She’s 11 today! She was a 3 # baby and So full of life! She giggled then just like she does now. She’s a princess, a dancer, a gymnastic, musically-talented, an outdoor girl, a jumping on my furniture girl, a mighty girl who has big dreams for tomorrow and her future. I thank God every day for her bright personality!
I recently went on a YA craze so I could vote for Iowa Teen summer reads. I’ve waited all summer looking each time at the library for Eleanor and Park at my closest library and it was always checked out. I got lucky one day and found it sitting there waiting for me.
Eleanor and Park (2013) by Rainbow Rowell
What a fantastic read this is! Eleanor re-enters her family life after having spent the last year living with a family friend. She meets Park on the bus as she makes her way to her new school. Nobody else wants her to sit with them, that awful thing that happens on school buses across the nation when someone new comes to town and they are a little gawky, unusual, or overweight. She’s shunned by everyone but Park as their relationship begins with little more than head nods and small smiles. Eleanor hides her family life from him as much as possible and as a reader my heart went out to her as she attempted to feel comfortable in Park’s “normal” household, with two loving parents and food in the refrigerator. Their relationship blossoms and they are both changed by it. I loved this stark look at how a child from an abusive home and in poverty struggles to maintain just a small glimmer of hope through all that is her regular life. Every character in the story is one you will love (or hate) and you will want their lives to continue even as you turn the last page.
The Raven Boys (2012) by Maggie Stiefvater
I loved Stiefvater’s Shiver series so I’m not sure what took me so long to pick this one up off the shelf. I don’t think I even investigated what it was about yet when it appeared on my teen list to read for the summer I was anxious to read it. Once I started I had trouble putting it down. Work kept getting in the way! Blue is the daughter of the local psychic in Henrietta and their house is filled with a merry group of friends who also dabble in the magical arts. Her relationship with her mother is solid and happy until a group of Aglionby Academy boys enter into Blue’s life. The group of boys led by Gansey are all looking for a ley line that runs through Henrietta. Gansey knows who ever unlocks the ley line will hold it’s power and help him in the search for Glendower the Welsh king. I’m a fan of fantasy and enjoyed all parts of this intricately-woven tale. I wanted to sit at the table in Blue’s house and have my cards read by Maura, Persephone and Calla. I’m now very excited to read The Dream Thieves out September 17-just around the corner.
I would add both titles to my best of YA along with Ask the Passengers and The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Have you read any these books? Which one resonated the most for you?
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| {Amana, IA, 2013} |
It’s so nice to be married to the one that you love. My husband came home the other day and shared some interesting facts about relationships. He loves sharing tidbits with me and this time he’d drummed up some frightening facts about marriage. Did you know that 73% of long-term married couples are not with their true love! Can you imagine? And that if given the chance they would leave their partner to get back to their true love. To me, that’s a little like, love the one you’re with…
We were married 12 years ago in a beautiful ceremony in Galena, IL. At the reception at the picnic shelter my husband with some musician friends sang an original composition to me. It was lovely and made me cry. We’ve had an incredible journey and hope for many more years together. Yesterday at church an older woman that we keep in touch with said to us “12! Try 61 years!” She was smiling as she said it but there was a wistfulness as her husband of 61 years died two years ago. How sweet love is, whether you have it for 2 years, 12 years, or 61 years.
If you find someone that you can live with, that brings you joy and laughter, make them yours. It isn’t about all the sexy stuff-it’s about eating breakfast together morning after morning, listening to them slurp their huge bowl of cereal and still rubbing your foot next to his before you head off to work. It’s about being a good listener even when you’ve heard the story before. We should treat our companions with the same respect we give our co-workers and friends.
My parents were divorced when I was a young adult. No matter what age it happens it tears you a part. My parents hadn’t been compatible for years. There was strife and anger about who knows what-and frankly I don’t want to know. I think my mom realizes now that they both could have tried a little harder, been more sympathetic, patient, or thoughtful. However you look at it; marriage is a lot of work and it takes being aware of that everyday and yet everyday needs a little fun. It’s up to you to remember to bring the joy in; maybe a smile, a game of cards, a movie to share together or just a hug in the kitchen. Don’t wait for the other person to provide your happiness.
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| {In Virginia, 2013} |
Today we’ve enjoyed working in the kitchen together as I made three new batches of pesto with basil from my mom’s garden and he cooked a hearty breakfast with biscuits, bacon, eggs, and fruit AND then as I started on the 3rd batch he cleaned the kitchen right around me! As we cooked, blended, scraped, and wiped we played a whole slew of old country favorites like Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty and this other one by Conway Twitty that my husband sings me all the time. We are not actual fans of country music yet there are some classic songs that speak to us. Like this one by George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Classic. This one by Otis Redding also makes us happy, which then led us to this interesting reinterpretation of Otis’ song.
