Halloween pics!

This is me with Rebecca and Benjamin at the local MOMS Club party about a week ago. (I know, I'm not wearing anything even vaguely Halloween-y.)

In the middle of the party, Rachael said to me with six year old perceptive wisdom, "Almost everyone here who is a girl is dressed up as something from Disney."



Here's all three Beans getting ready to trick-or-treat:
Rebecca (Disney Princess), Benjamin (Tigger), and Rachael (Dorothy)


Here's some of the neighborhood kids we go trick-or-treating with every year. Halloween is the only time of year we see most of them!
The only reason I'm in the picture is because Benjamin would sob the second I set him down.

[Uh-oh, is it considered bad form to post pictures of other people's kids on the Internet? If so, let me know and I'll take it down.]

I feel like we've been celebrating Halloween for weeks ... probably because we have! Between two Halloween parties, helping the kids carve pumpkins and make decorations (well, Robert did that, not me) and being "boo'd" twice and therefore having to go "boo" other people ... well, it's been a tiring holiday!

But fun.

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