Just a Mom, Reading to my Kids

Get reading again

2012-01-24T09:12:00.001-08:00

I’m alive, I promise! Three kids later, I’m busy as can be. Sorry. If anybody really has been hoping that I would post, sorry. And (more likely) those of you who forgot about me, I’m back.

I got an email from Nannypro.com They posted a list of 10 books to get kids reading again, and wanted to make sure I knew about it, just in case I wanted to link it or feature it here on this blog. I’m so glad they did, because it’s a great list, and I now have at least 2 new books that I want to read. Go check it out, because I’m telling you- Killing Lincoln sounds like an awesome book!

As for me. I have made one more step towards publishing a book… I got out some large envelopes to mail it in. Pathetic huh? I really have a detailed plan, I just keep putting it off because I have so much more to do.

Actually, I made a book. A complete book. It’s about my Grandparent’s ancestors. And it’s awesome! I included my Grandma’s history, handwritten by her; her mother’s history (also handwritten by her,) stories, journals, trail excerpts from ancestors; and memories and pictures provided by my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a really big project and I had a lot of help from family. And I was so happy with the way it turned out!

I’ll try to post more on here. I like it. It reminds me that I really do want to get my books published. It reminds me that I really do love reading, and my kids do too. Christopher is 4 now, and he’s getting pretty close to learning to read. He loves letters, and recognizes them everywhere. Caleb, 2, loves books too. Derek is 10 months now and likes books a lot. They taste good.

Book Review: Courageous- Honor Begins at Home

2012-01-07T22:26:00.001-08:00

Courageous: Honor Begins at Home Book Review

Mr. Fabulous: After seeing this book sitting around for a while, I picked it up and read it. Since my wife is still waiting, I will write a review of it.

Courageous is a story of four police officers and their families with Christian and father themes. The story is set in Georgia with police officers in different stages of their careers and families. After the suicide of a comrade, Adam decided he needed to evaluate his life. He was led to reconnect with his son by beginning to run with him. With mentoring help from Tom, a man in an Assisted Living Home, Adam decides on certain goals and expectations to become the kind of husband and father he wants to be, in the process becoming a better person himself.

As the story unfolds, Adam connects to many police officers and has heart-felt conversations with them. Eventually many of the officers decide to agree to a pact to work together and help each other. Others make strides toward improving in their own way.

The story includes much that was interesting about the daily life of a police officer and its challenges. It was weird to me to read about others’ exchanges about Christ because it seems like they do not happen quite as often as portrayed and when they do, they are pretty special. It is important to know of the power that comes into one’s life with Christ’s help when making changes, but those parts sometimes bogged me down. Otherwise I enjoyed the themes that helped me to reflect on my own relationship with my wife and boys. I had to think about what I am doing to be a better person myself as well.

Spending time as a family

2011-08-07T19:57:00.001-07:00

I’ve been a distracted writer lately. I haven’t been as diligent about writing my stories. I’m busy making my own. I love being a Mom. I love it! It’s the only thing I really ever wanted to do in my life. And I have that, and I love it! As much as I want to publish my books, right now, that comes second. (or fourth, since now I have 3 kids.)

Anyway, I was thinking about that today. And I decided I wanted to share with you my views on parenting. (I’m currently reading Dr. Laura’s book called In Praise of Stay at Home Moms. It’s a great book, and really embodies what I’m getting at here…) One of the easiest ways for me to share those views is by directing you to a document called The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

At one point, when I was in college, I had almost this entire document memorized. I love it. I try to live by it. You know what I think is amazing? It isn’t just for members of my church- it’s for the entire world. I don’t care if you aren’t a member of the LDS church, or even if you believe in God, this document, if you follow it, will enrich and strengthen your family!

Anyway, enough preaching from me. I love my family. I love my family. I love them so much. And I know you love your family- so I just thought I would share this beautiful pearl of family guidance.

Now, I’m going to go spend some time with my family!

Book Review: Love & Respect

2011-05-23T11:46:00.001-07:00

Another long “in-between” blog posts for me. Same excuse:

Little baby Derek has joined our family, and I absolutely love him so much, it’s kind of hard to put him down long enough to type with both hands! But, I have had a little bit more time to read- while relaxing… as much as I can relax with three little boys!

This book, Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs was an interesting read for me.

My husband and I have a great marriage relationship. I don’t feel like we’re struggling, in any serious way. But, I chose this book (which was provided to me free of charge from BookSneeze) because I like to find any little thing to help improve communication and relationships. Plus, it kind of sounded interesting.

Here’s the synopsis:

Based upon Ephesians 5:33 and extensive biblical and psychological research, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs reveals the power of unconditional love and unconditional respect and how husbands and wives can reap the benefits of marriage that God intended.

I have to say, my expectations were set too high for this book. It was a good read. It was interesting. But, it wasn’t anything very new. All of the reviews (within the book) talked about how it’s such a new concept, “I’ve never heard of anything like it,” “It’s legendary and changed my life.” Well, I can see how it might help change someone’s life and relationship, but I didn’t feel like it was anything new.

My biggest peave while reading the book was that NOT ALL WOMEN are harsh to their husbands, as it made them sound. I can think of a couple of women who could desperately use this book. But, I felt like it’s one of those things… preaching to the choir. The women who need to read it, who treat their husbands rough, and show no respect- they won’t read it. (Unless their marriage is in serious bad shape, in which case, I would definitely recommend this book for them.)

As for the advice to men… it was sound advice. Women need to feel loved. I get that. I understand that. It’s true. But, like I said, that’s nothing new to the world of marriage advice.

My favorite part of the book was the examples of couples who had tried the concept of unconditional love and unconditional respect and had benefited from it. Some of the examples were basic- a couple that easily could’ve been my husband and I. Most were outrageous- like the couples that I know who nag each other, and yell and treat each other unkindly. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I didn’t really like the book.

It was a long read. It was redundant. It just wasn’t anything new!

Renewing my passion

2011-03-08T13:22:00.001-08:00

Reading that title now, I realize it sounds odd. Lame, even. Oh well. It’s kind of how I’ve been feeling lately.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked on my books. I have spent a lot of time reading books- to myself and my boys. But, I kind of placed my writing on the backburner for a while. I know I made goals to have finished my novel by Christmas, and have gotten representation by March 31 (my baby’s due date.) But, both of those goals went out the window. I guess I just decided there were more important things for me to do.

I’ve said that before haven’t I? I enjoy the fact that I’m not on a strict schedule, and can hold off for a while if I feel the need. Well, sometimes, obviously, that can have a negative effect.

However, lately, I’ve really been thinking about my Dear Grandma story. Maybe it’s because it’s about my Grandma Wilde, and this is about the time of year that she passed away (4 years ago.) Her birthday is Saturday.

I’ve been thinking about her lately, because when I found out we were pregnant I was really hoping for a girl this time. (It’s another boy…) I was newly pregnant with my first son when my Grandma died, and I was really hoping for a girl that time too. (3 boys later…) I wanted to honor my Grandma by using Celia (her name) as a middle name. That doesn’t work very well for a boy.

Anyway, I’m kind of rambling. My point is, I’ve decided it’s time to revisit my Dear Grandma story and send it in to Deseret Book. It’s been done for a long time, but I wanted to make sure it was just right before I submitted it. And now that I’ve been a slacker for so long, maybe I can go back and read it and find things to fix. Like the name of the main character. Currently the little girl’s name is Janey. I’ve decided that’s hard for kids, or anyone really, to relate to. Maybe Alexis or Jennica would be better? Which one do you think?

Both of my boys are asleep right now, and it’s very rare that I’m not attempting to nap too. But, the past few times have been rough (as in, I get one to sleep, then finally the other, then get comfy myself and the first one wakes up… rough.) So, I decided that it was just time to forgo the nap idea and work on my book.

I’m not really excited about my novel right now. I’m at a stand still and lack the motivation to pick it up. But, like I said, I’m feeling optimistic about Dear Grandma.

Tonight is a reading night at Mr. Fabulous’ school. It’s celebrating Dr. Seuss. Christopher (3 1/2 now) is really excited about it. That’s the only way I could convince him to nap today… I think it should be fun too.

Oh, and a proud Mama moment- at story time at the library today (it’s been a while since we went) Christopher sat still, listened and sang along and danced right with the librarian. And Caleb (almost 2) did too, almost the whole time! It was fun, and cute!

Book Review: While the World Watched

2011-03-04T11:35:00.001-08:00

First of all- I am sorry! I haven’t blogged on here FOREVER!!! I can explain:

Ok, lame excuse, I know. But it’s all I’ve got.

I have to start this book review by saying: I loved this book! I decided to ask for this one (from Tyndale Media Center blog network who provided this copy free of charge) because their description really caught my attention:

On September 15, 1963, a Klan-planted bomb went off in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Fourteen-year-old Carolyn Maull was just a few feet away when the bomb exploded, killing four of her friends in the girl’s rest room she had just exited. It was one of the seminal moments in the Civil Rights movement, a sad day in American history . . . and the turning point in a young girl’s life.

Doesn’t that make you want to read it?

Anyway, I was in the middle of another book when this one came in the mail. I started skimming through it, and couldn’t put it down! (I still haven’t finished the other book I was reading.)

Carolyn told her story, along with many other details of the civil rights movement in the south, with conviction and heart. I didn’t feel as though she was telling it for attention. Oppositely, in fact, I think Carolyn felt inspired to share this story with the world, to help us remember the struggle that it was, and how much further we still may have to go.

I grew up in Idaho. I have NEVER been to the south. I have NO IDEA what it means to be prejudice, at least not in the full sense of the word. But, reading this book definitely helped me to gain a better understanding of the hatred, misunderstandings and sadness that existed (and probably still does) in the world.

I’ve heard a few stories about the civil rights movement- mostly the common ones like Ruby Bridges, Jim Crow laws, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. But, after reading Carolyn’s story, I feel as though I have learned so much more about what truly happened and how people felt through it all.

Not only did the book help me to understand and feel more empathy to the civil rights movement, but I also caught a glimpse into the author’s life after such a crazy childhood. She struggled with depression, alcoholism, and more- because she had never had a chance to discuss with anyone (let alone family and friends) about the bombing and the impact that it had on her life.

I would surely recommend this book to anyone. Anyone who wants to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement; anyone who is giving a report on the south; or anyone who just wants to read a good book that will enlighten your mind. It will definitely do just that!

Book Review: Run to Overcome

2010-11-03T11:30:00.001-07:00

Run to Overcome

By: Meb Keflezighi

Please note: I am not a runner. I don’t enjoy running. I never plan to run a marathon. But, I am always intrigued by people who overcome great adversity to do something spectacular. That’s who Meb is!

Meb won the New York City ING Marathon in 2009. This book is about so much more than that. It tells Meb’s entire life story, from his birth in Eritrea, an African country (which I had never heard of before,) through his families struggles and eventual escape from there to Italy and then to America, through his education, running career, romance and family.

My husband, who was also sucked into reading this (by my comments and insights I’m sure,) and I began referring to the book simply as Meb. It is truly an autobiography, very well written. I felt like I knew Meb when I was done reading it. (And believe me, he is a great man, very worth knowing.)

There were some aspects of the book that I found daunting. For example, Meb describes, in much detail, all of his important races over the past 20 years or so. From high school, to college at UCLA, to his professional career, including the Olympics. He gives statistics, times, names of fellow racers, etc. It was a little much for me, not being a runner. But, I think it fit very well with the theme of the book- and anyone who enjoys running would definitely enjoy that part.

My favorite part (I’m such a girl) was the chapter about how he met and courted his beautiful wife. I wished it were longer. I wished he put more in the book about his three darling daughters! But, alas, ‘tis a running book so I suppose it’s only decent for him to focus on his running career.

Overall I was extremely impressed with the book. I didn’t feel like it was written in a way to make Meb out to be a hero because of all of the hardships he’s gone through in his life. I hate it when books are written like that. Instead, he just plainly shared his life story, and because of it, I was inspired to try a little harder and be a little better.

If you want more information you can go to www.runtoovercome.com

In fact, I suggest you do, because they are holding a contest on that site. It runs November 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. They will be giving away autographed copies of Run to Overcome each month, plus other books as well as Sony and Powerbar products. It’s definitely worth your time to check it out!

If you get a chance, or come across it, I would highly recommend reading Run to Overcome by: Meb Keflezighi. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

*I was given a complimentary review copy of this book from the Tyndale Media Network.*

Children’s Literature Conference

2010-10-25T12:10:00.001-07:00

I had a chance this weekend to go to a Children’s Literature Conference at BYU-Idaho, where I went to college. I was planning on going with my mom, but she called me at 6:00 that morning to say she had the stomach flu all night and wasn’t going to make it. Sad!

But, I still went, and I still learned a lot and had a good time.

Brandon Mull, author of the Fablehaven series, was the first keynote speaker. I’m not going to lie. He wasn’t that great of a speaker. But, I did enjoy listening to him talk about the various hats that writers have to wear. (Including public speaker.) He shared a little about his inspiration for his books, about his family and about his life in general.

The conference was to earn a credit for my continuing ed., so that I can renew my teaching certificate in a few years when that comes up. But, I was glad to see that many of the classes offered were geared towards aspiring authors!

One class that I particularly enjoyed was presented by Scott E. Franson, author of Un-Brella. He is a professor there at BYU-Idaho. He taught about publishing a book from inspiration, to completion. I discovered a few new secrets, like storyboarding, and a few ideas as to how to better present my stories to agents or publishers.

I got a chance to talk to him a little later in the day, and explain to him my dreams. He was very encouraging and urged me to stick with it! I told him I plan to!

Another class was presented by professional story tellers. That was a lot of fun. It was interesting to consider the idea of simple fairy tales as teach lessons to our kids. I loved when the lady told us the story of The Robber Bride Groom. She had it all memorized, and she told it with great description and enthusiasm. It was captivating!

Brandon Dorman, the illustrator of the covers of the Fablehaven series and many other books, was the other keynote speaker after lunch. I enjoyed his presentation a lot. I almost just wish he were talking about writing instead of illustrating because it was very inspiring and insightful. I liked learning about his interactions in the publishing world. He was a very down-to-earth type guy and a very good speaker.

The last class I went to was presented by my old Education Psychology teacher. He was a great teacher, and as expected, he remembered me and my husband. He asked about the “baby.” I said, “Which one?” It seems so weird that I was pregnant with my first son while I was in his class, that was nearly 4 years ago! (Christopher just turned 3 last week.) Well, turns out since then, he has three more kids too!

His presentation was about the paradigm shift from printed books to digital books, or digital reading and media in general. We watched some films about how the brain learned to read, and how it is not a natural thing. I got lost a little bit throughout the presentation, but that’s probably because I was tired and had a small head ache. It had been a long day.

Anyway, the class wasn’t totally a waste, because I did ponder options of e-books, teaching my own children to read, and various other things.

I have to say, that all in all, it was a very educational day. It’s been a while since I’ve had a full day of collegiate level thinking to do. Mr. Fabulous had the boys all day and I was very amazed when I got home to see everything he’d accomplished! I was also relieved that I don’t have to worry about anything when I am gone, he is so good at taking care of the kids and making sure whatever needs to be done gets done.

So, my new goals from the class: finish my novel. (Oh, wait, that’s already a major goal. By the way, it’s coming along!) Another goal of mine is to take my Dear Grandma story and really lay it out on a storyboard and read through it, and various other things to make it perfect before I send it in to Deseret Book. I’ve been really eager to get it sent in, but I’m glad I haven’t yet, because I really want to perfect it now!

Also, I think I’ll plan on attending more conferences like this. There’s one in Sandy, Utah next summer that Scott E. Franson suggested. They work on a project most of the morning and then get a chance to meet with agents, editors and publishers. Sounds fun to me.

Vote for My story!

2010-10-15T20:52:00.001-07:00

I just entered a cute little contest. They give you pictures, and you create a story. Mine’s called Even Kings Can Dream. It’s pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

You can find it here:

http://www.naturemadesleep.net/stories/382

You can vote once a day! And, you might enjoy reading some of the other stories, they look awesome! (Create your own if you’d like.)

Thanks!

Reading Tutor

2010-10-12T12:51:00.001-07:00

I have an “interview” this afternoon to be a tutor for a student who is struggling with reading. The parents want to meet me and weigh their options to choose what is best for their student. Fine with me. But that means I have to have my act together if I want the job.

I’ve been thinking about what I would use, how I would tutor or teach, how to reach this particular student, etc., ever since I got the email saying that they were interested in my services. But that doesn’t mean I have everything figured out!

It’s been 2 years since I did my student teaching. I keep up on things, most definitely. It’s easier that my husband teaches 3rd grade and is completing a masters program in reading. But, I’m a little nervous as to how to present my ideas and methods at this one-time meeting today.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

*Introduce myself- be myself! I keep telling myself to relax and just present who I really am- if it’s meant to be, it will work.

*Present some ideas- This particular student struggles more with comprehension than vocabulary, so one thing I’ve thought of might be story charts. I have no idea whether the student likes art, or sports, or bugs- I haven’t met this student yet! But I think if I present at least a few ideas- with the caviat that we will make sure to do what suits the student best- I will at least seem to know what I’m doing, right?

*Another idea- A.R. Accelerated Reader- this is a big thing in our school district, in fact in the whole state. I think if I were to work with the student on reading A.R. books, completing story maps, and giving practices quizzes, than the student could improve in their A.R. goal and that will help confidence and reading.

*Another idea- Reading program. This student attends a school that is very affluent and I’m certain the teacher would work with me and the parents on allowing the student to have a copy of the reading text book for use at home. If I could read through the current story in the text with the student, work on various parts such as fluency, comprehension, etc., it would give the student a leg up in reading and really help them to gain confidence.

