Winnie the Pooh ~ Easter Fun

WINNIE THE POOH is our beloved ‘hunny’-loving bear, so why not choose one of his favorite things – a honey jar – to create as an Easter egg? You want it to look like a real honey jar so use tape to cover the top of the egg where the lid will be and also a wide strip of tape around the middle for the ‘HUNNY’ label. Boil half a cup of water, mix in 30-40 drops of blue food dye, and one tablespoon of white vinegar. When it cools, gently lower the egg into the pot. The longer the egg remains in the pot, the darker the color gets! Once you are happy with the color, take it out with a spoon, dry it and remove the tape. Then stick the word ‘HUNNY’ in tape to the egg, and pop it back in the pot, just for a few seconds to make the ‘label’ pale blue. Finally, you can use acrylic paint for a blob of honey and leave the word ‘HUNNY’ in the egg’s natural color. If Pooh could see your Easter egg, he might think it looked so much like a honey jar that he would keep it in his personal collection!

Also check out this awesome coloring page you can print   HERE!!!

TIGGER would be ecstatically happy about painting Easter eggs. You could have a go at painting an egg that looks like Tigger! First, use an orange watercolor crayon to paint the entire egg orange. While it dries, bounce around a bit – Tigger – style! Then draw in the tiger stripes with a steady hand and a black marker and fill them in with a black watercolor crayon. You can use a pink button for the nose and draw on eyebrows, eyes, mouth and whiskers with the black marker. Tigger-tastic!

EEYORE we all know would probably be less excited about painting Easter Eggs, so why not create one of his favorite food — thistles, of course! All you need are some crayons, a little spinach and also purple and green acrylic paints. Draw the thistle with a crayon, to prevent the area from being dyed. Boil the spinach, letting it simmer for 45 minutes. Put the egg into the water to color it green. The crayon colored thistle won’t dye (due to the wax in the crayon), so you can use acrylic paints to finish your egg.  Even Eeyore would have to admit it looks pretty sweet.

PIGLET loves his friends, and his motto is “Even if you are rather small you can still have a very big heart.” Why not paint a Piglet style Easter egg, with huge hearts on it? First, draw seven hearts with a marker, and then use small pieces of sponge with different colors to paint the egg. You can paint the whole egg pale blue like the sky and then paint each of the hearts with one of the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Piglet would love this Easter egg because it’s small and cute, just like him!

To have more adventures with Pooh and friends go and see WINNIE THE POOH, the brand new film by Disney, in theatres July 15th!

 

ABOUT THE MOVIE

Walt Disney Animation Studios returns to the Hundred Acre Wood with “Winnie the Pooh.” Featuring the timeless charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail.  “Ever have one of those days where you just can’t win, Eeyore?” asks Pooh.  Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some honey. Inspired by three stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style, “Winnie the Pooh” hits theatres on July 15th!

See it is not so bad

Making a move to a new place is always difficult.  Difficult finding a new community, a new job, a new school.  And for Haylee starting a new school and making new friends scared her the most.

When we told Haylee that Dad had been relocated and that we would be moving she freaked out and cried all night.  My heart broke into a million pieces.  I knew Haylee was worried about making new friends.

As time whent on and it got closer to the time we are moving she started to not be so sad but she was still scared that people would like of her little hand and if they would be scared of her little hand or if they would except her for who she is.

Once we were all moved I setup a time to tour the school the day before she started at her new school. A new school which is actually twice the size of the school she was in before.

The tour of the new school went awesome and Haylee was super excited to start school the next day.

As I sat in the car after school that day waiting for Haylee to come out to the car she had butterflies in my stomach praying that she had a good day.  But here came Haylee skipping and bouncing down the sidewalk toward the car with a huge smile on her face.  And right then I knew exactly how her day had went.

It went awesome and she made new friends.  Although she says she misses her old friends she says she really likes her new friends too and really like her big new school.

See, it is not so bad…..

Happy New Year ~ 2011

Here is to an Amazing Year!

Webkinz Jr. Party

We were recently fortunate enough to be able to host our first ever Webkinz Jr. Mommy Party…. And I have to be honest.  At first I was a little nervous about hosting a Mommy Party because I had never done this before.  But I have to tell you it went off without a hitch and the kids were begging me to have another one…

We had an amazing time creating crafts, playing games and having snacks.

