Isaiah 65:24

This beautiful story was written by a doctor who worked in Central Africa


One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities..

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates).

'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.'

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. 'Please, God' she prayed, 'Send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.'

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?'

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen'? I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home..

Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door.. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the porch was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly... Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box.

From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the..... could it really be?

I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle.. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!

'Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?'

'Of course,' I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon'.

'Before they call, I will answer.' (Isaiah 65:24)

When you receive this, say the prayer. That's all you have to do. No strings attached. Just send it on to whomever you want - but do send it on.

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of rewards. Let's continue praying for one another. This awesome prayer takes less than a minute.

Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this. I ask You to minister to their spirit. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence to work through them. Where there is tiredness or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, guidance, and strength. Where there is fear, reveal Your love and release to them Your courage. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders and friends to support and encourage them. Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it. I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

P.S.

Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend will bless you both. Passing this on to one not considered a friend is something Christ would do.

Lesson #7

With four year old children you need to watch what you are saying or doing, or else they end up repeating the same words or phrases. Such as with the cartoons that children watch, often they want to watch the 'big kid channels' where there are phrases that are not appropriate for children.
As often as I can I have my little monster watch the channel that is aimed more toward his age level or have him watch cartoons such as Scooby Doo where there is comedy and the 'bad guys' are apprehended in the end. This way he doesn't have to listen to every word (which I don't believe he does) and he also sees that the bad guy always gets in trouble because he is bad.
So, as a lesson for today, please keep an eye on what your children are watching, if you can, change the channel during a commercial break and inform the child that the show was 'over' and it was time for a better one. If they complain you can always use the trick that the TV is tired and needs to be turned off for a while. Don't be afraid to turn it off, studies show that children should not be glued to the TV. Have them exercise off their endless energy with activities outdoors or activities in doors, such as dancing to music or hide and go seek.

Today to burn off some extra energy, and built on an idea from the previous day, we made our own musical instruments! My little monster has a trampoline that sings when he bounces on it, and he likes to sing his own silly songs. To accompany his silly songs we crafted a guitar out of recycled bits and he was able to sing and dance to as many songs as he wished. To build a recycled guitar use:

• 1 small box (think small like ziti box)
• 3 rubber bands
• 3 paper clips
• 1 paper towel roll (just the cardboard, not the actual paper)
• Crayons
• Tape
• Glue
• scissors

1. Turn the cardboard box inside out so the outside is facing outward. Seal the box closed again with the tape or glue but leave one short end open with a slit big enough to hold the paper towel.
2. Cut six short holes into the box on one of the larger sides, this is where the makeshift strings will be. Please refer to the following pictures for where to place the holes. At this time you may have the child color the guitar with crayons and various other pieces of decoration. Stickers work as well. I had written my little monsters name on the side to make it more personalized.

3. Lace the rubber bands through the holes and secure inside the box using the paperclips. They should hold steady and should not break.
4. Place the paper towel role into the hole made on the top of the guitar, secure with tape or glue.
5. Strum and enjoy!

** Hint: In preparation for his moving up next year, we used this activity to work on shapes. Hence, the box is a 'rectangle,' the paper towel roll is a 'circle' and so on. We also counted the number of strings and drew a number of shapes on the different sides.

Sound Off [6]

'Every few years you'll look back and realize you never planned that far ahead back then.' -Anon.

It's true, we don't really know what is happening in a few years, or within a few moments. We may have the day planned without any room to spare and suddenly we have a flat tire and no way to move for a few hours.
As children we don't know what the future holds, except for the lollipop that lives in the drawer that we can't have.
As teenagers we want to be out of the house, and don't think of the problems that may ensue from living on our own turf. When we get there we realize how hard it is to hold down our own homes, with the mortgages, extra payments and the gas bills.
Before life used to be simple, boys were boys and didn't have cooties, then had cooties, then have cooties all over again. Love was just written on the Valentines Day cards, not just that stupid thing that makes our hearts break and bleed when we think of somebody, sort of but not always special.
Suddenly life may become complicated, but everything makes us stronger, no matter how we look at it. We wish that certain things may have gone a certain way but in the end it all works out, which we do appreciate.
Once in a while we find ourselves in the middle of huge decisions that we have to make, but we never do consider how much it would impact our lives in the long run. We never do think of that, that far ahead.
Some other advice that we hear of when considering who we want to date is what we should think of what the relationship may look like in a few years. Men sometimes want to meet the mothers of their new dates to see what their wives may look like in a few years. As women we may look at the annoying habits of our dates and think of how long we can stand the traits, a few days? A few years? Do it again and it's over?
In a few years I may look back and think, why did I do that? Who did I know that put me in the position that I'm in now? Looking back now I can see who I knew and who I'm still friends with and I know these relationships is what put me in the place I am now currently in.

