Search Results for: label/Alphabe Thursday

Making Memories- Downtown Greenville, South Carolina

August 16, 2012 By Deirdre

We headed to downtown Greenville to take pictures of some of the things JDaniel and I love to do in Greenville. The pictures and activities are being featured on Mama Smiles’ Exploring Geography series.

She has bloggers from all over the world sharing their country or state. We will be sharing our town next week. Actually Greenville is the largest town near our small town and it contains many of JDaniel’s favorite places.

Below you will find some of the pictures I didn’t use in her post, but I thought you would enjoy.

Where did we go in downtown Greenville?

We started in the Linky Stone Park’s Children’s Garden. They had wonderful plants of all kinds. JDaniel really liked having me read the signs for the different plants and then trying to find them.

Then we went to the fountains just along the Reedy River. JDaniel loves running up and down the train track painted on the ground and drinking out of the fountains. I was not thrilled with all the drinking. The water looked and smells clean though.

We headed up North Main Street to enjoy two special treats. The first treat came from Chocolate Moose to split one of their wonderful cupcakes. JDaniel selected an orange dreamsicle flavored one. It was delicious so, delicious that I forgot to take a picture of it.

The second treat came from the Mast General Store. JDaniel usually gets to pick a piece of candy for each brass mouse he can find on Main Street. There is a lot of construction going up and down Main Street. We couldn’t find very many mice not surrounded by cones and plastic walls. We did find a book and game about the Mice on Main in a display case at the Mast General Store. JDaniel thought we could just take a picture of them and then get some candy.

In the back of the Mast General Store are barrels of old fashioned candy. Most are only a few cents each. JDaniel picked out five piece and we paid seventy cents for them.

If you are ever in South Carolina, you really should come and explore downtown Greenville.

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday.

Losing Tree Limbs

August 9, 2012 By Deirdre

My husband had beautiful beech trees planted in the backyard. They are tall and have an elegance to them. Recently they have been losing limbs in summer storms. Not just small branches have been falling although have been dropping down too. It is the large limbs that seem to crack and hang precariously off the large branches following storms.

My husband has been able to get on a tall ladder and cut them down thus far. Although a really large limb cracked last week and I thought we might need to have a tree removal company come and take it down. My husband barely had to pull on this branch for it to come down which was kind of scary.

I have worked at keeping JDaniel away from the branches until they are down on the ground. They make me nervous dangling from so high up.

Once the limbs are on the ground, I am ready to cut the limbs into smaller pieces and drag to the curb. Jdaniel is ready to play in the branches. I tend to give him a morning of supervised play before I start breaking the branches down.

He has loved playing fort in the branches.

Later he likes to peel the bark off the branches with pliers. I am not sure why that is fun for him, but he sure does like to do it.

He could spend all morning peeling bark off and putting it into piles. It is so hard for him to see the branches slowly disappearing to the curb when he time of bark peeling is over.

He really doesn’t need to fuss. We have continued to have summer storms since this limb came down. He could end up with a new branch any day now. I am hoping too many more will come down

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday.

Help! This Duck Has Low Self Esteem!

July 11, 2012 By Deirdre

JDaniel doesn’t have trouble with low self-esteem at this point in life. He is confident about what he knows, how he looks, and who he is. I am working hard to help him have a good and positive self esteem. His self image shouldn’t be filled with arrogance or cockiness but I would like for him to like who he is.

We try to control what he sees and reads. I strongly believe that children can take in ideas from everything they are exposed to and those ideas can lead them to fears, misbelieves and confusing concepts. (JDaniel is only four. I know I won’t be able to always do this.)

Guess what I ended up exposing him to? A horrible cartoon with a terrible message. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until it was too late to stop it. I guess I could have stopped it and maybe should have stopped it, but I let him watch it and talked to him about it as he did.

Here is what happened:

JDaniel and I were at my mom’s house last Friday afternoon. My mom has her TV. on a lot and it was on when we were there. JDaniel noticed the TV wasn’t turned to a kid’s network and he asked her to change the station.

She changed it to a cartoon network and we proceeded to watch a Tom and Jerry cartoon called Downhearted Duckling. Jdaniel has watched Tom and Jerry cartoon with my husband and it hasn’t ever been a problem so, I said it would be alright.

