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An Entertainment Backup Plan

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An Entertainment Backup Plan

Photograph Credit: Fotolio

After today’s events, I am considering creating an entertainment backup plan. Lest you think Murphy hits our home each time we entertain, let me assure you that we entertain quite a bit without incidents.

Tonight was not the case. Everything was going well. I had picked up the pizzas from Papa Murphy’s this afternoon, the house was cleaned, and homework finished.

With the oven preheated, I placed the pizza on the top rack, set the timer, and sat down to rest.

Ahh!

The Incident

Paul came home and was hanging up his jacket when we saw a flash in our kitchen. Checking the light bulbs for outages, we found none. Not seeing anything else, we wrote it off to a power surge.

About 20 minutes later the timer sounded, and I went to the oven. Well, everything was dark.

At this time, I realized that the flash was from the oven. Paul reset the breakers, and then we checked the unit. The oven light and the stovetop worked fine. However, the oven had shorted out. Bummer!

Thankfully, I have wonderful neighbors. I called up one and explained the situation. In typical southern hospitality, she invited me down to use her oven. I enjoyed the time listening and playing with her children while the pizza finished baking.

Considering a Backup Plan

Our dinner turned out well, got off to a little late start, and we had a great night. We are not sure how we will fix the oven. But for now, the rest of our week sports a cooktop menu, so we are good to go.

Though this experience turned out fine, I began thinking about what I would have done had my neighbor not been home. I had called my nextdoor neighbor first, and she was not home. But the second neighbor I called was able to help me out.

Not that I plan to keep numerous options available when we entertain, but I have started thinking about our entertainment backup plan, which definitely includes my fantastic neighbors.

I’m thinking that I might want to choose a cooktop, oven, and freezer/microwave option. Of course, if the power goes out, then I’ll need a grill option. Happy creating!

Question: Do you have an entertainment backup plan? If so, would you be willing to share it?

Early Teacher Appreciation Week

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Early Teacher Appreciation Week

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Officially scheduled for the week of May 5 – 9, Teacher Appreciation Week came early for us due to Miss 6’s teacher’s early retirement.

Her teacher is expecting her first child in April, and Friday was her last school day. Therefore, we celebrated an early Teacher Appreciation Week, Monday through Friday.

Making our teachers feel special is not as difficult as it sounds. By listening and paying attention to their likes and hobbies, we can put together a mini-celebration each day of the week to show our appreciation for the hours invested into their students.

Our early Teacher Appreciation Week centered around our teacher’s upcoming delivery and her previous requests:  Early Teacher Appreciation Week

Monday: Homemade card, actually a booklet, made by Miss 6

Tuesday: Wrapped baby outfit, size 3-6 months, with a thank you card from me

Wednesday: Wrapped board book about shapes to start her child’s library

Thursday: Lunch from one of her favorite restaurants picked up and delivered to school by Paul

Friday: Homemade chocolate chip cookies with the recipe that she requested from a previously delivered batch of cookies

We tailored our gifts toward our teacher’s needs and wants. Other options could have included favorite candy, a gift card, a collectible, watching the class for a lunch period, scheduling a field trip, or any other task that would give her a break.

Even though Miss 6’s teacher missed the official Teacher Appreciation Week, we made sure she received the same attention she would have gotten had she remained at school.

Teachers have a difficult job balancing educating the children, partnering with parents, and staying within the bounds of the administration.

When you get a great teacher, it is easy to take them for granted. Love on those excellent teachers as they are jewels and need your encouragement.

If you have Teacher Appreciation Week coming up in May and are unsure about how to celebrate, start noticing your teacher’s hobbies and interests. In using time wisely, you will discover more about these special people.

Once you get some ideas, you will soon find your own way to showing your appreciation. Happy observing!

Question: When is your Teacher Appreciation Week?

2014: St. Patrick’s Day Activities

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2014: St. Patrick’s Day ActivitiesAre you ready to get your green on? St. Patrick’s Day is on the horizon. For the one who does not wear green, be prepared to get pinched. 😉

My children have been carefully planning how to incorporate green into their school uniform for Monday.

My son is already wearing his green bracelet and has chosen to wear his black tennis shoes with the green stripe on them.

My daughter has her hair bow selected along with her necklace (see Amazon link below) and ring. She and I spent some time this afternoon painting our nails green, of course.

I will enjoy donning my hat, green shirt, and matching necklace to tone down my nail polish. On Monday morning, I will send my little ones to school with their St. Patrick’s Day jokes in their lunch boxes. They enjoy getting jokes to share with their classmates.

Having posted St. Patrick’s Day party ideas and a list of St. Patrick’s Day activities in 2013, I hope you find lots of shamrock, rainbow, and leprechaun inspiration from these additional St. Patrick’s Day activities.

2014: St. Patrick’s Day ActivitiesSt. Patrick’s Day Accessories

  • Cute nail art designs shared by Quida at Simple Savings for Atlanta Moms
  • Shamrock pendent sold by Amazon for $3.49 with FREE shipping (This is my affiliate link, and Miss 6 is wearing it in the above picture.)