We never do plan far enough ahead. Sometimes we just have to pack a little extra and hope that everything will end on a happy note.

Tell me, Neighbor

Close your eyes neighbor, what do you hear?

Grandma’s calling ‘manja!’ Grandpa just waking up from a nap?

Children laughing in the foyer, Mom and Dad helping in the kitchen?

Auntie setting the table, the clinking of the silverware against the flatware?

Can you hear our conversations over dinner?

Laughing over old times, children asking for attention?

Grandpa telling old stories, little brother telling new ones,

Grandma laughing at forgetting the mashed potatoes, no use crying over spilled milk?

Take a deep breath neighbor, now what do you smell?

Dessert cooking in the oven, fresh turkey sitting on the counter?

The tangy smell of homemade pickles and cranberry sauce?

How about the stove crackling behind you, giving the room warmth?

She spilled the coffee, can you smell that too?

Open your eyes neighbor, what do you see?

All of us sitting at the table, the eldest, head of households at the ends?

An Italian meal spread across the table with candles in the center?

Happy faces all around, family not concerned over the cold weather outside?

Have a taste neighbor, what is that flavor?

Is it food cooked by love for a family to share?

Is it a traditional spread passed down from generation to generation?

Does it taste better with every bite until it all is gone?

Tell me neighbor is this what you believe how a house should be?

For Christmas, Easter, and every Sunday in between?

All are home, from the workers to the students?

Where are the ones that we lost during the year, is the hole filled?

Tell me neighbor, is this how you grew up?

The Runaways

"I'm a ChChChCh-Cherie Bomb!" I had that song stuck in my head for days! On a whole "The Runaways" was a decent movie, but a few parts could be edited out. Placing Kristen and Dakota together though was interesting, as you may know I Dislike Kristen but Like Dakota so it was a love/hate kind of feeling during the whole movie. "The Runaways" follows these two girls before, during and after thier brief run as a band named "The Runaways," which is aptly named. The five girls that are involved in the band all come from different backgrounds and all have different temperments, but have the same goal: Play in a rock & roll band. At the time girls were not encouraged to play electric guitars, much less be in a band playing rock & roll music. They were scorned. Dakota, playing 'Cherie Currie', idolizes David Bowie. (Insert internal rock & roll at heart sigh here) Kristen, playing 'Joan Jett' has a different agenda and wants to play in a band no matter what it takes. The course of the movie takes you from before the band, the hard work that the girls pull off to take over the world and the down ward spiral that Cherie takes at the end of the world tour. Joan however, as this is, in a sense, a documentary, later writes the song "I love Rock & Roll" which does play at the end of the movie. I wonder however, if the original song was played during the movie or if was Kristen singing.
If you like rock & roll, sex & well, the freedom of living in that era *cough cough* then I would recommend it. If you don't like Kristen (which I still don't) or the sex era (basically thats how I interepreted it) then I wouldn't recommend it.
I watched it, but most of the time I was counting stitches on my new blanket that I'm crocheting, so really it wasn't a waste of time. I would recommend doing the same.

Hey [Insert Name Here]

