Category: Friday Fun

The Seven Quick Takes Friday is hosted by Conversion Diary.

I’m over my back thing and I’ve been walking on a regular basis. In fact, I was so motivated yesterday that I did Turbo Jam in the morning and then walked 5.75 miles last night while watching “Wanted.” (And today I’m hobbling around like a little old lady, but whatever, I can take it).

My goal? Is to get back into my skinny white jean shorts before this summer. I can get into them now, but it’s a tight fit. I want to lost a few more inches so they fit comfortably.

Next Thursday is the end of the 1st semester. GD is thisclose to making straight A’s. I’m on pins and needles and couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s turning out to be quite the student. And that’s saying a lot considering his scholastic history. Who knew!

MK is REALLY enjoying pep band and has decided to bite the bullet and participate in high school band next year. YAY! We keep telling him that if he plays his cards right, he might be eligible for a music scholarship for college. Wouldn’t that be something!

Speaking of MK’s playing – before I forget, here are the songs he played for the honors band performance back in November. These are 8th graders who auditioned, from all over the city, to play in this band. MK made 6th alto saxophone chair (he almost didn’t make it!). Not bad for a bunch of middle schoolers. 🙂

Oh, one more thing, these kids had never played these songs before THE day of the performance. Most of the kids had never even met each other before THE day of performance, either. They got together at 8:00 in the morning, learned the songs and then performed them for the parents/family at 3:00 that afternoon. Quite impressive!

Onward

Purple Mountain Majesty (All the veterans were asked to stand after this song – it was quite emotional).

Ghost Riders

Want to know a secret? I tear up and cry and every time I hear him play. Every. Single. Damn. Time. I guess I’m just so proud of him that I can’t contain it. It’s embarrassing, if you want the truth. MK just rolls his eyes at me.

I didn’t get any writing done this week – none. And I have no excuse, none. I was too busy answering emails (as I should because I get paid to take care of these people after all) and of course, blogging. I really must set some boundaries on this blog thing or it will become (more of) an unhealthy addiction.

I will do better next week.

Today is my menstrual anniversary. I have no idea what year I started my period, but I have always remembered January 9th as being THE day it happened.

There’s a bit of trivia I bet you wished I hadn’t shared with you.

One good thing about being on the computer all week? I’ve run across some really great blog entries and I’m really excited to share those with you in the Blogger’s Best Carnival coming up January 31st. I’m going to call them “Editor’s picks” and ladies and gentlemen, you’re truly going to love them – they are that good.

In addition, I’m curious. How consistent are you in clicking links blogger’s put in their entries? I’ve been forcing myself to slow down and follow links and wow, that’s how I ended up reading some of the great blog posts I’m going to link to in the carnival.

I hope you’re taking the time to explore other blogger’s because let me assure you, it’s well worth your time to do so. Especially links provided by blogger’s you enjoy reading to begin with. It’s almost a sure thing that you’ll enjoy the click.

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The 10th photo contest begins tomorrow – are you playing?

Yay! Another fun meme! I thought I would throw my blog into the mix and join the gang this Friday. In fact, this meme just SCREAMS me because of the sheer randomness – it’s a thing of beauty, ya’ll. *grin*

This Seven Quick Takes on Friday is brought to you by Conversion Diary. Hi Jennifer! It’s nice to meet you! *waves*

We had a little drama around here yesterday. Well, it’s a tragedy, quite frankly. I picked MK up from school yesterday and he was LIVID. One of his very good friends, a boy who has done all of the same band things – honors band, pep band, competitions – with MK tripped and fell in P.E. while holding a medicine ball (whatever the heck that thing is).

The kids laughed. And were quite cruel in their teasing. And when it became apparent that this kid was badly injured, MK went ballistic on their butts. He reported the mean kids to the teacher and I guess it was so bad that this teacher is going to call a parent-teacher conference with the mean kids’ parents.

MK is not a tattle-tell. And because of his small size, he’s certainly taken his fair share of teasing from the “mean” kids. But MK is nothing if not loyal. And once you’re MK’s friend, then you’ve got him for life.

The boy that was injured is a big boy. He’s a bit on the overweight side but mostly, he’s just a BIG kid. His father is pretty big so he comes by his physique naturally. The mean kids can’t resist teasing him because of his size anyway, but when he fell, it just went out of control.

