Storybooks that Won Us Over (and Over)

 

Whenever I browse children's picture book aisles at the library, I hope to find several books from classic authors and perhaps stumble on a brilliant new title or two.  What I see, however, are shelves full of beautifully drawn newer books that sometimes disappoint when I look inside. Among the colorful sea of modern titles, many lack the simple literary magic that will endure over time.   The difficulty of finding literary gems is one reason I'm glad we purchase some of our own books, in addition to visiting the library.

Still, the library remains an important component of raising our children.  We can sample books at the library that might inspire us to buy the book later, or borrow it regularly (if we discover one that is truly excellent).  Story times with the librarian are also very inspirational mixes of a book or two, music, and rhymes.  I've missed participating in those preschool and toddler story times as part of our weekly routine.  With a daughter attending preschool and another in kindergarten, our schedule is no longer as flexible to make it to as many daytime events. However, my daughters do get to bring home books from their school libraries, which have enriched our reading experiences at home.

The following is a collection of some of our favorite library and book club discoveries.  Some are recent, while others are simply books I remember my girls requesting over and over again:


Come On, Rain, by Karen Hesse, has been the top repeat request for the last week.  I love it when the books my kids want to read and read again are a pleasure for me to read too.  This book has beautiful watercolor illustrations and lovely, poetic language. It might have to go on our wish list soon!
 
Raindrop, Plop! was a book fair find by my husband (who has an M.A. in literature) a couple years ago.  He is usually right about what kind of books our kids will enjoy, and this has been a favorite of our middle child since she was three years old. We have the paperback version.


So Happy! is a beautifully illustrated, simple tale by Kevin Henkes.  The illustrations are in painting style, and three stories are told simultaneously and woven together at the end.  I'm not sure whether the art or the story holds the most appeal, but it has been often read in recent weeks.

Interestingly, all three of these books have to do with rain.  I may have to continue this book theme in future posts, since I'm attempting the 30-minute blog challenge at Steady Mom this week!

Daring to Dream

My dream for the future:

I will sleep 8 hours a night, start the day an hour before my kids awake, spend more time reading books than blogs, scrapbook, get outside every morning, have a company-ready house by each day's end and have people over almost every week.

That was my response to a thought provoking post this week inquiring "what's your dream?"  For me to answer that has not been easy.  My husband sometimes asks me "what do you want?", meaning what do I want enough to motivate me to action.  I haven't had a good answer (or any answer) to that for far too long.  

After living abroad for several years and starting our family there, I returned with my husband and daughters in 2006 to start a new chapter.  But how? Honestly, it has been like starting from scratch. And somewhere along the way I stopped believing the truths in the song "I am a Promise" that I grew up singing.

One way "I am tryin' to make the right choices" again is through making to-do lists for the day.  The results haven't been wonderful, but days that I have a list to guide me are generally better than days that don't. Here's yesterday's list:

There are three headings: What is Right and Seemly So to Do, What Would Be Nice to Do, and Temptations to Resist.  This format evolved from an earlier two-column format like this:

If I could, with God's help, accomplish the most important priorities, I believe my dream would be within reach.  I want my dream to be in line with His, and that's only possible when I let Him fill my life.

Do you have a dream for your life right now?

This post is also linked to Messy Monday at Moms in Need of Mercy.

Creative Ways to Have Fun with Toilet Paper

No, we're not into teenage mischief yet, thank goodness.  We like to play with our toilet paper while it's still in the package.  The four-packs work for us as super stackable building blocks (along with cardboard boxes).  And if some rolls get squished, we do not fret. Why not?  Because from a WFMW link earlier this month, I learned that squished toilet paper rolls last longer!

Menu Plans for the Week of 3/22: Spring Break Edition

One of my daughters has Spring Break this Week.  Since we'll have four dining at home mid-day instead of three, I decided I should be more intentional with planning lunch.  Often I decide what we're eating then about 5 minutes beforehand.

So what's for dinner? You can see plans for one week here.  Here are the dinner plans for the second week.  These two weeks are being repeated until Easter.

Lunch Plans:

-Monday-

• Almond butter and jelly rolls

-Tuesday-

•  Waffles/ Crepes

-Wednesday-

• Sticky Rice with Peanuts, Egg Rolls

-Thursday-

• Out to eat with friends (at Chipotle)!

