There is a Plan...

I have faith.  Sure I do.  I honestly believe God will work things out.  I just prefer he detail for me exactly how he plans to get me from Point A to Point B.  Funny thing, though: he never does.

I little over a year and a half ago, Nathan stepped out in faith and accepted the associate ministry position at Pleasant View Church of Christ, following God's call toward preaching ministry.  You can read more about that here.  That position has been a proving ground of sorts, an opportunity for Nathan to learn and grow as a minister and hopefully lead some others in growth as well.  He has been blessed to have some fantastic mentors really pour into him, teach him, lead him, admonish him, and encourage him.  He has had opportunities to preach and teach.  He has developed a website and a prayer ministry and started leading the worship team.  He has been privileged to work with some spectacular youth, some of the most talented, goofiest, most sincere kids on this planet.  And he has been humbled to serve alongside the mommies and daddies who raised such kids.  My children have been taught by some of the most creative ladies I've encountered.  My boys cheer when it's time to go to church.  They love it, and that's thanks to the love of these volunteers and staff.  I have been challenged and encouraged by generations of ladies who have taken the time to share their lives with me and allowed me to share my life with them.  We have been blessed.

But we've also been surprised.

When Nate left the Garrett church to work at Pleasant View, we really thought we were in it for the long-haul.  The church had a plan that when the senior minister retired, Nathan would move into that role.  But there was always a clause, an asterisk that said they could decide to keep him in the associate role if they felt that was best.  Al will be retiring soon, and the leadership decided it would be best for Nathan to stay in the associate role.  Their reasons are sensible and God-led.  The church, in order to move forward the way she needs to, will need more of an administrative-style minister.  Nathan is not that kind of minister.  He is relational.  He could stay in the associate role and continue working with youth, families, and worship.  But there's that call on his heart, that call that started years ago.  God called Nate to be a senior minister.  Point A, Point B.

There is a plan.  God knew how all this would work out from the beginning, long before Nate accepted the position at Pleasant View, long before the leadership announced he would not be the senior minister, even long before Nate knew he WANTED to be a senior minister.  While at Pleasant View, there have been some pieces that just haven't quite fit.  Our house didn't sell.  We thought it would.  We wondered if God was wanting us to be patient, or if he was wanting us to step out in faith and move anyway.  We waited.  We wondered why, if we were following God, he seemed to be holding us back.  Sometimes it felt a step...off.  We believed God called Nate to Pleasant View for a reason, but we also believed he had been called to senior ministry.  There was a plan.  We just didn't know what that plan was.

When the leadership at Pleasant View decided not to move Nate into the senior ministry role, he prayerfully started sending out his resume.  One church that was looking for a senior minister at the time was a small church in a small town in west-central Indiana.  Nate sent his resume on, not expecting much.  These things take time.

Practically right away, he received a call.  Then an interview.  Then another call.

The job was his if he was willing to accept it.

Pending a congregational vote in a week, Nathan will be the new senior minister at Ladoga Christian Church in Ladoga, IN, starting the first week of June.

God had a plan.  He did not tell me how he was getting me from Point A to Point B, or even what Point B would be.  But he knew.  Not once in all that time of uncertainty did we want for anything.  We had a house with more than enough space.  Cars to drive and gas to fuel them.  A babysitter who loved our kids and did housework so I didn't have to.  Friends who loved us and allow us to love them.  Income to cover our expenses.  Our needs have been met.  God has provided manna and required only that we gather for today and trust him to provide for tomorrow.  And he has.

This morning, our Sunday school class was studying the story of Joshua.  He saw the Promised Land and believed with real faith that they could take it, that God would lead them to conquer the giants so they could claim the land as God had promised.  But the people were afraid of those giants.  So they waited.  For 4 decades.

40 years.

God provided for them as they waited.  They had food.  Their shoes didn't wear out.  God was with them, day and night.  But 4 decades.

