This is Lily's Post

She wanted me to blog about her new backpack.  Last week the zipper broke on her old Stride Rite one.  She'd had it for almost two years.

So this weekend we went shopping.  It is hard to find a backpack when it's not "Back-to-School" time now that they don't have luggage stores at the mall anymore.

We went to Toys-R-Us first.  They only had a Hello Kitty one, and while she likes Hello Kitty, I could tell she was feeling conflicted.  She wanted to be a bit more grown up.

Luckily Target saved the day.  We found them in the back by the luggage.

And she LOVES it.  She made me take this picture.  And I liked that she put up a blanket for the backdrop.

STEM Night

Last night was Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathmatics family night at school.  They had students from NCSU working with the kids on various hands-on activities.  Compared with other family nights, it was super-crowded.  While I'm glad so many people got to participate, it was really hard to move around in the cafeteria so in an hour we were only able to do 3-4 of the activities.  Here were some of our favorites.

Catapult Kits

They passed out little baggies with popscicle sticks, a plastic spoon, rubber bands, and a cotton ball.  There were no instructions, but you were supposed to figure out how to build a catapult with it.  It would have been nice to have some instructions for kids who were really stuck and frustrated.  But Madeleine and I were able to work it out together and launch our cotton ball about 4 feet.

Foil Boats

This was Lily's favorite.  Kids make boats out of foil and see how many marbles will float before it sinks.  Lots of kids spend a lot of time making little perfect boats, but Lily learned quickly how surface area and spreading them out works better.  She was the record holder at 30 marbles when we left.

 Pattern Necklaces

3D Shapes

They had boxes you made with cubes, pyramids, etc.  Then you put beans in them to see which shapes held more.  Surprise!  All the same volume.

Below is Madeleine with her 3D animal project for school.  It's an emu.

A Purple Camera

In addition to some money she received for her report card, Madeleine also got some money from my aunt for Valentine's Day, and it was burning a hole in her pocket. While in Rite Aid last week she saw a purple Vivitar digital camera and decided she wanted it.

So this week, armed with her $15 she bought it.  Lily also bought one.

Oh my gosh, what junk.  I feel bad for any grown ups who buy one of these cameras.  Madeleine's had a flash, but Lily's did not.  They hold about 25 pictures in memory, and if the batteries die or fall out, you're toast.

Madeleine ran around today taking pictures.  Disappointed that many were blurry, I showed her how to use a tripod.  But every time she went to take the camera off the tripod, she'd hit the spring-loaded battery door and pop those suckers out.  Or it was so cold out, it killed the batteries.  End of pictures.

So, I taped it shut.  She managed to get a few shots in and is happy about it.  It's her money and what she wanted to do with it, but the mom in me has to hold back and let her do it.  I've offered to let her use some of my old cameras instead.  But they aren't purple.

Why we make our own Valentines

The girls love Valentine's Day.  What's not to love?  Their most favorite thing to do is make decorated boxes to hold their valentines.  We already have made multiples this year.  I've tried kits and bags, but their favorite is just a shoebox with paper and stickers.

Every year they come home from school with bags/boxes full of valentines from friends.  Usually the store-bought kind with names scrawled on the bottom and a sucker attached.  I've got nothing against these, but I always feel a little weird being "that family that makes their own."

It started when the girls were about 18 months.  If there's one thing any mom of multiples will tell you, it's that the years are short, but the days are LONG.  Filling up those stretches before and after nap time on the weekend can be quite a challenge, especially when they're used to being at daycare during the week.

So, we did projects.  All kinds of art projects, and valentines are the most special of art projects.  The first year I took a picture of them attempting to make their own valentines, printed out multiple copies of the picture, and then cut it in the shape of a heart.  Then I stuck it to the hearts they'd colored on.

And it went from there.  Each year I ask if they want store-bought ones, and each year they've said no.  And I'm OK with that.  As long as we have a couple of free hours and $40 worth of stickers.