Category Archives: science

windy weekend

it has been v windy here today. from the weather forecast, i hadn’t thought we would be included, but we were! particularly in the morning. no trees down [cross fingers!]

so, what have we done? well, when i got up, BB was engrossed in a castle game – she really has got a lovely imagination for playing games and gets totally sucked into them. SB was doing animal crossing on her ds. luckilly she has spelled all letters correctly this time! so i went on ‘puter to be shocked by the news that a good friend lost her sister last night. many hugs Jax. i don’t have any wise words of comfort, but i am thinking of you, and if you can think of anyway i can help…

girls were both desperate to do one of the experiments out of the horrible science explosion kit. BB wanted the volcano, and SB the snot!! so both were duly done. the volcano is – of course – our vinegar and bicarb type approach, but bB v satisfied. the snot was prob polymer science [i do wish these kits would include some ‘real’ science explanation – equations, what we actually made – if only for me! so, google being our friend, i think we are talking non-newtonian fluids again! here are some possible instructions for prob similar [unfortunately the glue in the pack just said glue!! so not sure what kind it actually was] . on googling, think we would enjoy having a go at the bouncing balls next!

[ooh, on a different note – it was the instructions that reminded me – look here Michelle for stalactite experiment]

where were we, oh yes, we were making snot. we enjoyed it greatly. not entirely sure exaclty what we made! SB gave it a squidge about for a bit, and then declared herself done. so we read a bit about polymers from here, and reminded ourselves on what atoms where, so what molecules were, and got to poymers. we thought a bit about polymers we have about.

Both girls joined me for a bit of french, and we did la maison [again!]. some lunch, and an interminable time to get dressed and clean teeth possibly because i was outside hoeing the veg bed and planting the last of the cucurbits in that time! then i rousted them all outside saying it was a nice day, so we should be out. we failed to fly kites in the garden – too much turbulence from trees i guess. Sb settled on doing a stamping craft. bb raced about on her like-a-bike, paddled and played in the sandpit. we topped up the birdfeeders [they get through SO MUCH!]

girls played nicely for a bit, so i pruned the bay tree, and we made some herb bundles to hang in the utility room [where no doubt the spiders will make huge webs!] we harvested and ate strawberries, i rousted BB around a lot, and SB felt hot, so went inside to do webkinz, education city and webland. we got a tp swing cheaply from ebay and cannibalised it so that ours can be pegged into the ground and not wobble around as much. hung a swing off the climbing frame at a v low height so bb ecstatic. sb pleased that she can swing wildly on new set up!

i made curry whilst sb ds-ed and bb watched pingu and 64 zoo lane. think thats about it.

hmm today

today in retrospect is not quite the same. anyway, we had a chilled and lovely day. we did reading stories together and cuddling, and had another science kit to try out. this was the burglar alarm half of the science kit. SB really enjoyed putting it all together and making the circuit – it was quite cool! unfortunately it didn’t work!! she said she still enjoyed doing it though. BB did some air drying clay, and made a head – also rather cool, as she fixed wiggly eyes into it. BB does seem to have a keen artistic streak really. As well as cuddle, swing them etc etc, i also did a fair amount of gardening. would blog, but SB calling for a cuddle.

backwards blogging

i should be gardening or weeding, or perhaps getting ready to go to work tomorrow, but i have post holiday blues, so will blog instead! actually, have just wasted 1 hour idly looking at rightmove!

anyway, oh yes, today. yeah, have headache = surrrprise! but got up, read to SB and looked at pictures in DK eyewitness WW2 – reading theatre shoes has made her want to find out ‘a bit’ about living in london in war and post. chris’s dad was an evacuee, obviously we have grandparents and sibs that did all sorts of different war efforts. [note to self - do nOT follow kirsty's book links!!]then read about dinodoors to BB.

