Hunger Games/Christmas Tree

Ryan, Nathan and I went to the midnight showing for Hunger Games when it first came out.  We had a lot of fun! Nathan and I have read all of the books. We thought they did a good job on the movie.

We didn't start on our way home until about 3am.

I had just gone to my dad's house in Keokuk to visit them while they were there for Spring Break.  My dad asked me if I wanted a little Christmas tree. 

 I told him no...again.  He had asked me the last time I visited too. Then I thought about Goodwill.  I told him that if he really wanted to get rid of it, we could take it to Goodwill.  He said that would be great.

So we did! At 3am! Ryan propped it up against the front doors.  We thought it was so funny! Well, it was, at 3am!

Naked Eggs

This is an experiment in osmosis.

We think it is pretty cool!

You start with raw eggs, vinegar and clear jars.

Use as many eggs and jars as you want.

Fill the jars with vinegar and carefully put the eggs in the jars.

Wait 24 hours......

Then, empty the vinegar (carefully) and pour in more vinegar.

Wait another 24 hours...

Your eggs should look like this.  The vinegar has dissolved the egg shell. 

You can carefully rub off any remaining shell with your fingers.

Then, we put corn syrup in the 1st jar, tap water in the 2nd jar, red food coloring with water in the 3rd jar, blue food coloring with water in the 4th jar, green food coloring with water in the 5th jar and tap water in the 6th jar.

Wait another 24 hours....

The shriveled egg was in the corn syrup.  Water is sucked out of the egg by osmosis.  The corn syrup has less water in it than the egg, so it balances itself out.

The 2nd egg was in water. There is more water outside the egg than inside, so the egg sucks the water into it.

The 3rd egg was in vinegar, so it should have stayed the same as it already was.

This is the egg from the corn syrup. It looks kinda gross! And the yolk is very firm.

These other eggs are gushy and squishy.  Kinda rubbery and fun to play with. 

But be careful not to pop them!  What a mess you would have then!

The next 3 eggs are really cool!  They look like really bright Easter eggs.

The water isn't nearly as colored now, because the color was sucked into the eggs along with the water.

Nathan is looking at the red egg...

After we popped the red egg, we felt the membrane.  It looks and feels like a popped balloon.

We dropped all of the eggs in the sink at various heights to see how high we could get them before they popped.  This is a messy part, that's why we did it in the sink.  We had 6 eggs because we originally intended to pop just the 6th egg, but then decided we might as well pop them all! More mess, more fun!

Because these eggs have been out of the refrigerator for so long, and because they were soaked in water, vinegar, corn syrup and/or food coloring, we strongly suggest that you do NOT eat any of the eggs from the experiment!

April Fools' Day

My boys, Ryan (19) and Nathan (15), started talking about April Fools' Day the day before, on March 31st.  I was a little worried, but not too bad. They haven't really done anything bad in the past.

I was asleep in my bed in the middle of the night.  Cory was sleeping in the guest room because of my snoring and cough. Nathan came in, I assumed to say goodnight.  He put his hand on me and I just wanted to sleep, so I brushed his hand away.  I didn't want to upset him, so I patted him.  That's when I felt the fur!  I opened my eyes and there was Bobo!  In case you don't know who Bobo is, here is a picture.

The funny thing is, I wasn't scared.  I guess I'm too used to Bobo being around, even in the middle of the night.

Then when that didn't work, Ryan jumped up and tried to scare me.  That didn't work either.

Then they went to bed and I went back to sleep.

When I got up in the morning and went downstairs, every cabinet door and drawer was open in the kitchen and family room!

Every Single One!!

I didn't get a picture of Ryan, but here is a picture of Nathan innocently sleeping after the pranking.

After that, I went to make my breakfast....

I thought about taking a picture of the milk, but it was so gross!!  They used every color of food coloring I have!  I know it's just a mental thing, but I couldn't drink it.  I opened a new gallon for my breakfast.  They both drank the colored milk.

I was worried about what might be in store, but apparently that was as far as they had planned.  The rest of April Fools' Day was calm. They know that I am the one that feeds them every day and I know where they sleep!

Happy April Fools' Day!!

My New iPad 2

Isn't technology great?!?

I got an iPad 2 for Christmas.

I am using my new iPad to connect to my computer to update my blog!

It's so cool!

I thought I couldn't do it, because in order to get pictures on my blog, I have to use my computer.

Now I can use my iPad to connect to my computer to add the pictures.

Now as long as I have a Wifi connection, I can access my computer!

WooHoo!!!

Clean Washer

On Pinterest, I found how to clean my washer at  http://www.somewhatsimple.com/how-to-clean-your-washing-machine/  It has been needing it for quite some time, I just didn't know how to go about it.  

Look at that!  Gross!!

It sounds easier than it is and takes some elbow grease, but look at the awesome results.  

This is during...

And this is after...

 Before, I was worried about how much of that grime was getting on our clothes.  Ewwww!

Now I don't have to worry if our clothes are getting clean anymore.  It's like new!

Green Grass in January!

I took this picture on January 11, 2012.  I just couldn't believe that the grass was still green in January!

Of course, the next day we got a little bit of snow and the schools were closed.  Now the grass looks dead, like it should in the dead of winter in Missouri.  The nice weather was great while it lasted!

My Birthday-January 31st

My birthday started out as a regular Tuesday.  I took Nathan to Kuk Sool Won for his 10:00am class.  I picked him up early so he could take a shower after Ryan.  Then Ryan, Nathan and I left for their 1:00pm Vocal Fusion class at Mozingo's Music.  After their class, we went to lunch at Dragon Buffet in Lake St Louis with Gale, Beth and Zach.  Gale and Beth gave me these flowers for my birthday.  Aren't they pretty?

After lunch, we went home.  Sister Natalie Palmer came by to say Happy Birthday and gave me these flowers.

Pretty, pretty!  I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

In the evening, Nathan wanted to go to the Into the Woods production practice.  Ryan, Cory and I took him. We went to Culver's to eat dinner while we waited for Nathan to be done.  Then we went to McDonald's because Nathan wanted to go there with his friends afterwards.  We had McFlurries for dessert while Nathan ate his dinner with his friends.  We were getting ready to leave when Beth whispered something to her friends.  All of a sudden, they all started singing Happy Birthday to me!  I was embarrassed, but pleasantly surprised too.  I told everyone thank you and started to leave.  When I turned around, the McDonald's guy said "I heard it's someone's birthday."  He gave me this cake...

Fun, huh!?!

All in all, a wonderful birthday with my family!