Prima Princessa Nutcracker Giveaway

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The winner is Dallas Miao'd! Congratulations!

A little over a year ago, I reviewd a charming DVD called Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake. Now, I'm back, just in time for the holiday season, to review and give away a copy of the DVD Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker.

Prima Princessa, the cute, animated narrator of the movie, is the brainchild of two entrepreneurial moms Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow who get inspiration from their own darling, dancing daughters.

Prima Princessa takes you on a journey to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy! And just like the Swan Lake movie, little ballerinas will be enchanted by her. She is so CUTE! Along the way, the viewer is treated to demonstrations by students of the School of American Ballet as well as excerpts from the professional performance of the Nutcracker by the San Francisco Ballet. And the little girls in the movie are having such a good time! Your little dancer will want to dance along with them.

Any little ballerina is sure to delight in this interactive ballet experience. What little girl doesn't enjoy fairies, toy soldiers, and ballerinas?

I have one copy to give away to a lucky reader who is a US resident. The winner will be chosen by random.org on October 7, so you will have it in plenty of time for the holiday season.

***To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me who would receive this DVD.
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Camera Critters

Welcome to Camera Critters!

Check out Lacy's "new house." She even has a remote for the TV!

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Thank You Award!

My bloggy friend Calico Crazy of Calico Contemplations gave me this ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE thank you graphic, and I can't wait to put it on my sidebar! THANK YOU!

Friday Fill-ins

1. One week ago I was looking forward to my birthday lunch with my mom and sis.
2. I wanted to be a ballerina or a teacher when I was young.
3. Mama told me not to let my ex take advantage of me.
4. This is between you and me.
5. Take your time and you'll be late!
6.This too will pass!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Fogo de Chao for my birthday dinner with my husband, tomorrow my plans include catching up on school work and possibly scrapbooking, and Sunday, I want to rest!

Won't you join us for Friday Fill-ins!

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Thursday 13

I've made it through 44 years, and I'm still relatively healthy, and I'm thankful for that. Below are 13 things about my birthday today that made it a great day!

1. My daughter made breakfast for me this morning! Scrambled eggs with cheese and turkey bacon.
2. My son did the dishes so I wouldn't have to.
3. I got to spend some quality time with my husband this morning.
4. My day included some "alone" time, and I got to watch something on TV that I wanted to watch, for a change.
5. I got a free sub sandwich (The Italian) at Firehouse Subs, and it was delicious! If there's one in your area, you can sign up for their birthday club.
6. I got to have lunch with my children.
7. A few people called me with birthday wishes.
8. Facebook friends left encouraging, happy messages for me.
9. I had to attend a child support hearing that I was very worried about, but the outcome was fair and favorable.
10. I got some lovin' with my kitty! My cat totally destresses me!
11. Scrapbooking supplies came my way!
12. Bath products I love were also part of my gifts!
13. I attended my Bible study tonight, and it was so good. I feel refreshed.

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Right Now

It's my birthday, and once again, I have a major event. My grandfather died two days before my 11th birthday. My 40th b-day was spent in a crummy motel room in Port Lavaca during Hurricane Rita. Last year, Hurricane Ike had ravaged our area shortly before my birthday. This year, on my very own birthday, I "get" to attend a hearing to discuss child support issues/medical reimbursement/and possibly, visitation. I'm nervous about it. I need a favorable decision. The hearing was partially my choice. It may keep us from having to go to court, which is helpful. I'm just nervous.

Since the hearing is in the afternoon, and I had already signed up to take a whole day off, I'm going to spend an hour or two with DH in the morning then take the kids to lunch. They will only miss their lunch period and homeroom class. And I get a free sandwich from Firehouse subs!

Next subject in my jumbled brain is TV. I am usually on the computer and not really watching TV, but I decided to try two shows I'd heard were good. One of them is Castle. I remember Nathan Fillion from his One Life to Live Days. It's hard to picture him with a teenage daughter now. But even harder to picture is a grown-up Doogie Howser dating, having sex, later getting married and having children on the show How I met your Mother. I also watched it for the first time. Neither show really grabbed me, but I will give them another chance.

Yesterday with my advanced classes, I used the "shared inquiry" technique for class discussion on a reading selection, and it went so great! The first group did extremely well leading themselves in discussion, and the second group did reasonably well. It was a good day with my classes. I need to have more of those. And I went to watch one of our 7th grade teams play football. They didn't win, but that's okay. They get so excited when a techer attends a game.

