Smellyann Strikes Again

Sea World, Orlando, & Downtown Disney

Over the past two days (Monday and Tuesday), Team Odette traveled 4½ hours away to Orlando for a mini-vacation. Thanks to Anheuser-Busch for supporting our troops, because with their Here's to the Heroes 2013, Rob and three of his dependents could get in for free. We just had to buy a ticket for Jack. We also bought the eat-all-day deals for everyone but me, which is totally worth it, because you can literally go through the participating restaurants again and again and again and get way too much food for a normal person to consume. We are normally not wasteful people, so it was a little painful to throw away perfectly good food, but otherwise it was a really good value; do it!

To prepare for the trip, I packed tons of snacks (no-frosting strawberry Pop-Tarts, trail mix, a little chocolate, cereal, etc.) in snack-size Ziploc baggies for all three kids in their new bags (from Publix) with their names on them. I gave each child a clipboard filled with paper and enough writing and drawing implements, new sticker books, glitter and glue, and more to keep them busy. Finally, I ran to the Toys 'R Us outlet store at a mall about 5 minutes away and picked up these glow sticks, together with smelly-good bubbles and more cyalume light-up bracelets and necklaces, for use on Monday night after we left the park.

I let them open up their new goody bags on Sunday night before bed, giving them instructions on when and where each item was to be used. We had to leave at about 0400 to get to Sea World by the time it opened at 0900 Monday morning, or else I would have left them in their car seats and let them find them then. They were super-excited to find out what was in those bags!

We arrived at Sea World more than a half-hour early, thanks to only having to stop for potty breaks and drinks at the Florida Turnpike travel plazas once or twice. I'm definitely going to do this pre-planning packing for the kids' car trip needs when we road trip in the future. It worked out perfectly: there was no "I'm hungry," "Are we there yet?" or "I'm bored" whining whatsoever. Awesome!

One really nice thing about Anheuser-Busch parks - and Sea World was no different - was that, right after the park opened for business and while we were standing in line to redeem our vouchers for tickets, they stopped to play the National Anthem. Rob stood at attention respectfully, and as usual, tears welled up in his eyes. I love that my guy is such a true patriot. I really admire that. Sophia started talking about what a dumb song it was, but I hushed her up and explained to her what the song was and what it meant, and that shut her complaints up immediately. She stood quietly and respectfully throughout the song after that.

Entering the park was really easy, smooth and fast. The folks at Sea World have got it together. The first thing we found inside was a flock of flamingos, stinky and squawking like crazy. They have a distinctive smell, which isn't very pleasant, but they're absolutely beautiful. Sophia, our bird lover, was particularly captivated.

Near the flamingos, also-banded pelicans waited to be admired. Or as a Facebook friend called them, "the crows of Florida." Still, as aggressive and unpleasant as these fowl can be, I think they are pretty cool.

We moved along to the stingray tank (although there were other rays including this cownose), and of course my thoughts immediately went to the untimely death of Crocodile Hunger Steve Irwin, right? Apparently, though, the stingrays are de-barbed or something, to make them not dangerous to park guests. I don't know how I feel about that, but I guess liability would be a huge issue if a similar thing happened in the park.

There were oodles and oodles of penny press machines inside Sea World. They were everywhere! We spent about $25 on collecting these souvies everywhere we found them, which makes me cringe a little. However, they're really cool, a great thing to collect, and the kids have fun doing them. It's a take-away and a project in one experience, so I think it's worth it in the end. We have collections from here, now, along with Disney World and Epcot, and everywhere else we've been able to find them. I love 'em.

It took us less than two hours to fill our Sea World pressed penny book! The machines were so ubiquitous, it wasn't hard to do. We have about 10 more that don't fit in the book, plus there are another 10 or 12 on the back of this book, so we have plenty. We probably even missed a bunch of machines, since we didn't do everything there was to do in the park. It'll give us something to do on a future visit to Sea World, y'know? 

After we pressed our first set of pennies, the first thing we found was the dolphin feeding tank. It cost $7 per kid and was on Chloë's bucket list, so Rob and I talked it over and decided to do it. $21 for an experience like that was pretty cheap compared to other behind-the-scenes adventures Sea World offered, and we had zero fundage for souvenirs other than the requisite pennies and my shot glass collection (I got a shark one, natch), so this was the thing to do. I'd rather give the kids an amazing memory than more stuff we don't need any day of the week, too. Here, we were waiting at the dolphin tank for our turn to pet and feed them.

Soon, it was the kids' turn to step up and feed the bottlenose dolphins. It was an incredible, memorable experience for all five of us. I'm actually surprised Chloë didn't cry a little bit. We all got to touch them, and the girls and Rob (who stepped in for the too-nervous Jack) each fed them two fish after doing the instructed rub under the jaw. It was amazing; words can't do it justice.

We walked through the aquarium that goes over one's head after feeding the dolphins, and I pointed out the different fish we saw to the kids. Parrotfish, like this Stoplight one here, are among my favorite of the reef fish. 

We visited Turtle Trek, which was a breathtaking surround cinema, like the inside of a planetarium. Another Facebook friend highly recommended it, and she was right; I loved every second of this short 3D adventure through a turtle's life. Afterward, there was a staffer giving out trivia questions and discussing the lives and habits of turtles and other sea creatures. I answered one question correctly before anyone else did, so she handed me a baseball card-like information sheet on the Leafy Sea Dragon for a prize. Later, she talked all about conservation efforts in which Sea World participates and gave the kids a chance to earn their own cards. We walked away with prizes for the Bottlenose Dolphin, Florida Manatee, and California Sea Lion, too.

Speaking of manatees, I love that the iPhone 5 has such a great camera; I took this picture, which Steph snagged off Facebook for a background on her iPad, with it. It turned out beautifully, IMNSHO.

The kids played a little turtle game, "Race for the Beach," against other kiddos. There were lots of little educational and interactive exhibits around Sea World like this one. I think it's great the way the park is so focused on edutainment and conservation; they really make the effort to preserve our natural marine resources. That impressed me throughout the day.

A Florida gator adolescent taking a swim 

We found some upside-down jellies, Cassopeia frondosa, near the alligator holding pen. I learned about these animals long ago as an undergrad at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmopsheric Science (RSMAS), during my Invertebrate Zoology class with the wonderful Dr. Peter Glynn. I wonder if he's still teaching; he was an inspiration for me as a budding marine biologist.

I'm not sure what kind of Cnidarian this one is, but my question to you is: artistically beautiful species, or just ick?

We then visited some leopard sharks, and Rob asked me to drop some knowledge about them. You know what? I didn't want to; I just wanted to have a fun, great day without so much pressure to be the authority on anything. So I refrained and just enjoyed being in the moment.

By that point in the day, it was hot, we were sweaty, and the kids were red in the face. Sea World isn't too heavy on rides and play so much as shows and experiencing the natural beauty of the marine environment, so we didn't have a lot of that. Fine by me, but the children wanted more of it. We headed over to the little kiddie area on the far end of the park to let them play in the small waterpark area for a bit. It was just the cool-down they needed, so I'm glad we took the time out to do that.

Sophia as Queen of the World! 

Chloë and Sophia took a ride in Swishy Fishies, which is like Sea World's equivalent of Disney World's Teacups. Jack, who had been the most vociferous complainer about the lack of rides, chose not to go on any rides. Really? That's so Jack, but whatever, he still had a great time and thanked us for taking them on the trip, so it's all good. If you're a Teacup fan, by the way, they also had a similar ride that went high up in the air. We didn't do that one, though, because the kids have a bit of a fear of heights; they come by it honestly!

Chloë had to pose for a photo-op with a Shamu replica; she happily obliged my request. It's never hard to get this one to do so; it's always hard to get Jack to pose unless he's thoroughly pleased at the moment!

Oh, I lied. Jack DID go on one ride, the kiddie train. This was more his speed, literally and figuratively speaking. 

We opted to rent a double stroller for several reasons: Jack, who has taut Achilles' tendons, has trouble walking for long distances. Plus, we knew we'd have lots to carry and thought it would be easier to take them around with us than pay for a locker we might visit but once during the day. And also, it would provide some sun protection for the kids, who took turns riding during our visit. An unexpected bonus was that it provided some tush respite for Rob, who occasionally took a brief siesta when he could sneak the opportunity!

My friend from Portsmouth, Miss Lisa, requested a family picture in the park, so I stopped a woman to take one in front of the sea creature-themed carousel we all rode immediately after that. Sophia started to pull a stranger-child off a purple seahorse that she wanted to ride; the nerve of her! After a scolding from me, we went on the other side and found one for her. But talk about embarrassing...

Just for good measure, I had Rob snap another shot of me on my carousel ride for Miss Lisa. You know, we all wore bathing suits all day long, but I was the only one who wasn't asked to cover up with a shirt or shorts. If you ever visit Sea World, be prepared to have a cover-up of some sort for males and females alike, because they will say something to you if you're not 'properly' dressed.

A fun moment between Jack and Chloë that I was thrilled to capture

We walked through the Arctic exhibit and found ourselves there at just the right time for a short training session for the beluga whales. The trainer had the belugas spin, jump and play for fishy treats. What fun to watch!

This polar bear was lounging near the beluga whales. I'm sure there were more, but we didn't see any, and she didn't want to come closer for me to get a better picture. Brat. I jest.

Both Rob's and my phone died after that, so this is a shot of Shamu that I stole off Google Images. Hee. We walked around the beautiful Sea Garden - a replica of the undersea environment made out of land plants - while we waited for the Shamu show to start at 1730. It was completely worth the wait. I had gone to Sea World with my grandparents when I was five years old, but the only things I remembered were seeing the flamingos and having an alligator come toward us while we ate dinner. 

Shamu - probably the n^th generation - and other orca friends put on a great display of tricks with their trainers. We had a lot of fun sitting in the Soak Zone and watching all the people in the rows in front of us get up, pissed, to leave after they got completely wet from the killer whales' antics (they're really dolphins, though, you know). Um, duh? You sat there knowing you'd get splashed and then you get upset when you do? What kind of sense does that make? None. Plus it's hilarious to have a whale do a humongous belly flop in front of you that leaves you dripping from head to toe. Make sure to put away those electronics and purses if you go; "soak" is definitely the key word!

Shortly after watching Shamu, we headed to our nearby hotel for the night.  The Seralago has mixed reviews from friends and strangers alike who have stayed in the same place, but we had a really nice stay there. There is a big cafeteria-slash-convenience store near the main lobby; we were able to get pizza, burgers and gyros for dinner, and everything tasted great. We picked up breakfast in the morning from there, too, even though Expedia said there was supposed to be a free continental one. (That was the only let-down.) There was a tiki bar and playground in the pool area, and the room was spacious and comfortable. For less than $60 a night in a high-traffic resort area, we were not disappointed. Your mileage may vary. 

