LEAP DAY 2008 & March Comes Roaring in Like a Lion

Hello Friends! They say March comes roaring in like a Lion, well tomorrow being March 1st and all I thought I'd check the weather. Surprise, surprise...windy, snowy, and cold! A very appropriate entrance for our "Lion" month. (Actually, I just wanted a really good excuse to show my nieces KS and MS this photo of the Lion at Busch Gardens I took last time we went! ) Well for today, since its a VERY SPECIAL day....February 29th (Leap Year Day as kids tend to call it), I thought we should have a PARTY!!! Hey! This is only the 2nd time this has happened in JH's lifetime so why not make it fun, right? All night I've been crafting up some grand plans for our special Leap Year Day. Why not join us in the fun? Feel free to leave a comment below by clicking on the comments link under this blog and share with everyone your ideas for a party or fun day activity for February 29th Leap Year Day or for March 1st coming in like a Lion. It'll be grrreat! Even if you're not having a Leap Year party today, all weekend long can be a fun time to celebrate Leap Year or March roaring in like a lion! Buy some of the Eggo jungle waffles at your local grocery store and eat the Lion ones for a photo op. Why not plan to go to the zoo on March 1st every year so the kids can enjoy having their picture taken near the Lion exhibit? If you are big into scrapbooking, you know this would make a really cool opportunity for a creative page layout! Get out some jungle animal toys and play zoo or safari with the kids. Watch the Lion King dvd together. Observe the wind and get out some pinwheels or weather vane to use. Just make it special in your own way...the kids will have lots of exciting memories til the next March 1st rolls around.

Pictures can be cheerful and uplift the spirits when shared in a happy light. I hope you enjoy future blogs with pictures and captions, or stories revolving around them as I continue to learn more about blogging and website creation. I am thankful for any and all input you share. Express yourself anytime. Other readers will enjoy your comments too! For now, here are some fun suggestions to make the most of today: Visit a pottery/ceramics art store and let the kids create a Leap Year 2008 mug, plate, picture frame, magnet or other memorable keepsake to treasure. Try designing t-shirts (blank t-shirts sold fairly cheap at Michael's craft store in all sizes along with fabric paint) and you can have them say, " Where were you on Leap Day 2008?" or "Leap Day Party 2008". Make them as a family or have a party with friends and make them together to remember the fun occasion. Rent a bounce house for the yard or visit one of those Bounce House Kids Playlands and call it a Leap House. My son, JH, wants to go bungee cord "Leaping" at our local mall where the kids are strapped into a harness and are hoisted up in the air over a trampoline between the 1st and 2nd floor of the mall and continue to "leap" their little hearts out while doing flips and tricks for about 5 minutes time. (cost about $6) This "leaping" event can be enjoyed in your own back yard if you have a trampoline to let the kids leap on at home. Make it into an Olympic event and have a medal for the winners that say, "Leap Day Olympic Champion" or "Leap Day Olympics - Gold, Silver, or Bronz". Construction paper medals work fine for younger kids and can just say, "Super Leaper! - Leap Day 2008". Make a special meal or take the kids out to eat somewhere fun. Have a potluck traveling meal where you write down one part of the meal on 4 different note cards and let the kids pick a card to find out which fast food restaurant they go to first and the card will tell them what part of the meal they are buying there. We tried french fries at McDonalds, Frozen Coke (for the drink) at Burger King, Taco from Taco Bell, and apple turnovers from KFC for dessert. Make up your own menu of restaurants and meal choices and have some fun. Luckily for us all our fast food places are within a few yards from each other...be careful not to make your journey too far in between courses or the "little leapers" will get hungry or thirsty waiting to drive to the next place. This is a fun date idea for teens or couples who just want to have some fun today and mix things up a bit. Remember...today only comes every 4 years so enjoy it while you can! Have fun and don't forget to share your ideas or experiences with us in the comment section today or tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

KIDS CORNER - All About the Nintendo Wii

Nintendo is the BEST!! Has anyone played the Wii yet? Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii comes in less than two -Wii-ks! Yeah! Mario Party 8,Wii Play, and
Super Mario Galaxy are great games for starters with the Wii. Super Mario Galaxy is a good game for beginners. Why? You may ask? Because i've played it before and beat 11 levels plus the first 5 were simple. I think you would enjoy it.
Mario Party 8 is a very good game because it teaches you how to play with the Wii remote, and it is a 4-player game. Wii Play teaches all of the basic rules of Wii including: holding the remote sideways and still being able to play correctly, using the Nunchuk, and using the sensor plus pressing a button at the same time. Try going to the Super Smash Bros. Dojo website to view screen shots of the soon to be released (March 9) Wii game called Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Title of this blog will hyperlink you directly to the site.