Joshua got to enter the Promised Land.  God delivered him to Point B.  The distance between was long, but God provided for Joshua and his people every step of the way.  If Joshua could wait 40 years, there's no excuse for my impatience.  God has no obligation to tell me how he'll get me from Point A to Point B.  He will.  That's enough.  And I truly believe his version of Point B is far better than any I could imagine for myself.

Nathan and I have run the numbers dozens of times, several different ways, and it looks like I'll get to be a stay at home mom after our move.  LCC has a parsonage, and with that and Nate's salary package, it looks like we won't need a full-time income from me.  I have never been a stay at home mom.  I'm sure you can imagine how I feel about this opportunity.  I love my job and believe I'm good at it.  But I have hated that I can only give my family what's left over.  My health is a real challenge, so often by the time I'm home from work, I'm far from my best self.  My family has paid the price for my career, even though I've worked because I've HAD to.  Even with our fairly modest lifestyle, we've never been able to make it on one income alone.  We have always trusted that if God orchestrated our finances in such a way that I needed to work, that he had a purpose in that.  I've seen my teaching career as my ministry.  But by the same token, when God orchestrated our finances in such a way that I no longer needed to work, we immediately saw that God was giving me the blessing of time.  Of energy.  Of health.  Of family.  This is God's will.

My friend Mitzi once explained seasons to me.  I was a new mom and really struggling with the change in my role in Nate's ministry, that I wasn't serving as a youth sponsor or dorm mom anymore.  Mitzi explained that I was in a new season, a season of motherhood, and that like all seasons, it wouldn't last forever.  She said her season of motherhood had been a tough adjustment too, but now as a mother of grown children, her season had changed and she was serving busily again, and missing those days of young motherhood.  She said this was my season and to embrace it, because the season would change soon enough.  Wise words.

Now we're entering a brand new season.  Nathan's entering senior ministry for the first time.  I'm going to be a stay at home mom for the first time and will be stepping out of my career, at least for now.  We are leaving the community we've lived in for the bulk of our  married lives.  We learned to be adults here.  Our children were born here.  Our dearest friends are here.  But God is with us, day and night.  He's providing enough for today and will again tomorrow.  We are somewhere between Point A and Point B right now, and that's OK.  God has a plan.  He had one all along.  I'm blessed and humbled to be a part of that plan.  And I'm so excited to see what's next.

$23 Challenge

I have a friend from college who is like Jess Day from "New Girl," but in real life, and named Michelle.  Her life is like an unfilmed sitcom.  Or maybe there are cameras.  I don't know.  But her life is more exciting than yours.  And mine.

Anyway, Michelle contacted me via Facebook earlier last month and proposed a challenge.  For some reason, she thinks of me as being a fun person too (perhaps Michelle is a tad delusional), and we both enjoy the challenge of getting interesting, fashionable buys without spending much money.   We settled on an odd amount of money, and the $23 Challenge was born.

Michelle established some rules:
-We could spend only the assigned amount, no more.
-The items we purchased had to be for ourselves.
-The items had to be things we would really use.

Some of our friends have pointed out that this isn't truly a challenge.  We aren't exactly competing or anything.  It wasn't a who-can-buy-the-most or a who-can-save-the-most-money thing.  It was more about finding things we really love without spending much money.  But isn't anything more fun if you call it a challenge?? :)

Anyway, the rules meant I couldn't buy fun things for my kids.  Seriously, an excuse to go shopping FOR MYSELF without spending enough money to make myself feel guilty?  Yes!  The toughest part was getting some kid-free time to do my shopping.  Our children's minister planned a really neat event for the preschoolers involving cardboard boxes decorated like cars, take-out Happy Meals, and a movie, so that gave me a few hours to myself to browse local clearance racks.

I checked out Maurice's first, since many of my friends get cute clothes there, but to be honest, most of what I saw was still too pricey for my stingy tastes, and as a middle school teacher/youth minister's wife, wearing something with a see-through lacy back isn't exactly appropriate.  So I headed to my trusty stand-by, Kohl's.

Unfortunately, issues like the heart monitor reading below left me feeling less than stellar.

