Five Minute Friday: Exhale

Exhale . . .  Yesterday I watched a friend's kiddos while she had to work.  This summer she and I are swapping days with our kiddos who are identical in age so that each of us has time to exhale.

The kiddos and I visited one of our favorite parks and ended up staying for over two hours.  Children's laughter . . . exhale.

They then fed "dead bread" (expired bread/cereal) to the ducks who happened to be M.I.A.  Exhale . . .
 

LOVE

A short walk to the local library followed where the kiddos selected books and movies . . .  Their love of reading . . . exhale.

A day I wish didn't have to end . . . exhale.

Share your idea of LOST in only five minutes . . .

Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday:  Lost

Five Minute Friday: Lost

LOST . . .  Using this summah to truly unplug and be LOST in my children and the hub.  As witnessed on the insides of their doors with Sharpie marks, my kiddos are growing like weeds.  When did this happen?

So, this summah, we are LOST in one another. . .  No scurrying from camp to camp as in previous years.  A VBS here and a Sports Camp there rounds out the summah.

Facebook deleted . . .  Long summer days and nights LOST in one another, in books, in play, in conversation . . .

Share your idea of LOST in only five minutes . . .
Lisa-Jo Baker's Five Minute Friday:  Lost

Book Club Babes: Let's Talk Books

Personally, I love to discuss books, analyze books, and write about books.  For many years, I was a book hoarder refusing to share my love of reading by passing a book along for fear of never seeing said book again.  This unreturned phenomena happened many times to me, by the way, before I decided to put an end to the lending process.  Instead, I chose to alphabetize my books, color-code my books, and stack them in piles by my bed instead of deal with the frustration.

Then, one day I decided not to lend the books, but give them away by stuffing them into friends' mailboxes or hanging them on their doors, and this felt good. . . right.  I was sharing my love of reading and decluttering my house at the same time.  The likelihood of my rereading a book is slim to none due to the vast assortment of reading materials out there, and I want to read them all.  In truth, I reread books now simply because I have forgotten I have read them at all (until about halfway in) or if a character named Ranger or Morelli is involved. 

So, this morning, my eldest daughter talked books with me, and I was like a kiddo in the candy store.  Scout's honor, I did not prompt the discussion.  Instead, she admitted to starting Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab (our third book club selection courtesy of Book Club Babe Colleen) last night after we told her for the third time to return to bed.  Sneaky!  She told me her book club buddy, Ava, had been reading it, so my squirt guesstimated Ava was nearly finished with the book (as she is a voracious reader).  

I asked my daughter, "When did you discuss Nick and Tesla with Ava?"  

She responded, "When I was at her house for the slumber party . . .."  

I took a brief intermission, ran to my room, popped another Benicar due to my excitement, and then returned to our literacy . . . yes, literacy discussion.  

She continued with, "It's weird how their names are Nick and Tesla, but are referred to as 'boy' and 'girl' in the book."  

She then loaded Nick and Tesla into her backpack with "I'm going to take this to school," and off she went.

When this same reader returned from school, she took off her backpack and told me she found "older" was mispelled in Nick and Tesla.  

I asked how it was spelled, and she said, "E-l-d-e-r"  (13).

Aha!  I explained the meaning of "elder," but then asked where she found the word in the book.  She went right to the page as she had asked her teacher for a post-it note (what I use to mark passages in my book).  Happy Mother's Day to me.  We reread the passage together, and I explained how "elder" was, in fact, the correct spelling in this particular sentence.  Learning vocabulary through context . . . an English teacher's dream.

Furthermore, she said, "There was a funny line in the book, 'IF YOU'RE SELLING GIRL SCOUT COOKIES, I'M NOT HOME'" (14).  We giggled together as we are both registered Girl Scouts (adult and child) and have sold and eaten our fair share of cookies.

She then continued the conversation by telling me how another book club buddy, Emma ". . . talks about book club all the time."  

I asked, "When?"  

She said, "When we're at recess, and she uses Bink and Gollie to answer questions."  

I asked, "How does she use Bink and Gollie to answer questions?"  

My squirt thought about it for a minute before responding, "Like she'll say, 'I read this book Bink and Gollie, and one girl wanted a pancake, and the other wanted her to take her sock off, so the one girl shared the pancake, and the other girl took her sock off.'"

"Cool!" I said trying to mask my near hyperventilation.

