I love when simple opportunities come up for me to actually do something to help others, and the We Are THAT Family blog is a great place to find those opportunities.
This week, Kristen from We Are THAT Family is organizing an effort to make pillow case dresses for girls in Africa, where she recently went on a trip with the Compassion organization. I can't sew, but I can donate pillow cases and other sewing items and more for other people to make the dresses. How easy is that?!? Read Kristen's post to find out about the effort and what you can do!
I sponsor two boys through Compassion, both of whom are around R's age - one lives in Uganda, the other in Haiti. (Please pray for both of them!) I've received two photos of one of my boys - in both pictures, he was wearing new clothes that he was very happy and proud of and that he wrote to me about. One of the outfits he bought with his money for Christmas, along with a goat for his family, some soap, a cake, and a soda. But in both pictures, he's wearing girls' shoes. Maybe he doesn't know or maybe he does and it doesn't bother him - I don't know. But that just broke my heart. Especially when I think about how much I spend on R's shoes. Or, how much teasing a boy would endure here for wearing pink girls sneakers. So, helping with the pillow case dresses is a connection for me to my "son" in Uganda, to children in Africa, a small, yet powerful way that I can help.
If you know of other projects like this, please share!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Just beachy
We've been so lucky with the weather recently! On Sunday, we headed up to Gloucester to check out another beach with some friends. It was perfectly sunny, warm, and breezy. The beach was absolutely beautiful. Clean, sparkly sand, big rocks for climbing on, and WARM water. We waded in the ocean almost the whole time. Unbelievable for May in New England!
R played and ran and splashed and climbed non-stop. He and his friend had so much fun together. It made me happy and relieved. R has been having some bad episodes recently where he can't control his frustration - usually because of schoolwork or disagreements with friends. So, giving him the opportunity to run and be free and get dirty and wet and explore to his heart's content gives my heart peace.
Because we've been going up to Gloucester so much, we decided to spend a week of our summer vacation there. I found a beautiful carriage house for rent that's steps away from the ocean, with tons of room (including bunk beds for R and friends), a fireplace, Weber grill and patio, and a jacuzzi tub. So it'll be a fun way to end the summer after R's camp is over and before school begins. We can hit the beaches, go on a whale watch, go hiking and rockhounding, and check out the shops and antique stores in Rockport. I can't wait!
R played and ran and splashed and climbed non-stop. He and his friend had so much fun together. It made me happy and relieved. R has been having some bad episodes recently where he can't control his frustration - usually because of schoolwork or disagreements with friends. So, giving him the opportunity to run and be free and get dirty and wet and explore to his heart's content gives my heart peace.
Because we've been going up to Gloucester so much, we decided to spend a week of our summer vacation there. I found a beautiful carriage house for rent that's steps away from the ocean, with tons of room (including bunk beds for R and friends), a fireplace, Weber grill and patio, and a jacuzzi tub. So it'll be a fun way to end the summer after R's camp is over and before school begins. We can hit the beaches, go on a whale watch, go hiking and rockhounding, and check out the shops and antique stores in Rockport. I can't wait!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Weekend adventures
Last weekend was so nice! It was darn hot around here (in the 90s!), so after soccer and swimming lessons and a bit of weeding and mulching, my boys and I headed up to Gloucester for some rock-climbing, beachcombing, sea glass-hunting, and dinner-eating by the water. We've been doing that a lot recently, even during the wintertime. We really love it up there. It makes me happy to see R have so much freedom to climb and run and explore. (Although we did have to give him a time out for leaping from rock to rock and running way ahead of us on the cliffs.) I found tons of sea glass, as well as some beautiful beach rocks that I brought home to place in my garden.
Sunday was my trip to Salvage Chic with my friend, Brenda. Oh boy, that shop had me written all over it. I could have spent hours browsing and re-browsing through every nook and cranny. I have to go back with A. Brenda was very patient and helped talk me through a few potential purchases, but her decorative and furniture taste is really more modern, so she didn't buy anything for herself. She kept cracking up, though, at the number of items in the shop that she had had in her house growing up.
I went in there looking for some little table or shelves that I could use in my microscopic bathroom. I ended up getting two sunny yellow shelves, a white tool tray, and a tiny box of magnets (for R).
