WW: Bass Pro Shops

This weekend we headed over to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa.

Photo with Dad:

Photo with Mom:

Family Shot:

We stopped to look at the fish for a bit:

The line for Santa was forever long, so the boys colored at one of their tables most of the time, while we stood in line:

Photos with Santa. It was hard getting good photos. They kept moving. My kids look almost too big for Santa's lap. Isaak's only 6, but he's tall. Mica's 9.

I know so many people are anti guns. Our boys gravitate to this booth right away. It's set up for kids. "You'll shoot your eye out!" - A Christmas Story.

Is there a Bass Pro Shops near you? For us it's a 25 min. drive.

Gingerbread House

Dad said, "What do you want me to do, while you make cookies?" I told him, "Put together the gingerbread house, and I'll decorate it."

Well he opened it up, and it was all together. He said, "Ok then I'm just going to decorate it then."

That's what the boys did. I did hear some disagreements about how things were going to look. They are my sons.

Whenever I asked for a photo they A) Were not looking. B) Were moving. or C) Made funny faces. BUT beggars can't be choosers. They got the project done. Plus it looks nice.

Reading...Reading...Reading

Mica's a bookworm. He reads and reads. If he doesn't have a book in his hands, it's a Lego magazine. He also plays with Legos. 

I remember when he was just a little tike he'd sit and let me read to him. I had books memorized; we read so much. Reading, and movies are the ways to keep Mica still, and relaxed. Otherwise he was in constant movement. With movies he now reads the credits, and the case. He knows information about those actors. He'll tell you his favorite director is Steven Spielberg.

Weekly, or every other week we go to the library's website, and put books and movies on hold.

Last Thursday I picked up 5 books, and Return of the Jedi.

Dad said, "It will take him more than a month to get through A Wrinkle in Time!" It was very thick. Mica looked at that book, and had a look of determination in his eyes. I could tell he wanted to read that book! He was into A Wrinkle in Time when we saw it at The Rose Theater last month.

He had A Wrinkle in Time and 3 Ninja Meerkats books read by Friday night! Half of The Indian in the Cupboard was read to. He finished that one Saturday morning.

We returned all those books, and Mica put 2 of the sequels on hold for The Indian in the Cupboard and 2 more Ninja Meerkats, I added How to Eat Fried Worms, Tails of the Fourth Grade Nothing, and a few Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot books. Plus we added 2001, A Space Odyssey and Clue. I'll have to preview the movies to make sure they are ok for the boys to watch. They love playing Clue, so I thought maybe they'd enjoy the movie.

What about you folks...was reading your thing when you were younger? What were your favorite books around 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade? I want to keep Mica's mind active. Maybe he'll check out what you loved to read. 

Isaak is a little slower in the reading department.

Not slow as in he can't do it; more like he doesn't want to do it. It's like pull teeth to get him to read. It's funny though...on his report card his effort in reading was "O" for outstanding. 

Right now he likes reading Dr. Seuss books. Everything rhymes. He thinks they are funny. He's not very observant to words that he gets wrong over and over again. He just keeps getting that or those word(s) wrong instead of looking at it, and trying to get it/them right from that point on. He reads for Dad the best, but I remember to ask him more. Mica gets frustrated with Isaak when Isaak reads to him. Isaak doesn't want to try certain words, and wants Mica to tell him words that rhyme with the words he doesn't know. Mica's like, "Just sound the word out already!" I have Isaak read to Mica in the car sometimes.

I know Isaak's better at reading than he let's on. He'll hit big words, and sometimes just blurts them out like they are no big deal to say.

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.

I know I was such a slacker last week, and skipped learning about a newish band, singer, musician. I have plenty on the list, but was busy. I'm busy this week to. I'm going to try and get this knocked out. Let's be honest...I'll be busy until the holidays are over with. 

One of my friends posted a jazz song that I fell in love with right away. I've always liked jazz, but don't listen to it all the time. 

Kate Davis is the voice in the band Postmodern Jukebox. Let me tell you Kate Davis is wonderful! She is not the soul singer of the band. Scott Bradlee is the leader in the band. Scott educates his audience about 20th-century song styles; he’s commenting on the elasticity of the pop form; he’s confounding cultural context; he’s uniting generations; he’s breaking the rules. He’s manifesting postmodernist ideas in his approach to production and business as well as music. But as far as the fans are concerned, it’s just fun (and sometimes funny). Bradlee himself will tell you, simply, “I reimagine a song in another style because I want to hear it that way.” Scott gets new singers all the time to fit the song.

By the looks of it they have their own TV show. I don't have cable, so I've never heard of it. 

Source

Kate Davis - Upright Bass

Cristina Gatti - Love Me Harder - Cover

Robyn Adele Anderson - Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cover

Robyn Adele Anderson - Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

Like Post Modern Jukebox on Facebook.

Follow Post Modern Jukebox on Twitter. 

Follow Post Modern Jukebox on YouTube. 

What to Do With Money Gifts?

I don't really like gift cards. Mainly because some companies have them reduce in value if they aren't used right away. 

