The Missed Blog Posts

Hey everyone! I'm sure some of you noticed that I missed the past two Mondays, and I just wanted to explain why there were no blog posts or book reviews. My mother ended up in intensive care and passed away unexpectedly early Friday December 16th. Losing a loved one is never easy no matter what time of the year it occurs, but losing a loved one right before Christmas leaves one with extra stress.

Thankfully my family's faith has sustained us all. I know in my heart that my mom is with her Lord and Savior. I know in my heart that I will join her in heaven one day. I know in my heart that she would have wanted us to celebrate Christ's birth and our chance to be together with joy, so that is what we did. We opened our gifts. We ate lots of cookies I baked. And we even invited some friends over who had also lost their last remaining parent/grandparent this year.
 

  

And, I managed to read one book as I worked on finding my new normal. That book was It Came In The Mail by Ben Clanton, and it was highly amusing. After all, who doesn't love to get something in the mail? I know my daughter and I certainly do and so does the main character Liam. Unfortunately, Liam never receives any mail. So one day he decides to take matters into his own hands and he writes a letter to his mailbox requesting mail. The items that start arriving are unusual and fun but soon Liam has more then he can handle. Be sure to read this book for yourself to fine out just how Liam handles a mail overload.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

The Twelve Days of Baking Contest Entry!

The Twelve Days of Baking

Aileen Stewart

On the first day of baking my helper gave to me__ sugar.

On the second day of baking my helper gave to me __ unbleached flour and sugar.

On the third day of baking my helper gave to me__ baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the fourth day of baking my helper gave to me__ baking powder and soda, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the fifth day of baking my helper gave to me__ salt, baking soda and powder, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the sixth day of baking my helper gave to me__ brown eggs, salt, baking soda and powder, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the seventh day of baking my helper gave to me__ olive oil, brown eggs, salt, baking soda and powder, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the eighth day of baking my helper gave to me__ vanilla extract, olive oil, brown eggs, salt, baking soda and powder, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On ninth day of baking my helper gave to me__ fresh milk, vanilla extract, olive oil, brown eggs, salt, baking soda and powder, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the tenth day of baking my helper gave to me__ very hot water, fresh milk, vanilla extract, olive oil, brown eggs, salt, baking soda and powder, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the eleventh day of baking my helper gave to me__ a bowl of chocolate frosting, very hot water, fresh milk, vanilla extract, olive oil, brown eggs, salt, baking soda and powder, baking cocoa, unbleached flour, and sugar.

On the twelfth day of baking my helper gave to me__ one empty plate ‘cause she ate all my chocolate Christmas cake!

Christmas Recycling

Every Christmas Emily and I practice some Christmas recycling by turning our old Christmas cards into gift tags. It is one of her favorite crafts, it saves money, and it adds a bit of whimsy to each gift we give which is a win, win in my book.
 

All it takes for you to make some beautiful recycled gift tags of your own is:

• thin cardboard (from shirt packages, cereal boxes, etc....)
• paste or sticky glue dots
• old cards
• scissors
• twine
• single hole punch
• snowflake or star craft punch and gems (optional)

We buy our gems on clearance or with store coupons, so they are fairly inexpensive. We also use paint chip samples, paper scraps, and leftover bits of cards to make our snowflakes. We then use our imaginations and cut, paste, and rearrange until our hearts are content.

Another thing we recycle is boxes. We reuse them to mail out my Christmas packages. We cover them in wrapping paper (especially those with removable lids) and use them for Christmas gift boxes. W use them for cat boxes. And, anything else we can think of. As a child, my mother would let my brother and I drag refrigerator boxes home to make forts in the back yard.

So, I thought it was quite appropriate to read and enjoy What To Do With A Box by Jane Yolan. The illustrations by Chris Sheban are adorable and quite boxy. The story is simple but enjoyable. And the combination of text and pictures will carry you back to your childhood or will remind you of your own children having fun. And if truth be told, we can all probably agree that kids don't really need expensive gifts when they have a box and an imagination!

