Frog Catching

You know what they say…

Ivy's best frog face

Ivy’s best frog face

Cousins that catch frogs together stay friends forever.

Jane and Natalie catching frogsWhat?

You never heard that?Clara and Gwen catching frogs

Trust me, it’s a thing.

Grab a cousin, or a second cousin, and find some frogs.

What have you got to lose?

Chris and I caught the frogs

That’s duck weed on my cousins forehead and it wasn’t just him, you can’t see my arms and legs but they were smeared with mud too!

You didn’t think the kids caught that whole bucket of frogs did you???

Chris with frog on hat

My cousin the frog whisper-er.

My cousin and I don’t get to see each other much anymore but we had just as much fun catching frogs together as we ever have, even if we do have to share the nets with all our girls!

It Can’t Be Snowing

There should be a word for it.

That feeling you get when you can’t shake a dream.Willows with sparkle

When the world gets a little more blurry and the blowing willow tree seeds look just like snowflakes dancing in the breeze.

But, they can’t be snowflakes because the sun is shining and it’s too hot outside.

And you couldn’t have been chased by men with knives, been betrayed by your friend or broken anyone out of prison.

But it does look like it’s snowing, and the feelings are there.

The terror of the night, the hurt and anger live on.

They are real in your mind.

It was all real in your mind.

Even now, when the sun is shining and the snow is falling, the feelings cling.

And it might be real- after all it’s snowing.Willows with sparkle

But it can’t be snowing, because the sun is shining and it’s too hot outside.

 

I wrote this right after I discovered that I’m not the only person who has overly vivid dreams and then has a terrible time moving on from them once morning comes. It can be confusing for me and frustrating to family members who have angered me in my sleep that I’m still mad at them when morning and reality come.

Do you have dreams that stick with you longer than you wish they would?

Book At The Door: July Giveaway

I’ve got a brand new book here and I’d really like to mail it to someone.

Would you like it?

1

I believe that the first page, paragraph and even sentence of a book will give you a feel for what it contains.

This months book is no exception:

"They say she is property."

“They say she is property.”

 

This month’s signboard art was made by Ra. Do you know Ra yet? You should, I mean, she lives on the internet, is basically a dinosaur and she (probably) loves you. This kind of magical being doesn’t come along everyday, you don’t want to miss out on a connection like that. Go visit her at Rarasaur.com, say “Hey”, and tell her Jessie sent you. Then, if you like this signboard, you should see all the others she’s put together! Don’t worry, it’s easy.  Just find rarasaur on instagram. Of course if you are already on Instagram looking at sign boards, you should probably take a peek at Ra herself.  And I’ll give you a teeny hint about this month’s book… shhh don’t tell but Ra wrote it! I know! An internet-living, book-writing, people-loving dinosaur, what are you waiting for? Go meet her!

Then, come back, leave me a comment, tell me the name of her book and you’ll automatically be entered to win a copy of her brand new book and a print of the first line art.

 

Contest will be open through July 26th

Winner will have the honor of receiving a quality print of  Ra’s signboard in the mail as well as the book.

Artists of all kinds (Yes, you photographers and you who says you can’t draw and you who just wants to practice hand lettering and you who is selling paintings online and…all of you!) if you are interested in providing a small piece of work that includes a first sentence I would love to hear from you!  

Authors, have I read your book and tagged it as a recommended read? Would you like to donate a hard copy? Let me know! 

Lawnmower Limbo

There are no winners in Riding Lawnmower Limbo.
In fact, Riding Lawnmower Limbo isn’t a thing.

No matter how tempting it looks, don’t do it.
When the branches start taunting you, trying to convince you that you can do the whole thing without ever stopping, backing up or getting off, don’t believe them.

The ducks and geese can organize their own orchard limbo. They'll probably do fine so long as they don't learn how to use the lawnmower...

The ducks and geese can organize their own orchard limbo. They’ll probably do fine so long as they don’t learn how to use the lawnmower…

You know why?

