tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75810512996063354472024-03-13T10:50:11.946-07:00The Mama DramaloguesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03733854662944058955noreply@blogger.comBlogger467125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-74231613582493292122022-06-13T14:56:00.001-07:002022-06-13T14:56:50.168-07:00The Great Grocery Debate!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkQGQnDGW3Wf-rN18_ysLbtHxcrgldpaM8sVqinWH2bVghW88gtbRL7-ORzeh3jnPW7rUUst0_T8BrO-6ydtqPqs1uGDhkmfG0UpF2Za2-mG2j5TExFMxdMIjsHArWb3aZmPgiefRiHJVA8ziu4_djLHsaCohsNOb8Cs4zJhkZICFcFJrKo0jqLnE/s269/Grocery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="269" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkQGQnDGW3Wf-rN18_ysLbtHxcrgldpaM8sVqinWH2bVghW88gtbRL7-ORzeh3jnPW7rUUst0_T8BrO-6ydtqPqs1uGDhkmfG0UpF2Za2-mG2j5TExFMxdMIjsHArWb3aZmPgiefRiHJVA8ziu4_djLHsaCohsNOb8Cs4zJhkZICFcFJrKo0jqLnE/w312-h217/Grocery.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><p></p><p>Hello Mamas! It's been a while! I thought I'd share some grocery shopping insight I've recently discovered. To preface, I am a sale shopper. I will RARELY ever pay retail prices on anything. It physically pains me to do so. So, with that said, I thought I'd share my thoughts on two different grocery shopping services in my area (Oregon). In this edition of Versus, we're pitting </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwr9NK3ebTgFu0vRnKsptsuDOKq3_V4AxfjMxFKlEWH9tdCBjeyuiTCJLbMwfatpXyFmoocpIiCe5lxev7pFKhDepr_F6YTHmxI9TEPg0ApBOhANChpbqp_3EYVTFS0xfF0Lt253eBvR24swXDC0qKcJ6JRID3irY9bP6fHg8hf26KVWRTafX1Oe5/s3840/Safeway.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwr9NK3ebTgFu0vRnKsptsuDOKq3_V4AxfjMxFKlEWH9tdCBjeyuiTCJLbMwfatpXyFmoocpIiCe5lxev7pFKhDepr_F6YTHmxI9TEPg0ApBOhANChpbqp_3EYVTFS0xfF0Lt253eBvR24swXDC0qKcJ6JRID3irY9bP6fHg8hf26KVWRTafX1Oe5/w187-h105/Safeway.png" width="187" /></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">vs</span></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHChQ1vYCz94FKtd0zySDlZj7Io5tOBFGvE7kVBwoJYR3i6qb7_5cJSP89MoFYbFsV8ELjMJicJQeaUgZFD93pP2-HtLy7Gwv5MTDq0y5z0ZxO_jYMnVUL8IVTcrcPnlP5J6fxeXf1Kau4w9wQFDPr4aV66-eY2mLcNj7wzSCRJCwwe40BYs_4pgVP/s960/walmart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="960" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHChQ1vYCz94FKtd0zySDlZj7Io5tOBFGvE7kVBwoJYR3i6qb7_5cJSP89MoFYbFsV8ELjMJicJQeaUgZFD93pP2-HtLy7Gwv5MTDq0y5z0ZxO_jYMnVUL8IVTcrcPnlP5J6fxeXf1Kau4w9wQFDPr4aV66-eY2mLcNj7wzSCRJCwwe40BYs_4pgVP/w118-h110/walmart.jpg" width="118" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><google-sheets-html-origin style="text-align: start;"><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; table-layout: fixed; width: 0px;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><colgroup><col width="149"></col><col width="218"></col><col width="218"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 17px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Offers Delivery"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Offers Delivery</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Yes, for a fee or w/plan"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Yes, for a fee or w/plan</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Yes, for a fee or w/plan"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Yes, for a fee or w/plan</td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Offers Pick-up"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Offers Pick-up</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Free w/$30 purchase"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Free w/$30 purchase</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Free w/$35 purchase"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Free w/$35 purchase</td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Delivery Plan"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Delivery Plan</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Freshpass $99/yr"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Freshpass $99/yr</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Walmart+ $98/yr"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Walmart+ $98/yr</td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Plan Includes:"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Plan Includes:</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Plan Includes:"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Plan Includes:</td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"$5 monthly credit"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">$5 monthly credit</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Free shipping"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Free shipping</td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Free Delivery on orders over $30"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Free Delivery on orders over $30</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Free Delivery on orders over $35"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Free Delivery on orders over $35</td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Monthly Starbucks Perk"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Monthly Starbucks Perk</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Scan & Go Service (no checkout)"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Scan & Go Service (no checkout)</td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Save 5% on Organic Line"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Save 5% on Organic Line</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;"></td></tr><tr style="height: 17px;"><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Item Substitutions"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Item Substitutions</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Yes, unless you opt out"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Yes, unless you opt out</td><td data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"Yes, unless you opt out"}" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 3px; vertical-align: bottom;">Yes, unless you opt out</td></tr></tbody></table></google-sheets-html-origin></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I subscribe to Safeway Freshpass and do Walmart pick-ups. After using Safeway since February, I will not be renewing next year and will strongly consider using Walmart's annual plan. <div><br /></div><div>Safeway Pros</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Their sale prices, and Just 4 U prices, are usually better than Walmart's regular price and that adds up. I typically split my weekly groceries between the two depending on who has the better price.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>Safeway Cons</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Every. Single. Order. Is. Wrong! I order weekly and almost every week I have to contact customer service. Issues I've run into are sale prices not being honored, out of stock items negating a sale price on items received (ie, buy 5 for $1ea, must buy 5, I get 3 delivered and pay full price for the 3), and substitutions are sometimes weird (I got a bag of tortilla chips as a substitution for fabric softener that was out of stock). A big note on Safeway substitutions, if you opt for them, you could be sorely disappointed as the substituted item may be three times the price of your out of stock item, but you'll be charged full price for the substitution. I've opted out of them all together because I've been burned too many times on out of stock items.</li><li>I HATE HATE HATE all the damn plastic bags! You can't opt out of them, and that makes sense for delivery, but seriously, so much plastic! And sometimes, they'll put one or two items in a bag. Fill those suckers up! At 10 cents a pop, you'd better be filling them up with grocery goodness.</li><li>With the number of out of stock items, I usually have to make a weekly in-store trip anyway. The bright side is I have less items to pick-up.</li></ul><div>Walmart Pros</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When they substitute an item, they honor the price of the item you originally ordered. They will also send you an email asking if the substitutions are okay before you pick-up, so you can say "no, thank you" and they'll remove them from your order.</li><li>You don't have to use bags! I LOVE this feature. I can opt out of bags when checking out online and when they bring out my groceries, they put them straight into a bin in my trunk and I can forego all that awful plastic.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Walmart Cons</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I honestly don't have any other than the fact that's it's Walmart and I have a love/hate relationship. This might be different if I used their delivery service, but my biggest beef with Safeway is the substitutions and I already prefer Walmart's way of handling that.</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div>So there you have it. My two cents. I may be the only one to ever read this, but this is the type of stuff I search for online when I want to compare services, so to my other "me," you're welcome. :-)</div><div><p><br /></p></div></div></div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-11667520975173349102015-01-16T10:14:00.000-08:002015-01-16T10:14:55.907-08:00The Groupon Racket - If You Groupon, You Need to Read<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N6KSmfXz5dc/VLlQ3OOqLPI/AAAAAAAAC2Y/jXdAWS4CkSw/s1600/groupon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N6KSmfXz5dc/VLlQ3OOqLPI/AAAAAAAAC2Y/jXdAWS4CkSw/s1600/groupon.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disclaimer: Sorry, it's long, but bear with me, it's an important read if you Groupon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ah, the Groupon. The steal of a deal and sometimes the only way we can justify a spa trip for ourselves. "But Honey, it was half off! So now my hair is too, do you like it?" I've found plenty a good deal and have discovered some new favorite places.<br />
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This is all well and good, but what happens when your Groupon expires? First thought, "Crap." Then you start scouring the fine print to find out exactly what that means. Most of us assume that the paid value can be used for anything that that business offers. Like a store credit. Myth number one.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To illustrate, I shall use my own personal example. For my last birthday, my parents gave me a Groupon for Picture It On Canvas. The deal was for a 16x20" print with free shipping for $26.99.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-elrFYy_w4DY/VLlQ-xspNGI/AAAAAAAAC2o/mr__X-K9VFc/s1600/PictureIt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-elrFYy_w4DY/VLlQ-xspNGI/AAAAAAAAC2o/mr__X-K9VFc/s1600/PictureIt.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Picture It On Canvas! Make sure it's a photo of <br />
you bending over."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Well, oops, I let it expire. I figured I'd use the $26.99 on some other deal on their site. Then Picture It On Canvas had a sale, 16x20" prints for $24 plus $12.95 shipping. Cool, I'll just apply my $26.99 to that and pay the difference. Myth number two.<br />
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When I tried to check out, I was unable to because the Groupon voucher needs to be entered in the coupon field and you need to enter a coupon to get the $24 deal. Two coupons cannot be combined in a single transaction. Even though the Groupon is no longer a "coupon" but a credit, it's still viewed as a coupon and Picture It On Canvas requires coupon codes for sales rather than just discounting the items on their site. When I contacted them, they said the Groupon is a coupon (not a store credit) and can't be used on sale items, but full price items only. The 16x20" print is regularly $89.<br />
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Now going back to Groupon, I contacted their customer service to find out how I could use my Groupon as a credit and not a coupon (as the promotional portion is expired) and as far I can tell, they're confused. We'll see where this goes. If you read the print on the vouchers it says that once the promotional value expires, the paid value can be used on the original item, or if it's no longer available, something else the business offers. <i>Nowhere does it say, excluding sale priced items.</i><br />
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What does this mean? It means I can buy the print on sale for $36.95 (with shipping) and be stuck with an unusable $26.99 Groupon or I can buy the same print for $74.96 (after Groupon voucher). So, I guess Groupon and Picture It On Canvas get to be $26.99 richer and neither of them had to earn it.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ubn6N8dAYk4/VLlQ-1mqdEI/AAAAAAAAC2s/844xEUxx97A/s1600/money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ubn6N8dAYk4/VLlQ-1mqdEI/AAAAAAAAC2s/844xEUxx97A/s1600/money.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, please take my money. No, I don't need anything<br />
in return. It's yours.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This got me to wondering about how many unused expired Groupons are out there?! I know I'm not the only one passing up on an offer to pay full price just to use an expired Groupon. I went through my history and found two Groupons I had gifted to someone else, that went unused. Again, Groupon and the business are now $24 richer and neither of them earned it. I could use the vouchers myself, but I would have to pay full price then apply the amount I already paid to Groupon (so still paying full price). It's also not a business I would have personally used, but I was sure the person I'd given it to would have.<br />
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The thing is, if this were any other business, I would have a store credit, to use on any other item, sale or not. After all, the business has already been paid, I'm just looking for something to spend my money on. But it's not any other business, it's Groupon. I don't know about you, but this seems shady and Groupon is making a killing. Lesson learned, be wary purchasing Groupons for yourself or others unless you KNOW it will get used before it expires. Otherwise, you're gambling and likely throwing money away. Then the terrorists win. Or Groupon does anyway.<br />
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<br />Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-64333705338091936862015-01-12T06:00:00.000-08:002015-01-12T06:00:04.982-08:00My Baby You'll Be<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is my first baby, Ozzy. Long before I had biological babies, Ozzy stole my heart with those soulful eyes and just-love-me-into-a-cuddle-coma attitude. It didn't hurt that at the shelter, he peed on my husband to solidify the bond that he belonged to us.<br />
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At the time, we weren't looking for another dog, just a hamburger at the Wendy's next door to the shelter. Isn't that how it always happens, though? You can't actively look for love, it will find you when you least expect it. Especially if you order the cheeseburger combo with a side or adoptable adorable.<br />
