Easter Egg Dying

One of the many traditions that I remember around Easter time is dying Easter eggs with my family. We started this tradition when I was old enough to dye eggs, and it has continued ever since. My egg dying skills have definitely changed throughout the years though. 

When I was younger I used to just drop my egg in all of the colors and just hope for the best. They would always turn out funky colors and not so pretty. As I got older, I put a little more thought into them and started using wax crayons to write on them before dipping them in the dye, and even putting rubber bands in patterns around the egg. I thought I was really being creative using these techniques that I had discovered. 

Well, this year I decided to try something totally different. This year I bought a tub of Cool Whip and some neon food coloring. I spread the Cool Whip in an aluminum tray and then added drops of food coloring on the top. I swirled the food coloring with a toothpick to create a marble looking design. I then rolled my hard boiled eggs in the surface of the Cool Whip and the food coloring, creating a marble design on the egg. I let them sit and soak the color in and then rinsed them off, and I had vibrant colored marble eggs! It was such a cool and different twist on the normal Easter egg dying event that we do every year. We were all impressed with how the eggs turned out and definitely look forward to using this technique again next year!

If any of you have some Easter egg dying memories or techniques to share, please share with us in the comments. 

Happy Easter everyone!

Opening Day- Baseball

 

It's Opening Day

What's your favorite opening day memory? How did you spend this day with family/friends when you were younger? Is it still a tradition today? 

Elementary School Graduation Song

Happy #TBT

Can you remember the song you sang at your 5th grade graduation?

We sang Lean on Me by Bill Withers.

Brenda Song makes an appearance on Station 19

Happy #TBT

 

Do you remember this girl? Brenda song, also known as London Tipton on Disney Channel's Suite Life of Zack and Cody, made an appearance on ABC's TGIT newest addition, Station 19. I was a fan of Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Those boys were always up to something! I always found humor in watching the boys get in trouble. And the twins' mom was hilarious. 

What is your favorite memory of Suite Life of Zack and Cody? Were you a fan of London Tipton?

Snow Days!

Having my first real snow day in college brought me back to the childhood joy of getting the day off school due to winter weather. All winter I would perform my ritual to encourage snowfall by wearing my pajamas inside out and asking (begging) God to make it snow. I heard that putting a spoon in the freezer or under your pillow would do the trick, but I never tried it out.

Most mornings were met with disappointment when I was awoken by my mom at the usual time to get ready for school. Having a delay was cool, but never good enough for me. There was nothing quite like looking out the window to a blanket of snow and no where to be.

TOYS R US is Closing

It has been confirmed that Toys R Us is closing down all store locations in the United States. Are you as heartbroken as this little girl? Describe your most favorite Toys R Us experiences. And try not to breakdown like this little one!

Barbie vs Bratz

Were you team Barbie or Bratz? I was a mixture of both, even though I probably have far more Bratz dolls currently flooding my basement with all the other old neglected toys

I remember I used to go hard when playing with dolls. They would have complex personalities and relationships full of drama. A lot of the time I would have multiple characters going at once, meaning I would select about 5 different dolls and assign them each their own names and characteristics. Then I would connect them all together somehow as sisters, friends, enemies, etc.

I usually didn't do all of this alone, of course. I would have a friend or two to liven things up with their dolls and add to the drama. I even had a Bratz house, car, and party bus with functioning lights and radio.

Sometimes I would mix a Barbie in with the Bratz dolls and pretend like she was the eclectic stepsister. However, Polly Pockets had to be played separately because the size difference was just too weird.

Club Penguin

Happy #TBT

Did you play Club Penguin when you were younger? How much did you play? Do you still play now?

I really LOVED club penguin. I remember having multiple accounts! I played a lot; pretty much every time I came home from school (after I finished my homework, of course). I remember playing Club Penguin with my friends too, especially that one mining game. OH, and I cannot forget the mountain race game!
                                                                                           

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

I received my cap and gown for graduation today, and it hit me that I am no longer a child anymore. After receiving my cap and gown, I took a moment to reflect back on my childhood and what I thought I wanted to be when I grew up.

It's crazy to sit and think about all of the ideas I had about professions when I was younger and how much I have changed. My sister and I used to play school all of the time when we were younger and each one of us would take turns being the teacher. We had an overhead projector, chalkboard, and dry erase board, so we thought we were pretty legit teachers. After being the teacher countless times, I decided that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I used to tell all of my family and friends that I would be a great teacher since I already had all of the tools they used in my basement to practice. Being the kind family and friends that they are, they said that I would make a great teacher one day.

Well, I grew out of the teacher phase quickly once I hit middle school. In middle school, all I cared about was fashion. I would design outfits, make sketches, buy fabric samples with my allowance, and create design boards. I thought that I was going to go to fashion week at a very young age. Fashion in middle school is not that top notch either. People would wear jean skirts with Uggs, and tank tops over t-shirts. These out of the ordinary styles inspired my sketches for sure.

Then high school rolled around, and I could care less about fashion. I wore my hair in a ponytail everyday with sweatpants and t-shirts and did not care one bit about my appearance. This made me realize that I would probably not exceed in the fashion world. In high school, I had the opportunity to take business classes. I took marketing, management, and accounting and really enjoyed those classes. When I came to college, I decided that I wanted to major in business administration with a track in sports management. I loved all of my business classes, but decided that the sport management program was not a good choice unless I wanted to be an agent in sports, which I did not. I changed my track to general business at the end of my junior year and I am so glad that I did. I will be graduating this May with a degree in Business Administration and have already accepted a full-time position.

It is crazy to think that I am going off into the real world and starting a new life in just a few short months. The small action of me picking up my cap and gown caused me to sit back and think about how I got to this point in my life. I could not have done it without the support of my family and friends. I learned to persevere and to never give up on my dreams.

Memories of Early Childhood, or Maybe Not

Why Can't we Remember Our Early Childhood? was originally published on the Huffington Post by Jeanne Shinskey. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/greater-good-science-center/why-cant-we-remember-our_b_11297100.html

There has been a phenomenon recently brought to light that is called "childhood amnesia." This concept can describe why children and people can not remember memories before the age of three years old and sometimes even four years old.

People believe that babies and infants do not remember being so young is because they do not have fully developed memories. Infants and toddlers can form short-term and long-term memories though when they are young. They remember certain actions and how to turn on certain toys or make certain sounds that they have heard before. Of course this memory capability they form is not the same as adult memory, but it continues to develop as they grow older.

It is believed that stories told to children help create the memories that they have and share from when they were younger. When parents reminisce with their young children about events that have happened in the past, they are teaching their child narrative skills. This teaches them important things that they should remember and how to structure talking about the memories so people can understand what they are saying.

Even though they are still experimenting with the idea of childhood amnesia, there is progress being made regarding the cause and how it impacts children. While researchers are still studying this concept, it is important to remember that even if children cannot remember certain events from when they were younger, the events leave a lasting trace and influence their behavior today.

Hand games were LIT

Happy #TBT

Hand games

What was your favorite hand game from back in the day? Mine was definitely Slide Baby. I could go on for days, I was the queen!