No rest for the Weary

Weekends; ahhhh, a couple of days to rest, regroup and recharge for the week ahead. Ha, I wish, not here at the Lily Pad, especially not in the springtime! Our weekend included no less than 10 sporting events, one gymnastics show, 40 bags of mulch, hours of yard work and the sanding and painting of our swingset.  The schedule went something like this: Addie soccer 8:00, Avery and Ella soccer 9:00, Cameron soccer clinic 10-11:15, Jameson soccer clinic 10:45-12, Cam bball game 1:00, J bball game 3:00, Cam gymnastics show 5:00. Breathe, smile, head out for dinner with the whole gang to our favorite Chinese restaurant. Sunday: 9:30 church, 11 Cam bball, 2:00 J soccer game, 3:00 Cam soccer game. Both boys scored in their soccer games, Cam getting the winning goal securing his team a spot in the playoffs. He also did awesome in gymnastics and its amazing how strong he's gotten. All the down time between games (all ten minutes of it) was spent beautifying the backyard. Maybe I didn't allow quite enough time to get everything done, but its a start. The kiddos managed to soak up some fun in our new kiddie pool (no pun intended), have a water balloon fight throughout the neighborhood and run through the sprinkler to cool off, certainly making the most of the weekend. Can't wait for playoffs to begin, now that will be a fun weekend schedule!

Leprechaun Slime

Those tricky leprechauns were at it again, concocting a putty that changes shape right before your eyes just in time for St. Patrick's Day. It transforms from a solid to a liquid then back to a solid over and over again. Cameron and I had a blast creating this using just 3 simple ingredients found in the kitchen: cornstarch, water and green food coloring! Cam is into anything science and I was hoping to come up with something for St. Paddy's Day so working together this is what we came up with:

We combined 1/4 cup of cornstarch with approximately 4 TBS of water premixed with a couple drops of green food coloring. Slowly add colored water to the cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring constantly. Add enough water until mixture is no longer crumbly and holds shape. Pick up putty and roll and pound in your hands. Dough should get firm. Relax your hand and dough should turn to a liquidy goo. When mixture starts to dry and no longer spreads out to liquid just add a few more drops of water to keep the fun going!! To add a little smart to the fun explain that the green slime is a referred to in the science community as a Non-Newtonian liquid, meaning it is a non conforming substance which can be either a solid or a liquid, depending on how much pressure it receives.

The mess cleans up easily with warm water, so enjoy the tricks in store with our Leprechaun Slime!