Brighisms

A few years ago I realized that seeing as there was no way I could remember all the cute and funny things that my munchkins said I had better start writing them down. Thus my book of Kids' Quips was born, and so far I've kept it for four years. Not surprisingly, the majority of them come from my Brigham.
Ever since he was tiny, Briggy has watched the world and come up with some amusing observations which never fail to make us smile. I have written so many of his sayings down in the book that he now has his own category: Brighisms. So without further ado, here are some of my favourites:

-"Look Mommy! Snow fuzzies!" on seeing that it's snowing

-Me:"Who loves Brigham?"
Brigham:"Evee-body loves Brigham!"

-"I eat bad guys for breakfast!"

-"Dad, I used the potty! You're so proud of me!"

-Brigham:"Can I use your felts?"
Ben: "What's the magic word?"
Brigham: "Abracadabra!"

-"I'm going to be the dad next, and when I get married I'm gonna buy my girl a NECKLACE!"

-"Telling is like Satan."

The Baby Project

Due to a doctor shortage here in Slave LAke, the hospital currently is not delivering babies. As such, I will be going into Edmonton for Baby #4. Although I don't mind the monthly jaunt into town for my doctor appointments, the idea of hustling into town while in labour worried me, especially as Jason barely got me to St.Albert for baby Liam. The prospect of delivering Luke along the highway did not appeal to either of us, especially considering that the other three kids would most likely still be in the back seat!
Fortunantly my doctor has agreed that -due to distance and how fast my labours often are-he will induce me on my due date of March twelfth. While now having been warned on how intense inducement can be, I find a fixed date for when this baby will be arriving quite liberating. I know for certain that I will be pregnant for just over six weeks now, and it has given me an idea.
As always, there are things that I want to do before baby Luke arrives. This time though, I know just how much time I have and can plot accordingly. Hence The Baby Project: give myself a (small) list of things I hope to accomplish before March 12. These aren't the practical daily chores, but special things I want to get done.
I will be focusing on two areas: family preparation and sanity savers. I figure to doing at least one thing each week in both areas.

Here's the family prep. list:
- Go on at least two dates with Jason
-Take each of my three munchkins on a Mommy date
-Dejunk and drop off two bags to Goodwill
-Stash at least one meal in the freezer
-Baby knitting (which I have yet to begin)
-make valentines with the kids

Personal Sanity savers:
-Do a foot treatment
-A walk by myself
-Get ahead on my visiting teaching
-Scrapbook some family photos
-Don't cook supper at least twice
-Reread an old favourite

Here we go, let the countdown begin!

Reads for 2011, Part 2

As promised, here are the picks from children's literature.

Kid Picks:

1."Science Verse"- more zany fun from Jon Scieszka! It's hard to resist the fun of poems about such scientific concepts as metamorphosis, the water cycle or the food chain when written with this writer's sense of humor. Hilarious, and well illustrated. My boys love this one.

2. "Th Wonderful Wizard of OZ" (graphic novel)- normally I'm leary of graphic novels, but when Briggy insisted on signing out this version of the story by Shanower and Young from the library I fell in love with this story all over again. Whwether you actually have read the book or only know the movie, this one is well worth finding. Thier art breathes new life into a classic and the charm of the characters is impossible to resis.

3."Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast"- we're big fans of the poet Jack Prelutsky around here, and this book of his is an absolute gem. Poems about dinosaurs? A huge hit!

4."My Father's Dragon"-Thanks to Jacky for introducing this book to us. Elmer goes on a quest to rescue a baby dragon held captive by the mean animals on Savage ISland, battling them with his wits and the contents of his pockets. The perfect book to start your kid on chapter books as it's not too long and ther'es still plenty of pictures on the pages. Briggy and I read it together as his first chapter book.

5."Clever Jack Takes the Cake"-when Jack, a poor boy living near the forest is accidentally invited to the princess' birthday party he creates the best gift that he can: a splendid cake. But on the long journey to the party can he make it past all who oppose him with his gift intact? Fairytale-like in it's beauty.

6."Goldilocks and the Three Bears"- being a sucker for fairytales, I'm always on the lookout for well-told versions with excellent illustrations (there are far too many insipid versions on the market). This one by James Marshall is marvellous.I simply love the bear's home cluttered with books and them going out on their battered bicycle. Goldilocks is also delightfully bratty.

7."Pippi Longstockings"- I read this book years ago, and I spent a great deal of my childhood wishing that I could be Pippi. She is impossible not to love, especially as a child; living on her own in the way she wants, complete with a pet monkey, a treasure chest full of gold and no school. What's not to love? Check out the version illustrated by Lauren Child, it's the best version that I've ever seen. It leaves me hoping that she'll illustrate Pipp'e further adventures in her other two books.

