Science Saturday

Jack loves science  experiments.  We did two chemical  reaction  experiments.  The first one was to  show what oxidation  to metals looks like and why the statue of liberty is turning green.  Our first picture shows the shiny brand  new pennies, the second picture is what they look like after  24  hours in vinegar.
http://buggyandbuddy.com/science-for-kids-make-a-penny-turn-green/

The second chemical reaction is fun with food colored  vinegar poured over baking soda.  This was Jack's  favorite.

The third experiment  was the paper towel shoved  down in the bottom of a cup  then turned the cup over  into a bowl of water and the paper towel  stays dry like  scuba diver helmets. http://www.learnplayimagine.com/2014/06/how-to-keep-tissue-dry-in-water.html?m=1

Book habits

I was thinking  about the books that I have read in the past  6 months: finished the Sookie Stackhouse  books , finished Mortal Instruments  and Pretty Little Liars  , started The Giver  and The Maze Runner series , read Gone Girl , the Best Of Me , The Longest Ride and The Fault In Our Stars and it occurred  to me that I definitely  have a pattern. Lol
Apparently  I don't  read anything unless it's  going to become a movie or tv series. Oh well I guess  I'm  predictable.

I'm a workout hazard

I've  been working out a lot. I have always enjoyed it but  I get burned  out and bored easily. Lately I have  taking Tabata  boot camp  class twice a week , doing a 10 minute workout first thing in the morning  before my shower which consists of the daily 6 minute  online Tabata videos and then I'll  do something  else like push ups, sir ups ,squats,lunges and jumping  jacks.  I try to do fun stuff on the weekends like take the dog for a jog , roller blade , have a snowball  fight  with Jack , run around with the kids during  dodge ball PE group. I have always been accident prone but I  am hilarious when I workout.  I knee myself in the chin during burpees, I punch myself in the face during speedbag , I sometimes fall on my but during kickboxing and I get elbow burns on my elbows  during elbow plank.  I often whack myself in the back of the head jumping  rope.  I am not a quitter and am accident prone.  I just don't  want to break any bones but I will continue  to try and keep things fun and interesting. 

Back to the drawing board

I take Jack to the Lego club twice  a month and PE group once a month. Jason has been taking  him to the after  school story time at the library  but Jack  isn't  into  it. He said it was just like preschool  story time which was a story and craft. Jack likes  science  and technology.  He is a very hands on type child. This week when we were at Lego club he saw  some cool displays that the Problem Solvers  Club  had put together and he was interested.  So hopefully  this will be something  fun for him to do. It is so hard to get him out of the house in the winter.  He is super  active when the weather  is nice.

The 100th day of school

Today was our  100th day of school celebration. We had lots of fun activities, including  what can you build with 100 legos , recess: how many of each activity can you do in 100 seconds such as hopping on one foot  or jumping jacks , putting together  a 100 piece puzzle , answering silly 100 questions , reading 100 site words , spelling 100 words , fun math and science  experiments too , also a fun snack(2 mini donuts and a twix) .We had lots  of fun with  learning today.  I found all of these work sheets on pinterest. The last picture of one of the science experiments  was to observe the effects of expanding gas. You freeze  an empty  2 liter bottle for a few minutes  then dip the open top into a solution of water and dish soap and there will be a bubble at the top. When the bottle  is removed  from the freezer , the air heats up and the air molecules  move farther apart , some of the air  is forced out of the bottle and creates  a bubble. 

