CelestialFamily

:::::::Zoo Trip from Last Week:::::




























:::Book Reviews::::


Some bizarre and interesting facts mixed with some conjecture about creatures we live with on Earth. Some amazing adaptations and some that are rather freaky make me think that being human is not to shabby.
A sad, but necessary cautionary tale of human intervention in Florida has to do with people putting an abundance of bird seed out to encourage birds to visit their gardens, but it causes the birds to produce young too early. The adults can eat the seeds, but the hatchlings need grubs and larvae, so they often die of malnutrition.
One of my favorite stories was about the male lyrebird from Australia. The lyrebird's ability to mimic sound has me in awe!
Another great story is about sheep not being all that dumb. There are sheep in Yorkshire, England who would run and then tuck and roll to get over the cattle grates to raid the farmers gardens.
Another interesting fact that no eels have been witnessing reproducing in captivity. Eels...who would have thought they would be the masters of restraint?
A quick and enjoyable read.

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Paul Yeager injects a lot of personality along with his informative book about weather. He dispels many weather inspired myths and clears up many queries on why the weather does what it does. He explains that though we Southerners perceive humid air as heavy it is actually lighter than dry air. He states, "It just feels heavier because we feel warm, clammy, and disgusting." (He speaks the truth about that perception, indeed). He also dispels the myth about "heat lightning"...(hint: there is no such thing). A great gardening tip from p. 198, "water the garden after it rains". This promotes deep root growth and conserves water. Yeager states that if you are certain on a light rain will fall you can water while it is still raining, "Ont only will it have the same effect on the garden, but it will give the neighbors something to talk about." A wonderful book for understanding our world.


:::::::::Piano Lessons:::

Eve is enjoying her piano lessons. She is experiencing some frustration with reading the notes consistently. The pattern is the same as we see with her with reading books. I have taken to sitting with her during her practices and trying some different strategies. I have her tell me what note she sees. I have her tell me what notes to play. Then she plays the piece. She goes through it about 3 times to play it consistently. Part of her reading problem has her recognizing the note immediately, then forgetting the same note a few measures over. I think it is part confidence part developmental delay. She gets claps, hugs and kisses with each success. I am having to remember the lessons I had as a kid. I could never get my left hand to play staccato correctly with my right, so I gave up lessons. Michael is our fallback since he reads music.
Eve also picks up Aaron's guitar... (it is a lonely guitar and likes the gentle stroking). Michael and I plan to trade it in and get a 3/4th size guitar for Eve as a Christmas present.

:::::::::::Dr. Who::::::::


Just wanted to give a shout out to Matt Smith for being, yet another, enjoyable Dr. Who. His take on the Dr. is pretty cool. Our entire family like his portrayal. We also like his companion, Amy Pond. Their was a collective sigh of sadness when Rory was absorbed into the crack in space.

Later, gators!

Life with Evey:

This morning Eve was telling jokes, which she found quite amusing.
I told her, "You know you are a legend in your own mind."

Eve replied chirpily, "I know. I hope I get a statue!"


::::::::Here Comes Science:::::::

The verdict is in...we love it! The cd is fun all by itself, but what a cool addition to have the dvd. The dvd has cartoon drawn characters to segue to each song. Noah sings the Palentologist song the most. Eve can be heard singing about Photosynthesis, Roy G. Biv, and the blood mobile. I love the shooting star song. I like that they included a follow up song to one they did about the sun that had new scientific information.

We are off to see Rachel and the other Drama Camp performers at Parkview. I will post photos soon. Time to go get celebratory flowers!

Eve and Noah were arguing, Eve at the base of the stairs and Noah in his bedroom. From what I could tell Noah refused to help Eve find a website on the computer downstairs. She was trying to harangue him until he helped her. Then I heard in a whiny, shrill voice, "MOM, Noah called me a brat!"

Noah yelled from upstairs, "I said it loud enough so mom can hear!"

Well...so much for blackmailing the older brother!

::::::::::::They Might Be Giants::::

I just got the cd & DVD of "Here Comes Science". I'll let you know what I think after I finish listening to it. My, preliminary, guess is that it will be pretty cool.


Smiles!

Mommy is Great <<<<<-----------

Eve asked to frost the cake I had in the refrigerator and I said for her to have at it! She asked me to help her frost it. I showed her the scoop and plop method, which gives you a lot of frosting to move around. She had no problems after that demonstration.