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Yes, my first baby weighed in at about 7 pounds and 15 inches long, with the shelter given name of Little Man, but we knew that had to change. On the car ride home, my husband and I debated the name game, and you know how that goes. He loves Barney, you hate it. You love Fitz and he threatens to crash the car. So we turned on the radio while we brainstormed. "I'm goin' off the rails on a crazy traaaainn...." We both started bobbing our heads. There's nothing a little Ozzman can't fix. Wait a minute! Yup, loved the name. And his name was Ozzy and he was perfect.<br />
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You know how you're not supposed to pick favorites? Well, I did and so did Ozzy. I couldn't go anywhere without a little Ozzy shadow and even if he was all cuddled up with my husband on the couch, as soon as I sat down, he'd bolt over and cuddle into me. We were soul mates. In fact, we were so attached at the hip, that he was, unfortunately, standing under me when my water broke as I was getting out of the bathtub (pregnant with my first daughter). Oh memories.<br />
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Over Twelve years, two moves and two kiddos later, Ozzy grew old, grey and content. We found out in December that Ozzy had kidney stones and a herniated bladder (an injury he likely incurred when he took on a raccoon several years ago. PS, Raccoon 1 - Ozzy 0). The corrective surgery would have been about $4K, but due to his age (guesstimated about 14 years) and his grade 4 heart murmur and collapsing trachea, he wasn't a great candidate for surgery. Even if he survived the surgery, he would likely have had heart failure.<br />
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Naturally, I was devastated by this news. We held out hope that with a diet change and healing thoughts, Ozzy might turnaround. And he did, for about two weeks. Long enough to "snuzzle" (my daughter's word) a little longer, and for my kiddos to come to terms with the inevitable loss. Three days before Christmas, my baby died and I've been in limbo ever since.<br />
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I've researched stages of grief, and I've checked off anger (sorry Family) and guilt. I had the<br />
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hardest time telling people that my dog died, when really, I felt like I had killed him by taking him in to the vet and letting her do it. This was all magnified by the fact that I was holding him the entire time (Husband and girls went to get burgers. I now see the irony). I felt it only right that I be the one with him, given that he was mine and I was his. I've now entered the annoyingly persistent phase of depression and honestly, have a hard time believing there's an end to it. Like reading the Twilight books, but for real.<br />
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I didn't write this with the intent to throw a pity party or hear another "I'm so sorry for your loss," but more because I've come to realize that this level of grief is something I'm completely unfamiliar with and I hope that writing this down will somehow be therapeutic. I've lost loves in the past (most notably my grandfather a couple of years ago) but this sense of loss is so overwhelming that it makes me feel guilty I didn't struggle like this previously. I had no idea it could hurt this much. I'm turning into a weeping recluse who feels pajamas are a valid wardrobe choice and, on most days, showering is too high maintenance. Especially since staying in has the awesome appeal of avoiding other people. To those who know, you've been here, I'm truly sorry, I get it. To those who don't, I hope you never have to.<br />
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There are many people who would say, "He was just a dog" and to them I would say, "I'm sorry you have never experienced unconditional love in the truest sense of those words." To which they may respond, "Yes, I have. I have children." And to that I would reply, "Exactly. Then you do understand."</div>
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<i>Holly</i></div>
Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-57343477623047017202012-05-10T06:00:00.000-07:002013-03-30T15:08:59.726-07:00What I Need<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzDxIryfn-iKmGarm4kR9kNqimCiHlO8-RUCmL2PeEtSU_6Wv46pcSBWPxXBtwhm3rsbOWKNLjKhtVxeoOIMfo5n3mfyTYtOTwI2pVNnCpDQY1s0xtoOwR0943puagtAXLyauo5W7LL8/s1600/P1010136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdzDxIryfn-iKmGarm4kR9kNqimCiHlO8-RUCmL2PeEtSU_6Wv46pcSBWPxXBtwhm3rsbOWKNLjKhtVxeoOIMfo5n3mfyTYtOTwI2pVNnCpDQY1s0xtoOwR0943puagtAXLyauo5W7LL8/s320/P1010136.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
As I went to tuck my girls into bed, my 5-year-old proudly showed me a photo of herself attached to the front of her play hutch.<br />
"Look Mom, it's me!"<br />
"Yes, it is, but you don't have any tape. How is it stuck there?" I asked as I pulled it off and found my fingers were all wet.<br />
"I, just spitted on it."<br />
Oh lovely. "Ryah, spit is not an adhesive, please don't do that again."<br />
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Before having kids, I knew that all I wanted to have was boys. A family of boys sounded perfect to me. So when I found out I was having a girl the first time, I was actually pretty upset. The second time around, I knew that given my husband's family history, a boy was likely not in the cards, but I still hoped. Alas, no, another girl.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, I love my girls, but we all have an idea of what we hope our future family will be and when the picture changes, we can have all kinds of emotions. I know there are plenty of moms out there who have all boys and want exactly what I have. I've come to realize that you don't get what you want, you get what you need and sometimes the two aren't the same.<br />
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But I digress, because in actuality, I have all the "boys" I need, especially with my second daughter. My little tomboy is thrilled to play in the dirt, excitedly shows me the slug in her hand that she's just found, is happiest when being active and is the funniest little ham. There's also no shortage of gross-out factor with her.<br />
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The other night, I was getting the two ready for a bath and I turned around when I heard Ryah say, "Look Mom, I can itch my bum on the rug just like the dog in the movie!" I couldn't toss that bare bum into the tub fast enough. And seriously, ew. I should know by now, that whenever Ryah starts a sentence with "Look, Mom," I need to be prepared. <br />
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Did I also mention that destruction follows this one on a daily basis? I didn't even have to child-proof my house for my first child, but nothing is safe when Ryah is around. And I have the crayon colored walls, hole in the screen door, bent blinds, chewed on coffee table and new broken toy, to prove it. *sigh*<br />
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Now, in hindsight, I'm grateful that I only have one "boy," because I don't think the house, or my sanity could handle two. I also think I have exactly what I need... a princess and a Ryah, and I couldn't be happier.<br />
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<br />Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-71488436161428976612012-05-01T06:00:00.000-07:002012-05-06T09:44:51.992-07:00May Flowers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My sister just had twins on Easter Sunday. Her first and second child. Very excited for them. And you know what new babies means? Other than that intoxicating new baby smell? A great excuse to build a diaper cake! I'm always looking for a reason to make one of those! They just don't seem to be the best get well soon or Bat Mitzvah gift. "Um, Holly...." "Just go with it, they make great centerpieces don't they? L-chaim!" :o)<br />
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This time around, I had two awesome (and legit) reasons to make one, so naturally I had to make TWO fabulous diaper cakes, plus a bonus one just to use the "leftovers." My favorite cakes so far and I just had to share. And if you feel so inspired to make one of your own, here's the link to the <a href="http://themamadramalogues.blogspot.com/2009/10/diaper-cake-tutorial.html">previous tutorial</a> for ya.<br />
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All of the flowers, butterflies and ribbon were from the dollar store. I love that place!!<br />
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<a href=”http://thecsiproject.com” mce_href=”http://thecsiproject.com” target=”_blank”><img class="aligncenter" src="http://thecsiproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/top-10-Project-300-thecsiproject.com.png" mce_src="http://thecsiproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/top-10-Project-300-thecsiproject.com.png" alt="Visit thecsiproject.com" /a>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-52914628844848058292012-04-26T08:24:00.001-07:002012-05-06T09:46:33.089-07:00Makeup, please?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Recently, we were asked, through Facebook, a couple of questions about discussing makeup with our children :<br />
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<i><span style="color: blue;">"How do you plan on talking to young daughters about it? Do you feel it's a necessary conversation to have?"</span></i><br />
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It was a interesting question and here's what we had to say about it:<br />
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<b>Holly</b>:<br />
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"When my girls see me putting makeup on, sometimes, I'll put some blush on them. It makes them feel like princesses. I don't wear makeup very often, so when I do, my girls notice.<br />
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Neither of them has asked to wear it and if they ever do, I'll tell them I'd like them to wait until they're 12. If for no other reason, then because they have their whole lives to be grown-up and wear makeup, and should enjoy just being kids. There's also the whole cycle of wearing makeup, which causes acne, which in turn, makes you want to wear more makeup. Not fun.<br />
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I don't feel it's a necessary conversation to have, at least in my house. With how often I wear makeup, or even do my hair, for that matter; my girls don't have much of a high maintenance example to follow. When the time comes, they'll hopefully be 12 and I'll hopefully be ready to beat away the boys."<br />
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<b>Natalie</b>:<br />
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"I'm one of those moms that wears make up every day. Not a lot, but just enough to make me feel "woken up" and ready for the day. Like, Holly, if my girls happen to be in the room, I might put a little blush on them just for fun. They always ask for lip gloss too, which I don't mind putting on them. I've never felt the need to have a formal conversation with them (mostly because they're 3 and almost 5 still). They do ask questions, though, like, "why do you put that on your face?" I try to be careful with my answers because I don't want them to feel like they need make-up to be pretty. I tell them that I use a little foundation to cover up the "splotchies" and mascara so I can have eye lashes like theirs. Then I make sure and tell them how beautiful they are and that they don't need make up. But if the want to wear make up when they're older, then they can."<br />
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<b>Marisa</b>:<br />
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"I come from a family that LOVES makeup. Every present-giving holiday, my girls (ages 5 and 7) get massive make up kits from their great-grandma, to use with their dress up, and they have been getting these for about 3 years now. I allow them to wear the makeup in the house but only about once a week or so. They have to wash their faces if we have company over, or if we leave the house. They're really good about it - we've talked about how makeup is a grown up thing, like fancy jewelry (which they love) and fancy shoes and dresses and such. Other than dress up, we have a "No Makeup Until Age 13" rule, which the kids don't love, but do understand. Because they get to play with it, even if they don't get to show their glamorous (ha! yeah right) faces to the world, I haven't had many complaints."<br />
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<b>Alyssa</b>:<br />
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"I've always had very mixed feeling about makeup on young girls. I see so many of them dressed up and made up to look older than they are which sends a very scary message, in my book. At the same time, I remember my Mom letting me play with her lipstick collection, so long as it was all wiped off before I left the room. We've allowed our six year old daughter to wear a touch of lipgloss (colorless or near colorless) and nail polish. I never really set out to have a conversation about it, but when she started going to birthdays where her friends got make up as presents, it sort of forced my hand. We have the same rule that Marisa and her family have...no makeup until 13, which was the same rule I had growing up. I explained to my daughter that "make up is for grown ups" and I've tried to make the point, as others mentioned, that no one "needs" make up to be beautiful. I wear minimal make up to work and (most of the time) none at home on the weekends.<br />
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As a compromise of sorts, for dress up play at home, I bought actual face paint so I could make both of the kids (i.e. my son too) look like kitties or puppies or whatever character they want to be. To me that's more "theatrical" than making them look like they belong in Toddlers and Tiaras."<br />
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Thanks to Liz for allowing us to throw in our two cents!<br />
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How about you, have you had make up conversations with your daughters? What are your rules? Do you have any?</div>
Alyssa S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11674708702014878064noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-2256409270788653402012-04-23T06:00:00.000-07:002012-05-06T09:44:51.918-07:00Make It: Super Simple Profile Silouettes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLh0Wa2OwC0RZU8UEoqIjECzmzYKBNdyOJfDc_ya7_Tg3C2Cx35lD6_p7eXv7s7aD1ayLPrW66xPqdlW2N8Vzj-WhKsQAyMKijKBr4YWdGBj3YTCnzDz1adaEh8lo9ag9v4T8fXUpyQk/s1600/P1040270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLh0Wa2OwC0RZU8UEoqIjECzmzYKBNdyOJfDc_ya7_Tg3C2Cx35lD6_p7eXv7s7aD1ayLPrW66xPqdlW2N8Vzj-WhKsQAyMKijKBr4YWdGBj3YTCnzDz1adaEh8lo9ag9v4T8fXUpyQk/s320/P1040270.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I wanted to make sure I got some super cute silhouettes of my kids before they got too much older, but oh how to get them to sit still long enough to outline their shadows on the wall? And what about getting the silhouettes to fit into the 5x7 picture frame I had in mind? Ah ha, it's so simple, I don't know why I didn't do it sooner.<br />