And yes, there was a little dancing going on in the kitchen. And a lot of smiling. So much so our daughter had to leave the room.
As Maya says: “We need just three things in life: something to do, something to look forward to, and someone to love.” We heard Maya Angelou speak for our very first date together and we hold her words close to our heart.
I spent Friday and Saturday morning at my mother’s farm making salsa from all her farm-fresh, huge tomatoes. This was our second annual event and we had just as much fun although Groovy Girl was not as much help or even all that cheerful as she had an allergy attack.
She loves the chickens though and actually gathered an egg moments after laying. It was warm and her smile was big. My hands were full of tomatoes though so I did not get to snap a photo. If you want to see last year’s post with recipe included click the word SALSA. It is interesting to look back at old posts-I noticed Groovy Girls hair is shoulder-length, it’s grown a lot in one year.
This year I brought home three batches of salsa. The last batch I made (mostly) on my own and did a bit of experimenting. Instead of two cups of sugar I replaced one of those cups with my stepfather’s honey. If it proves tasty next year I’m going to go out on a limb and do two cups of honey. It should still add the hint of sweetness and I won’t be dumping in two cups of white sugar. It’s a salsa revolution!
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| {NY Times} |
In other cooking news this week I made tomato risotto after an email from my sister-in-law said that her and my brother loved this recipe from the NY Times. It just happened to be the day that the Times was hacked AND I couldn’t reach my twitter page. Because I had my heart set on risotto I found this alternative recipe on Emerill’s food network page. It was delicious and Groovy Girl ate three helpings. Emeril’s has cream in it and no basil so she didn’t have to worry about picking out “green things”. I’m not including a photo from Emeril’s page as the picture is less than thrilling. Imagine the above photo with out any green. I added a heavy dose of pepper and freshly shaved parmigiano-reggiano to the top of the adult plates.
Now I’ve made risotto before but for some reason this time I really want to know if any other rice can be substituted for arborio rice? I get that it comes from a special place in Italy but in a pinch can I use another type of rice that I have in my dry storage. Has anyone ever substituted another kind of rice for risotto? I’m curious just to know.
This post is linked to Beth Fish Read’s Weekend Cooking. Click her link to find many other food-related posts. She has an apple cake posted today that sounds wonderful. Have a wonderful Labor Day.
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| {source} |
“Welcome to the weekend!”, is just what I said on Friday afternoon as I headed out of school. It is exhausting getting back into the swing of school days. Now that it is Sunday afternoon and I still have a bucket-load of work to do I’m trying to reel Friday night back. It’s okay, I’ll get it all done after a little nap.
Our oldest daughter, my step-daughter, Kaylee, spent the week with us in-between her job as a camp counselor in WI and before she heads back for her senior year at Oberlin. I cannot even wrap my head around the fact that she will graduate this year. We did have fun while she was here though and that will have to last us as we won’t see her again in person until Christmas.
The first night she arrived I made an easy taco bar with seasoned rice and black beans as the main ingredients. We had fresh lettuce, chopped tomatoes from the garden, salsa, and some shredded cheese to decorate our flour tortilla shells. This is often my go-to meal on busy week nights. I probably make a variation of this theme at least once a week. I’m glad my kids like rice and it is a perfect meal for self-expression as everyone can design their own taco ideas.
Another night we went to a new local Thai restaurant. It was packed and busy but once our food arrived we were all very happy with the flavors. I had a tofu red curry dish and Kaylee had a coconut chicken noodle dish. I have leftovers to eat today!
We also made fresh Iowa sweet corn one night using this new method my mother-in-law turned me on to through this video:
The corn does come out VERY hot so make sure you have an oven mitt on your hand. I didn’t the first time I did it and I almost dropped the ear of corn getting it to the cutting board. The corn comes out if you help it along and it tastes delicious. I think of all the years of boiling a big pot of water to feed my summertime sweet corn love.
We made my friend Stephanie’s margaritas (recipe is at the end of this long-winded post but well-worth the scroll) last night after we’d spent the day at a downtown festival. Happy hour rushed right into dinner as I sipped and pounded meat at the same time. We had the chicken cutlets from Dinner; A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach. This has become Groovy Girl’s all-time favorite meal. She not only ate her cutlet but begged for the rest of her dad’s when he was resting between bites. “Can I have that?” as she pointed at his plate. He raised his eyebrows in a funny way and said, “I’ll split it with you” and she took him up on it. I’m not making this every night yet it is a delight to have her eat heartily and not pick. Find that cutlet recipe at this previous blog post.