I actually spent part of my shopping trip lying down on the bench in the dressing room.  I felt crummy enough that I even went back to get the boys an hour early.  I know, a night to myself and I went home early.  But at least I found some cute things first :)

 I settled on two tanks from the clearance rack, and my total was just pennies shy of 23 bucks!  Score!

Michelle scored a cute skirt, a candle, some tunes, and GIRL SCOUT COOKIES with her 23 bucks.  Why in the world did I not think of Girl Scout cookies?!  Michelle says she's always thinking of GS cookies ;)

Facebook Land has taken an interest to the $23 Challenge idea.  Wanna join in?  Go for it!  Be sure to share your finds with us!

Activities for the Book Holes

Check out more similar ideas on my website! http://www.teachbeyondthedesk.com/

Holes, by Louis Sachar, is one of my favorite young adult novels to read with my students.  Although it's challenging for my classes (reading level 5.2), it's funny, engaging, and smart.  This book doesn't talk down to my students.  It's proud of its complexity, but not too proud to be silly in all the right ways.  I mean, a book about pre-teen boys sweating away in a desert work camp is BOUND to include lots of stink-humor.  And my kids LOVE it.

We've been reading aloud in small groups of 5-6 students.  The kids take turns reading a page aloud, under the supervision and guidance of my amazing cohort, Chris, while I run grammar and writing skills groups.  We use rotations, so small groups of students are all doing different things around the room at any given time, and I am fortunate to have Chris with me this year to help supervise these groups.  I mean, after all, we KNOW 6th graders will always do what they're supposed to do without direct supervision, right?? Ha!

Anyway, the students have worked very hard through this book and have participated fully.  They've asked thoughtful questions along the way to improve their understanding, they've made connections with their own experiences, and they've made smart predictions about what may happen next.  Because they've knocked my socks off, I felt it was only fitting to celebrate the conclusion of the book with some fun activities.  Feel free to use any of them with your own classes and modify things as you see fit (thought it's always nice to give credit to your source...ahem...me!).  If you're on MyBigCampus, look me up (Katie Powell); I have quizzes and other resources in a bundle I'd happily share with you.

Trivia Challenge

I selected 30 or so questions from the quizzes we've done along the way, focusing on themes and plot elements that run throughout the story (such as why Kate Barlow became an outlaw, how Zero and Stanley are connected back in their ancestry, what The Warden is really looking for, the importance of Stanley and Zero's journey on the mountain, etc).  I printed a clip art of a shovel in a hole and pasted one question onto the back of each.  I also printed a picture of treasure and one of a lizard (colored to have yellow spots).  Then I asked our secretary to laminate them all.

For the game, I laid the "holes" out on the floor.  Since my students are already divided into three groups, they played in their rotation groups, but you can group your students into any number of teams.  The objective is to "dig" the most "holes" by answering questions correctly.  The first player from the first team tosses a bean bag and has to answer the question the bean bag lands on.  I did not allow team-mates to help so that each individual student was accountable for full participation.  If the player cannot answer the question correctly, the card is returned to the floor.  Similar to memory games, other players should make note of the card's location, especially if they know the answer, so they can get an easy "hole" on their turn.  If the card has treasure on the back, everyone on the team gets a piece of candy (but I did not count this card as a "hole").  If the bean bag lands on a yellow-spotted lizard, the team must surrender a "hole."  The team with the most "holes" when all cards are collected is the winner.  Total game play for 3 teams of 5-6 students, 30+ cards, took us approximately 40-45 minutes.

My students were VERY engaged.  They cheered and jumped around for the treasure and groaned and yelled about the lizards.  And they KNEW the information!!  I was so impressed by how well they did!

Typically I make games that can be applied to multiple areas of content, so I was hesitant to spend this much time setting up a game that would just be used once a year.  But this book is such a hit year after year that I felt it was worth it. 

