What do you see in the clouds?

For a few minutes today, we stopped everything we were doing - homework, cleaning, cooking - and went outside to sit on our back patio to sit and stare up at the clouds. This isn't something that we often take the time to do. It seems that we are all so busy these days.

This morning it was gloomy with forecasts calling for more thunderstorms. We lucked out and the storms passed us this time, leaving us with a sunny sky and big, billowy clouds. You can still see some leftover storm clouds hanging around but overall, mostly a light blue (or as they call it here Carolina Blue) sky.


(Not to be out done, if you take a look outside now....you will see a Steelers' black sky!) Haha! That's a joke with us around here!

It was so nice to hear the kids giggling innocently as they described what they saw in the clouds.

Little Sister saw a shark in the top, left cloud and a turtle in the far right cloud. Big Brother, on the other hand, saw a person in the top, left cloud and a rabbit in the far right cloud.

Below, Little Sister saw airplanes in the bunch of clouds to the left. In the big cloud on the right, she saw a fish with a big googly eye (pointing toward the left). Big brother saw a flock of birds on the left and turtle on the right.


As for Mom and Dad, we saw peace and harmony....if only for just a few minutes!

We really need to do this more often!

Twilight - Are you joining the craze?

Big Brother has just finished reading Twilight. I'm not sure what really drove him to want to read this book--the fact that he is a tween boy in search of a girlfriend and the girls in his class that "like" him have all read it; maybe it's the fact that he likes taking a stand and going against the norm by saying that no one -especially his buddies - can tell him that he "can't" read the book because it's a girl's book series.... or maybe it just the fact that the book is worth 18 points toward his A.R. reading goal for this nine weeks in school if he earns a 100% on the A.R. test.

Whatever the reason, he read it and enjoyed it. Now he wants to see the movie. He's prepared himself this time and realizes that the movie probably won't hold up to the book. He's learned that the movie on the screen will never equally match the movie that he created in his head while reading. Such was the case of The Series of Unfortunate Events. Talk about a shock. He still talks about how disappointed he was in the movie after reading the books.

On to New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn..... Looks like he's going to have some summer reading to do. And this is NOT a bad thing!

If you're reading this, please let us know if you've read Twilight and/or have seen the movie. We'd love to know what your opinions are on the book and the movie!

Weekend Family Fun

It's been a very busy week for us. Along with everything that we've been doing inside the house, the weather has been busy changing from sun, to rain, to sleet, and then back to sun ...now rain tonight. Very strange!

Sleet and rain before the sunshine





Big Brother and Little Sister loved watching it sleet! Believe it or not, the sun was shining brightly the next day.

Friday night we watched Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. My kids and husband thought this movie was hilarious. I fell asleep less than half way through it. -not my cup of tea. I like silly movies but this took silliness rather far, in my opinion. The rest of them are still quoting the movie and laughing about it today.

We rented it from Redbox. Have you tried this yet? It's a great way to watch movies for a really cheap price - and if you do some searching, there are free codes out there, too! Nothing beats a free movie!

Little Sister was busy on Friday night and Saturday night! She lost one tooth on Friday and another again last night! She is anxiously awaiting a visit from the Tooth Fairy.

Little Sister is Top Dog!

Little Sister was chosen to be their classroom's "Top Dog" last week! She brought home Charlie, the dog, and he spent the week traveling everywhere with us.

Little Sister with Charlie



With Charlie and his journal



Charlie's journal tells where he's traveled - here is what Little Sister had to say



Sorry for the dark picture but if I lighten it, you can't read it at all.

On the left page it says: I love my teachers! then there's a picture of Charlie at the library with her
On the right page it says: Charlie went with me to the library. He took long rides with me.I slept with him. We took pictures together. I will miss him.

Friday night family night

Big brother spent the night at a sleepover at his school Friday night. The sleepover was a reward for the students who reached their Accelerated Reading goals for the nine weeks. 41 boys and girls - brave teachers! The plan was to keep them busy all night long, and then have them go to sleep by midnight--yeah, right! Big brother said that they had a great time--he's been talking about it non-stop since I picked him up at 7:30 this morning ....but he hadn't been to sleep at all! (not a real shocker) Thankfully he gave out around 11:00 am and fell asleep for about 3 hrs.

Little Sister, Dad and I spent the night together. We took her to Dairy Queen for dessert. After that, we came home and she played with some Playdoh that she picked out of her class treasure box for having a good week in school. Then it was time to watch a movie and shell & eat peanuts --a tradition that has come about between this father and daughter from over a year ago.

