Ice Cream in a Bag

     I saw this idea last summer in the Disney Family Fun magazine, wrote it on a little notecard, an finally pulled it out!  It has been soooo hot here, and the girls love ice cream, so I figured it would be fun to make our own.

Ingredients

1 C 1/2 and 1/2
 2 T sugar
1/2 t vanilla

1/4 C salt (we used rock salt, but I think other types may work)
ice

First mix your 1/2 and 1/2, sugar, and vanilla in a small ziploc bag.

Fill a gallon size ziploc 1/2 full of ice and add salt and small ziploc bag.

Seal and shake for 5 minutes.  This was the hardest part because the bag gets really cold and little girls get tired of shaking.  So we wrapped the bags in towels and jumped up and down.  They probably only shook them for a minute and a half, and I shook them for a little while. They still worked even with inconsistent shaking.

             Eat and enjoy!

Pop Rocks Science: Capturing Carbon Dioxide

     We were at Pizza Hut when Bria started staring at the bubbles in my cup.  I tried to explain to her that pop has bubbles because it has a gas (carbon dioxide) in it. I don't know that she really understood, but it did give me an idea.

     We had some Pop Rocks here, and they, like pop, are made with carbon dioxide (Pop Rocks FAQ).  I know Bria has had Pop Rocks before, but she didn't seem to remember them. First I let her and Nadia each eat some (of course).

     Then I had them put some in a dish of water to see what would happen.  They could see that as the Pop Rocks dissolved in the water gas was released in the form of bubbles. They could also hear the crackling of the gas breaking out of the candy.

     Next to actually show them the gas I decided to combine Pop Rocks and Pepsi to blow up a balloon.  I did one with baking soda and vinegar as well for comparison.  I started by putting baking soda in one balloon and Pop Rocks in another.  I added vinegar to one bottle and Pepsi to another.  I didn't use any exact amounts, but you definitely don't need much vinegar and baking soda!  Here is a site with more exact amounts for your vinegar and baking soda (Balloon Blow Up).

     I put each balloon on the top of their respective bottle and had each girl hold the end of a balloon. When we were ready I had them both hold the balloon up straight to dump the contents into the bottle.

                                                 

 Both balloons inflated although you can see the Pop Rocks balloon didn't get nearly as big as the baking soda balloon.

    

Father's Day and Beyond!

     This week started with Father's Day on Sunday. Nathan got to sleep in late, and when he woke up Bria asked him what he wanted to do. She gave him two options: go to a play park or go to Grandma's. Lucky for her Nathan didn't early have anything he wanted to do, so we had lunch at a park before heading to Grandma and Grandpa's.

We found a ton of horsetails at the park.
Nathan tried to say it was bamboo, but I knew better!

   

I told the girls bamboo grows in China where pandas live, and
 Nadia replied, "I have a panda, but he is a pillow. He's not real."

    While the food was cooking that evening the girls hot in a spray bottle fight with their dad, who then got the hose!

     Monday we headed to Columbia. We were able to find some things on our list for upcoming parties, and since we had Grandma there, the kids were able to find some gifts for each other. Bria and Nadia chose Eli's, and Nadia chose Bria's despite Bria insisting that she choose her own gift.  Nadia was so excited that we were able to pick something out and go buy it without Bria knowing! After buying it she carried it through the store saying, "Bria will like her present. It's a surprise.". We also got ice cream and played at a park. We did find a new splash park that we will have to try out another day.

     Tuesday we spent the morning making storms in the kitchen.  The girls still seemed pretty tired from the day before, so they weren't too into all the experimenting.  They did enjoy their colorful Storm in a Jar (It's Raining; It's Pouring) though.  Nothing too interesting the rest of the day other then me trying to capture Eli walking on video. By the time I got far enough away to see allow him, he was already headed toward me!  

     Wednesday is library day.  This weeks story time was extra special because they had hired a professional story teller. Unfortunately it was at the same time as Eli's nap, so we had a pretty tired, wiggly little guy for it. He made it through without fussing much, but he would not hold still and was quite intent on pulling the ponytail on the girl in front of us.  The girls did pretty good even when it went a little long. They even helped out with one of the stories! 

    Thursday I decided it was time to get the playroom back in order. Well Bria wanted to rearrange things and put more toys in her room. So we moved some things to her room, rearranged a couple bookcases, and put all their craft things in the play room.  Sounds like a simple enough task, but with all 3 kids helping, it took most of the day! Now to decide if we will bunk the girls' beds or not. I also tried again to get a good video of Eli walking.

     As usual I worked on Friday, but I hear the girls went to a museum here in town. I am sure they had fun just exploring a new place.  

     We had originally planned to head to the lake this weekend after church, but plans changed when I had a patient that could need care over the weekend. I decided to stay. The girls got to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's, so I'm sure they didn't mind. Maybe another time.  
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     I just wanted to add a few photos that I forgot to add last week.I am always forgetting to put pictures from my little camera on my computer!