we both read a bit of a french book. i am hoping this reg reading of basic french stories, and doing a bit of vocb round them will get us going. i wish i had more french though! they always want words i have no idea for. eg yacht not boat on holiday, and caravan, what about turtle mummy – aargh! why can’t they want tree, car and house!! anyway we did days of the week afterwards. realised i can’t remember months though v- oops.

girls then had a bath and we had lunch – so v lazy start! out into the garden, as staying indoors reminded me of unpacking to do! SB wanted a science kit, and BB ‘colourful painting’ [she did lots of magic painting on holiday!]. we started of with a magic garden kit – one of those you curse and swear over because the bits don’t quite fit, and you can see crystals in the solutions and wonder if it will work at all. Anyway, all in, and waiting for it to flower – which it did – thank goodness, though not much of snow on the mountain!

SB then did a fossil find kit that we picked up last oct from sedgewick museum in cambridge when we went visiting with mum. [i think it is a home made kit by the museum] we bought 2, and they are good and cheap. they each contain 3 fossils, that you have to identify and write a few things about – last time was a crinoid, ammonite and ohh, can’t remember! this time was a shark tooth, a belemnite and a trilobite. she was particularly taken by the trilobite as soooo old.

BB painted [oops the stuff is still on lawn] some air drying clay models we made last week. we all did some dot painting – a la impressionists. bb did huge swirls and sb muddy smears!! BB ran about while  i read to SB about edison, and she cut out things. BB also did cutting out, so we have a confetti lawn. icecreams, fruit, and then a final ‘speriment’ – a tiny electricity kit. the fan bit worked, but the pulling to make a bulb light didn’t. the kit is cheap though, we have its pair yet to do.

we finished after tea with watching the sound of music, as we had talked about the ‘axis of evil’ [oh, you mean there is another one now??] and hitler overrunning austria without much effort.

no-tent saturday

not such a good camping weekend, also not such a good weekend to try and show someone one of the tents – that I had as a teen with my parents. lots of happy memories tied in that tent. we have passed it on anyway, and I hope it is still in working order [and that the new owners do take a digiphoto of the tent step by step as they unfold it so it can be back in order]

I was at work for the morning, but got back in time to have some playing time with the deependers. the children all seemed happy playing together [well, mostly] haven’t found l’s trousers though. wonder if they are playing sardines somewhere!

we did – at BB’s request some ‘speriments. i was trying out the beginning of electricity. though both wanted to do it, they didn’t want to do it together as it were, and i guess i am not being the model of patience at the moment, but we got there, had fun – particularly with static in balloons! i think i might start to have to do lesson plans!

We moved onto violin practice with SB, her in charge of how long, and she enjoyed – got to hovis advert! lots of cuddling, did a bit of french [things in the house!] and girls watched some magic school bus. BB to bed and SB and I read the isle of immeter [in the sir cumference series, which she really enjoys]

watching heros and listening to beat of talent free band at pub across the way [with sundry woos and wails!!] . thanks for hugs.

blogchen

just a little one as i am seriously on edge – management meetings. i am just not the right type!

Anyway, the girls had a busy day, going to nots and tots, with a bit of french and a bit of latin amongst other things. SB did a piano practice as well.

when i got home they both wanted to do a craft, so some cards for fran are half made! Sb has used a stamping kit, and bB and i have done wax splodges so far. we had candles out for a bit of demonstrating that there was air and you can use it up.[bb is particularly keen on speriments] SB also did some maths. we all read a bit more of these baby french books [they are v much for 2's but they are quick, and we try and do a sentence with the words, today we were eating or not eating various foods!] SB and BB watched some how things work based on the DK books, which they both enjoyed [and yes, some MSB] . Sb playd some chess, and read some 3rd grade detectives books.

aargh, bb awake only 90 mins after SB to bed

hmm, i am trying to back flickr, blog, think about important meeting tomorrow at work etc etc, and multitasking is not compatible with BB awake. gorgeous though she is.