Hey dipshit,
Listen up, cause I really don’t like your attitude.
You throw out the line reel it in and hope that perhaps I’ll bite.
I won’t.
Instead I’ll tie the damn hook to a rock and pull,
and pull and tease and pull.
Kind of hard to cook up a rock isn’t it?
Hey bitch,
Listen up, cause I don’t like to repeat myself.
You can call me names and hope that you’ll get a response.
You won’t.
Instead I’ll be rubber and ignore whatever hateful things you say,
and smile and laugh and smile.
Kind of hard to be rude to someone who just won’t take it isn’t it?
Hey player,
Listen up, cause you better have your brain switched on.
You can leave me and pretend for a while that maybe I’ll start to love you.
I won’t.
Instead I’ll go out and enjoy my time without you trying to be cute,
and dance and sing and dance.
Kind of hard to be a player to someone who just won’t play the game isn’t it?
Hey ass,
Listen up, cause I know you have the ears for what I have to say.
You can pretend that you care about what I say and think that I give a care.
I won’t.
Instead I’ll give you a small ear, and talk to a few more of my friends,
and laugh and care and laugh.
Kind of hard to pretend to have a conversation when the other isn’t into it, isn’t it?
Hey you,
Listen up, cause I don’t like to repeat myself.
You can think that I still care for you and really want to talk to you again.
I don’t.
Instead I’ll just keep ignoring you, and enjoy life without you,
and live and live and live.
Kind of hard to watch someone take the fun out of life for you, isn’t it?

Lesson #6

Lesson #8 is centered on always being prepared for rainy days. You never know when a beautiful day like any summer day should be like. Thus you should be prepared and have another idea up your sleeve.

It was a rainy,
             no good,
             rotton,
             chilly day outside so instead of having a picnic ouside like I planned we instead stayed inside and had an indoor picnic. We had peanut butter sandwiches, popcorn, orange and peaches slices, milk and rice crispies.
            It was a wonderful picnic indoors! Everyone brought a friend and it was a lovely little luncheon. At least I thought so, until niether of them wanted to finish thier sandwiches. At least I got all the popcorn. Hehe!

Professional

Ah! Another photo of me! Well this one turned out alright, I think. I wore it a few times, and I think this is the one that landed me the job that I'm working at currently. I think, I don't remember. I've worn so many great outfits and found myself in so many interview since then!

This outfit however, was not found in 'My Cousin's Closet,' this one was found in my very own messy closet, which you can see open behind me. This consisted of a grey large button down shirt, which is very warm to wear. Undone it would fall lower than my waist, which meant that it would stay straight under the short black skirt with the sewed on belt. Since it was a cooler day, I wore with this black tights and the short black shoes (not shown). This skirt is different than the one I had worn before, that one was much longer and did not have an attached belt. This outfit made my torso look short and my legs longer (wearing black heels could also help that illusion).

Hope you have fun on your interviews!

Lesson #5

Always be prepared to make something fun and exciting for lunch, or your kids will expect nothing but boring mush from you day after day.

And thus, with a little help from a friend, this idea came into play! As you may not know, my little monster is allergic to a few things, and thus cannot eat a few surprises that I could cook up but can't anymore. Today we looked in the cupboard and found hot dogs and long rice and had SQUIDS for lunch!

SQUIDS? Yes Squids.

The first thing we did was put the squid together. First we stuck in five or six long pieces of rice (long spaghetti works too, but that package wasn't open yet and I think there is wheat in the ones that were in the house). There is an image found below that shows off what it should look like. Don't put them in too far, or else the squid won't look that great. Keep in mind that if the 'tenticals' of the squid are stuck in too far as well, they may not cook as well as they should.

I made a second hot dog in case if the monster decided that he didn't like the squid, but he did watch me make the squid the entire time so he knew what he was getting into. After the squid had cooked I showed him the similarities it had between the rice he could eat and the hot dog that I was going to eat but he ended up stealing...

Our finished SQUID looked like this (image found below). One slight problem, the tentacles got a little muddled together when they came out of the pot, but they still looked pretty good to eat! I cut up the squid to his request and he realized that the SQUID was actually just his favorite food: Hot dog! And my favorite part was when he ate the whole squid up, tentacles and all!

If this works for you please let me know! Have a yummy lunch!

Open Road

You never know how
                                  Solitary
You really are until you are
                                            Alone
On the Open Road.

Nothing for miles but a 
                                     Single
Set of Car light,
                                     No
others for miles.

It is however
                     Peaceful
Knowing that you are
                                 Alone
With only your
                       Thoughts
To keep you
                   Company.

Often you can hear the
                                   Echoes
Of your lonely
                       Heart,
Begging for even a
                              Whisper
Of a passing person.

The moon will play
                               Tricks,
Convincing you that someone is
                                                  There
When only it is playing with your hair.

