One of my FaceBook friends and fellow bloggers, Holly, posted a link to a site called GodTube earlier this evening that I found to be really cool! Like YouTube, GodTube has videos of all sorts, all of which have a Christian message. The video Holly linked to FaceBook led me to find this video called Reflections of Motherhood. The mothers featured in the video were asked to write something on a card that they would have liked to have told themselves, before their first child was born.
Looking back, the only advice I could have given myself at that time was this...
RELAX! Remember no one's perfect, including your child! Take in every moment, they go by way too fast! Take time to appreciate your spouse for all of his good qualities, they are about to really shine through! Remember that one day you will sleep at night again, longing to be kept awake by another tiny, crying baby!
What advice would you give yourself?
http://www.godtube.com/featured/video/reflections-motherhood/music
Monday, September 20, 2010
Seeds Experiment Update
Last week on my "Tuesdays w/ Mommy" post, I blogged about a science experiment that we could observe over a period of time. We are starting to see some changes in our little seeds!
Here is Jaxon w/ one of the pumpkin seeds. He was so excited to see that one of them has now sprouted after only 3 or 4 days.
I took these pictures on Friday. Today we will take them out again and see how much they've changed since we observed them on Saturday.
And our corn crop has now started to show some signs of growth. All 3 of his kernels sprouted and he couldn't have been happier!
Here is Jaxon w/ one of the pumpkin seeds. He was so excited to see that one of them has now sprouted after only 3 or 4 days.
I took these pictures on Friday. Today we will take them out again and see how much they've changed since we observed them on Saturday.And our corn crop has now started to show some signs of growth. All 3 of his kernels sprouted and he couldn't have been happier! Little Boys... BIG Toys
Jaxon and I got a call from Uncle Tony Thursday night telling us that we needed to come and see what he had at his house! He was all excited because he was in the process of digging a BIG hole to bury some of the junk around his place. W/out hesitation, we rushed right over to see this BIG piece of equipment he was using to dig the hole! But when we got down the road to the dairy, we were sidetracked by yet another digger! 
We stopped to take a few pictures w/ what I thought Uncle Tony must have been talking about, wondering the entire time why he had brought the digger back to the dairy if he was using it at his place! Jaxon was really intent on finding this hole in the ground and kept insisting that we go to Tony's because the hole had to be there!
It was starting to get dark and I was ready to go back home when Jaxon noticed Grandpa heading up the road in the tractor. He knew where Grandpa was headed and continued insisting on getting over to Tony's to find that hole! "Mom, if we go to Tony's, you can see Alivia!" So now my own child is bribing me! 
I told Jaxon we would go over there, but if there was no hole we needed to get home! Before we left I told him to jump up on one of the tracks, open the door, get inside and I'd take one last picture of him "driving" the digger... the door was locked! This was very unusual! 
When we got over to Uncle Tony's, there was the hole and another digger! (The digger at the dairy belonged to someone else, hence the locked door!) I'm not too sure who was more excited about this BIG toy... Jaxon or Uncle Tony! I wanted to take a few pictures but it was too dark and I was concerned that if I took my eyes off Jaxon for too long he'd be in the hole! I promised him that we'd go back over sometime this week during the day so he could investigate this hole a little further. If I know him, he'll insist on going today, so maybe I'll get some pictures of Uncle Tony's BIG hole yet!
We stopped to take a few pictures w/ what I thought Uncle Tony must have been talking about, wondering the entire time why he had brought the digger back to the dairy if he was using it at his place! Jaxon was really intent on finding this hole in the ground and kept insisting that we go to Tony's because the hole had to be there!It was starting to get dark and I was ready to go back home when Jaxon noticed Grandpa heading up the road in the tractor. He knew where Grandpa was headed and continued insisting on getting over to Tony's to find that hole! "Mom, if we go to Tony's, you can see Alivia!" So now my own child is bribing me! I told Jaxon we would go over there, but if there was no hole we needed to get home! Before we left I told him to jump up on one of the tracks, open the door, get inside and I'd take one last picture of him "driving" the digger... the door was locked! This was very unusual! 
When we got over to Uncle Tony's, there was the hole and another digger! (The digger at the dairy belonged to someone else, hence the locked door!) I'm not too sure who was more excited about this BIG toy... Jaxon or Uncle Tony! I wanted to take a few pictures but it was too dark and I was concerned that if I took my eyes off Jaxon for too long he'd be in the hole! I promised him that we'd go back over sometime this week during the day so he could investigate this hole a little further. If I know him, he'll insist on going today, so maybe I'll get some pictures of Uncle Tony's BIG hole yet!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Smell That Dairy Air
We talk a lot about senses with our children. "What do you see?","How does it feel?", "What was that sound?", "How does it taste?", "What's that smell?" Visiting a dairy farm (for some), can be a sensory overload! Jaxon's PreSchool class visited a dairy this week on their very first field trip. And these little troopers got to experience first hand each and everyone of their 5 senses!