The kids played with their glow sticks and bubbles, went swimming with Rob and warmed up in the hot tub at Seralago. Meanwhile, Rob and I got drinks from the bar that we left mostly untouched. Oh, that was another thing - my piña colada? They must have thought I was fourteen, because I swear it was a virgin; if there was alcohol in it, it was undetectable by my highly sensitive system. And that's sayin' something. I'm actually kind of glad, though, because I no longer enough the buzz of alcohol and have pretty much decided I'm done with the stuff after this. I might have something now and again in the future, but for the most part, I see no need to imbibe.

For lunch on Tuesday, we headed back East to Orlando (we stayed just West in Kissimmee, which is pronounced "Kiss-IH-me," but which my silly grandpa always pronounced "KISS-amee" to be funny) for a mystery shop. The place was dead, so we were able to get in and out of there fairly quickly before heading to our next destination.

We didn't have any real plans for Downtown Disney other than something fun for Jack and possibly renting a paddleboat, so I asked Rob's dad if he wanted us to visit them instead at their place in Boynton Beach on our way back to Homestead. Only, Rob's dad was not actually IN Boynton Beach yet, so that didn't pan out. A weather check Monday night didn't look promising for Downtown Disney, either, but fortunately the rain held out and we had a beautiful couple hours of sun during our trip to the Marketplace.

After getting squirted with water by the giant Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) at World Of Disney, we stopped to listen to the orchestra play some tunes from movies and TV shows everyone recognized. I really enjoyed that and was grateful we didn't miss it.

There's a big LEGO store - one of Jack's few obsessions - at Downtown Disney, but instead he wanted go to Ridemakerz to build his own radio-controlled car. We spent a lot more there than I planned, but it turned out to be really worth it. The cars, accessories and chargers come with a lifetime warranty, which is good because later we discovered he had a bent axle and needed a new undercarriage. They swapped it out for him, no questions asked.

At the store, which is at the back of Team Disney if you want to find it, there was a huge selection of rims and wheels. Some are included in the price of the chassis, and some are extra. Jack happened to pick a set that were free-with-purchase, to my relief.

After he selected his rims, wheels and sound, Chris helped Jack assemble his new yellow Corvette. That was fun, to put it concisely. Jack could have been timed to see how long it put together the vehicle, just for fun, but he chose to take his time and not rush through the experience. I wasn't suprised at that; he's a pretty methodical kid when it comes to mechanics.

I wanted the girls to have an equitable experience compared to Jack's, and we didn't want to do the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, so we walked around to see what they could do. First, they chose to have their faces painted. Artist Emily was really talented; Sophia looks adorable in her "Princess Kitty" make-up, doesn't she?

Chloë chose to have the "Music Mania" paint. They each opted to get the glitter lipstick after Emily verified with me that it was okay. Why not? Full package, baby.

After their faces were done, we went to the Ghirardelli store near the entrance and got a strawberry shake for Sophia and a chocolate one for Chloë. I didn't taste Sophie's, but Chlo's was really rich and delicious. They were a bit pricey, but since neither girl could finish hers and passed them to the boys less than halfway through, it was okay by me. We got chocolate samples when we walked in the door, too, which satisfied my sweet tooth!

Just like my dad, Chloë usually chooses to eat the stems of her maraschino cherries. I do it, too.

Stim (Steph and Tim, back in Virginia) are big fans of Sulley from Monsters Inc., so now that the new movie is coming out, she was hoping to have me pick her up some Sulley merch to send her way. We didn't find anything for her or the boys, though I had fun looking around and texting her pictures of all the latest offerings!

Even though he'd spent a small fortune at Ridemakerz and knew he wasn't getting anything else, Jack wanted to look around at the LEGO store. I figured I'd see if they had anything new in the LEGO Friends section (the girls collect those sets) for my lady-babies, because their shakes and facepaintings cost nowhere near as much as Jack's Corvette. Not that I wanted to spend money just to spend money, not at all, but I wanted both to be fair and also give them something to DO and something to HAVE, just like Jack.

Sophia, who's been gunning for the LF House for over a year now, surprised me by changing her mind and opting for the Stable instead. She loves horses, as well as the afore-mentioned birds (bugs, too, though all the kids love animals in general), so maybe it wasn't so surprising. Chloë went with a smaller set, the Café I think. When we got home that evening, they started building their sets out front on the patio, since their room is still crowded with unpacked boxes. Must remedy that situation soon!

There are many LEGO structures around the store in Downtown Disney, including a serpent in the water nearby and this family and their dogs. On our way back to our van, Penelope, Jack wanted to pose with this structure for me. Oh, see his gappy grin? He lost a tooth at Sea World the day before! Apparently I forgot to tell my progeny that they weren't supposed to leave body parts in the park.

After stopping for another potty break during the ride home, we spotted this fresh Florida oranges and grapefuit shop that I wanted to visit. We were out of oranges, after all, and I knew we'd find more local goodies from right there in Fort Pierce and surrounding areas. I was right. I spent more than I wanted to, but shopping locally is important to me, so it was worth it.

Along with my ¼-bushel of Valencia oranges, I bought some real Florida honey (mmm...), some orange honey, and jellies and preserves: Guava Jelly, Jalepeño Pepper Jelly for Rob (ew, but he'll love it), Tangerine Marmalade (omg, that sounds so good right now), Orange Pineapple Cherry Marmalade, and also Mango Chutney. I also picked up some Vidalia Onion Mustard for Rob, and some Habanero Beef Jerky that he gobbled down as soon as I got back to Penelope and handed it to him. I snagged a bag of saltwater taffy that the propietor described as "so good, it's addictive" to ship to NY for my BFF, Dr. Lisa. She loves the stuff.

When we finally got home after a quick stop at the Walmart Vision Center to pick up Chloë and Rob's new prescription sunglasses (theirs took longer than Jack and Sophie's because they're so blind), Jack rushed out to test out the new wheels. He drove it all the way around the block and had to be convinced to come in when it got dark. I'm glad he was so happy, but he seems to think we'll be going back every year to get him another one. Ha! I don't know where he got that idea, but it wasn't from me!

So now that it's May, it's time to really get serious and down to business. April was a full month of fun for Team Odette, but it's time to rein it in just a little bit. Oh, there will still be plenty of fun, but we have work to do. There's lots of homeschooling on which to catch up, jobs to get, unpacking to finish, VA paperwork to get done, a house in Virginia to sell, and college to get into (for Rob). Much to do, though like I said, we'll still be having fun in between the more serious stuff. Stay tuned for another post tomorrow, as I have fun mystery shops planned for today!

Fin.

Sunday Stealing: The Deleted Meme

Link up here if you wanna be a thief today, too!

Sunday Stealing: The Deleted Meme  

1. Who is your favorite artist (any field)?

Definitely Romero Britto. We have a couple two-three of his pieces, both fine art and functional art. I ♥ him excessively. Have you hard of him before this?

2. Describe yourself.

If that picture doesn't sum it up, which I think it does quite well: warped, wacky, wild, and wonderful.

3. How do you feel today?

I had a few rough days toward the end of last week, but right now, right this very minute, I'm doing quite okay. I'm grateful for that.

4. Describe the area where you currently live.

I don't want to say it's the ghetto, but... it's the ghetto. Our old 'hood was much, uh, less so. Wah. Hopefully wherever we end up in San Diego will be a step back in the right direction for us, especially as far as safety is concerned. Bah.

5. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?

Is "everywhere" an option? Then that's my answer. (If not, then my first stop would be the Great Barrier Reef. Ohh.... one day.)

6. What is your favorite form of transportation?

Of all the modes of transportation I love, I would have to say walking is my favourite. Given the number of people I know who can't do it, or do it with extreme difficulty, including myself before I lost my weight, I consider myself very fortunate to have this ability. Now, running, pah! Well, I might take it up in 2013, but we'll see. I said that a year ago or so, too...

7. Your best friend is:

Hubs is my very, very besty-best friend. I'm so blessed.

8. You and your best friends are:

... in other words, kindred spirits. I have a lot of pals, chums, buds, whatever, but my very bestest-best friends are few and fantastic.

9. What's the weather like?

At least, that's what it is in my imagination at the mo'. Truthfully, it's almost 0330, probably pretty frosty outside, and I have no idea what daytime will bring. Are we in San Diego yet?!

10. What's your favorite time of day?

Even when he's in a seriously grumpy mood from work, it's that moment when Hubs walks in the door. ♥

11. If your life was a TV show, what would it be called?

But, it's been done. Ah, well.

12. What is life to you?

The biologist in me is laughing at this question, but the "human" me has a harder time answering. Making people. Making good people. Making happy good people. You get the point.

13. Your relationship:

Was there something you wanted to ask me?

14. Your fear:

Been there, definitely do not want to go there again... and please don't say anything about Connecticut. I can NOT handle it. Sorry. Weak, I know.

15. What is the best advice you have to give?

That sounds pretty good. I'll go with that one.

16. Thought for the Day:

Ah, remember those? Anyway, my position is generally, "As long as it's funny, it's okay." However, I do not tolerate racism and most -isms, so there are exceptions. That's not really a "thought for the day" type of answer, is it? Ah, fuck it, I really don't care right now. LOL!

17. How would you categorize your soul's present condition:

My soul is good, thanks for asking.

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Have an abfab week, peeps!

Fin.

GIVEAWAY & Product Review: Creativity For Kids Craft Kits

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, MamaP of Fostering Love. Enjoy your prizes, MamaP & Kids!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Creativity For Kids and bsmmedia.com, in which we were given three craft kits to use for this review. No monetary exchange has taken place. All opinions, as always, are 100% my own.

Wow! Like I've said, sometimes this blahgging thing has its perks, and this time we really enjoyed that. We received three kits from Creativity for Kids in the mail to review:

(1) the Deluxe Glitter Art Kit (MSRP: $29.99);

(2) the Mossy Meadows Gnome Garden kit (MSRP: $29.99); and,

(3) the Tile Art Necklaces kit (MSRP: $15.99)!

The first kit we broke into, per the kids' request, was the Deluxe Glitter Art kit. At first, it being on the 'girly' side, Jack had no interest and stayed in his room watching plane crash videos on YouTube on the laptop. So the girls and I dug in with the first of three separate activities within the kit:

(click on photos to embiggerate)

Sophia, Chloë and I each made our own trinket boxes. Everything was included in the kit that we needed, from glue to glitter and rhinestones to the boxes themselves, so there was never any need for me to get up and go get something that we didn't have. Well, except plenty of newspaper, since we were working on Chloë's bed!

I thought all the boxes were lovely, but since my girls declared mine "the best," here's my finished product! I used lots and lots of glitter, glitter pens, and glue to make my box, and here it is, over a week later, still intact after plenty of drying time. Isn't it so cute?! I gave it to Chloë, but now I'm wishing I'd have kept it as a memento of the fun time we had crafting together.

