jersey cow inside can be kind to photon related to hydrogen atom, because toothpick toward fetishist require assistance from CEO beyond.Unlike so many lunatics who have made their mitochondrial bullfrog to us=
As per my junk email friend rodparsely. So true, don't you think?
Friday, December 29, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
From Our Home To Yours
Best wishes for a Happy Holiday Season to you and yours, and a Happy New Year too!
I donated blood earlier this month - that's my gift to you, but I sincerely hope you don't need it.
Peace, people.
I donated blood earlier this month - that's my gift to you, but I sincerely hope you don't need it.
Peace, people.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
She Shoots - She SCORES!
I rocked at the girls' classroom Christmas parties before I ever arrived.
The kindergarten class was looking for a game to play, and since I despise musical chairs, I volunteered to pull together a game I had read about online back when E1 was in KG (just after that year's Christmas party, of course). I named it Chimney Toss, and thanks to our local True Value Hardware's donation of a bunch of empty boxes I created a chimney and many tiny presents to toss in it.
Behold the creation of the chimney:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chimney Toss
Divide class into two teams: Red Team and Green Team. Give each Red Team member a red gift and each Green Team member a green gift (The teacher may have to play to make balanced teams).
Each team forms a line behind a designated foul line. When the game leader calls “GO!”, each gift holder will take a turn (one at a time, one shot only) tossing their gift into the chimney.
The team that gets the most gifts in the chimney wins.
Alternately, students could be paired for a ‘toss-off’ to see who can make the most shots.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days ago, after volunteering to provide drinks for the Third Grade party, E1's teacher emailed to request ideas for a game they could play. I went out to the trusty internets and came back with :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gift Wrap Relay
This works best for 3rd - 5th graders, they are capable or wrapping gifts, but haven’t had much practice yet.
Select 2 small boxes of equal size. Gift wrap them. Cut extra sheets of wrapping paper to fit the size of the box. You will need one piece of wrapping paper for each child.
Divide the children into teams.
To play the game, a team member will leave their group, run to the gift station, unwrap the gift, rewrap the gift, and run back to tag the next team member. The first team to have each member wrap the gift wins.
To tease the teams before they start, a gift that rattles adds a fun touch. A box of macaroni and cheese works and it gives them a laugh when the first person unwraps it too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I arrived after the designated party start time today, having just returned for E3's gymnastics class. As I made my way down the school hallway I could hear excited shouting and wondered what was going on...I was passing classrooms where the teacher was reading a Christmas book...where the kids were watching a movie... All the quiet activities I was seeing were in direct contrast to all the enthusiasm I was hearing. And then, I arrived at the third grade classroom.
HOO-Boy - they were playing the relay and were having a grand old time. A couple of kids came over to tell me it was a fun game, and the principal even stopped in to watch the end of the relay. The last two contestants were E1 and Mrs W - and E1 won! Just by one piece of tape, really, but there was much jumping and celebrating all around and random third graders hugged me. The third grade students had brought school supplies, toys, and food items to donate, so I think the mac-n-cheese got added to that booty.
Then it was on to the kindergarten classroom. Mrs R was reading Twas The Night Before Christmas when I entered, but when she saw me she said (not breaking her story-reader-tone), "Your chimney game was a huge hit." The kg LOVED it, and apparently the Pre-K class did as well. As school dismissal was approaching, I told Mrs R she could keep the chimney game if she wanted. She was so excited I was almost embarrassed, "Really?! You don't want to keep it?! I'd love to keep it!"
In the end though, as E2 and I were walking down the hall, E2 asked, "Hey, what about our chimney game?" and I told her I'd given it to Mrs R. She was bummed. So, we went back and told Mrs R we were going to borrow it over Christmas and then we'd bring it back to her. Hopefully the teachers weren't planning on playing it at their party after school.
I'm feeling pretty darn satisfied by the results of my efforts with some boxes, paint, and wrapping paper. I was the cool Mom today.