I have to admit, when Jaxon's teacher first told me that they'd be visiting a dairy for their first field trip, I was a little nervous! In the back of my mind all I could think was, "Please don't let it be Grandpa's dairy!" I was afraid if it were, when it came time to leave, we'd never get Jaxon back on the "bus"! Luckily, there are a few dairy's in our area and it was a relief to hear that they'd be touring a different one!
I was lucky enough to be able to tag along and see first hand how a tour is done for a group of 7 very curious young people. Mrs. Becky of Ohlde's Dairy, was nice enough to guide us through the process of how milk gets from the cow to the store. She started our tour w/ a look at the milk parlor. The kids were able to stand and watch as a group of Holsteins had their udders cleaned and milked. She passed out a piece that is placed on the teats, taken off of the actual milking machines for the kids to see and touch... Jaxon of course wanted to take this little souvenir home! (I reassured him that we could probably find him one at Grandpa's farm if he really liked it that much!)
Next, we were paraded back through the milk parlor and out to see where the milk cows sleep and eat. On our way out the kids were excited to see a few pieces of farm equipment... the combine was a BIG hit! When we got outside and into the free stall barn, I found it pretty hilarious that every time one of the cows pooped or peed the kids had to point it out... this happens a lot! Mrs. Becky talked to the kids all about what the cows are given to eat and drink and how much. She compared the amount of water they consume in a day to the amount that our bathtubs can hold! The kids were allowed to pick up the silage and sift through it to see what was in it.
I have to admit, when Jaxon's teacher first told me that they'd be visiting a dairy for their first field trip, I was a little nervous! In the back of my mind all I could think was, "Please don't let it be Grandpa's dairy!" I was afraid if it were, when it came time to leave, we'd never get Jaxon back on the "bus"! Luckily, there are a few dairy's in our area and it was a relief to hear that they'd be touring a different one!
I was lucky enough to be able to tag along and see first hand how a tour is done for a group of 7 very curious young people. Mrs. Becky of Ohlde's Dairy, was nice enough to guide us through the process of how milk gets from the cow to the store. She started our tour w/ a look at the milk parlor. The kids were able to stand and watch as a group of Holsteins had their udders cleaned and milked. She passed out a piece that is placed on the teats, taken off of the actual milking machines for the kids to see and touch... Jaxon of course wanted to take this little souvenir home! (I reassured him that we could probably find him one at Grandpa's farm if he really liked it that much!)
Here is Jaxon holding the piece off the milking machine.
And while we are on the topic of teats, Mr. Jaxon gave me a very informative speech the other day about our heifer. While we were out checking our calves Wednesday afternoon, Jaxon informed me that "Mama" was needing us to milk her "teeth"! "You see her udder Mom?" She wants us to milk her teeth!" I explained to him that "Mama" isn't quite ready to be milked yet since she hasn't had a baby yet... he corrected me at that point and said that yes she had, all of the small calves in our pen are her babies! He'd even seen some of those babies getting milk from her "teeth"! How do you argue with that?!
After our tour of the milk parlor, Mrs. Becky took us into the bulk tank room. She had the kids feel a pipe that goes directly from the milkers to the bulk tank asking them, "does it feel warm or cold?", it felt warm. She then had them feel the actual tank and again asked what they felt, this time they felt cold since the milk is cooled in the tank. They were told all about how the milk truck comes to pick up the milk and takes it off to be shipped out to stores where we buy it.
Here are the kids listening to Mrs. Becky as she explains the process of cooling the milk.
Here are Jaxon, Mrs. Amy, Josh and Cody feeling the bulk tank.
Next, we were paraded back through the milk parlor and out to see where the milk cows sleep and eat. On our way out the kids were excited to see a few pieces of farm equipment... the combine was a BIG hit! When we got outside and into the free stall barn, I found it pretty hilarious that every time one of the cows pooped or peed the kids had to point it out... this happens a lot! Mrs. Becky talked to the kids all about what the cows are given to eat and drink and how much. She compared the amount of water they consume in a day to the amount that our bathtubs can hold! The kids were allowed to pick up the silage and sift through it to see what was in it.
This is the entire class w/ their teacher & our tour guide, Mrs. Becky.
While we were visiting the free stall barn, the kids were lucky enough to watch as a worker bedded down some fresh sand for the cows to sleep on. He uses a skid loader to bring the sand in and place it into the stalls... the kids were fascinated by this! At one point all 7 of the little munchkins had their heads through the stances... it was pretty cute!
Here they all are watching the skid loader.
I think for most of the kids that the best part of the entire tour was visiting the newborn calf. The kids were encouraged to stop and pet a female Jersey that was born that morning... she was adorable as you can see! And for some of the kids, this was a first!
