Spyder's aspiration

Little birdies

Hold onto your hats, my real-life friends. I am becoming (gasp!) an amateur bird enthusiast. I've mentioned my convoluted feelings about the avian species before, but I definitely feel that I'm coming around to the idea of inviting the shy ones to stick around.

Spyder and Sass have art class on Wednesdays, and the art teacher has several bird houses and bird feeders set up in various areas around her yard. While the children are in class, I've started sitting on the deck in the yard, just watching the squirrels and the birdies.

Since I've been so fascinated with their wildlife, I've bought a couple of bird feeders to set up in my own yard.

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a really good picture with the birdies actually around the feeder. The squirrels like it just as much as the birds though. There are usually three squirrels around the base of the feeder, but they generally scatter as soon as I get close enough for a photo.

We even have a cardinal nesting in the holly bushes beside the house. While she is a beauty, having her (and egg!) that close does make me slightly uneasy, so I've been avoiding that particular path to the yard.

The adventure weekend

Remember that grand adventure? It was . . . Space Camp!


Skeeter and Spyder went to Huntsville, AL for the Parent/Child Space Camp! They spent the weekend building rockets, training on the moon walk simulators, going on a space shuttle mission, and learning about NASA.


The US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville hosts the Space Camp, but it also is a museum that shows the history of the US space program. We didn't realize it at the time, but Sass and I could have gone with them (staying in a hotel rather than at the camp) and toured the grounds and museum. Ah well! Perhaps another time.


Since they did the Parent/Child camp, it was only a weekend. But it was a pretty intensive weekend! They were scheduled from breakfast to bedtime, and they were exhausted by the time they got back home.

Both Skeeter and Spyder thoroughly enjoyed it though, and they're already talking about returning for the Aviation Challenge weekend in a couple of years.

The program gets highest marks from both of them, which truly says a lot about it. Considering their excitement, which continued for days after they got back, I would highly recommend the program!

A few tips for anyone considering the program:

• Spend the extra money and buy your camper the jumpsuit. It sounds a bit silly, but Skeeter said that Spyder felt more like he was really "in training" once he started wearing the jumpsuit. I didn't buy it in advance, and in retrospect, I would.
  
• Plan to eat at least two meals not included in your camp. Lunch is not provided on the first day or the last day. I would have packed them a lunch for the first day, at least, if we had realized that. As it was, they had to eat lunch in the snack bar, which was grossly overpriced (as in all touristy areas). If I had known to plan ahead for it, it would have saved us $35 to $40 on those two meals.
  
• Bring a bottle for water. Or buy one bottle and save it to refill. Water from the machines was $1.50 (pricey!), but you can refill the bottle from the water fountain.
• Pack light. The rooms are designed exactly as a space station would have them (think bunkhouse in Star Trek). The beds are actually set into the wall, so you have a very limited amount of room. I sent my campers with two bags, one large bag for clothing and one smaller bag for toiletries. Skeeter said it was crowded to have two, so he ended up repacking in the back of the car.
• Use travel sized toiletries. We have quite a collection of trial toiletries, some from hotels, some that I've gotten in the mail . . . . I sent these with my campers -- everything from mouthwash to toothpaste to shampoo. Skeeter said that these were absolutely fantastic. Between the two of them, they used a bottle of shampoo per shower, and he could just throw the container away. They used the shampoo as body wash as well, so they didn't have to bother with a bar of soap OR an extra bottle of body wash.
• With the way that the days were scheduled, it was best to shower at night. Skeeter is accustomed to taking his showers in the morning, and he didn't realize that the schedule didn't permit that until he was too late. He had to squeeze in time for a quick shower sometime mid-day on Saturday, since he didn't have time in the morning.
  

The total cost for whole trip (including travel, food, and souvenirs) was right at $1000, which is exactly what we had planned. That sounds like a lot (and it is), but it took us about a year and a half to save enough for it. Saving $30 per paycheck for 17 months is infinitely more do-able than $1000 all at once. :)

Moroccan Chicken

I've had a few emails asking for the Moroccan Chicken recipe I mentioned recently, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Originally it came from The New Basics Cookbook (which I highly recommend), but I've made a few changes to it.

Moroccan Chicken

2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder (optional)
1 tsp lemon peel
4-5 cloves of minced garlic (fresh is best, but garlic powder can be substituted in a pinch)

Coat 4 chicken legs or thighs with the spice mixture and let them stand at least 1 hour. (I coat them when I'm making lunch and leave them in the refrigerator until time to cook.)

In a large skillet, heat 2 tsp of olive oil over medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet. Cover and cook for approximately 20 minutes on each side.

(For those of you in the south, you're essentially making spiced fried chicken in olive oil.) :)

We've also made these on the grill and in the oven, with equally yummy success. I've also used the spice combination with tofu, but Skeeter won't stand for that tofu nonsense, so I haven't done that recently. :)

Enjoy!

Various yumminess

I am in love with the new Lipton White Tea Apple Cranberry. I picked it up on a whim at the grocery store a few days ago, and I am absolutely hooked.

The new drink-mix-to-go single serve tubes have been popular for a while, but I've never really liked them. They all had an odd aftertaste to me. I've been trying them off and on, but I've never really found one that I really enjoyed until recently.

A few weeks ago I tried the Propel Berry flavored powder packet, and it was yummy! Truly, it was the first one that I tried that I truly liked. Light flavor, and no aftertaste. I think that gave me enough courage to try the Lipton one. :)

We've also been enjoying a new snack treat, the Flat Earth brand fruit and veggie chips. The grocery store held a demo last week, and Spyder, Sass, and I all tried three different flavors available. Their favorite was the Garlic & Herb. Mine was the Apple Cinnamon Grove. Quite yummy!

(FYI: There is a coupon available through the link. Just click the "Come On In" sign in the middle of the page and the look to the left when the second page loads.)

Happy sipping and snacking!

A grand adventure

Spyder and Skeeter are off on a grand adventure! We've been planning it for over a year, and finally it's time!

They'll be gone for the whole weekend, and it will give Sass and me a little "Mommy and daughter" time together. We don't have anything planned, but the weekend is filled with open promises, and I'm anxious to see what it will bring.

They left this morning at 6:30, and I was both excited and sad to see them off. I can't wait to hear what their adventure brings them!

Works for me Wednesday: Recipes in a flash

I have several recipes that we really like, but they require lots of spices and/or ingredients. One of the ways that I speed up preparation is to blend the dry ingredients in advance.

