Monday, March 31, 2008

Joshilyn Jackson's The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

ahhhhhh - i've finished it. my fabulously signed copy of Joshilyn's book. The one that she signed - with my name in it and everything! and the one that on page 309 mentions me (well, you know, the quilt mavs -- i'm one of them...yes, i HAVE mentioned this before). i believe i also mentioned the lovely Dees from whom i won this wonderful book. Dee is so pretty! and so is Dee, they are over at Dee's Book Dish. Go and check them out!
now - to the book. i TRIED to parcel it out...to read slowly...to fully appreciate that i wouldn't be able to read a new book by joshilyn in probably over a year...oh the humanity of it all! and still, i finished it - quickly. dadgum. i really deeply enjoyed this book. and i got lost in it - the good kind of getting lost, you know, when you find you are inserting yourself into the story. hmm, that doesn't explain it quite right. but it happens to me in good books, i'm jo in little women, or meg in the wrinkle in time series. the GOOD kind of getting lost in a book. i was transported. i could hear Shelby, and i could hear Bet's heavy accent. i could feel the tension between Mother, Thalia, and Laurel. the twists and turns in the book were wonderful. i knew how laurel was making the quilt - i loved the box of specials she had. now, i need to get the audiobook onto itunes so i can listen to joshilyn read it and see if i had the accents right in my head. it's outstandingly cool to hear an author read his/her own book because you can really get the way that the author intended it to be. again with the not making sense...but it makes sense to me.
so - go to your local book store or order it online or go and borrow it from the library. and after you finish that one and are jonesing for more of her books, you can get _gods in Alabama_ and _Between, Georgia_.
When you go to the bookstore, perhaps you can even make it so that her books are facing front so everyone can see the jackets.
and then, when you finish the book and you love love love it, go to amazon or barnes & noble online and write a review. i need to do that too!!
**BREAKING NEWS** it has just come to my attention, that equilter.com is also selling The Girl Who Stopped Swimming!!! way too fabulous! you can put all sorts of things into your basket when you get tgwss from luana and 2% of your purchase will go to one of several charities of your choice!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

success!!!

Friday Fill Ins on Saturday

i often forget that Janet has these on her blog every friday...and today is saturday...ah well.

1. Some relationships are meant to cause you pain and anguish, but in later years you realize that because of the relationship that was truly Meant To Be, you'd go through the pain and anguish of the crappy relationships a million times over!
2. (Other than the 2nd grader's musical performance) Neil Finn is the last concert I saw; it was FANTASTIC and beyond!!
3. Spring should be cool and full of new growth.
4. Oh no! I forgot the eggs!
5. I've recently started thinking about getting ready to finish the blessing quilt that should have been done more than a year ago...
6. Getting Good Mail never fails to make me smile.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the patio being finished, tomorrow my plans include making some sort of breakfast, perhaps some cinnamon rolls and , I want to enjoy the day!

here are the friday fill ins from the previous week (janet had the link on her fridayfillins blog):

1. Being in love is so exciting!
2. Strawberry fields make for yummy fresh strawberries kissed by the sun (as long as they are pesticide/chemical free).
3. Morven's Scroggin Cookies sound like it would taste delicious!
4. Why does eating a pound of mike and ike's make me feel so good?!
5. (Aside from the entire world...) The Eiffel Tower is something I've always wanted to see.
6. It's sad when you think you've got things under control and then realize you were wrong.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner at Black Rock Pizza, tomorrow my plans include perhaps some gardening and , I want to play a game!

Friday, March 28, 2008

so pretty!


anybody who knows and loves me, knows that we have some - um - clutter issues...i may have mentioned a little something about wanting oprah to send someone to help us recently...
today, while Bob (FIL) was working hard on our patio (did you see it in the previous post? - it is looking SO SO good!!), i was working hard folding a mountain of laundry (and putting away said laundry) and moving boxes with pictures in them, folding things i want to e-bay, moving clothes that need to go to Karly and Molly as well as things that need to go to Erica, books back to rhys and irene's room, fabric carefully folded and put away, vacuuming and dusting everything up high and down low and everyplace in between. there is no more dust on our fan, no more dust on our beautiful wedding quilt (see it above our bed? SIL Debbie made it for us - she has amazing small even stitches. it has signatures and little phrases from our family on it), no more dust anywhere in our room. it's just so pretty. now, how to keep it from becoming the repository for everything all over again? any ideas? words of wisdom? maids that are super duper cheap? *smile*

