Car Stuff

Adorable Ethne

This is my daughter Ethne and she's adorable.
After I posted her silly faces the other day and mentioned how it's so much easier getting a silly face than a good smile, I decided it was about time I tried for some good smiles. Plus, she's only going to be the baby for just a little while longer! And then too, I never need much reason to go take pictures. :) I thought she looked so cute but at first she would NOT smile at all, but THANKS to Jethro (thank you thank you thank you Jethro!), we got some really good ones!
Doesn't she look sooo grown up in this picture on the swing?!

Oh, that happy smile just makes me want to kiss those cheeks to death! (She was laughing at Jethro, who was throwing himself to the ground.)

And a few more shots (including one with a finger in the nose.) ;)

my day

This was what I found last night when I went in to Ethne's room after I'd put her to bed, and she'd been crying for a while. Crazy little nakie.
And this is her, kicked-back and relaxed, eating dinner.

So yesterday, I had a long day in the kitchen, and now in my freezer there are: 2 (gallon size) bags of waffles, 1 bag of cookies (not essential but definitely favorable), 2 bags of white chili, 1 big bag of jambalaya, I don't know for sure how many bags of rolls, and 2 bags of twice baked potatoes. I also made bread, but for immediate use. I actually thought I would get more done, but rolls take a long time. Then I was going to make just a few more dinners today (hamburger and chicken ones) but I didn't. Instead, some friends came over and we went to the pool, and it was really fun and relaxing. Jethro LOVES swimming and Ethne got into it more today than she ever has. It was really fun.

Tonight at dinner we were having Ethne say a couple words, like apple and banana. Then we said, "Say Jethro," and she said, "Nana," (banana), and we all laughed our heads off, so then of course she thought she was so funny so she did it over and over. Funny little kid. We had a wonderful dinner of corn on the cob, tomatoes, and zucchini, all from our garden. We had the tomatoes on toast and it was delicious.

And these are pictures of what Brett has been working on the past several days. I don't know what they are, but maybe some male readers will find them interesting. The first one is the hole, before the parts are put in.

Brett wanted me to take a picture of the part below. I think he made it.


And that's how it fits on.
Yeah, any questions? Too bad. :)

Sunday ramblings

This girl makes me laugh about 100 times a day. She is soooo silly. And it's much easier to get pictures like these than it is to get one of her with a regular smile. Crazy girl.

Yesterday there was a ward breakfast to celebrate Pioneer Day, and it was very nice. Then we came home and Brett worked on the car the rest of the day. He told me to come out and take pictures of the stuff he was working on, so I took a few, but I don't know what they are or anything, so I'll just post this one of him working.

And this was me today. I told Brett to take a couple pictures, and he took some, and I said to take some more, and he said, "sheesh--I've already taken about 10--how many do you need?" Obviously he doesn't understand that you take many, MANY pictures so that you can make sure to get one that you really like. This is why the day digital cameras were invented was the best day of my life. :)
And here's another one because I think it shows my belly better. Just kidding, it's totally not because of that at all--it's really because I thought the back of my hair looked cute. Ha ha! Yes, I am vain enough to post a picture for that reason and retarded enough to admit it. :)
Today was nice, except I got to play one of my favorite songs in Sacrament mtg. (It's God of our Fathers), and I even switched it from last week to this week so I would be here, and then the bishop told us to only play one verse. Ruff. Oh well, I suppose I will recover.

In other news, I'm pretty proud of my primary kids. They have been singing so well for me! Earlier they learned 'Called to Serve' and did so great, and then today we worked on a song, and I was giving them points out of 10 for how well they did, and every single kid was trying so hard! It was fun. Not that I'll really miss being the chorister too much when the real person comes back. Except Brett said today, after I mentioned how excited I was for their wonderful singing, "What if they don't sing it that well for the program?" and I thought, "I would really feel kinda sad." Anyway. I will be holding a baby, so I probably won't even get to listen too closely. ;)

Jethro got stung by some kind of bug yesterday at the brunch, he says it wasn't a bee, and today his foot was really swollen. Poor guy.

