Frosty the Snowman...

Here's Ben singing Frosty the Snowman ... well, sort of...

And for those of you that need a refreshers, he's saying:

Frosty, the snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe
And a button nose
And two eyes made out of cooooooaaaaalll!!!!

Handmade Chanukah

Inspired by this lovely blog, I decided to do a Handmade Chanukah this year.

(Note to self: make this decision more than three days ahead of time because eight days is a LOT of days. I have a new appreciation for how long that oil lasted!)

Also, a tip, how about try an arrange your oven NOT breaking on you the first night, throwing a hitch in your entire plan.

ANYWAY... this is how Handmade Chanukah shaped up in its first year. Next year, will be better.
First: hat and gloves
Second: OSU t-shirt
Third: Chanukah party (no craft)

Fourth: Pillow pet

Don't ask me what animal this is. I haven't a clue.

Fifth: Drawstring bag with (storebought) chanukah dominoes

Here's a total cheat for a button hole inspired by Disney!

Sixth: PlaydoughSeventh: Pictures for grandparents

Eigth: Nothing. We were pooped. We were going to make a matching game. But, instead, we played games on NickJr.com ... I know, not exactly observant of us. But, overall, I'm happy with how things worked out. Now, time to start planning for next year.

Meet Awesome

He's a handsome, full-bred Frenchie, with a face that just melts your heart.

It's impossible to imagine that anyone would consider killing this perfectly healthy, loving kind little man. But that's just what his former owners, and breeders were going to do.

They'd caged him his entire life, kept him enclosed in a concrete run, and just used him as a stud dog. And after 10 years, they were going send this face to puppy heaven.

A kind volunteer from the French Bulldog Rescue Network, she took him in. And helped the network find him a foster home -- our home! Now he can play in the grass...

And learn doggie manners (like NOT marking) and playing nice and sharing food.

He's go up for adoption here and he'll soon find his forever home.

But, for now, we're lucky to have him.

Oh, the games we play...

...on Saturday mornings when we are bored.

Inspired by Made By Joel, making match games has been a most favorite (and time-consuming) activity.

You don't have to be as artistic as Joel -- basic shapes will do and you too can enjoy this:

And smiles like these:

Here are a few of my favorites (clockwise from top left): a smiley face match, shape matching, letter matching, patterns (see the missing square?) and a "fill in the face" game.

You could also make these in powerpoint and print a bunch off ... but I like making them up as I go. Or maybe I'm just lazy. But either way, you'll have fun.

And you'll have even more fun when you ask your son to smile and he gives you this face instead. (What is that face?!)