Here's Jaxon's class petting the newborn calf.
Jaxon's friend Aiden isn't a huge fan of animals but cozied right up to this sweet, little baby. (He's the little boy to the left of Jaxon in the blue sweatshirt. His Mommy was so excited to see him get right down with the others and pet the calf!)
At the end of the tour, Mrs. Becky led us back into the barn and served up a refreshing snack of chocolate milk and cheese curds. The kids got to share snack time with one of the employees who was having his lunch. What a great way to end a really fun and educational field trip!
Here are some of the students enjoying their snack.
After the kids finished their snacks, they took some time to stop and look at the posters on the walls hanging in the break room. Jaxon & I even found a picture of his uncles Tony & Micah and aunt Sam from a club herd project through 4-H!
Jaxon and I both had a really good time! It was so much fun to see the excitement on all of the little ones faces as they got to experience something most people don't see everyday! I asked Jaxon, after we got home from the tour, where he'd like to go for our "at-home field trip" this theme. He suggested that we head over to Grandpa's dairy and visit his cows and I think we might just have to do that!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesdays w/ Mommy
Jaxon and I had so much fun w/ our first experiment of the day Tuesday, that we decided to try another one. This time we picked something that we could observe over a period of time.
Last summer we planted pumpkins and gourds and had planned on doing the same this year but decided against doing so when I found out I was pregnant. I didn't think at the time that I'd probably want to be doing much weed pulling this summer... and I am so glad I didn't have to!
I had already purchased several packages of seeds this spring so we were prepared to do this experiment. Plus, we feed whole kernel corn to our calves so we had some of that on hand too! The only other things you will need for this project are paper towels or napkins, water and sandwich bags.
After gathering our supplies, we first started our experiment by dampening our napkins. We then placed three seeds on one damp napkin and three kernels of corn on the other. 
Next, Jaxon folded the two napkins in half and placed each one in it's own sandwich bag. DO NOT close your bags, the seeds and kernels need air to breathe. 
I labeled each baggie and dated them so we could tell them apart. I also drew pictures on each one so Jaxon could tell what was what. 
And finally, Jaxon hung the bags in the kitchen window to expose the seeds and kernels to some sun light.
At our house we are always discussing crops. Every time we go in the car, Jaxon and I play a game where I point to a field and he tells me what's growing in it. (I sometimes wonder if he'd been a girl what games we might play?!) This experiment was right up his alley and the first thing he asked this morning was to see his seeds.
Last summer we planted pumpkins and gourds and had planned on doing the same this year but decided against doing so when I found out I was pregnant. I didn't think at the time that I'd probably want to be doing much weed pulling this summer... and I am so glad I didn't have to!
I had already purchased several packages of seeds this spring so we were prepared to do this experiment. Plus, we feed whole kernel corn to our calves so we had some of that on hand too! The only other things you will need for this project are paper towels or napkins, water and sandwich bags.
After gathering our supplies, we first started our experiment by dampening our napkins. We then placed three seeds on one damp napkin and three kernels of corn on the other. Next, Jaxon folded the two napkins in half and placed each one in it's own sandwich bag. DO NOT close your bags, the seeds and kernels need air to breathe. I labeled each baggie and dated them so we could tell them apart. I also drew pictures on each one so Jaxon could tell what was what. And finally, Jaxon hung the bags in the kitchen window to expose the seeds and kernels to some sun light.At our house we are always discussing crops. Every time we go in the car, Jaxon and I play a game where I point to a field and he tells me what's growing in it. (I sometimes wonder if he'd been a girl what games we might play?!) This experiment was right up his alley and the first thing he asked this morning was to see his seeds.
Over the next week and a half we will be watering and observing our plants each day to see how they change. Farmer Jaxon is looking forward to watching his crop flourish!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Farm Science ~ Milk Experiment
I'm always doing art projects with Jaxon but decided that we needed to mix it up a bit and try something different for a change. I'm hoping that by doing some fun hands-on experiments, I can encourage Jaxon to get excited about science! To keep w/ the "farm" theme, we chose an experiment that uses milk. This a very PreSchooler friendly project that once again uses ingredients that can be found in your kitchen.
You will need...
- a shallow dish
- 1/2 a cup of room temperature milk
- food coloring
- a few drops of dish soap
- Q-Tips
Find a cookie sheet or other shallow dish and set it on the table. This experiment works best with a shallow dish. (I used a small frying pan.)
Pour a half a cup of room temperature milk into the shallow dish. If you get the milk directly from the refrigerator then you can microwave the milk to room temperature. Make sure your preschooler can see the milk easily in the shallow dish.
Squirt the food coloring around various spots of the milk. It's best to keep the colors close for this experiment. Take a Q-Tip and dip it into the dish soap and touch it to the milk on the sections with the food coloring. Hold it there for a few seconds, approximately 5 to 10.