Unfortunately, when I got everything home, I discovered that the shelves are too long for where I wanted to put them. But I'll find another place. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to use the tool tray (any suggestions?), although it will probably become a Lego organizer like pretty much every other storage item in our house.
This weekend, my boys are heading out for some Mother's Day shopping, which means I'll have the house to myself for a few hours. Normally I would watch some HGTV or Pride & Prejudice and take a much-needed nap, but my house is such a mess that I'm going to spend the time cleaning. That will make me so happy. On Sunday, we're going out for brunch and then we're going to work in the yard if the weather cooperates.
Happy Mother's Day to all my mom friends and family! God bless you for all you do!
My boys on the cliffs - see how R is scampering ahead?
R throws rocks into the ocean
The sun was very bright :-)
Sunday was my trip to Salvage Chic with my friend, Brenda. Oh boy, that shop had me written all over it. I could have spent hours browsing and re-browsing through every nook and cranny. I have to go back with A. Brenda was very patient and helped talk me through a few potential purchases, but her decorative and furniture taste is really more modern, so she didn't buy anything for herself. She kept cracking up, though, at the number of items in the shop that she had had in her house growing up.
I went in there looking for some little table or shelves that I could use in my microscopic bathroom. I ended up getting two sunny yellow shelves, a white tool tray, and a tiny box of magnets (for R).
Unfortunately, when I got everything home, I discovered that the shelves are too long for where I wanted to put them. But I'll find another place. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to use the tool tray (any suggestions?), although it will probably become a Lego organizer like pretty much every other storage item in our house.
This weekend, my boys are heading out for some Mother's Day shopping, which means I'll have the house to myself for a few hours. Normally I would watch some HGTV or Pride & Prejudice and take a much-needed nap, but my house is such a mess that I'm going to spend the time cleaning. That will make me so happy. On Sunday, we're going out for brunch and then we're going to work in the yard if the weather cooperates.
Happy Mother's Day to all my mom friends and family! God bless you for all you do!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Good times ahead
I'm so excited for the weekend. Not just because it's going to be warm and sunny and wonderful (no freezing my butt off at soccer in the morning - woohoo!), but because I'm meeting up with an old friend on Sunday to go antiquing and grab some lunch. We're heading to an antiques shop that I've been dying to check out for almost a year. I'm leaving A and R to fend for themselves for the day without a car, but I think they'll be fine. :-)
I also picked up Jennifer Weiner's Certain Girls last night, so I've got a fun, stay-up-all-night-reading-because-I-can't-put-it-down book.
Have a great weekend! I'll let you know what treasures I find.
I also picked up Jennifer Weiner's Certain Girls last night, so I've got a fun, stay-up-all-night-reading-because-I-can't-put-it-down book.
Have a great weekend! I'll let you know what treasures I find.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Meteorite Men -- and Boys!
Have you ever seen the show "Meteorite Men" on the Science Channel? If you haven't, you must! A and R found it one day while channel surfing, and we've been hooked ever since. Of course, R was already obsessed with (1) anything to do with space and (2) rocks, so it wasn't too much of a surprise that he'd like the show, but I find myself watching it (and DVRing it) when R is in bed because it's just so interesting and entertaining.
It follows these two very funny guys, Geoff and Steve, as they hunt for meteorites in different locations around the U.S. (from what I've seen so far). They talk about their equipment and the science of it all, but mostly it's just the two of them cracking jokes and teasing each other as they hunt, getting frustrated when they don't find anything, and getting excited when they do. My favorite episode so far was when they hunted for three days without finding anything and then on their drive back, they spotted a whole mess of meteorites just laying on the dirt road! Crazy!
This show has had quite an impact on our little family. R hunts for meteorites wherever he goes. He's planning to make a meteorite hunting stick (walking stick with a big magnet attached to the bottom), similar to the ones Geoff and Steve use on the show. (R actually requested that we get him a pick axe like theirs, but we figured a 6-year-old doesn't need a pick axe quite yet. Maybe next year.)