I collect and combine all of the dry ingredients as if I am making the recipe. Instead of continuing with the recipe, they are stored in a Ziploc bag in the freezer, labeled with the recipe name.

For example, one of our favorite recipes is Moroccan Chicken, which requires about 10 different spices. Preparing the spices in advance cuts the prep time tremendously. For this particular recipe, I make 4 or 5 bags at a time, using the small "snack size" Ziploc bags. When I begin making the recipe, I just take out the bag labeled "Moroccan Chicken" and my work is more than half done.

I make Amish Friendship Bread every 10 days, and bread making day doesn't always fall on a day that's convenient. I speed up the process by combining the dry ingredients at a time that is convenient for me, usually a few days in advance. Again, it cuts the prep time tremendously.

Works for me!

Check out all of the Works for me Wednesday tips at Rocks in my Dryer!

Welcome to Holland

Encouragement can come in ways you never imagined.

A friend sent this to me tonight. Her son has just been diagnosed with an "autistic spectrum disorder" and she is coming to terms with that and what it means. While my children don't have those issues, I found encouragement and meaning in it anyway. I have a feeling that I'll refer back to it on those days that I feel overwhelmed by this life I've chosen.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

The couch

My mom must have the most comfortable couch ever. At any family function, the couch is sure to have its own slumbering guest.

Today we celebrated Mother's Day, and in usual fashion, we had a cookout at my parents' house with a house and porch full of people. Ribs on the grill, potato salad, homemade macaroni and cheese . . . the works.

My dad usually chooses the old couch for his naps. The Michael and Uncle Richard weren't at the celebration, so I expected the napping couch to be empty. It wasn't. My cousin E set up residence and didn't move for at least three hours.

The children and I shot the basketball. We played catch. Spyder shot the BB gun. Sass, Spyder, and Skeeter all rode the 4-wheeler. E slept through all of it. He even slept through Sass and Spyder's game of hide and seek/tag through the house, which required squeals, shouts, and slamming doors. He was still asleep on the couch when we left. As far as I can remember, E has never been one of the nappers, but today he outdid them all.

My family has a tendency to name everything. Just in the living room we have

The old couch
The orange chair
The poofy couch
The rocker
and
The new rocker

Today I hereby declare that The Poofy Couch is officially renamed. Hereafter, The Poofy Couch will be referred to as The Napping Couch.

Case closed.

Through the eyes of a child

Tonight I had to make a run to the grocery store around the corner. We were out of coffee -- a crisis! -- and it couldn't wait til morning.

It's an older store, in the older part of town. It has all of the conveniences of a newer store -- deli, hot bar, bakery -- but you can just tell. It's older than most around here.

There is a mosaic set into the floor in front of the seafood and meat case. It's not fancy, but it would have passed for such 30 or 40 years ago when the store was built. I usually go around it when I'm shopping, simply because it makes for a very bumpy cart. It's definitely not an easy go when I have one child hanging onto the edge of the cart and one hanging onto my leg.

Tonight when I was there, a girl of about 9 was at the mosaic, pushing the cart behind her father.

She stopped after she'd passed the edge of the mosaic. "Dad! Dad! Look! It's just beautiful, isn't it?"

Dad looked over and continued walking toward the dairy case. "Yeah, it's great."

The girl picked up her pace again and followed. She looked at me as we passed and said, "Just beautiful," in that wispy, wonder-filled voice that children often have.

I had to agree. For a moment, I could see it the way that she did. The textures are different than the rest of the store. Certainly, the oversized, generic Super WhatEver doesn't have anything like it. There is nothing utilitarian about it. It seems as if it's there simply to be noticed.

I often point out different features to my children: shapes in the clouds; colors in the sunset; interesting points or designs on a building; butterflies. I had never once considered that old, shades-of-brown mosaic on the floor to be worth my interest. And I think I was missing out.

Works for me Wednesday: Headphones

All four of the computers in our house are in one centrally located room. Skeeter and I decided to do it this way deliberately, since all of the computers have internet access, and we felt it was unwise to have internet access is not-easily-supervised rooms.

But with having them all centrally located, it can be quite annoying to listen to Sass playing her game, Spyder playing his game, and Skeeter listening to his music all at the same time. Now, instead of listening to everything at once, each person has his or her own set of headphones. Whenever someone is doing a "noisy" activity on the computer, it's time to plug in the headphones. The volume is set internally (by me) at a level where they hear the game just fine, but they can also hear me if I'm talking to them.

Today Spyder played a Nancy Drew game at the same time that Sass was playing a JumpStart game. I was able to listen to the radio rather than the cacophony of sounds and we were all happy. :)

Skeeter has a really nice, noise reducing pair. The children each have an inexpensive pair, so that I won't be upset if they get broken (as happened to Sass when she sat on hers).

We've been using this system for a few months now, and I wonder why it took me so long to think of doing this. Life is much more peaceful for us with headphones!

Visit Rocks in my Dryer for more Works for me Wednesday tips!

End of an era

My very first pair of Birkenstocks are going away today.

I bought these shoes 18 years ago when I was in Germany. (Yes, you read that correctly. 18 years.)

At the time, Birkenstocks weren't popular in the US, and when I wore them I got loads of teasing about my "ugly shoes." I wore them anyway, almost every day in appropriate weather. They were extremely comfortable and I just plain liked them.

Just a couple of years later, they were all the rage on my college campus. I found this highly amusing, considering these were the same people who made fun of my shoes in the first place.

It was time to let them go. They just weren't as comfortable any more, and they tended to rub a little if I wore them for longer than a couple of hours. I feel a little silly for feeling so nostalgic about them, but I do anyway.

I suppose this gives me a reason to find another pair. :)

Wistful

Quote

What is eternity? You're on the checkout line at a supermarket. There are seven people in front of you. They are all old. They all have two carts and coupons for every item. They are all paying by check. None of them have ID. It's the checkout girl's first day on the job. She doesn't speak any English. Take away fifteen minutes from that, and you begin to get an idea of what eternity is.

-- Emo Phillips

Papermaking!

Spyder, Sass, and I made paper! Spyder got the idea and recipe from the Beakman's World DVD.

Sass and Spyder shredded two pages of a newspaper. We put it in a blender, one page + one cup of water at a time. (Unfortunately, I didn't think about taking pictures!)

We blended the paper and water into ugly gray goo, then put it into the kitchen sink with about three inches of water. Then we added two tablespoons of Elmer's glue and stirred it around. I really think I added too much water, so I'll cut that down a bit next time.

