Make Your Own Volcano

I got this wild idea that I should start doing science experiments with my kids. My little sister and I used to love watching Mr. Wizard on TV when we were kids. Although I don't remember actually doing any of those experiments, I do know we regularly made our own erupting volcanoes.

Over the years, I have mastered the homemade kitchen volcano. It's the only science experiment I actually know off the top of my head, so this is the one I did with the Nuts when I decided to be their Mr. Wizard.

After 25+ years experience, here's how I do it:

1. Make the dough. You can use any dough recipe, but this is the one I use because it smells good, I have everything in my cabinet, and it's already brown.

3 C flour
1 C salt
3 Tbsp veg oil
1 1/2 C hot water
1 C cocoa powder

I just throw it all in the mixer and add a few drops of water if it looks too dry. This is the Pinenut's favorite part.



2. Mould the dough around a 16 oz bottle. I guess you could use a 2 liter, but you'd need three times the dough. That's like 9 C of flour and 3 C of cocoa. Do you know how many double chocolate cookies you could make from that?



3. Mix 1 Tbsp dish soap, 1 Tbsp baking soda and 1 Tbsp on water. Pour into volcano. The dish soap makes it bubble, not fizz. Oh! And add some red food coloring, if you have it. If not, the kids won't notice the lava the blue, or whatever color your dish soap is.


4. Pour about 1 C vinegar into the bottle. It will take a few seconds to react and bubble up, so you don't have to drop the measuring cup and run for cover. You have time. It also doesn't shoot out. It bubbles over, like most volcanoes in real life. This is supposed to be a learning experiment, not a movie prop.

But make sure your kid actually pours the vinegar into the bottle, not down the side, or you'll have a mess. That's why I always put our volcano on a baking pan.

Ah, now he got it in there! Awesome.

We did save this volcano and did a few repeat eruptions over the next few days, but remember there's still vinegar and left over solution in the bottle, so you'll have to pour faster. Also, the overwhelming stink of vinegar will eventually get you, forcing you to pitch it. In my case it was two and a half days.

Spartacus

My extemely fit cousin convinced me to try out a workout she's been doing called "The Spartacus." I was able to find it online here at Men's Health Magazine so I don't have to video tape myself doing the moves. Thank goodness, because without an iphone, I'll never get around to that (I am talking to you Mr. Hilarious).

I consider myself in great shape, and wasn't sure if this 45 minute workout was as tough as my cousin bragged. I really like to mix-up my non-run workouts because if I do the same thing week after week, I don't feel it anymore. I'm the type that likes to feel a little sore after strength training so I know I actually worked something.

I did all of the exercises with 8 pound weights and was pouring sweat by the end. It seemed to go quickly either because you are moving to a new move every 60 seconds or I had great company.

After my post-workout shower, my legs felt a little jello-ish and now, my butt is sore even though I am just sitting here. I will definately do this routine again, although I hope I don't end up looking like this guy:

Go Fly a Kite

Ahh, Spring. Some look forward to blooming flowers. Others are excited for baseball season. My 6 year old, the Walnut, can't wait to go fly his kite. I look forward to this as much as I look forward to mowing the grass on the backyard hill and weeding thistle. The problem is the Walnut can't fly a kite. I can't fly a kite. Does anyone really know how to fly a kite anymore? It's some kind of lost art, like origami. Just like our paper cranes look like wadded up fast food napkins, we can't seem to get our kite to stay up more than ten seconds. The attempt usually ends with a frustrated Walnut and a mom ready to "loose" the kite for the rest of the year.

We had an especially windy day recently and actually considered the kite flying attempts more successful than usual. The Walnut asked if I would video tape it. I think he knew this was the peak of our kite flying career.

The Evolution of St. Patrick's Day

We are a proud Irish family and take great joy in celebrating our holiday, St. Patrick's Day. When the kids were very young, I would meet my cousins at an Irish pub to watch Irish dancers and listen to Irish music. We'd go early, before any of the Irishmen drank too much, and head home for an Irish dinner.

When my daughter was a preschooler, we started making cards and sent them to family members complete with a photo of the kids in Irish garb.

When they started school, I would bake shamrock cookies for them to share with their classmates. I'd also play silly "leprechaun" tricks like die the toilet water green or sprinkle gold glitter on their pillow.

My daughter became an Irish Dancer five years ago and walked in the St. Patrick's Day Parade as well as performed at schools all over the city. Our day was non-stop from 7AM until 8PM, and we barely had time to eat. St. Pat's became one of my most dreaded days of the year. I would still make Shepherd's Pie to eat before we collapsed in exhaustion.

She quit dancing this year, and when she told me she wanted to quit (because "it's getting competitive, and I am just a social dancer") I was thrilled to reclaim St. Patrick's day. This year I was so relieved we didn't have to do anything for St. Patrick's Day, that I didn't do anything. I didn't cook anything, buy anything, or make anything. We didn't even go to the parade.