Downhearted Duckling is about a duckling that reads the story the Ugly Duckling and decides he is too ugly to live. He tells Jerry that he is too ugly to live and he won’t believe him. Jerry tries to clean him up and dress him up. He still thinks he is ugly and wants to die.

The duckling then spends the rest of the show trying to be Tom the Cat to eat him. Tom doesn’t know the duckling has a problem and just wants to eat lunch.

At the end of the show a girl duck walks by the duckling who is now wearing a bag on his head. He sees her and tries to run away. She stops him and tells him that he is cute after the bag is removed.

I am glad the duckling finally sees that he isn’t ugly. I am glad he decides to live. I am so upset that a cartoon exists and is being shown at a time when children might be watching it. Some of those children maybe watching it on their own without some sitting beside them telling them the message is wrong.

I know there are children that feel ugly or unlovable. I think that they would totally take what this duckling was saying and his feelings to heart. Maybe they won’t, but I really hate to think that they would.

Beyond this terrible cartoon (This is my opinion of it.) there are so many messages being sent to our children young and old about how to look and what is handsome or pretty.

The duckling did what lots of kids do. He didn’t wait to see how things would turn out. He took the message that fit how he was feeling about himself and he ran with it.

If he had read the story to the end, he would have seen that the ugly duckling had a tough time, but he grew up to be swan.

Whether children grow up to be beautiful on the outside like a swan or beautiful on the inside or both, I want them all to grow up knowing they are each gifted, special , and unique.

I want them to understand that it is totally impossible to be someone else. They can emulate other people and work on areas they would like to improve, but each of them is wonderfully made.

How do I know that I read it is a trust worthy book that shares the truth?

This truth is I want my son to cling to:

“..I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: your works are wonderful…” (Psalm 139:14)

The duckling in the cartoon needs to learn that or he will be back to thinking badly about himself if the girl duckling ever ends their relationship.

My son needs to know that who he is wonderful and special. He may not always here that from the world, but I am working on helping to bury that truth in his heart. I think the duck could have used that too. He had such trouble with his low self esteem.

Disclaimer: I purposely didn’t link to the cartoon I mentioned in this post. If you want to view it, you can find it on Youtube.com. I was afraid to have this post lead traffic to something I don’t want to see have a rise in views.

This post is linked to Pour Your Heart Out and Alpabe Thursday.

Facts I Learned at the Type A Parent Conference

June 27, 2012 By Deirdre

I am so blessed to have the Type A Conference held so close to where I live. It was took me less than two hours to get to Charlotte, North Carolina or conference central.

This was my third year at the conference and it was probably the best conference for me.

Why?

Volunteering

I got to volunteer at the registration table and as a badge checker for a party and breakfast.

Fact:
If you volunteer, you get to meet a lot of new people. You are forced to say awake longer at night, attend a party or two, and interact with people you don’t know.

I am not a party girl, but I did go to them and met some amazing people.

Heather Solos’ Bootcamp Sesssion

Every link should have SEO words not click here or too many details.

Fact:
A cupcake recipe link back should be recipe for cupcakes and not ooey gooey chocolate cupcakes. It is broader and will capture Google searches for recipes for all cupcakes and not just the ooey gooey kind.

Amy Lupold Bair’s Time Management Session

Set out a clear list of things you have to do and things you want to do each day.

Fact:
We try to multitask to complete a whole list of things and end up frustrated at the end of the day.

Lynette Young’s Google+ Session

Google+ is a great place to build a knowledge footprint.

Fact:
100% of your followers see you content. They don’t see all of it easily on other platforms.

Google+ places post into searches faster.

Fact: If you have a Blogger blog, it goes in faster than WordPress blogs.

Your Google+ page needs to be public
Fact:
If it isn’t public people can’t see your amazing posts and follow you.

Melanie Nelson’s Facebook Session

Set measureable goals for growing your facebook presence.

Fact:Deciding on a daily or weekly # of posts shared, # of comments, and # of shares given to you or to others will help you grow on Facebook.

Posting just text on Facebook won’t draw readers to your posting.
Fact:
Placing a picture or video on your Facebook post carries more weight than just posting text.