Having wandered in and discovered that, hey, this is actually pretty fun, Jack sat down and joined us for the second activity in the kit: decorating pre-glittered gift tags, which will be super fun to use for birthday and holiday presents! The only problem we ran into with this activity was keeping our four cats off our drying table! They kept hopping up and smushing our glitter glue. (We eventually got smart and kicked them out with the door shut, but that took an embarrassingly long time to figure out.)

Our finished tags: the kit came with 12, so we each got to decorate three. Pretty cool, huh? (There are ribbons to tie them to packages and what-not, but at this point they were still in the drying phase.)

 

The third activity in this first kit saw us making eight glittered and bejeweled cards, which came with envelopes. What fun it'll be for the kids to send out their thank you notes and other correspondence on note cards they decorated themselves!

Our finished cards - two for each of the four of us to make.

The kit comes with a detailed instruction sheet, as well as project ideas, so you'll never be at a loss for what to do with this Deluxe Glitter Art set!

The second kit, the Mossy Meadows Gnome Garden, has been the most anticipated project by the kids, especially Jack, since it's less girly than the other kits. Like all the Creativity for Kids kits, at least in my imagination, it comes with thorough instructions and wildly colorful depictions of what to do with it. The back of the box is cute, too, showing all the contents and even telling a little background of what's being made.

I insisted this kit be worked on outdoors, but unfortunately, the weather hasn't cooperated, and we haven't had a dry day in weeks to complete it. (Apologies to those suffering with a drought!) This is what I found when I first opened the box and pulled out the pieces: Lots of "stuff" to explore here!

Look at all this cool project material! The kids are absolutely chomping at the bit to get into it, and truth be told, so am I, because it looks so cute and fun. There are little ladybugs and wee gnomes and everything! Rain, rain, go away...

 

Finally, after several days, we gave up and got into the last kit, the tile necklaces. Just like the others, everything necessary came with the kit so that we had every last thing we needed to make our necklaces from start to finish. Even scissors and glue were included! I think that's really smart, because busy moms like me are often willing to do crafts with the kids, but we're pressed for time and often don't "want to get into it," when it comes to searching for and procuring all the necessary materials for a given project. Creativity For Kids is awesome, because it solves that problem - at a wide variety of price points for every budget.

As you can probably tell from all the pictures in this collage, this project was a bit more involved. Some parts were a little troublesome for the kids, each of whom was able to decorate three tiles, though the project technically only comes with ALL the materials for eight necklaces. I merely sat by at the ready with my handy-dandy camera and a helping hand where needed. It took several hours to finish - well, more if you count drying time - because it's geared for ages 8+, and it really means it, darn it! There were quite a lot of steps, but they enjoyed making the necklaces every step of the way.

How much did Jack like making these projects??

Yes, this was literally his answer to my asking that - no staging required! They had SO MUCH FUN.

Oh, you wanna see the finished necklaces? Okay, of course:

One of Sophie's findings came unglued while she was threading the cord, so it's re-drying now. She's keeping all of hers, natch. She is seven, after all.

Chloë was going to give two of hers away, but she's capricious like her mama and keeps flipper-flopping about that decision! The third needs a finding and cord still, too.

Jack's decided to give his three away for presents, and to help with that endeavor, the kit even came with three cute little gift packets! He's all excited now, to give his presents to some very nice ladies we know. :)

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So now that I've told you how awesome Creativity for Kids can be, how would you like a giveaway, hmm? Oh you would, would you? Well, one lucky reader of this blog is going to win not one, but TWO kits from Creativity for Kids!!! YAY! The winner will receive the Deluxe Glitter Art kit:

...along with yet another awesome kit that I didn't review:

the Beach Buddies Shell Crafts Mini Kit (MSRP: $5.99), which, I have to admit, makes me jealous, as a marine biologist! Ooh, pick me, pick me!

Contest Rules:

- The winner will be chosen from the Random Number Generator at 11:59 PM EST on September 1, 2012.

- ONE entry per person, please.

- To enter, you MUST leave a comment on THIS post telling me which Creativity for Kids kit intrigues you the most, who you will use it with or give it to... and your favorite colour.

- You may refer friends via Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc., but there is still a limit of ONE entry per person.

Any questions? Let's begin! Good luck!!!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here if you're fragmented today, too!

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I'm all in a blahgger's tizzy right now. Why? Typepad, for some unknown reason, stopped auto-saving posts during composition, and my stupid feckin' PC shut down 2/3 of the way through my initial FF write-up! What the heck?! On both counts. Argh. So now you're REALLY going to get the fragments, instead of my usual run-on blather. Well, maybe. It's still me, after all.

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I'm still trudging along with the same sorry-@$$ keyboard as last week, should you care to know. I tried a replacement, but it was a dud. So frustrating!

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I'm super annoyed at my 9yo son right now. Why? We have a Keurig (♥), and I was down to my last two K-cups of coffee. Meanwhile, I make sure to keep the hot cocoa K-cups stocked for the kids, which they love. Well, Jack, my boy, LOVES coffee, and while I was in the shower, he helped himself to both of those last two cups of mine! And NO, we don't allow him to drink it, save for the blue moon sip here and there, so I'm doubly annoyed! I can't believe he managed to fall asleep and isn't bouncing off the walls. Actually, there's my silver lining. It could be worse.

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If your blood type is O- like mine, and you've ever given blood, I'm wondering if you get sick of all the calls from the American Red Cross, too? After three calls begging me for more blood - which I'm honestly happy to give, don't get me wrong - three more to remind me of my appointment, another to thank me afterward for being a 'hero,' and then probably one last to ask me to take a survey about my experience, I'm over it!

☼

Speaking of blood, I'm actually excited to go see my oncologist/hematologist today. I don't usually get a thrill seeing any doctor (well, unless they're cute, like my OB/onc, but anyway), but today I'll find out if my labwork from Tuesday shows the need for another iron transfusion. I soooo hope so; I'm really dragging my butt around lately. It's bad. Between that and a recent onslaught of horrible migraines, I barely got out of bed the last two days. No good!

☼

And speaking of excited about tomorrow, I can't wait to go to the big Etsy Craft Party at my friend Michelle's all-handmade goods shop, Kitsch! Woot! I'll get my craft on, mingle with my artsy friends, and sample some local eats. Big fun!

☼

During my downtime, I'm forever on my iPhone, playing my favorite games: Words- and Hanging With Friends, and my latest addiction, Jewels (multi-player as well, but not from Zynga). Do you play? Challenge me! I'm Smellyann there, as well.

☼

If you've got kids, be sure and check back tomorrow when I post a fun giveaway for you to enter and win a really fun prize for them! Don't forget!

☼

 

I hate not to end on a photo or kid-quote of some sort, and since I didn't get out much to snap any personalized plates this week, I'll leave you with this one of Chloë & Sophia getting some arts & crafts goodies from a recent Crayola sale at Toys 'R Us. My girls love to craft as much as their mama, so they tore them open and got started right away. Oh, Jack got something, too, but he didn't want it "right now," which is Jack-code for "pretty much ever, thanks." My feelings aren't hurt. It was free, after all. Hee.

☼

Y'all have a good weekend now, y'hear?

Fin.

Sunday Stealing: The OC 25 Meme

Link up here if you're playing along today! Happy Easter/Passover to all who celebrate!

Sunday Stealing: The OC 25 Meme

1. What is your origin of your first name? What about any nicknames?

My mom just randomly came up with it. I was supposed to be "Eleanor" after my dad's mom, or "Clayton" if I was a boy, but when my dad wasn't in the room, my mom quickly put down "Melanie" instead. Hee! I've come to appreciate that, although my elementary school BFF was Eleanor, so of course I had wanted that to be my name then. My middle name is Ann, so my dad always called me "Mellie Ann," which my wonderful older sister changed to "Smellyann" at some point. And there you have it.

2. Have you any claims to fame?

Apparently, I'm meant to be a writer. In college, I came in second (or third?) in a huge poetry contest - you've probably seen the ads for it - and my published poem was analyzed in the front of the anthology in which it appeared. I was supposed to have my boys' and my story published in the Chicken Soup for the Twins Soul book, but apparently they decided it was too sad and took it out later on, which is fine with me. And more recently, my "Works for Me Wednesday" pets edition blahg post was published in a book called That Works For Me! or something like that; I had to give the proper permissions and all that. I've always been a pretty decent writer and thought I've had more poetry and maybe a novel rattling around in there, but I haven't been able to get started. We'll see if that ever comes to fruition.

3. If you were famous, how would you introduce yourself to someone who had never heard of you?

The same way I do now, I suppose: I'd have the head of my huge entourage do it. Heh.

4. Which of your country's achievements do you hold in highest regard?

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation couldn't have come soon enough; I think it just edges out winning the American Revolution. JMHO

5. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

First, I wanted to be a teacher and librarian. As I grew up, though, I wanted to be a marine biologist. And until I got married, I was one. For a brief time, I was livin' the dream I grew up having. Now, I'm happier things worked out this way. I wouldn't change a thing, except for maybe a fatter wallet..

6. What was your most prized possession as a child? Do you still have it?

It was my red-and-white stuffed puppy dog named Snowflake, who eventually was missing an ear. The other ear had holly leaves and berries on it. I loved that puppy. I don't know what happened to her.

7. What would you change about yourself, if you could?

Pfft. What wouldn't I? That would be a shorter list. I would take away the Bi-Polar Disorder from which I suffer (as do those around me, I'm afraid), and I would give myself more strength of character. People who know the sorts of things I've been through always tell me what a strong person I am, but I don't feel that way. I feel like a weak, meek little mouse. My therapist tells me I am progressing though - she told me recently that I was "individuating," since I am no longer seeking my father's approval. I laughed and said it was high-time at 35, but she says she sees people much older than I am who haven't gotten that far and wow! I am babbling! Anyway, physically, I'd get my plastics to remove the skin I have hanging around (literally) after my 200+-lb weight loss.

8. What are you obsessed with?

Yarn. Picking at myself. My husband's nuts. Jafra. Couponing. And more yarn.

9. What is your greatest achievement so far, or the high point of your career?

Oh, I've received my fair share of academic accolades, but my proudest achievement was winning "Class Giggler" in 3rd grade. I still have the certificate!

10. When/where were you happiest?

January 2, 2001: The day we eloped was the most blissful day in my life. I'll never, ever forget that high.

11. And the lowest point in your life thus far?

March 25, 2003: The day I held my older twin son as he shuddered taking his last breath. Nothing is worse than outliving your child.

12. What was the best decision you ever made?

Marrying Rob! He is so good for, and to, me. We both have our share of shortcomings, but I definitely ended up with the better end of the deal. God knew what he was doing when he brought me this man.

13. If you have any body modifications, which was most painful, or which do you regret the most? If you haven't got any, do you have any planned, or would you ever consider getting any?

Other than four piercings in each ear, I have a nose ring. So that was the most painful. I haven't fully decided on getting a tattoo, but if I do, it'll be a joint one with Rob, honoring our four children together.

