gifts – Peaceful Reader

Merry Little Holiday

December is here and nearly gone and then we’ll move into a brand new year. We’ve enjoyed most of the month together both at school and here at home. The holiday season is different when you have adult children instead of small creatures running about the house. Adult children help you in the kitchen, and they don’t require the same kind of toys under the tree. Oh, don’t get me wrong I vividly remember the pure joy of the holiday time for children; it’s a different joy when they are older. The three adult children like each other much better now. There is no awkward competition except for the fun banter over games and gifts, the kind of banter that is learned through good relationships. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Our holiday time was spent talking about current politics, eating excellent food, playing a few new board games, and watching Christmas movies. Hot Frosty, The Merry Gentlemen, and The Noel Diary were top of our list. We drove Kaylee to the Minneapolis airport so she could fly home and Japhy, Greg, and I had the opportunity to see a beautiful play, The Heart Sellers, at the Guthrie Theatre.

We made vegan pho for Christmas dinner and it was the loveliest, so warm and nourishing. I used the recipe from Love and Lemons to make the broth a day before and were inspired by a NYT and Cookie + Kate recipe for topping choices. The broth was very aromatic with deep flavor, didn’t take me a long time meaning I’ll make it again. We added in shitake mushrooms, carrot slivers, sprouts, green onions, edamame, and tofu plus lots of love. We made a double batch so we had plenty to eat that night and Tristan took a full Ball jar home with him and we had a full jar as well which Japhy ate today for lunch. I love leftovers.

I have some wonderful gifts to take me into 2025 including a new yoga bolster (Tristan), a mini Kindle (Japhy), and a beautiful brown sweater from Quince (Kaylee). My husband ordered a heated vest for me to wear because I am always cold. I’ve read a lot of books in 2024 (more on this next post) using the Kindle app on my phone so I think it will be a nice change of pace to have this Kindle for reading instead. My phone is plugged in away from me overnight so that’s a problem if I’m reading a great book digitally.

I hope you’ve all had a merry holiday season and have your feet firmly on the ground, bracing for 2025. With love and peace to you…

Weekly Recipes 10; the Christmas Edition

It snowed here on Christmas Eve afternoon. I was out last minute shopping with my son and as we were leaving our small mall I saw huge flakes flurrying around outside the big glass doors of Von Maur. My face lit up-I know it did. It was amazing. It was magical. I was glad he was driving so I could watch the flakes flying. I guess reading my snow books to Kinders really worked!

Our Christmas has been like that small snowstorm; fast yet filled with joy. Eldest daughter arrived safely into O’Hare airport where her dad gleefully picked her up and drove her here. We feasted on clam chowder, fresh bread, and salad with pomegranate seeds in between church services. It was a peaceful night, happy to be all together our meal was filled with lots of laughter and sounds of soup slurping. After eating we had time to play a favorite card game of spite and malice.

Christmas Day we achieved our goal to stay in pajamas/comfy cozies all day long. Kids were happy with gifts given and received. We lounged, napped, and colored in new themed coloring books. We played Pictionary, another game of spite/malice, and foosball throughout the night. And we ate and ate. Breakfast started with delicious Bloody Mary’s, grits, omelettes, and fresh fruit. In the afternoon we had a small cut of Brie with french bread and rice crackers just to tide us over until our late dinner which was lasagna, broccoli, fresh bread, and pecan pie.

I completely made up the lasagna recipe and I am ecstatic on how it turned out. I have a few butternut squashes from a school friend and I sliced one up and sautéd it in a skillet with coconut oil and cumin seeds. Our family is varied on the meat they will eat/not eat but the one that almost everyone will eat is ground turkey. I, myself, am not a fan as I cannot find high-quality or organic here in town. I have a farmer I could ask but didn’t get around to it this time. And turkey is a bit of sore subject right now with the whole avian flu outbreak. I digress though.

YUM!