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What you'll need: a camera, a window, picture frame, glue stick, scissors, card stock and a photo editing software like PhotoScape (psst, it's free) and one adorable child you'd like a profile silhouette of.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUmNkA2DXcNQB03lfzB3mo4y1nlWFu2nVpM50SApQ9bRmA8UHwdqmY_Hsl9MrPsM_bMSRfld34NzZYurYM5FY3MT5DcJ9B5FKKnWsQxHM74BEdiuzcfjuvx_ERB1JypuL6ubEl376364/s1600/P1030877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUmNkA2DXcNQB03lfzB3mo4y1nlWFu2nVpM50SApQ9bRmA8UHwdqmY_Hsl9MrPsM_bMSRfld34NzZYurYM5FY3MT5DcJ9B5FKKnWsQxHM74BEdiuzcfjuvx_ERB1JypuL6ubEl376364/s320/P1030877.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I had each of my girls sit profile in front of a window and I snapped several photos of both. After uploading them, I opened PhotoScape to edit. I think most photo editing software has this feature, but in PhotoScape, it's the button right below the sepia button on the Home tab. It's called the "Black and White" threshold button. Select the profile you want to use, then click on this button. Here's a <a href="http://www.photoscapefreedownload.net/photoscape-video-tutorial-editor-color-tone-buttons/" target="_blank">video tutorial</a> if you're still unsure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92pe3ctegmPaH5dxRu-si4pltLU9FeeSZ6NOiZyYkcJi4mTIYEUafZu0pdYK8Z0clB0bginwRoswwgUvFJl3c7jSPls2rHeF3GrIDxWlI7vk9RJYWp9Chji5Y8gFjYxxQIEI1Xf6Yzyg/s1600/P1030878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92pe3ctegmPaH5dxRu-si4pltLU9FeeSZ6NOiZyYkcJi4mTIYEUafZu0pdYK8Z0clB0bginwRoswwgUvFJl3c7jSPls2rHeF3GrIDxWlI7vk9RJYWp9Chji5Y8gFjYxxQIEI1Xf6Yzyg/s320/P1030878.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The background will turn white and the head will turn black. Adjust the threshold darker to "fill" in any white space on the face. The other cool feature, doing it this way, is that you can change the silhouette color to be anything you want. If you'd rather have a blue silhouette, simply change it with the threshold color button.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IzRxmeQMHzY/T5TJfcThWOI/AAAAAAAAB3A/E52jU0E6njQ/s1600/Silhouette+Colors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IzRxmeQMHzY/T5TJfcThWOI/AAAAAAAAB3A/E52jU0E6njQ/s320/Silhouette+Colors.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Print out your silhouette, cut it out, glue it to your card stock, and frame it. See, told you it was simple. Enjoy! :o)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfHV0is9EHZUHVISyaIaWpawEfgb9BLAxJX6qE0ZqDrr5s40_BVLIY_vfixYjMnPDSO4cK46iXzvwgWURO7FfOAVenf39AukjSw9eoNzF9xACfER0mOU2OQ_XhjA8CkFI2ay-TwWb7Ac/s1600/BlogSignature.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfHV0is9EHZUHVISyaIaWpawEfgb9BLAxJX6qE0ZqDrr5s40_BVLIY_vfixYjMnPDSO4cK46iXzvwgWURO7FfOAVenf39AukjSw9eoNzF9xACfER0mOU2OQ_XhjA8CkFI2ay-TwWb7Ac/s1600/BlogSignature.png" /></a><br />
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<br />Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-13557556941074382042012-04-20T06:00:00.001-07:002012-05-06T09:46:49.819-07:00Teriyaki Stir Fry - Meals Under 30 Minutes<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-px7PCJ_xl1w/T5DO-EQDfnI/AAAAAAAAB2M/9Lmr25UYpzw/s1600/P1040268.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5733309891330932338" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-px7PCJ_xl1w/T5DO-EQDfnI/AAAAAAAAB2M/9Lmr25UYpzw/s400/P1040268.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Looks yummy doesn't it? Oh, it was!</span></div>
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I've never posted any recipes on here before and I'll admit that I really hate to cook. Between the planning ahead to make sure I have all of the ingredients, to the actual cooking and then finally to the table where my efforts are met with, "Ew, I don't want to eat that"; I'm just really not that enthused about it. But if my cooking effort takes less than 30 minutes, I'm a little more okay with it. Especially if <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I</span> think it's tasty. The kids can have bread and water. :oP<br />
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In any event, when met with the usual burning question of, "what's for dinner?", I pulled out this recipe that I haven't made in ages and realized, I really need to bring it back into rotation! It's simple, it's fast and once you have the ingredients on hand, it's great to make in a pinch. And I love complete meals where I really don't have to make separate sides. Yay for less cooking!!<br />
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This recipe will make 4 servings. Or 2 jumbo sized ones if your kids are having bread and water.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ingredients</span><br />
<ol>
<li>2 tsp sesame oil</li>
<li>1 cup cooked chicken or beef (I cheat and buy the Safeway brand of plain cooked chicken in the meat dept, love it!!) I've also used the Costco canned chicken in this</li>
<li>10-16 oz stir-fry or Asian blend frozen veggies</li>
<li>1/4 cup teriyaki sauce</li>
<li>1 tb soy sauce</li>
<li>2 tsp rice vinegar</li>
<li>1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove minced</li>
<li>1/2 tsp corn starch</li>
<li>2 tb water</li>
<li>Toasted sesame seeds (optional)</li>
<li>Jasmine rice or noodles</li>
</ol>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Steps</span><br />
<ol>
<li>If cooking rice, give it a 5 minute head start in the rice cooker. I usually make 1 cup precooked but if everyone wants rice, make 2.</li>
<li>Heat sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add veggies and stir-fry for about 4 minutes, or until no longer frozen. In a bowl, mix teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, corn starch and water. Add sauce and meat to veggies. Stir fry over high heat until sauce thickens.</li>
<li>Serve over jasmine rice or noodles. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you so choose.</li>
<li>Enjoy!</li>
</ol>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Bonus Recipe!</span><br />
My quick version of Asian noodles:<br />
<ol>
<li>5 oz angel hair pasta</li>
<li>1/2 cup sliced green onion</li>
<li>2 tb soy sauce</li>
<li>1/2 tsp sesame oil</li>
</ol>
Cook and drain the noodles and rinse in cold water. Add onions, soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss together. You can buy Asian noodles, but they can sometimes be expensive. You may also want to slowly add these ingredients in and taste throughout to suit you.<br />
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Yum!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlQepONJbdHtbLKk9fn8QHnje-ZdZM2Z55X6Gxze7ZfCMiGBDMNmnc3DhoqqY324Gnpo9Nxy910cXCiF4199T05VoXaM9bJCNKuZWea343bpR5xPchnV4XAEPnRkvL5HDgZJvMUXOpJg/s1600/BlogSignature.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5733310254179228658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxlQepONJbdHtbLKk9fn8QHnje-ZdZM2Z55X6Gxze7ZfCMiGBDMNmnc3DhoqqY324Gnpo9Nxy910cXCiF4199T05VoXaM9bJCNKuZWea343bpR5xPchnV4XAEPnRkvL5HDgZJvMUXOpJg/s200/BlogSignature.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 100px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 95px;" /></a>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-39734342663312623892012-04-13T06:00:00.003-07:002012-05-10T13:21:08.934-07:00Take Me to Wonderland<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BeO0pPnCtVarAaYWGR8agKjZ3G_EzUjjdkCL-r4QZm2ghn76qxQZLDbcZx96s05KW2YRIaICGk_5t-7eIPxSc2_5b563FVLJfAnN45T784ZL0y8wIivk9A8sfvOjvryVg9VJjudvQO4/s1600/P1040076.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730650207594140162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BeO0pPnCtVarAaYWGR8agKjZ3G_EzUjjdkCL-r4QZm2ghn76qxQZLDbcZx96s05KW2YRIaICGk_5t-7eIPxSc2_5b563FVLJfAnN45T784ZL0y8wIivk9A8sfvOjvryVg9VJjudvQO4/s320/P1040076.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 245px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Alice anxiously awaiting her guests.</span><br />
~</div>
<br />
This was our second time to Wonderland, so fortunately, I was able to re-use some items, but I added even more this time! If you missed the first go around, you can find those posts <a href="http://themamadramalogues.blogspot.com/2009/10/down-rabbit-hole-part-3.html">here</a>. Also, for the Hat invitation tutorial see this <a href="http://themamadramalogues.blogspot.com/2012/03/everyones-mad-here.html">post</a>. For Ryah's party, we had a photo area, played croquet, painted teacup planters and had new food items! In addition to the party photos, I thought I would post a quick tutorial on the teapot strawberries I did.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XChMkqAWcF0/T4db3-QJX2I/AAAAAAAAB0w/f2UT9xn4hEg/s1600/Teapot%2BInstr.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730650068013899618" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XChMkqAWcF0/T4db3-QJX2I/AAAAAAAAB0w/f2UT9xn4hEg/s400/Teapot%2BInstr.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>I've never worked with dipping chocolate before, so they didn't turn out as pretty as I would have liked, but I know what I would do differently next time.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<ol>
<li>You'll need strawberries, pretzels, white melting chocolate and decorator frosting if you want to add the top of the teapot lid.</li>
<li>Cut off the bottom and top of the strawberry. Discard the top and place the bottom on the top for the lid.</li>
<li>Carefully break your pretzels so you have a handle and a spout.</li>
<li>Do all of your teapots before dipping (learned this the hard way).</li>
<li>Melt your chocolate and dip away. I used a flat ladle to scoop up the strawberry from the bottom, and a spoon to gently place it on wax paper to harden. Try to get all of the dipping done before reheating the chocolate. The more you have to reheat, the more lumpy it will get because the chocolate is getting cooked.</li>
<li>When it's hardened, add a little dot of frosting to the top of the "lid."</li>
<li>I don't recommend doing these too far in advance or your pretzels will get soggy. Morning of is probably best, though you might get away with the night before.</li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Now let's party!!</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7O7iqQMV8BGLcGtXHnMQ2K7YOLGACRbdFm_9oTpW6XDitcSsjXlSz61RJH-6UPDmgya9Qc5msb8WZRPabyoUB4WqG6Ug_V4CzP4kC43EWJUCBy50CVMcSB9k0b0bfeGiYMUsJFPivrI/s1600/Table.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730650010818434914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7O7iqQMV8BGLcGtXHnMQ2K7YOLGACRbdFm_9oTpW6XDitcSsjXlSz61RJH-6UPDmgya9Qc5msb8WZRPabyoUB4WqG6Ug_V4CzP4kC43EWJUCBy50CVMcSB9k0b0bfeGiYMUsJFPivrI/s400/Table.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>By the way, you can't tell, but I glued googly eyes onto the flowers in the vases on the table. So simple. I found everything at the Dollar Tree.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5HaukgwW8tKOE7fTDenZpRoPhUE7y6VWr0PgqpCbG7YTCpwvojKOZNRq_QZcTBD2KWk6FPIp09w4IeC_oYoG1UZXTXzE_0qG3Qd40xzFSV6rJhC_mjX9_4LsIRDJJ2T8dtulsKmeS0E/s1600/Food.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730649923125673330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5HaukgwW8tKOE7fTDenZpRoPhUE7y6VWr0PgqpCbG7YTCpwvojKOZNRq_QZcTBD2KWk6FPIp09w4IeC_oYoG1UZXTXzE_0qG3Qd40xzFSV6rJhC_mjX9_4LsIRDJJ2T8dtulsKmeS0E/s400/Food.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>I did make the chocolate hats. These were MUCH easier than the strawberries. You'll need marshmallows, melting chocolate, sticks and Keebler fudge stripe cookies. Shove sticks into marshmallows, then dip the marshmallows in melted chocolate. Keep upside down for a few seconds to drip off excess chocolate, then slide cookie onto the bottom. Place upside down on wax paper to harden. You may need to prop the stick with something to keep it from falling over. Then pipe frosting around the hat as a sash.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeBNX9mj1dJDvKY42MMbvDBJHR_KJkgD03wT6bQO3rpaY-gECjYRzKkpFCdJtjX4nvdy0G-e9zVCWqjwNGIYV8r71AcyvuxGLCi2WyNXSTfGnG94TaGvICkZrxpdFMSliZCg9317Cask/s1600/Activities.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730649826008613810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeBNX9mj1dJDvKY42MMbvDBJHR_KJkgD03wT6bQO3rpaY-gECjYRzKkpFCdJtjX4nvdy0G-e9zVCWqjwNGIYV8r71AcyvuxGLCi2WyNXSTfGnG94TaGvICkZrxpdFMSliZCg9317Cask/s400/Activities.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>The kids played croquet, took photos with Alice (I'll use these as thank you cards), painted teacup planters (flowers were added after they dried), pinned the grin on the Cheshire Cat, had rabbit races and played hot flamingo.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Lt8teM-F-ojMYsnbz0cpepOmPEKFryZ6Op1RnspIMH6aMucvi9z5S67VfQeBPAVqvc02QSHlhRixFGkGkzqomqTu9goo_ouprzdVunzX1RUjJw1xbfej9xSbBscJRUTEc2UVSE6X2eE/s1600/Decor.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730649760210462722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Lt8teM-F-ojMYsnbz0cpepOmPEKFryZ6Op1RnspIMH6aMucvi9z5S67VfQeBPAVqvc02QSHlhRixFGkGkzqomqTu9goo_ouprzdVunzX1RUjJw1xbfej9xSbBscJRUTEc2UVSE6X2eE/s400/Decor.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>My chandelier was by far my favorite decor item. I almost didn't want to take it down. I made paper top hats to slide over my existing shades (the light looks really cool shining through them), my friend Mandi made the umbrella the dormouse is hanging under, and I made bread butterflies using part of a template I found <a href="http://paperinside.com/characters/alice/">here</a>. I found a pack of Alice in Wonderland playing cards and each card has a different scene from the book as well as a quote. I scattered them on the table and made a cute garland with the rest.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQMwfgI0YU4HJ_BO_EqV7YFdpGHMRUDVtsV5kDoF68avXHPHS5plER2iuWFUrNFnZ_fdRriNZnEoaP7iEmz3mHDHAnoqVBCk6R085P7B_6-UaVR9xJWsCU-a5Gvs8D3rCKulbmLjkGu4/s1600/Goodies.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730649629091333602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfQMwfgI0YU4HJ_BO_EqV7YFdpGHMRUDVtsV5kDoF68avXHPHS5plER2iuWFUrNFnZ_fdRriNZnEoaP7iEmz3mHDHAnoqVBCk6R085P7B_6-UaVR9xJWsCU-a5Gvs8D3rCKulbmLjkGu4/s400/Goodies.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>I wanted the goodie bags to tie into the theme, so in each teabag, the kids received a yo-yo, pencil, white rabbit windup, large rainbow lollipop, rabbit jumper (we used these in the rabbit races), porcupine flamingo and Mad Hatter Riddle Book. I couldn't find any riddle books, so I made those as well.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
