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Thursday Ten: Mother Nature is on Crack edition

April 11, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment

1. Dear Mother Nature: Last year at this time, things were blooming. It’s been another week and there is now snow in the forecast and all I can think of is that you hate everyone. And if it really does snow this weekend, I may really and truly cry. This week has been rainy and I’m choosing to look on the bright side – here’s hoping all that rain means that all of the lawns in the neighborhood quickly turn from brown to green. BUT YOU HAVE TO STOP SNOWING ON THEM FIRST.
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2. We’re coming into the home stretch of competitive gymnastics season and I have to say, the end of this season has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. From finding out that the gym has been padding meet registration fees (there could be a legit reason – and yes, I’ll be asking them) to being unable to pin down a meet time for an event nearly three hours away, I’m frustrated. I hate when people mess with my money or my time (OR BOTH).

3. Don’t mind me. Just googling crafts to make with empty wine bottles. And more crafts. And I hate making crafts.

4. Michigan made it to the finals and they KILLED my bracket (I’d picked Syracuse to win). It was a bummer to see my team make it that far – and then lose – but it was still pretty awesome that they got that far. And if a team had to kick my bracket in the teeth, I guess it’s okay if it’s MY team.

5. I have been reading the fluffliest books just to FINISH something lately. Don’t ask what.

6. The Avon Walk is in under two months and so while I’m in a rush to get outside and start getting real workouts in soon, I’m also in the frame of mind of “Work out, get in shape but for the love of god, woman, don’t hurt something!” Some days I wake up really feeling my age and I’m slightly more afraid of maiming myself just climbing out of bed than I used to be.

7. Pumpkin has had moments of expressing frustrating with our schedule and I do hope that she adjusts soon. I know the chaos of an ever changing schedule doesn’t do anyone any favors, but it’s been hardest for her and that’s tough for me.

8. Though I haven’t posted a “Kitchen Through The Lens” post in awhile, I haven’t forgotten the project. I’ve got one post pending (Okay, I took the pictures, I have to write it) and frankly, I just need to take the time to get back into my kitchen. I made all the stuff I really wanted to make already. Now it’s the leftovers. Makes it harder to keep moving forward.

9. Due to some spectacularly awful driving on behalf of a school bus driving hauling a bus full of kids (yeah. scary.), my vehicle and I very nearly became the squished up middle of a Lexus/Audi sandwich. Fortunately, we’re all better drivers than the person carrying a bunch of kids so… crisis averted.

10. I’m still thinking about a 40 before 40 list. I guess item number one should be “Finish writing this list.” And then items two through 39 will be things I’ve already done. Item 40 will be something new. Because that’s how I roll. Lazily. Slowly. Downhill.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Mom Shtuff, Thursday Ten

National Poetry Month – Children’s Poetry Books

April 2, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment

From the time we are born, poetry is infused into our lives in many ways – whether we realize it or not. Nursery rhymes, lullabies, silly nicknames. All poetry. From there, maybe your roads lead to Shel Silverstein or Dr. Seuss. And then onward and upward.

Chances are, your kiddos aren’t UNFAMILIAR with poetry. Which is good – because poetry is AWESOME.

I’ve loved – perhaps as much as my daughters have loved – looking at these books we received for review for National Poetry Month. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love children’s lit – this poetry? It’s FUN. It’s entertaining. And some of the book art is absolutely lovely.

Take for example, Stardines Swim High Across the Sky: and Other Poems. This book of poems by Jack Prelutsky features amazing art by Carin Berger – these images are dioramas, shadow boxes, and cut paper collages. Pictured above are the “Braindeer” (Braindeer are very clever, Braindeer are very wise. Their brains are very wrinkled and of a massive size…). From SLOBsters to Panteaters, this book is entertaining, but the art makes the book. It’s unique and special and really stands apart from most of the books we own

As a tremendous fan of Maurice Sendak and “Where the Wild Things Are,” I was excited to receive a review copy of My Brother’s Book, Sendak’s elegy “for his brother, Jack, his partner of over fifty years, Eugene Glynn, and for himself.” Described as the kind of fairy tale a grieving child tells, this book was moving and quasi-Shakespearean. And my kids hated it. I guess it’s fair to say that Pumpkin also hates “Where the Wild Things Are” and The Princess was disturbed that it says “To hell with you then!” She didn’t find that appropriate. Given how I mourned the death of Sendak, though, I found the book to be a welcome addition to our book collection – and even though the kids don’t love it now, I’ll hang on to it.

