American Girl Club (at my Madison Library) by Shaila

Hi. My American girl club that I go to at my library is a lot of fun! They do one every month. The person who does it is really nice! First what we do is talk about the American girl that we are talking about and we tell our names to each other, and our dolls names. Then we talk about the book and then watch a short clip of the movie about the American girl. The American girl that we did this week was Grace, we watched a short clip of the movie, Grace stirs up success. What you do before you go to the club is you either watch the movie about the American girl or read the book. Then you go to the club. After we talk a little bit about the American girl, we do a fun game that the person who is doing the program sets up. For my club, the person usually sets up two games. Then we have a snack and do a project. If you have the American girl doll that we were going to talk about, then you can bring her if you want to. You can also bring another doll that you have. I love all of the American girl clubs! I usually bring my doll. I love my doll! I play with her a lot. My baby twin brothers like her too! Her name is Miriam. I have a lot of doll clothes from when my older sister Siobhan was my age, she had a few kinds of dolls when she was my age. She had a doll where you could give water, and if it got too much you would actually have to change it. My sister is now in college and she is 19. I gave her a graduation present, it was a Madeline doll! She still has it on her desk. My Grandma and Grandpa got me the doll that I have now. Her hair is a little messy now, because sometimes I forgot to brush her hair! But that is alright, I can still do hair styles on it, it is also very long. Her hair is blond like my hair, and it is long, like my hair. The only difference is she has green eyes and I have hazel eyes. Well I think that is all for now, Bye.

Experiments in Human Anatomy, by Connor (age 10)

We are a only couple of weeks into our new science book about human anatomy, but
still we have done lots of fun experiments! For example we made a mummy our of an
apple, and we also soaked a chicken bone in vinegar and another one in just water. The
one that was vinegar did not snap but was very bendy!!!!! This showed us the
importance of calcium but the one that I liked most was when we made a model cell out
of lemon Jello!! The different parts were made out of different candies. The cell
membrane is what determines what can come and go in the cell. and the cytoplasm was the
Jello it is what fills the cell and is the liquids. And the mitochondria was jelly beans. The
mitochondria powers the cell and burns the food we eat as power for the cell!! The lysosomes
were skittles, the lysosomes are like the police officers since they keep the cell safe and keep
the stuff that should not be in the cell out!!!! And the Golgi body’s, which are the things that
store chemicals and send them to they are needed, were made out of Starbursts. And the ER
with ribosomes and without ribosomes sends chemicals where they are needed, like the Golgi
body, but it also sends waste out of the cell. The ER was made out of Fruit Roll Ups. And the
centrioles which were Twizzlers make new cells!! And the nucleus is the control center of the
cell it is like the cell’s government, and it was made out of Whoppers!! We put our models on a
plate and there was our sweet cell!!

Grandma's Week in Alabama (Grandma Z)

Dear Kids, Sibs & Mom

I’m home from my week at Meg’s and thought I’d just hit the highlights to catch you up.  It was such a fun week.  I was there for Siobhan’s 19^th birthday and Meg and Stephen’s 20^th anniversary.  For the anniversary, the kids gave Meg and Stephen an afternoon of their own – out doing whatever they chose to do.  While they were gone, Siobhan made a beautiful dinner, Shaila set the table, Aidan and Connor each held a twin, and Brandan just behavedJ  The twins were sick and very needy so we really needed all hands to accomplish a surprise that Ethan and Siobhan had bought and prepared for the anniversary.

It was an 8’X8’ family tree “decal” that came in dozens of pieces and adhered to the wall going up the stairs.  I will forward a separate email with pictures of it.  The kids had already printed and framed photos of each family member, Meg and Stephen, and a group shot.  Ethan and I assembled the whole thing while Siobhan made dinner.  Even with Ethan’s 6 feet of height, he needed a ladder on the stairs – that was his part.  I kept my feet firmly planted on the steps.

Miraculously, the whole thing was assembled, ladder and level and miles of paper scraps all cleaned up before Meg and Stephen got home.  It was SO much fun to be a part of that, and Meg and Stephen were amazed and very pleased.

The weather was overcast but Meg and I took a long walk all but one day – thunderstorms all that day.  Things are greening up as you can imagine.  On the rainy day, Ethan drove the kids (all but the twins) and me to their favorite library.  A beautiful historic building in Huntsville.  They each chose books and movies and we stopped at Wendy’s for a frosty on the way home.  Very fun.

Besides that Meg had planned an activity for me to do with each of the kids.  I played ping pong with Brandan, read with Shaila, quizzed Aidan on questions for a Bible competition he is participating in next weekend, quizzed Shaila and Connor on another competition that they are in, observed their cell making “lab” with jello cytoplasm, malted milk ball nuclei, licorice lysosomes, fruit wrap endoplasmic reticulum….. (I might be a little mixed up, but it was an awesome feat!)  I also had a lovely time out with Siobhan at a quaint coffee/tea shop and had “sweet potato/chai tea”.  Ethan and I had great chats as he drove us hither and yon.  Baxter and Cade played “people” with me.  They have a container of multi-colored, plastic people that they love to put into and then dump out of the container, naming each color or counting each person.  We also read books, threw balls, and intercepted toilet play.

My favorite part is being able to help Meg in any way I can.  I’m not as good at laundry folding – the kids have grown so much, I have lost track of sizes and socks:/   But I was able to finish a pile of ironing and empty a bag of mending which now has replaced buttons and repaired seams.  I also finished a “cut and paste” project that Meg is working on for a children’s class she teaches on Sunday evenings. 

Every day Meg “sent me to my room” at least once, announcing that Grandma was going to have some time to herself.  I would call John and just breathe deeply J  That was usually when the kids were doing the dinner clean up and Meg was settling the little ones.  Meals were amazing – Moroccan, Thai, Italian,???  Just plain delicious!!

Of course, with that many people in one place, a crisis of some sort is inevitable.  On Sunday night while Ethan was driving Siobhan back to college and all of their friends were in church, Aidan had a very severe allergic reaction to peanut butter that was accidentally put into some cookies.  He threw up, was covered in hives, and had very labored breathing.  Meg and Stephen administered an epi pen and then found a neighbor who would loan them a car so they could take him to the ER.  He was monitored for about 4 hours and prescribed a high dose of Benadryl for the next few days and came home.

It was such a blessed week!!

Love, Mom (Con)