The kids had a blast and the parents appreciated all of the details. And "Alice" wore the most beautiful smile. A lot of work, but so worth it.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioi3jtTIQVk6TIKsEXLVuYXKGDULZj9cv0_i1cSCF4nydtl_FXUMnRYrOKBYkB9IpfoMUsYs5LkRqTPYLGeqx7V5-qb1aXCabANKDGul6yz645lX6OvT38el8pn0AU2YC-PelkDsJp8OU/s1600/P1040132.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730656549789504850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioi3jtTIQVk6TIKsEXLVuYXKGDULZj9cv0_i1cSCF4nydtl_FXUMnRYrOKBYkB9IpfoMUsYs5LkRqTPYLGeqx7V5-qb1aXCabANKDGul6yz645lX6OvT38el8pn0AU2YC-PelkDsJp8OU/s320/P1040132.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/winklepots/sets/72157629810177863/">Here is a link to all of the photos</a> so you can see more details on the set up (I realize some of the photos above aren't very big).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OJDHXtgvCDymh4inohcyQeSnCahSc0yp4eBVRv7Q2Udof_sy06LuN9-C7mu4a_65iqGLwE7ykYGXlGvMWWYCvl87QHQBek0jt6b-7PfmX4RR9tJqNuGJaVrdXnMXyFGJyAXIWSBVNhY/s1600/BlogSignature.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5730649489581564770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OJDHXtgvCDymh4inohcyQeSnCahSc0yp4eBVRv7Q2Udof_sy06LuN9-C7mu4a_65iqGLwE7ykYGXlGvMWWYCvl87QHQBek0jt6b-7PfmX4RR9tJqNuGJaVrdXnMXyFGJyAXIWSBVNhY/s200/BlogSignature.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 100px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 95px;" /></a><br />
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</div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-31935158233755326812012-03-22T06:00:00.001-07:002012-03-22T06:00:07.683-07:00"Everyone's Mad Here"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmQpdQxPflhAI04x5uVpkuSTzIy74I7aaOgwAKlrMuM1eMlIYEqiVxHgk8RRsKKgm_Zb-qivJdFRD6b_hOGEAzIQmEMK1JuY4j5jCwO7dZBvH-lcpzTf9B3fgaEdrW3qpmAoOaTeWLoc/s1600/P1030969.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 372px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmQpdQxPflhAI04x5uVpkuSTzIy74I7aaOgwAKlrMuM1eMlIYEqiVxHgk8RRsKKgm_Zb-qivJdFRD6b_hOGEAzIQmEMK1JuY4j5jCwO7dZBvH-lcpzTf9B3fgaEdrW3qpmAoOaTeWLoc/s400/P1030969.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722503960542660930" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Have I gone mad?"</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />"I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">tell you a secret. All the best people are."</span><br /></span></div><br /><br />My soon to be 5-year-old has decided that for her first big birthday party with friends, she'd like to throw a Mad Hatter Tea Party. I may have had a little to do with her decision (getting to re-use some old Wonderland props) but she's loving the idea and is keen to tell anyone who will listen.<br /><br />And since this time, boys will be invited, I'm taking a new approach so that all of the kids will have a great time. I'll share those ideas in later posts.<br />But, I thought I would go ahead and share a tutorial on the invitations I made for the event. I think they turned out super cute!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Supplies:<br /><ol><li>Various Printed/Colored Cardstock</li><li>White Cardstock</li><li>Feathers</li><li>Tape</li><li>Glue</li><li>Scissors</li><li>10/6 Cutouts<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-daQqHy4IKOQ/T2p6pp-k2YI/AAAAAAAABzc/Sm4N9sdQ_G0/s1600/10.6%2BCutouts"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 127px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-daQqHy4IKOQ/T2p6pp-k2YI/AAAAAAAABzc/Sm4N9sdQ_G0/s200/10.6%2BCutouts" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722521132589177218" border="0" /></a> <span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span></li><li>Template (fit to an 8.5 x11 cardstock page)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTUgl19YNAA-HujROHNZS-_tiys7riJB9JmCj36vWO6-84b5bvHdzmYKF3hQZchMuwhGtk9bLBXNU8Zhas_iOwcJ09TORH6Oxu0CpdpMtN6tejS87JRxGf7BAcN90D-sWOiY4tSjv6ek/s1600/Cutouts.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 158px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTUgl19YNAA-HujROHNZS-_tiys7riJB9JmCj36vWO6-84b5bvHdzmYKF3hQZchMuwhGtk9bLBXNU8Zhas_iOwcJ09TORH6Oxu0CpdpMtN6tejS87JRxGf7BAcN90D-sWOiY4tSjv6ek/s200/Cutouts.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722503585067499026" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnSMfx3gn9yPSXpOc7fAl6r6Tv0On5AjEfNfs7kO0KXF4iHQFyst0TZGVu8lMdBJ8Vm37p4BFK_IG4alAgiJYDGp5B9pWXuk4fYNnzMAo2B0oKv3ClZf53ofeBJjqd44Jzk53kaVhsGw/s1600/Instructions.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnSMfx3gn9yPSXpOc7fAl6r6Tv0On5AjEfNfs7kO0KXF4iHQFyst0TZGVu8lMdBJ8Vm37p4BFK_IG4alAgiJYDGp5B9pWXuk4fYNnzMAo2B0oKv3ClZf53ofeBJjqd44Jzk53kaVhsGw/s400/Instructions.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722503807851083202" border="0" /></a></li></ol><div style="text-align: left;">Steps:<br /><ol><li>There are two versions of the hat. The first version is the one I did, with the hat flipping up to reveal the invite information. The second version is to create the hat without the flap and use the back of the 10/6 card to display the invite information. Just be sure you don't glue the 10/6 card to the hat so that it can be taken out of the hat sash and turned over.</li><li>First, print out the template onto cardstock and cut out the pieces to use for tracing. The dotted line on the hat indicates where you'll need to flip it up and trace the mirror image of the hat to create the flap. If you're doing version two, disregard the dotted line.</li><li>Trace the hat and sash pieces on your pretty cardstock and be sure to flip the front sash piece over and trace to create a mirror image for the back. Cut out all pieces.</li><li>Print the 10/6 document onto cardstock and cut out. Also, print out your invitation information on cardstock paper so it measures 4x4.5". I was able to fit four invites to an 8.5x11" page.</li><li>(<span style="font-style: italic;">Ignore if doing version two</span>) Fold top of hat down and trim any overlapping edges. Glue invitation to inside.</li><li>Tape the feathers onto the hat and glue the 10/6 card. Then glue the front sash on top. If doing version two, don't glue the 10/6 card and be sure you leave an unglued gap in the sash.</li><li>Turn over and glue the back of the V shaped sash so it's under the back sash.</li><li>Voila'! Super cute invitations for the maddest of hatters.<br /></li></ol></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr9WnzAm8mjcYNrIQRxgMyWO6rCG2NwU47gclYOpttvnPMsuvedwYOS7OqvXd4z4JUwFrOykAC9otwA2h6zZ1XTlaHIynSteGjO2mCM2lZ4ekenrODR4riw_fuTKoMtECOYLEDj2Iuf0/s1600/BlogSignature.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 95px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyr9WnzAm8mjcYNrIQRxgMyWO6rCG2NwU47gclYOpttvnPMsuvedwYOS7OqvXd4z4JUwFrOykAC9otwA2h6zZ1XTlaHIynSteGjO2mCM2lZ4ekenrODR4riw_fuTKoMtECOYLEDj2Iuf0/s200/BlogSignature.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722507199123772738" border="0" /></a></div></div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-1567386026871425132012-03-01T06:00:00.002-08:002012-05-06T09:44:51.893-07:00Super Cool Wall Photo Collage<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh31C7ZRb9KmTv_DO90AEUVVGROprwFojdy4QW1BBAzCMxNb3qtWaUinXIzgMf5lot7rAiSAuNqCsQVfkZQZtTpQJDH_w4RHNRZWRv4n1NHP9JS8ha6ymkGrkzljWXF6o3eTtwgixvhdbk/s1600/P1030541.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh31C7ZRb9KmTv_DO90AEUVVGROprwFojdy4QW1BBAzCMxNb3qtWaUinXIzgMf5lot7rAiSAuNqCsQVfkZQZtTpQJDH_w4RHNRZWRv4n1NHP9JS8ha6ymkGrkzljWXF6o3eTtwgixvhdbk/s400/P1030541.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714728541989754050" border="0" /></a><br />How many of us have gotten super click happy with the digital age? Guilty! And how many of us have most, if not all, of our family photos sitting on our hard drives instead of hanging on our walls? Um, yeah, guilty of that too.<br /><br />For me, I love the idea of having family photos displayed as works of art on my walls rather than just photos on display. I found a super cute wall mural on another site and thought I'd give it a whirly go round. I think the end result is fabulous. Not to mention so easy to do!<br /><br />I chose to go with a 3x3 display, but any odd number will work (odds will always look more aesthetically pleasing to the eye). Choose your photos, and I recommend mixing outdoor, indoor, nature, artsy, buildings, etc so that you have a nice array. If you have a family member in each one, that's great, just try to have different angles, poses, distances, etc. This will avoid having an "all one look" display. Variety is the spice of life; and wall decor.<br /><br />After editing your photos (there's <a href="http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php">Photoscape</a>, which is free, and I recommend), make sure you crop them to be square. I chose 8x8 because I found that size frame at Michael's and it fit the wall I wanted to display on. Your photos will likely all look "unmatched" which is fine, but if you want to tie them all together, here are some ideas when editing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QPkDH-f6_chU06j-LJtVHealKPj8K9JZWQleBeh-zLgQRA1mBJNsVKo36KtPQBHvdPuaGneqezlWX54aPwGI4NPFgpzlzAbpmdBoTi0wrBbfkNv2m-0DkRT-xakJ7ZfZpak-XsK7Z0A/s1600/Collage.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QPkDH-f6_chU06j-LJtVHealKPj8K9JZWQleBeh-zLgQRA1mBJNsVKo36KtPQBHvdPuaGneqezlWX54aPwGI4NPFgpzlzAbpmdBoTi0wrBbfkNv2m-0DkRT-xakJ7ZfZpak-XsK7Z0A/s400/Collage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714729203104648722" border="0" /></a>"Straight-up"<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroVM4FES5qLeLRK6qEZ91gAnsB8_R3v-Hu7D6WDukNkNME0tATCrb3QSJudecunmUGVU4DZ-2pnEXDnawX43EnbiXVY45oGZtOviNoIYFd9mna-NeGjTnZ6ZOaXMZDXamV-vLF_qYx78/s1600/CollageSepia.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroVM4FES5qLeLRK6qEZ91gAnsB8_R3v-Hu7D6WDukNkNME0tATCrb3QSJudecunmUGVU4DZ-2pnEXDnawX43EnbiXVY45oGZtOviNoIYFd9mna-NeGjTnZ6ZOaXMZDXamV-vLF_qYx78/s400/CollageSepia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714729105923901538" border="0" /></a>With a Sepia Twist<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduy3LOlIoz0n0c5uq7ftnOaAZYTCpRLZyg63UJQHT5IAJb2A7ro-AozMbZcc-XWOXxt5eKj0besj766qjDWa-z1Unu3TRh12Ra6B1AnPpqBuBvNbP5CeN7m1UeS78e4kmFVAfOt9voOk/s1600/CollageBW.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhduy3LOlIoz0n0c5uq7ftnOaAZYTCpRLZyg63UJQHT5IAJb2A7ro-AozMbZcc-XWOXxt5eKj0besj766qjDWa-z1Unu3TRh12Ra6B1AnPpqBuBvNbP5CeN7m1UeS78e4kmFVAfOt9voOk/s400/CollageBW.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714728972984041106" border="0" /></a>Classic Black and White<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO___4bjFPjHXa31oc7fbUPiCC8sbaqz6VQrFw6CQwx9Yvwr2g9RAUhie_WpFl520_U5u_RGh7uKsVd-oCb40aRsMVD6SChH6kwfE_amIb3BfzIPrzty_kXNTxoA5MUAETj-Pvk85RTPk/s1600/CollageTTV.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO___4bjFPjHXa31oc7fbUPiCC8sbaqz6VQrFw6CQwx9Yvwr2g9RAUhie_WpFl520_U5u_RGh7uKsVd-oCb40aRsMVD6SChH6kwfE_amIb3BfzIPrzty_kXNTxoA5MUAETj-Pvk85RTPk/s400/CollageTTV.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714728831500134706" border="0" /></a>Using a TTV Overlay<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I used a TTV overlay in my collage. TTV stands for Through The Viewfinder. You can find free ones online. To use it, you'll need an editing software like <a href="http://www.paint.net/">paint.net</a> (which is free, yay!). Import your photo, then import the TTV. Place the TTV over your photo, then change the layer to "multiply." This will make the overlay translucent and give a cool effect which will tie all your photos together, and keep the colors.<br /><br />And if you're really fancy with photo editing, you can highlight sections of color on your photos and make the rest black and white. The possibilities are endless.<br /><br />If you have trouble finding somewhere that will print 8x8, you can use <a href="http://www.iprintfromhome.com/">iprintfromhome.com</a>. Prints are only $2 for 8x8 and shipping is free if you order $30 worth. They do a fantastic job.<br /><br />Happy muraling!! Yes, it's now a word. :oP<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6rvUKNyeIGS_nOegwdAIu8IXn5Lmc6sR0TknTbtc1OmeVvFZr-O2eoilbkMLn35j6OcxirJDX8g32e0KsxHXRm3AfrD0nJuPoDAMpXY99GljOjIVpxxpW89UfhXAh2rXqgPuagjLTY8/s1600/P1030537.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 244px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6rvUKNyeIGS_nOegwdAIu8IXn5Lmc6sR0TknTbtc1OmeVvFZr-O2eoilbkMLn35j6OcxirJDX8g32e0KsxHXRm3AfrD0nJuPoDAMpXY99GljOjIVpxxpW89UfhXAh2rXqgPuagjLTY8/s400/P1030537.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714728388947157986" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEzg2fpknfruPCBwhWl-BqL0kMXRW-barpabjayGQjcO255EFlKs9ybyg-9MewG_B-BOqUBRMbt1BXDBUe5QYMKbBlaYJHOYl3mVqb_SXR6gxA7DPynqZQeDMkDeqg29e2obCFn0HLjg/s1600/BlogSignature.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 95px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEzg2fpknfruPCBwhWl-BqL0kMXRW-barpabjayGQjcO255EFlKs9ybyg-9MewG_B-BOqUBRMbt1BXDBUe5QYMKbBlaYJHOYl3mVqb_SXR6gxA7DPynqZQeDMkDeqg29e2obCFn0HLjg/s200/BlogSignature.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5714728695116137362" border="0" /></a></div></div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-8456923707622541812012-02-22T06:00:00.003-08:002012-05-06T09:44:52.019-07:00Throwing a Girl Pirate Parrrrty<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbgx0CKkTL5uvOd3C-DKKfzgFU0wqqxhjw0fYfUw_Uc0_vfnb3pLzJhCiwwwLMMsSz2PvHqmjCSmL211yKpAHTOVJ33TrRx11NALQ60EXhy0O0p7OxEvDQ2kfirIdfXKJECoZfR7tVLk/s1600/P1030092.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbgx0CKkTL5uvOd3C-DKKfzgFU0wqqxhjw0fYfUw_Uc0_vfnb3pLzJhCiwwwLMMsSz2PvHqmjCSmL211yKpAHTOVJ33TrRx11NALQ60EXhy0O0p7OxEvDQ2kfirIdfXKJECoZfR7tVLk/s400/P1030092.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711825023924446866" border="0" /></a><br />I've been meaning to post this for a while (well, since October) but posting about pirate parties around the holidays just seemed kind of out of place. Unless you celebrate Christmas with Pirates. Anything's possible.<br /><br />Anyway, I let my oldest decide between three different themes for her 7th birthday and Girl Pirate Party was her first pick. So, I thought I'd share some of the things that we did to make it a swash buckling good time and a party that the kids are still talking about.<br /><br />For the invitations, I found several digital scrapbook elements and a cool map image for the background. I assembled everything in a free program called Paint.net and voila', super cute invitations. I tore the edges to give an old look, tied them with a pink ribbon and attached a skull ring (the dollar tree has packs of these around Halloween). Make them super fun by using Pirate Speak. "Ye be invited to join me crew... we will pillage, plunder and feast on cake... dress in your pirate best if ye have 'em."<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70gCH4RQ0-Y1Jvg8KQV6hDNJmNy0dhOLPBqFOTOVb38pkSAs8b5bcwU8yEaZimdwAF0lk2STyHZkpW3TGm_OiN8FaIfkEA-qN49biiKgIJJohhyTHQ4daKCEJCWdJSuNiDyFEzDjOS9o/s1600/P1030184.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70gCH4RQ0-Y1Jvg8KQV6hDNJmNy0dhOLPBqFOTOVb38pkSAs8b5bcwU8yEaZimdwAF0lk2STyHZkpW3TGm_OiN8FaIfkEA-qN49biiKgIJJohhyTHQ4daKCEJCWdJSuNiDyFEzDjOS9o/s400/P1030184.