Girl Scouts World Thinking Day 2016

Happy World Thinking Day!

This year's theme for Girl Scouts World Thinking day is:  Connect.

We decided to use the theme to connect to other cultures.

We have a few girls in our troop that are Chinese.  We asked them, along with their parents, to share a little of their culture with the troop.  Since we just celebrated the Chinese New Year, the girls (and their Moms) gave us a little history of the Chinese New Year with a story.  Each girl prepared a little speech and the Moms had a little slide show of pictures for us.

I found it interesting that it's two week celebration.  The first week, everyone has off.  The celebrations continue into the second week. How fun!  This is the Year of the Monkey.  So, if you are born in this year, it's your lucky year.  I'm a Monkey, so, I'm pretty excited.  Oh, and I'm supposed to wear red (lucky color).

The girls then painted a picture of a cherry blossom tree.

What a great way to Connect!

Something New

Whenever I bring home something new, it gets noticed by the kids immediately.

I bought some drinking glasses last week.  I bought them because I liked them and because we had three glasses break in one week.  As each child came into the kitchen (alone), they immediately saw the glasses and said,

"We got new glasses?  Why did we get new glasses?"

Like it's against the law for us to get anything new to use.

"What's wrong with the old glasses?"

"Where did you get them?"

"How much were they?"

After explaining that we have had our glasses for eighteen years and that three glasses broke within the last week and that we are keeping the old glasses...Oh, and that I bought the "new" ones at the thrift store....  they were still a little skeptical.

"Why is Mom buying something new?"

"What's wrong with the old stuff?"

"Is the world coming to an end?"

Yes.  All of this from my children who don't seem to notice the big mess of dirty dishes that they leave for me in and around the kitchen sink.

Musings

Nick, upon seeing the bottle of vitamins, that he has been secretly hinting at for the last week, sitting on the kitchen counter:

 "I see Costco is still a thing."

Musings

Nick has a subtle way of telling me that he needs something.

Nick:  Mom, is Costco still around?

That translates to:  I'm out of vitamins.

The Dog

I think I have created a monster.

I love dogs.

I love dogs that want to be around people.  I mean, why have a dog if he/she doesn't want to hang out with you and your family, right?

Pippen is a people dog.  He loves to be around us.  He's very excited when we come home.  He has to know exactly where we are in the house.

Wait.

Correction.

He has to know where I am in the house.

OK, but, he does like to be by everyone in the family (especially if I'm there).

I recently noticed that he needs company when he eats.  When he was a puppy, I stayed with him so he wouldn't bother Newton (or try to eat Newton's food).  As time went on, I realized he liked company.  Now with Newton gone, I see that he won't stay and finish his food if I leave the room.  I don't normally worry about this, but, I don't want him to eat while no one is home and then have an accident on the carpet.

I can see my brother, Steve, telling me that I got what I deserve.  When I was younger, I used to feed our dog one piece of dog food at a time.  Taking each piece from the bowl and placing it in front of him.  In my defense, our dog, Sheddy, loved it.  Steve told me I was spoiling him and that Sheddy would expect to eat that way all of the time.  I eventually stopped.  It probably took Sheddy awhile to adjust to having to eat out of the bowl by himself.

I guess eventually Pippen will learn to eat by himself.

Now, opening doors and searching the house for me?  I don't think that will stop.

Valentine's Day Book Marks

Every year I have had my children make their Valentine's Day cards for their classmates.  I helped out quite a bit with the boys.  I cut out hearts and had them write the child's name and Happy Valentines Day and then sign them.  I think Nick stopped handing them out in fourth grade and Alex was in fifth grade.

It's been a lot different with Bella.  She shares my love for Valentine's Day.  She really gets into the card making and adding stickers, glitter and hearts.

This year she decided to make book marks and give them out as Valentine's Day cards.  We used red, pink and purple paper we had on hand, along with some festive Valentine papers.   Bella added ribbon and washi tape.  And, of course, her favorite new addition this year, a hedgehog stamp.  We didn't go too crazy with the book marks for the boys.  We stuck with a red book mark and red/white striped paper.  Not sure if a boy would want a book mark with pink and lots of frilly hearts :)  The girls have the pink or purple book marks with a little more hearts on them.

