Our family’s favorite toys to inspire creativity and fun! Happy Holiday Shopping!
New Toy Gifts Page!
1 Reply
Searching for a Book from the Past
I have fond memories of a book I read in middle school about a boy who travels back in time when walking in the fog. For many years, I could not remember the title of this book or find it on the Internet.
Continue readingSt. Charles College Ruins in Terra Maria – Ellicott City, MD
St. Mary’s Cemetery in Turf Valley Overlook I – Ellicott City, MD
The historic St. Mary’s Cemetery is located in Turf Valley Overlook between Ponte Vedra Ct., Pebble Beach Drive and The Concord Ct. Cemetery Lane runs towards the cemetery from Old Frederick Rd/Rt. 144 across Rt. 40, into Turf Valley Overlook, though the visible portion of the road ends before Dunes Dr.
Family Games
Great games to pass cold snow days!
Circuit Embossed Cards
Our family has a lot of engineers — computer, electrical and aspiring mechanical — so I knew I’d have a lot of opportunities to use the Sizzix Circuit Embossing Folder by Tim Holtz. I noticed that Pinterest doesn’t have many examples of cards using this folder so I’m posting the cards that I’ve made with it. Hoping that it will inspire others to share what they make with it!
Actual electrical resistors on blue tag; Sizzix Circuit embossing folder on dark brown, lightly inked with silver metallic ink pad.
Picture Books Make the Best Gifts!
A list of our family’s favorite picture books! Many are also available as board books for the youngest readers.
Christmas Books and Movies
Our family’s favorite Christmas books and movies to celebrate the season!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
by Dr. Seuss
A classic Dr. Seuss book about the true meaning of Christmas.
Also a classic holiday movie.
The Gingerbread Pirates
by Kristin Kladstrup
Captain Cookie “had a gingerbread cutlass and a peg leg made from a toothpick. Jim loved him best of all.” While searching for his crew and wishing for a pirate ship, Captain Cookie learns the meaning of Christma
The Mole Family’s Christmas
by Russell Hoban
Delver mole learns about Christmas and dreams of a telescope so that he can see the stars, but he doesn’t have a chimney. “…you never can tell what will happen when a boy like Delver puts his mind to something.”
The Polar Express
by Chris Van Allsburg
A child takes a magical journey to the North Pole on the Polar Express and receives a very special gift from Santa.
Also a movie.
Christmas Day in the Morning
by Pearl S. Buck
Rob decides to give his father “the best Christmas gift I ever had…” A special Christmas story by the award-winning author of The Good Earth
The Secret of St. Nicholas
by Ellen Nibali
The true story of the saint who inspired the familiar Saint Nick.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Illustrated by Jan Brett
The classic Christmas song with the beautiful illustrations of Jan Brett
The Night Before Christmas
Illustrated by Holly Hobbie
An Orange for Frankie
by Patricia Polacco
Frankie anxiously looks forward to his special Christmas orange. A story from Polacco’s own family
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Our family’s favorite Christmas movie! The classic Charles Dickens story with wonderful music and the beloved Muppets
Solar Co-ops and Experience
In Fall 2016 we had solar panels installed on our home. I’m sharing our experience and what we learned for others who may be considering solar.
Solar Co-op
We were able to join the Baltimore Solar Cooperative through Retrofit Baltimore. That specific co-op has since closed, but there’s a place to sign up to hear about new co-ops and look for current co-ops at MD Sun
A co-op is a great way to get solar if you can find one. They work as a group to get a good deal on solar installation for their members. They also act as a consumer advocate and are a great source for answers about the process.
Amazon Prime Bonus Benefits
Amazon Prime has a lot more benefits than just free two day shipping. I’ve found that a lot of friends have Prime, but don’t know that it includes a lot of free music, and tons of free movies and TV shows. And if you don’t already have Amazon Prime, you can get a free one month trial.
Amazon Prime Music includes a wide variety of free music to stream or download to your mobile device via the Amazon Music App.
Amazon Prime also includes access to a wide variety of movies and TV series through streaming devices, including Kindles, Roku, smart TVs and the free Amazon Video app. Some of my favorite free TV shows currently are The Good Wife, Downton Abbey, Philly, Dr. Who, Star Trek and many others. Some great free movies currently include When Harry Met Sally, Amelie, Chocolat, Kate & Leopold, Shakespeare in Love, Gremlins, Crocodile Dundee, Pride & Prejudice (Keira Knightley), Spectre, The Rainmaker, Age of Adaline, Misery, The American President, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, and Notting Hill. The free video options change periodically, so there are constantly new free videos.
Amazon has an email newsletter that you can subscribe to that sends you weekly updates of which videos are now free. This week’s newsletter announced free horror movies and the movie Love & Friendship (Jane Austen story) are now free to Prime members among other videos.
There are also Facebook pages for Amazon Video and Amazon Music.
I often find free movies on Amazon that I had not heard of before but really enjoy. Some recently movies are
Take Me Home – A woman asks a cab driver to take her cross country after catching her boyfriend cheating. Comedy/Romance, PG-13.
Kinky Boots – After inheriting his father’s failing shoe factory, a man begins creating shoes for transvestites. Comedy/Drama, PG-13. (Not currently free on Prime.)
You can browse more free Prime videos on Amazon.
Enjoy the music and videos!