Jane and I at the Hudson children's Book Festival 2015

 Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musing Monday Link Up where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

Family__The Thankfulness Continues

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and all the pie and cheesecake is gone as well. But, that is probably a good thing. I had and continue to have so very much to be thankful for.

A beautiful day spent at my brother's where Emily got to hang with her crazy cousins.

 

 

A couple of days spent geocaching with Emily and Bobby.

 

 

 
Black Friday shopping and bargains galore; my best bargain being the $150.00 coat for Emily for which I paid a mere $19.99.

In other words. Family, Family, Family.

And the family book I read this week was Gator Dad by Brian Lies. It was a celebration of dads and the things they do with their children. My favorite part of this story was the phrase was, "Let's Squeeze The Day". Whether you think that means to squeeze all the fun one can out of a day, to squeeze all the fun one can into a day, or to squeeze all the love you can into every minute of the day, it boils down to putting family first. And family is always something to be thankful for.

  
Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musing Monday Link Up where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

Getting Back In The Swing of Things!

After Emily's and my recent trip, this past week was spent getting back into our home school routine, back to choir, and back to taking Emily to Wednesday church. I caught up on laundry, grocery shopping, and I readied for a weekend book event with one of my besties Deborah Boerema. Together we are known as the Story Sisters. I promote my five books and she promotes her Christmas story, The Innkeepers Dog.

I have always loved the Christmas hymn, The Friendly Beasts, and Deb's book is very similar to that hymn. Her main character, Thaniel the Spaniel, is the only animal that missed the birth of Christ, and he feels like he isn't special. However, the innkeeper's son and the other stable animals soon help him to realize that each of us is special. Deb has been having a bit of trouble with Amazon keeping her book stocked; but if you contact her directly, I'm sure she would be able to send you a copy should you want to purchase one of your own!

 

I finished up my very last batch of apple butter and made a snowman jar jacket for one of the jars I am going to give as a Christmas gift. All it takes is a little felt, a little thread, and some Velcro. First I took two pieces of cream felt and measured how high and how wide the pieces should be to cover a pint jar. Next I cut out an orange carrot shaped piece for the nose and two red circles for the cheeks. I sewed them on with a blanket stitch, stitched on some eyes and a mouth, and then blanket stitched the second piece of cream felt onto the back so the face stitching couldn't be seen. At first I didn't know how to make a blanket stitch, but a video soon had me stitchin' away. lastly, I attached the velcro to the edges and wrapped my jar. A small round piece of Christmas fabric over the lid and under the rim made my snowman look like he was wearing a hat.

I also read a book my library just purchased, and since I know the author Tammi Sauer on social media, I was super excited to find this book. As I began to read, Your Alien, I was reminded quite a bit of Laura Numeroff's writing style. But although similar to the "If You Give Books", Tammi's story was unique as well. It was a beautiful story of the power of hugs and was superbly illustrated. I personally am a super huge fan of hugging, so I would definitely recommend this book for kids of any age.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musing Monday Link Up where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

Road Trippin'

I know this week's post usually comes out first thing Monday morning, but Emily and I didn't get back from our recent road trip until late Sunday evening. So here I sit scrambling to compose all of my thoughts about our visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania and the Central Massachusetts Children's Book Festival.

This year I decided instead of just going straight to the book festival, we would take two extra days and visit the delicious town of Hershey. We stayed at the Hershey Lodge which was quite nice and boasted an indoor mini water park. The water area is really geared more toward children six and under, but Emily found just enough fun stuff to entertain herself. The beds in the room, however, were a bit on the hard side. Emily flopped down on one and it did not bounce at all. Speaking of bouncing on the bed, one of the books in my review pile was called There's a Bison Bouncing on the Bed! This book was a bundle of rhyming fun which started with Bison bouncing on the bed. Friends started joining Bison on the bed and the inevitable happened__ the bed broke. The surprising part was that it wasn't Bison's bed and someone was in the bed while Bison and his friends bounced. I don't want to spoil the fun, so you will have to read this book yourself to see who became a bouncing board.