There is a one hour decay rate for things you post on Facebook.
Fact:
Knowing the best time for you to post is important.

There are several great ways to get readers to respond.
Fact:
You can ask them about themselves, ask readers to click “Like” to respond to a statement, ask yes or no questions. If you ask yes or no questions, ask why they chose that answer.

Adam Keats and Holly Hamann’s Beyond Reviews and Giveaways – Blogger Outreach with ROI for Everyone Session

Understand the objective of a campaign or blog project.
Fact:
Find out for the contact you are working with what the single most important things are.

Building and Maintaining Relationships with pr contacts and project managers is important
Fact:
They will know if you are just staying in contact to just get another project or to get to know them as well as their agencies better. They tend to work with people that they know will get the job done and want to work with them.

I could go on and on about things that I learned. This is just a few things I thought you might want to know about too.

This post is linked to AlpabeThursday

Capturing Memories- Our Journey to NY

June 6, 2012 By Deirdre

Two weeks ago we headed north toward to my sister Kate’s house with my mom and my sister Michelle from Atlanta’s family.

We knew it would be a long trip so, we divided the journey to NY into two travel days. We drove to see family in Virginia the first day and then headed to Pennsylvania on day two.

Day one had a late start for various reasons and he got to Virginia just around dinnertime. After a good night’s sleep and one of us really needed a nice long sleep after a grumpy dinner, we headed to Amazement Square in Lynchburg, VA.

We didn’t need to get to the place we were staying with a different family member in Pennsylvania until bedtime. Amazement Square was the perfect place to spend time.

We started in the canal exhibit. JDaniel was very happy to learn from his cousins how to control all the levers. I think we spent our largest amount of time there.

JDaniel loved the bug and creepy crawler section. He got to look at me with compound eyes.

He crawled up a hill like an ant would using Velcro paddles. This is not as easy as it looks.

After lunch, we continued our journey north. We traveled for a few hours and decided to stop to explore Gettysburg. While most of the family was excited about seeing the cannons and monuments, JDaniel was most excited about finding dandelions.

He has been collecting them like crazy at home and was thrilled to know that dandelions grow in Pennsylvania too.

The following day we headed to Hershey Park. This is a picture of JDaniel and three of his four maternal cousins. He had such a good time going on the tour of the Hershey factory with the big boys.

Hershey Park is filled with lots of wonderful rides for four-year-olds Many of the kiddie rides had little or no line the day we were there. The roller coasters for big kids and adults were packed. JDaniel’s older cousins ended up getting to enjoy fewer rides than he did.

JDaniel loved getting to fly a plane. My husband loves planes and attending air shows. I suggested that he ride this one just for dad.

Well, we haven’t made it to New York yet in this post. I thought I would divide our trip in two days of posts. Tomorrow I will share with you pictures and activities we did when we got to New York.

I hope you will stop by and check out my sister’s amazing yard, a great tree fort, and a visit to a farm open house.

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday.

Accidentally Creating a Star? Star Craft

May 23, 2012 By Deirdre

More and more often JDaniel leaves me awestruck at the thoughts that he is thinking as he creates. Last week we decided to craft and instead of planning the craft for him I asked him to tell me what items he wanted me to take off the craft shelf.

Getting the Star Craft Supplies

He wanted glitter glue, construction paper, and star shaped cookie cutters so, I grabbed each item and headed to the kitchen table. After the items were set out, he took his seat. I didn’t know that he had a plan, but apparently, he did.

Starting the Star Craft

It took no time for him to place a cookie cutter on the paper and start to trace the inside of it with glitter glue. The glitter glue didn’t appear to be working so, I was asked to loosen the top. The top really didn’t need to be loosened. He discovered that fact when the glue oozed all of the insides of the paper.

Spreading the glitter glue

“Help!”

“Help!” he said. “This is not working the way it is supposed to,” he announced.

After screwing the top back on and spreading the blog around the star with a plastic fork, he started the project again with a new piece of paper.

The cap still didn’t seem to be working so, I pried the dried glue off the top. I had noticed the dried glue and had mentioned it, but it had been declared not a problem by JDaniel.

