Mary Christophermas

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Things in my Room Thursday #2


The next thing in my room I want to share is my collection of bouncy balls. I have big ones, medium ones, and small ones. I have been collecting them for several years. I have gotten some from the dentist, I have gotten some from Christopher, one of them I even found in a parking lot.

Mostly, I just like the way they look in their jar; all the different sizes and colors.

I will probably keep these forever, and have them for my children. The collection will probably be a lot bigger by then. I don't think they will be valuable, per se, but it will still be nice to pass on something that was meaningful to me.



Bounce on over to MommySweetMom's and participate in "TIMHT". It's fun!!!!


Now to have a "contest". There is no prize except for the sheer joy of winning. Can you guess how many bouncy balls are in the jar? Leave a comment with your answer. I will announce the winner tomorrow.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Ten Minutes

If I only had ten minutes to get out of my house, what would I grab?  Ummmm. . . 

  • Jack (he can't live without me)
  • My laptop
  • My squishy Dude (pillow man)
  • My purse (with celly, bible, pens and paper, etc.)
  • As many books as I could!
  • Some of my special cooking things
To join in the fun and learn more go to Mommy Sweet Mom.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Things In My House Thursday





My version of "Things in my House" is some 'things in my room'. My first 'thing' is my violin. I took violin lessons when I was four.


The violin is very tiny, it looks like a little toy. It may not look that tiny in the picture but it really is. Of course, it was just the right size for me!

Perspective:











And, by the way, my hair wasn't naturally curly like Charlotte's; mine was the work of millions of pink sponge rollers.




Go to my mom's blog and participate in "Things In My House" with me. It's fun.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Blogging Break

I couldn't let the non-posting reach two weeks.  I HAD to post.  Here's just a little update on what I've been doing.

  • THE reading classes.  Just one more!
  • My friend, Sarah, spent the night; we played WII and crafted.
  • Charlotte came over.  Times four.
  • I wear my retainers just at night now!
  • Ate our way through Costco, and discovered some awesome burritos.
  • Went to a splash park with Charlotte; she didn't like it.
  • Been sewing a baby doll quilt for Charlotte's birthday.
  • Went with my friend Maureen to Incredible Pizza for the first time


Tuesday, July 15, 2008

WPM


Every Saturday, Christopher and I go to a reading class. For TWO AND 1/2 HOURS! We don't really like it, but we have to go. 

 It's not that we don't know how to read, or something like that.  This class is helping us read faster, have better comprehension,  and learn note taking and study skills.

I am reading Banner in the Sky and Christopher is reading Lord of the Rings (book 1).   I'd never heard of my book before, and I probably wouldn't have chosen it, but it's a pretty good book so far.    

We read some in the class, but we also have homework.
One thing the teachers have taught us is to use long smooth underlining when we read.  Long smooth underlining is where you extend all of your fingers on your dominant hand and underline the sentence, and move down the page in a zigzag pattern.  (It's easier to understand if you see it).  You are basically using your fingers to guide your eyes. 
 Eye doctors have done studies that show your eyes jump all over the page; they don't focus.  Your fingers are a guide for your eyes.  You aren't supposed to use only one finger though, because it is to "small" for focusing.  I don't really like using the technique,  but it does help me read faster.  (The teachers say we will get used to it). 
 The first time I timed myself to figure out my WPM (words per minute) it was 276.  The second time I timed myself I used long smooth underlining and my WPM was 405.  My fastest speed to date is 432 WPM.

To conduct a timing of your reading:

Choose a full line of text (from left margin to right margin), and count each letter, space, and punctuation mark on that line.  This gives you the number of characters.  Divide the number of characters by 6 and round to the nearest whole number (you don't want a remainder); this is the average words per line.  Once you know the average words per line, time yourself for one minute.  Then count the number of lines you read and multiply that by the average words per line. VOILA! Your WPM!

Leave a comment and tell me what it was.  : )

Friday, July 11, 2008


This is a game I saw on Elana's blog:

Type your answer to each of the questions below into the Flickr search box.
Using only the first page choose an image
Copy and paste each of the images URL's into Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker

The questions:

  1. What is your first name? Mary
  2. What is your favorite food? Mandarin Oranges
  3. What high school did you go to? Homeschool
  4. What is your favorite color? Orange
  5. Favorite drink? Vernor's Gingerale
  6. Dream vacation? Florida
  7. Favorite dessert? Ice Cream
  8. Favorite Singer? I don't know
  9. What you want to be when you grow up? Baker
  10. What do you love most in life? Jesus
  11. One Word to describe you: Small
  12. Your flickr name: marymary (I don't have one but if I did that would be it)

Monday, July 7, 2008


The ROOMBA has a schedule. Everyday it starts vacuuming at 10 o'clock.  
A little over a week ago, we didn't want the ROOMBA to go off because Charlotte was coming over and she doesn't like it.  None of us knew how to stop the ROOMBA from starting except to set the timer to something before 10 o'clock (it was almost ten) that way it wouldn't go off.  I wasn't really paying attention to what I was setting the timer to.

