A Little Aquarium Fun In Gatlinburg, TN

*We were provided the tickets for this visit Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN. If you are ever in the area, definitely check it out.

Mission Completion! #NaBloPoMo

Its done! National Blog Posting Month 2012 is over today. I fought hard this year not giving up. Seriously hard. I just didn't think I had it in me from the get go. Thing is, the more I doubt myself, the more I drive myself to do things. Its a blessing and a curse I suppose.

Now, we go back to the humdrum of regular posting. I challenged myself this summer to post at least three times a week and I was doing well at it before this month. Through the holidays though, I think I  will keep the three times a week goal though. I know this season tends to be a little crazy. I know there will be a lot of local postings like there always are around this time of year but I've also got some neat giveaways coming and of course there are the normal shenanigans that just seem to accompany my day to day life.

For now though, I will take a little break over the weekend and be back fresh next week.

Did you participate in NaBloPoMo this year?

Festive Fernbank Offers Holiday Delights, Treats and Events!

Holidays are cultural expressions of a variety of traditions, and Fernbank Museum of Natural History is showcasing the many great ways to celebrate this season. As part of the special exhibition Winter Wonderland: Celebrations & Traditions around the World, Fernbank is hosting two special weekends filled with festive ways to enjoy the holidays.

Among the dozens of trees and displays that represent holidays and traditions representing cultures across five continents, Fernbank will feature the Caroling & Cookies Weekend on December 1 and 2, followed by the Laughing Pizza Holiday Concert on December 8.

CAROLING & COOKIES WEEKEND

Scheduled Activities for Saturday, December 1

Activities are offered from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., unless otherwise noted and are subject to change.

• Santa-saurus Ornaments Create your own Fernbank Santa-saurus ornament to take home with you.
• Snowflake Rubbings Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Create your own snowflake to take home.
• Cookie Corner A variety of fresh-baked holiday cookies will be available for purchase.
• Train Rides* 10 am – 4 pm, Dinosaur Plaza Hop aboard Fernbank’s Santa-saurus Express train. Tickets are $3 for 1 ticket, or $10 for 4 tickets. *Weather permitting.
• Holiday Photo Opportunities 10 am – 4 pm Commemorate your visit with a special Fernbank holiday photo. Choose from a variety of backgrounds and have your photo printed on-site. Photos are $15
• Buckhead Girls Choir 10:30 am and 12:30 pm Enjoy a variety of holiday and cultural songs. This unique group teaches girls to sing in different languages and styles, explore musical theory and gain performance experience.
• The North Pole Fa-La-La Follies by Lee Bryan, “That Puppet Guy” 10:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, Auditorium (Limited Seating) Get ready for hilarious holiday high-jinx as some talented residents of the North Pole perform in their annual talent show. “Yule” love it!
• Georgia Boys Choir 11:30 am Celebrate with holiday songs performed by the Southeast’s premiere musical organization for boys, the Georgia Boy Choir.
• Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker Ensemble. See short pieces from Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker and other holiday favorites performed by the students from Atlanta Ballet’s Centre for Dance Education.
• Pope High School Chamber Music Society. Listen to delightful holiday music from this small string ensemble

Scheduled Activities for Sunday, December 2
Activities are offered from noon to 4 p.m. unless otherwise noted and are subject to change.

• Roaming Santa-saurus Be on the lookout for Fernbank’s NEW dinosaur mascot, Giggy A. Dinosaur. He’ll be making special appearances dressed up as Santa-saurus.
• Santa-saurus Ornaments Create your own FernbankSanta-saurusornament to take home with you.
• Snowflake Rubbings Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Create your own snowflake to take home.
• Train Rides* Hop aboard Fernbank’s Santa-saurus Express train. Tickets are $3 for 1 ticket, or $10 for 4 tickets. *Weather permitting.
• Holiday Photo Opportunities Commemorate your visit with a special Fernbank holiday photo. Choose from a variety of backgrounds and have your photo printed on-site. Photos are $15
• Cookie Corner A variety of fresh-baked holiday cookies will be available for purchase.
• Buckhead Girls Choir 12:15pm, 2pm, 3pm Enjoy a variety of holiday and cultural songs. This unique group teaches girls to sing in different languages and styles, explore musical theory and gain performance experience.
• Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker Ensemble. See short pieces from Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker and other holiday favorites performed by the students from Atlanta Ballet’s Centre for Dance Education.
• The North Pole Fa-La-La Follies by Lee Bryan, “That Puppet Guy” 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, Auditorium (Limited Seating) Get ready for hilarious holiday high-jinx as some talented residents of the North Pole perform in their annual talent show. “Yule” love it!