We had a pretty good talk in the car about how MK handled the situation. I told him I was proud of him for doing the right thing – the mean kids need to learn there are consequences to their, well, meanness. But I also told him that he would likely get some flack for being the “tattle-tell” at school today. He understood that and was willing to endure it – his conscience was clear.

I told him that if it became physical in any way, if he was hurt by another kid in any way, I wanted to know because that’s one thing I WILL NOT TOLERATE on any level – someone manhandling my kid. But if it was verbal, then he would just have to learn to control his temper and handle it because let’s face it, life is full of mean people. You just have to learn to deal with them.

MK had a band concert last night.

Of course, the boy who was injured wasn’t there. He was the only kid in band big enough to handle the baritone saxophone and since he wasn’t there (they had to take the boy in to the emergency room – I think he messed up his knee pretty badly), it threw the rest of the band off rhythm and they didn’t play their best. They were all pretty upset about their chum and it showed in their music. It was a disappointing performance but the kids learned that there will be times in your life that something bad happens like this and you must go on – there was nothing they could do to help.

The teacher told the kids to play for their buddy. I thought that was sweet.

This episode also reinforces my dislike for physical education in the schools. I think the coaches ask these kids to do some pretty ridiculous things and then of course, it’s a prime feeding ground to pick on the smaller, weaker kids. Though I can certainly understand the need to get our kids moving, I think the curriculum could be structured a little differently and not so geared toward competition. MK is constantly coming home and telling how crazy out-of-control the kids got when they lost a game.

And then, there’s the whole physical education requirement in college thing. I had to take a P.E. course when I went to college and I was a late bloomer, so there I am, in my early 30’s in P.E. class with 20-something kids. Talk about embarrassing – and a complete waste of my time and money.

And did I mention the kids have to dress out for P.E.? So, you have the whole body image/self-conscious factor at one of the worst ages to put this on kids – the pre-teen/teenagers. It’s truly insane, in my opinion.

I learned the five characteristics to maintain a healthy civilization today:

1. Religion
2. Social Structure
3. Culture
4. Specialized jobs
5. Writing

See? Writing IS important.

I will shut up about that now.

My main computer (because I have two PC’s and two laptops – I know, I’m sick), has completely gone berserk on me. It just randomly restarts with no prompt from me and at irregular intervals.

It could be a virus, but I don’t think that’s what it is. I’ve been having power supply issues for months now. In fact, I was afraid to turn my computer off for months and well, haven’t turned my computer off for months because it would take me up to five minutes to get it started again.

I’ve scanned for viruses and it’s not showing anything (which doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t have one) but it was doing this shortly after I reformatted so I’m pretty sure it’s not a virus. I was lucky enough to make backups of my important files before it completely went nuts, but I still need to back up my emails and I haven’t been successful because every time I start the process, it shuts down on me. I finally just unplugged it and I’ll try it again later.

Instead of buying a new power supply though, I think we’re going to wait until after Christmas and just buy a new computer. I’ve had this computer for a long time and it’s probably time to just chock it and start over. I’d like my husband to build me one from scratch (I’m currently using the computer he built me and this baby is ROCK SOLID), but you can get such a good deal on a ready-made computer from Ubid that it seems silly to go any other route.

If you haven’t checked Ubid out, I highly recommend it. They sell refurbished electronics and we have gotten some amazing deals through them. And if you don’t want refurbished, then think of it like this – someone has already located a problem with the device, these guys fixed it and voila! It’s brand new again, minus the bugs. So refurbished can sometimes be better than brand new. 🙂

The sun is out for the first time in a week. Ahhhh. Hello sun. You are beautiful. Stick around a while, won’t you? Our extended forecast looks good, though we’re scheduled to get some wintery mix on Tuesday, which COULD discourage my sister and nephews from coming down for Christmas.

BUT, our forecast for Christmas is sunny and 55 (!!) so maybe not. I hope not. Of course, it says sunny now, that doesn’t mean it WILL be. Our weather, *shakes head*, is amazingly fickle.

What’s the weather forecast look like in your area for Christmas day?

MK is ringing the Salvation Army bell at the mall tomorrow. That should be fun. Actually, he’s teaming up with two other classmates and he wants to play the saxophone to help entice people to drop some money in the buckets. I’ll take a short video of that (providing he doesn’t chicken out) and post it soon.

