Week 2 - January 8 - 14, 2012 {#Mamatography}

Well, I can't believe I've made it to the second week! I seem to always have good intentions when I start this type of thing. Unfortunately, when I miss a day or two, I seem to give up. I know there are other "take a picture a day for a year" memes out there, but I chose this one for a couple of reasons: 1) I love reading Diary of a First Child. 2) The guidelines of Mamatography are very laid back, making it feel less of an obligation and more of a fun experiment. The one thing that really hooked me was this from the Mamatography info post:

"If things happen and you can’t participate for a while, that’s fine – just start up again when you can."

Yay For Clean Dishes!

Day 8 (1/8/12)

Yeah, I was lazy. The only thing I did that was productive all day. Well, I made dinner, too, but it shouldn't count. I just opened a jar of spaghetti sauce, then added a few herbs and the leftover meatloaf from the night before. Oh, and cooked some pasta.

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night

Day 9 (1/9/12)

I saw the moon and just had to take a picture! I love how the clouds give a smoky, mysterious feel to the photo. And the corona is so bright! It was easier to see the line between the moon and the corona circling it with the naked eye than through the lens on my camera. One of these days I'll learn how to take photos that look the same as how I see them.

Mustache Man!

 Day 10 (1/10/12)

When my oldest was little, he called these beans. Well, actually, he still does (and so do I!) Little Guy, who seems to have a different way of looking at everything, has decided that they are not beans. They are most definitely mustaches, instead. Just after this picture was taken, my oldest came up and asked Little Guy what he was doing with the "bean". He got an earful and I don't think he'll be calling them anything but "mustaches" around Little Guy again!!

Zzzz...

Day 11 (1/11/12)

This hasn't happened... ever! He said, "Mama, please be quiet. I need a rest. I'm in a grumpy mood." Once I got over my shock, I began to wonder if he might be getting sick. Nope. Wouldn't it be cool if he was just learning to recognize his  need for sleep AND deciding to follow it?!

"Snot's On!"

Day 12 (1/12/12)

I've taken it upon myself to develop a recipe for a cotton play dough. I want something that is pliable like dough, but fuzzy like cotton balls. This was my first (failed) attempt. I wound up with a pot full of snotty cotton. ICK!

I added a bunch of flour until it was dough-ish, and let the kids have their fun with it.

Day 13 (1/13/12)

Yeah. Completely forgot to take the camera out all day.

Uh-Oh!

Day 14 (1/14/12)

We finally got some snow! This was Little Guy's first snowball fight. As you can see, the mittens are way too big for for him (the site I got them from said they fit ages 2-5. Those things are just a little too small for me to wear!) Anyway, my oldest showed him how to take his hands and push the snow together to pack it into a snowball-like formation. Pretty cool big brother, huh?











So, what did your week look like? If you'd like to join me on this endeavor, just click on the Mamatography button at the top of this post to learn more. I'll be linking this post at Diary of a First Child's Week 2 Mamatography Linky when it's posted on Wednesday (1/18), so if you'd like to see more photos you should head over!

Miscellaneous {Wordless Wednesday}

Just some photos from the past week...

Silk Ribbon Streamers from Syrendell on Etsy.

Cool Dinosaur Shirt from Olive & Ollie on Etsy.

Harvest Moonrise!

My Favorite!

Smoke from people cooking out in the park. LOL

For the birds

First time he let Daddy put him to sleep!

Surprised it came out like this. It was pretty bright out when I took a quick picture while chasing Little Guy down the sidewalk. I love the black background that I expected to come through as grass.

Little Guy has to stop at this stump whenever we pass it. He uses his pretend remote control and "watches TV" for a minute or two. EVERY TIME.

Oh, THIS is My Subject! {Smart Summer Challenge - Week 3}

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You'll never guess what this week's Smart Summer Challenge topic is...

Give up???

BACKYARD SCIENCE!

I know - it's just perfect for me! I'm a naturalist at heart and love pointing out all of the different things like bugs, plants, animal behaviors, etc. to my kids. My little guy knows which leaves in our garden he can eat (the herbs) and which are dangerous. He can name most of the insects he comes across. My oldest, who I still point things out to, is constantly saying, "I know, Mom!" But, when he thinks I'm not paying attention, I overhear him being all smarty-pants to his friends and telling them these little factoids I've passed on to him. Pretty cool, huh?


Since I'm kind of like the Queen of Backyard Science around here, I'm stuck on what I should write about. It seems like every time we step outside, a science lesson commences. It's so common that I don't really feel as if this stuff is post-worthy. I guess I'll have to wing it... And all of you lovely readers may have to put up with a ton of posts from me this week. I tend to procrastinate - a LOT - so, my plan is to type up whatever we did ASAP and post. Maybe that will work. Trust me - it'll only be for one week - next Monday, it'll be a new theme!


Here are some of my ideas of the things we do nearly every day and what I might try to elaborate on for the kids this week:

• While hanging laundry, we can talk about heat from the sun, wind, and how both lead to evaporation.
• We are seed-savers. I often tell my little one about how pollination from insects makes it possible for seeds to even appear. Maybe while we're harvesting some seeds this week, we can take the time to sit back and discover just which insects in our yard do the most pollinating.
• One thing that I have yet to do with Little Guy is show him how a magnifying glass can be used to concentrate the sunlight into a powerful fire-starter. Not sure if it's something I'm willing to show my extremely boisterous and often unruly toddler... BUT, I'm thinking that my oldest might be interested in trying a little wood-burning artwork with a magnifying glass and a few Popsicle sticks.
• When we pull weeds this week, I would like to save a few and go over the different parts of a plant. I have a few out there that have flowered and began to go to seed. They would be perfect. Plus there are the roots, etc. 
• There's always the age-old Queen Anne's Lace in the dyed water experiment to show how water travels up the stem to the flowers. I wonder how it would work if we did one with the roots and one that was cut... Sound like a great comparison experiment!

OK, I think I have more than enough to write about. I'm not sure if we'll get to them all, or if I'll find something different to do. We'll see what the week brings us. Oh! I just remembered! We have storms coming this week - could do something on weather, and how about the bleaching properties of the sun, and lightning bugs and the moon... 

            and... 

                       and...

Interested in joining in the Smart Summer Challenge? Check out THIS POST to see what it's all about and how to join. Hey, there are even prizes to be won! Not that I wouldn't be doing this anyway - it's fun! - but hey, PRIZES make it even more enjoyable, you know?!

"Supermoon" {Wordless Wednesday 3/23}

Well, it wasn't as "super" as I thought, but still very bright and very beautiful. My photos kind of turned out OK. The first few were taken through my dirty kitchen window. The rest were outside. Though I love my cheap little digital point-and-shoot, it's frustrating when you're trying to do something creative! So, without further ado...

My Photos of the "Super" Moon

Moonrise - 8:20 pm  That's exactly how yellow it was! Amazing!

9:40 pm

About 9:00 pm

10:45 pm

My Favorite - 11:50 pm

Crazed Fan Weekend Blog Hop! {March 19-20}

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Here we are again! It's been a very interesting week for me. I finally got a real computer that works whenever I turn it on last weekend! My little guy and I got out into the garden this week. Oh, and there's going to be a humongous full moon tonight. Finally, my first giveaway is ending on Friday (3/25) so please stop by and enter if you have a minute. As of right now, there are only 80 entries, so you have a pretty good chance of winning some pretty cool stickers from Sticker You.

Here are the "rules" for this hop (copied from The Blog Entourage):

Just a few things to do before you link up:

1. Grab the code for this hop:

<center><a href="http://theblogentourage.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Blog Entourage" src="http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/billiejean0310/saturdaycrazedfan.jpg"/></a></center>

*Post this in a new blog post today, or add it to your page.

2. Follow The Blog Entourage (if you already do, please follow on Twitter, FB, etc.)
Click here to  join The Blog Entourage on Facebook, where you can share links to your posts everyday!
And if you want to, please visit my other blogs, Kaitlin & Kylie's and The Green Girl.

3. Follow my lovely co-host, The Unexpected Mother.

Your link will show up on all lists, so you only need to enter it on one.

4. Pretty, pretty please tweet, share, email, and post about this hop! There's a tweet button right below the list, along with a other sharing links.

5. Instead of doing a featured blog this weekend, I'm asking that you please post this button somewhere on your blog or add it to a new post along with the blog hop button:

<center><a href="http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d8158140a426d91e0f616de/japan-disaster-relief-donations?ref=pr_treasury" target="_blank"><img alt="The Unexpected Mother" src="http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/billiejean0310/japan.jpg"/></a></center>

I have made a treasury (shopping list) on Etsy featuring shops that are donating some or all of the proceeds to the relief efforts in Japan. Please click here  to view the list and consider making a purchase. Items start as little as $3.00, so there is something for everyone. Thank you.

Thank you for stopping by! Please check out the links to my posts from this week at the top and leave me a comment if you'd like a follow! Let me know where you'd like a follow and leave a link if it's not in your profile.

Don't Miss the Moon on the Eve of the Vernal Equinox!

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Photo by Austin Coppick

Have you heard about the "Supermoon" yet? If not, here's the scoop. Tonight, the full moon will be the closest to Earth it has been since December 12, 2008 - and it won't be this close again until November 14, 2016. According to NASA, the moon will be 14% larger and 30% brighter than "regular" full moons.

The best time to see the moon at its largest will be on the horizon, when it rises. You can find out when the moon will rise in your area by going to 40-Below.com and, if you're in the US, just click on where you live on the map. If you're not in the US, you can still find out, but you'll have to find out your latitude and longitude first by going HERE. Just click on your country, put the name of your city/town, then choose from the list.

Saturn will also be highly visible, too. And, if you've got a small telescope, you'll be able to see the rings, too!!! Just make sure you wait until mid-evening before trying because Saturn will have moved far enough away from the moon so as not to out-shine those rings.

And, finally, don''t go freaking out if you hear that the moon's being so close is going to mess with the tides so much that there will be all kids of weird natural disasters occurring!Yes, the Spring Tides along the ocean shores will be higher than they are normally, they're not going to go nuts.

And don't forget to take pictures! If you do and you post them on your site, please leave a link in a comment. I love moon pictures and I'll try to write up a post with everyone's links in it!