Food pyramid and chess king

Dear NHL,

Each morning this week, you would ask the same question when you woke up. Once we figured out the Disney World count down, you would head off to get ready for school. Luckily you were focused at school (I think) and worked hard to get your homework done. So proud when the 107% came back yesterday from your spelling test. You truly are a spelling whiz and we are not able to keep secrets with spelling around you anymore. At Chess Club, I was told that you are doing amazing. The teacher in charge said that you shock him with your knowledge and ability and will continue to excel.

You have also been studying the Food Pyramid at school as part of health education. Thanks to this, you have been telling us what you need from the pyramid each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It did not stop there. You also used the Food Pyramid as inspiration to build the following with JSL’s LEGO blocks.

Linking school and home

Now, we just need to work on making you feel better before Disney. You have been complaining of a sore throat and had a low grade fever last night and this morning. Hoping this is nothing serious and you do not feel the need to share with the rest of the family.

Love,

Mommy

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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

Dear Kid Saturday

 

 

 

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Knitting while I read

Call it the teacher in me, but I really like to read. In recent years, I have fallen behind on reading books that are for me. When I was teaching, it was materials for the classroom. I read a lot of chapter books to keep up with Children’s Literature. Then, it was reading to my boys. I could tell you all about the latest adventure of Jack and Annie in the Magic Treehouse books, but I could not keep up with books on the NY Times Best Sellers list.

I would sit and read my friend Nancy’s blog about all of the books that has read and wish I had read more of them. Yes, I could have read if I really wanted to. After all, I read all of the Harry Potter books, Twilight Series and others since I had my boys. The dilemma that I had over the last two and a half years since having JSL is I found another past time that I love. That passion is for knitting. Hearing the clicking and clacking of my needles as I work on a project is therapeutic. I love making things for my family, friends and others.

Knitting + Books do not mix

A solution was to find books on CD and listen to them while knitting. I even used an audio book in my classroom once and the kids loved this different strategy to literature (great for listening comprehension skills). I tried listening to books on CD, but did not like them while knitting. Hauling my computer was a pain and I still heard everything else in the background. 

The other day it dawned on me. There are MP3’s of books that I can get from our library. Duh, I have an MP3 player and can put them onto it. Sunday, I put The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs onto my MP3 player. I sat there and heard chapter after chapter as I knitted away on my soon to be born nephew’s blanket. As I type this, I only have a few chapters left to listen to and the blanket is onto the third skein. I already have my next MP3 book waiting to "read" while I multitask. 

Solution for the problem

Since I am so behind on must-read books for adults, my question for this week is:

What book(s) do you recommend for me to try to get on MP3 to "read" while knitting? Thanks in advance for any suggestions, I really appreciate it.

TheAngelForever

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #84

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New OxiClean Products

As the mother of two little boys, I have seen my fair share of dirt, grime, food and other stains on clothing. There have been times that I have actually "retired" some clothing because things do not come out after using our normal strain removing tactics.

Last Friday, when NHL got home from school and took his coat off, I noticed something on his back. Check that, it was all over his back, and something else was on the sleeves. I asked him what had happened. He told me that they had Art class that day and had been painting. Ugh! Typically, I remember Art day and would not send him to school in a lighter colored outfit. I am the mother that sent her child to daycare years ago in menu coordinating outfits to try to hide stains the best. I asked how the paint got there, but only received shrugs. No doubt in my mind that NHL’s shirt was the project of another child in the class. *sigh*

Friday night, when NHL took off the shirt I sprayed it with our usual stain spray. This is one that can be left on for a while before washing. Sunday, I did the laundry. When I pulled it out of the wash, some of the paint was still there. Can you see fumes coming from my ears? Well, that is when I kicked myself. I had just received some new samples of OxiClean Max Force Pre-Treater Gel Stick and Oxi Clean Max Force Laundry Strain Fighter & Booster Power Paks.  Ooops!

