The Thompson Family

NOTE: The video no longer works. OfficeMax has taken down the Elf Site.

I know Elf Yourself is a couple years old, and I know everyone and their brother is doing it... but it makes us laugh every time we watch it. Something about Dell's head on the female body just gets my giggle going. Merry Christmas!

This is the gratitude dance. Be grateful and have some fun.
Every morning when you wake up, follow this three step process:
1. Think of what you're grateful for at that moment,
2. Watch the Video, and...
3. DO THE DANCE!

Nora's JBBP had a huge "sports day" festival called Undokai, and I took the day off to attend and volunteer. The teachers said "if you are going to go to only one of your child's Japanese celebrations this year, this is the one to go to... it truly is a spectacle." I couldn't agree more! Here is a video of Nora and Ketarie at Undokai doing the ball rolling race - it was great fun for the kindergarteners. The music was actually playing in the background over the loudspeaker, and it was strangely like a Japanese cartoon or a video game or something! View more photos on Flickr.



UNDOKAI: This electrifying annual event is held in schools throughout Japan—elementary through high school. The Undokai event stems from Taiku no hi (Health and Sports Day), an official nationally recognized holiday in Japan that commemorates the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo. Undokai combines the Japanese word undo, meaning exercise, and kai, gathering. Throughout Japan, schools, cities, and other organizations promote unity, team work and friendship through the Undokai. In this same spirit, the Japanese school divides into teams and holds a series of competitions such as bean toss (bean bags into a basket high up on a bamboo pole), races and team relays, dancing displays, obstacle course, and the classic tug-of-war.

These two videos have been floating around and I have had about 10 people tell me to watch them... So, I finally did, and I had to share them with you. Enjoy!

All the things a mom says in a day condensed down to 3 minutes, set to the William Tell overture.



A dad's sweetly hilarious bedtime song set to Pachebel's Canon in D.

Freakin' amazing...

This is the best! I have no idea what they are saying, or what the ad is for, but it doesn't matter one bit - what a hoot!

Click here to watch the video.

Get ready to laugh your booty off...

If you haven't seen this yet, and you are even remotely interested in photos and Kodak, you HAVE to watch this little video. It is a total crack up. Good for Kodak for having the balls to do something so truthful and hilarious. My boss blogged about it on the MortarBlog, but I want to share it with my peeps...

Mark writes:
"This commercial was produced for Kodak's internal use. But it has become so popular, especially with employees, the company released it so the rest of us can appreciate their anticipated resurgence. God, I love it when companies are honest. Forthright. And funny. Especially when the spokesperson pans Kodak's attempt to save film with Advantix. (I know, I barely remember it too)."

Just click the "play" arrow in the center of the video to enjoy!

This made me so happy it brought tears to my eyes!

Children's Village had a Dia de los Muertos celebration to honor those loved ones who have passed away (and to celebrate life!). Teacher Patty taught the children a dance they performed to Mariachi. Here are her two videos:





Here is the collage we added to the ofrenda (the altar) of our much missed loved ones:


Christine Hanson, Mike & Mary Raimondi, MaryAnne Smith
Jesse King, Big John, Lenora Lawless
Marla Ruzicka, Bertha Springston, Genevieve King
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

We also added Darrell Davey's note to the ofrenda/altar. For those of you who don't know, this note was found in Darrell's desk after he died when the plane he was piloting crashed into the water near Point Lawrence off of Orcas Island. He was an amazing man and we all miss him.


CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

We saw this guy, Bob Marley, at the Improv in Las Vegas, and he is by far the best comedian I have ever seen perform live. He talks about stuff like being married, chips and dip, Atkins diet, trying on swimsuits... Pretty much everyday stuff that could apply to lots of folks. Check out his website at www.bmarley.com for more info.

Click the button in the middle of the video & get ready to start laughing!