The kindergarten class was looking for a game to play, and since I despise musical chairs, I volunteered to pull together a game I had read about online back when E1 was in KG (just after that year's Christmas party, of course). I named it Chimney Toss, and thanks to our local True Value Hardware's donation of a bunch of empty boxes I created a chimney and many tiny presents to toss in it.
Behold the creation of the chimney:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chimney Toss
Divide class into two teams: Red Team and Green Team. Give each Red Team member a red gift and each Green Team member a green gift (The teacher may have to play to make balanced teams).
Each team forms a line behind a designated foul line. When the game leader calls “GO!”, each gift holder will take a turn (one at a time, one shot only) tossing their gift into the chimney.
The team that gets the most gifts in the chimney wins.
Alternately, students could be paired for a ‘toss-off’ to see who can make the most shots.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days ago, after volunteering to provide drinks for the Third Grade party, E1's teacher emailed to request ideas for a game they could play. I went out to the trusty internets and came back with :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gift Wrap Relay
This works best for 3rd - 5th graders, they are capable or wrapping gifts, but haven’t had much practice yet.
Select 2 small boxes of equal size. Gift wrap them. Cut extra sheets of wrapping paper to fit the size of the box. You will need one piece of wrapping paper for each child.
Divide the children into teams.
To play the game, a team member will leave their group, run to the gift station, unwrap the gift, rewrap the gift, and run back to tag the next team member. The first team to have each member wrap the gift wins.
To tease the teams before they start, a gift that rattles adds a fun touch. A box of macaroni and cheese works and it gives them a laugh when the first person unwraps it too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I arrived after the designated party start time today, having just returned for E3's gymnastics class. As I made my way down the school hallway I could hear excited shouting and wondered what was going on...I was passing classrooms where the teacher was reading a Christmas book...where the kids were watching a movie... All the quiet activities I was seeing were in direct contrast to all the enthusiasm I was hearing. And then, I arrived at the third grade classroom.
HOO-Boy - they were playing the relay and were having a grand old time. A couple of kids came over to tell me it was a fun game, and the principal even stopped in to watch the end of the relay. The last two contestants were E1 and Mrs W - and E1 won! Just by one piece of tape, really, but there was much jumping and celebrating all around and random third graders hugged me. The third grade students had brought school supplies, toys, and food items to donate, so I think the mac-n-cheese got added to that booty.
Then it was on to the kindergarten classroom. Mrs R was reading Twas The Night Before Christmas when I entered, but when she saw me she said (not breaking her story-reader-tone), "Your chimney game was a huge hit." The kg LOVED it, and apparently the Pre-K class did as well. As school dismissal was approaching, I told Mrs R she could keep the chimney game if she wanted. She was so excited I was almost embarrassed, "Really?! You don't want to keep it?! I'd love to keep it!"
In the end though, as E2 and I were walking down the hall, E2 asked, "Hey, what about our chimney game?" and I told her I'd given it to Mrs R. She was bummed. So, we went back and told Mrs R we were going to borrow it over Christmas and then we'd bring it back to her. Hopefully the teachers weren't planning on playing it at their party after school.
I'm feeling pretty darn satisfied by the results of my efforts with some boxes, paint, and wrapping paper. I was the cool Mom today.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
How Do You Like Your Brownies?
Tonight is the Christmas play at church, and I think the girls will be glad it's over. They don't have lead roles, but were expected at every practice anyway. I understand the WHY, I'm not knocking that, but it was more involved than our family anticipated.
There's a cookie reception after the play (of course, because nothing can ever just END and be OVER these days) and I was asked to bake something. As I was putting Hershey's Kisses on top of the mini-muffin sized brownies this morning, I was mentally congratulating myself for making something peanut-free for E3. Now I wouldn't have to search out a treat for her, or track someone down to ask about ingredients. Just to be sure, I checked the box of brownie mix because I've been fooled before (curse you, Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, and animal crackers too!)...and it would turn out that I'd been fooled again. The mix contained chunks of chocolate, and so, it also carried the "may contain peanuts" label. BAH!