I guess that's all I've got. I think tomorrow I will try to make some meals to freeze, as well as bread because we're out. Sounds like a good time, doesn't it?

What's been on my brain

Ha ha....funny funny funny. :)
So, what has been on my brain? Well, although it would be tormenting to go over your due date, I think that having had babies early previously brings its own kind of frustrating mind games. For example, if you are due in say, 4 weeks, but previously you've had babies 3 and 2 weeks early, you can kindof consider yourself due in one or two weeks. But you don't really want to bank on that too much, because then maybe you'll jinx yourself and actually go to your due date. So, you can start preparing, but not seem too eager.... it's a very delicate game.

Anyway, I don't really think I have too much to do to prepare. I just have to move the card table in my room to the shed and find a place for the boxes underneath it so I can put the pack and play (aka baby's bed) there. Other than that, I pretty much just wait. Or should I be doing something? Anyone, anyone? Is there anything that I should be doing now that I'll think of after I've had the baby and wonder why in the world I didn't do it before I had the baby? I asked Kami that question today and she said, in her infinite postpartum wisdom, "Sleep. Just sleep."

It's actually pretty exciting to know that in a couple weeks we'll meet our new kid. But first you have to, you know, deliver it. And you have to stay at the hospital for a little while, which has it's goods and bads.

Goods:
1.They bring food to you in your bed. And I know that lots of people say hospital food is gross, but I've always found it very tolerable. Good in fact, when you factor in that you didn't have to prepare it and you don't have to do the dishes.
2. They let you lie in bed all day, and don't expect you to do anything (except feed your baby).
3. Your (other) kids get to come visit you in all their cuteness and excitement, but as soon as they start being loud and annoying, they get whisked away again.
4. You have a little button you can push to ask for things you want, and they'll bring it to you.

Bads:
1. They come poke and prod and squish your belly a lot, which is very awful.
2. People are always coming in and out, especially right when you get to sleep. First it's the nurse to do above item, then your doctor, then the pediatrician, then the nun to ask how you're doing, etc. (This time though, I'm going to be firm--no nun, no photographer asking me if I want him to take awful pictures that he'll charge an exorbitant amount of money for, no one who isn't absolutely necessary!)
3. Everything smells hospitalish--even yourself.
4. You're not feeling your greatest.

But the ultimate good is of course, your new baby and it makes it all worthwhile. :) Another thing that crosses my brain sometimes is the question of whether or not my baby will have red hair.

Today I went to a few garage sales and hit a great one for boys clothes. I totally got stocked up for Jethro for next year (or maybe this spring if he has a growth spurt?). 11 shirts, one pair of pants, and one pair of shoes ---all really nice stuff--for $13.75. Sweet.

So when we got home I was trying on some of them to see if they would fit, and afterwards, Jethro came into the front room without a shirt on, and was dancing around like an African bushman, and it was really funny. I wish I could post the video I took, but alas, I cannot. This picture is so funny to me though. I think it looks like he's trying to be a model. Oh, funny.

Today Jethro and Hazel were being ornery, so they had to go to bed at 6:30 (which is an hour and a half before their bed time). Jethro was pretty darn sad, but I told him that's the breaks when you make bad choices. And when Brett got home I took Ethne for a long walk. Now I think I shall soak in the tub for a while.

zucchini recipes

Here's the Zucchini Tomato Casserole recipe I mentioned a while back. I'll just copy it how it is, and you can feel free to make any changes you desire. I think it would be good with some yellow summer squash in it too.

6 medium zucchini, diced (about 6 cups)
4 Tbsp. butter or margarine, divided
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed process cheese (Velveeta)
1 cup soft bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp dried minced onion
1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. dried basical
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

In a large skillet, saute zucchini in 2 Tbsp butter until crisp-tender (very important--I don't think it would be nearly as good if you make it too mushy); drain well. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Stir in the zucchini and remaining butter. Transfer to an ungreased 2-qt baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 8 servings.

