Science Fair (and other things)

We spent the early part of this week working on Andrew's science fair experiment (which measured electrical conductivity; it helps to have a dad with access to university-level equipment!). At this age, entering the science fair seems to be a whole family endeavor: Dan helped Andrew with the project idea; I helped by taking pictures and then helping put the poster together. Andrew did the brain work (I wrote up pretty much what he told me to explain the experiment--apparently, he wanted to study conductivity so he could know what kinds of things were not safe in a lightning storm. Because electricity: it's all about lightning.)

Andrew's a naturally competitive child (for my book group last week, we read how extroverts are motivated by competition; introverts more by cooperation. This seems to be one more confirmation that perhaps two introverts can produce an extroverted child). Because of this, he's also highly motivated by winning--and he spent the days before the science fair speculating what place he might take. We tried to caution him that he might not take any place--like any judged endeavor, some of it depends on what the judges think of the project.

 A large part of the score for the science fair is based on presentation--on how well the child can explain their project to the judges. As we all know, Andrew's good at talking--and this put him in good stead here.

Andrew won first place for the first grade part of the competition. Dan and I had similar reactions when we found out: one part pride, one part chagrin. We're proud of Andrew for his work; but now we have to go to the district science fair. And I'm pretty sure we've just committed to doing the science fair from here on out (as I said: Andrew is motivated by winning).

I tried to take pictures of the actual assembly where he won, but my camera is lousy at focusing on moving targets: all I got were a bunch of blurry shots. (And I'm hoping it's the camera, not just me).

I was hoping to upload a video of Andrew's reaction, but it turns out it's too large for blogger. I'll see if I can edit it down.

In other news for the week, we missed Oliver's nine month birthday (and the requisite Eeyore shot), so here it is.

Also, sitting in the laundry basket is great practice for sitting up (if you topple over, there are great handles to hold you up).

 

Last of all, I submitted the pitch for my novel to a web contest (Pitch Madness) and made it to the agent round (that means that later this week, agents will visit the hosting websites and--if they're interested--request pages from the contestants). I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but it is kind of exciting. If you're interested in checking it out, this is the blog where I'll be at (March 26-29). Mine is BEING THE QUEEN: http://shelleywatters.blogspot.com/2013/03/cover-reveal-brenda-drakes-library.html

Have a great week everyone!