Noah demonstrates his Puss in Boots imitation from Shrek 2:




If you are unfamiliar with the title's reference check out this sketch by Bill Cosby. Michael and I love it:



Smiles!

Michael and I are nursery leaders in our ward. We have 12 kids, usually, and they consist of kids who are potty training. I have taken on the duty of helping the little ones go potty and I come up with the art project ideas. Michael helps with crowd control, funny faces, singing in key, and making the art projects actually work. I have a fingerprint tile Aaron did back in 2002 and it hangs in the kitchen. I decided I wanted to have the kids in nursery make them for Mother's Day gifts a week in advance. I grabbed my
1.Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book

2. white 4.5 x 4.5 white tiles from Lowe's
3. acrylic paint
4. black Sharpie
5. wet wipes
6. Acrylic spray sealer
7. apron
8. 3x5 cards (to write down the page number and animal/animals the kids wanted)
9. and two additional people to help (Thanks, Deborah P., and Brother Howick)
10. felt for the backing
11. ribbon for hanging
12. liquid nails for interiors

Here is what the kids stamped with their fingers, then Michael sketched in what they wanted. I sealed them, cut the felt and glued the ribbon and felt to the back. It was a team effort.



I had the "brilliant" idea to use some paper bags and some construction paper to make puppets that looked like the moms for an additional Mother's Day craft. Michael cut out red construction paper lips and black paper became hair, along with yellow, and off white. The off white paper was colored brown by the kids. We had a few kids dissolve into sobs as they had to wait for lips to be glued, or the crayon they wanted. Michael rolls his eyes and perseveres with my impromptu ideas. He had to console one particular child because we didn't have purple construction paper for lips. He gets next week off, but I can't promise that after that I won't have another harebrained craft idea to pursue. Oh yeah...Father's Day is coming up. Toss any ideas my way.


::::::::::::Teacher Appreciation Week:
One of my favorite websites is Bakerella.com. Her cake pops are a total hoot. I decided to make the apple version for teacher gifts at the kids' elementary school

(This template is by 3 Paper Peonies)



Eve helped me make smiley faces for my mother-in-law, Sydney.
(This template is by Christine Newman)

Must go. Peace out, my friends!

A big thank you to my mom and Jim for inviting some awesome friends to partake in some tasty Mexican food, yummy cake and some good natured ribbing. I stole this photo from Jim's blog because I love my friend, Althea's, laugh. Hey, if any of you fly Delta she is one of the best flight attendants around. Another friend, Elizabeth, just moved back to Georgia and is working at Emory so look for great stuff there...but I hope you won't need the services. Suzanne and Jason are great neighbors to my mom and friends. Lani and Guy...thanks for the cool pinwheel (it is in the front yard) and Eve has claimed the balloons. Carol...thanks for the cute card! Charlene...thanks for driving Lani and me places when we were kids. Thank you mom and Jim for the cool presents and always helping with my kiddos. To my dear husband who went shopping with me for my 5th smoothie maker...you are a patient man! It was a truly fun day!


A torrential downpour to start the week. MMMmmm the smell of runoff in the morning!


Need an inexpensive adventure...try the library:




:::::::::::::::
Autonomatonophobia is the fear of ventriloquists' dummies, animatronic creatures or wax statues -- anything that falsely represents a sentient being.

I actually think ventriliquism is pretty cool, but that is as long as the ventriliquist and dummy are on television. I really liked Willie Tyler and Lester in the early 70s so my mom was so cool to get me a Lester doll. Lester stared at me all the time, so I put him in my toy box. I wasn't sure if that was good enough, so I put my bag full of Barbies on top of that. Still I wasn't sure if he might get out and kill me, so I wedged my Barbie airplane and any other firm items on top of the toy box just to be sure. I eventually donated Lester to someone with more sense. Some unknown person mind you, but probably with more sense. I also feared my wicker chair, the space under my bed and leaving my closet open. Rachel finds it amusing that I would hit my bed after a dead run and a leap to make sure nothing could grab me a night. I know I'm not alone in these fears because I saw Poltergeist and who ever wrote the script for that listened to my nightmares, or had the same ones. Clowns are evil, people! Do I realize these are unfounded...yes...do I still get creeped out...yes!
One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes is with Tele Savalas and Talking Tina:




http://whatafind-antiques-collectibles.blogspot.com/2009/01/eg-goldberger-willie-tyler-lester.html

So long Lester...I hope you are safely resting in a place far, far away!