*Games and activities. A reading tutoring session for an hour, twice a week could get rather boring for a kid! I have access (in my college text books, etc.,) to lot’s of activities and games and fun things that make reading fun, but they’d still be learning.

*Too much? I’m wondering if all of this is too much for today? Maybe I should just explain that I am willing to get to know the student, find books that suit their preference, access resources that can help and leave it at that?

I don’t know. For now, I’m going to look up tutoring on google and see if I can find any tips. Wish me luck!

Book Review: One Hand, Two Hands

2010-09-24T11:50:00.001-07:00

By Max Lucado

Cute, cute, cute!!! Christopher has been quoting this book since the second time we read it: “Thank you for my hands, God, please use them again.” Literally. He says that in his prayers! (He’s not even three!)

I was afraid it was going to be a rather preachy book, like unfortunately some of Lucado’s are. But, it was written in a very personal, childlike style that little kids love to hear.

The illustrations, by Gaby Hansen, are just adorable! We follow a cute little girl and all her stuffed friends throughout her day as we learn what she does with her hands; everything from playing in the mud, to washing the dog, to writing a letter for Grandma. I absolutely loved it!

I would have to say that this is one of my very favorite of Lucado’s books, by far! (Not that his others are bad, because they’re definitely not.) Sometimes they can be a little wordy, and maybe it’s just because my kids are very young, but I prefer this one!

I even like how at the end of the story there are conversation topics for things we can do with our hands. It’s a great discussion starter for young children.

*I was given a complimentary review copy of this book by Booksneeze blog network.*

The Pantyhose Pirates!

2010-09-17T20:52:00.001-07:00

AAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my final post as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales!

College:

My roommate’s best friend and sister died while she was in high school. Her first year of college was tough on my usually outgoing, spunky and fun friend. She had a roommate who helped her create a tradition for her sister’s birthday.

Giving treats.

We took it a few steps farther!

We dawned our pirate attire, which totally and completely disguised us from both friend and foe, and attacked neighboring apartments.

Rather than ransack and plunder, we attacked with dum dums, smarties and cookies. I guarantee the boys never knew what hit them!

This became a tradition, albeit not so frequent as some might have liked. (We did have to maintain our cool and collected image.) Our pirate gang grew in numbers and we always had a good time!

Did I mention I went to college in Iceburg, Idaho? (Also known as Rexburg, home of Brigham Young University Idaho.) I received extra credit one day for being on time to my 8:00 class in –17 degrees below 0, without wind chill!

Did I mention I only made it one semester before I fell deeply and desperately in LOVE?

It all started on one of those beautiful, snowy evenings with a trip to the movie and the ice rink. (Don’t you know you can’t go ice skating without holding their hand?)

Seven months later we got married. I continued in college as a wife. Then, continued through college as a Mommy. And, ahead of my original schedule, graduated from college as a pregnant Mommy!

An unanswered Prayer

2010-09-10T12:11:00.001-07:00

This is the almost last post in the 15-post series as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales!

Senior Year:

Two words: Best Ever!!!!

Graduation night: with my Grandpa and Grandma Bosen

I had the best ever senior year in the history of senior years. (At least in my book!) I was completely involved in everything. You’ve read it before- in my sophomore and junior year, but I was one busy kid!

I enjoyed meetings every day at lunch: Monday- BPA, Tuesday- National Honor Society, Wednesday- Seminary Council, Thursday- Drama Club, Friday- Whatever else happened to be going on, and there was always something.

Yes, I was usually blonde, I actually changed my hairstyle quite often. And yes, I usually wear contacts.

My responsibilities included: Drama Club co-president, BPA something (is that bad that I don’t remember? I was VP for a lot of years, but I think I stuck with secretary my senior year,) National Honor Society secretary, Rampage co-editor-in-chief (the high school newspaper,) and Seminary Council President.

I also took AP Calculus, AP Government and AP English.

We got to go to Boise for Journalism Conference:

That’s me in the front with the pink shirt on.

I had the opportunity and honor to be selected as first attendant to the Homecoming Queen, which resulted in a brand new sparkly red dress, a lot of excitement, some beautiful roses and an awesome date with a boy I truly admired. (As Drama club co-president I was in charge of the entire decorating for the dance…. I begged my mother for some extra relief and a bit of an extended curfew that night. I think she loved me! And trusted me.)

My parents both taught at my high school.

I was cast as Gertrude McFuzz in the fall musical Seussical the Musical, where I sang my heart out and designed and sewed my own costume. I later won the award for Best Actress in our Oscars ceremony.

The golf team made it to state which was in Northern Idaho:

Carrie, Angie, Megan (my cousin and best friend,) Me, Jennifer

I got to go on a Disney Cruise/vacation with my best friend and her family!

Alex, Becky, Me- This trip was the week before school started senior year.

I had the chance to fly to California with my dad and 7 of my closest guy friends for BPA Nationals. We enjoyed Disneyland, 6 Flags, MLB games and much more.

Dad, Evan, Me, Marcus, Pedro, Jimmy (Scott), Rick, Mike, Robert

Like I said, Best Ever!!!! And did I mention that I didn’t really go to school very much? I think I counted only 5 days in the month of May, and ALL of my absences were school excused!

But what I want to focus on in this post is an unanswered prayer.

Towards the end of junior year, I auditioned for the show choir known as Trouveres. It’s an early morning choir which requires a lot of time, effort and energy. I just knew I would make it! I could sing, dance and not that it really had to do with a lot of the decision- I was little, which meant I could easily be tossed around or partnered with any boy. This was something my mom had done in high school, my sister had done, and I had been looking forward to for a lot of years. This was not your ordinary, “I want to be a cheerleader because they’re cool…” It was something that I really really enjoyed doing!

When the list came out I wasn’t even nervous about looking, because I just knew I had made it. Well, I hadn’t.

There must be some mistake, I thought. It didn’t fully hit me until all of my friends, who had made it, were talking excitedly about how much fun it was going to be. I quietly slipped away to the bathroom where I let the tears fall down. I remember silently praying to my Heavenly Father that there must be some mistake and if He could please fix it.

There was a lot of anger and resentment for the next little while. Not at God, I tried to use him for comfort. I finally decided to blame the whole thing on the fact that the choir teacher was mad at my mom for something. (She was the drama teacher and they had clashed about something recently.) I decided he was stupid for making a poor choice and the choir was going to be worse off without me. I didn’t even sign up for Senior choir when pre-registration came around.

Then, I got a call from the Stake executive secretary at church. He’s the one in charge of calling and setting up appointments for people to meet with the Stake President, leader over multiple wards. I had a meeting with one of his Counselors, and I was to bring my parents.

I didn’t really know what it could be. There weren’t a lot of things it could be. Usually they only meet with you for certain callings and assignments. That’s what mine was.

“We would like to call you as the President of the Seminary at Highland High School.” Me? I thought only boys could do that?

They really meant me. They gave me the names of the others who had been called as assistants and the Seminary teacher who would be our advisor. Our job was to meet often, choose a scripture based theme for the year, plan and prepare activities and meetings that would be beneficial to the seminary students.

Seminary is a 4-year program which, where I lived, is given as released time. So, we took our seminary classes in a beautiful building across the street from the high school, in the middle of the day- as part of our class schedule. At least 50% of the students in my high school attended seminary and my graduating class was 300 students. That kind of gives you the idea of how large the seminary program was.

Seminary Council: Michelle, Tom, Me, Renee, Daren

It didn’t take long for me to realize (as you have already read) that I was going to be a busy girl. And had I been on the list for Trouveres I would have eventually let somebody down. I couldn’t fathom what I might have had to do. Tell the Stake President I couldn’t do the calling? Take myself off the Trouvere’s list? Or give up something else that I truly enjoyed?

That was when I learned that sometimes Heavenly Father answers our prayers in His own way, at His own time. He knew that I was going to need the time and energy saved from not being in Trouveres, for Seminary. He knew that I would grow and learn so much more in that calling, than I might have in the show choir. I did end up joining the Senior Choir, because I couldn’t give up singing every day.

Thinking back now, that was only one mere example of an unanswered prayer. I have had many times in my life when I wanted something so badly, but Heavenly Father knew that it wasn’t right at the time.

Can you think of a time when your prayers went unanswered and it turned out for the better?

My writing GOAL:

2010-09-08T12:25:00.001-07:00

I hereby state that it is my goal to have my novel completed by Christmas Day 2010.

I also would like to publicly announce that it is my goal to have sent out multiple query letters and secured an agent for my novel, or one of my children’s books, by March 31, 2011.

I hereby declare, that this means, I have to get working! I have been stuck at a certain point in my novel for a little while and it doesn’t help much that I just sidestep the work and play with my kids instead. (Well, I suppose that’s ok, because that’s my job right now- a Mom. But, I would still like to keep working on my writing, and just ignoring the problem does not help very much!)

Therefore, I present to you, my friends and fans, a proposition! I would like to receive as many comments of inspiration and encouragement as I can- as often as I can! You can just say something like, “Come on Tina! Get your big fat booty in gear and start writing.” Or you can even be a little nicer (like my mom) and say, “You’re going to be famous one day, I just know it!”

Thank you for your help!

Junior Year

2010-09-02T10:59:00.001-07:00

This is a post, nearing the end, of the 15-post series as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales.

11th grade:

Ummmm… I just realized that with my 10th grade post, I just about covered, um, everything that I did, all three years of high school.

My Junior year, I did more of the same: BPA, Drama, Golf, plays, choir tour, silly boyfriend-type-flings, dating, Journalism conference, and more.

So, instead of recapping all of those old things, how about a short narrative from one specific incident?

Which one? Hmmmm…… Hmmmm….. (thinking…. thinking…..)

BPA state:

“Dad, you have to make sure you get a hotel with a swimming pool!” Tina was hovering over Doug’s shoulder as he searched for a cheaper hotel than the conference one they were “supposed” to stay at. Being a business teacher, and a CPA, Doug always found a way to save a little money.

“A pool huh?” he asks, not really listening, but hearing a few specifics.

“Yeah. Last year we stayed at that dumb one that didn’t even have a real pool. We have like all evening where we’re not competing, we want to go swimming.”

Tina was excited for BPA state this year. She’d been twice before; once on a lucky score she got on a general test, and her sophomore year with the same financial analysis team she was on this year. They had gotten lucky at regionals this year and took second. Only two teams got to go to the state competition in Boise, Idaho.

***

“You have to stand up in the middle of the bus as long as you can, without touching the seats, and without falling.” Somebody was clarifying the rules of the “Stand Up” game. They played it on all the school trips that the bus drivers would allow. This trip they were lucky to have a cool bus driver. He didn’t seem to care one bit that they were all standing in the aisle.

“I’m out.” Tina said it, as she sat down and took a deep breath. Motion sickness had always plagued her. She checked out the window for any signs of Boise. She saw the Boise Stage shop out her left window and knew they were nearing the correct exit.

“We’re almost there!”

When the bus pulled into the hotel, the students had enough time to check into their rooms, change their clothes and brush their teeth before they had to head over to the Boise State University campus for competitions.

“Make sure you have everything you need for your presentations, we won’t be coming back to the hotel until after dinner.” Doug was the business club advisor. He loved travelling with students.

“Are we going to the mall after?” Pedro asked. He was on Tina’s financial analysis team, probably the only one who really knew what he was doing.

“Yeah, when you finish your first presentation, meet by the bronco statue and we’ll all go to the mall together. Olive Garden for dinner?” Doug knew what their answer would be. It seemed like Olive Garden was becoming a tradition.

***

“I can’t go swimming, I ate 13 breadsticks.” Brit was the other member of the FAT team, and he was a goofball for sure.

“Oh brother,” complained Tina. “Don’t get me started on that. If anyone should be complaining about looking fat in a swimsuit, it’s me. Did you see how big my chicken parmesian was?” Tina was always a big flirt with the boys in BPA.

Rick, Pedro, Brit and the others. They were mostly just friends. Many of them were on the newspaper staff with Tina, the golf team and in other classes and clubs.

“We’re all going swimming,” Rick announced. “And I bet the boys will be ready before Tina and Megan!”

Tina took that as a challenge and raced to the hotel room with her cousin and best friend Megan, their friend Ashley and the other girls. They had learned to be discreet about changing quickly, so they hurried down to the pool to find that they actually had beat the boys!

Ten minutes later Tina was up in the air, laying flat on her back while Brit held her above his head. She plugged her nose in anticipation, and the boys tossed her around like a rag doll. This wasn’t the first time they’d played this game, nor would it be the last.

“Time to close up the pool everybody. Sorry.” It was the attendant from the front desk. He’d let them stay in longer than they were supposed to, but Tina knew it was getting really late, and they’d better head to bed.

Doug stepped out of the hot tub, where he’d been soaking, talking to some advisors from another town that were here for the same competition. He always enjoyed meeting new people.

They toweled off and headed up to their separate rooms, girls in 314, boys right down the hall, Doug, or Mr. Bosen across the hall in 311.

“Good night everyone,” Doug said as he unlocked his door. “Get some sleep. We’ll meet at the bus at 7:45. Don’t be late!”

“Good night Dad.” Tina was smiling. It had been a pretty good day.

***

Rick, Tina, Brit, Megan, Pedro and Ashley. (In the background is Tina’s brother Benji.)

***

“I can’t believe we took last!” Megan was still in shock after the awards ceremony. The state competition had gone well, and the FAT team members were certain they had nailed it on the head. Doug was certain too.

“Yeah, that’s pretty cheap.” Pedro was more upset than any of them. He had right to be, he’d done most of the number crunching.

“Oh well,” Tina said, remembering how much fun the trip had been. “We’ll be senior’s next year. Let’s all plan to earn our torch awards so we can go to California for Nationals.”

And that, is just what she did.

~Take note that some of the dialogues in this narrative have been reinvented to the best of my ability… use your imagination.~

Sophomore year

2010-08-26T11:37:00.001-07:00

This is post ? of the 15 post series as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales. (I lost track…)

10th grade:

Where do I start?

Fall- Driver’s training. This took up a lot of my time, but it happened to be a lot of fun. I enjoyed learning to drive, and my time in the classroom as well.

Football games! I’ve always loved going to high school football games, still do. I remember as a little girl going with my Dad (who teaches at Highland High, where I went to school.) I mostly liked watching the cheerleaders and trying to copy them, but I also enjoyed learning the rules of the game, and watching the plays. As a sophomore in high school I embraced football (for the next three years!) and dressed up, went to games and cheered as loud as I could. Those were good times.

Winter- On Christmas, I turned 16. That meant I could finally date! My first date was with one of my older sisters friends, and we doubled with her and another friend. It was a lot of fun. After that, I was a dating machine. I was not what you would call shy, and I had a lot of friends who happened to be boys. They were almost always group dates, and a lot of fun.

Here’s a picture of Missy and I getting ready for the Sweetheart Ball. Did I mention I really loved being in high school and getting along with my sister?

Drama! I also got to be in a Melodrama called “Heaven Help the Po’Taters.” I played the part of a little girl (this quickly became a common theme…) It was a lot of fun. I had been in a few plays before, many since and I still enjoy theatre.

Spring- Choir tour! I was in the Great Scots choir, and I was selected to go on choir tour as a slave. (At least that’s basically what it was all about.) I helped carry and set up risers and such. And I helped dress and undress the show choir during a performance. We went up through Montana, Seattle, Portland and back home to good old Pocatello, Idaho. This trip turned into quite the memorable tour.

Uhhhh… let’s just say I was really hyper one night on choir tour. At least you can tell I know how to have fun, right?

At a restaurant in Montana we were served some delicious biscuits and gravy, of which many students went back for seconds. This proved to be disastrous as it turned out that the sausage was bad and poisoned us. One of the three buses we rode on turned into a “sick bus” and we had at least 5 kids that had to go to the hospital. I felt extremely sick the first night of it, but I never even threw up and got better pretty quick. I was really lucky!

During choir tour I had what we referred to as a CTR. Normally this stands for “choose the right.” Kind of ironic, because in this case it stood for “Choir tour romance.” Jordan and I held hands, cuddled on the bus and spent a lot of time together. That was it.

I always knew this would make for a great story for my first kiss: Well, as a history, we had visited the Space needle earlier in the day, and I knew, just knew that Jordan was going to kiss me up there. I was a little nervous and thought it was a little awkward with so many friends and people around. Turns out he didn’t get the chance….

So, on our way back to the motel after a long night watching Les Mis at the play house, we were cuddling and talking. I saw it coming, knew it was coming and freaked out! I kept thinking, “It would’ve been so perfect on the space needle. But I don’t want my first kiss to be on a stinky bus.” So, right before he leaned in for the kill I stopped him. I said, “Uh, do me a favor, don’t kiss me on the bus.” How awful is that!?!

I know I hurt his feelings and things were just a little different after that. We never did kiss (cough, cough), and a little while after choir tour I “broke up with him.”

That spring I also starred as Greta (the youngest girl) in The Sound of Music. That was a lot of fun. My older sister, who was a senior, played the part of Maria, and my mom directed the play. (I know, I know. I heard it all the time. “Your Mom was the director? Isn’t that cheating? Is that why you and your sister got the parts?” and my answer is: “No! My mom is very professional, and she worked with the choir teacher to decide who would be best for what part.” So, don’t even go there!)

This picture is hard to tell, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s Maria and Greta (my sister and I) during the thunderstorm scene.

Golf! I almost forgot! I played on the golf team! (I was a four year varsity letter!) That doesn’t mean I was good, it just means they didn’t have enough girls to always fill all the spots. I have some very fond memories from golf.

BPA! Business Professionals of America became part of my high school career starting in 9th grade, where I was a Vice President of the club at the junior high. My dad was the advisor in high school, that’s about the only reason I joined the club. (I’m not a business person…) But, I did well enough all four years to make it to the State competition in Boise! It was always a lot of fun!