Also, I made this really great zucchini bread yesterday from a recipe I got here. It is very very delicious. I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour in it. I really liked it and Brett liked it, but then I thought it needed something. So I made some thin cream cheese icing, and "buttered" my bread with it. TASTY! (So yeah, I make bread with zucchini and applesauce and whole wheat flour, and then I add icing.)

This evening we went to a potluck get-together for Pioneer Day and it was fun. They had homemade rootbeer and man, did it hit the spot. Mmmm, mmmm. It was a nice cool day and the kids had fun playing at the playground. At one point Ethne came up to me with no shorts on and no diaper, and only one sandal. Crazy kid. We had to go fetch her diaper out of the dirt and put it back on. She is so funny lately. She's always in silly moods and will laugh and laugh at the slightest provocation. It's so fun.

Jethro was the the oldest kid there, and I was thinking how old I'm getting. I remember when we moved here, when Jethro was a baby barely one year old, and I met a family who had 4 kids and the husband was graduating with his PhD the next semester and they were still living in these little apartments, and I just couldn't believe that they had been here that long. Long enough to have four kids! And now, in just a few weeks, we will be them. Four kids. How did this happen? I just know that the new young couples with one BYU baby moving in to start graduate school are looking at us thinking, '4 kids--wow! they're so old,' when really just a day ago we were there. Life is weird that way.

What else? Oh, we had another narrow escape yesterday from buying a vehicle. Brett sent me an e-mail from school with a link to a Travelall on Ebay, and he said, "This is a gem! Let's go get it!!!!" Brett's been itching to buy a Travelall lately (because you know, it's been approximately .3 years since his last vehicle purchase (which was his motorcycle)) and customize it to be just how he wants it. I e-mailed back and said sure, as long as we can buy a minivan for me. He scoffed at that of course, because the Travelall will BE like a minivan---only cooler! He would never stoop to buy such an unoriginal vehicle as a minivan. But what he doesn't want to realize is that it really wouldn't be my vehicle, it would be HIS work-on aka play-with vehicle (oh wait, aren't all of our vehicles?). Anyway, it all came to nothing because someone bought it. Thank you, ebay gods!!! :) I told him he's no longer allowed to look at Travelalls until he has a [real] job. Who thinks he will listen?

Crushed

On my way to my doctor's appointment a while back, I saw this beautiful field of flowers and I really wanted to take pictures of the kids there. But it was on the far side of town, so I had to have a good excuse to drive over there. So before we went to the fair, I told them we had to take pictures first. Well, it did NOT go well at all.

First of all, Hazel started crying and whining and saying that she couldn't walk into the field because it was scratchy, and I, being a very loving and understanding good mother, told her to stop being so wussy.

Then I had time to snap a handful of pictures---seriously hardly ANY--before some guy came and kicked us out (don't tell Brett, he'd probably be appalled). Ruff. I really didn't know anyone would mind us being there. So, anyway, I was crushed with the lousy time we had, but what can you do. I had envisioned so much more! So, if anyone around here has seen any fields that are similar to this--please call and tell me where!!!

County Fair

I babysat a little girl this morning from 8-3 (who'll I'll be babysitting the rest of the week), so at 3:30 when Ethne woke up, and since I knew Brett would be working for our friend again, I took the kiddos to the county fair.
We had SUCH A GREAT TIME! Balloons, popcorn, chickens, sheep, pigs, llamas, cows, rabbits, geese, horses, 4-H drill team horse show, snow cones, and one fun ride.



