Saturday, March 22, 2014

Doughnuts For Dads

Isaak usually looks like this when he wakes up:


Kind of grumpy, slow and unmotivated.

Friday was Doughnuts for Dads at the boy's school. 

Isaak must of been super pumped for the occasion.

He woke up when he heard me running stairs and Dad pumping iron.

I said, "Isaak it's pretty early. Why don't you go back to bed?"

In a chipper mood he said, "Mom it's Doughnuts for Dads today!" As if he had stuff to do to get ready for the event.

Sure enough he did have stuff to do. He started getting out all his colored papers and made his Dad some paper doughnuts.


The sprinkles are cute. The staples cracked me up!

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.


This week I found Alabama Shakes on Spotify. I have to say that the lead singer, Brittany Howard has one hell of a soulful voice!

Source
They are an American rock band formed in Alabama of course (hence the name of the band). The group consists of singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, keyboard player Ben Tanner, and drummer Steve Johnson.

The story their band started in a high school psychology class. Brittany, who had started playing guitar a few years earlier, approached Zac and asked if he wanted to try making music together. “I just knew that he played bass and that he wore shirts with cool bands on them that nobody had heard of,” said Howard.

They wrote songs on Brittany's floor. That is how they started out getting their sound.

Silver Lining


You Ain't Alone


Be Mine


Check out Alabama Shakes' Website.
Like them on Facebook.
Follow them on Twitter.


Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava’s Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.


PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Random Tid Bits

  1. One of my students totally missed her midterm exam last Friday. She's not a student that is doing well. She's legally blind, and struggles because of it, and other reasons. A few other students said, "I think she went to Kansas City for their Comic Con." Sure enough one of them brought their computer up for me to see pictures of her having a hay day at the Comic Con. She didn't even ask me if she could take her test early. I just wonder why anyone would skip a major class test to hang out elsewhere? Sometimes I just have to roll my eyes, and keep on going with a smile on my face. 

  2. Isaak lost one of his jackets. I searched his drawers, his closet and his coat rack for it. He of course had no idea where it was. Where was it at? In the lost and found at school. I'm glad we found it.

    Were/are your kids careless about where their toys, library books and clothes are at? I'm hoping this changes. Isaak's only 5. When I can't find something I search high and low for it.

  3. Daddy and I are officially on a Paleo diet. Basically it's eating lean meats, nuts, seeds, and loads of green leafy veggies. After the first week we can add in eggs, and other veggies. After the 2nd week we can add in fruit. I lost 5 pounds in 2 days. Then I gained 2 pounds back. Besides the weight loss, I'm hoping it helps me with my allergies. The struggles I had was knowing what to eat to absorb the antibiotics I'm taking.  I ended up eating 1 cup of Skinny Pop Gluten Free Popcorn. We're also getting up at 5:30 AM to exercise for 1/2 an hour. That's hell when you are sick. I picked to try this out on my student's spring break because I didn't know how often I was going to go to the bathroom. Really I don't go anymore than normal. I'm used to drinking a lot. I should have waited until I felt better. On the other end of things I'm not craving anything because I haven't felt like eating anything. I can't smell, so that's good when you're starting a diet.

  4. I'm so addicted to this game Brick Burst by Lego. It's a lot like Tetrus, but Legos. I thought my kids would get into it. I'm more addicted then they are.


  5. Isaak loves his wrist bands. I loved the company Knuckleheads, and sadly they closed their doors. I got Isaak's coveralls from them to. Now they are too short. :( He got them in his stocking this year.

E.P. Phone Home

We've watched E.T. twice this week. Why? Because I've been sick, and I can choose to watch whatever I want to. - I'm getting that from Isaak. He likes getting sick because he can watch whatever movies he wants.

Source
Isaak usually wants nothing to do with E.T. "It's too scary Mom" he says. Even Mica was a little leery of the movie. I can understand; it starts out so dark, and ends on a sad/happy note. E.T. looks so real for his time to.

The boys keep talking about this movie. I've won them over.

Isaak keeps saying, "E.P. Phone Home."

Then Mica says, "Isaak it's E.T. not E.P.!" 
  
It's rather comical.

Mica keeps humming the known song from the movie. 

I was curious about some of the actors, and looked them up. I know many of them have been in other things. The oldest brother in the movie acted until he was in his 40s and now he's a mail carrier. The rest have been acting here and there their whole lives. The star Henry Thomas AKA Elliot was also in a Texas band called The Blue Heelers. I was trying to look up the band to use them for my music post I post every week, but I'm not finding anything. 

So what about you, are you a fan of E.T.

Take a look at Henry Tomas' audition to get the job. It's impressive. He's about the same age as Mica, and I don't think Mica could make tears appear that easily.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Please Vote to Help Emerson #Win a Special Bike

I don't normally ask people to vote for things, but...

