Happy Fall Y'all

Fall is here, and along with the vibrant shades of red, orange, and yellow, a crispness is in the air. The type of temperature which is quite conducive to having backyard fires in the fire pit. And of course there is also the raking, but i decided to put that off until later. Instead, I spent the week doing everyday things. I visited my hairdresser for a trim. I made some more apple butter. I took my car in to have the oil changed. And, best of all, I spent time with one of my besties and the other half of The Story Sisters team.

So I decided some fallish books would be in order this week. The first book I read called, Animal House, had a beautiful cover of two squirrels sitting in their living room. I had mixed feelings about this book. I loved the artwork. I loved that a different animals perspective of how to build a proper home was delivered on each page. I love the surprise on the last page. But the story was told in rhyme and the rhythm didn't always work as I read along which was a bit distracting. I would still suggest you try to find this book at your library or online because the house they show at the end of the book is pretty spectacular.

The second book I read was How to Catch a Falling Star. This book is adorable both in terms of artwork and story. Eagerly Bear waits for the last star to fall from the tree. He thinks the last star, which is actually a leaf, has magic that he can wish on. As he waits, forest friends join him one at a time. Bear finds out that he can't wish on the star, but what he wanted comes true anyways.

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 Looks Good, Smells Good, Feels Good Kind of Weekend!

Sometimes I wonder how we pack so many fun things into one little weekend. Perhaps this time it's because Emily and I started the weekend a little early and skipped our traditional home school work for a field trip. We started out by heading to a nearby town for a little shopping. Not your ordinary shopping mind you, but shopping for the Operation Christmas Child shoe box project that we participate in every year. I think it's a good reminder for us to remember how blessed we are and how little some other's have.
 

Next we went to Grandpa's cheese barn and Sweeties Chocolates. We particularly wanted to visit the cheese barn because Emily collects pressed pennies and I knew that there was a machine there. She has been collecting pressed pennies for many years now and keeps them in a pressed penny book that we found at a Cabela's store. For a long time, they were difficult to find, but recently, a friend told me about Penny Collector Dot Com where you can find listings for pressed penny machines all over the world. We printed of the listings for our home state of Ohio and are trying to see how many we can collect.

Finally, on the way home, we stopped at the Sandusky Hollow Nature Preserve and took a little hike. The autumn foliage was quite beautiful and it was nice to stretch our legs a bit. 

Saturday I spent cleaning our upstairs. Two bathrooms were cleaned. Bedrooms were dusted and vacuumed. I even cleaned out the spare bedroom closet while Emily cleaned her room. We ended up with two bags for the thrift store and two for the trash. While not a particularly interesting way to spend a day, it was good to feel productive.

Wrapping the week up seemed to call for some crock-pot apple butter makin' on Sunday afternoon. This is not a quick project as it has to simmer for ten hours, but the aroma that fills the house is so incredible you will think you have entered the gates of heaven. I will let you know how it turns out next week and I will share the recipe.

Since I experienced good sights and good smells this weekend, I thought it would be a great addition to review some books that brought about good feelings. And the two books I chose did just that. The first book, The Invisible Boy, gave me a feeling of such great joy because it had a beautifully happy ending. One boy finds himself on the outside looking in so to speak. No one notices him. No one chooses him for their team. No one seems to see him at all giving him the feeling that he is invisible. Until one day when a new boy who is different then the others comes to class. Because he is different, kids laugh at him. The invisible boy wonders which is worse, to be ignored or to be laughed at. He extends the olive branch of friendship and wonderful things begin to happen. Suddenly, he is no longer invisible. The illustrator did a tremendous job of adding tot he stories depth by portraying everyone in color except for the boy who feels invisible. But as the story progresses, I noticed the boy begin to get a little more colorful with each page until he was finally in full color like the rest of the characters. 

This book touched something inside of me. The something inside of me that knows what it's like to be laughed at and what it is like to be picked last. It touched a part of me that sees the invisible kids, the part of me that always encourages my daughter to notice the invisible kids and to include them. This book is truely a gem and worth looking for!

While the first book took me from sadness to joy, the second book just plain made me laugh. It was called That's (Not) Mine. Two characters spend practically the entire book fighting over a chair. Each one claiming the chair is theirs. Each one trying to get the other one out of the chair. Finally they both end up on the floor and realize how silly it is to fight and decide to go outside and play. But that is not the end of the story because as the two head out, a third character jumps in the chair and claims, "It's Mine." I had to laugh because this is so very realistic where kids are concerned and it reminded me of the time when my nieces fought over a blank piece of note paper one of them found on the shopping mall floor.  

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, the sequels, Return To Fern Valley,  and Cooking In Fern Valley, along with my very first picture book, Quack and Daisy! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

Autumn's Arrival

Autumn has officially arrived and with it fall festivals. This weekend we attended the Heritage Festival at Malabar Farms State Park. We saw a broom maker...

A blacksmith who let Emily blow the bellows.

 

 

Civil War Soldiers firing the cannons.

 

A log cabin and the Big House where Charles Bromfield lived.

 

 

 

And a bit of movie history.

 

 

 

We even took a horse-drawn wagon ride.

 

 

And all of this fun autumn entertainment made me want o read an autumn book. The book I chose was a super beginning science book called The Autumn Leaf. It is the story of a big oak tree who has arrived at the season of change and is loosing her leaves until only one leaf is left. Try as hard as she could, she just could not get that one last leaf to drop. The last leaf was scared to drop. That is until some friendly children came up with a plan to help the little leaf overcome his fear and drop gently to the ground.

 

 

I also read a fun book called Acoustic Rooster which is the story of a musical chicken who starts his own jazz band in order to enter the farmers talent contest. He's the rockinest chicken around and even though he doesn't win first place, he has a great time. There are lots of references to past musical legends and in the back of the book there is a great glossary of musical terms, a page of the musical legends mentioned, and a musical timeline.

 

 

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, the sequel, Return To Fern Valley, the soon to be released Cooking In Fern Valley (fall 2015)and my very first picture book, Quack and Daisy! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days. 

 

 

Autumn Has Arrived

This past week was the first week in quite a while that I wasn't outrageously busy. The only real event was Bobby and I celebrating our Anniversary this past Saturday. It was a lovely and relaxing day, and I didn't even feel guilty about doing the bare minimum of house chores. I cooked and did dishes, and that was the extent of my domestic efforts.

Autumn also arrived at our house and was made evident by the massive littering of brightly colored leaves covering our front yard. The site of all those leaves was both beautiful and tiring as I thought about raking. I decided to rake later this week which left me time to read a beautiful book titled Count Down to Fall. It's an older book from 2009, but it is still available and is well worth checking out.

Count Down to Fall is told in rhyme, and while I didn't think every page flowed as well as it could, the story line was pleasant. The illustrations, however, are what really sets this book apart. They are very detailed and quite beautiful. The leaves and forest creatures invite you to spend an extra few minutes admiring every page. And as an added bonus, at the end of the story, there are activities and facts that would make this book a wonderful addition to a teacher or homeschooler's curriculum.

Emily also read a book to me that I enjoyed very much. It was called Elmer and The Dragon. Although written in the seventies, it is a fabulous book that has stood the test of time and is still available today. Elmer is a  young boy who runs away from home to save a baby dragon in distress. After saving the dragon, it is grateful and offers to take Elmer home. On the journey, they encounter a wild storm and a strange island. The adventures are highly entertaining and certainly kept my interest as well as Emily's.

 

 

 

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my sequel, Return To Fern Valley! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.