Extension Idea:

This game could be used as an assessment.  You could call students back one at a time to toss the bean bag to answer a set number of questions, however many you want for your assessment.  You could tally how many they get right or wrong.  You could even number the cards to keep question statistics, such as which questions were most often missed, etc.  You could take a quiz or assessment score right from the game!  I'd probably remove the lizard cards but keep the treasure in for random candy/sticker incentives along the way :)

Celebration Stations

To celebrate the end of the book, I set up centers around the room for the following activities:

1) Holes-inspired treats: donut holes, samples of various kinds of onions, dirt pudding, and sploosh (for us, I used peach-flavored applesauce, but peach preserves, sliced peaches, etc would also work).

2) What's Your Nickname prompt: I printed this page.  The students wrote their Holes nickname on the name tag picture and then wrote a sentence explanation on the page.  I had name tag stickers for them to wear too :)  We then hung the prompts in the hallway.

3) Yellow-Spotted Lizard pencil pals: The students traced my example lizard twice onto craft foam, cut them out, and then I helped hot-glue them together along the sides, leaving the space down the middle open.  I allowed the students to use any color spots they wanted.  Once dry, you can slide a pencil down inside.  This "pencil pal" keeps pencils from rolling off the desk :)

4) Moon Sand: On a teacher message board, a teacher said they go outside to dig holes every year to celebrate the end of the book.  She said it's the student's favorite activity every year.  I found this surprising and funny, so I told my class about it.  And guess what--they all wanted to go dig holes.  I don't know if you're familiar with February in Indiana, but our ground's pretty frozen.  That's a no-go.  But I found a recipe on Pinterest (yay!) for moon sand that called for 8 cups flour and 1 cup baby oil.  I had about 3/4 cup baby oil, so I supplemented with cooking oil, and it seemed to work just fine :)  I dumped the whole concoction in a large bucket, tossed in some sand box toys, and laid down a plastic table cloth to protect the floor.  I tried it out at home with my own kiddos first, and I have a couple observations: my 3 year old was less messy than my 6th graders, and my 6th graders enjoyed the moon sand as much as my 3 year old.  What a hit!

5) Of course, the movie was part of our celebration too!  And since my projector burned out recently, we got to watch with our BRAND NEW projector!  Woot!

Writing Prompt

We have ISTEP coming up in a week.  But even if you don't have statewide testing (lucky!) or aren't in testing season, writing prompts are great assessments.  This is the prompt I'm using this year:

I print several on a page and then cut them apart to affix to photocopied ISTEP prompt paper to keep the experience as authentic to our assessment as possible.

This is the rubric I'm using.  The students do peer assessing first which helps deepen their own understanding of the writing process while also helping them catch their weaknesses.  After revising, I grade.  I use the rubric as a basic checklist (the element is present or isn't), but you could use a point scale too.

 So there ya have it!  That's our Holes celebration, at a glance.  Again, if you're on MyBigCampus, look me up.  I have more resources on there I'd be happy to share.  What are your favorite Holes activities?

Giant Floor Graph City

*Check out more similar ideas on my website! TeachBeyondtheDesk.com

For coordinate graphing, I made a giant floor graph using a sheet of plastic drop cloth and masking tape.  I taped the underside of the plastic and numbered each axis.

For several years now, I've used this graph as a way to get kids up and moving during our graphing unit.  However, this year I noticed some of my students having trouble following the grid lines up to each axis to find the numbers for the ordered pairs (coordinates).  Many of my students have visual/perceptual disabilities, so following a line can be difficult.  To meet that need, we came up with the following activities:

Driving on the Floor Graph

I printed basic clip art images that say "Crash!".  I laminated them and then placed them around the graph.  I brought in some Hot Wheels-style cars (Shh! Don't tell my kids!).  The students placed 2 cars at the crash site and then "drove" out along the "roads" (grid lines) until they reached each axis. 

Have you ever seen 6th grade boys with toy cars? Ha!  They had a blast!  And we solved the problem of students not being able to follow the grid lines.

This idea then morphed or grew into the Floor Graph City Challenge.

Floor Graph City Challenge

This activity has 2 parts.  I printed clip art of basic city locations like a hospital, school, park, church, house, and store.  I laminated these, then affixed a loop of tape on the back of each.  