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEBBIE AND JEREMY!!!

how very cool is it that my little brother and rob's big sister have the same birthday?? VERY VERY cool, i say! both of them, unfortunately, live Very Far Away from us, so we can't be there to attend either of their birthdays, but we are thinking of them very much on their special day!!

found a younger debbie. :) here is debbie (the tallest), melissa (in white), and connie (the littlest) in 1964 or 65.

(Debbie in 1969 when the De Haans were living in Peru)

and here she is in February with her very favorite brother


this is Jeremy with me in 1976. he's pretty new, i'm either almost 6 or just 6.

ACK!!! i need to find where the pictures are from Gramma's 90th birthda b/c i think that's the most recent picture i have of Jer. of course, come this summer, we'll have NEW PICTURES!!! WITH ALL Nana and Sensei's kids and grandkids!!! can't wait for that!!!!!!! when i find the picture, i'll add it in - in the meantime, i'll put a few other pix of Jer that i have through the years (that i have on the computer already)
here is jer in between jolie and me on a tram at disneyland in 1983.
and this must be in 1987 - cousin Erica (10), Jeremy looking thrilled (11), and a crazily permed 17 year old me.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE BROTHER & FABULOUS SISTER-IN-LAW!!!
i hope you both are having a fantastic day!

Monday, March 24, 2008

COLD!

argle! it's been in the 60s here. 30s at night, but 50s - 70 during the day. so, explain to me why i'm so freakin' cold???

and my sweetpeas - they have STILL not bloomed. there are many buds, but no blooming yet! crumbles.

bob is coming tomorrow - we're going to make our patio. yea! and when i say we, i suppose i'll be doing a little of it, but i'm not sure what part...i helped dig the dirt way back in autumn. does that count? anyway, we're excited. the kids are excited. gramps (bob) will be here through monday!

and

how i met your mother is back on! YEA YEA YEA!!!! now, if only chuck would be back on. have to wait for next season.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

much dying fun was had

ugh cleaning

i hate it. actually, when i'm in the zone, it's all good. and when we're doing it together, it goes pretty well - but it's all the carpolio that i don't know exactly what to do with (bad kristen, ending with a preposition).

what i really really need is an oprah intervention. you know the kinds - where they go "dude! where's your organizational system?" b/c that's what i need. i need to not put things on flat surfaces. i need all of us to put the dishes into the dishwasher when we are done with them. and we need to empty the dishwasher as soon as it's done.

i don't mind some clutter, but it just gets insane.

blah.

okay - going to post the answers to the movies now.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

in Laume's tree (and the movie game)


laume is fabulous and already has pictures up on her blog of our day together. it was lovely. i don't have the pictures downloaded from the camera yet. my phone was lacking in the charged department and because we live about 2 hours apart, i thought it would behoove me to charge it at her house while we had lunch and went for a very nice walk. that of course meant that i needed to use my regular digital camera instead of my instant gratification phone camera.

once we got back to laume's house we said hello to rosie the wonder chihuahua, i got my phone and the kids played outside on the swing, the mini trampoline, and climbed the tree. we left soon after so we could get home around the same time as rob. the drive home was uneventful - the kids were getting a bit restless by the end of the journey, but all in all, it was a good day.

oh! almost forgot - i put hints down below on the rest of the movie quotes.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

THANK YOU, DEE & DEE!!!

remember this post? the one about the girl who stopped swimming? and THIS post about how i WON a signed copy (and the weather conspired against me so i didn't get to meet joshilyn and get a second copy signed to pay it forward)?? it ARRIVED!!!!! HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the Dees at Dee's Book Dish !!! not only was it signed by Joshilyn Jackson, but it was signed TO ME!!!!! and on page 309, where the amazing Joshilyn Jackson is acknowledging many many people (including DebR and Pamela Allen), she also acknowledged the Quilt Mavericks -- i'm one of them - it's true i joined after Joshilyn, but i've been there for 8 years now, so i am going to count myself into that! *beam*

and today, while i was at borders, i went and made sure that TGWSS was showing the cover of the book - not the spine!!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

that's right! we're going to the movies!

