Science Fairs and Birthday Parties!

That is the run down on my week...

My Itty-Bitty tried so hard to make a nice science project for her school science fair.
She came up with it all on her own, growing green beans with different soils to answer the question:

"Which soil will make the plants grow the fastest?"

She had three soil samples and labeled them: Fertilized Soil, Potting Mix, and Dirt (from our backyard). Then she wrote a prediction; The bean seed in the Fertilized Soil will grow the fastest and largest.
Unfortunately, her initial soil samples had too much water in them and the seeds floated to the top...
She pushed them back into the soil and finally they began to grow! Part of the experiment was to be exact in her watering and to measure, regularly, the growth she observed. We were all so excited for her as the sprouts began to break the surface!

I'm not sure exactly what happened then .... to make it veer terrible off in the wrong direction.... but veer it did. It might have been the cats, who love to sit in the window and paw at stuff. It may have been the little brother.... who was a little too over zealous about pulling touching the new growth. It may have been the really amazing tip the Little Scientist found in a gardening book. Apparently, putting eggshells in the soil is a wonderful fertilizer. Knowing that she couldn't add extra items to one soil without also adding to the others, she haphazardly carefully dropped piles of crushed eggshells on the tops of the soil. On top of the teensy-tiny little sprouts. *shakes head* Thankfully, we pulled enough off of one to get a decent shoot, but it didn't do enough to save the project. In an effort to salvage the project, she: planted a new batch and made new predictions, she put together a wonderful project board, and turned in the whole thing. She didn't win any awards, but she felt good about what she learned and she was happy to see the projects her friends did also. It was a good learning experience for all of us.

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On the other end of the week, our focus and planning has turned to the next celebration in our home.

The seventh birthday of my sweet little boy!

When it comes to birthdays, I always have amazing, grandiose ideas.... however, they rarely come to fruition. *sigh* This time, I didn't plan anything at all.... until 9days before the "friend party"... And I called parents and blamed their lack of invitations - on the shoddy mail system out in our little town!

Yes, you can vote for me as Mother of the Year here!

So, anyway, in our family, the most anticipated part for me is the telling of each child's "Birth Story"! Last night, I snuggled my great-big little boy on my lap and retold the whole beautiful event.... in appropriate terms, of course! Fritz really loves to hear about when he was a baby, baby. It makes him all sweet and cuddly again, so I always love it as well! After a sweet family prayer, thanking Heavenly Father for our sweet little boy and our beautiful family, Nana and I finally got those big babies to sleep. Sister set her alarm for 5:57am and of course, Itty-Bitty woke up to it and ran to wake the Birthday Boy!

Another tradition we have is The Birthday Fairy. She ... I'm sure it's a she, although I've never actually seen her.... is related distantly to the Tooth Fairy and the House Fairy, so I hear. The BF comes in the night (duh) and leaves a specially wrapped little gift for the child to open as soon as they wake up! I am not sure exactly how she came to visit our home, but not a single birthday goes by without the children anticipating her return. Fritz received a Kre-O (like Legos) Transformers set today, and when I went to get the kids up, he was sitting on his bed with Itty-Bitty building Bumblebee! After getting dressed, we celebrated Master "Fritz's" birthday today, eating pancakes for breakfast, bringing cupcakes to school, having his special meal (Reuben Sandwiches with potato salad and chips), etc.

We opened a few gifts after dinner.... he was very grown-up and good-natured about the two pairs of long johns and t-shirts. He really is getting big! He was so much fun when he opened his new Hex Bug Nano "environment" that we decided to give him all of the pieces we had been saving for the big party! The kids were all having a great time snapping together the different pieces of track and watching their bugs "battle". Even the cats and dog got into the action! It was after 9 o'clock when I finally got him to take it all apart and get into bed. We ended the night with simple prayers and a customary lullaby. Hush Little Baby, was the request tonight.

Gosh, I love this sweet little man. I am so grateful for all of the wonderful blessings he has brought to our family. I don't know why Heavenly Father lets things happen the way he does, but I am eternally grateful for His wisdom in bringing this special spirit into our lives, we love him more than we ever could have imagined. I will forever be a better woman because I am raising one of the Lord's Stripling Warriors!