Things I'm Thankful For, Week Two

This week I've got a lot to be thankful for, but I'm going to try my hardest not to pick things I've already chosen.  At the end I'm probably going to list a few of the things I'm thankful for that are repeats of last week's post, just because I feel they're worth mentioning again with everything going on.

So, here goes, week two:

1. I am incredibly thankful for good neighbors!  If it weren't for the good neighbors we used to have, we never would have managed our move, nor would we have managed to get rides for Chesh to get to and from work.  If it weren't for a new neighbor, it would have taken a lot more time and struggling to get the furniture moved into our new place.  If it weren't for the new neighbors we just met, I think I would still feel pretty uncomfortable in our new neighborhood, but now it's already starting to feel like home!  I like it here, and it's all because of the neighbors!
2. I'm thankful for warm days and sunshine!  Until you spend an evening unpacking a truck and letting all the cold air into a house without a proper heating system, you don't realize how much of a benefit the sun is to warming up your home, and how much your house can retain from a day's worth of warmth.  We should have a proper source of heat in here soon, but until then we're going to be soaking up the sunshine and warm weather and bundling up a bit more at night.  It may only be in the low 50s by the time we go to bed, but when you've got that door open, it's cold!
3. I'm thankful for good, clean water.  You never really appreciate water until the point at which you absolutely need it.  Yes, it's nice for warm showers and baths.  It's great to be able to wash your dishes. However, the point at which I appreciate it the most is when I've been working hard and just need a little something to hydrate me.  There's nothing better than a sip of water when you need it most!
4. I'm thankful for my bed.  It may not seem like much to be thankful for, or a silly thing to think about being thankful for at all, but I remember days when I slept on an air mattress on the floor, or simply on the floor on a palate made of blankets.  It wasn't the most comfortable.  There's just something about curling up in a nice warm bed with nice warm blankets that really sets the mood for sleep.  I sleep so much more soundly knowing I have my nice, warm, comfy bed!
5. I'm thankful for the internet.  Without it, I wouldn't be able to communicate as easily with friends and family, be they near or far.  I would have to rely on local markets for price shopping.  In general, it makes my life so much easier!
6. I'm thankful for NaNoWriMo.  Never before have I had such an inspiration to get writing.  Yes, I'm a good deal behind, but I'm actually okay with that.  I know I can catch up if I put my mind to it.  A little hard work and dedication goes a long way.  At the end of it all, even if I'm not satisfied with my work, at least I know I made a good effort.  Oh, and I can't forget about how wonderful of a way it is to connect with other writers!
7. I'm thankful for living in a peaceful, quiet neighborhood.  We can't judge it too well yet, but so far it seems lovely.  It's definitely a step up from our old place where we could hear the pulsating rhythms from the club down the way.  It's a definite improvement from worrying if we were going to hear more gunshots, and being paranoid all the time about being robbed.  Everyone here seems so nice.  We've heard wonderful things about the community.  It's nice to feel like we live somewhere that's home, even if it's not my idea of an ideal living situation.  What can I say?  It's nice!

And as for the things I said I'd mention from last week?  I'm still thankful for my children.  With this move and everything, it's been a rough time.  I know they didn't want to leave the old house, but they already seem much happier here.  I'm thankful for my friends who have helped us get through this move.  I'm thankful for the women at the co-op.  I'm thankful for the weather, and that it's not yet too terribly cold.  I'm thankful for Chesh's new jobs.  I'm thankful for my aunt and all the support she's been.  I'm thankful for so many things right now that I think a list couldn't possibly contain them all!

Moving Time Again

Due to, well, a lot of circumstances, my family is moving.  At first I was really upset about this whole thing.  I didn't want to move again.  We couldn't really afford to move somewhere better than where we were at.  In my opinion, we couldn't move at all.  It was a frustrating situation, but it all worked out for the best.

We've moved from an apartment into a trailer park.  At first I figured it was just one of those modular home places that are named mobile home communities even though the houses really don't move, for the most part.  When I arrived I was shocked to see the house we were looking at actually has a trailer hitch right out front!  I was wrong!  It really is a trailer!  There's an RV parked almost across the way too.

