How clean is your child's school cafeteria? It may not be as clean as you think.
Students at Rock Springs Elementary School in Apopka are not allowed inside the cafeteria after the roaches forced it to abruptly shut down. School officials said the cafeteria will not open until Monday at the earliest.
The Orange County School District in Florida is facing a huge bug problem. According to reports upwards of 22 schools are infested with roaches. Eew!!
It is now 88 weeks and counting since The Baby was born. She still has a big personality, she is still beautiful, and she still refuses to say Mama. Oh, and yes, she still prefers to call me boss lady or nothing at all.
This is a condensed list of the other wonderful things The Baby has learned to say this week:
Happy Birthday: My oldest child is obsessed with birthdays. She doesn't care if it's her birthday, my birthday, or your birthday. To her all birthdays are great. Not a day goes by that she doesn't ask when the next birthday is coming up. That kid loves to party.
The Baby idolizes her older sister. Therefore, The Baby has learned to say happy birthday.
My goal is to attempt to capitalize on The Baby's relationship with my oldest child. I just need to convince my oldest to join forces with me in my quest to get The Baby to say Mama. Is it inappropriate to bribe a 4-year-old with an endless supply of un-birthday cake and party supplies?
Dragon: The Baby's new favorite book is about Dragons. Am I surprised that The Baby is obsessed with a large reptile with pointy teeth? No, not really. This actually seems to really fit her personality perfectly. Plus, dragons are really cool! Once upon a time this Mama had a rather large iguana as a pet.
A normal person might start to become bitter by this experience. Not me. I am still feeling optimistic. Week 89 is going to be the week The Baby says Mama. I know it! I will keep you posted.
What do you do when you are a junior in high school and you think your school isn't being run well? If you are Connor Kurtz you run for a seat on the school board.
He says he started going to school board meetings last August when he noticed the district flying flags in poor condition.
“I politely told them you cannot allow the American flag to fly in this condition, it’s disrespectful,” he said.
Three days later, he says, the flags were replaced. But Kurtz kept going back because he was interested in what the board was talking about.
“I realized they don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t have a plan,” he said. “It boggles my mind that you can be on the school board without a plan.”
What has 8 legs and scares the crap out of me every Spring, Summer and Fall? The beautiful and venomous Black Widow Spider, that's what! If you live in just about any warm climate, you have probably come in contact with some form of widow spiders. Widows are found on every continent except Antartica. I personally find dozens of the Western Black Widow in and around my house every Spring, Summer, and Fall. The little boogers especially like hiding under the kids toys in the yard.
I have a love / hate relationship with these fantastic creatures. I am mesmerized by the Black Widow's sinister beauty and scared to death that they are going to bite one of my kids. My best friend's brother was bitten by one as a child so the concern is not totally unjustified. Anyway, this year I thought it would be fun to get to know my enemy a little better. Here is my top 15 most interesting facts about the Black Widow Spider.
1. That shiny black spider, with the really round tummy, and the hourglass on her belly is a female. She is typically about 1.5 inches long. The male Black Widow spiders don't look anything like the females. In fact, the males are often gray or brown and are 1/4 the size of the females.
2. Not all Black Widow Spiders have the red hourglass on their underbelly. Some have no markings while others have red spots.
3. Female black widow spiders can live for more than a year and half. The poor little male only lives for 3 to 4 months.
4. The Black Widow produces a protein venom. The venom will affect the nervous system of the person bitten. It causes acute pain at the bite site. Those bitten might also get severe muscle cramps, tremors, weakness, nauseau, vomitting, dizziness, fainting, abdominal pain, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. The venom might also cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase. Some say drugs don't seem to really help ease those symptoms while others suggest muscle relaxants might help.
5. There is a Black Widow antivenom available. Not every hospital carries it and if they do you may want to think twice about receiving the antivenom. The antivenom is typically made from horse based serum which runs the risk of producing a severe allergic reaction.
6. The Black Widow's venom is said to be 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake. Lucky for us they only administer a small amount of venom when they bite.
