Science Center

We spent yesterday at the Science Center. It is a hands-on museum for children. It has lots of fun things to do, like laying on a bed of nails, dissection of a cow's eye ball, a learning about bones class, levers, building areas, etc. The kids really enjoyed it. We all learned a lot. I think one of AnnaLisa and Andrew's favorite was the presentation called "forces of nature". It had massive fans, heat lamps, rain, and shaking floor to simulate everything from tornado to earthquakes. I am glad they did not try a tsunami! AnnaLisa went 4 or 5 times. My personal favorite was the Lava class. They showed us how to make different types of lava (more than vinegar and baking soda). They talked about different types of volcanoes, different types of rocks volcanoes make, etc - really interesting stuff!

One of the funny things about the day is that I had the kids wear good walking shoes so that we would last (4.5 hour trip) and I was the one who ended up having the sore feet at the end of the day!

I have to thank Danika for letting us know about this program. We were able to "check out" 4 free tickets from the library, so we only had to pay for one ticket (Maggie and the twins were free). So family trip to the museum cost $18 - 10 for the ticket, $8 for parking (we figured out where we could park for free next time).

We want to go to a few more museums this summer, hopefully we can!

Hat day

Obviously I missed the memo about this one. Not sure why we are all wearing hats, but they are a good look crew!

JJ's post

welcome to the mom website,so git in to your car or climb a matin(mountain) so you wont hath(have) to go a drifrintway (different way) so fallo(follow) inskuchinsk(instructions) so you don`t git lost ok over now

JJ is a guest blogger for today. These are his spontaneous words of advice. Spelling was standardized only when necessary.

you should wear clean underwear in case you have an accident...

Jeff and I were finishing up lunch and chatting a bit while I finished feeding William, when JJ, a lunch straggler, came back from the bathroom to finish eating. He announced that he was wearing two underwears. Jeff and I were a bit confused, until we realized he meant, for some strange reason, that he had two pairs of underwear on. We laughed at this. We asked JJ why he was wearing two pairs, and he said he did not know. We were a bit befuddled how a person could not know he was wearing two pairs, but to JJ it was a minor oversight that anyone could have done. I smiled and looked at Jeff who was still amazed beyond understanding, when I said, "That is OK, I know a father who does things like that in my view, and it befuddles me as well". It is not uncommon for Jeff to 'search the house' for a missing item, for mom to look in it's designated spot and find it sitting in plain view. When we first got married, I would do this and he would get upset. Now, 10 years later, we have both accepted this quirk, and are thankful that we find missing item and move on with life. So Jeff smiled as he realized that when we do things that are "minor oversights", it doesn't seem really odd to us, however, it probably does to other people. This is when JJ pipes up and says, "...besides, if I have an accident, then I will only mess one pair of underwear and the other pair will be dry"...ah, the thought process of a 5 year old.

MaggieMae's personality comes shining through

Not really sure why we took this picture, other than to get a picture of our dancing cowgirl baglady. The fun part of this picture is that this is her personality...always looking to have a little fun!

What do you want to be when you grow up?...a daddy

Andrew and I had a conversation this week that is too precious to not be recorded. I was having a rough day with Andrew and his behaviors he was choosing. I had a babysitter come over to watch the kids so I could go to the chiropractor. I had intended on taking one of the babies (the other was sleeping and I still do not feel comfortable leaving the babies with only one person) with me. As I walked out the door, I thought I should ask Andrew to come with me. I asked him to come and he said yes (usually he prefers to stay at home). We got to talk quite a bit. Unfortunately it started on some of the negative behaviors we had just finished dealing with. Then it bridged into the future and what he would like for his family and what he wants his life to be like (we were talking about his selfish choices, and how when he was a grown up he would need to sacrifice some for his family). For some crazy reason the conversation turned to his career choices (at present this is paleontologist and archeologist). I mentioned that there were three things that should influence his choice for a career: 1)Will it allow you to support your family and allow your wife to remain in the home to raise your children, 2)Is it something that you reasonably enjoy, 3)Will it allow you the type of family life you desire (and obviously 4)is it legal). So then we talked about family life.
Mom: Andrew what do you want your family life to be like?
Andrew: I want to have 6 kids (I started to giggle, bcse I was fairly sure I knew the next answer, but I asked anyway).
Mom: Andrew, why do you want 6 kids?
Andrew: Because that is how many kids we have in our family.
I burst out laughing.
Andrew: Why are you laughing?
I told him, when Daddy and I were talking about getting married, I asked Daddy how many kids he wanted in our family. He told me eight. Then I ask, "Do you know why he said eight Andrew?"
A: No. Why?
Mom: Because that is how many kids he had in his family growing up. You are so much like your daddy.

I looked back at Andrew in the rear-view mirror to see a big old "watermelon grin" on my boy's face. He loves being like his daddy.