so so sorry about saying i was going to do this SO much earlier and then did NOT do it...but now i am doing it. even though it's late.

c'mon! All the cool girlies are doing it - i finally caved! i wanna be cool too!! :D

and to be honest, there are a few of the quotes i picked that i had forgotten...there are many many more movies i wanted to do...and many different quotes - but i figured they would have given it all away...

and now - to the fine print of The Movie Quote Game

Rules:

* Pick fifteen of your favorite movies.
* Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie. (i went to the wikiquote page - double checked the quotes i thought i knew perfectly on google)
* Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
* Fill in the film title once it’s guessed.

This part is for the reader:

* No Googling or using IMDB search functions.
* Leave your answer(s) in the comments.

Okay, ready? Set? Play!

1) I tell him about destiny; he's shaking his head. About dreamgirls; he doesn't care. I mention the underwear thing? He has a fucking conniption. And you? How 'bout it, filmgoer? Have you solved the case of the - the dead people in L.A.? Times Square audiences, please don't shout at the screen, and stop picking at that, it'll just get worse.

JC who jumped over from DebR's blog guessed this one - Kiss! Kiss! Bang! Bang!

2) “What would you do if you had a million dollars?”

“I'll tell you what I'd do, man, two chicks at the same time, man.”


“That's it? If you had a million dollars, you'd do two chicks at the same time?”

rob got this one too Office Space (and if you click on rob's name, he's done this too)

3) Thursday mornin', Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water, he was like a kinda top.

hint - here's the entire quote: Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We'd just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half-hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that in the water, Chief? You can tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. What we didn't know, was that our bomb mission was so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin' by, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. It was sorta like you see in the calendars, you know the infantry squares in the old calendars like the Battle of Waterloo and the idea was the shark come to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and sometimes that shark he go away... but sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark looks right at ya. Right into your eyes. And the thing about a shark is he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn't even seem to be livin'... 'til he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all your poundin' and your hollerin' those sharks come in and... they rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don't know how many sharks there were, maybe a thousand. I do know how many men, they averaged six an hour. Thursday mornin', Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water, he was like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. At noon on the fifth day, a Lockheed Ventura swung in low and he spotted us, a young pilot, lot younger than Mr. Hooper here, anyway he spotted us and a few hours later a big ol' fat PBY come down and started to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. 316 men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

JC also got this one - Jaws. this whole section of the movie - first where they compare their various scars and then Quint tells about being on the USS Indianapolis.

4) Awww, come on guys, it's so simple maybe you need a refresher course. Heyya! It's all ball bearings nowadays. Now you prepare that Fetzer valve with some 3-in-1 oil and some gauze pads, and I'm gonna need 'bout ten quarts of anti-freeze, preferably Prestone. No, no make that Quaker State.

here are two quotes to give a hint:
Mr. Stanwyk's parents Marvin and Velma of Provo, were unable to attend the wedding. Those are three names I enjoy; Marvin, Velma, and Provo.

Hey! I think all of our problems may have just been solved. Ed McMahon. Think I just won a million bucks. Yeahhahhah, Irwin M. Fletcher you choose. Woo wee! Oh boy, I lost. Again. Sorry.

JC is right again - Fletch - this is Chevy Chase pretending to be a plane mechanic while investigating Alan Stanwyck

5) “You take what you've learned from this life and use it in the next. That's karma.”

“I thought karma was I do something bad in this life and I'm a termite in the next.”

“Hey, if you ask me, pal, you're already a termite in this life in a shitty suit, OK?”

this is the first movie that rob and i saw together in 1991. this even has some names on it:
Gray Baker: Aren't you afraid of dying?
Roman Strauss: To die is different than what anyone supposes and luckier.
Gray Baker: Is that a line from your opera?
Roman Strauss: It's Walt Whitman. I can't take credit for everything, Mr. Baker.


Dead Again where Cozy Carlisle (played by Robin Williams) is talking to Mike Church (who is played by Kenneth Branagh. Kenneth Brannagh also plays Roman Strauss and Gray Baker is played by Andy Garcia).

