Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Grad Gift Idea

My "little" (3 years younger but a whole foot taller than me) cousin starts college this week. Do you have any clue how old that makes me feel?? For his birthday last month, I made him a "College Survival Kit" with things that I thought he might be able to use. This would also work well as a graduation gift for high school seniors.

I included:
  • Goldfish (pizza flavored... figured that a hungry college guy would like it)
  • Febreeze (probably won't use it)
  • Disinfectant spray (again, probably won't use it. This is a guy we're talking about)
  • DVD
  • pens
  • popcorn
  • 6 packs of Ramen noodles (the epitome of college food)
  • 3 cans of Red Bull
  • a card game
  • battery operated alarm clock
  • bandaids (Spiderman ones!)
  • 2 packs of candy
I put everything in a laundry basket and decorated it with tissue paper and bows in his college's colors. The sign says "College Survival Kit. Good luck next year! Love, Ainsley"

Friday, August 10, 2012

New Adventure

Hi, Friends! I've started a NEW blog that is all about teaching! I hope to use it to share fun ideas for the classroom. Don't worry, though! I'll still update this blog, too. You can find my new blog at www.kittiesinmycubby.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Summer Movie Review: Rock of Ages

(SPOILER ALERT)

Ok so I was very, very, very excited to see Rock of Ages. I love 80s hair bands and have been convinced for quite some time that I should have been born in '81 rather than '91. I went with my mom this past weekend and it did not disappoint.

It's a musical. Set in LA in 1987. As soon as they started singing Sister Christian just a few minutes into the movie, I knew it was going to be a good one. You'll also hear hits from Journey, Guns N Roses, and soo many more.

Loved: Julianne's amazing hair. The super epic soundtrack. The adorable love story. The clothes. Tom Cruise. The humor. The (almost) tearjerking scenes. The cool (albeit a little cheesy) dancing. Everything, basically.

Even if you aren't a fan of all things 80s, I think that you would really enjoy this movie. I give it an overall grade of A+ and reccomend it for anyone ages 14 and up. Go see it! Now!
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In other news.... you've may have noticed my absence over the last week. I'm back in class. Two classes for four weeks, and then another two classes for four weeks. On top of that, I'm also trying to squeeze in some work. I've been busy to say the least. I'll try to get some more posts up next week. Don't forget that if you have any summer-y things that you'd like to guest post about, please let me know. I'd love to feature you!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Summer Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

(SPOILER ALERT)

I saw Snow White and the Huntsman last night. It was much better than I thought it would be.

Kristen Stewart did an impressive job in the lead role (I've always been a bit jealous of her gorgeous eyes). Charlize Theron also did a great job in the role of the Evil Queen.

I thought that the costumes were very creative and fitting. The scenery was beautifully well done and made you feel like you were standing right there with them.

My only complaint was that it was a bit long. Not long long, but just long enough to make me wish it had been about 20 minutes shorter.

I would reccomend this movie for ages 11 and up. Despite the fairy tale theme, this is not a "family movie" and would probably definitely scare very young children.

Overall grade? A.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

4 QUICK Activities to Do With Kids

Hey, folks! It's another fun activity Wednesday. This time, I'll be sharing 4 SUPER QUICK (quick as in under 10 minutes) activites that you can do with your kids.

1. Question Ball- take a large beach ball and write questions all over it. You'll want to cover practically the entire thing. Examples of questions may be: What's your favorite color? What do you want to be when you grow up? etc. Players stand in a circle and toss the ball to one another. When you catch it, you have to answer the question that your right thumb is touching (or closest to). Play until everyone has answered a question.
2. Pass It- this iPad app puts a modern spin on the classic party game, Pass the Parcel. Players pass the iPad around while it is playing music, and when the music stops, whoever is holding it uses their finger to "rip" a layer of paper from the screen. Then play resumes. Whoever rips off the last layer is the winner. This game is very customizable. You can choose everything from the number of rounds to the genre of music that plays. Find it in the Apple app store.
3. Silent Telephone- You remember playing telephone, right? You know, the game where everyone passes a phrase around the circle to see how silly it sounds by the end? This is the silent version. Players hold hands in a circle. The leader will squeeze the hand of the next person, who will squeeze the next person's hand and so on. If you're just playing like that, you can time yourselves to see how quickly you can pass the squeeze. Once everyone has the hang of doing one squeeze, you can try to think up patterns to pass around. For example, you could do two quick squeezes and a long one.
4. Picnic- The first player says "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing (something that starts with A). The next player will say something that starts with B (of course), but they'll also have to remember what the first person said. The person who gets letter C will have to remember what the first two people said, and so on. For example, the third person might say "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing apples, bread and cake". Keep going around the circle until either you reach the end of the alphabet or the list gets too hard to remember (whichever comes first). This is a good one to play in the car.

Have fun playing these quick (but still fun) activities with your kiddos!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Strawberry Pizza

Today's recipe is another dessert one. Strawberry Pizza! This one came from my mom's recipe box. I'm home for the week. Summer classes start next week and I requested to have this week off work so I could just chill. It's been pretty nice so far! :) Sorry I don't have any pictures of this recipe, but trust me: it looks and tastes so good!

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 8oz tub Cool Whip
1 8oz tub cream cheese
1 qt strawberries
1 pkg strawberry glaze

What to Do
Mix flour, butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar with a fork until crumbly. Put on a pizza pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees or until it's light brown on the edges. Let cool. With a mixer, beat 1 cup powdered sugar with cool whip and cream cheese. Spread over crust. Slice strawberries and mix with glaze, then put it over the cream cheese/cool whip layer. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

A Fun Find

On Wednesdays this summer, I am going to be sharing fun games and activities, mostly ones of the kid-friendly variety. Today's find is short and sweet.

Ever have trouble getting your kiddos to turn off the electronics and go play? This fun online activity I found gives the best of both worlds. Here's the link. http://pbskids.org/arthur/clubs/dance/index.html Once you're there, just click on the big arrow that says PLAY (of course). Oh, and you need a webcam. All your kid needs to do is stand in front of the computer and boogie to the music. They'll see their cool moves on the screen in real time. What kid doesn't love watching themself? The crazy cool disco lights add to the fun. Even as an (almost) 21-year-old, I enjoyed playing around with this. Check it out! Here's the link again: http://pbskids.org/arthur/clubs/dance/index.html

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PS: Please keep little Lucy K. and her amazing family in your prayers. She's very sick. Her button is in my left sidebar.