Market Basket

A few weeks ago I joined a produce co-op. Each week I get a basket full of fruits and veggies for $15.50, delivered straight to my school. The catch is that you never know what you're going to get each week. This was my third week and we've been more than pleased with our baskets. This picture is a little decieving because before I even brought the basket home, the kids and I had eaten 2 apples, 2 oranges and 3 bananas. LOL You'll just have to imagine that there is more! This week, we had pineapple, canteloupe, bok choy (I made stir fry tonight!), red potatoes, broccoli, romaine lettuce, onions, parsley, apples, oranges and bananas.

My favorite vlog

I couldn't list my favorite blogs without mentioning my favorite vlog- the vlogbrothers, AKA Hank Green @ecogeek and John Green @realjohngreen , AKA Nerd Fighters.

Why are they called Nerd Fighters? Because they are nerds who fight to decrease World Suck though giving money to worthy causes.

The internet phenomenon of Nerdfighting started in 2007 when brothers Hank & John decided to cut off all textual communication to get to know each other better. Every other weekday one of the brothers would post a vlog on youtube and this was the only form of communication. They quickly had a cult following of "Nerd Fighters" and soon started having hysterical punishments if they missed a vlog or if they contacted each other through text, etc.

I became a Nerd Fighter around the middle of 2007 when a friend of mine showed me the Brotherhood 2.0 project. This is the original website where you can see the original first year of vlogs. The project became soooo popular that they decided to keep going, although they don't post every day and the rules are not as extreme as they were.

During that year, I looked forward to every other Wednesday, when Hank had to sing a song that he wrote. He had a nice voice- reminds me of early They Might Be Giants, and he's quite the comedian. His song Accio Deathly Hallows, which has been wildly popular on YouTube, is featured in 4 different versions on Hank's first CD of Nerdfighter songs- So Jokes. I love this cd so much, I sing it in my head all day!

John is an author of three books and the nerdfighters actually put him on the New York Times Best Seller list with his last book Paper Towns. That was a huge project that Hank set up- the nerdfighters rallied! His other books are An Abundance of Katherines and Looking for Alaska- which are all very good. You can find all of them on his website or on Amazon.com

Jake is such a nerdighter that last year he did a school project about Nerdfighting and was even featured in one of the vlogbrothers videos! This year, the 6th graders each make a quilt square- Jake's says "Made of Awesome" which is a Nerdfighter saying. Have I mentioned that Jake & I are pretty obsessed with Hank and John. (I'm on Team Hank if you're wondering)

So, that's just a little history behind Nerdfighting and my favorite website in the whole wide web. You can see why I couldn't just add this to my dinky little list of Top Ten Blogs!

Top Ten Tuesday

My Top Ten Favorite Blogs (written by bloggers I don't know IRL) As always, these are in no particular order.

First off, I must add a disclaimer that my favorite blog is actually a vlog. I didn't add it here because there is too much explaining. Soooo, I wrote a whole separate post for it here.

1. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman- if you don't follow Ree Drummond yet, it's about time you did. She's an excellent writer, photographer and cook.

2. Wickstrom Adventures- I was drawn in by her American Idol horrible outfit recap each week! Hysterical!

3. Sexy People- a celebration of the perfect portrait. I am sooo tempted to send in my 6th grade pictures...

4. Health Begins with Mom- The author is the sister-in-law to someone I went to high school with and now I'm hooked. I'm taking baby steps!

5. Dispatches from the Island- Jorge Garcia's blog- LOSTIES will enjoy this one

6. Cake Wrecks- Clever writing mixed with hidious cake design!

7. Jennsylvania- I am about to start her second book. Amanda bought it for me and had it SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR!

8. Stuff White People Like- comedy at it's best

9. Laila Blogs- I don't even know how I found Laila- perhaps she found me. She's a 26 year old woman who lives in the UAE. I'm all about mediteranian food. I've tried a few of her recipes and they are yummy! She has a recipe request section and recently made a recipe just for me! Kibbe Balls

10. The White House Blog- I'll admit that I certainly don't read them all- they post often-but I am able to read about things I'm interested in. I love how our government has finally joined the 21st century!

Mother's Day

Look at what I woke up to on Mother's Day morning (at 9am!) My sweet baby made me a fruit salad for breakfast.

I couldn't believe that she was able to peel a kiwi with a butter knife. She couldn't peel the orange, so she just cut it in half- again with a butte knife. I know I'm loved.

Jake's International Fair

For the past four months, the 6th graders at our school have been working on the International Fair Project. The project included a research paper, a powerpoint, costumes, food, etc. This was a big deal! Today was the day- each group set up a table with their posters, timelines, music, food and more. Jake's country was Greece. We used a big white T-shirt for a tunic and a lot of fabric for the toga-style sash.









We made baclava- my mom's wonderful recipe- my mom, Jake & I made about 150 pieces!
Here are the boys in their costumes.

Posers




Here is Jake and his wonderful teachers- we've had a really great year!

Here is Jake's girlfriend, Emma. Did I just say that? My thoughts on the whole girlfriend thing? At least he picked a girl who is super-smart like him and who's dad is a priest. Yeah, that's a big plus for me. LOL

Track Meet #2

I'm not giving you a big recap this week, as it's just kind of more of the same.
Tomorrow, she'll do some new events, so I'll make sure to get some good photos and videos of those. :)

What my cat does when I leave the house