This is it! The last weekend before THE big day (that would be Christmas if you’re not quite awake to catch that *wink*).

Are your kids getting antsy? My boys are getting pretty excited. Of course, if you didn’t know them you wouldn’t know they’re excited – they’re teenage boys after all. How much emotion do teenage boys really display anyway?

Exactly. But they are, trust me. 😀

Anyway, here are some last minute Christmas tree ornament ideas from Family Fun. Try them, it might distract the kids – for an hour or two.

Sweet Mice

Sweeten up the Christmas tree with a collection of chocolate mice ornaments.
CRAFT MATERIALS:
Hershey’s Kisses
Pink felt
Scissors
Double-sided carpet tape
Fishing line
Self-adhesive googly eyes
Curling ribbon

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Remove the tags from two Hershey’s Kisses. Cut out mouse ears from pink felt, about 3/8-inch high. Using double-sided carpet tape, affix the bottoms of the ears to the flat side of one of the Kisses.

2. Tape an 8-inch loop of fishing line behind the ears to form a hanger.

3. With more double-sided carpet tape, join together the two flat sides of the Hershey’s Kisses, with the mouse ears and fishing line loop pointing up. Add a pair of self-adhesive googly eyes.

4. Slip a tail — a 4-inch piece of curling ribbon — under the foil. Now, see how they run (or disappear) from your tree!

Northpole Signpost

Here’s a real treat for your tree: a candy cane-like ornament that points the way to Santa’s place.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Large craft stick (ours was 4 ½ inches long)
Acrylic paint: white, green and red
Craft knife
Permanent marker
Glue
Small green felt holly leaves
Red mini pom-pom berries
White glitter
5-inch piece of ribbon

Time needed: About 1 to 2 Hours
1. Coat a large craft stick (ours was 4 ½ inches long) with white acrylic paint and another with green paint. Let them dry, then add stripes of red paint to the white stick.

2. Use a craft knife to cut a 3-inch section from the green stick, notching each end to create an arrow shape, as shown. Write “North Pole” on the sign in permanent marker, then glue the sign to the red-and-white craft stick.

3. Next, glue on small green felt holly leaves and red mini pom-pom berries. If you like, add dabs of white paint, then sprinkle on white glitter for snow.

4. Finally, glue both ends of a 5-inch piece of ribbon to the back of the signpost for a hanger and let the glue dry.

Downhill Racers

Gear up for your holiday decorating with these handmade tree trinkets.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Craft stick
Emery board
Glue
Toothpick
Beads
Ribbon

Time needed: About 1 Hour
1. To make a set of skis like these, first use hot glue to attach 2 emery boards an inch or so from the ends of 2 colored craft sticks (available at craft stores), then glue the sticks together as shown.

2. For each pole, glue a small button onto one end of a toothpick and a round bead to the other end for a handle.

3. Finally, glue the poles to the skis, tie a ribbon around the set, and tie on a string loop for hanging.

Dangling Snowman

It doesn’t take a single flake to build this frosty character — you can round him up with white foam, buttons, and ribbon.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
3 round objects (we used a spice jar lid, the bottom of a yogurt container, and a mason jar lid)
Scissors
Craft foam, white and orange
Glue dots
Monofilament
Buttons
Permanent marker
Ribbon

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Using the round objects as patterns, cut out 2 white foam circles in each size.

2. Place one set of the circles on a flat surface, spacing them 1/4 inch apart. With glue dots, glue a 12-inch piece of monofilament across the circles as shown, then firmly press the matching circles on top.

3. Use more glue dots to attach buttons and an orange craft foam nose. With a permanent marker, draw on eyes and a mouth. Finally, tie a ribbon scarf around the monofilament at the neck, and then knot the line above the head to create a loop for hanging.

Merry Christmas!

Have you decorated for Christmas yet? I have, sort of. I don’t really go all out like a lot of people do – we put up a tree, outside lights and I hang stockings …

And that’s about it. Pathetic, right?

However, if you’re the kind of person who likes to stuff every nook and cranny with knick knacks, (mom, I’m looking at you), then I’d like to pass on a few ideas from Family Fun.

