January Flurries

The past few months here in Ohio have been a little out of the ordinary. November and December usually find us knee deep in snow and cold, but this winter has been exceptionally warm. January, however, is about to bring us some cold weather and flurries, so I am  breaking out the woolly socks. January also brings a flurry of activity since we have lots of family birthdays including my daughter Emily's. Through the years I have hosted themed birthday parties for her as well as having made a parcel of fun cakes. January, it turns out is also a great time to take a trip down memory lane.

For her first birthday I used a picture from a coloring book to copy for the cake.

Then There was the Dora The Explorer year where I glued wiggly eyes on star candles I found and used a little cut out of Dora that came off of something we must have purchased Emily.

The Strawberry Shortcake year. Where as you can see my cake is a little lopsided because my writing skills are much better then my cake cutting skills.

The Jungle Theme which turned out to be my most ambitious year. The hubby brought me home lots of large cardboard and paper from work and I transformed out living room into the jungle/savanna. It's amazing what you can do with a little paint, paper, and cardboard. I hid fake diamond rings in the diamond mine and I gave the kids flashlights to find them. They also had to dig for crocodiles in the stream at the bottom of the waterfall. And of course we can forget the little red bean bags I made to feed the lion.

Next came the Barbie year followed by the spring themed year where I again made use of cardboard and paint.

The dog year was more fun with cardboard. Now that I look back, I think I have a thing for using cardboard.

And then there was the beach party year. 

Birthday number nine was a Lisa Frank Birthday, and by birthday number nine I was starting to get a little tired and I__ dare I say it? I purchase cupcakes.

Last year we didn't have a party because Bobby had to travel to Japan for work. Instead, Emily and I had a birthday celebration at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden. 

So many great birthday celebrations, but I'm not sure how ambitious I will be this year. Time will tell.

January also brought me a new book to review called Little Miss Grubby Toes Steps On A Bee. I received a copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review, and I had mixed feelings about it. I love the illustrations by Mark Wayne Adams who happens to be one of my favorite illustrators, I love the concept of letting children know that parents make rules to keep their children safe and not to spoil their fun, and I love the character who has been nick-named by her father. But what I'm not sure about is the way the author "breaks the fourth wall". I have always been told by my editors that breaking the fourth wall (otherwise known as speaking directly to the reader or audience) is to be avoided. Not everyone in the industry shares this opinion, so I guess it boils down to how well it is done and if the reader thinks the story flows smoothly or not. For me personally, when the author asked the reader things like do we think Little Miss Grubby Toes should take her shoes off when her feet are hot, seems pushy. Messages in children's books are wonderful, but they should be subtle allowing the child reading to think about what is going on in the story and to form an opinion.

Despite the breaking of the fourth wall, I was happy to see the author generate excitement at the end of the story where he gives a clue about Little Miss Grubby Toes' real name which is never mentioned in the book. How he leaves the reader with one letter of the name and promises a new clue and new letter in each forthcoming book in the series is brilliant marketing and gives the reader something to look forward to.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me 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.

Christmas, Cookies, and an Assortment of Bear Books!

I love December and all that it entails. I love celebrating the birth of my Lord and Savior. I love watching A Charlie Brown Christmas for the upteenth time. I love wrapping presents. I love that my family gets to spend two entire weeks together with no school or work. And I love to bake cookies. Lots and Lots of cookies. 

There were my old standbys like Swedish Butter Cookies, Raspberry Cookies, and Date Nut Pinwheels also known as Railroad cookies because railroaders would take them in their lunch pails. In addition, this year I tried several new recipes. I made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cinnamon Bun Cookies, Iced Oatmeal Cookies, and Italian Ricotta Cookies. Not everything turned out quite how I expected, but it was still a fun experience. The ricotta cookies were iced with sprinkles and looked gorgeous when they dried, however, when I placed them in airtight containers, the moisture in the cookie made the glaze turn gooey like day old donuts. This of course made me fearful to glaze the oatmeal and cinnamon cookies, but thankfully they tasted divine without glaze. I do have to say though, that the chocolate cookies were the absolute best ever.

 

I had quite an assortment of cookies and so I thought I would share an assortment of bear books this week. I'm not sure why, but I do love bears. I have various bear figurines and stuffed bears, some from as far back as my childhood (I know, that is scary old) and some of my favorite childhood books are about bears. So below is my list of  really great bear books both old and new. Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas!

