Category Archives looking back

Yarn Art Fun

It is no secret that I have a lot of yarn scraps in storage from my knitting. I often wonder what to do with them and how to let the boys have some fun. Over February break, the boys and I were stuck at home thanks to a storm. The boys wanted to do an art project.

Thanks to their request, I started to look around the house for ideas. I found some construction paper and noticed my yarn. I quickly thought of something, so I went and gathered Elmer’s glue, scissors, and my scraps of cotton yarn. I had a mission and the boys were ready to be creative. First I cut lots of yarn into smaller pieces for all of us to use with our project.

Lots of Yarn

Everyone picked out a sheet of construction paper. Then the boys made squiggles of the glue on the paper.

Ready to create

After this, it was time to create our masterpieces. Here are some photos of the boys with their work in progress:

Creating Yarn Art

I watched as the boys picked their yarn and placed them into the glue. Then I got an idea to make something for TechyDad. Here are our creations below. JSL’s is the top, NHL’s is in the middle, and mine on the bottom.

Our First Projects

The boys really enjoyed this, but got sticky from the glue and eventually lost interest. Of course, I had an idea and wanted to do another picture. As I started working on it, NHL came over to help me get colors to use within my work.

My Rainbow Picture

The papers looked really great after they dried. The white glue disappeared and we were able to hang them up. I know that we will definitely be doing this again, and I have another item that I hope to try with yarn art soon.

Do you have any ideas on how to use scrap yarn with kids for crafts? If you do, I would love to hear about your projects. Please be sure to share them below in the comments.

TheAngelForever

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Seeing Bill Nye on The Disney Driven Life

Disney is always close to my heart and running through my brain. Thanks to this love, I write about Disney in education on The Disney Driven Life.

This past week, I continued my story about Bill Nye the Science Guy. I took everyone back five years ago when I brought some students to a special event where Bill Nye was the keynote speaker. Come on over and check it out.

P1010686

My other Education posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!

TheAngelForever

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Vacation Dining

Just after we rang in 2011, I joined Weight Watchers online. My last weigh in was Sunday and I have lost a total of 17 pounds. Not too shabby given the lack of major exercise other than shoveling snow. If you follow my Tweets, I have hinted about weight loss and counting points. Up until now, I have not felt the need to post about it since I am not dieting as much as getting back into a healthy lifestyle mode. Several blogging friends are also on this journey with me and I love that we have each other to talk to.

I have had success using Weight Watchers in the past. Before we went to Disney World in May 2009, I lost 30 pounds. The summer came and I stopped counting points, kept the weight off and then got VERY sick with H1N1. Even before this, I unofficially did Weight Watchers. When NHL was almost almost one, I lost almost 70 pounds and was pretty much at my goal. Going back to work, life stresses, a second pregnancy, and nursing slowly pushed my weight back to where it was after NHL was born.

Now I am back on track and hoping to increase my exercise level as the weather get nicer. Of course, we are going to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration soon. I do not have to tell you that the food there last year was amazing. Let’s be honest, the food at Walt Disney World is some of the best food I have ever had. Here I am in 1983 eating with some characters you may recognize.

DisneyDining in 1983

On our trip in May 2009, I stopped Weight Watchers while at Disney. Thanks to walking over 20,000 steps a day – I ended up losing weight eating what I wanted. My plan for this trip is to do the same. This is my vacation and I am going to enjoy dinner at Boma, breakfast at The Crystal Palace, a slice of Pop Century’s Tie Dye cheesecake, and other items if I want it.

So my question for you this week:

What is your favorite vacation dining experience and why?

TheAngelForever

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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 linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An<br<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
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Island<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
Life

Aloha #142

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Tuesday Tales – Friendship Bread

 

Tuesday Tales

Have you ever had a book that takes you back to your childhood and makes you crave something? That would be exactly what happened as I read the book Friendship Bread by Darien Gee that will be in stores April 5.  Darien Gee, also known as author Mia King, started to think up this story when her eight-year-old daughter brought home a bag of batter to make friendship bread.

The novel centers around characters that meet thanks to the mysterious appearance of Amish Friendship Bread starter in the small town of Avalon, Illinois. The book is filled with the stories of several strong women that form a unique friendship around this baking craze. It is also packed with a lot of different friendship bread recipes.

