Need a Writing Boost? It's Not Too Late

Something you may not know (and likely don't care about, but whatevs) is that I try to do a set amount of old fashioned writing, which is normally what I'm doing when I ignore the blog. I like to write with a specific type of pen and I write in composition notebooks, the kind that are plentiful when stores break out the back to school merchandise in July. My notebooks a part journal, part creative outlet, and occasionally provide material for blog posts or other pieces of writing. If I take something to the point that I'm attempting any kind of editing/revising I move it to the computer.

The rough goal I try to hold myself to is to complete one notebook a month. Since I slowed down a bit in late fall, I'm trying to do some extra writing to ring in 2011.

I love this picture of one full notebook beside one fresh, untouched, notebook:


I've been a little stuck in a rut in my notebooks lately so I jumped at this offer from my good friend Jen Violi (info yanked directly from her business Facebook page, hope that's okay Jen!):

28 for $28: DAILY WRITE-AMIN

Any writers or word-lovers out there need a little boost? I’m offering a 28 for $28 February special—consider it a daily write-amin (you know I just can’t resist the new dorky word combos).

For just $1 a day, each day in the month of February, I’ll send you an email with a different writing prompt/suggested activity as well as a little inspiration and encouragement for your writing day. Whether you need some new stamina for an old project, inspiration to start from scratch, or just want to commit to writing as a daily practice for your own personal reflection or transformation, this writing supplement is for you!

Register by Jan 31st (or contact me up 'til Feb. 4th to start a few days late) at www.jenvioli.com!

For the direct link to sign up click here!

I'm so proud of Jen and all she has accomplished (her young adult novel will be published this year). I really admire the way she has taken her passions and turned them into a business. The best part is that she is opening up and sharing her wonderful self with anyone who wants to take advantage of her wisdom. I'm so pleased to be able to support her in living her dream, even in a small way.

Supervision Fail

Michael was playing in the living room the other morning while I was trying to find some information online, in the next room. There was a lot of noise and I asked if he'd gotten his blocks out - which was the wrong question to ask...

He decided he wanted to watch a Thomas DVD, and apparently had some trouble finding one, as ALL of the kids' "shows" ended up on the floor, many of them out of their cases. Oops.


(Yes, we have a lot of children's videos. What can I say. We didn't have cable when Harper was little. And I was in grad school so I will not pretend that she didn't watch TV, she did. I hope she appreciated the variety.)

It's always nice of the children to give us little reminders when we've got the leash a little long, no?

Assortment

Does expired tea lose its flavor? Because I made some tonight and what I'm drinking tastes less like chamomile and more like hot water. Maybe I haven't had much tea lately and I've forgotten that it does just taste like hot water.

*****

I ordered a netbook on Friday night and now I am obsessively checking the web to see whether it has shipped already. I want it to be here so I can read/comment on your blogs and respond to three year old emails while I watch mostly mindless television. Evening activities unite!

*****

Speaking of mindless television... Is anyone watching the new season of American Idol? I wasn't sure whether I would or not, but I started too, and I am surprised at how much I enjoy Jennifer Lopez. Also, I am a total sucker for the little human interest bits they do - especially when the contestants can really sing. Apparently in my book hardship + any hint of talent = entertainment.

*****

Both of the kids have strep, although Harper's been on meds long enough that she did go to school today. Michael isn't as far along, big sigh. I hope we all sleep a little better tonight.

*****

Last week I went to pick up Harper from school and my car wouldn't start up again when we tried to leave. I called Ann (mother-in-law) to pick up Harper, got a jump from AAA, got a new battery from our favorite local mechanic, and still managed to retrieve Michael from preschool on time. Despite the dead battery I think the universe was on my side that day.

*****

We have concerns about some sort of prowler in our neighborhood. We got a call last Thursday night that a man had parked his car down the street, approached several houses including ours, and then went back to his car and drove away. Strange. There are footprints in the snow from our neighbor's front porch to our driveway - a path none of us ever walk - and there were similar footprints in the snow a couple of weeks ago.

I'm not exactly afraid someone is going to break into our house. That would be stupid because we don't have much of value, we have a ferocious dog (shhhh, he sounds ferocious), and I have a large metal flashlight for shining light into intruders' eyeballs and hitting them in the face.

I am afraid of looking out one of our many windows into the dark and seeing a face right there looking in at me - that is the stuff of my nightmares, seriously.

