tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16751501793522872402024-03-06T04:21:24.630-05:00PrincessPinkk's PonderingsThoughts from a mom, wife, employee....Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-61652657845781538482019-12-02T15:08:00.001-05:002019-12-02T15:08:08.522-05:00"Gerald McBoing Boing" Review<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: small;">Gerald McBoing Boing</span></span></u></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span">Author: Dr. Seuss</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Pictures adapted by Mel Crawford</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Publisher: Random House, New York</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Copyright: 1950</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">ISBN: 0-679-89140-4</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level 3.5</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">(Based on the Academy Award-winning motion picture by Dr. Seuss)</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">I LOVE this book!! Of course, Dr. Seuss books are always great, but this one reminds me of my daughter when she was little. She would make some of the silliest noises and I always wondered if she would ever talk! Unlike Gerald McCloy in the story she finally did develop this ability!</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">When Gerald McCloy was little he would never talk, just make noises like<i>"boing boing"</i>, <i>"boom"</i>, <i>"cuckoo"</i> and <i>"honk"</i>. His parents called in the doctor, but he said he couldn't help. When they sent him to school the teacher sent him back with a note. </span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Poor George doesn't have any friends and he even annoys his father. So he runs away from home. He then meets someone that likes all his noises and offers him a job!</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">"Your GONG is terrific,</span></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Your <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">toot</span> is inspired</span></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Quick come to BONG-BONG-BONG</span></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">McBoing Boing-you're hired!"</span></b></span></i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">With quirky, retro looking illustrations and fun, rhyming text his story will be enjoyed by many ages.</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Both of my children really enjoyed listening to this story. So thumbs up from all of us!</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">*I wrote this years ago, but didn't publish it.</span></b></span></div>
<div style="color: red; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"></span></span></span></b></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span></span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-12705464149104342052019-12-02T15:06:00.004-05:002019-12-02T15:06:44.694-05:00"Quick as a Cricket" Review<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Elberts-Bad-Word-Audrey-Wood/dp/0152013679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300802073&sr=8-1"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Quick as a Cricket</span></a></span></u></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span">Author: <a href="http://www.audreywood.com/">Audrey Woods</a></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Illustrator: <a href="http://www.audreywood.com/">Don Woods</a></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Publisher: Child's Play</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Copyright: 1982</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">ISBN: 0-85953-151-1</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level1.7</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Through the use of simple text, with six words per page, the little boy describes himself using 22 different similes. <i> </i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>"I'm as quick as a cricket, </i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>I'm as slow as a snail, </i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>I'm as small as an ant, </i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>I'm as large as a whale."</i> </span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">In the end you, <i> </i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>"Put it all together, and you've got ME!"</i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">The colored pencil illustrations are full of color and detail depicting the boy as he is described on each page.</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><i> </i></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">This book would be a great intro to a lesson on similes, or if you were having the chilren write about themselves. The book is also a great way to talk about different feelings. (sad, happy, nice, mean, tough, gentle, brave, shy, tame, lazy, busy)</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">I started reading this book to my daughter when she was around two and a half. She loved it. I think the illustrations pulled her in and it was a chance to discuss different creatures that you don't always see in fiction books (snail, lark, ox, clam, rhino, shrimp).</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">I love a book that is so versatile, that tells a story, but can be used for teaching a variety of things: similes, animals, feelings. I think this book can be enjoyed by many.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>*this was written years ago, but I didnt publish it.</b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: cyan;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></span></span></span></b></span><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span></div>