We watched the Disney movie Bolt.


I was really disappointed with this movie. Usually I can find something that I like about most Disney movies, but it was really hard for me to find something in this one.

The good points: Bolt is a totally cute puppy, that much is true. The smarty pants cat and the hampster are lovable, too. The pigeons cracked me up!

The bad points: In the beginning of the movie, they show the little girl riding through traffic on her motorized scooter--in my opinion, that's not really smart. Granted, I know that this isn't a real movie but you have to remember that young kids are watching these movies. Toward the end they show the little girl passed out in a burning building. I could've come up with several other ways that the dog could've become her hero instead of dealing with that idea. On top of all of this, the movie drags on and on.....

Big Sister seemed to like the movie, although she was almost crying when the dog was lost and looking for his owner. She hasn't talked about the movie like she usually does so I would say that it's not one of her all-time favs, either.

If I had to give an opinion on this one, I would say PASS ON IT.

Friday Night Game Night

I received two new Wii games this week to try out and review. We decided to make our family game night a Wii competition. We played Help Wanted and PennyRacers Party Turbo-Q Speedway. Neither game requires a lot of skill or deep thinking - which is perfect for a fun, competitive game night with the family.

PennyRacers Party Turbo-Q Speedway was really enjoyed by my kids. Even my 5 yr. old raced around the tracks laughing her head off. I showed just how really bad I am at playing racing games. haha! You can customize 50 + different cars - my son liked that part of it. This game is not for the serious racers, in my opinion it is geared more toward younger kids. It got a lot of laughs out of us, just the same.


In the game Help Wanted, a meteor is heading to Earth and you have a chance to save everyone; but first you must buy very expensive equipment. To earn the money for the equipment, you must take on 50 odd jobs - everything from milking cows, juggling, picking carrots to being a monster in a haunted house.

We had a lot of fun laughing at each other as we picked carrots and juggled balls. We looked down right silly trying to milk a cow without the cow kicking us off and running away. Again, this is not a game for someone who is looking for a serious challenge, but if you like games where you can have clean, fun competition with your family or a game that your kids can compete with their friends, this game provides lots of fun. Due out this summer.

Snow in NC!

It snowed! It snowed! 7+ inches on the ground! It doesn't usually snow this much in this area of NC. School was canceled for one day and delayed for the next. Our kids were thrilled!

The snowflakes were huge! :)


Big Brother and Little Sister were taking it all in!


Little Sister rolling down the hill in the backyard.


Little Sister was amazed. She didn't remember the snow in Pa. She was only 18 months old when we moved. She giggled and laughed and quickly figured out how to throw snowballs!


Big Brother was having a great time! They found a tub to ride in down the hill--make shift sled. lol!!


After all of this, at the end of the week it was 85*!! The warm weather was short lived, too. Right now it back down to the 50s and it's been raining for several days. CRAZY!!

Game Night

We've decided to start up game night again at our house. We'll pick one night out of the weekend to drag out and dust off a game ...then let the competition begin!

Friday was game night this weekend. We played Hyper Slide.


Although the recommended age on the package is 8+, Little Sister had no problem playing the first variation of the game. We played teams --kids against parents. hahaha! It went back and forth, I'm not even sure which team won the most games. We had a good time and the kids are definitely looking forward to doing it again next week.

LET'S GO STEELERS!!

Bring on the Superbowl! We are proudly wearing and waving our Black and Gold!!



LET'S MAKE IT SIX!!!!


Do you remember the Mean Joe Coke commercial? Well, during the Superbowl on Sunday, Troy Polamalu is going to make his debut in a new version of this commercial. Check it out....what little is being said about it. While you're there don't forget to watch the Mean Joe version again...it brought a tear to my eye!

A Very Interesting Article: A Pediatrician’s View of Rude Children

I think that one of the biggest challenges parents face today is teaching good manners to their children. I think that it is tough for some parents because they, themselves, do not display good manners at home, nor in public. Some parents say that they just don't have the time to teach manners to their children. Hello?!? We are talking about the way your children are being perceived by others and how well your children can control themselves. Make the time to teach them good manners!