We used a wire coat hanger as the frame, and stretched pantyhose over the hanger to make the drying surface. We put the frame into the goo/water/glue mixture and captured the fibers to make our paper.

The DVD instructions said to lift it slowly, but it worked better for us to lift it quickly and turn the hanger so that the entire surface was covered. It didn't take long at all (less than a minute) for it to begin to set, and I was able to hang the paper in the shower to dry overnight.

This is what our surface looked like after it dried overnight.


We carefully pulled the paper off of the pantyhose. This was the hardest part for us, partly because I think our mixture was a little too thin. Spyder had to get his hand underneath and push it up to get it started.


Once it was started, he was able to pull the middle, thicker portion.


Here is one of the finished products! You can see some of the larger pieces of newspaper that didn't get blended well, and you can see the torn portion at the edge.


This was a fun, easy craft, and I know we'll do it again. Today we were talking about using the sale flyers that come weekly so that we can have different colors, rather than just light gray.

Fun and easy!

Works for me Wednesday: Distributing treat bags

I wasn't planning to participate in this week's WfmW because I shared my best tip last time. But I was reminded of this one when I visited another contributor.

One of the ways we use to send off the party with a bang is to put the treat bags in a large box and wrap the box in wrapping paper several times (I usually do it 20 times) using different types of paper. The children sit in a circle and we play hot potato with the wrapped gift. Each time the music stops, the child holding the box gets to unwrap a layer. Just continue until the box is completely unwrapped, then let the children open the box and take a bag.

For obvious reasons, it's best to use bags that can be sealed, like patterned Ziploc bags or decorated paper bags that have been stapled shut. :)

It's a great way for the children to feel like they're also involved in the present-opening, rather than just being a spectator. We let the birthday boy or girl work the CD player (with help from mom or dad).

We've also used this for Halloween parties and Christmas parties when we're going to be distributing treats to the children.

Check out the rest of the Works for me Wednesday tips at Rocks in My Dryer.

The Shakespeare Stealer

The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood is the story of Widge, an orphan in the late 16th century. Widge is taken in by a rector, who teaches Widge a version of shorthand. The rector uses Widge's learned skill by sending him to listen to sermons and have him transcribe them word by word.

Eventually Widge is sold to another man who charges him to transcribe Shakespeare's Hamlet while standing in the audience. Widge succeeds, but loses his transcription. Caught behind the stage, he pretends to be interested in learning to be one of the players.

Widge makes friends with the other apprentices -- the first real friends of his life -- and the players become his family in a way that he has never had before. Eventually Widge has to choose between loyalty to his purchaser and his new-found friends.

Spyder and I both really enjoyed this book, and we had an excellent discussion on it afterward.

Many of the people in the book play a role to conceal his true character, just as a player does on the stage. Widge pretends to have the acting bug so that he can steal the play, although he learns how difficult that is. The rector pretends to be an upright and honest man, but he uses Widge to steal ideas and words from others. There are other examples, but they would be spoilers, and I wouldn't do that to anyone. But at any rate, Widge finds that the people who show their true selves to him are the players themselves.

Additionally, Widge finds himself in a situation where he has to find his own morals. His world has been filled with adults who display amoral behavior in one way or another. Widge has been shown this type of behavior, but he finds that he is dissatisfied with it and decides to make his own way.

This is exactly the kind of book I hope to find when I'm browsing, one that is both exciting and thoughtful.

Very highly recommended for both boys and girls (and adults)!

Traditional ballad, rewritten

We've recently enjoyed a most wonderful book called, appropriately, Magic by the Book, in which three children are dropped into various stories and live out a portion of the adventure within.

Sass, Spyder, and I all absolutely loved the story, but one of our favorite portions was when the children were dropped into Tolstoy's War and Peace. In this particular scene, the children have a war of words with someone, based on an old ballad for children.

In particular, the children were fascinated with this portion:

What is greener than the grass?
What is smoother than crystal glass?
What is louder than a horn?
What is sharper than a thorn?
What is brighter than the light?
What is darker than the night?
What is keener than an axe?
What is softer than melting wax?
What is rounder than a ring?"

Envy is greener than the grass,
Flattery smoother than crystal glass.
Rumour is louder than a horn,
Hunger is sharper than a thorn.
Truth is brighter than the light,
Falsehood is darker than the night.
Revenge is keener than an axe,
Love is softer than melting wax.
The world is rounder than a ring.

Sass prefers to answer the questions with her own answers rather than the traditional ones. Here are her answers to the questions.

Paper is greener than the grass,
My hands smoother than crystal glass.
Screams are louder than a horn,
A knife is sharper than a thorn.
Sunshine is brighter than the light,

Being scared is darker than the night.
Teeth are keener than an axe,
Fluffy dogs are softer than melting wax.
A circle is rounder than a ring.

We've been doing several activities with word associations lately, and I think it's one of her favorite things we've done.

Quote

Fast from bitterness - feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern - feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety - feast on eternal truth.
Fast from anger - feast on patience.
Fast from words that destroy - feast on words that build up.
Fast from discontent - feast on gratitude.
Fast from discouragement - feast on hope.

- Susan Tassone

Adventures

And so it goes that when you have animals and children, there is always an adventure.

The children and I were playing outside at my parents' house. Dad had run to the store, and I was there with the children and the dog. Sass was digging in the dirt, and Spyder and I were throwing a ball when I realized that Molly, Dad's hound dog, was missing.

I started calling her, but no response. The neighbors two doors down called over that Molly had headed to another neighbor's house. Sure enough, I could see her waggy tail peeking out from the bush in front of the yard three houses down and across the street.

I called to Spyder for him to get the leash and follow me. I told Sass to stay where she was, then I took off after Molly. By this time, she was in front of the neighbor's fence, barking at their three dogs -- two Pit Bulls and a German Shepherd mix. And they're big. And not so friendly.

I was almost to Molly when I heard Sass scream and start to cry. I abandoned the dog, and ran over to Sass. She had tried to follow, and halfway through the yard next door, she stepped barefoot into a patch of stickers. She was scared to sit down on the ground, but she couldn't walk back to the driveway. I picked her up and carried her to next door's porch. She was still crying hysterically, and she wouldn't let me help pull the stickers out. And she had a lot of stickers in her foot. I let her get the stickers out, then I carried her back to my parents' driveway, again telling her to stay put.

Spyder had found the leash by then, and I grabbed it and took off -- again -- after Molly. By this time, Molly was darting in and out of the fence, alternately attempting to play with and not get eaten by the bigger dogs. Luckily, the dog owners came out and rounded up their dogs, so I was able to get Molly.

