Tuesday, May 31, 2011

What Would Jesus Do?

I found this book at a thrift store when E. was a baby, and knew that someday I would read it to him(& S.R.:o)
(found at Amazon.com HERE)
We started reading it this morning at breakfast, and my kids are hooked. We have made it to Chapter 6 so far. In Chapter 2, some of the children in the story are singing "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." While I was reading the story, I sang this part.
So far, the story is emphasizing the importance of helping those in need.
Well mommy was in need this afternoon:o) 
Yesterday, E & S.R. thought it was a great idea to take all of the games out of the cabinet and "explore" them. Not a single piece was left in it's original box.
After lunch today, it was their responsibility to pick up all of the pieces.
I left them to do their work, and I heard E. start singing the song...and then S.R. chimed in. It was music to my ears. Just another reminder of why God should be and is the focus of our home.
My two little angels singing about their Jesus....can it get any better than this?:o)
 I guess board game pieces strewn everywhere doesn't really matter that much does it?
I didn't get a chance to record them, but here is a beautiful version that I found on You Tube.
I hope you enjoy it!


The Business June 1st 2011, "Jack Boulware" Edition

The Business blasts into June with a visit from author and journalist Jack Boulware. Mr. Boulware is one of the founders of Litquake, has written for Playboy, the New York Times Magazine, Wired, and Salon. He recently published "Gimme Something Better," an oral history of Bay Area punk rock, and Wednesday, he'll be reading with us at The Business.

We've got a full set of Businessmen this week, with Alex Koll returning, and Bucky Sinister, Chris Garcia, and Sean Keane abiding. As always, The Business is just five dollars, the greatest deal in the Mission outside of Benders' Whiskey Wednesdays. Doors at 7:30, show at 8:15. BYO-Burrito.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Summer Fun Fest Kick Off


It's time to kick off our Summer Fun Fest. I am so excited to see what all you guys have to share. Are you excited? Just think of all the fun things our children are going to get to do this summer! 
I'll start off with sharing what we have been up to....
Last week, plans fell through with friends, and there was a threat of storms, so I had to come up with something to keep the babies occupied.
My friend Deanna hosted a Christmas crafty party last year and served some yummy marshmallows. She posted a link to these Homemade Marshmallows(a Martha recipe) on her blog. My kids love marshmallows, and I knew they would be really excited to help make them. I took care of the mixing and spreading part.
 The next morning I let them cut out their favorite shapes. E chose a bat cookie cutter for "Batman."
 S.R. chose a heart...typical little girl;o)
 Once all of the marshmallows were cut out, I coated them with a little confectioners sugar to keep them from sticking to each other.
 (We added the sprinkles just after spreading the mixture out onto the cookie sheet.)
I sent the kids outside after we got through cutting out the marshmallows
(before the storm hit;o))
and I got busy making a tent in our bonus room. They were dying to come back inside to see what the surprise was.
Nothing fancy, but it did the job!
I set out a picnic blanket with their lunch
 and of course their desserts:o)
 Can you tell they were excited about their tent?:o) I wish I could have captured S.R.'s reaction as well:o)
 They got down to the business of watching Peter Pan and chowing down on some grub.
Not a bad way to spend a yucky day, eh?
So now it's your turn! Show us what fabulous things you have planned for your summer.
Make sure to include the linky button on the left sidebar!

Google, Newspaper Archives, and the Business of Cultural Heritage

Google announced this month that it is ending its ambitious project to digitally archive newspapers. The project to scan the archives of the nation’s newspapers and make them available online as a searchable historical record was announced in 2008 with the level of hubris only found in online enterprises.

"Our objective is to bring all the world's historical newspaper information online,” said Adam Smith, director of product management at Google, announcing the project. Those lofty aims were echoed by Punit Soni, manager of the newspaper initiative: “As we work with more and more publishers, we'll move closer towards our goal of making those billions of pages of newsprint from around the world searchable, discoverable, and accessible online…."Over time, as we scan more articles and our index grows, we'll also start blending these archives into our main search results so that when you search Google.com, you'll be searching the full text of these newspapers as well.”

After scanning about 60 million pages and beginning to make them available as full page shots--because costs of disaggregating and indexing were too high and copyright clearances were difficult to obtain for older material—the company announced that it will quit scanning pages, but continue offering the existing pages available on it Google News Archive site. It said it would not invest any new effort to improve indexing or add tools to better search and manage the archive.

The project may have been well-intentioned, but it was not well thought out. It was a free service designed to use the search traffic at the site to raise revenue through advertising Google would put on the site. The scale of the project was enormous and requiring finding, scanning, and indexing thousands of daily and weekly newspapers--many no longer in existence. It would require a long-term commitment of funds, personnel and server capacity to catalogue and scan the material and provide and maintain search functions. The project ultimately incorporated on a fraction of the papers it had hoped to scan, did so spottily in many cases, and its usability was poor because it never mastered the problems of handling so much content. Worse yet, it discovered that history was not a money making business.

