Banner Day

Image credit: k2snowboarder07 via Wikipedia Commons

BLUE FRIDAY: Not gonna lie - we spent most of the day getting ready for tomorrow's big game, Seahawks v. Saints in the NFC playoffs.

First thing this morning we baked football-y cookies and made a couple of batches of "team spirit" blue and green popcorn (recipe courtesy of Jello, http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/jell-o-rainbow-popcorn-54804.aspx). That popcorn was a sticky proposition, let me tell you!

We hung some garland, did some cleaning and more shopping.

When we were at the fabric store, an elderly gentleman basically jumped in front of me as I passed the fabric cutting counter. "The 12. What's it for? I've been seeing it everywhere," he said.

He was referring to the Seahawks' jersey I was wearing for "Blue Friday" (you're supposed to wear 'Hawks blue and represent!). Caught off guard, I stopped and considered how best to respond. I came up with this. "A football team has 11 players, right?" He responded in the affirmative. "Well, Seahawks' fans are SO loud at the stadium, that the team has an advantage. It's almost like they have an extra player on the field. So the Seahawks' fans are called the 12th Man."

The gentleman smile broadly, so grateful to finally know the mystery of all those darn 12s. :) 

When we got home, we baked a few dozen cupcakes, decorated the cookies, prepped several pounds of pulled pork, helped Kennedy get his jambalaya going ... on and on. I hope Russel Wilson isn't as tired as I am tonight, LOL. 

In other Seahawks news, check out this ad Duracell released. It features Derrick Coleman, the NFL's first deaf offensive player. You can see the ad here: http://www.seahawks.com/videos-photos/videos/Derrick-Coleman-TrustYourPower/da29b5ce-0d4b-41ae-aa9c-c75f05e604a1, but better yet, watch this short interview with him chronicling the challenges he's faced and how he has excelled. It's very inspirational (and big props to his parents, BTW).
Link here: http://www.seahawks.com/videos-photos/videos/Derrick-Coleman-The-sound-of-silence-in-the-NFL/76ad6b0f-524a-4780-a0e4-a8049a9e32ea 

WHAT'S IN A NAME?: Today, Grandpa R was kind enough to email us an interesting list of factoids about the state of Washington. One of them was "Mount Rainier is the highest point in Washington State. It was named after British Admiral Peter Rainier, who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary War."

Before today, I did not know that, I'm ashamed to admit. I had no idea whom the mountain was named after. :/ And this is a peak we can see from our windows if we lean and tilt just right.

I shared my new found knowledge with the kids and asked them to do some research about Mt. Rainier and the man it was named after.

They spent the next 30 minutes or so trading facts about the history of the mountain. It was neat to hear them researching and sharing information with each other. I asked them each to write a paragraph about the pros and cons of the name of the mountain itself. CJ, shall we say, came down firmly in the anti-Rainier camp. This is what the incensed young man came up with ... 

As you know, Mount Rainier is a massive stratovolcano located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle in the state of Washington, United States. From Wikipedia, "It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m)."

 Mount Rainier is named after Peter Rainier, junior, who murdered innocent american civilians. Clearly Rainier was not a very good person, yet he has his own *LANDMARK* named after him! This clearly is showing that George Vancouver, the man who named Mount Rainier, was clearly not thinking about how Americans would react to what he did! So, the person who: Murdered colonial men, women and children

·Assisted the king in forcing taxes on the Americans, who had no choice with the taxes
*GETS TO HAVE A LANDMARK NAMED AFTER HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
The Native Americans who originally named Mount Evil called Mount Evil"Tacoma", which means in English "Larger than Mount Baker". I think a *MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH* better name for Mount Evil would be "Mount Tacoma", which would:
A: Make a tribute to the Native Americans who originally named Mount EvilB: Remove the hideous name of Mount Evil.

Yikes. But perhaps not surprising from one so young and idealistic.