Funny Story Friday #10

Ted and I have many commonalities, but some big differences in how the Creator designed us. Case in point.

In our pioneer days of Washington living, we stumbled upon the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. I am an animal nut. Not in a my pet is like a kid and I morph into looking like them kind of way, but in a wow God's creativity is amazing kind of way. Seriously, animals fascinate me. Well, we were at the beluga whale exhibit standing together at the glass, hand in hand. Go ahead, let out an ahhhh. One of the whales came right up to the glass, in my naivety I thought this to be rare. Anyway, I stood in total awe of this beautiful creature and was moved. I looked at Ted who to my surprise seemed to be sharing in this "moment" with me. I smiled inside and out and said, "Isn't this amazing!" He replied, "It sure is." I truly couldn't believe our dual pleasure for this beluga whale! Ted doesn't not like animals, but we have a different appreciation level so I was surprised by our wild encounter moment together. After a long pause he added.... "how thick do you think this glass has to be to hold in that much water?" I laughed and asked if he was joking. He was not. Yes, we were having a "moment" together but the reason behind our in awe moment couldn't have been more opposite. I love this man. I love that he appreciates things I wouldn't normally see and he says the same for me. It's a good thing and a great illustration of the ways we are different, which I am grateful beyond that we are not the same. Being married to yourself? Please, how boring and irritating would that be!

The pressure of a kiss

Oh my goodness, can you even imagine being Prince William and his adorable bride Kate? The world has been watching, wait change that to stalking, them and every detail of their royal wedding. I must say, what an amazing young lady to handle this kind of pressure! Seriously, I think it says a great deal about who she must be.

I've been thinking about this whole balcony kiss business and I can not imagine the stress surrounding an intimate display of VERY public proportions affection. I am certain they planned out every detail.

"Ok honey, you go to the right."
"My right?"
"YES! Your right. I will tilt to your left, my right. We will kiss and count to 4.5 and then part with pearly white smiles. It will be splendid."
"Can I slip you the tongue?"
"I'm not even going to dignify that remark with a response William. Let's shoot for behavior becoming of a King."
"Tongue it is baby. Just kidding. I'll behave."

Nurse Ted

No, Ted has not begun a new profession. However, he is my "nurse" every Tuesday evening. Being that I have a history of preterm labor, every week beginning at 16 weeks of pregnancy, I receive a P-17, progesterone, injection in my rear. Although I HATE shots, I am thankful that Ted can give them to me in the comfort of our home. My first daughter arrived 5 weeks early, my son 6 weeks early, and so my OB began these injections with my 3rd who was born a whopping 9 pounds at 38 weeks. We are hopeful these injections will again keep the baby in until he/she is healthy and ready to enter the world.

Our first 2 babies lived in neonatal for a season. Lydia was able to come right home and we were like first time parents. I recall asking my nurse if she had an alarm clock for me to borrow since I had forgotten mine. She asked why I needed one so I explained that I wanted to set it to nurse Lydia. She howled and asked if this was our first baby. She then looked quite puzzled and concerned when I said no it was our 3rd. She explained that a 9 pound healthy baby could wake me up and that if she slept then I should give thanks and sleep. This was VERY different than it had been with our first two babies. It was a precious treasure to have a new experience the 3rd time around. I can't wait to meet my 4th, but I can wait until my due date so stay in there lil one!

Put a Bird on It!

Idea #5 - Meet Carl

Carl is a middle aged business bird. His expertise is in management, although he has always been a bit reserved to operate fully in this gifting due to his pink hue. The pink flare makes him a bit self conscious. Carl recently read an article in his wife's fashion magazine stating that pink is the new black. This was just the confidence boost he needed to apply for a great job opportunity as a headhunter. His new office would have a birds eye view of Central Park. Today is his interview and he is feeling confident in his favorite tie. We wish you luck Carl!

