Science Anyone?

Lately, John Owen has had us ALL involved in different scientific discoveries. For Christmas, he received these Smithsonian Science Kits and so far, we have completed 2 out of the 3! (The final project should take place this coming up weekend. We have already opened it and read through the directions. Now, we just have to block out some time and get to work.)

Our first project was making crystals. This required alot of parental supervision, and I did not take a picture while we worked. Wish I had! There was waiting period involved, but it was worth the wait to see John Owen's face when he saw the crystals that had formed. Next, we moved on to the volcano project. You all know the project I am talking about...a little baking soda, a little red food coloring, and THERE SHE BLOWS! All 3 kiddos got into to this project. We first had to build the volcano, then paint the volcano, then wait on volcano to DRY! I did manage to get some pictures of this...

And, yes, that's us...still sporting the Christmas pajamas in February!:)

RED PAINT!!

John Owen has just recently completed his first research project for school. He had to choose an animal, research the animal's habitat, then create either a diorama or poster showing his research.

He chose to create a poster about the Tomato Frog!

Honestly, I didn't know there was such a creature, but apparently, he did!

Here's his finished project...

So, I guess we'll call February...Science Month!

Before this fabulous month ends, we'll see how we fare with a rock and gem dig project!

Happy Valentine's Day

What's the best way to spend Valentine's Day? With the ones you love most, right?! I love the people in this picture with me more than anything!

This picture was taken as we enjoyed a Chocolate Tour on our town square this past Saturday. We had a lot of fun despite the COLD temps, and we ate more chocolate than we should have. :) But it was GOOD!!

 

Gimme some chocolate and nobody gets hurt!!

How many pieces of chocolate can I put in my mouth at one time?!

Somebody looks like they have had TOO MUCH chocolate.:)

My big boy pausing to take a look at this...

Birds! (and lots of them)

After the chocolate tour, we headed home to warm up and work on these...

Mary Claire and I had so much fun making these crayon hearts for her class!

 She enjoyed giving them today at her party!

We spent Saturday night making treats to give our teachers for Valentine's Day: Mint chocolate heart-shaped brownies with strawberry icing and sprinkles:), peanut butter blossoms, and candy hearts. (Sorry I didn't snap a shot of these treats, but they turned out YUMMY!)

Jan gave me these beautiful flowers and a couple of other special gifts.

Today, we spent our Valentine's Day afternoon at the doctor's office. Jonah had an appointment with the pediatric surgeon. He has an umbilical hernia that has not corrected itself, but the doctor stated today that surgery is not really necessary for our Jonah. He gave us a choice, but after discussing it, we opted to pass on the surgery. Hopefully, as Jonah grows, the hernia will become even smaller and not cause any problems for him.

So, after the appointment with the surgeon, we headed out on our "Family Date" to none other than the fabulous, ever-so-fancy Chik-Fil-A!!:) (This is Mary Claire's favorite date place.)

We had a wonderful time riding in the car looking at all of the valentines the kids got from their classmates and spending time together.

I hope you all got to spend today with the ones you love most!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ode to Amos

I almost feel bad that I have not included a post about the 4th "child" in this family...Amos! Amos is now 3 months old, and growing like a weed! He is a good dog. Smart, active, and pretty well acclimated to life with 3 young children. :) He has mastered going up and down the stairs in this house which made me nervous, just like it did with my other 3 little ones. He is very good at night. From the start, he settled in with our routine and hardly makes a peep after he goes into his kennel at night. (His kennel is in our bedroom, so you can imagine how grateful I am that he is so good at night. Of course, his little sounds of tossing and turning sometimes wake me up, but I'll take that any day over whining or, dare I say, BARKING!!) Here is he is, still "hangin' in there" with the rest of this family. Good dog, Amos!

Few things to add about Amos:
1. Jan is still his favorite person!!
2. He weighs about 10 pounds now.
3. He is a PIGLET, and will eat anything you put in front of him. We have really had to monitor how much dog food the kids give him. :)
4. He loves being outside. With the mild winter we've had thus far, he has spent a great deal of time outside.(I have never had so much GRASS in this house!)
5. He and Mary Claire are slowly warming up to each other. We began to think they were engaged in some sort of alpha war, but I think they are SLOWLY beginning to like one another. He is like the typical little brother for her. He loves to get her toys, her shoes, her clothes, anything she has, and chew it, drag it around the house, hide under her bed with it, etc. I love it!! And she can't stand it!!
**AMOS STORY: Weekend before last, Jan and I went out on a date and my parents came to babysit. They thought they had lost Amos after they let him out to go to the bathroom, and the boys were pretty much in tears as they walked around our cove with my mom looking for Amos. But Mary Claire's reaction was much different...She simply told Mimi and Daddy Nick, "When I find that dog, I am gonna spank his bottom!" :) (That is, without a doubt, Jan Hensley's daughter!)**

Life with Amos is definitely interesting, but in a good way.

This last picture is but one example of the war my daughter and this dog are engaged in.

Who's kennel is it?!?!

She was saying,"I'm in your kennel! Na, na, na, na, boo, boo!!

(Glad I had my camera close by to capture this moment.)