Scientist of the Week! Lava in a glass Edition

Something that I LOVE about Westin's preschool is that they pick a kid to be 'Scientist of the Week'. During that week our young scientist plus a parent perform an 'experiment' for the class. Today, Westin and I did 'Lava in a glass' (h/t sciencebob.com).

Originally, Westin wanted a 'volcano' experiment. That experiment had already been done in at least 2 different iterations, so we chose the next best thing: LAVA.

To do this experiment at home you will need: a glass, water, vegetable oil, salt, and food coloring--oh and the most important ingredient: a young inquisitive scientist.

Here's how you do it:
1. You fill the glass ~3/4 full with water.
2.  Add your food coloring. In our experience, greens and blue are too dark--a good orange works nicely.
3. Carefully pour the vegetable oil on top (it will float).
4. Now sprinkle salt on top of the oil and watch what happens..........
 
WHOA!!! Amirite!!?? Okay so what just happened there? So we all know that oil and water don't mix too well. Then we learn that the salt is heavier than the oil. So, when you put salt on top of the oil, the salt pulls some oil with it as it sinks into the water. But the salt will eventually dissolve and releases the oil, which floats back up to the top. COOooooooLLLL!

Westin and I also tried colored sugar AND flour....flour is pretty interesting. Do you want to try the experiment to see why?? I really appreciate Westin sharing his experiment with me and his class. It was so MUCH fun!!

Tigers! Oh my

Playtime!

Copperdog has a new dog bed and the boys found out that big boxes are awesome!

A Christmas Pageant

As many of you know, Westin goes to preschool at a lovely Catholic school called St. Agnes. Wednesday night was the St. Agnes Christmas Program*, which always starts with the preschoolers singing various Christmas songs. Was Westin nervous in front of a crowd? Nope. Not for a second. The kid is a natural. I saw the kids march onto stage through an open side stage door, when Westin walked by and saw all of the people, he didn't get nervous, instead he had a big grin and gave the crowd a thumbs up. On stage**, he was dancing and singing his little heart out. Fun was had by all.

His favorite song is Christmas Bells (apparently sung to the tune of 'Jingle Bells').

*Um yeah, so Dalen and I didn't realize that Westin had a Christmas program until the reminder email Wednesday morning, and truly didn't know what to do about it until 3:00 pm that very same day, following a confirmation/explanation e-mail from Westin's teacher. Because, we're responsible parents like that.

** Westin is the little boy on the left side of the third row (second row of risers)...not standing still, but dancing to the music. He is in front of a little girl in a red dress and to the right of a little girl in a green dress. I know that the quality of the movie would not make it in and HD IMAX theater, but we didn't have time to charge the video camera and had to wing it with my iPhone.....

Happy birthday Westin!

Our little guy turned four today. We had dinosaur cake, opened lots of presents and went on an adventure to the natural history museum. Thank you to everyone who helped make Westin's 4th birthday so special. We love you so very much, Westin!

Football Saturday!

We are so proud of Mama! Lisa was recently selected for USD's “Faculty Appreciation Days” program.   The USD Athletic Department showed its appreciation to Lisa for the impact she has made on the academic lives of USD student-athletes and treated our family to a wonderful day at the game this past Saturday. 

The student who nominated Lisa is a backup QB for the Coyotes. He is pursuing a MD program for gradshool.

Go Yotes and Gooooooooooooooooooo Mama/Lisa!!!

Boo!