half of the things she purchased to other members of her family.

8. If your goal is to declutter, head out of town during the neighborhood garage sale. (see #6)

9. But,if your goal is to teach your children about money, stick around. (see # 5 and #6) Just next year, donate the old clothes and take the tax deduction.


I did ask Maddy yesterday if she had a dollar what she would do with it. She said she'd save it and wait till she had more money to buy something so she wouldn't be "broke". Lesson learned?

Stay tuned - tomorrow I will be posting a picture of my husband wearing a sheet in public.

MMMMMmmmmm, Chocolate!

My 14 month old, Elsie, has hit the language development stage. It is amazing to watch their ability to communicate blossom. Her newest word is "MMMMmmmmmmm!" Okay, maybe that's not an actual word. Overproud mother that I am, I count it, along with various animal sounds.

Yesterday, I ate the cadbury egg the Easter bunny so generously reserved for me. Right after doing so, Elsie asked to be picked up. She immediately found my mouth and its chocolatey odor to be of great interest and offered me an open mouthed kiss. I noisily kissed her back, to which she responded with a heartfelt "MMMMMMmmmmm!" Yes, she is definitely my child. We both find just the odor of chocolate to be delicious!

She is our first child we have tried to teach sign language. It's been a blast! I love the fact that she can communicate things that her verbal skills have not yet been able to accomplish. We were walking through a store and she signed "dog." I looked around and, sure enough, there was a row of dog lawn ornaments on the top shelf that I had just walked past. She can also sign to me when she wants to have a drink and when she is "all done" doing something, instead of fussing. I love it!

This morning I was sharing my bowl of granola with her. After giving her another taste, I swear she verbally said "more". Wanting to reinforce the idea, I spooned in more. "More" she said again. I complied. "More." Another spoonful. She responded by vehemently shaking her head no while signing "more". I guess, she had been saying "more" as a statement of what she had received, not asking for more. But I just kept overeagerly stuffing her mouth like a chipmunk. It's a good thing I haven't taught her the sign for "Hellooooooo!" or "Pay attention, dork!"

If anyone is interested in learning how to sign, my two recommended books on the subject are Signing Smart with Babies and Toddlers by Michelle Anthony and Reyna Lindert and Teach Your Tot to Sign by Stacy Thompson. The first one is great for learning how to teach signing. It is also an activity book, but I've never bothered with any of them. The second book is a great signing dictionary. I regularly sit with the later book, signing to myself. So, I probably really do look like a dork. Even my older kids think its fun and learned quite a few animal signs when we went to the zoo last week. And when I ask them to put on their pj's and brush their teeth in sign language I get fewer complaints!