Molly and I walked back to the house, and my dad passed by in his truck. I couldn't see Sass or Spyder anywhere, and I had a panicky moment thinking, "What ELSE?" then I realized that Sass had situated herself on the couch. In true Princess style, she had gotten Spyder to fetch a wet washcloth for her foot, and as I walked in the door she was asking him to get her a cold drink.

Twenty minutes. In a span of twenty minutes, I had located and rescued a dog. Sass had run into a spot of trouble and been rescued. Spyder had been turned in a servant boy, and Sass had declared herself worthy of service.

All in a day's work.

Summertime joy

Arrgh! It never ends!

Sass has decided on a Strawberry Shortcake theme for her room, since we're having to replace her comforter set anyway.

I've found the comforter online, and now I'm debating whether to spend $50 more and get the matching sheets and drapes, plus two extra pillowcases. My girl is all about pillows, so I'm thinking the pillowcases might be necessary anyway.

Decisions, decisions. I'll have to sleep on it to be sure, but I'm thinking yes. As my snobby neighbor would say, "It's only money."

Ah, memories!

Today I came across Smockity Frocks via Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer. Her post is on juggling, and I was immediately reminded of my own juggling days.

Juggling days (you ask, curiously)? Yes, I once learned to juggle, during those strange but memorable college days.

My friends Shannon and Gary taught me to juggle, in about six hours one Saturday night. I suppose it was efficient, mastering it in one night. But there is a disadvantage to mastering it in only one night.

In learning to juggle, I dropped the things for 4.5 of the 6 hours. The next day, my legs hurt so badly from the constant bending and picking up that I could barely walk up the stairs to my dorm room.

And now for the most interesting part of my juggling experience: I learned to juggle using breast implants. Shannon and Gary both worked at Dow, which made breast and testicle implants, and they had an abundance of the things. They used stuck them in the freezer and used them as cold packs for bruises and sprains. They filled an old throw pillow with them and used it as a footrest. And they used them for juggling.

By the end of the night, I even had favorites. They were the perfect size for my hands, and they were textured, so they had a better throw than the smooth ones.

Shannon and Gary gave me four of my favorites, and I used them throughout my college years. It was my favorite way to work out a problem with my schoolwork.

Unfortunately, someone took two of them from my dorm about halfway through my senior year. I was both appalled and saddened by the theft. By then, both Shannon and Gary had graduated and moved away, and I didn't know anyone who had quite the stash that they did, so I was never able to replace my juggling supplies. I tried working with "normal" bean bags, but they never felt right, so alas, my juggling days came to an end.

But after this ramble down memory lane, I think I may look into those bean bags again.

Sometimes

Sometimes it just takes the right person, and a handful of clover flowers feels like a dozen roses.

Um, yeah, like that

I was in the back yard at my parents' house watching Sass and Spyder playing with a variety of bugs when I overheard the following conversation.

Spyder: Make sure that you're gentle with the bugs. They're smaller creatures. Since we're bigger, it's our responsibility to treat them gently. You don't want to squoosh them. Treat them like you would treat a friend.

(Mom smiles proudly and puffs out her chest.)

Sass: A friend?

Spyder: Yeah, a friend. We need to show others that smaller things are special too.

(Mom smiles even bigger, thinking her talks have paid off.)

Spyder: And if they ever mutate and get monster-sized, they'll know you as the girl who was nice and didn't squoosh them. We'll be king and queen of the mutant monster insects.

The joys of being a boy

Flarp: Slimy goo that makes flatulence-like noises when squished, much to the delight of boys everywhere.

Yay.

All is well in the world or, Bill Bryson writes again

Bill Bryson is one of the few -- very few -- writers who can publish absolutely anything and I will read it. Bryson's latest book is a memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, which chronicles his childhood in De Moines, Iowa in the 1950s.

Bryson's style is personable and fun, and the reader feels like a friend. And if you listen to him read the audio version, you can imagine being a friend who is sitting across the booth at a coffee shop, just listening to the story unfold.

The Thunderbolt Kid (as Bryson was dubbed by his father) brings to life a time that is foreign to me, the time in which my parents grew up, but I never really understood. As a child of the 1970s, I never thought about bomb shelters or future space accommodations. It wasn't part of my world, and I couldn't really comprehend how it could have been believable at one point.

The memories that brought about The Thunderbolt Kid exemplify the intensity and innocence of childhood, a time unlike any other. And it doesn't matter whether childhood occurred in the 1950s or the 1970s, many of the emotions are exactly the same.

Very highly recommended.

Booking Through Thursday: 'Fess Up

Booking Through Thursday

• Okay, there must be something you read that's a guilty pleasure . . . a Harlequin romance stashed under the mattress. A cheesy sci-fi book tucked in the back of the freezer. A celebrity biography, a phoned-in Western . . . something that you'd really rather not be spotted reading. Even just a novel if you're a die-hard non-fiction fan. Come on, confess. We won't hold it against you!

I sometimes read chick lit. Yes, I've said it. I do. It's what I read when I want to read something, but I don't want to think about it. Going through the motions of my evening read is comforting, but I don't always want to be invigorated or challenged by it. On those nights I turn to chick lit.

Uninspired

Is it acceptable to blog about nothing? I'm feeling tired and uninspired. (But I like the way that I unintentionally rhymed that last sentence.)

The past few days have been spent with everyone in a regurgitative state. At least it wasn't everyone all at once. Sass began it on Saturday, then it moved to me on Sunday. I really thought it might stop there, but alas, no. Spyder started with it on Monday morning, then Skeeter brought it to a close on Tuesday.

I thought that Sass might have restarted the festivities again early this morning, but it seems that it was only sinus drainage. We managed to get through the 5 or 6 moments on Saturday with the "dry clean only" comforter that she had gotten for her birthday unharmed, but the drainage problem ruined it. And, oh yes, it's ruined.

She was quite upset at first, but she gets to choose a new comforter now, so that (sort of) makes up for it. We're looking for another set just like the one she has now, but no luck so far. Sass mentioned tonight that she may go for a Strawberry Shortcake theme instead.

Skeeter and I decided today that we were going to redo all of the bedrooms anyway, starting with Spyder. I took his two bedding sets in today to consign. They were only still there out of habit, since he's long outgrown both Bob the Builder and the Wiggles. We wandered around Target today, and he found a couple of sets that he liked, but he didn't make a final decision. All of the sets were simple stripe patterns rather than themes, which makes it both easier and harder to redo the room. He's pleased about getting to choose the colors though.

