Friday, September 30, 2016

Seven Quick Takes: Chemistry, Paper, and Ink



1. Chemistry is going really well.

 I'm really enjoying having an all boys class and an all girls class for the first time ever.

There's a certain camaraderie in the single sex classes that is so fun to watch!

Also these particular kids are great: very into chemistry and doing experiments and super fun to be around.  I love teenagers!


2.   It's a special time in life to be able to enjoy both teens and younger kids.

Usually Klenda and Leena do things with Choclo and Oob during part of the boys' class (Zorg does this during the girls' class) and then they spend the rest of their time left to their own devices.

They wandered into the tail end of Chemistry looking like this.

Pretty awesome devices!


3. In other news, Klenda, Leena and I have been working on crafts for our parish fundraiser.

Among other things, we've been making these tiles using alcohol inks and writing saint quotes on them with sharpies (which really are another alcohol ink).

This was our first try, but it was so fun,
we're working on a second batch already!

There are tons of tutorials on using alcohol inks, but this was my favorite:



4. Speaking of creativity, Oob has been making all sorts of special (non alcoholic) drinks.  He loves to serve them to people on ice with a straw and a fancy umbrella!

Not just any umbrellas, the best mini umbrellas!

 Also, I've been finding little paper scenes taped around the house.

Oob's explanation: "It's sort of a crafty kind of thing that I like to do."
 5. Our hot weather finally broke: we went from a high of 98 to a high of 68 in two days!   But now it is lovely September weather in the low 70s.

Well, actually now we're in the middle of 5 days of rain after nearly a month of dry weather.




That's Choclo checking the rain gauge.  Three Four inches so far, and the garden is much happier!


6. Right before it started raining, and on the last of the hot days, we put up our new sheds!

These were intended to be storage for our bikes, especially since Zorg got a nice new bike for his birthday. We got two so the bikes wouldn't be crowded and hard to remove.

But... All the bikes are crowded in the shed on the right and the left shed has turned into a clubhouse.  Surprise!  I figure some day I will even have space in the shed for a lawn mower, but I'm probably happier stuffing it with kids anyway.

7. I'll just leave you with this "Take a picture of us thinking with The Thinker!" shot.

If you've been in DC, this is the sculpture garden between Natural History and National Gallery.

And I'm thinking you should have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by, more fun with Kelly!

2 comments:

Jenny Evans said...

Our oldest is 12 and that sweet spot when you have older and younger kids is so amazing! You get baby snuggles but you also get fun and thoughtful conversations with kids who are becoming such cool people. The older kids laugh along with you at cute toddler antics and help out with diapers and dinner, and the younger kids look up to them as role models. It just feels like the house is so full of love; it's a great period in the life of a parent. (Of course, there's also a lot of driving to extracurricular activities...)

Wendy said...

Yes, yes, and yes! It's wonderful!