Funny Friday - The Game of Names

Me - When I was young,we were in the store one day. "I want those clothes." I told my mother.
         "Those are boy clothes." my Mom said.
        "I'm a boy." I said. "My name is George."


Mom - Aurella was talking about her daddy's Grandma Frosting.
            "Do you mean Grandma Flossie?" I asked.
            "No." she insisted. "Grandma Frosting."

Talking Topics

Due to unforeseen circumstances we are unable to post today.

Where-To-Go Wednesday

Due to unforeseen circumstances we are unable to post today.

Tips for Tuesday - Web-Sites: Monster High.com & Bing Rewards

Me - Today I am recommending Monster High.com. If you like monster high dolls then this is the website for you. You can watch all the webiesodes for free. You can get to know all the characters, take quizzes, play games, and more.

Mom - Today I am recommending Bing Rewards. You can get as many as 15 points a day for searching as well as points for using Facebook and other things. You can get a $3.00 Amazon gift code for as little as 340 points or $5.00 Amazon gift code for 525 points. There are numerous other rewards as well, or you can donate your points to charities, such as, Teach for America and/or Boys and Girls Club of America. For more information or to sign up go http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9778718&rrid=_db23a5af-ad85-ee39-b788-3c910bfb58c6/.

And that's our view. 

TV Shows and Toys

Me - Hi. I have a lot of toys. I watch a lot of TV shows too. A lot of the toys I have are from the TV shows I watch. I have Doc McStuffins toys. I have Strawberry Shortcake toys. I have My Little Pony toys. I have Olivia toys. I have Jojo's Circus toys. The Jojo toys  used to be my sister's. These are all TV shows I watch. I used to have Dora the Explorer toys. I used to have Go Diego Go toys. These are shows I used to watch. I got rid of the toys because I don't like the shows any more.  I love to have toys from TV shows that I watch. When I don't like the show any more, I don't want they toys any more. Usually, I don't stop liking shows though. However, I did stop liking Dora, and I hardly ever liked Diego anyway.*

*The above post is a guest post by little sister Aurella as dictated to Mom.

Mom - TV shows and toys. Toys and TV shows. Sometimes, it seems like Kids TV is just an excuse to sell toys. Over the years, my kids have had Sesame Street toys. They have had Barney toys. They have had Jojo's Circus toys. They have had Dora the Explorer toys.They have had Strawberry Shortcake toys. They have had many other toys associated with TV shows. Even older kids shows have toys associated with them such as Hannah Montana and Wizard of Waverly Place Barbies. We have had both of these among others in our house as well. Sometimes, the show comes before the toys and sometimes, the toys come before the show. My Little Pony was a toy first, and I believe Strawberry Shortcake was as well. There is even a new show based on the Littlest Pet Shop toys. Kids shows are all about merchandising. They can and do sell almost every toy, you can thing of related to any kids TV show. Toys and TV shows are not really a pair alone, they are part of a triangle: toys, TV shows, and kids. When it comes to kids, if the TV show is popular the toys probably will be too.

And that's our view. How do you feel about toys based on TV shows?

Funny Friday - Things Are People Too

Me - When my Mom was in college, her roommate's friend asked to borrow her roommate's Walkman. Her roommate said "No, it's just a baby."

Mom - When I was little my grandmother had all these perfume and makeup bottles on a shelf behind her bed. When I slept over I liked to play with them and pretend they were people.



We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Talking Topic.

Thanksgiving

Me - Thanksgiving, wow! Every Thanksgiving, we usually go to my Grandma's house along with my cousins. I don't like turkey. We always have other things besides turkey. My Mom and sister don't like turkey either. I play with my cousin's.  Almost every Thanksgiving my one cousin beats me up. I am close to my cousin, Cody, because he is a middle child like me. My older girl cousin and I are not really close even though we are only two years apart. My younger girl cousin and my sister are about a year and half a part. They are really close, and they usually play together. We usually have a lot of people at Thanksgiving, and it gets really noisy. It is nice when the weather is good and we can all go outside to play. We all get along better when we are playing outside. My cousin, Cody and I and Aurella and Cody's younger sister always run and spin and roll down the hills in my grandmother's backyard. We usually always have ice cream cake and a lot of good desserts. Some times our younger cousins come too. I love to play with them. They are adorable.   They don't come that much though. Lots of times, I sleepover at Grandma's and watch the Thanksgiving parade with her. Sometimes, my sister comes too. Sometimes, my Mom and Dad come early enough so that my Mom can watch at least part of the parade with me. Thanksgiving is usually fun, and I especially love to play with my cousins.

