Baby, I'm a Firework!

I thought I knew about or did every project under the sun having to do with HOLIDAYS over these past 4 years.

I was wrong!

The swim club has craft tables set up for those kids waiting for their class to begin.

This was todays craft. And it was so simple too!

• First, use black paper to represent the black sky.
• Next, set up 3 styrofoam trays of RED, WHITE and BLUE tempera paint.
• Then, add an empty water bottle "stamper" to each tray.
• Dip the "stamper" into the paint & press onto the black paper. Do this several times.
• Using a toothpick (or plastic fork), spread out the paint, giving it the "firework" effect.
• Finally, go crazy with the GLITTER!
• After it dries...
• Hang it on the wall & ENJOY the art!

I liked the project. Easy Peasey, Lemon Squeeze-y!

Why Do We Torture Our Kids...

... by taking & keeping such embarrassing photos?

It's good to see T is carrying the traditions of her foremothers.

(because her forefathers would NEVER do such a thing!)

I have other embarrassing photos of my kids, but I'll spare them the humiliation... for now.

Love you, girls!

All I Want For Christmas Is...

This is The Inspiration Archipod.

A spherical pod creates an environment of solitude, peace and calmness.

The space is 6 ft H x 13 ft W x 9 ft D.

They even have custom furniture to fit inside this pod.

It only costs $40,000. It only weighs 2,500 lbs.

Perfect for when I want to get away from it all, right?

Actually, it's one of many fun products I found while searching websites, while bored.

Check out their website ---> hammacher.com

They'd love your business.

What's In a Name?

Tonight was a dull night. Too wet & raw to do outside stuff, too poor to go out on the town, too lazy to clean house and nothing to watch on TV.

So I decided to surf the net. Random searches, Googling words, following blogs of people I do not know... which led me to a odd, yet interesting discovery.

During the work week, I watch a little girl named Kaya (rhymes with, Hi ya!) and love her unique name. I thought it to be of Native American origin since there is an American Girl doll named Kaya. There is also a store in the mall bearing Kaya's name which sells Native American jewelry & products.

Tonight, in my useless, random Internet searches, I discovered that many Asian cultures make a homemade coconut jam called Kaya. They use it like peanut butter. Supposedly, it's easy to make, yet hard to master. They use this kaya in a layered chiffon cake, using Pandan to turn it green, and it too is quite popular, in Malaysia.

I think MY Kaya will get a kick out the fact her name is also the name of a sweet food treat. That or she'll bug her mother to change her name to something else. Depends on her mood.

Relationships... through the eyes of a 4 1/2 yr old princess

These may look like ordinary toy cars to you.

They are not ordinary at all!

These cars are dating.

Yes, they are boyfriend and girlfriend!

They have been paired up by dating expert, Princess Kaya.

First, she chose the girl car (usually pink or purple or little)

Next, the boy car was chosen.

But... if she couldn't decide between 2 boy cars, she would race them on the track, with the winner of the race becoming the boyfriend.

She knows the names of all the princesses AND the prince that is in love with her.

She thinks most all the boys are very handsome.

If you are married, that means you have a child.

If you want to have another child, you & your spouse must re-marry!

Her Daddy is her Prince.

She has learned the "He loves me. He loves me not" thing, with the daisies. She asks if her Daddy loves her. If the last petal is "He loves me not", she sighs and says he must be thinking of Mommy instead of her & picks another daisy until she gets "He loves me".

She is such a fun, funny kid to be with all day.

The Bear

Twenty nine cents.

Not a lot of monetary value, but the friendship value given, cannot be measured.

We brought home an inexpensive, tiny, deep orange goldfish as a plaything for Gracie. Our young kitten had shown she enjoyed being around water & perhaps a fish would keep her entertained or be a snack for her.

We placed the fish in a plastic bowl & pretty much ignored it for a month. There was no filtration system, no food, nothing but water.

A month later, the goldfish continued to live, even in those conditions and with a kitten tormenting it!

The goldfish had earned the right to have its own tank with the "works".

A 5.5 gallon tank, all the fixings and a sucker fish friend named Waldo made this tiny goldfish very happy.

This goldfish got its name from a suggestion that T made during one of her rare phone calls home.

"You should name her... Bear Grylls, after the guy from the "Survivor Man" series on the Discovery Channel."

So, we did.

While we like to believe this fish was a girl, and often referred to her as a female,

YES, we DID give it a guys name!

She gave my cats endless hours of entertainment, especially when Zee was introduced into our household. My blood pressure would go down as I watched her swim & eat in her little home.

In the end, (we believe that adding Boo and Casper to the tank, gave her the dreaded fish disease, ICK)

she stayed near the bottom of the tank, choosing her plastic forest to spend her final moments. Almost in the exact spot where her friend, Waldo, passed away last week.

