March Photo Page

What a fun month we had! 

Happy Day!

Happy birthday to my most favorite person in the entire Universe!  Thank you for being my rock, my support, my companion, my love.  Even though I HATE, HATE, HATE living apart from you, I’m so thankful you’re the kind of man who will do what it takes and that ours is the kind of marriage that will make it and not only survive, but get stronger! 

Happy birthday, Justin Jones!  You are my favorite!  Thank you for loving me. Thank you for marrying me!  Have a WONDERFUL day.  We’ll see you soon! 

The Science Fair Project

Hand Washing – Does it matter how long you wash for? 

Tyson got a microscope for Christmas and wanted to “grow stuff” to see.  I found a kit online that was a test about soaps.  You cultured bacteria from hands (nasty) and then tested different types of soaps on the bacteria.  This was going to make a sweet science fair project and show my kids how nasty  their dirty hands are!  Unfortunately, you can’t culture bacteria for the science fair.  Well, not easily, at least. I still want to do it, but that’s a mess for another day. 

In finding a science fair project for my third grader, I wanted to stay on the hand washing theme, because it can be fun to gross kids out about germs.  My mom did it to us when she was in nursing school.  We were all terrified to walk out of a public bathroom without grabbing the door know with a paper towel. 

In my search, I found “GloGerm” and Tyson’s SF project. 

We put the GloGerm on our hands and examined them under a black light (our small kit came with one, but it was too tiny, so I ordered a bigger one).  These aren’t real germs, but just gel to simulate germs, but it was still pretty gross.

 

  Hands freshly “germed.” 

Then we washed hands in 5-second increments (scrubbed with soap for five seconds and then rinse only and dry with paper towels).

 

(hands partially through the wash cycle).

We then examined the hands again and again until the hands had been washed for a total of 20 seconds with soap. 

     

(Hands after 20 seconds of washing)

What we discovered is that it really does matter how long you wash your hand for and that you don’t just rinse them, but scrub them.  There were still places that the germs stuck to, like fingernails, dry skin areas, and in between fingers.  Only dad’s hands were perfect, because he used a nail brush and he’s a germaphobe! 

That my friends, was the easy part.  The fun part.  The part EVERYONE wanted to help with.  Unfortunately, that was the smallest part of the SF project.  Next came the research, the typing, the organizing, etc.  The stuff no one wanted to do. 

I helped Tyson out, but made him do as much as he could do. Here’s the finished result: 

 

 

I found those cute little germy guys at the “Henry the Hand” website.  We put them on his board.  They were a type of germ you could pick up on your hands and what it could do to you.

And…..We Tyson won!  Or he gets to move on to the district level with his project.  (In his mind, it’s as good as “winning the science fair.”)

He was so proud.  So excited.  He said it was the best day of the year so far!  Really, he told me earlier in the year that his goal for the year was to win something in the science fair!  Way to go Tyson!

This Boy

Go on…look at that angel.  Try and look away.  I know, I can’t either.  Yes, he did pose with that little smirk on his face.  He told his dad that he was “Sheriff Woody Austin,” which is just one of his two alter egos (the other being his more frequent “Austin McQueen”).

This boy is my wonder baby, for so many reasons.  He is funny beyond words.  He is a little tease.  He’s a snuggle bug.  He’s a monkey.  He’s a delight.  He’s playful.  He’s friendly.  He’s shy.  He’s so talkative.  He’s so, so much. 

What he isn’t, is an eater.  I mean literally.  He…won’t…eat… Not a single thing.  Not…a…one.  His history with food is long and scarce.  He’s never loved it, but he did eat.. and now he won’t.  We’ve been to doctors.  We’ve been to therapists.  We’ve been on waiting lists.  We’re at the top now. 

Thank heaven, because this little guys is causing some major, major worries in my life. No, I can’t force him to eat.  He literally will puke it back up.  Trust me…we’ve tried. 

It’s so heartbreaking to me to see this most amazing, adorable child literally starving.  He’s normally very pale (I’m his momma after all), but he really is translucent now with the most tired little eyes. 

