Ellie had gotten a package of coconut m&m's earlier this summer. She loved them and was concerned because the package said "limited time" on it. She wanted to tell the company that they were great and she wanted them to stay on as a regular flavor. I told her that she could write a letter to the company otherwise they wouldn't know people liked the flavor. If enough people tell the company, I said, they might keep it on.
She did write them a letter, and we mailed it off. Today she received a letter in reply. It thanked her for sharing her view and included a $1 off coupon for any size M&M/Mars product. She is anxious to get to the store for her "free" candy!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Motorcycle madness
Since Darren and Josh connected earlier this spring with Bill Brown, an instructor at JCCC, they have been going to his house most Wednesdays. They have completely broken down Josh's scooter and repaired it - he can now ride it (only on our street in front of the house as we haven't gotten it tagged yet!). They have assisted in cleaning up many of Bill's cycles and made other connections as well.
One such connection was with a gentleman who invited them out to his house to weld. Josh has been really wanting to learn to weld for some time - and enjoyed his time there very much. He came home with a creation that now resides on the workbench in the garage.
Finally, this past Wed (July 1) Josh got to live his dreams...he rode two different small cycles. One was more "automatic" than the other - but Bill told Darren "I've seen alot of kids ride, and you can tell who has it and who doesn't. Josh has it!" To which Darren replied "Yeah, that's what his mom was afraid of!" However, Josh has a good head on his shoulders, and several years yet to practice what he's learning... hopefully by the time he's ready to own a cycle he'll be a smart driver who always practices safety first.
One such connection was with a gentleman who invited them out to his house to weld. Josh has been really wanting to learn to weld for some time - and enjoyed his time there very much. He came home with a creation that now resides on the workbench in the garage.
Finally, this past Wed (July 1) Josh got to live his dreams...he rode two different small cycles. One was more "automatic" than the other - but Bill told Darren "I've seen alot of kids ride, and you can tell who has it and who doesn't. Josh has it!" To which Darren replied "Yeah, that's what his mom was afraid of!" However, Josh has a good head on his shoulders, and several years yet to practice what he's learning... hopefully by the time he's ready to own a cycle he'll be a smart driver who always practices safety first.
Garage workshop in process!
Our neighbors moved last weekend into a much smaller home, one where they don't need to do the maintenance - which is a good thing as health challenges have caused much concern for them the past few years.
In the process of clearing out their home, they had ALOT of woodworking tools, lumber, a very nice workbench, etc that needed a good home. Ali wanted his things to go to someone who would appreciate them, so he offered them to Darren and Josh. He'd seen them working in the driveway on many a project and thought they would appreciate all he had to offer.
Boy do they ever! They moved everything over - which took several days to get it all here. The workbench is installed. It had been wired directly into their fusebox so Darren had to remove it from that and then break it down to get it out of the basement. Once back at our house with it put back together, Josh attached a plug to the wire so it could be plugged into an outlet. He's been reading all sorts of electricity books lately and was happy to have the opportunity to put it to use!
The garage is looking wonderful. Several projects have already happened at the workbench, and Darren is in the process of cleaning/organizing the garage so they will have usable space (and still have room for the bikes, scooter, Razor scooters, and toys. I'll post pictures when it's all done!
In the process of clearing out their home, they had ALOT of woodworking tools, lumber, a very nice workbench, etc that needed a good home. Ali wanted his things to go to someone who would appreciate them, so he offered them to Darren and Josh. He'd seen them working in the driveway on many a project and thought they would appreciate all he had to offer.
Boy do they ever! They moved everything over - which took several days to get it all here. The workbench is installed. It had been wired directly into their fusebox so Darren had to remove it from that and then break it down to get it out of the basement. Once back at our house with it put back together, Josh attached a plug to the wire so it could be plugged into an outlet. He's been reading all sorts of electricity books lately and was happy to have the opportunity to put it to use!
The garage is looking wonderful. Several projects have already happened at the workbench, and Darren is in the process of cleaning/organizing the garage so they will have usable space (and still have room for the bikes, scooter, Razor scooters, and toys. I'll post pictures when it's all done!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Changes....
Lately I've had that song "Changes" stuck in my head. Seems to fit our lives at the moment. The "school year" is coming to a close and regular activities are beginning to change for our *slightly* more relaxed summer activities. We're still waiting to hear where Oz rehearsals will be, but those start in a month. Ellie is looking forward to summer art in nature camp at Ernie Miller. But the biggest change is the fact that Josh just turned 14 and got his learner's permit! We now have another driver in the family - even tho he can only drive with one of us sitting in the seat next to him. Being driven around by my child, and planning a 40th birthday party for my husband.... really drives home the point that life is going on!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Dinner geography
While eating dinner the other night we were looking at the large USA map on the wall. Darren looked at it for a minute then stood in front and asked what the 4th largest state was (in size). We thought for a minute and someone said "Montana?" He said he thought it was correct and decided to Google the states in order of size and also in order of population. After that was printed he came back in and asked a BUNCH of questions to the rest of us regarding the states. Did you know that you can fit over 450 Rhode Island's into the state of Alaka? :-) It was a great time and alot was learned by all!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Growing older
We had professional family portraits done yesterday - on Siesta Key beach..one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Fine, soft white sand - almost like walking through tons of baby powder!
The pictures turned out so so so well. It is amazing how well...almost all were perfect! Of course there were the few "stray" shots with someone's eyes closed or a funny look, but not nearly as many as in past sessions. It's probably been at least 3 years since we had the last round of pictures. On this scale anyway... and actually probably longer than that at these prices - like our wedding! But they are so worth it. As Gary said "these are memories that will be with us always, and you can't grab again."
One of the shots that I thought was so fun was of all three kids jumping up in the air - the photographer has a much faster lens than I do and he was able to capture them way up there - it looks like they are so high in the air!
One of the funniest shots was all 5 of us piled on each other...starting with Darren at the bottom, then me, Josh, Rylie and Ellie (lucky dog) on top of us all. Top that with a gorgeous sunset behind us to the right... and it's definitely a "keeper."
This has been a great vacation... of course the kids have had their "moment's" of getting on each other's nerves...but for the most part they have been great. Flying kites on the beach, building sand castles, running from manic squirrels at the Jungle Garden (I've never been so afraid of a squirrel - this one looked at me like he was going to jump right on the table and make off with my sandwich!), finding shells and just having fun together! What more can I ask for?
The pictures turned out so so so well. It is amazing how well...almost all were perfect! Of course there were the few "stray" shots with someone's eyes closed or a funny look, but not nearly as many as in past sessions. It's probably been at least 3 years since we had the last round of pictures. On this scale anyway... and actually probably longer than that at these prices - like our wedding! But they are so worth it. As Gary said "these are memories that will be with us always, and you can't grab again."
One of the shots that I thought was so fun was of all three kids jumping up in the air - the photographer has a much faster lens than I do and he was able to capture them way up there - it looks like they are so high in the air!
One of the funniest shots was all 5 of us piled on each other...starting with Darren at the bottom, then me, Josh, Rylie and Ellie (lucky dog) on top of us all. Top that with a gorgeous sunset behind us to the right... and it's definitely a "keeper."
This has been a great vacation... of course the kids have had their "moment's" of getting on each other's nerves...but for the most part they have been great. Flying kites on the beach, building sand castles, running from manic squirrels at the Jungle Garden (I've never been so afraid of a squirrel - this one looked at me like he was going to jump right on the table and make off with my sandwich!), finding shells and just having fun together! What more can I ask for?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Much needed sunshine
We made it to Florida in one piece! I hate flying, but everyone else enjoyed the flight. We went to the drum circle Sat night and heard some great music and enjoyed the sunset over the ocean. Even though the 'natives' thought it was cool (it was in the upper 60's) we thought it was wonderful and went barefoot in the sand!
Today we hit the beach and the girls played in the waves, Ellie built a sandcastle all by herself (no help from anyone this year!), they found shells and went for long walks on the beach. Me? I finished my book (Plum Spooky) and got sunburned! How is it I can get 4 other people slathered in sunscreen to the point where no one else is red, but I forget to put it on an entire leg of myself? It's burnt enough that I'm skipping the hot tub tonight...bummer! I love the hot tub almost as much as the beach!