Because if you are mowing an area at high speeds (There are totally winners at high speed lawn mowing just so long as you have the reflexes to miss the dead cat!) and you start doing the lawnmower limbo, you will lose. You will lose your sunglasses and your ear muffs and a bunch of skin off your back and the only thing you will gain is a lump on your head for your efforts.
Because it’s the limbo.
And, as everyone knows, when you successfully limbo once, the bar just gets lower and lower and lower – until you bleed.

True story.

Apparently branches make me competitive. I went under this one, you know, the one the dog is walking around...

Apparently branches make me competitive. I went under this one, you know, the one the dog is walking around…

There is no such thing as Riding Lawnmower Limbo.

But if there were, I would totally be a star.

A high speed, bleeding, bruised star…but still a star!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and Book At The Door Winner

The June winner of the Book at the Door giveaway is…

I won a Book at the Door with Behind the Willows

 

Phrogmom! 

Phrogmom will get this book sent in the mail to her…

… as well as this artwork containing the first sentence of Garden Spells created for us by Mr. Tookles!

"Every smiley moon, without fail, Claire dreamed of her childhood."

“Every smiley moon, without fail, Claire dreamed of her childhood.”

Congratulations Phrogmom and thanks again Mr. Tookles!

This is an older book but I read it for the first time in September when I posted this review. I still love it, I still tell people about it and I still think you all should read it!

I fell in love with this book.

I had grand plans for a review that would talk about magic and fantasy and why you shouldn’t flinch from a book that includes either one. I was going to link to an awesome post (Thoughts on Pratchett) and it was going to be epic and amazing.

But then, instead of sitting down and writing all that, I spent my time telling people about it. Solicited and unsolicited, at family gatherings and in e-mails at foolish times of the night I told everyone the same thing.

There is magic in this book, but just the perfect amount. The amount that brings extra vividness to a story about family. It’s beautiful writing and you’ve got to read it.

And, really, that’s all that needs to be said.

Would I recommend it? Yes! And then I’d recommend First Frost and The Sugar Queen and all the rest of her books! (But Garden Spells and it’s sequel First Frost are still my favorite.)

Book at the Door winner was chosen using a random number generator from http://www.random.org 

Artists of all kinds (Yes, you photographers and you who says you can’t draw and you who just wants to practice hand lettering and you who is selling paintings online and…all of you!) if you are interested in providing a small piece of work that includes a first sentence I would love to hear from you!  

Authors, have I read your book and tagged it as a recommended read? Would you like to donate a hard copy? Let me know! 

 

Monkfish Maggie and the Bungalow Stairs by CatchphraseDan and Berg Norcross

Me: “… The End.”

Clara (6): “Can you read it again?”

I read this aloud to all three of my girls: ages 9, 6 and 4. The lack of princesses and other glittery creatures meant the four year old was only listening so she could put off bedtime. My nine year old was convinced it was too scary, but in the words of my six year old, “It’s not scary, it’s exciting!” It was also funny (at least I thought it was funny) and I’m pretty sure my nine year old would have thought it was funny but she was too busy avoiding us in case it was scary and then demanding a run down of everything that happened because she really wanted to know even though she couldn’t quite admit that she really wanted to know. (Insert eye rolling mother and indignant child noises here.)

Would Ivy (9) recommend it? “I would recommend it because I think it’s like an imaginary story and people who like fiction and magic would like it.”  (Ha! I knew she liked it!)

Would Clara (6) recommend it? “Yes, I already tried to tell my friend about it… because it’s really funny!”

Would Jane (4) recommend it? “No. Cause I think it’s too boring.” (Sorry guys, you needed more sparkle to get this little girl’s attention!)

Would I recommend it? I would! All my girls listened to the story, even if some were more spell bound than others, and I loved the humor. Lines like, “Before you ask, a dictionary is a large dusty book that people kept around before the internet was invented” made me giggle louder than my kids.

Rosie's Book Review team 1

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I discovered this book because I’m a proud member of Rosie’s Book Review Team!

Introducing Book Bee

Meet Book Bee!

I know, I know, she does look a bit like she might have a long-haired guinea pig or perhaps even a bit of Yorkie in her lineage but we love her for it.

Book Bee (a gift from some fabulous, fellow bloggers you can meet here, here and here) mostly lives on Instagram. She likes to read books with me and share a few of the good ones that don’t make it onto the blog as book reviews.

She’s also very involved in the Book at the Door giveaway. The Book at the Door giveaway (just in case you missed it, or saw this month’s entry, which unfortunately makes it about as clear as mud) is a new monthly feature here. Once a month an artist will create a piece that includes the first line in a book that I have read and loved. All you have to do is comment on the post, telling me the name of the book so I know you want to be in the drawing and then, if you win, you get a print of the artist’s work and the book sent to you in the mail!

That’s right, actual mail, actual printed art and actual hard copy books. It’s a thing that makes both Book Bee and I very excited!

The Instagram link is hanging out over there in the sidebar. You don’t need an account to scroll through photos.  You can always click on her little fuzzy picture if you are curious what she’s reading now!

June’s Book at the Door giveaway with amazing art by Mr. Tookles is open through Tuesday! Come throw your name in the hat before Book Bee tries to keep it for herself! 

A Questionable Decision

I, like every other mother out there, on occasion, make questionable parenting decisions.

This year, for the first time in many years, we raised broiler chickens. Big, fat, white chickens that eat a ridiculous amount and are ready to put in the freezer in just nine weeks. This last weekend, the nine weeks were up.Jane with chick

“You guys are butchering 45 chickens on Sunday?!? What are you doing with the kids?”

The answer, the many times I was asked, was always nothing. They’d be home, able to be in the middle of the action or in the house, which ever they wanted.

It wasn’t the answer most people were expecting.broiler chickens

Now, to be fair, I’m sure half of the people who asked that question know the difficulties involved in trying to get any task done with three kids on hand, and it’s true, many times when we do big projects we find friends for them to play with or grandma’s to visit.

The other half have probably never been a part of butchering chickens or if they have didn’t have kids hanging around at the same time.broiler chicken

But we have always felt that this is a thing the girls should be involved in so we kept them home and they were still sleeping when we got up to start the process.

All three trickled outside still in pajamas to check out what was happening.  And while they left from time to time they spent most of the morning with us.

Jane, the girl who was very concerned that we were going to eat those cute little chicks the day we brought them home, helped John with the beheading by saying a nice goodbye to a few. She was more at ease with it than many adults I know would have been.John and Jane chicken butchering

Clara got a lesson on how to gut a chicken from her grandma and did the last bird all by herself. She’s six. She’s pretty much amazing.Grandma Mary and Clara chicken butchering

And while Ivy wasn’t as interested in being hands-on, she listened with rapt attention to the anatomy lesson grandma and Great Gramps gave her and now can identify all the internal organs of a chicken, and knows what they all do. I’m sure she does because they quizzed her and I heard her pass with flying colors.Grandma Mary and Ivy chicken butchering

Jane is excited for her Dad to grill her a chicken to eat. Clara is, rightfully, proud of her gutting experience. And Ivy, when asked, cheerfully told me all about how the gizzard is her favorite organ because you can cut it open, it looks pretty and it’s neat.Grandma Mary and Clara chicken butchering

I, like all the other parents out there, make plenty of questionable parenting decisions. But I’m confident that this wasn’t one of them.

Madam Tulip by David Ahern

There is a frog on the cover of this book and it’s pretty. And so I decided that I needed to read this book. (I’m pretty sure that’s what you call successful cover art!)

Would I recommend it? Maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover but you sure can choose one. Frog loving isn’t even required to enjoy this book! I mean, you should love frogs anyway but amphibian love is unnecessary to appreciate a book with a main character who, rather accidentally, gets caught up in the world of celebrities when she decides to become a fortune teller. Unfortunately, as she soon finds out, there are some seriously shady sides to a few of those celebrities.  The action is fast, the humor is constant and frogs are discussed. But it wasn’t the frogs that have me recommending this book, it’s the just slightly over the top characters and the just a little bit crazy plot.  Something about the tiny bit of excess in both turns this from just another female lead action book to a book that you really need to bring along next time you hit the beach! Rosie's Book Review team 1

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I discovered this book because I’m a proud member of Rosie’s Book Review Team!