Summer- The summer after Missy (my sister) graduated our family drove to Canada for a week. We saw lot’s of wildlife and had a great time with family. My sister and I signed up for a mountain bike tour with the condos where we stayed. I still remember how fun, yet very difficult that was. There were a lot of older ladies in the group, so they went easy on us, but it was still exerting. When we headed up a hill, I had to get momentum going so I would pedal really hard and go fast. All of the ladies called me “Speedy Gonzalez!”

This is me, with my little brother Aaron, who happened to be about 15 months old at the time. That’s the same age as my little guy Caleb right now!

Mom, Benji (who just got home from his mission!) Dad, Aaron, Jason and Me

There were so many more activities and fun times that I had my sophomore year. It’s very hard to record all of them. I have chosen a few. And if you’d like to hear more, just let me know. I’m always willing to reminisce.

Life and Death, and a little in between

2010-08-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is post 11 of a 15 post series as part of Mommy's Piggy Tales.

9th grade:

Why did I run for Student Body President of my Junior High? Because I had heard rumors of the other kids who were running and didn't think that any of them would do a very good job. I didn't want them to win just because they were jocks, or worse, cheerleaders. (I won't lie, I tried out for cheerleading, twice. I never made it.) So, I ran for the position, and won the election. (I also tried out for basketball- most torturous week of my life, I was counting my blessings when I didn't make the first cut!)

The year I was in 9th grade was the last year that the Pocatello school district had 9th grade at the Junior High level. The very next year it was moved up to the high school level. Don't get me wrong, 9th grade still counted on your high school transcript. But, we went to school at the junior high. I was alright with that.

September 11, 2001 is a date that nobody will likely forget. I remember walking down the hall and hearing the rumor that an airplan had crashed into the twin towers. My naive self asked, "What are they? Buildings in Twin Falls?" I quickly found out what they were and what that meant for our country. I don't remember a lot from that day, except watching the news and choir. In choir, we all stood together, arms linked, and sang every patriotic song we had ever heard. It was beautiful.

I had a new friend in student council. Her name was Sara Evans. She had been in choir with me before, and she was in my English class and LDS Seminary release time too. I had heard rumors of Sara's fight with Leukemia but didn't know much about it. She seemed healthy and strong to me. I remember one particular day in Seminary when our tease of a teacher Brother Bowman read a false letter to us from the First Presidency of the church telling us that missionaries were now being asked to serve 3 year missions, and teenagers were being asked to wait until they were 18 to start dating. The letter contained other various falacies that were meant to make us mad. I think the idea was to see how much we respected the Prophet and what he asked of us. Sara timidly raised her hand and with tears in her eyes bore testimony of her love of the Prophet, President Hinckley, and that if these were truly from him, she knew it was important for us to do them. Brother Bowman was shocked! Sara was still a good sport when he told us it was a trick.

Towards the end of November, Sara passed away. I was in seminary when Brother Bowman got the call from Sara's mom that she had suffered a sudden relapse and passed away rather quickly. We all cried.

It was also around that time that my mom, who had been winning her own fight with breast cancer, found out that she was pregnant. The past year had been a struggle for her, and it ended with extreme radiation, during which she got pregnant, unknowingly. Her Oncologist (radiation doctor) tried to persuade her to have an abortion because the baby would likely be deformed and retarded. Of course, my mom would never consider that, and on March 25 my little brother was born. He was and is still, perfect in every way. (Although, I might add that now his 8 year old self is a tiny bit spoiled.)

I'll never forget how I felt when my sister picked me up from school early the day Aaron was born. We went straight to the hospital to see him. As we drove across the parking lot, I looked over at the seminary building and remembered Sara. She was so young to die; she had so much to look forward to in life. Yet, somehow, that was right for her. And God had blessed this Earth with another spirit; two more in fact. He had spared my mom, and given me a little brother.

I learned a lot in 9th grade. It was the first time I read The Book of Mormon all the way through, and my testimony boomed. I learned that God loves me. That I am His daughter. I learned that when families work together, miracles can happen. And when a country works together, healing takes place. And I learned that not everything always goes the way you might want it to, but sometimes, that's ok.

Animal Cookies

2010-08-17T08:32:00.001-07:00

A spontaneous treat turned into a fun activity:

Animal crackers, frosting and sprinkles; plus two hungry little boys:

I microwaved the frosting for a few seconds first, and it was way easy to dip the crackers. Christopher thought this was the coolest thing ever- and it’s definitely cheaper than buying animal cookies.

The Scientist!

2010-08-12T11:40:00.001-07:00

This is part 11 of a 15-post series as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales. 8th grade:

Everybody remembers 8th grade life science~.Dissecting frogs and squids. I enjoyed this class, very much.

A little background: I have always liked to consider myself a bit of a tom boy, although if the truth be told, I really was not much of one. But, I was definitely not afraid of a little dirt, some bugs or a little slime. I liked to wear dresses, but I loved to wear overalls too. I liked to go shopping, or paint my nails, but I loved to go camping, and make mud pies too.

Thus: 8th grade life science. I was NOT afraid to dissect a frog, or a grasshopper, or a squid- or even a pig’s uterus!

One special day, Mr. Dehl presented our class with a pig’s uterus that had multiple fetuses inside. Each of his class hours would get to “deliver” one fetus. He placed all of our names inside of a cup, unless we requested our name to be removed (which, most of the girls did.) Then, he drew one name out to see who got to dissect in front of the class, with the little fancy camera showing everyone on the T.V.

My name was drawn! That was the coolest thing ever. I cut open that thick, meaty uterus and delivered: twins!

I think I remember one girl leaving the room because she was going to puke. I thought it was awesome. I figured it didn’t matter that this was a dead pig’s uterus, I probably had bacon for breakfast. This was my chance to show the boys that I liked gross things. (And that’s probably exactly why I did so many “tom-boyish” things, to show off for boys.

Oh well. It was worth it. I didn’t become a surgeon, in fact I didn’t even go on to dissect very many more things in my life. But I like to count that experience as something in life that I really did enjoy very much.

Strange, I know.

Book Review- Angel Song

2010-08-10T12:08:00.001-07:00

I LOVED this book! I was so impressed with the perfect balance between Christian and secular.

Let me explain. I like to read Christian novels. I do. But I will often get bogged down with the “church-going, praying, praising God” etc. that comes with them. I loved Angel Song if only for the fact that Sheila Walsh and Kathryn Cushman found the perfect balance.

However, there were many other reasons to love this inspiring novel.

Annie Fletcher, our main character, has lived in New York for many years. At the very beginning of the book she flies home to Charleston to see her sister Sarah graduate with her Masters degree. The graduation never happens because Sarah dies in a car accident.

The story follows Annie through her journey to find herself, and find God. She meets Keith, Sarah’s neighbor who has down syndrome, and sees Angels. She also meets and eventually falls in love with Ethan McKinney, another friend and neighbor of Sarah’s.

Everyone on the Charleston side has a strong feeling that they need to befriend and help Annie. As it unfolds, Annie comes to know that Angels really are real, and that God loves her. (See, even I make it sound all churchy, but honestly, it’s not overpowering, it’s a perfect balance!)

I liked the romantic involvement. I liked the tugging at the heartstrings. I liked how the book read so smoothly that I didn’t want to put it down. This is a wonderful book and I recommend it to anyone who wants an inspirational read!

*I was given a free copy of Angel Song through the Book Sneeze book review program.*

Book Review- The Dopple Ganger Chronicles: the Secret of Indigo Moon

2010-08-10T11:56:00.001-07:00

This is a very unique and interesting book. I didn’t have a chance to read the first in the series, but was glad to see that this second installment filled me in on what I missed.

The book, written by G.P. Taylor, a New York Times bestselling author, is about a set of trouble-making twins and their friend Erik.

“They never intended to make the acquaintance of a shifty private eye with a nose for trouble. It wasn’t part of the plan to come face to face with an old enemy, one with an agenda of his own that could destroy them all. And unraveling the “secret of indigo moon” was the farthest thing from their minds.

At Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children, these things just seem to happen.

In The Secret of Indigo Moon, confirmed troublemakers Erik, Sadie, and Saskia plunge headlong into a new and perilous mystery, one that challenges everything they thought they knew about their lives, themselves, and whom it’s safe to trust.”

The layout of the book makes it an easy and quick read. I believe it would be excellent for struggling readers. It has contrasting colors, every few pages there are some cartoon pictures, to continue the story. The new fresh idea was very fun.

I liked the story line, although I don’t believe it’s as great as the reviews that say, “hotter than Potter.” I think it’s very appropriate for 5th grade through 8th grade.

I very much enjoy the Christian undertones as Saskia meets her angel friend and is guided to search for the “Companion.” I think that was incorporated in a very appropriate way into the story line.

Overall, I would recommend the book, and I am assuming that the first in the series is just as well written and easy to read.

*I was given a copy of “The Dopple Ganger Chronicles: the Secret of Indigo Moon, free of charge by the Tyndale Blog network.*

Was I a Geek?

2010-08-05T12:24:00.001-07:00

This is part 10 of a 15-week series as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales:

7th grade:

I’m not going to lie, when I started pondering what I might write about my 7th grade experience, I couldn’t think of anything except how I didn’t have any friends, really. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t feel like an outcast, or anything. And truthfully, I didn’t really mind all that much.

7th grade was the first year of Junior High for me. There were two teams, which, for me, meant that all of my friends from 6th grade- had different teachers, and a different lunch.

I considered (still do) myself outgoing, and I got along well with everyone that I met. But, in all reality, I didn’t have any friends.

I remember my science class, vaguely. I didn’t like my teacher very much- she also happened to be my homeroom teacher. She didn’t explain things very well, so I didn’t understand what was being taught. I got a C on one of my progress reports (in between report cards.) I cried and tore it up- I never told my parents. By the next report card, I had figured everything out and pulled it up to a B.

That was the only C I’ve ever had on an official report.

One thing that I learned to love, rather quickly, in 7th grade- was choir. In 6th grade I had decided to try playing the clarinet in the band. That definitely was not for me. I always knew I liked to sing, and that I had a nice voice. I knew how to read music, even play the piano a little. My mom always had us singing at rest homes, in church, family talent shows, and even city-wide talent shows. So, choir was a good thing for me.

Aside from school- I remember 7th grade as roller blading down the hill, babysitting neighbors, babysitting my own brothers, and learning new things. When I turned 12 I joined a program in our church called Young Womens. We had leaders, activities, devotionals and many opportunities to grow in our testimony of Jesus Christ.

Girls Camp was an annual tradition during the summer- and I loved it! We planned meals, activities, and hikes. We had water fights, races, pranks, and various other things. But, most of all, we had fun with each other, and made life long bonds with the girls that we went with.

As I continued to grow up, and approach my teenage years, I honestly did not have many temptations. I remember our DARE officer in 6th grade telling us that we would never make it through high school without at least once being offered drugs. I was NEVER offered drugs. A large part of that is because of the friends I chose (eventually…)

I’m rambling.

7th grade was a good year. I didn’t mind not having “friends.” I loved the variety of Junior high, and I had a great life.

Teacher’s Pet

2010-07-29T14:13:00.001-07:00

This is post 9 of the 15-week series as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales.

I won’t lie. I was Teacher’s Pet. Often. But, definitely in 6th grade! My friend Becky and I, we were nearly inseparable. And Mrs. Hall was our favorite teacher!

Mrs. Hall wanted to be a 1st grade teacher. But, at the very last minute, (like 4 days before school started) she was offered the 6th grade job at Edahow Elementary School. Of course she took it, and in her own words, “I will never go back to 1st grade!”

For lot’s of girls, 6th grade is a time for change…. not for me. I think it will suffice to say that I was a little girl. (As in, I weighed 60 lbs in 6th grade.) Whether or not this had something to do with why my 6th grade year was so awesome, or not, I like to remember that many of my classmates had raging hormones, and I got to enjoy being a little girl for a few more years.

6th grade: movies with groups of girls and boys, water fights at the park, sleep overs with Becky and Megan, working hard on a major research project on Mexico, making a 6th grade scrapbook for Mrs. Hall, babysitting young kids in the neighborhood, meeting with counselors and planning my jr. high career, learning “run over rise” in graphing in Math- yes that is the wrong way around, nothing' much but happy memories.

I saw Mrs. Hall this weekend, for the first time in a lot of years. I introduced my two children to her, and informed her that I am now an Elementary school teacher (1st grade is my favorite…) and my husband teaches 3rd grade. She was so happy to see me, and to introduce her three daughters to me (the oldest of which she had been barely pregnant with at the close of my 6th grade year.)

Even in 6th grade I was astute enough to pick up on the mistakes that Mrs. Hall made in her first year of teaching, such as the graphing instruction mistake I mentioned above. But, I loved her, and would definitely have to say, she is one of the teachers who influenced me in my life!

Vacation: a time for inspiration

2010-07-26T18:30:00.001-07:00

I’ve already blogged ~~somewhat~~ recently about receiving inspiration from family, etc. It’s the truth.

I just got back from a week long trip to Colorado, and my newest inspiration for a picture book: carsick toddlers! I know- disgusting. Both of my little boys get carsick. It didn’t help that we drove an hour down the mountain every time we wanted to go anywhere but Estes Park. (which we did, at least 3 times!) (at least)

Oh well, life goes on. I’m just glad Mr. Fabulous knows how, and is willing, to take apart the car seats so we can wash them. I am soooo done with that smell!

I also saw my little brother catch his first fish! He’s 8 years old, and I caught his smile on camera! Completely priceless! I think I feel a story comin’ on!

How’s your summer going?

Yes, SIR!

2010-07-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

This is part 7 of the 15 post series as part of Mommy's Piggy Tales! If the truth be told, I am writing this part before I write part 6, because I have been so excited to tell about my 5th grade experience!

Mr. Kawamura! At least 6 feet tall, and 300 lbs, Mr. K was the meanest, roughest, stricktest teacher in the whole school. The whole town probably! And that's who I had for 5th grade. My life was over!

All summer long I dreaded going back to school, and that wasn't natural for me, a school-loving little girl! Often I would ask my mom if there was anyway she could possibly switch me to the other class. At least some of my friends from 4th grade would be in my class with me. Maybe there was some hope after all.

School finally started and I knew all of my nightmares were about to come true. Right from day one, Mr. K. worked us hard. We had to write in complete sentences- all the time! We had jobs throughout the classroom, and they had to be done quietly and perfectly. Social studies meant state reports- and Mr. K. made the deal that if we did a report on every single one of the 50 states, we would automatically get an A. (Of course, these weren't just written reports. They included pictures of the state bird, flag, flower, insect- you name it! And, maps, interesting facts, state history, current governor- you name it!) We had P.E. everyday. (And not just your regular dodge-ball, or scooter races either. We did "gut-busters," like the football teams, we did 100 crunches, 100 jumping jacks- in sets of three, and we ran the mile once a week.)

Anybody might have thought that life in Mr. Kawamura's class was pure torture. I think that's what he wanted people to think. That's what I had thought, all summer long! But, when all was said and done, I absolutely loved Mr. K.'s class!

I have never run the mile faster than I did in 5th grade. I still remember the perfection with which I learned to dust the bookshelves, and water my plant (which I still have!) I still remember the work and effort I put into researching and reporting about every single one of the 50 states, then compiling them into a binder (which I still have!) to turn in for my automatic A. And I still joke about how Mr. K. teased me that my braces would get stuck in Lucas's when we were kissing. (I wore my headgear to school- dweeb I know! And Lucas was a major crush or you could say "boyfriend," and there was no hiding that young love from Mr. K.)

Years later, when I was in high school, I would often discuss 5th grade with my cousin or friends who also had him. Why did we work so hard? Why did we do everything we could just to impress Mr. K.? But, now, years later even still, I realize it wasn't to impress him. It was because it felt good to work hard. It felt good to have expectations set so high, that I had to push myself past many limits to reach them.

Gary Kawamura came to my wedding reception when I got married. He'd been many years retired, but he still cared about a former student, as have so many of my teachers! And I have to say, that largely because of him, I have learned to push myself- harder- stronger- farther!

Tales of a 4th grade nothing...

2010-07-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is post 6 of the 15 post series for Mommy's Piggy Tales. If you want to read my previous posts, you can click here.

It's not true- the title. 4th grade was far from nothing. It's just that- I don't really remember a whole lot about it. I remember that I loved my teacher Mrs. Grow! (Of course, years later, I found out she had an affair and I was utterly shocked and disgusted!) I remember that I felt like I could do anything- I guess that was a good thing huh?

I started 4th grade in a new school. We bought a new house across town, and I loved my new school. I also loved having my own room downstairs. Come to think of it- there aren't very many things that I didn't love at this point in my life.

I can think of one particular night that I hated at the time. For many years I considered it the worst night of my life. (I honestly still can't think of any other time that was so emotionally hard on me.) I don't share this because it's a great memory. Nor do I share it because it's something that should be broadcast to the world (although I guess that's what a blog is huh?) I share it because I think it's important to take note of childhood fears. And, because looking back, it's kind of funny.

We had just gotten home from the grocery store, or somewhere... the whole family: Mom, Dad, Missy, Me, Benji and Jason. I would often goad my brother Benji into doing something to get in trouble. For example, this particular night, I think I was teasing him, so he hit me. And when he hit me I started crying and throwing a tizzy. (Not horrible, but I knew that if I raised my voice a little he would get in trouble. Note- I did not do this ALL that often, but I was aware of my power against him...)

When my dad came running to get mad at Benji, I couldn't even understand him- he was yelling like a mad man. At first I was kind of shocked, I thought he was joking, or something, so I kind of giggled a little- from my hiding place of course. Then, I realized he wasn't kidding, so I'd better knock it off. My mom came down, to intervene, only she got mad at my dad for yelling and carrying on like that. They got in a big argument. (I have since talked to my mom about how they used to argue. I always thought that they got in lot's of fights. I realize now that they weren't REAL fights, but only arguments that seemed big and scary because my mom is a loud person.)

