Old School Volcanoes

Willow is very interested in science and math, and while I go slightly catatonic, or completely fall asleep, while discussing these subjects, I want to encourage her in them. So we learned about how to make a volcano! We used colors and made play dough and had big foamy messes that were fantastic and somehow educational at the same time. We started with a small vase and poured in two tablespoons of baking soda. We added a quarter cup of vinegar with food coloring to the baking soda and had a good sized explosion with that mixture. And that was SO MUCH FUN that we decided to make play dough and make a big volcano to explode.

Play dough - 6 cups of flour

2 cups of salt

2 cups of water

4 tablespoons of veg oil

food coloring

Just mix it all together. That's it. We covered a 2 liter bottle and added more baking soda and more vinegar and had fantastic explosions. It was a great project that took up all day.

Lovely. Just Lovely.

The other day I was down to one kid for the day and thought I would lay down for, seriously, like five minutes. All of the sudden I hear, "MOM! MOM! MOM!". I open my eyes and see my two year old son holding his foot precariously in front of my face. It was COVERED in poop. I snapped to attention very quickly and thought OH, SHIT. I followed him into the hallway where I found his pants, diaper, and the rest of the poop. What on earth would have posessed him to take his pants and diaper off and paint his foot in poo? My daughter never did this. I've heard stories about kids doing this, but those were bad moms and unruly kids. Certainly not something that happens in my life. But, there was the pile of poop in front of me as proof. I shall never nap again.

And the Cheese Stands Alone

We have been promising to take Willow to Chuck E. Cheese for months. She completed a workbook for school and this is the reward she requested. And so a few nights ago, we headed out. She invited the love of her five year old life, Finn. I was particularly excited, seeing as how we hadn't been there in over a year, and I'd forgotten much of what happens there with children in tow. We ordered pizza and it took over an HOUR to get it. There were maybe five or six other families there. An HOUR for one pizza! But they have fantastic pizza so it was okay. When the pizza was gone, we headed off to the games. The chaos that ensued cannot very well be described. Kids pulling parents in different directions, dirty diapers and no spares, tokens and tickets flying every which way. After spending close to $40 in a bit of pizza and a LOT of tokens, we claimed our prizes which consisted of two suckers, a piece of laffy taffy, a 3 inch puzzle, and two balloons. Mr. Cheese, it was worth it, but you win again.

So the kids have been getting a little stir crazy being cooped up. To shake it up, I try to add another dimension to our living space. This week we covered the coffee table with some heavy duty paper. I used rosin paper from the hardware store. I have no idea what its original purpose is. Then I let the kids have at it with crayons, markers, stickers and whatever else we have around. It amuses them to no end for about a week. After taking it off I like to cut a couple of especially cute squares out of it and frame it or display it somehow.

In My Life I Love You More

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to witness the sweetest moment I've seen in ages. My dear friend K asked my husband to play guitar while he serenaded his adorable girlfriend J and proceeded to propose to her. It seemed like the kind of proposal that is more myth than real. We lit candles for them all along a pathway in the woods (which promptly blew out because it was extremely cold and windy) and waited for them to stumble across the secret rendevous spot. He sang(in my life, the beatles), he proposed, she said yes. It was heartwarming to witness and I feel lucky to have been a part of it. I hope they have a fantastic life together.

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant

I've been going through pictures all morning, trying to organize a wee bit more of my life, and I came across these. This summer Pete and I took our kids, my parents and a couple of friends to see Arlo Guthrie at the Lifestyles Pavillion. Life around that time was chaotic and confusing, but when we got there that night, it was magical. Everything else faded away as we listened to Arlo play with only his son and his grandson and they played such lovely songs! It was amazing. He told stories, sang Alice's Restaurant, and sang some Woody songs. He asked the audience to sing this song with him at the end and it was fantastic. My mom said it was almost like going back to the sixties....

I just got back from volunteering at Obama Headquarters in Columbus. It was fantastic! I loved it! I wish I had more time to do more. I worked with all sorts of lovely people and made hundreds of phone calls. It was exciting and I got to talk to all sorts of people. One woman screamed nasty things to me and I didn't even mind, I just calmly asked why she didn't like Obama. And so many people are supporting the right candidate finally! I can't wait until election day!