I wrote a post last week regarding the World Wildlife Fund and my daughter’s contribution to their cause. She is a great lover of all things turtle and used ALL of the money she received at Christmas to donate to this great cause and help the ecosystem the turtles live in. I am very proud of her to say the least.
This morning, I was very pleasantly surprised (although I was asked for permission to reprint) the post. I feel like it is such an important issue and obviously Mickie does as well. I hope we can all learn from what my daughter has done, she is my hero. We live in an ever changing world and it is up to us to protect it.
I am so very proud of my daughter. I believe I mentioned before Christmas that she had requested $100 cash from Santa. This isn’t unusual for kids to want cash, but the reason she wanted it was so that she could make a donation to the World Wildlife Fund. She not only got the $100 she’d asked for, she got much more.
What makes me so proud of my daughter is that it would have been very easy for her to see all the cash she collected at Christmas and decide to use it to purchase video games and toys. It was the most money she’d ever had in her hand at one time, $240, but no, she stuck with her plan and handed me the form to send in with her donation. I added another $10 so she was able to send in a total of $250 and symbolically adopt a sea turtle family.
My daughter is a turtle lover to say the least. She has done several school essays and research papers on the turtle species and we even visited the giant Galapagos tortoise in South Dakota, a completely thrilling event for her. This Christmas, she put her money where her heart is and support the efforts of the WWF in saving the endangered sea turtles. I am very proud of her.
Yesterday’s mail delivery brought my daughter a special thank you from the WWF. The blue box held 2 sea turtles stuffed animals (a family), a picture of the sea turtle and certificate of the symbolic family adoption, a poster and a sea turtle fact sheet. This was a definite photo op!
When I bought my new video camera a little over a year ago, it was just before Christmas. My daughter was 10 at the time and she had place a request for a camera on her Santa list that year. I really didn’t want to purchase a cheap camera and then purchase a higher end one for myself, so my daughter and I had a discussion about video cameras. I even had her go camera shopping with me so she could see what was available. In the end, I decided I would buy one camera and we would share it. Following that decision, my daughter and I had another discussion about the care of the camera. And yes, I DID buy the extended warranty, it would cover it if the camera were to be dropped or stepped on, or anything else. Thankfully, that hasn’t happened.
My daughter has probably wound up using the camera much more than I have. I use it at events like band concerts, she uses it to make videos to send back to her friends in Illinois. It’s a way for her to stay connected. Not too long ago, I registered for a YouTube account and this opened up a whole new world. While I don’t necessarily want her watching any old video on that site, it is a way for her to upload her own videos and share with friends, rather than having to burn dvd’s and mail them. In other words, it’s cost effective.
Of all the videos I’ve created and loaded on YouTube, her videos are the ones that get all the views! I have to tell you, I have difficulty watching her videos, they’re long and I must say, somewhat boring, but for those in the tween scene, I guess they’re fun! I’ve also discovered through YouTube that this tendency to make videos is prevalent, especially with kids who enjoy playing with Littlest Pet Shop toys. So, I’ve decided to share one of her videos that she and a friend made over the weekend. Consider this your warning though, unless you are younger than say, 13, you may find this excruciatingly boring to watch, so don’t feel obligated to click the play button. However, if you have kids, and they are in need of some entertainment, they might find this fun.
Yesterday I met with the 6th grade Destination Imagination team, the first meeting since before the holidays. They’ve got two months left before they go to the Regional Tournament and haven’t yet started working on their sets or props. To give them credit though, I think they’ve got their challenge under control and the remaining few kinks will get worked out as the props and sets help it all come to life.
The most difficult part about being a team manager is the fact that I’m not allowed to make suggestions to them. I also can’t give them any ideas. If they ask how something works, I can answer them, but I can’t tell them how to do something. In other words, I really have to sit there and keep my mouth closed.
Keeping my mouth closed is really difficult when the team is trying to figure out what to build their set and props out of. It’s hard for me to not make suggestions. Sometimes I wish they would just visit a Tips Search Engine for ideas. But, I’m not allowed to suggest such a thing! Thankfully, they have some awesome ideas and I’m hoping that over the next two months they will figure it all out. They did at least begin working on their costumes. They brought in old costumes from home and found several items that would work for some of the characters. We also schedule a day next week to meet at The Salvation Army so they can shop for cheap outfits and accessories. Maybe they’ll even find some things to use as props. They have a team maximum spending limit of $125, so it will be interesting to see what they come up with.
