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Scrapbook Paper at SCRAP
October 30, 2008

SCRAP, the School and Community Reuse Action Project, has tons, I repeat, tons of different Scrapbooking Paper Packs(50 sheets)for $4.00, individual sheets are 10 cents each. Come by and check them out!

SCRAP is located at 3901A N. Williams Ave.

Wed. 11-8
Thurs-Sat 11-6
Sun 11-5
Mon/Tues CLOSED

SCRAP is a nonprofit whose mission is to inspire creative reuse and environmentally sustainable behavior by providing educational programs and affordable materials to the community.


KB Toys’ Hot Toy List
October 23, 2008

Are you serious? Is KB Toys still relevant? They’ve released their 2008 “hot toys” list and it’s not what I’d call “inspiring.”

Aww, man, I can’t even consider looking at the rest of this dreck. Hannah Montana dolls, a guitar, rubik cubes. Blah. Soon we’ll have some more exciting gifts. Right? Right? RIGHT?!!
source


How To Ditch Your Fairy
October 22, 2008

How to Ditch Your Fairy is a good, light book. As opposed to the Floating Island, the magic in the story is quite a bit different from how it’s normally portrayed. As an additional step to declare the residents of New Avalon ( Avaloids, or Avalonians ), there are several unusual words; “doos” for good, for instance. However, it’s not impenetrable; if you get lost there’s a glossary in the back.

In a nutshell, many residents of New Avalon have fairies who enhance one specific trait, or provide one specific affinity. Charlie, the protagonist, has a “parking spot fairy” who helps her with good parking spots. Unfortunately, she’s only 14 and doesn’t drive. And she hates cars. She feels used by people who only want her to ride with them for the parking spots, and she hates how “useless” her fairy is. She tries to get rid of it, with catastrophic results. You should read it.


Car Seat Recycling !

It’s another chance to recycle your old car seats. Your kids are growing up and growing out of their safety equipment. All used, damaged, expired and unwanted car seats will be recycled for free!.

Saturday Oct 25, 2008, 10:00AM - 1:00 PM
Legacy Emanuel Hospital
2801 N.Gantenbein,Portland, OR 97227
Parking Structure #3 (corner of N. Gantenbein & N. Graham)


Win a Zoobie ?
October 20, 2008

Little Jet Set is running a contest to give away a “zoobie.” A zoobie is a soft micro-fiber blanket and pillow that rolls up and bundles up into an adorable animal. The ones they’re giving away are the alligator, hippo and elephant. Check out their simple contest!


Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme
October 15, 2008

the floating island

the floating island


The Floating Island is the first of the Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme. These are some light stories for about fourth to sixth grade, perhaps. This one retells Ven’s story as he leaves his home, encounters pirates, learns of the Floating Island, gets thrown into prison, is rescued and begins his adult life. Fantasy, but not too over-bearingly so; the concepts are familiar, the magic is not too arcane. It was a sweet book.


Problems with raising a writer
September 29, 2008

Sure, it’s easy to say “raise a writer” and incorporate these four great project ideas:

  1. Creative Captions
  2. Personal Journal
  3. A family paper
  4. A wish book.

But what do you do when your ten or eleven year old is writing up character sketches and the intro to a story but can’t get past the first chapter? We get Powerpoint presentations of the characters, and how they all come down to breakfast, but then the story slows down and stops. What do we do to help her then?


FrankenTreats!
September 25, 2008

And I thought I was doing swell by making rice crispy treats and sprinkling the leftover half bag of chocolate chips over the pan of treats while it was still warm.

Check out the Halloween Treat Recipes at Parenting.com for more suggestions. Here’s a suggestion for their Frankentreats.

1) make or purchase rice crispy treats. Put them on skewers.
2) melt white chocolate chips and spread on tops of treats.
3) add MandMs for eyes, gummy fish guts for mouths and jujubees for the neck bolts. Let cool.

Sounds delish? And cute; the pics are awesome. I can’t wait to try out the “witches on a stick” version.


McFood is People!
September 24, 2008

Not to turn you totally against McDonalds; I eat there often. But here’s an interesting photo of a hamburger from 1996. That is, it’s a current picture of a burger that’s older than my children.


Rick Riordan: Teen Author Lecture
September 22, 2008

Rick Riordan is coming!
He’ll be doing the October Teen Author Lecture for the Multnomah County Library. It’s 7PM on Oct 13; tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. He’s the author of the fun Percy Jackson series, a fantasy about a son of Poseidon.

When my daughter heard the news, she squealed as if he were a rock star. I guess he’s a rick star. :)


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