My Life In Pictures - January 13 - January 20

January 13 - Snapchat me! It is my new Facebook profile pic. Why put a real one when I can do a filtered shot?

January 14 - My lunchtime. The best 45 minutes of my day!

January 15 - Sage is always on alert. There may or may not be something in the attic. She is always looking up there.

January 16 - The letter of the week was W. I was suddenly head teacher and had to come up with something in a few minutes. What do you think of our watermelon? Done by 2 year olds who all knew what it was.

January 17 - Just when you think all is well in your life, God decides to toss a speed bump to slow you down. I was feeling great. Had lunch with Goddess and some of my friends. Went to the supermarket so that I wouldn't have to do it on the weekend, picked up Handsome and was heading to Goddess' Podiatrist appointment when my truck started smoking. I felt it start hesitating so I hobbled over to the side of the road. Thankfully it was an easy fix but we didn't know that at the time. I had to call the podiatrist to say we would have to reschedule. Call my husband to tell him what was going on. Call for a tow which took 35 minutes to get to an operator just to have the call lost before we could schedule. Called my husband who kept me on speaker trying to get a tow. He was told 5 hour wait. Called my friend Clary to pick up the kids and groceries. Called my mechanic and told him 5 hour wait for a tow. He scheduled one to get over to me as soon as he could. Clary came back for me just as my truck was finally on the truck. Looks like my truck had her period but it is just transmission fluid which was what we thought. Thankfully it was all covered because the mechanic had changed my transmission twice this past summer.

January 18 - No car so I had a friend take care of Handsome's high school drop offs and walked Goddess to the bus. When she got off and I was walking behind her I kept thinking how much she looks like a teenager. Why do they have to grow up? I miss my littles.

January 19 - Jinxy and his stuffed rat!

January 20 - My husband took this photo from our dining room window and text it to me. So not technically mine but so happy he thought to share it.

My Life In Pictures - December 30 - January 12, 2018

December 30 - A crucifix found in my grandfather's jewelry box. I believe it is the one that is included in a funeral arrangement. Possibly from one of his parents. My dad has the one that was included with my mom's memorial arrangement.

December 31 - Snapchat photo taken with my husband. This was the second shot because when I saw the first shot I told him that he looked unhappy so he said, "let's take another one." Notice the cheesy smile. Mine was the same in both photos.

January 1 - Our midnight photo!

January 2 - Luna trying to hide among the stuffies. I see you Luna!

January 3 - My Christmas gift was a new Sirius Radio for my truck. I love that I can watch DVD's. I spend a lot of time in the car waiting for kids from various things. 

January 4 - Sage hiding in a decorative box under the tree.

January 5 - Visited one of my day time students who isn't in the daycare anymore. Got to meet her new baby brother and play with Emma. She was one of my favorites in fact, I still have her photo in frame from her mother on my dresser. No photos of my kids on my dresser but Emma is there. This Hello Kitty sticker was put on my arm by Emma. I noticed it on  my arm at the end of the night. I couldn't bring myself to remove it until it was time to shower. I love and miss her. Sometimes you get very attached to your day time kids.

January 6 - What?! No photo? UGH!

January 7 - The size comparison of these two siblings from the same momma but obviously another mister is astonishing. Look how big Mr. Jinx is to Sage.

January 8 - Goddess's art for January has a pet pig.

January 9 - Another day without a photo. UGH...

January 10 - Snapchat allowed me to be a Pink Lady. Loving the colored look. Have always wanted to do it but so afraid to mess with my hair.

January 11 - Took a photo of my Handsome with Snapchat. He looks adorable in blue.

January 12 - This photo is a true representation of when Goddess and I are together.  All we do is laugh. Well laugh when I am not trying to wake her up the morning.

Schoolgirl Missing by Sue Fortin - Discover the dark side of family life

The 411:

I got through this book in 2 days. It was riveting and I enjoyed it although didn't love the characters. Everyone annoyed me. The story is 3 separate parts. The build up, the search and the aftermath. Definitely interested in more from this author.

Neve wants to have a baby of her own but cannot talk her husband into it. Kit is a widower who already has a 14 year old special needs daughter named Poppy and doesn't want another. He has told Neve this is non-negotiable for years but she thought she would eventually break him.  

When Poppy disappears off the family boat, the police are looking at them and neither trusts the other right now but the lies are pilling up and fingers are pointing everywhere.

Can a woman with a secret past and a husband searching for answers work things out? Hmm...I wasn't sure but enjoyed the ride. 

We Found Our New Favorite Snacks

The 411:

Growing up my father always got Tahini Bars. They were always chocolate covered or marble flavored and he would cut small slices off of them. My sisters and I enjoyed them so much but never got enough. It was a treat and high in calories. Fast forward to TahiniBar. I love it. There is nothing like it. It is the perfect snack.

My daughter and I went through three boxes in two weeks. We took them to lunch, had them for snack and fought over the last bar. They are crunchy and tasty and the perfect size without guilt of a candy bar.

Each bar is 100 calories and is comes in 3 flavors. Cocoa Nibs, Pistachio and Vanilla. Our favorite was the vanilla.

Putting Together A Pet Bed AND Paranormal Activity? Hmmmmm, Maybe!

Our cats pretty much sleep everywhere and anywhere. We have one "cat bed" which is actually my old office chair cushion and a bean bag cover with a broken zipper so we were happy to review Veehoo's Elevated Pet Bed.