Mom - Almost every Thanksgiving we go to my Mom and Dad's. My sister and her husband and kids are always there. The rest of the people vary from year to year. I like going to my Mom's because I hate all the traditional Thanksgiving foods. I do not not like sweet potatoes. I do not like cranberry sauce. I do not like pie. I do not even like turkey. My Mom always has some of those things like cranberry sauce, and of course, turkey. However, she always has other things to like some kind of pasta or steak, twice baked potatoes or mashed potatoes, and corn pudding. Also, we always have ice cream cake because we have so many family birthdays that are around the holidays. This year, however, we are staying home for Thanksgiving. We are having turkey and ham. We will have about seven people. Five of whom do not eat turkey.  Traditionally, Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday season, but I always aim to have my shopping done before Thanksgiving. I do most of it on-line now anyway. I like to watch the Macy's parade with my girls but we don't always wake up early enough. Sometimes, they sleepover at my Mom's and if I don't go over there early enough I don't get to see the parade with them. Sometimes, I record the parade just in case. I prefer to watch things recorded anyway so you can fast forward the commercials. The only thing I don't like to watch recorded is sports. My brother-in-law actually records and watchs sports and he get mad if anyone tells him what happened before he gets to watch it. I don't know how he does it. Even if I am trying not to find out about something, I go on-line and there it is especially of it is a major sporting event. That is another thing Thanksgiving is about - sports. My Dad, my brother (when he is there), and my brother-in-law and various other friends or relatives alway watch football on Thanksgiving. Personally, I am not that into football. I prefer hockey and baseball. All in all, Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday, but it is not my least favorite either.

And that's our view. What do you like about Thanksgiving?

Tune in tomorrow for Funny Friday.

Where-To-Go-Wednesday

Where-To-Go-Wednesday is closed this week.

Tips for Tuesday - Misc.: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese & Target Photo Studios

Me - Today I am recommending Kraft Macaroni and cheese. It is really cheesy and delicious. I can't enough of it. It is one of my favorite foods.

Mom - Today I am recommending Target photo studios. They are reasonably priced with packages starting at around $7.99. They are conveniently located in your local Target. We have been having all our formal pictures taken there for years, and in our experience, we have always been pleased with their photos.

And that's our view.

Cooking

Me - Cooking, wow! I used to take cooking classes. When I was little I took them with my Dad. When I was 4, I  even had a cooking birthday party. We made pizza and cupcakes. When I was older, Dad took cooking classes with my little sister. I took them on my own. My Dad and I always used to bake English Muffins. A few times we made other things. One time we made a vegetable smoothie. Another time we made spinach pie. We used to make gingerbread cookies every year but we haven't for a few years. One time, we made them for my school for a project. Sometimes, I help my Mom or Dad cook. I like to cook. I like to help look for recipes.  Cooking is really fun.

Mom - I don't really like cooking. I mean I don't mind actually doing it. I just don't like to take the time to do it. Because I know that as soon as I start cooking dinner, I am not going to be able to relax until after the kids are in bed. So most of the time it is easier just to throw something in the microwave or something because it doesn't take up as much time. I like the idea of cooking more often, but it is hard to get myself to do it. I think about doing it a lot. I am always saving recipes. Even though I am a picky eater, there are wide variety of recipes that use foods that I like. I also have been known to take out ingredients in certain recipes or substitute one thing for another to make something into a recipe I would like. I have never had a problem doing this either. My Mom is a really good cook, and she takes pride in her cooking. Her Mom was a really good cook too. The only problem is my grandmother always served things one food at a time so she was always serving and never really ate with us. My Mom is much better at managing her time and getting everything out at the same time and being able to eat with us. As for me, I can take on a meal for my husband and/or kids now and then, but I'll leave the holiday cooking to someone like my Mother. When it comes to cooking, I am not that ambitious.

And that's our view. Do you like to cook? Why or why not?

Funny Friday - Got to Keep Moving

Me - When my sister Aurella was little she said that if she stood still and stopped moving around all the time she wouldn't be able to breathe.

Mom - When Melia was little my husband was swinging her around. He got tired and needed a rest. Melia went over to my grandmother put out her arms and expected my grandmother to swing her around.

We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Talking Topic.

