Bubble Station

My first finished project for the Summer. I wanted an inexpensive fun activity for the little one's. Who doesn't love bubbles? Using my baby Cricut and Sure Cuts a Lot, I took the Backyard Bubbles SVG file and decorated a 1 gallon drink dispenser with some transparent adhesive vinyl. I filled the dispenser with bubble refills from Dollar Tree (four bottles filled it to the top). I purchased the variety pack of wands from Michael's (using a 50% off coupon). It's too bad we are experiencing rain this week. Oh well, I'm sure we will have plenty of time to play around with it.

Thanks for KeepinUpwKaren, until next time!
~K 

Guess who's student of the day today???

I'd like to congratulate my son.  I just received a call from his school counselor (ok, my husband) to inform me that Champ was selected to be today's Student of the Day.  What an accomplishment considering he's only been at this school for five weeks!!

I think this is becoming a tradition. In Elementary School, he was always Student of the Month before Thanksgiving Break and last year he was awarded the School's Chararacter Education Award by the School District.  What an honor it is to be his mom!

Champ will be rewarded with a FREE slushie at lunchtime and he had the honor of having this announced during the morning announcements.

I feel so proud to be his mother, I wish I could run over to have lunch with him, but I am told that mom's cannot have lunch with their middle-schoolers, darn!

Thanks for KeepinUpWKaren, until next time!

~K

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: E-mail Coding System

I am on the phone with my oldest daughter (and my older sister in Virginia, along with her twin daughters that were in the car with her)... Anyway, I was asking my daughter if she read the article that I e-mailed her the other day. She responds by saying "I don't know, you mail me so many things." DID SHE REALLY JUST SAY THAT TO ME? Then, my sister chimes in to suggest I need to start coding my messages.

So, effective immediately, the following codes will be used in the subject line of my e-mails:

A - Read Immediately

B - Item of Interest

C - For Your Information / File

D - Print for Reading Later in the Bathroom

Thanks for KeepinUpWKaren, until next time.
~K

Momma was working the pole.... well kinda

My youngest received some great news last year.  He was nominated by his teacher to serve on the school's Flag Patrol.  This is a great honor and it comes with great responsibility.  The members of the Flag Patrol is required to be a role model for their peers, they are to maintain their grades, and perfect attendance is a requirement as well.  My Champ was a perfect nomination as he fit the criteria and he takes this job seriously.  So seriously in fact that while sightseeing in our Nation's Capital this summer, we were standing in line waiting for the Holocaust Museum to open and they called for all Military and Federal Employees to come forward, my son humbly raised his hand and asked "What about Flag Patrol?  You know, the people that raise and lower the flag at school."  While that provided entertainment for the crowd, his little heart was broken - this is how seriously he takes this responsibility.

This week they are taking a writing test at school and their class schedule was thrown off a bit.  My son came home yesterday and said that his teacher did not dismiss the Flag Patrol to take the flag down.  We were leaving the house, heading to an appointment, and once we passed the local high school and my son saw the flag, he screamed "Oh my goodness... the flag is still up!"  Please know that he was not concerned about the high school flag, he was thinking about his school's flag.. the one several miles back... the one we already passed... the one that is actually in our back yard!!!

I pull over and I call the school, and it was confirmed that the flag was still up.  This was one of those "What we gonna do now?" moments.

My son, the confident young man that he is, assured me that he could do it with my assistance.  Seriously????!!!!  I did not go through Flag Patrol Training!!!!  I remember holding the flag in Elementary School and in Sunday School -- the small flags on wooden dowels.  I HAVE NEVER WORKED THE POLE!!

I turned the car around, headed back to the school, and fear set in.  My son again told me we could do this.... and we did it!!!  Even though he teased me that the flag almost touched the ground (it really did not).  The most rewarding part for me was when we went to fold the flags, he let me flip the triangle portions of the flags... how rewarding.

I should have him let their sponsor know that I can walk over and fill in anytime... well, not in the mornings, but in the afternoons... provided I am not on a conference call or something.  Just consider me to be a back up to the back-up.

~ Thanks for KeepingupwKaren

I stepped outside of my box...

...or as my daughter said "I stepped outside of my house." In anycase, what I did today was not part of my normal routine. This may seem trivial once you read it, but you need to understand that as much as I love movies, I do not care for suspense, thriller, or horror films. Deciding to go and see Shutter Island was no easy task.

My initial desire to see the movie stemmed from listening to Regis and Kelly talk about it. They were discussing Jill Larson's role (from All My Children) and when I saw the clip, I had to go and see 'Opal' transformed. Armed with two AMC movie passes that I received for Christmas (thanks Nai Nai), my oldest daughter and I set off for the adventure.

I was on the edge of my seat throughout the movie and I will have to say that I was pleasantly surprised -- I thoroughly enjoyed the movie! It kept me guessing and entertained. At the end of the movie, I fell into my normal routine of staying through the credits (I am really not sure why everyone else leaves, you can learn a lot from the credits). Still in our seats, my daughter and I are discussing the movie and the twist at the end, when a lady that was seated a few rows up comes back and sits with us and joins in on the discussion.

I have to say, I am glad that I stepped outside of my box. The only regret I have is letting my daughter talk me out of dropping the top on my car on the way to the theater (it was in the 70's here today).

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the movie. Thanks for KeepinUpWKaren, until next time...

~K