Some education about angels

No pictures of this one for obvious reasons ...

Last night the girls put on an "angel show," which meant they were completely naked with wings.

Right before the show started, Rebecca explained to Robert what angels are like.

"Here is what angels don't do," she explained. "They don't burp, they don't spread gas, and they don't touch their bottoms."

"Why?" Robert asked.

"Because those are things that people do!" she said.

Then I came in the room, and Rebecca told me what angels don't do.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because angels are good, and those things are nasty!"

Yes, I AM a real writer!

I haven't written for publication in a few years, but here's "proof" that I'm good ... so you should keep reading my blog, ha ha!

This is actually the second story Guide purchased from me. The older one doesn't appear to be online anymore. The idea is true stories for kids age 8-14 that "point to Jesus."

http://www.guidemagazine.org/storyvault/feature.asp?id=190

Interestingly, the original version was a fictionalized version (where the main character was more cool) that I wrote when I was 14 for a fiction contest (which won second place ... no money or anything; just my name printed in the magazine).

My title for both versions was "The Freaks and the Preps." Maybe by the time Guide got it, it sounded too much like the TV show "Freaks and Geeks." Or maybe they just thought it was a crummy title, LOL!

What was really wild was I able to get a copy of the magazine to the "real-life Steve" who
e-mailed me a reply a few months later.

I'd like to try writing for Guide again sometime, but right now I have so much else to worry about ...

I've been tagged!

Wow, I must be a "real blogger" - Stephanie just tagged me!

You're supposed to come up with ten things about you that are weird. Well, here goes!


1. My idea of fun is doing searches on the local library website. Extra fun is to have two windows open -- one with Amazon, the other with the libary website to see if the libary has what looks good on Amazon. Woo-hoo!

2. I apparently remember WAY more about my childhood, school, kids I knew, etc, than most people do.

3. I almost always remember my dreams, and apparently not everyone does.

4. I love to read movie reviews, even though I rarely see movies. I also love to read book reviews after I've read the book. I think to me it's like having a Virtual Book Discussion group.

5. I am not good at remembering what people look like. I often will see somebody I've talked to once or twice and not recognize them. If their hair has changed, forget it. But once I realize who they are, I will remember their name and just about everything we discussed when we met. Obviously people could commit all kinds of crimes right in front of me and never be caught.

6. I love kids' books and read "older kids" books even when I was an adult with no kids. I also like kids' TV. I was very very excited when I discovered there were Electric Company discs out there.

7. I have never ever met another person who knows more about The Monkees than I do. (They exist; I've just never met them personally.)

8. I'm very very good at remembering song lyrics and being able to name band members, even if the songs and bands are not my favorites.

9. My husband says I would make a great assembly line worker. I like tasks that you just follow the steps and don't have to think. For example, I love to tear down wallpaper. I like things like cross-stitch and color by number that require no creativity whatsoever. It goes without saying that I need music (or Stupid TV) for these activities.

10. I enjoy organizing and sorting things. (I guess this sort of goes along with #9, huh?) When I play with Legos with the kids, I don't usually build things; I just like to make piles and sort by color and shape. I find it peaceful.

Now I guess I need to tag somebody else. I don't know a whole lot of bloggers, so I guess I'll just tag Amanda, my California buddy who also has three little kids and likes the Indigo Girls.

Ten, twenty, thirty years ago?

I got this from Stephanie's blog:

http://www.learningthroughliving-stephanie.blogspot.com/

Where were you 10, 20, and 30 years ago?


Ten years ago we had just moved into our current house. We had the crazy idea of finishing our basement. We would spend hours together where I measured and cuts the studs and Robert nailed them in. I was teaching music and drama at Webb Bridge Middle School and New Prospect Elementary School in Apharetta. No kids yet.

Twenty years ago I was a freshman music major at Berry College. I was accompanying the Berry Singers on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, which I applied for not knowing they would actually pay me to do it. We were learning Handel's Messiah in concert choir. I had just met the person who would give me my first date and first kiss, but I didn't know it yet. My sophomore roommate sat behind me in Music Theory class, but I hadn't officially met her yet. Was starting to become friendly with Cynthia and Kaye.

