american heart association's jump for heart

Every year Newmarket Elementary School students volunteer to Jump For Heart with the American Heart Association. Both kids have done it and loved doing it. This year the American Heart Association has added a way to collect donation online!! So much easier with family and friends across the country and the use of social media!

The kids can earn rubber ducks when they reach different levels of donations. The first one that Alex is wearing in the picture below is when he received his first in person donation and the lanyard to keep him on.

The second duck he received and I didn't take a picture of it yet, was for his first online donation. As you can see below, he thanked Nana and Papa for the donation as well as his birthday present.

Cute little guy.

Anywho... if you are feeling so inclined to donate to the American Heart Association and want to help Alex reach his online goal of $75 please click HERE. FYI- Alex would also receive another duck for his lanyard. Thank you!!!

the lego's have taken over

With the impending arrival of our puppy Gizmo, we had to figure something out for Alex's growing Lego collection. He had spread out on pretty much every spare inch of the floor in the playroom/ daddy's office. Not good for a chewing puppy!

We brought in a folding table we had in the garage to house his collection. I need to pick up a table cloth to cover and make this look better than it currently does.

BTW- we don't use the fireplace. We tried to get the chimney cleaned a couple years back and discovered that the previous homeowner had a chimney fire and didn't bother to fix it or let us know. Jerk. So we can put in a wood stove with a metal chimney for $1500 or get the chimney fixed for $3000. With those prices, it is currently just sitting there so putting the table in front of it won't be a big deal. Personally, I want to close the whole thing up and put a book case in front of it!

Here is one of Alex's Spiderman figures with a web attached to his head. The other end is on a building and is holding another Spiderman.

And look there... my finger in the picture!! I need to get some better pictures of his super heroes.

We have parts of a city as well as the Super Hero buildings and a castle. It's his imagination so it works. Oh yeah... forgot about the arctic buildings!

Alex told me that the Hulk is helping this poor person on the ground. ummmm.... sure he is.

Nice crane work!!

IronMan is in the middle of a battle as is SuperMan.

So much fun to see how he has set up these guys. Of course my pictures have to be taken when he is not around or he gets fussy with me. I will take more while he is at school.

kira and mommy bonding time- wreck this journal

Kira and Alex each received a Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith for Christmas. Alex has already done a few pages as he thought it was a really cool thing to be able to write, draw, and cut a book without being scolded. Totally up a young man's alley! 

Kira on the other hand had let hers sit and collect dust. I found a few YouTube videos and Instagram feeds on how others are wrecking their journals and thought how much fun is that? I wanted to do it. Knowing Kira would not let me play with her journal, I picked one up at Barnes and Noble and then hatched my master plan. (insert evil mommy laugh)

We could have some serious quality mom and daughter time while destroying a book!! We could go anywhere they have a table we can use. If there is food and drink, that makes it a much better choice. I put together a little destroying kit with my Thirty-One bag. It includes stickers, markers, colored pencils, regular pencils, erasers, water color paints, highlighters, colored pens, Sharpies, scissors, pencil sharpener, glue, and washi tape.

Monday March 24, 2014 we headed to Crackskull's and found a spot at the counter where we could play.

We 'may' have indulged in some hot chocolate and baked goodies. But I am not telling. Kira looked through her entire book reading all the different ways to wreck, decorate, destroy, and play. I started by numbering my pages as I like order. However, you will not be able to find the page you are looking for very easily. I started numbering my pages at page number 524 and went to 602. Then I did pages 1- 30. Then I 'numbered' the pages using the alphabet, then the months of the year. I ended up starting at page 100 and going to page 13 before I ran out of pages!! Totally random and so not like me. 

She makes some of the silliest faces!

On this page she had to draw with the marker, pencil, pen in your mouth. Pretty funny. The best part of this book. You can go back in and add to pages if you want or leave them sparse. You can create a kind of art journal with this or get rid of any stress. It is also an amazing way to have chats with your tween without having the deep eye contact that lets them open up. We had fun!!

Here is her decorated cover. I will try to get a better picture on our next adventure. She was giggling at this moment.

Here is her inside cover. The markers that we have all have different types of tips (Crayola Pip Squeaks) so they mark different ways. We had fun playing with those.

Here is the cover of my journal now that I have personalized it. We discovered we need more fun and unusual stickers to add onto our pages. As well as some office supplies. I have a small stapler I am going to add to our kit as well as some paper clips.

 

And here is my inside page. I am thinking I need to add something to the inside cover. I shall have to work on that on our next journal wrecking date. It was one of the best hour and a half I had this week.