Carl was created from:
-Card board cut with a small, sharp crafting scissors
- A hot glue gun was used to adhere his button eye, tie made from a fabric remnant, and corrugated cardboard brief case. His slender legs are made of wire.
-Watercolor paint added the pink hue to Carl and the brown tint to the brief case.

funny story friday #9

Although I lived the dorm life my freshman year of college, my sophomore year I lived in a very old, 4 story, drafty home with 7 people. (6 girls and 1 guy who lived in "the basement") The home was oozing with character. Our landlord was named "Joey". I don't know that I ever knew his last name. He "managed" a number of properties for the owner who lived in Hawaii. Joey drove an old school, although not restored, Camaro that may have even had carpet on the ceiling. He suggested we meet at McDonalds to sign the lease agreement and we did. At McDonalds, he offered to buy us breakfast and we thought that was classy. I never shared these details with my parents as I didn't want them to worry about me. It all turned out fine, but looking back I can't believe I signed my first lease at Mcd's. The lessons I learned living with 7 people could fill volumes of funny story Fridays. It was an adventure for sure.

put a bird on it

Idea #4 Put a Bird on Your Lil Explorer

Materials:
Colored construction paper
Glue
Stapler
2 feathers
A child's head

Procedure:
This fun owl head band is made from simple shapes like circles and triangles. Build it with a child and review the properties of each shape.

Begin by cutting 2 large and 2 small circles for the eyes. (Find simple household objects to trace with your child.) Owls have amazing eye sight, BUT they can't move their eyes to the left and right like we can. Their eyes are fixed in their sockets so instead they have flexible necks.

Next, cut a very large triangle for the head and a small triangle for the beak. Owls use their beaks for tearing their prey. The beak of an owl is powerful. What do owls like to eat? Many in WA eat rodents like mice.

Cut a 2 inch strip of construction paper, long enough to fit around the head of your "owl". This will be the headband that everything will attach to.

Assemble your owl! Attach the large circles to the top of your triangle. Glue the smaller circles inside.

Glue the beak and staple the owl head to the head band. Choose 2 feathers to attach for ear tufts. It is best to use a stapler for this part. Ear tufts are actually a terrible name for these feathers. These feathers are NOT an owls ears. Instead, their ears are facial disks found on their face, hidden by feathers. Owls have EXCELLENT hearing! These head feathers may aid in camouflage.

Put on and have a HOOT!

Put A Bird On It

Idea #3 Create a sweet bird nest for your hips.

Ingredients

1/2 bag of chocolate chips
1/2 bag of butterscotch chips
1 bag of chow mein noodles
1/2 bag of marshmallows
1 bag of cadbury mini egg candy
wax paper

Procedure

To begin, we tasted every ingredient individually. Then, we melted the chocolate and butterscotch chips to make our "mud". Once this was melted, we added in the marshmallows for chunks and goo.

Once our mud was ready, it was time to add our sticks and twigs. We took turns adding the chow mein noodles to our mud. We stirred it up and each child used a spoon to scoop and create a nest on wax paper. Once the desired nest form was created, eggs were laid inside.

Once made, these need to sit for a good hour or so to harden. Then, they are ready to enjoy!

*Note, it is best if the chow mein noodles are NOT completely covered. Otherwise, we have found them to be too sweet and that can do funny things to the entire family. Yes, we are speaking from experience.

When doing this with kids, it's fun to discuss:
-What animals are nest builders?
-Why do birds build nests?
-What materials do birds use for nest making?
-Why are eggs shaped like they are?

Funny Story Friday #8

Today is my 8th funny story Friday and in honor of the number 8 I will share a fun fact which might be funny or more likely, just odd.

In fourth grade, I had to memorize my multiples. I wasn't fond of this. I bombed the 6's and 7's and was discouraged. I decided to go all out on my 8's. I would show Mrs. Kaufmen there was a mathematician in me. It was a beautiful recitation that unfortunately did not carry through to the 9's the following week. Anyway. Still today, 8 is my favorite number and I often recite the multiples of 8 at record speed. Randomly, Ted will say "go" and I will recite away. I love it!

So, that's it. I am crazy about 8's and the multiples of. I've got to go and recite now. 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72, 80, 88, 96, 104..........

Lydia and Lilly

Similarities: Both are beautiful, gentle, have a love to explore and both like to be held.