St. Patrick’s Day Printable Activities

St. Patrick’s Day Crafts

St. Patrick’s Day Deals

St. Patrick’s Day Recipes

  • Decorated rainbow cupcakes posted by Sheri at Swaggrabber
  • Peppermint Muddy Buddies posted by The Krazy Coupon Lady
  • Rainbow cupcakes with colorful layers posted by The Krazy Coupon Lady
  • Rainbow pudding posted by Kelloggs

With all these St. Patrick’s Day accessories, activities, crafts, deals, and recipes, I hope you can find a way to make Monday very special. Enjoy your day as you get on your green.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Question: How will you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

2014: March Madness – NCAA Basketball Tournament

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2014: March Madness – NCAA Basketball Tournament

Photograph Credit: NCAA Tournament

March Madness has started! The conclusion of the college basketball season culminates with the Big Dance, also known as the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Last year, I posted a video of my son and daughter making their picks when they were 1 and 2 years old. (Love that video as it takes me back to when they were little.)

As a sports family, we love March Madness. Having dealt with the criticism of how poorly the Florida Gators performed during football season, I am thrilled that they are currently ranked #1 in basketball. My husband is a Duke Blue Devil’s fan, so it may come down to a showdown.

For those unfamiliar with March Madness, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) hosts a single-elimination basketball tournament each year comprised of 68 college teams. Though the ladies have a similar competition, our family focuses on the men’s Final Four tournament.

March Madness Online

In 2013, Paul created a group on the Yahoo! Sports page for our family. We entered our picks, and the program kept track of our scores. Our son won the family competition hands down.

My only regret from last year was that I did not print our brackets. About a week after the tournament ended, I went to get the results, and Yahoo! had wiped out those groups to make room for fantasy baseball.

This year, Paul created a group with Sports Illustrated as Yahoo! would not setup a group without verifying a phone number. We did not wish to disclose that information, and Sports Illustrated did not require a phone number.

With the online version, all selections must be made by Thursday, March 20, 2014 at noon. This is the deadline for our bracket through Sports Illustrated. If you choose another online bracket, then check their deadlines to participate.

Once all our family members fill in their brackets, I will print them – even if the games have not begun. I want to be sure to have the brackets for this year. I can always go back to see who won the games and record the winners.

My children get excited about making their selections. The following embedded video is of my children making their 2014 first round picks. (Please pardon my youngest child’s manners as she is still learning proper etiquette, and I did not notice her actions while I was filming the event.)

March Madness on Paper

Prior to last year, Paul and I printed copies of the tournament bracket, made our picks, watched the games, and recorded the winners.

2014: March Madness – NCAA Basketball Tournament

Photograph Credit: Sports Illustrated

If you prefer a paper version, you can print a bracket from ESPN, CBS Sports, or Sports Illustrated.

You can choose how you want to score your brackets. For our family, we followed this guideline for each correct selection:

    • Round 1: One point
    • Round 2:  Two points
    • Round 3: Three points
    • Round 4: Four points
    • Round 5: Five points
    • Round 6: Six points
    • Round 7 (Championship): Seven points – we also guess the score.

If you have a sports fan in your family, then you will probably hear about March Madness, the Final Four, the Big Dance, or the NCAA Tournament – known by lots of names.

This competition continues to bring enjoyment to our family complete with bragging rights. In using time wisely, we love the bonding that this FREE activity brings to our home.

Watching the games and tracking the scoring heightens the competition. The games begin on Thursday, and the deadlines for the online versions are fast approaching.

Setting up a family group takes minutes which is a great use of time for this FREE family, group, or club competition. Happy choosing!

Question: Does your family make selections for the NCAA Basketball Tournament? 

2014: March Madness – The Results

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2014: March Madness – The Results

Photograph Credit: NCAA Tournament

March Madness was exciting and full of surprises again this year. With the teams ranked from a panel of sports experts, I found it interesting to see a team like Mercer, ranked #14, knock off a #3 seed Duke in the first round.

Poor Paul! He pretty much gave up on the NCAA Tournament after his team went out after the first game. 🙁

Though I was hanging in there through the Final Four, where Florida played, I lost interest once Florida lost to UConn (University of Connecticut) by 10 points. Although, if my team had to lose, I’m glad they lost to the National Champion.

Having shared how we setup our family competition through Sports Illustrated, I am not going to leave you wondering who actually won our family bracket. With our son being the reigning champion from 2013, we were all looking to bump him off.

So, the winner of this year’s 2014 Morrison March Madness Competition is    . . .

Mr. 8

For the second year in a row, he beat us all again, and he’s not shy about telling anyone who will listen. He is very excited as he had no teams remaining in the Final Four.

In order to beat him, I needed Florida to make it to the final game. Well, it did not happen this year. So, our family’s final scores were as follows:

Family Member

Points Scored

Mr. 8

 132

Tracy

 116

Paul

110

Miss 6

76
Miss 4

52

Second place seems to be my spot for sports competitions this year. I played in a fantasy football league and was winning all season until the final game. Where out of the blue, one player in our league swept in and snagged first place. Oh well, there’s always next year. 😉

In using time wisely, our family enjoyed rooting for the teams we picked; or, if your chosen team was already out, then rooting against the team another family member picked – just to keep the competition going. Our son kept us informed on the winners as he watched his iPod Touch closely for the final scores.

As March Madness has come to a conclusion for 2014, our son is our family champ for another year. But, we’ll get him one of these times when either Florida or Duke makes it to the final game.

Until that happens, we will enjoy this fun family activity as we pick, watch, and win or lose. Happy playing!

Question:If you participated in March Madness, then how were your results?