I cooked the meat thoroughly, tossed it in a bowl to wait and then sautèd onions and mushrooms together with lots of oregano, thyme, cracked pepper, and sea salt. I added the mushroom mixture to the cooked turkey and I was ready to layer. I totally cheated on my sauce because who wants to spend the entire day in the kitchen so my friend Paul Newman helped me out with his more than adequate jar. I tossed a little of that down first in my glass 13×9-in pan, layered some flat noodles, four across, added a layer of turkey/mushroom mix, a layer of mozzarella cheese, four more flat noodles, the amazing slices of butternut squash, sauce, cream cheese (I completely forgot I needed ricotta cheese until 4 minutes before I started making this, lucky I had cream cheese for a kid-friendly substitute), four more flat noodles, last of the meat/mushroom mixture and mozzarella sauce sprinkled over the top. I poured a glass of water over the top which seems weird but helps the noodles cook. I baked it for 45 minutes with tinfoil over the top and took the foil off for the last 15. I let it rest on the counter top for about 20 minutes as I finished other items and got things to the table. It was bubbly and filled with flavor. Myself I would have just had two layers of squash. Groovy Girl hated the mushroom part and the squash part. Too bad.

I hope everyone’s holiday was filled with as much joy as we had and no arguments which are bound to happen even in the coolest of families. We have more exciting events planned for the next few days but eldest daughter returns to Chicago on the morrow and flies back to Brooklyn to continue her work with Gimlet Media. Happy Holidays!

Let it snow, Let it snow (so we can build a snowman)

{young groovy girl with two snowpeople creations}

We don’t have any snow here. A relative has shared gorgeous snow photos of Colorado but no snow here in the Midwest or at least in our corner of Iowa.

This is unacceptable for Groovy Girl. She believes snow is part of what makes Christmas magic. She loves pulling on her tall furry boots and heading out into the snow to play still. But the snow has to come for her to do that. She is the only one of my kids who loves winter weather.

In order to help her out I’ve read books about snow and snowmen at school to kindergarten classes. Here is a list of my favorites:

1. Alice Schertle’s All you need for a snowman (2007): softly illustrated by Barbara Lavallee with flowing text that moves you forward from one page to the next. The pictures make you want to linger though. I love everything that Alice writes. The cover art above makes you want to flip inside.

2. Alison McGhee’s Making a friend (2011): Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal with soft wispy pictures and text that tells the reader the simple water cycle as the boy builds the snowman and watches it melt only to come back to life the next winter. Great for seasonal conversations as well.

3. Lois Ehlert’s Snowballs (2001): My classic go to story of a snow family taking on new life with a variety of crazy fabrics and household items. Kids love the end pages that shares all the items Lois’ used to create her snow family of kids, dog, cat,mom, and dad. Will inspire you to grab your craft bag and head out into the freezing cold to create the perfect Ehlert snowman.

4. Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick’s Stranger in the woods (2000): With exquisite photographs we see woodland animals all trying to discover who has come through the woods. The lyrical text is filled with kid-catchy sounds making the pictures come alive. I love reading this aloud with the chick-a-dee-dee-dee and the stuttering porcupine. The mystery is bigger than just the snowman though so keep turning the pages. I love ending with a few suggestions on how students could help feed local animals through winter.

5. Daniel J. Mahoney’s A really good snowman (2005): I like this book because it’s more than just a snowman story. It’s about family and sticking together. Jack wants to build a snowman with his friends for the annual snowman competition held at the town park. His little sister wants to help but they send her off to do her own thing. When Jack realizes she needs his help he leaves his friends behind to stick with his sister. It’s a lovely story, cute illustrations, and a good lesson in teamwork.

6. No snowman post of mine would be complete with out mentioning my favorite snowman movie…Jack Frost with Michael Keaton as the aging rocker who is killed in an accident after playing a gig on Christmas Eve. Sounds tragic and their are tearful moments but the story is a light-hearted look at a young boy dealing with grief and a father-turned snowman dealing with leaving his family behind. Love to watch it every year.

Most links for books lead you to Red Balloon Books in St. Paul, MN when available. Buy independent this holiday season. Buy everyone on your list at least one book. And send us some snow…

Found this in my draft box and it's too good not to still share: National Book Award Finalist; Louise Erdrich

I ordered this book for my mom for Christmas (hello, mom) and while it sat on my present shelf it spoke to me. “Read me” it said as I would pass by the shelf several times a day. So I did. I pulled it down and started to read. The fact that I finished it all has to do with how good the story was. While I read the book I posted several times how much I was enjoying the book and my mom kept texting me “I want that book!” I couldn’t say to her “I know you want that book; that’s why I got it for you for Christmas!” but I am saying that now in my blog post as the book is now wrapped in pretty green paper and on its way to you. Merry Christmas Mama. I previewed the book for you and yes, it is a wonderful story.

