Word of the Week

Still on my quest for words that are fun to say. OR that have fun meanings, your word of the week is :


FOOFARAW


fü-fə-ˌrȯ

Function:
noun

1 : frills and flashy finery
2 : a disturbance or to-do over a trifle

And using it in my daily life just today, I said "The committee spent too much money on foofaraw rather than on the teachers like we expected."

I found this word in a book Cori was reading this past week. We agreed it was fun to say and seemed like it might be easy to use. I like it, do you?


If you were wondering where I was on Friday. I was trying to keep track of where I was supposed to be. But that wasn't the reason I didn't post this then. I decided it would be better to post it at the beginning of the week rather than the end in an effort to use it more. I figure most of us have more opportunity during work and school and therefor posting at the beginning of the week just made more sense. I found that the girls were forgetting the word on the weekend where as at school they tended to share it with friends and find ways to say it more often. So Mondays it will be. See you next week.

The Circus Came to Town

Not to many BIG things happen 'round here. So when the Circus comes to town, IT"S BIG NEWS!

This wasn't really a circus; not when you grew up watching Ringling Bro's performances. But still aerialists, contortionists and daredevils are circus enough for my girls. I didn't want to spend the money figuring it wasn't gonna be all that but Cori, Cassi and Cali were unrelenting. Finally in the final hour, we decided to go for it. Well, that and Grandma bought the tickets. :)

The first 20 minutes were, umm lets just say I wasn't real impressed. The unicyclist couldn't stay on his bike and a 10 year old girl got stuck in one of those fabric ropes she was hanging from, but we persevered.

And by the second half, we were oohing and awing just like everyone else around us.

I didn't take my camera but Cori took her happy-snap. Here are a couple shots we thought were fun.

The End of Another St. Patty's Day

Years ago, I would have celebrated St. Patrick's Day at a club drinking greens shots with Kelly. Man, I miss her! The one downfall to living in this great state, so far away from the rest of the world. (so it seems).

This is how Cali ended the day. (We were trying to get a picture for a card for Grandma Phyllis)

Me, I spent the final moments remembering good friends and good times.

Night Sledding-Take 2

*Warning-this post is picture heavy but, it will be a fun ride. (Remember to enlarge the pictures to see some funny stuff.)


Well we did it again. We opted to try night sledding again. It was a nice day although a bit windy still. And truthfully, even though we didn't start until 7 PM it was still very much day-like. (One of the many blessings of living in Alaska) We invited more people this time and had quite the crowd. It was loads of fun.

Sometimes I think I shouldn't bore you with details but I have so many stories to share and I want you to feel the delight in the evening. I am not sure I ever get it across but I really want to.

We did this St. Patrick's Day night. It was a gloriously bright day and although it was windy it felt so happy. You will see a slight difference in the pictures the later it got but these first ones were taken with no flash and I likely didn't start snapping until about 7:30. Spring is really coming, I just know it. I believe!

Cali was in a much better mood this week. One week of recovery from the flu makes one extra giddy. Also, I made her and her little friends spray bottles with green tinted water in them which was so EXCITING!

Several of us wore some lucky green frills. In fact one friend wore a tiara which she explained was in honor of her sister who used to wear them often. That made me smile since I feel as though The kids and I dress to the green 9's each in honor of my Grandma and that side of the family. Even for my mom who has always made it an especially fun day.

Don't you just love Cassi's bow?
Can you guess how many kids are on this tube?

4

I love how HE is ducking down and completely trying to hide behind her!
I had to cut Cori out of this picture because she was looking quite goofy however this gal's mom did a great job picking out this hat. Isn't she beautiful? The color makes her eyes POP!

These 3 kids have been in class together since kindergarten. They are good friends. I didn't really have any friends in high school that I had known my whole life. I always thought that would be so cool. I hope it works out for my girls.
This was this little guy's first time sledding.
I am not sure he liked it much.(I meant the baby!)

I like this picture of Cori. Truth be known, she was being bratty. She doesn't like me taking so many pictures so this was her attempt at being difficult! HA!

And look at this little guy. Can you see him?

It is pretty clear from the face on the big one; they were getting hammered!
Not even 1 tear.

There was hot chocolate a'plenty.
And isn't it great to share it with a good friend?

Look at this shot. (I'm hearing you scream at me about helmets) We didn't let anyone go down this part of the hill after this! The rest of it is smooth sailing.