A week later, Mom and Dad were happy to be the only ones to hear the ROOMBA go off at 4 a.m.  Yep, I accidently set the timer to 4 a.m.

                                                                               I suppose if we need to stop it from going off again I'll set it to a more decent time. :) 

Friday, July 4, 2008


Happy 4th of July!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Prestyn Alexander - Happy Birthday!

Today, my cousin Josh's baby was born.  His name is Prestyn Alexander, he was born at 4:50 a.m., weighs 6 lbs. 8 oz. and is 20 inches long.

Josh, Constance, and Prestyn

Jessica showing Josh how to swaddle Prestyn


He has a lot of hair (for a newborn)






He's a cute little baby.  Never would open his eyes for us though.

Monday, June 30, 2008

What I'm Baking

On Sundays after church our family eats lunch together. Me, Mom, Christopher, Dad (if he's not working), Jessica, Matt, Charlotte, and Danny. Sometimes we go to a restaurant, sometimes we go to our house or Jessica's, with either pizza or chinese or having a meal from the crockpot or such; whatever Jessica and Mom have decided the night before.


Whenever someone's birthday is coming up, we have Birthday Sunday. That means the Sunday before their birthday we all go out to eat where they want to go, and give them their presents. My dad's birthday is coming up next, July 4th (special, eh?).


Now, my dad is a firefighter. That means somedays he is gone the whole day. So, on his b-day Sunday, he was at the fire station. He is also at the fire station the next two Sunday's after that AND he is there on his actual birthday.
Wonderful.


Mom decided we would have the Sunday Group over on Thursday night (plus Uncle Reb and Aunt Carolyn), the day before his b-day. Which means I have some baking to do!

For Thursday night we are getting a chocolate cake from Costco (very delicious) and I am making
Red, White and Blueberry Squares. On Friday, when we go up to the fire station, we have to bring a lot of dessert. You see, at the fire station, it's all men (maybe one girl, MAYBE). Because it's all men, there are lots of big bellies to feed. So for Friday I am baking chocolate chip cookies, banana pudding squares, and we are getting cupcakes from Costco (oh, how we love Costco).


Well, that's what's going on. I am glad I get to bake some goodness. Firefighters love my goodness.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Flowers

Here are some pictures of the flowers that we have in our yards (front and back).
I love it when are lilies start blooming.



This is actually a $5 bouqet from Kroger. So far it has stayed "fresh" for nine days.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

hehehe. . .

Whoa, it's been over a week.

Well, here I am again, miss me?

I haven't actually been busy, I've just been a deadbeat. I helped in Jessica and Matt's garage sale, made some coin. It's a good thing I made money considering I had to wake up at 5 a.m. There were things we thought would sell well that didn't, and vice versa. We had A LOT of clothes and books. Overall, the sale went well and everything that was left went to Goodwill.


Saturday, June 14, 2008

Tagged, again

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been helping with a garage sale but, I'll post about that soon. :)


I've been tagged by Caroline!

The rules:

1) Answer all the questions honestly

2) Tag at least three people.

When was the most recent time you were burned?
About 3 years ago I stuck my hand under an instant hot faucet. My hand hurt SOOO bad.

Can you cook? Yes

If yes, name your specialties (three max.)
Poppyseed Chicken, Scrambled Eggs, Mac 'n' Cheese

If yes, do you like to cook? Yes, a lot

If no, do you want to be able to cook?
N/A

What color is your kitchen?
Mostly white and blue, with splashes of red.

Do you bake?
Yes

If yes, specialties (max 3)
Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies, Icebox Cookies

If yes, do you like to bake?
Yes

If no, do you want to bake?

What color is your apron?
Well, I have a yellow one (Williams Sonoma), and the apple apron I made.

I tag:

Jessica

Mom
Elana

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Chick-fil-A


Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  Last week was VBS (vacation bible school).  I was a youth worker and a clown so it was pretty hectic.  I had a lot of fun helping though.


Since I helped in VBS, I got a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich.  I also got a gift card to Bath and Body Works from the director of the VBS class.  I have no idea what I'm going to buy; there is so much good stuff to choose from.

Saturday, Mom and I went to Chick-fil-A and I used my coupon.  Now what I am going to tell is the reason for this post:

It was my first chicken sandwich ever!!

I had always gotten the kid's meal with nuggets but because I had the coupon I tried the sandwich.  I liked it. . . a lot.  It is definitely what I am going to order from now on.

Friday, May 30, 2008

It's so much better. . .


Molly and Jack have to sleep in kennels at night. Molly is actually the only one that needs to be in a kennel, but Jack likes to get in his kennel. Because I'm the one that takes care of the dogs, the kennels are in my room.



Before Jessica, Mom, and I redid my room (I might post about that later), I had a window seat by the . . . window. You could lift up the top and store things in there, but I had to put things I didn't need regularly in there because I had some OLD computer sitting on top of it. When we redid my room, we got rid of the old computer and stored the window seat elsewhere. Then we put the kennels in the little window niche (they'd been on the other side of the room. Jessica said we should turn the window seat into a "kennel". We all thought it was a good idea, and Dad can create / build / do just about anything, but he isn't good at getting projects started. And, if he starts them, he might not finish them. . .