Quote

You do the best you can and that is all you can do and don't worry about living up to someone else's expectations or ideals. Never give up and try your best. Sometimes you will far exceed the goal, sometimes you will make the goal, and sometimes you will miss the mark all together but none of that matters ... what matters is that you take a chance.

-- Janice LaBella

My birthday can only mean one thing

RAIN!

It's become a huge joke over the years. It rains on my birthday every year. Well, that's a slight exaggeration. I can remember two birthdays where it didn't rain. But still, I'm zooming upon 40, and you'd think that I'd have at least a few more rain-free birthdays to my name.

This year's rain has been the most spectacular so far though. Hard rain, hail, and a huge lightening storm. This year felt much more like a winter birthday than one full of "spring showers."

All in all, it was a good day, full of family and fun.

The children and I spent the day together, as always, but the grey day made us cozy up together more than we usually do. We left the house only once, in the late afternoon, to return books due at the library and to pick out our weekend movies there. Normally we walk to the library, since it's only about two blocks away, but the cold rain made us all decide that it was just better to drive.

Spyder and I decided that we should join the Friends of the Library. We're some of their most frequent patrons, so it seems only right. They're hosting a book sale within the next few weeks, and Spyder, Sass, and I will be helping set things up.

We spent the evening feasting picnic-style on the living room floor while a fantastic storm pounded outside. We did our family movie, then Sass and I played Operation and Spyder played Mario Sunshine on the GameCube while Skeeter did some prep work on the computer.

I put everyone to bed slightly later than usual due to a last minute birthday call from my mom, and I stayed up to read a bit (my favorite unwind activity).

A day well lived!

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday

Have you ever missed an important appointment because you have become so engrossed in a book you forgot the time or were up so late reading that you didn't wake up in time? Been late to work because you couldn't resist the temptation and left the house too late?

I can't remember ever actually missing something important (school, work, or the like). However, I can definitively say that I haven't been at my best on many occasions because I've been up too late reading.

Quote

[Many people] live as though they depended, not on God, but on themselves alone. They do not deny God's wisdom in theory. They simply disregard it in practice.
- from "My Daily Bread"

A little step back

I grew up in a small town, but it was the largest small town around, and we were lucky enough to have a movie theatre. The name -- "Twin Cinema" -- says it all.

There were two screens, and if you were lucky, whatever movie you wanted to see would be playing on one of the two screens. The show times were 7:00 pm and 9:15 pm daily. When I was a senior in high school, they went crazy and started showing 2:00 pm matinées on Saturday and Sunday.

To be honest, they probably didn't need more showings than that. One of my best memories in that theatre is going to see Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure with Michael and Michael Ann. We were the only ones there, and we had gotten there a few minutes after the movie started. The guy in the projection room called down, "Don't worry! I'll restart it for you!"

We've started going to an older theatre here that reminds me of that theatre in my hometown, with the heavy draperies on the walls and the close seats that are placed on an incline toward the screen.

Last week I took Sass and Spyder to see Meet the Robinsons on opening day, and we were the only people in the theatre. The only people. As we were walking in, Sass cut her foot, and the lady running the place (from whom we had just bought our tickets) said, "Just take her in the bathroom and wash it. I'll bring a Band-Aid and some Neosporin." And she did.

Today we saw Firehouse Dog with The Michael, and again, we were the only ones in the theatre. The lady who sold us the tickets served us our popcorn, then she started the movie. And I'll bet if we had been late, she would have restarted it for us.

For a long time I think I bought into the idea that newer and nicer was always better. Not consciously, but I did go to the bigger and nicer chain theatre for a long time without really questioning why I chose that one.

I've decided that the smaller theatre really is the better one for me, if only because it allows me to take a little step back into my past.

Works for me Wednesday: Gift tags

I find that as my children get older, they are invited to more and more birthday parties from casual friends. These friends are ones that they see at classes or functions, so the children know each other, but the parents don't necessarily know them well enough to put a name to a face.

Our solution for these situations? Picture tags! Now I use my digital camera and color printer to make an oversized tag (usually about 4x6 total) with a picture and a Happy Birthday and "From Sass" or "From Spyder" inserted.

The (rather boring) example pictured above was done in Paint, but I've also used Word, and even a blank email. Just print and cut it out. I use one of my patterned scrapbooking scissors, just to make it a little cuter. And of course, my children are much cuter than Mr Skookum Man. :o)

I've done this since before I had my nifty digital camera though. Pre-digital, I would get duplicates of cute snapshots of my children and attached one of them to colorful card stock paper using scrapbooking tape. I'd use one of my scrapbooking pens and a few stickers to liven it up and say "Happy Birthday."

We always get comments on how cute the tags are.

Works for us!

Check out the rest of the Works for me Wednesday tips at Rocks in My Dryer.

New old entertainment

Sass, Spyder and I made a trip to the bookstore today. We were nearby -- Spyder took a class on sharks at the science and history museum -- and we decided to stop in for a bit.

One of the employees saw me reading Fancy Nancy to Sass. A few minutes later she came by and handed Sass a Fancy Nancy paper doll and outfits.

Sass has had such a great time with them, all day. Paper dolls have never even occurred to me before, but I'll definitely keep them in mind for the future.

US Geography

We've been doing a fun little study on US Geography this term, and I've found a few internet resources to share.

Awesome America.

A great fact-filled website that shows a state map, plus the state flag, symbols, trivia . . . loads of clickable information in the site.

This has been a great site for us in an "I didn't know that!" kind of way.

Make your own map of states you've visited.

Spyder thought this was particularly cool. Just check the states that you've visited and you can see your own map. Ours was particularly heavy on the South and East, and we've never been further west than Oklahoma.

Test your knowledge!

A click-and-drag map to place the states within a certain time. (I think it's three minutes, but I can't remember.)

Another test!

Answer questions on the right side of the screen by clicking on the correct state.

And yet another test for state placement!

What I like about this one though, is that you can do it either with or without the state outlines as a guide. It's more challenging for those who've been doing it for a while and can get bored with the same old stuff.

I truly appreciate the work that goes into sites like these. They make learning interactive and fun, and make my job a little bit easier. Enjoy!

Easter, the highlights

I have a rotten sinus infection, so bullet points seem easier at the moment.

