Look

Chi has been saying a word a lot lately, but I've had no idea what he was really saying other than it wasn't what it sounded like. He's been saying "look" but he started the word with an F sound. I knew he didn't really have a dirty mouth, but for the life of me I couldn't figure it out! What a relief; now I can properly correct him.

Am I longer?

I forgot to post this story. On Saturday, after the festivities, I was hugging Gabe on my lap and I was talking about how great it was that he was six now. Then he said, "I think I must be longer now." And he stretched out (still on my lap) stiff as a board and asked me to check. I love that goofball. Longer. It's funny; he never quite says things the way you'd expect.

How to do a Science Party

Well, I'd like to offer the world the cure to a horrible disease, or end poverty, or something, but those are not the skills I was endowed with. So, I offer a post about Gabe's Science Party. So many people have given us positive feedback on the party, so I thought I would share the details so others could create the party for their kids or friends or whoever.

There are science party ideas out there, but they focus strongly on images of chemistry or biology. Being married to a physicist, I, of course, scoffed at this. But really what is a common physics image? So for Gabe's invites I focused on the number 6 (since that's how old he was turning). I simply made a postcard featuring the number six in orange and using a "tech" font and a simpler font wrote: Gabe is turning six, he's having a science party, and you're invited. Then I included the details of when and where. I used blue text. On the boarder I wrote in green: It's an Experimentation Celebration! I printed them on an inkjet printer on glossy photo paper (4 to a sheet), cut them apart and passed them out at school. But you could actually send them through US Post as a postcard, just fill out the addresses and stamp on the back side.

We did the baking soda and vinegar "volcanoes" as the kids arrived. We also did "Milky Fireworks" which is just whole milk with drops of food coloring on a plate. If you take a Q-tip dipped in dish soap and touch it to the center of the food coloring it bursts out like a firework. Once the kids had arrived, we gathered them together and Matt did some science demos. Things with fire, and shooting, you know, stuff we wouldn't want the kids to actually do themselves yet.

The next part of the party was set up in centers that they rotate between in small groups. One station was "Toothpick Towers." They were given toothpicks, cheese balls, gummi bears, and mini marshmallows and had to experiment with what worked best to build the tallest, most stable tower that they could build. The second station was all about balance, specifically "Throw Your Weight Around" which was about how we adjust our bodies to move without realizing it. They stood with one side pressed against a wall and had to try to pick up the outside leg. And go try it; you won't be able to because to pick up your leg you have to be able to shift your weight. They also did "Balancing Sticks" where they had to predict which was easier to balance, a short stick or a long one. Then they had to test it out to discover the long stick gives more time to make adjustments.

Then they went to "Super Slime" and made slime using the borax-glue recipe. This slime was then bagged up and put into their goody bags so they could take it home. Next was "Float My Boat" where they had a 6 in. square piece of aluminum foil that they had to form into a boat and predict how many pennies their boat could hold before sinking. After making predictions, they tried out their boats by adding pennies and counting up until it sank. They got to take home their boats in their goody bags too.

The last station was "Potato Launchers." With this station they had a lever that was marked in increments. They chose which number to place the fulcrum under. Placed a potato on one end and stomped on the other to see how far the potato would fly. As they took turns they were able to discover that when the fulcrum was farther from the potato, the potato flew farther. This was a big hit, but you have to be careful with it because it can get out of control easier. If you do this with kids, make sure you have a strong adult leader to keep everyone safe.

After that we had cake and other food. There are different science cake ideas. Cakes shaped like beakers, volcanoes, bugs. But again with the lean towards physics, so we opted to shape Gabe's cake into a number six. He wanted an ice cream cake anyway. So, I drew my six on a piece of sturdy cardboard, cut it out with an Xacto knife and covered it with foil. Then I molded foil walls, several inches high all around the number form. I used tape on the outside to keep them in place. I bought one of the big tubs of vanilla ice cream and left it out until it softened. Meanwhile I crushed a box of Graham crackers and mixed it with melted butter. I pressed this into the form to make the crust. Then I drizzled it with hot fudge. I didn't completely coat the crust.Then I crushed 8 mini Butterfingers. When the ice cream was soft, I used a large bowl and mixed in the Butterfinger. This was spread evenly on the fudge-drizzled crust. At this point, I had to put the cake into the freezer (and adjusted the freezer to coldest setting) for several hours. When the cake was solid, I pulled off the sides, situated the six on a larger platter and frosted it with thawed Cool Whip (Cool Whip is happy to be frozen and thawed, so it's a good frosting choice for ice cream cakes), and sprinkled with more Butterfinger. Then I popped it back into the freezer until the party. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone took a picture, so you'll have to use your imagination.

In the goody bags along with the slime and boats they made, they each got a Science booklet that detailed the experiments and why things worked the way they did. I included a list of science websites for kids on the back page. Then I included a pencil and a packet of Pop Rocks (because that is a "sciencey" sort of candy.

All in all we had a good time. Those who came had a good time. We were told by one parent that we had set the bar for birthday parties. But, you know what? Most people rent out places that do parties for you, and I can see the convenience in that, but we spent a lot less on our party. It only takes a little planning to throw a creative party.