14. What is the most idiotic thing you have ever done while intoxicated?

We don't have to go there, do we? Let's not. Maybe the next time I get that intoxicated, which will be never, I'll share that story with y'all. ;) Let's just say I'll probably never drink Goldschläger again!

15. What is your favorite joke?

I am so terrible at remembering things like jokes and movie quotes. Asking me to tell a joke is putting me on the spot. I like stupid jokes anyway, like this one:

Knock Knock?

Who's there?

Little old lady.

Little old lady who?

I didn't know you could yodel!

16. What is the coolest/most impressive thing you own?

You mean aside from my iPhone? (You know I love that dang thing.) Okay, let me think on it a minute... probably the Britto. We bought a limited edition giclée of his called Deep Night Romance on our Mediterranean cruise, and it sums up our love for each other beautifully.

17. When did you last cry, and why?

I cried a little bit last night, thinking about this coming Monday. It'll be the 28th anniversary of my mom's death, and I always get a little weepy.

18. What's the best piece of advice you've ever had?

Surprisingly, it came from my dad. I'll paraphrase: "Don't let anyone rob you of your joy."

19. Similarly, what's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for you?

A semi-anonymous benefactor helped me pay for my college degree, the day I was going to get kicked out for non-payment of my classes. Biggest relief of my life!

20. Have you any vices?

I'm too self-indulgent.

21. Do you regret anything?

No regrets. I live for today, and tomorrow. There are things I wish I'd done differently, but I didn't, and I have learned and grown from them.

22. What is the best invention ever?

Hello?! The iPhone! lol

23. How would you describe your relationship with your family?

I have a very small living family. My mom is gone, my dad and I aren't speaking at the moment, and my sister and I are as close as we can possibly be from a distance. I love that broad! ♥

24. Who is your biggest inspiration?

Anyone with deep emotional fortitude, who can come through a tragedy and not completely fall to pieces. Well, falling to pieces isn't the thing, but someone who can pick up those pieces and make life work again - that's inspiring to me.

25. What are you going to do when you've finished Sunday Stealing?

Work on my April/May Jafra newsletter, a week later than I'd planned. Oops.

Happy Easter!

Fin.

Sunday Stealing: The Eve Was Framed Meme

Link up here if you're a dirty, dirty meme'er like me.

Cheers to all of us thieves!

 

1. Why is your favorite color your favorite?

It's the color of the clear sea in the medium depths of the Caribbean, the most beautiful color I've ever seen, and reminds me of what I love in the world.

 

2. Do you prefer dogs or cats or do you just hate animals, and want to kill baby seals?

That question made me snort! I prefer itty bitty little puppy doggies, but I love all animals. Even the ugly ones.

 

3. How much time do you spend on the computer?

Six.

 

4. Not including porn, what do you do on the computer?

This meme is cheeky, eh? I do everything, a little of this, a little of that, a little of s'more stuff... nunya, mostly.

 

5. Are you a clock watcher?

Rarely. Only if I'm bored, which I try not to be.

 

6. What did you look for in a partner?

Intelligence and a good sense of humor, decency and kindness, love and passion.... and obviously not height. Sorry, baby. Hee.

 

7. What type of clothing do you prefer?

Whatever I look good in and disguises my 7-to-10-year-old baby belly!

 

8. What is your favorite type of music?

I can't lie. I like my Pop music best. I know it's lame, but it's so... singalongable, mostly!

 

9. Do you believe in the paranormal, ghosts, ESP, levitation, spoon bending?

Not right now, nope.

 

10. The most important question: Do you have a innie or outie belly button?

I've got a way-the-hell-innie.

 

11. What kind of car do you drive?

C'mon, I've got three kiddos. A minivan. 2010 Honda Odyssey. I've had it a year and a half, and I still miss my old van.

 

12. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or The Boys Are Back in Town?

 

The former!

 

13. Camping or the Ritz?

 

As much as I love the great outdoors, I'm more at home in a fancy hotel.

 

14. What food are you craving RIGHT NOW . . . did you eat it?

 

I don't know, but no, because whatever it is, we don't have it. Oberweis cottage cheese, I think. It's the best!

 

15. The most thrilling place you've ever visited. Why?

 

Oh, gosh. I'm hard-pressed... Okay. Our 2008 Mediterranean cruise was pretty awesome. I love culture, I love travel, I love being on the water... and I was with my darling husband. The only downside about that trip was that I was still mighty big (I had my surgery the following January), and we couldn't do a few of the excursions we'd planned because of my size.

  

16. If you could slip into the skin of one public figure--celebrity, artist,--who would it be?

 

Does Matt Damon's wife count? Then he could slip into my skin. Did I just say that?

 

17. Look up from your computer. What do you see first?

The Britto we bought on the aforementioned cruise!

 

18. Sum up your philosophy of life in one sentence. You can borrow it from someone else, if you'd like.

You take the good, you take the bad, you take it all, and there you have the facts of life, oh, the facts of life... sorry. I'm in a singing mood.

 

19. Name the one thing you just don't understand about kids today.

No. The kids, I get. It's their parents I don't often get!

 

20. If you could steal one work of art from a museum or gallery, which would it be?

 

Dalí's The Persistence of Memory has always captivated me.

 

Have a stellar week, kids!

 

Fin.

Join Lisa Loeb and Crayola "Inside the Crayon Box" LIVE on Wednesday, March 7th!

Creativity matters. It´s a skill that all children can learn and when it´s practiced every day, kids become the critical thinkers, problem solvers, and leaders in the classroom, and they´re better prepared for professions of the 21st century.

Crayola wants every child to be creatively alive, so they´re inviting parents "Inside the Crayon Box," for a special live chat with celebrities and trusted parenting experts that will inspire and spark ideas to expand your child´s creative thinking. If you find yourself looking for new ways to inspire your children to express their ideas and build their creativity, you´ll want to join us to learn and share!

The first "Inside the Crayon Box" live chat is Wednesday, March 7 at 9 p.m. EST. Join Crayola and musician, children´s author and mom, Lisa Loeb for a 45-minute live streaming video chat on the Crayola Facebook Page. Lisa, best-known for her number one hit "Stay (I Missed You)," will share as personal stories, practical advice and ways she brings a little creative play into every day for her daughter. We want to hear from you - participants can ask Lisa questions during the event, too!

Interested in the topics to be covered during the chat?

• Why Does Creativity Matter? Creativity is not about who´s the best artists or becoming an architect. It´s a way of thinking that encourages kids´ original ideas and develops their confidence.
• Growing Up Creative. Lisa will share stories about growing up in a home where creativity was encouraged.
• Simple Tips. Easy Ideas. Like most moms, Lisa juggles a lot. She´ll share simple, easy ways she sparks her daughter´s creativity as part of their daily routine.

The chat will occur here in the Crayola YouTube channel on Wednesday. I'm going to be there - will you join me?

Also, be sure to check out Lisa´s book Lisa Loeb´s Silly Sing-Along: The Disappointing Pancake and Other Zany Songs (Sterling Children´s Books, 2011) available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. Sing, laugh, and play with pop Lisa in this fabulous collection of ten of the silliest songs ever. Fun activities, games, and recipes accompany whimsical songs. Take Lisa's Silly Sing-Along with you wherever you go and get the high-spirited good times started. Includes a 10-song CD recorded by Lisa!

Information about the Crayola "Inside the Crayon Box" live event was provided to me by Crayola through MyBlogSpark.

Thanks for reading!

Fin.

Sunday Stealing: The 99'er Meme, Part The Third

Link up here if you're playing along late this week(end), like I am.

Cheers to all of us thieves!

51) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?
 

Yeah. Unless they apologize. Then I'm easily forgiving.

  

52) What's your astrological sign? 

 

Virgo. Unless we're talking Chinese, and then I'm a Dragon.

  

53) Do you save money for anything? What?

 

Spending.

 

54) What's the last thing you purchased?

Cat litter. Whew, we were desperate. Four cats who all prefer ONE box? Yick.

 

55) Have you ever had a relationship that you realized was lust not love?

Of course. I'm a hot-blooded American female. ;)

 

56) In a relationship?

That is not a complete sentence. Are you asking if I'm in one now? If so, yes, I'm on my dozenth year of marriage. Is dozenth a word?

 

57) How many relationships have you had?

Too many to count. See my answer to #55.

 

58) What do you want to tell us about your day?

I took my nearly-9yo son out with me to run errands, including shipping a bunch of boxes at the post office (using the automated machine), 7-11 for Diet Coke and a reward snack for him (and to pick out something for his sisters, too), and the grocery store for the afore-mentioned cat litter. He was a perfect little gentleman: without asking, he held open the P.O. door for me when my arms were full of packages, and since had my keys and likes to lock and unlock the van doors, he did so and then opened my driver's door for me, just because. I was very touched and impressed. He's so sweet! ♥ (And he put a lot of thought into what his sisters would enjoy, too.)

 

59) Where were you yesterday?

I'm going to answer this as if "yesterday" was Saturday, so I'll tell you that. In the morning, my daughters and I went to a Girl Scout event wherein they learnt, on real sewing machines (something I've been wanting to do but haven't yet...) how to make drawstring bags. The bags will be given to Operation Smile and filled before being sent to cleft palate and other oral surgery patients overseas.

 

Then we dropped off a couple Valentine's Day cards I had made for some nearby friends (we were far-ish from home) before stopping at a few stores to play with the iPhone (and Droid?) apps CheckPoints and shopkick, where you get points and then rewards for checking into stores and scanning the designated products. It's fun and addicting. And me like prizey.

 

(If you're into TV and want rewards for checking into TV shows, check out Viggle as well. Even if you don't watch TV, like me, you can still rack up quite a lot of points in other ways, so it's worth having.)

 

60) Is there anything interesting within 10 feet of you?

A mirror. No, for serious, there's tons of interesting things, in my opinion. There's the Britto, Deep Night Romance, that we bought on our Mediterranean cruise 3½ years ago, which speaks volumes about my hubs' and my love for each other. Then there's Hubs himself, who is a wonder of wonders. I'd go on, but you're practically snoring and drooling over there, so never mind for now.

 

61) Are you wearing socks right now?

No, and 9 times out of 10, I won't be. I love bare feet.

62) What's your favorite animal?

Sharks, but my favorite land animal and a close second are elephants. I've always been fascinated by elephants.

 

 

63) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

I wish I knew. I mean, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

64) Where is your best friend?

Sleeping on the couch 5' away.

65) How did you end your last relationship end?

We lived together. We got in a fight. He shoved me into a bookshelf, breaking my two front teeth. I kicked him out. The end. (Wow, I made a long story short, imagine that!)

66) What is your heritage?

I'm 2/3 German/Pennsylvania Dutch, with some English and Hungarian, and I'm sure a smidge of "mutt."

67) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

I believe I was actually sound asleep for once. Rare for me, at that hour. I was tonight, too, but I woke up wide awake at 0200 (it's 0311 now) and that was it. Maybe I'll sleep more later, maybe not. I sure hope so.

