Science Fair

I'm so proud of the kids. Every one finished their project for the Science Fair and did a great job explaining it to the judges. There were fancier projects (a 1st grader did a wind farm), a few volcanoes (done that - baking soda and vinegar - zzzzz), but not many that stuck with the good old scientific method: Ask a question and test it.
Here were their projects:




Christina: Does the length of the force arm on a lever make it harder or easier to lift an object?

Matthew: What conducts electricity?

Courtney: What shape is the strongest? (She made square, circule and triangle-shaped paper buildings and piled books on until they crushed.)

Mackenzie: What size parachute goes down the fastest, and which goes the slowest?

Guess Who Got In Trouble At School

With four kids in school, I figured sooner or later I'd end up talking to the principal. But I didn't think I'd be the one in trouble! (It's all Joanne Vanella's fault. She ratted on me.) We were on our way to the PTA meeting when I said "Let's peek on the kids." Matt's class was at library, so Ms. Cardone started chatting with me while Joanne goes to peek in her son's classroom. Mrs. Dempsey catches her and asks her if she's "peeking." Joanne points to me saying "She said we could 'peek' and she does it all the time." A few minutes later in the cafeteria at the PTA meeting , the principal comes over and scolds us about school security and child safety and being in the halls, and jokingly says she hopes she doesn't have to talk to us again. We spent the rest of the meeting drawing wanted posters of ourselves to post in the school office. I guess they were serious about the situation, because Ms. Cardone called me later about it.

Mother's Day

The best part of Mother's Day were the Mother's Day Tea at each of my first graders' classes. I heard "What A Wonderful World" three times, and got choked up three times. Mackenzie got a big laugh when she recited her answer to "The Best Thing my Mom ever did..... was marry a nice man."

Friday night was Birch Lane's "Little Ladies Dance." Daddy bought each of the girls a corsage, and Poppy accompanied them to dinner and the dance. So Matthew and I had a date. We ate at Friendly's (his choice) and got a new bear at Build-A-Bear. He named it Derek.

Just Another Weekend...

I ran the Long Island Half Marathon this morning, and came home to see two posters for me tacked to the front fence. While I was running, John took Christina to a birthday party and the triplets to breakfast at Friendly's, then to Christina's softball team photo's that he also coaches. After Matt's soccer game he washed the back of the house while Christina and I finished up her Science Fair project. While John was at hockey I put together one of the benches and the fire bowl I got for Mother's Day. (I like assembling stuff.) Now he's getting marshmellows for the kids to roast.
So day's when I think our house isn't the nicest looking on the block, I like to think it's the most fun.

p.s. Saturday was even busier... After Christina's softball game in the morning, we had 3 games at the same time. So I went to Matt's baseball game, John took Mackenzie and Courtney to their soccer game and Poppy took Christina to her soccer game. In the afternoon we all went out to get those beautiful benches, an arbor and the fire bowl for my Mother's Day gifts, after which we went to Gino's pizza (where our neice Brittany works) for dinner. Then home for showers, TV and bedtime. phew

Remember when....

After cleaning out the garage I decided it was time to get rid of that old triplet stroller. The kids thought it would be fun to get in one last time. At least I didn't have to lift each of them up and buckle them in. I used to hoist that thing upside down and put it on a bike rack on the back of the van, go to the mall, get it down, load up the kids and go shopping.

Easter in Virginia

We spent Good Friday driving down to Staunton, Virginia, to visit Uncle Allen & Aunt Donna. Uncle Peter and Aunt Laura came too, with Maxx and Kyle. After an egg hunt on Saturday at the Lyndhurst Fire Department, we went to see Aunt Donna's brother's horses. Then to Sherando Lake where we stuck our feet in the water, fished a little, caught a frog and skimmed rocks.

Miss Smarty Pants

Christina was accepted into the Magnet Program at school. It's like a gifted & talented thing. Her teacher recommended her based on Terra Nova State Test scores and grades. She even got an I.Q. test. So about once a week she goes to another elementary school for the day and works on special projects with kids from other schools. Next year she can pick 'interest strands.' Anything from geology to folk tales and puppetry. It sounds so cool, I want to go. The only drawback is making up the school work you miss that day. I hope she likes it. Either way we are so proud of her. Y

introducing... Charlie Brown!

He's cute. He's cuddly. He poops alot. Charlie Brown prefers to be held, or hanging out on Christina's shoulder, hiding behind her hair. Place him on the floor and he climbs right back up in your lap.

Reflections Awards

The kids got medals and certificates for participating in the Reflections program. The theme was "I Wonder Why..." Matthew made a poster, Mackenzie recorded a song she sang, and Courtney and Christina wrote stories. Mackenzie won first place in music for k-3, and she was proud of it, even when Christina pointed out that she was the only one who entered that category! Courtney was disappointed even though she got a trophy for honorable mention in literature for k-3, because she expected to win 1st place. (It was a really good essay. She wrote down all the questions she asks....see 'Courtney Question of the Day.')
Matt got upset that he didn't win a trophy, even tho he got a medal, and only about 5 kids from his class even participated. I told him the girls worked harder on their projects. He yelled at me "why didn't you tell ME to try harder!" I thought I did.

