Category: Recreation

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What a wonderful time we had over the holiday weekend.  It was nice to see all of the family.  We drove out to my grandma’s house and spent the weekend there.  I got to see all of my siblings and catch upon all of the exciting family gossip.

I was looking forward to grandma’s famous cinnamon buns.  Every year she makes these delicious cinnamon buns from scratch. I love the ooey gooey caramel that melts out of them when they cook.  She tops them off with a delectable, homemade cream cheese frosting.  My mouth is watering jut thinking about them.  I’ve tried to make them myself but they are never the same.

In addition to the tasty treats we enjoyed some quality family time.  After we ate the huge meal together we all gathered in grandma’s famliy room to play a few board games.  We played Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit.  The kids had a great time kicking our butts.

I’m excited to do something with everyone again next year.  We might get to see everyone again for Christmas and do it all over again.  I can’t wait!

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Imagination Time

The kids were watching a science program on the public access channel and were enjoying all of the experiments they saw.  My oldest asked me if I could get her a lab coat like the one the scientist was wearing in the program.  She said she wanted to play science lab.  I told I would see what I could find for her.

I looked around online and found a few options on http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/. I think she would like a coat no matter what size it is.  I might just order one for myself and use it as a model to make one that will fit her and then we could both play science lab together.  Her imagination is really vivid and I know she’ll come up with some wild concoctions to experiment with while she wears her fancy scientist lab coat.  I bet if I got her some safety goggles she would really be thrilled.

I suppose I’ll make a science lab kit for her for a Christmas present.  The lab coat will be the best part of it all.  I’m excited to see everything put together now.  Our imagination time is going to be filled with lots of new science adventures.

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Trip to Canada

I was thinking that it might be fun to take a trip to Canada some time. I’ve never been and was considering ideas of where our family could go for a vacation.   Maybe we could spend some time during the summer there and find a place to rent like some  Edmonton apartments.

All of our recent trips have been here in the states. I think it’s about time we took the girls out of the country, not too far though. I thought Canada would be a nice starting point.  We wouldn’t have to go on those long international flights over the sea.  I couldn’t imagine how tough those flights would be on children, and don’t want to put my kids, or myself for that matter, through the pain and agony.  If we go to Canada the length of any flight would be much shorter.

I need to talk to my husband about his thoughts on the idea.  Who knows, maybe he can come up with some exciting things to do while we are there.

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Summer Birthday Parties

Today we went to a birthday party for one of my daughters’ best friends.  The party theme was fairy princesses.  All of the girls arrived in the most adorable costumes.  There was pixie dust every where,  not to mention all of the extra glitter that one of the moms brought. The Picnic Tables were decorated with cute little pink table cloths that had little fairies all over them.  Presents were strewn about the tables along with yummy treats and arts and crafts for the girls to do.

While the girls played on the playground equipment the moms set up a few activities to do.  We laid out materials to make little birthday crowns and fairy wings.  There were fuzzy pipe cleaners, pom pom balls, glue, markers, scissors, construction paper, and of course tons of glitter.  One of the moms made an example of each craft and set it on display for the girls to gather inspiration.  Each girl had her own little station to create her own fairy princess wings and crown.  The girls had a ball cutting and gluing and adding dashes of glitter.

The dads of the bunch just sat back in their Adirondack chairs and watched from a distance.  A few of them gathered around the grill.  It was their duty to cook the burgers and hot dogs while the girls had fun.  It seemed like they were more than happy to not be elbow deep in glitter.

Once the girls finished their crafts we ate lunch and had cake and ice cream.  Then the birthday girl opened all of her presents.  She got quite a few neat items including a few movies,  computer games, and an mp3 player.  She was thrilled to say the least.

At the end of the afternoon all of the Park Benches were covered in glitter and pom poms that had fallen off of the girls crowns and wings as they ran around.  Overall, it was a lovely afternoon and my daughter really enjoyed herself.  Her birthday is coming up soon.  We need to start planning her party.  I got quite a few neat ideas after going to the party today.

