7 Quick Takes

Is it Friday again?  Already?  Let's see what drivel I have to share with you guys today.

1.  My husband has been out of town all week so I tend to let some things slide.  Every evening after I kiss the kids good night and head downstairs, I can hear them playing in their rooms.  This isn't a big deal. Typically Sarah will draw or write notes and Peter will read after I have tucked them in.  But this week they have been playing together!  I know!  It's a post-Christmas miracle.  So I've been calling for lights-out a little later than normal just because I love hearing them laughing and playing - TOGETHER!

2.  Sarah got a real camera for Christmas and it has video capability.  So guess what they have been doing together when they should be trying to sleep?  That's right - filming themselves singing, dancing, and running around.  Everything but calmly preparing for a peaceful night of sleep.

3.  Last night before I left Sarah's room, she held up her camera and said she was going to take a picture of me so I stopped and posed and kept right on talking.  I noticed that she still had the camera up so I posed again.  I did this a couple of times before I realized that I never saw the flash go off.  I didn't think anything about it until Sarah started laughing hysterically.  She had been filming me the whole time. 

I looked at the video and it was the most ridiculous thing ever.  I am walking around talking to her and stopping to pose mid-conversation.  And these aren't regular posing for the camera with a cheesy smile poses.  No, these are turn to the side like you are a model poses.  And the thing that makes it all the more ridiculous is the fact that I am wearing ratty pajamas and no make-up and my hair looks greasy and I look tired.

If I wasn't wearing ratty pajamas and no make-up and if my hair didn't look greasy and I didn't look tired then I might think about posting the video just so we could all share a big laugh together.  But since I don't have a snazzy video editor with a "make the old lady look like Giselle Bundchen" function it will never see the light of day. Ever.

4. Dan isn't a huge fan of American Idol like I am but he is a good sport and will watch it with me. His favorite part?  The audition weeks.  Since he's been gone, I had to DVR the first two episodes so we can watch them together this weekend.  Awwww....aren't we sweet?

5.  We will also be watching the Patriots play the Ravens this weekend. Go Pats!

6.  Peter was playing video games online yesterday and called me in to the room.  "What is SOPA?" he questioned.  I did my best to briefly explain it and asked him how he knew about it.  Apparently the owners of the games, wrote STOP SOPA NOW into one of his games and in another game one of the teams he was battling against was called SOPA and you got extra points if you killed SOPA.  I'm trying to understand SOPA and what it would mean for us but it's all very confusing. When I told Peter it might mean that YouTube would be shut down he almost lost it!  He was still rambling on and on about it this morning while he was getting ready for school.

7.  I went to Mass this morning at school.  Sarah's second grade class was leading the liturgy.  Sarah did a great job reading her prayers.  Nothing makes me happier than to see 220 kids being reverent, respectful and quiet for one solid hour.  

And the cutest thing is seeing the kindergarteners and the first graders sitting with their 6th and 7th grade buddies.  But even cuter than that?  Today the preschoolers joined the rest of the school at Mass and sat with their 8th grade buddies.  Those 8th graders had their hands full  keeping the 4 year olds quiet and still but they did a great job!

For more 7 Quick Takes visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary. 

He's not a genie in a bottle.

The kids did not want to go to school on Tuesday.  They had enjoyed their long weekend and wanted it to continue so at bedtime on Monday night, they were putting cotton balls between their toes, putting spoons underneath their pillows and putting ice cubes in the toilet, all in an effort to get it to snow so that school would be cancelled.

Now before you think my kids are totally crazy I should inform you that for the past couple of years, the teachers at their old school would tell all the kids to sleep with cotton balls between their toes to get it to snow the next day.  Of course, the teachers would only do this on nights when there was a very large chance of snow falling and it always did.

So Peter and Sarah tried  the cotton ball trick on Monday.  Not exactly sure where the ice in the toilet and the spoon underneath the pillow come into play but they were giddy with excitement fully expecting school to be cancelled on Tuesday.

As I was tucking them in, I told Peter that their little tricks probably weren't going to work so not to be too disappointed when they had to go to school on Tuesday morning.