The Round House

Louise Erdrich

2012

317 pages

Synopsis

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe’s life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

The story is told from Joe’s point-of-view which makes it so much more heart-felt. Within the first few chapters Joe’s mom changes from the happy mom, ready with dinner, holding the family together kind of mother. The kind of mother most of us can relate to and then quickly she is the opposite of that as she lays crumpled in her bed unable to recover from the attack.

This story gives the reader an inside look at life on a reservation; the daily ins and outs as well as the way tribal law works. Bazil torments Geraldine with questions of where, where, where did the attack occur even as she is unable to talk about any of it to her family. His sole purpose is to decipher if the attacker can be prosecuted. He wants to know so he can solve the crime and she can’t tell as she does not want to relive even one second of that moment.

Joe tries to help with his mother, by tending to her, but she slaps him once as he tries to wake her and that moment he is scared for what the future holds for his family. Joe shifts his attention to trying to stay out of the house, away from his mother. Filled with great minor characters, like Sonja, his white aunt, all trying to help Joe in one way or another. The story shares a few jagged twists that eventually feed us and Joe back to his mother. There is hope that their family will prevail.

From a female perspective this story tells a crushing tale of male dominance in our society as a whole. Erdrich’s story shows us how a native woman has even less of a chance for salvation through the courts as Geraldine’s attacker was aware of the complexity of tribal law. Salvation must come through by other means then and that in itself is its own difficult journey as Joe shares with us.

My strong empathetic feeling toward native tribes and the terrible way in which Europeans and then Americans have punished this indigenous group was newly shocked as I learned through Erdrich’s details. Just as books that relay tales of slavery and civil rights help us to understand life as a Black American so to should this book teach us to understand the plight of American tribes.

Quote:

“How’s your mom doing? she said, shaking her head, swiping at her cheeks.
I tried to focus now; my mother was not fine so I could not answer fine. Nor could I tell Sonja that half and hour ago I’d feared my mother was dead and I had rushed upon her and got hit by her for the first time in my life. Sonja lit a cigarette, offered me a piece of Black Jack gum.
Not good, I said. Jumpy.
Sonja nodded. We’ll bring Pearl.” (26)

It is always refreshing when a book is awarded a high honor and it is truly good; good for regular people to enjoy. Thank you to Louise Erdrich for writing such a human story. She owns a lovely little book store in Minneapolis, Birchbark Books.

My Wish List

In case any of you want to finish your weekend shopping with a few select gifts here would be my top five choices. I’m not a holiday shopper but I did take Groovy Girl to the mall yesterday just for fun and to get her out of the house.

These fun items I found all online.

1. 1 liter Bkr bottle: I want to drink water from this glass bottle all day long. I know my water consumption would increase with this bottle by my side.

2. These Joules boots are adorable and they support bee life. We eat a lot of honey and have a huge respect for bees at our house and I think it’s my purpose in life to sport these rain boots to spread the love.

3. I love these Clark boots. I have a cute gray pair that are quite similar but not as sturdy but I know I would wear these a ton in the fall and winter. I had a pair from Bass for years and years and the sole finely fell off. It’s probably weird that I have two pairs of boots here. Excessive boot envy. What I really need is a warm long black coat but I cannot find one that I like or that is a reasonable price. I found one this year from Kenneth Cole; I like the style but it isn’t very warm.

4. This dress from Anthropologie. Perfect for school or a night out. I have a perfect pair of black boots to wear with it. My ankles would be covered. It’s cold here. If I wore wooly cream tights I could wear the above gift with this dress.

5. I think this neck warmer is lovely and would keep me toasty warm as I stand outside in near freezing conditions for my 4-times a week recess duty. Find it on Etsy. The mannequin gives me a bit of the creeps though.