-Friday-

• Stuffed Avocados

Saturday-

• Carrot Ginger Soup, Broccoli Rolls

Like a Dormant Branch Awaiting Spring

Have you ever found yourself doing the very things you resolved you never would?  This month I was reflecting on lessons I had learned from my worst teachers and wrote a piece entitled My Worst Teachers: Lessons They Taught a Future Educator.   But shortly after completing the article I was convicted.   The awful tendencies that I noticed in my most unhelpful teachers could sometimes be said of me.  I was making the same mistakes I tried so hard to avoid!  They were not as characteristic of me, I think, when I was in the classroom, but rather, in my current profession of household management and raising my children.

I used to write book reviews on EFL teacher resource books.   Now I realize I must take my former zeal for professional development and apply it to my current occupation.  To grow now, one thing I should be doing is reading and reviewing books to spur my professional development as a parent and keeper of the home.

                           

There are two books that spring to mind immediately.  The Preschooler’s Busy Book, by Trish Kuffner, is a resource book of activities that I ordered recently and received two days ago.  Another book, Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood, by Jamie Martin, is still on my high priority wish list.  I hope to read and benefit from these books soon.  Meanwhile, we already have several parenting books that my exemplary husband has read in recent years.  They are on the shelf waiting for me.

Obviously, a lack of resources is not the reason for my stagnation.  There are certainly reasons though. It was easier, for example, to manage one child.  Now my “class size” has ballooned to three.  Other factors involve my own poor choices.  And some unfavorable circumstances are not under my control.  But the same is true in a classroom setting.  

What I sought to do as a teacher was press on, learn from my mistakes, and pursue excellence.  I read books, attended conferences, and kept a teaching journal.  These growth activities were for my own fulfillment and for the benefit of those I was seeking to influence.  My challenge now is to apply many of these same strategies to my work in the home as I serve my family.   

If it seemed for a time that you were “getting nowhere”, what were some of the means that helped you to get back on the path of growth and fruitfulness?

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 3:13-14

Easy Cornbread Muffin Mix-ins

Cornbread done well is sublime--moist and sweet and steamy in the mouth.   But ordinary cornbread, especially when it is no longer fresh from the oven, can taste just so-so.  However, mixing in fruit enables me to create something special in a jiffy.

3 Mix-in Muffin Variations:

Cornbread Batter    +   Pineapple               =      Sweet Pineapple Muffins

Cornbread Batter    +   Peaches  + pecans  =      Peachy Pecan Muffins

Cornbread Batter    +   Pumpkin      =      Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins


When Determining How Much Mix-in to Add...





         ≠









All mixes are not the same, so the amount of fruit or pumpkin mixed in will vary as well.  For every 6 cornbread muffins the mix makes, I mix in about 1/4 cup chopped and drained canned fruit to the batter.  For pumpkin cornbread, I add 1/3 cup canned pumpkin to the batter for every 6 muffins it makes.  Jiffy cornbread mix makes 8 muffins, so I use more fruit (1/3 cup) or pumpkin puree (1/2 cup).  Here's a table for quick reference:

Brand	Amount of Mix in Pkg.	Amount of Mix-in to Add:
Jiffy	8.5 oz. (240 g)	1/3 cup pineapple or peaches
Betty Crocker	6.5 oz. (184 g)	1/4 cup pineapple or peaches
Jiffy	8.5 oz.	1/2 cup pumpkin
Betty Crocker	6.5 oz.	1/3 cup pumpkin

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Adding nuts to the batter is optional.

Thus, while homemade yeast dinner rolls seem out of reach (does anyone still make them regularly?), flavored cornbread muffins can be a quick addition to almost any meal.   They work for me because muffins from a mix are achievable in about 20 minutes, start to finish. 

And now you know my latest kitchen trick.  Serve warm and enjoy!

Color Mixing at Quirky Momma Today

Got M&Ms?  I'm sharing our St. Patrick's Day color mixing activity over at Quirky Momma this week.  Check out my post there so you can join in the fun!

