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Birthday Wishes for TechyDad – 2011

Posted on August 3, 2011 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Today, I am breaking away from being completely wordless to wish my amazing husband, TechyDad, a happy birthday. For ten years, we have celebrated your big day as husband and wife. Eight years ago, we sat wondering on your special day when our first child would be born. Of course, that would be just two short weeks later.

Thank you for being the most amazing husband who gets my love for all things Disney and is now a proud NDD at The Disney Driven Life.

I love Tweeting to you and texting sweet nothings so the kids can not spell them while in the room. Wow, how things have changed in a few short years. I can not wait to sit and relax together on our belated 10th Anniversary trip without the kiddos.

At least then you can sit by a slightly larger pool and not worry about getting hit in the head with a water toy by the boys.

The boys are so lucky to have you as their father. It isn’t every parent that would go running into the splash area at the park.

Thank you for being the man of my dreams and riding this adventure of a life with me. I love with with all of my heart and hope to have many more amazing years together.

Love,

Your Angel Forever

Previous Birthday Posts to TechyDad:

Categories:
birthday dreams jl jsl laughs looking back nhl photos TechyDad Wordless Wednesday

Carnival and Chocolate

Posted on July 31, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Yesterday, I wrote all about our travels to Canada, Australia, India, Russia, France, Mexico, and China while staying home. Thanks to the Passport to Fun programs at Michaels, we had the adventure of our life at the local craft store. In the end, we went to eight of the eighteen countries. We missed two because the boys were still in school at the end of June. Then, I completely forgot about the Egypt day on June 25 and Bahamas on June 28. Luckily, I got our act together in time for Canada and beyond. I wish we had been able to make a few others, but they did not work with our schedules and two did not seem age appropriate for my kids.

On Saturday, the program ended with Brazil. What a way to end it making Rio Carnival masks. The boys had a blast working on these with all of the glitter, feathers, and sequins.

Brazil

Of course, while in Michaels we HAD to check out other items. TechyDad looked for a case to house his grandfather’s old telescope in. Both of the ones in stock were cracked, so we are waiting on that. Then, we looked around for ideas to use for NHL’s 8th birthday. NHL has said that he wants lions and other animals as the focus. We chatted about it while walking around and came up with a safari theme. Seems perfect since he loved the Safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I know one day I would love to take him on the African Trek I went on.

While checking out the Wilton cupcake making supplies, we wandered over to their chocolate mold section. NHL fell in love with some things there. TechyDad thought they were really interesting and said we should use our coupons and pick them up. So we did. Don’t these look fun?

So we will be making the Oreo/Pretzel molds to go along with some kind of lion cupcake. Do not think there will be time to paint the chocolate and make it pretty, but it’s still fun and something the kids can help with. If you have any lion cupcake suggestions – I would love to know.

What have you been up to this weekend of July?

Categories:
arts and crafts baking birthday decisions Educational food glorious food fun jsl local event nhl photos summer TechyDad weekend yummy

Summer Full of Crafts Around the World

Posted on July 30, 2011 10:03 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

Over the last month, we have spent a lot of time at a very unlikely location. Michaels may be one of my favorite stores to go and get baking, yarn, and other fun crafting supplies. The two of you like to go there, but it was never a favorite. This summer, Michaels teams up with crafting sponsors to have their Passport to Fun program. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, they had items to make and take that went along with their passport filled with countries. Over the weeks, we not only went to Cananda, but several others.

We traveled to Australia where you made a Koala Bear pin and Aboriginal Art using chalk.

In India, you made elephant pins with different fun glitter glues and henna hands with markers.

For our time in Russia, nesting doll puppets and a bear pin were our adventure. Both of you were excited to make your own nesting dolls like the ones at Mimi’s house.

Oui, we went to France. While there, you made a cute Frenchman pin and then had an amazing time showing your Impressionist style using Crayola Twistables Slick Stix. I have a feeling we may be buying some of these for future fun.

Our trip to Mexico reminded us of the suns at the Mexican area of It’s a Small World. You used Crayola Model Magic to create your own suns and also made a tissue paper flower.

China was a little messy, but lots of fun. You were able to try some Tibetan sand paintings of your own.

Today is the last of the events for Brazil. I know that I am sad to see this part of our summer over. Luckily, I have a lot of crafting supplies home and we can try some of the other items that were located in the great passport from Michaels. Yes, it has been a fun summer filled with new crafts and learning about different locations in the world. I know both of you will remember much of this. I hope we can continue to explore these items for the rest of the summer.

Love,

Mommy

_______________________________________

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arts and crafts Dear Kid Saturday Educational fun interesting jsl local event nhl photos summer

Kid Style Chocolate Blind Taste Testing

Posted on July 27, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Disclosure: This was a free event at a local library. Thank you to the amazing librarian for organizing this event. I know my boys had a fantastic time and we all enjoyed staying dry during the storm that passed while participating.

Categories:
brothers food glorious food fun jsl local event nhl summer Wordless Wednesday yummy

Tuesday Tales – Goodbye Borders

Posted on July 26, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

As a teacher, I received a lot of gift cards to the local book stores. The most popular, for a while, was Borders. I was able to go and shop for myself, my classroom, and my family. With my free Borders reward card and teacher discount, it was a nice place to go and play.

When NHL was little, we used to go to Borders and spend a lot of time there. He would wander around the store, practice walking, or nap in his stroller while I would gawk at books to use in my classroom. When we would go to our local mall, we would always park by Borders. The kids always begged for a new book. Sad to say that TechyDad and I often caved at the bargain book section – especially before a trip away.

When we heard that Borders was going to close and start to liquidate their inventory, we figured we would head over there to see what was going on. The first day of the sale was during the heat wave, so it was the perfect location to spend time walking up and down the aisles.

Something caught me off guard. NHL, almost 8, asked me why Borders was going to close. I told him that sometimes businesses are not able to stay open, so they are going to be closing all of their stores. He was visibly upset and told me that he was sad. He stood there in the store recalling times that we had gone there together. He remembered books that we had bought, events we had participated in there, and on and on.

We walked around looking for something to get the boys. I was intrigued with some math/reading books for NHL, but passed. Instead, we got him a new Sudoku book for the summer and beyond. Then, I noticed the Geronimo Stilton books from Scholastic. My eyes noticed the one on Niagara Falls. NHL eventually agreed that he wanted to try that chapter book since it looked interesting and very different. Then, it was time to find something for JSL. He fell in love with a Winnie the Pooh book about the new movie. I agreed and he is in love with the Read-Along CD. He has never used one of these before and loves the character voices telling him the story for independent reading.

I also picked up a non-book item for TechyDad. They had Envirosax. They happened to sell the Sesame Street variety there. I was in luck, they had one of the Grover bags left, so grabbed it.

While paying, it was sad to realize that this was the last time I will use a gift card at Borders. It may be the last time we buy something at Borders. Of course, the memories of the times spent there, and the books we will continue to read that we bought there will live on.

What memories do you have of Borders? Did you go to their Harry Potter or Twilight Parties? Will you be going to their sale to see about getting some books to put away?

What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.