My oldest nephew is at the age where he just wants expensive gifts, or money. 

One year I put $25 inside balloons. He had to pop the balloons to get his money.

My other sister - not his mom - gave him a money lei.

This year I begged asked my lovely husband to make a fighter jet. I tried a few steps and decided, "I can't get this to work."

He did. The tutorial is here.

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Random Tid Bits

1. Every year my husband has a lady at work that hands him a stocking to decorate. It's funny because it's mostly guys that work there. They don't usually want to decorate something like that. One year I decorated for him. The next year it never got done. This year she handed him a whole apron to decorate.

I have to say that I love his humor on this. I'm sure she was looking for something cute. It says, "For big o' bowels of beef and ham, how will I sleep tonight?"





2. We had an insurance guy - Denis over, and Mica cracked me up. He kept saying, "When is Dentist going to get here?" I had to tell Denis when he got to our house.


3. I got a Shutterfly book of our vacation earlier this week. I kept adding more and more pages. Then it was hard to eliminate. The book was 50% off, but I spent $50. That means my book would have been $100. I need to learn how to simplify. LOL But...it will look good.


4. This upcoming weekend will be my cookie making weekend. My sister's, mom are getting together the following week for a decorating bash. I'll make them, and freeze them to keep them fresh.  


5. A tradition that I started is making a gingerbread something every year. Last year I got a village somewhere on clearance. I figured we aren't eating it anyhow. I don't need to worry about expiration dates. The boys love doing them. I add to them, so they don't look like the one on the box. Do you ever make a gingerbread house?

Brita Update

We have the Elf on the Shelf for the first time this year. 

I didn't know how much the boys would get into it, but they really have. Isaak writes her letters every day. If anything Brita coming around has upped Isaak's writing skills.

Brita and Leonard had a marshmallow fight, and got 2 cups of joe ready for the morning.

Daddy rolled his eyes at me when I got Brita. When he saw how into Brita Isaak was, he to got into placing her around the house. 

First Dad placed Brita on the ceiling fan helping Leonardo up.

Then Dad had Brita and Leonardo getting into the cereal box. Cute butt shot!

Then I took over, and had Brita get into my makeup. Doesn't she look pretty?

She wrote an apology letter saying over and over again, "I am sorry. I will not get into your Mom's makeup again."

I had Brita sleeping all cuddled up in Isaak's room the next night. Mica got super jealous that day.

The next night she hid candy canes on Mica's drawers.

She got into Isaak underwear drawer, and decided to decorate the tree with them. At least they were clean.

I'm not struggling for ideas just yet. So far I'm kind of glad we got this Elf on the Shelf.

Never in a Million Years Did I Think I'd Win Something This Big!

When I thought about it I entered Fat Brain Toys - $300 Shopping Spree.

They give away a shopping spree every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I got an email 2 nights ago saying that I won. Just to make sure I checked their FB page to see if my name was on there. It was. It was one of those things where I forced myself to do a double take to see if I was really the winner.

Of course it was too late to call them to figure out what I do with the code exactly. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a 1 time entry before I used it.

Here I am. We have declared that I would be the one that would be the dad character in A Christmas Story - because I like winning things like the Dad liked winning the leg lamp. My husband rolls his eyes just like the Mom rolls her eyes in the film. Mica is Ralphie because he obsesses about Legos just like Ralphie obsesses about his Red Ryder BB Gun. Isaak is Randy because he's a Momma's boy, a player of attention, and the baby of the family. Thank God Isaak eats better than Randy!

My mind is on A Christmas Story because we're going to see it tonight at The Rose Theater.

Back to my winnings. I swore my husband would kill me for winning this. Not really, but he had just told me the day before, "You better not review any more toys."

When I told him I won, I was all giggly, like a small school girl that had just been asked to a dance for the first time. He thought I drank alcohol. For the record I was not drunk. I didn't even have a sip of alcohol in me.

The code didn't expire until 2023 - something crazy like that. I knew if I didn't use it, the code would get lost. I have Christmas presents bought and wrapped. I'm quick like that.

I decided I'd buy 1 thing for all the nephew's and my son's birthdays for the most part.

Here's what I got:

I got Mica, Isaak, Cousin Evan and Elijah each a Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablet with a protective sleeve. All that added up fast! I was going to get my oldest nephew one to, but he didn't think he'd use it, which is fine.

I may give Mica and Isaak theirs for Christmas. The others are waiting for birthdays.

I got Edison a Tobbles Neo, which has won a lot of awards. They bobble around on their own, and stack up to.

Then I got Mica a Lego Castle set for a future present. He'll like love it.

They have special needs toys, but I was already at my max of spending. Emerson is a little hard to get things for. He has special needs that go beyond autism or downs syndrome. I've already gotten Emerson tactile bean bags for birthday. 

My sister-in-law told me not to buy for her son anymore last year. So...I'm not.
   
I had a cyber deal, so I got $25 off my order - if I paid anything over $100. Then I had the $300 GC. I ended up spending $3.35. Squeal! 

Thank you Fat Brain Toys!
Disclaimer: I won this GC to Fat Brain Toys. I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.