Now when he tried to trace the inside of the star with the glue it flowed easily. He traced the inside of the star loosely. There didn’t seem to be a focus on dragging the glue closely along each edge and each corner of the cookie on some of the stars he made. Other stars were made with close attention paid to their creation.

Tracing around the cookie cutter

Describing His Creation

“Can you tell me about what you are creating?” I asked as unjudgementally as possible. There had to be a reason for the two techniques being used that I just wasn’t wrapping my brain around.

“Mama, some of these are stars and others are constellations!” JDaniel declared. He clarified further by telling me that constellations are not closed up and you have to look carefully to see the picture.

“That makes a lot of sense,” I replied.

“What should be done with them now?” I asked JDaniel.

“At least one should go in my room,” he announced, “ I want to see if it will glow in the dark like a real star.”

I wonder if that was his plan all along or was it just a creative plan that accidentally created a star or constellation.

I guess only he really knows.

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday!

Zillions of Reasons To Thank His Teachers

May 16, 2012 By Deirdre

Last fall JDaniel went to preschool for the very first time. He was excited about getting to go to school. Selecting a backpack and getting new sneakers had him anticipating how wonderful school would be.

The reality of actually getting in the car and going to the school was hard. Walking into the classroom unassisted was a challenge somedays. Making the change from being home with me to being with others for a few hours was not in his plans he would tell me. He in fact told me that he wanted quit preschool more than once this year.

Making new friends was hard too. Thankfully he had best friend in his class! Unfortunately he didn’t think he needed to have any other friends. One was plenty he thought.

We talked through his fears and challenges to change. We prayed before school about how things would go at school. We read books about people that had learned to like school.

Despite everything I did, it was the teachers that JDaniel had this year that made this change from home to school really work for him.

So, I want to take a moment to thank Mrs. D and Mrs. G for all they did for my guy this year.

Ladies-

I brought to you a little lamb who was afraid to join your flock. You shepherded him into your classroom each day with love and welcoming words.

Lamb Handprint

When he needed to face the fact that he couldn’t always sit beside his best friend, you helped him find new friends to sit with. It was hard to have his best friend want to make new friends and sit somewhere else during snack and work time, but you helped him overcome the challenge.

Face Collage

You encouraged him to explore new concepts and express himself in new ways. JDaniel isn’t very big on coloring but he did make wonderful drawings of sea creatures and other things with you.

Drawing of an Octopus, a Squid, and a Cuttlefish

Going from two days to three next year may be a challenge for us just as starting school was this year, but ladies you have helped him learn how to leave the nest. JDaniel will have the experiences he had this year at school to look back on and remember. We will be able to talk about how he overcame his shyness and made new friends. He will be able to tell me about how he learned to share his thoughts at circle time after months of your patient encouragement.

Three Eggs in a Nest

My husband, son and I will always be thankful for all you have done for us!

Thanksgiving Placemat

Love,

JDaniel4’s Mom

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday , Memories Captured and Pour Your Heart Out!

Yes, My Son is Wearing Red Boots and a Construction Hat!

May 9, 2012 By Deirdre

Yes, the little boy on the stepstool with the construction hat and red boots is my son! He picked out his outfit all by himself.

The red boots are his go-to footwear! He loves them! Summer, fall, winter, spring are all perfect seasons to wear them. He wears them to school, playgrounds, and special events like visiting train exhibits. Thankfully his feet don’t grow that quickly. Thankfully he wears them on the wrong feet which he says helps them fit better.!

Everywhere we go, people, comment on them. He has been told that he is a trendsetter and all boy! He just shrugs his shoulder at the comments almost to say that he knew that already.

Yes, My Son is Wearing Red Boots and a Construction Hat!

The construction hat had a purpose too. You see the men that set up the trains had to reconstruct the setup just the way it was in their clubhouse in North Carolina. The hat honors the hard work that it took to build it.

The step stool is a visit the train display necessity. When you are not tall enough to see the display on your own, you have to bring a stepstool. The lady at the welcome counter commented that Daniel remembers to bring it every year.

This is our third year going to the train display when it is set up in May in a local community center. This is the second year that the complete outfit and step stool have appeared there.

