Merry Little Holiday

December is here and nearly gone and then we'll move into a brand new year.  We've enjoyed most of the month together both at school and here at home. The holiday season is  different when you have adult children instead of small creatures running about the house. Adult children help you in the kitchen, and they don't require the same kind of toys under the tree. Oh, don't get me wrong I vividly remember the pure joy of the holiday time for children; it's a different joy when they are older.  The three adult children like each other much better now. There is no awkward competition except for the fun banter over games and gifts, the kind of banter that is learned through good relationships. It's a breath of fresh air. 

Our holiday time was spent talking about current politics, eating excellent food, playing a few new board games, and watching Christmas movies. Hot Frosty, The Merry Gentlemen, and The Noel Diary were top of our list. We drove Kaylee to the Minneapolis airport so she could fly home and Japhy, Greg, and I had the opportunity to see a beautiful play, The Heart Sellers, at the Guthrie Theatre. 

We made vegan pho for Christmas dinner and it was the loveliest, so warm and nourishing. I used the recipe from Love and Lemons to make the broth a day before and were inspired by a NYT and Cookie + Kate recipe for topping choices. The broth was very aromatic with deep flavor, didn't take me a long time meaning I'll make it again. We added in shitake mushrooms, carrot slivers, sprouts, green onions, edamame, and tofu plus lots of love. We made a double batch so we had plenty to eat that night and Tristan took a full Ball jar home with him and we had a full jar as well which Japhy ate today for lunch. I love leftovers. 

I have some wonderful gifts to take me into 2025 including a new yoga bolster (Tristan), a mini Kindle (Japhy), and a beautiful brown sweater from Quince (Kaylee). My husband ordered a heated vest for me to wear because I am always cold. I've read a lot of books in 2024 (more on this next post) using the Kindle app on my phone so I think it will be a nice change of pace to have this Kindle for reading instead. My phone is plugged in away from me overnight so that's a problem if I'm reading a great book digitally. 

I hope you've all had a merry holiday season and have your feet firmly on the ground, bracing for 2025.  With love and peace to you...

Fragile by Lisa Unger

A friend lent this thriller to me and in between reading YA and elementary fiction, I slipped it in needing a dose of adult fiction. Lisa Unger is a new author to me and I liked her style. This book is about a small tow where everybody knows everybody. And everybody has a secret, and some of the secrets are pretty big.

This book spoke to me in a resounding voice about families and the strength they hold. How willing are you to believe in those that you love, your children or your spouse?  Maggie, a psychologist, and her husband Jones, a detective on the local police force find out that Charlene, their son's girlfriend and the daughter of an old high school classmate is missing and the search for her brings out all manner of long-forgotten ghosts.

There is a wide array of interesting characters involved including Marshall, the son of the town bully, who waits for his dad's approval even as a high school student and even though he's only ever been disappointed and hurt by his father. As the story plays out we discover bits of history and we come to understand that a classmates' disappearance during high school has everyone reflecting on choices they've made. In alternating moments we have the opportunity to hear from several characters which help to paint a good picture of this town.

"She sat in her ticky-tack room, in her ticky-tack house, painting her nails iridescent green. She hated the tract house with all its perfectly square rooms and thin walls, identical to every third house in their development. It was like living in the box of someone else's limited imagination. How could someone reach the height of her creativity in a drywall cage? She couldn't. And she wouldn't. She would be eighteen in six months. After graduation, she was so out of here. College? Another four years of indentured servitude, living by someone else's arbitrary rules? No way. (Charlene, 19)

"Now that Marshall was nearly the same height and almost as strong as his father, Travis didn't hit him often; Marshall wasn't physically afraid of his father. It was the things he said that lay like bruises on Marshall's skin, damaged his organs, poisoned his blood. That voice that was in his head all the time. He just couldn't get it out. Even the competing voices-Aunt Leila, Mr. Ivy, Dr. Cooper-weren't loud enough to drown him out lately." (Marshall, 63)

"Because that was what it was, wasn't it? Not just anger. Not a need to control in a way we most often mean it. Not a lack of love or understanding for their boy. It was fear. Fear that, after all the years of protecting his health, his heart, his mind, setting bedtimes and boundaries, giving warnings about strangers and looking both ways before crossing the street, it wouldn't be enough. Fear that, as he stood on the threshold of adulthood, forces beyond their control would take him down a path where they could no longer reach him. (Maggie, 15)

I don't know how or why some families have a tough road. Each child, each situation is different and it's never easy to know what to do except love them unconditionally, both parents and children. This book is filled with flawed, interesting characters and a story that kept me turning pages. 