It's been almost a year since we finished my room, and something made me remember the window seat. I thought about how nice it would be if it were in place of the kennels. I decided to call Dad and ask him about it. He said we would do it soon, maybe even start on it later that day! Mom was doubtful, and told me not to get my hopes up. . . I however, was not doubtful, and brought it up again, later that day. Amazingly, Dad said we could plan on how we were going to do it, right then, that very moment!


Christopher and Dad carried the window seat outside into the garage and we figured out where the doorways would be and what they would look like. They cut the doorways, put a divider in the middle of the window seat, and cut a few small holes for ventilation. AWESOME!!






One problem though, we couldn't figure how to make the doors, at least not with whatever materials we had on hand or the limited time we had left to work that night. The doors can't be just solid wood, it would get too stuffy. Mom and I thought a blanket over the doorway for right now would be fine, because the dogs would stay inside out of habit. Sadly, no, Molly got out and had an accident in my room: not fun.


Now our temporary solution is to use "Christopher's" newly acquired doggie baby gate (borrowed from Jessica). It fits perfectly in front of the window seat / kennel palace - the dogs can't go anywhere.

He has never been able to tolerate the dogs wandering into his room, so he used empty Avon boxes for the longest time as a 'dog barrier'. Finally, Jessica offered up one of her many baby gates and it's much better. We threw out the boxes.



*** One night after Christopher had gone to bed, and I'd had a particularly large Avon delivery (well, not just one), I did this: - - but it's another story : ) ***


Now we'll either need another baby gate or we'll share the one we have: I use it at night and he can use it during the day.


If anyone has a suggestion for the doors, I'm open. We don't need anything to complicated, just something simple. Share your ideas!

Monday, May 26, 2008

YES!!

I did it, I finally did it. I learned how to ride a bike.

Christopher had been "nagging" me to learn how to ride a bike. My excuse was, " What bike can I use?". Well, it turns out, we still had Christopher's old bike in the attic, which just so happened to be the perfect size for me. We used our neighbor's flat driveway to get started on (our driveway is a steep hill).

First, Christopher had to show me how to get ON the bike. Luckily, I learned that pretty quickly. Then, I sat up there and pretended to do something while he pulled me forward (he did this a few times).

But then, came the worst part, he had this CRAZY idea that he would just get me moving and then he would LET GO. Well, he let go and I actually didn't fall, I was able to keep going until the end of the driveway. After a little more of that, I moved on to the end of my cove (it isn't a busy street).

It took me a while to get used to using the brake instead of practically jumping off the bike and it also took me a while to turn without falling. But, I'm very happy I now know how to ride a bike, it might come in handy someday. :)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Wedding Anniversary

Today is Jessica and Matt's
9th wedding anniversary!


That little tiny girl on the right is me.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Skirts


A while ago Mom had gotten this book called Sew What! Skirts. It tells you how to sew skirts without buying a pattern. Instead you make your own custom pattern. The book made it really easy.

So far I have made two skirts. They were simple and they didn't take long at all. The book tells you how to make different styles but I just made a plain skirt with an elastic waist.
My skirts are really cute and I like them a lot.



Sunday, May 18, 2008

EEP!

Today we had clowns, or so I thought.

We always get a clown calender so that we know when things are scheduled; the calendar said we had clowns today. (We are either performing or practicing).

When I got to the room where we always meet, nobody was there. A few minutes later one other girl, Samantha, came. We kept wondering why we were the only two there, until another clown member walked by and saw us. She said we had had a meeting yesterday but we didn't have one today. Neither Samantha or I knew about the clown event on Saturday, so we didn't get the message that today's practice was canceled.

I had forgotten my phone, and I borrowed Samantha's phone to call Mom, but her phone was still on vibrate mode for the church service, so of course she didn't hear it.

I went downstairs to the doors where we always leave, but Mom and Christopher had had to leave a little early (to pick up Jessica and Charlotte - no car) so I missed them.

I was looking around for anybody I knew. I saw the lady my Mom teaches Sunday School with, Amy, and I told her what had happened. She tried calling my Mom, but she still didn't answer (she'd forgotten to turn up the ringer). Amy offered to just drive me home. She's nice like that!

They have a sort-of small car and three kids, but were still able to fit me in. On the way to my house, their youngest daughter (Charlotte's age), Addison, talked almost the whole time. She is really good at talking. When I was telling them where to turn I said it was a little past Super Target. After I said that, Amy asked Addison what was on her shirt. Addison looked at it and said "Super Target". Addison was very funny.

There was an 'up' side to this 'ordeal'; when I walked through the garage door into the house, everybody just stared at me like I was some alien! The looks on their faces were priceless!





Wednesday, May 14, 2008

My Sister's Blog

Jessica lives with her:



but says she never has anything to post about.
We know Charlotte, so WE KNOW BETTER.
Maybe she doesn't post, because she lives with her??