I love this picture of these two. Think she will remember it years from now? I hope so.

We were missing our Daddy a lot. Especially me. I know we would have been sledding together too. So when he gets back, we're going again!!!

Word of the Week

Your word of the week is...


FLIBBERTIGIBBET

flib-er-tee-JIB-ut

Function:
noun

1. : a silly flighty person

And here is the example I will give the girls in the morning.

That girl was such a flibbertygibbet on her birthday that I forgot how serious she could be.



*I'm about 17 minutes late posting this. Forgive me. (EDIT- I am early, it's just after midnight-it was a busy day :-) I was in the big city all day celebrating the big 10 with Cassi. And what a great day it was. (pictures and stories soon to come)

In regard to the word of the week. I really wanted a word that I could associate with my happy little princess girl. I decided this one will do. I am not sure it describes her all of the time but I am pretty certain it described each of us at some point today. And quite frankly, it is really fun to say. I can't wait to tell the girls in the morning. It is sure to bring on even more giggles.
Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Girl

This girl turned 10 today. Double Digits!
She celebrated in grand style just as she lives her life on a daily basis. She walked the walk of a princess today. A birthday princess. Our princess. Of which she will always be!

Love you sweet girl, with all our hearts.

What does Your Shamrock Say About You

Your Shamrock Says You Are Gregarious

You are charming, witty, and larger than life. At times, you can be a bit impatient and inflexible. You don't like to be distracted. You don't really consider yourself a lucky person. In your view, people create their own luck. You are stylish, in a classic sort of way. You are particular about how you like things.

The Shamrock Personality Test

Sneaky Little Leprechauns

There were some sneaky little leprechauns out and about last night. And they left a few surprises for the girls when they left. They always do. We are so lucky. They surprised us with some big orange sunflowers for the vases we made a week or so ago. They also left us these cool drinking glasses filled with green grass and gold chocolate coins.

The big girls spent the night away however Cali came downstairs this morning to find the gifts. She was pretty excited. I made myself a cup of coffee and by the time I'd made my way through the living room to turn on the dryer...well this is what I found. There were only two left.

After I gave her a huge glass of milk in hopes of squelching the sugar rush, she decided a project was in order. I saw this somewhere (anybody else seen it lately) and figured it was easy enough. Originally we were going to finger paint like the post I saw but then I thought using q-tips might be fun so we tried that.


She kind of goofed up her orange line which really frustrated her. She wouldn't make a new one and I kind of had to convince her to finish the project. I like it like it is. She didn't get back into the swing of things until she started making the sun and cloud. Go figure.


Hope your day is a rainbow kind of day too!

May your neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.



Happy St. Patrick's Day to you.

Lemons to Lemonade

How nice is this? Amber from Hey, I'm Just the Nanny bestowed the Lemons to Lemonade award on me.

Being that I've never received a blog award I will attempt to contain my excitement however I must say, I even called Mom to share the news. :)

And now here are the rules.

1) Put the logo on your blog or post.

2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.

3) Link to your nominees within your post.

4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5) Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.

Since I'm rather new to this, I haven't come up with 10 people yet. I will edit my list when I do.
For now, I would like to pass this on to
1.This Girl Loves To Talk
2. Snapshots
3. Eyes of Wonder
4. Flipflops & Applesauce
5. Towards Sustainability


I enjoy reading each of these blogs and find something inspiring about each one of them. I am grateful for their desire to share with the rest of us and the unique and individual ways in which they do it. Reading these blogs makes me happy. Be sure to check them out, you might find a bit of happiness there too.

Oh and Amber, thank you!

The Start of Spring Break

Friday was our last day of school. At least for about 9 days. We started the weekend off making snow cones or slushies as we call them. I figured this could find it's way into the theme at unplug your kids which was WATER. Frozen water is still water, right?

This was pretty much a self conducted activity; one they enjoy most anytime.

If you don't have one of these ice shavers from pampered Chef, you should look into it. I don't think they are all that expensive and the kids enjoy it so much! I don't even use the the bowls to make the block of ice. I just dump in ice from my freezer and they get to it! Cranking and cranking until there is a nice little mound of edible snow.


Yum!
Now I am off to www.unplugyourkids.com for some water inspiration! See you there.

Word of the Week

Here it is...your word of the week.