Cost: Unless noted, all Caroling & Cookies Weekend activities are included with Museum admission and are free for members. Check out Fernbank’s holiday Membership sale at fernbankmuseum.org!


LAUGHING PIZZA HOLIDAY CONCERT

Saturday, December 8- Presented by Shumate Heating and Air

Doors open at 10am. Laughing Pizza will perform at 10:30am, 11:45am, and 1pm.

Don’t miss this award-winning family band performing a variety of original holiday tunes. Guests will also be treated to special performances by the Atlanta Circus Camp and enjoy ornament-making crafts. B98.5 FM will be broadcasting live and handing out a variety of great prizes.

Laughing Pizza is a real family band that writes and performs all original pop-music for families. Their music videos can be seen every day in over 18 million homes on PBS stations and TV On-Demand around the country. This mom, dad, and daughter trio travel across the nation performing at theatres, museums, music festivals, nightclubs, schools, and other venues –including the White House (twice, including with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers). Laughing Pizza has also been featured on the Today Show, CNN, and FoxTV, as well as in Money Magazine, The New York Times, Atlanta Magazine, Star Magazine, and the Huffington Post among others. Mom and Dad, Lisa and Billy, are both classically trained musicians and former music teachers with a history of success in the music business – including a #1 Billboard Dance Hit and a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell. Emily, their 15-year-old daughter, plays multiple instruments including flute, drums, guitar, piano, and bass – and co-writes all of the Laughing Pizza songs with her parents.

Cost: Included with Museum admission and FREE for members. Check out Fernbank’s holiday Membership sale at fernbankmuseum.org!


WINTER WONDERLAND: HOLIDAYS AND TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

Enjoy a season of celebrations during Fernbank’s 3 rd annual Winter Wonderland, on view through January 6, 2013. This holiday-inspired exhibition features trees and other displays decorated by local cultural partners that recognize celebrations including Christmas, Hanukkah and the Festival of Lights, as well as traditions and practices like origami, indigenous art and national symbols. The exhibition twinkles with lights, glimmers with color, and shines with a variety of cultural ornaments and emblems that recognize the diversity of celebrations, holidays, traditions and events around the world.

Cost: Included with Museum admission and free for Members. Check out Fernbank’s holiday Membership sale at fernbankmuseum.org!

FERNBANK MUSEUM VISITOR INFO
Fernbank Museum of Natural History is located at 767 Clifton Road, NE in Atlanta. Admission is $17.50 for adults, $16.50 for students/seniors, $15.50 for children ages 3-12, and free for children ages 2 and under. Admission is also FREE for Museum Members.
The Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The Museum is closed Christmas Day. For tickets and more information, visit fernbankmuseum.org or call 404.929.6300.

#PhotoMojo Instagram Challenge: Weeks 3 and 4

Thirteen through Twenty Six of the Photo Mojo: Instagram Challenge!*

Breakfast

Dead (not really)

Shoes





Yellow

Collect

Secret

Green



Down




Fake

Thankful

Black

Pretty

Big/ Little

Excited

*I have been having issues with my cell phone since we moved to the new place and I am in the process of switching carriers so I haven't been able to upload pictures to Instagram. I hate that its been an issue but c'est la vie, no?

Pros and Cons of Being a Working Mama

Dressing up sucks.



Business lunch. A definite perk.

Traffic? Yeah, not cool.

Peeing unattended = win.

Finally Monday

Its finally here. Monday. Last week was a crazy one for sure. It feels like the holidays are coming up fast and by George they are. Like a freight train on crack.

Image via Etsy

This year has seemed like it was going by in some sort of slow agony all year. Dragging on and on in a twisted maze with some sort of weirdness waiting around every corner. Looking back now though, it seems like it flew by more like a tornado. Dusting up emotions and craziness in its path instead of debris and trailers parks.

This close to the New Year though, it all moves at warp speed. Christmas is one month from yesterday. We have one month to squeeze in all the Christmas extravaganza fun we can handle and then move quickly on to looking back at 2012 as it was.   It wears me out just thinking about it.   Its gonna be awesome though. All the lights and decorating and running and wrapping and eating and collapsing. I kind of thrive on that kind of crazy. I love to be busy and have things to do and places to be. I have never been much of a homebody.   So, here goes nothing. Are you ready? Set? Go!

RAK in November: Week Four

*If you need a refresher on what on Earth I am talking about, go HERE first... 30 things in 30 days is the goal.

This week:

-We got a big bag of sugar free candy and the boys had fun handing it out at the nursing home. The residents loved getting treats and seeing the boys. The boys love going to the nursing home and having so many "grandparents" that love them.

-We took the boys' old coats to a local children's home (Open Door). The combination of the normal warm winters and the way these two grow meant their old coats were in new condition. Hopefully another child will get more wear out of them.

-We took some of the boys' baby toys to the preschool for the baby class to enjoy. It was hard for K to let go of some of the things he thought were really cool but he got to play with the babies for a bit and that made it all better. K loves babies.

-I dropped of a box of old women's magazines at the local health department. Last time I was in there getting D's EED for school, all the magazines were from 2005. They were in serious need of some new reading material.

-I gave the boys both a pack of silly bands and set them loose to hand them out to the other kids on the playground. They were both a little shy at first about it but they made lots of friends!

-While we were at the playground, we took a walk around the park and I picked up some of the trash that people had thrown on the ground. People are gross. Seriously.

-I let the boys pick out 10 coloring books and crayons and we took them to the Children's hospital that has always been so good to us (CHOA).

We did a lot more running around this week than we usually do but it was all worth it. I'll admit too though that we did a few at once. We also got some of the clutter out of the house, which kind of takes away from the selflessness  little. Oh well. Did you do and RAKing this week?

Thankful 4.0

Every year I post on Thanksgiving about the things I am thankful for. I am generally a very gracious kind of person. My needs are few and I am beyond grateful for anything anyone throws my way. This year, though, has been quite a doozey on me and my emotional state. Its been full of ups and downs and twists and turns. I'm not gonna lie, being thankful has been harder for me this year than it has been in the past.

However, I am still thankful. Maybe even more so than I ever have been. I am thankful for my little boys this year more than ever before. They have been my driving purpose. My comfort and my warmth. Even the reason I got out of the bed for awhile. They have always known how to make me smile when I was down and make me forget my troubles. This year they have been my purpose. Everything I have done and worked towards has been done with a renewed purpose to better their lives (please don't let my babies suffer other's mistakes anymore). Without those two little smiling faces I would have been a lost person in every sense of the word. I thank everything that is for them.

Then there has been the support crew. My mother and father, who have been divorced for 13 years and hadn't spoken in 10, came together to help my boys and I out. They have done everything from supporting us financially while I found a job to giving us shelter when we had no where else to go to supporting me emotionally and lifting me up when I could hardly bear to breathe. They have held my hand while I faced the kind of meanness I never thought I would have to endure and stayed by my bed while I was recoverign from various ailments.

Its something that I suppose you expect from parents but until you witness it, until you witness that kind of love, you never know just how much you need your parents. I am thankful that they have been able to put aside their differences and take care of us in a way, even thought they shouldn't have had to, that only a parent could.

Of course there were the friends old and new that I am oh so thankful for as well. One of them, Lisa, I have known since I moved to Georgia a billion (okay 15) years ago. We have been friends since then, with periods where we didn't talk as much and periods where we talked more. We got married with in a few months of each other and our boys are all with in months of each other in age (she also has a little miss that's the baby). She was one of the first people I told when T walked out and she was immediately supportive. Ever since she has been there to help out when I needed someone to watch my boys or to read my ranty text messages about love and hate. She has been my sounding board. Heck, her husband even stayed up til 3am to help us move. Needless to say, I am beyond grateful for her and her family.

I am also thankful for all of the other friends both in real life and online that have helped to life me up out of a hole and keep me moving forward. If necessary with hot pokers. There are too many to mention but you know who you are. You are the ones actually reading this. You are the ones that didn't back down and disappear when I needed you most like so many others did. When I needed an ear or someone fresh to cry at when I had cried everyone else out. You helped us with money, you helped us with words, and most of all love. I am so blessed to have each and every one of you.