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711825318821446818" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5fQc52rdXTq3XKPuYvGAPyVB1Xyk87JAceCqVbn3sxCBAKLG9VzCbn5uU-ZsU-nXLqmYzFFctWNd0D8-8uQnVqV65pmQXdsNf6ipqOBqT5hLoPjfU3ZguVBBhj9o4wLZHTci_gVdLQ9o/s1600/P1030184.JPG"><br /></a>For the decor, I went with a pink, black and white theme and easily found plates, napkins and cups to match. Oriental Trading now carries Girl Pirate party ware. Since I'm not into matchy-match table ware, I mixed it up with solids, prints and pirate items. I also made a cute bunting banner and some food place cards to label the food. I found pink coins at the Dollar Tree to scatter around the table and borrowed a pirate ship toy and skull bank from friends.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBe_lyxXQ70fJT88Z-64hvKwdckFspcwubvGAfIJHmIF-DV1ZwQOAB_s0hsfP1Nf4pdrwp_CBbfZTLDgzsFwGVXWgX-rhmISqHOtwzTrw7rB6lu6t6dIrYdkT3uG6rYvh8TuUkj27bjI/s1600/P1030168.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJBe_lyxXQ70fJT88Z-64hvKwdckFspcwubvGAfIJHmIF-DV1ZwQOAB_s0hsfP1Nf4pdrwp_CBbfZTLDgzsFwGVXWgX-rhmISqHOtwzTrw7rB6lu6t6dIrYdkT3uG6rYvh8TuUkj27bjI/s320/P1030168.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711824137645402146" border="0" /></a>The kids' table was decorated similarly to the food table, but the chairs, oh the chairs, so stinkin' cute! I took black plastic table covers and cut them to size. Then draped them around the chairs and tied them with pink ribbon. I found a pack of skull and crossbone cutouts from Michael's Crafts and cut pink bandanas out of scrapbook paper to attached to them. Then fixed them to the back of all the chairs.<br /><br />For the food, we had Pirate Punch, Pirate's Booty (gotta have that!), Strawberry Cannonballs (Strawberry Whoppers), Shark Fins (watermelon slices), Goldfish Crackers and Jolly Roger Cupcakes. The cupcakes were tricky and if I had to do it again, I would use the color spray instead of the sprinkles, but the trick to getting the smooth top is something I learned from my friend Mandi. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveSBYY45sMfy2bFWOYC2hJDjApvi_a7w7vR40MDGn8R0EAe3lb5BRYNgx3EdrNHrXyLbc4hMKzLGM3tBmRFFApVJhBPUK0bLmB0nInmnOIth4DcgUe_j72U6PpoGiDFPeyE6rk5d_aUo/s1600/P1030141.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveSBYY45sMfy2bFWOYC2hJDjApvi_a7w7vR40MDGn8R0EAe3lb5BRYNgx3EdrNHrXyLbc4hMKzLGM3tBmRFFApVJhBPUK0bLmB0nInmnOIth4DcgUe_j72U6PpoGiDFPeyE6rk5d_aUo/s320/P1030141.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711824353927557970" border="0" /></a>Microwave your frosting for about 30 seconds and then dip the tops of your cupcakes into it. Let the frosting harden before you attempt to stencil anything onto them. I found the skull/cross bone stencil in a Wilton Halloween stencil pack. (I also thought about doing dark chocolate cupcakes, and skipping the frosting, then doing a stenciled powdered sugar skull/cross bone on the top. This would have been much easier).<br /><br />Onto the games! I made a treasure map that I cut into seven pieces and each piece was associated with a different game/location. Complete the game and find another piece of the puzzle. Each piece of the map had a clue on the back as to where to find the next piece and game. I had the first clue to get us started, "Aye ye scurvy dogs, yer on th' right path, But first walk th' plank, ye all needs a bath!" Each child walked the plank which was just a long 2x6 board on the front lawn.<br /><br />Here are the rest of the clues and the games we played...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwL8GfzB_1rVrWL7DPWQUMQnhOtNGqfuQJpbe6vlh945EonnaX2URWL8p4bZkUAwjAT4fiNLT1UcI_w7UV9vOrvPe-l1C8taDqH0f7DA7aTqiJRHMkg1eVzYwdEg_I-lMSgVUtbQagWc/s1600/Treasure+Hunt+Map.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwL8GfzB_1rVrWL7DPWQUMQnhOtNGqfuQJpbe6vlh945EonnaX2URWL8p4bZkUAwjAT4fiNLT1UcI_w7UV9vOrvPe-l1C8taDqH0f7DA7aTqiJRHMkg1eVzYwdEg_I-lMSgVUtbQagWc/s400/Treasure+Hunt+Map.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711826481576115170" border="0" /></a>2. "Me one-legged matey gunna set the' pace, Ye gunna find a clue at th' peg-leg race!" (three legged race).<br />3. "Polly ate too many crackers, she feels a wee bit hot, Quick pass her around, do not get caught!" (We played hot potato with a stuffed parrot and when the music stopped, whoever was holding it was out and had to walk the plank).<br />4. "X marks th' place, but in 'tis case not, It hides a clue fer ye to find another spot!" (Similar to musical chairs, but with several X's on the ground. When the music stopped, another X was taken away until there was only one left and a clue was taped to the bottom; anyone who got out had to walk the plank).<br />5. "In Mermaid Lagoon, thar be a note, Wit' another clue, 'tis what she wrote." (I put a pirate ship and some Dollar Tree mermaids in our small pond and a bottle with the next clue in it).<br />6. "Avast 'tis an enemy ship I spier, All hands on deck... ready, aim, fire!" (This was the kids' favorite. We filled water balloons and the kids took turns throwing them at the enemy ship from our upper deck. We have one of those empty tugboat sandboxes, so we placed that on the lawn and took the lid off, then told the kids to sink the ship).<br />7. "Yer almost done, th' end be near, Set a course fer Dead Man's Island, the treasure be here." (This was the final clue which led the kids to their buried treasure).<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wN2plnYeUhkfaBh0MZWWvArjUpcyD5sdcSKXhEVBsGVe6pI-DvVE4DEo0oSd3UH8jGnETNtLDga2bpYPv_azPUkrgE85dk75qtILwzgEQmVB1HTYlVJetvl94BBtd1trDIQUw9x1o-s/s1600/P1030181.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wN2plnYeUhkfaBh0MZWWvArjUpcyD5sdcSKXhEVBsGVe6pI-DvVE4DEo0oSd3UH8jGnETNtLDga2bpYPv_azPUkrgE85dk75qtILwzgEQmVB1HTYlVJetvl94BBtd1trDIQUw9x1o-s/s320/P1030181.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711823848379862610" border="0" /></a><br />As an activity before cake and presents, the kids were each given their own pirate hat (from Oriental Trading) and I cut out pink felt bandanas beforehand for the kids to add that "girlie" touch. They were given glue, pom poms, jewels and puffy paint to personalize and take them home.<br /><br />Before all of the kids left, I made sure we got individual pictures of them posing with the buried treasure. We wrote thank you notes on the back of a group photo and I got prints of each pirate to send as a keepsake that included their pirate name on the back (which we assigned to the kids when they first arrived). There were fun names like One-Eyed Olivia and Tortuga Taylor.<br /><br />Super fun party and just goes to show that pirates aren't just for boys. :o)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz6H_32KlxjWjvxBx7ZwKFJW3lq5LKoi257Ki0xW6QhQbOzE-s-w32L4Y49UwQTMAdKFDTSrkhZzb7ivCwzSJVHOS_pT-t4JJ9fh62_Df7ke5nvxNRtfoqybTXLeD5fGl7TETA9qneS8/s1600/P1030202.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCz6H_32KlxjWjvxBx7ZwKFJW3lq5LKoi257Ki0xW6QhQbOzE-s-w32L4Y49UwQTMAdKFDTSrkhZzb7ivCwzSJVHOS_pT-t4JJ9fh62_Df7ke5nvxNRtfoqybTXLeD5fGl7TETA9qneS8/s400/P1030202.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711823370036210034" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVy-agzQFbRNkskeNvvCQXDe4vYAE7py4SvJFye1LL-02YSYGrb7fRaFqsLvtg77KGMkJaNXlujfHzJL8pddUxe7syxHnHI7aQp9WVNJzBGFyuabc2DQAEaIODmmYx8uQTpXuNTCyS-uo/s1600/BlogSignature.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 95px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVy-agzQFbRNkskeNvvCQXDe4vYAE7py4SvJFye1LL-02YSYGrb7fRaFqsLvtg77KGMkJaNXlujfHzJL8pddUxe7syxHnHI7aQp9WVNJzBGFyuabc2DQAEaIODmmYx8uQTpXuNTCyS-uo/s200/BlogSignature.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711823570633313378" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><a href="http://thecsiproject.com/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://thecsiproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/thecsiproject.com-logo-150.png" alt="Visit thecsiproject.com" /></a>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-59282224917628185102012-02-16T09:40:00.000-08:002012-02-16T12:54:31.426-08:00Two Minutes for Interference<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EifrxeC6EPI/Tz1EBLtYGDI/AAAAAAAABu8/pxQMVL_I_L8/s1600/chick_nugget.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EifrxeC6EPI/Tz1EBLtYGDI/AAAAAAAABu8/pxQMVL_I_L8/s400/chick_nugget.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709794689689327666" border="0" /></a>Have you read/heard <a href="http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/02/15/food-fight-preschooler-given-chicken-nuggets-school-instead-unhealthy-homemade-lu?hpt=hp_bn13">this</a>? At a pre-K school in North Carolina, administrators deemed one child's lunch as not meeting state standards in nutrition, so they felt the need to replace it with some super healthy chicken nuggets. The offending meal consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, chips and apple juice.<br /><br />Anyone else hear a collective *gasp* or was it just me? Really? It's not enough that pizza is now considered a vegetable, but now the schools can interfere with the lunch I send with my child to eat? Now, if I was sending Ding Dongs and a Dr. Pepper, I could see the need for someone to give something with nutritional value to my child; this is not the case. However, give it a few months and I'm sure Dr. Pepper will be labeled a fruit. It's made with prunes isn't it? Urban legend be damned.<span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class=" down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /><br /><br />Perhaps this is all just a ploy to earn more money for schools. "You will eat our school-provided-pizza-er-veggie-lunches and pay for them!" Or the governments way of sticking their fingers, once again, into something that doesn't belong to them, but boy do they wish it did. "We can't take care of our country, but we'd love to take over your parenting duties."<br /><br />In any case, thank goodness the mother wrote to her county representative to complain about the situation and fortunately, the rep sided with her.<br /><br />Let's hope this intervention isn't a preview of things to come and that it's curbed here and now. Absolutely ridiculous. Dear Government, I award you with a 10 minute game misconduct on top of your 2 minutes for interference penalty.<br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-osDkUNzMFZI/Tz1D8SprkoI/AAAAAAAABuw/_JUSgnOvFtw/s1600/penalty%2Bbox.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 375px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-osDkUNzMFZI/Tz1D8SprkoI/AAAAAAAABuw/_JUSgnOvFtw/s400/penalty%2Bbox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709794605653529218" border="0" /></a>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-89917725309110357492011-11-23T07:23:00.001-08:002011-11-23T07:30:01.809-08:00"Sorry We're Full" Happy Thanksgiving!!Since most of us will be spending time with family and turkey tomorrow, I thought I would post a fun Thanksgiving sketch today to help set the mood. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend and don't forget to save room for pie!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X69-PC5dzx8" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">PS- I'm "salad" in case you didn't catch it. ;o)<br /></div></div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-29447378685752933402011-11-07T07:00:00.000-08:002011-11-07T07:00:00.819-08:00Free-me Music<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kfm8UQt-Pik/TrcWpCkHpxI/AAAAAAAABuU/Zcli8UNLa7g/s1600/ipod.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kfm8UQt-Pik/TrcWpCkHpxI/AAAAAAAABuU/Zcli8UNLa7g/s400/ipod.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672027150015244050" border="0" /></a><br />Since I've discovered a TON of great free music on Amazon, I have been addicted to finding and snagging some new tunes to add to my iPod. I literally spend hours scouring the latest new artists to find that diamond in the rough. I realize that musical taste is completely subjective, but you might find something you like in this list of songs or peruse online to find someone else who inspires you. All I know is, these artists are worth a listen and what a great way to be ahead of the musical curve. Just think, when your friends say, "Omigosh, you have to listen to this great new artist!!" you can say, "Oh yeah, I've had them on my iPod for months. They're pretty good." :o)<br /><br />Happy Monday!!<br /><br /><ol><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ludicrous/dp/B005NF8KUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619081&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Ludicrous</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ludicrous/dp/B005NF8KUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619081&sr=1-1">by Frankmusik</a> (download if you like Enrique Iglesias)</span></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KODE4K/ref=dm_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320618106&sr=1-2"><span class="title">Halfway</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KODE4K/ref=dm_dp_trk1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320618106&sr=1-2">by The Silent Game</a> (if you like Garbage and/or Radiohead)</span></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vessel/dp/B005NEHSBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618210&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Vessel</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vessel/dp/B005NEHSBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618210&sr=1-1">by Zola Jesus</a> (if you like Florence and the Machine and/or Massive Attack)</span></li><li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Back/dp/B005LD207M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618314&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Long Walk Back</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Back/dp/B005LD207M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618314&sr=1-1">by The Rifles</a> (if you like an updated Beatles)</span></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tangled-Up-In-Love/dp/B005LD20CW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618540&sr=1-2"><span class="title">Tangled Up In Love</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tangled-Up-In-Love/dp/B005LD20CW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618540&sr=1-2">by The Rifles</a> (if you like Jimmy Eat World ala Lucky Denver Mint)<br /></span></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Keep-You/dp/B005Q5GMBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618443&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Keep You</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Keep-You/dp/B005Q5GMBK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618443&sr=1-1">by Class Actress</a> (if you like synth-pop)</span></li><li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fascinated/dp/B005LBJ7BG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618994&sr=1-2"><span class="title">Fascinated</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fascinated/dp/B005LBJ7BG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320618994&sr=1-2">by Ivy</a> (if you like 80's new wave, alt-pop)</span></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Still-Alive/dp/B0041956HI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619145&sr=1-4"><span