Adam Does Fatherhood

16 More Things The Kids Say

2013-01-09T00:01:00.000-06:00

Me: Emery, can you stay in bed tonight?
Emery: What if I need to tell you something?
Me: Put it in your memory bank.
Emery [starting to cry]: I don't have a memory bank, just a regular memory.

Emery (trying Taco Bell for the first time): I think that I want to try this again because I like this more than candy.

Tate (watching football): That guy is a butthead to the other guy.
Leigha: Why do you say that?
Tate: Because their helmets hit each other.

Emery: Are video games Tate's job?
Me: I would say it's more like his time-consuming hobby.
Emery: Speaking of hobby, I have a teacher named Robby

Emery: I bet Dylan from our soccer team really loves his parents.
Me: Why do you think so?
Emery: Because he never wanted to play and always be with his parents.

Emery: My finger got pinched in the closet as hard as a tornado

Tate [after leaning on top of Leigha's head]: You've got a funny hat on.

Emery: We should go to bed.
Leigha: Yeah, you guys need your sleep.
Tate: Otherwise you might get a cold sore.

Emery: I'm going to make something.
Tate: Yeah! For my birthday?

Emery: I have a wedgie.
Me: Maybe your underwear is too small.
Emery: Maybe it is too dirty.

Leigha: Tate, you have more pieces to this toy.
Me: I saw the little red ball yesterday.
Tate: Where?
Emery: I think that it is up on the beer table.
Leigha: You mean the coffee table?

Tate: Emery, do you know what it means to burn?
Emery: What?
Tate: It means that you got BURNED!

Me: I don't care where you two sit, just don't touch each other.
Emery: He can touch me.
Me: Why don't you go downstairs?
Leigha: Yeah, why don't you go downstairs and touch each other.

Emery: I am four and a half and three quarters.

Tate [While sniffling]: I'm putting a drill up my nose.
Me: You're putting a drill up your nose?
Tate: You shouldn't really do that.

Emery: Daddy, do you like my hair?
Me: It's beautiful.
Emery: Mommy, do you like my hair?
Leigha: yes
Emery: If you said that you like my hair, then you have to read me a book.

Emery [to her friends]: I get to stay up late tonight. Untill 8:30.

Tate: If you ride a horse long enough, it becomes yours.

Emery [after throwing her dirty shirt and missing the hamper]: Oh! Good try, Emery.

Me [while Emery was singing loudly over and over]: Maybe you could sing that inside your head.
Emery: I can't talk inside my head.
Tate: You told us that Chloe said that she couldn't talk inside her head, but you could.
Emery: What I meant was...
Tate:Nope! You can't change it now.

Emery: Dad, you're my favorite. Except maybe for today because Tate hurt his leg today.

Me: Do you know what they make peanut butter from?
Emery: Cows? The grocery store?

Emery: When I look at pictures, I think that I'm cuter. But when I look in real life, I think Tate is cuter.

Emery: If I stay up all night long, I'll be really little because you grow in your sleep.
Tate: That doesn't mean that you'll shrink.

Emery: Some restaurants are cold because they are so pretty inside.

Emery: If you brush my teeth, I will pay you a dollar and a half.

Emery: I'm mad at Daddy. He is being interceptible.
Leigha: You mean unacceptable?

Leigha: Tate, your teacher says that you're very bright.
Tate: What does that mean?

Emery: Today I saw a firefighter with all of his outfit on and I went up and gave hime a high five and I wasn't scared at all. And his name was Josh. And he had earrings like mommy.

Tate: Ewwww, I saw a red mouse on the ground.
Me: I don't think that it was a mouse.
Tate: Maybe it was a mole. It looked a little plump.

Tate: Can I lay with you guys?
Leigha: The show that we are watching has some bad words.
Tate: I won't say the bad words at school.
Leigha: That's good.
Tate: Sometimes I say blub; that's not a bad word.

Tate: Can we have dessert?
Me: This dessert? We aren't going to eat this tonight.
Tate: [Squinting] I see you smirking.

Emery: Can we listen to the radio?
Me: There are too many people trying to talk to turn the radio on.
Emery: Mooooooom!
Me: I already said no.
Emery: I am going to ask her something not about the radio. [Pauses] Mom, can we listen to the radio?

Tate: Daddy, do you remember when you were playing the shooting game and you shot a snake?
Me: No.
Tate: It was quite a long time ago.

Emery: Can you make that for a secret for my birthday? Because I probably won't remember.

Tate: When I grow up, I'm not going to play video games that much.
Me: If you find a girl that likes games then you could play them with her.
Tate: If I married Nicholas, then we could play games all of the time.

Tate: Can I have a drink of water?
Leigha: Don't drink too much. You don't want to have an accident.
Tate: Did you know that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day?

Emery: Did you know that when you give Eskimo kisses, it is like you're saying no no no?

Tate: [shows me a video game] I want to play this game when I am a teenager.
Me: You can play it if you want.
Tate: [when the game doesn't load] Maybe a teenager needs to start it.

Emery: You are all mean, I'm nice. Oh, I know...eanie meanie miney [points to herself] nice.

Emery: Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to marry Nicholas so I can kiss him on the lips.

Me: Are you kidding me?
Tate: No. Look at my face. I am serious. It looks like I am going to wrestle, but I'm not.

Emery: When someone says "oh my gosh", that means...
Tate: Freaking out

Emery: Who can find a yellow something?
Me: There's a yellow sign.
Tate: Oh! The sun!
Emery: That's a good one.
Tate: That's me; Tate.

Me: I don't want to give you a kiss because I think I might be getting sick.
Tate: Are you losing your voice?
Me: Yeah.
Tate: That's because you talk too much.

Emery: Mommy, how much longer?
Me and Leigha both: About 10 minutes.
Emery: I think that Mommy might be right and Daddy may be wrong.

Emery [walking towards me with her shirt pulled up]: Daddy, is this the first trick you learned?
Me: That's not a trick; you are just lifting up your shirt.
Emery: But it is staying up.

Emery: Dad, drink some soup. [She holds out her hands and I pretend to drink.] You drank pee.
Me: I don't want to play with you anymore.
Emery: Why? I'm not even smiling. [Covers mouth]

Emery: I have two holes in my blanket. It was from when I didn't bite my nails and they were sharp and I poked a hole in it.

Me: Tate, you can't go into a casino until you are 21.
Tate: I'm almost 21.
Me: Yup, you only have 16 more years.

