Out of the Box Saturday

It's 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. I'll cover something sing | songy one week, and artsy | fartsy the next.

I like different instruments. Hearing something you don't normally hear in a song adds to the sound.

The harmonica isn't new, but it is something that's not in every band out there. Mojo Blues Band has a harmonica player in their band regularly. Their music is just snappy! They are not a US band. The founders of the band played before 1977 in clubs of Vienna. Being the only blues band in Vienna they were often booked as backing band for blues artists who were touring in Austria. They have a jazz, and blues sound. They have 18 albums, so certainly not new, but new to me. 

Source

This next one really features their harmonica player:

Visit the Mojo Blues Band website.

Do you like listening to the blues?

Random Tid Bits

1. Sometimes when people post that it's date night, and they don't have kids I think, "Isn't every night date night?" 


2. I'm in the process of cancelling out all children's clothing stores emails.
   
   Why? You may be asking.
   
   Well...Mica has enough XL children's shirts, and plenty of pants. Isaak gets plenty of clothes handed down to him. I'll have to start getting XS adult shirts. I'm done with Children's Place, Gymboree, and so on. It's sad because XS adult shirts are hard to find + they aren't as cute. Some places like Old Navy don't have XS adult shirts. It is what it is. 


3. I keep seeing older kids in strollers. People can do what they want. As soon as my kids could walk that's what they did. They have more energy that I have, so the strollers went bye bye. Mica walked twice as much as us. He'd run ahead, then walk back, and kept doing that. Isaak was a little more lazy. He didn't want to have to walk. Now he's a trooper. I do miss the stroller for hauling stuff. 


4. We've been watching old shows on TV. Family Ties is one show my husband and I can agree on. Travis swears that Michael J Fox has a slight twitch - early stages of Parkinson's Disease. I know he wasn't diagnosed at that time. I wonder how early he did actually get it? Did he have insignificant symptoms way before he actually got diagnosed? Regardless I love him in the Back to the Future movies, Secret of My Success and Doc Hollywood!





Source



5. We get to dress up for the first time tonight at the kid's Fall Festival. Isaak wanted to be a zombie. He's like his father who thinks that Halloween should be scary. I bought him things to dress up like a zombie.
   
   
   
   
   I didn't think about the fact that weapons wouldn't be allowed in school. Stupid me. I guess we've never dressed up with weapons before. We ended up going back to the store to buy an actual zombie costume for him.
   
   Mica's going as Captain America.
   
   I worked a lot of Sunday cutting out vinyl letters for my costume. I'm going as a Cheez-it box. I have a red wig, orange nails, orange lipstick, I sprayed Cheez-It Grooves crackers with clear acrylic paint and hot glued them to earrings, I have Cheez-It socks, and so on. The "box" is spray painted red. The top is yellow duct tape. I have colored pencil, marker, printouts, and vinyl lettering I used on it. On the back it's red and says, "Get your own box!" You can say I'm going as something "Cheesy" for Halloween, or be derogatory (in this case it's not disrespectful) and call me a "Cracker".
   
   
   
   
   I struggled with Halloween this year. I like it, but I'm sick of the fact that women's costumes are sexy, expensive, you don't what they are, or the are stupid. It was really getting under my skin. I caved, and made yet another Halloween costume.
   
   Do you get into Halloween?

Now That's a Load Off!

A few weeks ago my laptop, which is work's laptop started messing up. All the lights in all my pictures, in every program were pixelated. 

Kind of like this:

But...it was only the lights. 

I knew it was my computer, and not showing up elsewhere. Images on my camera were fine, and when I plugged in my laptop to present things the images were fine on the big screen.

I wanted to wait until midterm break for them to fix it. 

Monday happened. My screen was fine. 

It was fine up until yesterday. Things were pixelated again! 

It's certainly weird to look at pictures, and not know if what you are seeing is crap, or not. 

I've been wanting to update my blog, but that was kind of hard to do when I can't see things the right way. 

I told my boss about it. He said, "Research it." 

Ok...I did that already. All I could find was cracked screens, water damaged screens, screens that went black...nothing on my problem. 

Right after boss man told me to, "Research it." he told me to go in the first year classroom to clean it. Ya our students in first year are slobs this year! I had them clean before they left, but their idea of cleaning isn't the same as my idea of cleaning. We have an Open House coming up. 

I was talking to some other teachers about my screen. I showed them the problem. One noticed when the programs were closed the problem went away. PowerPoint somehow was the problem. When I plug into the projector that messes with the settings, so I'm assuming that's how it got messed up. The teacher fixed it...for now.

I'm happy. I feel as if I can do things now. Before I was waiting for things to look better before I did things. The laptop can stay with me. I don't have to say, "Goodbye" to it to have it sent off to the Apple Store. YAY!

Glee Gum - Gum Pops Giveaway

We've gotten Glee Gum products to review in the past. Never have they disappointed us. I love that their product are fun, tasty, have great packaging, and are not filled with sugar. 

Their kits encourage parents and kids to learn about what they are eating.

