Mini Scientist

Last weekend Kennedy asked to do science experiments all afternoon.  That is like music to my ears!  Luckily I had pinned lots of ideas on Pinterest and had found a wonderful website last summer.  We had to search for experiments that included things we already had on hand, which did limit our options. But we still were able to try about 6 different activities!

I only took photos of 3 of them to share. 

Baking Soda Experiment
The first one is just a basic baking soda and vinegar mix.  I had seen a fun one involving color somewhere online and tried to replicate it. We got 4 glass jars and put a few drops of food coloring in the bottom of each.  I covered the color completely with baking soda. Kennedy then poured vinegar into each and guessed which color it was.  I was expecting it to fizz and bubble much more than it did...I think my baking soda may have been getting old.  But Kennedy (and Quinn) enjoyed it all the same!  She also enjoyed mixing the colors when they were done fizzing.

Fireworks in a Jar
This one was easy and fun!  I got a large glass display jar and filled it with water.  In a large glass measuring cup Kennedy mixed a little bit of vegetable oil and multiple drops of food coloring.  She tried her best to mix the food coloring in...the science behind the properties of oil is a bit over her head, but hey, she could see how it didn't blend normally. ;)   Next, she poured the oil and color into the jar of water.  I am not going to tell you exactly what happened - you will want to try it!  But you can check out the photos below!

Milk Color Explosion
This was our favorite experiment of the day! 

Again, this is a super simple experiment.  Fill a plate with milk (the fattier the better).  Add a drop of food coloring to the center.  One drop of each color you have. Place a Q-Tip in the middle of the colors and see what happens!  Then place a little bit of dish soap on the other end of the Q-Tip.
 It was so fun to play around with...even Daddy thought it was cool!




Here are a few places we went for our experiments.  Hope you try some out!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/milk-color-explosion

Screaming Balloons: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/screaming-balloon

Fireworks in a Jar:
http://www.marthastewart.com/266403/amazing-science-projects

Reading

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that we seem to have raised an enthusiastic reader!!! I was an avid reader as a child and it makes me so happy to watch Kennedy get the same enjoyment from her books!  She has been bringing home her reading group books to read to us at home.  Honestly, the first book she brought home surprised me!  I thought it might be too difficult for her!  Was I wrong!  This girl can read!  For the grandparents I thought I would share some of the books he has been bringing home from reading group!!  As always, you can click on a photo to enlarge it!

She recently read her first chapter book ENTIRELY by herself..no help from us!  And she read it in 2 days!  I believe she could have done it much sooner, but the length seemed to intimidate her.   Now she can't get enough of them!  How blessed she is to have a natural aptitude for reading - this will make the school experience so much easier and more pleasant for her!!!!

School Year Time Capsule

School is officially in session. (insert sad Mommy face here) for the past few weeks I have been trying to think of a creative way to celebrate the start of school. I am sure many wonderful parents have done something like this before, but when it popped into my head I thought the idea was pretty great anyway! Somehow I decided a Time Capsule would be great fun!!! So I created two questionnaire type sheets for Kennedy to fill out! I will also include things like her height, weight and a hand and foot print! We will then pack it away until the end of the school year. Before we open it, I will have Kennedy complete similar questions and we will take measurements again. Kennedy is so creative and loves writing about herself, so I truly think she will enjoy this project!

I decided to give her a week of school to kind of get with the flow of first grade. So I plan on this being our Friday night activity! I am tickled with how they turned out!
(remember you can click on the image to enlarge it!)



It has been 3 years since I played around with digital scrapbooking! I was rusty but had fun playing around! The kit I used to create them is a FREEBIE! Can you believe it! You need to run to this website and check out all the amazing goodies! I can't remember how I stumbled upon it but it is now bookmarked!

http://dynamisimmortal.wordpress.com/

Or you can download the files now!!!




Anyway, I hope to begin posting photos again soon. I lost the card reader for our memory card. Just haven't gotten a new one yet! There are soooo many summer photos left to share! Plus Kennedy's first day of school photos! UGH!

Let me know what you think of the Time Capsule idea!!!

Have a blessed day!

Photo a Day

Here we go...February Photo a Day!!

February 7th
This was a super important day! Kennedy lost her very first tooth! We had a dentist appointment just days earlier. The hygenist told Kennedy she had two loose teeth - Kennedy hadn't even noticed! While brushing her teeth tonight, she bumped it out!!! There is a video of her telling about it in the previous post. Those baby teeth are soooo tiny!




February 6th
Super Bowl Sunday!
We were still recovering from the sickies but headed to the Elliott's for Bible Study and then the big game! Go Packers!



February 5th
We celebrated Cousin Logan's 7th birthday today! We can't believe Logan is SEVEN!!!



February 4th
Just a screen shot of mint.com. This is a pretty cool site for tracking your spending and such. I love that it allows me to break down my spending very specifically. For instance, I can have a section for cleaning supplies and specify for what room they are for - kitchen, laundry, bathroom, etc. Very cool!




February 3rd
Just a fun shot of our little sunshine! Her little personality is really starting to shine - she is such a blessing to us!


February 2nd
Quinn's exersaucer is one of her favorite toys right now. When she sees it she starts kicking her legs and her eyes sparkle! It is adorable!



February 1st
Snow, snow, snow.....a good foot of it! School was called off for 3 days. But Kennedy was already staying home sick. :(


January 31st
Kennedy is still sick, as is Miss Quinn. We made a bed on the couch for her. She has enjoyed drawing on the dry erase board! We have thrown in some penmanship practice as well!


January 30th
See that little "obey" sign? This is part of some "homeschooling" we have been doing. Kennedy and I are both fully enjoying it! I found the most amazing blog Confessions of a Homeschooler and we are implementing her Bible Character Studies. This week we learned about Obedience. One of our activities was to write the word obey on notecards and place them in specific places in our home where we might need to be reminded to obey. The places we chose were: Kennedy's bedroom, the television, the computer and the pantry. :)