68) What's new?

I can't really answer that. If this is your first time here, then everything is new. If not, you pretty much know everything. I got the Girl Scout cookies my girls have sold so far today, and so I'm like a mother bird sitting on her nest now, protecting them from the snack-thieving Sophia. I guess that's news? LOL

69) What is the key to seduction?

Leaving more to the imagination than is revealed, at least at first...

70) What was the weirdest thing that happened to you this week??

My usually-grumpy psychopharmacologist, who prescribes my bipolar and anxiety disorder meds, smiled genuinely at me after I complemented him on his nice sweater. I nearly fell over from the shock.

71) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

Get fired.

72) You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

(a) I'd tell some people, but I wouldn't have it, like, emblazoned on a t-shirt.

(b) I'd try like hell to get to Australia and Japan, and finish up as much else on my bucket list as I could.

(c) No. I've never been afraid of death. Honestly, I'd be excited about seeing my mommy and my baby boy again.

73) You can only have one of these things: trust or love.

F**k you. Oh, are you asking me to pick? Wow. That's a tough one. Um, love, I guess. I'd rather be madly in love and always suspicious than completely trusting and have someone betray that. So, love.

74) What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

Lots of songs do, but the first one that comes to mind is "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega. Can't help but dance!

75) Who has your cell phone number (other than family)?

Half of North America, it seems like. Lots of people. LOOOOTS of people. (We don't have a home phone line, so it's all I have.)

Well, I'm off to 7-11 to get me another Diet Coke. Yes, I realize it's the midding hours, but I'm fairly well immune to the caffiene-keeping-me-awake properties of the stuff by now. If I'm meant to sleep, I will, worry not.

And with that -

Fin.

Field Trip: Mattaponi Indian Reservation

The leader of one of the homeschooling groups to which we belong set up this field trip today (Saturday) to the Mattaponi Reservation Museum near West Point, VA, and the price was right, so we decided to go along for the adventure. It took 90 minutes to get there, and it was turned out to be worth every second of the trip. We had an awesome time, and I have lots of pictures to share with you. So sit back, grab a cuppa, and scroll down. We arrived 30 minutes before the rest of our group, all of the rest of whom lived much closer, so we sat and parked at the Reservation church, facing the small cemetery. 

I noted with interest that nearly all of the last names on the headstones was "Custalow," which turned out to be the significant, main last name of the Mattaponi Tribe, which is the last remnanat of one of the 32 tribes once ruled by the great Chief Powhatan. (If that name doesn't sound familiar, it should if you've been reading here, as we learned about him on our field trip to the Jamestown Settlement earlier this school year.)

The girls went on the swings of the Reservation school with some of the other children while we waited on a few more families. Jack hung back, cranky and tired, with his dad.

I really didn't know exactly what to expect from this field trip, other than that we were visiting an Indian Reservation. I didn't know we were going inside what seemed like this teeny-weeny museum, or what else we would be doing. So I just went with the flow. Here we are, entering the Mattaponi Indian Museum, which was much larger inside than it looked from afuera.

As you can see from the sign just inside, on the front door, Custalow was indeed the major last name of the Mattaponi Indian tribe, once ruled by the powerful Chief Powhatan.

A more descriptive explanation of the tribe; George, who you'll "meet" at the end of the post, was the son of the Chief who died in 1969. Two of his brothers later became Chief of the tribe.

I took this picture of Jack examining the bear's head, then listened to him telling me how dry the tongue was, and then noticed the "Do Not Touch" sign he was obscuring. Whoops.

There were several old wasps' nests hanging inside the museum ceiling. The children were very concerned about this at first, until I explained they were no longer inhabited by their former owners, and no stings would be happening this day.

Having touched a much smaller living specimen at the Living Museum a week prior, Sophia was fascinated by this "ginormous" horseshoe crab!

Jack, still unsure about those wasp nests...

A small diorama of a Mattaponi homestead provided interest to the girls. In front of another family's dad, I asked Sophia what she saw there. She said, "It's about Jesus' birth!" and the other dad laughed and laughed. She was so embarrassed, she ran away and hid, almost in tears. He felt bad about it, and so did I, but it was pretty cute.

"Mom, look at all these spears!"

The girls had no reservations (sorry) about touching the mounted deer head, and they were especially curious about touching his eyes and how cold he was.

There was a plethora of relics and artifacts to capture the eye and keep our attention throughout the visit. I'll show you plenty, up close. George "W." Wa-huh-sun-a-cock Custalow, museum curator and son of the chief who died in '69, told us that he kept the museum open on weekends only, unless a large group was coming, because daily opening wouldn't pay enough. He also shared that Richmond government helped pay for the display cases to keep the treasures preserved, since the tribe couldn't afford to do so alone.

The card reads, "Mercy Tomahawk used for mercy killing when braves were wounded in battle" - yowza. How'd you like that?

Spelling variants and errors were common in the museum, because, of course, English was not their, um, native language, and common spellings varied regionally. Anyway, do you remember the picture of Sophia dressed up like Pocahontas at Jamestown, with the necklace and all? We come full circle. I just have found all the learning we've done on this subject this year so fascinating and incredibly, richly educational - for me, personally. I just hope the kids have gotten as much out of it.

Incredible beadwork on a leather bag

I found a few things like this and thought they were, to be quite trite, very cool.

The club Captain Smith was supposed to have been executed with before Pocahontas pleaded on his behalf

A rudimentary canoe, for which Richmond supplied the preserving case

Sharks' teeth found "90 feet below the Mattaponi River Bed" (how??) and some yellow jasper found on the Res.

More sharks' teeth (still, how??), semi-precious stones, and yellow jasper found in Oklahoma in 1962. How they all wound up here was not explained.

I didn't see anything explaining whose skull and bones were in this case; I was just glad they weren't mine!

The card reads, "Statue of Chief Powhatan as he stood on the banks of Jamestown in 1607 to welcome the settlers."

A petrified turtle body, which invited an explanation of the different meanings of "petrified" to the kids

The card reads, "Indian Hunting Outfit: Quivver [sic], arrows, tommahawk [sic] and bow."

More native dress

The card tells us that these ornately beaded moccasins were passed down for three generations over 135 years, the beads were put on with "strip sinews of red deer" and last worn by a Mattaponi Indian princess.

Old coins

An eel pot, which George said they used for catching turtles, a better tasting meat, along with a Pomogan war weapon

The card reads, "Feathered Head-Dress (with horns symbolizing war" worn by Indian Warrior Opechaneough in 1622."

More heavily beaded bags, along with come "Japenese [sic] cigarettes" from 1943, evidently brought back from war by one of the Custalow sons.

Beaded bags; as someone who does handwork, I can appreciate how much time it must have taken to create these works.

Some arrows, weapons and pottery, among other relics

Various tools and weaponry hung from the museum ceiling, near the front.

I'm not exactly sure now what it was, but the card reads, "Hand Made by Brodia Newton, Father of Elizabeth Newton Custalow." Speaking of the Newtons, they were cousins to the Mattaponi Tribe out of Fredericksburg, and one famous Newton you'll know is Wayne, the Las Vegas relic himself, who denied his heritage for years and claimed to have come from Virginia Beach. George W. did not have a lot of good things to say about Wayne Newton, not at all.

An English-made portrait of Pocahontas and her son, Thomas Rolfe

Newspaper articles about Chief Custalow - George W.'s father - and the Pamunkey Tribe, also formerly ruled by the powerful chief Powhatan

The card reads, "Morter-Pestal [sic] used for grinding corn by hand"

As I made my way up to the front to find some postcards to send to my good friend Erin, who has a collection, I snapped some photos of the other items for sale in the small museum. Here are a few:

Mini-totems

 

Dreamcatchers, which prompted Jack to ask George W., "How do they catch your dreams? I mean, how do the dreams get out of your head?" We all kind of just looked at each other and laughed, leaving the boy to wander off, scratching his sweet head...

Gorgeous beaded earrings, which I admit, I coveted a bit.

Thunderbird Necklaces, which made me think of my mamacita, Rob's mom, and her Boy Scout Camp Thunderbird...

More beaded handiwork; admittedly not the best photo...

I'm not sure where the $6 Head-dress was, but the canoes were $5 each, and a little girl proudly bought one with her own money while we spoke with George.

I found this trio of Cherokee prayers on wooden tablets; I could see these in my home:

I was amused when the jolly former chief's son, George, asked me about 3/4 of the way through our lengthy conversation if I believed in the "Great Spirit," pointing upward, telling me he didn't want to talk to me anymore if I didn't. I assured him that indeed, I did; I do. His father was also a minister; it was very important to him.

 

I made my way quickly around the small museum again, snapping anything of interest I missed on the first pass through, when I was equally interested in keeping the kids from touching anything they oughtn't. By this point, they were exploring outside, and I was free to do my exploring unpestered. I mean, uh,... yeah.

It reads, "Jewelry, Treasured, Belongs, for the women and girls, was kept in this {turtle} shell."

This one reads, "Treasure Chest used by the squaws of the Chiefs 1607 - ??46"

Self-explanatory!

"Historic Mattaponi Indian Tom-Tom - over 200 yrs. old"

See the leaf-shaped white objects? The card reads, "Teeth from indian Marsh Hog used for necklaces." Cool.

 

A tray of various-sized arrowheads

Click to embiggerate, if you can't read the sign here.

I'm not sure if this was an Indian girl skirt or just what. The letter was a thank-you note for a visit from a long-ago group, so it wasn't any help, but still, it's beautiful.

This was a portrait of George W.'s mother, who died when he was 8, having hemmorhaged to death hours after giving birth to her 13th child. Very sad. Chief Custalow later remarried and had a 14th child. (I believe George was #8 or 9 in the family. He shared that five of his brothers then went to war at the same time, and as a young boy, he couldn't understand why his father spent so much time by himself, crying.)

A carving of Chief O.T. Custalow

Photograph of Powhatan's Chimney

I didn't see this on the first tour 'round the museum, but I sure caught how it sparkled in the light on the second pass. I've seen plenty of this sort of artwork for sale at the Pow-Wows we've attended here in the Beach.

This was an actual treaty! Fascinating. I love the peace pipes, and trying to figure out the rest. Fascinating!

A similarly-depicted of the story of Pocahontas' intercedence on behalf of John Smith. Priceless.

 

Oh, here's another kind of eel-pot. George, having discovered that I don't eat raw tomatoes, or mayo, or beef or pork, asked me if I had ever eaten eel. No, of course not, but now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I have had eel sushi. We've exchanged phone numbers; maybe I'll call him up and let him know, because his next question was an amused-but-demanding, "Well, what DO you eat?" to which Rob replied, "Not much!" I redeemed myself by sharing that I had eaten frog legs on a cruise once, which started George on another story about gigging for frogs.

 

This hand-carved canoe also hung from the ceiling.

I'm not sure what the sign fully says, but it belonged to George W.'s dad, the Chief O.T. Custalow - the weapon, that is.