Some people might have done a double-take as they watch my son walking across the parking lot with his boots and hat carrying his stepstool. As his mom, I know this is just what is needed to truly enjoy the exhibit.

During our tour of the exhibit, I might have needed to hold the hat because it fell over his eyes when he leaned down to push one of the red buttons that made one of the buildings light up or one of the machines move. By the time we got ready to leave it was back on his head though. You have left the exhibit dressed the way you came.

If you are the mom or dad or grandparent, you have probably taken a little girl dressed in a princess gown to the grocery store or a boy dressed in a fireman’s suit to school. You may have even taken a child dressed as Buzz Lightyear to the nursery at church.

As you entered each of those places, you may have gotten a few double takes as I did at the train exhibit, but I bet you also got a lot of knowing smiles from people who have done the same thing.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday.

When God Needs Bubbles, JDaniel Will Send Them!

April 25, 2012 By Deirdre

“What do you want for Easter?” JDaniel’s Nana asked him when we were visiting her right before Easter

“I want a bubble machine!” JDaniel replied.

“I am going to give your mom the money for it and you can shop for one when you get home,” Nana answered. My mother-in-law doesn’t drive anymore so, she tends to get her grandchildren’s moms to shop for her.

A few days later we went to the bubble maker section at Target. Yes, they have a bubble maker section. It is filled with bubble guns, wands, along with machines.

I placed all of the options out on a low shelf for JDaniel to look over. There were eight different options. That was probably too many to look through. The decision took a while.

Finally, he decided on a bubble laser gun. The gun required batteries so I guess it counted as a bubble machine.

JDaniel was so excited that he couldn’t wait to hold it in his arms. He held it all the way home in its packaging.

When we got home we unpackaged the laser gun and began a search for the right size batteries. We found one in the spot we keep batteries and had to “borrow” one from an unused toy.

Once the laser gun was loaded and ready to go, we took it outside for a test drive. It produced a plethora of the most beautiful bubbles. They had hues of yellow, red, and blue that you could see as the bubbles floated around the yard.

There was a small dilemma for JDaniel. Do you put down your bubble gun before you run after the bubbles or just carry it with you?

Some of the bubbles quickly floated to the ground and popped. Others drifted across the yard and seemed to disappear in mid-air. Some of the bubbles floated up into the air and seemed to float on forever.

JDaniel decided that those bubbles were going to God. “God must need to see bubbles today!” he announced.

Later when the little boy next door came out he and JDaniel had the best time taking turns chasing bubbles and running the bubble laser gun.

When some of the bubbles started floating up again, JDaniel told him about how God needed to see bubbles today. The boy next door told JDaniel that the bubbles were just popping as they floated up in the air due to pressure.

JDaniel didn’t buy his explanation and continued to announce to the bubbles floating up into the sky, “You are heading to Heaven!”

Guess what little science experts from next door started doing after a short time? He started making the same announcement.

I loved sitting on the driveway manning the bubble tray filled with bubble liquid hearing two little boys shouting, “You are heading to Heaven!” to bunches of bubbles as they ran all over the yard.

It was a truly special afternoon! I bet God loved hearing their words and seeing the beautiful bubbles too.

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday!

Earth Day Activity- Backyard Nature Center Table

April 18, 2012 By Deirdre

JDaniel dragged a plastic table off the deck and began searching the yard for items that he could display on his backyard nature center table.

He took the job very seriously and placed only things he really wanted to display on it. Flowers from bushes in the yard didn’t make the cut. Wood and dirt along with other ground coverings were necessary.

Once the items had been gathered, they had to be arranged in a specific way. The background of why each item is placed where was not shared with me by the display’s curator. I was advised that it should remain just the way it is.

When he finished, he was left with a dilemma. Who would visit his nature center table? The two preschool-age boys next door were invited over along with their dad to view it. One visit seemed to be enough for them.

So, today I am inviting you to view his backyard nature center display. A display of this kind deserves visitors beyond the ones available in our neighborhood.

Feel free to stop by often and share your thoughts on this wonderful exhibit. The actual display will remain open until early summer when the director of the backyard will probably remove it.

If you choose to open a display like this in your backyard, please let me know I would love to visit it virtually too.

This post is being linked to Alphabe Thursday.