Science Fair

The girls go to a magnet elementary school with a focus on environmental science.  The classes are required to do a science project each year.  This year I went through the list of possible projects and narrowed it down to four, knowing that I would be the only parent to assist them. I didn't want two frustrated girls or a very frustrated Mama.  Here are their projects:

Kaitlyn chose,  "Does Sugar Prolong the Life of Cut Flowers"

(Gotta love a project that makes your table look nice)

Sadly, the amount of sugar we used did not help our flowers live longer.

(Proud of her project)

Hannah's project was titled, "Does Baking Soda Lower the Temperature of Water"

We did find out that baking soda does lower the temperature of water.

Happy to show off her project.

All the kids did a really wonderful job on all their projects.  They had comment cards for the parents to fill out for the kids after they explained what they did.  They loved seeing all the comments the parents were leaving for them.  After the science fair the kids were treated to bags of popcorn.  It doesn't get much better than that!

Distance, Length, and Time

Sounds like a math post, right?  I promise you it's not. It's a long day, not enough caffeine, too much pollen inhaled kind of post. I spent yesterday running errands which can be a dangerous thing. Not because I'm a shopaholic but because it gives me time to sort through things in my head. Dangerous. Things that have been filed away for some time or feelings that I have suppressed just because I didn't want to deal with them at that time. Today I thought about 3 things: distance, length and time.

Distance.  The Google definition for distance is the amount of space between two things or people.  The distance for me is thousands of miles. Thousands of miles I have traveled, thousands of miles to get to my parents, and thousands of miles from my husband.  The last one is what I've been thinking of today.  He is thousands of miles from us right now.  Thousands of miles I will probably never see in my lifetime, thousands of miles he has traveled alone, and thousands of miles he will still have to make to get back to us.

Length. Google defines this in two ways but I pick this one: The measurement or extent of something from end to end.  Months is my chosen unit of length. I think it's about 30 months. I tried to count it all up in my head and this was as close as I could get. 30 months that we have been apart in the last 6 years. That's almost half the amount of time. That's a long time.  A really long time.

Time.  Defined by google as the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole. The indefinite continued progress, yep that's it. Time never stops and events keep happening  no matter who is around to see them. The worst of it is that you will never get that time back. Sure, there are pictures and memories to be shared but because of the distance and length, it is time not shared together.  I can recount all my memories to him but they are not a shared memory just as his travels, adventures and people he has met are not shared. This is something that no deployment briefing can prepare you for. It can bring about jealousy, anger, and resentment if you let it.

Our time is decreasing everyday. The months go by and soon the distance will not be so far between us. I look forward to those days with so much joy and happiness but for now I will file it away until that day when I can say "Welcome home."

Picture taken last year on Veteran's Day while he was deployed.

W.I.P(S)

I have a little A.D.D. when it comes to projects.  Some projects I can start and finish without any issues but then there are those other projects that I need to take a break from.  I'm not one to sit still or to have idle hands so I find other projects to fill in the gap. Thus a pile of Works In Progress.

I have been working on the mermaids for Kaitlyn's quilt for at least a year.  I have finished 11 and am getting ready to start the last one. I will  finally be able to get everything cut, pieced together, and sewn up.  She has been in need of a room make-over for some time now.

This is the pile of quilt squares for Hannah's quilt.  I chose to applique Hannah's butterflies instead of embroidery them (I do have a few sane moments).  I still need to take them to the machine and zigzag them and do a small amount of embroidery for antenna and such.

I cut this out last year.  I know.  It is a really cute dress pattern but ended up being much more fussy than I enjoy.  In fact I think when I started sewing on them I had to rip out the yoke twice. Ripping out seams does not a happy mama make.  I HAVE to sew them up soon or the girls will have outgrown them before they get a chance to wear them.  

Aren't they sweet?  But oh, look at all those ends to weave in not to mention having to sew all 143 of them together and edge it.  It seems to be baby season around here and these precious little gems are destined to a sweet friend at church that is having a little girl.  I can't wait to see it all put together. Only 100 more to go. 

I started this a few days ago. (See what I mean, A.D.D).  A couple from church is trying to adopt their first child.  She mentioned the other day that the colors of the nursery were grey, yellow and white.  I knew immediately what I wanted to do for her.  Thankfully this particular project is working up really quickly.  Whew!

I made a little stop into Jo-Ann's today to sit and look at the pattern books.  Its really a shame how few patterns there are for girls in the "tween" stage.  I guess most girls at that age do not want their mothers to sew for them. I guess I will be trolling the internet for vintage patterns.  I found a few for myself that I am excited to try.  Anyhoo, Tutti Fruitti Fabric was on sale and I love the way it washes and wears.  This year the selection was great.  I came away with a yard of each for either shorts or a quick skirt to sew for the girls.  A trip to Target or somewhere for a solid color shirt and we have a few new summer outfits.  

I have 2 more items to start for people that are either adopting or currently pregnant but those will have to wait.  Maybe...

A Week of Easter Lunches

I know I am very late on this post but well, that's life right now.  Here is last week's lunches for the girls.  Enjoy a week of Easter themed lunches.

On Monday they had an Easter snack plate.  Pepperoni slices and grape tomatoes are in the flower silicon cups surrounded by cucumber slices and crackers.  I also packed strawberries, and Easter Egg shaped muffin, cheese stick and yogurt tube.

On Tuesday the girls had a cute Bunny sandwich with candy eyes, heart marshmallow nose and almond teeth sitting on ranch flavored veggie chips.  I also packed yogurt with Easter sprinkles, grapes decorated with a cute Easter Egg ring and a plastic Easter Egg with jelly beans.

On Wednesday they had 2 egg shaped sandwiches, ranch flavor veggie chips, yogurt with sprinkles, strawberries with a cute bunny ring and a bunny shaped "egg" filled with grapes.

Thursday was my last day to pack lunches for the week.  Yay!  The girls had a nice spring lunch with 2 tulip shaped sandwiches, ranch veggie chips, strawberries with a flower ring, blackberries with a butterfly ring and a cereal bar.  

I hope you had a wonderful Easter!