PROBOSCIS

pro·bos·cis

Function:

noun

Inflected Form(s):

plural pro·bos·cis·es also pro·bos·ci·des \-ˈbä-sə-ˌdēz\

1 a: the trunk of an elephant ; also : any long flexible snout b: the human nose especially when prominent2: any of various elongated or extensible tubular processes (as the sucking organ of a butterfly) of the oral region of an invertebrate

And here is what can happen after you tell your child the word and definition.

I said to Cassi "Your proboscis is looking unusually large this evening." and she said "Your saying MY BUTT LOOKS BIG!!!"
Have a great week!


How it got started.

Years ago, I had a friend who challenged my vocabulary and grammar on a regular basis and made it fun. I was a young adult at the time and it made an impression on me then and has since been a mischievous banter between us. I also had a friend who would give me a "Word of the Day". He challenged me to use that word several times through out the day. I in turn shared the daily word with Kelly. (My best friend, for any one who doesn't know).

I asked Kelly during a recent conversation if she remembered the first word my friend gave me and SHE DID!

It was-brouhaha, meaning uproar. I've used it ever since.

While chatting we decided we should start doing it again, just for fun. And as for me, I can share it with my kids. Being that is was Kelly's mom, who used to give me such crap for my grammar and such, I challenged her to come up with a fun, silly or all around odd word each week that I could use. She is currently fighting the fight of her life, lung cancer and most days are hard. I assumed this would be a simple distraction but possibly a fun challenge to get her mind off things. And a way, to 'get' me so to speak which is always fun for her!

So, keep and eye out here. Each week I will give you a word and I challenge you to learn it and use it. Keep it fun and include your kids. I promise it will be fun, and if not,find a way to make it so. We will all be better for it.

Getting to Know You...

...Getting to know all about you.

Cori and Cassi attend a school that specializes in combining standard learning with emphasis on art/music and science. Cassi and I were in the midst of changing out some art work on her art wall (they each have their own spot in our kitchen) and I thought I'd share with you, some of the art the girls have done in school this year.

I think they are pretty fabulous.

This is Cassi's self portrait from last year. Her class didn't do them this year. She left it up as she wanted it clear whose wall it was.

Here they were making abstract geometrical pieces. The one on the left is supposed to be a mirrored image.

She really likes this one; her Dad told her it was a favorite! :) It was a resist project.

I love this drawing. Her class used loupes (a small magnifying eye piece). A lot of the students drew exactly what they saw. She looked at the details of the flower a piece at a time and created the whole flower.

This was a print making activity. They do a lot of this at our school. It seems as though they have done several through the years. She titled this Bamboo.

Cori did this with a visiting artist this past fall. She really dislikes this picture. They also had to include her wishes which I really enjoyed.

Here they were painting animals. I adore the elephant and the camouflaged bird.

This is a Van Gogh style sunflower resist piece. We do a lot of this at home too. Not sure why. Also, near the bottom you can see her sketch of candy canes. That one makes me smile.

This last one is a water color and she enjoyed doing it so much, she made two.

Getting to like you,
Getting to hope you like me.

Still Sick

A few weeks ago Cali had fifth disease (actually Cori had it too) and it seemed like it took forever to get rid of it.

As a follow up, it seems that Cori caught some sort of influenza, then passed it on to Cali who passed it on to Cassi. It provides worrisome fevers, extreme crabbiness, hellacious coughs and annoying sneezing that doesn't seem to subside. It's so fun.

Cori missed 2 and 1/2 days of school since hers started on a weekend. Cali may never be the same kid again I'm afraid. We all fear there will never be an end to her crabbiness. And Cassi is on her 3rd day home from school with a cough that racks her whole body.

To make things a little better we decided we were due a muffin tin lunch today. We had to make a quick trip to Fred's and we saw these fun orange muffin tins on the clearance rack. $4.00 was too good a deal to pass up so we bought them.

On the way home Cassi decided what to put in them for lunch. She chose green eggs,(I think St. Patrick's Day and Dr. Suess's birthday were on the brain) sausage and toast. I thought it would be fun having breakfast for lunch since they had cereal this morning so we went with it.

I added green yogurt, cut up pears and I threw in some cupcakes while I was cooking lunch. I iced them with green and orange and added them to tin. We had a good time and it made everyone a little happier but just a wee bit!

Cassi had fun being super silly posing for pictures. Cali just wanted to get to those cupcakes!





If you want to see more great muffin tin ideas go check out Her Cup Overfloweth on Mondays. There is fun stuff there!