Please leave comments for KIDS CORNER here.

Hi KIDS CORNER fans!! Please feel free to leave comments for JH if you liked his Poptarts article or the Top Ten Favorite Video Games list. You can leave your comments to JH right here on this post. In the future I will "post" his articles so its easier to leave comments for him that way. Thanks again for visiting our website and for reading JH's Kids Corner section! Enjoy! JH says he will try to post new fun stuff for kids everyday as part of his homeschooling projects! Yeah! Go JH!

Babies are amazing!

Goodmorning Everyone!

God has blessed us with a wonderful new day filled with cute little feet walking all over my floors with pride! What a sweetie! Little Faithflower is now walking and talking more each day. Its so much fun! Her latest words have been duck (for Donald and Daisy Duck from Disney), Noodle for spaghetti, and Mickey (for who else? Mickey Mouse of course.).
She does almost all the cute hand motions from the Wiggles shows like its nothing and loves it when JH or I join in with her at performing these silly and sometimes exhausting routines. :) She thoroughly enjoys finger plays such as Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Her smile of delight is infectious. Gotta love it!
Her climbing ability is something to pass on though...man does she give me a heart attack sometimes! :) Little Faithflower can walk fast, climb up onto ANY chair, couch or bed in the house and within seconds is either typing on my computer and trying to work the mouse (probably searching for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse online) or is climbing on top of the desk ready to stand up on it. Yikes! I have to be on my toes constantly with this one! She is truly a treasure and a blessing from the Lord though. We love her to pieces and I'm sure she will grow into a wonderful lady living for Jesus.
Her newest antics have been standing on her head and looking through her legs at you upside down and laughing (I guess she thinks its funny that we are upside down when she is doing that). She also finds it amusing to climb into her high chair by herself without warning to let me know she is hungry. Or she will just take something off the shelf in the pantry and bring it to me and then point towards the kitchen and start babbling and walking in that direction as if she wants me to follow. If she wants to watch the Wiggles...she brings you a Wiggles dvd and points towards the tv babbling all the while like she is trying to verbally tell us want she wants. If she wants to watch Mickey mouse club house then she brings her Pluto or Mickey doll and points towards the tv or computer (we watch episodes on the computer too sometimes which is just as fun for her). If she needs her diaper changed, she starts playing with the diaper pail and calling for me or brings me a diaper and hands it to me while pulling on her pants. Smart kid. Might as well let mom change her than stay dirty, right? She may not speak too well yet but she communicates her needs loud and clear. :) Aren't babies simply amazing? God is so good. I love his handiwork at every age and stage of life and development. Its going to be a fun year 2008! I hope you are looking forward to your year ahead with eagerness too! Blessings to all. Next update is on the Joy of turning double digits (10)!

Pictures with Captions

Isn't the world of photography just wonderful? You really can do almost anything nowadays with a little twist of computer magic. One of the many things I enjoy doing with JH is having little photo shoots teaching him how to use my digital camera. He has quite the imagination and desires to make his friends laugh with his silly poses or shots of his toys doing crazy things. This is just one of the many "pictures with captions by JH" to come. I hope you enjoy them all. He has renewed enthusiasm for his photography practice now that we have a website to share them on. This picture is actually the real photo without any computer twists added...JH just thought it would be funny to have the t-rex attacking the last can of his father's diet soda! Scroll down to the bottom of this page to enjoy a full size version of the picture. Thanks for visiting! Faithflower and JH

Welcome and be Blessed!

Hello to all my family, friends and homeschool buddies! I'm so glad to be finally getting a spot to share my creative writing skills! This endeavor should be loads of fun for me and hopefully for you too as the readers. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions on how I can improve the look of the site or suggestions on what you'd love to have me share info about on this site. I look forward to sharing a little bit more of me with all of you. God bless!