We stopped at "Splash" (a beachwear store) and got flip flops for Rylie, beach shoes for Darren and everyone else managed to hang onto their $$. Saw lots of things they liked, but everyone decided to wait til we hit downtown Venice to spend anything. Amazing!
Looking forward to many more days of fun and sun. I'll post pics when we get home.
Today we hit the beach and the girls played in the waves, Ellie built a sandcastle all by herself (no help from anyone this year!), they found shells and went for long walks on the beach. Me? I finished my book (Plum Spooky) and got sunburned! How is it I can get 4 other people slathered in sunscreen to the point where no one else is red, but I forget to put it on an entire leg of myself? It's burnt enough that I'm skipping the hot tub tonight...bummer! I love the hot tub almost as much as the beach!
We stopped at "Splash" (a beachwear store) and got flip flops for Rylie, beach shoes for Darren and everyone else managed to hang onto their $$. Saw lots of things they liked, but everyone decided to wait til we hit downtown Venice to spend anything. Amazing!
Looking forward to many more days of fun and sun. I'll post pics when we get home.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
An Historic Day
The kids and I spent the day watching the Inagural activities...well, really the kids watched the swearing in ceremony and part of the parade with me, but I've been tied to the tv all day. A big part of it is probably the fact that my stomach is really hurting and getting up to move around is icky. But I did want to watch it all, since I couldn't be there in person.
All 3 kids and I snuggled up and watched the actual swearing in ceremony. We were impressed with the peaceful transition as so many places in our world do not have this luxury. President Obama (how wonderful that sounds!) impressed me with his speech. I hope he has the opportunity to try to change our nation for the better and that some idiot doesn't attempt to harm him during his time in office.
All 3 kids and I snuggled up and watched the actual swearing in ceremony. We were impressed with the peaceful transition as so many places in our world do not have this luxury. President Obama (how wonderful that sounds!) impressed me with his speech. I hope he has the opportunity to try to change our nation for the better and that some idiot doesn't attempt to harm him during his time in office.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Sibling Co-operation
Ellie has been bemoaning the fact that her feet don't touch the floor of the van when she's in her booster seat (which is whenever she's riding in the van as the seatbelts don't fit her properly yet). Her legs and feet fall asleep, even on short rides. We have talked about getting a stool or box or something to allow her to put her feet on in order to help alleviate this problem.
Josh told her that he could build a foot rest for her that could attach to the bottom of her booster seat so that it was easily portable between vehicles.
Finally today, Ellie found the velcro pieces they had been waiting on and she and Josh took to the garage to create the foot rest. A little over an hour later, they were calling for Rylie and I to come see the finished product.
What a great creation - I think they should market it to the booster seat manufacturers! They wanted to use pvc pipe and run the rope through the pipe, but it was in the attic (after Dad's recent garage cleaning project) so Josh cut a 2x2 piece of wood the correct length and then drilled a hole at each end that nylon rope could go through. They knotted each end and then attached it to the bottom of the booster seat with velcro. I'll get a picture tomorrow and post it here.
Hopefully this is the answer to Ellie's foot issues - especially since she's probably going to be in the booster seat awhile longer!
Josh told her that he could build a foot rest for her that could attach to the bottom of her booster seat so that it was easily portable between vehicles.
Finally today, Ellie found the velcro pieces they had been waiting on and she and Josh took to the garage to create the foot rest. A little over an hour later, they were calling for Rylie and I to come see the finished product.
What a great creation - I think they should market it to the booster seat manufacturers! They wanted to use pvc pipe and run the rope through the pipe, but it was in the attic (after Dad's recent garage cleaning project) so Josh cut a 2x2 piece of wood the correct length and then drilled a hole at each end that nylon rope could go through. They knotted each end and then attached it to the bottom of the booster seat with velcro. I'll get a picture tomorrow and post it here.
Hopefully this is the answer to Ellie's foot issues - especially since she's probably going to be in the booster seat awhile longer!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
We went to the Plaza lighting on Thanksgiving evening. It wasn't too cold and it wasn't too crowded. We actually got down to the "main" street (43rd?) where the stage is located. We were a block or two back from the stage, but it didn't get even remotely crowded until a few minutes before the lighting took place. Someone offered to take a picture of all 5 of us after seeing me take one of Darren and the kids. I think it turned out great!
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