The Battleship New Jersey

Me- The Battleship New Jersey, wow! At first, I didn't like the idea of being on a boat especially on a boat that had been used in real wars. Although I knew it had been used in wars, I couldn't picture it. I can't even picture wars happening. When I picture war, I just think of a bunch of people standing across from each other shooting guns. I don't picture ships. At first, I wasn't happy about going to see the Battleship New Jersey. I didn't know what it was so it didn't interest me. It turned out to be a lot of fun. There were a couple of  groups who were training to be in the army there when we were there. When we went to the TV broadcast room, there was two boys sitting at a desk doing some kind of news story. There were also two men there. The men let me and Aurella be on the TV. I was smiling and waving and didn't want to leave. When we left the room, the older man asked me for my autograph, but he was just joking around. I learned a lot about what it is like to live on a ship. I had a lot of fun, but I don't know that I would want to go back.

Mom - We went to see the Battleship New Jersey. I am not that into battleships and things like that, but it was really interesting visiting the Battleship New Jersey. There were a few different tours you could take. Some of them focused more on the ship as a war ship. We chose a tour called City at Sea. It focused more on what life at sea was like for the men on board ship. We got to see the ship's hospital. We got to see  the ship's dental office. We got to see where the crew slept and each of my girls got to climb up in one of the bunk beds and see what it is like. We got to see the radio room. We got to see the  TV studio. At the TV studio, my girls even got be broadcast on the TV screen. We got to see the jail known as the brig. Even on this tour, we did learn about the history of the ship and the weapons it carried and things related. However, since war doesn't interest me at all, to me the other stuff was much more interesting and to my girls it was too. When my husband and I were on our honeymoon in Hawaii, we visited the Battleship Missouri. That was interesting, but I don't remember that much about it. I think I will remember about the Battleship New Jersey more because I could relate more to the things we saw on the tour.

And that's our view. What kind of tour what you have preferred and why?

Where-To-Go Wednesday - The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial

What: The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial

Where: 62 Battleship Place
             Camden, NJ

Our view: Since we are not particularly interested in battleships or military history or anything like that we were not particularly interested in visiting the Battleship New Jersey. However, since at least one member of our family wanted to go, we went. We were pleasantly surprised. There is so much more to the Battleship than it's history as a Battleship. You can learn about that. However, there is so much more you can learn as well, such as, about what life is like living at sea. What was it like to go to the dentist at sea? What was it like to go the doctor at sea? What was the radio and the TV station like at sea? What was the jail like at sea? What were the living quarters like at sea?  A trip to the Battleship New Jersey will answer these and many more questions. Just chose the tour that is right for you. There are three tours available to choose from. The General Quarters tour, the Fire Power Tour, and the City at Sea tour. Guided tours or self-guided tours are available. The Battleship is open to the public Saturdays and Sundays 9:30 to 3:00, 9:30 to 5:00 May 1 through September 3. It is closed January 1 through February 1 as well as on Christmas Day and Thanksgiving. Group tours are available as well as overnights. Prices vary depending on what tour you choose but range from $14.00 to $20.00 per person. Children under 6, active military, BB62 vets, and WWII vets are free. A special discount combo tickets for the Battleship New Jersey and the nearby Adventure Aquarium are available. The museum is also conveniently located near Campbells Field home of the Camden Riversharks independent league baseball team.

For more information on the Battleship New Jersey see tomorrow's Talking Topics or go to http://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/.

Tips for Tuesday - TV Shows: The Amanda Show & How It's Made

Me - Today I am recommending The Amanda Show. It is a sketch comedy starring Amanda Bynes. There are some really funny sketches on this show. Some of my favorites are Penelope who is Amanda biggest fan and her brother Preston who always wants a sandwich. It is a really funny show, and you should watch it.

Mom - Today I am recommending  How It's Made. How It's Made is on the Sciene Channel. If you want to find out how they make anything this is the place for you. Episodes have included how they make various musical instrument, how they make various foods, and how they make various sporting goods among other things. If they don't have an episode which tells how they make a particular item you are interested in learning about they encourage you to contact them and suggest that topic for a future episode. My husband and kids can watch How It's Made for hours especially my husband.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

Halloween 2012 Better Late Than Never

Me - Halloween 2012, wow! This year for Halloween me and my sister were both Dorothy. This was the first year in history Halloween was postponed in my town. In fact, even when my mother and father were children, Halloween was never postponed where they lived. This year it seemed like everybody was trick-or-treating at the mall. It was more packed than I have ever seen it before even around Christmas time. I saw two people I know from school. I also saw one teacher who works at my school. A lot of the stores ran out of candy quickly. Some didn't even have candy at all. We didn't get as much candy as we usually get when we go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. We only went around the upper level of the mall before we ate dinner and went home. It was just too crowded and we were too hungry. My sister and I sold most of our candy anyway to be donated to the troops. We usually do that. Although, Halloween still managed to be fun, I like it better when we get to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood.