Two other volumes of poems by Jack Prelutsky -The New Kid on the Block and A Pizza the Size of the Sun feature a more age appropriate nonsense kind of poem that my children, particularly seven-year-old Pumpkin, seem to enjoy. These poems are short and silly and remind me a bit of Shel Silverstein’s work (though, I’m a big Silverstein fan – and while these are good, Shel’s a tough act to follow!). Because the poems are short and sweet, they make for great bedtime reading – a few at a time, with an easy place to stop for the night.

This probably isn’t even fair to the other books because we are such total Dallas Clayton fans in this house. Make Magic! Do Good! is just as lovely as the other offerings from Clayton we’ve had the pleasure of reviewing. These are the kinds of books that the cynical side of me wants to dislike because they are so FREAKING POSITIVE, but frankly – we all could use a little positive. I find the poems to be calming and they make me smile. My daughters enjoy them as well. Particularly “My Mistake” – a good one for this house full of overachievers:

I made a mistake when I wrote this
then I covered it up with some ink
then my hands got mistaken and made a mistake
and they spilled it all over the sink
so I asked for a rag to help fix it
but they brought me a rug by mistake.
Now the sink and the rug are all covered in ink
and the writing has taken a break.
Now I’m down on my knees
And a scrubbin’ it clean
but the mistake that I made just keeps growin’
and I think
if I had it to do over again
I’d've made my mistake and kept goin’.

 

Disclaimer – I received the books for review but as always, my opinion is my own. Blah blah blah FTC blah blah blah.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Review Tagged With: Dallas Clayton, Jack Prelutsky, Maurice Sendak, National Poetry Month

Thursday Ten: Not En Route To Dallas Edition

March 21, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment

1. Though I left Blissdom early last year because I thought my sister was going to go into labor ANY MINUTE (and then my niece waited TWO MORE WEEKS), it’s still kind of a bummer seeing my friends posting on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook about their travels to Dallas (and a whole ‘nother BioDome). *sniff* The downside to having a lovely group of blogging friends – is that most of us aren’t all in one place and don’t see each other much… so I’m a bit bummed to be missing it.

2. The kids and I had a family portrait done a few weeks ago – the photographer did a lovely job. It’s not her fault that I’m hyper critical of myself. I hate it. I’m trying to look past my perceived flaws and focus on the fact that I’m surrounded by my daughters – and you can see the love and the happy in the photos, despite the fact that I had shoes full of snow. I see all of these things and my eyes lock on them and I can’t unsee them and this is why I do better on the other side of the camera. Because I’m dumb.

3. But on a brighter note, Justin Timberlake’s album came out this week. I haven’t listened to all of it yet, but I love “Mirrors”  - far better than “Suit & Tie.” There’s an ad before this video, but that’s okay, it’s not too obnoxious.

4. Do you Bracket? Y’all know that I’m kind of a BIG FREAKING NERD about my NCAA March Madness Brackets. Don’t make me watch any basketball, but indulge me because I AM COMPETITIVE AS ALL GET OUT and yeah, my bracket is filled out. I, uh, actually have two apps for it on my phone too. (That’s really only because the ESPN Bracket Bound app is just a big old mess and it keeps changing my picks and I can’t have that. Nope. No way.) NERD.

5. Easter is fast approaching and the girls and I have had a chance to check out a few new books. Our favorites for Easter are Easter Bunny on the Loose!: A Seek and Solve Mystery! and Mia: The Easter Egg Chase. Both books are awesome for ages 4 – 8 (Pumpkin loves ‘em) and are available on Amazon. Each is under ten bucks (Mia was under $5 – and comes with a fun page of stickers your kiddo can use to decorate the pages of the book.)