Shadow upon shadow is left
                                             Behind
And one by one the stars go
                                            Out.
Not much more is to be
                                     Seen
Or
    Felt
Or
    Heard
Even by
             You,
The
      Only
Person traveling on the long 
                                            Lonely Road.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

I stumbled upon this book actually, when I visited a dear friend of mine and he was flipping channels. His mother stopped him on the video version of this book, and we watched the last hour of the film. Soon though, I will have the opportunity to watch the film in full and let you know my thoughts of it. As of right now, I do enjoy the film even though, like I said I didn't watch much of it.

Favorite lines:
"There are five people you meet in heaven," the Blue Man said. "Each of us was in your life for a reason. You may not have known the reason at the time, and that is what heaven is for. For understanding your life on earth."
Eddie looked confused.
"People think of heaven as a Paradise garden, a place where they can float on clouds and laze in rivers and mountains. But scenery without solace is meaningless.
This is the greatest gift God can give you: to understand what happened in your life. To have it explained. It is the peace you have been searching for."

I hope to actually own this book someday, it gave me a few ideas to think about. Such as, who will I meet in heaven? Are those that I made friends with ones that truly made a difference in my life? Who will I as a person when I reach heaven?

I also liked this version of heaven by Mitch Albom, who was inspired by a relative who passed away in his life. I have always found the different perspective of stories interesting, and worthy of knowing, such as when discussing an argument or the correct pronouciation of a particular word.

Later on I will publish a piece on Beastly, and one on Beauty, a movie and a book respectively. These are different versions of the same story. There are 'different versions' of story books as well. Consider the well known tale of the Three Little Pigs. How often do you hear the story told by the narrater and not the pigs in question? How about if the story was told by the wolf, do you think there would be a different outcome to the entire story?

All in all I believe you will ultimatly like this book because of ephasis it can have on your life.

Zombies Vs. Unicorns

Which is better, the zombie or the unicorn?

Age old debate, if the two pitted against each other, who would win? In this hilarious book of zombies vs. Unicorns Team Holly Black battles against Team Justine Larbalestier in stories of the Apocalypse, glitter covered creatures, magic, death and love.

Team Holly (Unicorns) consists of short stories involving unicorns by Kathleen Duey, Meg Cabot, Garth Nix, Margo Lanagan, Naomi Novik and Kiana Peterfreund. All these stories involve Unicorns at their finest, at their worst, when they are the most helpful and when they are least likely to help.

Team Zombie is headed by Justine and involves stories written by Libba Bray, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Scott Westerfeld and Carrie Ryan. These stories involve the Apocalypse and beyond, love and hatred and death and life.

The stories debunk and strengthen a few of the old myths that surround unicorns and zombies, including the 'purity test' and that 'one bite of a zombie WILL KILL YOU.' The stories are as fascinating as they are gory, beautifully written as they are saddening. After reading this book you may not be able to decide if you are still for Team Zombie or if you are for Team Unicorn.

"Which is better, the zombie or the unicorn?"

Lesson #4

A little spooky, no? 

Well, to follow with our monster theme we had MONSTER SANDWICHES for lunch.

My little monster however is allergic to wheat, glutton, egg white and anything that I make for him. So instead we tried something a little different. I wish I took a picture of it before we destroyed it/ate it but hopefully I will get an improvised version of it up here!

My monsters mother makes bread for him to use so we had our head an bottom lip. In between the two bread slices we placed a little bit of mustard (not too much, he's only 4), a slice of cheese and a rolled piece of baloney. Similar to the monster on the left shown above. For eyes we improvised and used two baby tomatoes on toothpicks stuck through the bread. He is a picky eater so when the MONSTER came out, out came the toothpicks, undone comes the sandwich and he ate mostly just the cheese, baloney and bread that didn't have musterd on it.

Oh well, all that work to be torn to bits in about thirty seconds. Live and Learn.

We borrowed the idea from http://familyfun.go.com/back-to-school/back-to-school-lunches-snacks/back-to-school-sandwiches/silly-face-sandwich-683238/ All credit goes to Family Fun Magazine!

Movin' Out - Billy Joel

Anthony works in the grocery store
Savin his pennies for some day
Mama Leone left a note on the door
She said "Sonny move out to the country"
Ah but working too hard can give you
A heart attack, ack, ack, ack, ack, ack
You ought-a know by now
Who needs a house out in Hackensack?
Is that all you get for your money?