Bria with kittens Sauna and Tuna (I think).

Eli loving a kitten (maybe Bonna; I can't keep their names straight).

Bria's drawing of David and Goliath
. Goliath is the big one with muscles, and David is the little one with the slingshot.
Bria is the medium sized one.

Pretzel Rolls

     These rolls are awesome!  I came across these a while back on pinterest and have made them a couple times since.  The original blog post is from Une Bonne Vie, but they are so yummy I had to a share!  The first time I made them I am pretty sure I had at least 3 at dinner because they are quite addicting.  Nathan has decided they are better then soft pretzels and should be eaten with cheese sauce; the girls wanted butter on theirs. Eli and I were happy with them just as they were.

     Before I get into the recipe let me just say I do not claim to be a baker, but I always end up needing more flour. Maybe my kitchen is too warm or maybe I just don't know what I am doing, but they are still really tasty. I can only imagine how great they would be if made by someone who knows what they are doing.  

Ingredients

Dough

6-7 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 t salt

3 T canola oil

2 t active dry yeast

2 1/2 C milk, slightly warn

1 C water, slightly warm

Sea salt for sprinkling

Bath 

7 C water

1 T salt

4 T baking soda

Start by mixing the yeast and warm milk (I had mine between 110 and 115). Set that aside for 10 minutes to rest.

Whisk 5 3/4 C flour and salt in a large bowl.

Add canola oil and warm water to yeast mixture. Pour into bowl with flour and salt. Knead in bowl until the dough is mostly soft. Only add enough flour so dough is easily handled. Dough will be somewhat stiff.  Cover and allow to rise 1 hour.

Punch down and knead 1 minute. Cut in 15 pieces (or however many it takes to get the size rolls you want) and form into balls.  Place on greased surface and let rise 15 minutes. In the meantime prepare bath by bringing water, salt, and baking soda to a rolling boil and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place 3 rolls in the bath and poach for 1 minute. Place on well greased baking sheet and cut 2-3 lines across the top of poached rolls. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake for 20-25 minutes.

 

These are best the day they are made (but still very tasty the day after)! Enjoy!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

     You can tell it has been dry here when the girls are amazed by rain. Last Saturday while driving home we hit a storm, and the girls were just in awe of all the rain!  So I decided we should do some storm experiments this week.  We actually ended up doing 3 because they were all fairly short and easy to do.

  
     The first one (Storm in a Jar) we did was to make a "cloud" of shaving cream rain into a jar.  You need a jar filled with water, shaving cream, colored water, and eye droppers.

     Make your cloud on top of your water with the shaving cream.  Our shaving cream was about empty, so ours was a bit more watery then I would have liked. Using the eye dropper put squirts of colored water on top of your cloud. 

     Once the cloud is saturated enough the color will begin to "rain" into the jar. It didn't take long for us since  we had watery shaving cream.

     Continue making it rain and add colors!  The girls had a terrible looking storm going!

  
     Actually by the end of it they had dark gray water and an overflowing jar!

     The second experiment (Rain in a Jar) we did was to actually make it rain through condensation.  All you need for this is hot water, a jar, a plate, and some ice.

     Pour a couple inches of hot water in the jar and cover with the plate. Let sit. After a couple minutes place ice on the plate.  The steam trapped  in the air in the jar will condensate on the plate and roll down the sides of the jar.  Similar to how rain comes down when hot and cold air mix.  To be honest, the girls were not impressed by this.  Too slow for their liking; maybe when they get older we will try again.

     Just for fun while we were letting our hot water sit we tried a third experiment (Tornado in a Jar). All you need for this is a jar with a lid, water, and dish soap. Fill your jar with water, add a squirt of dish soap, and screw on the lid.  Then you just have to swirl or shake the jar. 

      Look for a little tornado inside.  I added more soap to try and get more obvious tornado, but the extra soap didn't really make it any more obvious.

The white part in the center is the tornado. 

      I also found an awesome site with lots of weather experiments (this is where the rain in a jar came from): Weather Wiz Kids. I am sure we will be doing more in the future.

Current Favorite iPad Apps (from a 4, 3, and almost 1 year old)

     We are pretty new to the iPad scene, but it didn't take any time at all for the girls to figure out how to use it.  Of course I was leery of them using it a lot at first because of the no screen under the age of 2 recommendation, but then I found this initial information: What Happens When a Toddler Zones Out With an iPad. Very interesting. So now I don't worry as much, but I still don't let them use it non-stop! They do love it, and actually They (and Eli) actually have more apps then I do.  So much for it being my iPad!  It really is amazing the variety of apps available to children of all ages.  I just wanted to list the current top ten used by my kids.

1) Bob Books Reading Magic (sets 1 and 2)- $1.99 each- I had looked into these books when I started working on reading with the girls. Glad I found the apps instead! The girls love the interactive aspect!