6. As the winter weather holds on even though spring is officially “here” – I’m grateful that I remembered about the Nike Training Club app. Tired of my treadmill, my workouts have been boring, lackluster, and frankly? Ineffective. There’s a wide enough variety in NTC workouts to (hopefully) keep me motivated and from getting bored. Goodness knows, I wanna be ready when the weather warms up.

7. So, because I’m a goofball, I’ve started a Flickr set of Other People’s Grocery Lists. You know how sometimes people leave ‘em in the cart (lazy litterbugs)? Well, I’mma take pictures and add them to Flickr. And then I’m going to judge them (not really).
Other people's grocery lists, 3.15.13

8. I haven’t made anything from the Kitchen Lens project for quite some time – but! I’m going to! I have all the ingredients. I’m just…too tired when I get home to try something different. But I will.

9. The other day I did the “math” with regards to just how much of the year I spend FREEZING here in Michigan. Damn near half the year it’s cold here. Ugh. Do not like (This is when it’d be awesome to have some weird SEO-friendly relationship with a brand that wanted to send me someplace warm so I could drink umbrella drinks and post pictures on Instagram of my toes in the sand while on some tropical beach. Anyone want to adopt a blogger?).

10. I’m passing on my HGTV fondness to The Princess who particularly gets emotionally involved with trying to guess the outcome of “Love It Or List It.” Man, I remember those days of having to sit through countless hours of Dora the Explorer. Watching HGTV and cupcake shows with my kid? Not bad.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Mom Shtuff, Thursday Ten

Thursday Ten: And So It Goes edition

February 21, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment

1. Just when I had been panicked about the fact that I only had a little over a week left of full time work, it was extended another month. While I hesitate to write too much about my job situation in my blog – I have been (understandably, I think) stressed about the thought of reducing my hours at work (and the corresponding paycheck). Another month for now is a huge relief.

2. I love rooms that have lots of windows and are full of lovely beautiful natural light. I also love bright colors. I don’t know how many times I took this shot because I have a tendency to tilt slightly a few degrees when I shoot, but… I like how it came out.
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3. I just spent ten minutes watching YouTube videos of people covering Anna Kendricks from Pitch Perfect doing “Cups” because I was going to embed the song because even though I’ve never seen the movie, I’m somewhat intrigued by the whole cup thing. (Note: there are a lot of people sitting at home, playing with cups and uploading videos to YouTube.)

4. I’ve started reading again. I’m turning off my laptop earlier in the evenings and falling asleep with books again instead of with Netflix. Means I may never find out what happens next on Weeds, but hey, I’m using my library card again. I’ve missed reading.

5. When I picked The Princess up from gymnastics last night, the owner of the gym made a point to tell me how well she thought my daughter was progressing with her double back handspring. She had The Princess show me before we left for the evening – and my gosh! She was right. It’s amazing, even just in the past few months how far she’s come. I find that so exciting to see her improve by so much.

6. Things you never think of needing until you need them: a meat thermometer and a roasting pan.

7. Thing I’ve thought all too often this week: “I wish it was someone’s birthday. I’d really like a cookie!” (And then the girls came home from their dad’s and made me cookies, only I didn’t have enough all purpose flour so The Princess used wheat and… I’m not a fan of the wheat cookie. Apparently.)

8. When I started my Kitchen Through The Lens project, I really really despised cooking. As I type this, I’m researching two different kinds of recipes for the next two things I plan to cook and I’m thinking, “Yeah. I can do this. This will be good.”  The one thing I’ve learned to consider when selecting recipes is how freezeable leftovers might be. I hate throwing away food and since I don’t love leftovers, I need to either freeze it or make less. Somehow.