I have to admit, when I first got here, I didn't want to give this place a chance.  My first thought was "wow...this is a neighborhood I don't want to be associated with", but I know that comes from being raised with this great idea of status.  People with money simply don't live like this.  A number of the trailers look kind of run down and it definitely doesn't look like a classy part of town.  That almost wrote it off right away.

Well, I'm glad I looked farther.  There were kids playing outside when I got here, and they all seemed to be having a great time.  The place isn't perfect for us, but it's kind of what we need right now.  The kids love the house, and as much as my snobby side hates to admit it, I actually kind of love it too.  There's a yard, though not much of one, and because it's not a fancy high-end neighborhood, they'd have no problems with me putting up a clothes line, just as long as it's secure in case the neighborhood kids try to hang on it.  They'd be thrilled to have me do some gardening as long as I mark it off well so the groundskeeper doesn't mow over it by accident.  There's lots of windows with plenty of light too.  That means a bright, sunny place, not somewhere as gloomy and dark as the last one.  Yes, it's a little drafty and we're going to have to get electric heaters because the gas heat in this particular trailer isn't all that great, but that's something we can work with.  It's warm enough that the kids aren't bothered by the temperature of the house, and that was after having the door open all night and the cold air let in because we were moving everything into the house.

What I like best about this place is the ability for the kids to go outside, and the chance to actually garden.  We may not be able to grow much, but if we can find a good area to grow some vegetables we could save ourselves a little on our grocery bill.  The neighborhood is really quiet and so far all the neighbors seem really nice.  The management is wonderful too.  From what we've been told by the people we've already met, everyone kind of looks out for everyone here, which is great.  We're out in the country too, so we're away from downtown and all the high crime areas.  Someone would actually have to put some thought about coming out here to break in or mess with the property.  Even the mailboxes go unlocked.  We'll even get to go for a decently long walk through the park to get to the mail boxes.  While some might view that as a pain, I think that's kind of nice.  The kids will enjoy going for a walk every day and it's not that far.

Last night I couldn't help thinking it felt like camping when I was standing out by the moving truck, looking up at the stars.  This is kind of a creepy place to live for me.  I've never lived in a place with such a huge expanse of sky.  The little office and the RV across the way give this place a feel of camping, not a place to permanently live.  It just seems like it should be little rows of cabins by a lake or in the mountains somewhere.  They're not the rich and ritzy places, but more the places the average family goes to camp.  It feels like a whole new adventure.  Most importantly, the kids love it, and that makes me happiest of all!

Things I'm Thankful For, Week One

A lot of people on Facebook have been doing a count-down to Thanksgiving. Each day from November 1st to Thanksgiving they will be listing one thing they are thankful for. I love the idea, but I can't get online every day, so I'm going to do it every week for the month of November. Every Sunday for the month I'm going to list seven things I'm thankful for, and that might be easier than expected with the way the past few weeks are going. So, here goes! This is my list for week one!

