Most of us have probably heard about young children accidentally falling into swimming pools.  Those are such tragic accidents!  If we had a swimming pool, I would definitely want something to cover pool, such as a pool cover safety net, if we had young children around and no one was swimming.  All it takes for an accident to happen is for a supervising adult to get distracted, even if it’s just for a few minutes.  A pool cover would be worth it to me for the peace of mind.

We are a family with several musicians.  My husband took violin lessons starting at age eight and then taught himself to play guitar in college.  He actually makes money entertaining playing the guitar and singing, he’s that good.  Our son took lessons (and was in school band for eight years) and plays just about any type of percussion instrument but mainly steel drums now.  He did play the marimba in high school (very well, I might add, to the extent that playing his UIL solo at a college try-out earned him a several thousand dollar scholarship).

If someone was interested in taking lessons but didn’t have much time or wanted to learn at their own pace, there are beginner guitar lessons available online.  Violin lessons would need to be in person, though, because how one holds the instrument is very important as well as technique.  I’ve seen online drum lessons but not online marimba lessons.  Before anyone considers music lessons for themselves or their child, though, they need to remember that the desire to play and the commitment it takes are very important aspects of learning to play an instrument.

A lot of people are wanting to buy xbox games.   What’s so cool about them?  Well, Xbox is developed by Microsoft and uses a camera to track the player’s motion through the Kinect Peripheral.  It has high definition and better graphics than the Wii, can play DVDs, and you can watch Netflix on it.  It recently underwent a price drop, and Dell recently offered free Xbox consoles to students buying laptops.  That’s pretty cool!  (Thanks to our college-age son for supplying me with the info!)

From McDonalds’ website:  Chicken McNuggets

INGREDIENTS:  “White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning [autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid], sodium phosphates, natural flavor (botanical source). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, bleached wheat flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, dextrose, corn starch.
Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.”

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I didn’t know Chicken McNuggets foamed!  Hmmm…I think I’ve lost my appetite!
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One of the things I hate is having a toilet overflow and having the plumbing problems that go along with it.  Through the years, we have had that happen on varying occasions.  In fact, most people have had that problem at some time or another.

A few years ago, a friend told me of an experience with their daughter who was two or three at the time.  The little girl came into the living room and told them, “Pss pss go swimming!”  They didn’t understand what she meant so she repeated it, and then they followed her into the restroom.  She went over to the toilet and pointed to it.  Much to their dismay, for some reason she decided that the hairspray needed to go swimming and that she could flush it down the toilet.  Well, you can guess the outcome of that story and how a plumber was needed to fix the plumbing in the “swimming pool.”

We have had overflows three or more times when company was visiting.  It involved things like one person trying to flush two or three paper towels at once, another child flushing a fourth of a box of Charmin Wipes down the toilet and stopping it up big time, and another person flushing too much toilet paper at once.  You don’t have much control when company is visiting except to hide the wipes!  Then it’s time to look through the list of plumbers and call one ASAP!

*Note: I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog and was compensated monetarily. However, the views and opinions are my own.

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How would you like to win one of these adorable T-Shirts for your child? PopFunk is providing a WordWorld T-Shirt, shipping included, to the winner of this giveaway.

Our daughter and s-i-l first introduced us to WordWorld when it was the only show that our grandson would watch when he was around a year old. Forget the other educational shows for babies and toddlers, WordWorld was the one that captured his attention. After watching it, I could see why. As an educator, I immediately fell in love with the characters on WordWorld and the impact I knew they must be having on young children learning their alphabet letters, sounds, and actually learning to sound out words and read.

So with that said, let me get on with the giveaway:
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HOW TO WIN IT:
PopFunk is providing one WordWorld T-Shirt for giveaway. This contest is open to all U.S. residents. Entries will be accepted until midnight CST Monday, April 25, 2011. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Follow “Mr. P,” PopFunk, on Facebook &/or Twitter. (Each one counts as a separate entry.  Remember to leave a separate comment for each.)
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BONUS ENTRIES: Must complete mandatory entry first!  Leave a comment if you already follow or subscribe.

• Blog about this giveaway and link it back here (3 extra entries)
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• Follow me on Twitter (1 extra entry) (leave a comment if you already follow me)

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* PopFunk supplied one of their T-Shirts for a giveaway. However, I was not compensated monetarily for this article. This is my honest opinion.

One of the teachers where I teach just recently completed her master’s degree.  Congratulations, Melissa!  We celebrated at our monthly pot luck, and another teacher made these adorable cupcakes that were so delicious!  Great job, Holly!

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The graduation cap is made by placing a Reese’s Miniature Peanut Butter Cup upside down in the middle of the cupcake and then placing a chocolate square (high quality chocolate like Ghirardelli – yum!) on top. I think she used a little bit of icing to “glue” the chocolate on top of the Reese’s.  Then make the tassel with a small candy like M&M’s Minis and use the tube gel icing to complete it.  So cute!  Great for any age of graduate from kindergarten to college!
(PS Thanks Alan!)

* Also: Cute Graduation Cake