More Science for J

J and his friend setting up their match game

J decides to stack his bottles with various liquids

Today was another science lesson for J's class. We talked about liquids, along with their properties and characteristics. The station had 7 different sealed bottles with various types of liquids for the kids to shake, roll, turn, etc. Some had color, some were foamy, and some were viscous. While 10 of the kids were at the station, the other 10 kids played a memory card game with a partner using cards with various pictures of liquids to strengthen their vocabulary (transparent, viscous, bubbly, foamy etc.). After about 15 minutes, we had the kids switch. It's always fun for me to come into their classroom. I didn't feel as prepared as usual today, but it still went well. My energy has been zapped taking care of sick family members. Anyway, J was full of hugs, which I love! Many classmates filled me in on the "latest" while I was setting up during their recess (which was indoors because of the rain). Oh ... the life of a 1st grader!



N stayed home again from school today. I think we're both dreading all of the make-up work coming our way. The boy that we carpool with is sick, too. N has been SO tired, and not very hungry. I pray that when he's over this, that no one else gets it. We've had such a rough start this year! Keep your fingers crossed ...

We Thank Thee ....

We are so saddened by the passing our of dear, dear Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley last night. When I told the boys, they were stunned. N dropped what he had in his hand. I can't say that I was shocked as his passing, but we were certainly surprised. He was 97 years old. This is the only prophet our boys have known. President Hinckley has been such an endearing prophet, a wonderful example of love and endurance. We have loved his wit and humor, and how he handled the press, among many, many other things. We felt his love and will miss him dearly. When we said our prayers last night, B asked me for help in wording his prayer about President Hinckley. He wanted to be thankful, but not necessarily for his passing. We settled on being thankful for his service and his love, and he added that he will miss him. Very sweet and well said.

Nevermind ...

N now has a fever. Looks like much of the same here in our household. He HATES missing school. Darn it!!

Are We There Yet?

J was sick all through last weekend. We thought he had strep throat, but the culture came back negative. He was pleasant even though he felt lousy.

Okay, I thought we were FINALLY in the clear. There has been at least 1 family member sick since Christmas Eve! I'm not kidding. I'm going a little crazy. We've had sinus infections, sore throats, colds, pink eye, and just whatever. This morning, G & I were looking forward to having us all go to church together when we realized that B had a fever. We did the switch today: G went with N & J to Sacrament Meeting. Then he had to leave early so that I could get there for Primary with T. G hasn't been to Primary for 3 weeks, and he really misses it (and the kids miss him there, too!) I can tell that B is feeling better because he's starting to bounce around and his sarcasm is spilling out. I hope this is the end of this craziness. Thank goodness for my Bunko night and a scrapbook night (both last week) because I was starting to go cookoo from being in the house so much. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm hopefull we will all be healthy.

More Work

G worked really hard this morning on the OTHER fence that was demolished in that fierce rainstorm. The house next door is vacant, so there hasn't been a big rush to finish it. Plus, we've had on-going rain for the past 2 weeks. The fence posts have been set in cement and some of the cross beams are done. He's made progress. Sometimes taking care of our home feels like shoveling a walkway in a blizzard. Next on our list: Fix our vaulted window. Thank goodness for dual pane windows!! Now we know that fast, high-flying, Lego planks and windows are not friends. Did I mention that this happened the same day that we fixed a broken kitchen counter-top tile??

Art with B's Class

I spent most of the morning in B's 4th Grade classroom doing an Art lesson. We talked about Artists who paint dream-like/fantasy pictures. Our portfolio was missing 3 of the pictures! That's pretty bad considering that our school shelled out A LOT of money to buy a complete set for the entire school!!! That really cut into my lesson. Anyway, it was fun to discuss different interpretations of the artists' paintings. Then, for our class project, we had to make our own "dreamlike" animal by combining at least 3 different body parts. For example, B drew a giraffe head, human torso (wearing a suit!), chicken feet, and a zebra tail. They sketched it first, used sharpies to outline, then filled it all in with oil pastels. The 2 biggest challenges of Art Docent usually are, for me, getting the kids to draw BIG, and to get them to finish. Quite often, they draw their "animal" and it's barely 1 inch big. I had to have 2 or 3 kids start over. Amazingly, all of the kids finished the project today ... barely. I didn't have a chance to get my camera out. I was busy the entire time. Like usual, I sneaked B a few starbursts. I noticed that he still didn't look like he felt 100%, so I asked him if we wanted to come home. He wasn't sure, but he knew that he DID want to finish up art. I admire him for wanting to stay and keep up with his school work. The other day, I had a very bad headache, so I had to lie down for a little while .. about the time he got home from school. When I got up, he was sitting on the floor, using the piano bench as a table and doing his homework. Later than night, he volunteered to set the table when I mentioned that I needed help and that it was technically T's turn to do it. Then, last night, J received a birthday invitation in the mail, and B said "Congratulations", instead of getting upset about not going to a party himself. I'm very proud of him. He's a sweet boy, full of laughs, and a great help. I love how he's not embarrassed to give me hugs when I come into his classroom. I really appreciate that! Thanks, B!