We recently got Glee Gum - Gum Pops and Glee Gum to review. 

The Gum Pops Come With 3 Flavors:

• Sweet Strawberry
• Crisp Green Apple
• Juicy Orange

Other Things About Gum Pops:

• They are allergy-friendly
• They are vegan
• They are made without artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives
• They’re certified kosher by the International Kosher Council
• They are not intended for children ages 3 and under
• They are 10 pops in a bag
• They are a perfect alternative for unhealthy Halloween candy
• Cost: $4.55 per bag

The Natural Cheweing Gum Comes in a lot of Flavors: 

• Lemon-Lime
• Triple Berry
• Tangerine
• Refresh-Mint
• Wild Watermelon
• Cinnamon
• Peppermint
• Bubblegum 
• Spearmint

Other Things About Glee Gum:

• The gum is inside their pops
• There are no artificial flavors (like Blue 2 Lake, or Red 40)
• No artificial sweeteners (like aspartame, or acesulfame K)
• No preservatives (like BHT)
• They are Non-GMO 
• Sweetened with fair trade cane sugar and brown rice syrup
• Sugar-Free Glee is sweetened with 100% xylitol from American Birch and Beech Trees 
• Cost: $11.95 per case of 12 boxes of gum with 16 pieces of gum in each box

All Glee Gum products are packaged in recyclable material.

As soon as my boys saw the package of Glee Gum - Gum Pops they had to taste them. They love them! I think Mica had Juicy Orange and Isaak had Sweet Strawberry. I love that they can have something a little sweet that isn't packed full of dyes, sugar, and crap.

Win

US readers, want to win a bag of Glee Gum - Gum Pops, and samples of their gum? Fill out the rafflecopter form below for a chance to win by October 29!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Can't Wait to Win?

Glee Gum has 3 (October 15 through 18) days only: save 25% on Halloween Glee Gum Pops - Coupon Code: trick

Save 15% on everything site-wide - Coupon Code: treat
  
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 am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. Glee Gum provided me with a free sample of this product to review. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review.

Curriculum Night

Last Thursday we went to the boy's school for Mica's Curriculum Night.

We started in Mica's classroom. His classroom has small exercise balls that they sit on. I asked him if he likes them? He said, "Of course." I couldn't imagine sitting on one all day, but all his friends like them to. I heard that they are good to sit on.

Isaak was extra bouncy. What little kid wouldn't be if they were sitting on an exercise ball for the first time in a classroom?

We played a multiplication game. Isaak said, "Mom I got this!" He hasn't learned multiplication in school, but understands it. Sure enough he got it. I think Mica's teachers were impressed.

Only a few other students showed up in Mica's grade. I was disappointed about that.

We moved to another classroom to do another classroom activity. In the 5th grade classroom we played a science game. After we were done we walked out.

One of the 5th grade teachers said to (I'll call him A), "Can I ask you why are you so short? Your Mom is tall, and so is your Dad." 

His Mom covered and said, "He'll sprout up. He's just not there yet. We have tall people on both sides of the family."

A didn't say anything.

I was standing behind them, and could see he was upset. 

Isaak was in front of all of them. He turned around and said in a stern voice, "Don't you know...A doesn't like that!"

I know the teacher heard Isaak, but I don't know if it sunk in her head what he was talking about. 

The teacher said, "What did he say?" 

I said, "A doesn't like to be called short."

A left during the next station. We knew why he left. We know that he doesn't like being called short. He's in 4th grade, and is the same height as his sister who is in Isaak's grade - 2nd grade. They get ask if they are twins all the time. 

Of course this teacher didn't know the back story on all this. I know she didn't purposefully try and hurt his feelings. Boys in particular get self conscious about their height. With girls it's cute. I don't think we should have to watch everything we say, but that's kind of like asking, "Why are your eyes so slanted?" or "Why is your skin so dark when you're Mom and Dad's skin is so light?" I think some people do not think before they talk. Teachers especially should watch what they say, before they say what's on their mind. 

So on our way out of the school the boys talked about how they don't want that teacher. Not a good taste in their mouths for the night. Guess what? They may get that teacher. 

I told Isaak that I was proud of him for sticking up for A. Isaak's always been sensitive towards others feelings. I love that part of him! 

I told Mica to not bring up what happened, or ask A why he left because it might make him feel bad.

The next day A's Dad (he works at the school) called Isaak over and thanked him for standing up for A. He gave him a high 5.

A said to Mica, "Did you hear what that teacher said to me last night?" Mica said, "Yes." A said, "Did you hear what Isaak said?" Mica said, "Yes." A said, "I'm so glad your brother said what he said."

PS on Facebook someone said I should have asked the teacher, "Why are you so old?" OMG I was cracking up! That would have been hilarious!  

WW: Math {Linky}

The older one is teaching the younger one how to carry. Isaak hasn't learned how to carry in school just yet. He now knows how.

 

I Do Like Fall, But...

I do like fall, but I hate that I have less time for photos. It's not even daylight savings time yet. It starts getting dark around dinner time now, and in a few weeks it will be dark when I get off of work.

