Haircuts and a Science Experiment

Well, we finally gave Michael his first haircut (sniff, sniff)!

Dan did a really nice job making him look like a boy without taking off all of his cute curls. I still saved a bunch in a ziploc bag!

The other picture is of David and Sarah recreating an experiment that they saw on a Mythbusters show about ninjas walking on water. Polly Pocket is trying to walk across the custard cup filled with cornstarch, water, and red food coloring. We discovered that if she jumps hard enough, she bounces across the top without sinking. If she tries to walk slowly, she sinks right in and gets stuck! After we discovered this, the experiment broke down into covering Polly, the table, and our hands with pink goo. It was a lot of fun!

Michael Sings

Today we had our last family music class for the spring session. As usual, the kids and I had a good time singing the songs and doing the dances together. What made today especially nice were Sarah and Michael's responses during the class! Instead of sitting on my lap, looking suspiciously at the other children, today Sarah sang "Pop Goes the Weasel" loudly enough for everyone to hear her, volunteered to be the teacher's echo, and jumped up to grab another little girl's hand for the "Shoo Fly" circle dance. It was fun to see. I don't think anyone there knew she could talk before today.

Michael also seemed very interested in the music part of the class today. He kept crawling over to the shakers, rhythm sticks, etc. and bouncing up and down on his knees. When it was time for David to echo the teacher singing, "Do, mi, so," Michael very clearly sang, "do, o, oh." We all laughed, and then he did it again for "So, so, do!"

We tried to record him doing that at supper tonight, but I'm not sure if it worked. This is the boy who shows little interest in walking or talking. Maybe solfege (singing do, re, mi) will be his specialty! :)

Finally, We are Back!

You may have heard about our unfortunate computer crash. The hard drive just quit working last Friday, and we have spent the last week or so setting up a new computer, etc. I think it is safe to blog again!

As you can see, the kids do enjoy driving the little tractor around the yard. Sometimes it pulls rocks, sometimes water, and sometimes other children!

We finally have most of the garden planted. Sarah especially likes planting things. David loves to water anything he can find, and Michael mostly tries to eat the dirt. He needs several baths a day now.

We have had a couple of sad losses at our house--Beak-Beak the parakeet (about 4 years old) and Mr. Algae Eater (unknown) both left their earthly home this week. We don't think the two were related, though Hello (the cat) loved them both dearly. The kids handled it pretty well, but have been a little more emotional than usual.

More news and pictures will arrive as I find them!