Happy Father's Day...to all dads

Dear Dad;

You'd be so happy to see how all your children have turned out. Well maybe; we might have happy separate lives but a few of us don't have much of a relationship. You would have worked hard to help us mend that because you had faith in family. You knew it was important to let the little things go and the big things to because no matter what family is family and they are your first source for love.

Grandkids are good too. You'd be proud of Tristan at University of Iowa, studying and applying himself to make a difference. His major is political science and you would have loved to talk current events with him. He has a real handle on how the world is and loves discussing the bigger picture. My Groovy Teen (the artist formerly known as Groovy Girl) begins 10th grade in the fall.  She is a bright light, a dancer, a imaginative thinker, a designer, a friend, a messy multi-tasker, a foodie, and struggles with her idea of perfection. You'd be beyond proud of Kaylee; she still shines in photos and is making it in the big city!  She is thoughtful, loves theatre, has an amazing sense of humor, and writes and interviews like a pro.  Her posts, tweets, and podcasts keep us all amused.

I've talked many times about how much I miss you as evidenced by this Father's Day post from 2010 and 2016 version and this birthday post from 2016. You are missed. Damn that cancer.

Today as we celebrate my husband with a delicious brunch I'll be thinking of you, wishing you were here at the table with us, touching my hair, and throwing me that smile that tells me everything is going to be okay.

The Goldfinch

When we vacationed in Yellowstone with my family this book was on everybody's list; either they'd read it, reading it (me), or were soon to read it.  Or like my husband who bragged about reading all of Tartt's books and basically discovering her for the national treasure that she is.  He's quite proud of his author finds.

The Goldfinch 

Donna Tartt

(2013)

Theo Decker is a 13-year-old boy and he's in trouble.  He and his mother set off for a meeting at school and when they have trouble in the cab and it begins to rain they stop at the museum for a quick look around.  It's the stop that changes his life.  As he wanders away from his mother and begins to follow a young girl and her grandfather a blast destroys much of the building, leaving many dead including Theo's mother.  He spends the next few hours and days bewildered and in shock.

His mother is a gorgeous character that once you meet you don't want to let go.  Told in Theo's voice he flatters his mother and lucky for us later reminisces about her.  Tartt makes sure that each character is fully fleshed out and real to us including Theo's mother or we wouldn't know what he was missing.

"She looked startled, as if she'd forgotten I was there.  The white coat-flapping in the wind-added to her long-legged ibis quality, as if she were about to unfurl her wings and sail away over the park." (16)

"Lalloping?" So much of her talk was exotic to my ear, and lollop sounded like some horse term from her childhood: a lazy gallop maybe, some equine gait between a canter and a trot. (17)

After the blast he is sent to live with a very wealthy childhood friend because his father had taken off and his grandparents are really not interested.  He lives for awhile with his friends on Park Avenue for awhile until his dad and his new wife show up to claim him.  His dad's true interest lies in whatever money or belongings his mother may have left but he'll take the kid if it will help his cause.  Theo reluctantly packs up and is whisked off to Vegas with his dad and Xandra.  A completely different way of life awaits Theo.

In school Theo makes friends with Boris, a young Russian who also loves to get Theo into trouble.  Boris an amazingly funny character, lovable as the ruffian.  He's Huck Finn to Theo's Tom Sawyer. Boris and Theo embark on a drug-crazed odyssey filling their days with drunken conversations about life that center on how bad they have it, how awful their father's are, and how hot Xandra looks in her work clothes.

Donna Tartt's wordy yet wonderful novel takes us on quite a journey with Theo as he eventually escapes back to New York and tries to make his way on his own terms.  Yet his past keeps bumping back into him and old ways are hard to slough off. And the painting, The Goldfinch, is present throughout the story as an interesting twist that continually gives both pain and pleasure to poor Theo.