The exit announcement is not a surprise and is another sign that players the virtual world are stopping deluding themselves that they are replacing the entire world and that the laws of economics and finance to not apply to them.

As laudable the preservation of newspaper archives might be, expecting it to be completed and maintained by a commercial firm defied sense and historical experience. For centuries, the most important historical records, books, art have been maintain in governmentally and charitably funded collections because commercial enterprises were either unwilling to bear the costs or to allow the large scale efforts required to preserve, catalogue, index, and make available cultural heritage materials distract them from their business activities.

Why would anyone expect Google to act otherwise?

As Google increasingly acts as a mature business it will increasingly shed activities that were launched as goodwill gestures because the costs of their operations reduces the company’s financial performance and will diminish the value of its stock compared to other tech firms. Over time it will be harder for the firm to maintain the stance that it is not self-interested and motivated only by the opportunities to improve the lives of the public by providing access to all the world’s information.

The tentacles of its operations that have reached out into to many fields will increasingly be pulled back if they do not yield financial results. And fears that Google will rule the world will diminish. Google, Microsoft, Amazon and other big players of the digital world all have limits, just as did the handful of firms that once controlled steel, oil, and shipping through cartels. At some point even mammoth, wealthy companies do not have the resources and capabilities to keep expanding endlessly and their performance declines, leading shareholders to rein them in and competitors to find opportunities.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Favorites to Fuss About

For the past few days, I have been scouring Blogland for fun ideas for this summer. Both E and S.R. will be heading to preschool in a little over two months, and I want to have a "fantasmic" summer.
Over the next few weeks, I will be hosting a Linky Party every Monday for you to share your favorite Summer time activities. I'll share some of mine as well:o)
I will be highlighting my personal faves, so get your activities together, and come share them with us all!!






These are some great ideas to get your summer started off right. 
I am definitely going to be making this board. 

Wendy, from Craft Goodies, shares her tutorial for this activity board over at CSI 


These are homemade bouncy balls...did you know you can make these?!?!?
See how these super cool Super Balls are made over at


When I first saw these bottles, I thought they were for bowling:o) It's actually a 
Super easy and super cheap! Me like-y!
Head on over to Toddler Boredom Busters to check it out. 


These little monkeys are too cute. I wish that I had known about them when I had a Curious George birthday party for E many moons ago.
Head over to Serving Pink Lemonade for the list of supplies for these great cupcakes.


And last, but not least, Rhinestone Beagle shares a tutorial for a reusable Cloth Snack Baggie.
I will most definitely be making some of these. Wouldn't these baggies be great for a picnic...and no waste:o)


Thanks ladies for sharing your great ideas. Make sure to grab a "featured" button from the left sidebar to display on your post:o)




Photobucket

what do you think of my new "featured" button? 
I thought it was cute:o)


Thursday, May 26, 2011

Teachers Gifts

School is out, and E couldn't be happier. I think he was a little bothered that S.R. got to stay home with mommy & do all sorts of cool things:o) But he really did love his teachers and made tons of friends.

Here are the gifts that he gave his teachers.
I love vinyl, and I will put it on just about anything. Teachers need to stay hydrated, right? So why not supply them with a cute cup to keep the hydration going?

One of his teacher's is a HUGE Bama fan. So her's was easy enough to figure out.

E was so funny about the next 2:o) He said that Mrs. J loved fingers...hahaha!


And he said that Miss C loved flowers:o) Too cute!


They really loved their cups. Mrs. S even sent me an email to tell me she had been using her cup all weekend. Score!
Nothing like making someone happy with a little something special!
***
Tomorrow I hope to be starting a little something new, so stayed tuned...should be fun!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Business, May 25th 2011 - "Two Seans/Shawns, One Kurt" Edition

This week The Business returns like a video you saw on YouTube years ago that you can never get out of your mind no mater how much you cry and drink. And we're bringing comedians Shawn Robbins and Kurt Weitzmann to help hold you down and make you watch it again.

Shawn Robbins is creator and smooth operator of the successful indie rock and stand-up comedy showcase, Snob Theater (recently featured in the Noise Pop Music Festival). A young whippersnapper with eyes on the prize who has acclimated to the San Francisco comedy scene very nicely (thank you very much) since relocating here from New England. His cup runneth over with jokes.



Also performing is
comedic renaissance man Kurt Weitzmann. Kurt is one of the founding evil genii behind Comedy Noir Productions (and their popular "Roast" show series), writerproducerdirector of the short film "Last Call" (“Believably written, deftly directed and beautifully acted..." - San Francisco Weekly) and a Bay Area stand-up comedy heavyweight. Getting his start at the infamous Holy City Zoo was a fitting launch for his unique and darkly creative talents that we are pleased as punch to have on our stage.

Joining them will be your four steadies: Bucky, Chris, Sean and Alex. And joining them will be all of you, for only $5. And joining you will be burritos and joy.*

*(Joy provided. Burritos are on you)

Back from a Mini Vacay

The hubs and I spent a fantastic weekend at Callaway Gardens. It was kid-free & uber relaxing:o) He arranged everything, and I'll have to say, I don't think he could have done any better....it was PERFECT!
When we first arrived, I got sick...(not so perfect).
  I have been on antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection, and it's been making me icky at times.
We were supposed to start the trip off with a 2 hour bike ride, but I wasn't feelin' it, so we toured the gardens by foot & car.
Inside of the butterfly house:
 The Chapel:
 Entrance to chapel
 Stained Glass Window in chapel
 View of Lake from chapel
 Lots of pictures of the chapel, eh?
 Me taking a break to keep everything down....was that T.M.I.?:o)
 This bunny was so cute:o)
 This little guy was cute until he started blowing his chin out at me to back off....not cool! 
 The hubs and me:o)
 It's hard to see from this pic, but there were around 30 turtles coming towards me(that little red dot at the end is me). They thought I came baring gifts. See that dispenser to the right? It's full of turtle food, and you could buy some for a quarter. I felt so bad b/c we didn't have any money on us...poor turtles!
 This is one of the restaurants that we ate at.
 We sat at the far right corner. They had an amazing Sunday brunch...I had a Vegan meal. It was FATABULOUS.!
 This my friends is the post office in one of the neighborhoods of Callaway Gardens....isn't the cutest thing?!
 We eventually got around to the bike rides, and it was so much fun!

 My favorite flower!
 Cute little nook.
 Us after surviving the bike trails....we were still smiling:o)
I almost forgot to mention the 4 hours I spent at the SPA while hubs was playing golf....It was heavenly. Massage, pedicure, steam room, relaxation room, &  haircut. A girl could get use to this:o)
I am so thankful that we were able to take a weekend for ourselves. We definitely came back relaxed and ready to take on the world:o)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I've Been Featured at Knock Off Decor!

Great News girlies! My PB Knock Duvet is being featured at






So I can proudly wear this button for the SECOND time:o)





I am a lucky girl. Be sure to go check it out. Just click on either of the buttons, and you will see it:o)

In other news....I have a busy next few days ahead of me. I am having a Princess House Party at my house tonight. It was supposed to be last week, but we had only had our power back on for 3 days. So everyone was trying to get back to normal. Since it's so close to the end of the school year, everyone is packing everything into the next 2 weeks. Not many are coming tonight(sniff, sniff), but those who are coming will have a great time and some fantastic food:o)
I hope you have a great weekend! I'll be back Monday to share with you my weekend...it's going to wonderific:o)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Summer Printable

Summer break is just days away, and I wanted to give E the chance to hand out a little something special to all of his buds at school.
I stopped by Walmart and browsed their party section last night. There isn't much to choose from, but they did have these cute little guitar necklaces with bubbles inside. They are $2 for a 4-pack.
Here's what he will be handing out:


And if you are interested in this printable, 


then go 
HERE to download.
We are going to eat lunch with E today, and he really excited:o)
Looking forward to making his day!!!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Ready for a Project Hiatus

Remember a few weeks ago when I said I was going to finish the bridesmaids dresses? Well, things didn't go according to plan. There were issues with the sizing chart and after sewing and ripping seams, and sewing some more and ripping a whole lot more seams....I am FINISHED!!!
Blood, sweat and tears went into making all 5 dresses.
Making those dresses put every bit of my sewing skills to the test. I did things I have never done before, and I really don't want to have to do them for a long time now:o)
I am mentally drained. But everyone seemed to be really excited about their dress. I think this is the first time I have seen girls happy about their bridesmaid dress. The bride did a great job of picking out dresses that the girls could actually wear outside of a wedding.
So now that the dresses are done, this is where I want to be
 Doesn't this look like the perfect place to relax?
 I am so ready for an ocean breeze and the sun on my face.
However, I can't seem to talk the hubs into going. We are 'kid-free' this weekend, so I thought what better time to go? We wouldn't have to worry about anyone running off or drowning...total relaxation....he can't bring himself to do it since the kids LOVE the beach too.
Well here's to dreaming:o)
At least I can relax knowing that I am done with dresses:o)
I'll have pics of the dresses as soon as the "I-do's" are said. I wanted a pic of all the girls in their dresses together.

One thing I have learned in this process is that I am so very thankful to be a stay-at-home mother. I am so glad that we are in a situation where the hubs is the sole provider and I am the care taker of the home. I wish that all mothers had the desire and ability to the same. I was constantly reminded over these past few weeks  why the Lord wants me in the home and not in the work place.
I have some great kids:o) Too bad they are preventing me from going to the beach;o)