Happy Mother's Day!

Disney

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. I'm grateful for my own mom every day, but usually only remember to really tell her once a year on Mother's Day. So don't forget to show your mom how much you appreciate her and all she's done for you. After all, if your kids see you showing your appreciation, maybe they'll remember in the future when it's their turn to say thank you.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook

I received an awesome new book in the mail the other day. It's called The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook: A Swashbuckler's Guide from Pirates of the Caribbean by Jason Heller. I must say, this book is absolutely hilarious and a must have for any fan of Pirates of the Caribbean and especially Captain Jack. With a brand new Pirates movie soon to be released in theaters around the world, Pirate mania is at an all time high.

The book begins with this disclaimer:
Ahoy, All Ye Would-Be Pirates, Take Heed: This book is a work of entertainment. The publisher and author hereby disclaim any liability from an injury that may result from the use, proper or improper, of the information contained in this book. We do not guarantee that this information is safe, complete, or wholly accurate, nor should it be considered a substitute for a reader's good judgement and common sense.

Then the fun begins. This book provides insights into the pirate lifestyle, covering everything from the basics of How to Sail a Ship, to more complex issues such as How to Fight Six Angry Men in a Tavern! (In true Captain Jack fashion, the books recommends that you 1. Deflect the blame, 2. Get out of the way, and 3. Don't stick around!) This book features several full color pictures both from previous Pirates of the Caribbean films, as well as a few new photos from On Stranger Tides. There are six chapters full of piratical skills and an appendix of Piratical Lingo.

Chapter One: Piracy 101 - This chapter covers the basics of what a pirate should know about being a pirate, including a section on how to dress the part.

Chapter Two: Maritime Skills - Useful skills such as how to fire a cannon, the many types of Jolly Rogers, and the names for the parts of a ship

Chapter Three: People Skills - From the expected section on how to recruit a crew, to the unexpected on invoking parlay and a list of pirate insults and their meanings.

Chapter Four: Acquiring Booty - Topics include how to acquire treasure as well as how to hide it so that you may keep it.

Chapter Five: Cheating Death - My favorites from this chapter include How to Survive Being Marooned and The Fine Art of Being Somewhere Else!

Chapter Six: Mysteries of the Deep - This last chapter involves dealing with sea monsters, mermaids, curses and Davy Jones.

Appendix: Piratical Lingo - Learn the meaning of common pirate words as well as some that seem more exotic, such as salmagundi: "A makeshift British "recipe" popular among pirates: meat, seafood, vegetables, fruits, roots, nuts, leaves, flowers, oils, vinegars, sauces - just throw in what you've got."

In all, this is a fantastic book full of wonderful illustrations and great ideas for living the pirate lifestyle. Hopefully, with the help of the Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook, you can avoid Jack's mistakes and learn to be a highly successful pirate, perhaps, even the most famous pirate in the Caribbean!

I was provided with a copy of this book by Quirk Books for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.

Pirates Fans First

I received an email from Disney a few weeks ago. They asked me to take a survey to see if I was a true Pirates fan. The survey was fairly involved, but fun. Today, I got another email saying that I had been chosen as one of a select group of Pirate fans who will be kept up to date on the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow as well as receiving a bit of plunder to show my allegiance. When I accepted and went to the new site, they offered me a Captain Jack poster, free! My sister thinks it's crazy, but I was super excited. The poster was from Disney Movie Rewards. I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so this is the perfect Fan Club for me. I'll share the news whenever I receive updates. So keep a weather eye open!

Happy Star Wars Day

Well, once again, it's May 4th. Known to some of us as Star Wars Day. At Disney World, they're gearing up for the grand re-opening, or as they say re-imagining, of Star Tours. The re-opening coincides with this years Star Wars Weekends, starting May 20th. I would love to go. Star Tours is Bean's favorite ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We've probably ridden it 100 times. To celebrate, Disney created a new Facebook app. You can use the app to make your own Star Wars passport. You simply select a photo, type in a few details and the app does the rest. Print it out, fold and glue and you've got an official looking passport to keep track of your trips to Star Tours new destinations. Make yours today and take it with you on your next trip to Disney World. There's a place on the back where you can get it stamped at Star Tours. You can also share your Star Tours itinerary on Facebook.

So, Happy Star Wars Day, May the Fourth Be With You!!

Mousescrappers 2nd Anniversary

Mousescrappers

Mousescrappers is celebrating their second anniversary this month. They are hosting several scrapbook challenges during the month of May including Speed Scraps, Cake Decorating, Hide & Seek and a Scavenger Hunt. I only recently joined Mousescrappers and am still learning how to digital scrapbook. I've been creating traditional paper scrapbooks for about 15 years, but don't have much experience with the new digital programs. I have been having a blast with the new challenges, learning about both the Mousescrappers site and digital creation. The layout above was my Cake Decorating Challenge creation. So whether you're a traditional scrapbooker or digital scrapbooker, check them out. You might just learn something new!

POTC 4 Website

Disney

Disney has a fantastic website for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. It has information about the movie, games, activities, character backgrounds, photos, and downloads. It's a lot of fun for any pirate fan. As you search through the site, you can collect badges for viewing different pages. Collect all 8 of the current badges and you'll unlock 4 different wallpapers for your computer. An additional 16 badges will be added to the site as the countdown to the premiere continues. The activities include printables, recipes, and crafts and would be great for kids. One of my favorite activities is the pirate bento box. It's so cute! Check it out.

Happy Easter!

Disney

Well, it's that time of year again. The Easter Bunny has visited our house and left a bunch of eggs to find. We went to a big Easter Egg Hunt yesterday that a local church puts on each year. They divide their front lawn into 3 sections and put 12,000 eggs on the grass. Bean loves it! One little boy, on looking at the eggs for the first time, said, "Don't they know they're supposed to HIDE the eggs?" It was hilarious. We love this egg hunt because it lasts almost a minute. (The first hunt I took Bean to, she got 2 eggs and it was over in less than 5 seconds! It was insane and I don't think the kids really enjoyed it.) 

Things are always slower out here, just part of life in the South, but we prefer it. The church also had a bounce house, two inflatable slide, and a giant inflatable obstacle course. They also have a free lunch and crafts and short lessons on the meaning of Easter inside the activity center. It's a lot of fun!

After the Egg Hunt, we had to run over to Lowe's for their kids build. Bean has been going to the builds at Home Depot and Lowe's since she was 3 and she looks forward to it every time. This week they made a window birdhouse in honor of Earth Day and gave out reusable totes.

Our local used book mega store was having an Earth Day sale too. Everything you could put into a reusable tote was 20% off. I think we spent 2 1/2 hours looking at books. We bought a ton of learning to read for Bean, who's in Kindergarten. The prices were fantastic! They usually cost $3.99, but at 2nd and Charles, they were $1.00-$1.44. I found some books my mom has been looking for, a few books I'd been looking for, and a special edition copy of Breaking Dawn from the Twilight Saga that looked like it had never even been opened. It was a steal at $10.80! I love finding bargains and I really love books, so this was great fun! I wish you all a great Earth Day and a very Hoppy Easter!