Thursday Things... disguised as Wordless Wednesday :)

submitted by alfabette zoope

Wordless Wednesday

Submitted by Alfabette Zoope

Wordless Wednesday

Photo submitted by Shanna of Sweet Slings

Body Talk

My preschooler learnt all about body parts last week. Today she brought home her first assignment. She can't pronounce the word, but is very proud. We are required to make a person out of items already at home - so since she is on first name basis with the refrigerator we thought we'd raid it and see if we could make a food person. Beatrice proudly presents ... Ludwig (her dad). I tried to explain to her that *ahem* Ludwig might be a girl - but she told me I was being silly.

Clearly you can do use all sorts of things to create your own food person; hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, carrots, nuts, raisins. 

We stuck to things Beatrice enjoys eating - and even as I post this, Ludwig is no more.

Funny Friday: Toilet Paper

A mother was taking a shower when her young son came into the bathroom and wrapped himself in toilet paper. 

Although he made a mess, he looked adorable, so she ran for her camera and took a few shots. They came out so well that she had copies made and included one with each of their Christmas cards. 

Days later, a relative called about the picture; laughing hysterically, and suggesting that she take a closer look.

Puzzled, the mother stared at the photo and was shocked to discover that in addition to her son, she had captured her reflection in the mirror ... wearing nothing but a camera!

Jelly Bean Love

Although Easter has neither come nor gone yet, I am already dreading the moment when jellybeans have to be peeled from parquet, carpet, and tile. Also, I have to admit, the squelch they make as they are being trampled underfoot is ... well ... not my favourite sound.

So this year I'm preparing myself psychologically for the sight of leftover jellbeans running amok in my house - and being proactive.

"But whatever can you do with jellybeans?" I hear you ask.

Apparently quite a lot.

*nods*

You can ...

Have your little ones sort them by colour (guaranteed to keep them occupied for a while). Older ones (if so inclined) can then take that information and make a bar graph.

Put them in a pretty glass container, ask guests to guess the number of beans as they walk through your door, and then force .. um ... reward them with the jar as they leave.

 Have a jelly bean hunt!

Assign a point value to the different colours and then hide the beans. Rarer colours should have more value, and all beans should be placed next to an item of like colour. Cheapo I spy .. but a pretty effective one at parties.

(my house is currently too messy to support photo-taking of that kind)

Guess-and-Gobble 
Place a jelly bean on top of a napkin and cover it with a cup. Have the child guess the colour, and reward said child with the bean. Plenty of variations on this, so let your imagination run wild.

Make Jelly Bean Fudge

I'll pass on experimenting, but here's the recipe (from Ms. Billings)

• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 (16 ounce) container vanilla frosting
• 2 cups jelly beans

Line a 9-inch square pan with foil and grease lightly.

Melt the chips according to the package directions or in a heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted and smooth. 

Add the frosting and stir until the mixture is smooth.

Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Add the jelly beans and stir well to incorporate evenly. 

Spread the fudge mixture into the prepared pan and cool to room temperature. 

Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

Remove the foil /fudge from the pan and place on a cutting surface. 

Carefully remove the foil and cut the fudge into small pieces.

Make (or simply admire) jelly bean art.

I picked President Reagan because he, reputedly, always had a bowl of jelly beans on his desk when he was in office - but there is some gorgeous jelly bean art out there.

Play Bean Run! 
This will work for older kids (and inebriated adults) - and here's how it goes.

Two teams.

Bowls full of jelly beans at one end of the room (or garden) and empty bowls at the other end.

Everyone gets handed a plastic spoon.

The objective is to get as many beans transferred within a set period of time.

Inebriated adults seem to favour playing with their hands behind their back and the spoon in their mouth ... but we won't go there.

And finally ...

Celebrate National Jelly Bean Day  - by putting all of your leftover jellybeans into small bags and handing them out to all the people who didn't know it was NJD!

Mark your calendars: April 22nd!

The Easter Bunny Cometh ...

If you're anything like me, you'll have a bunch of children over at your house very soon. Whether it's an Easter Egg hunt or Easter luncheon, there will be plenty of of kids around who need to be entertained!

This year my seven year old wants to have a hands-on celebration, and he wants the theme to be, as he says, bunny rabbits.

So we did a bit of brainstorming and decided that we would invite everyone over early and let them fold their own napkins.

Since it's children we're talking about, we're opting for the paper kind.

These are simple enough that older children can make their own with a bit of guidance. 

So we start off with a basic paper napkin ...

and make a triangle out of it.

Pull up the bottom edges and fold upwards, and then fold it over again.

Pull the left corner up and across, and then repeat with the left corner.

Turn it over ...

enlist the help of a willing child ..

and decorate!

We purposely used items we had at home - but clearly you can be as upscale as you want.

Have fun!!

Funny Friday

My mother teaches 5th grade.  Just before the holidays, they were studying amphibians and reptiles.  The students were giving her ways that reptiles and amphibians were alike and different from one another.  

One boy raised his hand and the following conversation ensued:

Boy: Don't people get sick from reptiles?

Teacher: I'm not sure what you mean.

Boy: I hear about it all the time on TV.

Teacher: Well ...

Boy: You know, a reptile dysfunction!

My mother said she just stood there thinking "OMG - who can I tell??" while suppressing a laugh!

Submitted by Bonnie of Holden's Landing.

Illustration by Joshua Nash.