Marshmallow R.I.P.

Our little cute Marshmallow met an unfortunate end. She died monday morning. Daddy came home monday night with a new little guinuea pig. Christina chastised him for breaking the pet rule. (Can't get a new one right after you lose one.) But we were all much happier, even tho we miss Marshmallow. The new guinea pig is Charlie Brown.

Christina's new 'Do'

Christina finally did it. Got her hair cut and donated it to Locks-of-Love. She loves her new look.

Before:
After:

Rapunzel Shouldn't Bake

I've never heard of anyone doing this before: Christina got her hair twisted up in the electric mixer while helping me make banana muffins. I heard a little "uh-oh" as I was standing on the stool to get the paper liners, but I couldn't figure out why her face was in the mixing bowl. Then I realized what happened. I got her hair untangled and she took a shower, but I had to laugh as I was rinsing out the batter and pulling her hair out of the mixer things.

Crazy Thursday

Just another one of those days where everyone has to be somewhere at the same time. It's like the opposite of a black hole. That one point in time where everyone is pulled to a different place. (No carpools today.) Before that, when it was still normal time, Matt and I did some cool experiments with pennies and vinegar while the girls were at Brownies until 5:00. I tried to pick them up early because I had to hand out flyers to the 3rd graders about a patch program, but we got stuck as the leader was yelling about not running in the halls, so I had to wait. As we're driving Courtney to a birthday party at 5:00, Mackenzie and Christina are putting on their soccer gear in the back of the van. (Courtney had to wear a bathing suit to this party, but had it on under her clothes all day.) Then we got Christina to her 5:00 soccer practice, which was way back behind Unqua school (as in walk a mile to get there). Then off to Mackenzie's practice which started at...5:00. Matt hung out and kicked a ball until we had to go get Christina. We had Burger King for dinner and picked up Courtney, who was tired and cranky and couldn't find her clothes. At home the fun really began when everyone still had to do homework. While I'm trying to help all of them at the same time my friends are calling to see what they can bring for the following night, because we invited three families over for a St. Patrick's Day get-together. After all that I went out and ran 4 miles. Just what I needed. (really.)
We have days like this about every other week. Just often enough to appreciate the days we don't have anything going on and everyone just comes home, has a snack, does homework and then plays. Yay for boring.

Name Update

Piggy's name is now... Marshmallow. Although I think it should be Poopy Pig! She leaves little presents everywhere she goes. (And I mean everwhere!) But at least they're tiny.

What's in a Name?

The furry critter name update: at any given moment the guinuea pig has been... Petunia, Penelope, Pookie, Snickers, Snicklefritz, Peanut Butter, Coco Puff and Miss Piggy. It is now officially Petunia. But it could still change....

A New Critter

Her name is Coconut. Yesterday it was Patches. When we got the new little guinea pig on Saturday her name was Giggles. Then Princess. And Sweetheart. It might be Jelly Bean by tonight.
We were looking for another hamster for Christina, but somehow ended up with a guinea pig. She's cute, doesn't bite and makes the strangest noises. So we now have 6 fish (including a new goldfish Mackenzie named Gumball), Courtney's ladybugs, and a guinea pig.
Beethoven went to cat heaven two weeks ago. I explained to the kids that she was old and getting sick and how the vet gave her a shot and she died peacefully. Courtney looked sad for a moment and said "Can we get a guinea pig now?" I told her to give me a few days, because I actually miss my old cat. She'd been with me through at least 5 apartments and 2 different states, and even before I ever met John.

No Mo Sno

The snow's already melted, but the boots, hats, mittens and snowpants are still in a pile near the door. Maybe by summer they'll find their way into a closet.

(And why do they always throw snowballs at the cameraman?)

Matt can MOVE!

Check out Matthews dance moves at MOVIEs!!!
(You can use the MOVIEs! link on the right, too.)

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We hope everyone had as nice a Christmas as we did. We got lots of nice gifts from everyone in our families, and we thank you all.

We put out gingerbread cookies we made for Santa and sprinkled oats outside for the reindeer. Santa even answered the kids' notes. (He does know the Tooth Fairy!) The kids must be growing up. I woke up at 7:30 listened for the whispers and chatter, but it was quiet. The kids got their stockings down and waited for us. Mackenzie was the last one up, and then we went at the presents. There were gameboys, american girl dolls, sunglasses, nerf guns, science kits and cool games. PJs and pants and sweatshirts, too. All kinds of fun stuff and we're still enjoying it all.

Holiday Shopping

Don't know what we were thinking when we took the kids to the mall on a sunday a week before Christmas. John and I wanted to get each other sunglasses, but the whining kicked in two minutes after we got there. While shopping for Granny Matt knocked over two racks of shirts at JC Penneys. We were done after that.