1. I'm thankful for my kids!  Sure, some days they drive me nuts and some days I really wish they'd lose my name and forget I'm here for an hour so I can actually get something done without a million interruptions, but those times pass.  Most of the time they're bringing the whole house tons of happiness!  When times are the worst, they give me a reason to get up and keep on moving, no matter how much I don't want to.  They give me a reason to keep on trying.  I don't know what I'd do without them.
2. I'm thankful for my fantastic aunt!  Sure, she and I don't always see eye to eye, but she's always there for me to talk to, even if she doesn't like what I have to say, even if I don't like the advice and opinions she's handing back to me (because, let's face it, sometimes the truth isn't exactly easy to hear!) Without her we'd have fewer crayons, markers, and holiday crafts.  We wouldn't have such a wonderful stock of play doh.  We wouldn't have such fantastic games, half of which I'd never even heard of before she sent them.  We wouldn't have all of the fantastic kid-friendly decorations that are just as good for putting up to decorate as they are for playing with.  That's not even starting on all of the wonderful books my aunt sends on every subject!  She's really offered the children wonderful ways to expand their minds and interests, just like she did with me when I was a kid.  Most of all?  I'm thankful for my aunt because she's always been the member of the family who has meant the most to me, something I don't know if I've ever told her before.  She's been wonderful to my family, no matter who may be a part of it or what is going on in my life.  I can't wait to live closer, or at least to be able to visit with her again.
3. I'm thankful for wonderful friends who may as well be family.  Every time bad news hits they're right there to tell me how strong I am and how they'll do everything they can to help us out.  Well, sometimes "everything they can" is nothing more than a good recommendation or someone to vent to, but that's sometimes all a person needs.  Without my friends, I think I'd be pretty lost without them.
4. I'm thankful for both of Chesh's new jobs.  He's working in the kitchen at the school district and a local restaurant.  Both jobs offer benefits and are about 20 hours per week.  That means together they're full time.  It's not the ideal situation, but it's definitely a start.  Together they're the answer to our financial struggles.
5. I'm thankful for the homeschool co-op.  The co-op is made up of a group of fantastic moms and their wonderful kids.  They're wonderful to talk to and I feel like I'm finally starting to find a community where I belong.  Better yet, the kids are making some fantastic friends their own age that aren't completely caught up in school dramas and what's trendy and in.  They're a fantastic group and I'm so glad I met them all!  Without the co-op, our lives definitely wouldn't be the same!
6. I'm thankful for the weather.  It's finally cool and bearable here in Texas.  Yes, sometimes it's a little cold for my liking without having proper winter clothes, but it's nice to be able to spend some time outside, even if today is cloudy and "miserable".  I keep hoping it will rain and then it would be the perfect day!
7. I'm thankful for family games.  Whether they're educational or purely for fun, they always make for great time to sit around the table as a family.  Lately we've been playing at least one almost every day.  We've got a pretty good variety so we're probably not going to get bored of them any time soon.  Besides, even if we do start to tire of the games we've got, they're inexpensive enough that it's easy to add a new game or two to the mix now and again, and you'd be amazed how many different card games you can find online!  That means fantastic, inexpensive family entertainment that engages everyone's minds and encourages a social atmosphere.  Even a group of adults can get behind that!

Wow!  That was pretty easy!  It's wonderful to know just how many blessings I have in my life.  Three more weeks of this is going to be incredibly easy!

The Only Way She Wants to Read

If you've been following along thus far, you already know my Bunny Boo hates to read.  Reading is like a prison sentence to her.  It's the most cruel torture a parent could come up with.  If I ever want to punish my daughter, all I would need to do is sit her down with a book to work on reading.

It hasn't always been this way.  When she was very young, three, I think, she loved reading.  She wanted me to sit down and read with her all the time.  My aunt sent her a book once and she proudly picked it up declaring One, Two Three!  I was surprised when she shoved the book in my face to see that, sure enough, One, Two, Three! was the title of the book.  She was always that way with her books.  I'd pick up a book she was familiar with and as I would follow along what I was reading with my finger, she would break in with the word, reading it for me because she knew what it said.  It made reading with her a lot of fun.  We'd spend a good deal of time reading together until I couldn't take it anymore and wanted to do something else.  After about twenty or so books, I needed a break.  My voice was worn and I was starting to feel like I had no time to do anything I wanted to.  I was just an audio book library for my daughter.  By the end of it I wanted to make that ping sound that those read-along tapes I used to have when I was younger.

Somewhere along the line, things changed.  Reading became "too hard".  Actually, everything was "too hard" if it required any effort on her part at all, even using the toilet.  I'm sure part of it had to do with her father deploying and having a new baby brother in the house, so suddenly all eyes weren't on her.  Though I tried to do special "big girl" things with her, or things her brother couldn't enjoy but was stuck tagging along for the ride, it wasn't good enough.  She's been daddy's little girl since the day she was born, and having me as a replacement for nearly fifteen months simply wasn't enough.  I would try and teach her the alphabet and she wanted nothing to do with it because I wasn't her aunt and she wanted to see her aunt.  Her aunt was the one that did the best "letters" stuff with her and I couldn't compare.  No matter what I tried to do, she always had some reason to be unhappy with it.  She wanted to move out of Texas and go back to "the snow place".  She wanted Daddy to come home right that second.  If that couldn't happen, I had to have her friends over every day.  This was followed by constant string of "I hate you, Mommy!"  Where she learned that, I'll never know, but there it was.  I have to admit, I hated Texas.  I hated the Army.  I wanted nothing more than to go back home to Massachusetts so my little girl could have her family back, even if I couldn't bring her father home.  She seemed better about not having him around when we at least had other family there to keep her mind off of everything.