Each of the kids left with their own Webkinz Jr., a coloring book, a CD, two crafts they created, a wonderful bag that they were able to put everything into and much more.

We started out the party with a couple ice breaker games just to get the kids juices flowing and to get them excited about meeting their Webkinz Jr.’s.  Then during snack time we introduced the kids to the online world of Webkinz Jr. and had some awesome cookies shaped like the Webkinz Animals.

The kids were so excited to meet their Webkinz Jr. that once I started passing them out they were laughing and screaming and playing..

We ended the party creating a Friendship bracelet for themselves and their Webkinz Jr. and than we sent supplies home to make their own paper bag puppets.

One of my favorite things about Webkinz Jr. is how safe it is for my daughter to play games and interact with other children online.

If you want to find out more about Webkinz Jr. Take this awesome tour that will have your children begging for a Webkinz Jr. by the time they are done watching the tour.

Sorry there are not more pictures to share but I had so much fun at the party that I completely forgot to take pictures.

Rock Star Room Make Over

Haylee has become all about getting becoming a rock star so this year one of the couple things she wanted for her birthday was a room make over. Since she will be 9 and all. So we called in the troops. And My husband, sister in law, brother, niece and myself created a Rock Star Bedroom for Haylee. Make sure and watch the video to see the room transform…

Memorex and Get Well Gamers Going Above and Beyond

There are times if I wonder if Haylee and I are truly making the world aware of Amniotic Band Syndrome, and again God showed me that I am on the right path and every day making more and more people aware of Amniotic Band Syndrome.  Yesterday Haylee and I had the opportunity to share more about ABS and to show people that just because she has no fingers on her left hand she can still kick some mean rear at Mario Kart! We were fortunate enough to meet wonderful people from Imation, Memorex and Get-Well Gamers.

While we were up picking up Dandy (Haylee’s new hand) we happened to be there while there was a presentation going on.  And it was a presentation that caught Haylee’s attention.  Memorex who creates accessories for the Wii and Get-Well Gamers who’s goal is to bring video game systems and games to children’s hospitals were at Shriners talking about their new accessories and more.  Memorex and Get-Well Gamers have teamed up to donate gaming accessories to Hospitals and to bring more family time into the hospitals as you are waiting for appointments or sick in the hospital and tired of laying around in bed.

While Haylee was busy playing the new games, testing out the new products I had the chance to chat with Ryan Sharpe the President of Get-Well Gamers and Marie Neal and Mary Rawlings-Taylor of Imation – Memorex.  I have to tell you these people were the most wonderful kindest people I have meet.  They truly carried about the kids, they listened to what they could do to improve their accessories and much more.

The Get-Well Gamers Foundation is dedicated to providing for children’s hospitals year-round, supplying everything from classic video game systems to brand new next-generation systems to hospitals across the country. To learn more about the Foundation and how you can help, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.  Get-Well Gamers is a amazing Foundations and if you visit no where else make sure you visit their site and check out where they are all about because they are changing the world one little bit at a time and helping Kids along the way.

Below is also some information on Memorex. Also make sure you click the video below so you can see all the great gaming accessories that Memorex is creating to bring families together on family game night. Also you can CLICK HERE to see all the great gaming accessories that Memorex has created.

What’s new for Memorex?

Memorex is unveiling a number of exciting new products that follow an entirely new design approach based on consumer insights to be more intuitive, durable and playful.

Memorex is launching a new line of gaming accessories. The new line includes a variety of gaming accessories for Nintendo Wii™, Wii Fit™ and DSi™, including a wireless sensor bar, racing wheel, charging kits and accessory covers.

Why did Memorex decide to introduce gaming accessories? Are you licensed by Nintendo?

Since the advent of Nintendo Wii, gaming has become an increasingly popular at-home entertainment activity for families. This was confirmed by the WeTime Parent Survey – more than half (54 percent) of parents surveyed selected “playing video games” as a favorite WeTime activity.

Memorex products are not licensed by Nintendo, which is true for approximately 80 percent of all gaming accessories compatible with Nintendo technologies.