I think the reason it was so awesome for me was that the kids were SOOOO great! Going to these sorts of things can often lead to the whinies and the "I want's", but I'm so happy to say we had none of that! We looked at so many animals, the kids got thirsty so I bought them snowcones (at the advertising tent, so they were only 50 cents instead of 2-3 dollars at the snack stands), we went and watched the drill team horse show while we ate them, and Hazel said, "I love this show!" and Jethro liked it a lot. Then I said that it was time to go, and we started walking out past all the rides, and they didn't even beg or ask or anything. So, since I had $3.00 cash left, I bought them one ticket each (Jethro and Hazel) and they got to go on a ride. They were happy with their evening, and so was I! (p.s. I wish I could say this is completely usual for my children, but...)
One interesting thing was that as we were walking out through the rides, Hazel stopped for a second to look at something, and I got a little ahead of her. I was only about 6 feet away, and I turned around and started yelling to her, but she couldn't hear me over all the noise, and I watched while she realized she didn't know where her mom was, and could totally see the panic spreading in about 2 seconds flat. She started screaming "Mom!" and was ready to cry and just took off running-- frantically. I caught her of course in less time than it takes to tell, but it was interesting to watch just how scared she got. I don't blame her--it would be very scary!

So that was my fun day. In very much less pleasant news, Brett's university is no longer going to be providing free internet beginning August 1, so I will no longer have any internet at home. You do realize how horrifying this is, right? I mean, theoretically I could go to the library to do any internetting, but ummm, it's just not going to happen. I always get on the computer after the kids are in bed for good reason. I checked into getting high-speed, and while it's not phenomenally expensive, it's also a lot more than we're paying now (which is nothing). But pretty much I might die without internet, so have no fear I'll be doing my best to convince Brett. I think that babysitting this week should cover the initial set-up costs and first month, so maybe we'll go from there. Anyway. Whine, whine, whine.

Have a good night!

Weekend in Chicago

So, this weekend we went to The Infernal City, as Brett calls it, aka Chicago, to see Grandma Rasmussen and the new baby Isabel! She is the teeniest little teeny tiny thing you've ever seen!!! And so so sooo cute too! All of my kids loved her. We had a good visit and were able to see her blessed, during which she spit up (mostly on Leo and Brett). She's a funny kid already!

I took a (relatively) few pictures for Kami, and I thought I got some beautiful ones.When I posted these on our family website, my dad said about the above one: You're squeezing her brains out already. tsk tsk FOG
And then he commented on the above:

See, you squoze the breath out of her and she passed out!!!

We went to their apartment swimming pool for awhile, and everyone had a great time.
Ethne and Elena, who can't figure out if they're friends or foes, walked home from the pool holding hands almost the whole way. It was very cute.
Here's Grandma with the babies.
On Sunday I took pictures of everyone holding the baby. Except I didn't take any of Mommy and Baby--I can't believe it!--so pretty much I'm a loser as a wanna-be-photographer. Kami, next week you'll have to wear the same outfits and pretend it's still her blessing day and have someone take pictures for you.
What a beautiful family! (But Hazel said, "They have too many girls!" Rubbish!) (sorry Kami that I stole your thunder and posted all these, but hey--they were on my camera--I had to post them!)
Hazel's been saying quite a few weird things lately. Specifically, on the way home last night, she said out of the blue, "I'm not going to go to church when I'm a grown-up." Brett and I were rendered almost speechless with surprise, but said, "Why not?" And she said, "Because I already know about Jesus and the gospel." And we gaped some more, and I said, "But what about when you have children? Are you going to take them to church so they can learn about the gospel and Jesus?" and she said, "I'll just tell them." And Brett and I didn't really say anything for awhile. But we must have acted sufficiently mortified, because after a bit she said, "Just kidding." I don't think she had been meaning to say that all along. Crazy kid. So then I had a few words to say about why we have to go to church our whole lives. Anyway, pretty wild stuff these kids come up with. (And I think she had a really good time in primary that day--at least I thought she did?)

Tonight we had FHE, and Brett told Jethro he was in charge of the lesson, but that he would help them. So they squirreled themselves away for awhile, and came up with a cool lesson. But first, it was funny because Jethro was welcoming everyone, and Brett told him to choose someone for opening prayer, and he said, "Brett, would you say prayer?" and Brett's like, "Sure, SON." hee hee. Anyway, so Jethro had wanted to teach about the 2000 Stripling Warriors (he watched the Living Scriptures video about them on Sunday at Kami's house, and at the end he kindof shook his head and said, "I just love that." :) ). So they had us do a cool activity to learn about being courageous and having faith. One person was blindfolded and the other people set up a little obstacle course and two others held toy swords as obstacles, and then one person told the blindfolded person what to do to get through it. It was pretty fun. The best part was when we let Ethne try it (but she wasn't blindfolded), and Brett told her to crawl to go under a sword, and she just flopped down and didn't go anymore, and we all were laughing so hard. So she was the only one who died.