class="title">Still Alive</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Still-Alive/dp/B0041956HI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619145&sr=1-4">by Three Mile Pilot</a> (if you like moody with a beat)</span></li><li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Old-Black/dp/B004L9D4AY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619299&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Old Black</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Old-Black/dp/B004L9D4AY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619299&sr=1-1">by Earth</a> (if you like Pink Floyd)<br /></span></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Even-Feat-Sara-Quin/dp/B004L55618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619450&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Why Even Try (Feat. Sara Quin)</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Even-Feat-Sara-Quin/dp/B004L55618/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619450&sr=1-1">by Theophilus London</a> (80's hip hop, easy groove)</span></li><li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Amor-Fati/dp/B0058PEPYE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619577&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Amor Fati</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Amor-Fati/dp/B0058PEPYE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320619577&sr=1-1">by Washed Out</a> (if you like Erasure or Thompson Twins, 80's synth pop)</span></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SR4J66/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img"><span class="title">Little War</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SR4J66/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img">by K Serå</a> (if you like a ballad style Fall Out Boy)<br /></span></li><li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cassie-Wont-You-Be-Doll/dp/B005DFLUHO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320621431&sr=1-1"><span class="title">Cassie (Won't You Be My Doll)</span> </a><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cassie-Wont-You-Be-Doll/dp/B005DFLUHO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320621431&sr=1-1">by Part Time</a> (if you like 80's pop, Bananarama)</span></li><li><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DFLWBK/ref=dm_assoc_trk5?pf_rd_p=1328382682&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000655511&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1GEZZF91AGYZA54V70F4">Next To Me by Civil Twilight</a> (if you like Coldplay or U2)</span></li><li><span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Not-Dead-Like-Lion/dp/B005PMMZ6U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1320621185&sr=1-1">God's Not Dead (Like A Lion) by Newsboys</a> (if you like Jars of Clay)</span></li></ol><div style="text-align: center;">Enjoy!!<br /></div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-20580934233920231222011-10-21T16:50:00.000-07:002011-10-21T16:58:03.811-07:00Oh Make Me Over, MamaMy friend Kendra is a make-up artist, and a darn good one at that. She's worked on numerous photo shoots and has even worked on some Nike shoots. She was kind enough to create a tutorial on creating a super easy smoky eye look. So, for you mamas looking for some tips, here's a how-to just for you.<br /><br />Have a great weekend!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5cqpXfPWnwQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-50451119865518506582011-10-10T06:00:00.000-07:002012-05-06T09:47:14.382-07:00And the Worst Book Award Goes To...<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/img/2011/08/26/450x364-alg_maggie-goes-on-a-diet.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.nydailynews.com/img/2011/08/26/450x364-alg_maggie-goes-on-a-diet.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 364px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 450px;" /></a>Have you seen this?!<br />
<br />
A new rhyming picture book geared towards young children is due out in October entitled Maggie Goes on a Diet by Paul Kramer. 'It's the story of a 14-year-old girl who's "not only clumsy... [but] also quite fat" and who, after going on a diet to "reduce her stomach, as well as her big behind," becomes more popular and a soccer star.' (Excerpt from People Magazine)<br />
<br />
The author said he wrote the book to help educate children on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle after his own struggles as a child. He said, "I'm not suggesting children go on a diet; I'm advocating for them that they know the positive implications of eating healthier and living a healthy lifestyle. I'm trying to boost their self-image.... It's an adorable book."<br />
<br />
Can I just say, "Wow!" The cover art alone is offensive to me and just knowing that it's about a "clumsy fat girl" who loses weight and becomes a "popular soccer star" is even more offensive. Really? This is how you choose to educate my child on being healthy? By feeding into the media hype that thin is what makes us happy and fulfilled? That to be good at something and more popular, you need to be skinny? I don't think "adorable" is the best description for your book. Also, this book's reading level is aimed at four to eight year-olds, according to Amazon.<br />
<br />
While I think that childhood obesity is a growing problem and should be addressed, this is not a healthy positive way of doing that. Kramer would have been better off writing a book about how eating an apple instead of a cookie gives little Suzie more energy to play longer outside. Or that by going to bed on time, Tommy doesn't feel sleepy in science class. Methinks Kramer needs to tune into Sesame Street who tends to be very good at showing the positive influence of a healthy lifestyle.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure which is worse, the fact that this book even exists or that a middle-aged man is <a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/23/article-2029289-0D8B13F300000578-397_468x286.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/23/article-2029289-0D8B13F300000578-397_468x286.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 173px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 284px;" /></a>preaching to young children about living a healthy/skinny lifestyle; when he might as well call himself "pot" because all those little kettles might notice the hypocrisy.<br />
<br />
So disappointed in Aloha Publishers for even publishing this and shame on you Paul Kramer for not finding a more constructive way to relay your message. Which, while a valid one, you've completely missed the mark. With all the kids, especially girls, being inundated with the media's ideal of beauty, a book on acceptance and loving who you are, while working towards personal goals, would have been more appropriate.Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-22329534511537089372011-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:002012-05-06T09:47:25.045-07:00If You Give a Mom a Task<a href="http://simplywash.com/images/dirty-laundry.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://simplywash.com/images/dirty-laundry.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 405px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 296px;" /></a><br />
Inspired by Marisa's comment to a previous post, I felt the need to write this in the form of <span style="font-weight: bold;">If You Give a Mouse a Cookie</span>.<br />
<br />
If you give a mom a task, like doing the laundry,<br />
She'll start to sort the colors into lights and darks,<br />
Then she'll find a lost toy hiding in the bottom of the hamper.<br />
She will then take the toy to put it in its proper place.<br />
<br />
On the way, she'll trip over a wayward shoe.<br />
She'll pick up the shoe and proceed to the closet,<br />
Where all of the clothes have mysteriously leapt off their hangers.<br />
She'll hang up each shirt one by one, smelling them to make sure they're clean.<br />
<br />
Then she'll take the dirty ones and sort them with the other "to do" laundry.<br />
After which, she'll head to the laundry room and find last weeks' laundry still in the washer and dryer.<br />
She'll sigh and restart the washer load while emptying the dryer load into a basket.<br />
The basket will make it halfway up to the rooms when the phone will ring.<br />
<br />
"What are our weekend plans?" her dear husband will ask.<a href="http://ahotmama.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/woman-washing-dishes-smiling.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ahotmama.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/woman-washing-dishes-smiling.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 317px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 253px;" /></a><br />
"Let me check the calendar" she'll say, at which time she'll note the bake sale tomorrow.<br />
She'll hang up the phone and pull out the ingredients for cookies;<br />
Noting that all of the cooking utensils are in the sink from last night's dinner.<br />
<br />
She'll then do the dishes and start the dish washer before hearing the bus outside.<br />
She'll quickly throw on a pair of snow boots (though it's July) and dash outside in her lounge pant ensemble.<br />
She'll find out how her child's day was and prepare a snack for them.<br />
They'll chat about the school day activities before settling in to do homework together.<br />
<br />
She'll then note the basket of laundry that needs to be folded and take it upstairs.<br />
Before it can get folded and sorted, she'll realize that it's time to get dinner ready and head back downstairs.<br />
While dinner is cooking, she'll empty the dishwasher.<br />
<br />
As she sets the table, her dear husband will walk in the front door.<br />
He'll give her a kiss and ask her, "How was your day? What did you do?"<br />
She'll ponder this for a moment before responding with, "Um, laundry?"<br />
Yes, it is a question, due to the fact that since having a family, her memory has gone the way of the dodo.<br />
<br />
Once the dishes are cleared, the kitchen cleaned and the kids bathed and put to bed, the lonely basket of laundry will sit on her pillow top mattress, at which time she will get it done just so she can go to bed.<br />
<br />
So, if you give a mom a task, it may not get done in a timely manner, but damn it, it will get done.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ZlA_BzxYL50LG0QNQNSS_VHWFtRDfQwosOiXvTNtxNgLS9bVNe4PkXEqAzBC3hU6Z7HBHiBX8SREv9LTtVmToW1KpZU17I-PPiGDzM6u0q6NSnmCMO8eA5EnGhFtn7gPvOZzNe_8R8o/s1600/NH-MJ10-folded-laundry.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ZlA_BzxYL50LG0QNQNSS_VHWFtRDfQwosOiXvTNtxNgLS9bVNe4PkXEqAzBC3hU6Z7HBHiBX8SREv9LTtVmToW1KpZU17I-PPiGDzM6u0q6NSnmCMO8eA5EnGhFtn7gPvOZzNe_8R8o/s1600/NH-MJ10-folded-laundry.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 238px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 355px;" /></a>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-2739335994815201752011-01-09T18:33:00.000-08:002011-01-09T18:37:51.803-08:00Being One with the TreesThat's my theory. My son has decided to be one with the trees. At least that would explain his...odd...behavior.<br />
<br />
It all started with his pockets. About a month ago Lil Buddy picked up a fascination with stuffing things in his pocket. Most days, his pockets were filled with toys...his favorite race car of the day, his little plastic frogs, my old cellphone. And then he came home from school one day and pulled something out..."Look, Mommy, STICK!" Why, yes, it was a stick. To be accurate, it was a large piece of wood chip from the playground that sort of qualified as a mini stick. I congratulated him on his find and thought nothing of it until bath time when I reached in to clean out his pockets and, what ho...there was a whole pocket of wood chips. Turns out he's been hoarding wood chips in his pockets and stowing them in his cubby at school...bringing some home...and even having some of them even end up in the laundry (<span style="font-size: x-small;">I guess I haven't been checking all the pockets.</span>) One night, he insisted on bringing one of his "sticks" to bed. In case you wondered, I snuck in his room after he was asleep and threw it out.<br />
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It doesn't end with wood chips. Oh no. This past weekend we went to the Houston Zoo (<span style="font-size: x-small;">for the second weekend in a row, might I add</span>) and somewhere around the zebras, he stoped dead in his tracks..."Mommy, a LEAF". Yep, it sure was. "I throw in the trash?" Well, sure OK, why not. Another three feet "Mommy, LEAF. I throw away." The thing about the Houston Zoo...it's very well kept and there are trash cans about every 15-20 feet, so I just pointed him to the next trash can along the way and so it went...until we stopped at a place where there was a pretty big collection of fallen leaves. We...were looking at the animals...he...was doing this...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qP-VJk_xsklY-G6IseyVBmUhbsFkj5VRxphAi5o0w_Icp0pkEsByrQLwliqhoktoPkQqn-HNmydqEkhwJWicwwVWH0Xb9V0aQBMqKqDBqpG2xBX3HcPx803B2VU75VKCbGVAzQvnb9uE/s1600/DSCF0870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qP-VJk_xsklY-G6IseyVBmUhbsFkj5VRxphAi5o0w_Icp0pkEsByrQLwliqhoktoPkQqn-HNmydqEkhwJWicwwVWH0Xb9V0aQBMqKqDBqpG2xBX3HcPx803B2VU75VKCbGVAzQvnb9uE/s400/DSCF0870.JPG" width="313" /></a></div><br />
over and over and over. Seriously...it's winter and all of the trees are leafless...he literally could have spent the entire day in that spot picking up leaves and tossing them in the trash. It took the promise of seeing the monkeys and going on the carousel to get him to give up throwing away leaves.<br />
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I was sure we were past the leaf fascination by the time we got around to the giraffes and we were...but then..."Mommy....a STICK!" A brand new African Forest exhibit was apparently no match for the cool new stick he found...and carried for the rest of the trip through the zoo..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyixuxVcwael7yok1f17c-s5RCBjCZpuLSwRuxWr9I6Sm78wL3JKxN6l08bj4pgt0wRB0_NAM717l5CoE29a0slkKdaDp6Qt1bDAZBimb8jm-xrDbjzs9dTcuf4Rv4HZ70ssaD0ZO1B5Xu/s1600/DSCF0959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyixuxVcwael7yok1f17c-s5RCBjCZpuLSwRuxWr9I6Sm78wL3JKxN6l08bj4pgt0wRB0_NAM717l5CoE29a0slkKdaDp6Qt1bDAZBimb8jm-xrDbjzs9dTcuf4Rv4HZ70ssaD0ZO1B5Xu/s400/DSCF0959.JPG" width="377" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>What do you do when you have a cool new stick and you're standing next to a brand new exhibit that looks like a cave?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mfv_MuEcLx2ASc1r3yGRWBh8_7djqnxUczEaNkLDtGNTYlXiuoYBULt4u7H7xEO8EcAQtck_iUvIQjjXGkxdaD81NBnAOAIGUGPWTZi3gu7bCyFCfHFJgYHvs-3bF-gj7AQNcJUcnS1y/s1600/DSCF0957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mfv_MuEcLx2ASc1r3yGRWBh8_7djqnxUczEaNkLDtGNTYlXiuoYBULt4u7H7xEO8EcAQtck_iUvIQjjXGkxdaD81NBnAOAIGUGPWTZi3gu7bCyFCfHFJgYHvs-3bF-gj7AQNcJUcnS1y/s400/DSCF0957.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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You stick it in every fake rock crevice you can try to shove it into.<br />