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"></span></span></span></b></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-28114188829350122122019-12-02T15:05:00.000-05:002019-12-02T15:05:05.026-05:00"Dinosaur Train" Review<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Train-John-Steven-Gurney/dp/0060292458/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1300886211&sr=8-6"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dinosaur Train</span></span></u></b></span></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Author: <a href="http://www.johnstevengurney.com/">Steven Gurney</a></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Illustrator: <a href="http://www.johnstevengurney.com/">Steven Gurney</a></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Copyright:2002</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">ISBN: 0-06-029245-8</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level 1.0</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">This simple little book is a favorite of my son, Jake's. Any book with a train in it ranks pretty high up there for Jake!</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Jesse the main character in this story loves trains and dinosaurs. He gets to take an unexpected ride on a train that is filled with dinosaurs. What a dream for him! The illustrations are bright and colorful. The dinosaurs have human characteristics, wearing clothes, reading the newspaper and eating hamburgers. </span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">After going through a tunnel they come around the curve and see a volcano. (My son also loves volcanoes, so this was a special page in the book for him.) All the dinosaurs lean over to see the volcano and the train falls over. Using team work the dinosaurs and Jesse all help to right the train.</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">This is a quick read that is sure to entertain most boys, especially if they like trains and dinosaurs!</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></b></span></div>
<div style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; line-height: 19px;"></span></b></span><span style="color: #0b5394;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">*this was written years ago, buy I never published it.</span></span></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"> </span></span></div>
Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-20195583097706954732011-04-26T15:22:00.000-04:002011-04-26T15:22:19.466-04:00"Martina the Beautiful Cockroach" Review<div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><iframe align="right" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=princsponde-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=1561454680&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=D100FF&bc1=000000&bg1=EDABF7&f=ifr" style="align: right; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Martina-Beautiful-Cockroach-Carmen-Deedy/dp/1561454680?ie=UTF8&tag=princsponde-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><br />
</a></span></u></b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqiZb_jXJ90KXp2n31axiG8N2O9vlK4wXZ6iJgWrgjT-bdP5EwXyfnLIbBX6RGl5hdTPQupwcHSzO2DRDwHSZhYYOXOGIUSKF_rTI7x4ZZLD2ogGfqgTiTPPG2ColsSXrfjZnOd884nYr/s1600/deedy-martina-the-beautiful-cockroach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqiZb_jXJ90KXp2n31axiG8N2O9vlK4wXZ6iJgWrgjT-bdP5EwXyfnLIbBX6RGl5hdTPQupwcHSzO2DRDwHSZhYYOXOGIUSKF_rTI7x4ZZLD2ogGfqgTiTPPG2ColsSXrfjZnOd884nYr/s320/deedy-martina-the-beautiful-cockroach.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqiZb_jXJ90KXp2n31axiG8N2O9vlK4wXZ6iJgWrgjT-bdP5EwXyfnLIbBX6RGl5hdTPQupwcHSzO2DRDwHSZhYYOXOGIUSKF_rTI7x4ZZLD2ogGfqgTiTPPG2ColsSXrfjZnOd884nYr/s1600/deedy-martina-the-beautiful-cockroach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Martina-Beautiful-Cockroach-Carmen-Deedy/dp/1561454680?ie=UTF8&tag=princsponde-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Martina the Beautiful Cockroach</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=princsponde-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1561454680" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></u></b></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span">A Cuban Folktale</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.audreywood.com/"></a></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Retold by Carmen Agra Deedy </span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Illustrated by Michael Austin<a href="http://www.audreywood.com/"></a></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Illustrations created in acrylic.</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Publisher: Scholastic</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Copyright: 2007</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">ISBN:0-545-17210-1</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level 3.1</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Pura Belpre' Honor Book</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">2010-2011 Virginia Reader's Choice Nominee</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">How would you pick a husband?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Has anyone in your family ever given you advice you didn't understand? </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">What does coffee have to do with anything??</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">This story will reveal to you a wise method to use while choosing a mate. But, watch out you may upset some people along the way!</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha was a beautiful cockroach in search of a mate. After being courted by a rooster, a pig and a lizard; Martina finds that love had been close by all the while. And that Cuban grandmothers are very wise!</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span">This book is a little bit of a higher level for my children, and I'm not sure they exactly understood the story. But, they both seemed to enjoy the rhythm of the book and the illustrations. (As well as finding the coffee test to be funny!)