That reminds me of another FHE activity I meant to post about ages ago, where we were learning about family unity, so we went in the backyard and tied all of our feet together, like in a three-legged race, but everyone was tied). Then we were supposed to try to get somewhere by following the father's counsel, but even then it was just out of control. We were all laughing our heads off, and the only reason we didn't end up falling on top of each other and breaking several legs was that Brett held us up. I recommend it as a very fun FHE activity. That is, if you have a buff dad to keep you up. :)

Here is a survey I saw on someone's blog that you give to your kids about yourself. I thought it was funny, and I don't feel too bad about the first question because on my friend's blog, her kids' answers were pretty similar, clean your room, or something. So here it is, with Hazel's answers first and Jethro's next. Although sometimes Hazel thought the questions were too hard and didn't come up with an answer.

What does mom always say to you?
H: Pick up
J: pick up my clothes

What makes mom happy?
H: picking up
J: when I listen

What makes mom sad?
H:
J: when I don’t listen

How does mom make you laugh
H: say funny things
J: by saying jokes (I didn't know I was so funny!)

What was mom like when she was little?
H:
J: cute

How old is mom?
H: show me with your fingers
J: 44 (hmmm, a little off. Just a decade or two.)

How tall is mom?
H: 100
J: 2 feet

What does mom like to do?
H: work (this really puzzles me.)
J: be on the internet

What is something mom doesn't like to do?
H: drive the Scout
J: drive the Scout (this was the day after I'd had to drive the Scout to swimming lessons and I grumbled about it, evidently a lot. :) )

What does mom do for a job?
H: work, be on the computer
J: do the dishes

What is mom's favorite food?
H: so many things
J: lasagna (actually lasagna isn't my favorite at all)

What is mom's favorite color?
H: red
J: she likes all the colors

What do mom and Hazel/Jethro like to do together?
H: play
J: make crafts

How do you know mom loves you?
H: she tells nice things to me
J: she gives me kisses

Funny joke

I must say thank you for all of the wonderful, spontaneous comments (because I would never do anything as lame as to fish for them!), but I feel a little guilty, because so many people praised the party as if the things were my idea--and they totally weren't. The idea to even have a Science party was from this site-- Birthday Party Ideas , and pretty much all the experiments and everything were from there. But it was fun to plan and Brett's glowing pickle was an added bonus. Anyway, now I feel better and not like I'm half-lying to get the glory. :)

Oh, and by the way Lynn, the hard-boiled egg was without it's shell. Oh, and I forgot one thing that we did, which was to microwave a bar of Ivory soap and watch it bubble and expand and grow. Only Ivory works. It was really pretty awesome. You should try it for some excitement one night.

I'm blogging again and my book is not finished, and Brett said I'm going to lose the trust of my readers because I haven't done what I said, but I'm willing to risk it. Because I had a doctor's appt. today and guess what?! The baby's not breech! That was exciting news, considering all my previous babies were breech at this point. But I do have several more weeks in which it could easily turn. The doc said that he'll do a quick ultrasound at my next appt. just to be sure. Here's hoping!

Today Jethro felt the top of my tummy and said, "Is this a head or a bum?" (he's heard me wondering before) and I said, "The doctor says it's a bum." And he said, "GREAT! Then you won't have to get a c-section!" It's funny that he sort of knows what he's talking about, while at the same time he doesn't really know what he's talking about. I mean, I explained what a c-section was and why Kami had hers--because her baby was breech blah blah, so he does know, but there are holes elsewhere in his knowledge of births. :)

My doctor also said that since my last labor was so fast, he'd like to schedule an induction at 39 weeks if I haven't had my baby by then, so that it can be delivered in a "more controlled environment." Personally, I think it'll be a moot point, because I don't think I'll go to 39 weeks. I just realized today that I could have my baby on 08-08-08. Do you think I should really try for it?

