the five w's

"Mom... do sea turtles have muscles?"  Madeleine

"Mom, what does 'n-slash-a' mean?"  Trevelyn

"Mom... there are rats in America, right?
"And cats in America."  Madeleine

"Mom, is the thing that bees drink honey with their tongue?"  Maddie

"Mom... are rabies deadlier than ticks?" And then, "Oh, good, because I'm putting my researchers on rabies first, to find out more about it...."  Trevelyn

"Mom... are there any last numbers?"  Madeleine

"What does 'appalling' mean?"  Trevelyn

"Mom, when was the twentieth century?"  Trevelyn
..."So, then, I was born two years after nineteen-ninety-nine.  When were you born?"
"1968."
"Hmmmm...." taps his bottom lip, "I can't remember what Godzilla film came out that year...."
We looked it up, (and he's right, there's one every year after 1954), this one was Destroy All Monsters.  : )

"Isn't the blue flame below the orange flame?"  Trevelyn
This evolved into his idea that blue must have more "pressure", much like carbon being pressed into diamonds.
Of course we looked it up.

"So the 1800's was the 19th century, right?"  Trevelyn

"Mom... what's the word for "four", then?"
It took me a while to figure out what he was asking, ''quad' was the word.

"How do I leave a comment on this?"  Trevelyn

The Five W's started here.

january sixteen

Sid the Science Kid.

Rhyming words. Madeleine pretty much has it mastered.

Painting a tiny fairy tea set.




George games.

Back to finishing up the Tea set.


"Mom - is the five hundred dollar bill still made? What's the largest bill?"
We found out the $100,000 bill is the largest made - but it's not for public use. It is used only by Federal Reserve Banks between branches.
We had an interesting conversation about making money -as in making counterfeit money- and about how it will get you time in The Big House :) and how even though it would be the downfall of the economy -maybe- I'm (personally) not so certain if it would be a horrid idea if we all worked on a trade/barter system and did away with money (or made our own currency)....

"Mom... have you heard of a state called Wisconsin?"
[giggle.]

We checked out US Mints...
"So there's one in California, New York, Colorado, Philadelphia...." read aloud his Mama...
"Philadelphia! That's where Benjamin Franklin was." said Little Son. No, I didn't know.

"Mom... when is hog-branding time?"
I couldn't find relative information... if you know the answer to this, please let us know! :)

Next!

ZooMorphs

Kid K'nex

Taxes.
Taxes... AGAIN.
Oh, yes. I did them twice today, thankyouverymuch. grr.
Because I accidently ordered the premiere version when I only needed the deluxe version and I refused to pay the extra twenty bucks when I didn't need it and stupid program wouldn't let me downgrade... had to make up a new user name and then couldn't download my past year's into it.... hmmph! I want the last two hours of my life back....

When I was finally back with the living....
"Hey Mom.... do you know any pet stores in Seattle that sell ostriches?"
It's just been that kind of day, today, I guess.

I Carly.

More Kid K'nex.
Love them!

More Pixos. Or whatever they're called.

What else???

Who knows! It's early yet....

the five w's

Today.
Trev: Mom. Do I have your permission to get a mohawk?
(psh. Only if it's a real one, and you want safety pins in you ears, too.)

About thirty seconds later.
Mom, do I have your permission to get a gym membership?

Mom. Do I have your permission to eat kelp?
(Don't ask me about the permission verbiage. I did complain about it.)
Mom: Am I allowed to eat kelp?
sigh.

Are there other kinds of edible seaweed out there besides kelp?

Hey! Why don't we look up edible leaves?

Mom - are you still bothered by mutant things?

June 23

Books and books and books.

Trev: "Don't mind me, Mom." as he runs through the livingroom, "I'm just being chased by a pack of anomalocarises."

Madeleine: "Doctors are very, very handsome for me."
lol

Maddie: "You will pay wiff your life."The sweet little darling.

Trev: "Are there any other types of arachnids besides spiders in the world?"

Trev: "Can aliens climb up trees?"

Homemade popsicles.