There comes a point in the book where you must just sit and read without answering your phone,  your email, or even eating just so you can help Theo move toward a very shaky but present future.  I finished it now several weeks ago and when I think of Theo and Boris, Hobie and  Pippa all make me smile as I think about how we are all connected.

New York Times review by Stephen King

Huffington Post's thought by Maddie Crum

The Pursuit of happiness through cookies.

I recently finished listening to Bruce Feiler's audio book, The Secrets of Happy Families and thoroughly enjoyed most of it.

Several points that stood out to me was the chore board, the family mission statement, the deep family conversations, and the variety of new ways to connect with your kids and parents.  We've always held firm to family dinners around our kitchen table and have fascinating conversations about our days which I always believed gave my kids the idea of empathy towards each other and the world as we discuss politics and events.  The family dinner is discussed in the book and Bruce agreed that it is important to gather at the table it is even more important what you talk about the table so I've worked harder at discussing family history.  With two kids at the table I asked if the kids could think of where their grandparents had gone to school; both high school and college.  I was happy that every one enjoyed the conversation which was meant to talk about how each family has had good and bad experiences and all survived better for both experiences.

One of the latter chapters talks about bonding through challenges.  The example Bruce uses is through an ex-Navy person who now leads people on grueling challenges which creates a bond between participants.  I, myself, am NOT up for that challenge but I came up with a small mini-challenge for my own two-Make cookies together!  Didn't you wonder how I was ever going to pull this around to real food?  

Our two younger kids are 7 years apart and have very little in common, their words not mine.  Groovy Girl is all dance, glitter, AG dolls, Barbies, and drama while College Boy is all slightly sullen, bossy, king-of-his world attitude and they clash like Kronos' kids.  It was just me and the kids looking for something to do together while Dad was off practicing with his bluegrass band.  I casually offered the challenge to them as I handed them the recipe which came attached to a recent purchase of canola oil.  While I don't usually use recipes attached to packages this one appeared easy and kid-friendly.

I got the big mixer out for them and walked away.  Groovy Girl, bless her heart, knew to get all the ingredients out first.  College Boy took control of the mixer after his sister turned it to supersonic speed on her first go.  They worked together quiet easily.  She measured, cracked, and stirred, then handed each ingredient to him to add to the dough.  

As they worked I shot a few photos on my phone and listened to them chatter about other baking experiences with me.  Groovy Girl felt bad about  a recent baking experience with her and I where she blasted the mixer, letting flour fly all over the kitchen and College Boy recounted a similar experience when he was younger, which made her feel better.  They even smiled at each other a few times.  Food is a great bridge for people of all kinds,  We join with our families, sharing recipes, sharing traditions, exchanging recipes, and loving each moment.  I know my children will bring cooking into their own homes, remembering the times they spent with me in the kitchen and at the table.  

The cookie recipe they created together:

Brown Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup Crisco Shortening (I know-blech)

1/2 cup (unsalted) butter

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 large (farm fresh) egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups (unbleached) flour (maybe even a mix of wheat and white)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  

Beat shortening, butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in medium bowl of with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.  Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.  Add gradually to creamed mixture, beating on low speed until blended.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Place two inches apart on un-greased baking sheet.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes.  Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen.

*I wouldn't cook them until they get golden brown unless you like your cookies crispy.  I took several pans out at about 10 minutes because we prefer a softer cookie.  Also to the second half of the batch we added chocolate chips as College Boy feels strongly that there is no true purpose for a cookie to exist with out chips in it.  I probably won't make it again, opting to make our regular chocolate chip recipe instead but the experience was worth it.

Enjoy Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads where you will find many food-related posts.

Planting Dandelions; Field notes from a Semi-Domesticated Life by Kyran Pittman

I bought this book because

a. It has a catchy title
b. My yard is a dandelion happy zone.
c. I know people who know people who know Kyran
d. All of the above

It's always d. isn't it?!

I'm not a fan of memoirs, unless they make me laugh, although I would characterize this more as essays on life but who's asking me.  Kyran's lead an interesting and bold life and she easily pokes fun at herself in a nice witty way.  I read her blog now and then, which spurred me to check out the book.  Laughter feels good and this book gave me that rare opportunity to look ridiculous, laughing out loud, while I sat for hours waiting for Groovy Girl to finish bending and bouncing her way through gymnastics class.