</span></b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">A story about a cockroach? The detailed and charming illustrations in this book truly beautify this repulsive-type insect. </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></b></span></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">The only drawback for me about this book is there are 10-15 Spanish words...which is neat, but there isn't a glossary to tell you the meaning of these words. Or the correct pronunciation.</span></b></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"></span></span></span></b></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span></span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-41672145587744843032011-03-30T23:29:00.000-04:002011-03-30T23:29:30.425-04:00Last Birthday?<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>So They Say It's Your Birthday!!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Happy Birthday to Me!!</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28-SQnfBgNiq-lWErzXQDG9H12n5QSrlen2V2vWU68ZL1Le0sKT7IECYcDjsktWQ_WXWW87lfVOFSN_kWqg6shFNRwsVPkO53qXvrrCIPgkeIdvn3eL7EOrGxkIDXABePi2dfCEmVvcmB/s1600/Br_webimage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh28-SQnfBgNiq-lWErzXQDG9H12n5QSrlen2V2vWU68ZL1Le0sKT7IECYcDjsktWQ_WXWW87lfVOFSN_kWqg6shFNRwsVPkO53qXvrrCIPgkeIdvn3eL7EOrGxkIDXABePi2dfCEmVvcmB/s200/Br_webimage.jpg" width="158" /></b></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b> Well, I am 39 now. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Hmmm....so maybe I will be 39 forever? </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Isn't that what a lot of women do? </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>I'm not really sure if I will be like that. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>So far, I feel pretty good about 39. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>I don't really feel too old....yet! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Maybe next year will be different! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>The big 4-0 might affect me differently. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Right now I'm enjoying life!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>I'm alive & healthy.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>(with a few extra pounds I need to work on!) </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>I have an awesome husband who loves me!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b> Beautiful, fun children.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>I have a trendy haircut. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Some fun piercings. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>A new tattoo soon!! yippee!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>A fulfilling social life.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Books.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Pink things.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>Jewelry.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>And most of all, lots of LOVE in my life!</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>I think I can handle more days in this life.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><b>And lots more birthdays!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-9188513010778712212011-03-22T10:21:00.002-04:002011-03-22T14:59:15.421-04:00"Elbert's Bad Word" Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteujzbmbChsd5I4DRPLy2QYqH8ctNKDPke-M-a_DvnHJ1ihbOhy9aESxVywy-4Ee3RP0S0jr_H17JZliH_He_9sKVnyzkal-jvXffTE0UpgwduSA4cuUduah-K7DburbziF-RxwfCL_Zw/s1600/Elbert%2527s+bad+word.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteujzbmbChsd5I4DRPLy2QYqH8ctNKDPke-M-a_DvnHJ1ihbOhy9aESxVywy-4Ee3RP0S0jr_H17JZliH_He_9sKVnyzkal-jvXffTE0UpgwduSA4cuUduah-K7DburbziF-RxwfCL_Zw/s200/Elbert%2527s+bad+word.jpg" width="182" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Elberts-Bad-Word-Audrey-Wood/dp/0152013679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300802073&sr=8-1"><span style="font-size: small;">Elbert's Bad Word</span></a></span></u></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span">Author: <a href="http://www.audreywood.com/">Audrey Woods</a></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Illustrator: <a href="http://www.audreywood.com/">Audrey & Don Woods</a></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">The illustrations in this book were first drawn in pencil </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">by <a href="http://www.audreywood.com/">Audrey Wood</a> and then rendered in color by<a href="http://www.audreywood.com/"> Don wood</a> in </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">watercolor, gouache and colored pencils on coquille board.</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Copyright: 1988</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">ISBN:0-15-225320-3</span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Summary: After shocking the elegant garden party by </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">using a bad word, Elbert learns some acceptable substitutes </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">from a helpful wizard. </span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level 3.6</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; color: cyan;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Elbert was at a fancy dinner party with his parents when he heard an adult say a</span> </span><span style="color: red;">bad</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">word. In this book you can actually "see" the naughty word. </span><i style="color: #0b5394;"> </i></span></span></b></span></div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>"With a swift flick of his wrist, Elbert snatched the word from the air and stuffed it in his pocket</i></span></span><i style="color: #0b5394;"> ."