So, yesterday morning, I decided to try an experiment. Would the soon to be released (mid-February) products by OxiClean get rid of the paint that did not come out previously? Here are the before photos:

Time to test the stain

I opened up my pre-treater, read the directions and set to fight that stubborn stain. I really liked that when you pushed down, just the right amount of gel came out. The nubs on top were great for helping to rub the gel into the stain. Then I went to the basement to change from cold water to warm (instructions said that works best) and waited to see what happened.  BTW – Another brain issue. I goofed and turned on the machine and forgot the Power Paks upstairs. Oy!

More about the new OxiClean Products:

This winter, OxiClean announced two new products to add to your stain-fighting arsenal: OxiClean Max Force Power Paks and the Max Force Gel Stick Pre-Treater. You can use the Power Paks to give any load of laundry – whites and colors both – a boost, without dealing with messy liquids or powders. The Gel Stick Pre-Treater works best on tough stains – even ones that set-in on clothes for a week! Just rub the gel into the fabric and let it sit for a few minutes before throwing it into a normal load of laundry.

Each of these new products contains OxiClean’s "4-in-1 stain fighting power" so whether grease, oil, blood, or dirt, appears on clothing, you know that dabbing with OxiClean will leave the garment looking new again after just one wash.

When I took NHL’s paint stained sweatshirt out of the wash, the stain had faded more. Much less noticeable, but still there. I can not fault OxiClean at all since the item had previously been washed and dried. Next time, we have another stain pop up I will be sure to use the Max Force Pre-Treater directly on the item and toss the Power Paks (now downstairs so I will not forget). I will update how that goes in my comments here.

I know one thing, we will be buying more OxiClean because I liked that there was not a harsh scent, it worked to reduce already set in stain and has worked well on carpet stains over the years. Oh, I will also be tossing the OxiClean Pre-Treater in a bag to go to Disney World with us. Quick and easy vacation stain fighting is what I am all about!

TheAngelForever

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of OxiClean and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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Shoes for Disney World and beyond

When I was teaching, I learned a tough lesson with shoes and my poor feet. I was young, naive and wanted to wear heels. I already knew that buying cheap shoes was not a good plan. I spent a little bit of extra money and bought nicer shoes that would make me a bit taller than my students. After my oldest son was born and I went back to teaching, my poor feet had had it. They no longer could tolerate standing for hours on end in the classroom in heels. I quickly became a creature of comfort. Aerosoles became my best friend since I could find them all over.

After our honeymoon at Disney World, I also knew that comfortable shoes at Disney were a must. Just before our trip in May, we went out to look for new shoes. The boys got new sneakers, hubby a pair of sandals and I got Teva. I was intrigued with Crocs, but nobody locally had any at the time for me to try on. My father mentioned that he loved his Teva, so I tried them on. My feet melted into them.

Totally Teva for me

While at Disney, I thought I would wear my sneakers a lot. My feet showed me differently. I was happier in my Teva. I wore them almost every day there and the entire summer. Putting them away for the fall/winter months has been rough.

Since the summer, I have fallen in love with the wide variety of shoes available from Crocs. I have a pair of their Sassari wedges, Nadia boots, LA Dodger (for around the house) and recently added the Juneau.

When the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration came up, I immediately started to think about shoes. What was I going to wear on my feet that would be practical not only for a conference, but also for wearing/walking at Disney World. I figured the Sassari may be good at night, the Juneau for during the day. Still, I wanted something else for Disney and beyond. While shopping at Kohls and armed with a 30% off coupons I bought a pair of Sketchers Biker’s – Step Up.

Want to see photos? Here are my shoes (sans sneakers) for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration:

Shoes for Disney

So I think I am all set. My only wish is that I could swing a pair of Crocs new Frances.

Crocs Frances

As much as I like the Sassari, I think the wider toe area on the Frances would make it more comfortable for me (high arch make shoes a pain to get at times). A girl can dream right of owning a pair – right?!

So what shoes do you like to wear at conferences? What about when you go to places like Disney World?

TheAngelForever

 

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