Ahoy!

Avast me hearties! Happy "Talk Like a Pirate Day!" Have fun adding a bit o' pirate-y goodness to your day! Here are some ideas :

• Watch Pirates of the Caribbean
• Go to the library and check out the books on pirates
• Sketch a picture of your favorite pirate or crew member

Arrrrrr!

Buttons for Your Blog or Website

Found these buttons for your blog while poking around about H1N1 (otherwise known as Swine Flu) after Lauren's school called with a recorded message about keeping your kids home if they are sick. There are many sizes and styles so go take a peek and put them on your blog to remind your friends to wash their hands and to stay home from school.

http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Campaigns/H1N1/Buttons.html

Visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1 for more information.

Catching a Breath

I don't know about you but school has started here and it has been a little crazy, so I thought I would just remind everyone to stop and catch your breath when things get a little hectic. Find some soothing music, or maybe even go without sound for a bit and give yourself a chance to refocus in the midst of all of your new homework and juggling of evening and morning schedules.

How about you write a comment and tell me how you like to unwind and recharge. I'll start first ... sometimes when we are back and forth in the van I like to turn on classical music and it really helps my brain stop buzzing. My kids don't like it for long, except my 5 year old ballerina, but I just tell them it will help with math! Other times there is nothing like a good nap if I get the opportunity... Sunday afternoons are great for that usually for some in my family, my husband likes the noise of a fan, which can be nice, but sometimes I find it frazzling and it makes my ears numb, so I have to shut them all down, as well as the computers and just have it as quiet as possible.... now your turn.

I feel like I am saying this a lot lately, but happy back to school everyone. Hope your year has started well!

Perseid Meteor Shower

"The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a good show this week for those willing to get up in the wee hours of the morning and wait patiently for the shooting stars.

In North America, the best time to watch will be between midnight to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, but late Tuesday night and also Wednesday night could prove fruitful, weather permitting."

Source: Yahoo News - Read more about the meteor shower

Kool-Aid Bag Giveaway

Time for back-to-school shopping already! It must be. Just look at the grocery store. The slip-n-slides, goggles and floaty toys have been replaced with folders, paper and backpacks. So okay, it's back-to-school how do you score a Kool-Aid pencil bag? (We have 3 pencil bags to share! "Oh-yeah!")

Leave us a comment and tell us how you are going back to school "earth friendly" - just make a list - and tell us which is your very favorite! That's it. You can add your comments to this post until August 31st at 9pm MST. We'll post the winners on the blog, so check back to see if you got a bag and to find out how to contact us. (We'll put all comment-ors names into a hat and select randomly.)

Here are a few of the cooler things I've seen so far:

• 100% Cotton Canvas backpacks (organic)
  
• Kool-Aid Drink, Pencil bag (recycled)
  
• Lunch bags (reusable, lead free, cotton)
  
• Cool Sigg Water Bottles (reuseable, worth saving your allowance for)*

*Something to think about: Sigg water bottles cost more than the cheaper bottles, but they don't leech stuff from plastic into your water. Using a reusable bottle like a Sigg means you're not creating waste each time you drink a bottled water from the store, gas station, wherever.

Good luck!