All Things Science Fair, Part 2

The week ended with a Basketball Playoff...Alex's team lost in their own version of March Madness...no matter...he improved so much from start to finish...I truly hope he goes out for basketball next year...but the team overall seemed to peter out at the end...so we finished the season not so triumphantly...but full of little accomplishments that they individually gathered...a lot to be proud of those self-named Mad Dogs.

And after the last game, we went to the Regional Science Fair...remember our excitement over Alex's Second Place at his school??? Well, now we were playing in the Big Leagues...against all of the Northern Nevada Elementary Schools....and using university professors as actual judges...we were quoting the Academy Award nominees about "just being happy to be there."

The judging was last night...and in the wee hours of the morning we logged on to the website to see...that our Alex...got a....Honorable Mention...

We were a little giddy. Our first Science Fair. Second Place at his school. Honorable Mention at the Regional Science Fair. We know it's a Fluke. But we're going to enjoy the happiness anyway.

It's well deserved. Little Dude (and his Mama, here) worked hard to stick to the Scientific Method and make it as real an experiment as we could. What amazed me about the process was the judges (judging from 6 pm to midnight) took the time to write constructive criticism on each and every science project. Ours got a "great journal and data" and an "excellent representation of your data!"

It's good that this Mama put her marketing skills to use...and the use of a nice report cover (that was for Tante Lorraine...see professors haven't changed that much in the 20 years since we've been students...always go for the quality report cover with the nice page protectors).

Below's the picture that will make into his biography (properly tinted and blurred)...I know that he will cure all sorts of ailments one day...and not have to worry about the next round of funding...ah, a Mama's Dream at least.

We celebrated by hoisting a round of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Wishing you an "ah-a!" moment as you enjoy this spring weekend.

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All Things Blog-a-versary.

I just realized that's it's my one year Blog-a-versary. So it made me think...365 days...made me think of that song from "Rent"..."Seasons of Love"...

525,600 minutes,
How do you measure a year?
In Daylights - In Sunsets
In Midnights - In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches - In Miles
In Laughter - In Strife
How Do You MeasureA Year In The Life?
How About Love?

We've had our share of all of the above, including lots of cups of coffee...lattes...iced...try the new honey latte, iced at Starbucks. Very yummy.

So thank you for indulging me in -

• One year of torturing all of you with our Goings On.
• One year of way too many pictures per post.
• One year of wondering who is from Singapore, Sweden, Romania, Brazil and South Africa (see Who Comes to Say "Hello")? And then the one person from "Europe"? Didn't know Europe was a country. But these days anything is possible. A hardy "hello" to all of you from places I know we don't have any relatives or lifelong friends!
• One year of joining us in watching our kiddies change and grow up.

Thank you. I wish you could share in our St. Paddy's Day leftovers. I did go all out yesterday baking away - Irish Soda Bread, Irish Pizzas (yes, there's potato in those lil' ol' pizzas) and green pancakes for the kids...and Ken, who ate the maple syrup-y leftovers.

Sending you lots of hugs and wishing you a 365 day-perspective...today...the Day After St. Patrick's Day.

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All Things Icon.

Yesterday was the Sunday of Orthodoxy at our church. The Divine Liturgy ends with a procession led by the priest of people holding their icons . In our case, its the children who hold up their Saint's Icon (i.e. their baptismal Saint). This was the first year that Bella marched in it all by herself. She's become quite the Little Miss Grown-Up. Of course, potty training still continues to be a challenge, at times. Nothing ever lines up perfectly, does it?


Wishing you a week where you march to the beat of your own drummer. Try it. I promise it will go well.

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All Things Creepy Crawly.

One of our local museums had an exhibition on "Snakes, Bugs and Other Backyard Monsters." Just the kinda thing I dislike with a passion that is only mirrored by the lead character in the Indiana Jones movies. Snakes, I hate snakes. But off we went in squeezing in the last of Spring Break Fun...a storm was approaching (last night Tahoe got 14-inches of snow...mercifully we got none...just wind and snow showers)...and I just wanted to get back to my hot tea and knitting.

Fortunately, we first encoutered the benign and peaceful koi pond.

Unfortunately, Bella fixated on it...like only a two-year-old can fixate on something...and kept wanting to go back to it. "I want to go see the fishies," she demanded at every turn.

From L to R , clockwise - The fishies, Mama, look!; I want to see the fishies; But the fishies are over there!; Bubby, come see the fishies.

Dada, I don't care about the big mantis...the fishies are over there!

The fishies, I want to see the fishies.

But, where are the fishies? Can we go back?

From L to R, clockwise - Butterflies, the ones Kata and Mama liked, a mechanical beetle, a giant yucky scorpion (yes, we have those in the High Desert...yikes!..but not so very big).

Alex loved playing with the mechanical beetles...following in his grandfather's engineering footsteps, no doubt.

Kata made her own dragonfly headband. She did all the coloring and cutting herself. She's practicing all those Kindergarten skills...color within the lines, cut close.

The funny thing here, as most of you know, since Alex was around 4 he's had a tremendous fear of dragonflies. Inexplicable. I agree. So to see him with this is rather amusing for some of us.

The giant bug eye was loved by all. Kata was still coloring and cutting her headband. Mama's Little Crafter.

Dada, but I want to see the fishies!

We then walked over to the next exhibition room where we ::HAD:: to put together these giant ant puzzles.

And just as I was beginning to give up, Mr. Riggsby, in one of his mechanical moods, put them together quite nicely. Eighteen years of knowing him (fifteen in marriage this September) and he still has a knack of surprising me when I least expect it.

Then the nice lady with three millipedes, all named Fred incidentally (Baby Fred, Big Fred, Fat Fred) came in and Kata's hand was outstretched first. She loved holding Baby Fred. Big Brother stepped up to the plate because he couldn't be outdone by his Little Sister and actually held the millipede. Bella just wondered if we could go back to the fish.

And all three of our Future Scientists loved using the mircoscopes and the mechanical models. "Is there a fish in there, Bubby?", wondered Bella.

Then it was time for the sssssssSnakes...yikes...Again, Kata stepped right up and held her hands out.

She is ::SO:: brave...she thought they were fabulous. And my Big Boy, Alex, once again stepped up...taking the lead set by Kata and held the icky snake.

As we head into the work and school week, I wish you a moment of sheer bravado. You can do it,really, you can.

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