Trevor took some cute videos of Elli last week...

The first video is of her saying "hello" - I love how she says her "Ls".

The second video is of Elli saying "my mom" in a crazy way.  There is a cartoon character that says "my mom" all the time and Joshua thought it would be funny to teach it to Elli.  So now every time someone asks "do you know who else...?", Elli says "my mom"....

 



He's Back!!!!

Yeah!!!  Chris is home!!!  I mentioned in a previous post that I was missing him, but I failed to mention that he was in Moscow, Russia, doing a security detail for Eric Holder...now that the detail is over, I can say that out loud ;)  He left the Wednesday before Mother's Day and returned this past Friday, in the wee hours of the morning.

We missed him a ton!! 

He came home with interesting stories about the people, the culture, the hotel, the food, the cost of everything, visiting Red Square and the Kremlin, and seeing Putin.  It really is hard to believe that he was in Moscow doing what he was doing....CRAZY!!! 

Today he is back at work in Atlantic City and I am so happy that he will be home for lunch and dinner ;)

**SIDE NOTE**

**Folks...we definately live in the best country in the world and we need to fight hard to keep it!**

Hello everyone, Josh here. In Science I am studying triops. What are Triops?

Triops are small, freshwater shrimp that grow from tiny eggs.

The eggs are so small that you have to use a magnifying glass to see them.

Below is a picture of our triop set-up.  We have a tank filled with Spring Water - not distilled water, not tap water, you can only use Spring Water.  We had to heat the water with a lamp to raise the temperature to between 74 degrees and 85 degrees.

Once the temperature was up to 74 degrees we poured, approximately, 16 triop eggs into the hatchery tank (the eggs are so small, that we had to pour them on a sheet of white paper first so we could see them - so I think there were 16).  The orange flakes in the water are carrot pieces, which they can eat after they hatch.

We put the eggs into the water this past Monday.  Every day we had to make sure that the temperature of the water was between 74 and 85 degrees.  We also had to replace the water that evaporated each day with fresh Spring Water, and keep the eggs towards the center of the bowl, so that they wouldn't stick to the sides.  Today, 2 eggs hatched!!  When they first hatch they are really hard to see. You have to look hard with your eye, or use a magnifying glass.

Today we start feeding them.  For the next 3 days we will feed them 3 times a day with triop baby food.  After 8 days in the hatchery tank, we will move them to the bigger tank.

Then they will start to look more like this:

They are called Triops because they have three eyes (tri=3, ops=eyes). The third eye is located above the other two and is covered by a layer of thin, transparent skin.  If you look closely you can see the third eye.

They can grow up to 6-8 cm (about 3 inches), not including their tail. They are related to crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. When they eat, they float on their backs and push the food into their mouth with their feet.  After 3-4 weeks the triops are fully matured and ready to lay eggs.  Sadly, they only live for 20 to 90 days

They make good pets because of their acrobatic skills, they are fun to watch.  They are very flexible and can swim up, down, left, and right. When they swim,  their body bends like a wave, propelling them forward.

I will post more pictures as they grow so keep checking back.   :]

Thank you Mom!

Dear Mom,

I Love You!

 

Thank you for being such a strong example of fortitude and love throughout my life.  I am grateful to have a mom like you!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Brag Post....

We interrupt our current post with an important announcement for our readers....

Lily Anne Rice - my beautiful 2 year old niece, cousin of

Brandon, Trevor, Joshua, Jason, Reagan, and Elli,

and best friend of my daughter Elli -

(I have bragging rights my friends)  ;)

was chosen to grace the book cover of the new 3rd edition of

Early Communication Skills for Children with Down Syndrome.

Congratulations Lily!!!

In the photo she is signing the word "cat"...way to go Lily, we are so proud of you!!!

Reagan....

I am missing my husband, and when I am missing him I think of the things he likes. Today, I am thinking of Reagan...
This one....

...and this one...



Butterflies galore!!!

It has been rainy here...for more than a few days now, and chilly.  The sun finally peeked it's head out of the clouds late in the afternoon yesterday, and when it did...they danced.  Hundreds of butterflies all over our yard....they were EVERYWHERE!!!

Joshua, the twins, Elli and I all gathered on the back deck to watch the show - and take pictures ;)

As we headed to Trevor's baseball game we noticed that the butterflies were all over the neighborhood, and all over the township.  They were beautiful!!

Funny Story....

I am pretty sure that I have mentioned this on my blog before, but I am going to mention it again...Jason and Reagan HATE when Trevor and Joshua are not around the house to play with.  Whenever Trevor is gone, Joshua and the twins play non-stop....legos, GI Joes, Superheroes.  When Joshua is gone, Trevor and the twins play non-stop...legos, Star Wars, Superheroes.  When Trevor and Joshua are both gone, the twins play together, but they will stop and ask "how long till Trevor/Joshua gets home?" 
The other night Trevor and Joshua had Scouts.  Jason begged could he please come along just to drop them off...I said yes.  After we dropped them off, Jason was very quiet in the back seat, so I asked him what he wanted to do when we got home.  He sort of sighed out the words "I hate it when Trevor and Josh are gone".  So I said "Brandon is home, you can play with him"....to which Jason replied "Mom, Brandon totally forgot how to play.  He stinks at playing Superheroes!!"  I could not suppress my laughter and Jason just smiled at me.  After a few seconds he got this excited look on his face and said "When I get home I am going to teach Brandon how to play again!!" 

I remember when Brandon graduated from playing pretend things with his younger brothers to more grown up play things.  It was in Ohio.  It was when Brandon looked like this.....

Now he looks like this....

And, although Brandon has lost his skill at playing superheroes, he has become a whiz at the Rubik's cube - able to solve it in a single bound...

Can you see the cool pattern he created?

  He also loves playing Wii and everything Civil Air Patrol...

  And, I would be failing to describe Brandon accurately if I didn't mention that he loves playing practical jokes on people - especially his mother ;)

**a warning here for mothers with sons who are practical jokers...before turning on your kitchen sink, be sure to check the sprayer (if you have one) for a rubber band or tape holding it in the "ON" position.** 

I am not really worried about Brandon losing his playfulness...

he has his father's genes...playfullness is genetic in this family...luckily ;)

Sometimes I have to do a double take....

I have to admit that although I am fully aware that we have a daughter, I am sometimes totally caught off gaurd and remember WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!  Yesterday Elli dressed herself, and although Mommy picked out the outfit today, Elli personalized it....

It is so crazy to think that there is actually some pink growing in this sea of blue ;)