Kids Sayings

"Mama, sometimes I feel like you do too much laundry... and sometimes I feel like eating pizza." Sweet Daughter


Sweet Daughter is doing fuse beads. Sweet Son is playing with a truck. I'm playing on my computer. It's been about 10 minutes since anyone has said anything.

Sweet Son: Mama, does "de" me no or not?
Me: Huh? De?
Sweet Son: De. Does de mean no or not?
Me: Um... I don't think so. I don't understand the question.
Sweet Son (getting frustrated): No Mama. De. De. Does it mean no or not?
Me: I really don't understand.
Sweet Son: Hydrated means you have enough water. Dehydrated means you need more water. So does de mean no or not?
Me: Oh, now I get it. De means not.
Sweet Son (with a loud sigh): Thank you


I hate when they make me feel stupid. I really didn't catch on until he gave me an example.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I'm glad the bunny found the comfy cushion to rest on.

Strange Kids

These are just a collection of short stories that have happened this month and remind me of just how strange my kids are and I LOVE it!

During lunch the kids were discussing favorite foods. According to them Daddy's favorite food is ice cream. Mommy's favorite food is anything chocolate. Sweet Daughter's favorite food is kefir. Sweet Son's favorite food is peas. They are right, but still that's not normal.

I told them they didn't have to take a nap based on their behavior (they weren't acting tired and haven't had a nap in weeks). They decided to take one anyway. Sweet Daughter slept and Sweet Son just played quietly in the room. I'm thrilled and will certainly take it, but once again not normal.

Every day Sweet Daughter begs to do Life of Fred (Math curriculum). There are times I feel like I give in too often when they ask for things, but when they are asking for vegetables and academics I can't justify saying no.

There are times I offer to let them play on the computer and they will say no. They have discovered a tv show they both love. How It's Made. Silly me trying to let them watch kids programming or cartoons.



Sweet Daughter: I want to do Life of Fred.
Sweet Son: I want to do a Spelling test first.
Sweet Daughter: Do you think we could do both?

Then they both ran over asking me at the same time if they can do both. Yes, my nerdy children we can do both. hahahaha

Science Camps

After a week of a Science camp focused on the human body, Sweet Daughter was singing a song that she made up this morning. My favorite line? "My princess blood cells are white and they fight, fight, fight to keep away a virus and to heal my cuts."


The Science camps the kids have been attending require them to bring a snack. I ask the kids if they could bring any snack they wanted, what would the pick? I was prepared to refuse the first few choices. They both answered dried fruit. We got 4 different types and everyone's happy.

Blogging Holiday

I usually give myself the day off from blogging on my birthday. This year I'm going to share something my thoughtful, sweet, loving daughter said to me.

Sweet Daughter: "Mama, you're old now. When are you going to die?"

Yeah, I definitely deserve a day off.

Gender Roles

We were at the library and they have a play kitchen set up. My kids join the others playing in this area. An older girl (5?) looked down at Sweet Son and said, "Boys don't cook." He stood up and said, "They do if they want to eat." He didn't back down and continued playing. I'm really proud of him for standing up for himself.

Wordless Wednesday

Backyard Fun

The kids still love the swing set that Wonderful Husband built. I love these photos!

A Tale of Two Beds - Part 13

Once again, here are the links to the previous 12 tales. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Frustration, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12. The kids are in separate rooms, so how bad could this be?

Aww how sweet! She fell asleep with Barbaloot hugging her.

Wait... his bed is in the other room. They moved his mattress into her room. Then he slept on the pillow next to it.

So now not only is his mattress in her room, he has folded it before falling asleep. Look how cramped he appears!

Ok seriously. They worked together to move his bed frame out of his room, around 2 corners and into her room. This is not an easy task. We didn't even hear anything until they were arguing about where in her room they would put it.

Yes this is a different night. I guess they decided where to put his bed. Yet he still doesn't sleep on it!

