Making a cloud

We didn't get around to this project last week for Science so I made sure we got to it today.

I like this science way better than any I ever had in school. I wish I had discovered this curriculum a few years ago, as I think it is geared for students Allison's age and younger. I find we can move through the material pretty quickly, due to their ages, yet they retain it so well that I don't feel bad about using a "younger" curriculum. For that matter, I can't believe how much I learn from this elementary course.



To make a cloud: Heat water, pour into jar. Light a match and throw it into the jar. Slap a baggie of ice cubes over the top of the jar.

Observe.

If your baggie seals the top edge of the jar pretty well, you'll get clouds in the jar. If you've got air leaks, the clouds don't stay in the jar. Ask me how I know this.

We still have one more project to make up from last week. We have to make ice cream in a baggie. I know, I know, it's a tough job teaching these kids but someone's gotta do it. Told you it was way better than when we were in school.

Crazy hats

Clarence's mom invited the girls and me to her church's Mother-Daughter Banquet. The theme was crazy hats.

She told me the theme several days ago so that we could work on putting something together if we wanted to. I intended to mention it to the girls but managed to forget until late on Wednesday. Following my lead, they promptly forgot, too.

Friday, it finally occurred to me once again.




Allison had this Red-Hat-Lady hat from Halloween a couple years ago. She decided to embellish it, I think because all her cowgirl hats are looking pretty crushed and rumpled and this one wasn't. So what's an 11 year old to do to make a "red hat" into something more age appropriate? Why, crochet carnations to add to the purple flowers, of course (including a lime green one this picture doesn't show). I encouraged her to put the carnations on top of the hat but she thought that made it look like she had colored brains up there. My response? "Well, that'd be crazy, for sure!"

Julianne's problem was that she didn't have any hats that fit. "No problem", she says, "I'll just make one".

I laughed and said "Today? You're gonna make a hat, decorate it, and have it ready to wear tomorrow?"

"Yep."

Why did I ever doubt?

I think she looks so 70's in it and she loves the 70's look, so I'm wondering if this hat will be making encore appearances.

We told Clarence he was going to love his mom's hat. He knew then that there must be a chicken on it.

I was seated next to this nice lady at the banquet. She didn't wear her hat the whole time, which was probably good. If I had remembered the words to the VeggieTales Viking song, I might have started singing it. Can you believe she won the prize for the ugliest hat? Me, either. I thought it was a hoot!

Happy Mother's Day!

Pink and Blue

Although each flower of these forget-me-nots is tiny, they bloom so profusely that I can see them from my kitchen window-over 15 yards away.

This bleeding heart surprises me every spring.

It goes from brown, dead leftovers from the prior year to green and blooming almost overnight. Not really, but once I see it starting to emerge from the ground, it doesn't take more than a couple weeks to be three feet tall and covered with blossoms.

I'm so happy to see these flowers each spring. It's still too soon to plant anything outside, since we haven't reached our frost-free date yet, and that makes these all the more special.

It's a special day

Happy Nurses Day to my best friend and Aunt Sharon, as well as any other nurses out there.

When Mom was so ill, I was thankful for the care she received from so many wonderful nurses. Aunt Sharon and my friend both helped our family with medical questions during that time, too. Nurses are a special blessing to those in need so if you know any, please remember to wish them a Happy Nurses Day today.

Today is also a special day for a couple members of our family.



Happy Birthday wishes to our niece Lauren and to our brother-in-law, Bruce, who share their special day.

I'm not going to be able to see Lauren or Bruce today but I'm hoping they both have a wonderful day today.

(And I'm sure that this year, Bruce is going to be so surprised by his gift!)

Orange Pepper Plants

This is a planter Clarence made out of a 2 liter pop bottle.



He read about them somewhere but couldn't find any pictures so he had to figure it out for himself. He cut the bottle in half, using the top to plant and the bottom to water. You probably can't see it, but there is an opening for putting water into the reservoir cut into the side.

This is an orange pepper plant he started from seed I ordered from ebay. It's starting to flower already.

He keeps the bottle planters in boxes because the plants don't like the sun shining on their roots. Until today, these have been growing in a south-facing window, not the greenhouse.

I'm excited that these plants are doing so well. I can't wait to have fresh peppers early in the season.

This post is linked to the From Seeds to Harvest Gardening Challenge at Teaching Good Things.

Balloons and silver linings

We had a lovely visit with our friends on Friday, then got up early to head to Indianapolis for the regional Bible quiz. This year there were teams from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin competing.

Before we got to our friends' house on Friday, the van coolant level had gotten low enough to trigger a warning message. Clarence filled up with gas and topped off the coolant.

The coolant level warning came on again Saturday morning, just outside of Indy. We pulled over and he poured in the rest of the jug of coolant. He thought we probably needed to change the water pump. On a Saturday. In an unfamiliar city. Far from home.

Just after that, Julianne noticed a bunch of hot air balloons in the sky. They were just specks but we continued to get closer to them as we drove to our destination.



This isn't even half of the balloons we could see. Allison counted at least 26.

Once safely at the church, Clarence found some of the locals and started asking about repair shops or parts stores. A couple of them made some calls and located a shop that could do the repair. Then one particular man gave us the directions and said he'd pick Clarence up so he wouldn't have to miss all the quizzes.

The van was fixed by mid-afternoon. The bill was more than I'd like (as always) but I am so thankful that things worked out so well. Although our day started out kind of cloudy, there were definite silver linings:

• We didn't get stranded on the side of the road
• We were able to make it to our destination, then to the repair shop, without running out of coolant and doing major damage to something else.
• The people from the area were more than helpful. The calls, the ride offers, the clear directions in an unfamiliar city were all a big help.
• The repair shop was open on Saturday, could fit us in, could get the necessary parts, and completed the work fairly quickly.
• We saw the biggest group of balloons I think I've ever seen at once.
• Our girls did well in their quizzes.
  

Neither of them made it to individual finals but they brought home a second place trophy as a team. They lost one quiz by one question and won the rest. They both quizzed out several times, too.

We aren't planning to attend Nationals this year so this was their final quiz. We're very proud of the year they've had quizzing on the book of Luke.

And now the white trilliums...

Clarence was kind enough to run out this morning and snap a picture of some of our white trilliums for me.



I thought they'd be open already but perhaps yesterday's monsoon-like weather delayed them a bit.

Thankfully, Julianne has some nice shots from a couple years ago so all is not lost.

Julianne loves to take flower pictures. Don't you just love a little surprise like catching this bug crawling inside the bloom?

We are headed to Indiana this morning. We will go to Shipshewana, then visit some friends overnight. Tomorrow morning we will continue on to Bible Quiz regionals.

I'll see you all Sunday or Monday.