Peter's response?  "Don't worry Mom, I prayed about it!"

My response?  "God isn't a genie sweetheart.  It's not going to snow."

As I was helping the kids get ready for school on Tuesday morning, Peter told me that he was nervous to go back to school after a long weekend.  I told him that any time he's scared, he should pray to God and ask God to walk with him so he won't be nervous.

He looked at me for a minute and said, "But that won't work.  He didn't answer my prayer about the snow so he probably won't answer that one either."

"Well do it anyway because there are some prayers that God will always answer the way you want him to and that's one of them. Now quit stalling and get your clothes on!"

For I am the LORD your God
   who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
   I will help you. - Isaiah 41:13 NIV

If I ever invite you to dinner, just say no! There's no telling what you will find in my kitchen!

What happens when you open a reusable sandwich Snack Packer, place a piece of bread in it, close it, place it in a drawer, forget to use the bread in it the next day as planned, and open it approximately 5 weeks later?

What happens after you discover that the slice of bread is now covered, covered I tell you, in tiny black mold spores (and two fingerprints where you accidentally touched it while fumbling around in a dark kitchen trying to make lunches without waking up two crazy cats who want to come in the house as soon as they see a light on) and stinks like spoiled milk?

At least the last science experiment we did with mold was planned!

Discovery Place - Mummies of the World

On Monday we had to head to Charlotte to pick Grampa up from the airport.  Since the kids were home from school and Dan was home from work, we decided to make an afternoon of it!

We drove through our old neighborhood to see how much it has changed in the last 6 years and we drove past our old house.  We drove through the town down lived in before we got married and were shocked at all the new stores that have been built since we left.  Then we headed to Discovery Place in Uptown Charlotte.

Discovery Place is an awesome science museum for kids with lots of hands-on activities and lots of exhibits and an IMAX theatre.  But we went to see one thing in particular - Mummies of the World.

According to their website, Mummies of the World is the largest exhibition of mummies and related artifacts ever assembled.  This compelling collection, presented with reverence and dignity, includes ancient mummies and important artifacts from Asia, Oceania, South America, Europe, as well as ancient Egypt, dating as far back as 6,500 years.

And I have to say, this exhibit did not disappoint!   I loved this exhibit.  Human mummies from 200 years ago all the way back to 6,500 years ago!  And wow - were some of these mummies ever preserved - teeth, hair, toes, and um, other appendages. 


The exhibit rooms were dark.  The only lights were small lights that were shining on the cases with  the mummies.  As you enter the exhibit, you are asked to be respectful of the mummies as they were once living, breathing, walking, talking  human beings.  They had quiet, eerie music playing and no one was talking.  Any talking that was done was done through whispers. 

At one point, Peter came up to me and whispered, "Is it okay if I have nightmares tonight?"

It said it takes 90 minutes to go through the exhibit but it only took us about 50.  If it was just me and Dan, it probably would have taken that long but the kids didn't want to stand and read all the signs on all of the exhibits, and quite honestly, for them I think after a while it was "ho, hum, you've seen one mummy, you've seen them all!".   Not for me, though.  I could have looked at mummies all afternoon!

When you buy your tickets to this exhibit, you buy them based on a start time.  However, if you have a 2:00 ticket, they will let you go in anytime during the 2:00 hour.  We (and everyone else with a 2:00 ticket) were crammed at the entrance at 2:00.  So the exhibits were jam packed the whole time we were going through.  If we would have gone in at, say, 2:30 or 2:45 with our 2:00 ticket we would have had much more room to view the exhibits as most of the 2:00 people would have been out of the exhibit or at least at the end of it.  And, it did not appear that they were monitoring people.  So, if you did go in at 2:30 with a 2:00 ticket, I don't think they would have kicked you out at 3:00.

I'm glad we went and I know that Peter will probably excitedly be telling his friends about all the cool mummies he saw.  And in case you are wondering, no, he did not have nightmares last night!

A ticket to see the Mummy exhibit also gets you into the rest of the museum.  We had a little bit of time left before we had to head to the airport so we played for a few minutes.