When Daddy came home things got worse and things slowly went down hill from there.  Separation followed his first year back.  He deployed again and never called to speak to his kids.  We tried co-habitation for everyone's sake, with Chesh and the littlest one when my soon-to-be-ex-husband got back from his deployment, but things got far worse, and Daddy trying to step in and help her with her reading only turned into more of a disaster.  They just weren't a good personality match when it came to learning and she was just too far frustrated with the whole idea.

So with all of this, it shouldn't be surprising that reading isn't something I've had an easy time bringing her around to.  It seems to carry a lot of negative baggage for her for some reason.  However, we've been finding creative ways to get her to read.  She wants to play some of her favorite games, she's got to learn to read.  If she wants to learn about stuff she's interested in, the best thing to do is be able to read about it.  Most of what she wants to do requires reading.  It hasn't been an easy path.

Thankfully, Chesh just jumped on board with the reading.  Bunny Boo loves Pokemon.  She's been wanting to do everything with Pokemon since we got her the DS game she loved so much.  The other day Chesh decided he would teach her to play a card game.  Seeing as we didn't have any Pokemon cards on hand, Chesh asked her if she wanted to learn how to play Magic the Gathering.

Now, to give you a little bit of background, when we have adults over to play cards, we're not playing conventional card games.  More often than not, Chesh is having friends over to play Magic.  When Marrok stayed with us, he played Magic too.  Bunny Boo would often see Chesh sitting over his cards trying to figure out how to improve one of his decks or organizing his cards to put away new cards he got through purchase, Christmas presents, or trade.  He spent a good long time looking up the cards he needed to complete his collections and how much he could expect to look at in purchase cost or trade value.  He's not just a player.  He's also a collector.  On a few occasions I would sit down with Chesh and help him build a deck, or would out and out build a deck for him that he would test and modify as needed, with or without my help.  She'd seen that we both would invest a lot of time on what someone else might find a silly card game.  She'd asked about it several times, but we kept telling her she had to learn to read if she wanted to learn how to play.  Reading is a large part of the game.  True, we also played games like Munchkin, and she's seen a few rousing games of rummy, but Magic was the bulk of the card playing action among adults.

Because of this, when Chesh told her to come out to the dining room and sit down, she was curious.  She knew Chesh had his cards spread across the table for days, having to clean them up every night for dinner.  She couldn't imagine why he would want her out there while he was working with his cards.  I almost expected her snappy, much too early teen attitude response of, "What do you want now?"  It had been a long day and exasperation isn't something I'll ever deny her when she's been dealing with two brothers that want nothing to annoy her all day.  Thankfully, she refrained.

When she walked into the dining room, the cards were still all laid out.  Chesh helped her build her first deck.  Then, once they'd done that, he sat her down and taught her to play Magic.  They played one hand before she had to run off and do something else, but she did really well and almost won!  She read all the cards on her own, with a little bit of help, of course, and he taught her how to use all of the spells and creatures to her best advantage.  She really enjoyed it and hasn't stopped bugging Chesh to play again.

The other day when we went to the library we realized that if Bunny Boo wanted to keep her own library card, she would need a wallet to keep it in.  I had told her we would look for one she liked.  We went to Target, but I didn't realize they didn't have wallets for kids.  We should have probably gone to the mall.  However, she selected one that was just perfect for her.  It's square a square hard case with one of those button latches that you push to open it.  It's decorated with a brightly colored peacock.  I have to admit that I thought she would choose that one.  It was so her.  It's just the right size.  It's got a zip pocket for change, a nice little spot to tuck any money she may carry on her for whatever reason, and a couple slots for cards.  She decided to use the clear ID pocket to put her library card in.  She's so proud of it, but again, I digress.  I'm pretty good at that, aren't I?