Anyway, we all got up, CHris to SB to drama, unfortunately he was running late and they went to the wrong venue. it is far enough away that there was much sighing! she got to half of it anyway.

meanwhile BB and I were having a much more satisfactory time. we started off playing silly games – hide and seek frog etc, then did some seed sowing. BB quite keen to do more experiments with seeds, so we have put some different ones to chit and we will see which one germinates first. [more details on gardening blog] after we had done that we did some ‘match and sort’ with singapore 1a. she enjoys this as v easy!! [though she did say she wanted to do SB's book...] and we read one of the very starter french books on colours again.

Still desperately keen to do ‘speriments, i got out an air book, so we saw how we could blow air on each other [degenerated a bit!] and then [b******, FORGOT ABOUT THE LINK THING AND JUST PUBLISHED. THIS IS WHERE I LAST SAVED!] i impressed myself with making some really good aeroplanes.

lunch and SB home. she wanted me to show her her piano hands afterwards, so we did a piano practce, then a violin. BB joined in the violin practice – always tricky! Both girls did afrench book with me on clothes and then ordered crystal experiments, so we set them up – very brave of me to handle chemicals with BB! SB read all the safety warnings v carefully. she remembered that we had hung the rock from string before, and wanted to repeat that, so we did.

Rainbows for SB – feels that there is no time for me in her current wed timetable, so will have to change that. A surprise visit by chris parents, so i made tea and dinner at the same time [grin] and got them to read [and i won't link this time!] Katie and the dinosaurs and Digging up dinosaurs. we then read a red nose reader together before she wanted to bake pink cupcakes with smarty eyes. so we did. SB returned in time for the lickings, and we said goodbye to grandparents.

Bath, tea, BB bed, SB playing in garden, me potting up seedlings. SB bed. Apprentice, apprentice you’re fired and BB awake. playing drawing birds and dinosaurs with BB and looking at flickr pics of her as a baby. the end!!

today [quickly]

chris had minor op this am – all well

his parents came and supervised. SB quickly rattled off maths, handwriting and piano. lots of games then with nana and grandad.

when i came home she got out a fossil find kit we had picked up from a museum, and enjoyed doing that. BB separated sand and iron filings using a magnet [maganet] and v much enjoyed that. she suprised me by using the word evaporated correctly. she also used her maganet [maginfying glass this time!] to look at plastic spider in more detail. SB off to ballet, BB and i read books and played games, and then stuc straws together to make panpipes. SB off to swimming [where her stroke has gone back to 'unusual'!] came home to find nina and neurons in progress.

At SB request, box books have swapped from explorers to science books with experiments in.

getting the most out of a day

usual work day, i think cloning might be in order – though hopefully i could have the version where they forgot to clone the body fat, and that is just halved between my doubles! so having done my duty, driving home i thought i should try and do a music practice with SB [usually i feel a bit up for nothing] so i did, and we had a lovely piano practice together [we don't do these often enough!] then, whils waiting for dinner, i got some really easy first steps in french books and SB, BB and myself chanted words for farm animals, practiced saying if we would want one or not, and if we wanted an enormous one or a little one. SO feeling better that have done what they want!!

not sure what else they did with the day. SB did some french earlier, they had model crocodile making equipment out on the table! def some magic school bus watching!

After tea, sb and I watched the second half of the european womens gymnastics, which she really really enjoyed. telling me how one days he would be watching e and r, as they were v clever and were going to be in competitions! oh and that fran would be excellent at the floor! she read some of her new earth book [ours a fraction of cost as ex library!] mainly the volcano section, and the read to me the magic tree house hawaii one. following on from the fab gawain book, sb wanted some more king arthur, and we happend to have an orchard books legend of king arthur, so have started reading that to her. it is a nice read, but morpurgo def a better man with words! as i left, she was reading a chapter of the magic school bus volcano.