Tate: My mom says I'm handsome.

Tate: Mom, have you ever heard of a gulper eel?
Leigha: No. What's that?
Tate: It's an eel that eats everything. It just goes gulp gulp gulp (while motioning an eating motion with his hand). Do you want to tell your boss about it?

Tate: I'm not very happy that Darth Vader died. I like Anakin and he turned into Darth Vader so I'm not very happy about that.

Emery: I know how you walk. You put one food down then lift up the other. If you need to run, push the run button.

Leigha [after thud]: Tate, stop banging.
Tate [from other room]: That wasn't me, it was sissy.
Leigha: I don't care who it is, please stop banging.
Emery: Yeah, it was sissy!

Emery: I farted on my hand. Mommy, you wanna smell [as she holds her hand up to Leigha's face]?
Leigha:Uh...no!
Emery: It smells like soup.

Tate: Emery, I'm gonna beat you.
Me: It's not a race.
Tate: I know. But if it was, I would always win.

Emery: Tate, how do you remember so much?
Tate: Because I have one million rememberies. Then I took six away so I have sixty now.

Tate: Boom Chicka Boom Chicka Boom Boom Boom. You like that song? I just made it up.
Me: What's it called?
Tate: Rock and Roll.

Me, After coming home from work: What did I miss today?
Emery: The bad stuff.

Tate: King Kong was fighting for his destiny!
Me: Fighting for his destiny?
Tate: Yeah. That's what people say.
Me: What people?
Tate: The Ninja Turtles

[While Tate and Emery were fighting over who gets which Easter Basket]: I used my rememberies to remember that the red basket was mine.

Emery: I keep getting candy and stickers in my Easter Eggs.
Me: Is that a bad thing?
Emery: All that I want is candy and money.

Tate: Hey!

Me: That's what horses eat.
Tate: I wasn't saying hay. I was saying hey.
Emery: Like "Hey, what's going on".

Tate: I have some poop in my pants.
Me: You pooped your pants!?
Tate: I'm about to.
Me: Do you need to go to the bathroom?
Tate: Uh...yeah!

[Tate put his hand in a sock and used it like a puppet]: Hello
I do the same.
Tate: Hey, stop that. I don't want you to stretch it out.
Me: I was doing the same thing as you.
Tate: Well...you shouldn't copy.

Tate: [After accidentally knocking his bowl of oatmeal on the floor] oh, that's okay. You can clean that up.

Emery: Did you know that Lambie (a stuffed animal) speaks Spanish?

Me: Emery, can you stop pushing on my seat with your foot, please?
Emery: But I just need to do it for one more second. Oh wait, I don't need to it anymore

Emery: Tate, tell me what I am saying inside my head.
Tate: I heard you, but I'm not telling.

Me: Emery, can you please not eat with your fingers
Emery [nonchilantly]: Its okay 'cause I love you.

Me: Tate, can you help put stuff away?
Tate: I'm tired of hard work. I need to rest and watch a movie.

Me: Tate, you're funny.
Tate: No, you're funny; I'm cute.

Tate: Wow. This is a heavy thing of syrup. Mom you can still lift it up, though.

Emery: Dad, these socks aren't working out for me so I need to take off my shoes.

Emery: Can I tell you something, Mommy?
Leigha: Sure
Emery: When we run, our heart beats slow. When we sleep, it beats slow.

Emery: ow. I bit my tongue

Tate: That's what happens when you eat too much

Emery: Can you start calling me Rapunzel?

Leigha: Uh...sure.

Emery: Good that way it can remind me that I'm growing out my hair

Leigha: We should get you some cute earrings for Aunt Nicole's wedding.

Me: We can get one with a bride and one with a groom.

Emery: OH! I should get some flower ones because I'm the flower girl!

Tate: Emery, stop being so 'nnoying.

Me to Emery [looking sad]: What's wrong, Emery?

Emery: I don't want a leprechaun to pinch me.

[Emery and Tate were playing a game on my cell phone when it was interrupted by Leiga texting something. I answered the text and gave my phone back to Emery. When the game was disrupted a second time] Emery: Can you ask mommy to not write so much?

Tate: Why is it dark outside?

Leigha: Because it is early. Really, it's still nighttime.

Tate [looks out the window]: Oh! I see a morning star and a naptime star.

Me: Uh...those are just lights on the neighbor's house.

Tate [after pulling something out of the microwave]: Oh my, just how I wanted it.

Emery: Why did you wear pants today?

Tate: Because I wanted to be a brown boy today (he was wearing brown pants and a brown shirt)

Tate [after yawning]: I'm tired.

Leigha: Maybe you should just go to bed.

Tate: I'm not tired like I have to go to sleep. I'm tired of walking.

Emery: We can listen to music but I'll be in my room crying and banging on my door

Emery: Should I put my sticker in my hair?

Me: If you want it to pull out your hair.

Emery: I like it when Tate pulls my hair.

Me: What!? Why?

Emery: Because then he gets in trouble.

[After falling down]Emery: Whoa. That made my blood go all the way down to my woo woo and back up to my heart.

Emery: Everybody needs a mom and dad so that they can protect us.

Leigha: We will always be here for you.

Emery: Not when you die.

Tate: Why is that man a pretend Santa?

Leigha: I don't know
Tate: Did he use the stuffing from his pillow to make his moustache?

Leigha: Oh, look! Frosty the Snowman is on!

Emery: I love Frosty. We have a Frosty book at school.
Me: Did you read it?
Emery: Dad, I can't read yet.

Emery: The frog from

Leigha: Kermit!?
Emery: Yeah
Me: What happened to him?
Emery: I don't know; I didn't see

Leigha: What kind of BBQ do you guys want?

Emery: Ketchup

Emery: A policeman used to be a unicorn

Leigha: I think that you mean that they wear a uniform

Tate [irritated, to Leigha]: You just talked in my eye

Emery: Mommy, I found my orange pony. He still has his sparkles. His name is sparkle pony.

Emery: Uh, mom...I just found a pretzel in my pants.

Emery: My back is hot. I think that the only thing that will help is to stand up. (We are in the car)

Tate: My teacher says that "Beanie Weenie" is Spanish for "Bonehead"

Tate: I'm snuggly because I have so many clothes on.

Leigha: something stinks in here.

Emery: Does it smell like a fox or a skunk

Emery: We like SpongeBob because he says bad words.

Me: Oh, he does?
Tate: Yeah, he does.
Me: When did you watch SpongeBob?
Tate: We've never seen it

Me: Emery, did you finish your pears?

Emery: Yeah.
Me: Why did you throw away these pieces?
Tate: Emery! I don't want a sister that throws away good food!

Me: Tate, what do you want to wear?

Tate: Uh...clothes
He makes me so proud.

Emery: This is broken. But don't worry, Tate can fix it.

Tate: Well, I can fix it, but it won't work right

[Emery with her hand down her pants.]Me: What are you doing?
She pulls her hand out and smells her finger.
Emery: No butt-finger. I was just itching.

Tate to Emery: You look pretty today. You look like a princess.

There are times when you see unprovoked kindness that you feel like you are doing a good job as a parent.

After Emery puts her hand down her pants, she walks over to Tate. "Smell my finger". Where the heck did she learn that?

Tate: Boogers!

Me: What? (Tate points at a table where they are selling food.) Oh BURgers!
Tate: I said the first part

As I am helping Tate get ready for bed, he pulls down his underwear and does a 360 spin.

Me: What was that?
Tate: (shrugging his shoulders) It was just a move.

Me: Tate, your shoes are on the wrong feet.

Tate: I know, dad. Sometimes kids like to wear their shoes on the wrong feet.

‎(Looking at his hands) Tate: My map says to go straight.

Me: ok. Then what.
Tate: Umm...It says to go left or right or straight.

Emery: Daddy, is this the right foot? (As she is putting a shoe on)

Me: Yup
Emery: Told you so.

Tate: I told my teacher that you and mommy work at the hospital.

Me: Oh yeah? What did she say?
Tate: Oh...I love you Tate. I don't know why she said that.
Emery: I told my teacher where you work and she said that you didn't work there. She said that you work at plasma

Grandpa Tom- Happy Birthday, Emery!

Emery- It's not my birthday.
Busted, Grandpa Tom, busted.

Leigha: Why are your hands down your pants?

Emery: They're not. They are on top of my underwear.

Emery: Dad, I love you the whole world

Tate (After the Giants scored a touchdown, essentially winning the game): I was thinking that we've watched enough football. Maybe we can play games now.

True enough, Tate. True enough.

Me: Tate, I like your outfit today; you look really handsome.

Tate: It's all about mommy

Emery: I can snap my toes. I can teach you when we get home.

Emery: Daddy, when I get bigger, I am going to get a cat. But not now. Not until I get older because you are allergic to cats.

Tate (after he got a flu shot): She went too fast for me to say ouch.

The kids heard a song on the radio that has a line that says a girl has big boobs. They have latched onto it.

Emery: what if they say a boy has big boobs?
Leigha: That means that he is fat because boys don't have boobs
Emery: Daddy has little boobies. That means he is a little fat. Dad, you should exercise today.
This is another example of the difference between telling the truth and being mean.

Emery: I am trying to poop, but I can't.

Tate: Just push.

Tate: Sesame Street died

Me: Leigha, are you going to plasma tommorow?

Emery: She can't go

Leigha: Yes I can.

Emery: Your iron is broke, though.

Tate: What is the name of the finger next to your thumb.

Me: Well, it has two names; a pointer or index finger.

Tate: I know what the next one is called. Tall man.

Wacky Wednesday

2012-09-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

Today was Wacky Wednesday for Tate at school. He decided to wear

pajama pants with a regular shirt. Mis-matched socks with his pants tucked in them. Mismatched shoes. A pin that says "Birthday Boy" and half of his hair spiked up and half pressed down. Wacky.

Emery's Gymnastics Moves

2012-09-12T12:42:00.000-05:00

For the last month or so, Emery has been practicing doing cartwheels. She has been doing them on cement. She has been doing them on the trampoline. And she has been doing them inside, regardless of her surroundings. Several weeks ago she started taking gymnastic classes and has come up with a dance/trick routine. I don't actually think that she is actually learning any of these things in her class.

Emery's Cartwheels are more like roundhouses, but she still lands on her feet.

While her handstand isn't the most impressive, the flip at the end is. I've watched it a bunch of times, but I don't know how she gets her legs folded under.

This was the most impressive of all the tricks. This was completely unprovoked and an original Emery move.

Tate's First Day Of School

2012-08-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

I have never been one to get overly sentimental about things that everybody does. While I think that it is a big event in a kid's life when they start school, it is something that everybody goes through. I personally think that while you can encourage your child to be enthusiastic and excited, I never went through that "oh...they're growing up so fast" or "he's getting so big" moments.
When I picked Tate up at daycare after his first day of kindergarten, I was approached with the statement, "I don't know if you've already heard about Tate's day...". I knew that it was going to be something different that the normal kid's first day of school.

Picture From http://bee-stings.net

Before I get into Tate's day, let me tell you about MY first day of first grade. Honestly, it is the only "first day" of any grade that I remember. My initial day of first grade, I ended up in the nurses office. In the morning, as I was waiting at my bus stop, I noticed that there were a lot of bees going in and out of a hole in the ground next to a dead tree. I thought to myself that there must be a hive among the roots. From there, I don't know if I was thinking at all. This is when I grabbed an individual Doritos bag and placed it over the hole. Then jumped on it. Needless to say, the area was flooded with angry bees. I was stung on my right hand, my friend, Ben was stung on his stomach and another girl was stung on her butt. I should also say here that I am allergic to bees. While I am not deathly My Girl allergic, and I don't need an epi-pen to keep my throat from closing, but I do swell up locally. So, my first day of school that year, I ended up with my right hand too swollen to bend my fingers and my hand with an ice pack wrapped around it for the entire school day. This is what came to mind when I was told about Tate's day.

Apparently, Tate and his best friend, Nicholas were playing on the playground and missed their bus. Tate is an incredibly relaxed kid and it isn't a surprise that he missed the bus, nor was he worried. He is like me in that way. I never worried about the checks and balance system that was put in place of having a 5th grader that would walk the kids to their bus. I was never upset with the teacher that said that she forgot to tell the kids that it was time to go to the bus. What I was appreciative of, though, was the principal that drove the two boys to their after-school care in his personal car.

Go To The Zoo

2012-07-06T08:49:00.000-05:00

While on vacation in Colorado Springs, we visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. This particular zoo is known for having the largest giraffe herd of any zoo in the world. According to this sign, the giraffes were getting too big. Starting that week, they had made the transition to feeding them lettuce. Watch a video of the kids feeding the giraffes after the break.