While we were looking at wallets, Chesh decided to go look at the Magic cards.  This is a regular routine for us.  Every time we stop at a store with cards or video games he wants to check out the selection.  I didn't think anything of it until he came back with the littlest in the cart and told me to have the kids wait a few feet away because he had to ask me something.  He pointed into the cart and said, "I wanted to ask you first, since I know money is tight and we're trying to save, but I wanted to get that for Bunny Boo."  I looked down and there was a two player starter set for thePokemon Trading Card Game.  He was right.  We were supposed to be saving money.  We probably shouldn't have spent the money on her wallet, but it was something I could justify.  She would feel much more comfortable knowing I didn't have to carry her library card everywhere for her and this way she wouldn't lose it.  Besides, it wasn't expensive.  Neither were the cards, and if it gave her something to encourage her to read, it was worth it.  I know I should have said no to both expenses, but I gave in.  We would find a way to make it work, and it had been quite a while since I'd last splurged on the kids.  My daughter felt pretty left out not that long ago because we had to buy new underwear for her brother and she didn't get anything, and the baby, of course, always gets new things, even if it's just second hand clothes from friends.  She knows it's just because he's growing so fast and needs clothes to wear, but it's still hard for her.  It might do her good to see her singled out for something special.

Wouldn't you know it?  When we got home she kept begging to play her game!  When she was first told we were playing a game tonight she was thinking we could sit down and play Mousetrap or something.  She hadn't thought about her game or Magic.  All she knew was the family was going to sit down and play a game.  Instead, after sitting through reading, she was offered to play Pokemon.  Of course, reading was a stealthy, sly trick to let Chesh figure out the rules of the game before they played!  They played through once to learn how the game was played, and then it was time for bed.  You could tell.  At first she was reading the cards eagerly, but towards the end she was dropping off and getting frustrated.  Still, she was so disappointed that she couldn't play again.  We had to promise her she could play again in the morning.

As it turns out, Chesh was torn between getting her the two player starter for Magic or Pokemon, but Pokemon won out.  He figured it's more age appropriate for her and it would be something special that was just for her.  Once her brothers were old enough, if she still wanted to play, she could teach them to play too.  Given a lot of adults play Pokemon, I wouldn't be surprised if she did still play.  Now she wants to learn to read even more so she can get really good at playing.  It will be easier to win when she doesn't have to ask for help with reading her cards!

Since she started playing, she secretly announced to me that she really liked learning to read for card games. Playing those games makes her actually want to read!  It looks like we have a success!  Now I've just got to come up with other things that will be interesting and engaging enough to encourage her to read.  If she'll read for things that are truly fun and engaging with someone else, maybe that's our foot in the door.  Maybe that's all she needed to turn her focus to reading!

Our Second Library Visit (or the Things You Learn about Your Kids at the Library)

We went to the library again today.  Our books were due, so we didn't really have much of a choice.  I (of course) hadn't finished reading any of my books, and Bunny Boo (that's what she asked me to call her on my blog) hadn't either.  She'd finished two of her books, but not the third, so she requested we hang on to it a little longer so we can finish it.  We've got ten books to read together between now and November 16th.  I'm sure we can do it!  We already got through two today!

The whole family went to the library today.  Chesh decided he wanted to get his own library card.  We went to the children's library, but he enjoys books written for teens and they're short enough that he actually has the time to read through them with his busy schedule.  We actually stopped in between his interviews and errands.  We've all gotten a lot done this week!  We thought it would be a fun break from all the crazy running around to kick back and take the family to the library, all of us, as a family.