My nephew Emerson has a chance to win a special needs bike. He loved using the one that he used in physical therapy. All the equipment for kids that have special needs are super expensive!

Please go here to vote for my little nephew Emerson.


If he wins, he'll get to enjoy one of these:

Thank you!

American Dream Builders Giveaway #DreamBuilders

There seems to always be some kind of home project. Some of them are more fun than others. I loved painting our walls, but I hated not having a toilet, or shower for days because our bathroom was in disarray.

The American Dream Home is something everyone fantasizes about. It feels good to get a huge project done! Whether it’s a new closet, a larger family room, or simply a place to put all your stuff, there’s always something we want to change about where we live!

What if you could make your home into your Dream Home? AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS – a new show premiering on NBC March 23 at 8/7c – and Lowe’s want to make your dream a reality.

Hosted by famed interior designer and best-selling author, Nate Berkus, AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS follows the nation’s top 12 designers and home builders as they compete to be crowned the Ultimate Dream Builder and take home a $250,000 cash prize.


It’s the home competition that will change everything! From the producers of Survivor and The Bachelor, don’t miss AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS, Sundays at 8/7c, only on NBC.


You can enter for a chance to win $100,000 in products and services from Lowe’s and a consultation with the winner of American Dream Builders! 

Enter for a chance to win your dream renovation at www.nbc.com/lowes. And starting March 23 you will have the opportunity to earn 5 bonus entries when you “Dream It Yourself”! Upload a photo and description of a home project you are working on and EARN 5 BONUS SWEEPSTAKES ENTRIES. Finally, follow the show on Facebook and Twitter for a chance to win more prizes from American Dream Builders and Lowe’s!

It's Giveaway Time!

One of my readers is going to have the chance to win a $50 Lowes Gift Card to help your dream project come to life! 

This giveaway is open to the the US only. No PO Boxes please. Each household is only able to win once. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again.


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review. I did not get products to help with this giveaway.


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

A Littly Fairy Dust

Isaak was really excited to show me his sticker and missing gap in his teeth 2 days ago. :)




I got the idea to make a dollar bill all sparkly from Theresa's Mixed Nuts. Thank you Theresa!

I think it is Isaak's third tooth lost. I'm not counting. I thought it would be fun to add fairy dust to a dollar bill. I just used a glitter glue pen.

I don't think I'll do this with all his teeth. Mica may get further jealous. Because the Tooth Fairy never did that for him. When in fact the Tooth Fairy never thought about it for him.

 
It was cold this morning. Isaak didn't want to be outside. I got more crying photos, which was opposite about how he felt with his Fairy Dusted Dollar Bill. He hated this shot, but I think it's funny.



He liked this photo though.



Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Mr. Plagiarizer

I went to pick up the boys at Grandma and Grandpa's house sometime last week.

Isaak was coloring this:


It's cute right? Me and a lot of other people thought so. I said, "Wow Isaak that's a really good drawing. I love it!" He smiled and said, "Thank you!" 

Rubber bands are his thing. He puts them in almost everything he does. He's a collage artists, or a sculptor. Not really an illustrator per say. We'll see. He may loose interest in the arts all together like his big brother Mica did.

I posted his little master piece on Facebook. People thought it was cute.

Then the other day I said, "I really do like that airplane that you created."

He said, "Ya I just colored it, and added the rubber bands. I found the drawing in Grandma and Grandpa's closet."

I guess there's nothing wrong with what he did. It's no different than him coloring an image out of a coloring book. It's just that I should ask him next time, "Isaak did you create all of this?" before I claim it's my son's work.

My guess is, that it's my oldest nephew's drawing, and Isaak's coloring.

Isaak needs to sit in on one of my copyright lectures. HA HA When you think about it most works are from something inspired by, or something changed from something else. Does that even make sense? 

Dale Chihuly hasn't blown his own glass for years, and his work is in tons of art galleries. He's estimated to be worth $10 million dollars. He draws what he wants, or tells glass blowers what he wants, and they create it for him. Then he decides if he wants to put his name on it.

Ironically his eye patch has something to do with a glass accident. He got in a car accident, which took his eye. Source
Andy Warhol didn't like getting messy. He to had others paint, and do screen prints for him often.

In fact he hired someone to pretend to be him and go on talks for him. Source
Visual artists aren't the only ones that steel, or borrow from others.

Weird Al Yankovic has borrows from others all the time. Beat It became Eat It. He's found himself in trouble with the law a few times. He's always been let off.

Source
The beloved Disney most certainly takes what they can get for ideas. You'd think with their movie Beauty and the Beast, and the musical that they came up with, that it was their own idea. No worries, it's an old story, so they had full access to it. Now if you think of Beauty and the Beast you think of the Disney movie, not the classic story tale.