And of course it goes without saying that we went to Chocolate World. We took the mini tour and heard singing cows. We saw a four D interactive movie (which we both  highly recommend). We made our own candy bars. We took part in a research taste test/survey and earned free Hershey bars. Emily found pressed pennies for her collection. And, we shopped.

When our chocolate tanks were on full, we headed to Massachusetts for the book fest. On all of our long rides, Emily worked on a scavenger hunt and by the time we returned home, she had found twenty four out of the twenty five items. Sadly, we never saw the final item which was a moose.

The book fest was great too. I was able to spend time with one of my besties Laura Eckroat, whom I only get to see every few years. I got to chill with two of my favorite guys, David Kelly and Paul Czajak. Hanging with awesome illustrators Priscilla Alpaugh and Diane deGroat happened as well. Emily decided she needed to purchase two of David's ballpark mysteries because who doesn't love a good mystery! I purchased Paul's book, Seaver the Weaver, for my nephew; and I purchased A Simpler Time, my favorite of all Laura's books, to add to my collection of autographed kidlit!

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musing Monday Link Up where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

Scarecrow Pete and A Scarecrow Craft

This past week Emily asked me if she could make a scare crow magnet similar to one she made last year. I told her that was fine, but I didn't realize she would get out the materials and start working on it herself. She gathered Popsicle sticks and glued them in a row on a piece of square paper she had cut. She glued an extra one at an angle to make a separation between the face and the hat. She painted the hat with poster paint, drew the face on with shapries, and made little braids out of some twine I had in the craft cupboard. She finished it off with a flower from the sticker drawer and a heavy duty magnet for the back.

I was really impressed with her finished magnet and by the fact that she took the initiative for this project. And as I looked at her scarecrow, I realized this craft could just as easily be turned into a snowman which is what I will be doing with the kids in December when I am a guest art teacher during her Independent Studies Day.

So if you have some craft Popsicle sticks lying around, why not make a scarecrow magnet with your kiddos. And it just so happens that this week when I went to change the library display case I found a great scarecrow book to review. It is called Scarecrow Pete and is an imaginative story of a boy who finds out that his garden scarecrow can speak. And what Pete wants is to be read to. This is a beautiful book encouraging a love of reading and the illustrations are pretty whimsical. This book is from 2005, but it is well worth seeing if your library has a copy or buying a used copy.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musing Monday Link Up where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

A Goldilock's Kind Of A Week

Not often, but sometimes, I have a Goldilock's kind of a week. You know, one that is just right. A week that is not too busy nor too humdrum. This week was a week like that. Emily and I did our home school lessons. She attended choir like normal. And on Friday we took the day off to get ready for her to go to church camp. A little laundry washed, a little packing, and voila, she was ready to go. She was excited to be going with her bestie, her cousin, and other friends, so I took a few pictures to remember the day. It was a happy moment and some photo bombing even happened.

While she was gone, I had the opportunity to work in the yard a bit. I love, love, love my trees, but they do reqire some work.

And of course, I read some kidlit. My first book was by the ever so talented Kwame Alexander. I previously reviewed Kwame's, The Acoustic Rooster And His Barnyard Band,which is an incredibly good book and a perfect addition to any home schooling music curriculum. This time, however, I read, Surf's Up, which is a book encouraging kids to read books. Two frogs are going surfing, but the first frog says he has to finish reading first. The beautiful art shows us the adventure frog one is taking in his mind as he reads his book. Eventually frog two, who thought reading was boring, is enticed into reading the book himself.

The second book I read was a non fiction picture book about a young girl living in the White House during Franklin Roosevelt's term called, Diana's White House Garden. It was war time and Diana wanted to be useful even though she was only ten. She tired many things, all which turned out poorly, but then President Roosevelt decided everyone should plant Victory Gardens. Mrs. Roosevelt put Diana in charge and showed her how to take care of the tiny plants. I generally love biography type picture books and this one was no exception.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by and join the Literacy Musing Monday Link Up where you will find other great blogs, or my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.