As I said, Chesh actually picked out some books!  I'm glad he did because I think I would have had my hands too full to enjoy the library without him!  My littlest decided he wanted to run around crazy.  There were so many books that he didn't know which one to pull down and look at first!  He mostly just wanted to turn the pages like the older two were doing.  I think he was a little overwhelmed by the shelves and shelves of books.  He found a chair to sit on that spun around (he's never sat on an office chair that he remembers).  He discovered they had a whole table and chair set that was just his size!  He even yelled at Chesh when he went to see what the little one was up to.  He held his hand out and screamed as if to say, "No, Dad!  You can't sit in this chair!  It's just for kids!"  He even learned that sitting at a desk can be pretty cool, especially when they have a little keyboard drawer to pull out, even if there's no computer or keyboard at it.  Leave it to him to come up with a million and one ways to enjoy exploring the library!

My older son was very interested that they had a whole library book all about "his birthday".  He knows April Fool's Day isn't a holiday just about him, but he's convinced he's special because no one else in the family has their birthday on a holiday every year.  He says he's a fool because he's an April Fool, and that means it's his job to make everyone happy all the time.  Thankfully, he does that by being very silly and rarely serious (unless he needs to be) so he doesn't even have to work too hard for that, and when he can't cheer someone up, he doesn't feel bad about it.  He knows he tried and that's good enough for him.  As he puts it, "People just need a sad day sometimes."  What wisdom for a four-year-old!  He also wanted to get out every book on Halloween and a book about Native American fables.  I really wanted to tell him he could take out the book on my card, but I know he's not ready for the responsibility of a library book, so I'd have to watch it like a hawk for him.  With everything else we have going on right now, I just wasn't ready for that added responsibility.  I told him if it's still there next time we visit (which may be sooner rather than later!) we'll get it out for him.  He's already excited for his birthday.  I promised him that as soon as he turns five, we can take him to get his own library card.  He's already putting together a list of things he wants to get books about!

However, it was Bunny Boo that surprised me today!  Originally she said she wanted to renew one book and pick out seven more, since she can have ten books out at a time now.  She decided she would keep two slots on her card open for movies.  Then, when we were counting her books so we could leave it turned out she had eleven books!  She decided to put one back (it was about voting in America) and we'd get it next time.  Since she was so thrilled about her book selection, I decided to get a movie out on my card for her.  She was thrilled!

What surprised me more than her ambitious selection to take out so many books (that I would have to read with her because she's getting good at reading, but still prefers I read the long books to her), were the books she selected.  The book she wanted on Halloween wasn't there, not surprising since Halloween is just around the corner, but she did pick out Halloween by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Halloween: Why We Celebrate It the Way We Do by Martin Hintz and Kate Hintz.  I know my daughter and her love of holidays, so that didn't surprise me.  Given Thanksgiving is not that far after Halloween, she decided to pick up Thanksgiving Day: A Time to Be Thankful as a part of the Finding Out About The Holidays series and The True Story of the First Thanksgiving from the What Really Happened series.  She also thought P Is for Pilgrim: A Thanksgiving Alphabet would be fun since she enjoys M Is For Mayflower: A Massachusetts Alphabet so much.  Both of my older kids seem to love the Alphabet Books Series.  It combines a holiday with Pilgrims!  What could be cooler?  None of these selections really surprised me, not knowing my daughter the way I do.

What I didn't expect my daughter to select were a couple books from two different parts of history that we haven't talked about.  One was only a little surprising. The other was a huge shock, given we'd talked about the subject before several times and she thought it was the most boring thing in the world every time we tried to bring it up, even recently. The first two books that weren't such as surprise were Let Women Vote from the Spotlight on American History series and You Wouldn't Want to Be a Suffragist!: A Protest Movement That's Rougher Than You Expected from the series of books bearing similar names.  The kids have all been watching Mary Poppins (almost to death) and Mrs. Banks just so happens to be a Suffragette.  I have to admit, I kind of expected her to find interest in the Women's Suffrage movement eventually, what with her mother being a feminist and all.  We read You Wouldn't Want to Be a Suffragist already and she had a lot of opinions about it.  We talked about the feminist movement, how some people to this day think women aren't as good as men.  She asked about why I changed my name when I got married, then we talked about how in some states, such as Texas, a baby born when a woman is married is required by law to take the husband's last name, whether the wife wants the child to have her husband's last name or not.  For example, if my last name was hyphenated, like...say...Smith-Adams, and my husband's last name was Adams and was never hyphenated, all of my children's names would have to be Adams unless I went through a legal name change to have it changed to Smith, or Smith-Adams.  We also talked about the way some people think jobs, like being a scientist, doctor, or engineer, aren't women's jobs, and sometimes women have to work twice as hard to prove they're just as good, if not better than the men.  I had personal experience with that in my robotics class in high school.  Several times the teacher asked one of the boys to help me because "they were stronger" or  he "didn't want me getting hurt".  The boys didn't want to work with me because no one wanted to be put on a build team with a girl.  It was frustrating.  She didn't think that was very fair at all.  We talked about how the Women's Suffrage Movement actually paved the way for a lot of the progress more modern feminists have made.  It was a wonderful conversation and I can't wait until we can sit down with that other book.  I'm even learning something too!