This was in the "Budgie Bird" display. Budgie is short for budgerigar, or parakeet. This display has over a hundred free-flying birds that can perch on your arm or eat from your hand.

This area had three hippos. I was fascinated by not only their bulk, but by how close we got to stand to these enormous animals. Their heads were bigger than the kids and it was pretty cool to see them eat. They just shoveled in the pile of hay, popcorn and fruit.

This is the view of us coming down the mountain on the chairlift. For as long as I can remember, I've never been afraid of heights. But this was the first time that I can think of that that I was nervous on something like this. I was riding with Tate and he has a difficult time sitting still. I made it clear to him right away that we couldn't move around too much and that if he wasn't going to sit back that he had to hold on to the crossbar. These are the types of changes that you never think about when you become a father.

Tate "smiling" from the chairlift.

Emery had been on a horse two or three times before this, unless you count on a carousel. Every one of those times were at zoos or festivals. Leigha and I were both amazed at how natural she was getting on to the pony. She swung up like it was something that she does every weekend.

I believe that this was the first time that Tate had ever been on a horse. He wasn't scared or worried at all. Just smiles.

And finally, this was one of the most amazing thing that I've seen in a long time. As we were standing at a window, watching an orangutan, he made a kissy face to Tate. When we told Tate to do it back, they started making kissing motions back and forth.

Father's Day Gift

2012-06-17T08:39:00.000-05:00

For Father's Day, the kids each brought home a jar of peanut M & M's (which I promptly gave back to them) and an envelope. Inside the envelope was a form that each of the kids filled out about me.

Emery's Answers:

My Dad is 10 years old.

His hair is black and his eyes are brown.

My Dad likes to wear his favorite clothes

He loves to eat barbeque.

He is smart because he knows I love him.

My Dad works hard at his work.
Daddy always tells me don't go in the street because there's cars.
It makes my Dad happy when I tickle him.
If he could go on a trip, he would go to my cousin's and he would take me.

I really love it when my Dad takes me to the store.

If I could give my Daddy anything it would be his favorite thing.
My favorite thing about my Dad is that he loves me.

Tate's answers:

My Dad is 16 years old.
His hair is brown and his eyes are brown.
My Dad likes to wear Hawkeye clothes
He loves to eat chicken.
He is smart because he knows a lot.
My Dad works hard at the hospital.
Daddy always tells me keep on trying.
It makes my Dad happy when we go to the mall.
If he could go on a trip, he would go to Quenton's by Texas Roadhouse and he would take me and my sister.
I really love it when my Dad plays games with me.
If I could give my Daddy anything it would be a remote control of mine.
My favorite thing about my Dad is just himself.

Answer Key:
I am 32 years old.
My hair is brown and my eyes are brown/hazel
I agree with both of the kids.
I love to eat food. Barbeque would be on the top of that list.
How can I disagree with Tate that I am smart because I know a lot.
I work in the ER.
Looking at how the kids answered what I always tell them makes me feel like a good dad. I am surprised that Emery gave a word of caution and I am glad that Tate hears me encouraging him.
For the record, I don't like to go to the mall unless I am using their resources such as WiFi and and power outlet/table for me to write at. I don't like to go shopping unless it is for food.
If I could go on a trip, I would go to Australia.

Tate's Drawing

2012-06-06T11:06:00.000-05:00

Last night, the kids (along with two neighborhood kids) were playing with sidewalk chalk on the driveway. First, they were taking turns drawing foods and then the others would guess what it was. Then, they started drawing animals. This is what Tate drew:

His hint was that it was something big. To which I replied, "I can see that." Once I gave up, he told me that it was a dinosaur.
"What kind of Dinosaur is that!?" I asked.
"It's one with a bone on his tail," he said. To which I replied, "I can see that."

Ankylosaurus

Emery and Her Blanket

2012-05-09T00:01:00.003-05:00

Every time that I make a video with the kids, the first thing that Emery asks, even if I am not done filming yet, is if she can see it. After her Easter Egg hunt video, she wanted to make a new video where she wasn't grumpy. Here it is:

Balloon Shell

2012-05-05T00:01:00.001-05:00

Making a balloon shell is a project that I have a vague memory of doing when I was a kid and it seemed like a fun thing for the kids to try. This is a relatively easy project that takes very little items but a significant amount of time.

There are really two different ways to make a balloon shell with one being open and the other being closed. The closed variety relies on paper machier and seemed a bit too much like the volcano. So I opted for the open shell, which has a cooler look, in my opinion. While we did have some string, I wanted to get some pastel color that would make the shells seem more like Spring. I found this multi-colored string at Hobby Lobby and although it was a bit more expensive than I had expected, it really seemed like the colors that I was envisioning. When we checked out, the cashier started teasing me, asking me if I was going to make some socks. This is not really an uncommon reaction when I go to woman-dominated locations with the kids to do something art & crafty.

What you need for this project:

Balloons

String

Flour or Corn Startch

Water

Mixing Bowl

Paper To Line The Table With

For this project, we started by adding flour and water in a bowl to make the natural paste.

Next, we wrapped the coated string around some balloons. You can do this with many short strings or one really long one. We went with a long one so that I didn't have to worry about it binding with other strings.

After the first balloon, I realized that it didn't matter because it was too difficult to figure how much string that you would need to sufficiently wrap around the balloon.

After letting the balloons, or more appropriately, the string dry overnight, you are ready to pop the balloons. This is actually the trickiest part of the entire project. When the balloon deflates, it will cause the outer shell to also deflate and crumble if you don't separate the string from the balloon first. Once we got all of the shells ready, we hung them up in front of our sliding glass door to display for the neighborhood. Or at least to their backyards. The good thing about this placement was that it is next to our dinner table so every time we ate, we could admire these pieces of art. Another good thing about this project is that when it comes time to throw them away (not that you ever would), they crumple down into a small ball that doesn't take too much space in the garbage can.

Tate's Definition of Being Full

2012-05-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

One day, Tate stated that he was done eating because he was full. After he had put away his dishes, washed his hands and face, he immediately asked for dessert. So I asked him what it mean to be full. His answer is below.

Easter Crafts

2012-04-19T01:09:00.008-05:00

It wasn't until my kids started daycare that I realized the true value of toilet paper rolls. They have consistently proven their worth with kids activities. On Good Friday, I didn't work and daycare was closed. So I decided to try to fill the day with fun activities.

