Toostie Roll Legend, Piano Ode to Joy, Baby's Facial, Early to Bed, Teach Easy Lessons, Mandy's 80s

My two eldest children keep asking me to do something with their toosie pop wrapper that has a star on it. Supposedly, if you have a toosie pop wrapper with a star, you send it to the Toosie Roll company and they give you a prize. I vaguely remember a similar story circulating when I was a child. But my children are a lot more determined than I was, so I looked it up online. Check out this website for the full story, but just so you know, it’s an urban legend! http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/business/a/tootsie_pop.htm There’s no free ride my dears.

I’m reading the book Power To Save The World, about nuclear power. I’ve been most surprised by the reality of radiation. I thought that radiation came mainly from x-rays and nuclear power plants and bombs. I considered it very dangerous in any amount, and I would be very suspicious of irradiated food. The science and scientists referenced in this book shows my ideas to be unfounded. We are surrounded by low levels of radiation in our natural surroundings—rocks, well water, and our body knows how to deal with it—just keep healing it. And irradiated food doesn’t continue to give off radiation afterwards just like lamps don’t give off light after they’ve been turned off. I’d still wonder about nutritional value of food that’s been irradiated, but I found it eye opening to learn that there’d be no retention of radiation. Another interesting thing—radiation by itself is a weak carcinogen, when it’s on the outside of our bodies. It’s when it’s inside us that it can wreak havoc (or kill our tumors). Scientists found that people who smoke around radiation get cancers when non-smokers don’t—in part because the radiation latches onto the smoke and then is breathed in.

Matthew was eating avocado and he spread it all over his face. It was his first facial.

I went to bed one night at 9:30pm. It felt sooo good the next day, that I went to bed the following night at 9:00pm! I feel so great when I get enough sleep. I just wish it wouldn’t crunch so much into my time with Theron.

I’m starting Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons with Ellie. We’re on the 3^rd lesson and she’s really enjoying it. I hope her interest remains. After 78 lessons with Adam, he just couldn’t stand it anymore (it’s pretty repetitious). But she’s so young, that I think it’s the perfect pace for her.

Mandy is trying out for the Talent Show today. She’s wearing very old fashioned clothing—from the 80’s! She and a friend are dancing to Eye Of The Tiger, and they’re dressed up in the most outrageous interpretation of 80’s clothing. When I get a photo, I’ll upload it.

Every Wednesday for a whopping 4 weeks in a row, I’ve taught my children piano lessons. We go to my parents’ house, the kids watches Magic School Bus except for the child I’m teaching. In 2 hours, I teach five kids their individual piano lesson! I’m hoping that this is sustainable, but the way they’ve latched onto music and practicing it has been soooo great! And the price is certainly right. Solomon and Adam learned how to play a simplified version of Ode to Joy on piano. Their excitement in playing the song was fueled by this Muppet video:

That video is imitated almost every day since, and I caught my children singing Meep Meep to the Ode to Joy tune here: