July 20

       Today was sweltering! In general, I don't do well with hot, humid weather- especially if I'm stuck in sunlight. So, what does David want to do on the hottest day of the summer so far?

 

    He literally had 4 customers over the few hours that we were set up. The kid's lemonade stand is fascinating to watch. There were many people who rode by, but I think there were less than 5 who didn't smile or wave. One guy flashed a peace sign. His first customer was a fairly young guy who handed him a $20. David told him that it only cost 50 cents and the guy said, "I know. Keep the change." David told him that he was the first customer. The guys replied, "Hopefully the best customer!" Then he smiled and left. Every person gave him more than his fifty cents. Seriously, watching how these people brightened his day made me want to either ride around with an extra pile of money in my car to randomly give kids at lemonade stands or to set up a table of free treats one day just to be nice to people driving by.

     Other than that, today was pretty low key. I hid in the air conditioning for a while and read.  Emmie napped in a lunch bag.

 

    We also received our Redditgifts Simple Pleasures gift. 

 

     As a family, we love games- especially me and David. Unfortunately we have Beat the Parents already, but it's the thought that counts. Maybe we will re-gift our original Beat the Parents since this one is from Canada and might be slightly different.  It's basically a trivia game that asks questions that the other generation should know. This swap was sent from Canada. Here's what I sent my giftee:

 

     The Pusheen mug is filled with tea. Then there are rabbit stickers (she likes bunnies) and a LUSH shampoo bar because I love them. The mug says "Catpusheeno" We were supposed to send something about appreciating life's simple pleasures. I'm also in an Arbitrary Day swap and a postcard exchange.  

       Last night we had the most incredible sunset. It was so beautiful that I jumped in the car and drove to the cornfields near me so I could see it better. People were stopping along the sides of the road to take pictures as the sunset changed.

      

Redditgifts for Teachers 2015

   Every year, Redditgifts gives teachers from all over the world a chance to benefit from the generosity of others. Teachers can submit a wishlist or people can just donate whatever they'd like. Honestly, I would've been happy with anything- tissues, dry erase markers, posters, a pack of pencils- ANYTHING. I was blown away by the generosity of the woman who was assigned to me. Here's what she bought for my students:

 I plan to use these instruments will all grades. They are small, durable and sound musical. (There are some instruments designed for kids that are horrible.) My students will love these.

 I have the 6th graders engineer their own instruments. Twice last year, students asked if I had a glue gun in that class. (One 8th grade boy brought one in when he was working on opera costumes.) So, now I have one!

This is a theory workbook- combined teacher and student edition. I plan to use it for kids who need a bit of a challenge and for my chorus kids (who have no choice but to be challenged..lol). She also gave me an ITunes gift card, which I plan to use to see if the kids can identify traditional and modern (current top 10 hits) from various countries).
     Lissa, if you are reading this, thank you again. Opening the packages was like Christmas! Any one of these gifts would've been generous, never mind all of them. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

End of the year mail haul

   Two days ago, I told you I would write and update you on my postcards. I thought about showing all of my mail but I got a ton of Christmas cards with pictures and I didn't know if my friends/family would mind me posting them. (They all are beautiful!)  I also got a great package from my friend Jenny in Germany that included a card a magnetic notepad and some DELICIOUS Advent chocolates (which I may or may not be devouring at an unhealthy rate...).
     Here are all of my cards over the past month or so. Being a musician in December has greatly interfered with me just sitting around and having time to blog.
   From Poland:  

 From the US- Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado... beautiful

 From Russia. Check out the sticker that was stuck on it. When the Postcrosser sent it to me, the sticker was not there. Anyone every see this sticker before? There's a close up under the postcard. What does it mean?

 From Germany:

China: A postcard of a stamp from 1997.

 From Germany- David took this out of my mailbox and was startled. I love it. I've developed a liking for owls.

 Taiwan:

 More owls from Plymouth, MA- less than 2 hours from me. I'd love to meet more local Postcrossers.

 Czech Republic:

 Russia: (art card. Isn't it pretty?)

 Belarus: More owls! Can you tell I updated my Postcrossing preferences?

 China- Confucius Temple.

 Finland- Moomin!!!! I also love that the proceeds from buying the card will help to build a children's hospital in Helsinki.

 Russia: This card confused me a little. I thought Konigsberg was in Germany. Apparently, after 1945 it is called Kaliningrad. It was the easternmost city in Germany until it was captured after WWII. (According to Wikipedia..lol)

 From Taiwan:

 China:

 From the US- Minnesota. I was telling the Postcrosser that I know the man who is currently renting Einstein's viola from a museum. I have heard it played. It's beautiful.

 These cards are from a Christmas card RR I did through Postcrossing. The first is from Ireland and the next 2 are from Germany, and the last is from the Netherlands.

Oh, I should also show you a gift from my Reddit Secret Santa. I sent a pashmina scarf to a Redditor in CA. I received this gift from a Reddit user in Oregon who didn't tell me their name. Thanks if you are reading this!

    

It is a kitten calendar, which David claimed, cookies and an art kit. I was especially excited about the art kit because I've wanted to try pastels but haven't wanted to pay for them in case I stink at it! lol

Crafting and Reddit Secret Santa

So, anyone who knows me will know that I'm not exactly the most artistic person. Crafting sometimes scares me. I think I just like rules- rules to tell me how to do it 1) right and 2) so it looks nice. My sons made a few things at school in art that I thought were super cute. We recreated them at home and plan to give them to some friends and family. Unexpectedly, we had a ball. It was fun for me to watch each son create and to see the way they made art their own. I think I will do things like this more often.
      These are some snowman ornaments.

 These are the ones I personally worked on. These may be my best works of art in my entire life.. lol. Just kidding... sort of.

     After the snowmen came the cupcake decorating. Timmy and I made the cupcakes in the afternoon. I frosted them and we each frosted 3. This beauty was mine.

 David uses the minimalist approach.

 Timmy doesn't.

 My favorite..

 Timmy "accidentally" unwrapped this.

 After I told him he could eat one.

 Our next project model... Timmy made this one in art.

 Matt has actually made a few modifications that we all like. Here are the new batch ready to be decorated.

Reddit Secret Santa

     Reddit was trying to break a world record for the largest Secret Santa exchange. I decided to take part. We did break the record. If you don't know what a Secret Santa is- you are matched to someone who you will be assigned to buy a gift for. Someone else is assigned to buy you a gift. I was assigned to a man from CA. Reading his profile it was obvious that I didn't know a lot about his interests. His main interest was jiu jitsu. My first idea was to get him a nice hooded sweatshirt from one of the local jiu jitsu places. I tried 5... who all ordered theirs online. I should've known that ahead of time and just ordered them online right when I was assigned but I figured the best place to get gear from a gym would be AT that gym. Live and learn.  I ended up getting him a generic Brazilian jiu jitsu t-shirt and then some straight shaving materials, which he is also interested in.  I'm really hoping he likes them.
      I received my gift today.  Here's what arrived:
Presents in a package- always good. Packages are good, period.

    Funglish is a board game. I love games. The boys and I have already played it. It's a game where you are supposed to describe a word with cards with adjectives on it and the people are supposed to guess the word. They'll get the hang of it soon. She also sent bubble wrap, which the boys also enjoyed. Thanks Reddit Secret Santa!!!!


     Alright, I'm going to head out to our family Christmas party! I will be blogging more over vacation.