Science experiment Saturday

Since my husband and I tag team homeschool , I get excited when my full  day comes every week but I tend to lesson plan too much and stay up late Thursday  night kind of figuring out our Friday lol. I was too ambitious this past week and we had to make up an hour that I didn't  get to teach him Thursday  morning since he spent the night at Grandma's.  I usually  teach for 1 hr before work Monday -Thursday  then my husband picks  our son up from Grandma's  and he teaches  the remaining 5 hours. I teach  all day Friday.  It works out where  I teach 10 hours a week and my  husband teaches  20. I wish  I had more time to teach but with our work schedules it's  hard. I work 32 hours per week and my husband works 20. I thought  Jason was crazy when he told me he wanted to homeschool  and this first year of transitions  has had a few days of temper  tantrums  (adults and Jack included ). Thank goodness  we live in a great  city with lots of support groups  , co-ops , field trips , P.E. groups, service projects and library activities. As we are approaching  our 100th day of school  , I feel like we all have a grasp on what is expected  from everyone and we have a good flow to our day now. Plus the grandmother's  have been amazing.  They don't  want to do a lot of teaching  but  they will help out some. When Jack spent some time at my Mom's  she made sure he read a book out loud to her  and is getting  in teaching mode rather than just doing. As a teaching  household you don't  just take vitamins  you teach why the human body needs nutrients and you don't  just get up like  a robot and prepare  meals , you have your child help measure and prepare meals too and laundry etc. We don't  include this stuff in our homeschool hours  but we take every opportunity  to instruct and teach. This week I had an hour  to make up and since Jack loves science , after  he completed his math and grammar workbook pages, we had a science experiment  Saturday.
The first experiment we did was on density which he found fascinating that we poured the oil in first then the water then the syrup but everything switched  because of how dense the substance  was.
The second experiment was on solid , liquid and gas. After this was over he played with the  ice until  it melted lol because he didn't  believe that it would take up the same amount  of space in the bowl as the plain water.

The third experiment was to demonstrate  hydration by putting candy  into glasses of water and documenting what happened.  I thought  this was a neat and cheap  way to show cohesive  force as well. Jack loved that the peppermint  lost it's  red stripes.

The last experiment was to determine  how  water affects seeds. Jack thought  it was crazy  how the dried beans soaked up all the water  and changed the volume of beans in the measuring  glass. I took a picture of the first part  of the experiment then the beans are supposed to soak for 25 hrs. I forgot to take an after picture.  Oops

Resolutions

Well I have the usual  resolutions, lose weight, blah , blah , blah. I had to get to the root  of the problem since I had put on 35 pounds in two years since having to go gluten free.  I had the healthy eating thing down before  I was diagnosed with Celiac disease.  I had exercise  and eating right ,down and I had lost 80 pounds  and then was diagnosed and the Dr told me I would gain weight  and boy he wasn't  kidding. I gained the initial  10 pounds from my small intestine being able to absorb nutrients  again, but then I gained the rest from eating  all the processed prepackaged gluten  free foods. News flash , the gluten is the protein  so most of the prepackaged gf foods have zero protein and double the carbs. So my goal  is to eat healthy natural gf foods and have 2 cheat  days a week where I can have a small amount of prepackaged gf foods.

Well it's  almost 2 weeks into  the new year and I have  lost 8 pounds of bloat weight  and I have stuck to my resolution.  I had a Bunco dinner Friday and she made the whole meal gf and I ate a lot and last night  I had gf bread on my grilled cheese  at the inlaws. So I think  if I stick to natural gf stuff and have 2 splurge  days and continue  to workout , I won't  keep rapidly  putting on weight.  I'm crossing my fingers  that this works. I do not ever want to be overweight and unhealthy or malnourished  again (malnourished  when I was ingesting gluten).
I also have a new year's  resolution  to be a little more  selfish.  I always do everything  for everyone  else and spread myself thin and try to please everyone. I'm  taking  some of my me time back. Tv shows are just not important  to me like they are to my husband as I get older I rather take the dog for a walk , read a book , relax with yoga or play  boardgames with Jack.  I will not waste my time watching  tv shows that I do not care about just because  someone wants me to. Also I will actually  spend some money on me this yr. Whenever I go shopping I always spend money on other people. Case and point I took my Christmas  money and bought 2 graduation  gifts for seniors.  I am making a linen and laundry gift basket with sheets , towels , laundry detergent, toiletries , small kitchen stuff , rolls of quarters for yhe graduates. I had  some money leftover  and realize I had already broken that resolution so I bought a sweater , ate lunch and saw a movie with  a friend.  That felt wonderful. I love giving back  to charities and thinking and doing for others bit it felt nice to treat myself too.