But, it also brought to mind the question: How do you prefer your brownies?
A. Cake-like
B. Fudgy
C. Did someone say 'brownies'?
There's a cookie reception after the play (of course, because nothing can ever just END and be OVER these days) and I was asked to bake something. As I was putting Hershey's Kisses on top of the mini-muffin sized brownies this morning, I was mentally congratulating myself for making something peanut-free for E3. Now I wouldn't have to search out a treat for her, or track someone down to ask about ingredients. Just to be sure, I checked the box of brownie mix because I've been fooled before (curse you, Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, and animal crackers too!)...and it would turn out that I'd been fooled again. The mix contained chunks of chocolate, and so, it also carried the "may contain peanuts" label. BAH!
But, it also brought to mind the question: How do you prefer your brownies?
A. Cake-like
B. Fudgy
C. Did someone say 'brownies'?
Friday, December 15, 2006
Random Things
To keep my brain from exploding, I'm going to spew out a few things that are floating around in there with the hope that they'll leave me alone.
I have a lot of gift wrapping to do - for myself, and for my Mother-in-law.
The Christmas concert for E1 & E2's gradeschool happened Wed. E3 and F, spoiled by the highly entertaining programs the KG has put on so far this year, were eager to go home halfway through the show.
I need to bake the cookies for Sunday before I eat all the dough.
Sunday is the Christmas play at church. E2 is singing with her Sunday School class, and E1 is singing with the Children's choir. Last Sat at practice she was recruited to be a shepherd*. It's a non-speaking role, and she was pretty pleased to be 'needed' for that even though she didn't want to try-out for a role at the beginning.
*Shepherd is the word I missed in the spelling bee back in 8th grade. I forgot the second 'h'.
I have a lot of gift wrapping to do - for myself, and for my Mother-in-law.
The Christmas concert for E1 & E2's gradeschool happened Wed. E3 and F, spoiled by the highly entertaining programs the KG has put on so far this year, were eager to go home halfway through the show.
I need to bake the cookies for Sunday before I eat all the dough.
Sunday is the Christmas play at church. E2 is singing with her Sunday School class, and E1 is singing with the Children's choir. Last Sat at practice she was recruited to be a shepherd*. It's a non-speaking role, and she was pretty pleased to be 'needed' for that even though she didn't want to try-out for a role at the beginning.
*Shepherd is the word I missed in the spelling bee back in 8th grade. I forgot the second 'h'.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Cheap Date
Well, really, cheap entertainment would be more accurate.
E1, E2, Mom and I attended the Christmas concert at my old high school tonight. Good times, including forced audience participation in singing The Twelve Days of Christmas. This year, we were in the back and got lumped in with the Twelve Drummers Drumming crowd. One year, though, we were with the Partridges in a Pear Tree which was exhausting since the whole group stands to sing their part. Highly entertaining, and often hilarious, it's an event we look forward to every year for that song alone. The cookies and hot cocoa are a bonus.
I'm still busy...but I've got the calendars orderd, as well as the Christmas cards. I think I'm pretty much done with shopping, with maybe a minor thing to pick up here or there. I need to get to wrapping all the things the girls can't wrap for me (like their own gifts from the big man), and I promised Grandma Carol I'd wrap her stuff too.
I wanted to add the lyrics to Busy Busy Busy from Sandra Boynton's Philadelphia Chickens album, but I couldn't find them on a quick search...I'm going to wing (HA!) the first verse from memory...(imagine Kevin Kline singing)
We're very very busy
And we've got a lot to do
And we haven't got a minute
To explain it all to you
For on SundayMondayTuesday
There are people we must see
And on WednesdayThursdayFriday
We're as busy as can be!
With our most important meetings
And our most important calls
And we have to do so many things
And post them on the walls
That about sums things up for me. I'm really missing reading all my usual blogs.
For those of you interested in spreading some Holiday Elfin Magic, check out the ad for "The Find" on the right sidebar of this blog. If you enter a search for anything with the word "red" in it, they will donate $1 to Doctors without Borders , with the goal of a $10,000 donation. Go do some clicking in the interest of peace on Earth and good will towards man, because it's fun to see all the "red" things you can search for over there.