9. The thing about eating healthy all day is the urge to binge on graham crackers at 11 p.m.

10. After two uses, my KitchenAid food processor completely stopped working. I finally emailed them yesterday in hopes that they do something to remedy the situation. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE my KitchenAid stand mixer. I am not even exaggerating when I say what a tremendous difference that mixer makes to the cooking and baking experience, so… the fact that after two uses, the food processor went still and no longer works? It’s disappointing. I’m hoping they’ll make it right though, because I have a list of things to make and improving my knife skills was not a goal of this project.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Thursday Ten

Books for Valentines Day Even If You Don’t Actually LIKE Valentines Day

February 6, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment

I’m sure you guys know this by now…

I have mixed feelings on Valetines Day. I’m a fan of Hallmark, not a fan of Hallmark holidays. Why wait for a holiday to say you care?

Having said that…

My kids? They love it. A lot.

And they really loved this batch of books that we got for Valentines Day. Admittedly, even I got a little squooshy about one of ‘em.


Awesome Book of Love!

How much do I love Dallas Clayton? Kind of a really lot. I truly enjoyed “An Awesome Book” and this one is pretty darn enjoyable too. With its quirky illustrations and its fun rhyming verse make this book truly enjoyable, whether you’re a kid or a kid’s mom or probably even if you’re a kid’s mom’s mom, you might dig this also. I like this because it’s not Valentines specific – you don’t need a special day to tell someone you care (okay, maybe you do, but some people don’t and they will be just as happy reading this book on a Tuesday in November as they are reading it on February 14). This book is a lovely little love story. And I’m not sure I’m going to let the kids take it for their own shelf – I may just keep it on mine!

But you know that’s not all that this love is about
Sometimes it’s a whisper when you feel you could shout
Or just being around when others have gone
or about letting go when you want to hold on

 

Mia: The Sweetest Valentine
by Robin Farley

Pumpkin loves the Mia series of books perfect for ages 4 – 8 (she’s seven years old and difficulty wise, she can read books a bit tougher than this one, but she’s at the point where she can’t decide if she wants chapter books or the cool pictures – and that’s OKAY). A fun little story of Mia celebrating Valentines Day with her friends annnnnnd… accidentally eating the box of chocolates her dad had purchased for her mom. This cute (short!) story also comes with a page of stickers which, as you know, makes every book better. Too bad it didn’t come with a box of chocolates. (Free marketing idea!)

Splat the Cat: Funny Valentine

Another series that Pumpkin LOVES. This cute story with lift-the-flap surprises is fun for kiddos ages 4 to 8. A sweet fun story that your kids will love, particularly if they are already fans of the Splat the Cat series (like my kiddo is).

 

–

Though I received the books for review, the opinions, as always are solely my own. It takes more than review copies of books to sway my opinion (but you’re welcome to try). All children’s books received for review go through the paces with both me and my kiddos. If they don’t like them or if I don’t, that’s the end of it. Children’s literature is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, which is why at 36 years old, I still LOVE kids’ books.

Anyway.

Happy Valentines Day.

Happy Reading.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Review

Children’s Books for Black History Month

February 4, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment

Perhaps one of my favorite things about blogging is getting love from book publishers – occasionally I come home from work to find books in the mail and my kids and I rip open the packages and read ‘em and decide which are the best of the bunch.

A few weeks ago, I received several books in honor of Black History Month – the kids and I did some reading and of the bunch, these are our favorites. These books are well written with great art and were extremely informative (actually, so informative that I learned a lot, which I love).


In the Land of Milk and Honey by Joyce Carol Thomas

This book was our favorite. Lyrical prose, gorgeous art. This book is a true story of the author’s trip from Oklahoma to California in the late 40s. A former California girl myself, I have to say I loved seeing my old home, even in illustrations.

At the welcome party
limber-legged dancers
shimmy in and out of each other’s arms
And ever-changing rhythms
call the feet to follow the beat
here in
this Land of Milk and Honey

I was drawn in by the words and Floyd Cooper’s illustrations create a vivid backdrop for this tale. If you close your eyes, you’re almost there on a train making your way through dusty states on a quest to reach a land where lemons grow as big as oranges.

Beautiful story.

–
I’ve Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Written by Walter Dean Myers, Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins

My public school education not lacking so much that I didn’t know the story of Martin Luther King Jr., but this goes beyond “I Have a Dream” and details the life of MLK before his famous speech. This book is straight-forward and it’s narrative isn’t flowery, pretty or lovely. It’s history and it’s pretty straight up. This might be too “old” for Pumpkin, but The Princess sat and read it cover to cover.

