4H Electricity

With the winter months here we've been slowly working on 4H projects. We've done some sewing and art projects but last weekend DR and the boys sat down to tackle their very first electric project. 

I've posted before on the differences between Indiana 4H and Kansas 4H. There are no guidelines about what is expected for their projects so we decided to do what is a first year project in Indiana; an circuit board. (Thanks Grandma for buying the kits for us!) 

See, I never took electricity but I always saw all these pretty little boards with batteries, wires and lit light bulbs and just assumed it couldn't be that hard right? Right? 

As it turns out it was hard and poor DR did most of the work. The boys helped where they could; measuring and cutting wires, and deciding where everything went but it was probably still too advanced for 7 year olds. There were just too many very small parts that was hard for the boys to manipulate and DR wouldn't even let them close to the soldering gun. 

They do understand the concept of the path of electricity which is the point. 

And we've talked a lot about electrical safety, conductors and insulators. 

They sure were proud of their circuit boards that actually lit up.

I loved 4H and I'll be more than happy to help my kids out with any project they have in mind but man, I never realized that being the 4H parent is a whole different ballgame than being the 4H kid. It's a lot of work! But thank goodness for DR because if I had to have helped with a circuit board we STILL wouldn't be done! 

Marker Monday - Painting on Snow.

I haven't done this activity in a long, long time. Not since we lived in Illinois in fact. But last week we had an unexpected inch or so of snow. Yahoo so badly wanted to go out and play in it, so did I, but the wind was just too fierce. So I brought the snow into her and packed some into pie tins and added some colored water and let her go to town.

Painting seems so simple that you'd think little kids would get bored by it. But for this age it isn't so much the end result that is important but the tactile and kinesthetic process of just painting with various tools on various mediums. Painting on snow sure isn't like painting on paper! What's the most unique surface you or your kids have ever painted on?

Sunday Devotions - Strength in Sickness

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. - Isaiah 40:28-31

Last weekend I missed posting my usual Sunday devotions because the week prior my family was battling a nasty stomach bug. While this particular sickness knocked me down for a couple days, my kids bounced back much quicker. I wish I had a child's energy! 

As I think of my older friends and relatives, who are fighting illness and diseases like cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's,  I realize that sickness is a part of getting older. No matter how healthy of a life I lead this body won't last forever. Sometimes the thought of growing older and the possibility of serious illnesses can be disheartening. But God never gets sick; God never grows weak.

Being sick is no fun and battling a serious illness can be devastating to our spirit. But we don't have to fight alone. If we put our faith and hope in the Lord our strength will be renewed! Even if our sickness takes our physical bodies, our faith in God will provide us spiritual strength forever! 

Dear Heavenly Father, Our physical bodies are fighting battles, some more serious than others. Lord help us heal our spirits first and foremost and then help us heal our bodies. Amen. 

Foody Friday - Apple and Cottage Cheese Bake

I found Apple and Cottage Cheese Bake on Spark Recipes the other day. 

It's a very simple recipe that would be perfect for a weekend breakfast or mix it up the night before and pop it in first thing in the morning and allow it to bake while you shower and dress. 

Apple and Cottage Cheese Bake

1-2 chopped apples

1/2 cup cottage cheese

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup regular oats

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mixed eggs with cottage cheese, oatmeal, eggs and apples. Put mixture in a small pie plate sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg on top. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until done. Drizzle with honey and serve warm if desired. 

This is a very filling dish and could easily feed two people for breakfast or three kids if you are able to convince them to try such a concoction! I wasn't so lucky. My kids wouldn't touch it, of course. But I sure enjoyed it! 

Yeah, I'll definitely be eating this one again! 

Week 6 - Wire

Okay, I admit....I whipped this photos out fast and didn't give much thought to how I shot...I just had to get em' done this week. I hate the idea of falling behind as early as Week 6! I barely even looked at my camera's settings. I know I could have done better if I'd given it more thought, or time! Things are just rushed this week, aren't they always? 


First two are shots of this hair twisty thing I wear all the time. I just threw it on my day planner and took some shots. 

1/40 sec., f 5.6, ISO 1600

1/10, f 16, ISO 1600

1/8, f 5.6, 1600

And a quick edit in black and white.

I was manually focusing today with slow shutter speeds so I know that the focus on these is probably wonky. 

Speaking of edits, I have used picnik.com for my editing for a couple years now. But they are closing down their site in April and merging with Google+. I've tried editing through Google+/Picasa albums but it's now more cumbersome and time consuming than before. 

I did find a new online editing site that I tried today, very quickly, and I think I might be hooked. It's pixlr.com. I'm still not convinced that I need to buy fancy Photoshop program when I can free sites on the web that will fulfill my purposes.  

Oh, I almost forgot, next week is....

.....Plug. 

Crap. Why don't I start looking ahead when I post? I could have used this one next week too! 

Something Wonderful to See.

I saw something wonderful yesterday. 

Here it is. 

Big brother reading to little sister. 

What's even better he sought her out and asked if he could read a book to her. 

I've been waiting for this moment since the day she was born. 

Amazing how much him reading to her helps me out. 

Marker Monday - Table Catapult

Yeah, I know..it's Tuesday, not Monday. And I know it's been a while since I posted but last week I was down for the count with a stomach bug and I'm finally catching up on LOTS of stuff. 


The kiddos and I did feel well enough Sunday afternoon to make a fun little catapult. Easily put together in less than 10 minutes and something to keep the sick ones a little busy while lying on the couch. (Mostly me being the sick one lying on the couch.) 

And really what little boy doesn't like playing with a catapult? 

I found the instructions here, along with a lot of other really cool pirate crafts! 

You need a bunch of craft sticks, glue (we used hot glue), and two clothespins, a rubber band and a plastic spoon...well, fork in our case. 

First, make a raft with the craft sticks. 

Then glue two clothespins together like this. 

Then glue the clothespins onto the raft. 

Wrap a rubber band tightly around the top prong of the clothespin and slide the plastic spoon, or fork, in the rubber band. 

Then use cotton balls for cannonballs or make some out of toilet paper or gauze. 

We found that if we moved the catapult to the edge of the table it shot the balls a lot better.