It may not look like it...

but he's hard at work under there! It always amazes me that people assume that a child must be sitting straight up at a desk in order to learn anything. That somehow the degree of angle of the spine is directly related to the brain's capacity to learn. I always retained information better when I was sprawled out on my bed with my stereo playing in the background (the fact that it annoyed the crap out of my step-dad was just an added bonus. He was of the "desk learning" tribe ;) So when Cody builds a "fort" and takes in the dog, a flashlight and whatever he's working on - I know that he's doing OK.

And sometimes I'll grab a book of my own and join him!

Snow Day!

This is the first winter in about 10 years that we've lived someplace that gets snow. Ever since we moved back here bubba's waited and wished for it. He really wanted it on Christmas day, and everyone we knew told him not to get his hopes up, that it would never happen. It never snows here on Christmas. Guess what? It did. The first measurable amount in about 70 years. Maybe we should have had him wish for a sack of $50's, too.

It has snowed about 3 times since Christmas - enough for a few snowballs, but not enough for a snowman, which is what he's really after. And not your run-of-the-mill snowman with a carrot nose and corncob pipe. No sir, not my kid. He wants Calvin and Hobbes snowmen.

For those of you who have been living under a rock (or just don't appreciate fine literature ;) - here's a link to some Calvin and Hobbes snowmen cartoon strips: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.derekbrown.ca/archives/01242007_calvin_hobbes13.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.derekbrown.ca/docs/calvin_hobbes_in_the_snow.html&h=187&w=587&sz=29&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=CGRl6yPw-Gy3EM:&tbnh=43&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcalvin%2Bhobbes%2Bsnowman%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff

I can't wait to see the looks on the neighbor's faces if we ever do get enough snow!

Marshmallows aren't just for roasting...

they're also great for science projects! Even the nasty little colored ones come in handy. These are molecules that Cody made as part of a chemistry project we found in Real Science-4-Kids. Each marshmallow represents a hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen atom.

And thank God for Teacher's Editions, because if I ever did learn about electron bonds, covalent bonds, and ionic bonds in school, I forgot it all long ago (and probably only retained it long enough to take the test). And I certainly never learned it in 6th grade! Cody *LOVES* chemistry and thinks it's cool - and he really likes to see high school kids on TV shows covering the same things in science that he is ;)

He also has developed a love for the periodic table of elements. He's loves trying to figure out what elements he can find around the house, and figuring the number of neutrons in an element (this can be calculated by subtracting the number of protons - which is the atomic number - from the atomic weight. The remaining number is the number of neutrons in the element). We found a great copy of the periodic table of elements in pictures at: http://elements.wlonk.com/

You know it's cold when...

the ice on the pond is thick enough for Cody to stand on! In a cruel twist of fate, we've had sunny, blue skies all week. The only problem is that it's been very windy and the temperature hasn't risen above 32 degree, so it's too cold to enjoy the sun. That hasn't stopped Cody from having fun, though.

Walking with Dinosaurs

Last week we were fortunate enough to go and see Walking with Dinosaurs at the Rose Garden. It was amazing! Here's a YouTube link from the Today show:



Here's a shorter YouTube video from an actual performance:

The naming of the blog

Cody and I had talked all school year about starting a blog, and now we've done it! I left the naming completely up to him, thinking (rather foolishly) that he'd pick something sci-fi, something cool. What did we end up with? "Pack of Hungry Snails." And you know, that wasn't even his first choice. His first choice was "Herd of Turtles" which already happened to be taken (if you can believe it!)

Now for the explanation: when I was a kid, we always said "We're off like a herd of turtles, or a pack of hungry snails." I have no idea where it came from - just that we always said it. Maybe it was because we always seemed to be running late.

Now, nearly every time Cody and I go somewhere, we say it.