One particularly funny chapter, Mom, the musical, had the other gymnastic parents eyeing me warily as I freely giggled along:

When I was a kid, about a thousand years ago, Valentine's Day was all about the valentines, which were painstakingly hand-cut from a book that contained not one licensed, trademarked character.  You chose the plainest, slightly backhanded ones for the kids you didn't like, and the most ornate, gushing ones for the kids you did, and we gave it to each other straight up, without the orgiastic euphoria of corn syrup solids to cloud things. For party refreshments, we had our own tender, young hearts to eat out,  I don't know when that changed, or whether it's an American thing, but every valentine my kids give and receive comes attached to at least one piece of candy.  As if that didn't add up to enough insulin resistance, the room moms mix up a vat of sugar and red food dye and pour it in a feed trough.  Or they might as well, considering what is actually served.  If you've seen video montages of psychedelic "happenings" in the sixties, you've seen something like a modern Valentine's Day classroom party.  On the glycemic disaster index, Valentine's Day is second only to Halloween.  (181)

That's funny because that's me except I would beg to bring in a less-sugary option or organic lemonade only to be met with glares from both room moms and kids. My kid, depending on the day and which kid, would either cheer me on or hang their head in shame.  I hate red dye and skittles too! 

Sliced in between the humor there are many poignant moments of insightful parenting knowledge that only a really good writer can pull from their own daily life.  I kept thinking to  myself-oh, that makes sense, how come I've never thought about that.  

Insightful moment about a dead pet:

In my momnipotence, I sometimes forget that my kids came fully assembled.  When they were infants, I'd marvel over their tiny ears, how intricately formed they were, pink and golden like the inside of a conch.  They were  miraculous to me.  And humbling  because I can't draw an ear, much less take credit for making one.  I lose sight of that from time to time, and delude myself into thinking I'm the auteur of their experience, when actually, I mainly work in catering.  They don't need me directing, feeding them their lines.  They get it.  The script for life and death, grief and joy, is written in their DNA.  (101)

It is difficult to remember that we can step away-our kids do understand at an early age-all the important things that matter and we can be ready for the question and answer segment, which usually comes while we are cooking.  I enjoyed how she shared her relationship with her three boys, they sound like interesting and lovely children.  While this isn't a parenting book it did give me some perspective on taking myself too seriously on the parenting front.

Kyran's theme throughout is that her Newfoundland childhood was unique which fuels her desire for a more ordered life here in the states as she raises her family. Married once in Canada she had an affair with Patrick  and it is he that eventually brings her to his homeland of Little Rock, Arkansas.  Her and Patrick live the vagabond's dream as they wander around Mexico for a while and then return to the States broke but in love.  He plays in a band  and she works as a waitress, high on life and each other until Patrick proposes and the idea of a domestic life looms large over her head, angst follows along with babies.

As a hippie girl myself I try to take the road less traveled and still fit that into my roles of mom and wife.  It is not an easy task and there are daily roadblocks.  I found Kyran's struggles with domesticating herself akin to my own story. I can never (well, hardly ever) just accept things and go with it-it's my cross to bear. Boy Scouts was one example as Kyran writes about the experience of creating Pinewood Derby cars and how turning that block of wood into a finished car with an uninterested husband was quite an accomplishment.  We let Teenage Boy, a 4th grader at the time,  participate for a few months (he begged) before we had to yank him out because my husband and I were so uncomfortable with the zealous flag waving, burning books mentality.   I love my country but not in that way and when we sat down and explained the short list of what we didn't appreciate about the scouting experience he completely understood-as a fourth grader!  

I could easily sit on Kyran's porch and share a story or two with her and her cozy set of friends.  If they'd have me.  It's never easy to leave our roots behind but we have to realize it is exactly those roots that make us the cool, hip parents we are (or hope we are).  This book is fresh and amusing with a perfect amount of reflection to make me look at  my role through keener eyes.  Be forewarned; A fair amount of cursing comes with several of her rants.

Planting Dandelions-the blog.

True...sort of by Katherine Hannigan

Ahhh, what a week it's been.  I can't get into it too much at this point but suffice it to say the love affair I have with my job has taken a huge hit in the last 10 days.  While all that has been happening I've been reading this soothing and poetically written gem by Katherine Hannigan.