Those are my thoughts for today. Thanks for taking the time to read them.
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Wordless Wednesday

Clear Lake High School Marching Band and Color Guard 2009

(that's my step-daughter in the jester outfit on the left side of the field on the 40 yard line)

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Sunday Scrappin'

Welcome to Sunday Scrappin', a weekly meme for traditional scrapbookers, digital scrapbookers, or paper crafting of any kind. Won't you consider joining us, please?

The best thing about my week was that I received this awesome paper storage system for my birthday. Technically, my birthday is next week, but my sister, a fellow scrapper, brought this to me on Saturday, and I'm so excited!



This week I made one birthday card.


I also made six digital scrapbook pages. The digital pages will be part of a notebook I make as a gift for my mom. I use Smilebox to create my pages, and I can save them to my computer as jpgs and print them. I did this for her last year, and she loved it, so I want to continue it. I print on cardstock and place the pages in plastic sleeves in order in a binder. Fun gift!

This week, I hope to get my paper storage put together and maybe scrap a page or two - the traditional way- because I really enjoy it!

Next week's optional challenge: frame it. I have seen some neat photo projects lately where the image is framed inside a tv or another box-shaped object. What kind of creative frames can you come up with?

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Say it Forward

5 Minutes for Mom, one of my favorite blogs, hosts a Friday meme where bloggers can recognize their loyal commenters, Say it Forward.

I want to recognize a fairly new commenter on my blog, Calico Contemplations. I am just getting to know her, but she has already left me a few positive comments, and we all blog for that! To know someone is reading it and that they care enough to comment... it's part of what we love as bloggers. So, Calico Contemplations, this is for you. Please feel free to post it on your blog, and I look forward to more comments as well as visiting your blog more often.

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Thursday 13

This week, I'm going to list things in the room (my living room) that start with the letter C! I hope I can come up with 13!

1. Computer - I'm on it right now. I could also use it for the letter L since it's a laptop. The desktop is also here, over there in the corner.
2. Cat - I love my cat! Lacy got a bath tonight!
3. Curtains - black with a gold brocade pattern.
4. Cup - out of which I am drinking my water.
5. Carpet - actually a rug, underneath the coffee table.
6. Coffee Table - see number 5 !
7. Candles - I love them! I have several; some in sconces, some on the mantle, and some by the hearth.
8. Cross - I have a PartyLite wrough iron cross (that also holds a candle) on the wall.
9. Calculator - to help with math homework.
10. Cell phone - Just got it Monday, and I'm lovin' it!

11. Couch - where I'm sitting!
12. Clock - I gotta know what time it is!
13. Cardboard box with the pet treatment in it that I am going to use tomorrow.

Hey, that was easier than I thought it would be! Please check out Thursday 13 for more fun!

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Heads or Tails and Give Me 5 Monday

Scroll down for Give Me 5! Or stay here and read Heads or Tails first.

HEADS - "Way"

*OR*

TAILS - "Rhymes With Way"

No way can I have a day like today every day! It started with getting ready for work, feeding two kids, making sure they had all their things, and taking them to school. Then, I worked all day. After work, I had to go to the Verizon store. I got my new phone! Yay!

After Verizon, I went to the bank and the dry cleaners. I then came home to cook an awesome meal, Stuffed Chicken Valentino, green bean casserole, and rice. After dinner, I had to go to the mall to return a shirt and help my husband choose a new shirt. Three stores later, we left the mall and headed for Walgreens and Kroger. As soon as we got home, I made lunches for three of us for tomorrow, showered, and I finally sat down to rest 14 hours after I got moving this morning. And after I sat down, I did my Ladies Bible Study homework for Beth Moore's study of Esther. No way can I do this every day!

Today, Becca's Buzz asks us to...

Give Me Five of your favorite ways to be crafty or creative.

1. Scrapbooking - I love to scrapbook and wish I had more time to do it. I also like to make cards for special occasions.

2. Cooking - Experimenting with new recipes such as the Stuffed Chicken Valentino I made tonight.

3. Photography - I love to take pictures of my kids, events, even everyday things.

4. Slideshows - I love to make slideshows from photos and give these to people on their birthdays or holidays. I can use Adobe Premier, Pinnacle Studio 11, or Slide.com

5. Movies - I love practicing making "movies" out of videos I've shot. Anything that involves photos, videos, and a computer... I'm right there! I prefer using Pinnacle Studio 11.