The bed is black and red, raised, waterproof and portable. We have three cats and were very interested to see if one of them would claim the bed. So far, it is whoever gets there first but the one who seems to like it most is Luna! She is the Alpha and first cat in the house so it is no surprise there.

The Veehoo bed was a little difficult to put together but maybe it was because it was by my tiny 13 year old daughter. The problem she ran into is that it was difficult to get the last part of the frame together since the mat needs to be inserted in the frame and it is pretty squared off. There is ZERO give on the mat. It gets so stretched across the frame that it was hard to get the last part together. Once she finally got it, the Velcro barely reached to close. It is very secure and will not buckle but was stressful. With that being said, the cats all use it. They go under it, on it. Play with it, sleep on it, stand on it, and allow us to brush them when they are on it so it is really a win for us. They don't love being brushed.

We love that it is portable and can easily be used outdoors too since it is raised. Perfect for picnics, camp outs, or chilling on the deck.

As for the Paranormal Activity at around 1:16 Jinxy looks at something than swings his head around as if someone played with his ears. We don't see anything. Do you?

2 Great Scholastic Reads Plus Read Aloud

The 411:

This is an adorably funny book. I have read it at least 20 times in the past week and it never gets old.  My preschool class loves hearing about Bob and Shark. The Baby Shark song is really big with my kids and they are riveted by everything shark these days.

In this book, Bob is upset and wants an apology from Shark for eating him. While this is going on they are followed by a film crew as they are filming the underwater show called Underwater Work with Bob. The crew adds to the humor of the story and my class loves hearing different voices for all the characters. 

Written for ages 3-6 but thoroughly enjoyed by all ages.

The second book the kids are enjoying this month is The Inpatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach

The 411:

My preschool class and I love this book. It is so cute. The caterpillar reminds me so much of my daytime kids. In this story the caterpillar learns that there are a few things he must do in order to finally become his ultimate self and it can take a little time too but sometimes waiting is very difficult. We love the little convo the caterpillar has with himself and all the illustrations. To see more of the book watch me read it below.

Amateur Book Review – Steve and Me

CHOTSKIES

Posted on February 28, 2008

I wrote this over at My Chotskie Blog but wanted to share it here.

Last night I finished Steve & Me and it was fantastic. The book was written by Terri Irwin only a few months after she buried her beloved husband.

I can’t image that there isn’t someone who doesn’t know who Steve “The Crocodile Hunter” Irwin was.

This is a love story without all of the wishy washy words. Terri gave us snippets of their life together. Telling us the story as she would tell her children. I can’t imagine that anyone else would have been right for Steve in his lifetime. Terri and Steve had a connection that was built on respect, love and a mutual desire to make this world a better place for the animals on our planet. They were obviously soul mates from the moment they met and I really respect Terri and the strength she shows everyday in keeping up the Australia Zoo and following through with Steve’s dreams for the future.

Maybe it is because I actually loved Steve, maybe it because of the passion and enthusiasm he exhibited every time you heard him speak about animals, or maybe it is because I am an incurable romantic who hopes that that everyone could have a love like Terri and Steve. Perhaps it is all that and more or none of it. What I do know, is that this is a fantastic book, well worth reading. If we didn’t already know what a special individual Steve Irwin is, Terri shows us why. She honors him on every page and I can only hope that she put out another book when she has had more time to heal. There must be tons more stories about the man who left this world as a legend.

It is impossible to imagine how she managed that first moment when she heard that her soul mate was gone. Having to tell her kids that their personal “superhero” would not be coming home is actually unimaginable to me. If he seemed untouchable to me what must he have seemed like to his children?

I can remember the day I heard that Steve Irwin had died (I actually wrote about it on my son’s blog). I was devastated and worried about Terri and Bindi. I knew that his son was too young to actually get the whole thing but if anyone ever saw Steve with Bindi, you knew that they had a love that was palpable.

I found myself looking back at the pictures included in the book about 20 times in the few days it took me to read it. I actually talk about Steve to my kids often. We love watching Bindi The Jungle Girl and I am pushing for a Bindi birthday party for my almost 3 year old.

I had done a 5th sentence meme on this book last week and seriously don’t want to say good-bye to it. I will think about Steve and his family for long time.

Lety Out Loud by Angela Cervantes #scholasticbooks

The 411:

Lety's first language isn't English and she is working hard to learn as much as she can. She and her friends are volunteering at an Animal Shelter and need to apply for specific tasks. Lety decides to be the writer for animal profiles. These profiles will help the animals get adopted and must speak about the personality of the animal and drew the adoptee in to that the animal has the best chance at a successful adoption.

Lety is not the only one who wants to write. Hunter thinks he is better and devises a secret competition between he and Lety. They are each to write three profiles and which ever one's animals gets adopted the fasted wins.

This is a great book for middle schoolers. I enjoyed everything about this book and think kids will enjoy the animals, the friendships, the competition and that everyone has a reason for the way they act at times including Hunter.

Goosebumps 2 Plus Science With Slappy

Guys....Goosebumps w comes out January 15th on Blu-ray and DVD and if you are looking for a fun movie to watch with your kids or you grew up on the Goosebumps books by RL Stine, you seriously need to see this movie.

To get ready for the movie release how about a fun science experiment? Don't know why gummy bears are used? See the movie to find out!

Goddess and I had a blast with this experiment. You can watch us below. Want to see JUST the experiment? Forward to 3:56.