Hmmm, what else? That was the main excitement for me. Yesterday Brett finally got the bug that the rest of us took turns having last week, so he stayed home from work and laid on the couch all day reading or watching movies. It was strange--he's just not usually like that.

I don't think that I've mentioned all of the new things Ethne is saying these days yet. She has quite a few more words, such as book (bo), me (more), din (drink), a few others that she'll say after we say them, and my ultimate favorite: Weh-wo meaning Jethro. It is soooooo cute! I love love love to hear her say it to him.

Tonight we had a casserole for dinner that includes lots of zucchini, a couple tomatoes, and cheese and breadcrumbs. I really like it, so I wondered if anyone would be interested in the recipe, since I know people often have more zucchini than they know what to do with.

I'm excited for this weekend because my mom is with my sis Kami, and we're going to visit! Hooray--it feels like we haven't seen Grandma in ages!!!! It has been a year--just think, she hasn't seen Ethne since she was about 9 months old. Lucky us!!!

Well, I think that is all. Oh, except Kristi asked about the flowers in Hazel's hair in some pictures a few posts back, and I was going to give the link to where I got the instructions (though it's not really involved). Here 'tis.

Hello!!!

I'm back! And so happy to be, I tell you. That whole not being allowed to blog was killing me--no posting pictures, no rambling or bragging or whining, and no comments in my inbox!! Okay, but I must confess I didn't actually finish everything I said I was going to. I read through the whole book and made corrections, but I haven't finished the last letter (although I've started it...I've written hmmm... one whole sentence). Anyway, I know the last thing I said was "no matter what," but Andrea gave me permission to blog tonight since I'd been such a good girl to read and make edits.

On the whole, I don't know if our book is wonderful or not. I think the story itself is wonderful, but I don't know if our writing is. But then, as Andrea and I decided, it's very hard to look at it now with any kind of real perspective because we've been so close to it for so long. So, it's easy to see what we're NOT (JRR Tolkien), but not as easy to see what we are. But, the writing does really improve in the second half, so I think we've got something. Anyway, I'm sure you all do not care, but that's what has been on my mind. But I am glad that I set my no blogging rule because I really had to push myself to keep reading even when I was tired because I wanted to blog! :)

So, what else has been happening since I've been away. I almost started keeping a list so I wouldn't forget anything, but I didn't, so now I will just have to try my best to remember.

Hazel was sick, and then she got better the next day, and I got sick, and it was really brutal but short--which is all you can hope for when you're throwing up. Then I got better and Ethne got sick. Then Jethro got sick while on a Scout campout with Brett (although it didn't seem to hit him quite as hard, as he never did throw up and was able to still hike--better than some of the 11-year-olds, Brett said).

I ate my first zucchini and tomato from my garden. And then I forgot to go look at my garden for a few days, and tonight we found some REALLY huge zucchini. Good thing we like the stuff.

As I said, Brett and Jethro went to the Scout camp-out on Friday night, which is when I did the bulk of my book reading. Brett gave a talk in church on Sunday and although it was very good, it was very short. Too short, by about 10 minutes. Ooops.

Oh, I remember something I was going to remember. Hazel came out of the bathtub one day and put on some clothes, but what she picked out was black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt, neither one with any decoration at all. I told her that she looked like a bank robber, and she said, "A princess bank robber." And I said, "I don't think there are any of those," and she said, "There are now." What a kid.