E1, E2, Mom and I attended the Christmas concert at my old high school tonight. Good times, including forced audience participation in singing The Twelve Days of Christmas. This year, we were in the back and got lumped in with the Twelve Drummers Drumming crowd. One year, though, we were with the Partridges in a Pear Tree which was exhausting since the whole group stands to sing their part. Highly entertaining, and often hilarious, it's an event we look forward to every year for that song alone. The cookies and hot cocoa are a bonus.
I'm still busy...but I've got the calendars orderd, as well as the Christmas cards. I think I'm pretty much done with shopping, with maybe a minor thing to pick up here or there. I need to get to wrapping all the things the girls can't wrap for me (like their own gifts from the big man), and I promised Grandma Carol I'd wrap her stuff too.
I wanted to add the lyrics to Busy Busy Busy from Sandra Boynton's Philadelphia Chickens album, but I couldn't find them on a quick search...I'm going to wing (HA!) the first verse from memory...(imagine Kevin Kline singing)
We're very very busy
And we've got a lot to do
And we haven't got a minute
To explain it all to you
For on SundayMondayTuesday
There are people we must see
And on WednesdayThursdayFriday
We're as busy as can be!
With our most important meetings
And our most important calls
And we have to do so many things
And post them on the walls
That about sums things up for me. I'm really missing reading all my usual blogs.
For those of you interested in spreading some Holiday Elfin Magic, check out the ad for "The Find" on the right sidebar of this blog. If you enter a search for anything with the word "red" in it, they will donate $1 to Doctors without Borders , with the goal of a $10,000 donation. Go do some clicking in the interest of peace on Earth and good will towards man, because it's fun to see all the "red" things you can search for over there.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
I Hate Jack Frost
Tonight we took E1 & E2 to see The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. I borrowed the first two movies from the library and we watched the first Clause movie last weekend and the second Clause movie tonight. After the movie ended, I hopped online to see how much time we had to see Clause 3 in the theatre. We had until Thursday, unless they decided to extend it. It's a busy week here, and Thursday night is the only one we have open...but the in-law's aren't available to babysit E3 that night. However, there was still one showing tonight at 7 and the in-laws were home, so we scarfed down some pizza, dropped E3 off, and away we went.
I think this movie is equally entertaining as the first two, and there were pleanty of places where the girls laughed. However, Martin Short's character, Jack Frost, was a bit ruthless in carrying out his jealousy of Santa. So much so, that at one point E2 got out of her seat to come sit on my lap. Rob pulled her onto his lap and reminded her that it was pretend, just a movie; but not before some tears were shed. She's six, so if you're taking a little one to see the movie you might want to give it a little extra consideration or check out Kids In Mind . Jack Frost was all she could talk about on the way home.
And she hates him.
I think this movie is equally entertaining as the first two, and there were pleanty of places where the girls laughed. However, Martin Short's character, Jack Frost, was a bit ruthless in carrying out his jealousy of Santa. So much so, that at one point E2 got out of her seat to come sit on my lap. Rob pulled her onto his lap and reminded her that it was pretend, just a movie; but not before some tears were shed. She's six, so if you're taking a little one to see the movie you might want to give it a little extra consideration or check out Kids In Mind . Jack Frost was all she could talk about on the way home.
And she hates him.
Friday, December 08, 2006
My New Boyfriend
I'm deep in the trenches of holiday photo stuff. I've been tinkering around with our holiday card, and working on the annual family calendar we create for my Father-in-law's side of the family.
The card, is something new and different - at least for us, and I'm excited to see it in-hand.
The calendar has been a bit of a hassle this year. This will be the 11th year we've made a family calendar, and every year we've taken our business to Kinko's. They do a nice job, and they've got the best price for an order of 20 plus calendars. I print our own calendar pages, adding every birthday, anniversary, wedding, and expected baby; the families provide the pictures - one of mom and dad, one of the kids (and now grandkids). Grandma gets the cover shot.