Aaaaand now I'll need a sedative to sleep tonight.

*****

Harper would like you to know that she got her hair cut again and it is exciting because it matches Kit's hair!


*****

Harper would also like you to know that she lost her other front tooth (while I was having the car battery changed). It came out while eating a piece of pizza! That makes the number of teeth she's lost four and then number that have needed to be pulled out by adults zero. That is happy math.



*****

Michael would like you to be cool and pretend there is something interesting about his teeth.

Marry a Good One

This morning, when I went to the car to take the kids to school, there was an envelope taped to the driver's window. It was a note from Matt, saying that he was going to come back for me at 11:15 and take me out to lunch to celebrate. He'd arranged for his mom to pick up and watch the kids. He didn't say what we were going to celebrate, but I already knew.

Ten years ago today I met Matt at a church fish fry. No kidding.

And he, all on his own, remembered that this was the ten-year-anniversary of our meeting. And planned a lunch out, just the two of us.

Matt appeared, as promised, at 11:15 with a dozen roses for me. Going to lunch, on a weekday, without the kids, felt like playing hooky. We enjoyed our little break from reality, some time to celebrate us and the family that we've created.

I'm telling you - date whoever you want. But marry the nice one, the smart one, the sweet one - like I did - and life will be good.

(Oh look, there we are, almost ten years ago!)

Rah-Rah

Michael just followed me into the bathroom (oh the joy of a two-year-old!) and, as I was taking care of things, picked up two extra rolls of toilet paper and started raising them and chanting, "Go Packers! Go Packers!"

The children have definitely caught the playoff spirit, even down here in Ohio, but I'm not sure how Michael confused toilet paper and pompoms.

Both children are going to be very disappointed tomorrow when the game doesn't even start until after bedtime, especially after being forced to sport their Packer apparel all day.

*****

On another football related note - Harper was yelling at the television during a game a couple of Sundays ago. She turned to me and confessed, "I don't really know what's happening, I'm just practicing for when I'm a grown up."

Thank You American Girl

My head hurts from trying to explain historical fiction to my six-year-old.

Although, to be fair, it was also occasionally difficult explaining it to junior high students. (The same students who were looking for The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank, in the fiction section!)

Fridays are library days for Harper's kindergarten class and last Friday she came home with the book Welcome to Felicity's World, part of the American Girl Doll machine. (I notice that these books must be out of print, which will be distressing to my girl who received Kit for Christmas - surely we'll be on the lookout for Welcome to Kit's World thanks to the back cover adverts on the Felicity book...)

While I have not scrutinized the entire book the layout is friendly/accessible enough for a work meant to introduce children to Colonial America, but a kindergartner is definitely not the target audience for that book. In the first six pages I found myself trying to explain Loyalists vs. Patriots, the colonies, the Boston Tea Party, taxes, tar and feathering, the First Congressional Congress, freedom of religion, and why half of colonial children died before age six and how a doll in a coffin helped their siblings understand those deaths. Uh...

Fortunately I have a PTO meeting tomorrow night and Matt will have to tag in and explain the next several pages!

Welcome 2011

Oh, hi!

How are you?

Yesterday my before-blogging friend Erin called to see if we were still, you know, alive over here. As we were talking the children were screaming/playing in the background. I ignored the noise until it reached that certain pitch that means there might be an actual problem. I had to hang up on poor Erin and found that Michael had tried to take a chunk out of Harper's arm. At first I thought there was blood, but no, just a little bruise for a reminder...

So.

That's kind of how things have been - nothing tragic in the last ten days, mostly happily busy with the occasional bump in the road. We are still unpacking (we were in WI for almost a week) and working on incorporating all of our wonderful Christmas gifts into the household. We have not taken down a single Christmas decoration (this weekend, this weekend...) yet.

Anyway - we're still alive and kicking (and biting) in Ohio.

Here is a question for the new year - do any of you have any experience with netbooks?

I feel like most of my day isn't conducive to being tied to the desktop I normally use, which, among other things, means my back is always to the children. I would love to have a laptop or netbook for email and reading blogs and maybe Facebook. That is literally all I want it for - I'm not interested in loading music or videos or photos on it. I am intrigued by the long battery life, portability, and lower cost of a netbook. I'm NOT looking to replace this desktop... Any thoughts are more than welcome!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, 2010

Thoughts of family and friends, near and far (Christmas card pics on pantry doors):


Rousing game of pre-dinner Twister:


Too many presents under the tree:


Hope yours is just as happy! Merry Christmas!

