This past week sent us scurrying back to school lessons. It also saw the beginning of a five week photography course Emily is taking with her home school aid Ms. Charlie. I'm not sure she loves taking pictures as much as I do, but I hope she at least enjoys the class.
We also attended our monthly Cook Book Club meeting where the theme was soups and sandwiches. Now I don't know about you, but I absolutely love soups and sandwiches. So much in fact, that I forgot to take any pictures. Emily made my recipe for lemon poppy seed bread, and I made turkey and bacon club sandwiches with avocado spread and white chicken chili.
I used a recipe from The Ultimate Chicken website with a couple of substitutions. I already had two cups of cooked shredded chicken and I had heavy cream instead of half and half because I didn't want to run to the store. I thought it was delicious especially topped with shredded cheddar cheese, but Emily told me if we were having leftover soup for dinner she would fix herself a hot-dog. One day Ms. Picky's tastes will change just like mine did, and she'll wonder why she turned her nose up to so many tasty dishes.
Over the weekend it snowed here in Ohio. It probably didn't snow here as much as some parts of the country, but I was happy to see the snow and cold that did shower us because it will mean a good maple syrup season; and I surely do love fresh maple syrup.
And last but not least, I read a book titled The Goodnight Train. I personally don't have any trouble falling to sleep, but for some reason my male cat has decided for the past several days he needs me to get up at 2 or 3:30 in the morning. To help raise me from my slumber he digs incessantly on the sliding closet doors directly beneath the master bedroom making a ruckus that could raise the dead if that were possible. But I'm getting off topic, so back to the book.
The Goodnight Train is a cute rhyming book about children being lulled to sleep on a train traveling through dreamland. The sounds and sights that fill the night as the train makes its trek will surely delight children from five to seven.
Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by 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 if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.
This week was a typical Ohio week with the temps at 15 degrees one day and 40 the next. One of the cold days happened to be this past Tuesday which was our Cook Book Club day, and the theme was soup. I took Cheesy ham and potato soup and Emily took blueberry muffins. Nothing much else of interest went on except the day Emily asked me to make her a snack platter with cheese, crackers, fruit, and veggies. I must have been board because I even broke out the cookie cutter and got fancy with the cheese.
Even though this past week was just an ordinary week, sharing hot soup on a cold day with friends was fun. Just like reading James to the Rescue was fun. James to the Rescue by Elise Broach is a wonderful early chapter book about friends. It is about a family of beetles that reminded me of the borrowers. They spend their days collecting things from the home they share with a human family and avoiding the perils of the baby with the large spoon. But one day as Marvin beetle, his father, uncle, and cousin are on a routine collection mission, his uncle gets hurt. Marvin has become friends with the older son of the house, James; and is forced to seek out his help despite the reluctance of his other family members.
James does indeed come to the rescue as the title implies but what Marvin does to repay his kindness is fun ans surprising and will not be told by me. After all, you don't want me to spoil the story do you? The only thing about this story that threw me for a few minutes was its use of present tense verbs. This is not a bad thing, just different from the past tense verb usage to which I am accustomed.
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.
