Children

Pressed Pennies Tastefully Secured



Do you know all those pressed penny machines that people get suckered in to using while they are visiting a tourist attraction?  They are everywhere...Disney, Universal, zoos, aquariums, skyscrapers, some gas stations.  You know?  The ones that you had so much fun as a kid making and your parent couldn't say no because it was the one souvenir that was actually affordable. Fifty-one cents. Two quarters and a penny.  Hopefully you had a shiny penny.

Well, I have a lot of pennies from when I was younger and I really enjoy the memories for each one.  During the first few years of my marriage we were on an extremely tight budget.  If we ever visited a tourist location the trinket that we knew we could afford (and too avoid bringing home excessive junk) were the pressed pennies.  As silly as they were we are delighted to look back at them.  

At home and in the workplace I love having everything exactly in its place.  I do not like junk everywhere but junk itself can be okay if setup tastefully.  I have never had a nice way to store the pressed pennies and I never liked anyone's suggestions.  Even the little penny books sold in the tourist retail stores were out of the question for me.  So for a long time they sat in a photo box on our bookshelf.  Well, eureka!  I happened to come across some heavyweight page protectors that were made for slides and they measured at 2"x2" and were three-hole-punched.  The accessibility to use binders for keepsakes are very important for me. All of my albums have been transferred to cloth D-ring binders by American Crafts.

Materials:
  • Scrapbook Paper
  • Small Labels
  • Acid-Free Marker or Pen
  • Glue Dots, the larger size
  • 2"x 2" Slide-style Sheet Protectors, sized for 3-ring binders
  • Scissors or Fiskers Photo Cutter
  • 3-Ring Photo Album or Binder

Instructions:
Measure the paper down to the size of the protected pocket and cut into the 2"x 2" squares.  Write a description on the label and attach it to the cut paper.  Then secure the penny to the cut paper by using a glue dot.  Super easy and very quick.



This is also a great craft project for kids who collect their pennies!

Angela O'

Girlie Girls & Hair Bows

Hair Bows that are super easy to make!  Most of the materials you probably already in your home.  My now Arizona-based friend Michelle Pettit and I got together one night to make these for a private elementary school's fundraiser.  It was so much fun!  

 A sampling of the creations are below.  We did this last October so you will notice that the holidays are making an appearance in a couple of the designs.

Materials Needed: Ribbon, Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun, Barrettes, and Embellishments


Created by Michelle Pettit

Created by Angela O'


Created by Angela O'

Created by Angela O'

Created by Michelle Pettit

Created by Angela O'
Created by Angela O'

Created by Michelle Pettit

Created by Michelle Pettit




What Do You Do When the Adult is the Bully?

This past year the Bullying campaign really took off to protect all those children that had really been bullied by other young kids.  I think that is fabulous, bullying is terrible and those children can grow up to be something completely different than they hoped because of it.  But here's the deal...

What do you do when child is being bullied by an adult??  And the child has grown up and through their adult life still continues to be bullied by the adult?  Someone who is more than 20 years their age, someone who is part of the family, school or prominent society?  Someone who the child has depended on to be sheltered, fed, and schooled?

It is a terrible, scary and sickening combination.  A child who was bullied into thinking that there would be no other place to go even though they had a very rough childhood.  An adult who had tricked them into thinking that they would never see their grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends again.  An adult who teased them and taunted them at a moments notice for any situation.  An adult who did not want you to have friends unless they could benefit.  An adult who would do anything at the expense of a child.  An adult who let them know they were stupid for wanting to attend college or evening looking to attend the pre-college seminars.  An adult who physically threw things at the child when they were mad.  An adult who used their 200 plus pounds of weight to sit on the child to control 'it'.  An adult who never shared the loving thoughts or emotions to the child unless it was beneficial to themselves.

My heart goes out to those children who were bullied by an adult.  In so many cases there are not professionals to step in like there are in urban areas.  In rural areas, you got what you got.  You are stuck and from the 1980's to the 2000's in those rural areas you were more than stuck, you were a permanent fixture.