looking forward both to our st georges day weekend, and also to out camping trip at the bank hols :smile:

judo joy

Well, we overslept today as BB was having great highjinx wrt sleeping! i had migraine due to a hectic and long day at work yesterday.  but somehow we got up and out and were only an hour late to the deependers! luckilly they waited for SB for latin, unfortunately, i had not got any science ready, as thought this was a drama week. but will get all the bits ready, and will have them in a box for the next time!! SB and BB both in a weird mood, and really didn’t play or integrate much [giving me a flare up of social isolation fears!!]

katy and i did get some relaxed chatting, and i enjoyed playing the kids accordian. i realised our akismet has been overeager again in trapping people! email me if your comments have disappeared.

ermm, got home and there was a parcel with a sleeping bag for me and BB, and we enjoyed trying them out, and a few bits and pieces. the tent is STILL up in the garden, hope it comes down eventually! [its been up a week!] keeps raining. Looking forward to camping on the bank hols.

SB off to rainbows, which she enjoyed, as always, and BB did some science experiments with me – making things froth and bubble!! When SB got home we had a surprise visit from my BIL, who had gone for a site meeting at a village not far away. Makes a change from site visits in China I get! So had a chat about how things were going. Nice to see him.

Sb then went off to Judo for the first time. SHe really loved it, came back glowing about how fab it was, and how she dropped someone, demonstrating how she had to stand etc. She also won a game because she was very good at wriggling free, and was full of how impressed the boys were. obviously an immediate confidence boost for her. I am so glad I suggested it, and persuaded her to still go – as she has been most uncertain.

SHe’s gone to bed reading magic school bus books. we had a chat on the way back from Katy’s about this and that, and she wants to do a bit more language, poss ‘cos the others in that group are quite ahead with language. And we have also agreed to prioritise music practice more. I had better tell chris that then!!

a ‘post camp’ day

rainbows camps obviously take a lot more getting over than home-ed camps! even if they last only one night!! SO SB been perk free. i have been reading the worst witch too her, as she initially wouldn’t read it as it was too scary. she has decided that after all it isn’t scary, but quite funny. she is mildred and i am maud! So when ever i do another amazon order [i am booked out now!!] then i may buy some more, buy hoping a few might be found in the library. At least we now have a range of books which she likes to read [animal ark, magic school bus, dk 4 readers, rainbow fairies, horrid henry] that she is happy with for this stage of reading. the next stage i have lots of them still from my childhood!

SB and I played chess twice. i really am no good at it, but chris has bought her a book, which she has been reading on and off all day, so she may beat me shortly. we are relaxed on the no touching rule, and i tend to say ‘did you check all my pieces’ fairly frequently. the book suggests games to get the hang of all the pieces, but SB just wants to dive straight in. fair enough!

BB and i made YET MORE fimo numberjacks!! hopefully she wont break these ones quite so quickly. we also glued the airdrying clay coil pots back together again!! We rang my mum and all sang happy birthday down the phone. she was quite overcome, as my dad had arranged a surprise gathering of neighbours to wish her happy birthday. amazing! she liked the digital photoframe, though hasn’t worked out how to use it. [giggle, that'll give my dad something to do!!]

we all bundled out into the garden as it was gloriously sunny [no snow for us!] though the wind was bitter, and we wrapped up well. we fed the fruit bushes and planted the blueberries into their pots. no sign of the broadbeans and the carrots out in the veg bed. fingers crossed that they will come up!

A bit of wailing and BB-ing, so i came in and read stories to them both, and there was some magic tree housing whilst I cooked ken hom for tea – yummy. As an aside, why aren’t all tins stackable?? chris has been hoping that i will see the pantry like merry’s old sotck room, and enjoy putting away the huge sainsbury’s shop [it wasn't enjoyable!] and it really annoyed me that not all tins are stackable! its nicely sorted out now though!

SB turned down chess for who’s who for our evening games session. chris is now reading her peter pan as her bedtime story