August Moments

Yes these are all true.

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My Grandma Lindgren called my mom and wanted to know how to send a package using email.

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The boys had a friend over to play when John walked in the door from work.

JOHN: Hey guys, ya practice any basketball today?

FRIEND: I practiced like 2 hours.

JOHN: I didn't know you had a hoop at your house.

FRIEND (totally serious): I don't but I have an NBA game on Play Station and I learned some really great moves.

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Sydney was feeling left out at church today. A friend was paying more attention to the new girl in class and Sydney was crying.

ME: Sydney, calm down and quit being so dramatic.

SYDNEY: They won't even look at me.

ME: I am sure that is not the case and I bet your friend is simply trying to make the new girl feel welcome.

SYDNEY: Believe me mom, she feels welcome BIG time. (sniff sniff)

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John found an article stating that BYU was ranked the #1 most Conservative school for 11 years running.

JOHN: So why is it that as soon as I leave, the school gets this award?

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Branson started crawling, waving Bye Bye and eating everything that we are eating.

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Anderson spent seven days away from us at Scout Camp and is now famous for licking a ginormous slug...(the Scout Leaders and Scouts thought I would be shocked at this tidbit of information but I have witnessed Anderson's bizarre behavior many times before...licking a smelly snail while camping last Memorial Day Weekend...licking gnats off the sliding glass door when he was 5...sucking on worms when he was 3...)

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First day of school Photo's...

This is not a posed shot, but the direct result of me saying, "Cayden at least put your arm around your sister..."

Sydney 2nd Grade with Mr. Hernandez

Always a drama queen. After her first day of school her dad was teasing her and asked if she got into any trouble.

SYDNEY: Noooo, Dad. Mr.Hernandez adores me.

ME and JOHN (thinking in our heads): WOW.

Cayden 5th Grade with Mrs. Kuffel

This photo is blurry because I am laughing at Cayden's expense.

MRS. KUFFEL: Can I put my arm around you when your mom takes your picture? Can I give ya a big hug? Can I give you a kiss on the cheek?

Cayden wanted to crawl in a hole and die...but you gotta know Mrs. Kuffel and it was hilarious.

Anderson 7th grade at McLoughlin.

He is excited about his leadership class. He really enjoys public speaking and they will be doing a lot of that. He is in choir again and it is his favorite.

For the Winner of the Books...Take a Look

THE WINNER

I logged on to Random dot org

So it could pick one for me.

It drew out a number

If it's not yours, bummer

The number is twenty-three.

Congrats to Jodi!!!!

Make Room!

Branson deciding to get in on a little bit of doll house action. Macy: Oh No! Let's move him so he doesn't choke on something little.

Sydney: Oh he's alright, there's nothing he can choke on in here.

Uh Sydney honey. It's a doll house. It's a miniature version of a real house which means everything is really tiny. I think I'll call on Macy if a babysitting slot opens up.

Rub-a-dub-dub Photos in the Tub

Kids Poetry Give-away

I have always loved poetry and I was thrilled when Cayden's 4th grade teacher assigned them a weekly poetry assignment. Each week Cayden had to pick out a poem with appropriate words and topics (Thanks to Cayden, in Mrs. Vandervert's class you can no longer read poems about dogs going potty on flowers) he had to read it, tell what he liked and didn't like about it and then share it with the class. Despite the beating our poetry books took as they traveled around in his back pack I loved this assignment! The first few months of school Cayden exhausted all of his favorite Shel Silverstein poems. I have always snatched up poetry books at Good Will, Yard Sales and on the Bargain Racks of Book Stores...I had plenty for him to choose from and after trying several other poets here are some of mine and Cayden's favorites.

Shel Silverstein is one of the best know poets to kids of all ages. His most popular books are Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up and The Missing Piece. To put a fun twist on words try Runny Babbit. This is "A Billy Sook" where the first letter of many of the nouns are traded with other words.

RUNNY'S HAND-NEW BRAT

(taken from Runny Babbit)

Runny got a present-

A lovely hurple pat.

He put it on and pasked his als,

"What do you think of that?"

One said, "Ooh, it's storrible!"

One said, "Yuck-it hinks!"

Now Runny Babbit never asks

What other theople pink.

Cayden found a new favorite poet in Bruce Lansky. He offers poetry books both written by him or selections from his favorite finds. Some of his titles are The New Kid on the Block, If Pigs Could Fly, Kids Pick the Funniest Poems I and II, a PIZZA the size of the SUN, and My Dog ate my Homework.

MY PUPPY LOVES FLOWERS

(Taken from My Dog Ate my Homework)

My puppy's in the garden.

He loves to smell the flowers.

To help them grow my puppy always

sprinkles them with showers.

