Aloha Friday | The Angel Forever

Category Archives Aloha Friday

Comment deliquents unite

Posted on June 11, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Thanks to most people reading blogs on Google Reader and other platforms like that, many of us have gotten lazy. I will admit it, I read hundreds of posts and just do not click over to leave comment love to every one. Why? Well, the simple truth is that there is just not enough time in the day. Thanks to this, I try to hit the majority of the blogs that I read and leave comments a few times a week. In addition to this, I make sure to reply to all comments left on my blog via e-mail and visit their blogs. As a community, we need to show each other some comment love.

On Thursday, I wrote Commenting on Comments after watching Telling Dad’s new song parody. It is a gem and really tells a story. We need to do more to let others know that we are reading. We all have busy lives, but taking a few minutes to let someone know at least once a week that you are out there reading and appreciating their work is nice.

So my question to you this week:

What is your general rule about commenting on other blogs? Do you have a system that you use? Please share because I think we can all learn from this and help others out with more comments all around.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #103

Categories:
Aloha Friday bloggy friends me moments

Fun with Play-Doh

Posted on May 28, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Thanks to only using one snow day this winter, NHL was home on Thursday. The minute he woke up he begged to play with Play-Doh. I have fond memories of using Play-Doh as a child. I remember my salon kit, where I could make the Play-Doh people have hair and then chop it off using special scissors or a razor. We also had a Sesame Street kit and others that I can not recall right now.

For some reason, I remember loving Play-Doh until I used it in the classroom and had my own kids. Don’t get me wrong – I still think it is a fabulous item that really helps kids imagination and fine motor skills, but man the clean up is the pits. Just the thought of this bucket of items can bring shivers down my spine.

Thursday morning, I was nice. I let the boys play with the Play-Doh, but I some rules:

That purple octopus, that the kids lovingly call Henry, was not coming out of the box. Picking all of the Play-Doh out of his parts with a toothpick was not on my agenda today (did it last week). Eventually, I did cave and let them use his six removable arms.
The Fun Factory extruder also a no-go. Yes, it is a great toy to help the boys with their muscle building and fine motor. On the flip side, the little guy got Play-Doh stuck in places last week that I had a tough time with. I needed one turn without it.
The Play-Doh sprinkle maker would also remain in the box. Last week the Play-Doh sprinkles that were made wound up all over the table, hard wood floors, carpet, shoes and more.

This may sound harsh, but it still left a lot of options. The kids could use the rollers, scissors, cookie cutters, and other items that mold/shape/cut or help create items, along with their own hands. Thankfully, the boys did not protest my rules too much. They were too happy to use the Play-Doh.

So my question to you this week:

If you have kids, do they like to use Play-Doh? Kids or not, what are some of your current or past favorite sets to use when playing with Play-Doh?

Thanks for any suggestions. I am always looking for new Play-Doh items that are kid tested and adult approved. . . especially when it comes to clean up.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #101

Categories:
Aloha Friday fun jsl looking back messy nhl photos play time sahm

Presents and Thank you notes

Posted on May 21, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Some people may call be old fashioned, but I still believe in hand writing thank you notes to people. If someone takes the time to give you something special, the least you can do is write a note and add a personal touch. I think I owe this to my mother. She taught me to always write my thank you notes quickly and then I could use my new gives or deposit my checks. When we got married, I had my letters out to people within two weeks of getting back from our honeymoon – not too shabby!

When I was teaching, I made sure to mail notes to any student’s at their homes. If it was winter break, I wished them a Happy New Year. When it was the end of the year, I thanked them for a fun year and wished them a wonderful summer vacation. On the flip side, I also worked with my students on the art of letter writing. We read The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (love this book for so many reasons) and talked about the importance of a good "bread and butter" note. We thought about people in our school that helped us a daily basis that could use a nice thank you and wrote them notes to brighten their day. It was always interesting to see who the kids would select from within the building.

Last weekend was JSL’s third birthday party. With the celebration came these presents:

Since the boys are still little, I am the author of their notes. NHL is getting to the point where he can do them, but larger amounts of notes can be too much at six. While I was writing the notes for JSL on Wednesday, I decided to get him involved. I left space on the bottom of the note for him to draw a picture for the recipient with crayons (act surprised everyone when you get them). As I handed the card to him, I told him who it was for. He would shout out their name and immediately begin a special creation for them.

When JSL was done, the card came back to me to go inside the envelope. He was so proud that he helped Mama. I guess getting the kids involved in thank you note writing as young as possible is a good thing.

So my question to you this week:

Do you hand write (not e-mail) thank you notes to people? Why do you or don’t you write them?

P.S. This is my 100th Aloha Friday – I think I need to write Kailani a personal note to thank her for all of these weeks of fun!

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #100

Categories:
Aloha Friday birthday family jsl looking back milestone photos

3rd Birthday Wishes and Themes

Posted on May 14, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It’s official, I am now the mother of a three year old again. Today is JSL’s third birthday and going to be an action packed day and weekend with family and friends. Yesterday, I blogged about the past year of memories with my little fellow – Goodbye to my last two year old.

This year, JSL is quite into Winnie the Pooh. My Wordless Wednesday this week, All things Winnie The Pooh, show cased all of the items that we have been trying to track down. Believe it or not, getting Winnie the Pooh toys/clothing/decorations is not the easiest thing in our area. Had he picked Toy Story it would have been a lot easier since Toy Story 3 is all over the place for the release of the movie this summer.

This made me think about all of the different themes we have had for past birthdays with the kids. Here they are:

1st NHL – Bear in the Big Blue House
2nd NHL – Finding Nemo
3rd NHL – Madagascar
4th NHL – Curious George
5th NHL – Dinosaurs
6th NHL – Cars
1st JSL – Sesame Street
2nd JSL – We were at Disney World

So my questions for you this week:

What was your favorite birthday party theme from when you were a child? Now be a kid again, what theme would you like for your next birthday?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #99

Categories:
Aloha Friday baking birthday decisions food glorious food jsl photos yummy

What’s in a name?

Posted on May 7, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Expectant parents often labor over names for the children. Hours are spent searching for just the right name for their baby whether with books or online sources. When TechyDad and I found out that we were expecting our first child, we did not have to think too much. It is a tradition in most Ashkenazi Jewish families to name for relatives that have passed away. We immediately knew who we wanted to name our baby after. TechyDad and I agreed that we would name our first baby for my Nana and TechyDad’s paternal grandfather.

For quite some time, we looked at boy and girl names that started with our target alphabet letters.Needless to say, we had no problem finding girl names, but always had difficulty with boy names. Then when our ultrasound confirmed that we were expecting a son, the name hunt intensified. We stretched the traditional rules a little when naming NHL, but we were happy and that is what matters.

When we were expecting our second child, we did not think about names until we knew if we were having a boy or a girl. I knew that I wanted to name for my other maternal grandfather, but beyond that things were up in the air. Several weeks before the little guy was born, my paternal grandfather passed away from a long fight with Parkinson’s Disease. From that moment, we knew that our second son would be named for both of my grandfathers. There was no debate really, JSL’s name was very quick and easy.

So my question for you this week:

How did you decide on the names for your children? If you do not have children yet, do you know the story behind your name?

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there!

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha #98