Best Part of Coming Home

Ball Game!

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We took the boys to a baseball game for our last hoo-rah before school began.

Buy a coke? check

Cotton candy? check

Watch some game? check

Get to yell, "Swing batter batter batter!" check

Get to yell, "You're outta here!" check

Get to ride Daddy's shoulders? check

Funtimes!

Birthdays

We celebrated Mom and Dad's birthdays last month. Love the Corona signs? I promise we didn't take the kids to a bar.

I think the kids are as excited about someone else's birthday as if it was their own. Love it.

Brother Time

Some pictures from when Jordan got to visit before going to Japan. Miss you!

My Little Scientist

Okay, so I'm warning you right now. I wrote this earlier tonight, but I felt like it didn't read right. So I saved it and showered and came back to it. Then I realized what the problem is: it's a bit snotty, braggy parent-ish. But I didn't change it. So you've been warned...I got a bit braggy in this post.

I've been teased about being a scientist-parent. I might tell Case something like, "Oh, that toy won't fit inside that truck." Case rarely will take me (or somebody else) at their word - probably because most times when he voices disbelief I tell him, "Try it. See if it works." He will usually figure it out on his own. I suspect that a lot of parents do this so I didn't think much about these exchanges even after being called a scientist-parent.

Maybe those encouragements to figure things out though led to an event tonight.

While in the bath, Case was submerging his big, plastic, red cup into the water. You know where you put the cup upside-down into the water? He would force air into the cup and then cause bubbles to shoot up out of the bathwater. Much to his delight, some of these bubbles were huge. He was getting really good at it. I asked Case if the purple cup (identical except in color) would do the same thing. He tried it, and was excited when it worked at making bubbles, too. Then I asked him if the little cup (I pointed to the cup that has little holes in it) would make bubbles too. He tried it, but of course, it wouldn't since the air doesn't get trapped inside the cup. I asked him why he thought it didn't work.

He replied, "Because it's smaller."

I said, "Well, it has little holes in it. The air doesn't get trapped so you can't make bubbles." I knew that was probably too technical for him, but all was not lost.

Case says, "Let me try my little cup that doesn't have any holes."

I stopped in my tracks. He was testing a hypothesis! Was it the cup size or the presence of holes that determines if bubbles can form? Not to fear - Case was going to figure it out!

He found his little cup without holes and submerged it upside-down. He made bubbles! He was surprised and excited to discover something new.

I was surprised and excited that my little 3-year-old can figure out a way to test something. It warmed my heart.

I also made a mental note to reply next time I hear a college student complain that they can't figure out how to test a hypothesis with: "My 3-yr-old can test a hypothesis. I hope you can."

First (Real) Haircut

Poor second child. I'm finally posting pictures of L Child's first (real)* haircut. I'm just a month late. He did awesome. No screaming or crying. And he sure looked cute. A month later, his hair is already grown out, but it looks better than it did before the haircut**. It's growing out nicely and evenly.

*I say real because my parents and I trimmed the back twice, but we weren't talented enough to do trim it all over. So we just prevented the mullet. Which is pretty good in my book.

**I called Liam's old hair the "Old Man Hair" - uneven-and-comb-over-do-but-the-old-man-doesn't-want-to-cut-it-because-he's-balding-in-spots-hair. That's why we gave in and cut it.

Things I've Heard...

...now that school is back in session. I miss statements like these during the summer:

1. "I love doing calculus! That calculus problem made my day."

2. "You have some weird people in your department."

I responded, "I know. I went to grad school in chemistry." I'm used to it.

3. "The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation...probably my favorite equation of all time."

At which I thought, Do I need a favorite equation? Maybe I'm not a real scientist without one.

Memorable Moments from My First Week Back

School started back this week. If you saw some of my Facebook statuses this week, you probably know some of what's on my list.

1. With Mom and Dad, I took the boys to an Acappella concert Monday night. My favorite parts were when (1) Case looked up from my lap and exclaims, "They're singing about Jesus!" and (2) Liam was feeling the beat with a fast-paced song...well, that's probably putting it lightly.

2. Having to teach Tuesday to a new class of students with a giant cut-bump on my forehead that resembled a HUGE zit. It was still slightly open so I couldn't cover it with make-up (sorry for the gross image). It looked worse with a bandaid. I took a poll in the office and decided not to tell my students. I just ignored it and pretended it wasn't there while I taught about Earth Science.

It was hard to ignore when people would talk to me while looking at my forehead.

3. Casen's been singing this song by Tim McGraw, "1, 2, 3 like a bird I sing 'cause you've given me the most beautiful set of wings." He likes to change the words to songs. I've heard these two lyrics as well: "1, 2, 3 like a bird I sing, thank you God for Liam" and "1, 2, 3 like a bird I sing, Casen's got to pee."

4. L Child started saying Mama regularly. That kid has called me Dada forever, but would laugh when I would ask him to say Mama. I knew he could say Mama. At times, he would say it when I wasn't around (someone would tell me) or if he was looking for me (even then it was rare and he acted like it was an accident he even said it). It's been a back-to-school present I guess 'cause he calls me by my name now. It's nice to hear "Mama!" several times a day now.

5. After a few more tries, both boys actually fell asleep together in Casen's bed on Wednesday night. So cute.

6. I have a really great schedule. I have only one class a day (three days a week) and two classes a day twice a week. Fridays are very nice - I can leave for the afternoon or stay and get caught up with work. Very nice.

7. It's a pchem year again, but this time I've taught it once before. The prep shouldn't about kill me this time.

8. I'm pretty sure I turn into a 3 Stooges character whenever I have to unlock the office door with my hands full. While juggling books, notes, and a laptop, I tried to unlock and open the office door. I dropped my pen while swinging open the door. Of course, the pen got wedged underneath the door and then got stuck. So while I yanked on the door, a poor student tried to get the pen un-stuck. Oh, and I'm wearing 3-inch-heels so I'm trying not to fall over. All the while, we have an audience trying to get into the office.

9. My office is already a mess. I cleaned it the Sunday night before school started. My colleagues are not surprised I'm sure.

10. I got to go see some fam this weekend before things get too crazy with work. Great time with some of the kiddos!