Readathon Treat Tags - Free Printable

Tomorrow is Dr. Suess' birthday. That's a big deal in our house. We loooove Dr. Suess. And at my daughter's school they are having a readathon. They go to school in their pjs and read all day long. Sounds fun, eh? I wish I could do that. :)

I did some looking around online for a treat or simple snack to share with her classmates. I didn't want anything messy or greasy because it may get on their books. Then I found this...


Photo Credit

Soooo cute!! I got some gummy worms and filled some small bags. Then I created our own tags to go with.

Here they are...

I created a PDF file of these tags to share with you. You can download them --> HERE. I think these little treats will be a success in my daughter's class. Can't wait to pass them out!!

If you use these tags let me know by leaving a comment. I'd love to see them. And I give my permission to PIN these as well. Just don't pin the first picture because it's not mine.

Two Months, Four Birthdays

The beginning of the year greats us with four birthdays in our family. First mine...which I keep low key. Usually doing an activity with my DH and/or the kids. This year Little Mouse made me a chocolate cake (my fave!!) and my sis-in-law made dinner. My DH got me new slippers (because my poor feet are always cold). Love them! And that's about it.

Next one to celebrate a birthday is Big D. Just two days after mine. He turned 8 this year.

His birthday was pretty low key too. None of my little ones had a big birthday party this year. We just opened presents from family and made a special cake. That was enough. In the above pic Big D is enjoying this really cool seek and find book from Grammy and Papa.

Big D requested a Lego block cake. With lots of help from Little Mouse we tried making one. The frosting has little candies in it and is tinted blue. Big D liked it.

Next birthday is Little Mouse's in February. She had been planning her cake for months. She has such a creative mind...I love it! So Little Mouse had the desire to make her cake look like one of the scenes from the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1. The scene where Harry is to be escorted from his home. To keep him safe and confuse his enemies Harry's friends take Polyjuice potion to change their appearance to look exactly like Harry. It really is a funny scene....

Above is the pic from the movie scene.

And here is the cake Little Mouse created.

Using her brother's Lego figurines she collected 7 Potters. She put the names of each person who was disguised as Harry by each of the figures.

Little Mouse turns 11 this year. She is growing into a young woman before my eyes.

Sweepea had the next birthday. When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday she simply said, "I want to play with toys." Easy enough! We hung out at home on her birthday just playing with toys. Above she holds a her new play kitchen food from Grammy and Papa.

Sweepea requested a castle cake for her birthday. I think I kinda butchered it. She wanted chocolate with chocolate frosting. I tried to frost it nicely but it was pretty crumbly. Little Mouse did the decorations which really helped make the cake look super cute.

Sweepea loved it.

So, we got our fill of cake the last couple months. I love bringing in the new year with so much celebration. Sure we kept it simple this year, but it was still special for all of us.

Race To Nowhere

My husband and I were invited, along with all the teachers and parents in the valley, to view an eye opening documentary. It was a free showing at our local theater sponsored by local businesses and the education foundation. It was also highly recommended by our district superintendent. The film is called Race To Nowhere. The description on You Tube sums it best...

"Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren't developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what's best for their kids, Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired.

Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

In a grassroots sensation already feeding a groundswell for change, hundreds of theaters, schools and organizations nationwide are hosting community screenings during a six month campaign to screen the film nationwide. Tens of thousands of people are coming together, using the film as the centerpiece for raising awareness, radically changing the national dialogue on education and galvanizing change."

Check out the official trailer...




After the viewing we had a discussion within the theater where parents and teachers could share thoughts about the movie to our superintendent and private school officials. I guess that's what made the whole evening so spectacular. The fact that our public school superintendent was standing side by side with private school administrators to work together. They listened as parents viewed their concerns and teachers expressed frustrations. And it won't end there. Many in the audience wanted another meeting to discuss how we can make changes and help our children. It was just fantastic! I am so proud to be a part of this community of caring individuals.

The movie comes out on dvd in April. But I highly encourage anyone out there to talk to their school officials about viewing it now. You can find out more info on finding a screening or hosting a screening at racetonowhere.com

Wordless Wednesday

Our First Annual Winterfest

The first month of 2012 certainly has given us some bizarre weather here in the mountains. It rained!!!! It actually rained!!! That melted some of the snow that fell in December and made skiing pretty yucky. Then we got a HUGE storm that closed schools for two days. We were excited to see the snow, but not excited to see the warmth after. It snowed so much and then melted so quickly it flooded the kid's bedroom. Just the joys of living in a basement apartment I guess.

Through all this we managed to still have our valley's First Annual Winterfest. True, we should have 20 degree (F) temps during the day instead of near 40 or 50, and the snow should NOT be melting like it was April. But they coordinators still managed to pull it off. And we are all so glad it did.

Part of the festivities was ice sculpting. This work of art above was created by Big D's Judo teacher. He's an incredibly talented man.

I just love this pic of Big D and his cousin. They both have Judo together and they are their to support their Sensei.

Part of the Winterfest was a snow sculpture competition. Locals from the area all came to show their talents...

This bear band sculpture was the people choice winner in the competition.

This dragon which was called "Year of The Dragon" won the grand prize. This sculpture was done by Little Mouse's friend's family and friends.

We all love Gumby.

Sensei also made this bear and cub with a team of chefs.

This is the Skier Eater. I guess if your a skier you would appreciate this.

Along with the snow sculpting there were other events for young kids, music, and a Snow Ball. One event I missed but wish I didn't was Ski Joring. I had no idea what it was until I saw picks of it in our local paper. If your like me and have no clue what ski joring is, here is a pic...

http://nasja.com/Pictures.html

Ski joring is a race of some sort. I believe the skier has to go through a course of jumps while being pulled by a horse and rider. The skier is timed. The best time wins. I think its pretty crazy! But I will definitely be watching this next year.

So this Winterfest was a success. It was really great because it gave the valley people another reason to come together and appreciate where we live.

My Interview With Mommypage.com - Adventures in Parenting and Great Savings

I am delighted to welcome Shreya from MommyPage.com as guest blogger.

We’ve just launched a new site, MommyPage, to bring expecting moms, new moms and veteran moms a single source to all of the deals, coupons and savings opportunities offered online!

Our goal at MommyPage is to scour the internet to find and consolidate the latest free samples, coupons and special offers from some of the best name brands that moms like us love! When the brands we love most aren’t offering something special – we have a team of moms that reach out to those companies to encourage them to offer something great to our MommyPage Turners! MommyPage currently has found and posted offers such as VTech Kids, Kellogg’s, ThredUp, Baby Talk and American Baby!

Beyond our offers and deals, MommyPage helps all moms navigate their way through parenting. Our community of moms share stories on buying maternity clothing, healthy eating for two, baby behavior, first day at preschool and more! Being a mom is about managing a home and lifestyle. With our tips on parenting and access to savings – we hope to help moms make parenthood a successful adventure!

We hope that you allow us to join you in your adventure in parenting! Visit our Mommy Page today.

You can view an interview I had with Shreya at Mommy Page --> HERE. Thanks Shreya for the feature. And thanks for having such a great website for all us moms. :)

The Future of This Blog

It has been a busy holiday season in our home. Wonderful, but busy. So much has been going on I wish I had the time to put it all on my blog. About my blog...what does the future hold for it? My original intent was to create a place where I could journal my experiences, trials, and joys as well as create a way for my distant family to see the experiences we enjoy far from home. Sometimes I stick to that, sometimes I veer off into other directions that are unintentional.

Over the next little while I want to post some thoughts on what I want for this blog. I have had a few thoughts swimming around in my head. I would like to be more honest. More frank. More matter-of-fact. Easy enough I think. Not really. I remember learning something about myself in a psychology class I took while working toward my degree. I am a very self conscious person. I don't throw myself out there for everyone to know. Why? Because I am afraid of rejection. I am afraid people won't like me. Have you ever had a dream where you are standing naked in the middle of a crowd. Then you notice that everyone around you are pointing their fingers at you and laughing. That's how I feel when I make myself vulnerable by sharing my real self. Even if the faces are invisible to me.

I think this blog has been very shallow. I want, and need, a place to confess, vent, share love, desires, and anything else that is inside me. I wish to keep sharing my favorite recipes, crafts, and life experiences. I will still share pictures along with our family adventures. But I want to include a little more of me, too. A little more honesty. I want to really make this my journal. True I may loose the interest of those who regularly follow, but I have to say, "I don't care". I have to not care. That's the only way. I welcome comments, but please be kind. I have seen some nasty comments on other people's blogs that have been brave enough to share their true self. Frankly that's just mean, people. I used to value my blog on how many followers or comments I would get. Not anymore. I will shut off the followers link on my sidebar.

Well, that's all out in the open. I will add to this blog when time allows. Thanks for reading.

Jenna