A Movin' We Will Go

But not until July or August. Russ accepted a job today for a small liberal arts college, Thiel College.

It is located in Greenville, PA. It's on the western boarder of PA, about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh. (We may have to join the ranks of Colby and April ;) )Not south like I wanted, but other than the weather, it was everything Russ was looking for in a job. He is excited about the classes he will get to teaching and he says the people he will be working with are all really nice. He is excited about a small town and said it was a nice place to visit. I am not as excited about a smaller town. I am more a big city girl, but it has a Walmart, so I'll survive. :) The only other thing that made us hesitate about taking the job is that our church will be 45 minutes away in Ohio. That is going to be a bit tough.  If you click here and scroll down a big, you should see a video on the right hand side. It is a good summary about Thiel (plus how to pronounce Thiel. We were pronouncing it wrong at our house for a while.) I hope the weather cooperates and we can go visit Greenville soon. It's only a 5 hour drive from here. I am sure I will have more to share later about the area once we get there.

Snow....Finally

Not that I am complaining. I love this warm winter. But we did get out in the snow to play with some friends. Dallin had a good time. Actually, so did I. 

Rainbow Art and Science

Dallin loves making art projects, but usually I don't want to do anything to messy. That means we do a lot of paper cutting and gluing. Once in a while the stamps or paint make an appearance, but not as often as he would probably like.

He also loves science and LOVES science projects. We bought a kit of science projects from a homeschool catalog,  I am pretty sure we did 7 or 8 of them the first day. He begs to do them all the time. About a week ago he asked me about wax (to be honest, I don't remember why but I think it has something to do with something we had seen in a movie), so I pulled down my Scentsy and turned it on. We watched how the wax melted from a solid to a liquid and how it hardened again when I stuck my finger in it and pulled it out.

Today we did a project that combined both science and art.  I've seen crayon art all over pinterest, but never really thought about doing it till I realized the science involved. First, we had to sort into color groups, then place them in rainbow order. We glued them on the canvas, pulled out the hair dryer, and started melting. At first he was upset because he wanted to color with the crayons, but later decided it was cool and helped me melt them. He was surprised how fast they hardened after we stopped the blow dryer. Most the the crayons melted pretty well, but not the blues and purples. I think if we ever did it again I would leave them out.

He wanted a good place to put it, so up on the shelf it went. He said it made our house look like an haunted house.

T-Bone

That is Dallin's Dino name. Apparently when you are a mom you are suppose to make costumes at will,  or at least that is what Dallin thinks. We just made a Link costume last week. (I noticed no one guessed who it was. I guess I need more sewing practice.) Dallin wanted a dino costume today and he begged over and over. I told him I would see what I could do with things we had, but I was not going to the store. That is the reason there are so many different colors on the costume. At first I was only going to make the tail, but I decided I could make the rest of it with one of the zipper hoodies I bought at the thrift store for $.50. Then he informed me that T-Bone needed muscles on the front. I did the best I could with an old t-shirt from Russ and some polyfil. I meshed together about 3 tutorials I had seen online. Dallin is happy, and that is all that matters. Now maybe I should clean or something.....Or not. :)

While Russ Was Away....

 We kept busy. Here is some of what we did.

Fort building. Dallin would have it up all day, every day if I let him. He played it all day.

 I got my necklace that I bought with that gift certificate my mom won and gave me.  Dallin thinks it is his and wore it all weekend until he broke off and lost one of the jump rings. Oh well. Easy fix.

Dallin played "travel" for two days straight. He would "fly" to see Grandma and then home to see Mom and go to church. The only days there were was Sunday and Monday. Luckily he doesn't get to really make that true. Who wants only Sundays and Mondays over and over?

 We made a glitter jar he has been wanting since his friend made one. I finally got got the stuff to do it.

He's been begging me to make him a specific costume for months now. I finally got the stuff to make it. Can you tell who he is?

 We made bagels. They are the best bagels I have ever made. Better than any I have bought at the grocery store. I don't think I can buy them again. They weren't that hard. Just takes prep time. (You have to start the night before.) There recipe is here* if anyone want to try them.  Dallin and I have pretty much only eaten bagels today. We did save some for Dad when he gets home tonight.

*I didn't have malt syrup or molasses, so I just used dark brown sugar mixed with a little water. Still great!

I also started on making Mother Day gifts since I will be in Utah in March. This way I won't have to send them. Better get going. I need to be at the airport to get Russ in 15 minutes. Oops.

My Mom's A Winner!

There was a FB giveaway from a online store I follow, Boutique Academia.  They make "stuff for geeks with taste." I found them about a year ago and wanted a Fibonacci necklace. The reason is that back when Russ and I first met and he was helping me pass Calculus II (this is after me stalking him for help),  one of the problem I needed help with and had to hardest time getting was Fibonacci sequences. All I remember of it now is it had something to do with bunnies and it made no sense. When I saw this beautiful necklace with the graphic representation of Fibonacci's sequence, I wanted it, a little reminder of when we met.

Now to the "winner" part. The necklace was $25 plus shipping, and a poor post doc's wife can't just spend that kind of money on jewelry. Boutique Academia had a Facebook giveaway for a $20 gift certificate. I got an extra entry by sharing the giveaway with friends on FB, so I did. My mom decided to enter too, and she won! She gave me the certificate to get my necklace. Thanks, Mom!!!! I am so excited to get my necklace. My Mom's kindness makes this necklace have even more sentimental value. I'll post pictures when I get it.

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Russ had some job stuff to do in Fort Wayne, IN. Since it is only about 2 hours from us, Dallin and I decided to go. Russ dropped us off at the mall. We found a place to go mini golfing and that is where we spent most of our time. It was one of those cheesy, poorly put together places, but Dallin loved it.

Dallin also loved playing on the ride toys even though I never give him money to ride.

We also played at the playground in the mall.

It was fun. Here are some videos of Dallin golfing.