This year, after some checking at my usual online developer, Snapfish, I realized they now offer a photo-a-month calendar where I could add our dates. WHEE! I can get the calendars done without leaving the house. AND? It would cost less. SCORE.
Unfortunately, their calendar only allows for one event per date. Father-in-law's family, Bohemians that they are, actually have some date-sharing going within the clan. Two dates even have THREE events. They're crazy like that. I've tried threatening, and also announcing that those two dates are off limits for weddings, and all significant others that are being considered as marriage-worthy need to have their birthdates cleared by me. I try to go easy on the babies being born, but in this day and age I could probably order them up at my convenience, right? Doctors do it, so it must be okay.
Being a long-time customer of Snapfish, I appealed to a service rep through a live chat...only to be stopped short with a choppy version of Thanks for your suggestion. We can't do that right now, but we'll pass it along to research and development. Realizing that, surely if they knew it was ME, person who orders a bazillion pictures and her holiday cards every year from them they'd be more eager to help. So, I logged in to my account and sent them a message through their 'contact' link. I explained the situation: annual calendar, 50+ people = multiple events on some dates, big order - at least 20 calendars. Still, I got the email version of Thanks for your suggestion. We can't do that right now, but we'll pass it along to research and development.
So, it was back to Kinko's. Until today...
I saw the idea for my holiday cards on another blog, and I would love to link to her site, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for...well, my sister-in law and my sister Amy, I guess, because they're the only family members reading along here as far as I know...but, anyway, don't want to ruin the surprise. However, in my quest to create my new and exciting holiday cards I was led to the online photo site Shutterfly. As I was looking at the photo gifts they offer, I noticed they too offer a photo calendar.
And I can add events.
Three. Events. Per. Date.
Since I'm a new customer, Shutterfly is giving me free shipping, which makes my toes curl in delight.
Also, shopping at Shutterfly through Babymint will send 12% of my purchase to the 529 college savings account. SWOON
So, if I'm not around it could be because I'm busy with holiday stuff. Or, it could be because I'm having an online affair with my new boyfriend Shutterfly.
The card, is something new and different - at least for us, and I'm excited to see it in-hand.
The calendar has been a bit of a hassle this year. This will be the 11th year we've made a family calendar, and every year we've taken our business to Kinko's. They do a nice job, and they've got the best price for an order of 20 plus calendars. I print our own calendar pages, adding every birthday, anniversary, wedding, and expected baby; the families provide the pictures - one of mom and dad, one of the kids (and now grandkids). Grandma gets the cover shot.
This year, after some checking at my usual online developer, Snapfish, I realized they now offer a photo-a-month calendar where I could add our dates. WHEE! I can get the calendars done without leaving the house. AND? It would cost less. SCORE.
Unfortunately, their calendar only allows for one event per date. Father-in-law's family, Bohemians that they are, actually have some date-sharing going within the clan. Two dates even have THREE events. They're crazy like that. I've tried threatening, and also announcing that those two dates are off limits for weddings, and all significant others that are being considered as marriage-worthy need to have their birthdates cleared by me. I try to go easy on the babies being born, but in this day and age I could probably order them up at my convenience, right? Doctors do it, so it must be okay.
Being a long-time customer of Snapfish, I appealed to a service rep through a live chat...only to be stopped short with a choppy version of Thanks for your suggestion. We can't do that right now, but we'll pass it along to research and development. Realizing that, surely if they knew it was ME, person who orders a bazillion pictures and her holiday cards every year from them they'd be more eager to help. So, I logged in to my account and sent them a message through their 'contact' link. I explained the situation: annual calendar, 50+ people = multiple events on some dates, big order - at least 20 calendars. Still, I got the email version of Thanks for your suggestion. We can't do that right now, but we'll pass it along to research and development.
So, it was back to Kinko's. Until today...