Compared to the above this story is minor, extremely minor.  BUT, I have always been haunted by it so it is time to get it in my journal and be done with it.  I do remember being bullied by my second grade teacher but not to the extent of the above.  For the most part, I loved my elementary school Beckemeyer.  I knew no different.  However, my second grade teacher would just attempt to humiliate me in front of the classroom every chance she got.  I remember one day she handed back our spelling tests.  In her class, if someone got an A-plus on their test then they got to stamp their paper with a pretty turquoise blue unicorn and star stamper stamp pad.  Well the day I received my spelling test she very strongly looked at me in front of the entire class and directly said "Angela, I am so very disappointed in you" and continued to scold me.  Now there were other students in this class that did not do well either but I was the only one who was picked out.  This is not the only scene I vividly remember in second grade but one of the only scenes that I will share.  Another time was when we had achievement testing and she had assigned parents to bring us a snack during mid-day.  Prior to the tests she had us all sign up for the type of snack we would/could eat.  It was peanut butter and jelly day and I hated jelly so I knew that I signed up for the peanut butter only list.  Well Melissa, the student whose mom had made the snacks was enlisted to pass out the PB & J sandwiches while another student was given the PB sandwiches.  As Melissa put the PB & J sandwich on my desk (and she was completely innocent, because why in the heck would this second grader know) I politely said "Oh, I signed up for the peanut butter only" in my meek voice.  Yes, I was meek....quite the introvert growing up.  A very much of a scaredy cat because I didn't know that it was OKAY to be myself or to speak up at that age.  Instantly, the second grade teacher went ballistic.  I mean absolutely ballistic screaming at me and carrying on as to how I should not be so selfish and picky.  It was absolutely awful.  It was because of my second grade experiences that my class saw me in a whole new light.  I was no longer the popular kid which was in fact the case in both kindergarten and 1st grade, the one on top.  In second grade this bully of a teacher made sure she changed everything.

~with Angela O'

The 30 Brief


President LBJ's Airforce One
I admit it, for once I just got way too busy for my own blog and I apologize.  Usually I can at least load text and then schedule a post once I set up the pictures.  Not this time!  The last month of my twenties was very intense, but it was fun.  In July, I got my last set of wisdom teeth taken out.  Yikes!!  Of course, I was sedated because I cannot handle anything where my body is the subject under examination without major panic or passing out.  I was told that I was a phenomenon as I woke up repeatedly throughout the event, even after the dentist knocked me back out as safely and effectively as possible.  I have the best dentist/dental surgeon in the world and I know they administered as much knockout drug as they legally could.  My body just decides to go through weird phases sometimes!

A week later, we headed to the Plain White T's concert at The Belmont.  I was quite pleased to see them but not sure I should have been allowed to play with my phone on the day of my dental surgery.  I somehow purchased concert tickets, enrolled in swim classes for 3 months, and held multiple phone conversations with random people.  Then I convinced John to take me to Target to do shopping less than 12 hours after my surgery.  The next day....I didn't really remember all of that.  Whoops!

John and I took a weekend trip to Fredericksburg.  Oh, to celebrate my German heritage.  Two absolutely favorite parts of the trip.  1. Grape Creek Winery, we were given a private tour.  2.  The Texas White House, home of former President Lyndon B. and Lady Bird Johnson.
Tapping the Barrel

These grapes are absolutely delicious right off the vine


Then it was time to celebrate my birthday!  I headed to Florida to visit my closest friends and family.  It was a wonderful time and I am so thankful for the time spent with my favorite girls Rhonda, Aria, Allison, and Nannie.  We enjoyed ourselves with bit of a mustache party, touring Hogwarts at Universal Studios, sunning at Cocoa Beach, and eating delicious cupcakes made by Hollis Wilder the Cupcake Wars Trifecta champion. After a gorgeous week in Florida I came home to breakfast in bed and a delicious candlelight dinner made by my husband, then a fantastic party with my Austin friends.

My buddies and a very happy staff member

The 30 Brief:  One, first and foremost:  NO Children before 30!!  I live by this philosophy.  And the majority of people I know agree, including medical professionals.  Nobody in today's society should be having children before 30.  We are way to young mentally, physically, and socially for this. It is a different world than it used to be. Until 30, we are still children and we need to figure out our own lives and enjoy it so that when children come we can commit all of our love and knowledge to them. Now of course, I think it is absolutely rude and completely insensitive when individuals inquire about child-bearing to a couple, including family members.  However, I had to share such great 30 news that I couldn't withhold.  Secondly, John and I are finally passport holders!  Woohoo!!  Third, we made our very first and second big household purchases. A brand new bed mattress and a complete refurbishment of our linen closet with a new towels.  It feels great!  Now to work on project number three and four for the home.  New dishware and new drink-ware.  Must be plain white dishware and must be tastefully clear drink-ware   Must be universal so that we can easily replace when one piece is broken or when we need to grow our set.  No junk, I hate hording and random shit.  It drives me up a wall.  I hate little knick-knacky things and anything that does not belong in it's place.  Goodbye CRAP!

hugs & quiches,
xoxo 
~Angela O'