I'll Pay the $0.44

This Huffington Post article made me oddly sad today.

I accept change - I have been known to embrace new technologies - but does the new stuff have to mean we let ALL the old things go?

I don't want to imagine a world with no bookstores, no paper mail, NO HANDWRITTEN LETTERS.

Recently Harper (with encouragement) sent out thank you notes for her birthday gifts. More than one person who received said notes mentioned to me how her writing had improved from last year - you can't do that by email people!

I am a firm believer in the power of a hand written letter and I refuse to stop sending them. Maybe most of those cards/letters/notes wind up in people's recycling bins, but maybe one or two of them hold words that are important to someone, words that they want to reach into a drawer or pocket or bag to reread, to hold in their hands.

I may have mentioned here that I have been cleaning out boxes of memorabilia from my pre-adult life. Among the cards I found a birthday card that my brother signed in his grade school handwriting. It made me cry.

I can let Michael bang on the computer keys to produce a string of nonsense, but it sure isn't the same thing as the marks he makes with a crayon on paper.

So you can call me a dinosaur and tell me I need to let go of old ways. Or you can accept that I'm going to pay for the stamp. If we're good friends you probably have a piece of handwritten mail somewhere to prove it.

Did They Cry? (A Visit with Santa)

The Santa Visit - How did it go?

Well Harper had no trouble, which is not a surprise. She knows that not all mall Santas are real, but she was pretty sure that ours was the "really real" Santa, because of the mailbox where you could leave letters for the North Pole. God love her, she really does want to believe - thank goodness, or she would have seen through the holes in our facade by now!


Also not surprising? Michael was not a big fan:


He did, however, venture a few steps from Santa's lap to say that he wants a matching game for Christmas. A matching game! How much do I love that kid? AND we had already purchased a sort of matching game for him so that was a lucky twist.


In the interest of fairness I feel I should remind you that Harper wasn't Santa's biggest fan when she was two either. This is still one of my favorite photos of all time:


By next year we might be done with the screaming/crying...

Best Christmas Card Yet

You will have to see if you can click on that picture to enlarge it - then maybe you'll be able to read Harper's hilarious note to her gym teacher. We were working on Christmas cards for her teachers today and this was by far the best one. I only provided minimal spelling assistance as, for once, she was on a roll coming up with her own thoughts to add to the notes.

Just in case you can't make it out it says:
Dear Mrs. D Christmas treats so yummy and sweet just like gym teachers Love Harper

Then she drew a heart with Rudolph and Santa's sleigh and added the words, "you'll go down in History".

Love it!

Christmas Tidbits

Things that are mostly checked off my list:

-decorating
-the Christmas music mixes
-shopping
-cards mailed (waiting on one address)


Things I have not begun at all:

-holiday notes to teachers
-wrapping anything
-baking anything
-cleaning the house
-figuring out how to keep peace between my children

Oh look, there they are, fighting over the nativity again:

Well, they probably aren't fighting in that picture but surely it was a momentary lapse into good behavior.

Michael goes two days a week to a Jewish Community Center preschool. He can't say Christmas clearly, but Hanukkah rolls right off his tongue! :-)

One of the highlights of the children's day is when one of them gets to put the ornament on the magnetic Christmas countdown tree. Or, on Michael's day, the "ormament." (He also calls it the "diming room" instead of dining room. Hee!)

When they do attempt to play cooperatively with the nativity set, Harper trades pieces like they are baseball cards. Example: "Michael, I'll give you these two shepherds and a donkey if you give me back the angel and Mary." Nothing like bartering with the Holy Family and friends!

Michael is excited about the snow and happily announces all the places it has landed, "Yook! No (snow) on my maybok (mailbox)!" But he won't step in it... could be a long winter.

If we're driving in the dark Michael screams with joy whenever he sees Christmas lights.

Harper likes to warn Michael that Santa won't bring him presents anytime he even looks like he's going to do something he shouldn't - despite my (sometimes) gentle reminders that this is not her job.

How are the holidays progressing at your house?

Not Your Mama's Swaddling Clothes...

Wow, they really didn't have much to wrap Baby Jesus in, did they?

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Did you think I'd forgotten about the Christmas music giveaway?