</i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> Later, the word became so small it </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">"flew"</i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> into Elbert's mouth. After a series of crazy events a croquet mallet lands with a </span><i style="color: #0b5394;">"thud"</i><span style="color: #0b5394;"> on Elbert's toe! When Elbert opened his mouth to scream a </span><span style="color: red;">bad</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">word came out instead! The</span> <span style="color: red;">bad</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">word continued to g r o w, it even perched upon Elbert's shoulder. </span></b></span></div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span> </div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Elbert goes to visit a wizard gardener who bakes him a special cake. Elbert learns about "strong" words and the need to sometimes use them. Later through another series of mishaps, Elbert is again in a position of pain. Everyone stops to observe him to see what he will say. Will he say the</span> <span style="color: red;">bad</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">word again???</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">My children enjoyed this book, it was easy for them to understand how Elbert learned the </span><span style="color: red;">bad</span> <span style="color: #0b5394;">word and they were a little surprised when he used it. After reading the book we were able to discuss other things to say instead of bad words. I love books that you can use to teach something. </span></b></span></div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The book is fun to read, and has interesting illustrations. The expressions on Elbert's face are great. And I love that you can "see" the bad word. You can't go wrong with an </span><a href="http://www.audreywood.com/" style="color: #0b5394;">Audrey or Don Woods</a><span style="color: #0b5394;"> book. I don't think I've read one yet that I don't like.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"></span></span></span></b></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-63583151263217333272011-03-16T21:14:00.000-04:002011-03-16T21:14:18.252-04:00Was it Wrong?<i>Last night, we went to visit friends after 8pm. They have a boy and a girl that are older than our kids....so they had a lot of fun playing together. We let the kids play mostly unsupervised, and let them stay up very, very late. They eventually fell asleep. Many hours later we carried them to the car and brought them home. </i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Are we horrible for doing this? we feel pretty bad. Normally we closely supervise our kids. Never let them fall asleep at someone else's house...unless it was a planned overnight and we aren't there. (Like at grandparents or aunts). Never take the kids out that late at night or have to put them in the car in the middle of the night to go home.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>Have you ever done this? do you think it's okay? </i>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-10819282034382279442011-03-04T12:26:00.002-05:002011-03-04T12:28:32.889-05:00Misadventures and Fits<div style="color: #351c75;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGDihyphenhyphenV4XDIXnGbvk4GTMW9xvcQikOgARTIBOJypNgv5wGvuC9hi01YMpMhZzreUu-CAX-W9k12pyorS1pmFGsXvr4JhMtMhNcgE0gHK7MmLQdoASySJ-Ijptf3aKdTIYK2K81qz0aM6P/s1600/717061923514_1147226018_31941464_5243693_n.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGDihyphenhyphenV4XDIXnGbvk4GTMW9xvcQikOgARTIBOJypNgv5wGvuC9hi01YMpMhZzreUu-CAX-W9k12pyorS1pmFGsXvr4JhMtMhNcgE0gHK7MmLQdoASySJ-Ijptf3aKdTIYK2K81qz0aM6P/s200/717061923514_1147226018_31941464_5243693_n.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPj72BpKURsq6p0KJy2G2FlikAn6tIzjz5Czuysg62e2XJkEPF1Mgx07NZIH1KC6SM7xWZ2qoYekE470zMhJhywHWJ-x_MUqqNbgvZJ2H2cDy5oC3-P02glmlN1sklP1ojHQ3D8eIvvxN/s1600/717062523529_1147226018_31941466_4722327_n.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPj72BpKURsq6p0KJy2G2FlikAn6tIzjz5Czuysg62e2XJkEPF1Mgx07NZIH1KC6SM7xWZ2qoYekE470zMhJhywHWJ-x_MUqqNbgvZJ2H2cDy5oC3-P02glmlN1sklP1ojHQ3D8eIvvxN/s200/717062523529_1147226018_31941466_4722327_n.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #20124d;">My crazy little angels!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
O<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">kay, so if you are a parent, you will totally understand how frustrating some of these types of scenarios can be. If you aren't a parent and you read this....you may rethink if you want children, lol!</span></div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am told, at least once a week, sometimes more often how w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l my children behave at daycare. They are said to be polite, well mannered, sweet, etc.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sometimes when I am home with my children, I wonder....are these really the same children that the daycare raves about?? And don't get me wrong...I would prefer it to be this way....behave in public/misbehave at home. As much as it sucks sometimes at home dealing with them, it gives me great pleasure to hear others rave about how well behaved my children are. :)</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But, I just want to share some of the fits and misadventures that I recently had with the kids. Saturday morning, while Lee was at work and I was alone with the kids, I had stepped into the bathroom. Jake (4 1/2) comes to tell me that he spilled a little water. Well, it turned out that he had knocked over a huge cup of water on the end table...which had lots of magazines and newspapers that were now sopping wet. Our tables are glass top with wood around the edges. So the glass sits down into the wood. Well, anytime a drink is spilled....it runs under the glass and gets everywhere down below. So I had to move the lamp, candles, picture frames, Scentsy burner, etc. to clean up all the water. Ugh.