Others, like myself, can boast that their children are well behaved and show great manners while out in public--be it in school, in a store or just outside the house talking to a neighbor. I am happy to say that I've received hundreds of compliments from people telling me that I have the most well-mannered children. ***BUT*** that's were it stops. Once inside the house, sadly their manners are forgotten. Why is that? I'm not sure. I'm sure a pychologist would have a field day in our house. -- I'm getting off track and this is a much too deep subject to discuss right now.

I found this article, A Pediatrician’s View of Rude Children, to be of great interest. It made me stop and think back to our last pediatrician's visit and how even though my kids were sick, they were well behaved!

I agree with Dr. Barbara Howard, who said that social skills are necessary for school success. It's shocking to me at the level of social skills (or lack there of) that many students possess today. Since becoming a room parent, I have had several opportunities over the past few years to spend time with many of the students in my children's school. Even in kindergarten -as in my daughter's case - it's easy to spot those children who have been taught manners at home. By time they reach 5th grade - as is my son's case - they are either able to handle themselves in a respectable way (although with puberty setting in, they could "wig out" for a few minutes at any given time) or they are spinning totally out of control with no respect for their teacher, their fellow students or the rules of the school.

While I'm trying to figure out how to go about stopping the "checking of their good manners at the door of our house", please read the highlighted article and let me know what you think about it.

Another Sweet Victory for the Steelers!

Wow! What a weekend for football!

We sat on the edges of our seats and screamed at the TV while watching our Steelers unplug the chargers, surging to a 35-24 victory!! SWEET!!

With the Ravens coming to the 'Burg' next week, it should be another thriller! We'll be there in front of the TV screaming and cheering once again.

If you're not Steelers fan yet, what are you waiting for?!?

WORLDWIDE STEELERS PRIDE!!!

Let's Go Steelers!!

We're sitting here waiting to find out who the Steelers are going to play in the second round of the playoffs next week.

Who will it be?

So far it's leaning toward the Chargers.

Our suprising trip home - Hi Grandma!

We decided to make a surprise visit to Pa. to visit my Mom during the kids' Thanksgiving vacation. The kids were sworn to secrecy for several days before our trip. We decided to leave at night and drive straight through for the 10 hrs. that it would take us to get there. The drive was nice with no bad weather. The kids slept on and off during the trip. We got to see some huge snowflakes in Va. and a little more snow in W.Va. :)

We arrived at our destination really early in the morning. We stopped at the hotel and then headed over to my Mom's apartment building. You have to dial her phone so that she can open the door for you--now remember, she had NO idea that we were coming! We dialed her number and when she answered little sister said "Hi Grandma!" ....there was dead silence. I told my husband to say something quickly before she hangs up not knowing what was going on. On the other end, Mom was trying to click on her TV monitor to see who was calling her. By then my husband said " Hi G** ... Are you going to come down and get your family?" ...again silence...and then she saw us on the monitor and she started screaming....sort of like the TV commercials where they tell people that they've won 10 million dollars! It was perfect!! When we finally got upstairs, she was waiting for us. It was so wonderful to see her!!

My sister invited us to eat Thanksgiving dinner at her house. I can't believe how big my nephews have gotten! It was so nice to see all of them again.

Here's the gang

Little sister and Aunt "K"

This little guy decided to talk to me. Is he cute or what?!?

It was great to see all of my family again! Hopefully it won't be as long the next time until we visit again!

Kindergarten & 5th grade Christmas concert

All of kids' hard work finally paid off. My husband and I were proud of having both of our children singing in their school's Christmas concert this year. Each year the concert features the kindergarten and 5th grade students.

The little ones dressed in pjs for the concert. Can you tell that little sister is as excited as can be? She was so adorable in her pink snowman pjs. :)

Waiting for everyone to arrive

Big Brother is hanging out in the background with the Santa hat on his head (he's on the right).


Let the show begin!

The 5th grade sang first


Up close -- Big Brother is on the top left

Hear them sing a bit of North Pole Rock N Roll!

The kindergarteners sang next and little sister did such a great job singing out for everyone to hear!

Hear them sing a bit of Reindeer on the Roof!

To finish off the night, even the teachers got in on the singing. :)

The 5th grade teachers and the resource teachers sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".

What a great night! A job well done by everyone!

Many thanks to Mr "Jeff", their music teacher, and all of the other teachers and everyone else who helped to coordinate this event!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone reading our blog!

Enjoy all of the wonderful time spent with family and friends. I know that we are enjoying the time together even though we are all cuddled under blankets trying to recover from being sick - not just one of us this time...all four of us are sick! We'll muddle through, though!!