Welcome to the first Eveism:

This morning while helping the kids get ready for school:

Noah: "Hey, mom did they have the Pink Panther when you were a kid?

me: "Yes."

Eve: "Wow, it's really old then."



A few minutes later Noah and Rachel got into an argument because Rachel kicked him in the butt. He was howling that it really hurt, so Rachel came down to explain how hard she had actually kicked him. She was Air Butt Kicking (kind of like Air Guitar) to show that Noah was exaggerating. I was brushing Eve's hair at the time and she piped up happily, "Use me, Use me. I need someone to kick my butt in the morning!" (Truer words, people).

Spring has sprung and an opportunity to get together with aunts and cousins. Michael and I took the kids down to my dad and Alice's house for Easter. Saturday, the girls helped me bake and decorate a cake for my sister, Tracy's, birthday, the kids hunted eggs, and my dad grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the Big Green Egg.


Here are Rachel and Haley's toes after a spring inspired pedicure:


Haley and Rachel made and decorated cupcakes for Easter:

They also decorated some hard boiled eggs:

Rachel and Haley hanging out:


Rachel and Haley help me make fondant decorations for Tracy's birthday cake:
Me coloring some fondant:

Rachel and Haley cut fondant to make decorative spheres:

Here are some fondant flowers drying:

Here is the strawberry and devil's food cake frosted with chocolate:

Here is Tracy's birthday cake:





Michael blows bubbles waiting for the kids to start hunting eggs:

Michael snuggles up to my dad:

Dad, you aren't uncomfortable...are you?


Aaron isn't hunting eggs, so he poses with a plate of chili. Noah, Haley, Rachel, Eve, and Tyler are ready to go:
Aaron gets whacked with a confetti egg:




Haley:




Rachel runs away from Aaron:



Tracy and Tyler with the cake:


Dig in:


Happy, slightly early, Birthday, Tracy! Happy Easter, everyone!

Noah and the Spelling Homework:

Noah: "I have spelling due Wednesday, will you help me?"

I pulled out the sliding shelf in my desk and said, "Come sit down. Be my friend."

Noah: "You already are my friend...(pause)distantly."

Me: (scribbling down what Noah said).

Noah: "Do you write down everything I say?"


Noah and the Book of Weird Facts


While I was digital scraping photos of Noah's Pinewood Derby he was on the couch reading Rachel's newest Book Fair acquisition Weird But True 300 Outrageous Facts. "Did you..." preceded every entry he read to me. After several entries he said, "Did you know the average yawn last 6 seconds?"

Then, Noah yawned.

Noah asked, "Did you time that?"

Me: "No."

Noah: "Crap!"


Noah and the Harp:

My mom returned my phone call this evening and Noah took the opportunity to speak with her. While they were talking she could hear Eve practicing the piano.
She asked Noah: "Is there any musical instrument you would like to play?"

Noah: (Thinks for a little bit) "The Butt Harp!"

As my mom tells me this story my stepfather, Jim, is listening in the background and adds these clever quips, "I guess you call that a wind instrument." Then, he said: "And he is going to be the one cleaning his own reed!"

I hope to post some layots this week. Later, Peeps!

That flair was posted because it made me laugh and I thought I should pass it on.



***Conversations with Noah:::

A brief history to put this conversation in perspective is that Aaron and Rachel were staying with their respective friends over the weekend. Setting: Sunday morning.

Noah: "Where is Aaron and Rachel?"

Michael: "We sold them."

Noah: "I thought you would have sold Aaron and Eve."

Michael: "Oh, we're going to sell you too, but we just haven't found a buyer yet."

Noah: " Well, I have a bid in to Ebay for some new parents."

These exchanges were quick and matter of fact. Being the bystander in this offered several minutes of laughter.


This morning the estrogen anomaly we call "Rachel" was having breakfast and I was putting butter on a blueberry bagel for her and I stated glibly that salted butter was food of the gods. She quickly said that the food of the gods was curly fries. I repeated my assurance that it was salted butter to wit she replied, "Don't try to reason with me. I've made up my mind."


:::::::::Working on a short video for scouts, so later, peeps!