Savings Opportunities This Week: Free Book from Amazon

Did you know that Amazon has thousands of items that are sporting their "4-for-3" offer?  After exploring second-hand options (which are usually my first choice cost-wise and environmentally), I decided to put my Swagbucks to use this weekend at Amazon.  Between the 4-for-3 promotion, free shipping, and my Swagbucks gift cards, I can receive a book I've been wanting for a long time for free!

We also needed to replace our tea kettle and a saucepan; these were my original shopping impetus and they helped qualify the order for free shipping.  Here's how the savings added up:

1 Tea kettle
1 Sauce pan
Trees in the Pavement book
Preschooler's Busy Book
_______________________________________________
Total before discounts: $60.43 + 9.92 for shipping = $70.35

Discounts: -7.99 (4-for-3 promotion)
                -9.92 (free super saver shipping)
               -15.00 (Swagbucks Amazon gift codes)

Total out-of-pocket expense:  $37.44, which is a savings of up to 47%!

Discovering that this Amazon promotion includes Jennifer Grosser's Trees In the Pavement made me gleeful.  The author and I were actually college contemporaries, acquainted through singing in a choir together.  From the alumni grapevine, I learned that she published this book last year.  Since then, I have been eager to delve into her insights about immigrant perceptions of a new land.

Thus, although I did once say I'd "leave deal blogging to the pros", I do make rare exceptions.  Whether it is a book or Band-aids, getting free items that I will use is a blessing.  Nonetheless, I want to guard against encouraging myself or others toward the wanton pursuit of more stuff. To consume less and leave a smaller ecological impact in our wake are still important considerations.

Craft of the Week: Making a St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Garland from Yarn

 

Shamrock garland above a doorway

Materials Used: 

• Green yarn (I used a novelty yarn that had a twist of gold thread.)
• Crochet hook (To forgo a hook and stitch by hand also works; see the video in this post.)
• Wire (coat hangers, chenille stems, leftover wire garland, etc.)
• Scissors

Smaller shamrocks were made from flexible wire.  Yarn was wrapped around the wire perimeter before wrapping again to fill in the leaves.

 

Additional Steps:

1. A wire coat hanger was shaped to form the larger shamrock.
2. Again, the wire was first wrapped with green yarn.   
3. A stem was added by attaching and wrapping a chenille stem.  
4. Then I crocheted additional yarn with a simple chain stitch to thicken it.  The thick yarn was wrapped around the frame in a criss-cross manner to fill in the larger leaves.  
5. The center shamrock was connected to the smaller shamrocks with chain-stitched yarn.  I twisted the thicker rope with an length of plain yarn to even it out.

  

Works in Progress

Today I rejoiced to see hordes of robins hungrily scavenging among the damp leaves.   The snow is finally starting to recede.  Spring is near!  This week we've been celebrating Dr. Seuss by reading many of our recently neatened books, and we've started to decorate for St. Patrick's Day.

Insights Worth Sharing

In recent days I have also been challenged by several excellent points from other women; so I will direct you to them.

1.  On the temptation of the internet
I urgently needed to hear this perspective from Cheryl, at Moms In Need of Mercy.  I never realized how closely the time I spend on the computer is linked to my level of contentment.  If you read just one of these posts I am recommending, this would be the one!

2.  On the necessity of pruning roses (and more)
Here I read an exquisite illustration of the necessity of this counterintuitive task in a garden and in my life.  It was a perfect, timely complement to a recent lesson on John 15.

3.  On the secrets of successful homemakers
Part 1: Seven Habits of Highly Successful Homemakers
Part 2: Seven More Habits of Highly Successful Homemakers

Yes, back to my new favorite author, Cheryl.  In both parts, there are so many points that I can learn from and apply.  And I quickly understood why I am presently so unsuccessful!


A Case Study: Progress, not Perfection

Below are some of the shelves I tackled last weekend.  It was encouraging to see the progress made, though I didn't clear off every last extraneous object.  Nonetheless, to overcome the inertia and be okay with not reaching perfection is a growth step for me.  I am a true "messy perfectionist."

Now, would you like to play a little game?  Guess which photos are the "before" and which are the "after" shots.  You can check your answers by looking at "before" shots at the end of last week's post.

                                 A                                       B

                               C                                            D

                            E                                                 F

Have you been able to celebrate some progress on a project lately?  Are you seeking or finding contentment with where you are at right now?