If you are interested in the Mummies of the World exhibit, it's only at Discovery Place until April.  And if you go, make sure you can stay the whole afternoon so that your kids can enjoy the rest of the museum!

And it's not over yet!

New England Patriots win! (Sorry Tim Tebow.  I think you are a sweetheart  but I had to pull for the Pats!)

Pepper Jack Pimento Cheese Toasts shared with my husband.


Basketball (Sarah actually touched tried to shoot a couple of times and passed the ball a couple of times. Her confidence is growing with each game.)

Jenga, Old Maid, Connect Four and Candy Land.  (When will that girl tire of Candy Land?)

2 episodes of Winter Wipeouts (Jill we miss your sarcasm.  Vanessa Lachey isn't snarky enough for us.)

Date night with my husband. (We quickly plowed through a very nice gift card given to him by his manager - filets and double decker cheesecakes will do that!)

And the good news? We still have a full day left in the weekend. I love weekends but long ones are even better.

If I'm no help, then why do they keep asking me?

Sarah:  "Mom, what should we do? We're bored."

Me:  "Well, you could paint a picture, write a story, play Sing It on the Wii, play Just Dance on the Wii, watch TV, draw with the colored pencils, swing on the swing set, shoot baskets, color with chalk on the driveway, play dress up or play Hide and Seek."

Sarah:  "Let's go Cheyanne.  Clearly Mom is no help."

7 Quick Takes

It's Friday again so that means it's time for 7 Quick Takes.

1. Peter has had 4 tests this week.  4 tests!  A religion test (memorizing and spelling correctly the Luminous Mysteries), a science test (memorizing all the bones, he gets extra points for spelling them correctly) a math test, and a 20 word spelling test.  Whew!  It's been a busy week with homework and studying but he has handled it all like a pro.  He continues to come right in and get to work before doing any playing and has done this with no whining!

2.  His teacher sent him home with extra homework on Wednesday.  Peter's cursive writing is horrible but I guess that's what happens when you teach yourself.  His teacher emailed me and told me she was sending an extra practice sheet home and wanted him to complete that as well as redo some of the words that were illegible from an assignment they did in class that day.  Peter was overjoyed with the excitement of having yet more homework.  Okay, overjoyed is probably not the right word, but he did it with  minimal complaint.

He will be really excited when he finds out that I emailed his teacher to ask if she could have him work with the 2nd grade teacher to improve his cursive.  He will probably be mad at me but if it helps his writing, it will only make his life easier in the long run.  I have seen the work that Sarah has been bringing home while she has been learning cursive and I think he could definitely benefit from getting some lessons from someone who is trained to teach handwriting.

3. I must mention my Garmin Forerunner watch one more time.  I've been using it this week and I really love it.  It beeps every time I hit a mile and I can glance at it to see how fast I ran that mile.  Then when I come home from my runs, I can easily download the data onto the computer.  I can see my pace for each mile, how many calories I burned, a map of my run, the elevation, etc.  I have been running a little faster knowing that my time is being tracked and yesterday I ran 5 miles!  My goal this year is to consistently run longer and faster. 

4. I won't be able to run this morning because I will be attending Mass at school with kids.  The third grade is leading the liturgy and Peter will be saying one of the prayers.  He's nervous even though his class has done this before.

5.  After Mass I will be heading to Target and Kohl's to do a little retail therapy!  I am looking forward to wandering around the stores with no agenda and some gift cards.

6.  Dan and I are having a date night this weekend!  My father-in-law is spending the weekend with my brother-in-law and my parents will be watching Peter and Sarah. For Christmas Dan got a gift card from his manager to a nice restaurant.  A free dinner that I don't have to cook and uninterrupted conversation with my husband!  I am looking forward to it.

7. It's a long weekend and on Monday we will be spending the day in Charlotte.  My father-in-law returns from his weekend with my brother-in-law and will be in Charlotte to pick him up from the airport.   Dan is excited to drive around our old neighborhood.   But that's not going to be too thrilling for the kids so I need to plan something fun for us to do.  Googling "fun things for kids to do in Charlotte" is my next stop on the computer.

