Additive Transitions:
These show addition, introduction, similarity to other ideas, &c.

Addition:

indeed,	further,	as well (as this),	either (neither),	not only (this) but also (that) as well,
also,	moreover,	what is more,	as a matter of fact,	in all honesty,
and,	furthermore,	in addition (to this),	besides (this),	to tell the truth,
or,	in fact,	actually,	to say nothing of,
too,	let alone,	much less	additionally,
nor,	alternatively,	on the other hand,	not to mention (this),

Introduction:

such as,	as,	particularly,	including,	as an illustration,
for example,	like,	in particular,	for one thing,	to illustrate
for instance,	especially,	notably,	by way of example,

Reference:

speaking about (this),	considering (this),	regarding (this),	with regards to (this),
as for (this),	concerning (this),	the fact that	on the subject of (this)

Similarity:

similarly,	in the same way,	by the same token,	in a like manner,
equally	likewise,

Identification:

that is (to say),

namely,

specifically,

thus,

]

Clarification:

that is (to say),

I mean,

(to) put (it) another way

in other words,

Conflict:

but,	by way of contrast,	while,	on the other hand,
however,	(and) yet,	whereas,	though (final position),
in contrast,	when in fact,	conversely,	still

]

Emphasis:

even more,

above all,

indeed,

more importantly,

besides

Concession:

but even so,	nevertheless,	even though,	on the other hand,	admittedly,
however,	nonetheless,	despite (this),	notwithstanding (this),	albeit
(and) still,	although,	in spite of (this),	regardless (of this),
(and) yet,	though,	granted (this),	be that as it may,

]

Dismissal:

either way,	whichever happens,	in either event,	in any case,	at any rate,
in either case,	whatever happens,	all the same,	in any event,

]

Replacement:

(or) at least,

(or) rather,

instead

]

---

Cause/Reason:

for the (simple) reason that,	being that,	for,	in view of (the fact),	inasmuch as,
because (of the fact),	seeing that,	as,	owing to (the fact),
due to (the fact that),	in that	since,	forasmuch as,

Condition:

on (the) condition (that),	granted (that),	if,	provided that,	in case,
in the event that,	as/so long as,	unless	given that,
granting (that),	providing that,	even if,	only if,

Effect/Result:

as a result (of this),	consequently,	hence,	for this reason,	thus,
because (of this),	in consequence,	so that,	accordingly
as a consequence,	so much (so) that,	so,	therefore,

]

Purpose:

for the purpose of,	in the hope that,	for fear that,	so that,
with this intention,	to the end that,	in order to,	lest
with this in mind,	in order that,	so as to,	so,

Consequence:

under those circumstances,	then,	in that case,	if not,
that being the case,	if so,	otherwise

]

---

Numerical:

in the (first, second, etc.) place,	initially,	to start with,	first of all	thirdly, (&c.)
to begin with,	at first,	for a start,	secondly,

]

Continuation:

subsequently,	previously,	eventually,	next,
before (this),	afterwards,	after (this),	then

Conclusion:

to conclude (with)	as a final point,	eventually,	at last,
last but not least,	in the end,	finally,	lastly,

Digression:

to change the topic

incidentally,

by the way,

]

Resumption:

to get back to the point,	to resume	anyhow,	anyway,	at any rate,
to return to the subject,

Summation:

as was previously stated,	so,	consequently,	in summary,	all in all,
to make a long story short,	thus,	as I have said,	to sum up,	overall,
as has been mentioned,	then,	to summarize,	to be brief,	briefly,
given these points,	in all,	on the whole,	therefore,
as has been noted,	hence,	in conclusion,	in a word,
to put it briefly,	in sum,	altogether,	in short,

Transition Words

Addition:

indeed,	further,	as well (as this),	either (neither),	not only (this) but also (that) as well,
also,	moreover,	what is more,	as a matter of fact,	in all honesty,
and,	furthermore,	in addition (to this),	besides (this),	to tell the truth,
or,	in fact,	actually,	to say nothing of,
too,	let alone,	much less	additionally,
nor,	alternatively,	on the other hand,	not to mention (this),

Introduction:

such as,	as,	particularly,	including,	as an illustration,
for example,	like,	in particular,	for one thing,	to illustrate
for instance,	especially,	notably,	by way of example,

Reference:

s  peaking about (this),	considering (this),	regarding (this),	with regards to (this),
as for (this),	concerning (this),	the fact that	on the subject of (this)

Similarity:

similarly,	in the same way,	by the same token,	in a like manner,
equally	likewise,

Identification:

that is (to say),

namely,

specifically,

thus,

Clarification:

that is (to say),

I mean,

(to) put (it) another way

in other words,

---

Conflict:

but,	by way of contrast,	while,	on the other hand,
however,	(and) yet,	whereas,	though (final position),
in contrast,	when in fact,	conversely,	still

Emphasis:

even more,

above all,

indeed,

more importantly,

besides

Concession:

but even so,	nevertheless,	even though,	on the other hand,	admittedly,
however,	nonetheless,	despite (this),	notwithstanding (this),	albeit
(and) still,	although,	in spite of (this),	regardless (of this),
(and) yet,	though,	granted (this),	be that as it may,

Dismissal:

either way,	whichever happens,	in either event,	in any case,	at any rate,
in either case,	whatever happens,	all the same,	in any event,

Replacement:

(or) at least,

(or) rather,

instead

---

Causal Transitions:
These transitions signal cause/effect and reason/result, etc. . .