Brick Bookends

I thought this was a cool idea, especially if you have old bricks lying around. Which, we all do, right? 😀

This project– painting a brick– is pretty much the epitome of a simple craft: almost anyone can do it, and no special patterns or materials are required. Younger kids can simply paint abstract designs, while older kids may want to create detailed characters, geometric patterns, or wintry landscapes.

MATERIALS
Newspaper
Acrylic paints
Paintbrushes
Two bricks
Glue
Felt

Cover a clean surface with newspaper and set out the acrylic paints and paintbrushes. Stand the bricks vertically, so that your child can paint on her designs. Remember that the surface of the bricks is porous and can absorb a good amount of paint.

Your child may need to apply several layers to create a solid covering. Or, if she prefers a splotchier effect, stop painting while some of the brick’s surface still shows through. Once the paint dries, trace around the brick bases on felt and cut them out. Glue the felt squares on the bottom of each brick to prevent the brick from scratching your bookshelf or tabletop.

Festive Holiday Napkins

Customized for the holiday of your choice, these delightful — and washable — napkins look great whether at the kids’ table or next to Grandma’s best china. They make great gifts for grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Felt
Scissors
Fabric glue (we used Fabri-tac)
Set of machine-washable napkins
Sequins
Mini pom-poms

Time needed: About 1 to 2 Hours
1. Cut decorative shapes from the felt, such as a dreidel, Christmas tree, or reindeer (or use our templates).

2. Glue the shapes to a corner of each napkin and decorate them with glued-on sequins and/or mini pom-poms.

Santa Jar

With all the plates of Christmas cookies Santa samples, it’s no wonder he’s a little soft around the middle. Here, Santa offers a few treats of his own–a sampling of jelly beans or other Christmas candy–stored beneath the fuzzy brim of his hat.

MATERIALS
Felt in assorted colors
Glue and scissors
Glass jar with a lid
White faux fur (available at craft or sewing stores)

1. To make the hat, cut out two red felt triangles. Make sure the base of the hat will be big enough to fit over the neck of your jar. Glue together the sides of the two triangles, then trim the hat with a strip of faux fur around the bottom and a bit on top for the pompon.

2. Decorate Santa’s face by cutting out and gluing on a faux fur beard, a pair of felt eyes and a felt nose.

3. Fill the jar with candy, put on the lid, then top it all off with Santa’s hat.

Potted Paper Cones

These elegant trees are so versatile — you can make them in a variety of sizes and with almost endless decorating possibilities — they’ll fit in any (or every!) room in your house.
CRAFT MATERIALS:

1 large piece of drawing paper or poster board
Clear or double-sided tape
Scissors
Hot-glue gun
Small ornaments, garlands, fake jewels, or ribbons
Dowel with a 1/2-inch diameter (ours were 3 feet long)
Decorative bucket or flowerpot
Small rocks
Cotton batting

Time needed: About 1 Hour
1. Roll the paper or poster board into a cone shape (make sure the hole at the tip is less than 1/2 inch wide), then tape the seam and trim the bottom so that it’s even.

2. Decorate the cone by hot-gluing small ornaments, garlands, fake jewels, or ribbons to it. (If you’re using bulb ornaments, glue the top of the ornament, rather than the bulb itself, to the cone for a stronger hold.) Let the glue dry.

3. Stand the dowel in the bucket and fill the bucket with enough rocks to keep the dowel upright. Cover the rocks with the cotton batting, then set the paper cone atop the dowel.

Have you made any Christmas decorations lately? Take a picture and blog about it! Don’t forget to leave a link!

Next week: last minute Christmas tree ornaments

One minute I plan on sending out Christmas cards, the next minute I’m all, meh, I don’t want to. (No reason really, I just simply don’t feel like it this year – can we say “bah humbug?”) But I’ll confess, I ADORE cute and unique Christmas cards. I usually order mine from Miles Kimball, and in fact, I have a box of cards I haven’t used yet (see? No excuse this year – just feeling lazy), but if the kids were smaller and you know, not teenage boys who look at me like I’m crazy if I even HINT at anything to do with crafts, I’d be all over these adorable cards.

As usual, these gems came from Family Fun. And no, they don’t pay me to advertise for them, I just love their crafts.

This first one has got to be one of my favorites. Wouldn’t this be a hoot to put together? It might not work for you though if you don’t have a snow picture, but maybe you could substitute something else?

