Snails & 6th grade science

Okay, so we have had class snails for the past 2 weeks. They stink, they poop, they eat carrots and lettuce and chalk. And depending on what they choose to eat, their poop matches the color of the food. We are finished with our snail unit - finally and are beginning our hissing cocharoach unit- Monday. They will be coming straight from Madagascar. Well, they are Madagascar Cocharoaches...they come from the RISD science center. ANYWAYS.... I have had interesting conversations with my class this past week in regards to our snails.
1. Did you know that snails are both she/he's. 6th graders find this VERY strange and started out calling them "it's" until they learned that they were he/she's. AND then....we read our textbook which gave the real vocab word for a he/she. Anybody ever write this word on a triple venn diagram on the overhead....

HERMAPHRODITE?!?!?! o...m....g. THANK GOODNESS that they are just immature enough not to know what this is.

2. ? - Mrs. K, how do snails' make babies? You have your textbook, let's research it.... they look it up and write it down. A few days go by and we are discussing why we put chalk in their classroom habitat, and I call on one student who says...
"they eat chalk to make their calcium love darts." THis is true and this is how they make babies. They make calcium love darts. calcium love darts. let me say it again. calcium love darts.
sigh. Having this discussion with hormonal girls and hormone driven boys is SOOO not what I signed up for.
Three things I learned about myself and snails.
1. I will never again eat escargot and 2. I will never pour salt all over them like i did when I was little. and 3. Snails are creepy.

reality check

please see my sister in-law's blog http://sarajermkennedy.blogspot.com to understand what a true "Ice Day" is. I guess our's was "perfect" because we could leave the house after noon. She is still locked inside in Fayetteville, AR... wowzers.

the perfect ice day

5:45 - alarm goes off; cross fingers and toes and turn on T.V. to channel 8. Cynthia Itzgizzy always gives the best updates. Stare at the school list of school closures and patiently (NOT) wait from the C schools until the R's. Listen to all of the major closings: Dallas, Fort Worth, Garland, McKinney, Plano, still no Richardson. Anger started to overcome me. Why did we have to go to school when even Dallas had off?!?! wait, wait, what's that you say Richardson ISD is closed too??!! Oh good, I am going to get to play today

(think Shel Silverstein's I have the measles, and the mumps, a gash a rash and purple bumps -- what what's that you say, today is Saturday, good-bye I am going out to play!)

7:15 - get Reece after lying in bed awake but with my eyes closed, enjoying the solitude and having some quiet time.

8:15 - feed the sweet boy kiwis, bananas, and a gluten-free waffle (even though I recently realized that I have been given him gluten all along with his oatmeal and barley teething biscuits!) oh well..I guess he doesn't have an allergy..see 9:15.. :)

Pour coffee - repeat multiple times.

9:00 - make Monty and I blueberry buckwheat pancakes and scrambled eggs.

9:15 - we sit down with our now "starving" son to eat...he eats his first taste of wheat (a whole buckwheat and blueberry pancake!) and devours it.

9:45-1:30- play, build a toy, text, more coffee, call Cali and discuss the cold weather there ( a freezing 55 degrees), Reece naps, we clean our room and decide we need more storage space...or a bigger house, shower, get dressed and head out for a delicious Mexican lunch at Mi Cocina's -----------at 1:45.

Riding in his new "race"car!

We had the most perfect Ice Day Lunch - tortilla soup and chips and a margarita for mom and dad. Reece seriously takes down some beans, rice, and shredded chicken. I took pictures just in case you wanted to see. :)

anxiously awaiting his lunch...

after he was done-- yes he ate that much. to which Monty said, we may, have on our hands, a world class athlete...he could be possibly 6'5" -- what!?!? my baby...no way! But according to his father - he has "the genes to be great!" hilarious.

my soup--- yummo!

yummy mi cocina margarita... a special treat!

5:00 - blogging, thomas the train, a semi tired baby who slept in the car who can't get happy, and thinking about work and praying for an ice storm to roll on through again!

Frozen nasty dog bowl...




I believe that these prove that we live in a "weird weather place" as my mom in cali calls our weather here--- we have palm trees that freeze with icicles --taken at noon.

I hope your family enjoyed their day together as much as we did! :)

Mia's house

I love to go to my Mia's house. There are lots of "pretty's"(things I can't touch) and toys from my family. Here I am rocking away in my great-uncles' rocking chair. Don't I just look so cute? My Mia and Duffy take pictures of me doing things while I am there so my mommy and daddy don't miss out on all the fun we have together!
Baby (11 month old!!) Reece

standing=teeth marks and no naps

Reece's molars are coming in on the left side - top and bottom. This is a happy version...finger in the mouth and chew chew chew. We are working on nappinig again. He's apparently losing interest in it as his teeth are almost in. Fun times. I did step in a puddle of drool when I went to check on the standing child who was knawing on the edge of the crib. that was a first.

this and that

And the views from our cell phones....

such a good helper...

it's empty...don't worry. but a must at a teacher's house! :)


8 teeth and incoming molars makes attempting to bite an apple seem like a good idea.


always trying for something higher!

sorry for the lack of pictures and posts, busy yet boring back to school/work times in the Kennedy household.

Week 2 - Vacation Time

Quick recap of our 2nd week of vacay. Last weekend, we went to Tulsa to stay with Mandy and Marcus for her bridal shower. We came home, played around the house, went to the park ( a first for Reece-y and his momma!!). Wednesday we went to Lake Fork to stay at Suzy's family's home for New Year's Eve to stay with her husband, Jay, and Brad, Jamie, and Jackson. It was a fun way to celebrate the new year... relaxing with friends in comfy clothes, eating delicious food (lobster, crab, and filets with the yummy sides), and having the babies asleep in their rooms! Now it's back to the grindstone....hormonal 6th graders here I come. Today..oh today another post will discuss these funny girls. :)

Don't I fit perfectly!?!? He loved the shelf at Mandy and Marcus' house.



Imagine an all out giggle! I can't wait to take him back to play.

Trying to pump his legs - or at least he looks that way.

Reece and his bud, Jackson.

Monty and Reece by the outdoor fireplace. Reece loved the flames!

The new way to celebrate New Year's Eve...with your babies! :)