I have no good pictures of the boys with pumpkins, or a fallish type theme yet. Leaves have just started turning colors here.

I love all things pumpkin. I dislike death. When I think of fall and winter death comes to mind. Grass dies, leaves turn pretty colors, but they fall only to turn brown and crunchy under my feet. Branches are left naked. Daylight is short. Veggies and fruit are slimmer at the store...why because many are dying for the season. Towards the end of winter I'm so sick of eating only bananas, apples, and oranges. At least there are cranberries, pomegranates, and holiday grapes that are out during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Here's some oldie shots of my boys with gourds. Isaak loves gourds because they have texture.

 

What have we been up to? Like I said I don't have a lot of pictures. We've been busy though. Here's 5 things we've been up to:

1. Last night we bought a car. A blue Subaru Outback. We were going to get a Toyota Rav4, but the visibility wasn't as good as the Subaru Outback. So long to our 12 year old Pilot. The boys went to bed at 9 last night because of the paperwork at the dealership. Boo! They might possibly be grouchy today. They could also be happy because they are going to be taken to school in their first new vehicle. I told Mica it was expensive, so he offered me money. LOL



2. On Sunday I never got dressed because I was working on my Halloween costume. It won't be as good as my others in the past, but it will be fun. At least it's not something you can go out and buy. I'll be unique. 



3. On Saturday we celebrated my Mom's birthday. It was big family gathering. I was asked to bring a veggie. I made jack o lantern peppers, with strips of carrots, celery and orange cauliflower stuffed in them, and around them. Plus dip. Apparently at family functions when people ask me to bring a veggie they want a hot veggie to. My bad. My sister was like, "I thought you said you were bringing more than one veggie. I'm like, "I did." There were carrots, celery, cauliflower, and peppers. I swear sometimes I'm like Amelia Bedelia. You have to be specific with me. If you tell me to draw the drapes, I may just draw on them with Sharpies. Luckily she didn't make a big deal out of my lack there of, of veggies. She made green beans. I just felt bad. 



4. On Friday Travis cleaned our Pilot out to be sold. I made a big dinner. Later we drank root beer - beer and played Scrabble. I won. It was probably the alcohol. I usually never win. It was a landslide win. Spelling was not my strong point in school. 





The beer was good, but it won't be something we drink often. It has too much sugar in it of course. It was a nice mixture of beer and root beer. Source is here.



5. On Thursday we went to the boy's school. It was a curriculum night for Mica's grade. It didn't go the best, but that's a whole other post. We made a special trip to World Market. Omaha used to have 2 stores, but they've both been gone for quite some time. We got one back again. It's my favorite store, so I'm happy about that. :)

The Martian

We took the boys to see The Martian a week ago. It was a pretty good movie. Mica said, "Wow that was a great movie! I loved it." It may have been a little above Isaak's head, but he sat still, and enjoyed it to.

One of my students works at a movie theater. She said that there have been a handful of people that have come out of the theater thinking the movie is based off a true story. YIKES! I think if that were true, we would have heard about an astronaut stuck on space already.

NASA captured what it would look like if Matt Damon was really stuck on the planet Mars.

(NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Have you seen The Martian yet?

Glass Nail File Set With Case Review

Since I paint, and do dishes often my fingernails are often in horrible shape. Thankfully Crave Naturals has sent me a Glass Nail File Set to review. The 5 etched files help with the upkeep of my nails. 

They come in a handy zipper case to keep them safe. This is perfect for traveling. I may keep them in my computer bag. Inside the case are elastic bands to keep them in place.
 

 
I love the colors they come in:

• Magenta
• Blue Violet
• Turquoise  
• Green
• Yellow

These files work for both natural and acrylic nails. 

I only have natural nails. I've used them on myself, and my boys have used them as well. They are newbies at trimming their nails, they don't always do the best job, so the files help smooth out their jagged cuts. 

You can use them on fingernails and toenails. 

 

 

Why Glass?

• The files have microscopic grinding spikes of crystal-like tempered etched glass. They will never wear out. They will not cause your nails to crack, chip, peel, or split. 

• They won't wear out, or get dull ever! They grind well on both sides. No worries on them tearing, corroding, or rusting. 

• They are safe and hygienic. This glass can be sanitized and cleaned. The surface is non-porous. There is no worry of water absorbing into the surface; causing unhealthy growth of fungus or bacteria. 

• Glass makes them attractive, lightweight, and sleek to use. 

I've only used glass nail files one other time. I like this brand better than the ones I used previously. Why? Because they are longer. I feel like they are thicker, and more sturdy as well.

Cost:

$24.99 and on sale for $11.22. I think that's a really good cost considering the fact that the set comes with 5, and a sturdy case.

This set is perfect for anyone really. I do think they seem better for more of a female audience because of their colors, and sleek look. That's not to say that they wouldn't work for guys to. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep them all for myself, or keep 1 and give the others as Christmas gifts. If they last forever why do I need to keep all 5? The only reason I'd keep all of them is to have them in their fancy case, and to use different colors at different times. :) 

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Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.