2) Little Writer - the tracing app for kids- free- There are other good writing apps out there; actually I purchased one before finding this free one. The girls prefer the free one, and it includes numbers too!

3) Timmy's Kindergarten Adventure- currently on sale for $1.99 (not sure how long that will last)- You make your own player for each person, and the game customizes the content for each players skill level.  The girls really enjoy earning coins for completing levels.

4) Rocket Speller- free- This is really geared for a little older kid (one that needs to know how to spell), but the girls love building the rockets! I suppose it is never to early to learn spelling.

5) Motion Math: Hungry Fish- free- The hungry fish eats specific numbers, so you have to add numbers together to get the one the fish eats.  It has subtraction as well for a small price.  Right now we don't do too great after the number 4, so that will be in the future.

6) Read Me Stories- free- You can get 1 free book in several collections for free, and if you like it you can buy the whole collection for $1.99 (per collection).  The girls like it because it will read to them, and some of the books have interactive aspects where you click on characters.

7) Alpha Baby- free- This app is similar to BabySmash on the computer. You hit the screen and it brings up letters and says the letter name.  But it also can do numbers, shapes, and colors. Eli loves it! If you pay for the upgrade ($.99) you can add your own voice and pictures too!

8) Sound Brush- $1.99- Here you draw whatever you want  in up to 4 instruments and then play it!  It is fun to see what a drawing of a cat sounds like!

9) Lego 4+- free- Build a lego vehicle and collect coins to earn more pieces! Even with all the pieces unlocked the girls love it!

10) Talking Tom- free- Talk to Tom and he repeats anything you say.  The girls are a little nervous about talking to him, but love to give him milk and hit him in the face. Eli thinks he is hilarious and laughs at him, which he repeats, so Eli laughs more.

      These are just the current favorites, and as I find more apps I am sure they will change. Actually one of the girls favorite apps is a pony making app that you apparently can no longer get. It has completely
disappeared from the app store!

Beads, Books, and Birds

      By far the most popular thing we did this week was playing with our glowing water beads (Glowing Water Beads).  I think the girls would have played with them all day every day, and Eli was a pretty big fan too.

    If last weeks big accomplishment was Bria reading an entire book on her own, then this week it was Nadia's turn! She read the same book as Bria, I Am Sam. Well she didn't read the entire book; Nathan said she only had to read half of it since she is younger. It was still a big accomplishment as it is a fairly long book for such a little person.  We also managed to finish reading "The Tale of Despereaux." It may have taken us a month, but we managed to get through the entire book.  Both of the girls say the princess was their favorite; no big surprise there.  Even Nathan read it (although he did the night before it was due).  It was definitely better then the movie!  I was so happy to be able to return that book when we went to story time this week rather then renew it again! I was thinking the girls would want a break from chapeter books for now, so I didn't check out a new one. Of course when we get home Bria asks, "did we get a big book? I wanted another big book." Guess we'll be finding one next week.

Girls in the monster masks they made at story time.

    

 Other then reading (although we do seem to do a lot of that) I have spent quite a bit of time watching my bird feeder for Crackle. I think I may have seen him. There were 2 fledgling grackles out there're one day, so I started clicking at them from my window. One flew away immediately while the others listened. He continued to stay and listen until I opened the door.  I can only assume it was Crackle.  Other then the flock of grackles that seem to be out there I have also seen cardinals, blue jays, sparrow, finches, a squirrel, and a rabbit (who sits under the feeder).   Since we have been doing a lot of bird watching the past few weeks, we decided to make a little bird nest craft this week. Check it out here: Baby Bird Craft

I think this is Crackle.  I had to paparazzi this picture
as most of the birds fly away as soon as you come to the window.
Crackle the Grackle

   

      Eli also did some big things this week.  He finally started signing "eat." he has been doing "milk" and "all done" for a while. Now if he would start using some "more" and "drink" he would probably be less frustrated. Most of the time all he wants to do is walk around with you holding his hands. Although he can take a few steps on his own he still isn't brave enough to take off on his own.  He also started stacking blocks this week; although his favortie game was to stack one and then pick up his stack and throw it! On Thursday I noticed that his 4th tooth had popped through. I am hoping he gets a little break from teeth for now.  Friday we headed to the clinic to weigh Eli; he is up to 17 lbs and 9 ounces.  This is still less then the 3rd percentile, but he did grow. I am interested to see what his doctor has to say next month at his check up.

He loves his Spiderman.

      Saturday we headed to Midwest Youth Camp for church services. Nathan and I used to direct the camp, and the girls have gone every year (even if it was just for a day).  This was Eli's first year.  He loved the music, but was pretty shy when it came to all the people.  The girls had a great time as some friends with kids there age also made it,  they were sad to leave, but we had to get Eli a nap! Actually they all napped the first half of the trip home.  We stopped to play at a park and feed Eli then finished the trip. I think the trip exhausted everyone! Let's hope we all get some rest; a new week starts tomorrow.