Differences: Lydia is potty trained. Lilly lays eggs. Lilly is a chicken. Lydia is my amazing daughter, the hen is not.

on patches

This is one of those when I was a kid rememberings......

When I was a kid, most of my jeans had patches on them. I played hard and my mom would lovingly sew or iron on patches as jeans with lots of life needed bandaging.

I rarely see patches in the world today. I see 3 possible theories. First, maybe jeans are made stronger and so they don't hole up as easily. To this theory, I have doubt. Second, maybe it is not fashion friendly to wear jeans with patches, well patches mended by mom that is. Or third, maybe kids just don't play physically like they used to.

This was on my mind this morning because we have 3 pairs of jeans in need of patching. I'm considering starting a fashion revolution to bring back patches. I believe patches should be worn as a badge of honor declaring to the world 'I know how to get dirty and play hard'! Care to join the cause?

*A point to note. I am not speaking of high priced pre-patched jeans. Those patches weren't earned. I am talking old school stuff. The giant dark denim rectangle on the knees or the iron on patches cut into a heart. Just to clarify, that's what I would like to see more of.

Put a bird on it

Idea 2 - Birds on my Armoire

Materials:
-paper (scrapbook, an old map or old picture book, music paper....)
-bird silhouette for tracing
-scissors

-double sided tape
-iron and ironing board
-thin flour sack like towel
-surface to bird up! (armoire, book shelf, window, mirror....)

Procedure:
-I found a bird silhouette by searching google images. I copied and pasted it into a word document. In word, I changed the size to fit my liking. I printed this on standard printing paper and cut it out. I then traced the bird onto card stock and cut it out as my stencil.

-I chose to use an old map that I've been saving for a project. I traced 4 birds and then folded the map on the regular folded lines. When I cut the birds out, it cut through multiple layers so I was left with 4 birds per single trace.

-My map had been saved from the recycle bin so it was worn. I ironed the paper cut out birds by placing them 4 at a time on my ironing board. I laid a thin flour sack over the cut birds and ironed them on a gentle setting.

-Once the birds were flat, I used double stick tape to adhere them to an armoire in my living room that needed a little spring pizazz. The result is subtle, which I like. If you would like a bolder effect, you could outline them in black or choose a bold pattern paper that will pop. To age the birds, simply use a paint brush and used tea bag to paint over the paper. This light tea "paint" will give a lovely antiqued look to your birds.

-Put a bird on it and enjoy!

funny story friday #7

first date...

Ted and I were freshman in college and had become good friends. When he asked me on a date, I was excited and very nervous. Viewing someone as a possible boyfriend versus just friend required a microscope versus a magnifying lens. (This goes both ways!)

Ted picked me up at my dorm room. He was wearing white washed blue jeans and a rugby shirt. Rugby shirts were not being worn much in 1999, in Duluth MN anyway. Now, what one needs to know about the first date experience is that there is a lot riding on anything said or done. This rugby shirt was a daring move on his part. I, on the other hand, was cool in my light wash esprit jeans, white tank with an open Union bay flannel on. I wore white leather keds, of course (standard foot attire for me at that time).

Ted took me to Chi Chi's Mexican Restaurant. Before we ordered our meal, Ted shared that he had given plasma that day to take me out on our date. Oof da. The rugby got a bye, but there was no way this comment could afford that. I knew that I needed to order a moderate meal so his $35 plasma money would cover dinner and the tip. I ordered sea food nachos and stuck to water. Ted ordered one of those humongous sampler plates and I realized he wasn't worried about the bill.

The date was a little bit awkward. I think we were both unsure of how date talk was supposed to look compared to our friendship chats. After dinner, we went back to campus and Ted taught me to play cribbage. This was much more natural. Suddenly, the rugby shirt was cute. He had dressed up for me. Even the plasma comment was endearing. He had "worked" to take me out. There was a gentleness about Ted that drew me to him and I'm glad he asked me out. Today, I appreciate the hilarity of being able to say my husband donated plasma to take me out on our first date. How crazy is that!

just sit

Today we needed an adventure. We ended up at the Olympia Farmers Market and to our double delight the sunshine made a magnificent performance AND it was opening day at the market. We ventured to the music and got a front row seat. My 2 girls, after a lot of encouragement, danced with other children. My eldest had wanted to dance SO bad, but insisted she was too shy and didn't want people watching her. I explained she could just face the band and enjoy herself and eventually she did just that. The smile that beamed from her melon warmed my heart for the next 100 billion years.