The card reads, "The back scales of a 200-lb sturgeon caught by Chief Custalow May 8, 1964."

A carving by a Seminole (blah!) Indian. Sorry for the (blah!) but I'm a Hurricane; it's a learned response.

At that point, I went out to check on the kids, who were out there with their dad. The Littles were swinging lazily in the sun, so I went off to find Chloë.

She had come in while we were engaged in conversation with George W. the first time, carrying one of these things, and he said he had no idea what it was. He immediately broke off a piece and ate it, telling us it tasted bitter, "like acorns. Have you ever eaten an acorn?" he asked me. I admitted that I had, as a young kid. Mattaponi eat them regularly, or at least they once did. Anyway, we're supposed to look up these things, because the childrenc collected bunches of them, but I haven't done that yet...

 

Small teepees in the yard outside the museum. Want a closer look? Okay:

I wanted to crawl inside, but I dared not.

How cool is this? I'll tell you how cool: pretty cool. Hee.

The kids were happy and safe playing outside the back of the museum, and I wanted to talk to the captivating chief's son some more, so I went back in and stole his attention for another hour or two. Really! Until Jack rammed his head into me one too many times, telling me how hungry he was, I chatted him up. I told Rob they could go have lunch and come back for me later, and I was only half-kidding!

This was behind the counter with George Custalow, who told me that it was funeral regalia, stressing the "regalia" and somberly cautioning me against ever calling it a "costume." (I hadn't. He was just warning me how offensive it was to Native Americans.)

This was the old car George had, which had a tree fall on it during the recent Hurricane Irene. He and his son are fixing it up. He said they wanted to haul it away to auction and give him $900 for it, but he stood his ground, got much more insurance money for it than that, and kept the car. Then he pointed to his head and said, "This isn't a hat rack; I use it for thinking!" with a wink.

I look terrible in this picture, but George, who recently turned 79, looks great. He kissed me on the cheek several times as we were saying our good-byes, and when Rob left the building to get the kids in the van, he told me, "now turn your face to me," and when I did, he planted one right on the lips! I just laughed giddily. He was sweet on me, definitely. I told Rob about it later, but he didn't believe me! What a guy. Both of them.

Hope you enjoyed our tour a fraction as much as I did. We'll definitely be seeing this guy again; keep your eyes open for a return to the Mattaponi later this year for their annual Pow-wow, the day before Father's Day.

Fin.

On Being Crafty

Since this guy:

has been freaking me out since Thursday with his possibly having had a stroke or several (hi, two ER visits later and we have yet to have him see a Neurologist, grr), I've been what you might call "productively unproductive." Huh? Welp, instead of doing (mostly) what I ought to do, like school the chillens and clean the house and sech, I've been spending the time trying not to be One Big Worrywart by being crafty instead. Crafting helps soothe my frazzled nerves and so, in this case, I gave myself a free pass to do whatever it was that I needed to do.

Firstly, I was determined to conquer this beast, which all of our girls - including the little 5-7-year-old Daisies - were supposed to have made at our encampment last weekend, but which proved to be next to impossible for just about everyone (including us adults). Chloë massively impressed me - and, I think, several of the other Leaders there - by reinventing the wheel and coming up with her own successful way to do it, but even then, it wasn't "right," as the directions given were confusing and, well, it turns out, just wrong. Since we had several 2-L bottles in the recycling bin, I decided to take another whack at it, and behold! Once you follow the dang directions, it's really not too bad. And it looks kind of cool, so I ended up making, like, five. (Hey, it was nerve-soothing, remember??)

Ignoring the background, and the fact that I couldn't get off the entire Coke label, I think it turned out pretty well. I filled it with glass beads and water, then went outside and snipped what may be my last lily of the year to snap this picture. My mistake was leaving it there alone. Half-hour later, I went into the kitchen, and I found our two wee kittens had battered the flower and drunk all the water they could reach out of the vase. Cats!!

Ah, but they're so cute and sweet and innocent when they're sleeping (not unlike the kids, eh?), it's hard not to forgive them and just laugh it off...

I was enjoying the craft so much that when I ran out of 2-L bottles, I decided to try making one out of a much smaller and more rigid SoBe LifeWater bottle. That took all my strength to cut! But, I rescued what was by then left of the flower and think it turned out mighty purty with some blue glass beads (I almost typed "glue blass" instead, as I am the queen of Spoonerisms). Right?

I then turned my attention to making my SWAPS ("Something Whimsical Affectionately Pinned Somewhere") for my Outdoor II (camping) training session that I was supposed to be at, well, right now. (After the Rob scares, I had to cancel my attendance, but I didn't know that at the the time.) So what's this jumble of mess?

Since our group's chosen Patrol name, with the overall camp theme was "Under the Sea," was the Sassy Sharks, I came up with this SWAP(s) first: A Sassy Shark intentionally pinned to the TOP of the crocheted chain. Get it? Sharks are apex predators, at the top of the food chain? Yes? You see? C'mon, it's jeenyus. Okay, okay, whatever, I liked it.

This was the second set of SWAPS I worked out. Up close:

A baggy containing a little card reading, "Make no bones (get it? Get it? Sharks have no bones! I'm so damn clever) about it, we Sharks sure are Sassy!" with another sassy, dancing little shark clip-art photo, and some frou-frous thrown in there for extra sass. I wanted to make a third set of SWAPS, but time was running short, and I still needed to make our Patrol's name tags, for which I was responsible.

A lot of Google Imaging, printing, cutting, laminating, and badge-attaching later, and my name tags were done. I was SO proud of them, and that's probably the one disappointment I had about not going camping this weekend; "that" being able to explain to each of our participants why I assigned them the sharks that I did. So, you'll have to sit through while I explain them to you, 'cause someone has to know the truth of the matter.

Top, L to R: Hard to see, but N was our "Ghost Shark," because she was absent for our initial training and planning session, so we only had her in spirit. J was our Hammerhead, because they're one of the few sharks that really school in groups and they're quite dominant, and I got the sense that J was a real team player but also a natural-born leader-type. See?

Middle, L to R: S was our Wobbegong, one of my favorite sharks, because she struck me as gentle and shy, like these more docile fish. D wanted to be the Great White, and I forget why, but I gave that to her. She had a strong personality as well, so it seemed fitting, anyway. And, my Assistant Troop Leader, Miss D, was our Patrol Leader, a.k.a. the group cheerleader, so I made her our Megamouth Shark. Get it? Like she had a megaphone to cheer us all on with? Ha. I kill The Me.

Bottom, L to R: I made myself the Nurse Shark, because I was our Patrol's elected First Aider (which makes it suck even more that I couldn't go! Hope no one gets any boo-boos...). The next one was a Chimaera, which I LOVE because it belongs to AD: The overall camp trainer, she gets a name tag from EVERY Patrol to keep for her collection. So why a Chimaera? Well, they are related to sharks, but not really sharks, for one, and for another, in mythology, chimaerae are thought to be able to change themselves into different things, and since she gets to be part of all the Patrols, technically, she's changing roles depending on which one she's with. Love it? I do!! Our Patrol Trainer, C, is a runner, so I made her our super-fast Mako Shark. And last, but not least, A, the oldest (by far) in our group, was the now-extinct but long-lived Megalodon Shark. Heehee.

Yup. I'm proud of these and hope everyone was able to figure out their sharky identities without my help. Am I a nerd? You betcha!

Once I finished that, I was still distracted by my fretting, so I turned to the one guaranteed nerve-calmer for me: needlework. The knitting project (my Sparkle! dress), I deemed to be at a point to stressful to get the job properly done, so I switched tactics and started a pretty doily (Ravlink) instead. (PDF here) I was so glad to finally finish those 10 flowers last night! After about six, I was bored of that. But sometimes, a little tedium is just what the doctor ordered, so that was okay, too.

Last night, I worked on the center of the doily, a fast work-up, and am now at the point where I'll switch colors again (this is actually a light mint green, if you can't tell from the pic; click to embiggerate, as usual) and start attaching the flowers. I can't wait and will jump into that as soon as I finish this post!

And finally, I made the creamed corn at which my teen cooking class balked,and since I was so exhausted from my ongoing Hell Week, I gave them a pass and let them have Study Hall instead, agreeing to make the four (nope, three, since one student did agree to make the rice dish, so I sent her home with the ingredients for that) side dishes on last week's cooking agenda myself and report back to them. My report? Utter deliciousness, and I have since engulfed about 2/3 of the dish. Rob's pronouncement? "Ugh.That is all you." Fine by me! Yum!

Today, I'll make up the other two dishes and show you those, later.

Have a swell week!

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday: My Fancy Jewels

 

{I got these new sprinkle and cupcake rings from my friend Michelle at Gymbohannah on Etsy, in honor of my new baking business, You Take The Cake! Thought I'd show them off today. You can get yours here and here. Thanks, Michelle!)

Link up here if you're any degree of wordless today!

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday 2: Accidental Paper-Cutting Coolness

 

Link up here if you're playing along!

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday 3: Stampede

Can you guess why the title?

Link

Fin.

Flower Power

My girls, they like to craft with Mommy. And who wouldn't? Mommy has lots of stuff with which to craft. I open a drawer or cabinet, and ideas come forth.

So last night and tonight, while the boy-child was occupying himself with instructional, informative and sometimes gross videos on YouTube (you can a learn a lot on that thing, like how to autopsy a baby or how a giant centipede eats a mouse...), we did some crafts.

 

I was looking for Easter-related crafts for them, so we could decorate the house like we did for Valentine's Day, but this came up first, and so that was a done deal. The ladies got right to work.

 

Perfectionist Chloë somehow managed to be first to finish cutting out her flowers. I asked her to spread them out randomly on the cutting mat for a photo. She immediately got to work sorting them out just so. "No, no, randomly - just spread out! LIke this!" I insisted. Then I mashed them all up and moved them all around, willy-nilly. I thought she would pass out. She is too much like me.

She picked out her ribbons and strung her paper flowers, and look! Instant Flower Child. Isn't she a darling? I thought so, too.

Sophia took a little while longer, and she had a harder time stringing the smaller flowers without ripping them, but I think she looked pretty cute, too.  (Plus, I just realized she strung them in the wrong way, with the ribbon atop the flowers. Oops.)

 

 

This picture gets me. I could look at it all and not stop finding things to inspect. Look how long her hair has become!

 

Tonight, with my help, the girls made this version of the Pop-Up Egg, also on the Family Fun site, which I adore. As you can see, I still had plenty of that patterned, glittered paper to use up (it was all over the Advent box, among other things), so they begged to use that. But of course!

 

It's pretty rad. 

Now I'm in search of any Easter- or Springtime-related crafts we could do using the Cricut, so if you know of any, holla!

Craft on.

Fin.