Taken from If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand by Kalli Dakos

IT'S GROSS TO KISS

Sandy's in love with Timmy,

But Timmy's in love with Sue,

Sue's in love with Jimmy,

And Jimmy with Sarah Laroo.

I'm not in love with anyone;

I'm far too young for this.

Besides, I think it's

germy, gross, and yucky

to kiss!

Kenn Nesbitt has written When the Teacher Isn't Looking and The Aliens Have Landed at Our School

MY DOG DOES MY HOMEWORK

(Taken from When the Teacher Isn't Looking)

My dog does my homework at home every night.

He answers each question and gets them all right.

There's only one problem with homework by Rover.

I can't turn in work that's been slobbered all over.

There are also a lot of really good picture book style of Poetry books. These are great for younger readers just beginning to show an interest in poems.

BAD WORDS (Taken from Giant Children)

She actually said it, she said it in class.

It sounded so nasty, It sounded so crass.

The children stared, the teacher scowled,

The custodian cried, the principal howled.

Then pool little Patti, my very best friend.

She opened her mouth and she said it again.

"Bad words, bad words!" We all began to chant.

"Never! Never! Never! Never say the words...I CAN"T."

THE DUNG BEETLE (Taken from Insect Soup)

There's no reason for discretion

(So let us be discreet)

No need for explanation;

Just say it likes to eat.

RAISING FROGS FOR PROFIT (Taken from Pocket Poems)

Raising frogs for profit is a sorry joke.

How can you make money when so many of them croak?

Giles Andreae also wrote Cock-a-doodle-doo! Barnyard Hullabaloo, and Commotion in the Ocean.

CROCKODILE (Taken from Rumble in the Jungle)

When animals come to the river to drink

I watch for a minute or two.

It's such a delight

To behold such a sight

That I can't resist chomping a few.

Each of Alan Katz poems are set to the tune of kids familiar songs. He has also published I'm Still Here in the Bathtub (Which I realize is missing from my library)

I'M FILTHY, I'M DIRTY (Taken from Take Me out of the Bathtub)

(To the Tune of It's Raining, It's Pouring)

I'm filthy, I'm dirty

Got mud on my shirt-y

On a whim I took a swim

In a puddle with a birdie!

I'm smelly, I'm dusty

From head to toe I'm musty

To be a slob's a full-time job

I guess I look disgust-y.

My give-away is for a small collection of kids poetry books, including some mentioned in this post. One winner will be selected on Saturday August 30th. So leave a comment and WIN!

Keepers!

In July John's brother Ben came to visit and catch some keeper Sturgeon in the Columbia River John & Ben

He brought along his grandson, Houston Cazier. Our niece gave birth to this little firecracker when she was 22 weeks along. He weighed 1 pound 4 ounces. According to his grandma and grandpa he just barely made the cutoff. If he had been any earlier the doctors wouldn't have even tried to save him. At the time Houston was the earliest baby to survive. He spent months in the NICU.
As you can see Houston is a very happy, energetic, almost 3 year old. He is a pure joy to be around and he instantly bonded with Branson. Despite turning three this fall Houston weighs almost exactly the same as Branson. He doesn't look so tiny when he is talking your ear off and climbing the furniture. We hope Houston can come visit again when his Grandpa gets the urge to catch some more big fish, cause we are so glad the doctors considered him a keeper.

Ben, Taylor (Ben's son & our nephew), John, Grandpa Cazier (John's Dad)

Drums Please...

ME: OK kids, who wants to help me draw 3 names out of the bowl?
CAYDEN & SYDNEY (Anderson is still at Scout Camp): I do!
ME: Ok Cayden you go first and then I will take your picture with the name.
CAYDEN: Take it real fast mom cause it's really hard to keep sucking the paper against my lips...wait, let me look in the mirror real quick to see if I look stupid. OK you can take the picture. Did you get my fingers in the picture? Mooooooom, you were supposed to get my fingers in the picture. Do you know how hard it is to keep sucking the paper to my face? Did you get them that time? Good.
SYDNEY: Oh...Kindy won.
CAYDEN: NOT Kindy it's Cindy, it makes the "S" sound.
SYDNEY: Oh. Can I do something silly too? What can I do that is just as silly as Cayden. Can I do the same thing as Cayden?
CAYDEN: No!
SYDNEY: Should I just smile or make a funny face?

ME: No Branson, don't eat the paper, then no one will be able to read the name...No Branson, don't put it in your mouth...No sweetheart turn it around and get it out of your mouth...
ME: Well at least it is legible.

Congrats!!!

Please email me your addresses at Amyjcaz@hotmail.com to earn your reward!

