exploring the museum

Walking like a dinosaur and posing at the dig.

More pictures

Digging for Bones

I chose this museum because it has a children's dig. They hand you a chisel and brush and a pair of goggles and let you loose! It wasn't what I expected though-no dirt to dig through, just carefully chisseling hard stone. You can't bang the chissel, only scrape or twist it. I went back and asked if there was actually anything in there. They said there are three actual fossils in there but you aren't going to find them. It's mainly just sand and wax in there. They replace the material every three months or so.

You can see Justin happily bringing us a handful of tiny "bone fragments."

Dinosaur Bones!

Touching a real fossil-Justin became completely shy when the woman came over and offered to answer questions and showed us some fossils that were in their lab. Here you can see Tom had to move Justin's arm for him so he would touch the fossil. She told us that the bones there were real, although most are supplemented with casts and molds. Either all the bones aren't found or else they erode or are ruined other ways.

Academy of Natural Sciences

Our family vacation this year was a trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philly on Saturday and then Sunday into Monday we went camping.

There are two pictures of us "with dinosaurs" You stand somewhere and it projects your image onto a screen with a dinosaur scene playing. It was hard to capture with the camera though.

The Academy of Natural Sciences is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the United States. It was founded in 1812 by many of the leading naturalists of the young republic with its expressed mission of "the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences." For over nearly two centuries of continuous operations, the Academy has sponsored expeditions, conducted original environmental and systematics research, and amassed natural history collections containing more than 17 million specimens. The Academy also has a long tradition of public exhibits and educational programs for both schools and the general public.

Jacob's kissing now

Jacob just walked up to me yesterday and for the first time, gave me a kiss! He's tried to kind of eat my face a few times before that may have been an attempt to kiss-or not. But this was the first clear, using his lips not his whole mouth thing. He did it several times yesterday and once today. Very sweet!
He won't do it on command though.

1st day of Second Grade

Today is the first day of school here.

Leanna chose which dress to wear today and her hairstyle (styled after a character in a

movie she watched yesterday).

She did not eat her fried eggs on toast. Just drank some chocolate milk.

Channel 69 news

Leanna and Timothy posed as reporters for Channel 69 news today.

http://www.wfmz.com/special/atwnfair08/photos.asp

Imaginations running wild

Yesterday Justin told me for the second time that he saw WordGirl flying around our house. (but then a few minutes later he finally admitted to me that he was only pretending, "She's not really in our house!" he reassured me.)

Some of the older three's favorite games to play right now include:
*camping--they lay pillows and blankets and sometimes couch cushions on the floor, often around a light and go to sleep and wake up.
*The Slippery Slimey--Someone, always Timthy, I think, is the Slippery Slimey and the others run screaming from it. The slippery slimey chases them, laughing and making scary noises and faces all the while.
*Mommy cat/baby cat--Sometimes this transforms into another animal but it's always a mother/baby combo. Seals, sea creatures, dinosaurs, dolphins, birds
*Husband/wife--this game usually combines with the previous one.

She could probably use some words of comfort

I like the title of this blog: I'll be in the Closet with the Oreos
: )

You can always find someone who has it worse, two of her kids have autism. She has 5 kids and is pregnant with her 6th. My kids are quite a handful, but at least I'm not dealing with TWO with autism on top of that.
I read her story about Walmart with the 17 month old dropping eggs and then the underwear dropping like rose petals, and it sounds very much like trips I have been through.
(Laura, read her story #4, maybe you could offer advice?)

A couple things I ran accross today

This looks like a good idea, I could use one for Jacob! Its jewelry the Mom wears for the baby to chew on. So it doesn't get dropped on the ground, because Mom is wearing it, and it can help keep the child occupied when you need it.

A company that designs kids' rooms. Just neat to look at, I can't see spending the money on them even if you could afford it, but fun to see.

Free night at the fair

Of course, free night is never completely free. Well, rarely free, anyway. We did pay to let the older three try their hand at dart-throwing. Timothy and Justin could barely get the darts to the board(in fact, Timothy's actually bounced off balloons a few times). Justin got very shy and we had to hold him and help his hand throw the dart. Timothy managed to finally hit his last dart and was very pleased with himself. They are each holding their chosen prizes in the pictures. Leanna got her face painted for free, both sides. No one else wanted it done. The ice-cream was from home, too expensive to buy it at the fair.

I'll have to go back, I want to see the elephants, apparently they have the shows at certain times.