I like the simplicity and matter-of-fact way it’s written.

What I really love though are Leonard Jenkins’s paintings. The illustrations in this book are so compelling and they really bring everything together.

–
Nelson Mandela
Words and Paintings by Kadir Nelson

Can I just admit something really quickly? History wasn’t my best subject in school. I once cried my way from a B+ to an A- (it worked too. It shouldn’t have but it did), and so it is with embarrassment that I admit that I didn’t really know a whole lot about Nelson Mandela before reading this book.

And so my girls and I learned together while reading this book.

When Nelson Mandela was a child, his father died and he was sent to live with a powerful chief. He  left his mother and his family to live with this chief. He grew on to become a lawyer, defending the poor and powerless.He was ultimately arrested for fighting apartheid, met his wife and had children, while continuing to fight apartheid. He went into hiding to avoid the warrants out for his arrest but ultimately he was captured and spent over 27 years in prison.

This book takes a complicated story and makes it easy to understand and the illustrations are bold, genuine, and straightforward.

–

So check them out – they’re pretty awesome new additions to our home library. The books were sent to me for review, but as always, the opinions are mine alone (I received a few others, but… they didn’t pass muster and rather than say bad things about books I don’t dig, I’d rather focus on the ones we loved).

Stay tuned because some great Valentines books for kiddos are coming soon. My kids are really happy lately about this whole “mom’s a blogger” thing. Hey, me too.

 

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Review Tagged With: black history month, childrens books, martin luther king jr, nelson mandela

TIL Tuesday: Things In My Mailbox Edition

January 22, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment

I haven’t done a TIL Tuesday (Things I Love Tuesday) post in awhile – and that’s a shame because it’s probably way more fun than reading about all of the things that are currently freaking me out or me griping about the weather. I’ve gotten some fun stuff in my mailbox lately so let me tell you a few things that I’ve gotten that I adore.

Kérastase Nutritive Nectar Thermique – Protect
This came in January’s Birchbox. Birchbox remains one of my random splurges these days – my house may be freezing but I’ll spend ten bucks a month to get a box of fun things in the mail. The Keratase is an awesome heat protecting styling product that does some awesome mojo when I straighten my hair (it makes no discernible difference when heat styling products aren’t used – at least for me). But I’ve used this twice now when straightening my hair and the end result is softer and shinier hair with less frizz. It also makes the ends look healthier. So full of win.

Actually, I love Birchbox in general. While I don’t love every product (perfume samples? Mehhhhhh…), I do love the fun of opening each month and trying things I wouldn’t try otherwise. I’ve found some amazing things that someday I’ll actually purchase. Probably.

When My Baby Dreams of Fairy Tales

I remember seeing the blog – the mom who made these amazing scenes every afternoon while her baby girl was napping. I know neither of my daughters would have ever slept through that, but the blog was lovely and now the images have been made into a book. I received a review copy today. My daughters love it, the photographs are lovely and I think it will make an excellent baby shower gift.

Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy, Secret Admirer

I know this may seem ridiculous but I am kinda glad to see they have Fancy Nancy growing up a little for her readers that are getting better at reading. It was one of my favorite series for Pumpkin and I was bummed to see her outgrow the series. Now we can hang on to this fun series a little longer.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Review, Things I Love

Thursday Ten: This Is Only Sort of About Hair edition

January 3, 2013 By sarah Leave a Comment
I apologize for the formatting but i am too lazy to fix it. I wrote this elsewhere, copied and pasted here and bleh. Ugh. Let’s all pretend I did it on purpose because I super love white space.

1. I am wearing my hair in a braid today. There’s nothing about this “style” (to call it such is a tremendous overstatement) that looks remotely good, it’s just… I didn’t feel like straightening my hair and I was out of frizz-fighting product. If I could have shoved a baseball hat on my head before walking out the door, I’d have done that instead.