Anyway, my parents were arguing and I started to feel guilty because I knew it was my fault for getting Benji in trouble. Instead of apologizing to him, or them, I did something else to cause a scene. I can't remember what, but I ended up in trouble, in my room crying. (I ALWAYS cried when I got in trouble. Not on purpose, but it just happened. I still do, by the way, cry a lot.) This time was really bad though, because I was scared about my parents' fight. Mom came in to talk to me, and was still pretty mad. I think she realized by now that I had gotten Benji in trouble, kind of on purpose.

I remember exploding in a fit of tears, why I was so upset. Mom said, "You have got to stop fighting with your brother so much." And I couldn't hold in my secret fear anymore. I cried, "Yeah, but Benji and I can't get divorced!" I think I shocked her. She had no idea that I was afraid, when they fought, that her and my dad might get divorced.

Just for the record, my parents are still very happily married. And I think after that day, I have never really been afraid that they might get divorced.

Isn't it interesting to consider childhood fears?

NEW CAMERA!!!!!

2010-07-13T20:43:00.001-07:00

Can you tell that I’m a little bit excited? We got a new camera! I had kind of given up hope/forgotten about getting a new one. Ours officially died a few weeks ago- as in, I can’t even turn it on! But, it was long gone, way before that!

This new one is a Canon Powershot, 10 mega pixels, 10X zoom… and has a neato popup flash! It looks like one of those heavy duty fancy ones, but really, it’s not. I like it a lot though! And the best thing about it is: The boys are ready to smile at me while I take pictures!

(P.S. sorry, if you read both of my blogs... this was supposed to be a family blog post, but it accidentally came on here too... oh well.)

And do you know what that means? Pictures!!!! And videos! I’ve been dying to get Christopher on video saying The Pledge of Allegiance. He memorized it on our trip to and from Washington. (It really didn’t take him very long at all! And it’s so adorable!)

Next on our list: pack for Colorado! We leave bright and early Thursday morning to drive to Estes Park, Colorado. Yes, yes, my brother IS on a mission in Colorado Springs, Coloardo. And Yes, that is only 2 hours away from where we are going! Kind of silly, sure, but I’m really looking forward to it. (No, we won’t be going to his area, nor will we see him.)

Hiking, fishing, swimming, shopping and eating! That’s what we’re going to do! I love vacations!

Summer lovin’

2010-07-13T11:44:00.001-07:00

I love summer time. I get to spend countless amounts of time with Mr. Fabulous and it’s awesome! However, the one downside is, I don’t have a lot of free time to work on my book. I know, I know I should make time. But, during naptime, when I might normally work on it, Mr. Fabulous is working on his Masters program….

So, this leaves me with one option for summer: have fun. And I have been doing just that!

Family pictures

2010-07-12T09:37:00.001-07:00

I just thought I’d share this cute family picture I made….

We’re going on a vacation to Colorado this week, and I made these cute little pictures on Paint (computer program.) It really wasn’t very hard… but fun. We’re ironing them onto bright yellow t-shirts. Pretty neat huh?

The Happiest place on Earth

2010-07-08T13:11:00.001-07:00

And I don’t mean Disneyland…

This is part 5 of the 15-post series for Mommy’s Piggy Tales. 3rd grade:

“Please Mom!” Tina whined as she followed Mom around the kitchen. “Why can’t we go this weekend?”

Mom wished she could go to Star Valley, Wyoming as much as the kids did, but reluctantly explained one more time. “I’ve already told you, there is still too much snow. We can’t go yet.”

Star Valley Ranch. It was a simple R.V. park, mostly for retired couples and their families. It happened to be Tina Bosen’s favorite place in the whole world. Located in western Wyoming, the ranch was home to a swimming pool, golf course, bumper boats, playground and a penny candy store. It was the perfect setting for a bunch of cousins to get together and have fun. They went every summer, sometimes just Tina’s small family; sometimes the entire extended family.

All pictures are from http://starvalleyranchresort.com on the internet- however I was rather giddy to see that it hasn’t changed a bit! Even old “eyeball” the jungle gym toy on the playground is still around!

“Ok, fine.” Tina was disappointed, but she knew they would go. Maybe not this weekend, but soon, when school got out. “Missy,” Tina called as she ran down the stairs to the family room which the two girls shared as a bedroom. “Let’s work on our Star Valley binder.”

The binder was just that, a binder, put together with work sheets, coloring pages, word games and other little activities for rainy days in Star Valley. The girls had thought of it themselves, and this year they would leave it at Grandma and Grandpa Bosen’s R.V. trailer for all the cousins to have access to.

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“Doug, please pull over.” Mom said it with little patience in her voice. Finally, Dad pulled the car over to a lookout point on the windy mountain pass. It didn’t matter which route they took to Star Valley, all of them had curves and switchbacks. Tina opened her door and jumped out just in time to throw up in the dirt. She tried to hold back tears as she wiped her mouth off and took a drink of water that Mom had gotten out of the cooler.

“Gross!” Benji was still buckled in, but looked a little pale himself.

“Are you sure you’re alright Benji? Missy?” Mom should have been used to her kids getting carsick- they’d done it since they were babies. But, no matter how hard they tried to plan and prepare, somebody always got sick enough to have to stop the car.

“Let’s go,” Dad said. He didn’t like to have to stop, but he was also empathetic to their motion sickness. “I want to get in ahead of this semi that’s coming up the hill.”

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“You’re a Grand Old Flag! You’re a high flying flag! And forever in peace may you wave….” Tina, Missy and Megan, their cousin, marched down the gravel road away from Grandma and Grandpa’s trailer, headed to the community bathrooms. The young girls sang at the top of their lungs, and counted how many bystanders waved at them.

“After this we should go get some fishies and see if we can go swimming,” Megan suggested. Megan, who was only 9 months younger than Tina, was her best friend- along with her older sister Missy.

“I’ll bet if we find Uncle Chuck on the way to the candy store he’ll give us some nickels,” Missy added. The red Swedish fish candies only cost a penny a piece, but the girls knew who would give in to their smiles and begging. “Or Grandma.”

“Yeah, maybe Grandma will even buy us an ice cream cone!” The girls raced to the bathroom door, eager to be the first one to punch the imaginary code into the old fashioned doorknob. They made up a new secret code each time they visited Star Valley, and they had to remember it and do it just right.

“Too bad they won’t let us get in the hot tub at the pool” Missy was complaining.

“Yeah, you’re supposed to be 16 and if that one old lady is there, we won’t be able to get in for sure!” Tina didn’t care as much about the hot tub- she wanted to practice her swimming lessons that Missy had taught her.

After each girl used the restroom, and washed their hands- taking their time to look in the mirror, and try out the various sinks- they ran across the street to the candy store. Lucky for them Uncle Chuck was just headed to the playground next door.

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“After dinner everyone’s going to go on the bumper boats!” Aunt Sherri, Megan’s mom, announced it loud enough so those who needed to know could hear. The whole family was gathered around inside the big cabin for a BBQ. The cabin was available to rent for times like this when so many people came that they couldn’t fit in Grandma and Grandpa’s trailer, or didn’t want to camp out in the tent cabins.

Tina ate her dinner fast, then ran to join a game of Annie-I-Over outside. Uncle Barry was always the one to start it. There were two teams, one on each side of the A-framed cabin. One person would throw the ball over and yell, “Annie-I-Over!” and the other team had to be ready to find it and catch it.

Not too far into the game, everyone started gathering on the porch, so Tina knew it was bumper boat time! She found Megan and Missy, and told her mom that they were going to race up ahead and get in line. When they got there, there were already 3 people in the water.

“Do you think I’m tall enough to drive this year?” Tina asked, and headed over to the pole that was the height limit for riders and drivers. She measured herself and found that she was. The teenage boy working at the booth said that she was probably even tall enough if she wanted to go by herself. That scared Tina, just a little bit.

“No,” she said, shrugging. “I want to get really wet, so I’ll probably ride with my Dad.”

The whole group got there and everyone started pairing off together. Benji joined Tina and Dad in one bumper boat- they chose the yellow one with the number 6 on it. They hopped in, then waited for the teenager to come over and start their boat. Then, they were off!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Epilogue- Tina spent many wonderful summers, getting soaked at the bumper boats while visiting Star Valley with her family. One summer Grandma Bosen took only Tina and Megan, and their great Aunt Joy for a girls’ trip.

Many, many great memories were made, including trips to the cheese factory, mini putting, mo-ped rides, scary stories at the campgrounds, playing in and near the creek that ran through the resort, learning to pump on a swing, hiking, fishing, 4th of July fireworks, pancake breakfasts at the golf course club house, and saving and planning all winter long for the first trip to Star Valley. But the most important was the time to spend just being with family.

When Grandma and Grandpa decided to first sell their trailer, and then later sell their Star Valley Ranch membership, Tina was heartbroken along with her brothers and sister and cousins. Of course they were getting older, and didn’t get the chance to go as often, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t important to them.

However, Grandma and Grandpa made up for it, as did Mom and Dad. Condominium timeshares in various locations including St. George, Utah, Wolf Creek, Utah, West Yellowstone, Montana, and more, soon replaced Star Valley. And the great family vacations only got better- as did the memories!

A book for free?

2010-07-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

I love summer time! It means I get to see Mr. Fabulous A LOT! And it means we get to go on lot's of trips and vacations and see lot's of family and friends! We've already been doing just that, that's why my blog has pretty much been dumpy lately, and why I haven't been reading many of your blogs, even though they are so so great!

I haven't been working on my novel much lately, but I have been reading a book called the Doll Maker. Let me tell you- it is very intriguing! I am enjoying it very much (even though it's taken me nearly a month to finish it!) I love seeing the various writing styles that are included in this classic.

We have also been doing library time! (When we're in town!) Christopher and Caleb and I went to a used book store today, that I've always thought about going in, but never have. I wasn't extremely impressed with the prices (maybe that's because I'm used to yard sale/library thrift sale-pay-what-you-want used book prices.) But I was super impressed with their hospitality. Two older men (probably Grandpas) helped us out. When Christopher asked one of them if the Dora book was for free (he loves to ask sales people if something is free.....) they apologized and said, "No, sorry."

But then, when he was coming back to pay for it, with my money of course, the man said, "Well, son, tonight's your lucky night. Sometimes you do get something for free." And he scanned his little card thingy and gave Christopher the book for free! I made sure to explain to Christopher that that is what he did, so he doesn't think that he gets to just take things home when he wants them! But, I was very impressed and appreciative.

I did find a book I liked as well, one I've been looking for. Actually, it was a gift for my husband, we've both been wanting it. The Five Love Languages. By Gary Chapman. I'm excited about it. I've heard awesome reports!

Well, stay in touch, because even though I'll be travelling to Colorado next week (we just got back from Washington...) I'll write blogs ahead of time and they will still post. Especially my Mommy's Piggy Tales posts... there will be some fun ones!

Playing in the Neighborhood

2010-07-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

This is part 4 of the 15 post series as part of Mommy's Piggy Tales... 2nd grade!

Since I don't remember very much about second grade, this story is about playing in the neighborhood as a young, carefree girl in Pocatello, Idaho. (P.S. I'm writing from Walla Walla, Washington where we are visinting with family, and I have no pictures, sorry. Maybe I'll try to get some for later...)

"Tina," Mom calls through the kitchen window. "Make sure you're back in time for dinner, and stay with your sister... and watch Benji please!" Just another typical summer afternoon. The neighbors' house around the corner shared a wooden fence with our back yard. We loved sneaking through the wider opening to go over to their sandbox and play house, and play with them.

"Ok Mom!" I snuck through the fence and found my brother and sister playing house. Benji and Kylie* were playing inside the playhouse. (They were always sneaking around together, silly 5-year-olds that they were...) and Missy and Jordan* were waiting for me.

We all decided to walk down to the park and play. Ammon park was across the street and down 2 houses from our house at the top of the hill. We loved racing down the hill to the merry-go-round, but had to be sure not to crash into any trees on the way down.

"I'll race you to the swings!" I yell and laugh as I run as fast as my short legs can carry me across the green grass to the swingset. Benji is right behind me, keeping up without breaking a sweat. It doesn't matter. I don't care if he wins, I just love playing together.

After about 10 minutes at the park, Missy decides it's time for dinner, so we race home. Jordan and Kylie are late, so their Mom Marla is yelling out the window at them. I'm afraid of Marla, so I hide in the bushes until they are in the house and I can't hear her anymore.

D.J.* sneaks up behind me and tries to give me a kiss. I jump away and run past the apricot tree, the plum trees and the flower beds filled with red and purple 4 o'clocks, into the comforting living room with the big front window.

Dad catches me and tickles me then hauls me into the bathroom to wash up for dinner. But, first, I have to run down the hall to the bedroom I share with my sister, hug my funny teddy bear that sucks his thumb, and wrap him up tight in my pink silky blanky. (The same blanky which I ended up sleeping with until the week I travelled to meet my fiance's parents...) I find my seat at the table and smile.

Learning as I go

2010-06-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation this week... but I planned ahead and wrote a few blog posts that will automatically post for me. Cool huh?

I wrote a new story recently. It was a quick write and I didn't have time to edit it before I read it aloud to my husband and sons. I have trained Mr. Fabulous to look for mistakes, or areas where I can improve the story, so that's what he did. He gave me a few pointers, and helped me find some spots where I could make the plot better. He also gave me some encouragement!

"That is one of the best stories I've heard of yours recently!" He said. He was not being rude about my other stories, but rather saying that my writing is improving. And I think I agree with him.

I've been working an awful lot on my novel. I hope that maybe by the time this blog posts, I will be close to finished with the climax and starting to wrap things up. (Don't quote me on that though!) I think the constant writing and working on something that important has helped improve my writing.

I am definitely learning as I go. I'm also enjoying the opportunity to write about my own life each week as part of the Mommy's Piggy Tales blog. It's a lot of fun and very inspiring to read everybody else's posts as well.

When I was in 8th grade I had an English teacher that I really liked. I had to keep quiet about that, because all of the other kids liked to talk about what a grump she was and how they hated her class. Why did I like Mrs. Johnson when nobody else seemed to? I think it was because she made us work hard. Looking back, that's why I liked most of the teachers that I liked.

Anyway, Mrs. Johnson had us write a lot of essays. I already knew that I liked to write, but she made it seem like even a simple essay could be fun, could tell a story and could make a difference. I learned a lot in that class. And I feel like I'm still learning.

And I've probably got a long way to go!

Such a COLD winter!

2010-06-24T18:28:00.001-07:00

This is post #3 in the 15-post-series as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales. In this post, I cover memories from my first grade year.

I can still see my breath just thinking about Ashton, Idaho! I only lived there for one year, but, BOY, was it cold!

As a first grader in a small town, I was on top of the world. My mom and dad let me walk from our little yellow house on Walnut street ALL the way to my best friend Whitney’s house, by myself! Whitney was in kindergarten, and she had a big sister the same age as my big sister. We enjoyed fresh raspberries in the summer, and plenty of snow in winter. I find it ironic that the year I remember most about in my childhood, is that one year that I lived in Ashton, Idaho!

It was an especially cold winter day, but still, kids could be seen running around, swinging on swings, sliding down slides and doing things that kids do at recess. For some reason, which I cannot fathom, I decided I would stick my tongue on the frozen bar of the swing set. I remember the terror that came into me as I felt my little tongue stick fast. I was not afraid because it would hurt, I was afraid because the bell was now ringing and I was going to be late to line up.

I started crying and my big sister came to the rescue. She held my hand and said, “Don’t worry, you’re not going to get in trouble. I’ll go get your teacher!” My teacher came with warm water, helped me loosen my tongue and gave me a comforting hug.

Later that winter we visited the annual snow sculpting competition and climbed on the lap of a ginormous Coca Cola Polar Bear. I am almost certain that my dad’s head, while standing, came to the sitting Polar Bear’s knee!

I have very seldomly felt as old and powerful as I did that year. It seems like from that point on, I felt young, and found it hard to believe that I was really as old and grown up as I was, or am.

Book Review- Green Pieces: Green From the Pond Up

2010-06-22T12:12:00.001-07:00

This cartoon compilation is by Drew Aquilina, and it is VERY funny! I received an advanced review copy in the mail and was very pleased with the complete package: character descriptions, publishing information and contacts, even an order form.

“Life is never boring at the Pond when Iggy, Radic, Cabby and Roc meet. Enjoy a humorous yet educational look at the world from nature’s point of view.”

The characters are funny. The cartoons are entertaining. And you even learn a little bit about nature in the process of reading it.

When I read the synopsis and the description of each character I kept thinking that this book would be boring, because it’s all about being green and keeping nature safe. Well, that’s true, it was about all of that, but it was also very funny.

I like to describe it as a Calvin and Hobbes type cartoon book, that doesn’t follow the same story the whole time, but keeps you intrigued enough to continue reading.

I have a few reservations about this book. It has a little bit of crude humor. Nothing very bad, but I wouldn’t suggest it for kids. Come to think of it, I probably wouldn’t suggest it for kids anyway, maybe ages 10 and up?

Anyway, it’s a fun book and I think you should keep your eyes open for it! It’s published through Five Star Publications. For more information about it you can go to: http://www.greenpiecescartoons.com or http://www.greenpiecesbooks.com.

Photos from www.greenpiecescartoons.com

Summer Reading Challenge

2010-06-21T12:32:00.001-07:00

I am not good at choosing books ahead of time. What I really love to do is judge books by their covers when I go to the library, take them home and attempt to read them. If I don’t like what I get, I quit. That doesn’t mean I’m a quitter, that just means I chose the wrong book.