Yes my hands are full, my heart too

It was funny, I had just mentioned that I worry how it affects the kids to constantly hear that I have my hands full with them. We hear it so often. I know Leanna's at least somewhat aware of it since she's commented before on the subject(when people asked if we were having another baby she later said to me, but how could we have another baby, how would you be able to take care of another baby?). Today I heard proof that Justin's aware as well.
A man stopped us to comment and said his sister has four as well. He said he only had one, and I told him that you just adjust (my grandmother once told me that and I've found it to be true). He then followed us over to the water fountain and started explaing that his sister has trouble, and she's a single Mom. I said well that would be quite difficult. He continued talking about having four kids and Justin (out of nowhere) pipes up with, "Yes, they're all hers!" I thought that was so funny. Although the man actually hadn't asked, people so frequently do. Obviously Justin has paid attention.

Literacy initiative for boys

As a mother of three boys I l0ve the fact that someone's encouraging boys to read. Jon Scieszka, author of some great books like the Stinky Cheese Man and other fairly Stupid Tales has started a program to encourage boys/guys to read. His website http://www.guyssread.com/
lists some reasons why boys generally aren't as into reading:

• Biologically, boys are slower to develop than girls and often struggle with reading and writing skills early on.

•The action-oriented, competitive learning style of many boys works against them learning to read and write

• Many books boys are asked to read don’t appeal to them. They aren’t motivated to want to read.

•As a society, we teach boys to suppress feelings. Boys aren’t practiced and often don’t feel comfortable exploring the emotions and feelings found in fiction.

• Boys don’t have enough positive male role models for literacy. Because the majority of adults involved in kids’ reading are women, boys might not see reading as a masculine activity.

The website has a place where you can submitt books and they list some guy picks also.

Trying something new

Purple carrots, looked interesting.

Even though I chose to buy this, I still had to make myself try it. I was very afraid. It is good though. Not like my favorite drink ever, but the type that I'd probably get to really like after drinking for a while.

Justin and Timothy really liked it.

Mocha cappucchino and strawberry banana are my favorites though.

Dora's becoming a woman, (or at least a tween)

Ugggh, sometimes I get disgusted with the world. They want more money so they are changing a beloved children's character. I wouldn't mind it if it was about children wanting an older version of a cartoon they loved, but it's really all about money and merchandising.
From Parentdish:

Dora the Explorer may be one of Nickelodeon's most popular characters, but she's no Hannah Montana. Some of us would say that's a good thing, since she is designed to appeal to much younger audience. But, according to a source, the powers that be over at Nickelodeon want to give the bilingual cutie a makeover in an attempt to draw in the older kids.First up for the Dora transformation is a new, feminine look. Maybe put her in a skirt and fix her hair up a little? Add some bows to the backpack and color the map pink? Next, get the girl some human friends. The source says they are considering adding a group of "Explorer Girls" to the animated cast. If these Explorer Girls follow the typical kid's show formula, you can expect a smart one, a pretty one and maybe a prissy one who doesn't like to get dirty.If all that goes well, Dora may soon find herself featured on the big screen. Nickelodeon isn't commenting, but the source says they are considering a full-length feature film featuring Dora as an older kid. "Dora is as popular as she's ever been, and now has a second generation of viewers that we would love to serve," the company said.I sure hope they don't ruin Dora. Sure, my 7-year-old has zero interest in that "baby show" now, but she loved it when she was younger. As do lots of little kids today. Does everything have to be about appealing to the tween audience these days?

Barbie rod catches record fish and more

Clue Updated!

They got rid of the lead pipe, revolver, and wrench!



In the new version of Clue, your favorite characters have had a little work done.
Their last names remain the same, but their first names and bios have been updated.
For example, Miss Scarlet is now Kasandra Scarlet, a famous actress often featured in tabloids. And Mr. Green is now Jacob Green, an African-American "with all the ins."
Colonel Mustard is now Jack Mustard, a former football player. And, the Professor is now Victor Plum, a billionaire video game designer.
Each character also now has a special power that could help players discover clues more quickly. Game maker Hasbro has also added more 'weapons', up from six to nine.
The candlestick, knife and rope remain, but now weapon choices include a dumbbell, trophy or poison.
The lead pipe, revolver and wrench are no longer part of the game.
New rooms have been included as well. There's now a theater, spa and guest house nearby.

A few more quotes

From Colin Brazier's think tank study:
When the renowned biographer Lady
Longford was asked why she had eight children,
her answer was, in part, ‘curiosity’. Her children
were strikingly different examples of humanity and
she could scarcely wait to see the next.
The parents of large families come to recognise
that not all their offspring can, or should be, top of
the class. Conversely, they can afford to be more
cavalier since they are likely to find at least one
naturally-gifted scholar in their brood. As motherof-
four and author of the Parent Trap Maureen
Freely wrote: ‘You might still be trying to live out
your fantasies through them, but that still means
fewer fantasies per child.’73

Poetry School

Leanna composed a poem today, and was quite proud of it. She said she should find a poetry school to go to.

Leanna's Poem:

Peanut butter smooth
Jelly too and milk too
With chocolate milk and
Bippity boppity boo!

(*her spelling was, ah, a bit unique though)