Makin' Stuff

We've been in the middle of a semi-major crisis (again), which either will or won't come to a head this afternoon. Hopefully the whole thing will just quietly go away, like it should, and all my anxiety will have been for naught. But in the meantime, I've been knitting and crafting, which is what I do when my stomach (what's left of it) is in knots. So I've got some stuff to show ya, 'k?

 

This was made from the beautiful beaded silk from Artyarns that I picked up at the Loopy Ewe in St. Louis. Remember? If you're on Ravelry, the pattern is the Sagebrush Shrug, and I loved making it (although I screwed it up and kept doing 3 pattern repeats instead of 4, but I did the math and worked it out). I think I'll make it again in a less-fancy (read: less majorly expensive) yarn, just because I really like the pattern. As far as the yarn, it makes an absolutely gorgeous product, but man, oh man, is it ever fiddly. It would have to be something really special for me to work with it again. Sirrusly. I totally love every Artyarns product I've ever worked with - and there have been a bunch - but this was a total pain in my arse. Hopefully, when I wear it with the dress I made it expressly to go with (listen, it's not even 0800 and I don't feel like making that grammatically correct), I'll get some better snaps. And it'll look beautiful. And people will say nice things about it. And actually notice the beads. Because if they don't notice the beads, well, then, shit.

Hey, do you remember I was making this thing, back in November or something? I'll be darned if I didn't tag that post with any of the usual suspects, so I can't find it, but I know you remember, 'cause you hang on my every word. It's a knitted dodecahedron! How cool is that? If you're a math fan like I am, anyway. I made about 7 of the bumps and then set it aside for, oh... five months. I picked Celestine back up on Monday or so, and I finished it in the wee hours of this morning. Fun knit! I loved almost every minute of it, except for maybe that last nubby, which made my hands cramp up something fierce. No, I can't lie, I liked that, too. It made me feel alive. ALIVE! (Caffeine on board, can you tell?) Anyway, it's a big mother, compared to that chapstick there, so we won't be using it for an ornament like I originally planned. I may list it on Etsy. I can't decide. The kids love it though, so maybe I shan't. Hmm.

Oh, PS, this was also made with Artyarns, in their ultramerino flavor. I've had this yarn for ages and have made several projects out of it. A little goes a long way! Now this, this yarn, I love. It's divine.

 

Speaking of my Etsy shop, I got a bug up my rear in the middle of the night, after I finished tidying up, to do some crafting. I got a bunch of bottle caps from various people, intending to do crafts with my Daisy troop with them, but (a) I don't think we will anymore and (b) I was given a LOT more than I needed at the time, so I've been looking at them and looking at them, wondering what I'd do with them all. Magnets! And thumbtacks! That's what I made, just looking around my craft room and grabbing this, that an' the other. The one above is from the last batch.  I really like it, and if they don't sell, fine by me! I'll just use them myself.

I think these turned out really cool.  Kinda wish I had a cork bulletin board, to stick the tacks on and use... Guess I have another project to add to my (crazy long) list of... projects.

 

I love these, too!! I think they turned out super cute, and I only wish I had more flowers to make more of these guys. Well, anyway, it was a fast and fun project and satisfied my little bout of midnight mania. And I only burned myself once on the high-temp glue gun. Note to self: Restock low-temp glue sticks!

Hey, I just made a coupon code for you blog readers: If you would like to order from my Etsy shop, get free shipping with your order! Use code SSA0311 and have yourself a little gift on me. Thanks!

********

As for us, we're going to be missing our military homeschool co-op classes for the third time today in, like, six weeks. Kind of ridick, but it can't be helped. I signed up for this field trip to hear the Virginia Symphony Orchestra long before the co-op started, so that'll be nice. Think I can get away with wearing a sweatshirt to the concert? I don't feel like changing.

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday (Again): Painting Leaves

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The kids' latest adventures in our homeschool Art class - admittedly, Sophia's multi-colored leaves (far right) were my favorite, but they all did a great job mixing paints to achieve autumn hues!

Link up here if you're Wordless today!

Fin.

Treats For My Sweets

On Thursday, we have a homeschoolers' Valentine's Day party to attend. The guest list seemed rather short at only 8, so I figured I could whip up some cute valentines for the kids to give out in no time. I got started this morning at 0500. (I only slept from midnight to 0230, when I ran out of sleep. No time like the present to get workin'!) Anyway, I really liked these candy cones, but I can't give credit because I forgot where I saw the idea. Pretty simple and commonplace, anyway. I made these:

And are they not so cute?! I love them. Love. I wish I could keep them and admire them longer, but alas, the photos will have to do. (I'm so queer, I know.)

 

I used my thick, sparkly scrapbook paper (which you might recognize from the now-destroyed-by-Sophia Advent box we've used for the past two Christmases) for the cones, and lots and lots of hot glue. Which is now all over my craft table. And my manicure. But who cares? I had fun. Each cone was filled with a bunch of gummy hearts, a couple Starbursts, and a Lindt milk chocolate truffle. My favorite! I can't believe I actually gave them away. I am insane, people. (I mean, seriously - have you tried them? Insane.) 

And then I found out, no, no, there are way more children coming than just eight! But I had used up all these candies for these cones, so what was I going to do? And more importantly, what to do with the cones? Ah, but Thursday afternoon, I am meeting with my Daisies to do - what else?- some more crafting, for upcoming events, and there just so happen to be eight of THEM! Voilà! I will give these cones to my Daisies, and they will love them and go home happy. Yes. Perfect.

I remembered I still had many of the organic lollipops from the 5-lb bag I'd ordered from Amazon, so I searched for lollipop valentines for the kiddos to make. I found these somewhere I also can't remember, and so the kids and I got to work cutting out all the bears and tags. These are for Jack to give out at the homeschoolers' party. I'm glad I've been collecting all kinds of ribbons for a while; I love that each one is different. That sort of thing rocks my boat.

I was originally going to make enough bear pops for all three kids to pass out, but hello, that is boring craftiness, and anyway, I was getting sick of waiting forever for the kids to cut them out! So I found these cute lolli-mice, for Sophia to give out. She traced and cut out the big hearts for the bodies. On one, she messed up, and she asked if that one could be hers. I've explained it to her eleventeen times, but she still doesn't quite get that not any of these will be hers! Oh, well. Come Thursday, she'll figure it out.

Of course, then I had to figure out a third lollipop design for Chloë, and this recipe was handy. She wanted lovebirds, but I didn't find lovebirds, and anyway, these are adorable. She claims to have made them all by herself, but really, she just traced and cut out the flowers and signed the backs. I did everything else. That kid kills me! So now we are finished, and there is just ONE lonely lollipop left in that huge bag. Which makes me glad, because I am utterly sick and tired of finding the finished sticks stuck all over the house. (Ahem, Sophia.)

 

And that is what we spent hours upon hours doing today, instead of working on Reading, Math, or any other school-y stuff. Hey, it was terribly important, you know?

Fin. 

For My Husband On Our Tenth Anniversary

 

I was going to write you a long letter full of pithy prose, but I've decided to let this video stand for itself. The images, of course, are of the building of our beautiful family and life together. The song is like the musical version of our Britto work, in that it represents our singular, unique brand of love and our joint "you and me against the world" mentality.

So here's to you and me, up in the trees... and I know there's more for us in this life.

Fin.

You've Already Won Me Over

Great. Now I have this song in my head. And I'm warning you right now, this is going to be one of my signature super-long posts.

So, Monday and Tuesday were pretty busy. Recap, anyone? Yes, good. I was going to anyway.

Oh, since I've been asked, I thought I'd update on the whole almost-at-goal-weight thing: My 18-month anniversary was Monday, and I did NOT hit goal (150 lbs) yet! I haven't gained anything, but I haven't lost that last 2½ lbs, either. I'm not worried. I haven't been eating properly. No excuses. I'll get back on track, probably starting today.

Monday

I pulled an all-nighter, because... ??? Just because I seem to do it once or thrice a week anymore. I really need to stop doing it, but the body wants what it wants, right now, and arguing doesn't help. So I worked on coupons (I have a TON, as you're probably aware, and accidentally dumped my entire box upside-down on the floor, so it took me forever to reorganize them) and finished this:

 

I think it's gorgeous, if I do say so myself! It's the "Ishbel" shawlette, designed by Ysolda Teague, that I started 2½ weeks ago and have been plugging away at off and on, ever since. Knit in the emerald-hued Yarn Love that I won, with zero modifications. It's not perfect, but it's VERY close; I actually went back and fixed my mistakes for once! (I normally hate to 'frog' and will avoid it at all costs.) I plan on wearing it with the black dress I'm wearing up there in my profile pic, when a little covering-up becomes necessary. Should be nice. The only disappointment I have in it is that I had a lot more yardage left over than I should have, and I could have made the larger size. Eh, well; probably, if I had attempted that from the beginning, I would have run out of yarn and had to rip the entire thing. So it's just as well.

A little close-up of the lace

Anyway, after the kids woke up, we had a long breakfast session, during which everyone wanted something different: blueberry waffle for Jack, oatmeal for Sophie, scrambled eggs for Chloë. Everything organic, natch. I didn't mind. It made me feel like a proper mother.

Afterward, I decided to finally, at long last, take the children to the beach for the first time this summer. Only, money is always an issue, and it costs to park at the oceanfront. (Yes, only 5-7 bucks, but if the kids don't want to stay, I'm not down with shelling out precious dollars for a half-hour jaunt, you know what I'm sayin'?) So after getting directions from Stephanie, we headed to a much more exclusive, non-touristy, beach somewhere else in town. I'd only been there once, and I think it was before Sophia was a gleam in my eye, so I couldn't remember exactly how to get there. But it's free to park, and the waves are calmer, so I hoped the kids would be less intimidated and actually enjoy themselves.

After a quick stop at McD's for the free caramel frappé for which I had a coupon (and I'm glad that was free, because I barfed it all up as soon as we got to the beach), and the bank to deposit a check, we were on our way.

You've already seen all the pictures on the previous WW post (and on Facebook, if you're my pal there), so I'll only show a few. They're not great, anyway; I'd forgotten my camera, so all these beach pics are from the iPhone. This picture keeps drawing my eye because Chloë's physique looks amazing in it, does it not? I keep marveling, lately, at the fact that she will soon turn nine. I can still vividly remember her first days, when it was just Baby and Mama - and Daddy, during the off-hours, of course - day in and day out. And now she is a tween. SHOOM! Those years just flew.

Yes, that IS Master Jack running TO the water, and not AWAY from it! I know!!! Amazing! He had an absolute blast and spent almost the entire six hours we were beachbound playing in the surf. I had the time of my life watching him, I truly did. (True to his nature, though, he complained on the way home that it was NOT fun and he did not enjoy himself or want to go back! I've learned to just chuckle to myself and ignore this from him, though, and sure enough, the next day he was asking to go back.)

 
Sophia spent plenty of time in the water, to be sure, but to my surprise, she spent more time than any of the kids on the sand. Rob had retrieved all our beach stuff from the attic, and she visited each sand toy in turn, making and remaking castles and immediately destroying them. I couldn't seem to convince her of where to find the "perfect" sand to shape the castles just right; she just didn't seem to care. True to self there, too.