So, I still want to join the Summer Reading Challenge going on at My Book Retreat, I just plan on doing it a little differently. Instead of listing out all the books I’ll read this summer, I’ll make a pledge to read one book per week.

That might be hard. Right now I’m reading The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow, and it’s huge. It has already taken me 2 weeks and I’m not even half way through. This ain’t no Harry Potter that you just can’t put down. It’s a great book, well-written and intriguing, but a little bit slower.

So- that’s my plan! I will read one new book each week, and if I absolutely have to count a picture book, I will! :)

I can picture the dream…

2010-06-19T12:17:00.001-07:00

I love spending time outside with my family! We have finally had some nice enough weather to get the little pool out for my munchkins to play. They enjoyed it, and I got soaked!

I’ve been thinking lately… well it all started when I went shopping with my mom the other day. I saw some really cute shoes, on clearance, and some really cute skirts, also on clearance. But I couldn’t bring myself to buy them, because I know they would not get very much wear and use. It’s not that I don’t wear skirts and shoes, because I do, but I don’t wear that kind very often. They were more casual nice, and I wear extra nice to church… and that’s mainly it.

So, driving in the car yesterday from my Mom’s house (an hour drive) Mr. Fabulous asked me what some of my dreams were… He already knows that I’m living my dream, literally, of being a Mommy. That is all that I’ve ever wanted, and it’s amazing. But, he also knows that I want to publish my books.

It got me dreaming again, and picturing myself, in those adorable shoes and skirt, going to elementary schools, to book stores and to libraries to read to, talk to, and sign books for children. Oh, how I would LOVE that!

I am a traveler, I get it from my dad, who gets it from his mom. Taking that dream of mine one step further, I could see myself travelling to different places to do book tours and classroom visits. I could bring my family, and we could enjoy swimming in the hotel, sight seeing, and eating out. That would be Heaven!

And, let me tell you, as much as I love to dream about all of that- I know that even if it never happens, I’ll be the happiest girl in the world. But, if I could somehow achieve my goals, and get it to happen- I’ll be even happier!

Two little monkeys…

2010-06-17T16:14:00.001-07:00

This is the 2nd in a series of 15 posts as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales.

“Tina and Benji! Come eat lunch!” Mom made tuna fish sandwiches for lunch, the kids’ favorite. But still, they didn’t come. She headed into the living room to see what was keeping them. When she arrived she saw 4-year-old Tina, and 2-year-old Benji sitting on the back of the couch.

“Why didn’t you guys come for lunch when I called?” Mom asked as she sat down on the couch.

“Hey! You’re sitting on my nest!” Benji shouted. Mom quickly stood up.

“Mom,” Tina started to explain, in a tone that implied that Mom just didn’t understand. “We didn’t come for lunch, because Monkeys don’t eat lunch in the kitchen, they eat in trees. We are Monkeys! My name is BeeBee and this is BoBo. The couch is our home.”

“Oh, I get it!” Mom smiled. “Well, BoBo and BeeBee, how would you like to travel to another tree? A restaurant tree, to eat some lunch?”

“Ooohh-ooohhh, Aaaah-Aaaaahh!” Both of the little monkeys jumped happily off the couch and ran into the kitchen screeching and wailing.

Mom stood up and laughed to herself as she walked into the kitchen. “What will that girl think of next?”

And just for fun: here’s a semi-recent picture (2 years ago, he’s serving a mission for the LDS church right now in Colorado Springs, Colorado) of BoBo, aka my little brother Benji:

Father’s Day Poem

2010-06-15T19:47:00.001-07:00

I have a small book of poems that I wrote as a kid and teenager. It’s almost out of paper, but every so often I get it out and write a new one. Mostly they’re just poems about how I’m feeling or new challenges and variations in my life.

When my first son (now 2 1/2) was just a little guy (about 7 months?) I wrote a poem for my husband for Father’s Day. It was his first Father’s Day, (unless you count when I was pregnant, which we sort of do, but anyway…) so I wanted to make it special.

I printed this little poem on a card, and on the back printed this gorgeous picture of Mr. Fabulous and baby Christopher.

I thought I would like to share the poem with you now.

You’re my Dad!

I like to laugh when you do, I want to be like you!

I like to go on walks with you, they help me fall asleep.

We practice crawling, catching too, these are memories you’ll keep.

You make me smile, you help me when I’m sad.

You always take good care of me—that’s cuz you’re my dad.

Mommy loves you—she told me so. She thinks you’re really fun.

I think so too, just one reason why I’m proud to be your son.

Your faith is strong, your heart is true, you always do what’s right.

You’re my example and my friend, every day and night.

So, someday Dad, when I can talk, I’ll tell you “I love you.”

But just for now, hold me tight and a slobbery kiss will do!

Happy Father’s Day to all of these wonderful men in our lives!

Christmas baby

2010-06-10T10:00:00.001-07:00

This is the first in a series of 15 posts as part of Mommy’s Piggy Tales. I will be recording my youth, every Thursday, starting today with my birth story.

Doug and Teresa Bosen grew up in Idaho, where winters are cold and Christmas meant lot’s of family around. This year they weren’t expecting a white Christmas in Nevada where they now lived. And it would only be the two of them with their 2-year-old daughter Mellissa. At least, that was the plan.

They woke up around 7:00 a.m. and opened the presents that Santa Claus had left under the tree. Teresa had been having contractions off and on through out the morning, but didn’t think much of it because their baby wasn’t due for another two weeks.

After eating a small breakfast and playing with Mellissa’s new toys, it became apparent that the new baby would not be waiting until her due date. Doug and Teresa packed their bags, put a light jacket on Mellissa and walked her across the street to the neighbors’ house before heading to the hospital.

It may have been coincidence that the nurse on duty that Christmas day was named Cinnamon, but Teresa is sure she was an angel sent to help her.

Cinnamon brought ice, water, towels and offered massages and other helpful aids to Teresa while Doug and the Doctor watched the football game in the Doctor’s lounge.

At 3:30 in the afternoon a new baby girl was born. She weighed 6 lbs, 7 oz and was 18 inches long. Beautiful blue eyes peeked out to say, “Merry Christmas!”

Doug and Teresa decided it would be appropriate to name their new daughter after the day on which she was born. They tried Noel, and Holly. But nothing seemed quite right until they remembered that Christmas, after all, is about Jesus Christ. So, Christina Ray it would be.

Her Father and Grandfather both had the middle name of Ray, but that wasn’t the only reason Christina received that middle name.

“You’re my little Ray of sunshine on a beautiful Christmas day,” Teresa whispered to the sleeping baby in her arms.

A wedding, some inspiration and a lot of FUN!

2010-06-09T14:14:00.001-07:00

My sister got married yesterday. That meant a busy weekend for me, and my family. But it was totally worth it and soooo much fun!

I have been married almost 4 years. It was fun to reflect back on when I got married and how we did things. There are not a lot of things that I would’ve done differently- I don’t regret anything. But, I did enjoy a few of the different variations that my big sister put on it.

What I liked most of all was spending time with family. (I also enjoyed some of the attention, and the pretty new dress I got to wear.) I have always been a big family girl- and things have not changed a bit.

Mr. Fabulous commented on how he would rather not introduce himself to people and start a conversation. I don’t blame him entirely, it’s not like he grew up knowing these people. But, he also brought up the point that he misses out on a lot because of that. I agree.

As for the inspiration. I will thank my Uncle Wendell for that. He’s a great guy- I’ve always loved him. He asked me how my book was coming. I asked, “Which one?” I was unaware that he knew I was writing books. Then I remembered our family Christmas talent show, where I read one of my children’s books out loud as my talent- and told everyone that I had written it. They were all so surprised and excited. “You have to publish that.” “You are so talented.” “You better be working on getting that published.” They’re very sweet.

Anyway, about my Uncle. I told him that I write lot’s of children’s stories and that I’m working on a novel. I mentioned that I was a little stuck because I don’t have any close experience with divorce. He reminded me that there is inspiration everywhere… even at a wedding where it just so happens that the groom’s parents are divorced.

Thanks Uncle Wendell.

And now, back to cleaning my house. I had 3 extra kids for a week, right before I left for crazy wedding fun. Oh, the joys of being a mother!

On a lighter note- Mr. Fabulous is done with school for the summer! I love having a teacher for a husband!

Not the Only Cancer

2010-06-03T09:14:00.001-07:00

“The ceiling above my head began to shake and rumble. That was the last straw. If Jeremy was going to continue to jump off his bed, above my room, I was going to have to do something about it. There was no way I could concentrate on my homework with that racket.

“MOM!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Aren’t you going to do anything about that?” No answer. “Mom! Can’t you hear him? Are you even home?” By now I was on my way up the stairs. Jeremy had stopped long enough to hide in his closet, for fear of me pounding him into next week. There was still no answer from Mom. I fought the power to throw open Jeremy’s closet and give him a dead muscle in his arm, and walked down the hall to Mom’s room instead. I’ll never forget what I found.”

That is the opening of my novel. What do you think?

Book Review- The Money Answer Book

2010-06-01T12:23:00.001-07:00

I have heard great things about Dave Ramsey. They’re all true.

This guy really knows his stuff. He is very good at financial advice, the kind that actually helps.

The Money Answer Book is just what the title proclaims: a book with answers to questions about money. It has 11 chapters that each cover a different topic in relation to money. Some include: The basics, Budgeting, relationships and money, insurance, real estate and mortgages, and more.

I love the way Dave talks bluntly. And I say “talks” because it really does feel like he is talking to you, not that you’re reading it.

If you’ve heard about Dave Ramsey, it’s possible that you’ve heard his idea for an envelope system. This was one of the concepts covered in the book (through the answering of a question or two) that I thought was interesting. Before, when I heard about the idea, I thought it was nuts. After reading the whole book (which isn’t very long, it’s great bathroom material because it has short segments of questions and answers) I realized that it’s pretty smart. Instead of using a credit or debit card, which we are less attached to, you use cash. It feels a lot more painful to hand over a wad of cash then to swipe a card through a machine.

Many questions are geared towards folks who are struggling economically, but the book is also a great resource for “rich” people, and average people. Dave’s main point: debt is normal, and we don’t want to be normal! Get out of Debt!

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has any money and wants to keep it, or who has no money and wants to get some. I give it a 9.5!

**I was given a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze online review program.**

I am sooooo ANTI- Vanity press

2010-05-31T19:27:00.001-07:00

I just thought I would get that off my chest. I have a friend who recently finished her autobiography and is trying to get it published. She’s a cute lady. Her life story really is worth sharing and I’m sure it is very inspiring and uplifting. I can’t wait to read it.

When I told her I was jealous that she was so close to getting her book published, she went into parenting mode (meaning she knew what was right and how to help me…) and told me about her experiences with publishers. So far she’s taken contracts from 2 different vanity publishers (not knowing that that’s what they were) and been disappointed when her lawyer read the contract. She found out she would have to pay close to $4,000 to publish her book. It is my firm belief that authors should NEVER have to pay to get their books published. (She agrees!)

It made my day though, that after she found out that her second publishing company (Tate publishers, and the other one was Publish America) was a cheap skate and I should scratch them off my list. She encouraged me to keep trying and made me promise never to give up because she is certain that Heavenly Father will bless me through my hard work and dedication.

It was very touching.

Somewhere, deep down, I know she’s right. But. I have to admit that the beauty of my life right now is: I can do what I want. When I don’t feel like working on my novel, I don’t. When I have to take care of my little kids instead of shop for literary agents, I do. I’m flexible and that’s important to me right now.

No, I haven’t given up hope. And I definitely have not stopped writing. In fact, I’ve written a few more children’s stories lately, and I even submitted one story in to the Friend, a magazine published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, for children. They have the option to donate your material, or to be paid for it. Since I am a member of that church, and believe that the Friend is an important resource for teaching children the gospel of Jesus Christ, I chose to donate my story. I hope it will be published some day.

It’s a story about my son Christopher at church. He loves to hear the other children speak at the microphone about what they believe and know to be true. He always wants to go up there too, but I told him he’s too young and needs to practice at home first.

I hope everyone had a peaceful Memorial Day. We enjoyed a BBQ with some friends. We got rained on a bit, but that’s alright.

Happy reading.

Fun with books

2010-05-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice. I think I’ve decided that every so often I will post some of my writing for feedback and reader enjoyment. I also got a copyright for my blog material, that shouldn’t be an issue.

My baby turned 1 yesterday! We had a fun day. We went for a bike ride (just me and the boys… there’s that independence coming out again! hehe) to the park and played for a while. After Mr. Fabulous got home we drove to Rexburg for dinner and some D.I. shopping. We also got to meet a cousin’s new baby. He was a doll!

We also managed to make time for the library. Christopher was quick and actually found a Dora book- without having to ask me to search on the computer. We got a bunch of cute books and have already read most of them.

I picked a new novel for myself. It’s one of the “new” books that you can only keep for 14 days. (That’s alright with me, because if it’s worth reading, I’ve finished it in about 3 days.) I started it today and already don’t want to put it down. The Silent Gift by Michael Landon Jr. It’s very touching and dramatic so far.

In the mean time, yesterday I made a birthday cake and decorated it using homemade fondant! Awesome! I feel so proud and motherly. Check it out here: http://learntolovecrafts.blogspot.com

Advice from Fellow Authors?

2010-05-26T09:31:00.001-07:00

What do you think about publishing your work on your blog? I have been hesitant to do this- I don’t know I guess I have some crazy idea in my head that if I publish writing on my blog, it won’t be “new” for editors and publishers. Is that weird?

I have a lot of short stories that I would love to post on here, for feedback, etc. But I’m worried about doing that.

Let me know what you have experienced, and what you think!

Book Review- Sleep, It Does a Family Good

2010-05-25T14:01:00.001-07:00

What a resourceful book. Let me tell you, right about the time that this book showed up, I was having a hard time sleeping. I think it was about the time that I started thinking of tons of ideas for this blog, and for stories and everything else. My mind was just on overload and I couldn’t stop thinking at night.

So…. dananana (that’s music…) …. this book showed up!

It’s by Dr. Archibald D. Hart, and he grew up in South Africa. He has published many books, done much research and taught many college courses. I would say that this guy really knows his stuff.

The book is all about how busy families can overcome sleep deprivation. And although my family is far from busy, compared to many families today, we have our small share of sleep deprivation (as mentioned above.)

I thought the book was helpful because 1) It was written straight forward, in a personal voice that was easy to read and understand. 2) It gave a lot of research based evidence that the methods and ideas are smart and good. 3) It made me want to improve my life and my sleeping habits.

Some of the research based evidence that Hart includes in the book are: the effect that caffeinated beverages can have on sleep, the effect that sleep deprivation can have on marriages and relationships, the sleep cycle and how it works, and easy steps to take to get a good nights sleep.

I enjoyed reading the book and I implemented many of his ideas into my own life, to try to get a few extra winks.

One thing I thought his book should have included: the downfalls of getting too much sleep. He almost errs on the side of advertising that everyone needs more sleep- and I’m afraid that’s not entirely true. For the most part yes, but in my own life I have come to find out that when I nap too much or sleep too late, I lose my regular sleep cycle and things get thrown off. I do believe that there is such a thing as too much sleep- and I think Dr. Hart should have at least touched on that subject.

Overall though, I would highly recommend this book. In fact, I’ll be giving it to my mother later this week! (She has been struggling with insomnia and I think it could help her catch some ZZZ’s.)

***I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale Media Center.***

Read these books!

2010-05-19T12:24:00.001-07:00

I found a link from the Harper Collins website, that allows you to “browse inside” their children’s books. Some of them, you can read the whole thing!

I think this is really neat- and thought I would share with you- fellow book lovers!

http://browseinside.harpercollinschildrens.com/

Have fun!

Just some funny writing

2010-05-19T10:09:00.001-07:00

I wrote this… for fun. My husband is taking the 2-year-old on a father/son campout this weekend, assuming it doesn’t snow on them, and it reminded me of last summer when we all went camping. This is exaggerated a little, for humor purposes, but it’s mostly true.

Enjoy… and let me know what you think.

Camping with Kids:

I loved camping! I loved the adventure of being out in nature. I loved the challenge of making it a whole week without shaving my legs or washing my hair. I loved the smell of the campfire, and the sound of a creek rushing nearby. I loved exploring and hiking and being away from a crazy world.

I loved camping! Loved- being past tense, as in, I used to love camping. I used to love everything that came with it. That was before I had kids.

I still love the idea of camping- the memories I made in my pre-child rearing era. The thought of all of those wonderful adventures makes me yearn for a solid campout. Why not? I say. Why not try taking a family camp out? How bad could it be?

Mistake #1- high expectations. What I should have said was, “I know this is going to be hard, and a lot of work, but maybe we might have a little bit of fun.” Bring those expectations down just a notch and I might not have been in for such a big shock.

So, we decided to try it. Memorial Day weekend was coming up. That would be a great weekend to take a trip out into the wild yonder. We could pack up some tents and sleeping bags, load a cooler with some hot dogs and marshmallows and we’d be on our way. If only it were that simple right?

Mistake #2- Memorial Day weekend? Really? We didn’t’ even consider the idea that everyone else and their dogs would be camping that weekend. And I mean that literally- there were dogs barking until 3 in the morning!

We finally found a campground that had a stall and got out the tent. I don’t know how my husband managed to put up the tent all by himself. Maybe he’s a natural born super-camper. While he fidgeted and fiddled with the poles and stakes, I chased a busy toddler away from the stream; away from the ant hill and away from the deer poop which he thought looked like chocolate.

Mistake #3- bringing a toddler camping.

The baby slept soundly in the car seat while we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the toddler was covered from head to toe in marshmallow goo, dirt, ketchup and new mosquito bites. I was only glad that my thoughtful mother had reminded me to bring bug spray. Though, apparently it didn’t do a whole lot of good.