Mom  - For the first time, I ever remember there was no trick-or-treating on Halloween in my town. There was no wandering around the neighborhood with my kids collecting candy from all the neighbors. There was no endless answering of the doorbell to hand out treats to the other kids in the neighborhood. There was no school Halloween costume parade. There was only cold and and dark and no electricity. However, we couldn't just let Halloween pass without doing anything as if it had never happened. The kids would be disappointed. Besides, we had already bought the costumes. Our local mall held a trick-or-treating event on Monday November 5. All (well not all, but most) of the stores gave out candy. We took our kids. They got a lot of candy although perhaps not as much as usual. It wasn't as tiring as it usually is taking them all over the neighborhood although it was still tiring.  Also, it was very crowded. I have never seen the mall so crowded outside of holiday shopping time. In fact, it was like Black Friday for the kiddie crowd. I was really happy when it was over, and it was time to go home. However, I was glad we went to not only because of my kids but because it was a sign of the world returning to normal after the storm. Sometimes, things just being normal is good.

And that's our view. What was your Halloween like this year?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

Funny Friday - Talking to the toys

Me - One time when my sister was playing with a stuffed animal she said to it "What's up your sleeves?"

Mom - When Melia was little one night she said to her dolls "Goodnight sweetie peeties."


We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Talking Topic.

Hurricane Sandy

Me - Hurricane Sandy, not wow. Hurricane Sandy was horrible. Where I live, the storm wasn't so bad. The wind blew hard, but the rain wasn't that bad. However, the electricity was out for four days in our house and for some people it is still out. Our local Target just recently got their power back. Sandy's aftermath was worse than Sandy in most places in our area. When we went out, there were trees down everywhere. A bunch of places still didn't have power even as much as a week later. The places that did have power were crazy. There were people everywhere and they were rude and pushy too. When my Dad and I went to Target, they were emptying ever single thing out of their freezers and throwing it away. We had to throw away a lot of food at home too, and we still haven't gotten to replace most of it. The stores still have not been restocked. A week after the storm we went to Target, and the freezers were still empty. I can't wait for things to get back to normal.

Mom - It's good to back on-line after Hurricane Sandy. It's good to be warm and have lights and electricity after Hurricane Sandy. We didn't have it as bad as lot of people. Our house and our entire family made it through the storm intact and/or alive. We never lost our hot water. Even without electricity, we were able to cook on our gas stove. Still, we didn't have heat for 3 and 1/2 days and we were unable to use any electronics (not exactly a tragedy but hard to get used to). We had to throw out around 4 bags of food, almost all the food in our two refrigerators. Also, the kids were out of school for a week unexpectedly. I love my family, but 3 1/2 days of constant togetherness is a little bit too much. When we were finally able to go out, it felt like the apocalypse. We may have had our electricity, but not everyone in our area did. Many neighborhoods were still in darkness. The stores were eerily dark too. People were really rude and obnoxious. They were acting like it really was the end of the world. They had to have all these policemen in the stores to keep order and keep people from shoplifting. I was torn between not wanting to go out of my house and being stir crazy from not going out of my house. Gradually, now things are returning to normal. It can't happen soon enough for me.

And that's our view. What is the worst natural disaster you have lived through?

Tune in

Where-To-Go Wednesday - The Crayola Factory

What: The Crayola Factory

Where:30 Centre Square
            Easton, PA

Our view: If your kids are into art, this is the place to go. Although you can learn about the way crayons are made here, it is more of an interactive art place than a museum. There are so many things to do, you can easily spend hours here. There is a gift shop on the premises where plenty of Crayola products are available. However, the prices are not any better than buying the items at any other store. It is generally open from 9:00 to 3:00 Tuesday to Friday and 9:00 to 5:00 Saturday and Sunday. It is closed January 1 -12. The cost is $12.00 per person, $11.00 for seniors and military and free for children under 2. There is not really much to do for babies anyway who would probably be more interested in trying to put the crayons and markers and stuff in their mouths than trying to create artwork. It usually gets crowded between 11 and 2. To ensure you get in on the day and time you want, it is best to make reservations in advance. It gets particularly busy in July and August and on holidays. Also, note there is no free parking. There is a parking garage nearby at a cost of $2.00 per hour or there is metered parking available on the local side streets. Also, note there is no restaurant in the factory. There is a picnic area so you may bring your own lunch. Also, there a number of local restaurants within walking distance. This is not a problem on a warm and sunny day, but may be more of an issue when the weather is not as nice. All in all, it is really fun place to take your kids unless they are not particularly into art in which case I would not recommend it.