Good bye, Bear. I know Evergreen will take good care of you. Her sister, Carlotta, took care of you a few weeks ago & you liked her.

We'll miss you.

Green Thumb?

I have had some success of late with plants this year.

I have NO IDEA how this has happened!

My Evergreen (the gardenia shrub given to us in memory of our young grand daughter), continues to bloom & flourish!

Our Catchfly (from H & her family for our 25th wedding anniversary), has exploded with orange blooms! Thanks again BTW. The shade of orange is beautiful.

Even our rhododendrons has had loads of flowers this year. (though their season is now over & done)

I broke the mower with all the mowing I had done.

I ran over a maple tree root and the blade actually broke!

The unbalanced blade made the mower vibrate waaay too much!

So, B will replace the blade & I will try again this weekend to finish the lawn.

As for fertilizing a lawn that takes me 3+ hours to mow... I don't think it's futile.

I'd like the grass to be GRASS and not green weeds.

It takes 3+ hours because I'm not as fast as I once was & the blade wasn't sharp so it was shredding, not cutting, the tall green stuff which really isn't grass anymore.

I had to redo a lot, going in the opposite direction.

Hoping the new blade will be razor sharp & reduce the time it takes.

The fertilizing will have to wait until autumn. It's too late now.

Yard Work

Three years ago, the lawn mower we purchased the year prior, became unwilling to let me "cold start" it. My arm strength was just not there! B or C's boyfriends had to get it going for me. Once it was going, as long as I didn't let the motor cool down, I could restart it, no problem.

Eventually, I had B mow the lawn, since he was starting it up for me anyway. Now, he's got some twisty tie contraption on it because it was getting difficult for him too and a twisty tie helps. I am not even going to pretend like I know why a twisty tie is helpful.

B & I have differing view of how to mow or how much of the green stuff needs mowing.

His view? Cut the tall grass down, in the flat areas.

My view? Nice straight lines so you can see if you missed spots then go in the opposite direction to get rid of the grass clumps (no bag on mower) & get any missed spots. I think the mower should get to as close the edges of the property as it will reach, safely. This may include weeds, dead leaves or small invasive shrubs, not just grass.

Then, it's time for the trimmer. Cut down the grass & weeds around trees, stumps, rocks, edges of driveway, gardens and the house. Don't forget the walkway! Just because we can't afford a professional landscaper doesn't mean we have to have the ugliest property in the neighborhood!

Finally, bring out the blower to get rid of unsightly grass clippings that made their way onto the driveway & walkways.

For 3 summers, I have used blinders when I pull into the driveway. At least I could see the house instead of a jungle, right? B was trying, I'll give him that much.

Today, I had B start the mower & I attempted to do the lawn again, my way.

Three hours later, I'm only 1/2 way done with the mowing. I still have the back lawn & other side of the house to do before I can even get to the trimming! I've got blisters on my hands, very sore feet and my body is sooo overheated, a cold shower didn't work on cooling me down! Thank goodness for ice water, Popsicles and A/C!

Getting older is not as fun as it looked back when I was a kid!

The lawn which DID get done looks soo much better. It needs some fertilizer & crabgrass reducer maybe some insect control, but it's looking better.

I've taken pain reliever & have my feet up. With cooler temps & less humidity in the forecast, this job might get done by weekends end! Not looking forward to weeding the flower beds though. The power machines can't do that for me.

Quotation Marks

I admit I use... ok, OVER-USE, quotation marks in my blog entries.

I think, since I'm not in front of you, you may not catch the little sarcasms, nuances and rolling of eyes in my written words as you might see in my facial expressions during my spoken words.

I am sorry if it drives some of you crazy!

I'm not "air quoting!"

At the bus stop today, Kaya & I were waiting & waiting & waiting. The bus was running late, again! Fridays have always been a problem with this driver being on time or even close to it.

Anyhoo,

Kaya asked me when the bus would be arriving. I reached for my phone to check when I realized I had left it back at the house.

"I'm sorry. I don't know the time."

At this, she AIR QUOTED, "Why, did you "FORGET" your phone again?"

She's 4 1/2 years old! Who taught her how to air quote?!?

There are a few new things she has learned to say & I KNOW who taught her these things... ahem, her brothers.

Weenie. And not the hot dog kind!

No need to panic! So she won't tattle on them for doing things they shouldn't!

Did you bring me anything? Self explanatory.

She is getting excited to have her brothers home every day.

School is over next Friday!

Then on Tuesday, SWIMMING LESSONS start!

WHOO HOO!

Hello, New Friends!

After several sad hours spent dwelling on the passing of Waldo, our suckerfish, I went over to the local PetCo to purchase a new one.