Toilet Paper Roll Easter Rabbits When we started off making our Easter Rabbits, I only had a vague idea of what we were going to do. We started off by making the ears by cutting a gluing a pink piece of paper atop a white one. Next, we glued a cotton ball to the top, to make a puffy tail. I was a little confused on how to make the faces, until I moved some plastic Easter eggs to the side. I realized that they fit nicely inside the tubes and we could attach google eyes. Then we used our heart-shaped hole punch to get a couple noses. Next, fold the bottom of the ear over on itself and use this tab to glue the ears to the tube. Or you could take Tate's approach and glue the ears on the side of the tube.

Dying Easter Eggs

Making these colorful food items are something that I loved to do as a kid and was an assumed thing that my kids would love as well. What does a brightly color have to do with a religious holiday? The egg is meant to symbolize a fresh start or rebirth of Jesus as he rose from the grave.

Add some bling to your eggs by gluing a pattern on your egg and covering it with some glitter.

Why We Can Never Move To The Pacific Northwest

2012-04-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

In case you can't translate 5 year old, this says: When it thunders, I feel mad.

Go On An Easter Egg Hunt

2012-04-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

I don't remember going on Easter egg hunts as a kid. I honestly don't know if this is because we didn't go on them, or if I just don't remember doing it. As a parent, I am always trying to find fun and free activities to take my kids to. At 4 and 5 they have been to dozens of parades and to two Easter Egg hunts this year alone. In Tiffin, they had the kids segregated by age. The younger kids have a higher concentration of eggs inside the cones. Beyond that it turns into anybody's game. The advice that I gave both kids was

to ignore the eggs at the front because every other kid will be going for these. The trick is to run past the crowd and help yourself to all the eggs in the back. In this video, you can see Emery in a purple coat to the left at the beginning. Once the guy in the black shirt moves, you can see Tate booking it to the back. He is wearing a blue coat

Here is Tate's interview afterwards:

And Emery's:

What made me happiest about the whole thing is that once Tate's bucket was filled, he stopped. He wasn't hoarding eggs in his pockets. In fact, because he had gotten so many, he decided to give some of his eggs to two other boys that we were there with that didn't get as many eggs as he did. Emery, in a move as reflective of her as the video, also accepted some eggs from Tate.

Bath Bombs

2012-03-14T02:01:00.003-05:00

When I am looking for activities to do with the kids, ones that have few steps and/or items are generally a quick sell. Bath bombs are an item that you can purchase pre-made, but they are relatively easy to make. The hardest thing about this entire project, was finding citric acid. After looking at Target and Wal-Mart, I finally found it at

Hy-Vee. I had read that is was something that can be found at pharmacies, so I head over to that section of the store. When I asked the pharmacist if they had it, I was given a confused look and asked what I needed it for. When I told them what I was doing, they sent somebody over from the health food section, who called somebody who had just received a bottle and it was sitting on another person's desk. Finally, once we had everything, we went home and started to make our bath bombs. First, you start by adding all of the dry materials in a bowl. (Two parts baking soda for every part of citric acid.) Next, add any color or fragrance that you may want. Mix with a whisk.

The next part is the perfect part for some teamwork. While one person sprays the witch hazel from a bottle, the other person mixes. It is important to keep mixing because if the area stays wet too long, the witch hazel will start reacting and cause the mixture to fizz.

When you get the mixture to the appropriate consistency, you should be able to shape it in your hands. Put the blend into a mold (I chose a measuring cup) and pack it tight. Let the mixture dry inside the mold. This was something that I didn't do. You will see why I recommend this step later.

Once you remove the domes from their molds, let them dry overnight.

In the morning, I came found that my balls had flattened and instead of fizzy balls, I now had fizzy chips. Not only did they flatten as they hardened, they became brittle. As I tried to take them off the cutting board, they held fast. Finally, I had to chip away at them until they had no semblance of being a ball at all. That was fine with the kids because then they had dozens of chips to throw into their bathwater instead of one large ball. The next time that we do this, I would make a lot of small balls instead of a few large ones.

Here is how they look in the water. We found that when you dunk the piece under the water they work a lot better than the video. Once they are fully immersed, there is a lot more fizz.

Make Quicksand

2012-03-01T02:01:00.001-06:00

This was a project that my mom actually got for the kids. This was amazing and it held my attention as long as the kids. When I opened up the package, there were very few components. A plastic bowl, a paper sign and foliage, a toy elephant and tiger and a bag of corn starch. Before I started this project, I knew that this would be messy so I taped some paper on the kitchen table. The kids took turns pouring their package of corn starch into their respective bowls and then I added water. As soon as I started to stir the mixture and it got difficult, I knew that I had seen this before.

My friend, Lori had posted about doing this on her blog and I was fascinated. She called it oobleck. We both call it awesome. Don’t believe the movies, quicksand is not really dangerous in itself. Quicksand rarely forms in deep enough areas for people to drown in. It is being stuck that causes the problems. Generally speaking, being stuck in quicksand leaves people and animals in danger of predators and exposure to the elements, dehydration and hypothermia. But why does quicksand react like it does? Quicksand is what is called a non-Newtonian fluid. That is a fluid that takes on the characteristics of a solid.

So, when quicksand is sitting still, it appears to be a solid, but as soon as it is disrupted, it takes on the qualities of liquids. If you push too hard, quicksand pushes back. But if you stay still, that is when you sink. When stuck inside quicksand, to quickly pull out one foot, it would require the same amount of force needed to lift a car. The trick is to take your time and move slowly to prevent the sand from seizing.

This was a project that held not only the kids' interest, but mine as well. For an hour and a half! If, as a parent, you can ever find anything that will hold the attention of young kids that long without the aid of a television, it is a great success. This is a great project to do if the kids have friends over, too as it only requires two ingredients.

Make Salt Crystals

2012-02-23T02:01:00.000-06:00

Unless you are a senior citizen or clean clothes for a living, you probably don't know what bluing is. I am neither. So when I ran across this integral component to growing salt cyrstals, I had to go to Google. Apparently as white clothes start to fade, the trace amount of blue emakes the clothes seem whiter to the human eye. These days, bleach has pretty much replace bluing as an household item.

In the state of Iowa, Mrs. Stewart's, the most widely carried brand of bluing, is only found in three store chains. None of them were where I lived. Therefore, this project got shelved for nearly two years.