Today at swimming lessons a lady came up and said "Excuse me, are you having a boy?" and I told her I don't know, but I hope so. And she said, "You are." And I said, "Well, my husband thinks so too, and he's been right so far. Are you right?" And she said, "I'm ALWAYS right." I guess she thinks so because of how I'm carrying the baby--she said that when it's just pure baby, it's a boy. But I don't really know if I look any different than when I was pregnant with Hazel or Ethne. But oh well, I really do hope it's a boy, so I'm going to choose to believe her. :)

AND...I got ready for Jethro's birthday party!!!! Which was today, and it turned out great!
A long time ago, when we first started talking about Jethro and Hazel's birthday parties, Jethro wanted a Jet theme, but I just couldn't get myself worked up about that. So I looked around on a birthday party site, and I saw a few Science parties and thought he would like that. It did not take any convincing at all---I just said, "Daddy said that if you had a science party he would help and do some really cool experiments," and he was sold. :) That was actually my favorite part of Jethro's party---that Brett came home and did so much of it!! (I was talking with some friends and a stranger at swimming lessons about the party, and I was telling them some of the experiments Brett was going to do, and one lady said, "Who's this--your brother?" and I said, "No, my husband." And then another friend said, "What's he in again?" and I said "Biomedical engineering," and all three said, "Ohhhh," right in chorus. It was pretty funny.)

Okay, first things --the kids got to wear a lab coat that Brett brought home from his lab. They were way too big, but pretty fun and cute. I started out with a few plates with milk on them, and we dropped some food coloring onto the milk. Then the kids took a q-tip and would stick it into the milk, and nothing would happen, but then they put the q-tip into some Dawn soap, and then into the milk, and the food coloring would fly off in kinda cool "explosions."

Next Brett put some vinegar in a bottle, put some baking soda in a balloon, attached the balloon to the top of the bottle and poured the baking soda in and the balloon would blow up. The kids actually got a huge kick out of this.

Then we took a hard-boiled egg, showed how it wouldn't fit through the mouth of a bottle, then put some alcohol in the bottom of the bottle and lit it and quickly put the egg on top, and it would get sucked right in. I thought it was so fun to hear Brett explaining how it works to the kids.
Then Brett did his famous 'Glowing Pickle', where you plug in a pickle and watch it glow. When I asked Hazel what her favorite experiment was, she said, "Fire pickle!" It actually is more impressive inside at night when it's dark and you can see the glow better, but it's still quite cool.
I took a lot of pictures of the pickle, but didn't really capture how it glows so well. You can kindof see here a little bit.
We did a Mentos and Pepsi explosion, which was Jethro's favorite experiment (you realize I'm using the term 'experiment' loosely here ;) ).

And then---volcano birthday cake. And that was a bitter disappointment for me, because you see, I had made it so that I could put some dry ice in the middle and pour water onto it to make it smoke, but unfortunately when I made a special trip to the only store that carries dry ice this morning, they didn't have any left. I thought that there was a teeny weeny chunk that would work, but it must not have survived the trip home, because when I looked in the bag it was no longer there. I was really bummed! Although, the kids didn't know to be disappointed, and there were sparklers that were neat (I especially liked how Brett lit them with his propane torch).

Then Jethro opened his presents and I was so impressed with how cool they all were! He really got some neat things. (Thanks everyone who's reading this who gave him one!)
Then we made Gak with Elmer's glue and Borax--which turned out really awesome too. All the kids got to take some home in a little bag. I really like the picture below because it looks just like Brett is duking Jethro one to the head, although he's really just pouring in some of the Borax solution. Ha ha.
Then we had a little time for games. First we played partner tag--I don't know if that's really the name?--where the person running away from "it" can link on to somebody, and then the person on the other side of the link starts running. Fun stuff.
And some good old Red Rover. Nobody was mortally wounded, I'm pleased to say, although Jethro did clothesline himself pretty good. Ahhh, good times.
Here's a picture of the boys.
Here's Jethro and Brett playing with a sword and Jethro's new Light Saber. They had a very good time, as you can see. Oh no, Brett's dead!
But wait, here comes the Angel of the Battlefield! Ethne would come give hugs to Brett or Jethro whenever they fell. What a cutie.
All in all, it was a super party. However, I've decided parties are a little bit like Christmas. You put all this planning and effort into it, and then Christmas morning is over in a flash. But still good times.

Well, I'm sure that was more than enough to make up for my absence, so that's all folks. Have a day.