Making Cells out of Jello!

So, this morning started out normal, except that my kids were feeling a bit out of sorts. I thought back over the previous day and realized I had not pushed fluids enough compared to the running around they had been doing (Are your kids like mine, and FORGET to eat/drink when they get busy?) so I loaded them up with juicy fruits and glasses of water. They weren't sick or anything, but I like to prevent illness, you know? Anyhow, this led to a conversation about how our bodies are 60% water. They knew a little about how we are made up of cells and such, just from reading different books (especially the Your Body Battles series...love these!).

Well, we went around the internet looking for a good picture of an animal cell to examine, and I found this fun project! With Halloween candy coming available, I think this is the perfect time of year to make this fun treat, and learn a little along the way. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/animals/cell/jello/

Chocolate Trail Mix

Do your children tend to eat only one part of the trail mix and leave you the rest? Yeah, mine, too. I read this line in Family Fun magazine, and was impressed with their solution. I altered the recipe a little to our tastes (Zac doesn't like cranberries, so we used plain raisins*), and added some oats because--well...I wanted to. Anyhow, try it! I think you'll like the results.

Ingredients

• 3 cups nuts
  
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes

• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mix together the nuts, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, raisins, and dried cranberries or cherries. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.

2. Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave. Pour the chocolate over the baking sheet in ribbons. Stir to coat everything. Let the chocolate cool, then break the mix into pieces and pack it in individual containers. Makes 12 servings.

*Photo from familyfun.com

Halloween Activity

YAY! Fall is upon us, as is the best holiday of the year. OK, well close.
I mean, you get to play with costumes and make-up and no one thinks you're crazy. Because, trust me, when you wear clown make-up to work when it's NOT October, people wonder. Especially if you work at a law library...oh...yeah. But that was years ago, and I've learned that there are appropriate times to dress up and not to--well, I kind of learned. :)

Anyhow, as an activity, we're participating in a Halloween spelling bee, and if you have kids that want to join in YAY! Of course, the actual competition is here, but virtually, you can still learn the words and do the activities. Oh, and unless you live next door, it's BYOC (buy your own candy).

Today, we're using coloring sheets from http://www.printactivities.com/ColoringPages/Halloween/HalloweenColoring.html and tracing them using words. Fun! OK, well, I was enjoying it, but my kids are thinking it's torture (hmmm, I think that's one of our Halloween words...). To do it, you write each spelling word five times, tiny if you can, on a separate piece of paper, tracing the coloring sheet (so when you are done, instead of lines, you have tiny words making up the picture. It's more fun than writing them five times in a tablet, I think...

Here are the words we are practicing:
*afterlife
*apparition
*autumn
*bizarre
...*bloodcurdling
*bogeyman
*cackle
*cadaver
*casket
*cauldron
*cemetery
*corpse
*costume
*crypt
*disguise
*dreadful
*eerie
*fantasy
*frightening
*ghastly
*ghoulish
*gory
*Halloween
*haunt
*hobgoblin
*jack-o'-lantern ****** make sure your kids know about the punctuation!
*macabre
*masquerade
*mausoleum
*midnight
*moonlight
*moonlit
*morbid
*mysterious
*nightmare
*ogre
*otherworldly
*petrify
*phantasm
*phantom
*pitchfork
*poltergeist
*potion
*pumpkin
*repulsive
*revolting
*scare
*scarecrow
*scary
*shadowy
*shocking
*skeleton
*specter
*spider web *********** two words!
*spooky
*startling
*strange
*superhero
*supernatural
*superstition
*tarantula
*terrible
*terrify
*thrilling
*tiara
*tomb
*tombstone
*trick-or-treat **** again... punctuation!
*tutu
*unearthly
*unnerving
*vampire
*vanish
*warlock
*weird
*werewolf
*wicked
*witch
*witchcraft
*wizard
*wizardry
*wraith

Happy Halloween!

Zachary..Oh..Zachary...where did your baby face go?

See this little guy? He was tiny 7 years ago. 4 lbs. 15 oz. But we loved to snuggle with him.

He grew quickly, not staying small for long! We continued to dote on him.

He kept growing, but it wasn't too noticable due to him being in the 25th percentile for his age...and he kept that cute little baby face...

Until now. His chubby cheeks have gone. His dimples are very defined. His wavy hair more controllable. His baby teeth all but gone, and the large ones that his face needs to grow into have arrived. This isn't the best photo of his smile, but that's because he tends to make goofy faces when I take his photo. From the looks of his father's photo albums, this is common.

Happy 7th Birthday Zac. We LOVE you.

Chaycisms

Chayce, Please put your doll down and go to sleep.

But daddy, she has to go to her ballet lesson

Chayce, go to bed now.

Wow, Daddy. That was the fastest ballet lesson ever.

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Chayce, what do you want to do when you grow up?

I want to go on a date with my pappa and then get married.

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[During a two mile walk in the rain Chayce and I went on]

Chayce, I'm glad I wore my hat, it covered my head.

That's nice Daddy. I'm glad I wore my raincoat. It
covered my butt.

Working Our Fingers to the Bone

Remember how in my last post I mentioned that I keep forgetting my camera? Well, today I got it out and it FAILED. Sob, sob. Time for a new one, I suppose...but I don't want to buy one. You'll have to make do with cell phone photos for awhile. They are kind of dark, which saddens me.

Today, we made our first paper-plate skeleton. I drew bone parts on each plate and the kids cut them out. Of course, he's not anatomically correct, there are MANY more bones in the human body than my children would have patience to cut out at this age. Maybe when they are older we'll make him more lifelike. For now, he's just a cute skeleton hanging out in our house for Halloween.

Speaking of cute.

Cutting up a rib cage.

Working on a bone.

I couldn't resist taking another picture of those cute, pudgy hands trying to use scissors.

It's Mr. Skeleton! Chayce wanted him to have hair and eyelashes...I had to explain that once you are down to the bone, often the eyelashes are gone, too.

RTI End of Summer Bash

Well, it must be said that my sweetheart's co-workers know how to throw a party! Sadly, it must also be said that this momma keeps leaving her camera at home, thus the cell phone will have to do.

The end of summer has come, and to celebrate (because we all love AUTUMN, that's why!) Stephen's division sponsored a party for us at a local pizzeria / fun land. Dinner was (of course) all you could eat AMAZINGLY YUMMY pizza. Then, we were able to each have a gift card to spend how we wished at the attractions. Our family of five chose to drive bumper boats (no photos because I wasn't taking my phone into the boat), where Zac was just barely tall enough to qualify to drive his own boat. The girls rode as passengers with Stephen and I. What a blast. We had the best water-fight with each other, and Zac practiced his driving skills. He will not be getting a driver's license any time soon.

Then we played a bunch of arcade games, where the kids earned lots of tickets and brought home some fun prizes. I played a round of DDR...and well, let's just say it's been awhile since I've danced in that fashion. Actually, I think my moves were fine, but the game board was not built for short little me, so I never hit the center of the buttons. Eh.

We ended the night with a round of putt-putt golf, on a very beautiful course. It was fun to play at night. After all that, we still had some money left on our gift cards, so we went to the concession stand and bought ICEES, because even at 9PM, it was quite warm out.