They also have their stuff out for a limited time only, and all the other times keep them in their achieve. Source
The singer, song writer, piano player and creator of the Lilith Fair Sarah McLachlan had to go to court towards the beginning of her career because she copied her stalker's words in a letter he sent her. Many mistook the song Possession as passionate love song. When in fact many of those words came from her stalker. She went to court only to find out her stalker had hung himself.

Once I belonged to her fan club. That was before they used her song in a sad puppy commercial. Source
What is original anymore? It's difficult to define. Especially when you're an art teacher. You want works to be original. It is true that designers are given copy, and photos to use to get the job done. It's also true that big named, fine artists hire someone to do the things that they don't want to do. Then they slap their name on the work, as if they own the whole thing.

If I have problems defining original works. Try explaining that to a 5 year old.

By the way I'm not bashing these artists. Sarah McLachlan was once my favorite singer.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

WW: Sit/Squat {Linky}

Mica sits, stands or squats like this:



He does it even in his chair. We're constantly saying, "Mica sit down on your butt!"

At every store we go to, Mica finds a book and sits/squats to read. One time he wouldn't follow me. He said, "Mom I have to read this." I just kept walking, and he kept reading. I hid. I could see him, but he couldn't see me. He sat/squatted there for 5 minutes with no care in the world that I was nowhere in sight. When he was done with his book, he went all over the store trying to find me. He was walking so fast I lost him, but soon found him again.

Want to enter some low giveaways? I have 2. One is to win 2 pillow protectors US and the other is to win a night cream that takes wrinkles and lines away. It's called Nerium US and Canada.

Antibiotics?

I've read a lot about how antibiotics don't need to be used with ear infections. Even my cousin that's a pharmacist told me that doctors say that antibiotics don't touch ear infections. They hand them out more for comfort. I don't like giving my kids meds that they don't need, and the same goes for me.

My boys got some ear infections throughout their little lives. They didn't have so many that they needed tubes, but they had some. I'd try letting it go the first night, or two of them screaming crying. Then after that I'd take them in. Their pediatrician is one of the best in our area. I feel confident on his decisions. He would ask me, "How long they've been like this?" I'd tell him the time frame. We also talked about preventative care to. Like for instance my boys now are very willing to do the neti pot. When they were babies I'd use saline spray on their little noses. Their pediatrician agrees with me that if they have an ear infect for a short period of time, they should wait on the antibiotics. If they have shown symptoms for a longer period of time they should have antibiotics.

Yesterday I went to the doctor. He said I have a double ear infection. He gave me a script for some antibiotics, and a pain medication. He didn't much talk to me about it. It's been awhile since any of us have had an ear infection.

I filled my meds. Then went home to read about ear infections.

Source
It turns out that ear infections are just like any other infection, there is a viral kind and a bacterial kind. Antibiotics do not touch anything that is viral. I learned all about that when Isaak had meningitis.



The crazy thing with him is that antibiotics seemed to be helping him get better. No bacteria grew in their samples. When they took him off his meds, he got worse, so they decided to just keep him on them as a precaution. He baffled everyone.

Back to ear infections: If it's a viral ear infection antibiotics will not take care of it. That's why you want to wait to get it treated; to see if it will go away on its own. If it's bacterial the only way to treat it is though antibiotics.

There's a great article that goes over ear infections here.

After one day of using antibiotics I feel better, not out of the woods, but better. I must of had a bacterial infection of some kind. My ears went from ringing, and having sharp pain, to no pain, but full feeling.

Now to take probiotics or not? They have milk product in them. I'm trying to stay off of any milk, dairy anything like that. Antibiotics take bacteria out of your body, both good and bad. Probiotics puts the good bacteria back into your body.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Sickness

I got a cold on Thursday. It proceeded to get worse. Just last week I was thinking, It sure is nice that we haven't been sick a lot this year. I must of jinxed myself (if you believe in that sort of thing).

I let my sister know right away that I'm not feeling too great. There's supposed to be a get together this upcoming weekend at her house. I wanted to let her know because Emerson will be there, and he has a compromised immune system. Getting together with the whole family is near impossible. Instead of saying, I hope you, and your family are well by next weekend. She said, "Emerson can't get sick, so stay away if you are sick." That's why I was letting her know, because I don't want to get him sick.

I figured I'll be better by then, but if it's like any other sickness someone else in my family will get it. Isaak keeps getting in my face.

I said, "Isaak I do not want you getting sick. Stay away from me." 

He said, "Mom I don't mind getting sick because when I am you let me lay down on the couch, and watch whatever movies I want." Little punk has me figured out! LOL

My cold has proceeded to get worse over the weekend. Last night I think I only got 2 hours of sleep. That's very unlike me. Usually when I'm out, I'm out. My nose just kept on running, I was coughing, sneezing, my chest was tight, and my ears were ringing.

First thing this morning I put in a call to the doctor. I'm going in towards the end of the day.

Have you been sick a lot this season?

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