Tuesday was Science Day. I got some great ideas from http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/ We did the experiments for static electricity and why the sky is blue. The kids favorite thing was making sky in a jar. You put water in a glass jar with a little bit of milk and then shine a flashlight on it to show how the light bounces off the particles and makes it look blue. Tessa's extra static-y hair made the static electricity experiments work well, but Spencer's favorite part was discovering he could drag his feet on the carpet and shock me. Not exactly my favorite part. I tried my best to explain the whys to the experiments and I think Spencer kind of understood a little. Tessa just wanted to eat the Cheerios and have me stop combing her hair.
Wednesday was Cooking Day. Spencer has a Better Homes and Garden Jr. Cookbook that I let him choose a recipe out of. He chose some caramel apple muffins for breakfast. My neighbor gave us a bunch of her kids' old books and there was an old cake cook book in there that Tessa grabbed. She chose "Surprise Cake" although it never explained what the surprise was. We made Spencer's muffins for breakfast. He wasn't in the mood to do anything so I had him read the recipe while Tessa and I made them. They turned out pretty good so I think I may tweak them a bit for future uses. Later in the afternoon we made Tessa's surprise cake. This time Spencer read as well as finding me the correct measuring cups and spoons while Tessa explained to me what she saw in the pictures. They both helped measure, pour, crack eggs, and stir. I've made quite a few cakes and reading the recipe had me skeptical to begin with. As we were mixing it together I was getting a bit nervous. Then we baked them. Sure enough the 2 cakes came out thinner and crispier than a sugar cookie. The kids asked why it was "Surprise" cake so I took the opportunity to tell them to surprise daddy with a filling. They put on strawberry jam (that Brodie made last week) and cut up bananas. Tessa cut her banana in only 3 pieces so I had to cut them a little thinner. Then I whipped up some whipping cream to cover the "cake" in. It turned out not too bad, but not anything I would want to make again, or even eat the next day so it was garbaged. But the kids enjoy cooking and I enjoy them enjoying cooking.
Thursday was Story Book day. I stayed up until 1 am Wednesday night preparing. I took scraps of red sheet from when I made superhero capes for Spencer's birthday party and I sewed a red cape for Tessa. I also bought a basic cloth covered headband and some fun textured brown felt. I cut out carboard "ear" shapes and glued the felt on them. Then I hot-glued the "ears" to the headband. I also picked up 3 pig noses from Zurchers for about $1 a piece. First I read the kids The Three Little Pigs. Then I gave them each a nose and I was the Big, Bad Wolf and we acted it out. Knowing the story well, Spencer chose to be the 3rd Little Pig. Tessa wanted to be the 1st Little Pig so Clara, by default, was the 2nd. The kids had a blast acting out the story and running from me when I blew down their houses (their foam little couches). Then I read them Little Red Riding Hood and handed over my wolf gear to Spencer. I presented little Tessa with her red riding hood and she made me a basket of goodies to bring since I was the sick grandmother. Spencer loved tricking his sister and trying to eat me up. Although this is one of Tessa's favorite stories, she was a bit apprehensive here. Maybe Spencer made too intimidating of a wolf. But she liked her cape. Then we met up with my sister and her two girls at the Draper library for a puppet show. If you haven't been to a library puppet show, you really should go. Besides being free (well already paid for in our property taxes...) the lady who does the puppet shows does a great job! I've taken the girls a few times to the Sandy library and we always love the puppet shows. This puppet show was "A Very Small House" based on a Polish folklore. A married couple complained their house was too small so the mayor had them bring all their animals inside and then when they took them all out they loved all the space they had. My kids are still talking about it. Then we looked around and chose some books to bring home, including Happy Birthday Big Bad Wolf.
Friday was Earth Day. My kids are already aware of Earth Day and of the concepts of recycling, planting, and keeping the earth clean but I talked about it again after swimming. Then I had them watch Wall-E while I showered, reminding them we don't want to live on an earth full of garbage and that we need plants to provide us oxygen to breathe. Then my sister and her girls came over and we decorated pots. I couldn't find my acrylic paints so we ended up using sticky foam shapes, jewels, and buttons. Then we filled them with dirt and planted Vinca seeds. After that we went across the street to play with and feed the chickens. We brought the eggs home and got each kid a plastic shopping bag (I do have a few despite trying to use the re-usable kinds). We then went for a walk picking up all the garbage we saw. Our neighborhood is quite clean so we had to head out to the busier road to find some. We also had to tell the kids not to pick up broken glass or cigarettes. You would have thought it was an Easter Egg hunt the kids were having so much fun and were so excited to find garbage! Even today walking home from church Spencer was pointing out the garbage he saw and said, "Mom, we need to walk over here with our bags and get this garbage." When we returned home and washed our hands really well we then made cookies with colored sugar cookie dough. I told each kid to make something about the earth. Bailee made her Grandma Sue, who lives on the earth. Afton made a puppy, which also lives on the earth. Spencer made the sky with lots of colors in it. Tessa made "the earth when it was a ghost". That's my abstract little girl!
The kids were so excited for Easter and asked for a sleepover so I let them sleep together in the toy room. Luckily they were asleep by 9:00. I ended up getting to bed around midnight. Then Tessa woke me up at 3:30 saying, "Spencer said to ask you if we could get up now?" Ya, Spencer sends his little sister to do the dirty work. I sent her back downstairs where Spencer had his alarm clock and knows the 7:00 rule at our house. When I came down at 6:59 they were both sitting on the couch staring at the clock. They shot up like rockets when it changed to 7:00. And by the response of Tessa to her toys, she hadn't seen them at 3:30 in the morning.
I've heard people complain about Easter being like Christmas. I grew up getting candy and maybe a necklace or something fairly small. And my kids do have way more toys than they really need. That being said, Easter is like a Spring Christmas at our house in terms of gifts. My kids birthdays are in January and September and living in Utah there's no point in outside toys at those times or for Christmas. But I love my kids playing outside and love to encourage them to do so. The Easter Bunny always brings some fun outdoor toys for the kids like bikes, trikes, scooters, plastic golf set, push car, rocket, sprinkler, etc. This year E.B. brought Spencer a 21" Hot Wheels skateboard that he has been loving! Tessa got a cute, pink, 3-wheeled Razor scooter. Clara got a big Nemo bouncing ball. The older kids also got kid umbrellas, flashlights, summer pajamas, and bubble shooters. And of course candy. In lots of eggs. Rather than packing a few eggs I put only a little candy in each egg but it took a whole bunch of eggs. In the past the Accountant in me has given them a number to make sure they find every single egg and to make sure they get the same amount of eggs. This year I just hid them. They've been finding more throughout the day. I think they have all been found now. And I didn't count, I figure however many they have is more than enough and they are good enough at sharing that if one runs out before the other kid I'm sure they'll share. Clara got a bunch of the Gerber snacks that I don't usually spend money on, cuz Cheerios are a bunch cheaper. The yogurt/fruit melts were pretty good!
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