Thank you Michelle & Donetta!

Two dear friends have given me this award. I am so blessed by their friendship and consider it a honor they have passed it on :)
Right back at you ladies!

Science Fair Project Complete!

My daughter had a Science Fair Project due today. We are ALL last minute people here. We milk life for all it's got and then reap the consequences later ;) For the past several days we've been helping her to complete the project. The thought was to do a Pinhole Camera made from an Oatmeal container. I had done this in Art class back in Jr. High. On a side note there, my daughter will be in Jr. High next year and they actually have photo classes and darkrooms in Jr. High now! It's been a little while since I've been in Jr. High. I have thoughts of going back to Jr. High :) We toured the classrooms last week and they have so many cool classes I was so excited for her. So back to the Science Project. My daughter and husband constructed the "Camera" together this weekend. Thanks to our love of photography, ours and Grandpa's, we had all the supplies we needed to provide photo paper and chemicals to make a darkroom in our bathroom. What's a Pinhole Camera without being able to process the film. Otherwise you'd have to take it to a professional lab. A one hour photo wouldn't be able to handle this. So once the Camera was constructed, the photos could be taken. Each piece of photo paper had to be loaded in the dark into the camera. It was a labor some task for the two of them. In order for the photos to be taken the subject had to stay still for 20-60 seconds depending on the light source. All photos had to be taken outside. Once they were finished, the darkroom was created. The four of us went up to the bathroom and had to witness the magic of the developing process. The photos first are a negative image on the photo paper then they are sandwiched together with another piece of photo paper to make the contact print which then looks more like a black and white photo. They did 6-7 shots and they came out pretty well considering they were taken with an Oatmeal container. Then yesterday the task of putting together the info. then onto the display board. Finally it's all done and ready to turn in. I think it turned out really well and was a great learning experience for my daughter.

10 Suggested Books to read by age 10

I came across this article I thought was worth sharing:
Narrowing down the most significant children's books to a measly ten is a daunting feat made easier with expert insight. Two authorities on the subject, Marina Claudio-Perez, Youth Services Coordinator for the San Diego Public Library, and Linda Bubon, co-owner of kid-centric Chicago book store Women and Children First, offer their top picks, listed in age-appropriate order.

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar," Eric Carle
Claudio-Perez deems this book perfect for kids from babyhood to kindergarten and beyond. "Babies can identify those bright colors," she says, adding that kids especially enjoy the die-cut pages they can trace with their fingers. Bubon agrees. "It's embedded learning about so many things: counting, days of the week, and the life cycle of the butterfly."


"Goodnight Moon,"Margaret Wise Brown
This classic bedtime story is illustrated in the hallmark green-and-orange color scheme immediately recognizable by parents. "Everybody identifies with it," says Claudio-Perez. "It's a good story for somebody you're trying to put to bed: it's repetitive, it's short, and it helps kids close their eyes."


"The Little Engine That Could," Watty Piper
This is a story that Bubon says she begged her father to read to her over and over. "It teaches the whole notion of self-determination and helping others, and it's a very inspiring story," she says. The book was updated with new illustrations by Lauren Long in 2005, but the original story was kept intact, and "both are great choices for kids," says Bubon.

"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault
This colorful tale teaches the alphabet and contains what Linda Bubon calls the crucial elements for all successful young children's books: "rhythm, repetition, and rhyme."


"Go, Dog, Go!," P.D. Eastman
Claudio-Perez suggests this book for kids getting ready to read on their own. Like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," there's lots of learning disguised as fun here, teaching colors, positions, and basic short words, with an added dose of humor. (Just about any Dr. Seuss book is good at this stage, too.)


"Where the Wild Things Are," Maurice Sendak
Parents enjoy passing down this timeless story where the kids get to scare the monsters. Claudio-Perez encourages reading it to calm kids' bedtime fears with humor and empathy. Teach your kid how to tell those monsters who's boss!


"Where the Sidewalk Ends," Shel Silverstein
A terrific introduction to poetry for kids who are outgrowing nursery rhymes. Silverstein is wry and more than a little bit subversive (meaning it might be the parents who get the most laughs from it).


"Charlotte's Web," E.B. White
Bubon recommends this tale of friendship and mortality for kids around ages 6 - 8 for its "attention to feelings and the development of sympathy and empathy, because those are qualities that really need to be nurtured around that age."


"Ramona the Pest," Beverly Cleary
Both bibliophiles recommended the "Ramona Quimby" series for kids ready to move from easier titles to tackling chapter books on their own. "Ramona's family mirrors what kids have at home, presented in a very humorous way," says Claudio-Perez.