Thirty years ago I was in third grade at Jordan Road Elementary School in Somers Point, New Jersey. I enjoyed reading the Bobbsey Twins books and was soon to read and fall in love with my first Judy Blume book, Blubber. I was already a Monkees Fan. It was a year before we moved to Pittsburgh and my Official Childhood Home, and two years before I typed and submitted my first manuscript for publication.

Parenting According to Baby Blues - Boredom

And this one:




I think a lot of parents get too easily annoyed when their kids say they're bored.

Some parents almost get angry: "What?!? How can you say you're bored when you have a roomful of toys?"

We've probably all heard the classic: "You're bored? You'd better find something to do, or I'll find something for you ... like mopping this floor!"

I actually overheard a woman at the park (yes, I guess I was eavesdropping) saying that she tells her kids, "When you say 'I'm bored' what you're really saying is 'I'm boring.'" Well isn't that a sweet way to kick a kid when he's down.

In the first cartoon, I don't think it's at all odd that the kids feel like there's nothing to do around there. Maybe they just want to get out of the house! Maybe they just want an adult's company and attention. Maybe both.

If I were that mom (and in one of my better moods), I would sit down on the floor with them and look at one of those toys with them. Maybe I'd pop in a video they'd never seen before. Maybe we'd bake something together. If I had a lot of energy and the baby was awake, maybe I'd take them driving somewhere. A different park. A different grocery store. The dollar store. Whatever.

If I were the mom in the second strip (and in one of my better moods) I would assume that my child wanted more of my company. I'd probably stop cleaning (which isn't hard for me anyway!) and read to them. Or see if they want to do a puzzle. Or anything.

At the very least, I'd ask them to talk with me about something special to them while I continued my housework.

Rachael has started making my bed with me almost every morning. She often initiates it herself. This morning she walked over to the bed, smiled sweetly at me, and said, "Let's do our chore!" She's very meticulous about getting her side of the bed nice and smooth.

This woman says it better than I do:

http://sandradodd.com/BoredNoMore

Uh-Oh and Tuh-Oh 2

This morning Rebecca slept til nine (!) so Rachael, Benjamin and I were sitting on the front porch while it rained slightly, and Rachael dictated this story to me.

It's interesting to see all the names she chooses for her characters. I'm also impressed that her story actually has an ending. Yes, there was an original story called Uh-Oh and Tuh-Oh, a few weeks ago, that was only a few sentences long.

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

UH-OH AND TUH-OH 2 by Rachael E. Blaske


One day Uh-oh went out to play. He saw the big hole that he jumped in last year.

"What if I jump in again? Will Tuh-oh see me?"

Just then he bent his knees and his wish cam true: Tuh-oh came!

"Hello, Uh-oh," said Tuh-oh.

"Oh! Tuh-oh!" said Uh-oh. "Let's jump down the hole." So she did.

Tuh-oh said, "No, no wait! Wait for me! I want to go down too!" So they holded hands and did.

When they got to the bottom of the hole, they saw their friend Gay-shee. Then Gay-shee, Tuh-oh and Uh-oh went on an adventure and saw their other friend. Her name was Ay-jee.

Then Ay-jee said, "You never met me before. I live in another country."

"Hello," said Uh-oh and Tuh-oh to Ay-gee. Then Tuh-oh said, "Let's go explore this new world." So the four friends went. They saw butterflies and caterpillers hatch out of their cocoons to turn into butterflies.

Then, when nobody was looking, Janey, their other friend, came. "Surprise!" she said. Then the four friends jumped. They turned around. "You scared us, " said Tuh-oh.

"Oh, sorry," said Janey. Then she said, "Can I come along?"

So they sang a song while they walked along. It went something like this:

"We're the friends going along, Hip-dee-dip-dee-do!"

Then Uh-oh said, "It's time for me to go back to my home."

"Me too," said Tuh-oh.

Then the two friends went back up the hole and went back home to their mother.

THE END

You Tube stuff to appeal to Generation Xers

Found some spoofs of Schoolhouse Rock that should appeal to the cynic in all of us:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqcIj-ce6CU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2F1DguUQU


And who else remembers Time for Timer??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjnKzIU-obI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoNI4N3xYmE


How did we live before YouTube?