Remove the Q-Tip and notice the continuous swirls going on even without the Q-Tip. 
Dip the Q-Tip in the dish soap again and then touch the milk to continue the swirls.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Jaxon's ArtBoard ~ Back to School w/ Bears
Jaxon's PreSchool class just finished up their theme "Hungry Bears", last Thursday. Here is a rundown of their first two weeks taken from their PreSchool FaceBook page! (These are all quotes from Jaxon's teacher, Mrs. Amy!)
"Hooray for the First Day! We had a great time in preschool today starting to learn about BEARS. We sang the Gummy Bear song "Down at the candy store, what did I see, 5 little gummy bears smiling at me, along came Jaxon with a penny one day, he bought the green one and he took it away". We work on our counting and color recognition with this fun song!" ~ Mrs. Amy
"Today in preschool we made our first class book, Preschooler, Preschooler, Who Do You See? The book is making the rounds home with the kids, so when it comes to your house please enjoy it with your child, then return it to preschool for the next family. We also went "On a Bear Hunt", pretending to climb trees, swim rivers, and tiptoe into the bear's cave." ~ Mrs. Amy
"Today in preschool we wrote in our journals for the first time, working on our small motor skills with pencils and crayons. We also played Winnie the Pooh Memory, and tried to remember where the pictures were hidden. In Jesus Time, we prayed to say thanks for our favorite animals. Cody is partial to dogs, Andrew and... Jaxon like frogs, Riana likes elephants, Aiden's favorite are cheetahs, and Ethan likes kitties." ~ Mrs. Amy
"Today in preschool we cut out bears and gave them some good smelling fur, coffee grounds! We ate gummy bears for snack, and if we counted our bears for Mrs. Amy, we got some more. Mrs. Amy read us Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, and we sorted the 3 Bears items into Small, Medium, and Large sizes. We also went to Chapel... for the first time, Baptismal Remembrance chapel, and the preschoolers were excellent listeners!" ~ Mrs. Amy
A BIG thanks goes out to Mrs. Amy for sharing what their class did on those first few days! Here at home we continued w/ the "Hungry Bears" theme by cutting out pictures of bears from magazines, creating our "coffee bears", reading books about bears and painting pictures of bears using our homemade watercolors.
This is a picture Jaxon drew of his teddy bear that he brought from home on Thursday. The class finished up their theme w/ a special "Teddy Bear Day". Jaxon's bear apparently has two noses and wears glasses according to his picture... what a wild imagination he has!
Today they start w/ their "Farm" theme. When I dropped him off this morning he was headed straight for the "corn cob" sensory table... can't wait to hear all about what they learned today!
"Hooray for the First Day! We had a great time in preschool today starting to learn about BEARS. We sang the Gummy Bear song "Down at the candy store, what did I see, 5 little gummy bears smiling at me, along came Jaxon with a penny one day, he bought the green one and he took it away". We work on our counting and color recognition with this fun song!" ~ Mrs. Amy
"Today in preschool we made our first class book, Preschooler, Preschooler, Who Do You See? The book is making the rounds home with the kids, so when it comes to your house please enjoy it with your child, then return it to preschool for the next family. We also went "On a Bear Hunt", pretending to climb trees, swim rivers, and tiptoe into the bear's cave." ~ Mrs. Amy
"Today in preschool we wrote in our journals for the first time, working on our small motor skills with pencils and crayons. We also played Winnie the Pooh Memory, and tried to remember where the pictures were hidden. In Jesus Time, we prayed to say thanks for our favorite animals. Cody is partial to dogs, Andrew and... Jaxon like frogs, Riana likes elephants, Aiden's favorite are cheetahs, and Ethan likes kitties." ~ Mrs. Amy
"Today in preschool we cut out bears and gave them some good smelling fur, coffee grounds! We ate gummy bears for snack, and if we counted our bears for Mrs. Amy, we got some more. Mrs. Amy read us Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, and we sorted the 3 Bears items into Small, Medium, and Large sizes. We also went to Chapel... for the first time, Baptismal Remembrance chapel, and the preschoolers were excellent listeners!" ~ Mrs. Amy
A BIG thanks goes out to Mrs. Amy for sharing what their class did on those first few days! Here at home we continued w/ the "Hungry Bears" theme by cutting out pictures of bears from magazines, creating our "coffee bears", reading books about bears and painting pictures of bears using our homemade watercolors.
This is a picture Jaxon drew of his teddy bear that he brought from home on Thursday. The class finished up their theme w/ a special "Teddy Bear Day". Jaxon's bear apparently has two noses and wears glasses according to his picture... what a wild imagination he has!Today they start w/ their "Farm" theme. When I dropped him off this morning he was headed straight for the "corn cob" sensory table... can't wait to hear all about what they learned today!
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