Now that I've gotten way off track, the subject my daughter was never interested in before, no matter how much we tried to get her interested?  Mummies.  Bunny Boo isn't really interested in much about Ancient Egypt, but mummies are a sudden fascination of hers.  Perhaps it's because there are mummies in so many cultures from all over the world, even modern mummies.  Of course, it's also Halloween, and that might have something to do with it.  The first book she picked out before we even got to the section where the Halloween books would be (since she said that was the first place she wanted to look) was Mummies: Truth and Rumors from the Truth and Rumors series.  Shortly after she picked out the holiday books she wanted, she saw a binding with a word she definitely knew how to read Mummy from the Eyewitness Books series.  I could have sworn we had that book at home, but she swears we didn't.  Only thing I can think is maybe I'd seen it before, either when I was in school or when I was working as a nanny.  We haven't read through the Eyewitness book yet, but she loved the Truth and Rumors book.  She had a good time trying to guess if each story was true or a rumor.  It contained some really fun facts and some fancy new words that she'd never heard before, like cholera, cryonic freezing, cremate, asphalt, embalmer, and resin.  She was thrilled to know that the oldest mummy known in existence was actually a dinosaur, not a person, and that there was a mummified baby mammoth too.  She's decided that mummies are now the new cool and interesting thing to know anything about, as well as archaeologists.  She thinks the most fascinating thing about archaeologists is trying to put together ideas about what people they've never met are doing from clues like the things they used, the pictures they drew, and the monuments and buildings they left behind.  I think her interest in mummies is going to take us far beyond the realm of mummies and into a whole new realm of discovery about history, learning about things that happened because there's some great mystery to solve.  You don't know anything about the people.  You can't talk to them.  You just have to solve the mystery.  Now that I think about it, a friend of hers did have a live action/role play mystery birthday party, so maybe that's where she picked up her new love of mysteries.

While my daughter isn't a strong reader, I really do hope that reading to her about subjects that interest her will show her all she can learn from books and will encourage her to read more.  She's got the skills, and she's got the ability, now all she has to do is find a reason to apply herself.  We've had both good days and bad days, so I'm hoping that it won't be long before she's realized that books and the library are her passport to anywhere she might want to go.  If she learns to read on her own, she won't need to wait for me to sit down and read to her.  She'll be able to read anything she wants whenever she wants, whether it's a fun story, or something she can learn from.  I can only hope that she'll learn to love books just as much as I do!  Thankfully, I don't think her brothers will have near as much of a problem.  They both love books and can't seem to keep their hands off of them.  Both of them already love the idea of reading, so maybe I'll be lucky.

Reminders of my Mother, the Song She Used to Sing

It's been a while since my mom and I have really talked, but I've been talking about my mom more and more lately.  I read in a book that girls think it's important to hear stories about things their mom and grandmother used to do when they were little, so I thought I'd start doing it.  It never dawned on me how much it would make me wish I was closer to my own mother.  For anyone that might be interested, the book is called Everyday Ways to Raise Smart, Strong, Confident Girls: Successful Teens Tell Us What Works.