I just hold him and try not to let him see me cry over him.  I beg him to eat.  I beg and plead and pray and even bribe the child to take a bit of something…anything.  He will out of some attempt to ease his hunger, I imagine, lick the cheese off of Cheetos.  But, he won’t eat them.  I got him to bite one…once, but he thought he was choking with this piece of something in his mouth.  It’s so sad to me.

I’m in completely unchartered territory here.  I have stubborn, picky eater kids, but this is so outside what I know how to deal with.  When I tell you we’ve tried everything, I mean we’ve tried EVERYTHING to get him to eat…ANYTHING, but it’s not happening. 

Until his therapy starts, I’m so thankful for Special K protein powder to go in his apple juice to give him something to help sustain him. 

I’m struggling to find the “good” in this situation.  I’m looking.  I suppose it’s good that he is an otherwise healthy child and if you don’t look at his skin tone or his eyes, you won’t know he’s starving.  I suppose it’s good that we live near a wonderful children’s hospital to help us get the help we need.  I suppose it’s a good thing he’s so stinking CUTE, because I need to remember that when he wakes up more often at night because his stomach is growling and he needs to drink something so he can go back to sleep.  I KNOW it’s a good think that he’s mine and that I love him so and that I’d go to the ends of the earth for him (or any of my children for that matter) to help him succeed.  I’ll just keep remembering that to help me through (and him too!). 

Tyson’s Birthday

I can’t believe he’s 9!  It’s not gellin’ with me! 

There were really no good photos taken, because the kids didn’t sit still long enough.  We had family over for dinner and birthday donuts (Tyson’s favorite).  Happy birthday, Tyson!  You are amazing!

I did go check on the girls and found them in Emma’s room playing in her dress-up clothes.  They were more than happy to pose for me when I grabbed my camera!  So silly!

 

It’s Within Me

I have a friend whose blog entry today, “Keep Smiling,” really hit home with me.  She got it right on when she stated that everyone has struggles.  While my struggles may seem small to you, or yours to me, that doesn’t make them less valid.  I may not be struggling with (for example) divorce, unemployment, health problems, etc., my struggles are as all-encompassing to me as yours are to you. 

Dawn so beautifully points out that struggles will always be a part of life and that we can endure them by focusing on the good.  Hence the “keep smiling” part.  It sounds so simple and so difficult at the same time.  Some days the good is so obvious that it’s easy to focus on it.  It’s when that “good” is more difficult to find that it is probably the most important time to find it. 

At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna, I really believe that there really is good in every situation, maybe not on the surface, but it’s there.  Take, for example, a friend of mine who has a HORRIBLE disease.  There is NOTHING good about this disease.  This person is honestly sweetest, kindest, most amazing woman I’ve ever met.  This disease is hers not because she did something wrong, but just because it’s hers. 

Where’s the good in this, you ask?  It’s there.  Maybe not for her, although I’m sure she’s thankful for many things still, but I know I’ve benefitted from her disease.  I have learned to really appreciate life.  I mean REALLY appreciate each day, even as dull and mundane as some are. 

I’m also certain it’s in YOU too.  You can find the good within the bad.  Try it!

Facebook Faceoff FINAL WEEK

 

UPDATE:  Here’s the link for voting:  HERE

You can also go HERE to the Brownie Scraps Gallery to download goodies from other designers in this competition. 

I also created another freebie for Brownie Scraps.  You can download it from their gallery (link above) or HERE. 

I have persisted through the final week.  I’m not in first place, but not in last either.  This week we took one of the kits we have created and turned it into a collection, complete with extras like glitter styles and word art!  Here’s my completed collection: 

             

I’m really proud of the kit I’ve completed, so instead of just giving away one item from it, I’m giving away the whole collection for one week only!  No bribery involved, but if you feel so inclined, please “like” my kit on the Brownie Scraps Facebook Page.  The link is posted above.  Have fun!

WORD ART

PAPERS

GLITTER

ADD ON

ELEMENTS