 

2. I didn’t want to straighten my hair because the split ends are winning. My hairstylist left/got fired/fell off the planet and I have an appointment for a trim on Saturday. I’m very very nervous. I’d avoid going at all if I could – oh the power a scissor-wielding stylist has to really mess up your appearance and your self esteem – but… the split ends. There’s so many of them. The dry weather and the heat of a straightening iron don’t help. So, hobo braid. Meh.

 

3. I really, really miss my daughters. They come home tomorrow.

 

4. For those curious about how my grandpa is doing… he and my grandmother have moved into an assisted living facility and so far they really seem to like it. I was tremendously relieved to find that my grandpa had accepted so easily the fact that he and my grandma wouldn’t be able to live on their own. This place seems like a good place for them. It’s a relief.

 

5. Some people choose a “word of the year” – this year I chose two words: SEEK JOY. And let me tell you, I’m not sure that I’m any good at it, but I’m going to try. Why wouldn’t one opt for happiness if given the choice, right?

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6. I don’t make resolutions with the new year, but I am going to make an effort to get back on track with being healthier. I’m getting older and my metabolism isn’t what it used to be and blah blah blah… but also, life stress in 2012 followed by getting happier coupled with a lack of free time all kinda did a number on me. Happy is good, buying bigger pants is not. Do not look for me to cut tacos out of my life. Not gonna happen.

 

7. With a gift card I received for Christmas, I picked up two new books yesterday.
May We Be Forgiven
The Great Night
What are you reading now? (I haven’t been to book club in MONTHS.)

 

8. I am completely sucked in to the show “Breaking Bad.” I’ve just about wrapped up season two on Netflix and WHOA. The downside is that I’m so sucked in that I keep watching episode after episode because I want to see what happens next. (Sleep, whut?)

 

9. I know that winter is cold. I know that it could be much colder. I AM SO TIRED OF BEING COLD.

 

10. Over the weekend, I saw “Silver Lining Playbook.” Was it as good as I had anticipated? Um…no. But I did like it. And I like Bradley Cooper as a non-Hangover-goofball. And I liked Jennifer Lawrence (this was my first time seeing her in anything). Have you seen any movies over the holidays? (Django is next on my list. Then Les Mis. And then the movie about fracking that I’m going to see because Matt Damon is in it.)
Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Mom Shtuff, Thursday Ten

Day 5: Great New Children’s Books Just in Time for the Holidays

November 5, 2012 By sarah 1 Comment

Admittedly, one of my favorite things about being a blogger is occasionally getting the opportunity to review things that are actually relevant for me and my children. That I have been getting so many amazing children’s books in the mail to check out lately has been a joy – because I have never stopped loving children’s books – and frankly they’re the only kind of books I have found time for lately.

The girls and I have a method for book reviews – I read through everything first… then? I let them check out the books. This list of our favorites was made by the three of us after going through an amazingly plentiful pile of books received in the past several months. The other books? For the most part – still pretty amazing. These, however, are our favorites.

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems

If you have kids and you haven’t discovered the wonder that is Mo Willems then get thee to your bookstore or library (or Amazon!) pronto. I dig his style – from Snufflebunny to the Pigeon series. This retelling of the Goldilocks story did NOT disappoint. Instead of visiting the house of three bears, Goldilocks trespasses into the home of three dinosaurs. Hilarity ensues. It’s a good one and the girls and I giggle every time we read it. The book is recommended “For Dinosaur Ages Triassic to Jurassic” – both of my daughters love it, and I do too – so you be the judge.

Charlie and the Christmas Kitty

Y’all are familiar with The Pioneer Woman, right? Well, Ree Drummond is now writing kid’s books, including this one that stole Pumpkin’s heart – probably because it’s about a dog. This book spurred a discussion with my mom’s husband about kid lit and the power illustrations have to make or break a good book. While the story here isn’t particularly special (in my opinion – my daughter would argue otherwise), the illustrations are warm and really steal the show. For the animal loving kid in your life, this is a fun addition to their library.