"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Roald Dahl
"All of Roald Dahl's books are so well-plotted; they really keep a child turning the pages," says Bubon. "The language is great and the characters are real and wonderful." Claudio-Perez adds that this work quenches the incessant curiosity of kids around age 10. "Being reclusive and eccentric is a mystery they want to uncover, to see what's inside that building that no one else can see," she says.

Most of the photos say "To View Inside", that is not enabled at my site. I had gotten the photos through Amazon. If you'd like to view inside I would direct you to their site. Personally I thought having a visual of what they looked like would help. We don't have every book on the list, but I'd like to aquire them. My kids love to be read to.

Art Masterpiece went well

Just an update, the Art Masterpiece presentation I did went well. The kids were very attentive and some participated and gave input and asked questions. I really LOVE this! I am already reading up now on Picasso. I didn't realize he was alive until the early 70's as in 1970's. He was in his early 90's when he died. He's my next artist and the painting is "Still Life with Cherries", see the photo at left. It's not one of his more well know pieces in my opinion, so I will bring another print so the kids can possibly see and say "Oh yeah I've seen that before".

Interesting Stuff

-In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"
-Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only..Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
-The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
-Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S . Treasury.
-Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
-Coca-Cola was originally green.
-It is impossible to lick your elbow.
-The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:
Alaska
-The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000
-Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
-The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
-The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
-Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
-111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
-If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
-Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace
Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession
Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All were invented by women.
Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey
Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day
-In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."
-It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
-In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."
It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
-Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.
-At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!
-Believe it or not, you can read this:
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? (God is so good!)
-YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2008 when...
1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. (Yes I have actually done this, usually phone ahead though :)
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
14. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.
~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.
INTERESTING STUFF

My First "Art Masterpiece" Print

In an earlier posting I had said I'd be beginning to do the Art Masterpiece program at my children's school. I have received my list of prints for the remainder of the school year. My first to show is John Fredrick Peto's "Letter Rack". When I first saw this I thought, I start with this! It's not a Monet or a Van Gogh or Renoir.....It doesn't look like what I had hoped for. It is my job though to give the kids an appreciation of art and to view it differently than what my first reaction was. The more I look at it, learn about it, I am beginning to appreciate it. This is Trompe l'oeil "french for fool the eye" it look like a photograph that you can almost touch when in fact there is no photography here. This is amazing that he could paint this way. If you just look at it and tell yourself he painted this! It kind of reminds me of the "I SPY" books my kids like. Sadly, Peto wasn't credited for some of his early work. Credit went to Harnett since his signature brought money, his signature was forged on Peto's work. As with so many artists, the appreciation came after he died. He is also an American painter, born in Philadelphia. He then moved he and his family to Island Heights, New Jersey (the state I was born in) He had previously been commuting there to support his family and play the cornet, apparently an instrument similar to the trumpet. This particular painting represents some of the things that were in his solitary studio, battered books, lamps, mugs and pipes. He died at age 53 as kind of a starving artist type. I want to present this painting to the kids in a way that will heighten their curiosity as to what it is. I'm going to bring it into the classroom covered up. We'll talk about it and I'll describe it before they get the chance to see it. I'm looking forward to starting this program. It will be lots of fun. I'm excited to hear what the kids have to say. Pray for me, my frist day is Tuesday.

Relient K Video Added

I added a Relient K Video to the right it's called "Pressing On".

Ever had a day like this?

Last week I had one of those Candid Camera moments. You know when you asked is this for real? I had dropped something off to my husband at work. He works near a Post Office and my Mom needed some stamps. I had almost an hour until my son needed to be picked up from school. I thought I'll just go into the Post Office real quick. I wanted to go to the craft store before I picked him up. I went to the stamp machine thinking it would be quicker. I had the exact change for a book of stamps. I proceeded to take my money out of my wallet. In the process I accidentally tore the $5 bill I was taking out (must have been torn previously?) I thought Utoh will the picky machine take my torn bill? Sure why not I can make it work. It didn't like my torn $5 bill very much. I think it almost tore the end totally off. It repeatedly spit it out, but I was determined to keep putting it in. Finally alas it must of sensed my frustration and it sucked it in and didn't spit it out YEAH victory. Then there was the other $3.20 to go. So the first 2 bills go in fine, eventually the 3rd one did too after much frustration and my banging on the wall for someone to please help me with this machine. Then there was the matter of the last 20 cents. In no combination would it accept any more of my money not a quarter not 2 dimes not a nickel, nothing! I didn't have another dollar bill to try and I wasn't putting a $20 in there. The machine starts beeping at me telling me if I don't ask for more time I'll loose it all. Mind you this isn't the first time it's told me this. I walk around, keeping a close eye on the machine, looking for a door to knock on, rather than a wall. I find a door, apparently the only activity at the door is on Saturdays, this wasn't one of those days. I thought those post people are in there somewhere I just know it, I can hear them. I check on the machine making sure I appease it. Then I poke my head into the area where the line is. Everyone looked pretty busy, nobody was looking my way. Back to the machine, press the yes I want more time button. Then I go back in where the line is and politely interrupt, the nice customer, rather than the Postal employee offered a $1 that I could try to appease the machine. I put the $1, I think it spit it out, it had to get one more crack at me. Then finally it took the money and gave me the book of stamps I had sought after for 15 minutes (I couldn't be bothered waiting in line) It did however refuse to give me the 80 cents change back Urgggggghhhhhh :) Once the woman who had lent me the $1 came out I had counted out all my pennies and dimes and nickels and quarters to give her the exact dollar back. She said never mind, just laundry money, I appreciated her kindness. I guess I have a bit of a stuborn streek you think? One of those days..........

First Hockey Lessons

Before Christmas my son took some Hockey Lessons. We have an Ice rink nearby and they offered a free introductory program for little ones to introduce them to Hockey. It was the first time my son was on the ice. He was so cute, at first he looked like he was walk-skating. He did pretty well I was really impressed. By the final lesson they had hockey sticks and pucks. He took the lessons with one of his best buds. The two boys were so fun to watch. Had to share this adorable moment.

My son's favorite present

My 5 year old son got a Power Wheels Quad for Christmas from Grandma. He LOVES it and rides it daily around our yard. When my daughter was about his age Grandma had given her a Barbie Jeep. She really enjoyed that and even though she's 12, she can ride this quad! We have a large yard that is mostly grass with some rocks and concrete and he rides it and rides it all around the yard, sister does too ;) Here in the picture he's taking his buddy for a spin. They didn't have anything like this when I was a kid. I guess we did have things that had to be powered by our own little legs. I had a fire engine and I also had a pony that had wheels under his legs. My cousins had a Big Wheel and that was pretty cool.

Happy New Year 2008!

As I've mentioned previously, my husband and children have had the same Christmas break off. I have enjoyed this time with them so much. We've, for the most part, kept to ourselves most of this time and have just enjoyed being a family. On Sunday we decided to leave for California, spur of the moment as we are famous for :) We have talked about seeing the Rose Bowl Parade in person over the past couple of years. We felt this time would be the best opportunity to do that. We began our trip at Joshua Tree National Park. I honestly didn't realize how big it was. It is really a cool place with so many Joshua trees and rock formations and mountains. We spent a day and a half going through the park. We stayed in Twentynine Palms, CA the first night. Apparently the band "U2", while taking there "Joshua Tree" Album cover shot years back, stayed at the "Harmony Motel" in Twentynine Palms also :) My husband gave me this bit of trivia info. We are U2 fans also. The second day after spending most of the day at Joshua Tree we spent in Diamond Bar just outside of LA. We awoke just after 4 AM to get ready to travel 30 minutes to Pasadena for the parade. We didn't know what to expect but knew we didn't want to pay an arm and a leg to view the parade. We found free parking and then walked around just after sunrise to find the best spot to park ourselves. We found a pretty good spot but the parade didn't arrive to us until around 9:30 AM. It was amazing to see all the work and detail put into the floats up close. The flowers were beautiful in person. Once the parade was over we were all ready to head home. We got a bite to eat and headed for home. Glad to be back as we enjoy one final day together before resuming our normal schedule. Thankfully it's only for 2 days then we have the weekend again, yeah!

Merry Christmas

We had a Merry Christmas and I hope you did too! Our kids were so excited about Christmas as were we. We went out to dinner this year. There is a place near the mountains near to our home that is really nice. They serve food family style so it seemed more like dinner at home. Afterwards we went home for dessert and more relaxation. It was so nice to not have to prepare anything. We went with my Mom and my husband's Dad. I did make some Cinnamon rolls and coffee in the morning and some appetizers for the afternoon and that was it. Instead I was able to watch the kids open presents and enjoy what they had received for Christmas. We were able to just enjoy one another and what the day meant for us all.