7. The Black Widow spider is pretty shy. You don't typically find her inside of houses. Although cold and drought will drive them inside. Black Widows tend to like to stay in the garage or areas around the house that provide nice dark crevices for her to hide. This includes piles of wood, under toys and play structures.
8. The Black Widow is nocturnal.
9. Very few people actually die from a Black Widow spider bite. It is estimated to be less than 1%. Those most at risk of suffering the ill effects of a bite are small children and the elderly.
10. The Black Widow spiderlings (baby spiders) all tend to look like the male. The females start to get darker and larger with every molt.
11. Female Black Widow Spiders don't typically eat the males. Sometimes they do kill their mate, but it's actually not typical behavior.
12. Black Widows are pretty good garden creatures. They eat flies, mosquitos, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and beetles.
13. Black Widow spiders aren't considered an aggressive spider. They tend to flee danger. They typically only bite when they are provoked or because they mistake a person for something tastier like an insect. For example, the spider will bite when they are pinched or sat on. They also might rush out and bite a finger that touches its web, because they think they caught an insect. Those most at risk of getting bitten are the male black widow and an insect, not a human.
14. Their webs look eratic. They lack real shape or form. They also feel super sticky and kind of rough.
15. Black Widows, and other spiders, don't like Eucalyptus or chestnuts. Apparently, they flee from the smell of both. Eucalyptus leaves and oil and chestnuts are often recommended as a natural deterrent.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus, http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74149.html ; http://factoidz.com/how-to-get-rid-of-black-widow-spiders; http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/black-widow-spider Photo: Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus)
This is not your average bed time story. In fact, this is not even meant for kids.
Go the F*&k To Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don't always send a toddler sailing off to dreamland. Honest, profane, and affectionate, Adam Mansbach's verses and Ricardo Cortés' illustrations perfectly capture the familiar—and unspoken—tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night, and open up a conversation about parenting in the process. Beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny, Go the F*&k to Sleep is a perfect gift for parents new, old, or expectant. Here is a sample verse:
The cats nestle close to their kittens now. The lambs have laid down with the sheep. You're cozy and warm in your bed, my dear Please go the f*&k to sleep.
The book hasn't been released yet, but I can't wait to thumb through a copy. The concept is hilarious.
Arizona boy designs A.T.B. (All Terrain Bunny) for an abandoned paraplegic bunny.
Paul's son Liam designed and built a small cart for Joe to help him move around a little easier. The red wagon with yellow wheels took some getting used to, but ultimately seemed to improve his mobility.
How do you feel about your school putting up ads in the Cafeteria or even selling the naming rights to school buildings?
The Lodi School District, in California, is seriously considering selling ads to help ease budget woes. What's really interesting, however, is that parents seem to be receptive to the idea.
Concerns have been raised about whether or not the advertisements would be seen as endorsements or a conflict of interest, but parents like Leanne Hummel didn’t seem to mind. “If (businesses are) willing to help our kids when the state of California can’t; anything is welcome,” she said.
Fellow Lodi parent Danyelle Horch agreed, “We need our teachers. We need our advisors. We need our administrators.”
When you gotta go, please find the nearest restroom not located on a elementary school campus.
An unidentified man "barged" onto the campus at Stony Creek Elementary School in Littleton Thursday, forcing students and staff members to evacuate, officials said.
No, he wasn’t a criminal fugitive or anyone out to cause harm to students. Officials say he was just trying to use the restroom.
Some students take their senior projects seriously, very seriously.
Washington teen, Gaby Rodriguez, faked her pregnancy as part of her senior project.
For the past 61/2 months -- the bulk of her senior year at Toppenish High School -- the 17-year-old A-student faked her own pregnancy.
Only a handful of people -- her mother, boyfriend and principal among them -- knew Gaby was pretending to be pregnant for her senior project, a culminating assignment required for graduation.
Her teachers and fellow students, except for her best friend, didn't realize they were part of a social experiment.
Gaby revealed the truth during a packed school assembly. She plans to present her research to a board of community members in May.
Gaby is said to be very happy that she can attend prom minus the wire-mesh prosthetic belly. Apparently she has a form fitting dress already picked out.