I saw the idea for my holiday cards on another blog, and I would love to link to her site, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for...well, my sister-in law and my sister Amy, I guess, because they're the only family members reading along here as far as I know...but, anyway, don't want to ruin the surprise. However, in my quest to create my new and exciting holiday cards I was led to the online photo site Shutterfly. As I was looking at the photo gifts they offer, I noticed they too offer a photo calendar.
And I can add events.
Three. Events. Per. Date.
Since I'm a new customer, Shutterfly is giving me free shipping, which makes my toes curl in delight.
Also, shopping at Shutterfly through Babymint will send 12% of my purchase to the 529 college savings account. SWOON
So, if I'm not around it could be because I'm busy with holiday stuff. Or, it could be because I'm having an online affair with my new boyfriend Shutterfly.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Super Secret Society
I've mentioned here before that my younger (and crazier*) sister has ALS. It's a challenging and stressful life she and her husband lead these days. I try to do my part to keep morale up by sending email with silly photos, funny things I've read online, or the crazy/funny dialog of the kids (mine and hers).
Amy is fiercely independent (that's a polite way of saying she's damn mule-headed) and is fighting every day to maintain that independence. Over the last year and a half, our family has been approached many times by individuals asking of ways they could be of help. It's hard to speak for someone else on matters like that, particularly when looking from the outside gives you a view of things you think need help but those on the inside have an entirely different opinion on what - if any- kind of help is needed.
Some time ago, I was emailed a link to a website for The Fans of Amy and Nelson. Seems someone got tired of our stone-walling and took matters into their own hands, sending them anonymous gifts. Nelson, is particularly giddy about the development because many of the gifts are aimed at his gut in the form of gift certificates for food. As anyone who is the main 'food cooker' for a family will attest: food is always better when you don't have to cook it yourself.
It's nice to see elfin magic at work for something more than just chocolate covered graham crackers. I think she reads my blog, so if you'd like to spread your own elfin magic you can leave a comment for her. Bonus points if you make her snort.
* She's crazy, but not as crazy as the photo on that site would have you think.
Amy is fiercely independent (that's a polite way of saying she's damn mule-headed) and is fighting every day to maintain that independence. Over the last year and a half, our family has been approached many times by individuals asking of ways they could be of help. It's hard to speak for someone else on matters like that, particularly when looking from the outside gives you a view of things you think need help but those on the inside have an entirely different opinion on what - if any- kind of help is needed.
Some time ago, I was emailed a link to a website for The Fans of Amy and Nelson. Seems someone got tired of our stone-walling and took matters into their own hands, sending them anonymous gifts. Nelson, is particularly giddy about the development because many of the gifts are aimed at his gut in the form of gift certificates for food. As anyone who is the main 'food cooker' for a family will attest: food is always better when you don't have to cook it yourself.
It's nice to see elfin magic at work for something more than just chocolate covered graham crackers. I think she reads my blog, so if you'd like to spread your own elfin magic you can leave a comment for her. Bonus points if you make her snort.
* She's crazy, but not as crazy as the photo on that site would have you think.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Ice, Ice, Baby
The un-seasonal weather of two days ago is a thing of the past.
Today we have this:
And this:
The girls had big plans of snowballs and sledding on this impromptu day off, but all they managed was to pick tiny icicles off of as many things that they could.
The Girl Scout sock-hop, scheduled for tonight, was also cancelled due to the weather, which resulted in E1 & E2 cursing the very snow and ice that had given them this day off of school...
E2: “I hate snow and ice.”
E1: “Yeah. Why can’t it just stay green? It’s only December first; it’s not like it’s winter or anything.”
And this:
The girls had big plans of snowballs and sledding on this impromptu day off, but all they managed was to pick tiny icicles off of as many things that they could.
The Girl Scout sock-hop, scheduled for tonight, was also cancelled due to the weather, which resulted in E1 & E2 cursing the very snow and ice that had given them this day off of school...
E2: “I hate snow and ice.”
E1: “Yeah. Why can’t it just stay green? It’s only December first; it’s not like it’s winter or anything.”
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