Since there were more than 20 comments I chose two winners and they are:

Emily from Chaos: Party of Five

and Cortney (who I will have to track down!)

Congratulations ladies! I'll send you an email to find out some of your music preferences!

Holding My Tongue

Okay, before I forget, a couple of notes about yesterday's Christmas craft:

1. Contact paper should be with shelf paper - I got some at Walmart, but I think grocery stores, maybe hardware stores, etc. probably have some too. It does come in a roll.

2. Tissue paper I also got at Walmart. I am thinking a craft or education supply store might have precut squares, but I just chopped up some wrapping tissue. I got a "value" pack that had about 50 sheets for under five dollars. I ended up using about an eighth of one sheet of 10 different colors. I'm glad I bought the value pack for the variety of colors but we probably only used the equivalent of two sheets of tissue paper. And knowing how haphazardly my kids would use it, I did not fret over how the tissue was cut. I was going for squares but I really just hacked it up quickly while they finished their lunches.

3. They had pizza for lunch.

And now for today's story...

It seems that most years Harper will find herself drawn to one particular boy in her class and talk about loving and marrying him. Her very first preschool love, when she was 3!, was B. And now B's brother P is in her kindergarten class. (B was a couple of years older than Harper). For a while Harper thought she might want to be in love with P, but apparently P wasn't terribly interested. (Can you imagine how much their teacher must be loving this?)

So we're in the car the other day and Harper says, "I'm not doing that thing with P anymore, now I'm kind of on to E."

"What thing?" I ask.

"Moo-oom," Harper replies, completely exasperated that I can't read her thoughts, "The love thing? Remember?"

Oh, I did remember. And I didn't say much more about it right then.

When I taught (first grade) and the kids would start talking about this stuff I would tell them, "You aren't old enough to date until you're old enough to drive!" So when Harper tells me about her kindergarten love, a big part of me wants to respond by telling her that she's just too young for all of that. But here's the difference - she's talking to me about it. And I can't help feeling like there is a kernel of importance in that, that it is something I want to honor. If I am dismissive of her boy-feelings (or any feelings) now, will she be less likely to talk to me when she's older and there's more at stake? I feel like these little tidbits and nearly-nothing interactions will all add up, even subconsciously, and make a difference when she's older.

Oh, I'm not an idiot. I know she isn't likely to tell me anything when she's a teenager, or even when she's ten, but if I can somehow tip the scales in my favor, I'm going to do it.

Today she got in the car and said, "Mom, E says I'm in a crush with him."

Oh dear.

*****
There is ONE MORE DAY to enter the Christmas music giveaway - what are you waiting for?

Easy Christmas Craft

It's December!

We received our first Christmas card in the mail!

It snowed for the first time!

I put my "Kids in the Car" Christmas mix in the van and Harper kept saying, "I love this song!"

I'm officially a fan of today. I even felt patient enough to embark on a little Christmas craft with the kids. I modified an idea I had from something Michael brought home from preschool. This is intended to be a window decoration so if, "Kids' stuff stuck haphazardly on the walls" isn't your decorating style, it might not be for you...

First I cut out some outlines of "shapes" from red and green construction paper. (Note to self: maybe don't freehand w/ the scissors next time.) Then I stuck the empty shapes onto squares of clear contact paper and Harper and Michael filled them in with tissue paper squares.

Observe (enlarge the photos to look at the children's faces and guess what we had for lunch):


Harper's first shape was a Christmas tree, while Michael tackled a loose representation of an ornament.


Here's what a few of them look like, stuck to our front windows. The kids were watching it SNOW!


Here is a closeup of something resembling an angel:


Harper and I ran outside to see them from another vantage point. They didn't look that great in the daylight, probably won't even be noticeable from the street. Later tonight, when Harper and I had to go out for a bit, they actually looked kind of cool with the kitchen light shining through them. You'll have to use your imagination.


The only thing that could even remotely be construed as mess with this project was a few stray tissue paper squares on the kitchen floor. Maybe we'll make them for every holiday/season...

It is Finished

Woo hoo! We made it through NaBloPoMo. (Is the internet going to fall silent tomorrow?) Maybe now that I'm done posting daily, I'll have time to catch up on all the blog reading I haven't be able to keep up with.

