Monthly Archives: May 2012

31 May

How to make ice cream: a great Father’s Day treat!

By Molly Saunders

Molly Saunders, Digital Bear

One of the things I remember best about hot summers is making ice cream with my dad. We use the old wooden ice cream maker that he grew up with. It makes the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted! Nothing ever comes close to that subtle, just-sweet-enough taste, especially after you’ve worked so hard to make it.

This is our family's ice cream barrel. When you store it, the dried wood pieces kind of rattle about. When you make the ice cream they expand and the only thing holding them together are the metal rings around the bucket. They expand to fit together perfectly and don't leak when you're making the ice cream!

I’ve adapted a version of the recipe he has used for more than 40 years so that you can make ice cream with your dad, or so that your children make ice cream with their dad for Father’s Day. It could become a really wonderful tradition for your family, too. I also like that making ice cream can double Continue reading

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29 May

How to travel safely with kids

By Molly Saunders

Margie Brill of My Springfield Mommy

Memorial Day weekend kicks off vacation season for a lot of families. For most of us, we focus on where we will be going and what we will be doing once we get there.  How often do we stop and think of family safety away from home?  I was lucky enough to speak with Wade, a police  officer at our local station, who was more than happy to jot down a few of his ideas and share them with us.

When asked to come up with some ideas to make traveling with children simple and safe, I had to reflect on my own traveling days, with 3 kids, from Illinois to California. I can assure you that it was never simple, but I do recall many things we did as parents to keep our children safe, comfortable and occupied during the 30 plus hours on the road. Keep in mind that there is no fail safe way of keeping your child safe during travel, but always remember that ‘chance, favors the prepared’. And that’s where we begin.

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22 May

RSVP for our reunion!

By Molly Saunders

We’re all about celebrations here at Build-A-Bear Workshop. This year we’re celebrating over 100 million furry friends made and we want to reunite with all our friends! This coming weekend, May 24-27, at all our stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, we’re having a Friends Reunion. If you RSVP to the event and bring your furry friend you’ll get an exclusive Friends Count Tiny Tee for your friend. Remember to RSVP for each person you will be bringing, and don’t forget to bring your furry friend. We can’t wait to see you there!

If you’re a Fan on our Facebook page or if you follow us on Twitter, be sure to share your reunion pics with us!

RSVP to our Friends Count Reunion!

1 comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Friends Count Series

18 May

General Sarge Celebrating Armed Forces Day

By DrRus

Two Paws Up To All Our Military Branches!
Saturday, May 19, 2012

Days like this hit a little closer to home since my human-owner joined the Army. They seem even more real with PFC Benjamin Jeffrey now deployed to Afghanistan. Today is Armed Forces Day. But do you know what Armed Forces Day is? Most people know about Memorial Day - which is next weekend by the way – and of course July 4th Independence Day is big too.

When Digital Bear Molly asked me to write a tribute post here on Behind the Seams I was thrilled and it was all I could do to keep my stuffing from bursting the seams!

Yes, yes, yes I would love to write about this very important day.

I even gathered a bunch of my military furry friends from General Sarge HQ for the occasion. We made a stop at Central Park in my hometown and posed for a picture. We got some interesting looks from people as they passed by, but we saw a lot of smiles too because everyone loves furry friends! If you look real close you will even see my furry-friend brother, Rockin’ Sarge, in the right hand side of the picture sitting in front of my tent and playing his guitar. Rockin’ and his new wife Photo Lady Sadii Sarg – who took this picture – moved back to New York State to be near my human-owner’s parents while my human-owner is deployed. It made us all very happy.

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1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Friends Count Series

17 May

Armed Forces Day Thanks

By Molly Saunders

Armed Forces Day is Saturday, May 19. To salute our troops, we asked our Facebook Fans to share photos of themselves with their heroes in uniform so we could create this album.

To all the men and women who serve and have served, and to every member of their families, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

Yesenia Zavala - SGT Zavala & our lil' family! from Ft. Carson, CO

Yesenia Zavala – SGT Zavala & our lil’ family! from Ft. Carson, CO

Mya Brown - Sgt. Dan Brown of WI National Guard and daughter Audrey. First day home from tour in Iraq.

Sgt. Dan Brown of WI National Guard and daughter Audrey. First day home from tour in Iraq. Photo submitted by Mya Brown.

 

Jessica Allen - My daughter wears combat boots!!! PVT. 2 Brittany Leyraud, AIT San Antonio, TX

My daughter wears combat boots!!! PVT. 2 Brittany Leyraud, AIT San Antonio, TX Photo submitted by Jessica Allen.

Jenni Dunfee - We drove all the way to Fort Drum, NY from Huntington, WV to welcome my little brother Sgt. Samuel McDowell home from Afghanistan. Her's Sam with my son Jake, who totally worships his uncle

“We drove all the way to Fort Drum, NY from Huntington, WV to welcome my “little” brother Sgt. Samuel McDowell home from Afghanistan. Her’s Sam with my son Jake, who totally worships his uncle.” Photo submitted by Jenni Dunfee.

Holly Mitchell - Sgt. Eric Mitchell, Ft. Carson, CO

Sgt. Eric Mitchell, Ft. Carson, CO Photo submitted by Holly Mitchell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geena Michelle Santacruz - Sarget First Class Pedro-Gonzales, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri

Sargent First Class Pedro-Gonzales, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Photo submitted by Geena Michelle Santacruz.

David Schantz - SPC Daniel Schantz and His Mom at the airport

SPC Daniel Schantz and his mom at the airport. Photo submitted by Daniel Schantz.