Trev: "I am a genius. You're very lucky, Mom, because you have a genius son. I can make two animals together."
"Do you mean cross-breed them?"
"Yes. I can cross a hynerpeton and a chameleon. The hynerpeton will have a long tongue, log legs, giving it avle (able) to swim, to climb up trees to escape predators. And the chameleon giving avle to swim down waterfalls, and of course giving the chameleon avle to cross broken into three pieces logs. Without even falling in. Because they're too light to fall in if it's half hynerpeton."

Drawing (for Maddie). Nest. Bird. Teddybear. Trevelyn's castle. Airplane. Butterfly.

Chores.
Including laundry.

Grandma's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. (Thanks Aunt Kathy!)

A picnic supper.

The drive-inn.
sigh.
We love the drive-inn!

Climbing sleepily into clean sheets.

Life is so good.

the five w's

Today's who, what, why, where, when, and how's...

Do Red-Eyed Treefrogs hibernate, Mom?

The bigger something is, the better it floats. The smaller something is, the more it sinks, right?

Can fire destroy everything except water?

Mom, what's that spider right there? The one carrying around the sac for web making?

What days... Mom, what nights in the year do the movies come on at the drive-inn?

Isn't the alligator the smallest one in the crocodilian family?

Will you find Busosaurus and the Butterfly one (Butterfly and the Bog Beast) for me? (Magic School Bus - he has been watching it today.)

Mom - aren't people from Texas tough?
(To which his Mama replied, "Well, I'm sure people in Texas would say so!" :) )

the five w's

These all belong to Madeleine.

Can Santa bring me Chuck E. Cheese's?

How do you spell cartridge?

Can Santa bring me a donkey?

Can Santa bring me this? (a toy she's holding in her hand, mind you.)

Can Santa bring me a cockhorse?

Maddie and The Five W's

Do people have milk?
(Yes, she was nursed. She stopped at seventeen months, though - I was willing, she was done. Better things to do, no doubt. That don't take so long.)

How do you spell fruit leather?

How do you spell song?

How do you spell dance?



(This post relates to The Five W's)

Inner Frat Boy

"Mom, do you have an Inner Frat Boy?"
"Do I have what?"
"An inner frat boy."
"No."
Unequivocally, No.
I have inner demons, an inner child, an inner prude, an inner snob, an inner sage, an inner bedlamite, an inner brat, and many other "innerds".
But I definitely do NOT have an inner frat boy.
lol
The inner snob shudders at the thought.

the five w's

Why don't we eat scorpions?

Can you tell me more about the batrachotomus?

What does iguana mean?
Wants to know the interpretation, as 'batrachotomus' means "frog-slicer" and 't-rex means "king tyrant lizard". Turns out, can't seem to find out what 'iguana' means, other than "new world lizard". If anyone knows....

Can you show me a picture of batrachotomus?

Where did it live?

Do killer whales ever come up on the beach?

Today:

Where do babies come from?

Was the batrachotomus a plant-eater or meat-eater?

And sometimes, like while at lunch today, he asks questions he knows the answers to, just to start conversation.
Do cheetah's spend most of their time in trees?
"I don't know, do they?"
"They sleep in trees!"
Do they spend most of their time in them?"
"Yes...."

And like... What is a human?
Is human a type of mammal?

What does evolving mean?

Is the earth going to explode someday?

Who is Pegasus?

the five w's

What does career mean?
"Career, or courier?"

Mom, can we make a time machine today?

Can we learn more about the Ordovician Period?

Are you guys soal mates?

Was the german brown (trout) around in the Jurassic? When did it evolve?

Don't all movies have happy endings?

the five w's

(August 16)
What does gorgeous mean again?

How do you make a wish?

What is sawdust?

What is "Canon"?

Do you know how crocodiles care for their young?
"How, baby?"
Well, sometimes adults nurture their young with milk, but that isn't the case with crocodiles. Sometimes the crocodiles put the babies in their mouth, and carry their young to the water.

What does bald mean?
Then why do they call it a bald eagle?

the five w's

August 6) What's a swami?