Sometimes reminders really come from unexpected places.  I never expected to be reminded of a song my mom used to sing, especially not this little ditty.  The song goes like this:

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat.  Please do put a penny in the old man's hat.  If you don't have a penny, a hay-penny will do.  If you don't have a hay-penny then God bless you!"

Today we were reading a book together calledThe Story of Halloween.  In it they used just a portion of that.  They claimed those going door to door for treats and money used to sing, "If you don't have a penny, a half-penny will do.  If you don't have a half-penny then God bless you!"

I was so surprised.  It took me a good long while (as in until right now) to figure out why we used to sing that at Christmas, but it was still a nice connection.  I taught my kids to sing the song and we had a good time of it.  My kids thought it was pretty fun that the book talked about something their grandmother used to sing.

These days I'm finding more and more reasons to share things about my family with my kids.  We talked about the famous "potato question" not that long ago.  I look forward to the day they start talking about simple trivia they should know, yet can't seem to remember and refer to it as a "potato question"!  I think this year I'm going to tell them about the Turkey Races, and maybe we'll find a way to stage our own.  I want to tell them as much as I remember.  Why?  Because our country is losing so much of it's rich family histories and the oral tradition.  I think it's something too important to let go.  I want my children to feel close to their families, even when they're so far away.  It gives them a little bit of something they can hold on to.  It also gives them something to reference in their own lives.  They can hear about the mistakes I've made, the frustrations I've had with my parents, and everything else and in the end, they'll know I knew what they were going through once.  I may not understand anymore because I'm on the other side of it all, but once upon a time I knew.  Maybe it will help them find a way to get through.

Rainy, Rainy, Rainy Day...

For those of you who are familiar with how Texas weather has been, you'll know the word "rain" is something highly prayed for around here, but seldom happens, at least for this summer.  The blessed watery substance that hydrates the earth seems to have decided not to make it's presence known to the point where lakes seem to be drying up and forest fires are running rampant.

Starting yesterday, the skies decided to grace us with this stuff called rain.  The kids and I sat and watched it in the windows for a while.  Then we went out in it for a bit, just because every kid likes to play in the rain.  We talked about the rain.  We shared our thoughts.  That's when the kids realized that rain is really kind of a downer.  It's not nice outside, so you don't want to go play outside for long.  You get wet and cold.  It's dark and gloomy, so it means turning the lights on during the day just to see.  You can't really take books and toys outside or they might get ruined.  It's hard to play ball when it's raining.  Most people don't even want to drive anywhere when the roads are slick and wet.  It means they lose out on a lot of fun stuff.

With our massive house clean-up going on, we've been facing a lack of space, but it's been coming at a benefit to everyone, especially the kids.  Our dining room table is buried under a mountain of stuff from the kitchen cabinets that all needs to be washed and put back.  They boys room is full of boxes from the closet, so we've been having sleep over parties in my daughter's room.  All the floors need to be mopped, the walls wiped down, and everything, but we haven't been as sharply on it as we should be because we've got so much stuff!  It's meant everything we're able to do is severely limited (which leads to the kids fighting like cats and dogs).  It's been rough with the rain on top of that.

However, even with all this rough stuff going on, my kids are kind of grateful for the clean up.  Sure, for several days they're not going to have much space to play until we process through it all, clean it all, and get it all put away, but we're finding cool stuff as we go.  I've found a completely blank drawing pad, which my daughter was very excited about.  Hers is almost full.  We found a new stock of markers that had been buried in a box.  There were some toys they were looking for and couldn't seem to find.  It seems like with every box we go through, not only are we finding new things that the kids love, but we're also condensing and getting rid of stuff we don't need to hang on to anymore.  The kids love knowing we'll have more space in the house soon and they're enjoying all the fun stuff we're finding.  It's like an archaeological dig!

Though it might be raining and miserable outside, we're still having our fun.  We're exploring the depths of our own home.  When we've finally cleared off the space for the kitchen stuff to go back, we'll have the space to work on art projects with all the new art supplies we've found.  It's going to be wonderful!

While the weather might be dark and gloomy outside, I think this is the best rainy day we've had in years!