It’s difficult watching a group of 11 year olds trying to figure out what to use to make their sets. There are so many products out there that they could use, but, I’m not allowed to give them any information. All of the ideas have to come from them. I look forward to seeing what they come up with.
We had a wonderful Christmas and even after opening all the gifts, my daughter continued to just be happy and content, even though her main gift, the one big one she had specifically asked Santa for the day before, was not anywhere to be found.
T had asked for the Razor Pocket Mod electric scooter. We looked everywhere, the back patio, front patio, garage; it was no place to be found. The only thing that hadn’t been touched were our stockings, so we dove into those. SURPRISE! My daughter discovered that there was a small stocking inside her stocking that held a note, direct from Santa. The note explained that there was one more gift to be found and that she would need to follow the clues. There were a total of 6 clues in all that directed her all over the house and out into the back yard. Her last clue directed her through the gate, out to the driveway and around to the front patio (we’d all ready checked out there and there was nothing there!).
It took her a few moments, but she finally saw it. Her beautiful, shiny black Razor Pocket Mod, all charged up and ready to go. She was so excited she was beside herself! She hopped on and took off, in her pajamas and big slippers! It was quite a site to see and she was so happy. I ran back into the house and grabbed the video camera and this is what I captured.
My daughter took this quiz and she is a snowman! I posted my results at my other blog, I’m not sure exactly what it means, but I’m a Christmas tree.
This is such a cute little thing I thought I’d share it. If you decide to take the quiz, let me know what you are, leave a comment and you’ll get a linkback.
You Are a Snowman
Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!
My daughter Elfed herself and our dog Plinko. It is really so funny. I had posted this on my other site, but it’s worth repeating (at least it is to me). I’ll be sad when all of these holiday festivities, they are so much fun. I think there have been more creative outlets online this year too. Anyway, enjoy.
I can’t keep up with all the new Webkinz plush toys that come out, but the newest one is a must have for my daughter, it’s a turtle.
My daughter is a turtle fanatic, she has loved turtles for as long as I can remember. Her biggest thrill in South Dakota wasn’t Mt. Rushmore, it was seeing live Galapagos tortoises at the Reptile Gardens! Her request to Santa this year was to giver her $100 towards her goal of $250 so she can adopt a sea turtle family through the World Wildlife Fund. How incredible is that!?
Anyway, yesterday, we stopped by a little shop where she likes to buy her Webkinz, but they didn’t have any turtles on the shelf. The shop was pretty busy and the shop owner was apparently in the back room looking for something, so we didn’t even wait to ask about the turtles, we just headed on home.
Last night, as we were getting ready for bed, my daughter happened to check her cell phone and found there was a voicemail message from the same shop we’d been to earlier in the day letting her know they got the turtles in! I have a feeling they had set the turtles aside and not put them on the shelf. Now, I’m hoping that when they open this morning, they will still have a turtle and I can run over and get it.
I hate this last minute stuff, it’s too stressful. The look on my daughter’s face though will be priceless if I can get the turtle to put under the tree for Christmas morning. Oh, don’t worry, she’s going to have the money to adopt the turtle family as well, afterall, that’s on the top of her list!
My daughter is 11 and she still believes in Santa, I think. She questions certain things, but seems to talk herself back into believing, maybe out of fear of losing out on a good thing!
She has typed up her Santa list and has emailed Santa online. I find it incredible that the gift wish that she emailed Santa was for $100 cash to be donated to the World Wildlife Fund to help save the sea turtles. Her goal is to get $100 from Santa and then another $150 from various gift givers for a total of $250 so that she can sponsor an entire family of sea turtles through the WWF. She was very disappointed though in the response she got back from Santa’s elves online, it said, “sorry, we’re busy right now”! WTH?
I’m going to visit Letters From Santa and order a personalized letter to be sent directly to my daughter. She loves receiving mail and I think it will restore her faith in the whole Santa deal. I also think that with our help, she will be receiving everything on her list, especially the cash to make her donation to adopt the family of sea turtles.
I’m trying very hard to finish my “Santa” shopping today, but how exactly do you go about doing that when the child receiving the gifts wants to go with you?
I made the mistake of telling me daughter I was going to Best Buy today to buy her dad’s gift and of course then she decided that she wants to go with me. I only have two PS2 games that I need to buy, so maybe I can get them online. I’ve checked a few other stores and they didn’t have the ones she wanted, so I’m running out of time and stores to choose from.
Oh well, it is fun to have her help pick out her dads gift, he wants an electric keyboard. He was looking at them himself when the two of them went shopping for my gift last week, so at least she can tell me which one he was liking the most.
I’m taking a deep breath and trying not to stress about it!