These book marks are pretty easy to make.   If you pre-cut everything for younger children, all they have to do is glue them together.

Valentine's Day Cards for Seniors

Every year our Girl Scout Troop makes Valentine's Day cards for the seniors.  The girls look forward to this tradition.  It's a happy occasion, with the girls putting their best effort and a lot of love into the making of each card.  There is talking, laughing and singing that goes along with the card making, too.

Once at the Assisted Living we visit, the girls set out to deliver all of their handmade cards.  Some of the residents get two or three cards.  The Seniors are always happy to see the girls and end up hanging out in the lobby so they can watch the girls in action.

Once all of the cards are passed out, we break out our song books and start singing.  This year we added a few cute Valentine songs to our repertoire.  Some of the residents knew a couple of our songs (The Brownie Smile Song and Make New Friends) and sang along with us.

A good time was had by all.

In fact, the director asked the girls to come back for a craft day with the Seniors!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yep.  That got your attention.

Cookies!

Who doesn't love cookies?

My family devours cookies, cakes and cupcakes just like the Cookie Monster.

Here's a quick and easy recipe that I've been using to make cookies...fast!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 creamed butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts

Add butter to sugars and cream well.  Mix all together.
Drop by spoon onto cookie sheet.
Bake 375F for 8-10 minutes.  Do not over bake!
You can use 2 cups of chips instead of nuts or you can use peanut butter chips or even M & M's!

*I've substituted coconut oil for some or all of the butter in this recipe.
*I have used half the amount of sugar (or course) and they have turned out delicious

For a sweet surprise for your Valentine, throw in some festive Valentine M & M's.

Enjoy!

The Dog

RT had this brilliant idea of having Pippen sleep in our room with us at night.  Pippen's normal bed is in a cage that is located in the basement.  I went along with the idea, hoping for the best.

The first night (yes, there was more than one night) I woke up at 2 am to hear Pippen licking his paws.  2 am?  He had all day to do it and decides 2 am is the perfect time to clean his paws.  Oh, and since it's quiet in the room, his cleaning routine was rather loud.

At 4 am, it seemed like he might have missed some spots at the 2 am cleaning, so he decided to start all over from the beginning.

5 am comes around and he decides he needs to be petted.  Luckily he went to RT's side of the bed.  (it helped that I pulled the covers over my face).

6am he started getting antsy.  I waited a little and then decided to just get up and let him out.  By the way, he slept the entire day while both RT and I worked.

The second and third nights were just a repeat of the first night.

The fourth night RT said that he wanted to get some sleep, so Pippen slept in his own bed (the cage).  We (RT and I) both slept great that night. 

RT hasn't brought up changing Pippens sleeping arrangement again. 

The Sick Line

In our school district, each school has a designated phone line to call when your child is going to be absent.  Our schools ask the usual three million questions that they want answered in your message.  You know, things like:

Your child's name, spelling both first and last name
child's grade
School ID #
Soc. Sec #
Blood Type
Grade they are getting in PE
Reason for being absent (they want a description here)

Here is where they add:

"Due to our ongoing efforts, if your child is experiencing flu like symptoms or has a fever, please let us know."

Your Name
Your relation to the student
a phone number where you can be reached
your blood type
your grade in English in Sophomore year of high school
The name of your first pet

I think you get the picture.

My kids don't get sick that often, but, I have the replies down.  RT, on the other hand, ends up leaving some strange messages.  He usually calls twice.  The first time is to write down all the questions.  The second time is to leave a message with as little details as possible.  I think he gets the part correct when he states his name.  I'm not sure about the child's name, tho.  We haven't had any call backs from the school (that I know of), so I think his sick messages have worked.

With such a long, detailed message, it's very easy to get distracted.  Once you leave your message, you feel this sense of victory.  "Hey!  I successfully left a message on the sick line!"  You want to shout it out to the world!  You feel like you can do anything now.

Climb Mount Everest?

No problem!

Sail around the world?

Easy!

Write a best selling novel?

