Anna and the Neon Atom

Anna came home on Thursday and said that she needed a 3-D model of an atom by Monday for 7th grade science. The fence project is still all-consuming, so it was a pretty amazing Dad who helped engineer this model of a neon atom. I think it took about eight hours, plus a trip to the store for spray paint. We have lots of ping pong balls thanks to Anna's science project last year about the volume of ping pong balls and how many degrees of pi you need for an accurate measurement (I'm already lost trying to explain the project--can you feel Travis's influence in the design and execution of both of these projects?). Anna learned a lot about atoms because Travis insisted they don't simplify the shape of the orbitals by making them all round (to represent spheres) when some of them are really dumbbell shaped. It was a late night, but I think Anna learned a lot. We weren't thrilled when she came home, pleased that her teacher wanted to keep her project--what were we going to do with it?--and somehow it slipped that she could have drawn a model of an atom. 10 minutes?

Both Anna and Michael have been excited about Rick Riordan's latest novel, which is the third in a series they have each been reading. You should have heard the squabbling over who got to read it first. Michael hit me up to acquire it a long time ago, and somehow negotiated a promise that I would purchase it the first day it came out. Anna claimed she was just being good-natured and trying not to harass me, but she 1) wanted to read it more, being a bigger and earlier Rick Riordan fan, and 2) was more worthy of reading it first for a long list I won't include. We finally settled everyone down and I took a picture because I thought it was so fun that my 12 year-old and 9 year-old were clamoring to read the same book. I thought we had settled on Michael reading it first, but you can see that there's still some tension.

Michael won, but then he suddenly gave in and Anna disappeared up to her room with the precious book. In an uncanny imitation of his big sister, he described her likely behavior if he was taking too long to get through it, or putting a slight crease on one of the pages. I don't know if that should have been allowed, but harmony returned and Anna did read it awfully fast. Michael was free to read at his own pace. Now whose bookshelf does it live on? I should have thought about this a long time ago when Anna was reading series and Michael was just looking at Transportation Bibles (what I call his oversized picture books of vehicles of all kinds). I bought a lot of books for her that he is now interested in. I insist on sharing, but it's hard when despite his best efforts the books don't remain in pristine condition. I understand both of my kids. I love my books to remain beautiful, but despite my best efforts, they always show use after I have read them. I'm so grateful that my dad and Angie still allow me to borrow their books. Somehow they each read without creasing the spine or even slightly bending a page. I try so hard, but how can you read a book without actually opening it?