More fun to come!!

happy 8th birthday peanut

Here is Alex's cake. I was overly impressed that they actually had Pokemon at Walmart this year. He was so excited to see the cake when he came home.

Eight balloons for his eighth birthday! Also a plastic decoration in the kitchen.

Some presents for his day!

I added some crepe paper to his doorway while he was sleeping.

Daddy and I delivered balloons to his floor the night before his birthday as a surprise.

Inside his room looking out.

Plastic decoration in his room. I am pretty sure this will move behind his door so he can have it.

 Hallway decorations.

There is my birthday boy!! He is getting so big.

Present time!!

Oh look.... Lego's. Lots and lots of Lego's! Yes all those boxes above were Lego kits. All but one box was the Super Hero sets, the last one is a city set so that they Super Heroes can destroy the city while capturing the bad guys.

Little bit happy.

Big breath. It took him a few tries.

Cupcakes that I made for his class to enjoy. They also received a Pokemon pencil. Pencils are always a good choice for kids.

Happy 8th Birthday Alex!!

back in time disney 2008 to be exact

Yup I am still cranking through this trip! I am trying to finish up our first day. I have been scrapping out of order so I have some days done and some not and parts of other days almost done. Saying that, I had to face my OCD tendencies and get back to scrapping in order. Feeling better with this way of scrapping this trip. I really would like to have it done before we head back down in October!!

This is when we were waiting for Nana and Papa to join us (later flight) so we checked in our carryons with the hotel and visited the resort.

When Nana and Papa arrived, we headed off to Downtown Disney for lunch and some pre-park shopping. I used PageMaps for both of these layouts. Of course I edit where needed but all is good.

What I have noticed is that many pictures include Kira and not so many of our little guy. Reason for that was he was in his stroller and many times did not want to get out. If he did, he would run off! I would think twice before taking a two year old to Disney. He got overstimulated many times and had MANY tantrums. But we all survived. There are many more pictures of Alex in our 2010 trip so I think it equals out in the end.

happy belated st. patrick's day!

I hope you had an amazing green day on March 17th!! I did!! The week before I was able to help the kindergarten kiddos create a sparkly shamrock. The one below is what I created as a sample. Love the glitter!! Everything in kindergarten is better with glitter.

I was able to pin Kira down long enough to paint her nails for the occasion. She complained the entire time but she looked great on Monday!!

A blurry picture of my nails. I have been having some major issues with my nails splitting and breaking so this is as long as they have been in weeks. As the week went on, I lost three of them to me just being a plain klutz! 

We were trying to find a craft to do with the kindergarten class that wasn't too simple they were bored but also used skills they will need all through life and have meaning in their education. We had beads but could not find a craft to make them work so off to Pinterest we went. Heading to Pinterest sounds pretty easy doesn't it?? Not if you are inside of the classroom!! I had to go into the hallway to get the WiFi service. It was worth it though. I found an amazing idea for a leprechaun popsicle stick puppet!! 

I went home and got the templates and brought them in the next day to pick up paper and find out what we wanted the kids to do. There are a ton of pieces that had to be traced and cut and then put together. We had to keep in mind attention spans and time restraints! I ended up cutting out the small pieces of the buckle and belt on the hat, the face (circle punch) and the hands. The rest of the little guy I traced onto the green paper and the red beard for them to cut.

Here he is!! I attached him to the stick before I attached his legs therefore the large stick between his legs. oops.

The kids did so great!! Look at a couple of them after the completion and put into their leprechaun traps. They had fun!! Not sure if we'll do it again or not next year.

I am trying my hand at coloring with Gamsol and colored pencils. These images are part of my practicing. I enjoy coloring this way and will continue to hone my skill. I am a bit too cheap to invest in Copics. I picked up this kit from Simon Says Stamp and I am happy I did!! 

I used the duck to create a birthday card which I was trying so hard to get into the mail, that I forgot to take a picture of it. duh.

But I did remember to take pictures of the other cards I created!!

I created the background myself using a Studio G $1 stamp and some inks that I have. Inside I added a strip of washi tape at the top along with the sentiment and the stamped border. The shamrock is popped up to add some dimension.

The frog on the front of the card is on an action wobbler. I have had these for a bit of time. They were a generous gift from my amazing Alien friend and I was FINALLY able to use them. Here is the frog in action!!