Our suprising trip home to Pa. -- Pittsburgh

No trip back home to Pa. would've been complete without stopping at "The Strip". If you've never been there, it's like no other place that I've ever seen--although my NY-bred husband says that you can say it sort of like a tiny NYC area with all of the street vendors. History on the Strip District.

We were thinking that it might be empty there since it was Black Friday. Boy, nothing was further from the truth! It was packed with block after block of happy-go-lucky people (Steelers fans!!). The air was filled with "How yinz doin'?" and "How 'bout dem Stillers!!"


Some of my favorite places

Did someone say pasta? Oh my word!

The BEST Biscotti! This time my favorite was anise and hazelnut!

I'm from the land of the best fresh baked breads! How I miss going to the local bakery to pick up a fresh loaf of bread on Sundays. Take a look at this Sun-dried tomato and basil bread from Mancini's Bakery... It was beyond words good! I can't find anything like that here in NC.

A walk around town....

Yes, it's crazy. It's doesn't look that special to those who haven't been there but the people are so friendly and the food is great!

Dinner at The Spaghetti Warehouse


We are hoping to make another trip back up there this coming summer.

GO STEELERS!!

Nintendo DS - Pokemon Rangers

My son was never a Pokemon fan until he tried this game.

The game is described as a different kind of Pokemon game. You're still capturing and training Pokemon, but not for competition. Instead, you're working to protect them as a Pokemon Ranger! You use the DS stylus to catch Pokemon, then help them survive in the wild.

It is a strategy game with no real violence--which was a positive to me as a parent! The rules are simple and easy to understand--which is another positive!

Although this game might not be a favorite for the true die-hard Pokemon fans out there, it's a safe, fun alternative to the many violent video games that are out there now.

Nintendo DS - Personal Trainer: Cooking

Have you had a chance to try this game out yet?



I've had a chance to use it and I think that it's a good way to get your kids, who are stuck to their video games, into the kitchen with you. The cookbook contains recipes from several different countries all over the world. You can search for a recipe by the title, by country or by ingredient. You can create a shopping list for each recipe, too.

Your trainer goes into step-by-step details on how to prepare each recipe.



If you don't understand how to do a certain step -- for example, how to saute -- you can ask for more info and the trainer will go into a deeper explination of how to saute food. This is really helpful for older kids who are learning to cook more complicated meals.

The program understands voice commands so that you can cook and not worry about touching any buttons to advance the recipe.

Although this game will never take the place of my love of cookbooks, I do think that it provides some fun family time cooking. I would like to see them come out with a kids cooking version next. In the meantime, my kids and I will continue to have fun trying out new recipes in this one.

It's a girl for Mr & Mrs. L!

Since the beginning of the school year, the kids in Big Brother's class have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the birth of their teacher's baby. They've shared stories and pictures and even met Mrs. L. in person. They took early tests, had early teacher/parent conferences and even voted early in case their little one showed up before ..or on her Election Day due date, Nov. 4. I talked to the nervous Dad-to-be and he told us that they were all ready at home.

It didn't happen. Wednesday, the 5th came and went, Friday the 7th came and went...

It didn't happen. So they waited and waited and waited more.... I don't know who was more nervous, Mr. L or his students!

Big Brother knew that his teacher wasn't going to be in school on Monday due to scheduled teachers' meetings so he waited to hear something. Then there was a visit from Mr. G. ...he had news!

Mr. L. was finally a daddy! Mrs. L. had given birth to a healthy 9 lb. 2 oz. baby girl on Monday, Nov. 10th!!

Big Brother couldn't wait to get home to share the news with us. We're thrilled!!

Mr. L. has been in to visit with his students already. He brought in pictures of Mom and their baby. :)

Now they are awaiting the return of their teacher! They all agree that things just aren't the same without him there.

Congratulations Mr & Mrs. L.!

Enjoy the time with your new baby but
hurry back to us!

~~ Big Brother and the rest of your students

Halloween ~ Better late than never!

We decided not to go trick or treating this year...instead we volunteered at the kids' school fall carnival. The kids' still had a good time participating in the carnival games.

I was in charge of the "Ghost Bowling" game. What a hoot! We made it fun and had a line for much of the night backed out into the main floor. lol! Thankfully 3 other parents showed up to help out + I put Dad to work, too. It certainly was a family event! The money that was spent on tickets to play the games went toward buying new books for the library. :)

Before the carnival: