Readers gonna read

Jovey told me that she knew how to read now.  I asked for a demonstration, cause I needed to see this feat and not because I inherently distrust children.  ;)  She pulled out a book and sat down on the couch.  I waited and watched and she turned pages and looked through the book, the whole book. . . when she was done she looked up at me innocently and said, "I like to read to myself."  Ahhh.  She's a genius.  ;)

While we were waiting to go get Miley from school we sat down to read some books.  Jovey laid against me and was reading my Munschworks collection, which so happens to be a big heavy book.  Soon her head had slumped to the side, because no longer taking naps isn't the same as no longer needing them.  I grabbed the book out of her hands and set it aside so it wouldn't impale her.  Later I told her that she fell asleep while reading and she said, "I know mom, I can sleep read."  Oy ve.

Happy Birthday Harry!

After Miley watched the first two Harry Potter movies she told me she had a dream about being married to Harry and thought it was the most embarrassing thing ever.  Oh and Ron and Hermione were their kids.  ;)

So then recently on Instagram I mentioned that she had a crush on Harry. . . then I started feeling a little guilty for posting such personal information about her and had to tell her what I did.

She laughed and got embarrassed, but kinda really loved the attention.  Then she told me that she really has a crush on someone else in the movie.  I asked who it was, and was a little shocked when she said, Dumbledore.  Like mouth open, whaaaat.

Falling into this situation with Miley before I have learned to ask a very important question. . . definitions.  I asked her what 'a crush' means to her. . . and she told me she thought it meant that she thought they were really nice.  ;)  Oh dear.  She doesn't have any older kids to teach her these things, and I'm OK with that.

I told her it meant she thought they were cute and she thought for a second and said, "well Dumbledore does have a nice looking beard I guess."  Hahahahaha

  It's a good thing she's only seen the first two movies, cause the next Dumbledore is definitely not as nice-grandpa-like as the first, and neither is his beard.  ;)

Happy Birthday Harry.  We're so very glad you came to life, and we are totally looking forward to the Magical Creatures movie!!



**and for the record, I checked with her before sharing this story as well.  ;)

book reviews

So my stash of kid's books has grown, but I've kept it under control by purging the board books and using the library often enough.  Here are some of my current recommendations:

Beekle:  An unimaginary friend looking for his human.  The girls like this one.  The art is colorful and fun.  The story brings two odd ducks together happily ever after.

The Whisper:  A magic book to read, but all the words fell out of it while she walked home, so she has to make up her own stories.  She starts the stories for each beautifully illustrated page, but then leaves it for you to finish.  It took Miley a little bit to get comfortable telling her own stories, but by the end she was a fan.

Winnie:  The True story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh.  I thought it was interesting and something different from our usual fantastical fiction.

Louis Braille:  The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind.  Miley had to read some biographies and so we picked up this one in the library.  She really loved it, and so did I.  It was heartbreaking and interesting.  Now I want to read about Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan again, and introduce Miley to that story.

Princess Pink and the Land of Fake Believe.  This is a series that Miley really enjoys.  Twisted fairy tales.  The girl is named Princess Pink and she is not a princess nor does she like pink. . . thus ensues the hilarity.  Miley gives it two thumbs up.

Sisters:  This is a graphic novel, ya know like a really long comic book.  Miley loves it.  She won't put it down to eat or do anything else.  ;)  It is pretty funny, at least the parts she's shown me.  This is her recommendation cause I haven't been able to get it out of her hands for me to check it out.

Dragons Love Tacos:  This made the perfect theme for Dave's last birthday party. . . and it was highly educational.  For instance, do not feed Dragons hot sauce.  They can't stomach it, but plain tacos will bring all the dragons to your yard.

The Incredible Book Eating Boy:  So I love this author, Oliver Jeffers.  I have more than one of his books. . . Stuck, This Moose Belongs to Me.  I like his sense of humor.  And I like his art.  Also educational, I learned a new word for throw-up. . . boke.  An Irish term.

Have you seen my Dragon?  This is a counting book and the illustrations are really well done.  Black and white with splotches of color, detailed and fun to look at.

Secrets of the Rainforest:  There is a series of "Secrets of" books.  We got the rainforest one.  The girls love it because you shine a light behind a page to see what animal is hiding.  It also has interesting information about the animals.

Viva Frida! I'm a sucker for art books, or books about artists.  I used this one to teach the girls about Frida Kahlo.  This book has simple uplifting text in Spanish and also English with an interesting combo of photographed stop motion puppets and painting illustrations.  At the end it tells more about Frida's life.

Unicorn thinks he's pretty great:  And he is pretty great, but so is the grumpy goat.  It's cute, funny, and stars a unicorn so how could it go wrong.  Cheetah Can't Lose, is another one of Bob Shea's books that we own.  It's also good, but lacking in unicorns.  ;)

The Book with No Pictures:  I enjoy this one much less than my girls.  They think it's hilarious, because you have to read whatever the book says and it says some pretty dumb stuff.  They still think it's funny after multiple readings.  Who knew.

Skippyjon Jones:  This is Dave's favorite book to read to the girls.  If he gets to pick, this is his grab, because he gets to do an accent while he reads.  The girls think it's pretty funny too.  This little siamese cat thinks he's a chihuahua and goes on adventures in his imagination.  Dave's right, it is pretty fun to read out loud.

Sky Color:  Another author I love.  They're artsy, so I was easily sold.  This girl needs to figure out what to do when she runs out of blue paint.  A nice reminder to look around at the world.

Leo, a Ghost Story:  My girls do not like this book.  In fact it may have given the sensitive one a nightmare.  ;)  I had to buy it.  I didn't know she'd be so sensitive.  It's a kids book about a ghost that haunts a house.  OK, it's a tad creepy.  I still kinda love it though.















Other books I've purchased recently that we've enjoyed:  Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Sparky, The Day the Crayons Came Home, Creepy Carrots, The Little Shop of Monsters, Crankenstein, and The Golden Snail.

Books high on my to purchase list:  The Most Magnificent Thing, The Tea Party in the Woods, The Color Monster, The Skunk, Miss Moon: Wise Word from a Dog Governess, Sleep Like a Tiger, Once Upon an Alphabet, Little Elephants, and Who Done it?

Oh January

It's still winter, but at least I only have to see it in the distance.

January is a troublemaker, but we're surviving. . .

The girls loved Disney on Ice, Frozen.  I like the shows that aren't watered down versions of movies better.  We'll see what next January brings.

We opted for the balcony seats this time around.  I told Miley if we got the cheaper seats I would buy her one of the overpriced nasty sno cones in the special cups.  She jumped on that deal.  So I guess, she doesn't really go for the show anyway. . . as long as there is popcorn too.

 I need winter to be over to get rid of colds.  Jovey now has the nasty cough/congestion thing that we've all had at least twice this winter.  Why won't this go away?!!  Oh right, cause everywhere we go people are coughing.  We're surrounding by germs!  This virus has been the plague of winter 2015/16.

I like reading reviews of kids books.  Some people, wowza.  So I bought The Day the Crayons Came Home, cause I liked the first book and then there was this one review where a mother angrily argued how inappropriate it was to have the word "puke" in the book and a picture of a dog licking itself.  She provided pics of both instances.  I had to buy it after that.  I guess if you don't have dogs that might be offensive.  ?? Or some people just really need to calm down.  Either way, thanks for the extra push to buy it angry mother.  We love it!

Why do people say BFFs forever?  Isn't forever in the acronym?  I'm so confused by this.  Miley and her friends say it all the time so therefore Jovey does as well, and then I found it on this shirt.  I had to buy it for these two BFFS 4ever.  Whatever.

Oh and Jovey was in no mood for pics, so covered up the words on the shirt to spite me and then looked away.  Her two year old attitude is holding on with a death grip.  ;)
 

Miley's hair has already grown at least 2 inches since we cut it this summer.  I may covet her hair a little, or a lot.  Lucky girlie.

See the light dot on Jovey's forehead?  It was once a little scratch.  When Jovey scratches or scrapes her skin it will be a light mark on her for what seems like forever.  After the scab goes away her new skin is always light because it doesn't have the same melanin level in it.  White skin experiences the same thing, but it's less noticeable.  Her wounds are so superficial, and yet they seem serious because everyone thinks it's a scar left behind.  Let me assure you, she is not scarred for life.  It blends away eventually.  In August she ran into the rose bush and the scratches are still visible on her arm.  I really want to put her in a bubble.

Sometimes I buy things that are still too big for the kiddos to wear and put them away until they can.  Sometimes I forget that I bought things and then miss most of the season they are useful in when they are finally uncovered in the closet.  Enter this jacket.  She loves it, but it's getting warmer already.  Oops.

I have an evil rug by the back door.  I didn't know it was evil when I bought it.  I might have bought it anyway even if I had known.  ;)  Anyway, my dogs nails' catch on it from time to time.  This time it tried to pull Nilla's off, therefore blood and drama and what Jovey calls her 'cast'.  Poor Nilla baby.  Her nails aren't even long.  I cut them, I swear.  Alright, this has happened twice to Bear so I will find a new rug already.  Such a pain.  All of it.

Jovey took good care of our little patient.  Nilla is a big baby nowadays.

Miley did some Chinese jump roping in PE this last week.  I was so happy to hear that they are doing things I loved as a kid in school.  So we made a rope and tried to teach Dave how to do it.  Miley showed us her Black Diamond routine.  Yes, she names these things.  I was the other half of holding the rope so the pics do not do it justice.  It was impressive foot work.  ;)

I got a video of Dave doing it, but it is on his phone and he won't let me have the video cause he knows where it will go. . . . ;)  He has some potential, despite working with those giant feet of his.

 I may or may not have over worked my knee demonstrating all my elementary school skills.  Dang you Chinese jump rope.  However, no one fell down and so that is a win for us.  ;)

I threw together an album for 2015 in a weekend so I could make it in time for Shutterfly's sale.  Then Dave convinced me to try out Costco's book instead.  Lost a weekend; hopefully Costco doesn't disappoint, cause now I really did miss the sale.

I consider this next picture a parenting win.

They dress themselves pretty much every day.  It isn't always a fashion win, but I feel pretty confident they are cute enough to pull off whatever they mismatch.  ;)  They were playing vampire hunter when I stopped them for a picture.  They won't be deceived by a pretty sparkly vampire boy.  I appreciate that.

I don't know who Jovey is texting.  They both think they are tweeners.  That part is less fun.

crawling across the finish line and el niño is my bestie

We barely made it to the end of school.  We self destructed in the last week.  Miley got the stomach flu, Jovey's fever turned into a rash that covers 50% of her body, and I contracted the most evil sinus infection of all time.  (Dave was fine, the butt face)

All on the same day.  Then the clouds opened up and god said, I hate you alfalfa.  ;) The last week of school, full of fun times and wasted opportunities for learning.  ;)  Yeah, Mie was a tad disappointed.  She rallied for a day and made it to collect her desk stuff and books.  I almost sent Dave to do it.  It was not the big finish we had planned on.  We were going to have a party.  Oh well.  It's the thought that counts.  ;) or so I've heard.

The girls are feeling pretty fine now, I'm on my way (thank you antibiotics), but the party has been postponed for a moment.  Here's our first day of summer break. . .

Momma is sick, so Miley took charge of getting both of them ready for the day. . . and the hair, oh my the hair.

She also made lunch for herself and sis.  She even cleaned the dishes.  She's so grown up now that she calls herself a 2nd grader.

The sky may seem dismal in these next pics, but we are loving having el niño back.  It's still cool here.  Miracle.  No really, MIRACLE!  I don't even mind the rain.  It's different and not causing flooding like our normal rain prefers to do.  So we'll keep the clouds around, it's a new color for our sky.

I bought a stack of books for Miley to read through this summer.  She's already on her way.  I should have got her a library card instead because I have no where to put any more books.

book reviews

So the school book order things are just adding to my problems here.  It's like having cake in the house.  I have to eat it. . .or buy something.  However, my love of book orders is tempered because they offer mostly paperback and I'm not a big fan of those.  Too easily damaged by little hands.

If you were wondering what I have on my shelves after seeing the pics . . . and the number, well, here are some of our favorite kids books recently. . .

This Moose Belongs to Me.  This one is funny to me and the artwork is well done.

The Day the Crayons Quit.  Fun book about colors and coloring, where the crayons write letters to their owner complaining/or not about their lot in life.

This is Not My Hat.  We appreciate the humor in this book as well as the ending that you can imagine for yourself, cause it's not shown.  Our ending goes toward the extreme.

Green.  We  own quite a few of Laura Vaccaro Seeger's books.  They all have cool page cut outs that reveal the next and previous pages.  This one is all about the different colors of green.  I would buy any of her books.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.  There is a short film about this book and it's very good as well.  Love a book about loving books.  It has a nice message.  The artwork is lovely as well.

Journey.  A book without words.  We have a few of these kinds and they are a fun way to get my kid into telling the story.  She has some original ideas about what she sees.  This one is about a girl who is bored and uses her imagination to go places.

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon.  We have a couple Molly Lou books and I love them all.  She is tiny but spunky and listens to her grandma's sage advice.

I Like Myself.  I love the illustration in this one and the extremes of her appearance that she LOVES.

We Are in a Book.  This one makes Miley giggle.

Art & Max.  Love the artwork in this book.  Love that it is about making art.  Just love it.

Pete the Cat and his four Groovy Buttons.  Miley likes singing his song.  I like that the cat is groovy.

Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook.  Miley is reading these little chapter books right now and we are both enjoying them.  One thing that is a tad irksome though, she writes how a 6 year old talks. . . so not correctly.  Which is funny and relatable to my kid, but is it teaching poor English?  I don't know.  Funny books though.

Friends.  The ending on this one really made my girl's day.  Spoiler. . . they get married.  Miley's a romantic.  ;)

The Good Shepherd and the Little Lost Lamb.  This is Jovey's favorite book right now.  Always wants to do this one, because you take the little lamb and push it through holes in the pages.  Cute, but a pain cause she can't look at it by herself and she wants to do it multiple times in a row and in a day.  She giggles every time you turn the page and see the lamb's head sticking through.  It's adorable.

A Pirate's Night Before Christmas.  The humor in this one might go over your kid's head, unless they know about pirates.  We tried to teach Miley about pirates, cause it's important.  ;)  . . . So, we like this book.

Press Here.  Miley was very impressed with this one when we first got it, but now the newness has worn off and it doesn't leave the shelf much.  I'm waiting to impress Jovey with it.  Maybe this one has a shelf life, but it's still a nice idea to make the book interactive.