(2011)

355 pages

It's not soothing as in everything is all hunky dory-the book has two  major conflicts-but Hannigan has a unique style of writing.  She's also created a very quirky cast of characters.  Delly (short for Delaware) Pattison has trouble not getting in little bits of trouble.  She is picked on by a bully, Novello, who for the sake of loving Delly can't help but be mean to her at this point in his life.  It makes them miserable and includes some fierce wrestling/spitting matches on the playground.  She also has run-ins with a local grocery store maven and Officer Verena Tibbetts has Delly on her "list of The Worst Children in River Bluffs." (4)

Her reputation follows poor Delly wherever she goes even when she's trying to help caged-in chickens at the county fair or borrowing a boat for a little river adventure.  She gets fed up with her own ability to find trouble when she sees her mother cry over a recent incident.  Delly vows to change her ways to make her mother proud.  I like this thread of Delly's tale as it shows a child's thought process in trying to work out how and why her trouble happens.  

Delly in her quest to have better days starts allowing her little brother, RB to hang with her more often.  He is able to keep her calm in several situations and even teaches Delly about counting to keep calm.  While her and RB are off trying for adventure without trouble-making they see a young boy, sad as can be, drive through town in a beat-up old green Impala.  On Monday she finds out the boy is actually a girl named Ferris Boyd.  Delly's teacher, the wonderful Mr. Terwilliger, informs her that Ferris does not speak and is not to be touched.  Hmm.  Delly's curiosity is peaked.  Delly has her own vocabulary throughout, cataloged in a Delly Dictionary by Hannigan, which adds to her charming character:

After school Delly ran to Ferris Boyd.  "Hey," she said softly, and fell in beside her, like they'd been friends forever.
She waited till they were at the bridge to ask, "Ferris Boyd, did you see? I didn't fight." Then she told her, without saying a word, I heard you.
Ferris Boyd stopped and turned to Delly.  her eyes were still sad, but there was something else in them.  Something like a smile.
It was only a second.  Her head went down again, and she was shuffling along the road.
It was all Delly needed.  Ferris Boyd had heard her, too.  "All right then." She grinned. (168)

This tale gently shares many themes with the reader and would make a wonderful read-aloud to understand more about bullies, abuse, anger management, good teaching and the rough road to friendship. Students will cheer for Delaware Pattison.

"Happy Hallelujah"~ Delly 

I was encouraged to pick up True because I loved Ida B, her first book.

Hannigan is an Iowa author!

Both books are green and share similar sentiments inside;  "We care about the health of this planet and all of its inhabitants.  So the first hardcover printing of this book used 100% postconsumer recycled paper (that means that no trees were cut down to create the paper).  And that paper was processed chlorine-free, because when chlorine is used to bleach paper, the process creates toxic by-products called dioxins and furans that can make people and animals sick...."  

A book company, Harper Collins, that I can fully support!  How come more books aren't produced in this method?  To find out more information go to www.papercalculator.org.

Should be reading a book but instead I'm surfing-

     My house is very quiet tonight as my two young nephews and my mother left today after a four day visit.  We had loads of fun with only a small sunburn fiasco (don't ask).  My husband accomplished his 80 miles of Ragbrai today.  I've re-tidied the house.  Whoosh!  Exhale.  Breathe.  Repeat.

Cute Pie Cousins

     While my daughter merrily plays dress-up/house in her basement playroom I have just a few more minutes before Harry Potter story time begins. She's lost in her own happy fantasy land after playing with boys that last few days-boy energy!! First I posted pictures of my nephews on FB so my brother could see our mischief and I scrolled around the blog world, extensively.  Wow, how much time do you spend on-line?  I'm constantly shooing both my children away from the television but I, myself, can spend hours reading everyone's blog posts!  Hypocrite!?  What say you? 

What did I find out there that was so amazingly fascinating...

oh, lots I assure you...

A top ten kick *** list of  YA heroines at The Story Siren-click over and see if you agree with her choices.  Hermione and Katniss are there!  I haven't read a few of her choices so added them to my good reads list.