Memorex-branded gaming products are designed to appeal to Modern Mom and her family, as well as the mainstream social gamer.

Other brands have tried to target Modern Mom and have failed. Why do you think Memorex will be successful?

Research has shown that Modern Mom is actively engaged in the buying process for her family’s consumer electronics products.

Memorex is doing more than simply marketing to Mom – we have developed an entirely new design approach for our products, based on insights from Modern Moms, to meet her and her family’s needs for intuitive, fun and playful products that inspire opportunities to have fun together and create lasting memories.

Traveling… The First Part of The Trip

We are back up in Minneapolis to pick up Haylee’s prosthetic hand.  Traveling with special needs children can have it’s ups and downs.  And it seems every time we travel we learn something new.  Sometimes we learn good things and sometimes we learn bad things. Traveling can bring you totally out of your elements.  It can bring out the best in you or the worst in you.  It all depends on how you take it. This time we made new friends but realized that traveling with total strangers can be difficult.

This time instead of driving ourselves we caught a ride with the Shriners.  We rode with the driver and his wife, and another family also coming up to Shriners.   We have never road with strangers.  And although they were super cool people it still made traveling a bit weird.

The poor little girl in the other family gets car sick.  And that makes things very difficult to say the least.  I felt so bad for her and there were a few times where I had to make Haylee completely concentrate on me so that she too would not get sick.  You know how it goes you hear and smell someone else getting sick and it your gag relflex comes out. Yah you can just imagine.  They brought a bag with them so that we did not have to pull over so much but that was almost worst then pulling over.  Poor little thing.

When we finally got to the hotel last night poor Haylee was so sad.  No pool, no cartoon channel and nothing we can find to do.

But that was just the first leg of our trip and we did not let it get us down.  We stayed positive.  We prayed to the Lord for an amazing day today and can’t wait to see what the new day brings us.  Including five new fingers attached to Dandy.

Rock Star Moment

Haylee hangs out with her favorite rock star Abisha, Lead singer of Sick of Sarah

Amniotic Band Syndrome is all about the attitude

Amniotic Band Syndrome can drain a person if you don’t have the right knowledge and attitude about it. We have had a lot of people ask us how we are so positive about Haylee being born without fingers due to Amniotic Band Syndrome.  And there is only one answer.  It all starts Faith and knowledge.

When Haylee was first born and I had found out that the cause of her little hand was due to Amniotic Band Syndrome I was a wreck, emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.  The first thing that would of helped was if the hospital would of been able to give us some knowledge or information about ABS. But nothing.  So I prayed.  I prayed that God would show me the way and guide me to knowledge and support.

Since that day I have been filled with knowledge about ABS, I have been overwhelmed with new friends that have children or are themselves effected by ABS.  God did show me the way and has been helping us make people aware of Amniotic Band Syndrome one little hand at a time..

We are very positive and upbeat with Haylee about her ABS and I share all information possible with Haylee about ABS, about this site and about people that contact us due to Amniotic Band Syndrome.  But there are still day where having a little hand totally drains her.  There are days that she is so frustrated that she wants to scream.  And there are days that she does scream about it.  But then we sit down and talk about it.  We talk about what we can do to make things better.  How we can fix whatever has made her so upset.  And that God has made her special for a reason.  Not to get upset over it but to share our frustrations and accomplishments with the world so others with Little hands, no hands, club feet, missing limbs can learn from us and try what works best for us.

So yah some days dealing with Amniotic Band Syndrome and it’s many effects can be a total bummer, it can drain person to no extent.  We still always remain positive, figure out what can make Haylee’s life a little easier and keep loving God and keep supporting our little angel.

4th of July Facts, Fun and Safety

Happy 4th of July…

This is probably one of our favorite holidays because you can have fun, remember how lucky we are to have independence and we always have a huge bash.  So this year we were on the look out for some fun sheets and facts we could share with you about independence day and about how to be safe this holiday weekend.  Below are links to some sweet places with tons of great information on being safe this holiday weekend but having fun.

4th of July Safety

Easy Quilt Cake

4th of July Party Ideas

4th of July Recipes

4th of July Crafts

4th of July Printables

4th of July Trivia