3-D Snowball Card

Recipients will get a kick out of these pom-pom snowballs headed their way.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
8 1/2- by 11-inch sheet of card stock
Photo of your family posing with arms cocked
Glue stick
Tacky glue
White pom-poms

Time needed: 30 Minutes or Less
1. Use a glue stick to glue the photo to the card stock. Use tacky glue to adhere a white pom-pom over each throwing hand. (Fits A9 or 6- by 9-inch envelopes.)

Changing Faces Snowman

Here’s a fun card that’s perfect for those special people on your list. It holds up to five photos of your family members — recipients just pull the tab to see who’s wishing them good tidings.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Photos of your family
Scissors
8 1/2- by 11-inch sheets of card stock in white and blue
Clear tape
Glue stick
Craft knife
Orange, black, and red markers
A9 or 6- by 9-inch envelope

Time needed: Afternoon or Evening

1. With photo editing software or a color copier, enlarge or reduce your photos so your family’s faces are about 1 inch tall. Print the photos and cut them into 1 1/2- by 1-inch rectangles.
Tip: School photos work well here.

2. Cut an 8 1/2- by 2-inch strip of white card stock. Tape a 1 1/2- by 1/2-inch piece of white card stock to the left end of the strip, then fold it over the edge of the strip to create a hook. Glue your photos side by side on the strip (on the same side you taped the hook to), lining up the subjects’ eyes and leaving at least 2 inches at the right end of the strip uncovered.

3. Fold the blue card stock in half widthwise. Cut a snowy hill and a snowman with a 1 1/2-inch head from white card stock. Use a craft knife to cut a 1-inch circle from the snowman’s face, then glue both pieces to the card, placing the snowman so his head is 1 inch from the right edge and 1/2 inch below the fold.

4. Open the card and cut a matching face hole in the blue card stock, as well as a 2-inch-long vertical slit parallel to the snowman’s head and about 1/2 inch from the edge of the card.

5. Turn over the card and tape the ends of a 2 1/2- by 1/2-inch strip of card stock to the inside edge of the hole for a guide, parallel to the slit, as shown. Slip the photo strip facedown under this guide and out through the slit.

6. Close the card and write “Pull” along the edge of the strip. Draw a snowman’s face on the white card stock that shows through the hole, then add arms, buttons, and a card stock scarf, if you like, as well as a holiday greeting.

Tips:
To make multiple cards, color-copy the completed versions of the card and the photo strip separately, then assemble them.

HAHAHA! This one is hilarious. Can you imagine grandma’s confusion? 😀

The Flexible Family

There are no yoga classes required for this pose, which was inspired by the book “Tricky Pix: Do-It-Yourself Trick Photography by Paula Weed and Carla Jimison” (Klutz, $18). It’s all about how you “wear” your snow pants.
CRAFT MATERIALS:

35mm point-and-shoot camera
Extra pants and boots, stuffed with newspaper to make them look real
Card stock
Glue
Fancy punch (optional–available at craft stores)

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Push the bottoms of the stuffed pants into the stuffed boots (or pull the pants over the boots as we did).

2. Have your subjects lie down with the pant legs over their shoulders. Get down low and shoot straight on. Make sure your subjects lie with their bodies directly behind them so that nothing from the waist down is visible.

3. Once you develop your photo, glue it on to card stock, then punch decorative designs in your card stock.

Here’s another fun one the kids could really “get into.” Hehe

Gift-Wrapped Kids

Between the doodles and the “gift boxes,” this card, from the Bagnoli family of Berea, Kentucky, offers plenty of room for kid participation.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Camera and color print film
Developing service
Gift-wrapped boxes
Copy services
Rubber cement

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Have your child decorate big boxes with shiny gift wrap. Pose them for an outdoor photo and order 100 prints.

2. Have your child create doodles for the border of the card, which you then glue to a master template.

3. Make copies of the card template at a print shop, then glue the pictures to the cards using rubber cement.

Tips:
Glue the photo to your template before copying. Your card won’t look quite as elegant, but you won’t have to glue copies of the photo to each card.

Christmas song #5 Little Drummer Boy by Josh Groban

More from Write From Karen

• Movie Review: Beyond Borders
• Life Overview
• January 2025 Reflections
• Healthcare … On Your Terms
• Christmas Postponed … For the Second Time

Here are some fun, new Thanksgiving crafts from Family Fun:

Is it Time to Eat Yet?