Adriana Janovich of the Yakima Herald-Republic has more: Link
It is now 87 weeks and counting since The Baby was born. She still has a big personality, she is still beautiful, and she still refuses to say Mama.
This is one of the other wonderful words The Baby has learned to say this week:
Bunny: Just in time for Easter, The Baby has learned to pick a bunny rabbit out of a lineup of barnyard animals. Why learn the word bunny and not Mama, you might ask? Well this is how I see it: I believe her siblings told her about the all important and magical being known as the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny brings candy and an Easter basket of goodies. The Baby obviously felt it was in her best interest to learn the word bunny. She is hedging her bets that learning the word bunny will ensure that she receives a reward from this furry creature. Yes, this spin does make me feel better.
The Baby might not be calling me Mama, but she does seem to really enjoy calling me "Boss Lady." I am thinking of starting a campaign to change Mother's Day to Boss Lady's Day.
All kidding aside, I am still feeling optimistic. Week 88 is going to be the week The Baby says Mama. I know it! I will keep you posted.
Many girls just buy their prom dress, but not Kelli Brinkman. This amazing young designer and artist opted to make her prom dress. She also made her date a very handsome matching tuxedo. How did she make them? Well, she used a whole lot of duct tape.
Kelli began making a duct tape prom dress her sophomore year of high school. She says got the idea after attending a girl scout camp where they did a duct tape art craft.
"We made bags and I was like, I'm good at this," Kelli said.
After that, she made a poodle skirt and Halloween costumes entirely out of duct tape before beginning work on her prom dress.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis has a very tempting and deliciously deceptive art exhibit on display.
Commissioned by the Jelly Belly Candy Company, large-scale mosaic replicas of eight famous works of art have been re-created entirely out of thousands of Jelly Belly® jelly beans. The replica works including Leonardo da Vinci’sMona Lisa and Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring are on display at the museum now through June 1.
The artist is Kristen Cumings.
Photo: Paul Gauguin's "Woman with Mango" made out of thousands of jelly beans.
Does your Mom give you unsolicited advice? Better yet, are you guilty of doing this to your kids? Of course you are! That's what being a parent is all about. That is precisely why I think you are going to love this book.
As the front of the book says this is:
The Story of a Man, His Mom, and the Thousands of Altogether Insane Letters She's Mailed Him.
No, seriously it is! The book is filled with tons of letters and they are insane. They are also hilarious.
I didn't send you to college to brush toilets with a toothbrush. You have to get out of that fraternity and concentrate on your studies!
Love,
Mom
P.S. Toilets are receptacles for disease.
I love that she gets right to the point. This letter, like most of her letters, are brilliantly concise.
This is another wonderful letter:
Mon.
Adam-
Grapes are very good for having bowel movements. I didn't see any grapes in your house!!
Mom
Moms are notorious for saying this kind of stuff. The fact that she said this is not in and of itself shocking. What is surprising is how often she sent these type of notes. What is really shocking, however, is that her son kept them all.
You are tempted to ask who keeps these kinds of notes, letters, newspaper clippings. Before long, however, you don't care. They are so inappropriate and funny that you are just glad that he did. This really does go back to the old warning to be careful what you put down in writing. I am not sure I could stomach seeing all my advice come back to haunt me in the form of a tell all book.
Do you feel sorry for Adam? Sure you do, but only slightly. Let's face it his Mom obviously loves him. There are a lot of people out there whose dream it is to have a Mom who loved them, maybe not this much, but half a quarter as much. Despite the smotherly love, the pair seem to have a good relationship. This is what makes the book so endearing.
Reading this book has forced me to reflect on my own Mothering. I cringe in admitting this, but kind of relate to this wonderfully overbearing Mom. I am pretty sure that many of us are only a hop, skip and a jump away from being this type of Mom. Is it any wonder that smother and Mother sound so similar?
If you get the chance you should check out this insanely addictive read. It is the perfect story for Mother's Day: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810996456/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=neatorama-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0810996456
Are you looking for the perfect artwork for your nerdy baby nursery? You should check out Etsy seller electricboogaloo. Her version of twinkle, twinkle, little star is just too cute!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star! How I wonder where on the Hertzprung-Russell diagram you are...