As we sat, what I was painfully aware of was my inner clocks desire to get going. I kept having to shut her up and say this is it. There is no agenda. No gotta get here and there by this time. As great as it was to just sit and enjoy the moment, it was hard. I told my inner self to shush or I would be forced to get up and dance. I began mentally reviewing my dance card from college. The sprinkler, shopping cart, a lil robot. Hmmm maybe a somewhat modified version was still in there somewhere. I was prepared to pull these out and I threatened this inner voice with the reality that it was about to happen. Suddenly, the inner voice silenced and let me enjoy myself. After this mental battle, it really was wonderful.

After the market, we climbed the tall tower (behind Anthony's) and looked for moon jellies. It was a splendid afternoon with my offspring.

make a wish, or not

My youngest dumpling had her tonsils removed 2 weeks ago. We had our follow-up yesterday with the surgeon. The children's hospital has a beautiful fountain out front and so after our appointment we took a gander. I peeked in my wallet and found 3 hopeful pennies. Perfect. I gave each child a penny and told them to toss it in and make a wish.

Their responses made me realize we'd never done this before. Growing up, tossing pennies and wishes into fountains was common place. I needed to explain to my kids and my eldest looked at me with dreamy eyes and said, "And mom this is true? If I wish it and throw the penny in it will really happen?" So, some of the fun was maybe lost in explaining....

My first and second wanted desperately to share their wish, so they whispered it in my ear. My peanut wished for lots of money. She then launched into a plan of how that could happen. I was beaming as her plan was all about working hard and saving. So wise at only 7! My second whispered he longed to be a pirate. "Not the dress up kind mom, but a REAL pirate." My third refused to wish. "I will never, never wish." she declared. She saved her penny for her piggie bank.

The Blues

Ok, really now the rain can be done for a bit. I would like to suggest to said droplets that you all have a big party tomorrow, falling down and whooping it up all at once and then for once may the sunshine, my dear nearly forgotten friend, come out to play? I have almost forgotten what she looks like. On the vein of rain..... here's some blues.

A childhood blanket of my husband's. It's worn and well loved, but I adore the vintage fabric and love wondering what was my Ted like as a kid.

The game of Carcassonne is super fun and always gets the blues kicked out of us. Winters in WA are often "game time" in our home.

The kids toothbrush holder. Maybe also the number one germ holder? I have 3 children with teeth and yet there are 4 brushes in the holder. I don't ask. Sometimes it's better not to know.

My son Will's baby blanket. It was made by a dear friend with her own 2 hands. The lost art of homemade gifts are a treasure. The blanket is soft and takes me back to when my buddy was a lil guy.

This pillow makes me smile. I think it is modern country and I love it.

Ok, I take back one of the comments on the tooth brush holder.... this is probably the number 1 germ holder!

This game is fun too. We don't play standard Farkle rules because those who first taught us to play did not. We call them Georgia rules. Georgia rules makes a simple game not so simple, but also extra fun.

Butter..... Ahhh there are no substitutes used in our home and we love it!

Funny Story "Friday" #6

Yesterday was April Fools Day, a very dangerous day for readers to believe funny story Friday. (This is a creative excuse for me forgetting to post.)

I took my 3 lil amigos for a hike last Thursday. It was very wet which added to the fun. Upon heading back to the car, my youngest pumpkin was with me at the end of the trail. My other 2 were in sight but a ways off. They started racing to mom. My eldest yelled over her shoulder, "Last one to mom is an empty jar of peanut butter!"

She stated this as normal as can be. I busted a gut and they all stared at me wondering what was so funny. I couldn't tell them that way back once upon a time when I was a kid we stated that the loser was a rotten egg. I loved their rendition far more. I wonder where it came from?