When the baby woke up I gave him a bottle that I had prepared ahead of time. He drank it down quickly and then started squirming to get down and crawl. I tried keeping him on the tarp near the tent, but he went straight for a pile of rocks and started chomping them. After successfully removing 3 different rocks from his mouth, I tried holding him again on my lap. He promptly started squirming harder, so I let him sit in the dirt. He proceeded to go straight for the blazing fire.

Mistake #4- bringing a baby camping.

After a few campfire songs, and some more running around rescuing children, I declared that it was time for bed. Once we finally got settled into the tent, with Husband and I on either side of the toddler, and baby in his car seat, I thought the worst of our trip was over. I imagined a peaceful night of sleep and a beautiful morning where we could go hiking and exploring.

Mistake #5- trying to sleep.

The toddler woke up every 30 minutes, complaining he was cold, or hot, or hungry, or crying for no reason at all. The baby woke up every other 30 minutes crying, or cooing, or coughing. The neighboring campers’ dogs continued to bark at some unknown shadow and the wind howled loudly. The husband, slept like a rock!

Morning came ever so slowly and at the first sign of the sun, I climbed out of the tent. Needless to say, all three boys were now sound asleep and I imagine the dog was as well. I made my way over to the porta-potty style bathroom, only to have to wait my turn. A very large lady came out and as I opened the door to enter, I remembered the part I knew I didn’t like about camping!

Mistake #6- not bringing my own toilet paper.

I managed to do my business and return to our campsite, with my dignity still intact. The husband was rolling up sleeping bags, chirping about what a great night sleep he had. I smiled and nodded my head as I changed the baby’s diaper and clothes.

We packed everything up and headed up the road to the trailhead. I had baby on my front, and hubby had the toddler on his back. The hike started out nice enough- I would almost call it enjoyable. We talked about the beautiful bushes, looked for birds, stopped every 20 steps or so at the toddler’s request to grab a “cool rock.” Soon, though, the baby started crying and I realized he was hungry. “You grabbed his bottle right?” I asked the husband. “I thought you had it.” We were 3 miles up the trail.

Mistake #7-lack of communication.

We hurried back down the mountain, at a rate that I never would’ve been able to duplicate as a young camper. The toddler was whining, the baby was crying and my husband said he had a headache. I managed to prepare a bottle for the baby, feed the toddler and give the husband some extra strength rapid release Tylenol that I always keep in my purse. We buckled our seat belts, and drove home, stopping for lunch at the first McDonald’s in sight.

After my husband unpacked the trunk, I washed laundry, washed my hair and shaved my legs while the boys slept- some more. I found marshmallow goo all over the sleeping bags, spilled bug spray in the toiletries bag, and “cool rocks” in every pocket of every pair of pants.

Mistake #8- forgot to take pictures.

I loved camping. I loved it as a young girl, and I loved it as a mom. I won’t say it wasn’t a lot of work- because it was. But, I think maybe, just maybe, we might have to try it again, someday. Only next time, I’ll make sure to keep my expectations low.

Being a Mom

2010-05-17T14:10:00.001-07:00

I’ve been writing some smaller pieces lately- for a book that is actually going to be published. It will have 20 authors, and I’m one of them. It’s about being a Mom.

So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. And I decided: I love being a Mom!

Duh! I thought I already knew that. But, it’s been a full year and a half now since I’ve been graduated from school and strictly at home with my two boys. And though some days are very rough (I’m not going to lie, some days I feel like I might go crazy and pull my hair out and cry my eyes out- and usually do when Mr. Fabulous gets home.) Most days are wonderful!

I don’t always do fun activities with my boys. I don’t always read books to them on the couch, with pillows surrounding us in a clean living room. In fact- I hardly ever have a clean living room. (one of those things that causes me to want to scream and pull my hair out!) But, I do have fun with them.

Even on days when all I do is laundry, cook and clean. I feel like these two precious little boys make it worth it. (Sometimes I have momentarily relapses into my depressed-crazy-wish I could get out of the house-mode, but then a slimy little one-year-old gives me a big smile and I snap out of it.)

Today has been a fun day. I played and worked alongside my boys all morning, had lunch and dropped them off at a friends so I could go on a field trip with Mr. Fabulous’s 3rd grade class. They walked over to the junior high and watched Pirates of Penzance. Can I just say? As much as I love teaching (which is will aspire to do when my children are raised- and have already prepared boldly for) I almost wished I were home rocking my baby to sleep. And not because I was worried about him, or that I’m a crazy mother who can’t leave her boys anywhere else. Because that’s what I love to do.

I came home to a messy living room, a grumpy 2-year-old and a smiling baby who had a great nap while I was gone (which means I won’t be getting a break this afternoon.) But, I’m where I belong, and I’m happy!

Do you enjoy being a Mom?

Book Review: Fablehaven series

2010-05-14T11:45:00.001-07:00

I just finished the 5th and final book of the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull.

First of all, a little background on my reading habits- It took me until my first son was 3 months old before I read any and all of the Harry Potter books- that was two years ago. I have NOT ready any of the Twilight series books. I am kind of a rebel reader- if somebody tells me “You have to read it!” “You’ll love it!” I instantly shrink away. This attitude is stupid, because usually, I do love what I read- or at least like it well enough. (just for the record, I didn’t LOVE Harry Potter, but it was entertaining. There were a lot of books though…)

So, Fablehaven was recommended to me by my sister, in a non-intrusive manner. Meaning, she knew if she tried to force me, I wouldn’t read it. I’m glad she knew what she was doing- because I really did enjoy the series.

Photos taken from http://brandonmull.com

I’m not a huge fan of fantasy- hence the reason I didn’t just LOVE Harry Potter. And I won’t lie, Fablehaven isn’t exactly my cup of tea. (especially since I don’t drink tea, hehe) But, it was very well written and kept my attention enough. (Actually, it kept my attention very well, I didn’t put the fifth book down at all yesterday- just ask my poor kids and hubby!)

Fablehaven, as you might have guessed, is a secret haven for mythical creatures. A brother and sister, Seth and Kendra, become involved in the magical world and go on multiple adventures to try to save it. (that’s a real summary for you.)

Some positives- Kendra and Seth have great personalities, and that really, is what kept me reading. Like I said, I’m not a huge fan of the mythical, fantasy world, and there was a lot of that. But, the characters were developed well enough, that I continued to read and enjoy because they sucked me in.

In each book, the characters complete out-of-world, impossible missions. That is expected, I suppose. At times, the books were very predictable, or so far-fetched that you just knew it was made up.

I really like the small romance stories that are included. Since Kendra is only 15, and Seth is younger, the romance is kept at bay- and that’s probably for the better. But, books 4 and 5 do include a couple of romantic notions, and they were perfect! (Except come on- where’s the kiss?)

Negatives? Brandon Mull tended to use some common phrases- a lot. “Set things in motion.” I can’t think of any others at the moment. And they really didn’t matter, just kind of got obnoxious. Couldn’t he think of another way of saying it? (With five books, each nearly 500 pages or more, I guess that would be a challenge huh?)

Lot’s of characters. Obviously there has to be, but there were lot’s of mythical creatures, hags, demons, wraiths, astrids, dragons, fairies, satyrs, centaurs, minotaurs etc. that I didn’t know anything about. (Obviously, I wrote the more commonly known ones, because those are the ones I remember.) Again, not a huge deal, but kind of annoying for me.

Overall- I did enjoy the books very much. I made a vow though, never to get into a series again, until all of the books are finished, and published. I hate the suspense. (Of course, then things are worse, because I read all 7 books at once, because I can’t stop!)

Would I recommend it? Yes, especially to kids- maybe 5th through 8th grade. I think it’s a great read and will really entertain them!

Book Review: The Story of Growl

2010-05-12T09:33:00.001-07:00

Fun, fun, fun! This is just a fun little book. Christopher, the 2-year-old, loves it. We picked it out randomly at the library- I always choose books by their covers- and it surprised us!

Growl is a happy little monster, who lives in a castle. Her neighbors, who don’t live in a castle but in a tiny cottage, don’t appreciate her growling at teatime. They call the police and a new law is made: no Growling!

The little monster gets so sad. Then, one night she growls at a robber who is trying to steal the neighbors tea seat. She scares him off and the neighbors are so happy. The law is removed!

I just like the flow, and it’s so fun to growl so much when reading a book. I had to caution though- it might make your throat hurt!

My rating: 8.8!

A novel? Really?

2010-05-07T12:58:00.001-07:00

I read a very interesting blog last week (unfortunately I can’t remember where? shoot!) about picture books. The jist of it was that picture books are hard to publish. As in- hard for first time authors to find an agent to find an editor to publish them.

Reasons being: You have to include an illustrator- extra money. They don’t sell as many or for as much money- less money made. And they’re basically always the same. So, unless a brand new author has an incredibly fresh, new voice for picture books, it is very unlikely that they will be able to make that big break and find an agent to represent them so they can make it big!

My conclusion: maybe I should try writing a novel…

Why not? I wrote for the newspaper in college. I know how to write sophisticated words apart from “corn and cheese chunks en-flambe.” (Yes, that is a direct quote from my Chef-boy Andy story that I plan to submit for the Cheerios contest.)

So, I’ve decided to go for it. Actually, I decided right after I read that blog. I guess I’ve always considered writing a novel, just haven’t had the right motivation to actually do it. If I want to get published, which I do (very badly) then I’ve got to do what it takes. And if this is what it takes, I’ll do it and enjoy every minute of it, as I have so far.

I really did a lot more planning for this book than for any of my children’s books. (Correction- this is going to be a children’s book as well, or rather, a Middle grade fiction novel.) I checked out a few books from the public library, wrote an outline and character sketch, and dug deep into my past for some personal stories.

My topic: Breast cancer!

When I was 13 years old my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I was in Junior high. Truthfully, it was very scary- but I never had the fear that I would lose my mother. I did grow up quickly though, in that I had to cook and clean and do a lot of things that my mom couldn’t when she was sick.

I started my novel yesterday, and unfortunately (or serendipitously, whichever way you look at it) I didn’t do a whole lot of anything else, and I wrote 11 pages. (in Microsoft word, single spaced.) I’m really, really excited.

And, just for the record, my mom fully recovered and it’s been ten years this November. (I don’t think she reads this, but in case she does, I won’t mention that I’m making her an all pink quilt for her anniversary!)

My main character, Amanda, is in high school now. The story is told from her point of view, with multiple flash backs to when she was 11 and her mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Just for the record, this is NOT my story. This is a fictionalized story. When my husband read it for me he was shocked. “You changed a lot. It makes it hard to read.” What do you mean? I asked him. He thought I was telling MY story. hahahahaha

The title, right now, (very subject to change as I progress…) is Not the Only Cancer. The idea is that Amanda grew up through her mom’s cancer, but now she is facing another plague to our society: divorce. This problem is almost worse to Amanda because of the strength and unity that was created in her family while her mom was sick. But, she will have to pull herself together and try to pull her family back together as well.

Don’t worry; there’s some romance thrown in there. And a little bit of every day teen drama.

The thing I’ve discovered so far: novels are harder because I can’t sit down and write the whole thing in an hour. I have to think about it and try to sleep while I’m thinking about it. There are just too many words to be able to get them all out in one sitting.

Anyway, now that I’ve wasted a bunch of my precious writing time, blabbing to you about my new book- I’m going to go write a chapter that I thought of this morning while I was playing with soft, foam blocks!

Sunshine Award!

2010-05-05T12:40:00.001-07:00

How exciting! I never win anything! Deana over at Mom’s the Glue, gave me the Sunshine Award! It made me happy! Thanks so much!

I think I saw once that this award means your blog is usually very positive and upbeat. It makes people feel good. And you inspire others. (I’m not sure if that’s why I was given the award, but I’m going to choose my winners based on that assumption!)

So, here are the rules for this award!

1. Put the logo on your blog and/or within your post.

2. Pass the award on to twelve bloggers.

3. Link to the nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and the link to the person whom you received this award from.

I would like to give this award to:

7. Little Citizens of the World

8. The Children Sing

9. Mad for Reading

10. Childhood Memories

11. Keeping it Simple

12. Oopsey Daisy

Thanks again for everyone who reads and comments on my blog. You guys continue to inspire me- to keep writing, to keep trying and definitely to keep smiling! Thanks!

Reading opposites

2010-05-01T09:54:00.001-07:00

This morning Christopher brought a whole bunch of books to his Daddy (Mr. Fabulous, remember?) He was reading to him, but was tired of all the same books. (It’s time to go back to the library I guess.) So, he started changing the story.

At first he just made it up. Then, he started telling the story in exact opposites. Example: the story really said, “Baby duck was having a bad day.” He said, “Adult goose was having a good day.” He read at least three books that way. I don’t think it was all that easy.

It was definitely entertaining though.

Christopher thought so too.

Maybe that would be a good challenge for some of his advanced 3rd graders? I think I’ll suggest he tell them that!

P.S. Thanks everybody for all of the ideas. I’ve written three new stories since I heard about the contest. I think I like my rhyming one the best (for that purpose.) It’s called Chef-Boy Andy (courtesy of NaDell’s hubby, my brother-in-law.) But really, it has nothing to do with my brother-in-law, I just thought the name fit. Anyway, it’s told in first person, from Andy, about all of his cooking adventures. He makes really gross food combinations, and at first thinks his family loves it all! But, towards the end of the story, he starts to realize that nobody likes his food, and the kitchen is a mess. So, he decides to go play instead, leaving the dishes for someone else. (that’s the gist anyway.) It still needs some tweaking, but I think it’s pretty funny and flows well.

Does it sound alright?

Writing Contest

2010-04-27T13:16:00.001-07:00

I really have been debating whether or not I should share this. I want to win THAT badly!

Cheerios is doing a writing contest for new authors of Children’s books. The winner gets $5,000 and their book will be published by Simon & Schuster. That is a MAJOR publisher! AHHHHHH. I want to win this soo badly! Your book will also be given away inside Cheerio boxes next year.

Here’s the link:

http://www.spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com/

So, if you’re interested, go ahead and try for it. If you’re not…. will you please help me? It will be tough to decide what story to submit. I’ll probably write a new one. In fact, I just did write a new one.

Here’s what I want from you- some ideas. The winner last year wrote a story called, “How do you Hug a Porcupine?” Sounds really cute huh? I don’t do animal books; not very well anyway.

But, if you have an idea for a story topic, please leave it in a comment. Here’s the deal. I will try to write a story for every topic, and see which one works out best. If I happen to choose a topic that you submit, I am going to email you the story before I submit it to the contest, so I can have another outside opinion. Yeah?

Thanks everyone! I really, really got excited when I saw this contest. How awesome would that be to win? I realize it’s basically the same as submitting query letters, because there will be a TON of submissions. But this is a little better because if you’re chosen, it’s a guaranteed publish from a major publisher, plus all of that recognition and advertisement from Cheerios. Whereas, if you are chosen by an agent, it’s still a long, painful process to see which publisher they might find for you.

Wish me luck!

Just Mom

2010-04-26T13:53:00.001-07:00

This weekend was fun for me. I got to be just “mom.” Allow me to explain.

Here’s an excerpt from my family blog:

The Hippy in me: Picture this- I’m wearing long capris, with my new pedometer hooked onto my pocket and on my feet are hiking sandals. I have Caleb on my back, in a backpack, and I’m pushing Christopher in an umbrella stroller. We are walking down Hitt Road to Wal-Mart, so we can catch the shuttle bus to the park for the Earth Day celebration!

When we got there, we ate organic trail mix, granola muffins and apples dipped in yogurt peanut butter. Who am I kidding? We really went for all the free stuff (including the free zoo pass that we got for riding the shuttle bus.) But, really they had a ton of fun things for kids to do. Christopher painted a reusable shopping bag, planted some squash, made a chia pet, and had fun on a scavenger hunt looking for people wearing green to sign his card. It was awesome!

Besides the quip about being a hippy, this trip to the park was revolutionary to some degree. I got to spend the weekend being Mommy. Not that I don’t spend every day of my life being Mommy, because I do. But, for some reason this weekend, I was brave enough to venture out on my own, with my kiddos. Mr. Fabulous was helping a family in the neighborhood move into their new house.

I’m kind of lame, I know, but I am a Hubby’s girl. I like to always have Mr. Fabulous with me. I don’t like driving myself, or taking the kids out on the town alone. Mostly, it’s because I love Fabulous to be with us, but also because I’m kind of dependent and don’t like to brave the world by myself. Maybe it was because I didn’t have to drive, or maybe it was because I took all the extra time to plan and think through this excursion, but this weekend I did it!

Sure, I’ve gone to the mall with the kiddos, I’ve taken them to my parents’ house before without hubby, and I do things like that every so often. But not really. I’m a home body. I don’t have a car during the day, unless I drive Mr. Fabulous to school, and usually it doesn’t really matter, because I don’t want to go anywhere. We go for walks, and truly if we needed anything that bad, the grocery store, and everything else important are close enough to walk to. I’ll admit it, Mr. Fabulous goes grocery shopping with me. I’ve recently started taking that up on my own, sometimes to get a break from kiddos, but sometimes because that’s the only way to get it done. I don’t like it. It’s easier, more efficient, and even kind of fun when hubby comes!

Anyway, enough rambling, I just thought I would share with you my small personal victory this weekend. I went out on my own with the kids, and it’s not just that, but I enjoyed it! I saw all the other just “mommy’s” out there, and felt bad that their husbands couldn’t be with them. Then I remembered that mine wasn’t there either, and I was doing fine! I guarantee though, that this is not something I would like to, or even could handle full time!

