Chicken Dance

When I heard Lauren learned the Chicken Dance at school I was so excited for her!  She's never stayed awake long enough at any wedding dance to hear the Chicken Dance played and join in on the fun.  But now my young lady knows.

Or so I thought.  Here is the Chicken Dance as she knows it.  Goofy, and totally Lauren.

{Remember to pause the play list in the right column to hear the video before you push play.}

To access the Chicken Dance for your own jumping pleasure, or to wear out a little one of your own: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8eC377h4A4&feature=related

Stacked

Another great snowy day activity.  The best part is I didn't come up with the activity.... they did!

{Trophy Stacked}

{Collapsing the Stack}

{Piled}

{Stacked}

{Twin Stacks}

{Little Stacks}

{Stacking to New Heights}

{Abby's Castle}

{Creativity Abound}

Flashback Friday

Lauren lovin' on her new duck.

February 2008

[I miss that little Tiny Tot of mine.]

Thank You Thursday

1. Thank you to my sister for recommending "The Best Day" for my blog.  After I dried the tears the first several times I listened it, I really began to appreciate it as inspirational.  Thanks, Aubrey.

2. I'm thankful I washed the girls' winter coats and snow pants Monday night.  With nowhere to go for a few days there was plenty of time for them to dry!

3. I'm thankful to be back to school today.  I love the days of lounging, but getting back to a routine does a body good.

4. I'm thankful Abby got to hang out with me at school today.  Since she didn't have school she got to spend the day with me; I love watching her play and interact with other children.

5. I'm thankful I stuck with my book.  I started reading it this Spring and it was so slow that I put it down in lieu of other literature.  Since I'm at a lull in my reading I decided take my New Years resolution seriously and clean out the clutter, which includes finishing this book.  I was nervous it would be hard to get back into, especially since many of the names are foreign to me and it is a lot of people to keep track of.  Surprisingly, it was easy to get back into and finishing the book is paying off.  I'm almost finished, and I can't wait to see how it ends.

It All Adds Up

We are now on our second consecutive snow day.  The rain has ceased and the snow has taken its place.

But what to do with the kiddos?  I decided a delicious math activity was in order, so I quickly made up an addition fill-in-the-blank worksheet on Word and busted out the Valentine's M&Ms.  Abby has been working on this concept in school, so for her it was review.  For Lauren it was a chance to sharpen her counting skills, and since I kept the numbers in the ten local, I didn't have to worry about Lauren's absurd, yet all-too-cute counting skills getting in the way.... twenty-eighteen, twenty-nineteen, twenty-twenty, you get the idea.

Supplies:

• Worksheet {I created my own on Word}
• Pencil
• M&Ms {two different colors}
• Coordinating crayons

I filled each bowl, then let the girls do the drawing and filling in the numbers.  When they added them up I sent them to the refrigerator where I had taped a 100s Chart to find the answer on the chart.  They loved it!  Once they mastered the concept I set them free to fill the bowls themselves and complete the problem.  They loved that even more!

Of course their favorite part was eating all of the M&Ms when they were done.

Basket Case

I have everyone fooled.  Those who know me seem to think I am on top of everything and exceptionally organized.  The truth is that I like to be.  I try to be.  But sometimes I fall victim to my heritage.

The longer I'm living away from home the more I learn about myself and those with whom I share the commonalities of my birthplace.  I used to think it was just me.

Case in Point: At a recent gathering of friends (mostly Air Force wives from all over the country), one of the woman was joking about how her husband, from Wisconsin, will collect an overwhelming stack of newspapers claiming he will get to it.  Hah!  That's me!!!  The more I thought about it, the more I realized how many of my family members and fellow countrymen do the exact same thing.  Frankly, I find it annoying, but I honestly cannot help it.

In truth, most of the stacks can go without making any real impact if they are never sifted through, but there is one stack that absolutely cannot.... those pesky school papers.  It was time to make sense of the madness.

So I did what comes natural to the teacher in me and I got each of my lovelies a basket and prettied it up with a personalized clip.  Voilà!  The girls know that when they get home from school all of their papers go right in the basket.  I'm not saying it doesn't pile up from time to time, but at least it's organized.

Wire Baskets: Office Depot

Apples: Michael's

The apples came already painted.  I arranged stickers to spell out their names, then Mod Podged over it so the stickers would not come off.  Then I used the Mod Podge to adhere a clothes pin to the back of each apple, then clip it to the basket.

Ten on Tuesday

1. I love Skittles bag friends.... the kind who enjoy the purple and green, because those are my least favorite.

2. Target doesn't sell Baby Ruths at the register.  It also doesn't play music.  Two facts that were lost on me for years.

3. It really shouldn't be called a snow day, at least not today.  It's pure ice out there.

4. Last night I filled the car up with gas and stocked up at the commissary.  Today I enjoy the fruits of my labor.

{Oh, and them, too!}

5. I have no idea where this came from this morning, but for some reason I started singing "Whoomp, There it Is" to Abby while doing a self-choreographed jig. You know the one, it's my version of the dance each mother does to embarrass her child. It worked. Then Abby told me I made the song up. {She also thinks I composed "Who Let the Dogs Out".}

6. As evident by the above picture, Abby gets her hair from me.  Poor kid.

7. The Wonder Years is Geoff's happy pill.  I enjoy watching him watch the show almost as much as I enjoy the show itself.

8. There is an advertisement for MS Health Administration on Facebook.  The picture is small; the advertising is clever.  I actually clicked on it to see if it was in fact the real Dr. Shepard and Dr. Grey.  {It's not.}

9. I love irony. Today Geoff began his new job off base. He is so excited to have an office with windows! The job offers many perks, and if you asked Geoff a downfall, he would be hard-pressed to find one.  Until this morning that is.... The Air Force base is closed.  His new job, not so much.  I hope Geoff is enjoying work today.

10. I saw this sign in a magazine: "What Happens in the Outhouse Stays in the Outhouse".  Well put.

{Grandpa's Outhouse at the Cabin}

{Abe Lincoln's Outhouse in Springfield, IL}