Milk and Cookies; Comfort Reading has a very interesting post about how we (bloggers) decide what to write about; do you run out of ideas?, do you plan weeks at at a time?-click over and let her know what you think!  I don't run out of ideas but I run out of time...too much cleaning the house and reading online!!  Made me think about the process of thinking for some reason-I must be getting back in school mode.

The Crowded Leaf is celebrating her one year anniversary with several interesting ARC's to giveaway-click over and enter to win.

and

Reading with Tequila is taking a vacation in September to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!! -Click over and sign on to write a guest post while she's gone.  I am so jealous of Harry Potter Land...well, and a vacation in September-seems like a perfect holiday time.

I also added a few more reading spots to my organic blogroll.  Check out the left hand column to see what's new.  This is a new feature I want to focus on and I plan to add a peace and justice blogroll soon. And as if that isn't enough...we ended up at a bookstore today...

Yeah for new books!!

     My mama bought me two new books at our local Barnes and Noble today...my birthday is coming up and I'm on a book buying ban until my reading from my own shelves challenge is complete.  Thank You, Mama!!  I now have Outside the Ordinary World by Dori Ostermiller, after reading Tina's Book Review. and That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week; Helping Disorganized Boys Succeed in School and Life by Ana Homayoun.  I'm excited to delve into both of these but am also immersed in Lisbeth Sander's intense life in The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson.  So Many Choices!!  See why it's frustrating...it is a big, fat circle of book love!

So how are you spending your evening...?

Do you spend too much time on-line?  And what is your definition of too much time?? 

I'm sure it's different for everyone but what works for you?

Up next:

Plan to host a giveaway of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow...I want someone else to have the chance to read this thought-provoking story.

Post about my recent baking adventures including the chocolate chip cookies I made with my nephews (photos included).

My thoughts on The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (note to self: find more Bender books...) and from Alice to Zen and Everyone in Between by Elizabeth Atkinson coming soon.

I had an odd dream last night I was bartending with Brad Pitt...?? Hmmm- Maybe I should save my dreams for another day!

Ahh, now my head is clear and I'm ready to actually read.
I feel freer after all this link love!!

Parenting and books

Today I was driving in my trusty Volvo, when an argument/disagreement broke out between my 14-year-old son and my six-year-old daughter. There is nothing like driving in an enclosed vehicle with a crying child; one that feels wronged by the older sibling and siblings' friend. As my little J. was sobbing away, trying to tell me how her older brother had just wronged her I have to admit I was rolling my eyes and rubbing my neck with annoyance because I get really tired of all these little arguments back and forth.

I attempted to divert her after I took in one deep, long, cleansing breathe, with a quick little quip about how her brother would protect her from a playground bully, showing his love in this way even if on a daily basis it is difficult to feel his love. My son and his friend got involved, thankfully, in this tale I was weaving and soon the six-year-old was giggling with glee as her brother continued to explain to her how he would give the playground bully the evil eye with several demonstrations. I smiled as I listened to them, happy that I had diverted the argument and the tears-glad for my one moment of good parenting.

I thought to myself how I far to often give myself a hard time about my parenting skills; frustrated at my lack of patience with my teen-age son, who seems to work really hard on aggravating me, even though or because of our former great relationship. I have read many parenting books, trying to find the magic ingredient to show me the way. I have read and listened to Anne Lamott (a fabulous author, who often writes about her son, Sam) for guidance.

Then one night J. and I were rereading Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Cookies; bite-sized life lessons when a thought hit me! This is my parenting book!! This truly hits all that I need to remember when parenting my children and if I can show them these qualities, using this common language I use every day as a teacher-librarian we may get somewhere together!

This will be particularly prudent as we head out on our major Summer Road-Trip to the DC area. I am going to make myself a cheat sheet with AKR's key words; you know, like "cooperation, polite, loyal, optimistic, and respect" so I can use them repeatedly as we drive for days together. I'm happy we have our Volvo instead of this...
which was the way my family road-tripped back in the day. (well, it was more of a green 70's version, really)

Watch this great video of Anne Lamott on Stephen Colbert.