Let’s talk about winter

2010-04-23T12:14:00.001-07:00

Ok, so the truth comes out. My son loves to watch Barney. As we were watching it today, they were singing “if all the snowflakes were candy bars and milk shakes…,” he said, “let’s talk about winter".” I thought he wanted to sing the song, so I sang along. He said, “No, let’s talk about winter.” So, I started discussing winter, and snow, and whatever else… he was happy with that, and listened. I have to laugh! I always talk to him, about everything. He’s a very vocal 2-year-old. He loves when I explain things and seems to get along better that way, when he knows “the plan.” So, it was funny that he initiated the “talk about winter.” I can only imagine what else he might ask me to “talk” about someday.

In the meantime, we’ve been reading lot’s of books. He’s no longer happy with just books at bedtime anymore. Whenever there’s a lull in our day's activities, he pulls out the library books and sits on the couch. If I don’t join him fairly quickly, he starts asking, “Please, Mommy, can we read books?” He’s quite the negotiator too. If I tell him 3 books, he picks 4. I say, “Christopher, I said 3 books. You have 4.” He says, “But, this one is short.” Oh brother!

Good news: Little brother, Caleb, who will be 1 in a month, no longer tries to destroy books. He likes to read them to himself now too. He loves to pull them all off the shelf. But instead of attempting to rip them now, he turns the pages more carefully and looks through them.

Another update: during lunch, after I get the boys their food, Christopher says, “Mom, what book are you reading today?” Is it bad that I somewhat ignore them at lunch and read my own books instead?

More recognition

2010-04-21T13:01:00.001-07:00

I don’t know if that’s really the right word. You’d think, as a writer, that I’d be able to come up with the word that I really mean, right? But, sometimes I can’t seem to think of the right word. At least I can write and explain what I really mean.

What I mean is, I’ve been excited and somewhat surprised from the extra attention I’ve been getting from friends and family who have recently found out that I write children’s books. I have had lot’s of neighbors say something like, “I didn’t know you wrote books, that’s so amazing.” Amazing? Really?

I guess what I’m trying to state is that: it’s worked. I started this blog to get some attention on my books, and it’s worked. Hooray!

But, I’ve also gotten more. I’ve made new friends, online mostly, that are very helpful, kind and inspiring. I’ve found new blogs to read and comment on (I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing, since it ends up taking a lot of my time away from more important things,) but it’s so nice to know that there are other moms out there in my same situation. Other writers who want to be published! (I guess I already knew that, or else all of the agents that I have contacted would’ve chosen me quick…if there were no other writers out there.)

It’s a whole new world out there. The internet, I mean. And I’m not talking about the bad stuff. I’m talking about all of the connections one can make and the resources available. I think if I had lived years ago, 50, or even just 20, I would not have the patience to submit my work to editors, and agents. But the internet has made it easier and possible. (Maybe if I lived that long ago, I wouldn’t be so impatient because I wouldn’t be used to having everything at my fingertips huh?)

Anyway, my point is: Thank you!

Book Review- Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go

2010-04-15T14:08:00.001-07:00

Lucille O’Neal, mother of famous NBA start Shaquille O’Neal, tells the story of her life. It includes her ups and downs, personal struggles and triumphs, and details about her journey through life.

I enjoyed the book, don’t get me wrong, but I found myself judging Lucille- and that’s not very fair. She put everything out on the line, by sharing some of her darkest moments with the world in this book. I just feel like some of the issues she discussed could have been prefaced more with how wrong she was, how hard that made her life, or other cautionary words.

For example, Lucille would get drunk every weekend, for a long time in her life. I don’t remember reading once how horrible that was! Sure, she mentions that she came to a point where she knew she’d better stop, but she does not emphasize very strongly how much people should avoid that vice.

Let’s get organized here:

Thumbs up:

I loved how Lucille told many details about her life, both as a child, a teenager, a married woman, a mother and a single adult. She was very candid in her wording and it made it very fun to read.

I also enjoyed reading about her family. I thought it was very personal to read about the feelings of defeat, frustration and sacrifice she felt as a mother caring for everyone but herself.

I enjoyed Lucille’s talk about God and how he helped her life.

Thumbs down:

I feel like Lucille talked too much about God, and his relationship in her life- when really, her personal stories and narratives showed that she had nothing to do with God most of her life. I’m glad she came to know him, but it seemed like there were too many preachy references. (To her credit, she does mention the important fact that God does not leave us, even if we stray for a season.)

Too much about Shaq! Sure, he’s her first born son, sure his name is selling the book, but I wanted to hear more about her other children too.

I was very disturbed by her attitude towards her divorce of husband of 28 years. She explains that she still loved him, but was not in love with him. She claimed that this was a necessary step to continue on in her journey of life. I understand that this is how many people feel, and maybe her marriage really was as miserable as she felt- but it just saddens me that this is the attitude portrayed- and that it’s so common. Lucille speaks to young women often, and it breaks my heart to know that these young women might think, “Oh, if she could just walk away from such a happy union, because it was something she needed to do, without trying for therapy or anything else, then it’s ok for me too.” Sad.

Like I mentioned earlier, it’s not fair for me to judge- her life, her marriage, or her at all. I received a complimentary copy of this book from booksneeze. It was a good read, that really made me think about some of the details of my own life. I would recommend it to any wife and mother- or anyone in general I suppose. Just beware that you might find yourself hearing an awful lot about the basketball superstar, and Lucille’s baby boy, Shaquille O’Neal.

My rating: 8.5

Dear Editor

2010-04-14T12:49:00.001-07:00

I found this new website, that’s pretty neat. It’s called Dear Editor, and anyone can write a real question and get a real answer; about writing, editing, publishing, etc.

Their celebrating their 1 month anniversary and giving away a free edit of one Young Adult or Middle Grade fiction manuscript. Pretty cool!

So, if you’re interested in having your work edited, go check it out!

http://dear-editor.com/

Read My Query

2010-04-13T11:02:00.001-07:00

I have done a lot of research about how to write a good query letter, how to find the right literary agent for you, and so on…

I started thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to have you, my friends and fellow moms, read my query letter and tell me what you think. Even if you don’t know anything about query letters (a message to literary agents to get them to accept your book and sell it to publishers) I think your advice and opinion might be beneficial.

So, if you were an agent, would you want to read my story based on this query letter? Or, as a Mom, does this query letter make you want to read my story to your kids? Do you have any advice on how to phrase things, how to order things, what to change?

Please, read it, and let me know! If you know any agents, or editors, or publishers, or anybody at all, who might be willing to read it and help me out- link it to them! I can use any and all the help I can get!

So, here it is:

April 12, 2010

Agent Name here

Literary Agency here

Address here

Attn: Ms./Mr. Agent name

Please Mommy, Sing it Again is a sweet story about everyday parents and children enjoying bedtime together. The targeted audience is preschool children. It can especially grab the attention of their parents.

Classic songs that young children love, such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” come to life as Mommy sings them to Connor. Each song brings Connor closer to sleep. Mommy loves Connor- that is evident, even if she doesn’t always love singing songs over and over again. Young children, especially those who love music, will love hearing this story at bedtime. They might even be asking, “Please Mommy, read it again.”

I am a Mommy who sings to my two-year-old son, and 10-month-old baby, every night. The story is about my son, Christopher’s, sweet love for the music and the attention he gets as I help him prepare for sleep. It isn’t always easy, but it is worth it. I hope to be able to share this loving part of our relationship with other parents and children.

Thank you for taking time to read my query and consider my Children’s book. The full manuscript is available upon request.

Sincerely,

Christina Crowther

What my child is reading!- my first link up

2010-04-12T13:18:00.001-07:00

I have seen these neat link ups around, and I finally decided to join one. (I’ll admit it, I haven’t joined in before, because I didn’t think I would be able to link things correctly. But, really it’s not that hard!) Thanks to Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns, for setting this up!

So, what have we been reading lately?

What a fun little book! Christopher enjoyed it, sure, but I think I liked it even more. I even brought the book to my parents house for the weekend and made my mom and little brothers listen to me read it. It’s so fun to use a Spanish accent and this book really encourages you to get into it! It is a little strange, but I think that’s part of what makes kids like it.

This is another one of those kind of interesting, a little weird, but pretty cute books. It’s about a cat who can’t fly like the other cats. Instead, he finds out, he can swim. Everybody knows cats can’t swim. We had a fun little discussion about what cats can and can’t do.

Christopher likes this book a lot, we’ve read it many times. He always talks about going to stay at his Grandma’s for a week. (although, that probably won’t happen for a while, even though Mr. Fabulous and I would LOVE a second honeymoon.) I think this book is cute because the cubs miss their parents sooo much at the beginning, but then realize that they are having a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. They even suggest to Ma and Pa that they should do it again sometime.

We got this one at Mr. Fabulous’ book fair at school. I just thought it looked cute. (Yes, I do judge books by their covers.) It turned out to actually be cute too. Bear doesn’t feel well and all his friends take care of him. When he finally feels better, all his friends are feeling sick. Bear promises that now he will take care of them too. I thought it was funny, and typical that they all got sick. Isn’t that how life goes?

This is my parenting book in a picture book. I already blogged about it in a previous post, but I had to include it here, because Christopher really likes it. He’s been quoting it saying, “I bork you Mommy!” And then he laughs. It’s alright with me if he borks me, maybe it will remind me that I need to smooth down my prickles sometimes!

So there you have it. This is what we’ve been reading, plus all of the favorites that we’re always reading! What about you and your child?

My Kid can Read!

2010-04-09T12:53:00.001-07:00

Ok, maybe just memorize. But, it’s really cute!

This video was from November last year, right after Christopher turned 2. He started memorizing books as soon as he could say, "uh-oh!" I love it!

I love reading with Christopher. He gets so into it! He has at least 5 books memorized and picks up on new ones really easily.

I just thought I would share this cute video of Mr. Fabulous reading to Mr. Know it all!

Meanwhile, I’m stumped on what move to make next for publishing my work. My cousin, Megan, is working on illustrating a couple of books for me. I love her art and we’ve been best friends forever. I think it will be so neat to be able to have books published by both of us. But, that’s just it. I don’t know where to go next. Any advice?

I’ve looked into self-publishing/vanity publishing. But, maybe I’m too vain, because I really want to get my books accepted by a real publishing company. Hmmmm… I guess I’ll go edit my query letters and send some more out.

I want to go to the "ibrary"

2010-04-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

That was the chant we heard on our way into town Monday evening. We had been gone on spring break vacation for a whole week- and that's what he wanted to do first thing. We didn't go that night- it had been a long day in the car. But, thanks to a snow day on Tuesday, we all got to go together the next day.

Christopher loves Dora the Explorer, I think I've said that before. It is extrememly difficult to find any Dora books at our library. They're always checked out, lost, or just not where they are supposed to be. I found one. It's cute.

I also found a bag full of other cute childrens books- which have been very fun to read. I'll confess, I usually read them on my own, as soon as we get home. Ok, maybe not as soon as we get home, but sometime, like after Christopher goes to bed. After all, I did pick many of them for me.

I usually go through and grab them based on their title, and their cover. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but honestly, who doesn't? I know I do.

This time around, I happened to grab a few books with a similar theme. Parenting. No, really. I got at least 3 different childrens books that are teaching parents how to be better. They choose a common problem that young children face, then write about it, and include secrets codes to Moms about what they can do to help their kid. It's great.

I want to write one. The only problem is- I haven't been a parent for very long. My oldest kid is 2 1/2. What do I know about parenting that Moms reading my books to their kids don't already know? I guess I'll have to do some personal introspection to decide if I have any special parenting tips available to Moms and Dads out there reading to their kids.

But, actually, it's the wierdest thing, kids love these parenting books even more. "When Mom was Mad." That was a great book, it taught me a thing or two about not letting my anger or frustration rub off on my boys. And, believe it or not, Christopher thought that book was hilarious- he wanted to read it three times! (I don't think it's just because there was a character with his name either!)

Anyway, I just thought I would share my opinion on illustrated parenting books for kids. They're great! Go read one!

Winner of the giveaway!

2010-04-07T09:40:00.001-07:00

Thanks for all who entered the give away. My blog got a lot of new traffic because of the give away, so THANKS! I was really tempted to make one for each of you- but, decided to go with one winner, as originally intended.

So, the winner is……

Congratulations Nicole! Oakley will love her new game! I’ll get it to you around the beginning of June- when you come to Idaho to make a wedding cake. ;)

Reading on Vacation

2010-03-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hurry to enter the giveaway! You still have time! Scroll down!

We're on vacation! Mr. Fabulous has spring break, so we decided to drive to Washington to visit family. It's been really fun. Don't worry, we still read.

Yesterday, we were hanging out with some of our nieces, at my sister-in-laws house. I wanted Christopher to have some quiet time, even though I knew there was no way I would get him to take a nap. So, I grabbed a couple of Dora the Explorer books and sat him down to read. He listened to one, because there were so many new toys and fun things to play with. But, two of my nieces hopped right up there, listened to both books, and then brought me more.

We read a couple of their new library books, and they kept asking for more. Their mom was asking them to pick up some toys, so I convinced them they'd better save some of their new library books for bedtime. Their dad does the reading at bedtime! Just like our dad.

It was a lot of fun.

This morning, we went to story time at the local library, with another sister-in-law and her son, who is just older than Christopher. It was all about bunnies. They gave the kids paper plates with the middle cut to look like bunny ears. (Sorry, no pictures.) Very fun, and cute!

We also made a trip to the local Goodwill Industries. That's a second hand store. We LOVE to buy books there, because they are so cheap! Christopher was grumpy and didn't want to pick one. But Mr. Fabulous bought 16 chapter books for his classroom. He likes to send a chapter book home with his 3rd graders during Christmas and spring break. If they read the whole thing during the break, they get to keep the book. Kind of fun and a great incentive for them to read. Plus, when he buys them for 50 cents each, it's a great deal!

I love story time. Even if we're 8 hours from home, sleeping on a mattress in the family room, Christopher can at least have one thing that is still the same in his routine. And that is reading books before bed!

Is publishing supposed to be hard?

2010-03-26T09:18:00.001-07:00

Have you signed up for the give away? You still have time! Go here!

All my life, I’ve felt like I’ve had the easy road. When I went to college, I remember Mom saying I would get a shock and suddenly life would be hard. Didn’t happen.

When I got married, everyone said it would be a big adjustment. It wasn’t so bad. Then the babies came… still not so bad. This morning I was thinking back to those times, and all of those adjustments in my life. I realized that I really did make a lot of changes in my life, and that it probably was kind of hard. It didn’t seem all that hard at the time because either 1) I wouldn’t admit that it was hard, or 2) I knew I just had to do it, so there wasn’t time to think about it being hard.

I think it was both.

My point is: Publishing books is hard. Is that just me, finally admitting that something is hard? Or is it really a hard thing?

I guess I just don’t have a lot of patience for the publishing process and all of the time it takes. I have learned patience with my boys- in fact I can take two boys, under the age of 3, to the mall, and talk things through, and avoid tantrums pretty easily. But waiting for agents to reply to my query letters? That’s hard!

I suppose it’s like everything else I’ve done. It will take time to adjust and it will take a positive attitude.

Have you had any experience with publishing?

Child’s name matching game- GIVE AWAY!

2010-03-24T13:16:00.001-07:00

I got this idea from my husband, Mr. Fabulous- who read it in one of his literacy books for his masters program. I spiced it up a little bit, of course. And I want to make one for your kid too!

The idea is for the child to match capital letters with lower case letters. So, using the child’s name, I made a card with each letter, twice. One capital letter, and one lower case.

My son, Christopher, loves playing with it, even though he doesn’t know the letters yet. I made it simple with matching colored borders. Yours could be made for an older child, and could be made more difficult- it’s your choice!

They can be for girls, or boys, or if their names are short, I’ll do both! I have lot’s of cute paper to choose from, and if you win, you can even choose your own colors!

Here’s how to sign up!- You only need to leave me one comment stating that you did this!

1. Check out my children’s book blog, and become a follower! (If you’re reading about this on my children’s book blog- you’ve already accomplished task #1!)

http://iwritechildrensbooks.blogspot.com

2. Post my children’s book button on your blog, or, if you already have one, leave me a comment telling me.

3. Refer one friend to check out this giveaway! (They don’t have to drop your name or anything, I’ll trust that you did it!)

4. Then, leave me a comment letting me know that you did all that! (Don’t forget your email address, so I can get in touch with you!)

It’s that simple!

Book Review- Smudge

2010-03-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

My son loves this book. I love that he pronounces it as "fudge."

Smudge

By: Julie Sykes

Illustrated by: Jane Chapman

This story is about a frisky little puppy who loves playing outside with his friends Nibble the Mouse and Bounce the Rabbit. (Mr. Fabulous, my husband, always makes fun of the fact that dogs don't play with mice and rabbits. I have to remind him that it's a cute story and kids like it.)

When it starts to rain, Smudge is worried and tries every idea he can think of to get inside or to find a dry place to be. Nibble and Bounce aren't too worried, because they know it's only a short, summer shower. But Smudge is determined!

It's fun to read about the different ideas Smudge tries, and it's really fun to talk to Christopher afterwards about them. "Do you think that was a smart idea?" "Why doesn't he fit there?" It has a very cute ending too!

I think the book is written very well, and it's at a great level for young children. The pictures are adorable!

I give it a 9.3!

And Bonus! I found the author's website here: http://www.juliesykes.co.uk/picture.htm We might have to read some of her other books too!

Take a break

2010-03-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

There are lot's of stories running through my mind. Lot's of things I could do to get my books published.

Sometimes I need to just relax. My house is a mess. I have so much I should be doing. But, my kids are asleep and guess what I plan to do with my free time (after I'm done blogging, of course.) SLEEP!