Brick walls

I'm not sure why I even try. I want to be a person who stands up for what is right, who tries to make a positive impact on the world, who doesn't let things that are blatantly wrong go unchecked. But really, does it matter? Trying to get through to people anymore is like talking to brick walls. There doesn't seem to be much room for rational conversation anymore. If a person doesn't agree with you, they just refuse to speak to you. We don't have a free exchange of ideas anymore.

To top it off, so many people are trying to dig in and promote hatred in an effort to protect their own bigotry. It's all too much. We have become a society of selfish, self-absorbed, greedy, anti-intellectual brats. No one can step up and take responsibility for anything. And on top of that, we can't even count on a sane voice of reason from the religious groups because people are bastardizing everything Christianity is supposed to teach us. How is it possible that God is on the side of the people that say, "Get the &**%$ out of my way, I've got mine so screw you, I'll trash the hell out of this place because I won't be here when it's time to pay, if you are different than me, you must be bad"? And yet they convince themselves that they get to be this way because God blessed them.

It's really all too much. I don't know why I keep trying. It just makes me so angry and sad. But God help me, I still keep talking to brick walls...

Life with the boys

Chi says yes and nope a lot right now. If he really is upset he says "Noooooo!" It's never a simple no. If it is a simple no he says "nope." He also says "but" a lot. In the book Curious George there is a page where it ends with "George was curious. It looked easy. But -" then you turn the page. "Oh, what happened!..." So now, we don't know for sure what he means by it, but he says "but" all the time, seemingly in connection to some action taking place or something he wants to have happen. It's kind of funny. It reminds me of when Gabe was two and said "actually" all the time.

I also find it hilarious that Gabe thinks his PhD holding physicist dad is cool just because he once worked for Wendy's. See, to a five year old, fast food is something to aspire to. He also told me I was "magnificent" when I threw a double (the simplest toss) with my rifle the other day. With Gabe, it's the little things that impress him. I'm glad he doesn't set the bar too high.

A House!

We are under contract -- we are buying a house! It's in the neighborhood we live in, so it will be an easy move, and Gabe gets to stay at his school. At the bank, officially applying for the mortgage (we've been pre-approved so there shouldn't be any problems), Malachi saw us signing lots of papers, and wanted one. Matt gave him a blank piece and a pen. Chi scribbled a bit on it and then slide it across the desk to the loan officer and pointed to the pile of papers. Apparently, he had signed his name and it belonged in the pile. We find it very funny that Chi helped apply for the mortgage. Other than that, he sat and watched "Curious George" on the portable DVD player. Thank God for technology!

Chi and Gabe have been having us play Hide-and-Seek in the back yard. When it's Chi's turn to count he goes to the tree and hides his face and says, "nine...nine...nine..." Then turns around and says "Where'd they go?" On our walk today (past our soon to be new house, we couldn't resist), Chi kept stopping at trees and counting. It was funny at first, but we have A LOT of trees in the neighborhood, so it made our walk take quite a long time.

Other than trying to get the house, I've been getting ready for Gabe's birthday party. He's very excited about turning six. We are inviting his class and having a science party. The kids will be broken into groups and they will go do experiments at different tables. Matt is going to demonstrate some stuff that wouldn't be safe for them to do as well. I think it will be fun. Instead of the usual goody bags, I'm making a book of the experiments and why they work and each kid will get to take that home along with stuff they make during their experiments (slime, a tinfoil boat), I'll through in a pencil and a piece of candy or something. Personally, I think it's much nicer than the stuff that breaks in a day anyway, so I hope the parents appreciate that.

It looks like May is gearing up to be a busy month...I guess it always is!

To Buy or Rent; That is the Question.

We are stilling waiting on a response on a short-sale in Frankenmuth, but we are not very optimistic. House hunting has just not gone our way, and because of that we have had a lot of time to gain a better understanding of the local housing market and to question our motives: are we buying just to buy, without really looking at what makes the most financial sense for us right now?

Right now houses in the area are overpriced. Some are selling, but not that many. When the tax credit goes away, we (and experts around us) believe prices will plummet. So, we don't think we are going to try for the credit any more. But, prices are not gaining around here either. Even with the possibly inflated prices, those are not any higher than they were five years ago. So, we know we will want to leave the area and we were looking at a five year (or so) timeline. We can't expect our property to gain much value. We can't really have any certainty that the house will sell for enough to pay off our debt and have anything to put down on another house. In fact, it seems unlikely.

We also would prefer to live closer to the university, but all the schools over there are substandard. So we have also been wondering if we want to send Gabe to the Lutheran school anyway. In that way it wouldn't matter to us what the public schools were, except for purposes of resale. It would be crazy to buy a house in an area where no one wants the schools when I know it's not going to be long term. But, because of that logic, I can't live where I want to live. Unless...

We rent. Then I don't have to worry about the bad market or the schools. I can live where we want, send the kids to the school we want, and walk away when we want. The downside remains not having any decorating control, probably still not having pets, and although interest rates won't likely jump super high quickly, it means not taking advantage of all time low interest rates. (5.1% on 30 yr. fixed rate mortgage) Nationwide, the housing the market is expected to be shaky through at least 2011. Here in Michigan unemployment is 14% with little to no prospects of turnaround anytime soon. We don't like it here. We would probably be crazy to buy right now. I think....

What would you do? I know we have to decide for ourselves, but it would be interesting to hear some one else's perspective.