Stump the Mom

What is the strongest acid know to man?

How many elements in the periodic table are 'artificial'?

stumped again

I'm sure many of you would not have been puzzled by my boys' question last night; but I wasn't sure of the answer. For some reason (how DO boy's minds work?) they started by asking me if I liked concrete or asphalt better for roads  and why? We talked about the cost; concrete vs asphalt (I know concrete is more expensive but how much? why?) Then what is concrete or is it cement? What is the difference? I thought cement was the powdery stuff that glues the sand/gravel etc together to make concrete so I wasn't quite 'stumped' but I wasn't sure of my answers so I thought I'd check it out this morning.

stump the mom

Why do they call Wednesday, Wednesday? The answer is in Wikipedia, here.

stump the mom

'Mom, how much fabric do you have now?'

'Mom, how do you make a glow in the dark tomato?

'Mom, how do you make a smoke bomb?'

'Mom, where can I get some potassium nitrate?'

kids

So today my child expected me to be able to answer these questions:

1. How much would a marble coffin cost?
2. How much would it cost to be mummified?
   

angel penguin

Have you ever heard of an Angel Penguin (also called Little Blues)? I hadn't until.. oh, about 2 minutes ago. My 10 year old wondered if a visitor to my blog, from New Zealand, had ever seen one. Stumped me again, but they probably have seen one, if they ever visited a zoo there or even went to see them in person. I don't think the zoos I have visited in the U.S. have them. I learned when I googled it that they are not angel but Fairy Penguins. 'The Penguins' is a band from the 50's whose greatest hit was 'Earth Angel.' I actually remember that song, don't remember the band though..Back to Fairy Penguins; I am amazed at the information that keeps coming out of A's brain. He learned about these Penguins while in first grade, 4 years ago. I can't remember where I layed down my cool snowflake bracelet 4 days ago; let alone the IMPORTANT papers from last years taxes, that haven't been seen since April. If I could just harness his brain to help me remember the things I need to I would never loose anything again. ;)

chores

done:
get/teach 2 boys to peel potatoes
mashed potato casserole-new recipe from 'Cook's Country' magazine involved eggs and garlic
pear dessert
mushrooms washed and cooking for marinated s
new salt and pepper shakers filled (cute birds that I saw here.)

that really doesn't look like a mornings work..but wait I had 2 boys' help that took longer and I took them to Target with me. What a headache! One does not stop asking questions. Anyone care to tell me how diamond prices compare to gold prices? 12 year old minds want to know.

To do;
pumpkin pie
sweet potato casserole
fruit salad

hamburger

Stump the Mom! 'Why do we call hamburger's hamburgers when there is no ham in them?' If anyone can answer that question they're better than the historians. I mumbled something about Hamburg, Germany but I pictured a long ago fast food place serving something that resembled our current day hamburger. Like a primitive Burger King for Knights as they head off to joust. Or the local witch putting up a 'lemonade type' stand at the edge of the jousting field and selling burgers. So I knew something but not very much.

misc.

I did it! I found a pattern for a knitted felted mitten for a child last week in Knit It! Felt It! by Bobbie Matela. Then this morning I finished one of the mittens. I'll post before and after felting pictures when I get the other one done. I'd love to go felt this right now but I may need to refer to it to make the next one. The thing is big! It is actually a bit too big for me and it is supposed to fit a 3 year old? We'll see the magic of felting soon.
We played stump the mom again. 'Why do your ears make wax?'
and random bits of information; 'Most of the United States Presidents have been left handed. President Bush is right handed.' This is not true. We have had 43 presidents 7 of them were left handed. (Although the current President Bush is right handed.)
I played 'good Mom' yesterday and took lunch to Andrew (10). He has been buying his lunch since he started school, for many reasons. One is that I thought it would be good to expose them to other food. They RARELY (Dad doesn't cook and grandparents and other relatives live FAR away) have anything except Mom's cooking. Another is that I was just too lazy, and really the food was okay. NOT! The cheese pizza was very bad...okay it actually had real cheese on it and it wasn't greasy, it wasn't really bad so much as boring and didn't taste very good... where was the garlic?, the herbs? So Andrew made a loaf of whole wheat bread last night (in the bread machine and only 1 cup of wheat flour but they can't stand to eat store bought) and I helped him make a lunch this morning. I can put the 'good mom' hat on again! He'll actually eat the lunch that we fixed; (still boring food but he likes it) peanut butter and honey on whole wheat, chips, an apple-a pink lady, his favorite. So if I put in a homemade cupcake tomorrow do I get to put a good mom hat on top of my other good mom hat? So how many good mom hats should I balance?
Does that remind you of a silly children's book? What's the name of it? Caps for Sale? I don't think that is the one I'm thinking of ... could there be another? Hetty's 100 Hats yes there are. Now here is a list of many hat books, but I couldn't pick out the one I'm thinking of from their list, but I found many that I remembered and some that I'd like to read.

stump me

A few months ago a friend told us that he and his kids play a game in the car called 'stump the dad'. The idea is to ask Dad questions that he won't be able to answer. He told us that he hadn't been stumped yet! His kids are 10 and 7. Well, I am a dunce. I am stumped daily. 'Why are piggy banks called piggy banks and not froggy banks or elephant banks?' is actually the only one I remember being asked today.
Then the same child, DS10, tells me that lightning is 1/2 inch wide. Is this true? I have never even wondered how wide lightning is. Where do you find this out? Do random facts just float around and only 10 year olds have the correct antennae to pick it up?