</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A little later, while I was ironing clothes Julz had gone into the bathroom....I thought to brush her teeth. Jake comes in and says, "Julz has nail polish". Oh! Yes! She! Did!! It was on her face, on her hands, on her shirt, on the sink and in the bathtub. Mind you this happened in just a matter of three minutes tops that she was out of my eyesight! So, I did get it off of her, but not so much the shirt. And I did manage to save the sink and tub as well.</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then Jake had a small fit after that because he didn't want to put on clean underwear! (boys!) When I picked a gift bag for his friend's birthday present (I have to climb up in the attic to get this, since that is where I store all my gift wrapping items) he cried for I know 20 minutes because the bag was "too pretty" and he didn't want to give it away! (me=rolling my eyes)</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Later in the day after being at a birthday party and visiting Mimi & Gramps we were almost ready to head out. I needed to go to the grocery store to pick up some items for Julz's birthday party. After the behavior they exhibited at Mimi's house (running, being loud, not listening), I told them they wouldn't be allowed to go to the grocery store with me. So, they were both upset, crying and pouting. On the way out of the house walking through the garage, Jake stopped beside my mom's (very nice, shiny, well taken care of, immaculately clean) Dodge Nitro and proceeded to kick it t.h.r.e.e times!!!! aaaarrrrgghhhh!!!! So then, Gramps spanked Jake (very unusual) and Jake was crying and mad and then Julz hopped in between Jake and Gramps and says loudly and sternly, "don't you be mean to my Jakey!!! (gotta love the sibling love!) so, then Gramps told her that she needed to be quiet that he wasn't talking to her. Crying, more crying. Both crying. Crying all the way home!!</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So I hope you just enjoyed a day in my life with children, lol!! I still love them even though they drive me crazy!!</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How many of you can relate to this craziness???</div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-29732697591159066052011-02-25T11:16:00.003-05:002011-03-22T14:14:04.403-04:00"Flap Your Wings" Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvmsvHO9NYnO8QGzE-4VqcTGCHm61y9jxr_r2W_fbPl5heZgOj6be9I_tBxUNlqX8XfdCfdWxzJa2zLLKfxgA0mjS6vN9e4mjwjO6XkiaZZmkB0gt_jcd38hl7Vy59XQOX3ZI160XhrGt/s1600/flap+your+wings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvmsvHO9NYnO8QGzE-4VqcTGCHm61y9jxr_r2W_fbPl5heZgOj6be9I_tBxUNlqX8XfdCfdWxzJa2zLLKfxgA0mjS6vN9e4mjwjO6XkiaZZmkB0gt_jcd38hl7Vy59XQOX3ZI160XhrGt/s320/flap+your+wings.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></u></b></span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><b><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Flap-Your-Wings-Beginner-Books/dp/0375802436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298351623&sr=8-1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">Flap Your Wings</span></a></u></b></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">Author: P.D. Eastman</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">Publisher: Beginner Books a Division of Random House</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">Copyright: 1969, 1977, 2000</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">ISBN: 0-375-80243-6</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level 2.0</span></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">With simple, bright illustrations, this colorful book is easy for a young child to follow. Not too busy or overstimulating. I love the expressions on the little birds faces throughout the book and especially love Mrs. Bird's </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">red </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">scarf. </span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">The story starts out with a boy walking down a path near several different types of animals. He finds an egg. He sees an empty nest. He decides the egg must have come from that nest and places the egg there. When Mr. and Mrs. Bird come home she notices the egg.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">"That's not our egg," says Mrs. Bird. "Look how big it is!"</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"> I love what Mr. Bird has to say about that.....</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">"But it is an egg. It's in our nest, " said Mr. Bird. "If an egg is in your nest, you sit on it and keep it warm. It doesn't matter whose egg it is."</span></i><i style="color: red;"> </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;">As the story goes on, Mr. and Mrs. Bird keep this egg warm until it hatches and then raise "Junior" as their own. They feed and feed and feed and feed "Junior". Until finally "Junior" has grown so large he must be taught to "fly" and "flap his wings" for he is too large to stay in the nest.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">My son, 4 1/2 yrs, enjoyed this book. He understood the humor and the mistake of the wrong egg being in their nest. He really thought it was funny when we found out what was inside of the egg. My 3 yr old daughter seems to understand how sweet it is that Mr. and Mrs. Bird take care of the creature that hatches from the egg. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>The message of acceptance and love in this story, along with the humor has kept me reading it over and over to my children. </b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b>This is also a good companion book to be read along with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Guji-Chih-Yuan-Chen/dp/1929132670">Guji, Guji</a> by Chih-Yuan Chen. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Guji-Chih-Yuan-Chen/dp/1929132670">Guji, Guji</a> is a very similar story. At home we read the two together and then compared them.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">On a scale of 1-10, I will give this one an 8. This sweet little story is sure to become a favorite. If you notice the copyright (1969), this book has been around for a long time, so it must have been a favorite to many over the years. I wonder if I heard this story as a child? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">Do you have any favorites from your childhood? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span></span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-17457354255150689422011-02-24T09:56:00.000-05:002011-02-24T09:56:06.587-05:00Author: Jerry Pallotta<div style="color: #274e13; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA60fhirwBg-n13NVdzfeltuCA8F5pz1GMdtzySFA85MyJQ8kwNk3y-5xffmmnbQofOAzlB0viwtXZIx1HOXkBFnz9PA4NjPBOudB71p3EzbGIzBDzCENoF5tYoXGiB3wq_JS6ZReJaYuB/s1600/Photo0068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA60fhirwBg-n13NVdzfeltuCA8F5pz1GMdtzySFA85MyJQ8kwNk3y-5xffmmnbQofOAzlB0viwtXZIx1HOXkBFnz9PA4NjPBOudB71p3EzbGIzBDzCENoF5tYoXGiB3wq_JS6ZReJaYuB/s400/Photo0068.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>November 2009</b></div><div style="color: #274e13;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #274e13;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #274e13;"><b>I had the pleasure of meeting <a href="http://www.jerrypallotta.com/">Jerry Pallotta</a> a year ago when he visited Roanoke, VA for the <a href="http://www.vemaonline.org/">VEMA (Virginia Educational Media Association)</a> Conference and a visit to the elementary school where I work. He is such a nice man! That is such a simple way to say it, but it simply is true. He did several presentations with different age groups (with student involvement, the children were very engaged), sold books and even autographed them. He was kind, funny, attentive and is full of neat ideas....his books are really fun! </b></div><div style="color: #274e13;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #274e13;"><b>He tends to write more nonfiction, but has done several fiction books, as well. He is well known for his alphabet books. His alphabet books include many interesting details. He spends a lot of time researching for these books. He even collaborated with many other popular childrens book authors and illustrators in the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Guys-Write-Read-Favorite-Authors/dp/0670011444/ref=tmm_pap_title_0">Guys Write for Guys Read</a>. </b><br />
<br />
<b>The children and teachers at <span style="font-size: small;">my school really enjoy his math books, such as </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hersheys-Milk-Chocolate-Weights-Measures/dp/0439388775/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298398656&sr=1-4"><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="btAsinTitle">Hershey's Milk Chocolate Weights and Measures</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="btAsinTitle">, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Twizzlers-Shapes-Patterns-Jerry-Pallotta/dp/0439340535/ref=sr_1_19?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298399094&sr=1-19">Twizzler's Shapes & Patterns</a></span><span id="btAsinTitle"> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Crayon-Counting-Book-Munoz-Ryan/dp/0881069531/ref=sr_1_42?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298399266&sr=1-42">The Crayon Counting Book</a></span></span> (and there are many more!) Some of the books that we have at my house that my own children enjoy are <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Construction-Alphabet-Book-Jerry-Pallotta/dp/1570914370/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298399406&sr=1-1">The Construction Alphabet Book</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Alphabet-Jerry-Pallottas-Books/dp/0881068942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298399470&sr=1-1">The Butterfly Alphabet Book</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Will-Help-Santa-This-Year/dp/0545011604/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298399555&sr=1-4">Who Will Help Santa This Year?</a></b></div><div style="color: #274e13;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #274e13;"><b> I would recommend reading his books....all of them! And I would also recommend him as a visitor to your conference, school or library.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Do you have a favorite Jerry Pallotta book?</b></div>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-41180738745878977142011-02-23T09:06:00.001-05:002011-02-23T22:10:03.096-05:00My Brown Eyed Girl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vPLYFyTugrtBf-ST3KdUZ6e_qTrW-LcVA9SyivjpjBW2bCcrKBZq0jdc2j5iiHBwLWJvfWryc1ns1tSzcmvPk87BcjEbMIKkWtAcBJg3pZ1Jj4CjPSJ16Prv9yVwSeYPh19KXP4EmF0F/s1600/dscn4826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vPLYFyTugrtBf-ST3KdUZ6e_qTrW-LcVA9SyivjpjBW2bCcrKBZq0jdc2j5iiHBwLWJvfWryc1ns1tSzcmvPk87BcjEbMIKkWtAcBJg3pZ1Jj4CjPSJ16Prv9yVwSeYPh19KXP4EmF0F/s320/dscn4826.