Thirteen MadLibs

This is a list of thirteen MadLib snippets from our home. In case you are not familiar with MadLibs, it is a word game . One player is the Reader who does not tell anyone what the written story is about. The Reader asks the other player(s) to give him/her words - an adjective, noun, verb, or whatever else the space calls for- to fill in the blanks of the story. Then the Reader reads the story to the other players when the blanks are filled in. It can be quite funny.



1.... When a bad guy attacks, her stomach turns into the size of a flea and shoots out a poison pineapple.

2.One time I dared my sticky little brother to stick five super spicy toilets in his belly for a full minute. Next time I'll dare him to put them in his brain instead.

3.My friend went to her concert and she brought a hot dog up on stage to smell with her. I'd give my right eye to be able to do that!

4.The crowd went wild and a big bulldog behind her started to juggle. She didn't win the big prize, but was awarded Smelliest in Show. We won a huge trophy shaped like a pretzel.

5.The star of the show was a goofy dolphin named Winky who could balance a TV on her mouth. Winky was really smart, and she could even cook.

6.My little sister's favorite TV show is Harvey the Dinosaur. It's about a big, smelly dinosaur who loves to fart and dance. My sister watches about 300 episodes a day.

7.They tell her they will give her a new camel to play with. But she is too busy fighting down San Francisco and French frying A-Rod.

8.Arnold is a weird warrior whose girlfriend has beeen kidnapped by an evil globe, played by Big Papi.

9.Then men from the Defense Department come and want to use her as a secret military broccolli.

10.Then it snows greedily for 50 days and the couple discovers the red place is haunted by the ghost of a dirty potty.

11.At this point there is a lot of flinging and farting, but before he can harm anyone he is killedby a stray parrot.

12.Pterosaurs had large, smelly wings with 600 claws on the ends that they used for gripping hot dogs. Pterosaurs came in 11 different sizes. Some only had a two-inch wingspan and looked like clowns.

13."Fire!" said the monster, clutching his humpadoop. "Eenatah," replied Major Zarnak cleverly and, getting back into his spaceship, he zipped back to his headquarters on the planet Happatoo.



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13 favorite couples, real and imagined

1.Catherine and Heathcliff

This was my first read that got me out of my tween girl novel stage. Goodbye Ingalls family, hello passion.

2.Sonny and Cher

I remember getting to stay up and watch their variety show. I loved when they brought out Chastity at the end and sang "I Got You Babe" to her. The DJ played this song when my husband and I cut the cake at our wedding.

3.Jack and Ennis

Passion, tears, angst, and more passion...and more tears. They were fabulous, I'm used to it.


4.Maddie and David

Clever sexual tension and decent acting considering they didn't really like each other.


5.Torvill and Dean

I thought my parents might send me to bed early when these two got going. Be still my awakening heart.



6.Ellen and Portia

They seem so comfortable together and without all the typical Hollywood drama.

7.Guido and Dora

This movie took my breath away. Their love was deep and enduring against all odds.





8.Han and Leia

Kind of like David and Maddie with the tension, but without so much talking.

9.Abigail and John

These two knew how to write a decent love letter to each other. And they were friends




10.Harold and Maude
Quirky love, where you really get to be your own odd self and still be adored.





11.Cliff and Claire

Their arguments were a little too healthy, but I liked how they shared responsibility.




12.Marie and Pierre

I imagine these two brilliant scientists really understood each other in a way nobody else could.

13.Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy

I think these two probably benefitted from some brief, but intense couples therapy in order to iron out their communication issues, but then they went on to live happily ever after. We all need a little help sometimes, but its worth it.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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Thirteen Things I'm looking forward to

1….A glimpse of sun. It has been raining, sleeting, or snowing here since Monday.



2..Playing one of my son's lengthy strategy board games this weekend. He always beats me mercilessly.



3..Having some of my kids' friends over today. They are a nice buffer after all this inside together time.




4..Finishing a blog post about unschooling. I have been overthinking it.




5..Having my husband bring me my coffee on Saturday morning while I laze in bed. He heats the milk, and sweetens it just right. This little ritual means everything to me. It's the little things, guys.




6..Listening to my son play the piano.




7..Spending some overdue alone time with my husband. Fingers are crossed about getting a babysitter.




8..Going to the library to get some new reads. My bedside stack is running low. Any ideas?




9..Making Valentines with the boys. They indulge me a bit here.




10..Planning the do-over for my parents' 50th anniversary debacle.




11..Getting in a good long walk/gab fest with a friend.




12..Buying my next pair of pants in the next smallest size. The exercise is working!