And it seems such a waste of time
If that's what it's all about
Mama if that's movin up then I'm movin out
Mm I' movin out, mm oo oo uh huh mm hm

You should never argue with a crazy mi mi mi mi mi mind
You ought-a know by now
You can pay Uncle Sam with the overtime
Is that all you get for your money
And if that's what you have in mind
Then that's what you're all about
Good luck movin up cause I'm movin out
Mm I'm movin out Mm oo oo uh huh mm hm

Sergeant O'Leary is walkin the beat
At night he becomes a bartender
He works at Mister Cacciatores
Down on Sullivan Street
Across from the medical center
And he's tradin in his Chevy for
A Cadillac ack ack ack ack ack
You ought-a know by now
If he can't drive with a broken back
At least he can polish the fenders
(repeat chorus)

Where the Wild Things Are

Cliff

Trees bend down
Struggle to thrive
             in a straight line
One pebble can
             destroy the face of the wall
             begin an avalance
             bury secrets
            collapse over life
Carniverous birds hover
            scanning the empty canyon
            searching for a weary traveler
            who someday may be me
Parched tounge
Fading light
Cold winter winds
Time to climb
        Echoes of an exausted breath
        Numbing sensation of broken bones
       Stolen honest memories
                Fuel a hardened hearts climb
Grasp at broken branches
Brush of snapped vegetation
        Aid with strategic grips
              Poison Ivy
Small price to pay for a firm grip
Firm grip
      On my arm
Foolish thoughts of
           Rocks forming hands
           Frolicking Giants
           Angels Assisting
          Demons daring to help a stranger
Lies these treacherous thoughts
Lies all lies
Lies brought down
       The Avalance
Lies brought
      The carrions
Lies
      Dug the Canyon 
 But the Truth 
      Carried me out 
      Gave me water 
      Fixed my bones
      Helped me breathe
                 The fresh free air

Sound Off [5]

'You were the best mistake I've made.' -Anon.

Often people talk about how they were happy that dated certain people, and were happier that they went through that relationship. I can say the same thing myself, I have found myself out of relationships that I was happy that I was involved with. Could say that most of them were with boys, as you may have discovered already, but a few relationships have been with girls.

There are a few girls that I have known that I learned a few lessons from. One of which was not to trust the first guy that I met, not to get pregnant and have a child and to figure out what I'm doing in life or else I'll end up on the fast track to loserville.

Of the first 'best friend' I had, a relationship that lasted almost to middle school, I learned a number of things from her. She was an intersting character, Justine was. I learned from her that if I wasn't old enough to understand what was going on, then I probably wasn't old enough to worry about it. For instance, she wanted to watch Sleepy Hollow, but I had to call home first to see if I could watch it. Well, as it turns out I couldn't because I wasn't 13 yet. The only reason why she could was because she had an older brother. Quite frankly, when I finally did watch the film seven years later, I was still pretty scared that something was going to bite me. She was more exposed to different things because she had an older brother, and since I had a younger brother I took care to be careful of what I watched. As years passed our lives become more and more seperated and I found myself looking at her in a different light. Gone was the years where we found amusement in catching bugs to feed to the chickens, gone were the years where we told ghost stories about different characters we found in schools, gone were the years of innocent play. She grew up, too fast for my liking, and when I confronted her about her latest behavior, she turned against me. I don't blame her, she must have looked at me and seen a small girl who still found amusement in the Disney movies and in chasing lightning bugs across the yard. I'll cherish the memories, though few there were, but as for calling her a friend again, I don't know if I will.

Another girl, Cora, showed me a few things. She showed me that its okay to be crazy, but not so crazy that you push everyone away and not care. She showed me how it was okay to write, but the more you dissagreed, the less you were liked. It wasn't about having your own style, it was more about having your own style that others appreciate. The best form of flattery is imitation, is it not? And the more drama you created around yourself, the less people wished to hear about it. The less drama that you created around yourself then the more friends you are likely to have appreciate hearing your voice. She also taught me to wait for the man that makes your life better, not wait for the man that promises you a ring then does not keep his word.