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His birthday is coming up and I think maybe, instead of a few new cars to shove in his pocket, maybe I'll buy a nice big <a href="http://www.ficustree.com/">ficus</a> for his room and he can sit around and commune with it all day long...and maybe throw away the leaves when they fall off.Alyssa S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11674708702014878064noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-35984571532795502742010-12-28T06:49:00.000-08:002012-05-06T09:44:51.936-07:00Planning for the Big FiveChristmas done? <strong><em>CHECK</em></strong>. Oh but, wait, that means birthdays are next on the "to do" list. <strong><em>Sigh</em></strong>. No rest for the weary. <br />
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As much as I like to pat myself on the back for my efficiency of having both kids in the same month, two years apart (<span style="font-size: x-small;">because you know, I planned that...yeeeaaaaahhh</span>), it so happens their birthdays are on the heels of Christmas. Sure, it's two more months before it's February, but January is practically here and we all know how time flies. This year, SweetPea turns five. The Big Five. Half a decade. No longer an infant, no longer a toddler, not even a preschooler anymore. Nope, she's a full blown kindergartener now who has a classroom full of friends. Add to that the fact that she just recently went to her first "school friend" birthday party, where a good half of her class was there to celebrate. Don't think it was lost on her either. As we drove away from the party, she asked "Momma, can <strong><em>I</em></strong> have a Princess birthday party like Hannah?" followed by "Can all of my friends come too?" Dun, dun, <strong><em>DUNNNNNNNNNN</em></strong>.<br />
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Here's the deal...counting SweetPea, there are 12 kids in her kindergarten class. The unwritten school rule is if you invite one kid, you are expected to invite them all, so no one feels left out. They are a nice enough bunch, but together they can be, well, a little unruly. Having attended Hannah's party, which her parents were brave enough to do at their house, I saw the mayhem...and the mess. <u>Thought #1</u>: the birthday party must be somewhere other than my house, which leads to <u>Question #1</u>: where should we have the party? The options are somewhat limited. I don't want anything too expensive, but I also want a place where our party will have room of it's own <span style="font-size: x-small;">(<u>translation</u>: we don't want to get stuck at Chuck E Cheese next to 3 other birthday parties. Who needs to add to the mayhem?) </span><span style="font-size: small;">At this point, we are probably looking at <a href="http://www.pumpitupparty.com/">Pump It Up</a>, where we'd get a private room filled with bouncy houses. The kids can burn off their energy and they will be in a place where it's next to impossible to break anything. <u>Bonus</u>: I don't have to clean up. The only downside...it ain't cheap. <strong><em>Sigh</em></strong> again.</span><br />
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The party site aside, SweetPea had another request...<br />
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"Momma, can we put up the Christmas tree for my birthday? That way we can put my presents under the tree."<br />
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Hmm...pull out the tree all over again in two months and put it back up? Think, Mom...think <strong><em>fast</em></strong>...<br />
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"How about I make you a Birthday Tree? It will be smaller, but then you can have a special tree for your day."<br />
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Like how I pulled that one out of my a...out of thin air? I'd gotten the idea from a Michael's craft tutorial sent to my e-mail during Christmas. It'a small <a href="http://www.michaels.com/Ribbon-Tree/j00546,default,pd.html">tabletop ribbon Christmas tree</a> that looks like this..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht49VDXB27S9CheOIjgku-R64r0uZLA6g1n3DfoVdbdajxU_MBCfkK94fa_ttMPRxZVGnfB5auw-FO-zHGypho7LxhvlvDYKfBfm1YjLnjfTBj0o7QarBaVJhubtG4ChBaEZt1dEq0l7fa/s1600/Tree.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht49VDXB27S9CheOIjgku-R64r0uZLA6g1n3DfoVdbdajxU_MBCfkK94fa_ttMPRxZVGnfB5auw-FO-zHGypho7LxhvlvDYKfBfm1YjLnjfTBj0o7QarBaVJhubtG4ChBaEZt1dEq0l7fa/s320/Tree.JPG" width="313" /></a></div><br />
I figure I can use festive ribbon, maybe with cupcakes on them, to make it more Birthday-y. Go ahead...say it...I'm a genius. Alright, well, I can think on my toes anyway. The nice thing is, I can stow it away pretty easily and we can use the Birthday Tree over and over. <strong><em>Yay</em></strong>!<br />
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So it's T-minus two months (<span style="font-size: x-small;">give or take</span>) to SweetPea's big day. Anyone have any other fun party ideas? Any ideas on how to survive a birthday chock full of 4 1/2-5 year olds?Alyssa S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11674708702014878064noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-10169097311314086362010-12-20T12:13:00.000-08:002010-12-20T12:17:12.704-08:00'Twas the Night Before Christmas.... Yet Again<h3 class="post-title entry-title"> </h3> <div class="post-header"> </div> <div class="post-body entry-content"> I wrote this post for Christmas last year, but some things just bear repeating. Besides, it's plain fun. :o) I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year!!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com/2008/12/twas-night-before-christmas.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 470px; height: 350px;" src="http://www.iaconoresearch.com/BlogImages/07-12-24b_christmas_scene.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house<br />Every creature was stirring, except for my spouse<br />Who'd fallen asleep by the warm cozy fire<br />Leaving me with the kids who never seemed to tire.<br /><br />The stockings were hung by the chimney with care<br />With repeats of "Don't touch that, just leave them there"<br />The kids run this way and that, trying to flee<br />And nearly knock over the festooned Christmas tree.<br /><br />Exhausted from chasing, I flop down in a chair<br />And remind the children that Santa soon will be there;<br />That they shouldn't be up, he might be sad or perhaps miffed<br />And that coal was a perfectly acceptable gift.<br /><br />They stop in their tracks, eyes open wide<br />Then hightail it upstairs, trying not to collide<br />They leap into bed with their covers pulled tight<br />And I give them a hug and a quick kiss goodnight.<br /><br />Finally the children are nestled all snug in their beds<br />While visions of Barbie dolls dance in their heads<br />With me in my lounge pants and hubby with his tea<br />We revel in this quiet holiday moment, kid free.<br /><br />When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter<br />We draw straws to see who will check on the matter<br />I giggle softly, hubby drew the short stick,<br />And jest he'd better check to see if it's St. Nick.<br /><br />As he bundles up, dons his boots and his jacket<br />I gather up gifts while he checks on the racket<br />I place each one beneath the big Christmas tree<br />And notice a gift I didn't put there, just for me.<br /><br />The wrapping is perfect and topped with a bow<br />Suddenly hubby bursts in, all covered with snow<br />He's speechless as he shakes the ice from his boots<br />We reach for each other when we hear sounds on the roof.<br /><br />"What was that?" I ask, almost afraid to hear,<br />"Don't tell me you saw a sleigh and eight reindeer?"<br />He's not sure what he saw but knew it would be tragic<br />If this one Christmas night we didn't believe in the magic.<br /><br />No longer afraid, we snuggle close to overhear<br />And each of us a feel a bit more Christmas cheer<br />The sounds overhead become softer and more faint<br />Perhaps tonight we <span style="font-style: italic;">were </span>visited by a certain saint.<br /><br />Now giddy as children, I feel obliged to recite<br />"A Happy Christmas to all and to all a good-night!"<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxfKmIydBrxVYcGCwcn_4ZG8POzc_IUvjzyuehUBzMb0fPxVjoFn36rr1Bq-vbBsAVwNhmYcAN45ldUYnS_jewOi8nrqU2nj-7H-6aIfJUU-vp98M34wb_FVwRDgrOWBTxdL_64mguUk/s200/BlogSignature.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 95px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxfKmIydBrxVYcGCwcn_4ZG8POzc_IUvjzyuehUBzMb0fPxVjoFn36rr1Bq-vbBsAVwNhmYcAN45ldUYnS_jewOi8nrqU2nj-7H-6aIfJUU-vp98M34wb_FVwRDgrOWBTxdL_64mguUk/s200/BlogSignature.png" alt="" border="0" /></a></div></div>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-60735047245383149252010-12-15T05:36:00.000-08:002012-05-06T09:44:51.968-07:00Make it: Snowflake Princess Tiara<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN7Dw_0QG_C6mjN_3upNkquF8Fq-ptyNGAvhwp7EtW_OX4M9v6f3i4863oQai6s7u0C9K8ZjNm44ngl3DGxGce3v0yj0Q3aqAq67pzkGEh7sGqXdmwpLyOHWQ5YHhcDd3wmi8wuTVoVT5/s1600/8.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEN7Dw_0QG_C6mjN_3upNkquF8Fq-ptyNGAvhwp7EtW_OX4M9v6f3i4863oQai6s7u0C9K8ZjNm44ngl3DGxGce3v0yj0Q3aqAq67pzkGEh7sGqXdmwpLyOHWQ5YHhcDd3wmi8wuTVoVT5/s400/8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550902938002499074" border="0" /></a>For us, this was a 15 minute craft project that my three year old and I worked on while we were waiting for lunch to finish cooking... but it would easily be turned into a fancier project for older kids with careful cutting and a little more time invested.<br /><br />Materials:<br /><ul><li>card stock (ours is blue and white)</li><li>glue</li><li>stapler (or tape)</li><li>glitter!</li></ul>Step One: Cut out paper snowflake<br /><br />Now I assume that everyone knows how to make one of these - fold paper, cut out patterns, open, and VOILA! Snowflake.<br /><br />But have you SEEN the snowflakes over on Cathe Holden's amazing blog <a href="http://justsomethingimade.com/2010/12/snowflakes-from-kyiv/">Just Something I Made</a>? Seriously, I would love to see a snowflake tiara made with one of these!<br /><br />If you need a simple snowflake-making tutorial, <a href="http://justsomethingimade.com/2008/09/paper-craft/">just click here!</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHHncInrftTRZfTCvpw0psJfTzfX8Lp096Ubhg1VMLS7gmcThl-cUtXWpxMn28Bi3T1D7M-Adk1X3EMwNm0FnjfPhSo1gN-rLR6ViLUQ6otMPnKEcTSKHnEIR3OHa3dqXfVJz19IkaJVA/s1600/Crown6.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHHncInrftTRZfTCvpw0psJfTzfX8Lp096Ubhg1VMLS7gmcThl-cUtXWpxMn28Bi3T1D7M-Adk1X3EMwNm0FnjfPhSo1gN-rLR6ViLUQ6otMPnKEcTSKHnEIR3OHa3dqXfVJz19IkaJVA/s400/Crown6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550902704963714018" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgho1j-gr1sSV01KfWfJrjYQQtpngi_N204R6vx2_5NKHuMr_gTxRWFT0jR4I3aOAh2X4cv9AXJQnBYvSf1f5f5NeiqrcboHAfzHPJr7iC5PpkSuMUj6u8bQ9quxF-dwfsq7-FBDhuSWjs5/s1600/Crown5.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgho1j-gr1sSV01KfWfJrjYQQtpngi_N204R6vx2_5NKHuMr_gTxRWFT0jR4I3aOAh2X4cv9AXJQnBYvSf1f5f5NeiqrcboHAfzHPJr7iC5PpkSuMUj6u8bQ9quxF-dwfsq7-FBDhuSWjs5/s400/Crown5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550902706877700898" border="0" /></a>I like how my snowflake reminded me of Batman. Does anyone else see that, or am I just delusional?<br /><br />Step Two: Glue Snowflake to Colored Card stock<br /><br />I had to do this step to reinforce the snowflake because my kiddo is only three and I knew that the snowflake would be ripped to shreds in seconds if I didn't reinforce it.<br /><br />First, cut your snowflake in half. You'll only need one half per tiara.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dFgDzGSqfb-l_PG_oHyMj7Z71iwVoO5yatFnWgyp1fNHRmg49IfcjqtNlLPjTQGkPWrVbYGDHVg8eZ5KsdftBHxMz-x-g2XvDDekTaJL1aCPgvFhmwS_cWyT4Xahw8ewl4IaW18rBX_Y/s1600/Crown4.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dFgDzGSqfb-l_PG_oHyMj7Z71iwVoO5yatFnWgyp1fNHRmg49IfcjqtNlLPjTQGkPWrVbYGDHVg8eZ5KsdftBHxMz-x-g2XvDDekTaJL1aCPgvFhmwS_cWyT4Xahw8ewl4IaW18rBX_Y/s400/Crown4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550902712047261666" border="0" /></a>This is also when I cut two strips of card stock and stapled them together, sizing them into a loop that fit my daughter's head.<br /><br />Step Three: GLITTER!<br /><br />Glitter is magic, as far as I'm concerned. My 3 year old agrees, so of course this project needed glitter.<br /><br />Because we were working quickly, trying to get this project done before lunch was finished, I did the glue painting and Annelie did the glittering. If you have more time and a lot of patience, just let your kiddo do it all! 'Tis the season for mass quantities of glitter, so go nuts!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSkGH1_LvCdFGy4xT1Sf2R6XV2m84awoJRjNmuNOPcOLnoN-b2sr0XZlM-oE4KWx1voa8W5g9MHyhjtDfT9iXDvX4mdnO8hrdToDxUGxLnfFVU6SqNiqcgw4lGIAvFHBRpzOsuw1ZUpKf/s1600/Crown3.JPG"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-NoXIaPH5uPNKfZA6oIo5ST3lPTGkKFXli7xUDetgyaesiJiwSdjfSKIHhCkgzfprE1LwkOVL9VSxcJsBS88cj6E67n23J66bfN1XD-42LLFQRC36DbCO74UIeaOHzgMqG3y6RV-IdtK/s1600/Crown2.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-NoXIaPH5uPNKfZA6oIo5ST3lPTGkKFXli7xUDetgyaesiJiwSdjfSKIHhCkgzfprE1LwkOVL9VSxcJsBS88cj6E67n23J66bfN1XD-42LLFQRC36DbCO74UIeaOHzgMqG3y6RV-IdtK/s400/Crown2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550902712836706962" border="0" /></a>Step Four: Put it all Together<br /><br />If you don't have a stapler, you can tape or glue it all together.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSkGH1_LvCdFGy4xT1Sf2R6XV2m84awoJRjNmuNOPcOLnoN-b2sr0XZlM-oE4KWx1voa8W5g9MHyhjtDfT9iXDvX4mdnO8hrdToDxUGxLnfFVU6SqNiqcgw4lGIAvFHBRpzOsuw1ZUpKf/s1600/Crown3.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSkGH1_LvCdFGy4xT1Sf2R6XV2m84awoJRjNmuNOPcOLnoN-b2sr0XZlM-oE4KWx1voa8W5g9MHyhjtDfT9iXDvX4mdnO8hrdToDxUGxLnfFVU6SqNiqcgw4lGIAvFHBRpzOsuw1ZUpKf/s400/Crown3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550902720928813794" border="0" /></a>Step Five: SMILE FOR THE CAMERA!<br /><br />This was the easiest step - Annelie was quite happy to be a smiling Snowflake Princess!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFullF3U1jld0X1C-pfF8C-Mj1D72z3mOhdgw62O_J42Us3Ubvhdf39vGO3_0MhWHaL9JXCs5NwmdYrOkQ_gKua2GnUfHvcqkW219G2dhvBxLmRaXfMc9MGtMcPh54yBRT2cHWQ7DZ7tYG/s1600/Crown1.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFullF3U1jld0X1C-pfF8C-Mj1D72z3mOhdgw62O_J42Us3Ubvhdf39vGO3_0MhWHaL9JXCs5NwmdYrOkQ_gKua2GnUfHvcqkW219G2dhvBxLmRaXfMc9MGtMcPh54yBRT2cHWQ7DZ7tYG/s400/Crown1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550902939973623810" border="0" /></a>Enjoy!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">xoxo,<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img style="border: medium none; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-repeat: repeat; background-attachment: scroll; background-position: 0% 0%; -moz-background-size: auto auto; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/235/C5E16F73D14092B2EDB57B95516C0C9F.png" /></a></div></span><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03733854662944058955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-88784949084582557892010-12-08T05:53:00.000-08:002013-11-18T07:56:28.421-08:00Move Your Clip - a Discipline Plan that Works!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaC3jmHR4aaJo3aGvCtoa0SO0GeMOvomXfMHppceVLibKu7CjuThO3PtgntnB5Bqwvrxqw4BXVCURHAnOzqRbfwlfAJ5z-qeVaCpnmQXKVLVe2nfyy5or8-Fb7uJcu-bdlBST_JVtzekl/s1600/art+001.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548309473582791426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaC3jmHR4aaJo3aGvCtoa0SO0GeMOvomXfMHppceVLibKu7CjuThO3PtgntnB5Bqwvrxqw4BXVCURHAnOzqRbfwlfAJ5z-qeVaCpnmQXKVLVe2nfyy5or8-Fb7uJcu-bdlBST_JVtzekl/s400/art+001.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 102px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>I've done a few posts here at The Mama Dramalogues, in which I've shared my frustration when it comes to disciplining my two girls. Gracie and Annelie are 5 and 3, and are very good little girls... but are also very high energy little trouble makers who spend quite a fair amount of time fighting with each other and all around driving me to morph from a calm, rational woman to a maniacal screaming lunatic.<br />
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Obviously that wasn't working for me, but despite reading self-help books and trying all sorts of things from the naughty corner time-out to taking privileges away (already I watch the red food dye intake and monitor sugars and items with high-fructose corn syrup and such) I just wasn't finding a solution that worked for us.<br />
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Until now. I actually got this idea from Gracie's kindergarten teacher. I'm not sure how her teacher's system works completely, but when Gracie steps off the school bus crying that she "moved her clip" I know that she got in trouble in class, and that she is very unhappy about that.<br />
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Using the idea of moving a clip to show punishment, I made up a little chart out of index cards (the picture above - 1 pink index card, 1 yellow, and 2 blue - the above picture is missing one blue rectangle. Our chart has 8 rectangles) and though my illustrations aren't amazing, they are a good reminder for my non-reading 3-year-old of what she can lose by being naughty.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQUxQQoRTbWjONpbF09I8SythDgpmSeMZgMi_eoEVi3bSUrzasImVbJzIYChPvvQJIht7PISNtXD6-qox108BxzBoPQ8kWbnJG3ofO-5vmIjGBPv7_O3cSYFxd5L2COIsDR2Th_Ooz1VM/s1600/art+003.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548316095157936898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQUxQQoRTbWjONpbF09I8SythDgpmSeMZgMi_eoEVi3bSUrzasImVbJzIYChPvvQJIht7PISNtXD6-qox108BxzBoPQ8kWbnJG3ofO-5vmIjGBPv7_O3cSYFxd5L2COIsDR2Th_Ooz1VM/s400/art+003.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 176px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">How it works -</span></span><br />
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Each kid has a large paper clip in which I strung on one colored bead to represent them.<br />
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Every day starts fresh, and when they do things that they know they are not supposed to be doing (ie fighting, hitting, biting, wrecking each others stuff, wrecking my stuff, not listening, torturing the pets, et cetera, et cetera...) they physically move their clip from one box to the next.<br />
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There are two warning spots (blue rectangles) but when it is daytime and they move out of the blue, they begin to lose their pink privileges - their three most favorite things: TV time, dress up and art.<br />
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Once the evening hits, we move into the yellow, so even if they haven't lost TV or dress up, they could still lose their after-dinner dessert or bed time story. Or the worst for them - automatic early bedtime.<br />
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THEY CAN EARN THEIR PRIVILEGES BACK - this is probably the best part, because I find that when they are given the ability to redeem themselves, they WANT to do it. My girls are young, and sometimes when they are upset or angry, their behavior can spiral out of control and they might end up losing more than one of their privileges in a short amount of time.<br />
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If they lose a privilege they want to earn back I give them a job that I feel is worth it (ie washing the floor, folding laundry - usually a job to help me around the house) and for each job, they get to move their clip back one space. They usually like to do enough to keep them in the blue.<br />
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If it is still daytime, and they are at the end of the pink, it is an automatic "nap time." This one is actually for my benefit, because if they've done 5 naughty things before 4:30 pm, I usually need a mental break as my kids don't generally nap (haven't napped for at least 2-3 years). After that, they can either sit in their rooms all day, or do jobs to earn their privileges back.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzG05_fk_Vt5dIcFVkSMs9bDbbXMGp2gq1564MSZ7r8Niz1rDgQbUx2_Hs-nn8eHYQaxZXxopSsTQHYUml78Ep6VNIynFzkV2PrQTd9mJBdAnomv2KGIJdGAaEDtwzzcv5H9SkVZS4Gp2/s1600/art+002.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548316087823440498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpzG05_fk_Vt5dIcFVkSMs9bDbbXMGp2gq1564MSZ7r8Niz1rDgQbUx2_Hs-nn8eHYQaxZXxopSsTQHYUml78Ep6VNIynFzkV2PrQTd9mJBdAnomv2KGIJdGAaEDtwzzcv5H9SkVZS4Gp2/s400/art+002.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 189px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 326px;" /></a>We've been doing this for about 3 weeks now, and honestly, it is amazing. The index cards are small, and fold easily into the size of one card, which I can stick in my purse and take with me. Other than that, it goes on the fridge, where they can easily reach it.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">I have Gracie and Annelie move their own clips so they can be 100% aware of where their clip is, and what they have lost/what they will lose if their behavior doesn't change.</span><br />
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Honestly, I think it is having something concrete to see and remind them of their behavior that works the most. My kids need visuals - time-outs and losing privileges did not mean much when they were just listening to my exasperated threats. And having the ability to redeem themselves makes the idea of being in trouble less scary because they can have more control over what they lose and when they can get it back.<br />
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As always, I'm a curious mama... what works for you in your home? And if nothing does... try giving this a try!<br />
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xoxo,<br />
<span style="color: #993399;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #993399;"><a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54486/235/C5E16F73D14092B2EDB57B95516C0C9F.png" style="-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto; background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; border: medium none;" /></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03733854662944058955noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-34090665919970268762010-12-06T19:22:00.000-08:002010-12-06T19:22:54.857-08:00Momma, is it Christmas yet?Go ahead, ask me. Ask me how many times since the Christmas tree went up that I've heard that question. So many times, that I went out this weekend and bought this...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPAlv8aHCScTWMF1EdlZ7dxmtzqSY3VOf6_kM2pvo3g_Ecdv_ihkD1DERQ9FG3DbTgaoMPiNQ54LgPpURx2s04PA-PjDxhF_hQPlJfYb_90rxNVA0WVg6hJC5F_qRbsu2kiGqlW6pPrCV/s1600/DSCF0289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPAlv8aHCScTWMF1EdlZ7dxmtzqSY3VOf6_kM2pvo3g_Ecdv_ihkD1DERQ9FG3DbTgaoMPiNQ54LgPpURx2s04PA-PjDxhF_hQPlJfYb_90rxNVA0WVg6hJC5F_qRbsu2kiGqlW6pPrCV/s400/DSCF0289.JPG" width="301" /></a></div><br />
Here's how we play this game. See the snowman? SweetPea gets to move him forward every day. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Ddh0u8gMsfivNIAfIeULoh7eTvRtx1wvrfIKVF604LNnhSVUxVbFDfj5njtdvnAAXcypNTIjOziaaQy2IxRcZp5-EibuAN5rYcgvqvh411nYWhIy1L8R1tx-dZFX7CQ7XqlK8MWhTZ2i/s1600/DSCF0285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Ddh0u8gMsfivNIAfIeULoh7eTvRtx1wvrfIKVF604LNnhSVUxVbFDfj5njtdvnAAXcypNTIjOziaaQy2IxRcZp5-EibuAN5rYcgvqvh411nYWhIy1L8R1tx-dZFX7CQ7XqlK8MWhTZ2i/s400/DSCF0285.JPG" width="302" /></a></div><br />
The end game, of course, is for Mr Foam Snowman to land here...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxtCzOUlwzUYUhlKSkKaduOKBWu8PxUDBgOJNks6952Dd6ZKjVI3CumxbcRlT4PnGnlRnu9NJm8Un8iCE2NsdaeQcjXfFvYL7CJz43S6RpnbtQcF1xRduidfWN2GCYPzQwM6SM6JCjhGo/s1600/DSCF0287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcxtCzOUlwzUYUhlKSkKaduOKBWu8PxUDBgOJNks6952Dd6ZKjVI3CumxbcRlT4PnGnlRnu9NJm8Un8iCE2NsdaeQcjXfFvYL7CJz43S6RpnbtQcF1xRduidfWN2GCYPzQwM6SM6JCjhGo/s400/DSCF0287.JPG" width="302" /></a></div>Oh sure, I could sit here, stroke my ego and pretend I'm one of those awesome parents who helps her kid learn the days of the week and the months of the year, not to mention counting, but really, it's more like payback for being asked the same question over and over...<br />
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<b>SweetPea</b>: "Momma, is it Christmas yet?"<br />
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<b>Me</b>: "Look at your calendar. Where is the snowman today?"<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: magenta;">SweetPea</b><span style="background-color: white;">:</span> (<i>pondering</i>) "December... 6"<br />
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<b>Me</b>: "And where is Christmas?"<br />
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<b style="color: magenta;">SweetPea</b>: (<i>points to the Christmas tree</i>) "Here"<br />
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<b>Me</b>: "How many boxes does the snowman have to land on before he gets to the tree?"<br />
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<b style="color: magenta;">SweetPea</b>: (<i>counting out loud</i>): "Nineteen?"<br />
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<b>Me</b>: "That means there are 19 more days until Christmas"<br />
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<b style="color: magenta;">SweetPea</b>: "................................Aw"<br />
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Hey, if you want to know, you're going to have to work for it, baby!Alyssa S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11674708702014878064noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7581051299606335447.post-65896998530784271382010-12-06T08:57:00.000-08:002012-05-06T09:48:18.868-07:00The Queen of Everything<a href="http://sarahandthegoonsquad.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/crown.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://sarahandthegoonsquad.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/crown.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 171px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 241px;" /></a>'Tis the season... for family road trips, and the very thought of being cooped up in a car with my kids for any stint longer than 2 hours, makes me cringe. At three and six, they aren't quite the ideal travelers yet. But, like I said, 'tis the season, and it was time to buck up, pack the car and head to my in-laws for Thanksgiving. A twelve hour drive, by the way.<br />
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We woke the kids at 5 am, paired rain boots with their jammies, brought their blankets and hoped that they might go right back to sleep once we were on the road. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. A mere half hour into the trip, Peri started whining, "Mommmeeeeeee, My bum hurts, I need candy to make it feel better. I want to go to Grandma's house, why aren't we there yet? I can only sleep at Grandma's house, not the car." And so began the loooooooong ride ahead of us.<br />
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Being the super together mom that I am, I prepared the kids' backpacks with fun things for the trip (a first for me, I'm not normally thoughtful like that). I packed each bag with coloring books, crayons, books to read, a couple of small stuffed animals and a small goodie bag. When the kids got tired of watching dvds, and to ward off any continual whining, I pulled out the backpacks. This only led to, "Mommmeeeee, She won't share her books! I want the Alice coloring book! Mommmeeeeeee, my care bear fell on the floor, get it!!"<br />
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Halfway into the trip, I was so fed up with the constant whining of "Mommmmeeeeee" that I decided right then and there to change my name. I whipped around in my seat, stared the girls down and said, "Mommy is no longer my name. You cannot call me Mommy anymore. From now on, you can call me Queen of Everything. I won't answer you if you call me anything else."<br />
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They both sat there, stunned, until Ryah started:<br />
"Mommy-"<br />
"Nope, that's not my name."<br />
"But Mommmeeeee-"<br />
"Ryah, you can't call me that."<br />
"Hmph, uh, queen, um, hmph... Daddy..."<a href="http://delhi4cats.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/female-limo-driver.jpg?w=400&h=300"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://delhi4cats.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/female-limo-driver.jpg?w=400&h=300" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 215px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 286px;" /></a><br />
Hey, whatever works right? ;o)<br />
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Peri got the hang of it and called me Queen of Everything for the rest of the trip. Somtimes, she'll still call me that and it just makes me smile.<br />
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So after becoming the Queen of Everything and spending a full day in the car with my kids, I've decided that the next car I buy will be a limo. Yup and I'm going to keep the soundproof barrier up 90% of the time. A mom can dream right?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9D7tGRAZ3yWHqFiCT9NRnD58jf6SZxEJ8X0PgX-EKDk3sY1-D6ZSP5yYCXa16wSeDfmuxkUz8TYAj79vaSr1W4qWYG057W0Ife7TvIzDQUxprcJtSblz3Q1cdjuMWflTLJYdzSUXze0/s1600/BlogSignature.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547627343160050578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9D7tGRAZ3yWHqFiCT9NRnD58jf6SZxEJ8X0PgX-EKDk3sY1-D6ZSP5yYCXa16wSeDfmuxkUz8TYAj79vaSr1W4qWYG057W0Ife7TvIzDQUxprcJtSblz3Q1cdjuMWflTLJYdzSUXze0/s200/BlogSignature.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 100px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 95px;" /></a>Winklepotshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668253236290997371noreply@blogger.com3