I think I mentioned a little while ago that R thought he found a meteorite on the street. He and I were walking home from school one day, and he crouched down, picked up a rock, and insisted it was a meteorite. I laughed it off, but when we got home, R discovered the rock was magnetic. It's a little rusty, so we know there's iron in it. R and A researched how to identify meteorites online, and they tried a scratch test by scratching the rock on a porcelain tile. It passed. (I can't remember what a meteorite does in the scratch test, but this rock did whatever a meteorite is supposed to do.) In the meantime, R spotted a second rock like the first one in the same location on the street. Then, A ordered a kit that tests for the presence of nickel because meteorites have both iron and nickel in them. And, the nickel test was positive for both rocks! A and R have also dug out the microscope and examined their specimens. And, they've compared R's finds to some real meteorites that we've bought.
Now, we know that the likelihood that these two rocks are meteorites is pretty darn low. I mean, they were just laying on the side of a paved street. It was after our huge, colossal rainstorms and flooding, so maybe there's a slight chance these were unearthed and swept down the street from somewhere else. But, whatever -- R was excited and started telling all his friends. And, because his class was doing a science unit on magnets, R's teacher let him bring the "meteorites" into school.
The next thing I knew, most of the boys in R's class were talking and writing about meteorites, and A even took a few of them on a meteorite hunt on our street. Other parents keep coming up to me and telling me how their kid is constantly looking for meteorites. So cool!
On R's birthday, we took him to the Harvard Museum of Natural History to see the museum's curator, who we talked to about meteorites during the Earth Rocks festival they hosted a few weeks ago.
The curator was very nice and was impressed by our somewhat scientific approach (e.g., using a real meteorite as the control specimen), but he said it was inconclusive. I think he didn't want to disappoint R too much, but he said that it was pretty unlikely that R's rocks were meteorites. He was also intrigued, however, that our nickel tests had come out positive. Either way, R seemed fine about it, and his "meteorites" are now on display with all our other gems and minerals and meteorites in our living room.
So, we're living the Meteorite Boys life here. And, A and R are insisting that our next family vacation has to be to Arizona or Nevada or some other barren, desert land where they can hunt for meteorites.
We'll see, boys.
It follows these two very funny guys, Geoff and Steve, as they hunt for meteorites in different locations around the U.S. (from what I've seen so far). They talk about their equipment and the science of it all, but mostly it's just the two of them cracking jokes and teasing each other as they hunt, getting frustrated when they don't find anything, and getting excited when they do. My favorite episode so far was when they hunted for three days without finding anything and then on their drive back, they spotted a whole mess of meteorites just laying on the dirt road! Crazy!
This show has had quite an impact on our little family. R hunts for meteorites wherever he goes. He's planning to make a meteorite hunting stick (walking stick with a big magnet attached to the bottom), similar to the ones Geoff and Steve use on the show. (R actually requested that we get him a pick axe like theirs, but we figured a 6-year-old doesn't need a pick axe quite yet. Maybe next year.)
I think I mentioned a little while ago that R thought he found a meteorite on the street. He and I were walking home from school one day, and he crouched down, picked up a rock, and insisted it was a meteorite. I laughed it off, but when we got home, R discovered the rock was magnetic. It's a little rusty, so we know there's iron in it. R and A researched how to identify meteorites online, and they tried a scratch test by scratching the rock on a porcelain tile. It passed. (I can't remember what a meteorite does in the scratch test, but this rock did whatever a meteorite is supposed to do.) In the meantime, R spotted a second rock like the first one in the same location on the street. Then, A ordered a kit that tests for the presence of nickel because meteorites have both iron and nickel in them. And, the nickel test was positive for both rocks! A and R have also dug out the microscope and examined their specimens. And, they've compared R's finds to some real meteorites that we've bought.
R's "meteorites"
Now, we know that the likelihood that these two rocks are meteorites is pretty darn low. I mean, they were just laying on the side of a paved street. It was after our huge, colossal rainstorms and flooding, so maybe there's a slight chance these were unearthed and swept down the street from somewhere else. But, whatever -- R was excited and started telling all his friends. And, because his class was doing a science unit on magnets, R's teacher let him bring the "meteorites" into school.
The next thing I knew, most of the boys in R's class were talking and writing about meteorites, and A even took a few of them on a meteorite hunt on our street. Other parents keep coming up to me and telling me how their kid is constantly looking for meteorites. So cool!
