tawbubby

Daphne’s classmate had a Mad Science birthday party yesterday.  It was awesome!!  The Mad Scientist host did a water trick, which ended up with green water ‘disappearing’ into the powder that is in diapers.  It can absorb 500X its weight in water.  He let all the kids touch it.

This may be the best  picture I ever took of one of my kids (and she was kind of hyper from three nebulizer treatments and a good nap).  They learned about chemical vs. physical changes in matter.  Daphne was really amazed at a some paper he would light on fire and toss in the air.  Poof!  It disappears.

And she laughed  at an air vortex he poofed at each kid (like your airzooka, Dave).

They made slime to take home.

And she got a pair of rainbow glasses.

It was a pretty cool party.  They are good about getting 3-4 year old kids to think about big ideas using simple analogies.  They learned about different kinds of molecules (“molecules are like building blocks!”).  For solid molecules the kids had a group hug, sticking together.  For water molecules the kids jumped around near each other.  For gas molecules the kids had to separate themselves as far apart as possible.

There was some fun with a blacklight towards the end.  It’s funny how mesmerized little kids (and their parents) are by turning the lights on and off over and over again.

Amelia has been sitting down with books for a little while now. Mostly her Disney princess stories.  We knew she was looking at them, but weren’t really sure if she was reading.  Then there was Barbie and the Diamond Castle.  She read that twice to me, when I wouldn’t read it to her (worst book ever).  She started picking up their Book Day books (Wednesdays) and reading them to Daphne on our way to school.  I got her an Ivy + Bean book last week and she took off.  They are kids chapter books about two girls who have a lot of fun getting into trouble.  Go figure.

She is a good influence on Daphne.  If you look closely you will see Daph peeking over the top of her book.  : )

We went to the library on Monday to get a new Ivy + Bean book, after she finished the first last weekend.  She looked it up herself in the catalog.

They only had Ivy + Bean number 5.  She finished it this morning.

She put a hold request on Ivy + Bean #2, and it came in yesterday.  She and Ethan went to pick it up.  Here she is finding her name on a hold paper.  Ethan said she read 14 pages before they got to the grocery store.

And she put in a request for #3 this morning…it is so neat to see that girl buried in a book.

The girls have a yoga DVD.  Here is Amelia’s tree pose, an appropriate introduction to this story.  (She can hold it for a long time!)

Yesterday Amelia picked up the fact that plants make oxygen for us to breathe, and asked “How do plants make oxygen?”  I talked to my plant friend at work today and she suggested pulling out a molecular modeling kit to show her what water and oxygen look like.  That was a great idea!   So I showed her a picture of light energy + water + carbon dioxide going into a plant, with water coming out.  I showed her the water and oxygen molecules, and asked her how many water molecules she would need to make an oxygen molecule.  Then I handed her two water molecules and asked her to make an oxygen.  She did it (and then organized my whole model kit) and liked it.  It seemed to make sense, though I am sure it was abstract in size to her.

I also told her my plant friend’s other (first) suggestion.  “Tell her plants drink water and poop oxygen.”  When I asked Amelia which idea she liked better, she said the modeling kit because “Ew, we don’t want to breath plant poop!”

We talked about why plants are green, what a chloroplast is, and how plants have chloroplasts but animals don’t.  She wisely pointed out that The Wicked Witch and frogs must have chloroplasts, too.  I love that brain.

And she made this with one atom of each color and said “Mama, I’m holding a virus!!”

We took the paints out to the deck on Saturday. Daphne still loves Red, and enjoyed painting in her playhouse.

She made some “on purpose” shapes below, that is happening more and more, rather than scribbles.

Amelia had a horse race. I enjoyed the lineup of spectators from every branch of the animal kingdom, including unicorn and wooly mammoth!  Not sure where Weebles are classified.

Ethan made a tent for Daphne and they played Wonder Pets for a while.  This morning she told me that was her favorite part of the weekend.

And she beat me three times in Hello Kitty Bingo. Alphabet side, and HK friends side.  Must have been Magic Hat.  Notice her tokens are mostly in the same orientation.

Amelia made a Cinderella play for me last weekend.

Daphne was the fairy godmother, and did a great job with “Bippity Boppity Boo!”  And then she was the prince, and danced with Cinderella at the ball.  She was also the footman, and helped Cinderella try on the glass slipper.  And then she was the prince again, and married Cinderella.

I like this face, see it several times a day.

Amelia and I went on Daphne’s field trip to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.   We all go to ride in the bus with Daphne’s friends, so that was fun.  Also, Daphne’s favorite part of the trip.

They learned about maple tree helicopters.   Amelia collected a big pile to play with later.

They went through a touching garden with herbs.  Daphne is checking out some lavender.

Amelia is smelling rosemary.

They made birds nests out of clay, sticks, and spanish moss.

Barnum & Bailey’s came to town.  Both girls said their favorite part was the lady riding in on the elephant, long glittery dress, sparkly blanket on the elephant, holding a giant american flag for the Star Spangled Banner.  A week later, Amelia is still talking about the superheroes (clowns) who came out of a VW beetle.

I didn’t take any really good pictures of the girls.  But here are some cool cups that came with their italian ices.

For a neat perspective, this was a motorcycle on a wire, with a girl on a swing attached underneath.  It went over our heads and Daph thought that was pretty cool.

Aunt Cheri gave Amelia this fantastic Amelia Earhart leather flying cap.  The easter bunny gave Amelia a slingshot airplane in her easter basket.  A perfect combination!

Looks kinda like her, huh?

We went to the store to buy Daphne some new red shoes on Saturday.  She wore out her pair from the fall…the foam lining and leather layer over the foam have been long gone, and one shoe is about to get a hole in the toe.  The clerk measured her feet, picked out some red shoes, none of them were wide enough.  She came back with a few more pairs just to try.  She put one of these brown shoes with pink polka dots onto Daphne’s left foot.  Daphne looked down and yelled “YES!”  Several moms turned and laughed with her glee.  The clerk put the second shoe on, and Daphne walked away with her new shoes.  So easy!  (And they’re not even wide)

And then Daphne picked out the perfect socks to wear with them on Easter.

Funny bunny!  (Daphne wearing Gifer’s mask)

Silly bunnies!

Snuggly bunnies