Another girl, Dora, gave me an inspiration. It wasn't just about who saw your hair, its how you wore your hair. She dyed it a few colors, and she was admired for her bravery. She though, has a man that takes care of her, which is another trait that I admire in her. Of course, the silly girl, moved away and won't respond to my messages so she can hear about how proud I am of her for being a good mother.

These are just a few of the girls that were a part of my past, I'm not sure if I will see any of them again, but I'm glad that they stumbled into my life, for how else would I have learned these wonderful lessons?

Lesson #3

Monster Week!

The first day of Monster Week involved making Monsters! You need:

- Paper bags (little ones for the little hands)
- Markers/Crayons/Something to color with
- Glue
- Cut outs from magazines
- Anything else you'd like really

What we did first was flip the closed bag over so the bottom flap was facing up. This is where the eyes and top lip is located. Draw here however silly you want the eyes to be, as well as a big fat top lip.
Then flip the bottom flap up and draw in a giant O, this is the inside of the mouth. Think of it like when a lion is yawning, all you see is a giant O with rows of teeth and a tounge.
Speaking of tounge, close the flap again and draw either a bottom lip or a long tounge to resemble a face.
Now when you slip your hand into the paper bag it should look like a mock puppet.

Here are some examples of paper bag puppets, I mean monsters, down below.

Guess which one the sick teenager did. (And that person wasn't me!)

Have fun!

Answer with Pride

Here’s the thing children,
Others treat you as you and as your age
When others still treat you as if you’re too young and can’t handle the truth
Others talk to you as if you are wise beyond your years
And you are the master to all your fears
That is how it all is and nothing really can change the fact
Take what you can get, not what you want now
Live your life as a child
Appear to the world as an adult
For it is only you who can decide what you are
With your friends you are welcomed and treated the same
In your family you are loved and supported
With me you see you are a different person
I can see behind the gauze where you try to hide
You are you and no one can change you
People may call you names in front of you or behind your back
They may be sweet and funny but others may do harm
Give the world your all and world will give all to you
Because the world knows of you there is but a limited few
You are rare, a dying breed of child
Who cares of only the image that is shown
Not of the one that the world puts a label on
If the world calls you too young
Say that you will be old enough soon
If the world calls you not a virgin
Say that you are one in your own heart
If the world calls you too proud
Say that you have the courage and are brave
If the world calls you by your name
Answer with pride and claim the day

Lesson #2

Every babysitter wants to be the best babysitter ever, unless if you're only in it for the money, in which case, go find something else to read.

In my case, I'm training to be a teacher. Copyrighted that!

So today we needed something to do besides watch cheap cartoons all day, well not all of them were cheap, I caught up on my old Scooby Doos'!

Today we decided to make squiggly worms. (EWWW!!) Hehe, not really, they were actually lots of fun!
We ended up making three and then when his mother came home we decided to make more another day. We made an aligater, a caterpillar and a butterfly. These Uncomplex Creased Animals are quite fun to make, and if you follow the animal hopefully you will be as successful as I am!

If you are interested this is the cover of the book, it is available on Amazon.com and other book sites. The kids enjoyed making them and creating phenomenal stories about them for hours!

