Be Cautious of Childproof Containers

Either medicine containers aren't as childproof as they used to be, or our children are just getting smarter about opening them. I know many adults that have a hard time open medicine containers, but in the last couple of months I have had two friends whose children (ages 3 and 1) has managed to get a medicine bottle open. One of the little girls did ingest about 4 times a normal dose of Tylenol and had to have hourly blood tests to make sure her body was processing it and the other little girl dumped liquid Motrin all over the floor as her mom was walking into the room. I keep all of our medicine containers in a cupboard, or on the kitchen windowsill over the sink when they are not being used, but I have a bad habit of leaving Tylenol on my bathroom sink when someone is sick. I am trying very hard to break that habit. If you even suspect that your child might have swallowed something, call poison control. Even something as simple as extra vitamins or Tylenol can be very toxic to little bodies and don't assume because it is childproof that they can't get it open.

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Alex's New Best Friend

Alex has a new best friend. It is the book, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Alex (4) sees his big brother and sister reading everyday and really wants to learn how to read (even though we are still learning our alphabet.) So, he reads the book over and over again several times a day and to anyone who will listen. He carries it with him from room to room, and even sleeps with it at night. He says it is his favorite book because it is the only one he can read. I love to hear him reading to Christian and Anthony and daddy when he gets home from work.

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Science Experiment: Steam Powered Engines

Our Five in a Row book this week is Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. It is a wonderful story (all the boys love it) about Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Mary Anne. We did a short experiment for science today to try to explain to the boys what a steam powered engine is and how it works. First we made a pinwheel (pattern compliments of the Five in a Row appendix) and attached the pinwheel to a pencil by sticking a straight pin through the eraser. Then we put some water in the tea kettle and waited for it to boil. While we were waiting we had a discussion about what would happen when the water got hot (steam would form and it would be very hot so we would have to be very careful.) when the water really got boiling we put the pinwheel in front of the steam and it made the pinwheel move. the boys were very excited to see this work and they now have a better understanding about what a steam powered engine is.

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Tasty Tuesday: Quick and Easy Sloppy Joes

Now that we are in soccer season, I have to plan for a few nights of quick and easy suppers. I either put something in the crock pot, or plan something that can be on the table in less than 30 minutes on soccer nights. This is a great recipe.


1 pound ground beef (or turkey)
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain. While the meat is browning, combine all other ingredients in a sauce pan to simmer. After meat is browned and drained, combine with sauce and let simmer about 10 minutes. Serve over hamburger buns. Makes approximately 6 servings.

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Origami Fun

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Our Five in a Row book this week was Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say. The book is about a man born in Japan who travels to the U.S. and back to Japan. We talked about some different things about the Japanese culture and for a fun project decided to try our hand at Origami. I found this website http://www.origami-fun.com/ and clicked on the origami for kids link. We tried out the hat and the drinking cup and all of the children had a great time folding the paper and the results of their efforts. Chelsea was very interested and got back on the website to print out instructions for the tulip and a crane. She spent most of the afternoon working on it and even gave one of her flowers to our dinner guests Saturday night as a gift. You never know what kids are going to be interested in until you give it a try.

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We Have Eggs....Well One Egg!

The children were very excited today. Nick went down to the chicken coop this morning and found....an egg! He ran all the way back up the hill to tell everyone. Chelsea grabbed a basket (to carry the egg) and Nick, Alex, and Anthony all ran down the hill with her. The egg has been washed and put in the refrigerator in it's own carton labeled "Our Eggs." Hopefully there will be many more to follow soon.

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Another Great Website

My friend Kim told me about this free website that she uses for spelling, so we checked it out today. They have spelling lists separated by grade, or you can put your child's own spelling list in. There are several fun games they can play to help them learn their words and tests they can take. Some of the games are printable, some you have to do on the computer. Both Nick and Chelsea enjoyed doing their spelling work today (yea!) I actually had to make Nick turn it off after 30 minutes, he wanted to keep playing. Go to http://www.spellingcity.com/ and check it out.

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