Cause/Reason:

for the (simple) reason that,	being that,	for,	in view of (the fact),	inasmuch as,
because (of the fact),	seeing that,	as,	owing to (the fact),
due to (the fact that),	in that	since,	forasmuch as,

Condition:

on (the) condition (that),	granted (that),	if,	provided that,	in case,
in the event that,	as/so long as,	unless	given that,
granting (that),	providing that,	even if,	only if,

Effect/Result:

as a result (of this),	consequently,	hence,	for this reason,	thus,
because (of this),	in consequence,	so that,	accordingly
as a consequence,	so much (so) that,	so,	therefore,

Purpose:

for the purpose of,	in the hope that,	for fear that,	so that,
with this intention,	to the end that,	in order to,	lest
with this in mind,	in order that,	so as to,	so,

Consequence:

under those circumstances,	then,	in that case,	if not,
that being the case,	if so,	otherwise

---

Sequential Transitions:
These transitions are used to signal a chronological or logical sequence.

Numerical:

in the (first, second, etc.) place,	initially,	to start with,	first of all	thirdly, (&c.)
to begin with,	at first,	for a start,	secondly,

Continuation:

subsequently,	previously,	eventually,	next,
before (this),	afterwards,	after (this),	then

Conclusion:

to conclude (with)	as a final point,	eventually,	at last,
last but not least,	in the end,	finally,	lastly,

Digression:

to change the topic

incidentally,

by the way,

Resumption:

to get back to the point,	to resume	anyhow,	anyway,	at any rate,
to return to the subject,

Summation:

as was previously stated,	so,	consequently,	in summary,	all in all,
to make a long story short,	thus,	as I have said,	to sum up,	overall,
as has been mentioned,	then,	to summarize,	to be brief,	briefly,
given these points,	in all,	on the whole,	therefore,
as has been noted,	hence,	in conclusion,	in a word,
to put it briefly,	in sum,	altogether,	in short,

MINECRAFT PARTY - ANDREW IS 8!

Andrew chose Minecraft for the theme of his party this year. I had a vague idea of what the game was because he usually plays with his brother and their dad. I had to ask them a lot of questions and learn about it which made it fun for them. They were the teachers! 

The party planning started with the head (Steve and the Creeper). I did not want to buy the ones it is sold in the stores because they are ridiculously expensive so I found a nice high resolution picture of each, set my Word to 87% view (the size of a sheet of paper) and printed them in three sheets of paper at Staples... since the box was free (I asked for them at the grocery store) I only spent $1.50 on each. The risers were all boxes collected at the grocery store. I wrapped them in plastic tablecloth from Walmart ($2.45 for three).  

The food tags I downloaded for free from the internet someone kind enough to share their work http://party.catchmyparty.com/files/birthday/free-minecraft-birthday-party-printables-by-printabelle.pdf

 I did have to add a few extra pictures as I wanted to add different food.

 

At Target I asked for boxes and the workers were kind to give me several of these little boxes (from batteries) which I used to make the pig.

Michael's had a project to make a caterpillar that came with all the toilet paper centers. I colored them with Satin finish Acrylic paint, printed the label and cut circles to close them up with candy inside.

The cake was the hardest for me because Andrew wanted a white cake. I was really excited to make a grass block but he reminded me that he doesn't like chocolate! I started with a white block and in the morning of the party I asked Andrew what that white block could be. He said it could be a skeleton... so a skeleton it became! I had already been working on the Ender dragon to go on top http://pixelpapercraft.com/papercraft/4f1baf47cb1c433c04000095/ender-dragon This was a hard project but in the end it was amazing looking!

I despise Frosting so I had a first shot at trying Ganache to cover the cake. Learned on You Tube and it worked, although I still had to add a little Fronting on the front of the cake to make the Skeleton face because it was last minute. If I had more time I would have done Fondant instead but anyways... it worked!

Shirts bought at Michael's (4 for $10) and painted with Black Acrylic paint. Mine was painted with white and pink.

 The piñata was crafted from a 12 by 12 by 12 box I bought at Staples and reinforced with duck tape because the last party I used a piñata I bought at Walmart and the kids destroyed in minutes. This Ghast lasted a while and it exploded in style. It was the best piñata so far. The body was just strips of white tissue paper cut in paper grass style. I added a hole in the back to insert the candy and zip tie at the top to hang. It was well reinforced with duck tape around to last. I made the face with construction paper and gray felt.

Happy Birthday my Big Boy!

Andrew's LEGO party

Finally I have some time to post about the latest birthday party. Andrew decided he wanted a LEGO party and it was fun to get everything together. He was very excited.

I love researching online what other people are working on and, oh man, there are some creative people out there.

First we started with the cake. My friend always make may cakes and this year it was no difference. She gives me one last thing to worry about because I know that her cakes are amazing and really well made. We decided to have the cake just plain white on top to put together one of Andrew's gifts on top as a cake decoration. Andrew loved it!

I wanted to make a table with candy for the kids to take home. I was very disappointed with iParty store because they charged so much money for almost nothing. I went there to find simple clear litlle buckets to fill up with candy but they didn't have what I was looking for and when I found something that I could "make do" with, it was for an outrageous price. I gave up on them! I went to the dollar store in Nashua, NH and found EVERYTHING for $20. Amazing. I was chocked to think how much that would have cost at iParty.

Andrew had his friends come over and we had a backyard barbecue, cake candy, water slide and a bouncy house. It was the perfect birthday.

Theo's Second Birthday

Theo's birthday is coming up. I can't believe he is turning two.

Because he is so into robots we decided to make a robot party. We are creating our own robot to use at the birthday party and I think the kids will like it too. I have collected along the week several pieces of recycling material like coke cans, plastic bottles, soup cans, boxes, etc. We also went to Home Depot for some specific parts like screws and bolts that Theo always wanted to play with... We bought the ones we know he is not gonna get hurt playing with and we adapted to create our robot. After a lot of duct tape and glue here is the result of our robot so far...