More Spring Break reading

I don't really know what I expected but The Underneath by Kathi Appelt is not some simple animal companion story. I brought it home from the library a few weeks ago because I was anxious to read it and like a good mother I decided to multi-task and read it to J. for a bedtime read-aloud (a change of pace from Junie. B and fairy gems). I don't really like to read reviews about books before I read them as those words tend to get in the way of enjoyment but this may have been a time I could have used some red flags. Oh, the book is so well written and the story is woven so beautifully together and we have yet to get to where the stories come together. Kate DiCamillo's The tale of Desperaux is a perfect example of another extraordinary weaving together of seperate threads. I did ask J., after Gar Face appeared, if she would like me to quite reading the book to her and she bounced on her bed and said, something like "no, no, no" about a hundred times so she's hooked. I would say the book would really be better for 4th, 5th grade students, which are exactly who will read it when I take it back to my school library but for now it stays and J. and I will finish it with glee and some sadness- every three chapters or so.
Now for the other child...the 13-year-old I am so frantically trying to keep amongst the reading. The second book( first one was the previously blogged about Compound) I picked out at our public library for him is Gone by Michael Grant(watch this great youtube video of MG talk about the book). This book, I found out, is part of a planned six book series and Tristan and I are ready for the second one to appear. The premise of this book is that something has occured in the world and all the adult have simply disappeared...in fact, every one over 15 disappears. There are town kids, babies, and a prep school for teens in trouble all stuck in one community together. Many normal things happen such as looting but so much happens that I couldn't even, or wouldn't even think possible. This isn't a typical book I would pick up for just me to read but Tristan is looking for new material since the Eragon series is in remission. He finished it the other day so now I have been reading like mad and along the way we talk about it (don'cha love it). We talk about the character's choices and the author's ideas. What I love most though is his constant "where are you now Mom, what's happening now?" and well, it keeps us connected. I haven't finished yet but tomorrow looks like another good reading day.

Tarah the Barbie snatcher

We love our four-month-old Christmas puppy but we had forgotten how much work a puppy takes and how much a puppy can destroy. Here is a short list of things Tarah has ruined:
1. My cool glasses
2. one brown Mary Jane shoe J. size
3. Countless kleenex
4. Sunglasses
5. Lots of Barbie limbs
6. stuffed animals and Beanie Babies

The Barbie fetish has us really laughing (not the Barbie girls though!) because I have given J. many older Barbies that I have gleaned from second-hand shops. Older Barbies have more movement; their knees bend, their torso sometimes twists around. Newer Barbies tend to be just one plastic piece; boring. The puppy loves the Barbies and chews off their hands and has left several with permanently maimed limbs (click on the photo to see dramatic chews). If you look very, very closely you will see the right hands missing and lots of bite marks on each of these glam dolls. Tarah does not ever choose the variety of Only Hearts club dolls we have. Tarah is only a fan of Barbies and every once in awhile she likes to lick Elizabeth, J.'s A.G. doll. She obviously has her favorites and she is, after all, a girl pup!! What can we expect! J. happily plays with her dolls, with limbs or without...it just doesn't matter. She is non-discriminatory.

Merry Christmas to all

What a wonderful day it has been. Santa was good to the girls in the family but sadly, my son was not happy with the choices Santa made for him!!! Santa was tired of electronic, tuned-out toys and made more thoughtful and creative presents for the 13-year-old and the 13-year-old did not appreciate Santa's efforts!!! oh, woe is me that he only feels happy with toys that plug-in/use batteries/zone him out, which is partially his age, I concede. I long for the lego/play mobile years of building, once again, showing me you have to appreciate what you have when you have it. Everyone did love the books that were chosen for them and we have read another version of The Nutcracker today. Another Christmas passes and everyone will go to bed happy and that, my friends, in a family of five is the main goal.
I was able to knit a little today, and read one more chapter of The Lightning Thief. We watched The Princess Bride (a family fav.) on DVD, played a board game and I even snuck in a nap while my husband did the dishes.
Happy, Happy Day!!!

sweet daughter

What do you say to your child when they just want to eat dinner naked!!!
I mean it is a great expression of freedom and I love that my five-year-old loves
to be naked but suddenly I might have a thirteen-year-old boy wanting to do the same and
I think dinner might turn into anarchy even for our family!!
So I pose the question again, What do you do when your 5 year-old wants to eat dinner
naked??? Because my answer caused a huge flood of tears, luckily she recovered in about 15 minutes.