Cold Food

I hurried down to the kitchen again, and to my dismay the house had changed again. The staircase wound down two floors instead of one, chandeliers glittered where flowers once hung and there was a hint of a musty smell... wait, "Wet dog?"
Suddenly I found myself cannonballed by a standard purebred poodle. A wet, white, standard purebred poodle to be exact. And it's name was Lacy. The poodle was giving me love kisses all over my face, slobbering my silken clothes with its sloppy drool. I found to my dismay that I had once again changed my appearance and the location of where I had once stood. The chandeliers had risen higher than they had been but moments before, sunlight wafted in through the open terrance, adorned by centuries old Spanish moss. Roman busts stood against the walls, and at the center embedded into the wall was a carving of a man and a woman, with jars containing foul liquids lining the floor below. It was a rich man's home, and I was his wife.
"Wife!" A booming voice called out, "Where is that mutt?"
Lacy continued licking me until I fell back over onto the marble floor. I used the poodles massive weight to pull me back into a sitting position so I could observe the individuals that were entering the room. First came a maid, at least she looked like a maid, her hair was tied up in a long french braid, she had on a white dress with a red ribbon wrapped around her waist and there was an odd electronic box wrapped around her wrist. She had startling blue eyes, of which I only caught a glimpse of, she ducked quietly behind me and helped me back to my feet. I found that I had been wearing heels during the entire ordeal, no wonder I had fallen!
Quick as she had come the little maid had dissapeared, with Lacy I presumed as that dog was no where to be seen. The next person to enter was a small boy, no more than eight years old, and he was pushing a rather large armchair about the room. I leaned over to assist him over the small step that led into the next room, and he whispered "Miss must never help Valone, Miss would get into trouble again."
"What kind of trouble Valone?" I asked him, it couldn't be much worse than what I had already been through that day.
Valone stopped pushing the easy chair and looked at me. Tenderly he traced the side of my face from just under my right eye, down my cheek bone and ended at the right of my lip. "I don't want you to get hurt again, Miss." Then without another word he pushed the easy chair into the next room and dissapeared into the alcove.
I began to grow scared of what was on my face, was it a scar? A tattoo? Or a bruise? I felt my face, it didn't feel swollon, and the skin was smooth, possibly a tattoo? I looked around the room and the only piece that could give me a reflection was the window, so I walked toward it. The window turned out to not be a window at all, it was a mirror, and it was reflecting the window on the other side of the room, but it didn't reflect me at all, which I found curious. I tapped the reflection and found that there was no pane of glass! My hand had passed through the mirror entirely!
Much to my astonishement, I realized that it wasn't a mirror at all. It was infact, a window. Without any panes at all.  And there lying underneath the paneless pillow was the big old poodle, sleeping away, oblivious to my embarrasment.
"Wife!" The bodyless voice boomed again, "Where is that useless dog?"
Terrified, I cried out, "Under the window!"
"Oh." Said the voice, sounding closer now. "Where is my food?"
"I... I didn't make it yet."
"Oh." Said the voice again, now just beyond the far door to the room with the chandaliers.
The door creaked open, I must have the maids fix that, and suddenly stopped. Curiosity got the better of me, as it usually does and went to the door to see who was behind it.
Truly, I expected a giant, as a giant would fit through the gigantic door, but instead, a little man came through it, not much higher than my knee. And he was all dressed in blue.
"Wife!" He boomed, "Fetch me my food!"
Distraught, at being his wife, then being told to do things as a common maid, I dashed through the doorway that he had just come through and fell....

Lesson #1

Always check to see if the children have previous injuries in case of something happens.

1. If a child has a blister and it pops while you're babysitting... DON'T FREAK OUT. Usually they are from a. touching something hot
        b. a too small shoe rubbing up against the ankle/tendon or
        c. starting out on a new sport and callouses are forming on the hands/feet

 Step 1: Treat the wound
 Step 2: If the wound is untreatable (too big or just a flap of skin) wrap it as best you can and let the child play. No harm will come from it.
 Step 3: Call the parents and notify them of the injury, sometimes they will explain that the blister was there before hand and they had been waiting for it to pop.

Case I: Child J had touched the top of a lamp that was on and burned her palm entirely. Fortunetly it was a light burn and turned only into a blister quickly. The parents had not informed thier sitter and during the visit the blister had popped. The child did not scream or panic since the blister was bound to pop any ways. The parents were called and informed the sitter of what had happened. The sitter learned after the incident to
a. Always know where the first aid kit is
b. Always be aware of previous injuries

Case II: Child A swallowed a nickel but was not choking. The parents were called and informed of the situation. The sitter was informed that there had been another incident where the same child had swallowed a nickel. The parents brought the child to the hospital where it was learned that the nickel had made it to the stomach with some discomfort to the child. Four days later it left the childs system and was never seen again. The sitter learned:
a. Never let anything smaller than a tube of toilet paper go near the child's mouth when one is not paying close enough attention and
b. To be caught up on CPR because the situation could have been 10x worse.