When I had my kids, everyone was always encouraging me to "sleep when the baby sleeps." I NEVER had a problem with that. I love to sleep and if I have that option instead of doing dishes or laundry- of course I'm going to take it. I'm afraid I took their advice to heart, and ran with it, and never came back. Caleb is 10 months old, nearly, and I still feel entitled to a nap every day. Hmmm... Is there something wrong with this picture?

Maybe I should be doing my dishes. Maybe I should be folding laundry, or scrubbing the toilet, or mopping the floor. Maybe I should do something for myself, like sewing or reading. But, really, all I want to do is take a nap.

I've decided it isn't so bad to hide once in a while. Hide from all of the responsibilities that you have. From all of the "to dos" that come creeping up at you. My mother always said that things look better after a good nights sleep, why not after a good nap too?

So, that's my advice for the day- or at least my plan. Take a break!

Character counts

2010-03-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

One of the new concepts that I've been learning about/working on is developing character. (I like that play on words- Yes my own character and the characters in my books.)

The main character of a story has to be described in such a way that readers (or in the case of many of my stories, listeners) will be able to connect with him/her. But, one of the keys to describing a character is to not really describe at all, but to "paint a picture" persay by showing actions, dialogue and inside feelings or thoughts.

I realize that most of this makes absolutely no sense to any of you. It's just the ramblings in my head. Instead of trying to clarify and organize my thoughts about developing character, I'm just going to create one- here.

I'm not going in any particular order, and I haven't already created this character before. (Another thing I've learned is that you need to write stories for particular audiences, by age. So, this character is going to be the main character for a story for 2-4 year olds- assumedly.)

Name: Nelson
Age: 3
Personality: He's very crazy and fun-loving at home, but when he gets around other kids, he gets very shy and bashful.
likes: Nelson loves superheros. His favorite food is popsicles, but he also really likes eating mac'n'cheese. His cousin is his best friend and playmate.
dislikes: Nelson doesn't like going to the doctor's office, and he doesn't like sitting in the car for long trips, he doesn't like carrots, or peas. Sometimes Nelson feels sad because his mommy has to spend so much time with his baby brother.
fears: Nelson is afraid of doctor's offices, he's worried that his mommy will take him to the park and lose him there.
confidences: Nelson is very good at riding his new bike. He likes to jump on the couch and even jump off. He never gets hurt doing this.
family: Nelson has a mommy and a Daddy who love him. His mommy stays home with him. He also has a little brother who is only a baby. His cousin, his best friend, lives in the same town as him, and he has a pet hamster that lives in his bedroom.
etc.: Nelson loves to be outside and he loves to go to the park. He doesn't get hurt very often, but sometimes when he is sick he has to go to the doctor's office and gets really sad and scared. His baby brother cries a lot and Nelson doesn't like that. He has a favorite stuffed lion named Ralph and he always sleeps with it every night.

That was wierd. I've never created a character out of the blue quite like that. Usually I have a story in mind first, and then I add to the character. I guess you can sort of see a start as to what I was thinking story wise when I was creating Nelson- something about going to the doctor, being scared, Ralph helps him feel good- and his cousin. I don't know- that doesn't matter right now. I'll keep workin on Nelson and adapting him, before I write the story.

Thanks for reading.

New Books to review

2010-03-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

I recently signed up to review books for Book Sneeze and Tyndale Publishers. I requested my first books to be sent today, and I'm really excited about both of them. I get a free copy in exchange for reading, and reviewing the books, on this blog! Pretty neat huh?

In the mean time, I'm still reading about Children's book Writing, and I've also been reading Notes Left Behind. By: Keith and Brooke Desserich. It's a very touching book about a young girl who had a rare and very serious form of cancer. Her parents wrote the book afte she died, and they found little love notes from her. It's basically their journal of their experience through her cancer. I've already cried more than once.

Christopher's current favorite book is Dora... anything Dora. (Remember, he's 2 1/2.)

Caleb's current favorite book is the phonebook. He enjoys ripping pages out and eating them. (Caleb is 9 months!)

Query letter

2010-03-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

We're having friends over to play games tonight. I decided that's one of the best ways to get your house clean. That's not why we invited friends over, but it's an added benefit. So, I'm taking a break in between dishes and mopping the kitchen floor.

I wanted to write about query letters.

I found a website a while back that is spectacular. It's a link/search engine to be able to find a literary agent. It's called Agent Query: The internet's largest and most current database of literary agents.

http://www.agentquery.com/agent.aspx?agentid=79

It also teaches aspiring authors, like myself, all about query letters. These are letters that an author writes, describing their book and trying to grab an agent to represent them. I was very informed when I looked over this website and learned many details, plainly spoken, about how to write a query letter.

That said, I wrote one. Or two. Actually, I think I wrote four. For four different stories I have. After that, I searched on their database for agents that might likely want to represent my books. Then, I sent out many query letters (all by email.)

Mistake #1- I wrote four query letters. I should have just focused on writing one really good one, for one really good story. Personally, I feel like all of my stories are really good and I would love to see each one in print. But, realistically, not all of them have been through an extreme editing process (from my peers and family) and they are probably not ready to be represented. If I can sit down and take my time to write a really good query letter, and send it to many agents, I might have more of a chance of finding one to represent me. And one tip found on Agent Query's website was to cater each query letter to individual agents- based on their expertise, and other books they have represented.

Mistake #2- I did not make a record (at least not a very good one) of the literary agents that I sent query letters to. I saved each query letter with the name of the literary agent, but that doesn't help me when I want to go find out more about a particular agent, or when I try to remember why I sent them that story. Hmmm..

Triumph #1- I got a reply from a couple of agents! My stories were denied. But, I was so happy to read what the agents had to say to me. (One was especially kind.)

"Thank you for your email query. I appreciate the opportunity to consider I'M BORED! for possible representation, but I’m afraid I’m not the right agent for it. The concept just didn’t grab me, and you deserve an enthusiastic agent who can champion your work. Of course this is only one response, and tastes vary widely among agents. I wish you the best of luck finding the right home for your work."

In a way, that's a pretty big downer- saying, "Your book is stupid and I didn't really like it." But then again, it's written very politely and she offered me hope to continue trying. (By the way, I'm Bored! is probably one of my stories that was not yet ready to be represented and I should have waited to send query letters.)

I'm just so eager to get my books published!

Wild Things!

2010-03-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever read the book Where the Wild Things Are? Have you seen the new movie? WOW! This is one of those movies that is actually better than the book.

This isn't the only children's book that has recently been made into a movie. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was also made into a movie. I think that one was a mistake. Sure it was a cute enough movie, and it had some good twists in the plot- with the original idea coming from the book, but overall, it wasn't that great.

Where the Wild Things Are, though, that was a great movie! Anybody who watched it with little kids, or while they were doing something else, might not agree with me. Afterall, it was strange, and very different from the book. Even my mom and little brother said it was kind of cute, but a little weird.

I'll give them that much, it was a little weird. But, do you know what the best part was? It was sooo symbolic. You have Max, a little boy stuck in the middle of growing up. He doesn't know how to act. His sister has already passed that stage and he feels like she's abandoned him and his family. And then, he travels to his own imagination where he is the king and he has to figure out how to combine all of his various personalities and feelings into Max.

Deep huh?

I loved trying to figure out who each wild thing represented as I watched the movie. Carol, the big fuzzy one with destructive tendencies, represented Max in his current frame of mind. KW, the girl who had left, represented his sister, Claire. The goat woman- Max's mom. Ira- Max's mom's boyfriend. The little goat boy- Max's younger self: He felt like nobody ever listened to him, and he was trying to hold on to being a little kid still. The quiet bull thing- Max's dad: This one was tricky, and I didn't get it until the very end when Max was leaving. But, if you paid close attention you saw that Max had a globe in his bedroom with an inscription that he owned the world- love Dad. His Dad was gone from his life somehow, but he was still a quiet, reassuring influence for Max. And I think Douglas- the bird- represented a more grown up version of Max. He knew all along that Max wasn't king, but he was a very loyal friend to Carol that he tried to help him, and protect him.

Did you catch all of that when you watched it?

It's been a while since I read the book- but somehow, I didn't get any of that from the book. It was just a little boy with a vivid imagination who got in trouble and got sent to his room. The movie, though, was so much more. It was refreshing to have to think about it, and figure something out. I haven't critiqued a "book" like that since I was in English class in ~~college~~ high school.

I would like to commend the producers and writers of this movie. They took a seemingly plain, well-loved children's book, and turned it into a great, metaphorical movie about growing up!

Go watch it.

Please Mommy, Sing it Again

2010-03-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

That's the title of my favorite story right now. Or should I say Christopher's favorite story? I sing songs to Christopher every night at bedtime. He loves it! He always wants me to sing more. I usually don't. But when he was really young, I did.

The story (that I wrote) is about Connor. He's a cute little boy with curly brown hair. And he loves it when his mommy sings to him at night! Connor's mommy is a little nicer than I am... she sings until Connor falls asleep.

The story has five well-known nursery rhyme songs in it. The point is for Mommy, or Daddy, to sing the song as they read the story to their son or daughter. Christopher always asks me to read him this story. Here's the catch- right now it doesn't even have pictures! He doesn't care. He likes it because it gets me singing, and he likes my silly little boy voice when I read, "Please Mommy, sing it again."

My favorite part is the end of the story. When Connor finally falls asleep, Mommy sneaks out of the room and over to Kate's room. What do you think she finds?

I can't reveal the end. You'll have to wait until the book comes out for that. (I suppose you could guess... but that's not nearly as fun as reading the story.) I'll see what I can do to make it available for you.

Until next time- I've got a new story to go work on!

I fixed the button

2010-03-10T09:36:00.001-08:00

Sorry that my button was ginormous. I fixed it now. Feel free to take one!

Some reading of my own

2010-03-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

I love writing books. A friend of mine recently saw a link to this blog on facebook and wanted to check it out, but got the idea that it was just a book review/children's book blog. She didn't want to look at that, she wanted to look at a blog about MY children's books, that I had written. I was glad she told me that.

My point in creating this blog was to get the word out that I write books, and I plan to have them published some day. I was worried that nobody would want to look at this blog if it was all about MY books. (None of which have been published yet, but hopefully soon.) I didn't want to "toot my own horn."

She told me that I should.

I've been thinking about it, and I think I've come to a compromise. I will dedicate this blog to tidbits and thoughts about MY writing. But, I can't resist adding links and information from other bloggers about children's books too. I also love sharing my opinion about childrens books, and have signed up for a couple of book review sites that will send me free books if I read them and write a review about them.

So, the majority of the content on my blog will be about the work I am doing, have done, or would like to do. I will keep everyone updated on publication process. I will let you know how my books are coming and how I feel about the whole process.

And that brings me to my current assignment (from my boss, me.) I am doing a little bit of reading myself. Another friend, who was reading my blog, shares the same passion as I for writing children's stories and she also has the same aspirations to one day publish her work. She took a correspondence course about children's book writing and she brought over her textbooks for me to read. I was delighted!

#1- From Inspiration to Publication: How to Succeed as a Children's Writer. Advice from 15 Award-Winning Writers

#2- Children's Writer Guide to 2007

I've already started the first book and so far have found some valuable information and tips, not to mention it's a good read. I've learned that "writers write."

So, my first step to improve my writing, is to write. I am going to write 2 posts per day for the next week (at least) and I will try to write one children's book this week.

What I need from you is this: Please leave me a comment expressing what you would like to see in this blog. Do you want more about my writing? Or would you rather see more book reviews? More links to literacy for kids? Let me know and I will try to do it!

My new book

2010-03-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't been able to sleep very well lately. Too many things running through my mind- and as soon as I calm down enough to fall asleep, one of my babies wakes up!

The other night, while Mr. Fabulous was playing basketball at church, I was attempting to go to sleep early. hahaha. Yeah right. I ended up turning the computer back on, and writing a book!

Brant came home, I gave him a kiss (and received a sweaty hug) and kept writing. Finally, around 11:30, I finished what I felt I needed to get down, and went to bed. Yes, the boys did wake up, around 12:00. But, after that, I could sleep.

Oh, did I mention I went to bed crying? Why? Because this new book is a tribute to my Grandma, who died three years ago next week. I miss her a lot. I'm really happy about the book and the way it turned out though. As soon as I work with my mom and add some finishing touches and edits, I'll be sending it to Deseret Book for (attempted) publishing. Even if nobody wants to publish this one, I might try to create a rough home-published book myself.

I sent it to my mom- and warned her that she might cry. She emailed back and said, "I didn't cry.... I bawled!" I hope I can reach a wider audience with this touching story!

P.S. Today I'm at my Mom's house hanging out- sometimes it's so nice to have a break from everyday life!

He's a Dad, reading to my kids!

2010-03-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

And yours!

My husband, Mr. Crowther, teaches 3rd grade. He's great with kids- and not just mine. His students love him and look up to him a lot. His classroom is very structured, but he has a lot of fun as well.

I've seen recently on some blogs that women refer to their husband as pet names. I think it's funny and sounds entertaining. I will, from now on, refer to Mr. Crowther as Mr. Fabulous! He really is fabulous!

My husband loves children (obviously or he would have never chosen to teach elementary school.) He is great with our two boys. Most of the time he is the one to read the bed time stories! It's great when he uses his spanish accent for books like Pablo and the Wild Bull with the Crooked Tail, or Dora the Explorer. (Note- he learned spanish on an LDS mission to Mexico.) It is so fun for me to watch him read to the kids. (Usually, instead of taking that time to do things I need to get done, or want to do, I end up sitting with them and listening as well!)

Mr. Fabulous is also currently enrolled in an online Masters reading program. That's right- READING! I'm not the only one who has a passion for teaching children to read. It is so fun for me to do some of the activities and exercises that he is required to do (not on my time, but while he's doing them.) I love phonics and I feel like I have an exceptional grasp on it. A lot of what he is learning and working on right now is phonics. I love figuring out which part of your mouth you use to say certain phonemes and which grapheme you use to record that particular sound. (If any of this sounds awkward or confusing to you- it's ok, it probably should.)

But, what I love most about phonics is that you don't have to know all of these little details to enjoy reading. For years, and generations, reading education experts have gone back and forth about the importance of teaching phonics. I think currently, in the state of Idaho at least, they DO focus on teaching phonics. I'm pretty sure when I learned how to read, they DID focus on phonics. It has helped me immensely in knowing how to pronounce new words, and even learning French and Spanish. (I'm not fluent in either one- but I have learned un poquito.)

I'm rambling- The fact is. I'm a little jealous of Mr. Fabulous. Every day he gets to go to "ool" and do what I would love to do. Help young children in the prime of their minds. Those children will be forever grateful that they had a good teacher that taught them to read! ("ool" comes from my two-year-old who can't say his /sk/ sound. Yes, I know- phonemic awareness right?)

Well, thanks for reading- and hey- maybe today you could encourage your husband to read to the kids!

Book Review- Go Away Big Green Monster!

2010-03-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

What a fun book!

Christopher can read this one to himself. He loves it. The art is exceptional and very unique. Let me tell you about it!

Go Away Big Green Monster!

By: Ed Emberley

Simple language describes Big Green Monster, illustrated with colorful cut out pages. Each page lays out on top of the next to create a ferocious monster (that is really just a lot of fun.) As soon as the monster is described, each part of him (ex. eyes, mouth, teeth, etc.) is then told to "Go Away!"

This is a very fun, unique book for kids of all ages. Beginning readers can catch on quick, and really feel successful reading it to themselves. Plus, it's so darn cute!

I give it a 9.3!

*Added*

I just found this post from the Activity Mom that has great activity ideas for this book here! It really is a fun book and these make it even better! Go check it out!

Beginning Reading Help

2010-03-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

I found an awesome blog that offers tips and helps for teaching your kids to read- from the very beginning! Michelle, the blogger, is a certified teacher who LOVES teaching reading. (I share her passion!) She has some really great ideas for stay-at-home- moms especially!

Check it out at Beginning Reading Help

Until next time, go read a book to your kids.

Blog Button

2010-03-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

I created an image to turn into my blog button for this blog. It's so fun to try to come up with the look that I want. I hope this one goes well with my blog design.

I love blogging!

Book Review- Our Tree Named Steve

2010-03-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

I read books to my kids all the time. We often get new books from the library and some of them are hilarious. Some are heartwarming. Some are annoying. And some are just weird. This one- was AWESOME!

Our Tree Named Steve.

By: Alan Zweibel

Illustrated by: David Catrow

I love how the book starts out as a little post it note letter to his kids. It gives a background about Steve, the tree and how they came to love him. Not only is the book funny, because of great pictures, awesome phrases and good stories- it is also touching. It reaches a little deeper than most picture books that are meant to make kids laugh. It describes their entire family life and the love that has grown in their family (all around one tree.)

I love the pictures. Usually, I'm not a fan of this kind of art, it seems to bother me. But, the touching scenes of family togetherness, coupled with hilarious faces make it just right.

All in all- I really enjoyed this book. Believe it or not, this strange little book about a tree named Steve almost made me CRY. I held it together though and marvelled at the happiness it made me feel.

I give it a 9.5 out of 10. I haven't set my rating scale on anything specific, but it's definitely a cute book!

Research suggests...

2010-03-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

I found this blog here, about reading to your children and getting them ready to learn to read themselves. Most of the information is from the department of Education. It's great and I agree with it completely. I have a 2-year-old and I know these things will help him to get ready to learn to read. You can check it out too.

Writing books

2010-03-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

I love to write. I love to read. I love kids.

Thus- I write children's books that I read to my kids.

I haven't had any of my books published yet, but that doesn't matter. I'll get there. For now, I'm happy to write them and read them to my two little boys.

One of my favorite authors is Mem Fox. She's hilarious. She writes exceptional children's books and she understands the value of reading to your children.

I don't always read to my kids. I don't always sing to my kids. But, most of the time I do.

Now go read to your kids.