Math and Science Night (aka Dead Pigs)

I don't know if I've mentioned this recently, but I love Owen's school. Love love love. And that's a wonderful thing, because after his kindergarten experience here in wild west TX, I was set to home school for the remainder of our time here.

Oh yeah.

But, luckily for me Owen, he tested into the Gifted and Talented program that our school district has, and he transferred schools.  It was a match made in heaven. We love this school, we love the staff, we love the principal, we love the special activities that they do with the kids and the way that they encourage the kids to really "think outside of the box" in order to learn.

All of which leads me to this picture of my 8 year old child dissecting a fetal pig.

Yep, that is Owen, and that is a real fetal pig.

Owen's school hosted their annual Math and Science night- which is a really fun event! Every classroom has a different station set up with different activities and the kids go from room to room and get their tickets signed by the teacher after they participate in the activities. At the end of the evening, the kids turn in their filled tickets to the cafeteria for pizza, cookies, and lemonade! Although who would want to eat after that picture above, I don't know...

Owen's teacher was in charge of the fetal pigs, which Owen thought was the most awesome thing ever. He talked about it for days ahead of time.

Except... except...

The day of the event, I picked up Owen at school and he told me, "The baby pigs are here today mom! They're in the Art Lab right now, so we couldn't go in there for class. They're going to kill them right before Math and Science Night so we can dissect them later."

Um, what??

Me: "Did you actually SEE baby pigs?"

Owen: "No, but a 3rd grader told me that they're in there..."

Ah ha.

Thankfully, these little piggies actually arrived at school already, ahem, disposed of and hermetically sealed in individual laboratory baggies. Phew.

We had a BLAST. I love this school.

Bubble Lab!

Working hard to solve a math puzzle...

You can see the remnants of Oreo "moon phases" here. Also- baby girl wound up eating BOTH pieces of that pizza....

Do you remember when I talked about sewing the super hero capes for Owen's class?? Well, here they are! The kids added their own decorations to the back... I think they came out so cute. I am so glad I got to be a part of that. :)

5.14.12

Today, baby girl discovered that in addition to the couch, floor, and walls, her body makes an excellent canvas for marker art.

It's hard to be upset when she's obviously so very proud of herself...

-Kerry

5.8.12

It has stormed here for 2 days now. With rain in the forecast for the rest of the week (a rare occurance here in west Texas, indeed) I anticipate at least a week longer of having to hose these boys off before they are allowed back indoors.

They're boys. It's mud. You weren't really surprised, were you?

-Kerry

Soccer Days

This weekend wrapped up a new experience for the Strong clan... we successfully made it through a soccer season!

Maybe now I'll have more time for this blog, eh?

Jacob- being his Daddy's clone- is a sports man. I knew the day was coming that we'd become those parents... You know the ones I mean, right? We've already got a minivan- the rest was just a skip, hop, and $65 registration fee away.

I have to say, I know Jacob really enjoyed himself this season. I know the rest of his family enjoyed it as well. The twice weekly practices and Saturday games spent cheering on the Cobras will be missed now that the season is over (well, maybe not missed that much now that it's getting close to 100 degrees outside... turns out there really IS a limit to my feelings of parental obligation- and it starts at 85 degrees).

Granted, Jacob may not have been the *star* of his team, but he had the most positive attitude of any teammate I've ever seen. Mr. Congeniality, indeed. He had a blast. So did we. We can't wait for the next season to start (September!!).

Enjoy these pics of the "highlights"...

First game! They didn't have their jerseys yet, so they played in white shirts... He's ready!!

Push ups! You've not seen anything as funny as a group of 5-year-olds attempting push ups. I almost peed myself from laughing...

Getting ready to kick!

Jacob's #1 soccer fan

Soccer parents!



With his medal and 2 trophies!

I just realized that I have NO good pictures of Owen during soccer season. That is probably because his modis opperandi for games was to bring a book and find a quiet, shady spot to hide for an hour... Not that I blame him- I used to be that kid...

Owen has said he wants to play next season as well-TWO kids with TWO soccer schedules?? This could get crazy!!


-Kerry

Look at this picture. Look really really closely. One of these things does not belong.

Any guesses?

Ok, I'll give you a hint: She's blond, likes pink, and is 22lbs of pure sassy-ness. Oh- and she's also a GREAT climber.

Yeah.

Apparently, while I was vacuuming in the bedrooms, she pushed her stool over to the oven and climbed atop it. And dumped out the entire shaker of salt. 

Now, guess which Mommy is very very happy that neither the stove top nor the oven have been used today?

I know.

This could have been a very unhappy story.

-Kerry