As we were on our yearly drive to Texas to visit my

brother, Arik and sister, Heather, I insisted that we went on a slight detour to pick up the bluing. I figured that if it took several days to see the crystals grow, it might be a fun thing for the kids to monitor throughout the week.

When the time came, I gathered up all the components to make the salt crystals (Table salt, bluing, ammonia and a piece of charcoal, plus food coloring).

Then Then we poured the liquid over the piece of charcoal on a large plate. As nothing happened immediately, the kids quickly lost interest. So I moved the plate out of the way and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Until we left.

At the time, I was disappointed, thinking that the crystals would have overtaken the charcoal much more than they did. But in the end, as I look back at the pictures, I can see that there actually was quite a bit of growth. This project did hold the kids' attention and they enjoyed seeing how much it had grown each day. My only suggestion is to make it clear that it is a time-inclusive project and not to expect immediate results.

Birthday Party Activities

2012-02-16T08:13:00.000-06:00

This was the first year that the kids wanted to have separate birthday parties. Quite frankly, I am surprised that it took this long. For their parties, they each invited four friends over to our house. I was surprised that they wanted to have their parties at home and not go anywhere. We wanted to give the kids something to do that they could take home. One benefit of having kids with birthdays only two and a half weeks apart, is that you can plan the parties at the same time.  

Moustaches

I don't know if Tate was inspired by us making and wearing moustaches while I was participating in internet fads, but he saw a package of six moustaches for $1when we were at Hobby Lobby getting some stuff for both of their parties, and wanted to get it. For each of the kids' birthdays, there were six kids, so it worked out nicely. As it turned out, they were two of the total of three kids that actually wore a moustache. I don't know if they just thought that it was weird, or if they got a whiff of the nasty glue that was used for them. In an attempt to get the other kids to participate, I put one of the moustaches on myself. It was gross, but I sold it like I was getting a huge bonus. Tate actually wore his moustache until it was time to eat. As bad as they smelled, I don't even want to imagine what it tasted like.

Painted Rolls and Statues

Porcelain Statues
Both of the kids wanted to paint something for their respective parties. We found a few packages of plain white porcelain figurines at Hobby Lobby. Tate picked out the transportation pack, with a rocket, helicopter, airplane, etc. Emery got a more generalized girlie pack with a unicorn, rainbow, etc.

Toilet Paper Roll Snowmen

Hats and Noses

For awhile now, we have been collecting our toilet paper rolls and magazines and donating them to the kids' daycare for project. This was the first time that we had used the toilet paper rolls at home. The prep work for this took much longer than the activity, itself. With the kids' help, I peeled away the scraps of toilet paper still on the roll. Then I scraped an open pair of scissors across whatever was still left behind to get the tubes as clean as I could. Next, I cut out some hats and noses for the snowmen. The kids painted the snowmen however they saw fit and we set them aside to dry. Once the paint had dried, we glued on googly eyes, noses and hats. A few of the girls decided to tie a piece of string around the snowmen for a scarf.

Final Products

Make A Rubber Egg

2012-01-16T09:01:00.001-06:00

One thing that my parents did an excellent job of was instilling the seed of wonderment and curiosity in both me and my siblings. They took us to the Art Center, Art in the Park, and the Science Center. Every year, my dad would take me to an independent theater to watch an animation festival. In fact, the elementary school that we attended was Edmunds Academy of Fine Arts. I think that these all helped build a foundation of appreciation for not only the Arts, but for general knowledge and the expansion of our mental horizons.

When I was younger, one thing that I looked forward to every Thanksgiving was a similar experiment to the rubber egg. But instead of a rubber egg, you ended up with a wishbone that you could tie in a knot. When it dried, you had a bone-hard knot. I would take the hardened bone to school and baffle other kids. It was almost as if it was a magic trick.

The rubber egg was a similar experiment. The big draw was that it was both unique and Adam-proof. Basically, all that one does is take an egg and soak it in vinegar for forty-eight hours. This sounded simple enough and shorter than the ever-evasive sugar crystal. The kids and I started off by having Tate pour the vinegar into a glass. Next, Emery dropped the egg into the glass. Then it went into the fridge. Simple.

Two days later, we took the egg out and inspected it. The vinegar had eaten away the shell and left an opaque yellow ball. Surprise, surprise, we had a rubber egg. I squeezed it, but it wasn’t firm. I couldn’t tell if the innards had solidified or not.

“Can I see, Dad?” Tate asked.

And that was the end of the egg.

As it turned out, the inside of the egg was still very much in its original form. That is, until it hit the ground. In the hands of children the prep time was extended with this project, but the final product was cut short. You can’t blame kids for dropping things. I told Tate that the egg matched the yellow in his shirt.

As we were cleaning up the yolk, I noticed a curious thing: the small, translucent membrane that used to be the shell. Despite its brevity, this project was a fun one. My only recommendation is making more than one egg.

Make A Volcano

2012-01-16T09:00:00.001-06:00

In my mind, nothing exemplifies a good old fashioned activity with the kids more than making rock candy and building a volcano. Since I already tried (and failed) at rock candy, I figured that it was time to build the consummate science fair project. As to the fact that I’ve never built a volcano before, I was slightly ashamed (or more appropriately, embarrassed) that I didn’t actually know how to construct the thing. I had a general idea of putting papier-mâché onto a mound with a hole in the middle.

When I started thinking about the practicalities of two children creating a sizeable mound with wet and slimy paper, I realized that I would either need a bunch of paper or something to put it on. Then a coworker suggested that I use chicken wire because it can be easily molded into any shape.

Then there was the mouth of the volcano. I figured that I would use a yogurt container because we, as a household, use at least a dozen a week. Then there was the papier-mâché. I couldn’t remember exactly how to make this important ingredient; all I could think was water and flour.

As it turns out, there are many variations. Some suggest that one uses glue as an ingredient. I thought that this was odd. Papier-mâché is essentially a kid-friendly and natural paste or glue. What is the fun in using a product for making something that ends up being that product? It’s like trying to make a cake from scratch and using boxed cake mix as an ingredient. As it turns out, flour and water is sufficient.

My original plan was to have the kids be part of the entire process of the volcano-making, including shopping for the components. Leigha asked me why I didn’t take them to their pre-school while I went shopping. Then I started to think about any time that I’ve taken the kids in a store that doesn’t have a cart that is shaped like a car, or big enough to hold both of them in seats. Or a place that doesn’t have free samples of cookies, crackers, cheese or some sort of food.