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Remember Ike

One year ago, Hurricane Ike hit our coast and ravaged through Texas and farther north.
We were lucky.

Others were not. In fact, my friend Kris is still dealing with the aftermath of Ike.

We evacuated at the last minute and drove south, away from where the storm would make landfall, to Corpus Christi. We stayed there two days. We returned to find only minor roof damage and, of course, a missing fence.

But the surrounding areas, particularly Seabrook, Kemah, Bolivar, and Galveston, sustained life-changing damages. Schools, hospitals, homes, restaurants, retail establishments... so many people suffered and still do today. But our community pulled together to help those affected, and there are so many stories of hope like this one. And there are still stories that are sad, like this one.


You're invited to read this post that I wrote September 13, 2008. It includes a poem I wrote that is very dear to me.

Ike was not my first experience with a hurricane. These are the hurricanes (and one really awful tropical storm) to enter the Gulf Coast via Texas during my lifetime. Many others threatened us and produced storms, but these actually made landfall in Texas.

Beulah (1967)
Celia (1970)
Allen (1980)
Alicia (1983)
Brett (1999)

TS Allison (2001)
Rita (2005)
Ike (2008)


History of Hurricanes to Hit the Gulf Coast (very interesting info!)

Governor Perry on Remembering Hurricane Ike

Galveston Remembers Ike

You might also like my post Remember 9/11

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Remember 9/11

I can vividly recall where I was, what I was doing, where my children were, and the unreal feelings I had when the World Trade Center was attacked - NO - when America was under attack on September 11, 2001. Regardless of politics, opinions, and whatever is going on in the country today, I am proud to be an American. My hope is that we can remain united and fight against terrorists who would bring us down simply for who they think we are. I will never forget 9/11. Will you?

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Thursday 13

I just began my 21st year of teaching middle school English/language arts. It would be my 22nd year, but I had the good fortune to be a stay-at-home-mom for one year, four years ago. I LOVED IT! Here are 13 things I miss from that wonderful year in my life.

1. Being able to walk my children to school for 4th grade or take my step-daughters to school and pick them up.
2. Substitute teaching on days when it was convenient for me so I could still have interaction with students and earn some money, too.
3. Working part time at one of my favorite stores, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, for a few months.
4. Having time to do a thorough house cleaning on a regular basis.
5. Being able to plan family meals on a regular basis because when I'm working full time all day, I don't always feel like making a nice family dinner.
6. Having the flexibility in scheduling appointments of various kinds.
7. Having a candle business on the side with time to do home shows and interact with other adults.
8. Having the mental energy at the end of the day to help with homework.
9. Volunteering at the school store where my children attended.
10. Being able to have lunch at school with my children.
11. Having the occasional lunch with my husband.
12. Being able to volunteer at church.
13. Naps.

I know I could think of so much more (having a little "me" time, for instance)! I cherish my one year as a stay-at-home-mom even though it was probably just as busy, if not more, than I am now. Happy Thursday 13!

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Wordless Wednesday

My new favorite tee-shirt! I am the Forgetfulone!

Check out more Wordless Wednesday!

Decision

For over a year, I struggled with a MAJOR decision, whether or not to stay married. I had been considering leaving for a number of different reasons. I was practically on the verge of moving out four months ago. I won't go into detail here because I tend to write more personal stories on my journal blog. Many factors went into my decision to stay here and continue to muddle through this "blended family" situation. But I recall exactly where I was when I experienced the defining moment that influenced my decision, the parking lot at Cullens restaurant. Our marriage has been so much stronger the last couple of months, and I pray that it stays that way.

The topic at Heads or Tails this week is DECISION.

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Sunday Scrappin'

Welcome to Sunday Scrappin'! Please check out our home and join us!

Ta-Da's - It took me two weeks, but I got 6 pages completed in 3 2-page layouts.

To-Do's - Whatever I am able to accomplish. Since school has started again, it may not be much. I really need to get some completed pages into their albums, so perhaps that is a good goal for me this week.

Optional Challenge - I didn't take part in last week's challenge because I didn't have anything ready to post last week.

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