Halfway through our stay, Rob rode in like a White Knight (only, in yellow) to stand watch over the kiddos while I drove off to a very necessary appointment with my psychiatrist. He and the kids crossed the street for sandwiches, while I sat with Dr. P. and told him of my latest troubles. I've been on the same bipolar meds for a while now, so it's disheartening that lately they have seemed to have lost their efficacy. My mood changes have been been quicker (sorry, honey), my temper has been flashing more (sorry, kids), I've felt myself slipping lower into a funk, and I've had a few "thoughts" (none of which I'd act on, these days). It hasn't been fun for me, and I'm sure it hasn't been terrific for my family. Dr. P. quickly agreed that a change was in order and wrote the scripts.

I headed back to the beach, or at least I thought I did, but my car had a mind of its own and took me home. Whoops! I grabbed the mail and then drove back to relieve Rob who, suckily enough, had to return to work for several more hours. He's changing commands for the second time in two weeks and has lots to do.

The kids wanted to stay until dark - actually, they wanted to sleep on the beach - but we ended up leaving around 1830 when bellies grew hungry. It was quite a fun day: they swam, made castles, found new temporary friends, played with abandoned crab shells, and generally had a superb time. I was extremely content watching them; my heart was swollen with adoration. It brought my back to my own many childhood days spent at the shore. I can't wait to go back. Maybe today?

Even though I'm saving the MO tax refund we just got for my abdominoplasty, I decided a dinner out was in order. No one felt like cooking, the kitchen was a mess, and food was in short supply. I had a couple Restaurant.com certificates and made Rob choose one. He picked Guadalajara in the Va Beach Town Center.

To put it plainly, dinner was a disaster. It was terrible. We will NEVER go back. We complained to the manager, who volunteered to cover our tab. Good thing: The food was almost entirely awful, the service was worse, and I observed that we weren't the only ones complaining to him. My recommendation? Don't go there.

Everyone was pretty much exhausted when we arrived home, and we all conked out pretty quickly.

Tuesday

At my request, Rob had temporarily jailed the cat in the dog's kennel, so that she wouldn't walk all over Ishbel, which was busily being blocked on the floor near the litter box. I had nowhere else to put it, really... well, sorry Tinkerbell, but we forgot to let her out! She peed and pooped in the kennel, and now the house reeked ferociously. Before I entirely woke up, Sophia let her out, and she immediately went and walked on Ishbel, pulling a few stitches. Argh!! But that is beside the point, and totally my fault.

Anyway, so the stench in the house was overpowering and giving me a huge headache. I couldn't take it! I asked the kids where they wanted to go. Anywhere, I was game. Anywhere.

To my chagrin, they asked to go to McDonalds. Bah! But I'd promised. Why couldn't they have said, I don't know, Tahiti?!

So we went to the new McDonald's on Holland. I figured since it was big and new, there would be a PlayPlace. I'd planned to spend a long time there, letting them play while I read a magazine. So I was annoyed when we got there and there was no such place of play. Wha?! I could have sworn... but whatevs. I broke down and got them each a Happy Meal (normally I'd get a 20-piece McNugget and split it), because, you know, I felt like spoiling them a little. I even went back up to the counter to switch out Sophia's Littlest Pet Shop toy for the one she really wanted. They probably hate people like me, but rest assured, normally I don't do that. Normally, in such a case, we all repeat to the injured party, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"

We stayed a while, long enough for the kids to each eat half their lunches and play with their toys, and for me to throw up no fewer than three times. I don't know why I even ate there; I knew it wouldn't agree with Oscar. What a waste. Oh, well.

 

I still didn't want to go home to the cat pee stench, so I decided to take the kids to the big playground at Mt. Trashmore park. It's huge, and I didn't follow the kids around with my camera (which I didn't have with me anyway), so you just get this iPhone pic of the sign. We stayed a few hours, and the kids ran around, smiled, had fun, made new friends... oh, and so did I!

Her name is Ali. She's 21, cute as a stinkin' button, and now on our babysitter roster. She was there with two of her charges, including another Chloe. So that was a little confusing, but in a good way. Ali is GREAT!! The kids love her and can't wait for her to babysit them. I'd tell you more, but she probably doesn't want her whole life story on my blog, so suffice it to say that she's super-qualified and I'm thrilled to have met her.

Rob had come to the park about halfway through our time there (I sense a trend), to get my prescriptions from Dr. P and my military ID, so he could fill my Rxs. After he left, my phone died, so I stayed for what seemed a sufficient amount of time and then a lot more, before deciding he must certainly be home by now.

He wasn't. My phone charged up a wee bit in the car on the way home, so I called and found out he was still on base. Apparently, my script was higher than the max dosage, and they didn't want to give it to him. Awesome, what's that say about me? But they got it straightened out with Dr. P., so now I'm a highly medicated freakazoid once again.

I still didn't want to go home, so I asked the kids where to go next. Jack wanted to drive his truck around the lake in our neighborhood, and the girls agreed, so we went home and fetched the trucks and the Big Wheel. No pics of that either, sorreh! I tried to grab a few off the iPhone, but it died again just as I was about to catch a super one of Jack with a huge, joyous grin on his face as he drove his flashy wheels. He does love that thing! It's great for picking up chicks, too.

When they finally tired of the lake, we crossed the street back to our house just as Rob was getting home with my pharmaceutical sanity. I begged him to clean up the pee. I had cleaned it up off the floor where it had spilled out from the kennel, but there was no way I was touching the kennel. Seriously, ick. His 'solution' was to throw the kennel outside, NOT clean it yet, and spray Oust throughout the entire house. Let me just say right now, it didn't work. It still stinks in here. So whatever.

Now for some fun (for ME) stuff:

I'd purchased this cart online a few days ago, and it arrived while we were out. Yay! Another step in getting ready for homeschooling, I'd planned to use it to hold our art and music and crafting supplies. The kids all sat outside on the stoop with me while I put it together. Jack was thrilled when I gave him the little wrenches that came with it; he pretended to take apart and put together his truck and Rob's motorcycle while I put the finishing touches on the cart.

It turned out to be strong, sturdy, just the right size, and exactly what I was expecting, so for $19 including free shipping, you just can't beat it. Score!

Wanna see what goes in it? Yeah? 'Kay. This past Saturday, TAPS (the Teachers and Parents Store) was having a 20%-off-everything birthday sale, so I planned on going to get our music stuff. And that I did:

Hardwood block, "Flutophone," sand blocks, and crow sounder

My "Teaching Music to Children' manual, a kiddy castanet (we have real ones from "Spain" in Epcot... but darned if I know where they are at the moment), and finger cymbals

Tambourine (yay, fun!), harmonica, and a little baby ratchety-ratch thingy I thought would make another great percussive.

Later, the kids went and fetched the singular maraca they could find (there are at least two more somewhere), and my recorder. Those went into the top drawer, too. The only thing we won't put in there is Daddy's set of bongos!

Drawer full of muzak schtuff

Here's s'more stuff I bought at the 20% sale:

Three 200-pc Melissa & Doug puzzles, which I bought for the children to work on when it's their night to stay up late with us. I plan on getting a bunch more for cheap at thrift stores, too. If you have puzzles you no longer want, we'd be happy to be their new home, too! ;D

 

A thing of Silly Putty for each of them, because... every kid should have some? Chloë has played with some at her therapist's office and LOVES it, so I bought it with that in mind. I always liked it, too.

For Chloë. I got it on clearance, not for the price marked :)

More stuff for those later nights, one for each kid

I don't think I ever showed you this stuff? Maybe I did, but I don't think so? This is the art curriculum I bought for the kids at the HEAV homeschooling conference last month.

 
  

All our goodies for the art drawer. Looking at everything coming in, and all the set-up I've been doing, the kids are DYING to start homeschooling!! I am loving their enthusiasm, and it's infectious! I was going to start on 2 August, but I've bumped that back to mid-August, because Chloë is going to camp the 2nd week of the month, and I don't want to interrupt our schooling that early in the game. That will give me more time to prepare, too, which is great since I haven't done anything with it this whole month, really. 

The only things missing from these pictures of what I picked up at TAPS on Saturday are a few posters I bought and our "classroom" calendar. I'll show you that stuff when I get it hung on the walls.

 

I

 I don't think I ever told ya, I managed to get this whole boxed set of Hooked on Phonics for truly a STEAL from a homeschooling message group I'm on. I was SO excited when it was posted; I pounced on it!! That's what I wanted for Jack and Soph from the beginning, and I have it for pennies on the dollar compared to what I would have spent originally. w00t!!

Also, while I'm on the subject, here's the rest of our homeschooling stuff! The bottom shelf (and what little you can see in the pile of white stuff to the left) is our Math-U-See stuff for the next however many years it takes us to go through it. On the top, to the right, are various workbooks and things we've collected over the years. The yellow books - and the bookshelf itself - were picked up from a Freecycler (the same one, two separate times). The books are a vintage set of children's encyclopedias, which I plan to use for ripping the pages out and using in the lapbooks we make. Don't cringe! This is done by many lapbookers. Okay, you can cringe a little; I am, and so maybe we don't do that. But that's the plan.

Since I'm showing you pictures of stuff, here's the food dehydrator I got for $3 on Amazon, after cashing in my Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards. It just came yesterday! I'm so excited to start drying all kinds of things (fruit leathers, turkey jerky, socks...), but I still haven't cleaned up the kitchen, so it's still in the box. I'll do that today, fo' sho'!

And finally, to wrap up this supah-long post, we decided to try our luck again after the fiasco at Guadalajara with another Restaurant.com certificate for Tines Restaurant down the road.  Our experience was like night and day, compared to Guad. At first, I didn't think it was going to be any good, because we waited an age at the podium with no staff in sight. I finally stepped to the back and called "Hellooo?" and someone, who turned out to be our server, came out. She apologized and I asked, "Are you still open?" She said yes, so I rather bitchily responded, "Good. I wasn't sure, because we've been waiting a really long time already." But she completely won us over. She was beyond excellent with the children, and she bent over backward to make sure we were happy, too. The food was great, and they even turned the TV to a kids' station just to keep our kids happy. Not that I'm looking for my kids to watch TV when we go out for a nice dinner, but it was a nice touch. We left a good tip. My recommendation? Go there!

And now, after all that, I have to go back to work.You may now leave an abundance of delightful comments. Ha!

Fin.

P.S. I forgot some things we did after the beach on Monday! Oh, well, I'll spare ya. ;)

Aloha Friday

Link up with Kailani if you're playing along this week!

My question for you this week is:

Would you ever do something like this to your car??

I totally would! If I had a talented artist friend who wanted to muralize something cool on my minivan (yes, my minivan, haha), I'd do it in a heartbeat. Why not? Fun stuff.

{Also, I love that Smart Car. Too cute.}

Fin.