13..Sun, sun, and more sun. Did I mention that already?




thursday thirteen






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Thirteen things I've learned this month

1....Blogging is fun when I don't think of it as an obligation. 2....My husband needs a new sportcoat and he's not going to get one unless I buy one for him so that he has to return it and get the proper fit. 3....Electric eels are not really eels. I learned this from my youngest boy who decided to find out about these creepy creatures. 4....John McCain has a mother!!?? 5....My oldest son has quite a decent stash of candy left from Christmas in his room. He said he just likes to save it. He is a packrat. 6....Ted Kennedy's opinion still matters to me. Warts and all, the guy is a living legend. 7....Mammograms aren't that bad. I just had my first one, and while it was mildly unpleasant(squish!), it didn't hurt. 8....I can change a light fixture and a wall switch by myself. I actually learned this last month, but I'm too proud of it to leave it out. 9....My youngest son had "no idea" what his father's middle name was until two days ago. I guess it hadn't come up? He knew mine, at least. 10..My middle son's interest in piano lessons is more than a passing interest, and he is soothed when he practices. 11..When you put a snowflake image on a blog post, and don't do it correctly because you really have no idea what you're doing, many people from all over the world will hit your site as "snowflake" is a very popular search word, and they wll be linked there beause of the image. Very cool. 12..Apparently, there was a guy named Fred running for President of the US. Who knew? 13..This TT green color does not go well with my blog at all, and I will never use it again. It makes me a little nauseous, but I'm too lazy to fix it.

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Thirteen favorite board games




These games get the most attention at our house these days 1....Attack! Strategy game similar to.. 2....Risk- perpetually taking up valuable coffee table space. 3....Red Sox Monopoly- Gotta get Big Papi and Vtek 4....Zooreeka- all ages love this one from the makers of Cranium 5....Connect Four- tabletop and hand-held versions 6....Mastermind- probably the most worn out box in the list 7....Boggle- love playing this with the oldest one. 8....Labyrinth- always fun twists and changes 9....Caves and Claws- cooperative game my littlest one enjoys 10...A Walk in the Woods- another cooperative game 11...Chess- "are you sure you want to move there?" 12...Dino Monopoly- fun beginner monopoly 13...Khet- laser maze game. "Are you sure you want to move there?"




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13 for MLK

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. - he would have been 79 last Tuesday- and further inspired by a Buddhist lecture that I attended last night, here are thirteen things that I can do to bring more peace and fairness to my corner of the world. 1.... Take a few minutes each morning to clear my mind so that I can start the day feeling a little more relaxed and purposeful. Sometimes my brain sounds like a cassette tape that is running too fast. I usually wake up bfore the boys, so this shouldn't be too hard. 2.... Sometimes my Yankee New Englander reservedness gets in the way of my warmth. I'm going to try and not be so fearful of expressing my warmth to others. 3...Give more time and money to our local food bank. 4....Fill out comment cards when I go places expressing my appreciation for friendliness and helpfulness. Too often people only fill them out when they're angry. I am particularly thinking of our library and the Y, but they are everywhere. 5....Offer more support and comfort to my friend who is trying to affect positive change for racial minorities where she teaches school. 6....Let my husband know, more often, how much I appreciate his hard work so that I can stay home with our kids. 7....Bring a meal and some flowers to my neighbor who is tending to her 97 yo mother and her ailing husband. 8....Be more patient. 9....When thigs go awry, remember that This too will pass. Or as Sandra Dodd puts it, there are no bad days, just bad moments. Or something like that. 10...Expose my boys to peaceful messages more often. I love and appreciate their fascination with weapons and conflict, and I can converse with them more about "the force" and "the dark side." Maybe strew some quotes about peace. 11...Keep hugging my boys every morning. Start the day with loving gestures and words as they wake up. 12...When people irritate me, try to shake it off and remember #9. 13....Remember the power and reverberation of "The Dream." If you want to see a video and hear the "I Have A Dream" speech, click here.

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Family Facts

Thirteen Things about my family 1.We are a family of five. Me, my husband, and our three boys. 2.My kids don't go to school. They learn from our life at home and out in the world. 3.We live in Massachusetts. I was born here. Traced back on my dad's side I am a 5th or 6th generation Massachusetts....ite?? 4.We love,love,love baseball and the Red Sox. (See above). 5.We camp. Car camping with a tent. As the boys get older it's getting more fun, and I'm hoping that backpacking is in our future. 6.We live in a relatively small home. When we got our minivan, I felt like we had built a addition on our house. 7.We like to stay up late and sleep in. Not very NewEngland-y. 8.We have an awesome extended family. I feel lucky every day for them. 9.We drink raw milk. 10.We all have our own light sabers. 11.We like to watch Mythbusters together. And Star Wars movies. And other movies. 12.The only thing that motivates us to get up early, is if we plan to go out for breakfast. It is probably our favorite restaurant meal. 13.We celebrate half birthdays. **Disclaimer: My husband is typically an early riser, and only joins in our slothful schedule on occasion.




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