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;">(about a week before she was born)</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;"><u><span style="font-size: small;">My Brown Eyed Girl </span></u></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">Three years ago today, it was a beautiful, sunny Saturday. I woke up, felt a bit strange, but not too bad. Went on over to my Mom's house for my normal Saturday routine.....eating breakfast with them and then cleaning their house. I had my boys with me, Joey and Jake. I kept having contractions, but thought they might have been Braxton Hicks. As the morning progressed, they became stronger. But, I was in no rush to get to the hospital, so I just kept cleaning and every so often would have to stop, bend over and breathe....then I just cleaned some more. Finally, I decided I should be heading home. I left my little Jake (age 21 months) with Mimi and Gramps. And I asked Joey (age 15) to drive me home. I had never let him drive me anywhere up until that point....he had his learners permit. He was pretty excited that I let him drive. I called my doula, Autumn, before leaving Mom's and asked her to meet me at the house. (A <a href="http://www.dona.org/mothers/index.php">doula</a> is a birth assistant.) She seemed to think I was still doing pretty good. I remember having to stop and get gas for the car....seemed like it took forever. Got home, rushed around to pack my bag and gather baby things. Autumn arrived, Lee was ready to go! He was afraid I'd have the baby at home!! (I would have loved a home birth.) I wanted to go upstairs and take pictures....I have beautiful pictures of me from the day I gave birth to my son. Unfortunately, I couldn't handle the contractions too well at this point, so no pictures. Autumn tried to check and see how dilated I was, but she couldn't tell....I thought she just didn't want to tell me that I was like a 3 or 4. When we arrived at the hospital and they had me in triage, the nurse yelled for the doctor to come check me.....she said I "sounded like a 7". I was actually at 8 cms!! woohoo! I was sooooo excited. But, when I had Jake I was a 7 when I arrived and didn't have him for 5 hours. So I was thinking I still had awhile. Well, things began to move pretty quickly, they got me to a room and before you knew it....we became proud parents of our beautiful Julz Alaina. Total time at the hospital until she arrived: 20 mins!! Awesome delivery! 2/23/08 @ 3:36pm, 7lbs12oz. Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet girl. </span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZuhEyBXQS31KvJsupiE_O5O5yCDqK_RBBZq9zRiqwUpf-XiO36mYiOvh4knaZFPZO12HslUlBMop4VFhIv4_t4aH4i85S2piXOw3TWAvf7kx2ENHa_wZsbcgx5VZlvGRWDF6kjS-QFM0/s1600/Baby+Julz+2.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZuhEyBXQS31KvJsupiE_O5O5yCDqK_RBBZq9zRiqwUpf-XiO36mYiOvh4knaZFPZO12HslUlBMop4VFhIv4_t4aH4i85S2piXOw3TWAvf7kx2ENHa_wZsbcgx5VZlvGRWDF6kjS-QFM0/s320/Baby+Julz+2.23.jpg" width="215" /></span></a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;">February 23, 2008</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dvnvHKknwh893IGTBXASFhajE4be9nFL4VYOMwxX8Lk4Hh8FMjRhyphenhyphensGsc3eaxoWkPUSryGuUWgJHeSScbDfSBNsK2GzUU4U7ZzhWUdfZcDo3G-NkM2PV2NhEfUfcE4uArYCzqTil-aU5/s1600/dscn4879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dvnvHKknwh893IGTBXASFhajE4be9nFL4VYOMwxX8Lk4Hh8FMjRhyphenhyphensGsc3eaxoWkPUSryGuUWgJHeSScbDfSBNsK2GzUU4U7ZzhWUdfZcDo3G-NkM2PV2NhEfUfcE4uArYCzqTil-aU5/s320/dscn4879.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;">With big bro, Joey. February 23, 2008</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnkXPLn5uYCzcYHGukPgDx1DW38t4OCawedgTVin2jLzVKXZtR2oQGTgt8F4EctFj6xK-PghpUDkcidoFdqR5ouUIbvazi2xBUOTdQopWXZfGybkRkeSh_ea-KKHNzutVaLzxTTOHC6cT/s1600/DSCN4861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnkXPLn5uYCzcYHGukPgDx1DW38t4OCawedgTVin2jLzVKXZtR2oQGTgt8F4EctFj6xK-PghpUDkcidoFdqR5ouUIbvazi2xBUOTdQopWXZfGybkRkeSh_ea-KKHNzutVaLzxTTOHC6cT/s320/DSCN4861.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;">Giving sis her first present. February 23, 2008</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQJnIUcl6d7rKEyE-9XJ4Y_r-EBmND75fFN-nwQhWELH9oWKHrxXpEuT-0QQCsI-n7OUPn8o4VrJwFHKST0vlswD7IAc652RgE8LTWjeEw-NMtzPSRRk464tVOv_cW2092gPjQ8SW8xi3/s1600/DSCN4940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijQJnIUcl6d7rKEyE-9XJ4Y_r-EBmND75fFN-nwQhWELH9oWKHrxXpEuT-0QQCsI-n7OUPn8o4VrJwFHKST0vlswD7IAc652RgE8LTWjeEw-NMtzPSRRk464tVOv_cW2092gPjQ8SW8xi3/s320/DSCN4940.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></b></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;">I love this pic!! February 25, 2008</span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">Julz is a beautiful little girl with big brown eyes and light brown hair. She loves all things girly....baby dolls, Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony, etc.....but, she also enjoys playing cars, trucks, trains, monsters, etc.....she does have brothers! She makes me smile every day. She loves to color. She can fold laundry almost as good as me. She is potty trained!! She loves us all, and has the best giggle in the world when we tickle her. She likes zebras and pigs. She is a people pleaser.....except when she is being Miss Independent and trying to get her way! She does have a bit of a stubborn streak at times! </span></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><i>~{{She makes our family complete.}}~</i></span></b></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvQniClkFktdmb4I8M8sGmBAO-NE2Vbe_o6HEGTg5TBrEwEc2dry05g_vGw-4WK7v_fhrjLc3bpOd7kjZND7IlFep8VvvoVmu1eyLxrClfojUcu5RUjLa3QsOzFxPqYoHyqaDPbtT39k8/s1600/DSCN0104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvQniClkFktdmb4I8M8sGmBAO-NE2Vbe_o6HEGTg5TBrEwEc2dry05g_vGw-4WK7v_fhrjLc3bpOd7kjZND7IlFep8VvvoVmu1eyLxrClfojUcu5RUjLa3QsOzFxPqYoHyqaDPbtT39k8/s320/DSCN0104.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;">December 2010</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOXOp6r9DOLNcbZ1mwg5mUiySmKysbtobkpLcPnhZKBDSv7d3neQfWZkqkqoWoeYyjvIcRA2MJsTzLuU14RrBKiClmmH4Be_d2LbgNIiJsQRc3eWCHDcD9mf6S_8YFUHRKbCodGBXoaIo/s1600/DSCN9989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOXOp6r9DOLNcbZ1mwg5mUiySmKysbtobkpLcPnhZKBDSv7d3neQfWZkqkqoWoeYyjvIcRA2MJsTzLuU14RrBKiClmmH4Be_d2LbgNIiJsQRc3eWCHDcD9mf6S_8YFUHRKbCodGBXoaIo/s320/DSCN9989.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;">My big 3 yr old!!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></b></div>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-82157037055199547222011-02-21T23:32:00.003-05:002011-03-22T14:13:11.965-04:00"How to Make a Night" Review<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #073763; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmv8WH6idHTFHEtaYfeNR17lbeDWWpQRxg3_eywRaI0SFSiqHhUcYE8UH5VgWWXLYTW_-qYmoofEen_OfJSt2izOjKv-DWFPECi98kO3I6g4Ui73-ICzsXXOQDJZFpZrFa2Ptq_A2oBu0/s1600/how+to+make+a+night3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLmv8WH6idHTFHEtaYfeNR17lbeDWWpQRxg3_eywRaI0SFSiqHhUcYE8UH5VgWWXLYTW_-qYmoofEen_OfJSt2izOjKv-DWFPECi98kO3I6g4Ui73-ICzsXXOQDJZFpZrFa2Ptq_A2oBu0/s320/how+to+make+a+night3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #073763; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u><br />