She and I biked to the farmer’s market in the morning and we picked up a bag of green beans, a big bunch of beets, and some eggplant. We found a new type of eggplant and had to bring some home. The grower says it will be good in a stir-fry so that will be on the menu for this coming week.
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| {Aren’t they cute!} |
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| {Beets, of course} |
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| {Japanese eggplant} |
Groovy Girl and I carry our own bags to the market (really, where ever we might shop) hardly ever accepting despicable plastic grocery bags. The ones we do pick up on occasion are reused to pick up doggie poo. It kind of annoys me that all these growers hand out plastic bags with every little thing, just like the big box stores. I wish they could be motivated to move beyond the bag-offer a discount-for anyone going bag free. I know not everyone comes prepared yet it seems we are enabling the customer to be lazy. In my utopia plastic bags would be outlawed. Just my little green soap box for today…thank you for listening. I’m sure I’ll feel better now. Do you carry your own shopping bags? If not, this is such an easy thing to change as so many retail places offer their own variety of canvas bags. The ones I carry around in my purse fold into their own little sack, making it easy to take them everywhere. Mine look a little like this example.
We were somewhere this summer (on the East Coast) where they were NOT giving away bags-you had to pay for a bag and I was in heaven. Enjoy the produce photos. Eat healthy this week. Try the cutlets just because Groovy Girl loves them.
This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads weekend cooking meme. Click the blog link to view many other food-related posts and join in with one of your own. And now that I’ve typed about food for over an hour I find myself a bit peckish. Roasted beets or leftover Thai?
I’ve been back to school for two days now, attending meetings, planning with teachers, and cleaning up the library. On Monday I was exhausted by 10 am and ready for a nap. No kidding. Even though I’ve worked in my house over the summer somehow back-to-school wore me out.
How do you think the kids are going to feel those first few days? Worn out. Ready for a nap. Itching for their handheld electronics or endless amounts of television viewing. Teachers have to have their game on as kids enter their classrooms. Kids might come in thrilled for the new year yet it won’t take much to lose them if we aren’t centered and focused.
Here’s a short list of books that I think are perfect for the first few days of school.
1. First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg: I love this story as it has a bit of a twist that will make kids smile, maybe even giggle and the conversation after reading it is always enlightening. Sharing this book will show your students that YOU, the teacher, has a sense of humor. Busy Teacher’s Cafe has activities for this book-click their name to pull up website. And if you want a digital tie-in here is a video clip. The video ends just short of the surprise ending which leaves a window for students to make predictions. Find more teaching resources for this book at Unique Teaching Resources.
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Pete the Cat; Rocking in my school shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean: This jazzy title gives a quick and fun rundown of what the school days will be like and shares a quick trip around the school. It does not matter what your school shoes look like because once I introduced Pete the Cat last year and I plan to keep him rocking this year as well. The positive message won’t be forgotten. Video to share:
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn: This one is nearly a classic to teachers and children alike. Every year though I’m surprised by students who’ve never, ever heard the story. This is especially appropriate for pre-k, kinder, and first grade students who may have trouble letting parents go on the first days of
school. In my home copy I was lucky enough to have a page of heart stickers inside the book so every time I read it with my own kids I could grace their palm with a sticker. Make Learning Fun has activities to compliment this title. Share this collection of videos.
I hope everyone has a cheerful school beginning-we all deserve that, teachers and students alike. As teachers we have the ability to lift our students up and bring a positive message to their education.
Usually my school begins before Groovy Girl so I miss the first day send-off. This year it is reversed so I was able to be here and take just a few photos. Allow me to share my little love:
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| {this is about when she got tired of the paparazzi} |
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| {6th Grade Beauty}
Now I have three days to get a summer’s worth of work done! |
We have a beautiful garden this summer. My husband and I compost lots of kitchen scraps and we dump them into a large ball composter that looks a lot like this one. This year when we rolled it from one end of the garden to the other (it IS heavy and it takes both of us to push it around, thus moving the scraps around) we had a really nice fertile (mucky) batch of compost. My husband dug down about a foot and we layered in a batch of compost, which looks like wet dirt, and then cover that layer back up with dirt. It’s a little like burying a treasure!
We have about 5 tomato plants, three robust basil plants, one acorn squash plant, one cucumber plant, and one zucchini plant and they are all producing for us this year. I love it when I can go out and gather a small handful of tomatoes and fresh basil and then turn it into a simple and delicious lunch.