I have to confess that I don't even feel slightly guilty for ditching the past traditions. Maybe I'll play some leprechaun tricks next year or make Irish Stew, but it was nice to have a year off.

Handymom

I started detail cleaning the bathrooms on Sunday and decided to fix the stopper in one of the bathrooms. It regularly doesn't seal causing the toilet to run. Mr. Hilarious hates home repairs and would rather pay a professional. I figure a plumber would charge the same as a year supply of Starbucks. So I convinced myself I could fix it. Obviously I am slightly delusional. After two hours, this is what the toilet looks like.



And this is how I fixed it.



It will stay this way until my very handy father-in-law comes in town.

Cinder-gigi

My 5-year-old neice, Gigi, is a cleaner. The last time she spent the night with us, she made all the beds and picked up the bedrooms. My daugher said, "I wish Gigi could live with us. It would be like having our own Cinderella!"

My sister tells me her daughter is a cleaner because she never complains about cleaning, and it's something the whole famly does together. I tried this technique. On Sunday I said in my, "We're going the park!" voice, "We're going to clean together today!"

My three little nuts moaned and groaned. Half way through the day, my sister sent me this photo of her daughter:



This was the end result of my kids cleaning their playroom.



At one point, while I was scrubbing the shower, the kids decided to play with play-doh all over my newly mopped kitchen floor. They were quiet, tucked behind the kitchen island like they were hiding.



Making the doh mess quietly and without fighting and letting me clean in peace was the most help they had been all day. Today, I'll take it! Next week, we'll work on actually cleaning.

Mr. Handsome Pants

From the time they are able, my kids dress themselves. I only have one rule: if you are going to wear shorts in winter, don't complain to me that you are cold.

It's shocking, but 9, 6, and 3 year old sometimes choose some pretty wild outfits. I do occasionally get the "you're a crazy mom" look, but most of the time, people laugh. I don't think anyone assumes that I paired the sweatpants with the argyle sweater. It can be challenging to bite my tongue when the kids come down wearing their eclectic ensembles, but not getting them dressed myself is worth it. Because it rarely happens, they don't give me a hard time when I do ask them to change their clothes when it matters, like a wedding. We've never had a fight about clothes. That's a success story right there.

My youngest son, the Pinenut, is quite the fashion superstar. He has three go-to wardrobe pieces he continually sports.

#1. Cowboy boots. First arriving on the scene last spring, these $1 garage sale find boots have walked all over this town. When wearing them, he greets people with "Howdy Partner!"


#2. Shades. Through rain or shine, snow and sleet, these babies are always a must have accessory. They go with everything. I took this photo by the window so you could see there is about 5 inches of snow on the ground.


#3. Sweater Vest. This piece is so versatile because it can be dressed up with a pair of cords or made more casual with a pair of pajama pants. It can be layered or worn alone. Frontwards or Backwards - it doesn't matter! Sweater vests always look great!



You may think the fact I bring my kids out in public places looking like this almost everyday is embarrassing. But if you think that, your kids aren't dressing themselves allowing you ten more minutes of sleep, are they?

Muddy Thaw

When the sun starts shinning and the snow finally melts, parents around the midwest rejoice! The kids finally get out of the house and run off all that pent up energy. The house is cleaner since the kids spend less time in it messing it. It should be an easier, more care free time. My kids, however, find a way to make it more messy because under all that snow and sludge is a little bit of green grass and a whole lot of mud.

No Better Deal

I hate paying full price for anything and have gotten pretty suave at searching the web to find the best price on something I want.

I have had my eye on the Green Machine for the Walnut's 6th birthday. (Read why I call my kids nuts)


I have actually wanted to buy it for him last year and Christmas too. He tries to do 180s and 360s on his bike now so I was convinced that the Grreen Machine would be the perfect toy for him to satisfy his thrill seekinging dangerous side.

The problem: it's $100. At Chirstmas there were sales for $80, but I gambled thinking it would be even cheaper after Christmas. However, the prices went back up, and I couldn't find one cheaper than $95.

Because the total amount I try to spend on birthday gifts and celebrating the day is $100, I was about to give up. Then I found No Better Deal.




The website sells open box and "as is" returns at huge discounts. I was nervous to try it especially because I couldn't find many customer reviews of the site. But I wanted the green machine so badly, that I eventually risked it because the website promised free returns. I ordered the Green Machine for $44.

It arrived in only four days. I put it together the night before the Walnut's 6th birthday. The hardware was all loose in the box, but it looked brand new. It was missing one nut that I bought for 14 cents at the hardware store and works perfectly. What a find!

The Walnut loved it and couldn't wait to try it out. Of course, the perfect gift turned out to be not so perfect when he couldn't reach the pedals. Even though I told him he would have to wait, he insisted on trying it out anyway. He couldn't pedal it down the driveway and spent the next hour crying and yelling about how much he hated it and how unfair it is to not be big enough for anything.

So I do recommend No Better Deal, but I don't recommend the Green Machine for the average sized 6 year old. I'm sure he'll grow into it within a year. In the meantime, it's MY new favorite toy.