The conversation ended with, "Emma said she started Ivy and Bean and is reading Chewy and Chica."  

Feigning an eye itch, I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.

Larry McMurtry's Books: A Memoir Book Club

Who would have thought reading a book about a man's love affair with books would be so addicting?  I'm a bookaholic, and even I wasn't so sure when I checked Books:  A Memoir out from the library.  I was hooked on the cover photograph, though, gaggles and gaggles of books.
McMurtry discuss in great detail his own obsession, "I had to have books," (20) with books which eventually led to his buying and selling books.  In fact, he utilizes his love of books to remember prominent points on his personal time line:  the beginning of his teaching career, the end of his marriage, the growth of his son, etc.  
The wit, intellect, and characterization found in this memoir is mesmerizing to say the least, and I noticed I read with a permanent smirk on my face throughout.  When McMurtry tells of some eccentric book sellers he came across during his book hunts, such as the owner who had books piled high in a one-room shop, I had no choice but to laugh out loud.  In order to "view" the books, a customer was to make use of provided binoculars for which McMurtry spent hours scanning the titles giving a whole other meaning to "browsing the shelves."
For the purposes of book club, Coca-Cola served in the bottle should be the beverage of choice served for your discussion.  Without giving too much away, this would be an ideal conversation starter on the topic of difficult customers McMurtry encountered at his own book shop, Booked Up.  An assortment of chocolate " . . . we might offer our children"  (20) to accompany the soda in lieu of beef intestines would be my preference.

Babies, Birthdays, Books, and Broadway Bound

Having received a clever invitation (devised by a teacher- let's hear it for our teachers!) in the form of an airline ticket to a baby shower, a trip to the bookstore was now a high priority on my to-do list (yes!).  In lieu of cards, picture books were requested for the baby.  Be still my heart . . .  a fellow author groupie in the making.  
In the same week, my eldest daughter received a "FREE Birthday Treat" coupon in the mail from Barnes and Noble, so it was a no-brainer which bookstore was in our near future.  
After school pick-up, my two squirts and I headed in great anticipation to our nearest store location in Fairview Heights, IL- me looking ahead to heady floating between rows of books, the oldest squirt discerning between the cupcake or the oversized cookie, and the youngest squirt racing towards the Thomas Train display, with all of us rounding out our visit with a lengthy stretch of time at the stage.  

This stage in question, located in the children's section, is where my squirts have observed many preschool storytimes, danced many jigs, and now conduct many performances for me and for one another.  Priceless!  Yes, I own a Kindle and use it, but I am still in awe of the written word on paper and the stores which house these books. Thrilled to know my squirts, too, love to turn the pages of a book, I am hopeful this future squirt whom we're celebrating at the baby shower will embrace the physical book also.

Molly's Magic Pencil: The Blue Genie

     Peter Davies' second book, The Blue Genie,  in the Molly's Magic Pencil series is an ideal picture book to use for dramatization.  With only four prominent characters in the story, our family of four had no problem in dealing with lack of participation.  Having short jumpers the squirts consider "genie" outfits, I figured the two girls would be taking turns playing the Blue Genie.  Instead, they both chose to play the protagonist's part, Molly.
      So, we dug in closets for red (okay, hot pink) outfits to mimic Molly's red jumper.  Then, backpacks were filled with paper and the crucial Magic Pencil.  By default, the hub played Blue Genie since he was wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans, and I was inevitably Mrs. Jones, the tearful geriatric lady (I'm being typecast already, yet still a month away from 40) whose cat, Tiddles (played by our stuffed black cat), is stranded high on a tree limb.

Tiddles stranded in the tree.

     Since each squirt wanted the spotlight to herself, we rehearsed the scene several times (more than I had planned) in our backyard (luckily, the neighbors already know we're nutty) each time alternating the actress who portrayed Molly.                           

Take 1:  Molly #1 searching in her backpack for the Magic Pencil.

                                                                               

Take 1:  Molly #1 drawing a teapot.

Take 21:  Molly #2 searching in her backpack for the Magic Pencil.

Take 21:  Molly #2 drawing a teapot.

The Blue Genie saves Tiddles.

      When every blank space on the paper had been filled with a drawing of a teapot,  we brought the dramatization to a close by singing the first verse of, "I'm a Little Teapot."  Bedtime was accomplished only with a sincere promise, "Yes, we will act out The Blue Genie again tomorrow."


Peter Davies