Of course I have to be thankful for Bob too. Sweet Bob. I honestly don't know who rescued who at this point. Bob came to us at a time when I needed someone 24/7 and the boys needed a playmate. Someone to talk to, someone to cry on, someone to give me a purpose in the middle of the night. Bob has always been a "mama's dog". He follows me around the house watching me clean or cook or whatever. If I am sad, he will come and put his face on me or just lean up against my leg and look up at me. He knows when I need love and he rubs around and around my legs like a cat until sit down and then he will just lay his head either on my shoulder or on my lap for some love or stand there while I lay my head on his shoulder. He also loves the boys like he loves me but he is much more gentle. He loves K in particular and is always very patient with him when he is doing things like poking q-tips in Bob's ears and proclaiming him an alien. He isn't a good guard dog but damn is he a good dog.

There always the little things in life to be thankful for too. I am thankful for a roof when we were so scared we wouldn't have one there for awhile. Even if it was a piece together job there for awhile. I am thankful for my landlord for taking us in and helping us out. I am thankful for food even if it means a little hand up. I am thankful for kind looks from strangers when the boys are losing it in a store and all I can do is cry. I am thankful for my job. I am thankful for you. For my readers. For being patient with me.

I went from being broken and feeling like I had nothing to be thankful for this past winter to having more to be thankful for than my heart could hold. I hope that this Thanksgiving is the same for you. I hope that you can look back over the last year and be even more thankful than you were the last. If not, I hope that the next year brings you closer to it.

Happy Thanksgiving. Now go eat some turkey and take a nap. Tomorrow starts a whole new ball game of crazy. Here comes Christmas. Ready or not.

Black Friday 2012

Ok, so since I admitted that I wasn't as excited about the whole Thanksgiving/ Black Friday thing this year, I have had a little time to look over the ads scans. Now, for he last several years, I would have done this weeks ago in preperation for getting everything all ready for the big day. I would have analyzed shopping times and ads and made a compreshensive list of where to go and what to get. Some years I even had maps.

So, looking over the ads a little late this year has been overwhelming to say the least. Which is kind of insane considering that you used to have to wait for the Thursday paper to even see the ads. My sister and I would always get up early and go find a newspaper to sprawl out in the floor with after lunch (but before naps). After I got married, it was our job to aquire a paper on our way to my mother's house. Then, it got to where you could just look it all up on the internet a week before hand and not have to bother with the paper.

Of course, I still get the paper. I'm old school like that I suppose. Even when I have my list nailed down by Wednesday, I still make that early Thursday paper run. I like to think that its so that I can check the ads to make sure its all in order but maybe its just nostolgia at this point.

Anyway, after looking over the ads this year, I have to admit: I'm disappointed. It seems like Black Friday is no longer the intense, fun rush it used to be. Stores are opening earlier and earlier and what used to be 3 hours of intense runing from store to store, now starts at 8pm on Thanksgiving (?!) and runs through Noon on Friday.

The. Heck.

If your sale is on Thursday, its not a Black Friday sale. Its greed. Its taking families away from their loved ones on a holiday that used to mean more than consumerism in this country. ::end rant::

So, I guess having it all spread out, kind of ruins the fun for me. Add that to the fact that you can now get most of these deals online and not have to get out of your jammies and it just seems pointless. Stores like Wal- Mart and Toys R Us have ruined the fun for everyone. Thanks for that.

Still, I figure I will head out for the morning early and hit up a few of the stores opening at more traditional times. In other words 4am. Which, I guess, is not really "traditional" for most stores. It is on Black Friday though.

Are you a Black Friday shopper? What do you think about the crazy times and such this year? Will it slow you down?

Fun in the Fall Leaves



Raking them up

*SPLOOSH*

Here comes trouble!

Pure joy.

We had hours of fun. <3>



The overseer of fun.



Cirque Du Soleil's Totem

We got the chance to check out Cirque du Soleil’s newest show, Totem, this week. Written and Directed by Robert Lepage, Totem traces the fascinating journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. Inspired by many founding myths, Totem illustrates, through a visual and acrobatic language, the evolutionary progress of species. Somewhere between science and legend Totem explores the ties that bind Man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential.

My mother and I were so excited to check it out. We were not disappointed. The show was the thrilling, edge of your seat kind of entertainment that only Cirque can provide. I don’t think I have ever actually gasped or yelled out loud at a live show before but I certainly did at Totem. The athleticism and strength of the performers could be matched by no one and the comedic relief had us all laughing our heads off.