• I am brilliant! I hate the plastic Easter grass. I find it everywhere for weeks afterward. This year I was determined not to use it. I decided that I'd run by Target and get green tissue paper. Well, Target was so crowded that people were parking in the Kroger parking lot. Considering that I had both children with me, and my nasty sinus infection was making an appearance, I decided not to go. My completely from-the-hip solution? Construction paper, run through the shredder! I used all different colors and shredded them. It looked lovely, and it's SO much easier to clean up!
• It was cold this year. I think the overnight low was 29. Sass couldn't wear her cute little Easter dress. Maybe next week. It did end up being chilly-but-sunny in the afternoon, so we got to hide eggs.

• We had the Easter feast at Mom & Dad's as usual. Sass spent the day playing with Dad's dog Molly, who was quite sad that she had to be in the pen during the egg hunt.

• Spyder spent the day shooting the BB gun, as any Southern boy should. :)

• Uncle Richard took his usual post-feast nap, although I didn't hear snoring this time.
• My Memaw and The Michael had a hilarious discussion about nothing. What made it funny was that Memaw is losing her hearing, and kept misinterpreting what Michael was saying. He'd have to explain and redirect her to the actual conversation. Michael and I had an entire discussion about this during his discussion about nothing with Memaw, and she never knew a thing.
• I took a nap at Mom & Dad's, which is something I never do. When I woke up an hour later, I realized that I've passed the "stuffy" and have moved on to "sick."

All in all, a very satisfactory day!

I think we're born with it

SASS: Dadda, could you please make sure the toilet round thing is DOWN? I just went, and it was up.

SKEETER: You mean the seat?

SASS: Yes, Dadda. The seat. I can't sit without it. I fall in!

SKEETER: Can't you just put it down?

SASS: Well, I could, but it takes longer. You don't want me to wet my pants, do you?

******************

She's never even heard me fuss about the toilet seat. I actually prefer having both the seat and the lid down, so when I do fuss, it's about the lid rather than the seat. :)

The heart bowls

Two years ago I bought four of these little ceramic heart bowls from the dollar spot at Target. They had them at Valentine's Day, and I got them specifically to make heart shaped cakes for the family for a Valentine dessert. I did use them for the intended purpose, but I honestly never thought we'd still be using them two years later.

They're just perfect though. The picture shows Sass's snack afternoon snack a few days ago -- a Laughing Cow cheese wedge and some whole wheat crackers -- and it's just the right size.

It seems like it's always just the right size, for just about anything. Almost any time someone says, "I want a snack," I respond with, "Grab a heart bowl and I'll make something."

Because I'm all cheezy like that

Skeeter got new cell phones for both of us this week, and my ringtone for him is tobyMac's "Made to Love."

I had really wanted "No Ordinary Love," but I couldn't find it. :)

Booking through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday

1. Just out of curiosity, as we enter into Passover and Easter season... have you ever read the Bible? Just the odd chapter or Psalm? The whole thing? (Or, almost the whole thing? It's some heavy reading, of course, and those "begats" get kind of tedious.) I've read most of it. I use The One Year Chronological Bible, which is a wonderful "read the bible in a year" resource. It also makes me realize correlations between books that I wouldn't have otherwise. I've never made it all the way through because I sometimes get behind, and I've decided that it's better for me to just keep going rather than lament over where I got stuck.
   


2. If so, was it from religious motivation or from a literary perspective? Stuck with nothing else to read in a hotel room the Gideon's have visited? Any combination? Religious motivation. I studied portions as literature when I was in college, which was fascinating, but honestly I got more out of it when I did it for spiritual reasons.
   


3. If not, why not? Against your religious principles? Too boring? Just not interested? Something you're planning on taking care of when you get marooned on a desert island? N/A


4. And while we're on the subject... what about the other great religious works out there? Are they more to your liking? I've read the Apocrypha, which is not included in my Protestant bible, and I've read small portions of the Mormon bible, but I can't think of any others.
   

Jack and the Beanstalk, operetta style

The urchins and I went to see a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk today, done operetta style.

One would immediately think, "Operetta and children? No way!" Yes way! The performance is engaging, and there portions of spoken dialogue that reiterate the lyrics so that children can understand what's going on even if they don't quite get the lyrics.

Spyder (age 8) and Sass (age 5) both enjoyed it and understood it. Afterward, the organizer told us about next year's performance, and both of the children wanted me to add it to the calendar right then so that we'd be sure not to miss it.

I absolutely love taking them to live performances. I love the dynamic of a live show. There is an interaction between the performer and the audience that is like nothing that a movie can duplicate. We try to take in a live performance at least every other month, but each time we do, I'm reminded that I should try for even more.

A stellar substitute

Baking soda! Sass and Spyder played "sandbox" in the house today with baking soda. What started out as a simple magic trick (with a promise of "I won't get it on the floor!") ended in a mess. An expected mess, but still a mess.

They did have a blast though, and it wasn't cleanup wasn't too awful. Maybe I should let them do this more often. Sand would have been much more irritating!

Words to live by

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8, NIV

Want to win a Dyson?

Remember my new vacuum? Of course you do! It was just a few days ago that I raved over my new Dyson Animal.

Well, guess what!?! The women at 5 Minutes for Mom and the Dyson company are giving away one of the new Dyson Slim vacuums!

Head over to 5 Minutes for Mom and enter!

If I happen to win, someone will be getting a fantastic Christmas gift this year!

Wikipedia Meme

Shamelessly lifted from Julie at Multitasking Mama

The rules are:

1) Go to Wikipedia

2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year.

3) List three events that happened on your birthday

4) List two important birthdays and one death

5) One holiday or observance (if any)

Events:

• 1902 - James C. Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
• 1970 - An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew into deadly peril.
• 1997 - Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win golf's Masters Tournament.

Birthdays:

• 1570 - Guy Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator
  
• 1743 - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States

Death:

• 1993 - Wallace Stegner, American writer

Holiday/Observance:

• First day of Thai New Year.

Quote

Negative identity, shallow as it is, comes more easily than dedicated choice. It is frankly much easier to be against than to be *for.*

-- Richard Rohr, from "Everything Belongs"

Booking through Thursday

Today's Booking through Thursday question:

Where do you do most of your reading? Your favorite spot?

I do most of my reading on the "comfy chair" in the living room, with my very old, very special blanket that The Michael's mom made for me when I was about 17.

The comfy chair is also old, an overstuffed, oversized armchair that is big enough for an adult and a child, which makes it the perfect reading chair. Sass and I read there quite a lot, and I tend to do my alone reading there as well.