For the first part of the challenge, I placed the buildings around the graph.  Students used their toy cars to "drive" out from each location to the axis lines.  

For the second part, I listed ordered pairs (coordinates) for each building, and the students had to place them correctly on the graph.  They could use the toy cars to check their work.

You could easily use a floor graph like this for many more activities.  What would you use if for?

UPDATE: here are the Google Docs I use with this activity. Feel free to download and edit!

Challenging version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByGR2YbHvPZdSFA2RW9jUllhc1U/view?usp=docslist_api

Regular version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByGR2YbHvPZdX0NEYlViUG9zZDg/view?usp=docslist_api

Teaching Persuasion

Check out more similar ideas on my website! TeachBeyondtheDesk.com
I LOVE teaching persuasive writing.  Here are some of the activities I've used:

I opened our unit on persuasion with a clip from the movie The Lorax, found on wingclips.com.  In this clip, the characters are pitching their idea of bottled air to their boss.  This clip is familiar to the students but is also a great example of persuasion, so it serves as an effective hook for the unit.

Teaching Target Audience Through Common Products

For this activity, you'll need to gather several examples of one category of product marketed to specific audiences.  For example, you could gather body sprays, shampoos, and soaps for women, men, and kids.  Or you could use cereals: kids' cereal, cereal for extra fiber, cereal for those on a diet.  Regardless of what kind of product you pick, make sure a clear, specific audience is being targeted.  I used health and beauty products.

Label each product with a number.  Use one product as an example and talk about how companies use colors, shapes, characters, fonts, word choices, etc to reach the very specific audience they are trying to reach.  Women's products often use curvy lines, soft or feminine colors, and far more adjectives than you would think a shampoo would warrant.  Men's products often use bold colors, solid shapes, and even use picture directions instead of words (seriously!).  Kids' products are marketed not only at kids (typically using bright colors and familiar characters), but also at their parents (using terms that denote their product as safe, healthy, etc).  

I arranged students into groups of 2-4 and gave each group a product.  I also created an "assignment" with the same number as the product on our MyBigCampus page (similar to edmodo or other virtual classroom platforms).  You could have students hand-write their answers on paper or even just discuss aloud.  Students sought to answer these questions by examining the products together:

1) What is the target audience for this product?

2) What elements of the physical packaging attract that audience?

3) What word choices reach that audience?

When the students realized the men's body spray I brought actually used picture directions, they burst into laughter.  They also thought the overly-dramatic and descriptive language on the women's products was excessive.

This is a great, easy way to teach target audience!

Using Emotion to Persuade

For this lesson, I pulled some favorite commercials off Youtube.  One was an example of using comedy, one was an example of getting the audience to feel a need to help, and one was an infomercial (masters of persuasion!).  Here are the videos I used:

Old Spice http://youtu.be/z-m6Ua9Iqkg
ASPCA http://youtu.be/IO9d2PpP7tQ
Pocket Hose http://youtu.be/87sRVk1f7ik 

After watching all three videos, we discussed how they were different yet equally effective and memorable and what lessons from each we could apply to our own writing.  This tends to be a springboard for helping students understand that it's harder to keep someone's attention or make them feel an emotion in WRITING than it is in person or via video. This gets them to start expanding their writing beyond the basics.

Students are naturally good persuaders.  They try to talk Mom and Dad into letting them do things all the time!  These simple, engaging lessons are a way to tap into that natural ability and guide them to a more academic use for their powers of persuasion.  Consider following these activities with a real-world persuasive assignment like having them persuade you how to spend your classroom funds, to persuade the principal or school board to make a change, to write letters to the editor of the local newspaper, or to write to a government official about an issue they care about.

Preposition Lego Challenge

Check out more similar ideas on my website! http://www.teachbeyondthedesk.com/

I've spent the better part of the last six weeks recovering from the flu (apparently something as mundane as the flu does a real number on someone with chronic illness...), so I'm going to publish a couple posts back-to-back today to update you all on some recent classroom activities I've really enjoyed.