Independent Work

We have time every day that the kids are expected to entertain themselves. This is a skill that many children don't have anymore. They expect someone to entertain them or tell them what to do. I believe all kids need to know what to do when they aren't told. My kids have also never told me they are bored, though I still expect that phase at some point. These are photos of some of the things they do when they are given no direction or instructions.

He wrote his first sentence! "i am hapy."

She is working with numbers.

This is one of the reasons I love Montessori work. The kids can do it independently after it has been presented. They think they are just playing and having fun, yet any adult can see why it is called "work" rather than a toy.

Science at Home

Science camp, visits to the Science museum, and of course the kids will ask when they are going to get to do more Science. That's when I pull out one of the Magic Schoolbus Science kits.

First we made gloop or oobleck, a  non-newtonian fluid. The kids started fairly skeptical and not sure they should touch it.

You can see the progression as they play with and discover just how this works.

You pick it up as a solid and it turns to a liquid in your hands. 

 It doesn't take long for everything in the area, including the children, to be covered.

 

Building off of that experiment, the kids made bouncing balls.

For kids who love to learn how something is made, this was a dream.

After doing these experiments, my kids complained that I had to stop to clean up and make dinner. Because as you know, we clearly don't do any Science.

Wordless Wednesday

Rain!

We are in a drought and any rain is welcome. It's even better when there isn't any lightening so we can go splash in it. I also love photos that look like my kids are levitating.

We walked down the street to the biggest puddle we could find.

The problem with having such great drainage is there are very few splashing puddles.

Yes, the kids are in the middle of the street. However, we are standing with them and watching for cars. There isn't a lot of traffic on our street, but we were watching.

Such a graceful jumper!

The next time it rains, just put on some sandals and jump. It makes the entire day feel great, even if it's dark and cloudy.

Last Soccer Game

I've written about our first soccer practice and our first soccer game. So after 6 weeks, just how far did we come? The photos are proof.

Starting the game. Look, both of my kids are on the field! This in itself is an improvement as Sweet Son wanted nothing to do with the field during the other 5 games.

The game begins! There go 4 players in blue and 3 players in yellow. Wait, aren't we missing one?

Hi Sweet Son! You were supposed to follow the ball. 

Let's try this again. All of the players are running to the right, except Sweet Son. He didn't stay in the game very long, but we are proud he was willing to at least get on the field.

The Tiger Team

This final game started at 8am and it was already in the 90s. It was also the day of the team photo. They scheduled the photo for 45 minutes before kickoff. We had to have the kids awake, alert, dressed, fed, and to the Y by 7:15am. This was the first time Sweet Daughter started to think soccer isn't a great sport. Sweet Son had already decided he was done with it. Even today if you ask them they will insist they don't like soccer. The good news is they love tennis, horseback riding, biking, and many other sports. We tried it, but we just aren't a soccer family.

Space Science Camp

We enrolled the kids in multiple Science camps at the museum near us during the Summer. The one they were the most excited about was the one focused on space. At breakfast the first morning of camp the kids were coming up with things they wanted to learn. Sweet Daughter wants to know what the astronauts do with their trash. Sweet Son wants to know why iron makes Mars red and methane makes Neptune blue.

Each day they came home excited to tell me everything they had learned. They also brought home their art. Here Sweet Daughter is showing me her space suit. She is trying to hook up her breathing tube to the helmet. 

Here you can see Sweet Son's oxygen tank on the back. This was such a quick and simple craft, but the kids loved it and wore them until they fell apart.

Here you can see a satellite and rover for exploring other planets.

I couldn't attend the camp with them so I only know what they shared with me. At the end of each 3 hour morning, they would talk for 3-4 hours about all of the things they learned and did during camp. They were always excited to attend and sad when the camp was over. After 6 weeks of camp (not consecutive), when I told them they were going back to school they weren't sure what to think. They love school, but they love Science camp as well. Needless to say, we are enrolled for more camps this Summer.

Science Museum

With two kids who love Science, we spend a lot of time at our local Science museum. It has only been open for a few years and is fairly small. However, all of the exhibits are hands on and the staff is amazing. They get on the kids level and explain things throughout the museum. They put on stage shows, bring out experiments when they get bored, and are always smiling.

Sweet Son learning about recycling in a traveling exhibit.

Sweet Daughter trying to create enough energy to light a lamp.

Part of the permanent exhibit "Coordination Station".

Many museums have a water table. This water table has pieces you can place to change the flow of the water. You can build it up or cut it off then race to see how quickly your ducky floats to the other end. This can become a bit competitive.

They also have an area for creating large bubbles. You know it's a good hands on museum when even the adults have to try the experiments.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Adventures, part 2

The Dallas visitors bureau started a campaign advertising Dallas as the BIG D. In a few places around town you would see a large B&G. The instructions were to stand in the middle and make your own moment - placing I in the BIG D. Sweet Son wanted in the B since he's a boy. Sweet Daughter wanted in the G since she's a girl. I took the center position. I tried standing with my feet on the suggested places, but those were wider than my shoulders and made for a really awkward photo. This was my favorite.

These are still around Dallas. If you search online you can find the current locations and make your own moment.

Included with admission to the Summer Adventures was admission to the aquarium. The kids had no interest in petting the sting rays, but Sweet Daughter because so excited to see her favorite animal.

The iconic swan boats were also free (included), so we had to take those for a spin around the lake. 

The boys take a selfie in a swan boat.

Now for the bad news. This highly entertaining way to spend a day is no longer open. They didn't advertise very well and attendance was awful. After spending $30 million to open this and just breaking even running it, they have decided not to have it again. I wish they would have given it longer to be successful. Expecting any new business to be profitable in the first 3 months is crazy, especially with the lack of advertising. We were looking forward to going again and the kids are already asking when we can go back.

Summer Adventures in Fair Park, Dallas, Texas

I had heard about the Summer Adventures at Fair Park from some friends. You pay one price to get into the fair grounds and then all of the rides are free. In addition to that, they added splash parks, free sunscreen dispensers, and you got one free bottle of water with each admission. This sounded perfect for a family adventure!

Getting ready to go inside. 

There were no lines. Ok, the log ride had about a 5 minute wait, but that was the only line we saw the entire time we were there. There were also a few state fair style shows that we walked by or attended.

Riding the Texas Star!

This ferris wheel is a Dallas icon. It goes more than 20 stories high and on a clear day you can see the Fort Worth skyline (40 miles away). During the state fair this costs $7 per person and has the longest line at the fair. We walked right on and rode for free (included in ticket price). We quickly did the Math and realized we only had to ride 2 things to make this cheaper than the fair.

Sweet Daughter jumping.

I think everyone who has seen these wants a turn, but they are usually so expensive. However, they were included, so we all four took a turn. 

Sweet Son jumping.

 We do have photos of the adults jumping, but they aren't flattering so I'm not posting those!

Riding on a roller coaster!

The log ride - the only ride that had a line.

Driving tractors - Sweet Daughter in pink, Sweet Son in blue.

Riding on flying dragons

After getting our fill of the rides, shows, and splash parks we had some fair food. We discovered in addition to the typical fried foods, they also offered some healthy options. We ate inside an air-conditioned tent and enjoyed the large clean bathrooms. Just about the time this sounds too good to be true... the post will be continued tomorrow!

Pinocchio

We are working our way through the Mensa for Kids reading list. This is not a Summer reading list. These are challenging lists that cover great literature for each age group. One of the books on the list is Pinocchio. This is not the Disney version or any of the short, easy readers. This is the full translation of the original. Hundreds of pages of small print with a drawing only every 3-4 pages. We read some every evening and many afternoons as well. I promised the kids if we finished it in time, I would take them to see the play Pinocchio.

We did it. We finished the entire book. One of the local children's theaters was doing the play so we went to see it. The kids sat amazed. At the intermission I wanted to know what they thought. They went through point by point all of the ways the book was different from the play. I tried explaining the play only had 7 people in it and they were limited in sets. I was amazed at just how much of the book they really processed and remembered. I like setting up the expectation of reading a book and going to see the stage show though. So much better than just watching a movie or cartoon.