The costumes were gorgeous and true to each act’s theme and story. The Hoops Dancer act was my favorite. A close second was the Fixed Trapeze Duo. The energy and authenticity was breathtaking. The stage was so cool to watch transform from one scene to the next. It was seamless and effortless the way it all flowed together. Then the bollywood-esque finale had us all up and dancing and clapping along.

Totem is showing under the Grand Chapiteau in Atlantic Station through December 30th, 2012. To get your tickets check out the Totem website. Hurry though, tickets are limited and going fast!

*I was provided tickets to Totem for this review but all thoughts are my own.

RAK in November: Week Three

*If you need a refresher on what on Earth I am talking about, go HERE first... 30 things in 30 days is the goal.

This week:

-We sent a huge plate of cookies in to the office staff of the Boys’ preschool. They sent back a very sweet note, thanking the boys’ for the goodies. One for the baby albums!


-We took Bob’s old crate and a bag of food and donated it to the adoption agency (SEGA) that we got him from. Bob even got to go and hang out with some of his kind. Turns out he is pretty fast when in running with another hound.

-I dropped a couple of old cell phones and another huge plate of cookies off at the Domestic Violence center close to home.

-I took the old lady across the street’s mail and newspaper to her door. I was nervous about bothering her mail without asking but she was very appreciative. Turns out she has OA as well and her daily trip to the mailbox is a lot rougher on her than it is on me. I told her I would try to get it more often for her and she gave me a hug. RAK win!

-I gave one of my old USB drives to a friend at work. She is forever having me scan things and email them to another co-worker who has to print, edit and then rescan and email for her classes and this way she can just save them to the drive and hand them over. Easy peasy.

-I kept a girlfriend’s kids so she could go use a spa certificate that was about to expire. She was so sad she wasn’t going to get to use it and was thrilled when I offered to keep them. It was a full house! She has five kids!

-I pushed the little old lady across the street’s trash can to the curb for her. It was something she had mentioned the other day and it took me three seconds. She got a double dose this week!

Two more weeks left! Lets see what else we can do!

Friday Quotables

All via Pinterest.

Getting Ahead on the Christmas Crafties

This year, I am going to do my best to make most of the gifts I am giving for Christmas. Partly because I be the poor, but also because I want the people in my life to have something that was made by me, for just them. You can't buy those kinds of memories.

Here is the kicker though, I can't knit or crochet because of my arthritis, I suck at drawing, and my sewing machine is broken. So what did I do?

You guessed it, I turned to the all powerful Pinterest.

At first I was mostly finding things that were more geared towards decorating. Pinterest has 8 million tutorials on how to cover everything in your house with glitter. In case you were wondering how to make your world a glittery, sparkley mess by January 1st. Not my style. Also, not what I was looking for.
Eventually though, I did come across a few boards and users that had things that were more giftable. A lot of the things that I liked the most were super easy too but I had to pare down where to start. The very beginning.

Sorry, this isn't included.

The most logical place to start was the bath kits that I want to make for all of my girlfriends but of course I am sort of dumb a glutton for punishment and decided to start over on those and make some cold and flu season type baskets to give people. Weird? Maybe. Seriously though, who wouldn't love to have some homemade goodies sitting around when it hits you like a brick in a glass house? Practicality here people.

So, I gathered a couple of baskets from the dollar store and whipped up a batch of sore throat suckers, whiskey rose cough syrup, and (knock off) Vicks shower disks. To that, I added some tissues and a can of chicken noodle soup. Add a pretty bow and voila!

After I got done with those, I took to making a very special something for my sister but I can't tell you about that until after Christmas. Lets just say though, its a labor of love.

For the boys, I am going to take the letters I have written them for their birthdays and start a binder. Not something they will appreciate right now really but it will be something for them to keep and for me to add to every year.

My mother is going to be a little trickier. I am thinking I will try to make her some jewelry but haven't come across anything particularly her yet. I may just have to hit up Joanne's and see what happens.

Have you gotten started on your Christmas list this yet? Do you prefer to make gifts or buys them?

#PhotoMojo Instagram Challenge: Week Two

Six through twelve of the Photo Mojo: Instagram Challenge!*



A Card




Flower





Sunset





A Pair




Vintage




Blue



Relax


*I have been having issues with my cell phone since we moved to the new place and I am in the process of switching carriers so I haven't been able to upload all of this weeks pictures to Instagram. I hate that its been an issue but hopefully it will be fixed this week. Bear with me!