And that's our view. For more information go to http://www2.crayola.com/factory/index.cfm.

Tune in tomorrow for another Talking Topic.

Tips for Tuesday - Web-Sites: www.amandaplease.com & American Consumer Opinion

Me - Today I am recommending www.amandaplease.com. You can watch funny videos. You can play fun games and more. It based on The Amanda Show. It was a really funny sketch show starring Amanda Bynes. Reruns currently run on Teen Nick.

Mom - Today I am recommending American Consumer Opinion a site where you accumulate points for participating in surveys. Points can traded in for cash or paypal or donated to charities, such as, American Red Cross, Wildlife Conservation Society and/or The Boys and Girls Club of America. One especially nice thing about this site is that you also get points for taking survey screeners. To learn more about American Consumer Opinion or to sign up to take their surveys go to http://www.acop.com/ and tell them jeryl.marcus@gmail.com sent you.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.

The Fall TV Season 2012

Me - The Fall TV Season 2012. I  like several new shows. I like Ben and Kate. I like The New Normal. They are both really funny. I like Nashville. Nashville is the only drama I watch. I also like a lot of returning shows. I like the Big Bang Theory and Raising Hope. They are as funny as ever. I like Dancing With the Stars. It is all-star season. I hope Shawn Johnson winds. The dancing this season is better than I have ever seen it. I also watch a bunch of Disney Channel shows. I watch two new shows called Crash and Bernstein and Dog With a Blog. I also watch a bunch of older shows like Jesse, Good Luck Charlie, Ant Farm and Austin and Ally. I watch Nickelodeon shows like Victorious and I-Carly. I watch a new show called See Dad Run. I don't know what channel that is on, but it is so funny, and I love Janey the littlest child out of three. The only surprising thing about the season is that I don't watch Glee anymore. There were too may changes, and my family and I don't like it. Also, I am mad because they broke up all the couples. However, even without Glee, I still have plenty of shows to watch.

Mom - I usually don't pick up too many new shows to watch any new TV season. This season is an exception. These season I have started watching three new shows which is a lot for me. I watch Nashville. I like the music on it too. I like the New Normal. It is different and funny. I like Ben and Kate although it has seemed to get less funny the more episodes I see. As for returning shows, Raising Hope and The Big Bang Theory are as funny as ever. Other shows are funny too like Mike and Molly and Two Broke Girls, but I don't feel the need to watch them every week. I still watch the two CSI's and the one Law and Order that are left. I watch them mostly out of habit more than anything else. Some of the episodes are good though. I have heard that some people don't like this all-star season of Dancing With the Stars because they feel like they have already seen all these people dance. However, I love it. The dancing is amazing. The season started out at the level of dancing other seasons don't get to until the season is almost over. However, the biggest surprise of this TV season is that I have given up Glee. There was just too much change at one time on Glee. I don't like them all being in different places now. I also don't like so many new people at one time as if they can just exchange Marley for Rachel and so on. I also don't like that while they kept Alex and Sam from the Glee Project, they dropped Damian. Unlike Alex and Sam, Damian was never really given a decent a story-line. In fact, he was barely given a story-line at all except in the first episode he appeared in and maybe one other episode. Recently, I have heard that Damian will be coming back to Glee at least for the Thanksgiving episode. I am not sure if he will be back beyond that. Well, maybe sometime I will go back to watching Glee as well, and maybe I won't.

And that's our view. What is your favorite new show?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.

Funny Friday - I Didn't Do It

Me - When we were little my friend said to my Mom. "I didn't do it."
         My Mom said "You didn't do what?"
         My friend said. "I don't know but that is what Barbara (his sister) always says."


Mom -  When Aurella was little and she did something  wrong she always blamed it on "Bad Dora."



We welcome you to share your funny stories with us. Tune in Monday for another Talking Topic.