7 1/2.   As much as I have enjoyed watching Tim Tebow and the Broncos, I have to pull for the Patriots this weekend. Go Patriots!

Head on over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes.

Because it's more than a silly old computer game.

He loves computer games. And when he finds one he loves he plays it all the time. And when he is not playing it, he wants to tell me about it.

All about it.

About how it works, about what he can do in the game, about the tutorials he's found on YouTube that explain how to play the game better. About all the minutia of a game that I don't understand and don't really even want to understand.

And he talks. And he talks. And he twists his hair while he's talking about it. He follows me from room to room talking about it. He even talks about it through a closed bathroom door. He keeps talking.

And I keep listening. Even as I am folding laundry, or making dinner, or taking out the trash, I am listening.

I usually don't understand a word he is telling me but I listen. I, honestly, am usually bored by what he is telling me. It's just a silly old computer game after all.

But I try to stop what I'm doing and look him in the eye and shake my head up and down while I am listening. I want him to know that I am listening.

And he continues to talk.

Why do I let him babble on and on about something I don't understand, something I'm not even too interested in?

I do it because one day I hope he will come to me with that same excitement and intensity and tell me about a science experiment he just did at school, or a joke a friend told him, or about a math problem he figured out all by himself.

I do it because one day I hope he will come to me with that same trust and expectation and tell me about something that a friend did that he knows isn't right, or tell me about a girl he's falling in love with, or tell me about a girl who has broken his heart.

I do it because one day I hope he will come to me with that same enthusiasm and confidence and tell me about an interesting class he's taking in college or tell me he thinks he's figured out what he wants to do with his life or tell me how that job interview went.

I keep listening now because I want him to keep talking later.

Works for Me Wednesday - Put a Pin It Button at the end of your Blogger posts.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to put a Pinterest Pin It button on your pinnable Blogger blog posts.

Please note, there are other tutorials out there that show you how to put a Pin It button on every post automatically.  That tutorial is nice if you have a lot of pinnable material and don't want to go through these steps each time.  However, the tutorials I have seen don't let you control what picture comes up with each pin and this one does.

I am going to stick with this way for a while.  It isn't as hard as it looks, I have just included every single step. Do it once and you will get it!

1. Open your blog in Blogger.
2. Write a fantastic blog post.
3. Make sure to include a picture that relates to your post. Pinterest loves good pictures and your post has a better chance of being pinned if it has a good picture.
4. Click on Publish Post.
5. Open another window in your browser and go to the Pinterest/Goodies page.
6. Scroll down this page until you see "Pin It Button for Websites". 
7. Go to the main page of your blog and click on the title of the blog post you just posted. You need to make sure to do this because you want the Pin It button to direct people to this particular post and not to the main page of your website.
8. Highlight the URL for this post.  Copy it by hitting "Ctrl" and "C".
9. Go back to the Pinterest/Goodies page and paste your blog post URL where it says "URL of the page the pin is on".
10. Go back to your blog post and put your mouse on the picture in your post.  Right click with the mouse.
11. Click on "View Image Info".
12. The URL for this picture will already be highlighted.  Copy it by hitting "Ctrl" and "C".
13. Go back to the Pinterest/Goodies page and paste your picture URL where it says "URL of the image to be pinned".
14. Then type a quick description of your post for example "20 steps to posting a Pin It button on your Blogger blog" or "Quick and Easy Enchiladas".
15. Then highlight all of the code that has been created in the box underneath the description.  
16. Copy the code by hitting "Ctrl" and "C".
17. Go to "Edit Posts" in your blog and click on the blog that you are creating the pin for.
18. Click the "Edit HTML" tab in the upper right of your blog post.
19. Place your mouse at the end of all the text from your post and copy the code from Pinterest/Goodies by hitting "Ctrl" and "V".
20. Click "Publish Post" and your Pin It button should be there in all of it's glory!

For more (and probably shorter) Works for Me Wednesday helpful hints, visit Kristen at We are THAT Family!

Pin It