Gwenie and Daddy

An adorable shot that I happened to luck into. I think this one I will have to print out and frame.

Gwenie's photo shoot

This is my all time favorite shot from Gwenie's birthday photo shoot.

Gwenie and Daddy

Just had to share the cutest picture of Gwenie and John. We were in the middle of her birthday photo shoot (she turns 4 next saturday) and I got lucky and snapped this shot of them walking to the next location. She was so adorable today. And what a big girl sitting through a record 70 shots. My husband brings up the point that not even the "big girls" (he meant older) on America's Next Top Model did as well doing their 80 frames.

Playing around with a few things

Cool news article

There is a reason that I'm obsessed with pink according to this article.

Pink obsession explained

A study has revealed women's brains can't help loving pink.

Scientists have found it's an evolutionary throwback to caveman days, reports the Daily Mirror.

Professor Anya Hurlbert, who led the study, said: "It might date back to hunter-gatherer days, when women were the primary gatherers.

"They would have benefited from an ability to home in on ripe, red fruits. Culture may exploit and compound this natural preference."

To prove the point the Newcastle University team, which tested 220 students, also looked at 40 Chinese subjects whose favourite colours were not influenced by Western cultural symbols such as Barbie dolls.

Colour perception expert Dr Yazhu Ling, from China, said: "There is no real culture of pink for girls in my country. But the results for the British and Chinese were the same, showing there is a biological reason for the differences in choosing colour."

Students had to sit at a computer and move a mouse around coloured patches to indicate their preference.

Borax crystals

Using this link my friend/partner in crime/neighbor are trying to do a science segment to our off and on homeschooling of our daughters. If I can remember tomorrow I will update my blog with our results. The problem is that I had to substitute a few of the items requested. I did not have wide mouth pint jars or pipe cleaners. But we did not make snowflakes either - hopefully using old jelly jars and string will have at least some of the desired results. Keeping our fingers crossed.

All lined up in a row and counting down the hours.












It's working! Close up of the growing crystals.












In case the link doesn't work here's the article:

How To Grow a Borax Snowflake
From Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,Your Guide to Chemistry.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Do real snowflakes melt too quickly? Grow a borax snowflake, color it blue if you like, and enjoy the sparkle all year long!

Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Overnight
Here's How:

1. Cut a pipe cleaner into three equal sections.

2. Twist the sections together at their centers to form a six-sided snowflake shape. Don't worry if an end isn't even, just trim to get the desired shape. The snowflake should fit inside the jar.

3. Tie the string to the end of one of the snowflake arms.

4.Tie the other end of the string to the pencil. You want the length to be such that the pencil hangs the snowflake into the jar.

5. Fill the widemouth pint jar with boiling water.

6. Add borax one tablespoon at a time to the boiling water, stirring to dissolve after each addition. The amount used is 3 tablespoons borax per cup of water. It is okay if some undissolved borax settles to the bottom of the jar.

7. If desired, you may tint the mixture with food color.

8. Hang the pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the pencil rests on top of the jar and the snowflake is completely covered with liquid and hangs freely (not touching the bottom of the jar).

9. Allow the jar to sit in an undisturbed location overnight.

Look at the pretty crystals!!! You can hang your snowflake as a decoration or in a window to catch the sunlight :-)

Tips:
Borax is available at grocery stores in the laundry soap section, such as 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster. Do not use Boraxo soap.
Because boiling water is used and because borax isn't intended for eating, adult supervision is recommended for this project.
If you can't find borax, you can use sugar or salt (may take longer to grow the crystals, so be patient). Add sugar or salt to the boiling water until it stops dissolving. Ideally you want no crystals at the bottom of the jar.

What You Need:
string
wide mouth jar (pint)
white pipe cleaners
borax (see tips)
pencil
boiling water
blue food coloring (opt.)
scissors

Cheer Practice

Sorry about the bad lighting but the lights went out for almost all of their practice so this is what we got. I just had to share a few pictures from today's practice. The girls and their friend Nahlia are all in the white shirts today.