Friendship Bread

What is Amish Friendship Bread?

It is a cakelike bread that begins with a yeast-based starter batter. When you receive a cup of the starter, you have to follow directions for 10 days and then divide the batter to share with others, and bake some bread for your own family. I remember making friendship bread and trying different variations when we received some starter from a member of my Girl Scout troop. This baking phenomenon has been going on for many years now, and seems to be making a comeback thanks to Darien Gee’s new book. There is even a Friendship Bread Kitchen web site that has the history of Amish Friendship Bread, hundreds of recipes, and other goodies related to this unique batter.

More about Friendship Bread by Darien Gee:

The following is from Darien Gee’s Friendship Kitchen book description page:

An anonymous gift sends a woman on a journey she never could have anticipated.

One afternoon, Julia Evarts and her five-year-old daughter, Gracie, arrive home to find an unexpected gift on the front porch: a homemade loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and a simple note: I hope you enjoy it. Also included are a bag of starter, instructions on how to make the bread herself, and a request to share it with others.

Still reeling from a personal tragedy that left her estranged from the sister who was once her best friend, Julia remains at a loss as to how to move on with her life. She’d just as soon toss the anonymous gift, but to make Gracie happy, she agrees to bake the bread.

When Julia meets two newcomers to the small town of Avalon, Illinois, she sparks a connection by offering them her extra bread starter. Widow Madeline Davis is laboring to keep her tea salon afloat while Hannah Wang de Brisay, a famed concert cellist, is at a crossroads, her career and marriage having come to an abrupt end. In the warm kitchen of Madeline’s tea salon, the three women forge a friendship that will change their lives forever.

In no time, everyone in Avalon is baking Amish Friendship Bread. But even as the town unites for a benevolent cause and Julia becomes ever closer to her new friends, she realizes the profound necessity of confronting the painful past she shares with her sister.

About life and loss, friendship and community, food and family, Friendship Bread tells the uplifting story of what endures when even the unthinkable happens. 

                           

Friendship Bread– Written by Darien Gee – Ballantine Books – April 5, 2011 – ISBN 978-0345525345 – $25.00 hardcover ($15.83 Amazon) and $12.99 Kindle

What I Thought:

It is no secret that I am a fan of Darien Gee’s books that she wrote as Mia King. When I was asked by Family Review Network to check out her latest book, I jumped at the opportunity. I will admit that when I opened up my package, I was a little confused. You see, I had no idea that Darien Gee is Mia King. Once I saw her photo inside the book, I knew it was the same author and wanted to get started.

If it is possible, I think I am even more in love with Gee’s new Avalon Series. Yes, you read that right. Gee will be expanding Friendship Bread into a series about the town and people of Avalon. Of course, we will all have to wait and see if it will be a continuation of Friendship Bread, or pick up with new, related characters from the town. Still, I am excited that there will be more books coming from Gee to read.

What I liked most about this book was the way that Darien Gee weaves in the past, current lives, and even some future information about the five women and their families. We get to see how they are brought together, what happened to them that makes them need the group, and how their love of friendship bread allows them to help others. Gee does an amazing job telling the story and making the reader feel like we are one of the women watching everything unfold before our eyes. Tears, tissues, and clapping were required during certain sections of the book.

Another item that I adore, is the inclusion of recipes to make your own Amish Friendship Bread. In addition to this, there are even more possibilities on the Friendship Bread Kitchen website that was launched recently. You can also join the group in Facebook, and follow along on Twitter. Darien Gee really interacts with her readers. I could see using this book as a Book Club section. If you are interested, there is even a section with ideas and ways to get in touch with Gee.

Now, I must calm my craving for friendship bread until after Passover. I shall sit here and look at all of the recipes that I would like to try and tweak to make them a little more Weight Watchers friendly. At that point, I will be using the card below to make some starter and get a group going here.

Have you ever tried Amish Friendship Bread? If you have I would love to hear about your experience.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter and Bread

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.

TheAngelForever

Disclosure: This post was written for Family Review Network, and Darien Gee who supplied me with the book for review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own genuine feelings. The widget within the review is an Amazon Affiliate where I will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the item should you opt to buy it.

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