Saturday, September 20, 2014

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday is all about me discovering something that is different. I don't want to post things that you and I have more than likely heard before. I want to find something different. It could be from another country, someone singing from the streets of NY, and more.

Today I'm featuring an artist named Andrew Huang. Andrew is just starting out.


Source
99 Red Balloons - Played with Red Balloons


Music Made of Garbage


As little as $1/month to download all Andrew's music here
Follow Andrew on YouTube 
Follow Andrew on Facebook
Follow Andrew on Tumblr

Friday, September 19, 2014

Random Tid Bits

  1. I had a conversation with the boys about soda.

    Me: I just don't want you boys drinking soda a lot. I know someone at my work that drank Mountain Dew and got kidney stones.

    Mica: What are kidney stones?

    Me: Well it's like a small stone(s) that is trapped in your kidneys. The only way to get it out is by peeing it out. If it's really big they have to do surgery. I heard that peeing out a kidney stone sometimes hurts worse than having a baby.

    Mica: I don't want to pee out a stone. I won't drink Mountain Dew ever.

    Me: Well don't drink Mountain Dew.

    At school a few days later Mica won a prize. He picked to have a soda. It surprised me that they even had that option considering that they don't even want parents to pack juice in their school lunches.

    Mica ran up to Daddy after school and whispered: Dad is this soda going to give me kidney stones? I don't want to have to pee out a stone!

    Daddy knew nothing about our conversation about soda. He laughed and said: I think if you just have one soda you're fine. 


  2. Mica hates spiders. I don't know where he got this fear of spiders.

    Mica: I just killed 3 spiders in my room with my Indiana Jones whip.


    Me: Yuck, make sure you clean the spider guts off your whip and floor with toilet paper. Are you sure there were 3 spiders you killed?

    Mica: Ya Mom I'm sure. 

    *Cleaning it up Mica said Oh I guess it was just 1. The others are just crack designs in our wood floor.


  3. Both boys love to talk about natural disasters. Isaak calls a hurricane "Hore-i-cane".  It's too funny to correct.


  4. Mica has been asking me for weeks: Mom am I old enough to have a frappe yet?

    Me: What's do you want?

    At first I don't know what he's talking about. He pronounces it as "frape" rhyming with grape.

    My answer: No you can't have a frappe.
    Source
  5.  We went to a wedding this last weekend. In the reception hall people were smoking.

    Me: Look at that the worker...she is smoking.

    Daddy: What are we seriously stuck in the 1990s?

    Me: That's sort of what I was thinking.

    Daddy: I thought that was illegal to smoke inside everywhere.

    Source
    Is it illegal to smoke in public places where you live. It's illegal to smoke inside all public places in Nebraska. Even bars and bowling allies are smoke free.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Bloominous DIY Flowers Made Easy!

I'm a big fan of do it yourself projects. Projects where the artist's hand is in it are: 
  • More rewarding

  • Creative

  • Fun

  • Less Expensive
 It does help when you have the right supplies to help with DIY projects. 


I recently stumbled across a new website called Bloominous. They just opened in 2014. They certainly have all the supplies to make fantastic DIY floral arrangements. 

They have kits for pretty much any type of event. 

Many of their kits are sold for weddings. Brides can save so much money just by going the DIY route. They can save anywhere from 30% to 50%. Now brides can focus on having fun with their wedding; instead of being stressed about the money that gets spent.

One of my favorite memories from when I got married was getting together with my close friends and family to make mints for the reception. It wasn't a stress factor, it was a bonding memory. I know if I would have made my own floral arrangements I would have loved that to!


There are three perks about using Bloominous for special events:
  1. Cost Saving of 30% to 50%. There is little mark up when you DIY. In a typical florist shop they mark things up 300%!

  2. They send flowers that are cut, dethorned, and trimmed. This makes the DIY project go so much smoother. When you have a special event that's about to happen, time is of essence. All their kits come with photos that show step-by-step instructions. You can put together their designs in 10 to 20 minutes.

  3. A design that maintains both a professional look and quality design. A florist that has been involved in the field for 10+ years have worked on the kits. More thought has gone into the kits beyond just the flowers themselves. It's about the vases, favors, and more.
 

Each set comes with a 100% fresh quality guarantee. If for any reason you are not satisfied with your order, Bloominous will replace your kit, or refund your money.

Each order has a flat overnight shipping rate of $19.95 or you can get free shipping with orders over $99. For big events it's easy to spend $99.

Visit their Bloominous' Website to learn more about how they started.

Like Bloominous on Facebook.

Follow Bloominous on Twitter.

Follow Bloominous on Pinterest.

Join Bloominous on Instagram.

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I received an Amazon Gift Card in return for writing this post. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. The photos in this post are from Bloominous.com

Open House

Before our crazy busy weekend of driving and going to a wedding we had an Open House at the boy's school.

The PTA always has bake sales at events like that. Boy do I feel like a failure. Oh I baked Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies. I even packaged them in 3 to a bag like they said. I labeled what they were, and that they didn't have any nuts. I put the cookies in the deep freezer, and forgot about them. You can find the recipe here.

Poof - Out of Sight - Out of Mind


I remembered on our way up to school. Then Daddy told me, "They had to have them by 4 today." In the deep freezer they will stay.

I felt extra bad because the boys didn't participate in the fundraiser to. Oh well. We donated money to the PTA board.

We started out in Isaak's classroom 

Isaak is a con artist/actor. He's been pretending with me that he can't read. Well his teacher says he's been reading just fine for her. In fact he's a star student for her. The little punk a monk has gotten green - good dots since the beginning of the school year.

He plays shy in the classroom. When I asked him about being shy he said, "I'm just there to do my job Mom."

All good reports from that kid.

The kids did David images.

If you aren't familiar with David he's a character in a book that gets told, "No!" a lot. David is full of energy, and doesn't mean to be bad, but comes off as being bad. Then in the end of the book David does something good, and his mom tells him she loves him. 

Source
I'm assuming the kids had to do their own version of themselves as David with something they get in trouble for. 

Isaak's said, "Hands and feet to yourself - Isaak"
This is something he hears a lot.



We went into Mica's classroom next

Mica's been taking an hour on homework some nights. It's supposed to take 20 minutes. We're lucky our kids aren't in a lot of activities. I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want them to be so busy that school work comes 2nd place. 

Mica's way above the scale in reading, science, geography, and social studies. He just struggles in math. They just started Common Core, so new concepts are being introduced to him. I'm not anti common core. Isaak's done really well with it. It's just new to Mica. He'll get it with time.

His teacher says that Mica does well in the classroom. Almost all the kids are struggling with math. Part of the problem I think in any institution is placing a new system in there; in the middle of them learning. 

I guess even the school I teach at is guilty of that. Web is taught in Dreamweaver. Then students have to learn how to hand code.  All of that is not my choosing.

Mica showed Isaak and I where everything is at, while Daddy discussed with the teacher getting extra math sheets to help Mica more with math. 

Here's Mica's Georgia O'Keefe flower:

Their art teacher talks about someone in art history, and they have to mimic the style. I've had conversations with her in the past. I like their art teacher a lot. 


Isaak was jealous of the flower. He wanted to make a flower. When I said we could do one at home it didn't cheer him up. He wanted to do one at school.

In the technology/library classroom that everyone in the school goes to Mica had a special piece hung up:

 
It's the best photo I could get with the lighting, and how high up it was hung.

It was a pretty good open house.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

WW: Wedding {Linky}

We went to my sister-in-law's wedding this weekend. Lots of driving. 12 hours of driving in one weekend is a lot.

She really was a pretty bride. I like the dress she picked out.


The boys were so happy to see their one and only cousin on that side. Of course one kid had to look the other way.


Unlike most boys, my boys love getting dressed up. I love these little suits I got at Easter time 2 Easters ago. I got them big, but this is probably the last time they'll get to wear them. Isaak's sleeves are getting short.


Here they are with their Grandma and Grandpa Apel.


I hardly put photos up of myself because I'm usually behind the camera. Here I am:


Mica - the 9 year old caught the garter belt. Daddy and I looked at each other as if to say OMG. Then Isaak -  the 6 year old came running to our table looking all pouty. He said, "I wanted to catch that! I didn't know I could run for it." Daddy said, "Son people do not want to catch that thing."

Have you ever caught the garter belt the groom tossed, or flowers the bride tossed?



The Apel's The Apel's The Apel's The Apel's The Apel'sThe Apel's

If you have a moment please enter the Rock N Learn DVD or CD Giveaway. *Winners Choice

I Want to Be a Banana

Last year I was Frida Kahlo for Halloween. This year I was thinking of going as a Day of the Dead doll. Then I can sort of look like I did last year, but mix things up a bit.

Source

Part of me would like to go simple. I entered to win a banana costume from Del Monte.

Please click on this link to star my costume from last year. Share on FB, Twitter if you'd like. 

Upload your own costume to enter to win a banana costume to. Del Monte has 1,000 costumes to giveaway.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Rock N Learn DVD #Giveaway

I'm so lucky to get Rock N Learn Multiplication RAP DVD to review. This is a $19.99 value.


I didn't know what to expect. I've reviewed 2 of their Sight Word DVD's before. They were geared towards younger children. Multiplication RAP DVD is for grades 3 and up. It has catchy tunes that make math fun, and easy to learn math facts.

Mica loves reading, but he's been struggling with math. I learned from his teacher that Mica is not alone. His class just got switched to Common Core this year. I think once he gets it, he'll be fine. Any time you introduce something new to the curriculum, it's going to take a bit of an adjustment. His teacher says that Mica actually does really well with math in the classroom, so it's just a matter of getting it down when it comes to his homework.

Mica starts learning multiplication and cursive soon. I jumped at the chance to have Mica watch Multiplication RAP DVD. It does follow the Common Core State State Standards.


Rock N Learn alone has won over 150 awards. I know their videos are a great way to jump start kids with learning. They are wonderful for homeschooling to. Yes we send our kids to school, but we do a lot of learning in our home as well.

What I wasn't expecting is that Isaak - who is 6, would sit in, and listen to the DVD as well. In fact Isaak got out a piece of paper, and started taking notes. He loves math, and wanted to figure out multiplication. Isaak's only in first grade. I was worried about the DVD confusing him. He's only covered addition and subtraction. When products say a certain age, or grade and up it's usually wise to wait.

It may look like chicken scratch, but he was trying to learn it. He filled the back of his paper with notes to. He seemed so eager to learn. Isaak always love numbers. He isn't as into reading though.


Both my boys loved Rock N Learn Multiplication RAP DVD! It kept them entertained. The raps were catchy, and not annoying. I give it 4 stars out of 4 stars.

Rock N Learn sells many DVDs and CDs for all different ages. Their products go from preschool age to 8th grade. Many of their DVDs for the upper grades are for 5th to 8th grade. 

Mica was looking at their other DVD options and said he wants Earth Science. He's really into learning about weather. A stocking stuffer idea. It's great that each kid is into something different. 

Win it!

One of my US readers are going to win their choice of DVD, or CD from Rock N Learn.
*Just a reminder they have products that go from preschool all the way up to 8th grade. You will have 48 hours to claim your prize. The giveaway will end on October 2.

Here is a coupon code KR8822 to receive 25% off any of their products.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I received a DVD mentioned above for free. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com