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.

Looking Forward To What's Ahead!

This past week found me baking several batches of cookies to serve at the local farm market meeting. As the new farm market manager, I wanted to touch base with the vendors one last time before we officially begin on June twentieth. With the market drawing nearer, I find myself getting more and more excited. I am also beginning to plan out many of the summer day trips I hope my family and I will be going on. There is the creation wax museum, a pioneer village, picnics at a local nature center, a pool party, and so much more.

Which brings me to the first book I read this week, titled Sea, Sand, Me. It reminded me of all the delicious things we have to look forward to this summer. It is a simple rhyming book that tells the story of a little girls trip to the ocean and the great joy she finds in each and every moment. This book would be perfect for children three to six.

The second book I read, titled Friendship Quilt, wasn't particularly summery in theme, but it was an excellent book none-the-less.  Raddie is sad because she has lost her grandmother, and nothing her best friend Hank does seems to cheer her up. That is until Hank convinces several other friends to work with him on a friendship quilt for Raddie. Each one adds a patch that has a warm memory for them and they hope it will help Raddie think on all the warm memories she has of her grandmother.

This book is a beautiful way to show children that it is okay to grieve, but it is also okay to cloak yourself in warm memories and move on with life. This book would be really great for children who are reading picture books on their own.

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.

It's Garden Time!

It's that time of year again where excitement over our yearly garden gently wraps each of us with a blanket of anticipation. My husband tills up the clean, fresh dirt in our raised beds, I search for the right plants, and Emily helps plant, weed, and water. 

Just this past weekend, I purchased two beefsteak tomato plants.  Now I just need to find the Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes we plant, decide if we want onions and lettuce, and make my rounds at the Amish garden stands to find flowers for my flower beds.

As is my custom, I made a trip to the library to gather a large stack of books for reading and reviewing and decided a couple of them should be about gardens. The first book I read was The Vegetables Go To Bed by Christopher King. It's an older book, but if you can't find it at your local library, there are used copies available at Amazon.

Told in rhyme, The Vegetables Go To Bed, tells the tale of vegetables in the garden who are mostly reluctant to go to sleep for the night. The illustrations are what make this book truly spectacular. The first letter on each page is a special letter with a small picture of some kind and the vegetables have gentle faces and hands giving them the appearance of being alive. Very subtly, the story of the vegetables getting ready for bed and growing while they sleep, parallels to the way children are reluctant for bed and grow while they sleep. I think this would be a great book for children five to eight.

The next book I read was Cecil's Garden by Holly Keller. This is also an older book, but well worth hunting down. Of the two, this book was  my favorite. Cecil, his brother, and his sister set out to plant a garden but it is only big enough to hold five rows of vegetables. Unfortunately, they have six packets of seeds. Since they can't decide which seeds to eliminate they end up going into the house without planting anything. Cecil decides to go for a walk and finds both his mouse friends and his mole friends arguing amongst themselves as well. Cecil decides he just doesn't like arguing and he is going home to plant his garden. The creative solution he comes up with is very exciting and well worth finding out about.

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 soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.

A Wonderfully Made Built-In Home

This past week was a bit rough at my house as I was under the weather, so there weren't any funny anecdotes, enticing recipes, or fun photos from trips to share except for a few from Emily's Laura Ingles Wilder Celebration at school. I didn't get as many pics as I wanted because one, only one boy dressed up and two, I only stayed until noon.

 

But once I was feeling a bit better, I decided it was time to review a book by Christian author Janis Cox called Tadeo Turtle. Miss Cox approached me a while back and asked if I would review her book. She sent me a free e-copy for my unbiased, honest, opinion.

As I began reading, I was quickly drawn in by the attractive water color paintings that accompanied the rhyming text. Written as a Christian example of how we are all lovingly and wonderfully made, it was a sweet story. There was one spot where the story did not flow as well as it might have, but over all it was fun. As an added bonus, the book also included several turtle crafts which were quite cute and would provide lots of extra entertainment value for children between the ages of four and nine. To learn more about Miss Cox stop on by website, He Cares For You, and look around!

Tadeo Turtle reminded me a bit of a book we already own called A Home For Little Turtle. It is out of print, but used copies are still available on Amazon. Although not written from the Christian perspective, the idea that a turtles shell is a wonderfully made built-in home is the same.

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 soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.