6) “Do you know what you did to me - to my life?”

“I can only say I'm sorry so many times.”

“Well say it again anyway!”

“I'm sorry.”

here's the next part of this dialogue:
Yeah, everybody's sorry. Abner was sorry for draggin' me all over this earth lookin' for his little bits of junk. I'm sorry to still be stuck in this dive. Everybody's sorry for something.
I thought that by putting Abner in there, someone would get it...This is from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Marian talking to Indy (abner was her dad and indy's mentor). we can't WAIT for the newest Indiana Jones movie to come out. It is coming out on Moni's birthday (my stepmom) as well as Pat's birthday (MIL). Bob (FIL) is going to come up and we're going to go see it if not on the 22nd of may, then hopefully on the 23rd. yes, i WILL be pulling irene out of school to do it if we are able to get tickets. one of my very best memories ever is going with my gramma to see Raiders of the Lost Ark when it was newly released. we'd missed the first part of it - you know, the part with the big rolling ball (of course, we didn't know that was what we'd missed). when it was over, my gramma, who was 66, turned to me (i was 10 1/2) and, in a very excited voice, said "shall we watch it again all the way through since we missed the first part?!"

7) te wanna wonga

the above was said by Bib Fortuna. here is another quote: No. Unfortunate that you rushed to face him... that incomplete was your training. Not ready for the burden were you.


JC well done! this is Yoda talking to Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi

8) “He keeps trying to put his testicles all over me!”

“Testicles?”

“You know...octopus.”

“Ohhhh. Tentacles. N T Big Difference.”

this should TOTALLY give this away...especially if you are around my age...
"I want my two dollars!"


JC ! you are rockin' the game here! it is indeed Better Off Dead. I can quote quite a bit of this movie -- of course, i get the lines just slightly wrong - heh heh - but these were indeed the exact lines.

9) “ You lied to me!”

“I lie to everyone, what makes you so special?”

“I am your sister.”

“That just makes you more gullible.”

this is from my favorite movie in which rob has a credit...
I may not be an explorer, or an adventurer, or a treasure hunter, or a gunfighter, Mister [name]. But I'm proud of what I am.

And what is that?

I'm...a librarian!


The Mummy - Evy talking to her brother Jonathan

10) "You don't like poetry?"

"Oh no, no, of course. I do."

"Neither do I. It's not that kind of poetry"

Tammy is exactly right!! chocolat it is! Armande (judi dench) to her grandson, Luc.

11) You're not going to fall for the banana in the tailpipe? It should be more natural, brother. It shouldflow out, like this - "Look, man, I ain't fallin' for no banana in my tailpipe!" See, that's more natural for us. You been hanging out with this dude too long.
Beverly Hills Cop - answered correctly first by DebR and a bit later by the always handsome and delightful Rob.

12) If I'm right about this, I could save a man's life. Do you know what that would do for my book sales?

this is the tagline from the movie: Don't Answer The Phone. Don't Open The Door. Don't Try To Escape.

Scream - i watched this moving all by myself - at night...before rob got home...very late...it was the first time in a long time that i was truly sitting upright and if i hadn't been on my couch, i'd've been on the edge of my seat. instead, i was clutching pillows.

13) “Yes, I'm shattered, but it's nothing that some sleep and a good fuck wouldn't cure, as my sister used to say. Ha ha ha.”

“You'll have to forgive [name].”

“Oh, it was just... it was just a figure of speech. I've been on a plane for twelve hours next to a crying baby.”

SanDeE*, your... your breasts feel weird.
SanDeE*: Oh, that's 'cause they're real.


LA Story - this is when Sara is introduced to everyone - Roland is the one in the middle asking everyone to forgive Sara. would this quote have been one that worked better?

Tom: I'll have a decaf coffee.
Trudi: I'll have a decaf espresso.
Morris Frost: I'll have a double decaf cappuccino.
Ted: Give me decaffeinated coffee ice cream.
Harris: I'll have a half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a twist of lemon.
Trudi: I'll have a twist of lemon.
Tom: I'll have a twist of lemon.
Morris Frost: I'll have a twist of lemon.
Cynthia: I'll have a twist of lemon.