Now enough about me as the season really is about giving to others to be part of the true joy of Christmas. Here are some of my ideas of fantastic gifts for others:

1. Goldie Blox: WoW! What a great idea this is. If you have a young girl on your holiday list please please think about getting her this fabulous gift. Groovy Girl and I listened to Debbie Sterling on Ted Talks and we’ve loved what she had to say. We are more than just a pink aisle. Get on the wagon toy manufacturers (and consumers). This is at the top of my list for my nieces.

2. I would pick a scarf from this selection at Feed.com that helps to simply feed the world. This is a basic human right that we take for granted in our home. Many don’t here in the states and in 3rd world countries. Feed works to eradicate childhood hunger.

3. Heifer International: We love Heifer and we’re lucky to be able to tour their space in Little Rock, AR before we moved North again. We have a penchant for the bees but we’ve often purchased other animal gifts through this organization.

Please give generously. Skip one Christmas gift for yourself and ask for donations to a local charity this year. Find ways to give back. In the land of plenty most of us can afford a little extra holiday giving.

Birthday gifts that keep on giving!

My birthday is way past (still in the same month at least!) and I wanted to (share) brag about two fantastic gifts I received.

My husband and Groovy Girl gave me a NutriBullet because I’d been pricing them myself. I’ve had a Juiceman juicer for years and years but lost interest because it was a mess to clean up and all the fiber ended up in bucket. The juice was good but not enough to keep me interested and so it was collecting dust. I recently gave it away in a flurry of cleansing. Oh it felt so good. The NutriBullet is the answer to the lost fiber and I love it. I’m trying to take off the 10 lbs I’ve added to my small frame over the last few menopausal years and juicing jump starts my morning. I’ve followed a few recipes but mainly just throw a few slices of fruit, leafy greens, nuts, Chia seeds, and a dollop of yogurt or water. Yum. It’s not always pretty but they taste great.

The second cool gift I received is a FitBit Flex from my amazing in-laws. I love them and they always get me something wonderful. I didn’t know much about FitBits before but I’m addicted now. I love logging my food, water, and workouts. I like the sleep part also but can’t get that to always work. I am freaking amazed at how many steps I take in one day plus it makes me walk more than I normally would just by sitting on my wrist. It is the extra thing that pushes me onward. Thank you Phyllis and Allen!

I did get many other amazing gift – these two are just the ones that are helping me health-wise. Oh and the sound recording of my friend Barb’s yoga guru who is both meditative and thrilling. My mom got me a colorful bag and a lovely scarf that I wear a lot and my friend Verda sent me Flair pens to start off my school year right.

I’m blessed ten times over and am personally thrilled every time I have a new birthday. As my stepfather says “it’s better than the alternative.”

Baby, It's cold outside; Picture books to snuggle with…

Cuddle in by the fire and read!

I have a few picture books I checked out from the library and they are lovely and perfect gift ideas!

Mo’s Mustache (2013) by Ben Clanton

This is a very humorous look at copy cats and trendsetting-a fine line to be sure! Mo appears with a mustache and all his crazy friends follow along which eventually makes Mo unhappy and feeling very un-special! He puts his beauteous mustache away and sports a fantastic new scarf. His friends copy him again. This is perfect book for the little trendsetter in your family!

Glamorous Glasses (2012) by Barbara Johansen Newman

Bobbie and her cousin, Joanie do everything together so when it comes time for Joanie to get glasses Bobbie wants a pair to wear. It’s always greener on the other side of the fence as Joanie doesn’t really want to get new glasses. The two girls problem solve a solution that ends up mixing both of them up. This would have been a perfect book for Groovy Girl in kindergarten when she struggled with finding anything glamorous about wearing glasses.

Year of the Jungle (2013) by Suzanne Collins

Suzy’s father heads to Viet Nam and from a child’s perspective we hear about how his absence affects the whole family through the year. Full page illustrations show Suzy’s imaginative idea of the jungle. This is short and perfect to use for parents who are deployed today as a way to explain their long absences and may help them to draw their own journals through writing and pictures.

The Littlest Evergreen (2011) by Henry Cole

Full circle for a tiny tree; from the tree’s perspective we learn how this tiny shoot no taller than the glass blades transitions into a Christmas tree. His roots are dug up and surrounded by burlap and purchased by a family. In the springtime the tree is planted again in a big hole dug just for him. This is especially relevant to our family this year as this is exactly what we did. We plan to plant it where another evergreen died around the border of our yard. Our kids are adjusting to the fact that it is not a full-sized tree this year but we are giving it back to the earth and that they can live with.