I imagined their crazy switch simultaneously. I envisioned going to a hardware store and asking an employee where the chicken wire was and turning around just in time to see them run around off in opposite directions. Then finding one of them hiding underneath a table saw. Or Emery going into a notorious time that she decides that she doesn’t like me anymore.

I don’t want to paint a picture or depict my children as bad or that they often misbehave. In fact, quite the opposite is true. They are generally well-behaved children but they are three and four years old and I can’t realistically expect them to be good at all times. Plus, you have to plan for the worst and expect for the best. My dad once told me that Leigha is a genius of practicality and I can only agree. Needless, to say, I took Leigha’s advice.

On V-day, I reminded the kids that I was going to pick them up early from school.

“I know dad, you already told us,” Tate said. Then he made a fist and pumped it into the air, doing a little jump, “Yes! Volcano!” Then he ran into Emery’s room and repeated the same the announcement. Then I heard her say, “I know, Dad already told us.”

After I dropped the kids, I went to Theisen’s, a giant farming/hardware store nearby. I was immediately immersed in an unfamiliar world. I walked past the work boots and overalls, past the aisle of products that help you cure the meat that you’ve killed and make your own sausage or jerky. Past the gun section and through the horse section filled with saddles and bridles alike. In the fencing section, I found a six-foot roll of chicken wire for $3. Perfect. When I got home, I realized that wasn’t sure how to cut the wires. So went to the basement and started to dig through our toolbox. While I refer to it as our toolbox, I had nothing to do with the purchase of neither the box nor most of its contents.

I found a pair of pliers and cut two sheets of the chicken wire to overlap and form a mound. This left fifty sharp little edges that needed to be folded back on themselves. An hour and a half later, I finally had a reasonably sharpless mound with an empty water bottle poking through the top. I was also a proud owner of a bunch of tiny lacerations across my hands. It was at this point, that I was really glad that the kids went to daycare. But now I was finally ready to get started.

When I picked the kids up from daycare, the place was abuzz with volcano talk. When I walked into both of the kids’ rooms, I was bombarded with volcano questions from the other kids. Tate stood in front of me, facing the other children with his arms outstretched as if he was protecting me from paparazzi. At this point, I hadn’t shared with the kids any of the processes. They didn’t know how we were going to assemble it or how it would work in any way, they merely knew that we were going to make a volcano. As much as he would have like to answer the questions, Tate didn’t have any of the answers yet.

At home, we mixed the flour and water and covered the kitchen table with paper. We took a fat Sunday newspaper and started tearing it into strips. We dripped these into the wet papier-mâché and laid them across the chicken wire. It didn’t take long to realize that it would take the paper a while for the paper to dry and harden. Our hands were covered with goop that we freely dripped on ourselves and the table alike. Emery kept looking at me with a smile and telling me, “This is a good project, Dad.”

This was the exact moment that I was hoping for in these projects; the affirmation of cool and educational. Because of the former, I was allowed the later. It is called an eruption when lava comes out of the volcano. When you mix vinegar and baking soda, it creates a chemical reaction, causing them to bubble.

At this point, we had to shelve the project, until it dried. In the morning, it was still wet, so I put it outside in the summer heat to bake while the kids were at school. By the time they got home, it was ready to be decorated. I was surprised how hard it had gotten. As it turns out, people have been using papier-mâché for centuries for this exact reason. In ancient

Egypt

, they used it for coffins and death masks. In the 18^th century, Europeans used it to manufacture trays, chair backs and strengthen structural panels. In the

, during the civil war, soldiers used small pieces of winged papier-mâché on their bullets or shots that would disintegrate when it hits the end of the barrel of the gun called sabots. These papier-mâché sabots were used to raise muzzle velocity. But these days, papier-mâché is really only used in mask-making, floats, theater and crafts.

I let the kids decorate the volcano however they wanted. They used markers, crayons, colored pencils and paint. Unfortunately, we had to wait for the paint to dry, too. For those of you that are thinking of doing this activity, I recommend using either white paper, or if you use colored paper, only using one color if you plan on decorating in this way. It was bit too hard to see what the kids were drawing, over the print and pictures of the newspaper.

The next day, when it was finally ready for eruption, I filled the bottle with vinegar, a bit of red food coloring, and a touch of dish soap. This adds a bit of viscosity to the bubbles and keeps them from popping as quickly. We took the volcano outside on the patio table and added the baking soda. I can’t honestly say that the volcano erupted, spilling over is a more appropriate description.

Tate got really excited and kept saying, “You’re so cool, dad!” I was glad that he was so happy, because I was honestly a bit disappointed with the eruption. Then I reached underneath and squeezed the bottle. The bubbles shot up and poured down the mound and onto the table. “WHOA!” both kids really liked that. In fact, they liked it so much that they wanted me to take the volcano to school and show the other kids.

So that is exactly what we did. I came after naptime and was assailed by questions from children from both of the kids’ classes. Tate once again resumed his role as liaison between me and the other kids. I deferred questions to him to reinforce what he had learned. “It’s called an eruption,” he said matter-of-factly. I laid the volcano on the ground and the kids crowded around it. Tate ensured that he and Emery had a clear view of the next showing. The kids were proud of what they had built and excited to show it off. I was proud to be part of this. It wasn’t just the volcano, itself, that was on display. They were excited to be showing off their dad that helped them make this fun project. I was also proud of the fact that they had embraced more than just the fun aspect of making the volcano; they embraced the educational aspects, as well.

“My Dad’s really cool,” Tate said, turning around to smile at me. I smiled back at him, fully aware that this time is limited, and I am more than willing to embrace all of the time that my kids still think that I am cool and want to share me with their friends.

Make A Lemon Clock

2012-01-16T08:59:00.001-06:00

Before I had even started this project, it was one that I wished that I had done as a kid. I got this from The Daring Book for Girls. This science experiment required five different items; a clock, two galvanized nails, copper wire, electrician’s clips and a lemon (or two). Piece of cake. I looked in my fridge and realize that Leigha had a twenty pound bag of grapefruit and I figured that I could replace one of these for a lemon; it was bigger and still full of citrus. In retrospect, I would like to point out that this was the first of many times that I exchanged items/skimmed over the requirements for this to be a success.