I totally forgot to get a picture of me in my shamrock tee and shamrock headband. There is always next year!! Hope you wore your green and didn't get pinched!!

because of them

These two are my reason I am so passionate about a new Junior/ Senior High School for Newmarket.

These two are my life.

They have given me a reason to fight so hard on this issue that is facing our town.

I would do and will do anything to better their lives.

That's what makes me a parent.

And right now this momma bear is unhappy. 

The new school article failed- this time. I do not think that it is three strikes and we need to try something totally different. The other school warrant articles were not presented well and were not thought out completely. There will be another school presented again on next years ballot. There has to be. There is no other option left for us.

The nay sayers/ Facebook trolls/ unhappy people in this town are trying to offer an olive branch in the guise of good faith and coming together as a community. With them they are making statements such as 'I would have voted for it without the assembly hall or music room'. No you wouldn't have but if that eases your conscience, feel free to preach away. Another statement is that 'both sides of this issue should come together and talk about what to do'. 

Here I am once again going to draw my line.

We have tried to come together. It is called School Board meetings, facilities meetings, bond hearing meetings, Newmarket Solutions meetings, and town meetings. These people do not make the effort to attend any of these. I get it. It is much easier to sit at home at your computer and vent away (one of my guilty pleasures of having a blog). HOWEVER.... if you truly want to be involved- GO TO THE MEETINGS. Talk to people face to face. Look into their eyes. Listen to what they are saying. Voice your concerns.

My next thought about the olive branch being extended was that it was done in fear. Deep down scared out of your wits fear. This vote was the closest that it has ever been. Almost 50% of the town approved building a new school. That is crazy good news. Seriously!! The Yes voters got out there and in eight weeks from when Oyster River said no to us until voting day- spread the word on the school situation. Correcting misinformation, showing people numbers, and getting people registered to vote. 

EIGHT WEEKS!!

We were ten percent away from getting a new school built! 

The no side saw that. They can see the momentum we have on our side. They have to be able to feel the sense of community that our group has generated. That is why they want to 'talk'. Why they want to discuss different plans on the building. 

Sure we can talk but my demands now are different. No longer does an assembly hall work- I want an auditorium. One that can hold the entire Junior/ Senior High school population at one time. This town is in desperate need of a large meeting space and an auditorium would be a god send. No more deliberative sessions sitting on hard bleachers or in folding chairs for three hours. Seeing a drama production with a decent sized audience, and not having to sit on folding chairs. Hearing and seeing what the students say and do while they are on stage. That needs to be a part of the plans. The new school also has to have a way to be added onto. Newmarket needs to learn a lesson from all of the school situations that have arisen. We cannot make this building too small or unable to have additions. 

I don't think we should pare down the current design in order to appease the no side. We need to educate the ones who were on the fence but leaning to the yes side. 

We were very close- 50% in eight weeks!! 

Imagine what we can do with a full year on our side!

silver lining

Yesterday our town voted on whether to approve the funds necessary to build a new Junior/ Senior High School as the current one is lacking in many many aspects making it an eyesore for the town. However, once again Newmarket has shown its true face and did not approve the funds. There are people who still believe we can work with another town on a tuition agreement (maybe a town in Massachusetts will take us?) or that the project can be done for $20 million. I would hate to see the $20 million school being built as it would be as useless as our current facility and would need to be added on to in the near future.

After months of positive energy flowing from the Yes vote people, it was a let down last night when it was announced that the warrant article did not pass. Facebook was swarmed with unhappy people. Once the morning came we are still sad about the outcome, however we are bouncing back so to speak. We are picking ourselves up and are happy with all that we did accomplish for this election. 

There are three new board members on the budget committee who are not about doing business the way it has been done since Newmarket was established. The voter turnout was unbelievably amazing yesterday!! The polls had to stay open late because the line to get into the building was so long. Our Yes vote received almost 50%! That is the biggest amount we have had concerning a new school- ever! The Yes side ran a clean campaign and spread truth without resorting to misinformation. 

We also showed that we will put our names and faces out in the public for something we believe in. We did good Newmarket! Pat yourselves on the back for an election that had people meeting for the first time and now friendships have been created.

We got this! Next March will be different. Keep the momentum going.

VOTE YES!

Image created by Nicole Roy. She asked all of us to post words/ phrases we thought of when we looked back on this election. The larger the word, the more times it was mentioned. Looks like we have an amazing COMMUNITY!! I have to agree.

vote yes today

Today is the day!

Get to the polls Newmarket and 

VOTE!!!

We can make this happen.

YES

FOR

A

NEW

SCHOOL!