Piece of cake!

Remember that you have a sick kid at home to take care of today?

What?  Who's sick?

Musings

I think the toaster should have two settings.

Not toasted (or bready, as I call it)

and

Burnt

I am a master at making burnt toast.  It took years of training.  If you're in the area and have a taste for burnt toast, stop by and I'll make you some.

Musings

Alex got into the car after his orthodontist appointment and started singing, "and I'm Hungry like the wolf!"

I said: "Since when are you a Duran Duran fan?

Alex:  They were playing that song when I was sitting in the chair.

Me:  Do you want to listen to their greatest hits album with me?

Alex:  You mean they had more than one?

Ouch.

The boy has so much to learn.

Broken Mug

Bella received a huge coffee mug filled with packets of hot chocolate from her best friend for Christmas.  She has been using the mug for water, cereal, snacks, and, of course, hot chocolate.  

The other day while I was at work, I was told that there was a phone call for me.  I hesitated because, who calls and asks for me at work?  

I answered the phone and I could tell that Bella was trying to keep it together.  I had to calm her down and try to get the details without a bunch of tears.  Apparently, the huge red coffee mug broke (oh, the horror!).  

Bella told me that Nick broke it.  Now, I'm imagining the two of them getting into an argument and Nick breaking her mug.  

The true story finally came out.  Bella put a glass snack bowl inside the mug and carried it into the kitchen.  The glass bowl got stuck and Nick tried to get it out (I found out later that he used a rubber hammer...yea, I didn't ask for details).  I told her not to worry.  It's just a mug.  Every one's OK. There were no injuries or blood.  We'll all live (without the mug).

I have to say...I was afraid to go home.  I mean, a gift from her best friend and it broke.  This isn't the first gift to break (from this same friend).  Bella received a sand dollar when her friend visited the beach last summer.  RT was in Bella's room hanging up a picture and accidentally dropped a hammer (it's always a hammer) on her shell.  The sand dollar shattered, of course.

Anyway, I got home and realized that Bella was not there.  Nick and his car were missing, too.  I asked Alex and he had no idea what was going on.  I called Nick and could tell that he was in a store.

Here's where I get choked up.

Nick took Bella to Toys R Us to buy her something because he felt bad that he broke her mug.  I told him that it was very nice and thoughtful of him and that I was proud of him.  I also said that he didn't have to buy her anything.  He said he wanted to do it and that it was the right thing. 

And, he said that he was going for favorite brother status.

Oil Change

My car needed an oil change.  I have one son who can do it at home (he used to work at a shop, fixing cars) and another son who is taking an auto class in high school.  So, why bring it into a shop?

I decided to take my car to the high school while Alex was at Auto club.  Alex was excited.  I think some of the other kids were excited to have a car to work on that day.  I was assured by Alex that the parts were there and I figured things would run smoothly.

An hour later (yes, this is an oil change), the teacher told me that the oil was on it's way (my car is diesel and requires special oil).  Luckily I had a couple blog post ideas that I could write while I waited.  At one hour twenty minutes, Nick called me and asked what was taking so long and did I want him to come over there and show them how an oil change is done in less than an hour?  At one hour thirty minutes, my car was finished.  The guys who worked on the car looked relieved.  I think they had a few problems.  I was happy that it was done and that we could finally go home.  Oh, and Alex's yellow sweatshirt, well, it wasn't yellow anymore.

Anyone know how to get motor oil out of a sweatshirt?

I'm trying Dawn dish soap.  Let's hope this works out.

Need a Little Help

It's funny how difficult it is to get my kids to help out around the house.  They seem to have no problem asking us to help them.  We (RT and I) willingly step up and help them any way we can when asked.  When the tables are turned and we are the one's asking for help we get grunts, stomping off, running and hiding in their rooms, complaining...I think you get the idea.

The tasks/chores that we are asking the kids to do are not difficult.  Vacuuming, brush the dog, wash the dishes, empty the dishwasher, etc.  By the way my kids react when asked to do a task, you would think it was something that would kill them.

I have yet to figure out a solution.  I'm sure that if I do figure this out, I could write a book and make a lot of money.