On R's birthday, we took him to the Harvard Museum of Natural History to see the museum's curator, who we talked to about meteorites during the Earth Rocks festival they hosted a few weeks ago.
R at the Earth Rocks festival at HMNH
(Photograph by Patrick Rogers www.IamWhatISee.com)
The curator was very nice and was impressed by our somewhat scientific approach (e.g., using a real meteorite as the control specimen), but he said it was inconclusive. I think he didn't want to disappoint R too much, but he said that it was pretty unlikely that R's rocks were meteorites. He was also intrigued, however, that our nickel tests had come out positive. Either way, R seemed fine about it, and his "meteorites" are now on display with all our other gems and minerals and meteorites in our living room.
So, we're living the Meteorite Boys life here. And, A and R are insisting that our next family vacation has to be to Arizona or Nevada or some other barren, desert land where they can hunt for meteorites.
We'll see, boys.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Whole Lot of Birthday
Last week was R's school vacation and his birthday. I had the week off with him, and we had a nice time together hanging around home, riding bikes, meeting up with friends at the park, going to IKEA (hooray!), doing science experiments and craft projects (remember Shrinkydinks?!?!), and going to see "How to Train Your Dragon" (which was really, really good! especially in 3D IMAX).
But the best part was his birthday. Between our family party at home with my sister who was visiting from Pittsburgh, exploring the Harvard Museum of Natural History and asking the curator about R's potential meteorites (diagnosis: inconclusive), going out for a birthday dinner with friends at the Melting Pot, and a huge friend party at this place, it was quite the stellar celebration.
But the best part was his birthday. Between our family party at home with my sister who was visiting from Pittsburgh, exploring the Harvard Museum of Natural History and asking the curator about R's potential meteorites (diagnosis: inconclusive), going out for a birthday dinner with friends at the Melting Pot, and a huge friend party at this place, it was quite the stellar celebration.
Cake at home
The BIG slide at the bouncy place
Exiting another big bouncy slide
R, me, and my friend's daughter
Cake with friends
Connect 4 with Aunt Ericka
We had a great visit with my sister, and we were really sad to take her back to the airport on Sunday. She and R played lots of games together and had many tickling fights. I loved sharing a blanket with her on the couch each evening and gabbing and watching TV. We all drove down to my dad's for a visit on Saturday (where we stuffed ourselves silly on homemade pizza), and on Sunday morning, we took a fun hike in the woods where we found caves, giant rocks to climb, a turtle, a snake, chipmunks, and lots of gnats.
It was a good week. Now, we're back to school and work - and counting the weeks until our end-of-summer vacation.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Operation Scribe
Last weekend, I found cool monogrammed journals at the crafts store for $1. I bought a K one for me and an R one for R. :-)
On Sunday afternoon, I sat down with R and our journals. I wrote about our day and drew some little pictures to help him see what you can do with a journal. But I told him his journal could be anything he wanted it to be and that he doesn't have to show us what he writes if he doesn't want to. (Thanks for the suggestion, Dad!)
So, without any discussion, R opened up the title page, used a couple of stamps, and wrote this:
On Sunday afternoon, I sat down with R and our journals. I wrote about our day and drew some little pictures to help him see what you can do with a journal. But I told him his journal could be anything he wanted it to be and that he doesn't have to show us what he writes if he doesn't want to. (Thanks for the suggestion, Dad!)
So, without any discussion, R opened up the title page, used a couple of stamps, and wrote this:
"A scientist's journal"
On his first page, he wrote about how he found a meteorite on the sidewalk. And, he drew a picture of himself, the meteorite, and him saying, "Take that! Take that!" And, then he drew poop falling out of his butt onto the ground.
I told him he could write whatever he wanted, right?
:-)
Today, he's home sick with a bad cold. He was up half the night, so we kept him home to rest. Except that he's been nuts ever since. Anyway, he dug out his electricity science kit, and we did some experiments with circuits and lightbulbs, a tiny motor, creating a switch, etc. (Fun!) So, we took out our journals again, and R wrote: "We mad lekchriste." (Translation: We made electricity.)
So far, the journal has been a hit!
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