At Lowe’s, I quickly found the only item that I hadn’t heard of previously: the electrician’s clips. Then I started to look for galvanized nails. The book called for sixteen inch long nails. When I found them, I realized that a box cost about ten dollars, and I only needed two. I had several options at this point. 1. Spend ten bucks on some nails that I would hope to use one day. 2. Grab two nails from a box. 3. Find an employee and try to barter. Due to the fact that I’m a cheapskate and not a thief, I started to look for an employee.

One can define good customer service as taking a ridiculous question/request/customer seriously even when they don’t deserve it. Darren looked to be a few years older than me, and busy unloading some flooring. He walked me over to an area of the store where they sold smaller nuts/bolts/screws/nails. I found a package of 3 ½ inch long galvanized brads for eighty-nine cents. Galvanized, nail-like and cheap. Perfect. Next, find a clock. Clocks are such a common item that struck me as odd when I realized that I didn’t think that I’d ever bought one before. Where do people buy clocks? Not even Lowe’s employees know where to buy clocks. Then I remembered that I had one down in the basement that I had been using when I was on the elliptical machine. It appeared as if I had everything that I needed.

When it came time to assemble the ~~lemon~~ grapefruit clock battery, it didn’t take too long to figure out that this wasn’t really an age appropriate project for the kids. I hooked up the copper wire to the galvanized brads. They were much too small to wrap the wire around and keep it inside the grapefruit. So I went down into my basement and looked through my toolbox.

“Wait here guys, I’ll be right back.”

I had a lot of random nails, but I didn’t know if any of them were galvanized. So I called my friend, Cree. He is my go-to guy for all of my manly inquiries that have anything to do with building/operating/fixing anything.

“They are silver, but a dull shiny,” he told me.

I found two nails that may or may not have been galvanized. Then I double checked the connections. The negative and positives. Everything was correct, but it didn’t work. Then I re-read the directions from the beginning. This is when I realized that I needed a battery operated digital clock. Apparently, old fashioned clocks require more energy than digital.

The way this whole thing works is that the nails, which need to be galvanized (coated with zinc to resist rust) react with the acid in the lemon (and perhaps not a grapefruit). The acid dissolves the zinc and creates a positive charge. The connection between copper wire, clock and lemon creates a circuit. So when you have a lemon (which has more acid than grapefruit) and galvanized (this is a must) nails connect with a digital clock, this should be a simple science experiment.

There are several lessons that I learned from the lemon clock experiment. First, I need to read the complete directions and know exactly what I am doing. Secondly, I need to make sure that I have all the correct materials. I shouldn’t try to substitute the first time around. I realized that it was as if I was trying out a new recipe, but changing before it was even finished. Finally, I realized that I should really attempt to do projects that are age appropriate for a two and three year old. They seem like the fundamentals for many things, but I guess that I figured that things like this that were so simple a kid could do it, I could half-try and still succeed.

The reason that this one failed was one hundred percent my fault. The good thing is that the kids have no idea that the Lemon Clock didn’t work and I found a replacement project for them: Swirling Colored Milk. Yes, that’s correct; Swirling Colored Milk. This one is super duper simple that is a nearly Adam-proof project. All that you have to do is fill a bowl with milk (the higher fat content, the better), put a few drops of food color and then pour in some hand soap. The fats in the milk react to the soap and they push apart, causing a swirling of the food color. It was simple, the kids could drop the coloring and the soap in themselves, and I finally got that “whoa” moment from the kids that I’ve been looking for. Then I wondered what it would’ve looked like with something other than skim milk.

Make Rock Candy

2012-01-16T08:55:00.000-06:00

What is more embarrassing than a failed attempt to make sugar crystals? Failing twice. The first time was as a thirteen year old. I kept a glass of sugar next to my bedroom window and checked it regularly. At this age, I spent a lot of time home alone, trying to find ways to entertain myself. I would take my bike to a busy street at the end of the block and lay down on the ground with my leg sticking through the middle of the bike. I would wait near the sidewalk, to see if people would stop and ask if I needed any help.

“No thanks, I’m just taking a rest.”

I was bored, lonely and weird. At the time, I was trying to make the sugar crystals because I thought that it would be a good snack that I could keep in my backpack. How can a kid beat rock candy for a snack? Like the demise of my one and only brine shrimp, I probably stuck my finger in the water too much. Aquatic pets aren’t supposed to be interactive.

I was armed with directions from the Dangerous Book for Boys and was determined to succeed. I imagined the fun that I would have with the kids as we watched the crystals grow. “Hey guys, let’s check on the crystals. Wow…look how big they’re getting.”

The way that it did happen was much more mundane. First, the book asked for a jagged rock. This was to give the sugar something to grab a hold of. Next to the front steps, I brushed aside some snow and grabbed a handful of pointed rocks. Then I went inside and started to clean them in the kitchen sink.

“Who wants to do a project?”

“I do!” both kids answered. Tate and Emery didn’t know what we were doing, but like them, I had unbridled enthusiasm. They both knew that whatever we were going to do would be awesome. I just had to say project, and they were in. Tate pushed a chair to the counter and Emery quickly followed suit. On the counter, all of the items were lined in front of them.

“Two glasses?” I point to them. “Check.”

“Dad, don’t say that. No check. Don’t say check,” Tate said.

“Okay. Let’s make sure we have everything. Two glasses?”

“Check.” Emery said.

“No, Emmy. Don’t say that.”

“Check.” She grins at Tate.

“No! I said don’t say that.”

“How about this? I’ll say what we need; you tell me if we have it. Two glasses.”

“You already said that,” Tate said.

“Right; I forgot. Do we have sugar?” and so on down the list. After establishing the fact that we had everything, the kids started to get bored as I tried to tie a piece of thread around a chopstick on one end and the other around a rock. Leigha stepped in and had them fill both glasses with water. Once I got everything tied, we added food coloring and sugar. The kids stirred up their respective glasses and we were all set. I put the glasses on the counter next to the stove and all we had to do was wait.

A week later, I came home from work and was looking at the rock dangling in the glass. Despite the fact that no sugar crystals had formed on the rock, I realized that I couldn’t, as a responsible parent, let my kids eat candy that had formed on a rock from outside.

The book said that it would take several weeks before anything started to develop, but I really started to worry after a month. The only thing that was happening, was that the water was evaporating. On the fifth week, I officially called it quits. The rocks were poking out of the water. How was I supposed to feel when I am tried to improve my manly stock, when I couldn’t successfully perform an experiment that was designed for school children? On the bright side, the kids had a lot of fun with this one. Occasionally, they would ask me to lift them up and look at their rocks. The good news for them is that we get to do it again.