This first one originated out of an attempt to keep my students PHYSICALLY participating in their learning.  Back at my Johnson University days, I was taught that physical activity should be part of every lesson.  Although I don't hit that goal 100% of the time these days, I do try to work multiple active learning opportunities into every unit.

Shortly after Christmas break, I was teaching prepositions.  I was looking for ways to teach prepositions actively without too much prep work since I was still something akin to a zombie thanks to my New Year's Day flu diagnosis.  Here were my ideas:

Preposition Scavenger Hunt

This idea was simple.  I had one student volunteer stand in the hallway outside my room while another hid a designated object somewhere in the room.  I reminded the rest of the class to not give clues with their eyes or body language.  Then I called the volunteer back in.  The rest of the class took turns giving verbal clues using prepositions until the volunteer located the item.  Then we rotated roles.

Preposition Drawings

This is an idea I've used for a few years, and it actually led to the Preposition Lego Challenge idea.  For this activity, students will need to be grouped in partners or small groups.  Each student needs a piece of paper and a pencil.  Students are seated facing away from each other.  One student in each group is designated the original drawer.  Then they draw a simple picture using basic shapes and lines--nothing too complicated.   After completing the drawing, this student uses clear step-by-step directions, with a focus on prepositions, to instruct his or her group members how to recreate their drawing.  When finished, everyone compares their drawings (usually with lots of giggles).

Preposition Lego Challenge

This idea was a new extension of the Preposition Drawing activity.  I have a tub of Legos in my room, and my students LOVE to build with them.  Looking for a way to engage and interest my most reluctant learners, I decided to include Legos in our preposition lessons.  Students were grouped similarly to the preposition drawing activity (groups of 3 or partners, seated back-to-back).  I divided my Legos into plastic cups, one for each student, with identical Lego blocks in each.  One student in each group or partnership was designated the builder.  This student constructed anything they wanted with their Legos, without having to use all the blocks I gave them.  When they were finished, they gave step-by-step directions, using prepositions, so their partner could recreate their design.  When finished, students compared (and giggled).  

I allowed the partners to ask for clarification ("When you said to put the small red block in the middle, did you mean the middle of the short side or the long side?"), and I was delighted to witness the careful, specific communication skills they used.  I have students with a wide range of abilities and disabilities, and even my most reluctant communicators were carefully selecting their words and thinking critically to seek more information.  We know students tend to remember information better when learning is connected to movement, and we also know that building with blocks engages the same areas of the brain needed for mathematical thinking, so by adding these communication and language skills, this was a well-rounded learning activity that could easily be adapted for other skill sets.  

Students were engaged and had a blast.  How many other teachers use Legos for grammar?  Yet another reason why Mrs. Powell's class is one of the best ;)

If you are a teacher, you know how much better your class runs when your students are ACTIVELY learning.  These activities are just a few examples of how easily physical activity and creativity can be added to everyday learning.  What are your favorite preposition activities?

Kitchen Science and Public Humiliation

Public Humiliation

Last night I had the pleasure of going out to dinner with about 20 friends.  Although Nathan was out of town at SICOM, I was super excited to get out, sans kids, with other adults and enjoy dinner without catching drinks, coloring place mats, wiping faces, and shushing whines.  One of the, um, older Sunday School classes at church arranged to watch all our kids while they prepped for Sunday's Thanksgiving meal, giving several of us younger adults a chance to go out together.

I really had a lot of fun!  We were loud, silly, and happy.  The food was fantastic.  I ordered shrimp scampi with fettucini alfredo.

But sometime between my last bite and the arrival of the checks, my head started to hurt.

By now I recognize this hurt.  It's not exactly a headache.  Before I even realize what I'm doing, I'll find myself rubbing my eyebrows.  Bad sign.  Then my tummy started to protest.  My hands started to shake.  And I started to feel far away from myself.  Auras danced across my vision.  I made several back-and-forth trips to the ladies' room, hoping to settle my stomach, but I knew what this meant: I was going to faint.  I down-played it as best I could, but it was clear to those around me that I was not well.  These sensations tend to ebb and flow, so I'd start to think I was through it, but then another swell would overtake me.

