Well, if you have tweens or teens you’ve surely heard the song Crank Dat by Soulja Boy, right? And the dance to go with it was seen even in pep rallies this year before football games. Well, we of course, in MY home, listen to the radio edit…because that’s how I am.
My daughter sold cookies for her school and won the prize of going to a party the evening after delivering them. They had a little dance contest for the kids, nothing fancy, but they did the dance there, too. Was so cute to see the kids moving around and not having to dance in some ugly way for attention. (you know what I mean here)
I recently was looking the Soulja Boy dance moves up for my kiddos when I stumbled upon different versions of the video on YouTube. Here’s the real Soulja Boy dance, if you want to learn it or know someone that does.
And now, the Lion King version, Winnie the Pooh version, Dora the Explorer (oh noes!) version, Spongebob version and you can’t forget Shrek… I’m sure there’s tons of others out there like Naruto and so forth.
Just be careful, not all the YouTube versions have the song in the radio edit version so you need to listen to the lyrics before sharing them with the younger crowd. Do you have favorite YouTube videos or funnies to share?
Who hasn’t seen the talking cats?
Along the same category of the cats, unless you play WoW you will not get this “lolcat” picture…but I had to post it for those of you that are in on the secret. (What? You haven’t heard of lolcats yet either??) Also called cat macros…check them out on google!
I have absolutely fallen in love with The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz. When it arrived at my door I had no idea what to expect from this book. I had read little snippets about it but nothing in detail.
I opened the package and there sat a hardcover book with glittery words on it…the front cover font made my eyes sparkle!
I knew my daughter would love to read such a book so we set out to read it together. Upon the pages we explored we found so many rich ideas for us to share.
Things that took me back to the days when I used to try to make pretty circles of flowers for my hair (this book has detailed instructions on those!), or details about how best to set up your own lemonade stand. We found excellently written articles about present day princesses and history lessons throughout the book that were so involved yet didn’t make us feel like we were at school.
My ten year old carried the book around for a few days and enjoyed the different sections while I would go around reading over her shoulder to find out what I was missing. I learned a better way to put my hair up into a bun with a pencil…I thought I was doing it right but this way worked even better than my old habit.
We also explored the crafts and have plans to do some of those together. From thank-you note writing to how to care for your softball glove, this book is tops and will bring you some variety to your life, at most any age!
This book really is incredible and I thank Mother-Talk for the opportunity to see first-hand how great it is, you can read what other bloggers are saying about The Daring Book for Girls at the Mother-Talk site.
Yeah, it’s time. I brought out the heating blanket because the weather, even in Texas, has gotten colder. I look forward to tucking my toes under the covers and staying warm.
It’s also been frequent that I’m making hot tea in the evenings. And, did I forget to tell you? It snowed here in Texas on Thanksgiving! It really made me smile. I came back from Colorado on Sunday and brought it with me…
My trip was uneventful and went very smooth. I was able to bring back things I would have missed that were socked into storage. I am glad I was able to get up there and retrieve some of the kids favorite and wanted things we left behind. The trip was very tiring but I enjoyed spending time with my dad. Those are priceless hours, you know?
He’s always been very full of wisdom and I love asking him advice on things. It never slips by him to think very hard on even the smallest things. I’ve always admired that.
Well, not really “smarter” but I definitely gleaned some serious good knowledge recently while reviewing the Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008 DVD. I’ve been previewing this package for a few days now and I’ve tested it with two 9 year olds, one 10 year old and myself.
We looked up Ocelots and played games that challenged our knowledge of classical music composers. I had a great time using the thesaurus and finding words to brighten up my writing. I remember when I was younger I chose to carry a thesaurus around in my purse. I was such a nerd…but I’m glad I was!
It has priceless math tools for homework help that I can’t wait to really try out this next week when my daughter brings home the incredibly challenging 5th grade math homework. 
Why does math have to change so much over the years?
And, one more thing I really liked, was the templates and tutorials they offered for writing papers. My 15 year old hates writing essays and such and these offer a walk through so he can create papers more easily. I think the games included with the Encarta Kids section were fun for the kids, too. They enjoyed spending time on them and I think they gained some knowledge with me.
One thing I realize, as someone that has sought therapy and help from others, is that I put a lot of weight on the word of others. When you seek therapy you tend to be in a helpless situation and when that therapist slowly works you out of that, you typically feel you can count on them to do it again.
I’m trying very hard to figure out the best times and the worst times to listen to others. I have to find this balance in my life where I listen to advice and sort through it before making decisions. I also am working to not allow others to rule my emotions or feelings, or spring things on me that I don’t want…I have learned to speak up and say “no”. That really is a big deal to me.
Last time I talked to my therapist over the phone, before my TV appearance (to ensure it would be a healthy choice for me), she said, “Cat, you are my best student. YOU did all the work, I just listened to you as you worked through it. You graduated with flying colors!” and I was nothing but encouraged by those words.
It reminded me that I did lots of hard work to get where I am. And, that going on national television to say I had MPD was going to be easy because of that. I knew deep inside that this was an opportunity for me to basically yell from the rooftops that I had accomplished things, but there was also the risk of people treating me differently after seeing the show.
I never asked for anyone to walk on eggshells around me, although I do realize at times they probably felt they should. I never wanted to be treated different but I also realize in my deepest moments, I got treated different to help me work through things.
I just reflect now and realize that I have overcome so much and I know that I will have to overcome so much more, but each time, each hurdle I jump, gets me closer to new things to look at, new things to accomplish and amazing experiences.
I don’t see a finish line…I want to keep running.