Mommathon

I have wanted to learn how to make these things for years. Yesterday I sat down and watched a YouTube tutorial and now I know how to do it. 🙂

One thing I learned that the tutorial did not mention, is that it is important to make them during Mass or shortly thereafter. If you wait until three o’clock in the afternoon, they have started to dry out and it makes it much more difficult to fold and bend them.

I highly recommend both of these games. Wordstorm is like Scrabble except that you don’t build off of other people’s words, you build off of your own words. Every person that is playing takes a corner of the board and that is their space to work in. We rarely play games by the rules so as to accommodate everyone in the house…this game is no exception.

Tikki Topple is a FANTASTIC game. It took us a little while to figure it out, but once we did we discovered how much fun it is. I will say, however, that this is the kind of game that in order to win you have to screw over the other people who are playing. In other words, if you have a kid who is a sore loser, don’t play this game. (In other words, don’t play this game with Colm.) The tide can turn in this game in a hurry and someone who thinks they are going to win can lose in a hurry. It says it is for ages 10 and up, but I would say a sever year old could probably play it. I would definitely do a few practice rounds first no matter how old you are so everyone can see how the game works before you starting playing for blood real. 🙂

This is the second Amy Tan book I have read. One theme that seems to run through them, based on what I have read and what someone else told me, is that all of her books go back and forth from the present times in the United States to several generations back in China. Of the two Amy Tan books I have read, this one was my favorite. This story is about a lot of things, but basically it is about a woman who learns about her mother’s life as a child and learns to forgive her and in doing so is able to move on with her life.

Saturday-Tacos
Sunday-Fish, Noodles, Green Beans, Baguette
Monday-Potato and Chorizo Omelet, Salad
Tuesday-Meditteranean Salad with Chicken
Wednesday-Chicken and Black Bean Quesadilla
Thursday-Kitchen is Closed
Friday-Pasta

Little area that leads from the kitchen to the dining room.

Family Room (There is still painters tape up, that’s what the blue stuff is.)

I really like the tile work around the fireplace.

(Project 365-3/26/10)

It was kind of rainy and chilly on Thursday so we decided to do something inside. I wasn’t sure what the World Forestry Center would have in store for us, but we did know they were having a chocolate exhibit so we figured we didn’t have anything to lose. 🙂

The chocolate exhibit was a bust. They didn’t even have any samples of chocolate. Why did they even bother? 🙂 (Project 365-3/25/10)

It’s hard to tell in this picture, but this a simulation where you pretend like you are a firefighter who jumps out of airplanes to put out forest fires. You are in your “parachute” and you have to land on the target that’s on the floor. The target moves because it simulates the wind blowing, etc. It was fun to do and it was VERY difficult!

Lots of stuff made out of wood and other tree/wood related products with a big map telling you where they all come from.

This actually turned out to be a pretty neat place. They had simulations for all kinds of things like the new machinery they use to cut down trees…not easy to do…to going up in the canopy of the rainforest to explore life up in the treetops.

Butch loves this spot. He lays there all afternoon sunning himself. Rough life.

The boys and I piled in the car this morning and drove to the beach. Our first stop was to stop at one of the special whale watching points. We looked and looked. The boys even got out their binoculars. I am sure there were whales out there somewhere but we didn’t see any. What we could see, however, was the beach down below calling our name.

So we piled back in the car and headed down to the beach. It was a little chilly in the morning. I think the beach is the only place where you can see people bundled up in coats, hats and scarves with no shoes on. No matter how cold it is, people still want to feel the sand between their toes. The boys played in the sand for quite a while with their buckets and shovels. They also had a good time finding parts of dead sea creatures that had washed up on the beach. Colm got way too wet for the temperature and they both had sand stuck to every inch of their skin, clothes…it was in their hair and in their ears.

(Project 365-3/23/10)

It was time for lunch, so the boys changed into cleaner drier clothes and we had a great little picnic.

Colm decided he wanted to get all bundled up after we’d had lunch.

We were thinking about heading home after having cookies and ice cream at one of the local shops when we saw some people walking around with these really cool beach bikes that you can rent. So off we trekked to go rent a couple of bikes. We had to wait quite a while to get the bikes, but the boys LOVED them. The beach we went to was huge and they could pedal as far and as fast as they wanted to. Good times!!!