Everything to do with your shak.
This title pleases me: Fabulous Afternoon At The Lake: There’s No App For That
Written by Jamie at Blonde Mom Blog,
You need to remember what it’s like to wait out an afternoon thunderstorm while your girls squeal with delight over the fish they catch at the boat dock with the help of their daddies.
You need to laugh as you watch your daughters go tubing for the first time and love it so much that they don’t want to stop.
I am so ready for a day like this. Ahhhh summer.
If you want to sneakily find a hiding place at Walt Disney Land so you can spend the night in the Magic Kingdom, forget it. The hundreds of night time workers know all the hiding places and you’ll be caught. You’ll be caught along with the hundreds of feral cats who slink out of their daytime hiding places under darkness to dine and cat around. The cats are caught and spayed and neutered.
Disney at night must be a wonder to behold. According to the LA Times,
…for nearly every nighttime task, there is a specific worker.
Three workers are responsible solely for repairing and replacing the 800 umbrellas, 25,000 chairs and about 7,000 tables in the restaurants and snack bars in Disneyland and neighboring California Adventure Park.
Four certified divers collect submerged trash and make repairs on water attractions like Finding Nemo and the Jungle Cruise.
And then this grossness,
Sometimes, the jobs require ingenuity, even for some of the more distasteful chores. For example, the Indiana Jones Adventure ride relies on nearly 1,000 black lights that shine on painted mesh screens to create floating ghost images.
But the effect is marred when guests sometimes spit at the ghosts, and the saliva ends up on the screens where it glows under black lights. Because typical cleaning products bleach the screens, David Graefen, the ride’s service manager, said his crew created a special saliva-cleaning solution.
Gag. Really people?
Photo by yours truly of Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World (not Disney Land which is the subject of the article!).
My nephew is now an international traveler… and he’s doing it alone. My brother is being pretty good about it, but I can sense his nervousness too.
I got a Skype from Jonathan today. He had gotten off at the wrong stop on the bus from the airport to the hotel. I told him to figure out where he was (find an intersection) and plug that in to Google Maps, which he did. The hotel was a 90 minute walk from where he was. With luggage.
It’s bad enough that I worry about my own kids just when they go see a movie with friends, so I couldn’t imagine seeing them go to Brussels all alone! Especially since I watched the movie with Liam Neeson, Taken. Don’t watch it if your children plan to travel overseas in the next five years!
I know so many people who’ve had children before marriage. Then I look around and see it still happens no matter how much you teach sex education in school, no matter how much you talk to your children about sex before marriage, and no matter how you lecture about using protection.
My nephew and his girlfriend are now expecting. His sister had two babies but did marry the children’s father last summer. Another friend of mine just announced on facebook that her ninth grader is expecting in August. I understand the infant didn’t make the decision to be conceived and come into this world, so I say there’s no shame in their existence.
However, are our children not hearing the message about celibacy and waiting until they are married to have children? Are they not hearing about how difficult is to raise a child when you’re a child yourself? Do they not understand that when they have a baby when they are still in their young teens or unmarried, that their lives change completely? That they must give up their own childhood?
I’m excited for these young parents-to-be, but I’m also sad for them. It’s a long, difficult path they must now walk.
I am so relieved that my husband loves working with numbers. As he was getting our taxes filed via Turbotax, we debated about whether or not to claim our college-aged daughter or let her claim herself since she had a podunk fast food job.
He ran two different sets of numbers to see where we’d come ahead – one where she claimed herself and one where we claimed her. When she claimed herself, she got a $300 refund. When we claimed her, it increased our refund by $500 but she still got to keep $78. We’re claiming her!
The only positive thing I’ve experienced with the horrible economy of 2009? We are getting a refund for the first time in years rather than paying hundreds or thousands like we have in the past!
Today is the first day of spring break in my house. While I’m working, my husband and youngest are enjoying a day off (try writing serious columns while listening to Raymond Barone talk about his wife… it’s not easy to be sure!).
The weather last week was glorious – sunny, warm days and everyone felt uplifted with the break from winter. This week? It’s cold and overcast. The husband says it’s because he’s on vacation – the weather always turns ugly when he’s off work.
What do I love about spring break? I slept in this morning and it was glorious.
What do I not like about spring break? Erin keeps asking, “Will you take me to the movies?” and “Will you take me shopping?”
Kids are so easily bored. Teenagers are the worst.
Hey kid… I’m working today. Go ask your dad.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about the teenager’s salt addiction!
Well, the move is taking place as I speak! We’ll pick up keys this afternoon, and start moving the boxes in this evening. My children are elated! Many people are concerned about how their children will respond to a move, as were we. But there are a few things parents can do that will minimize the stress on the children, and perhaps even build excitement about their new place!
Remember to remain as calm as possible during your move, and speak positively of the experience. We’ve been referring to ours as our latest adventure. Your children will follow your lead. And with your positive guidance, the move will be a positive experience for everyone.
I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Family Services. Today, I’m ready to give it back. My almost three-year-old is OUT OF CONTROL.
My sweet angel of two and a half years has morphed into the devil’s spawn. He unlocks every lock on the doors and runs into the front yard and street, he pours EVERYTHING pourable out of it’s container onto any surface available, he shouts “potty words” at the top of his lungs when we’re in public, he opens exit doors that “alarm” when opened, AND…he takes his diaper off and pees…in MY bed…and on his sister. A couple of nights ago, my husband and I awoke to a bottled water being poured into our bed at 2AM!
You know what the worst part of all of this is? Almost everyone I have talked to about this who has a boy has claimed this as “normal” boy behavior. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Typical, maybe, but not normal.
Thank GOD the kid is cute! I am going to fall back on that until this “stage” passes. And until it does, WATCH OUT PEOPLE!!!
We had our last yard sale in our current home this past weekend. And, God willing, our last yard sale EVER. I say it every time…but this time I mean it…I’m done. We’re downsizing into a smaller home, so it needed to be done. But I hereby vow NEVER to accumulate so much CRAP that I don’t know what it is, when I purchased it, or why it has spent the last two to three years in my garage with tags on it.
I vow never to wake at 5 am on a Saturday morning to set up heavy, rotting tables that I have kept for this purpose alone. I vow never to smile at those early birds who arrive, watch me take things out of my garage for an hour, then leave saying, “Nothing we want here.” I vow not to have to lie to my mother when she asks me why I threw away the fish tank, books she gave the kids for Christmas, or UGLY vase we’ve had in yard sales for the last seven years.
And…I vow not to send my children away so that I can sell those toys that they have CLEARLY outgrown. Instead, I will continue to remind them that “giving” is better than receiving. My goal is to be on a first name basis with my buddies at the Good Will trailer! Not after a yard sale, but with one small bag, gathered while spring, summer, fall, or winter cleaning!
For those of you that enjoy them, YARD SALE TIL YOU DROP!!!! For me and my house, WE’RE DONE!!!
I just got to view the video making all the news channels with the eight-year-old Brazilian girl singing “Bad Romance”. Believe me…she’s not the only one going Gaga. My nine-year-old and I actually “enjoyed” this one much more!