August, 2011 | The Angel Forever

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Happy 8th Birthday NHL

Posted on August 17, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

I can not believe that you are already eight years old. It seems like yesterday that Daddy and I were in the store picking out your crib. Then, we brought you home and suddenly you grew up before our eyes.

So much has happened in the last year. Some were amazing, while others ones I wish we could have shielded you from. No matter what, you will learn and grow and have survived these bumps in the road of life.

Now let’s take a walk down memory lane at the last year – NHL at 7.

After your last birthday, you really started to enjoy using the Nintendo Wii, and, with time, the DS. Daddy and I allowed you to try your new games and often your little brother watched on in amazement. Of course, now he’s starting to get some of the Wii games thanks to you helping him. (August 2010)

Second grade, well it proved to be a challenging year. Academically, there was no issues for you. Sad to say, it will probably be the year we hope to forget. Rather than dwell on the drama that included switching schools, let’s recall the happy times. Just after the year started, we went up to the lake for a big extended family weekend. You were so thrilled to drive the boat with Uncle M. (September 2010)

Much of October was filled with preparing for Halloween. You were thrilled to be Luigi again since your love of all things Super Mario was really getting started. (October 2010)

Thanksgiving this year was even more special thanks to Uncle I, Aunt M, and cousins SG and BA coming. This meant celebrating Chanukah a little earlier. I think your favorite part was often reading to the little kids. I loved one of your gifts – your new Thing 1 shirt. You may not remember this, but when JSL was born Daddy and I used to call both of you by those names. (November 2010)

December found us keeping busy with Chanukah, snow, and a fun outing. We all went to see Toy Story 3 on Ice. You loved the entire show and could not wait to see Lotso. It was a magical family outing that we all needed with special time together. (December 2010)

Snow, snow, and more snow greeted us in January. There were several days that school was canceled. This was also the time that I gave you my old laptop to use. You adored playing math games and more on it. I think your favorite snow day was the one where we never got our of our pajamas and stayed warm playing games. (January 2011)

February brought us even more snow and a lot of ice. At a certain point, even you were getting sick of it. Of course, since you were 7, you liked to play outside, build, and try to keep warm. By the end of the month, we were all dreaming of our upcoming trip to Florida. (February 2011)

The magical month of March arrived just in time for a much needed escape from life here in NY. We were lucky enough to be able to go to the second Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. You certainly showed that you are a NDK (Neurotic Disney Kid) and enjoyed every minute wanting to know when we could go back again. Seeing the joy in your face and the stress melt away was beyond magical. I think the highlight for you was meeting Beast since you had been begging for that moment for months. (March 2011)

The snow finally melted away and some warmer weather came to stay. You adored the times when we could head to the park and run around without a worry in the world. Of course, it also allowed you time to be silly in front of the camera. (April 2011)

Much of May was spent getting used to new things. A new school, your little brother turning four, and heading to the circus. You were fascinated with the circus clowns, animals, and acts in general. May was definitely a month where we turned things around and started to see the light at the end of the second grade tunnel. (May 2011)

Lots of things were going on in June. The end of the month officially made you a third grader. Much to our surprise, you were so sad to see things end at your new school. It made my heart so happy that you liked the new place where you learned so much in a short time. We also found a new favorite ice cream location. Yes, we met Nana and Papa there for lunch a few times and we were ok with that. (June 2011)

This summer, we have kept busy going to crafting events. You really do enjoy trying new crafts, as well as learning new things at the library’s passport program. Different countries, lizards, t-shirt making, and more thanks to our travels. Of course, the summer would not be complete without time under the water at the fun new park we found.

Suddenly, it is August again and the end of being a seven year old. You now love chapter books, are into Harry Potter (with a crush on Hermione), and are determined to finish and win DS games. You are a big helper, especially when it comes to your littlest cousin. You loved spending your birthday party weekend helping him around the park and other locations. (August 2011)

With tears in my eyes, I honestly find it hard to believe that you are already eight. You start third grade in a few short weeks. Getting to really watch you and spend time being creative with you this summer has taught me so much. I look forward to watching you grow, learn even more, and become the person you want to be. With some help, I hope that Daddy and I can make it more stress free and fun this year. I truly hope that your dreams and wishes come true and you have an amazing year – you deserve it!

Love,

Mommy

Categories:
animals arts and crafts birthday brothers cousins DisneySMMoms family food glorious food fun looking back nhl photos play time school summer yummy

Tuesday Tales – The Help Movie

Posted on August 16, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Two weeks before The Help Movie was released, I was able to head to a local screening of the movie. I went with my mother to a packed theater. We all sat there with much anticipation. Those who had read the book were busy chatting to each other on whether it would live up to their expectations and love for the book. I have to admit, I was one of those people.

I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett in the fall and adored it. I actually listened to the audio version of the book. It was powerful, hit hard, and really told a story of a time that we hope never to witness again. I did not want the tale of these amazing women to end. I was in their world and I wanted to continue their journey with them.

As I have written before, I often worry about books, especially ones with such a positive reputation, being made into a movie. I often blame it on being a teacher and watching book after book get mangled by Hollywood when it is transformed. It makes me so happy when they get it right and the book that I adore comes alive on the big screen. I am thrilled to report The Help Movie did not disappoint.

My review had to be held until the movie was released. For the last few weeks, I have tried to wrap my mind around the movie, but it truly is very hard. I think I can sum it up really easily:

The Help is THE must see movie of Summer 2011!