Sailors Take Warning

Blood fire streaming down from the heavens
           Chars the Earth
                     Burns her children
                                Enslaves the darkness
                     The wickedness went undeterred
            Consumed she was by the heavenly conflagration
Darkness was dispelled and banished to the skies

Day was abandoned blood fire retreats to its foul home
             Renews the Earth in blissful chills
                       Liberates fresh cool air
                                Obscures the frightening light
                       Darkness reclaimed the lost land
            Laughed at the challenge, the fading skintillant
Occult stars seized the falling scalding tears incessantly                       
           

The Ex Boyfriend

Well now darling aren’t you funny,
I broke up with you because you were flirting with another hunny
My days still remained sunny
And I didn’t need to buy chocolate, so I saved lots of money
But now sweetie you are certiainly a riot
(And you still haven’t stayed on your mothers diet)
That last time I saw you, you certainly very quiet…
Maybe you were just scared since I was dressed as a pirate
I must admit, even though I only saw her for a second
Amid the dancing and drinking, I saw her near you so I reckoned,
That she was yours and yours forever, so quietly to her I beckoned
And to her I praised you and called you, in the rough a diamond
I was happy that we dated, and that you found the right girl,
And that time that you kissed well, my mind went on a whirl
You were sweet to me, and to your other pearl
But now what you have done, I feel like I want to hurl
My dear friend, what have you done?
The best girl in your life, remember all the fun?
Did the girl go when you joined the army, when you carried that big gun?
You’re step sister is honest but crazy, and you right now, to her you have outdone.
I wasn’t the perfect one, I knew that now and I knew that then,
I reapeated that so all could believe it, time and time again
I thought we were over so I wrote a letter with a fountian pen
But now since your with that ogre, well, all I can say is, I’ve known better men.

Squirrels!

If any of your friends like squirrels, or if you want to make them feel better after they've actually hit one with their car (I'm making a memorial!) this would be a good gift.
I was considering though, you could do a similar project for a skunk (such as Flower) but use a black glove & white thread instead.
Happy Sewing & Gifting!

Jupiter

We discussed again how boys can be well,
Boys,
And how we should take care of their, well,
Boyishness.
After all we are Women,
And in well,
College,
Don't we deserve better?
But as far as I know the most decent boys are well,
In hiding,
as far as I can tell.
The best boys are well,
attached to odd girls, they are well,
great looking but well,
have a few loose screws in the head.
A few I know already well,
have a few screws loose in their head and well,
have girls that take advantage of that.
The limited few walk the earth and well,
win our hearts in the most innocent of ways.
But we know that they are not interested yet, well
they still win our hearts nonetheless.
I'd love to send all the boys to Jupiter yet, well
then I'd miss my very best friends.
I'll send the hot ones and the lowest of the low, but well,
I don't know if that would be the right thing do since, well,
After all,
they are hot...

Address Book

As you may recall, a few days ago I had written a segment on a fashion tidbit, using an old small photo album to store your favorite outfits in for an easy grab. Well today a friend gave me another quick tip to use, and this one involves passwords.
Everyday it seems that there is another password for another website, and there is the often heard curse of not remember your passwords to get onto your computer, website or even into your own cell phone!
Well, she had an old address book laying around and she being one good with numbers and not with passwords she gave the address book a new life. In the address book she placed all of her passwords! For instance under 'F' she put Facebook, under 'M' she put Myspace and under 'C' she put her cellphone password.
This would also help if you ended up not going on a website in a while and forgot everything, the code to get in, the password to use and which picture goes with which figurine. (I don't know about you, but I had to do a puzzle just to figure out my old facebook code.)
Good luck!

Chocolate Calculator

Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway -but the Hershey Man will know! YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH


DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute .
Work this out as you read .
Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!
This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but fewer than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759 ...

If you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number

The first digit of this was your original number
(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are
YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)
THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2009) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.

Enter Sandman by Metallica

Say your prayers little one
Dont forget, my son
To include everyone
Tuck you in, warm within
keep you free from sin
till the sandman he comes
sleep with one eye open
gripping your pillow tight

CHORUS
Exit, light
Enter, Night
Take my hand
we're off to never-never land

Somethings wrong, shut the light
heavy thoughts tonight
And they aren't of snow white
dreams of war, dreams of liars
dreams of dragon's fire
and of things that will bite
sleep with one eye open
gripping your pillow tight

CHORUS

SOLO

Now I lay me down to sleep (x2)
I pray the lord my soul to keep (x2)
If i die before i wake (x2)
I pray the lord my soul to take (x2)

hush little baby, don't say a word
never mind that noise you heard
it's just the beasts under your bed
in your closet, in your head

CHORUS (replacing 'take....land with 'grain of sand)
CHORUS (done the normal way)

AD LIB TO FADE