To answer a couple of simple reader questions:

1) If I had to pick games or puzzles and say which I think is better for children, I guess I'd say games? I do think puzzles are really beneficial and probably help strengthen spacial awareness, but there is a much broader skill set that can be address through game playing. BUT thank goodness I don't have to actually choose between the two because I could not do it. Incidentally, the sitcom Better With You had "competitive puzzling" on last week's episode and the concept was really funny. I will not be introducing the idea to Harper, ahem.

2) Best non-annoying children's holiday CD? Well my hands-down favorite is John Denver and the Muppets. If you don't like the Muppets I probably can't help you! Oh, I think Raffi's Christmas album is nice, I almost forgot that one. I can take or leave most of the Kidz Bop type stuff, but others may have more recommendations - add yours in the comments!

Some of the bigger questions will have to wait!

Three days left to enter the Christmas music giveaway... if you want a kid-centric CD, that's what I'll make you!

Timely

Remember how we were just discussing puzzles?

Michael got a 24 piece wooden jigsaw puzzle at Harper's birthday. It is covered with cars and trucks so he immediately fell in love with it. Up until now he'd really only been doing the type of puzzles where there are a handful of pieces and each goes into its own spot. I thought the wooden jigsaw puzzles in a tray would be a good transition to table top puzzles, since you get to work them within the frame, and I put some on Michael's wish list for Christmas.

I was pleased to have the new puzzle for him but figured it would be quite some time before he was ready to tackle a jigsaw puzzle like that. For a little while he just enjoyed taking all the pieces out and eventually Harper or I would put it back together and stick it back in the puzzles basket. Then he started showing an interest in actually putting it together. So I helped him with it, handing him one piece at a time and pointing out where they went while he worked on the fine motor skills of actually putting the pieces together. Still, I thought it would be a very long time before he could really attempt it on his own.

This weekend, however, I found him on the floor with the puzzle like this:


He put about 1/4 of it together before getting frustrated and sort of growling and taking the pieces back out - it was kind of hilarious. I was truly surprised that he could even do that much of it. Eventually he brought it to me and we finished it together.

But he went back to it again and again and yesterday put it together with only some gentle verbal coaching from me. Mostly me suggesting that he try another piece if he was determined to put one somewhere it didn't belong. The best thing about watching him work at it is that he talks to himself while he does it... "Dis piece goes wite dere," puts the piece together, "Wite!" And then he gives himself a little cheer - so cute.

Today he brought the puzzle to the table before dinner and did it twice all by himself! I was shocked and so proud.

I know he can do it on his own only because we did it together so many times. He recognizes where in the puzzle the pieces belong. I know if I handed him a brand new 24 piece puzzle he wouldn't figure it out by himself. But I was still really excited for him.

The thing about Michael's speech delay is that it is really only very recently that I have any idea what is going through his head. Now I'm starting to see that his brain was just churning away while we were waiting for him to figure out how to express himself. He really has been putting the pieces together all along.

***

There are still a few days left in the Christmas music giveaway!

Buying Stock in Kleenex

Okay, if the holidays keep going like this I'm going to need lots and lots of tissues.

Reason the first?

We're all mildly sick. I already keep a box of tissues in every room in the house and lately it doesn't seem like enough. We are a family of dripping noses. It will probably be like this all winter.

Reason the second?

This year the holiday season is feeling totally bittersweet to me. Some years this just happens. I LOVE Christmas and everything that comes with it so I am happy that we are firmly in the holiday season. We're enjoying holiday books and music and gift-buying and surprise-plotting. My guess is that by the end of December you'll all be sick of hearing how the holidays this year are making me agonize over the fleeting nature of childhood. Harper asked me to read The Polar Express tonight and I happily obliged, until the last page. I wasn't just getting choked up, I was practically sobbing. Of course she's a total believer and could not imagine what I found sad about those last few sentences. Needless to say I didn't want to enter into a conversation about people who don't believe in Santa Claus.

That's just it. Some years I can't read The Polar Express without crying*. It looks like this is going to be one of those years.

_____

*Other things I can rarely read aloud without crying include the last sentence of Charlotte's Web (and also the part where she dies), and Love You Forever (which I know is kind of creepy, but it still makes me bawl). Surely there are others but those are the two that immediately come to mind.

Another Thing I Never Thought I'd Say

There is a plastic nativity set under our tree. It is there for the kids to play with. This afternoon the kids were fighting over the pieces (lots of Christmas spirit there!) and Michael threw one in frustration, which is when I had to pipe up and say, "We don't throw baby Jesus."