Words can not describe the story that comes alive in this movie that is just over two hours. One minute, I was laughing. The next, I was fighting tears in my eyes. I can not recall a movie where the entire audience was laughing, crying, and cheering together like this. The subject matter was focused on an era gone by, but the message was so much larger. The tag line for the movie “Change begins with a whisper” really lets you know what the message of the novel/movie is about. Quiet work by brave ladies to tell the story of these amazing African American women who took care of children and confronting societal expectations of women in general were clear.

So many of my favorite parts of the book were seen in The Help movie, but one in particular really hit hard. It was when Aibileen (played by Viola Davis) uttered the infamous words of wisdom to Mae Mobley. It made me tear up and wish that more parents and people in general would say things like this to our youth. Here is what I am talking about:

I can honestly say that I want to see The Help again. I want to sit and listen to the story, take away the message, and watch the amazing actors on the big screen. I do not believe that this is the last that we will hear about this movie. I have a feeling many Academy Award nominations will follow for the cast that was assembled for this extremely well done epic film.

Have you read the book or seen the movie yet? I would love to know what you thought. I am especially curious if you saw the movie and have not had a chance to read the novel.

Of course, since this is Tuesday Tales, I must ask the usual question. What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: I received complementary passes for two to see the pre-screening of The Help from DreamWorks PR. As a fan of the book, I wanted to share this information with my readers. No other compensation was given and no review expected. All opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine.

Categories:
books interesting me moments Movies Tuesday Tales

Lion Cupcakes and Birthday Food

Posted on August 15, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Sunday morning, I left to go to Nana and Papa’s house before the boys to get some things done for NHL’s family party. I stopped at the grocery store to get some produce, drinks, and dip. After this, I went to their house to start the Asian Salad.

Then, it was time to get the line ready for the lion cupcake construction. This time I had everything set and was ready to go. The only real complication here was space to put the completed lions on. After two were made, I noticed that the fresh frosting was making the Wilton black sparkle gel run a bit. Thanks to this, I put all of the lions together minus their noses and smiles. While I worked on that, my mother helped me to get the cucumbers ready to put with the rest of the veggies and some Dill Dip.

Just before lunch was served, I drew on the rest of the lion faces. A special thanks to Christina and Tom for cheering me on while I worked on all 21 lions and a chocolate chip one just for the number candle. Toward the end, the smell of the sugary frosting was getting to me.

We had tilapia, Phineas and Ferb macaroni and cheese, pizza, Asian Salad, and the fresh veggies. Lots of food for everyone to enjoy.

Once the kids finished eating, they played for a while. They were getting a bit rowdy, so I pulled out my bag of tricks. The teacher in me had a bunch of different arts and crafts to do with the kids. More on this coming soon. While they were crafting with me, everyone else was switching over the lunch food to prepare for cupcakes and fruit. When the crafts were done, I set up the cupcakes.

I do believe that the birthday boy enjoyed his lions.

More to come on the birthday fun as we celebrate NHL’s actual special day later this week. A huge thank you to all of our family that came to make the day even better.

Categories:
baking birthday family food glorious food friends fun nhl photos weekend yummy

Website Work in Progress

Posted on August 14, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Owning your own domain means that you have to host your website. This can be a drag at times, especially when things do not go smoothly. I have to admit that I am SO lucky to have TechyDad. If something goes wrong, my website it down, or anything needs work – he is a webmaster in real life.

Of course, just because he is a webmaster does not mean he can magically make things run perfectly. Often times, there are mazes that we must walk through that can complicate things.

Unlike a hedge maze, you may not be able to find your way out of this complicated problem without making a switch and starting over. Yes, sometimes hosting does not quite work properly and it is time to pack up and move.

Thanks to on-going issues, down time, and the list goes on . . . we –er TechyDad is doing some work behind the scenes. We are currently moving all of our websites one by one to the new server at a more reliable hosting company. We had hoped to avoid this, but what can you do? In the end, we will come out of this smiling.

We look at this as a time to reflect on what we need in our hosting company, ability to support a local business, and opportunity to clean up several other websites that we have. It was not what we wanted, but we will be better thanks to this.

Please note that comments are currently turned off on all blog posts until the move is 100% complete. Thank you for your support during this transition.

Categories:
decisions TechyDad vent

The Yankees Stink Shirt

Posted on August 13, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

Yesterday morning, I had to bribe you a little bit. It was Papa’s birthday and I wanted you to try to make him smile. As you know, he’s not really into the smiling thing. Case in point:

Anyway, there is a shirt that Uncle I bought NHL when he was little. The shirt is not exactly loved by Daddy. He does allow one of you to wear it on special occasions for Papa. This morning, I pulled it out, but you were not really into wearing it. So I bribed you. Lucky for me, you asked for some lemonade with breakfast. DONE! Here you are wearing the shirt at Hoffman’s.

I think the problem with wearing this shirt is that you get a lot of attention. Seeing that we live in NY, a Yankees Stink shirt either gets a lot of glares, or laughter from Red Sox fans in the area. Of course, this didn’t phase you too much. You liked people looking, smiling, and giving you attention. Plus, you were busy being a big helper on the rides with cousin BA.

Then, you were thrilled to go again, leading the way with BA in the back driving solo.

Of course, during this time NHL was on the roller coaster with Uncle I. You did not quite get what a big deal it was that they were in the front row.

What impressed me even more was you also went on a ride you were not too sure about. Rides up high seem to get you scared. Cousin SG wanted to go on one with you. After chatting a bit, you agreed to try it. You can tell you were not thrilled here.

Then, while you were whirling around above, I heard giggles. Yes, you were laughing and smiling while flying with cousin SG for your last ride of the day.