Summer Science is Starting Early…

Our family amphibian and reptile binder.

Our family had talked about purchasing a reptile to observe over the summer and learn about while gaining yet another family pet. Since we are only a couple of months away from the end of the school year, we have been gathering flyers from pet stores and compiling them in a binder so we can make an informed decision.

Then, a friend from Pokémon league said she had a bunch of salamander and frog eggs and offered some to us. How could I pass up showing the kids the miracle that is frog metamorphosis! So, here we are. The salamanders don’t look like they are doing so well, but this morning we had a surprise with the tadpoles…

I had noticed last night before I went to bed there were little things which had sunk to the bottom of the frog container. Considering the luck we’ve had with the salamanders, I guessed they were dead tadpoles. This morning instead of one or two, there were closer to a dozen sunken eggs. A cat jumped onto the table we are keeping the eggs on and all the little tadpoles wiggled! Then I noticed one had wiggled its way up to the surface. Wow! I am super excited to see how they progress.

Here you can see some tadpoles are still in their eggs and others have hatched and sunk to the bottom.

See how many of the tadpoles are wiggling around?

The salamander eggs. This picture was taken a week ago. The salamanders haven’t changed much other than getting cloudy…which is not a good sign.

Our family amphibian and reptile binder.

I finally figured out…

Freezer paper doesn't smear....awesome!

That I could print directly on to freezer paper. A huge time-saver FTW! Plus, I can’t imagine how much detail I would have been able to save if I had directly printed the design directly to my stencil paper and not traced it.

Abbott & Costello Do Computers…

I received an email from my parents. I used to really enjoy listening to Who’s on First as a kid. But this is TOO FUNNY! I had to share it – if you are subscribed to my blog, then you’ll probably enjoy this too. Now, if I only knew who wrote it…

 

 

AN OLD ONE TAKES ON NEW WINGS.

This is TOO good! Yes, this IS what they would do if they were still here!
Read on:

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on…

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, ‘Who’s on First?’ might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don’t know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows.. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows..

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.

COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’………….

How do you sanitize a TCG Card?…

I must preface this. I love my children. I would do ANYTHING for my children. When they pull stunts like they have today, it’s very hard to like the day. Keep in mind, it is only 10 in the morning.

My almost-two-year-old son started the day at 6:45 with a poopy diaper – and I mean FULL. It was so full, he decided he needed to try and take care of it himself…all over his bedroom. My husband and I have had this happen before, and can’t WAIT for him to be ready to be potty trained so this hell can be behind us. But today I am supposed to continue my to-do list for PAX (which we are leaving for tomorrow). Instead, I’m sani-wiping and scrubbing down a bedroom.

Okay. I can deal with this. It just throws off the day a little.

Enter 5-year-old daughter (VIP) who knows how to tattle on her brother. I sat the two of them down with large snacks at the kitchen table so I could continue shoveling…well…you know. They devoured their snack and found more trouble. My son pried his way behind the child-gate to my nicely sorted and organized stack of 300+ Pokémon cards that just need to be put in a binder. Being almost two, MVP thought these would be fun to throw all over the floor…in front of the kitty litter boxes…and INTO the kitty litter boxes. He must have thought it was pretty cool how far they flew because I could hear him laughing over JoCo blaring from the same room he was in. VIP was laughing too, instead of coming to get me (which you think she would have had a problem with him playing the Pokémon cards since she plays with them too).

Anyway, that was more than I could handle in one AM. MVP’s room is clean now except for the carpet.

Deep breaths have been taken, and venting to my wonderful reading audience has commenced.

So, do you know how to sanitize a Pokémon card? I would really like to know if you do…

Pokémon for Charity

photo by Cathe Post

Sadly, this will be the last year they run this charity event. There were too many technical difficulties and complaints to make it worth running for a fifth year.

Published July 13, 2011

Gotta catch ‘em all, right? How about catching every Pokémon ever, in a 72 hour period? What about catching all those cute fuzzy creatures for a good cause?

Pro3studios is doing exactly this: catching every Pokémon across the Nintendo games in a 72 hour period for theChildren’s Miracle Network. You can make donations through Pay Pal of $5 or more for a chance to win a Platinum Version, and win other cool raffle prizes.

The event will start July 14 at 10 PM (CST) with Pikachu’s Jukebox followed by the main Pokémon event.

To find out exact details, “Like” the facebook page, and follow Pro3studios pages for the event on UStream andYouTube.