I found a tiny one and WOW!, it is speedy! It took the salesboy several attempts & he had to empty the tank of all decorations before my chosen Pleco would allow itself to be caught.

During "the capture" routine, I began admiring some of the other types of fish they had for sale.

BIG MISTAKE!

Yes, I left the place with 3 fish after only going in for 1!

The newest additions to my aquarium are a pair of Silver Mollies.

They look like ghosts & show up very well against the blue background of my tank. This allows my cats (Zee mostly) to be intrigued & have something to watch throughout the day.

Their names are Casper and Boo.

Good ghost-like names, I think.

So, Bear has lots of company now. Carmen, the suckerfish with Casper & Boo, the silver mollies.

Dinner is ready now. C has made spaghetti!

Yum! Good Night!

Good-bye, my friend

A friend passed away today. He was a Plecostomus, a suckerfish.

He had been my friend for the past 2 years. We purchased him to keep Bear (our goldfish) company.

He was a quiet friend. He never let on that he was in pain or distress until it was too late for me to help him.

He was a cleaner, never letting the tank get messy or disgusting. The tank was always clean.

He was shy. It became a game with him, his shyness. He loved the dark corners of his home & hiding in those corners made it difficult to spot him.

So we named him, Waldo.

As in the famous "Where Is Waldo" puzzle books.

He passed on quietly, probably very hungry.

I'm sorry for that, Waldo.

I assumed he was getting enough food by cleaning the algae off the walls of the tank.

I now know that green peas or par-boiled zucchini slices should have been added to his diet.

R.I.P. my friend. You did good.

I will have to buy a new Pleco because the tank needs a cleaner & Bear needs a friend.

No Pleco can replace Waldo in my heart.

I'm guessing the new Pleco's name will be... Carmen,

as in "Where in the World is Carmen Santiago?"

A Magical Song, Sung by a Magical Girl

Carlotta came to work w/me twice during her visit. Kaya was able to see how it felt to be a BIG kid instead of the youngest. She was a great helper and go-fer. It broke her heart to see/hear Carlotta crying.

Since her dance recital was coming up, she often practiced the song her class would be singing during their routine.

During one such practice, the song made Carlotta STOP crying!

And the singing of the song worked again & again (as babies tend to find other things to cry about!).

In fact, it worked so well, I recorded the song, being sung by Kaya, in case I needed it if I got the chance to babysit Carlotta on my own! (I did get to babysit & use the song later on that night & even the recorded version worked!)

More Catching Up & Memories

Carlotta is here, enjoying some lap time with her Papaw (B) earlier this week. This time he isn't holding her like she has the plague!

I've just "treated" my cats and miss how Carlotta would help me toss them the treats to the kitties, who would chase them down. So long as the treats didn't land too close to the baby, the cats enjoyed Carlotta. She tasted the treats only once & I'm not even sure she really did, since she protected what was in her mouth with some razor sharp chompers!

She helped me, every morning, to feed Bear, our 29 cent goldfish and she giggled whenever she found Waldo, our sucker fish.

My house is back to the empty nesters style of decor. The baby things have been put away into closets and the box to mail to VA with the things that didn't fit into their luggage is almost ready to go. I miss the giggles.

Catch Up

So, I brought my daughter, T and granddaughter, Carlotta, to the airport this morning. The drive took almost 3 hours to get there.

But they made it! They were heading back to VA after a 10 day visit.

What a busy week and a half!

Photos & videos of Carlotta's visit will be posted as I feel a need/desire to do so.

Next visit, I will be taking some time off from work to enjoy my "Nonie time".

She didn't warm up to me until the latter half of the visit.

The warm up process was harder & took longer with so many friends & family requesting face time with her. I may be labeled selfish in saying this, but I may keep their next visit a secret.

Carlotta made my week on Tuesday morning when she held her arms out to me to pick her up in the morning! It was hard to put her down & go to work. Thankfully, she recognized me that evening & we had a great time.

I wish there had been more of those moments.

C was fortunate to have time off & had many quality moments with her niece & sister.

So enjoy the video while I go take a relaxing bath & go to bed early.

In Your Face, C!

Tonight, the 6th night into her visit here in NH,

Carlotta FINALLY held out her arms to me to pick her up.

AND... she was in her mothers arms to boot!

Of course, her mom was trying to put her to bed which Carlotta wasn't falling for, so perhaps anyone who would come to rescue her would've been welcomed.

I was the lucky one!

WHOOHOO!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Couldn't get to my computer even once yesterday! Watching an extra kid kept me so busy!

Here is Kaya w/Carlotta. The 1st picture makes Kaya look tinier than she is while Carlotta looks even bigger than she really is! The 2nd photo shows that Kaya is FINALLY one of the BIG KIDS! She has been waiting a long time to be the wagon puller instead of the rider.