Diamond Digging

Happy birthday, Mojo! I can't believe my girl is 8 years old already.



For her birthday, Mojo wanted to go digging for diamonds. So we packed some sandwiches and drinks and made a day of it. We didn't find any diamonds, but we did find some other cool rocks. Mojo also got a bag of quartz from the gift shop that she thought was as pretty as diamonds.

Science Fair

Today our homeschool group hosted a science fair. This is the first year we've done this, and I was very pleased with the turn-out. There were 16 projects presented by the children, and I learned some new things about ladybugs, camels, hippos, plants, and diet coke mixed with mentos. :-) We gave out certificates to the children who participated, and we plan to submit a picture to our local newspaper.



This was Mojo's introduction to the scientific method. Her hypothesis was "I think that if I add enough salt to water, an object will float in the water." She tested her hypothesis by placing an egg in one cup of water. She added salt, one teaspoon at a time, until the egg floated in the water. She recorded her observations with the help of Mama and the camera. Her conclusion was that adding 7 teaspoons of salt to one cup of water would make an egg float in the water. Adding more fresh water caused the egg to float between the fresh and salt water. We then learned some interesting facts about the Dead Sea.



Mojo loves science, and she really enjoyed learning about the scientific method and conducting her own experiment. We chose a simple expirement because I wanted her to do most of the work. I helped with taking the pictures, printing things out, and helping her to organize her materials, but she concucted the experiment, made the observations, drew a conclusion, and wrote everything down. She was proud of her work, and I was proud of it, too!

Our First Tournament

For those of you wondering how we did yesterday, it all went pretty well. Mojo is 7 (almost 8) years old, which is the youngest our system will accept children, and she's been learning for almost a year. She tied for 3rd place in sparring and got a participation medal for kata. I was just proud that she was brave enough to get out there and do her kata in front of everyone!



I also competed this year and won 1st place in empty-hand kata, 2nd place in weapons kata (nunchaku), and 2nd place in sparring.

Sibling Love

One of the reasons I decided to have a large-ish family--aside from the fact that babies are just so darn sweet!--is because I wanted my children to have the experience of siblings. I've heard it said (was it Pope John Paul II?) that the best gift you can give your children is another sibling. It certainly has been true in our household. Sure, they fight. Drives me up the wall. But they also learn that life is more fun when they get along. Life is more fun when they share. My girls are blessed with sisters. They are also blessed with learning how to tolerate boys. My boys are blessed with a brother. They are also blessed with sisters to pester. The older ones are blessed with having babies in the house, who will light up each time they walk into the room and reach for them. By the time the babies are older, perhaps they will be blessed with nieces and nephews to babysit. They will learn a lot from each other growing up.

The other day, I witnessed yet another reason to give your children siblings. You know that game that babies love to play when they are sitting in their highchairs? The "throw-something-on-the-floor-and-squeal-until-someone-hands-it-back-to-you" game? Juju discovered this game the other night while I was cooking supper. I groaned. But Gem and Caveman were there in a flash giggling and picking up Juju's toys, and the three of them kept each other entertained for a good 30 minutes. I hope to get a video next time!

Here are some recent pictures of the siblings...

Juju's First Bites

We delay feeding our children solid food until they have good head support, can sit well, show an interest in eating, and are old enough that their GI systems are more developed (more able to digest solid food and less chance of developing allergies.) It's usually around the time that they get their first teeth. Juju has been interested in eating for awhile now and has been grabbing my fork when I am holding him. Of course, we waited until the whole family was home so that we could all see and take pictures and videos. Even though this is my fifth child, these little milestones don't get any less exciting!

Here he is taking his first bites of a mashed banana. You can hear his siblings in the background making a big fuss over him.


Some pictures...


He thoroughly enjoyed his first solid food!

Look What Mojo Did!

Mojo has been asking for about a year now to pierce her ears. We waited to make sure that's really what she wanted to do, and then we decided that she could get them pierced for her 8th birthday. Her birthday is in 2 weeks, but we got them a little early. She was really nervous that it was going to hurt, but she did fine! She only flinched a little. Now she's really excited about her new earrings!
Here she is showing off her new earrings (click on thumbnail):