8."We are in a Book!"- with Ben learning how to read we have discovered a splendid early reader series by one of our favourite authors Mo Willems. Whether you have a beginning reader or not, the adventures of Gerald the elephant and Piggie are splendid fun. In this one they realize that they are actually in a book and hilarity ensues. It's excellent, but lla of their books are.

9."Charlotte's Web"- yet another book I rediscovered last year by reading to one of the kids. Both Ben and I were cheering for Wilbur and his best friend. This time around I better appreciated the style of Mr.White's writing. I also was left longing for a similiar swing like the one mentioned at one point in the story, plus just a farm.

10.""Cute and Easy Costumes for Kids"- okay, this is not technically a book for kids' reading consumption, but the boys did love pouring over the wonderful costume possibilities between it's pages. The best part (for me at least) was that all of the costumes were easy to sew, even for such nervous novice such as myself. That'sa picture of the costumes that I made Ben and Brigham from this book for Halloween at the top. They were a big hit.

Reads for 2011

Resolution for this year: start blogging again on a regular basis. To restart, here are my top picks of books from my reading last year. Enjoy!

Grown-Up Reads:
1. "Sugar: A Bittersweet History"- My love of Culinary history continues! This one was fascinating , beginning with why sugar became the most popular sweetener in the Western world, the social ramifications from it (like the slave trade), and just how it has influenced and shaped societies. Full of villains and heroes, tidbits and mention of yummy sweets this is one riveting non-fiction book.

2. "A Countess Below Stairs"-My thanks to Jaima for helping me discover the delightful author Eva Ibbotson! Her novels are stories full of dynamic characters, a fun romantic plot and some sly humour. I love a novel where you really cheer for the heroing and Anna is just that. Fleeing imperial Russia this young countess takes her change of fortune in stride on arriving in England and takes a job as a maid of all work at an English manor. Her zeal to do the job properly is endearing and cannot help but win everyone's hearst, which doe not go unnoticed by the earl's nasty fiance.

3. "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie"- A mystery series by a Canadian author with a title that tickled my funny bone, all a very good start when I first picked this book up and it did not disappoint. Flavia de Luce, a ten-year old with a passion for chemistry, discovers a body in the kitchen garden of the crumbling family manor. Between solving the case , clearing her father's name and battling her two older sisters she is a heroing after my own heart.

4. "Finding Water; The Art of Perseverance"-I have mentioned already the marvellous book "The Artist's Way" By Julia Cameron, a book which has been key to me in growing as a writer. This book of hers takes the concepts of fostering your creativity from the earlier book and gives twelve steps in persevering in it, especially when the going gets rough. Marvellous.

5. "Pies and Tarts"- I blame a certain character of mine who has a talent in pastry that lead me to this great cookbook. But then, Martha Stewart does publish gorgeous ones doesn't she? This one is chock-full of scrumptious recipes, from mini lemon tarts with poppyseed crust, rhubarb crisp pie to the best recipe I have ever found for apple. My skills at pie have not been very good, but they are improving, this book providing ample inspiration.

6. "Handmade Home"- I have become a big fan of Amanda Blake Soule. Her books are a fantastic resource for activities and crafts to enrich my home and encourage creativity in both myself and my kids. She very "Waldorfy" which I love. This book is full of crafts enhance your home. I love her idea for portrait bookmarks using your kids art. Check it out.

7. "Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity From a Consumer Culture"- it can be easy as a homemaker to feel like a fish out of water in today's world. This book was very empowering in that it strengthened my resolve to see just how important a work it is that I do here at home, and made me realize that I'm not as alone as I thought. The history of of how homemaking became thought of as superfluous in North America was quite thought-provoking.

8. ""Secret Daughter" -Now here's a novel that made me laugh and cry. Very seldom do I find one that can make me love a character, then hate them, then love them once more. Also is it rare to find a book where I find a book with a character that I hate, but then grow to love, yet this one did both. Intertwining the tale of two families and the child who connects them, this book made me want to adopt a baby, eat Indian food and volunteer at an orphanage. One Indian mother gives up her baby who is then adopted by an American family. Don't miss this one.

9. ""Agatha Christie: An Autobiography"-The "Queen of Crime" has long been a favourite of mine. Reading her novels I formed a lot of questions and theories about the woman herself, and reading her autobiography I was thrilled to learn that I was right. The same style that prevades her books continues in this book, making it a fun read- despite it's considerable length. What I loved was how she would suddenly go off on tangents sharing her opinions about such topics as feminism, travel, poisons, morality, plus many others.

10. "Under the Harrow"-This book I devoured in three days flat. Putting it down was very hard to do! The isolated inhabitants of Dingley Dell have lived for over a hundred years in their valley, a society based on the three books they had when they were left there: The sixth edition of Britannica Encyclopedia, the King James' Bible, and the complete works of Charles Dickens. Anyone who leaves the valley is never seen again. But when one young boy runs away from home, what he finds in the outside world will either save or destroy the home he has left behind.