Feathering a Photo with Adobe

1. Take your photo to Full Edit. Find the Marque tool on the left of your screen and right click on it.

2.Choose the Rectangle

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3. Toward the top of your screen pick the amount you want your photo to be feathered (I prefer between 40-80)

4. You are now ready to make your rectangle. You must pick the feather amount before creating your rectangle or you will have to redo your rectangle.

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5. Holding down your left mouse button drag your + to the opposite corner to create the rectangle. If after letting go of the mouse you don't like the size of your rectangle move the + outside of the rectangle and left mouse click. This will erase your shape and you can repeat step 4 until you get a result you like. If you like the shape but need to reposition the rectangle left mouse click inside the rectangle and you can now move it anywhere you want.


6. Hit Control c (to copy) and then Control n (to create a new page). Once the screen below pops up simply hit Enter or click on OK. It will automatically read the size of your photo and create the size that you need.

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7. Hit Control v (to paste) and your photo should appear feathered around the edge.
8. At the bottom right of your screen you will see that your feathered photo is in two layers.

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9. Go up and click on Layers.

10. Scroll down and click on Flatten at the very bottom of the list.

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11. You now have a flattened photo that you can save.

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12. You can also create ovals and circles by clicking on the Oval Marque Tool.

13. Choose your feather amount and repeat the steps above.

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14. This is what an item looks like using 0 Feather.

15. This is an oval feathered at 40

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16 & 17. You can also create circles using this tool.

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18 & 19. To create your own shape click on the Lasso Tool.

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20. Choose your feather amount, left click on the mouse and while holding down on the mouse move the lasso tool around where you want to feather the photo.

21. If you accidentally lift up on the mouse, the lasso tool will automatically connect itself to where you started. Simply click outside of the shape and begin again.

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22. Let go of the mouse when you reach your beginning point to create a connected line.

23. Repeat steps 6 through 11.

Please let me know if this is 1) helpful to anyone 2) understandable 3) confusing. I would really appreciate the feedback. Good Luck!

Well THAT Stinks!

Today I was going to post another How To on Adobe, but that will have to wait til tomorrow. Yesterday I noticed a yucky smell in the garage but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Today...it was really bad. I offered $10 if Cayden could place where the stench was coming from. He found it. Our huge chest freezer has gone bad and with it everything that was stored inside...All 3 of the guys deer from last year, the burgers and steaks, Chicken, Jam, Go-Gurts, a turkey...you get the picture. I even store flour in there and there is no way it escaped the permeating smell. Just opening up the lid had me retching. John was in high spitits since hunting season is only weeks away. He thinks they will all get lucky again and we'll have plenty of meat in no time. Does he not realize that we will have to replace that chest freezer. We just replaced all four back tires on the motorhome and our computer is dying. 1,2,3. Well if what they say is true and these things happen in threes...we are done! Well...I best quit putting off the inevitable, get a gas mask and the dumpsters and get to work. And of course garbage doesn't get picked up until next Wednesday so stay clear of our street for the next few days!

Books of the Summer

Peak

By Roland Smith

JJJJJ This is a great book. A young boy, Peak, loves to climb...anything. After getting in trouble with the law he goes to live with his father who is a famous mountain climber and guide. Peak gets to experience the adventure of a lifetime as he attempts to climb Mount Everest. This was an action packed novel that was very informative about the steps that must be taken during dangerous climbs. There is no language but there are two short parts that hint toward sexual behavior.

Hidden Talents

By David Lubar

JJJJ

This book was a pleasant surprise as it was both entertaining and fun. My mother's exact words, "It was really cute." (And she is pretty picky) Martin is sent away to a 24 hour Alternative School. Despite having a roommate who is a pyromaniac and a 7 foot bully who wants to beat the crud out of him Martin begins to feel at home. Besides the unique and intriguing characters, this book has an unexpected twist towards the middle that really gets things going.

Flipped

By Van Draanen
JJJJ

Staying true to it's title this book started out slow but then about 1/3 into it, "flipped" into a fun, romantic story. Although I am not crazy about Middle School age kids having this strong of a "love" there is nothing in it that should make parents beware. The chapters flip flop between Juli and Bryce as they take turns telling their side of the story, starting with the second grade and ending in the 8th. I loved the creative flare of this book, something you can't really appreciate until you have read the book for yourself.

Fablehaven

By Brandon Mull

JJJJ
I was concerned that this would be yet another Harry Potter wannabe. Kendra and Seth must stay with their Grandpa for 17 days while their parents are on a cruise, but they begin to discover that there is more to Fablehaven than first meets the eye. I have to say that Fabelhaven was an enchanting read without going too over the top in the magic department. It did not disappoint and although it may not be as well written as the Potter series it promises to be a creative delight for anyone who enjoys fantasy.

Can you tell where my books were read by the backgrounds?