Happy Holidays.
I had plans to have many other fantastic Christmas posts done before this but it just hasn’t happened. I did have a great last few days of work handing out cookies and sharing books with students and now I will enjoy my family back together for the next week or so. I hope the holiday is filled with many blessing for you and your family.

Knock Knock; My dad's dream for me.

I came home to two brown paper packages on my living room floor. I ripped into them like it was an early Christmas treat. Books are like that. Inside one of the packets was this lovely book by Daniel Beaty and Bryan Collier (on shelves Dec. 17th).

Knock Knock; My dad’s dream for me (2013) from Little, Brown, and Company is a beautiful story told well both through Beaty’s writing and Collier’s illustrations. A young boy shares his joy of his father’s presence in his life; their morning routine and what his dad means to him. And my first thought was “how nice, the book is going to share the loving relationship between dad and child.” Did not happen; dad is suddenly gone and the young boy is sad, misses his dad. He writes his feelings down for his dad in a letter and leaves it on his desk. I loved this illustration as Collier sends the boy flying up into the sky, searching for his father, on his paper airplane letter.

I was left wondering what happened to this daddy and because of that, as a reader, I was even more affected. I missed the dad too; I could feel the son’s confusion and loneliness. Dad answers the son back in an letter on his desk, telling the young boy that he is sorry he can’t be there too and gives hiim important growing up instructions and we see the son emerge as a young man, wearing his father’s ties, maturing into a man.

This story stunned me because I teach all these wide-eyed beautiful children, many of whom have something in common with this young man; they miss their dads. They easily talk about it often blurting it out during story time or when the topic of family comes up. “My dad’s in jail.” “My dad doesn’t live with me.” “I don’t have a dad.” My heart shudders for them. Ive read other books about loss to my students but this one sends forth a more raw emotional connection between the reader and the father/child relationship.

End notes are included for both illustrator and author and Beaty writes that his father was his caregiver until he was incarcerated. I think it is easy to feel that emotion throughout the book. I received my copy from the publisher and still my thoughts on this book are my own. Always.

It's my birthday (well, yesterday) and I celebrated!

Beautiful hotel pool

I turned 50 yesterday. I know. It feels weird to me as well. I remember when my parents were 50 and it seemed so dang old-seriously ancient-that I never contemplated reaching the age myself. It’s here. When in doubt, celebrate or run away and celebrate. Groovy Girl attended church camp for 3 days near Des Moines and my husband came up with the idea to “whisk” me away for those few days. We stayed in a nice hotel with a very comfy white bed. This photo doesn’t even convey how soft yet crisp the bed felt.

I had a white bed like this years ago when I was single and lived in St. Paul, MN. I didn’t have kids or a husband or two big hairy dogs; just me and a simple bed with white sheets and a white down comforter. I missed it just a tiny bit as I enjoyed this one but not enough to trade the kids, the dogs, or the husband! It’s just a bed after all. Those other things make up my life.

Here’s my birthday photos to share…

Sushi at Hoshi’s

Jasper Winery

The full moon graced my birthday days

Cupcakes with our friends Rocky and Mary Kay

Love this platter from Mary Kay

Husband’s homemade monster card

Want to know what gifts I was lucky enough to receive?

My amazing in-laws (and I felt this way before yesterday) sent me a Kindle Fire!! I played with it until 2:00 in the morning. Our oldest daughter is doing an intern in NYC and she sent me a cool book bag from The Strand bookstore. Our youngest made me a very colorful collage. I gonna frame it. Teenage Boy had a jingle writer write and sing me a Happy Birthday ditty. Aren’t they creative!

Beyond the wonderful trip my husband put together for me, with lots of gifts along the way, he still had gifts at home; the new Gillian Flynn book, Gone Girl and a CD of Michael Kiwanuka (Home Again) because he heard Michael on NPR and loved his sound.

I ordered myself Planting Dandelions by Kyran Pittman because I’ve wanted it for awhile.