When kids get into the camera ...

The other evening the girls got a hold of our new digital camera (courtesy of Aunt Donna) and had a blast taking these pictures.

I'm sure there's a simple way to turn these pictures, but I'm not that clever, so you'll have to turn your head. Here's Rebecca being silly on the floor ...






And now turn your head the other way to see Rebecca Not Being Silly:















Here's Rebecca with her Doggie and Rachael's Lammie:

















Here's Rachael (who just got her first loose tooth) with her Lammie and Rebecca's Doggie:












Rachael didn't want to include this picture, but Rebecca did, so here it is:









Here's our Silly Little Becca!

Blogging or bragging?

When I told Robert I would blog about this, he said, "You mean you're going to brag about it?"

Anyway.

I was starting to make a late lunch when I heard angry screaming from the playroom. Rachael came barreling upstairs and said, "When are we going to eat?"

"Soon," I said.

"Good," she said. "I'm not in a playing mood. I'm in an eating mood!"

"Ah," I said. "And you know what sometimes happens when you get in a big eating mood?"

"You get mad!" she said. "I just yelled at Rebecca."

So she came in the kitchen and started helping me make the spaghetti sauce.

A few minutes later Rebecca came upstairs and handed Rachael the note above.

I said to Rachael, "She's trying to be nice to you Sweetie."

So Rach gave her a hug and said, "I'm sorry I got mad at you."

Rebecca smiled, tooked the Princess crown off her head, and put it on Rachael's head.

I like moments like that. :)

The Monkees: The Next Generation

There are many moments that bring tears of joy to a mother's eye.
Her baby's first steps.
When her child says, "I love you, Mommy."
A big hug and kiss.

... and when her six year old daughter watches her first Monkees episode and laughs and says, "Again!"

Sniff, sniff ...

Many of you know I've been a Diehard Monkees Fan and Expert since I was about six or seven. Today has been a very Do Nothing Day, which I have to constantly remind is NOT necessarily a bad thing!

The girls played with blocks. We read Richard Scarry and "Amanda Pig" books together. I sat on the floor and played with MegaBlocks with Baby Ben. I dressed Baby Ben in a Tigger costume that used to be Baby Rebecca's. All three kids played with the musical instruments bin. I quickly mixed up a Bisquick pumpkin bread and threw it in the oven. (I was about the put it in the oven when I saw the unopened can of pumpkin sitting on the counter. Mmm, that would have been tasty!)

Anyway, it seemed like the perfect day to dig out the Monkees box set that my loving husband gave me a few years ago.

It took some coaxing, because at first, because at first they weren't too interested. Rebecca said the show was "too long." Rachael didn't think it was as funny as I hoped she would. I was ready to give up just yet. I kept asking them to hang in there and kept skipping around to different episodes.

Some mothers say, "Sit down and do your math problems!" I, on the other hand, say, "Sit down and watch The Monkees and start LIKING it!"

And then I got smart and put on "Monkee vs Machine" with Stan Freberg as the head of a toy manufacturing company. The kids in it caught the girls' attention.

Rebecca is still not convinced. She just asked me when the Monkees would die so she wouldn't have to keep watching them. She's only four. I'll go easy on her.

But Rachael is now watching the episode (the second half only) for the fourth time. I'm so touched ... the legacy continues ... my daughter understands ...

Rebecca, my little fashion queen

I dug out three boxes of winter hand-me-downs we had received for the girls and set the boxes on the coffee table. Within minutes Rebecca assembled this outfit (and there were clothes all over the living room floor):



Robert and I actually go to Rebecca (who is four) and ask for her opinion when we're not sure which shoes look best with our outfit, or something like that. She often picks out the day's clothes for Baby Ben. She loves to pick out my earrings for the day.

Between that and the fact that some of her favorite foods are fruits and nuts, and she rarely eat meat -- and that she says she'd like to get her belly button pierced -- I have this picture of Rebecca being a Little Hippie Girl when she becomes a teenager.

Pumpkins!

My mom bought pumpkins for the girls yesterday. Robert and the girls carved them this morning while I made pancakes.

Can you guess which girl did which face?


Answer: Becca on the left, Rach on the right