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Summer is here!

It’s the 1st day of summer and I’m excited it’s finally here.  I can’t wait for the summer picnics with family and friends, trips to the park, movie nights on the lawn, swimming at the pool, and much more. Better stock up on sunscreen now so we can spend lots of time outdoors.

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A Night of Fun and Relaxation

Karen and her husband Joe were over tonight for dinner. We had the best steaks, baked potatoes, pasta salad, and lots of yummy treats for dessert.  I’m not the biggest meat eater but that steak was delicious!!! We got the steaks as a gift from my in-laws.   They ordered them online and had them sent directly to us.

I told Karen we should have dinner together more often because we had so much fun.  After dinner we played a few games and then decided we should all go over to their house to go swimming.  I love their pool.  It doesn’t make me nervous to bring the kids either because they have one of those really nice pool covers.  If they didn’t have the cover I’d be really worried every time I bring my kids over there.

We swam for a bit and then hung out in the jacuzzi.  It really was a great night. I can’t wait until we can do it again.  I told Karen I wouldn’t mind hosting dinner again if she would host dessert and swimming in her pool.  We set a date for next weekend, just in time for Memorial Day.

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Running for Coffee

The following entry was written by Guest Blogger Alvaro Jordan.

I started running two years ago when a friend of mine decided to lose weight. She wanted to have company and I needed to lose that last twenty pounds that had plateaued on me. At first we would run together and try not wheeze back home (usually because we talked so much while we tried to run) but it did get better. Now we can actually talk and run at the same time without getting dizzy!

About four months ago we decided to be more competitive with each other so we started betting on who got to the bench in our park first. The winner had to buy coffee for the other one. Since we meet at six o’clock in the morning, there have been times where I had to hunt down my flashlight before switching on my home security alarm (all home security) and going out the door. We have really started trying to run faster and are getting ready to run an actual race for the first time. I don’t think they will be serving coffee for the race drink but that’s okay. It goes to a great cause and helps me keep in shape. Anyway, I can keep up with her now so at least I am only buying coffee half the time.

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Time Management

“It’s not that we don’t have enough time. It’s that we don’t have a enough time management.  We all have the same 24 hours in a day.”

My AP European high school history teacher told our class this when I was in 10th grade.  Some of my classmates would always be complaining that they didn’t have enough time to do all of their homework and all of the extracurricular activities that they had on their schedule.  He always reminded us that we needed to manage our time wisely.

I remembered this when I was in college and wanted to go out with my friends.  I always took a full load of classes and then some.  I didn’t want to give up my social life just because I was a full time student.  I had to learn to manage my time throughout the day in order to accomplish everything that I had on my plate.  Looking back, the one thing that always got the short end of the stick was sleep.  I always made sure I did everything else but sleeping was at the bottom of the list.  Now that I’m a bit older I’ve put sleep higher on my list of priorities but, it probably isn’t up as high as it should be.

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Talking during movies

I’m a total chatter bug when I watch movies or television with other people.  I like to talk about what is happening in the plot or what I think might come next.  I know it drives some people nuts but I can’t help myself sometimes.  I especially ask questions if I think I miss something.  My husband usually tells me to listen and pay attention and it will make sense.  I’m sooo happy that I can rewind most anything now with the invention of DVR.  I wish I had that ability in movie theaters.  Don’t worry… I’m quiet when I go out to see a movie.  You just have to worry about me jibber jabbering if I am at home.

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Waffle Cone!

Today is the day that the ice cream waffle cone was invented in 1903!  It was first introduced at a county fair celebrating the Louisiana Purchase in St. Louis. There is nothing I love more than ice cream except ice cream in a waffle cone! So the next time that September 22nd rolls around and you have nothing to do, just think about having ice cream in a waffle cone!  At least you will have a reason to eat ice cream!