Measuring Length with Paper Clips

In Math, Rachel is learning about measurement.  Today we measured things around the house with a chain of paper clips.  As you can see her pencil is 6 paper clips long.

We talked about how this wasn't a very specific way to measure something because it was hard to identify how long something was if its length fell in the middle of a paper clip.

Then I showed her that I had three different sizes of paper clips.  We measured things with all three sizes of paper clips to show that they all measured the items at different lengths.  She thought that was funny!

It was easy then to talk about why it is important to have standard units of measurements so everyone knows exactly what the other person really means when they say something is a specific length.  We talked about why it was important to have specific measurements especially when cutting boards to build a house, getting your weight at a doctor's office, measuring ingredients for a recipe, etc.

Writing on the Walls

It usually isn't ok to write on the walls in our home....unless you are using shaving cream in the bath tub!  I sometimes surprise the kids by giving them cheap bottles of shave cream to play with in the bath tub.  It is a fun sensory experience because they love the feel of shave cream as they squish it in their hands or rub it all over their body.  

I also love the sweet notes that get written on the wall like "R {heart} M" for Rachel loves Mommy :)  It can be kind of challenging though to write legibly with a can of shaving cream.

And the best part of a shaving cream bath?  We rinse the shave cream away and the bath tub is now sparkling clean!  

Clean kid + clean bath tub = happy mommy!

Stop Telemarketers with the National Do Not Call Registry

I'm so tired of telemarketing calls.  We get them all day long.  

It is especially frustrating when I'm in the middle of doing school work with the kids.  They will take advantage of any possible distraction to try to get a break from school.

Did you know that there is a way to limit the number of telemarketing calls that you get at home or on your cell phone?  It is called the National Do Not Call Registry.  It's FREE to sign up!

The National Do Not Call Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency and it is enforced by the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  Telemarketers are required to remove anyone on the National Do Not Call list from their calling database.

To register your phone numbers, simply go to https://www.donotcall.gov/ to register your phone number for the National Do Not Call list.  Once you register, telemarketers have 31 days to remove you from their calling lists so you may continue to get calls during that time.  Your phone numbers will remain on the list until they are disconnected or reassigned so you don't have to worry about keeping up with a registry expiration date.

There are some exceptions in cases where you may still legally receive telemarketing calls.  According to the Do Not Call website, "Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would still be permitted, as would calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom you’ve provided express agreement in writing to receive their calls. However, if you ask a company with which you have an existing business relationship to place your number on its own do-not-call list, it must honor your request.  You should keep a record of the date you make the request."

This is an important point.  Companies that you do business with have customer databases that they may share with other companies and this can result in telemarketing calls to you.  I try to always "opt out" of any information sharing with companies that I do business with but sometimes it can be challenging to figure out how to do this.

The frustrating thing is that we have had our home phone number on the Do Not Call Registry since July 31, 2004 but lately we have been getting about 3 telemarketing calls per day.  Usually we can tell it is a telemarketing call because of the information that shows up on Caller ID so we either ignore the call or hang up on them if we answer.  However, I've now decided to take a different approach that is a little more of a hassle right now but will hopefully be more effective in the long run.

On the Do Not Call website, you can also file a complaint if you get telemarketing calls once you are on the Registry.  I've recently started collecting information for each call.  Then I inform the caller that I want to be removed from their database and that I will be filing a complaint about their call because we are on the National Do Not Call Registry. filing a complaint for each one.  The essential information you need to file a complaint is the phone number and name of the company that called but any additional data you can provide is helpful.  The FTC may not investigate each one of these complaints but I think if I keep filing complaints then surely it will at least reduce the number of time wasting calls that we get.

We Have a Pet Snake!

Rachel and I were working on raking up leaves in the backyard when Rachel asked me, "Mommy, is that a snake or a big worm?" 

It was a real snake...in our backyard!

Rachel went to get the boys to come out and see.  Nicholas, of course, grabbed his empty reptile habitat and wanted to capture it for a pet.  We put it in the habitat base just so we could get a better look at it and watch it move around.

We got out our snake identification field guide and also posted a picture of it on a local community page on Facebook to ask their opinion of what it is.  We determined that it is a Rough Earth Snake and it is harmless.  Whew!

I'm fine looking at him but I do not like to watch him slither, especially towards me!

We decided to keep Hairy for a few days so he has some dirt and is well secured in the reptile habitat box.  The kids even dug up some fresh worms to feed him.  He has since buried himself under the dirt and hasn't been seen since.  I sure hope he is still in there and not slithering around our house!  Since he likes to be hidden, he doesn't make for a very fun pet so we'll probably release him into the woods tomorrow.  But for now, we have a pet snake.

Love Love and Brody at Breakfast

Rachel has many baby dolls and she loves them all.  This morning her American Girl Doll which is named "Love Love" decided to join us at the table for breakfast.  She even brought her Border Collie dog Brody with her.

She asked me to take a picture of them all together. 

We have a meal time rule that toys are not allowed at the table (I'm sure animals are assumed in that rule as well).  But somehow we seem to let Rachel get away with dolls and doll accessories joining us at the table.  It's just too cute to resist!  She'll only be this little once.