Defying Gravity

This morning I was in the middle of explaining the concept of gravity to my boys when a certain smarty-pants decided to test Newton's first law:

"Think of what we could do together, Nate!"*

- L.

*No one actually said that but it's not like they aren't thinking it. 

PS. Just because.

Boys Of Summer

"He is happy!"

"... but now he is sad."

- L.

About Last Night...

Last night a couple of sailors showed up in my bed. I wasn't really in the mood for it, but I must have shown them a good time because now they want to "sleep in Mommy's bed every day!".*

I could get used to this, but a little warning would have been nice. Still, who could say no to these two?

- L.

*It appears to have been a one-time thing, but they were bent on sleeping in Mommy's bed last night for whatever reason. It was rather sweet, even if there wasn't much room for me.

OK, technically they are "Junior Lifeguards" who are "off duty for the night"
and not sailors but it was what I imagine sleeping with two sailors in one's bed
might be like. On a choppy sea. Without a bucket to bail.

Flotsam & Jetsam Part II

No, this isn't first thing in the morning.

And yes, there is a child wrapped up in there.*

So now instead of making the bed 37 times a day, I just un-make it in the morning and put the bedding out of reach until it's time to make the bed again at night. Simple as pie.**

- L.

*Seriously, why are they so bent on their own destruction? The things they could do with a sheet in 5 minutes or less is enough to make me lose sleep.

**I've never made a pie so I'm being facetious. Pie to me looks daunting – as is making and unmaking a bed every day. Still, it's easier than 37 times a day and call me quirky, but I tend to prefer the path of least resistance. 

Flotsam & Jetsam

Maritime law dictates that flotsam and jetsam describe specific kinds of wreck. 

Flotsam is wreckage of a ship or its cargo.

Jetsam is part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is purposefully cast overboard or jettisoned to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore.

All I know is that I make this bed at least 37 times a day. It's a favorite play space and encompasses everything from "fort" to "ship" to "hiding from monsters" (and my personal favorite "pretending to sleep").

Flotsam and jetsam sums it up nicely though.

-L.

"SCIENCE!"

Being stuck indoors for the past few days due to a summer cold and the aforementioned insufferable heat meant finding some indoor activities to keep a couple of slightly droopy but mostly active 3 year old boys entertained. A good deal of our entertainment over the past few days has come in the form of "SCIENCE!". 

Gamma Rita sent the boys a science kit for Christmas last year and while it looked kind of cool it was a little advanced for them at the time (and also it looked complicated for a Mommy who wasn't the greatest science scholar*).

"SCIENCE!" has been a huge hit and the boys keep asking to "play science" which is awesome. Some of our experiments didn't yield instant results which worried me, but it was for naught. Watching a scientific process take place over the course of a few hours (or days) has held their interest well enough (interspersed with some experiments that yielded more instant results of course).

Our first experiment involved combining colors dissolved in water and then using the colored water combined with polymer gel to make jelly crystals.

Or in other words, really colorful goo that holds its shape. We have since dehydrated and rehydrated the crystals, which was also fun. Also very pretty, yes?

Unfortunately science ("SCIENCE!") knows no bounds and also has an ugly side at times. With that said, meet Oscar:

Or as the science kit referred to this experiment, the "Growing Spider". Oscar started out around the size of a North American Wolf spider to give you some perspective. We have been growing him for 3 days now and it could take up to a week for him to reach his full potential.

I realize he's fake, but I'm currently sharing a room with Oscar at night because he gives Gamma Rita the heebie-jeebies badly enough that I can't leave him downstairs. I am less creeped out (but only because he's fake). Handling Oscar daily to "pat him dry" and refill his bowl with fresh water isn't exactly my favorite thing to do, but since my boys love checking to see how much he's grown every day, Oscar and I sweat out our nights together. As roommates go, at least he's quiet.

Again I realize Oscar is fake spider (also made from polymer gel) but as an arachnophobe, I really can (and must) say with all sincerity that this really is sometimes what a Mother's love looks like:

– This is my new best friend Oscar everyone!

We also grew some giant balls this week**. Same polymer gel concept, but they started out the size of small marbles and ended up looking like this:

They were also unexpectedly fun to smash 10 seconds after I took this picture:

We also made fake snow:

And then we made fake blue snow. Fake snow was one of my favorites, despite the mess.

And Oscar aside, one of my boys' favorites was the Energy Stick™. It was instantly popular since it yielded instant results when used correctly. In fact, Nate and Seth are quietly debating the merits of a fight over it here:

But then they stopped cooperating and it stopped working. Hmmm...

Creating a complete circuit can be done alone, but it turns out it's more fun together***:

"SCIENCE!"

- L.

*For real, I think I've learned more about science in the past 3 days than I did in 3 years of science class in high school.

••I am not prone to vulgarity, at least not on this blog. There was really no other way to say this and I promise I was not being crass. Still, if it makes you giggle a little, so be it.

***The Energy Stick™ with me as the circuit connection in a darkened room was a hoot before our bedtime wind-down. We will definitely be doing this one until the batteries run out.

• • • • • • •

PS. Special thanks to Magnus Pyke for "SCIENCE!". My boys are excellent at exclaiming it, but their hand gestures still need a little work. You, on the other hand, made it look so easy.

My Soggy Bottom Boys

The short version because I'm tired: my boys do not entertain the concept of actually getting into water outside of a bath even in this insufferable heat. We bought the world's smallest pool for them this summer without any real expectation that they would get in it, but you know... try, try again and all that.

The "pool" is filled with bath temperature water which made them (sort of) finally brave it. Nate sat down long enough to barely get his underpants* wet. I'm still not sure how Seth's ended up soggy – probably something to do with a watering can though. I never saw him put more than his feet in the watering hole.

– This soggy enough yet, mama?

- L.

*The boys have proper swim trunks, but when no one has a reasonable expectation that anyone is going to get wet we don't bother with formalities in our own backyard.

It Wouldn't Be Summer...

... without at least one summer cold. It turns out some of that exhaustion in my previous post was due to a case of the cooties coming on and as such, we've had to spend a fair bit of time cooped up this past week. Thanks to Grandma Leslie we had at least one indoor activity covered:

– Here is my little chicken going to the grocery store...*

- L.

*I had a bad feeling about a chicken on her way to the grocery store, but rest assured, she made it back home "to her little coop" again safely.

PS. Thank you Grandma Leslie – Chirp Magazine is a hit!

Just Like An Angel

At least when he's asleep:

- L.

Hey, Mommy!*

– Hey, Mommy... Guess what???

Hmmm... OK. What?

– I made farts... IN MY MILK CUP!!!

 Ah... well, carry on then.

- L.

* Use of the word "Hey!" is very popular over here right now in its own right, but never more so than when its combined with "Mommy" at least 150X per day.

PS. I can't believe it took my kids 3.5 years to figure out this trick – and of course, once discovered there's no going back. I guess it's goodbye to the straws for awhile.