August 6) How do you use a turkey baster?

August 8) What's a piccolo?

August 9) Why does Daddy's beard grow back every year?

August 13) Where does an echo come from?

the five w's

(August 4) What does politic mean?

What's a tumbleweed?

What is saliva?

What are bunions?
"Uh. Well, they're sores that you get on your feet."
What about your butt?

Can we look at the minotaur again?
(This time we were led all the way through the story, including a delightful discussion afterward. It was awesome. Truly.)

the five w's

I'm pretty smart. Did you know that anderthal's are cavemen?

Hey Mom, did you know that inguanadons shed their skins like snakes?

What's this called again?
"A batrachotamus."
I wonder if it's related to the hippo-potomus?

What is a massage chair?

What's a menotaur?

Questions

"Hey Dad. Did you know that a cockroach can live 20 days without its head?"
"Really? Where did you learn that?" Mama wants to know.
"I don't know. I just thought of it."
I'm sitting here with little notebook, so I jet over to ask.com (gosh, I love those folks so.) Turns out, he's pretty close to being right.... can live nine days without its head before it will starve.

"Did you know that the nothasuar is not the top predator of the Jurassic sea, but the plesiodon (leopleurodon) eats the nothosaur for breakfast?"

I haven't mentioned it, but it's become a huge part of our lives lately - we're having the discussion again right now - so I'm thinking of it.
My son speaks of different planes.

Such as "All prehistoric creatures still exist."
"You mean like on different planes? In the imagination? Maybe on a secret island somewhere?"
"Psh. Of course! On different planes." Looks up into the sky. Points up. "Out there. Different planes."

Now the conversation has moved to the thunder rolling over us. Again, making promises. (I am hopeful, and am believing in them, we'll see if they shall deliver this time.)

Thunder rolls.
Eric says "The clouds are pushing the air through. It will come in just a second." Sure enough, about five seconds later we have a breeze. The discussion moves to microburst winds, and weather.
Then back to Megalodon. "I found it. Come quick." Lying on the tramp, on his tummy, thumbing through the dinosaur encyclopedia. "Come see, there's no time to waste!"
"I'm not wasting away, I'm writing!"
Daddy puts down The Utah Fishing Guide (just as if he didn't know every bit of the three hundred plus pages by heart) to go see what Trev wants to show.

Trev reads (as it were), while bouncin' just a little. Maddie is fast asleep on our bed.
Annabelle is lying on the grass, head popping up every few seconds to better hear the early evening's noises.

"Hey Dad. Check out the days of the early humans." Mammoths, ice age, humans hunting mammoths for food....
And so it continues.

Have I ever mentioned that I really love my life?

The Five W's

6/1 "How are we going to build a time portal?"
6/8 "Do piranhas live in lots of lakes?"
"Hey, what kind of fly is that?"
"What do monkey's eat?"
"Do you know what I think about pelicans?"
"What do goblins look like?"
"Do Dracula teeth glow in the dark? Vampire teeth?"
"Hey Mom, can I follow Grammy's trail?"
"Are squirrels afraid of mountain lions?"

The Five W's

So I had a thought a couple of days ago that my son asks some very interesting questions. (We'll include Maddie, too, should she care to offer any inquiries.)
Late, late last night when I tucked myself into the couch (per Trev's request) with my little son I thought "I need to write them down."
Questions that are terribly interesting, such as "How am I going to get invisible?"

Those who choose to learn by living their lives well love these sorts of questions, and they usually lead us to fun, fun, fun, or somewhere super-cool or important.
So I'm going to start keeping track.
What? Who? Where? Why? When? and the not to be forgotten and equally important 'How?'!

I'll write them all down (hopefully all in the same place!) and after I have a list, collected from a few days or so, I'll publish it.
Sounds interesting, doesn't it? (Should anyone really like this idea, feel free to join in on the fun.)

I'll begin my list on my yellow pad with a question from a few days ago...
"How are we going to build a time portal?"
A very fine place to begin, don't you think?