The 12 Days of Cat-Mas

If you tuned in yesterday you saw my (slightly nerdish) version of the 12 Days of Christmas, put together for writer's group. Well, my kids started reading and they wanted in on it, so here's their creation.

I give to you...the 12 Days of Cat-Mas!!!

The Twelve Days of Cat-Mas

On the first day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

A sparkling silver collar just for me.

On the second day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Two kitty treats,

And a black and white checked collar just for me.

On the third day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a red and green striped collar just for me.

On the fourth day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave me

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a rhinestone studded collar just for me.

On the fifth day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a pawprint printed collar just for me.

On the sixth day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Six jingle bell balls,

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a glitter covered collar just for me.

On the seventh day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Seven cricket corpses,

Six jingle bell balls,

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a yellow and black collar just for me.

On the eighth day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Eight mounds of cat hair,

Seven cricket corpses,

Six jingle bell balls,

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a blue sequined collar just for me.

On the ninth day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Nine fuzzy cat beds,

Eight mounds of cat hair,

Seven cricket corpses,

Six jingle bell balls,

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a purple safety collar just for me.

On the tenth day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Ten wet tongued kisses,

Nine fuzzy cat beds,

Eight mounds of cat hair,

Seven cricket corpses,

Six jingle bell balls,

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a diamond-crusted collar just for me.

On the eleventh day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Eleven catnip mice,

Ten wet tongued kisses,

Nine fuzzy cat beds,

Eight mounds of cat hair,

Seven cricket corpses,

Six jingle bell balls,

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a pink and white swirled collar just for me.

On the twelfth day of Cat-Mas my kitties gave to me

Twelve muddy pawprints,

Eleven catnip mice,

Ten wet tongued kisses,

Nine fuzzy cat beds,

Eight mounds of cat hair,

Seven cricket corpses,

Six jingle bell balls,

New litter boxes,

Four black and white kittens,

Three dead mice,

Two kitty treats,

And a sparkling silver collar just for me.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Writer's group tonight. What does that mean? It means it's time to finish putting the polish on the rewrites of The 12 Days of Christmas I've been working on! Posting them here: All comments welcome!

This particular version was inspired when I walked into a Borders with my shopping list in hand and realized most of the titles I was looking for had a number in them somewhere-and most of my Christmas wish list was made up of books!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the second day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the third day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the fourth day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the fifth day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the sixth day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
The Six Sigma Handbook
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the seventh day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
Seven Soldiers of Victory
The Six Sigma Handbook
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And the Power of One by Courtenay.


On the eighth day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
The Sixty Eight Rooms
Seven Soldiers of Victory
The Six Sigma Handbook
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And the Power of One by Courtenay.

On the ninth day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
Nine Kinds of Naked
The Sixty Eights Room
Seven Soldiers of Victory
The Six Sigma Handbook
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the tenth day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
Ten Little Zombies
Nine Kinds of Naked
The Sixty Eights Room
Seven Soldiers of Victory
The Six Sigma Handbook
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
The Eleven Comedies
Ten Little Zombies
Nine Kinds of Naked
The Sixty Eights Room
Seven Soldiers of Victory
The Six Sigma Handbook
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my bookshelf gave to me
Twelve Mighty Orphans
The Eleven Comedies
Ten Little Zombies
Nine Kinds of Naked
The Sixty Eights Room
Seven Soldiers of Victory
The Six Sigma Handbook
The Book of Five Rings
I Am Number Four
Three Seconds
A Tale of Two Cities
And The Power of One by Courtenay.

For Those Who Doodle

I used to like to doodle while on the phone, back before motherhood demanded that all phone calls be accompanied by cleaning. This, however, elevates doodling to a whole new level... Grab a cup of tea, some pen and paper, and have a mathemagical time!

http://www.crainium.net/jdjArchives/2010/12/doodling_in_math_class.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WithinTheCrainium+%28within+the+crainium%29

Native American Games and Cheap Popsicle Sticks

Breaking news: The boys have found a way to entertain themselves. How? By re-creating a Native American game using popsicle sticks. This game is actually cool enough I felt the need to share.

Here’s how you play:

1) Each player takes 3 popsicle sticks.
2) Color one side of the sticks red, the other side yellow.
3) On the red side of ONE stick, draw a snake.

So by the time you’re done setting up each player should have 3 popsicle sticks, red on one side, yellow on the other, one with a snake on the red side. EACH PLAYER GETS A SNAKE. This was actually remarkably vague in the initial directions-it took us a few minutes to put the pieces together and realize that if every player didn’t have a snake, it wasn’t going to work.

All the players sit in a circle on the floor and take turns throwing their sticks.

3 Red Sides Showing=3 points
3 Yellow Sides Showing=2 points
2 Red Sides and 1 Yellow Side Showing=1 point
2 Yellow Sides and 1 Red Side Showing=0 points

Snakes add two points to the initial score. So 3 red sides showing would be 3 points, plus 2 for the snake=5 pts. 2 yellow sides and 1 red side, if the red side has a snake=2 points. You get the picture.

First player to 20 points wins.

My four year old is currently creaming his brother. It’ll be interesting to see how long this can last 

Tortillas for Breakfast

You know you’re overdue for a grocery run when you’re resorting to cold tortillas for breakfast because you’re out of bread and cereal, and before your first cup of coffee making, say, pancakes and eggs is completely out of the question!

Because really, while there’s an abundance of ready-made breakfast food floating around out there, there’s a serious lack of cheap, healthy pre-made breakfast food. You can only live on Pop Tarts, muffins and granola bars so long before your jeans start crying about it, and even if you don’t gain weight too long on a junk food diet just leaves you feeling icky. (No, I’m not going on a rant about losing weight. I have my own issues there, none of which I’m getting into today.)

So the question is, what kind of easy, ready-made breakfast foods can you keep in stock that are reasonably healthy and the kids won’t consume within five minutes of their introduction to the pantry shelves?

In other news, I find myself at home with my two boys today-an interesting circumstance, all things considered. L is spending the weekend with my aunt. I understand there were going to be Christmas cookies involved, and the little girl next door was coming over to spend the weekend. Sleep wasn’t on the agenda, so I have a certain amount of sympathy!

What to do with ourselves? That’s another question altogether. I have a to-do list as long as my arm, but it’s a rare weekend where the adult-child ratio is actually 1 to 1, and the boys don’t seem inclined to just spend the day hanging out anyway. Contemplating a trip to the movies later this evening; we’re supposed to take all of the kids to see “Tangled” next weekend, but “Megamind” calls.

**No, I’m not interested in Harry Potter. Loved the books, but I hear they cut a lot out of the movie. I also hear, however, that the special effects were wicked. I’ll probably pick it up when it comes out on DVD solely for that. I also pre-ordered “Eclipse”, because (and I’ll deny it to my last breath) I actually enjoyed the movie.

To take a completely different side route, I’m also gearing up to start the last in my fanfic trilogy, but not having seen the movies or read the books in a while I’ve kind of lost touch with the story. There’s a Twilight marathon in my future at some point, probably next weekend, to catch myself back up. Let’s just hope my stomach can handle it…**

Hmmm….what time is Megamind playing, again?