Feeling faint's bad enough, but if you've ever felt that way, you know your tummy doesn't feel great either.  Although blacking out in public is bad, I'm less worried about passing out in public than I am about hurling in public!  Eventually I laid down on a nearby booth, muttering apologies to the employees and fretting at how rude I appeared.  Faces hovered above from time to time, seeing if I was OK, waiting for me to be lucid enough to head back to the church.  I made it to a friend's vehicle, rolled down the window (it's similar to feeling car sick), and kept my eyes closed for the ride back.

I had tunnel vision by then, but I found my way to a couch back in the youth wing.  Tovi was worried, Oren was wound up, and both wanted to snuggle.  People occupied my kids, brought me Gatorade, and then insisted I stay the night with them.  Angola's about 30 minutes from our home in Garrett, so it was highly unlikely that I could get me and the boys home safely.  I didn't think I could even manage to RIDE that far if someone else drove us.  This family has 5 kids of their own, so adding my 2 wouldn't be too much of an imposition.  I still felt like a burden, but I was grateful.  I cranked the AC on myself during the short ride to their house.  Tahlia, a saint of a friend, set out jammies for all of us and got my boys ready for bed.  I texted Nate, then laid down with Oren beside me and Tovi in the next bed.

Although snuggling Oren overnight results to fitful sleep at best, I was so relieved to not have to be alone while so unsteady.  After being horizontal all night, I was well enough in the morning to enjoy some pancakes (thanks again, Tahlia!) and get the boys home.  They played in the playroom down the hall while I laid in bed.  I think God prompted especially cooperative behavior and positive attitudes. I'm still woozy if I'm upright too long, and experience says this sensation will probably stick around for a few more days.  But I'm improving.  Thank God for an easy work week coming up!

Kitchen Science

Under healthier circumstances, when Nate's out of town I try to do something special with the boys.  I had originally planned to make glow-in-the-dark slime with them, and around lunchtime I decided to give it a shot anyway.  The process is pretty quick, so I figured I could fit it in before being upright long enough to bring back the woozies.

I found the recipe here, linked on Pinterest.  We made some minor adjustments simply due to my curiosity when I discovered so many colors of gel glue (WITH GLITTER!!) at Wal-Mart.

Here's what we did.

-We set out one bowl for each color we planned to make.
-In each bowl, we poured 1 cup of warm water, 4 oz glue (I estimated--each bottle was 6 oz, so I eyeballed 4), and 2-3 teaspoons of glow paint from the acrylic craft paint aisle.  The original recipe calls for food coloring, but since we used colored glue, I used food coloring only when we wanted colors we didn't have paint for (like red--the paint was pink, so I added red food coloring).
-Then the recipe said to mix the paint, glue, and water.  We found you have to mix WELL or the recipe won't work.
-Next, in a separate bowl, mix 1/3 cup warm water and 2 teaspoons of Borax.
-Add 2 tablespoons of the Borax solution to the bowls of glue mixture.  The more of the Borax solution you add, the thicker the slime.  Less creates oozier, stickier slime.
-Stir it all together and watch it go from snot to Gak :)

My oldest is a texture-phobe, so I used enough Borax to make pretty thick slime.  Your kids may like it dripper, but it will be messier and will stick to hands and surfaces.  The thicker variety feels slick but doesn't stick to hands or surfaces.  We varied the amounts of Borax enough to make some slime oozy and some almost like foam.  It stretches if you let it hang, rolls into a ball, bounces, and breaks into pieces if you pull it.  Fun to explore!

The paint is light-activated, so we had fun holding the containers under the lamp and then running to Tovi's room to open them under the bed.

We're planning to bring these along to Thanksgiving this year to give all the cousins something to do :)

Cheap, easy, memorable fun!  Enjoy!