Just three words: believe the hype

Skeeter surprised me with my new vacuum! He knew that I'd been saving up for it, and I had $175 toward it, so he gave me the rest as an early birthday gift!

I decided on the Dyson Animal 07, since I liked having the little mini-brush for upholstery. Ooooh, love it love it love it!

With my dust allergy, vacuuming always gave me a headache. Always. It doesn't matter whether I used my mom's Rainbow or our little Bissell or something in between. Quite simply, the Dyson doesn't. I can't smell that "vacuum" smell. My nose doesn't itch. My head doesn't hurt. It's a little bit of bagless heaven.

And it sucks! (Quite a good thing for a vacuum, you know.) Before, I could run the vacuum, then sit on the floor to play a game with the children, and I'd find dog hair. Every single time. Since the new vacuum, I might find a stray hair or two, but nothing like before. Maybe that will end eventually, since I'm still sucking up over two years worth of hair.

In short, the Dyson gets two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me!

Meme: Me, the basics

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, my grandmother's sister.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Can't remember.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes, most of the time.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Smoked turkey

5 - DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Heck, yeah! I'm great!

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Oh yes.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? No.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Most definitely not.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Currently it's Clifford cereal.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Very seldom.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I think that I am when I have to be.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM? Peanut Butter and Chocolate

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Eyes and mouth.

15. RED OR PINK? Red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Oh, loads of things. It's hard to pick just one.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS MOST? overall, my Nana

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? n/a, but leave a comment if you participate

19. WHAT COLOR TROUSERS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? tan capris, purple crocs

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? cucumbers

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the doggies crunching their food

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? indigo

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS? fresh coffee, bonfires, sweet oranges

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE TELEPHONE? my mom

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? of course

26. FAVOURITE DRINK? I almost can't believe it, but a bottle of cold water.

27. FAVOURITE SPORT TO WATCH? downhill skiing

28. HAIR COLOUR? brown

29. EYE COLOUR? blue

30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no

31. FAVOURITE FOOD? at the moment, it's Southern home cooking

32. SAD MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS ? Happy endings

33. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure

34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Purple

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter

36. HUGS OR KISSES? entirely depends on who

37 FAVORITE DESSERT? fresh strawberries with cream

38. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? n/a

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? n/a

40. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

41. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? "Napa Gold. The Gold Standard in Filters."

42.WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TELEVISION LAST NIGHT? the news

43. FAVORITE SOUND? giggles

44.ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

45. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Switzerland

46. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Arkansas

Appropriate for any season, I suppose

Another little ditty, courtesy of Sass.

Deck the walls with bells and dollies
Fa la la la la la la la la

'Tis the reason to be jolly
Fa la la la la la la la la

Well, I'm glad to know that!

SPYDER: I can tell when people are in love. Mom and Dad are in love. I can tell.

SASS: Am I in love?

SPYDER: No, you're not in love with anyone. I'm not even in love with anyone. You have to be at least 13 to be in love.

Read to me: the final chapter

Sass and I had almost completely gotten away from reading simple picture books. Our day was focused on reading out school books and our novels, and the picture books had gotten pushed aside. Sass is five, and five-year-old girls like picture books. Just because it's not something that I'd prefer doesn't make it acceptable for me to skip it.

So, picture books were our focus in the Reading Challenge, hosted by Jennifer at Snapshot. As I reported earlier, I was quite pleased with our progress in the Read to Me challenge. We were reading several picture books every day. I was, however, quite tired of reading the same books over and over, and I decided to take a more active role in choosing our picture books.

I am happy to report that Sass was just as pleased as I to add a few new books to the routine. She has now begun to choose books that don't have "Clifford" in the title -- a huge step! At first she chose the ones that I had introduced, probably because they were ones that she remembered reading recently. But after a couple of days, she started choosing ones that had sat neglected in the bookshelf.

It's once again opened her up to reading a variety of books, all for fun. Not because it's part of our schoolwork or the book that she and I are reading together, but because it's what she wants at that moment.

I am a big wimp

I turned on the air conditioner this evening.

Normally I try to make it to May 1 before turning it on for the summer. Today's high hit 80 degrees though, and the temperature in the house tonight was -- are you ready? -- 87 degrees. That's with the fans running.

Hot and uncomfortable does not make me a happy mama. Or a happy wife, for that matter. So I made an Executive Decision and threw aside the May 1 ideal. Skeeter doesn't particularly like hot and uncomfortable either, so he was perfectly fine with my Executive Decision. I am usually the one who laments my lack of willpower.

Now it's a much more comfortable 76 degrees, and I am quite satisfied with my coup.

Works for me Wednesday: Filing paperwork

Skeeter and I have always had a huge problem with paperwork. There's just so much! We used a filing cabinet at first, but we could never find anything right away. And, let's face it, I hated pawing through all of those folders.

Enter, three ring binders.

Now, all of our paperwork is kept in three ring binders. Bank statements, mortgage statements, cell phone bills . . . every bit of paperwork that we need to keep is three-hole-punched and put into the three ring binders.

We use three of them -- one for banking matters, one for bills, and one for tax deductible receipts. Most of the paperwork we get is already 8.5 x 11, and it's a simple matter to punch the holes and put it in its proper binder.

For those that aren't already the proper size -- usually tax deductible receipts -- I tape them onto a sheet of paper that is the correct size. This method has the added advantage of giving me an easy space to write the tax deductible reason if it's isn't readily apparent.

Easy, organized, and compact. Works for me!

Check out all of this week's Works for me Wednesday tips at Rocks in My Dryer!

Just another reminder that my little boy isn't so little any more

His shirts are now too big to fit on the children's hangers.

Since it seems that warm weather is upon us, I went through part of his closet, culling the "almost-too-small" and packing away the "should-be-okay-for-fall." That's when I noticed it. The "should-okay-for-fall" shirts were always the ones that I had trouble getting to stay on the hangers.

He's rushing headlong into those dreaded tween years, and I'm not ready for it. Not one bit.

Read to me progress report

Sass and I have been progressing in the Read to Me challenge, and I feel like I'm right in the middle of success and failure.

Since we already read so much, I decided to use the challenge to read more plain ole picture books to my Sass. We started by simply letting her choose books from her bookshelf.

Success! We're now reading several picture books a day (except today, since Ryan and Olivia were here to play for several hours). It's been working quite well. She has complete control over what we read during "our time," and I think she likes it. She is also quite pleased that during this reading time, it's usually just the two of us. She loves her brother, but . . . well, time apart is sometimes a good thing. She loves the extra individual attention, and (to be perfectly honest) I love spending the extra time with her.