From this:
In between road trips Groovy Girl and I have spent a lot of time at the library this summer. It is one of our favorite places in our quaint downtown area. We love to browse and talk to the librarians about what we are reading or plan to read or are thinking of reading. It is a great thing to surround our children with this book talking, especially over the summer.
The last time we were browsing I went crazy down the new book shelf of titles. While Groovy Girl searched the new chapter books I picked up picture books galore. I even added one into the pile that i thought my handsome husband would enjoy.
1. The True Stories of an amazing all-brother baseball team; Brothers at Bat by Audrey Vernick and Steven Salerno (2012) :
This is a great family story with very retro artwork. The book shares the story of the Acerra brother; 12 brothers, 1 baseball team during the 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s. We love a good baseball story and through this text we learn more about life during this era. The 12 brothers played ball for years; their high school team had an Acerra on it twenty-two years in a row! The story shares the troubles the family experienced as well as the many good times they had together. Eventually the 6 older boys get pulled away to WWII. The very lucky thing is that they all come back alive! This is the book I brought home thinking my husband would like it; and he did! I found him one morning, eating his breakfast, reading through the pages.
2. No Ghost Under My Bed by Guido Van Genechten (2010):
While not so new this is a charming little book that reminded me exactly what it was like to have a little one struggle with bedtime. Jack is ready for bed, all tucked in but he hears a sound coming from under the bed. Dad comes each time to calmly check it out, assuring Jack that ghosts do not exist. The father penguin is calm each time and checks to make sure that all is secure. Very sweet story with beautifully subdued pictures in tones of gray and peach.
3. The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit by Emma Thompson and Eleanor Taylor (2012):
I adore Peter Rabbit and think Emma Thompson would be the perfect person to imitate her in person or in writing. This story takes Peter on a new adventure to Scotland where he meets Finlay McBurney, a large black rabbit, and his clan. This book also included a CD with Ms Thompson reading the tale to us. Very, very sweet!
4. If waffles were like boys by Charise Mericle Harper and Scott Magoon (2011):
A very simple book that takes me back to my own dear son, now a teenager, and definitely not the rambunctious young lad he once was. Now more shy than bouncy I remember easily how he went from activity to activity and that inanimate objects were incorporated into play. This book celebrates that which makes boys, well boys.
5. Hello My Name is Bob by Linas Alsenas (2009):
Bob is a bear. He thinks he is boring. He likes to sit. He likes to hum or count toothpicks. He is quiet. Lucky he has a friend, Jack, who is a bit more thrilling, according to Bob. Jack likes to do wacky stuff like surf, and paint. This story is endearing and brings out the best part of friendship; it is often the differences in each of us that bind us together. This one was a Groovy Girl favorite and really the only one in the stack she was interested in.
What are you picking up at the library?
Groovy Girl and I just finished reading this one together. We had a massive read-a-thon to finish it this morning as it is surprise, surprise…overdue! It left us both thrilled, exhausted, and a little teary.
Synopsis:
That Wood clan needs to be stopped. Save the reef? What a joke. What kind of family loves fish and dolphins more than community? dredging the reef will mean fishermen can reel in more money. That’s what the town needs.
What the town gets, though, is an albino dolphin calf that washes ashore after being caught in some old nets. It will take help from an unexpected new kid, a daring, helicopter rescue, and a pod of dolphins, but Kara Wood won’t back down. The calf must be saved and so must the reef. (inside blurb)
There is a lot to take in in this 338 page novel which is what really makes it a slice of life. Bullying by adults and kids alike, economic strife, death, survival, and at the heart of it; how we are taking care of the earth for future generations play a part in One White Dolphins message. All these varied topics were solidly weaved in to make a believable and interesting tale. The chapters are relatively short which makes for an easier read-aloud which always leaves Groovy Girl begging for more each time I stop to tuck her in. This year she begins 6th grade and my plan is to keep reading together before I tuck her in. She’s my last one until I have grandchildren which, truthfully, is quite a ways away!
A sample from One White Dolphin:
Moana slices through the water on a course set for Gull Rock. We’re running fast and smooth. Mr. Anderson and I have to lean right out to balance her. I run my hands in the bow waves that furl along Moana’s sides. Her sails above us are curved and taut like birds’ wings. We’re racing through the water. It feels as if we’re flying almost.
I look back again to see Dad and Felix , big grins stuck on both their faces. That pang of jealousy hasn’t gone away. It’s not because of Dad, this time. It’s because of Felix. For someone who’s never sailed before, he’s good at sailing. (119)
Find Gill Lewis at her website. She’s a former veterinarian living in the United Kingdom who transforms her love of animals and the earth into really lovely stories.
Peaceful Reader 