14) “I put it all on Lucky Dan; half a million dollars to win.”

“To win? I said place! "Place it on Lucky D-" That horse is gonna run second!”

“There's been a mistake! I want my money back!”

The Sting - rob got this one too. such a great movie!

15) I really feel, ehh, in short, to recap it slightly in a clearer version, eh, the words of David Cassidy in fact, eh, while he was still with the Partridge family, eh, "I think I love you," and eh, I-I just wondered by any chance you wouldn't like to... Eh... Eh... No, no, no of course not... I'm an idiot, he's not... Excellent, excellent, fantastic, eh, I was gonna say lovely to see you, sorry to disturb... Better get on...”
Yes indeed, Four Weddings and a Funeral - again answered correctly first by the ever lovely and creative DebR and a bit later by the man who makes my heart race, Rob.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Free Rice

do you know this site? my friend, anna, told me about it. it's really addictive and fun AND...the best part? they donate 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end world hunger.

the highest level I've reached so far is 50. but i think i must've gotten an easy set of words - tonight i'm having a hard time on 38! and this is for the whole family. you can have it start at level zero :D

i just found this video about free rice.

so go and check it out - you'll be doing a good thing.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

finally! true possibility of blooms


here is my sweet pea. i love sweetpeas. really and truly love them. i got married in october and if i could have, i'd've had a bouquet full of sweet peas. but, sweetpeas don't so much bloom then. so my mom, in ohio, fostered a sweetpea plant and brought a wee plant with two blossoms that were tucked into my beautiful bouquet. so see, i do love them.

pat and bob would bring me some of their amazing sweet smelling sweet peas. it would make me so happy to have all those beautiful bright blossoms with their wonderful and intoxicating scent.

for the past 2 years, i've valiantly tried to grow sweetpeas in our back yard. one year they did nothing. just plain nothing. last year i started them inside - then took them out too soon. i got some vining, but no flowers. so i brought the vines inside (i had them in a pot) where they've been continuing to vine all winter. and now - we have the true possibility of blossoms!!! i'm so concited (as rhys used to say but sadly doesn't say anymore). i'll keep you apprised.

the other lovely spring-ish thing happening next to our sliding glass door is that the fuchsia is very happy and the brown sticks have now got lots of greenery!

we were supposed to have a booth sale today for the girl scout cookies - but the weather is awful and there is no overhang at our local chili's, so we begged off today, so it's extra nice to have some spring among all the drab, cold, and ick.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Weather Has Conspired Against Me

so firstly - do you remember when i entered dee's book dish contest to win The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson? and so i did this?

well, i won!!!!!!!!!!! but my computer was being persnickety and didn't like me - so i didn't KNOW until i was in concord helping my gramma celebrate her 93rd birthday (there's a post coming about that) so i needed to e-mail with my iPhone.

and i was planning on leaving today to go to corte madera's Book Passage to see Joshilyn and get her book and have it signed as well as getting Between, Georgia signed and reminding her how we had been but one degree of separation of being best friends ever (b/c of Lydia). i was going to go with my girlfriend, tanya and irene and rose would probably be going with us while curtis watched rhys and max and i was hoping my friend jaye would also be able to meet us there...

but.....the dadgummed weather over the pass (between northern nevada and the bay area) decided to go from beautiful to SNOWY!!! ARGLE!!! it's supposed to snow and snow and be windy and snow this afternoon and all day tomorrow. because i'd have the kids, i'm going to have to skip it. the thought of many many hours on the road due to snow and chain restrictions. i'm bummed. i'm missing out on visiting friends as well as meeting joshilyn and getting books signed etc.

so that's why my little punky girl is frustrated.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Page 123 Meme

I got tagged by Julie (sorry I'm only just getting to this!) for this meme. it took me several tries to get a book that was close-ish to me that had more than 123 pages as most of our books downstairs are children's books. but i DID find one! :)

here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

1) so here is the book I grabbed that i knew had more than 123 pages: 365 ways to a smarter preschooler.

2) i did, i opened it up

3) and i even found the 5th sentence!