Fancy Nancy: The Wonderful World of Fancy Nancy

Okay, remember when I just said that illustrations could make or break a children’s book? The Fancy Nancy series is one that I really believe could stand alone on its merits story-wise, but the illustrations, the bright colors and the fun font used for the story all just make it even better. Nancy is a little girl who likes to be “fancy” and this box set contains four books from the Fancy Nancy series (our set is paperback). Not only are the stories fun, but Nancy is genuinely likeable and the “fancy” vocabulary your kids will pick up along the way make these darling books a real treat to read with your kids.

 

My Brave Year of Firsts: Tries, Sighs, and High Fives

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Jamie Lee Curtis as an author but she keeps writing books and people keep buying them and I can almost forgive her for being in those weird yogurt commercials (sorry about your digestive system, Jamie Lee). This book is fun and bright and the rhyming is cute and fun and easy to read. Overall, it’s pretty relatable for kids – even down to the first time you laugh so hard milk comes out of your nose (that HURTS, y’all). This sweet book is a lovely reminder to parents about all of those firsts we may have forgotten – first time walking around the block, anyone? (The kids will dig it too.)

 

These books were review copies and sent for review purposes but my opinion and that of my kiddos is solely our own. AND BOY DO WE HAVE OPINIONS.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff

Thursday Ten: Need A New Routine edition

September 13, 2012 By sarah Leave a Comment

1. I thought that the return of school would also bring a sense of calm and routine but what I’m finding is that no. Not so much. Gymnastics eats a good chunk of the schedule after school during the week. It’s chaotic and hopefully we’ll settle in just in time for the holidays to start and the snow to fly.

2. Among the many posts I’ve seen in recent days, one of the things I’ve loved the most is having been introduced to Brandi Carlile’s “That Wasn’t Me”: do i make myself a blessing to everyone i meet?

3. Around Grand Rapids, artists are getting ready for ArtPrize and I couldn’t be happier. I am not the biggest fan of West Michigan (sorry, but I’m not) but ArtPrize makes me love it a little bit. I love the vibe of the town when it’s filled with art and people are talking about what they’re seeing and the streets are full of people (okay, that part annoys me a bit).  I’m ready to see what is in store this year. BRING ON THE ART.

4. The Princess tried to stump me with a fifth grade social studies question last night but AHA AMERIGO VESPUCCI. Can’t fool me with your homework, kid. (Okay, maybe the math)

5. There’s a certain glow the sun has when it’s rising in the morning. I kind of love it. I pulled over on my way to work to get this shot – and one of these days, on the weekend when I’m in no hurry and I’m awake insanely early for no apparent reason, I’m going to go out and shoot more.
there's a bright golden haze on the meadow

6. I make no secret about not loving summer but you know what one of the perks is of the days getting shorter? Catching a sunrise on the way to work, and soon, catching the sunset. Yeah, I hate to drive to and from work in the dark – but my porch doesn’t offer the best view of a sunrise OR sunset (Stupid houses and trees). When I’m driving, the views are amazing.

7. I am using my netbook to type this. My laptop was making some awful groan-y noises last night while I was editing photos and I know it’s a matter of needing to back up some photos and get them OFF my laptop (also, MEMORY)… That laptop is ollllld and it’s been a pain in the ass for awhile. If it was Old Yeller, I’d have taken it out back and put it out of its misery by now.

8. I finished reading Gone Girl this week for book club. OH MY GOSH. This book and The Fault in Our Stars are two of the best I’ve read in awhile. Gone Girl was suspenseful and well-written and just when I thought I knew what was coming next I was always way wrong (in the best way – it’s the worst when you can anticipate every plot turn!). The Fault In Our Stars is a young adult book but a well crafted one, and one that left me (and the two people I’ve loaned it to since) in tears.

9. I have not yet decided what I’ll be cooking up for Kitchen Through The Lens next week but want to be sure I thank those of you who are following the process and who are sharing those posts. My friend, Rachel (who is far better in the kitchen than I could hope to be) gave me an awesome shout out on her blog the other day, and I’m just glad that any one is along for this ride with me. So… thanks. And welcome. (Savory biscotti next week, maybe?)

10. Good morning, happy Thursday. Let’s go make this day magical, shall we? Have a good one!

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Eats, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten
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