 

Is there someone you’d like to thank? Share it with us by commenting below.

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15 May

Champ’s adventure sends him to Slovenia!

By Molly Saunders

by Julia Roberts

Champ traveled safely for more than 10 days to the country of Slovenia to visit the Križ family. He arrived from Canada and his visit with the Sears family, where he started his journey. He proudly came holding a Canadian hockey flag, which made the Križ family laugh because they are also big hockey fans! Slovenia is situated just right of Italy and below Austria, and it’s surrounded by beautiful mountains. It was a perfect destination for Champ’s Around the World Adventure!

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14 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Friends Count Series

10 May

Ode to moms everywhere

By Molly Saunders

Ever get that feeling, when you’re looking for just the right card, that nothing is good enough? That nothing written by somebody else could possibly express what you want to say to the special person you’re thinking about? I get that feeling all the time. And because none of the cards in the world are truly good enough for my mom (and I’m sure you’ve felt the same way), I thought I’d write this ode to moms (shhh… it’s especially for you, Mom). My wish is that every mom who reads this knows that they’ve done something right and wonderful for their children. It’s a little thank you, a note to say “you’re totally pawsome,” for every mom out there.

Hey, Mom,

I don’t know how you do it, “it” meaning every single little thing.

You brought me here and fixed me up, you even gave me wings.

You raised me to be myself, not knowing what that was.

You just knew you’d love me because I was yours; just because.

Of course I fought and yelled and screamed, even when I knew you were right,

And you just said, ‘Someday you’ll understand,’ as I angered with all my might.

You were more than a perfect student of all the tests I put you through,

Although, the lessons were mine to learn – something you always knew.

In fact, with a mom as inspiring as you, I grew to have no doubt,

How incredible your beauty was, on the inside and the out.

I think we’ve grown, and you’ve become my friend more and more,

I think, ‘Wow, there’s just no one like you. I totally scored!’

I just hope that someday, for my babes, I might be

Even a teeny tiny piece, of what you are for me.

- Molly Saunders, Digital Bear

 

6 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Stories

8 May

Me and my mom

By Molly Saunders

My name is Molly and I work on the Digital Team at Build-A-Bear Workshop. You’ll probably see that many stories and blog posts will be written by me. I figured some of you might eventually want to know the person writing them, so here is MY story of becoming a bear.

When I was 12 years old, I was running errands with my mom on a Saturday afternoon. We had one of those pointy-nosed mini vans with the new bucket seats in the front and I finally got to sit in one of them. At one point during our afternoon trek, my mom turned to me and said, “Guess who I met with today?” Of course, I had no idea. “Who?” I asked, wondering why it mattered, since normally her work days were not very interesting to me. “I met with an old friend of mine, we worked together a long time ago. And she wants to create a store where you get to make your own teddy bear!”

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3 May

What does mom want for Mother’s Day?

By Molly Saunders

Mother’s Day is May 13: how do you want to be appreciated?

The moms we know and love weigh in.

“I would just want to be acknowledged, because every mom needs some recognition! Sometimes I think my kids don’t understand what mommy does all day for them. Who would feed them if I didn’t? You can’t survive on PB&J all the time!” – Angela Roy from PRMommy

“I would want them just to behave and get along for the day, and help me out with the cooking and cleaning. Yes, it’s Mother’s Day, but I still have to work as a mom. It’s important to be appreciated because as a mom, I do need a break from the kids fighting and it’s nice to get some help around the house. It would be nice for a day to have less stress and have some ‘me’ time.” – Brandy Walleshauser from NoTimeMommy

“Thankfully, my children are so gracious when showing their appreciation for me on a regular basis.  I would like to be able to honestly just spend time with them doing something fun without worrying about what’s for dinner or having a schedule to keep.  Them sharing in their day with me would show me that they appreciate me and would be sufficient!  It also wouldn’t hurt to have sibling rivalry take a hiatus for a day, too! :) I see my kids growing up each and every day and just want to cherish these moments. We don’t always have a relaxed routine and schedule so it would be nice to be able to have it just for one day.  As a busy mom, it seems like each day is spent just preparing for the next “thing”, so it would be nice to just have one day where I didn’t have to think about things like preparing dinner, etc.”  – Candy Tai from Mommypalooza

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1 May

Teacher’s Day: How to show your appreciation

By Molly Saunders

Teacher Appreciation Day is May 8, and we know parents are always looking for special ways to recognize their children’s teachers. So we went to the experts and asked them what would make their day extra special!

“With ages I teach, I’d just be happy with a card, sign or verbal thank you. But a treat or gift card to coffee shop is awesome!!! It’s nice to be thanked or to be reminded that I’ve made a difference or had some impact in the child’s day/year/life/etc. I like coffee and at the HS level, we hardly ever get thank you’s of any kinds or treats, so that would be something fun (and relatively cheap/simple from families end).” – Laura Hensley, grades 8-12, Art, Mound Westonka High School, Mound, MN

“I’d like my parents & students to show me they appreciate me by giving me handmade pictures put together in a book.” – Michelle Thiele, Kindergarten, Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School, Cuddlebackville, NY

“I would love for my students and parents to thank me for all I do with a simple hug and thank you. A Build- a-Bear with a heart warmed and kissed by them would be great to have, as it would remind me from day to day that I am appreciated. My students brighten my day when I’m down and the parents that are active in their students’ lives gives me the encouragement to keep going even when I feel like I can’t go any further.” – Teralyn Butler, Career & Technical teacher, Dillard High School, Fort Lauderdale, FL

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