4) Observing the spoonful of beans, the child guesses how many beans are in the spoon. The spoonful of beans is then spilled out onto the table and counted to check the prediction. After counting, the child can put all the beans into the pitcher and take a second turn - aiming for a higher number!

5) you know, i usually don't tag people, but today i will. and if you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments...Debbie (yes, you - i know you're reading *beam*), Anna, Julie (crunchy), Rob (who is sure to have a riviting manual near him at work!), and Carrie. no major penalties if you don't/can't do it.

have fun!


YEA BLACK ROCK PIZZA!!!

this was in yesterday's Reno Gazette Journal:




Black Rock Pizza Co. in Sparks has been selected as one of eight finalists in the Pizza Festiva pizza contest for the upcoming International Pizza Expo April 1-3 in Las Vegas. The other seven finalists are from Australia, Utah, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Indiana.

The eight finalists will square off on April 1 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and be narrowed to four; then the four finalists will compete again at the convention center on April 2. The winner will receive the 2008 Gourmet Pizza of the Year award, as well as a check for $5,000.

"They selected our Poker Brown pizza," said Dave Winchester, who co-owns Black Rock Pizza with his wife, Linda.

Poker Brown pizza has Thai sauce, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, red bell peppers, green onions, celery, habanero jack cheese and fried noodles.

Black Rock Pizza Co. is at 2855 N. McCarran Blvd., No. 106 in the Sparks Mercantile shopping center at McCarran Boulevard and Pyramid Way.

It's good to know which pizza we're going to try on our next visit! I don't think this is one we've tried yet. I have had the Thai Yoyo and that one was scrumtrulescent.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

fuscia and Irene's custom whirligig

sweet peas

they refuse to bloom, but they are growing and climbing

i've got a question...wristband help!

how does one go about making fabric wristbands - you know the kind, the stretchy ones. the groovy ones like this pac man one from our friends dede, coco, & dj.



where does one get the stretchy terry fabric? can you buy it in tubes? then just stitch it together? i want to know. help?

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

science fair


yes, that's right, Irene participated in the science fair this year. She and two other kids in her class asked the question - how long will it take a drop of food coloring to completely color a glass of still water.

how long do YOU think it would take? i thought it would take about 5 minutes. Irene and her posse thought it would take about 10 minutes. would you believe it took 6 HOURS??? irene was upset that her hypothesis was wrong. i had to remind her that it's okay - *most* people get the hypothesis wrong. it's a way of learning. it's OKAY. then i remembered Meet The Robinsons and they have this great scene where someone's experiment fails and everyone cheers b/c it means that they've learned something - as we'd just seen that movie, i was able to remind her of that scene.

after that she started having fun with it. i helped several of the groups in the class. NO i didn't do the projects for them (you could tell one parent that had quite a hand in one of the projects as he was the one demo'ing it!!!). but i helped them get their layouts glued down and reminded them about spelling etc. it was more time than i knew i would be spending at school, but the kids were happy and irene was very pleased that i was able to help out in the class so much. so that's good. we'll do it again next year, i'm sure.


Monday, March 03, 2008

science lesson


rob gave a quick chemistry lesson with our groovy magnets. do you see the CO2 molecule up there? we were talking about house fires and what our smoke alarms do and the fact that they are also CO monitors. Irene asked what carbon monoxide was, so rob took that teaching moment and ran with it. in fact, several a few days later (tonight, actually, as i'm writing this part on wednesday) rhys was asking about the molecules that daddy had made on the fridge. Go Science!

honey latte gooooooooood

Saturday, March 01, 2008

blog 365 said i could take yesterday off

and, without even meaning to, i did.

today was filled with booth sales. it was C.O.L.D. and i'm only now (after 5 hours) warmed up!! at least it wasn't the 50 - 80 mph winds that we had last night. it was only between 15 and 25 mph.

irene was not so much having fun at the booth sale - and she was only there for 1 1/2 hours! blurg. oh well.

we have another booth sale in 10 days. same bat place, different bat time. we sold 167 boxes in 3 hours. not bad. at first i was sort of bummed at the number b/c last year on the first day, we sold a bit more than 200 -- BUT!!!! then i remembered...last year it was 6 hours of selling! so YEA US!!!