Failure. Since I decided to let her do the choosing, we're reading the same Clifford books over and over and over. Yawn! I have memorized Clifford the Firehouse Dog, Clifford and the Big Storm, Clifford's Kitten, and Clifford's Manners. There are more, but you get the idea. All Clifford, all the time.

Since we've started to develop the habit of reading these picture books, I have decided to take more of a role in choosing. She can certainly still choose some, and I'm sure that Clifford will be part of it. We just have so many great picture books that it seems shameful that we're only using a handful.

Here are some of the ones that I'm planning to feature this week.

The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood. One of Sass's favorites, and I'm actually quite surprised that she hasn't chosen this one on her own. Repetitive, but it has great rhythm, and I think that those are the main reasons Sass likes it so well.

Weslandia by Paul Fleischman. One of Spyder's favorites as well, but I don't remember whether I've read it to Sass or not. The illustrations are excellent, and the whole plot is just so imaginative that I can't see anyone not enjoying it.

Rapunzel by Paul Zelinsky. Again, one of Sass's favorites, and it's one she would probably choose herself if she could get out of the Clifford rut. We used to read it regularly before we started on chapter books at night.

My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. I used to read this to Spyder regularly, but it just never became one of the ones in Sass's collection. It actually helped Spyder quite a bit in being able to define his emotions at an early age, and I think his self-awareness is all the better because of it.

The Parable of the Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs. It seems only appropriate since Easter is only a few weeks away. I also like that it teaches a good lesson in patience as well as in understanding that one can't make a judgment call without knowing all the facts.

Olivia by Ian Falconer. Quite a precocious pig, one that Sass has can recognize in herself. She can relate to Olivia, and she likes hearing about her misadventures. This book has never been one of our mainstays, but it should be.

I've already pulled out these titles and put them in our book basket, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we can get started!

Living wisdom

"You know it's been a good week when you look back and realize that your prayers have all been praises rather than requests."

-- Skeeter

Enjoying the day

Freckles

Works for me Wednesday: No more cooking odors!

Do you ever think, "I don't want to make ______ because it always make the house smell like _____!"

Me too! There are several dishes that I used to I avoid making because it made the house smell like grease or chorizo or what-have-you.

I have now discovered the secret to keeping those less-than-wonderful scents at bay -- vinegar!

Pour a cup of vinegar into a cup or bowl and set it near the stove. (I use a Pyrex measuring cup and set it in the center of the burners on the stove.) The vinegar will absorb the odors and your house won't have the lingering smell hours after dinner is over!

Check out all of the Works For Me Wednesday Kitchen Edition at Rocks in My Dryer!

He's certainly a creative little boy

Today I came upon Spyder looking around his room singing this little ditty

Oh, where is the poem
That I wrote?
Oh, I despise
That I am broke.

over and over and over.

And in true Spyder fashion, he was cleaning his room so that he could find something that he'd misplaced. I've no idea what his lack of funds had to do with losing the poem though. Perhaps he wanted to hire someone (me? Sass?) to locate it for him. :o)

My Tax Man Fileth

Hoorah! Skeeter did our taxes today!

It's been one of those things that he's been avoiding because it always seems like such a daunting task. It's really not, but I completely understand how he feels. I feel that way about the laundry most days. At any rate, it's been one of those tasks needed to be done, but he never quite got around to doing.

He's had his eye on a little self-indulgence though. He gave me something similar for Christmas, and we both love, love, love it. And to be honest, he needs something to sync his calendar more than I do. So when he asked if I thought it was okay for him to get it, I said, "You can buy it as soon as our taxes are done."

That was just two days ago, so I suppose that was all the encouragement he needed.

Maisie Dobbs . . . the rest of the story

I've just finished the last book currently available in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. I reviewed the first book in the series, but I decided to lump all of the subsequent books into one.

Just as in the first book, Maisie is thoughtful and insightful, alert and astute throughout. We were given her history in the first book, and it seems as if she is comfortable with where she has come from and what she has become. As we read further, we learn that Maisie hasn't quite come to terms with how life brought her to become Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator.

So far, all of Maisie's mysteries have come as a result of repercussions of World War I, and each has allowed her to delve further into who she is and how she came to be. I found that I was fascinated with the details surrounding The Great War. I studied it in school, of course, but there were many times that I had to jot down something to look up later.

In general, I do not recommend series as a whole, simply because I am usually disappointed with the later books. However, the Maisie Dobbs series is a welcome change to that trend. I have thoroughly enjoyed them all. As with any series, I do suggest that they be read in order. The books in the Maisie Dobbs series are as follows (in chronological order):

Maisie Dobbs
Birds of a Feather
Pardonable Lies
Messenger of Truth

Very highly recommended.

The Mad Libs game rocks!

Spyder and I spent part of the morning playing our new Mad Libs card game, found on clearance at Kohl's for $1. If I had known it was this much fun, I would have bought it when it was at 50% off! (You didn't actually think I was going to say "full price" did you?)

The winning sentence?

Massive evil squashed poodles always graciously entertain forbidden pickled vegetables.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Reading Challenge!

Jennifer at Snapshot has issued a reading challenge!

We already spend quite a lot of reading time, partly because Sass and I now read real books together, and partly because we read our school books together. The challenge made me start thinking though, and I realized that I've completely gotten away from reading the shorter and more colorful picture books to Sass. And I definitely need to get back to them. She loves picture books of all sorts!

I intend to use this challenge to read more non-chapter, non-school related books to Sass. I'll be posting updates of what we've read to see how we're doing.

Spyder may or may not be included in this challenge. He usually stops in and listens whenever I'm reading to Sass, no matter what the book. He may only be eight years old,

("Eight and a half, Mom! I'm eight and a half!")

but he's an excellent reader and can read pretty much anything he wants. He reads an average of three books a day, and that doesn't include when we're reading aloud already.

We did read some today, but my official challenge begins tomorrow, with blankies on the couch and a water bottle at my side!

Who says you can't learn anything from television?

SASS: Moooom, I hafta go peeps!

ME: Okay, let's go.

SASS: I hafta go because caffeine is a diuretic.

ME: (very curious) So, what exactly is a diuretic?

SASS: It's something that makes you go peeps! It's in sodas and coffee and tea and stuff.

ME: Well, yeah, that's right. So how exactly did you learn that caffeine is a diuretic?

SASS: (looking exasperated at my idiocy) Arthur, of course!

ME: Well, of course. How silly of me.

SASS: I know.