</u></b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Night-Linda-Ashman/dp/B000IOEOAK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298348631&sr=8-2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">How to Make a Night</span></a></u></b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Author: Linda Ashman</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Illustrator: Tricia Tusa</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Publisher: South China Printing Co. Ltd.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Copyright: 2004</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">ISBN: 0-06-029032-3</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Summary: "After a hectic day, it is time to bring on the night so that a child and her family can finally rest."</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level 1.5</span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">I chose to review this book since it has such an interesting cover and title. <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Night-Linda-Ashman/dp/B000IOEOAK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298348631&sr=8-2">How to Make a Night</a></u>.....hmmmm how do you make a night? use your imagination. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">This story is written in rhyme, which I really like. Rhyming books are fun to read out loud and keep the attention of little ones. In this story you get a detailed account of this family's day....everything seems to be going wrong. So it comes to a point where the little girl makes the night and puts away the day. Where would you put the sun if you had to put it away for the night? my little boy loves seeing the illustration of the hiding place. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">"Time to settle down!</span></i></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"> Time to clean the mess!</span></i></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"> Time to bring the night around</span></i></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"> So everyone can rest."</span></i></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">The art in this book is has a bold, messy look. Lots of color, very busy. Collage style using paint, fabric, markers and cut outs of real items. One page showing the planets uses a globe, golf ball, lemon, artichoke, etc.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">My son, 4 1/2 yrs, likes this book, as I stated above he thinks it's funny what happens to the sun at night. The children at my school seem to enjoy this book as well, it circulates a lot.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;">On a scale of 1-10, I will give this one an 8. It is a visually interesting book, with a nice rhyming text and a quirky little story.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span></span></div>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-32097938744078305322011-02-18T13:21:00.000-05:002011-02-18T13:21:23.495-05:00"The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum" Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8S4Cbpf5sVgOJo-O1caaXuAUQBPy25Fz0TH1BcUy9RK-jyIFI2YeU5OHYSCTkJw_AFKImVamzbDMvDkI6pvdQv-aP-RltCKOc34YSm4R8a3dxyuKV0rM5upXOeTwTSgpypEJEnll-EvZ/s400/the+girl.jpg" width="275" /></div><div style="color: #073763;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #073763; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Castle-Inside-Museum/dp/0375836063"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum</u></b></span></a></div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;">Author: Kate Bernheimer</div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;">Illustrator: Nicoletta Ceccoli</div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;">Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books, New York</div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;">Copyright: 2008</div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;">ISBN: 978-0-375-83606-0</div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;">Summary: "Children come to visit a little girl who lives alone inside a castle, </div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;">which is housed inside of a museum."</div><div style="color: #0b5394; text-align: center;"> Illustrations are rendered in acrylic paint, clay models, photography and digital media.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Accelerated Reader Book, reading level 2.8</span></div><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">You know the saying, "don't judge a book by it's cover"? Well, I do try to heed this most of the time, but there are just times where I am drawn to a book just by what I see on the cover. This happens to be one of those books. The cover just drew me in with the solemn looking faces on the front, the girl in the tower, the colors, the font used for the title. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I truly delighted in the illustrations of this book Just very unusual, soft, whimsical and full of movement. The girl in the castle, her hair appears to be blowing in the wind. There are funny little creatures hanging from the ceiling and flying about the castle. Buttons, balls, dice speckled here and there throughout the book.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The story is magical, imaginative and reads well. <i style="color: #0b5394;">"There is even a tower, the girl's favorite place. Inside that tower she sits. And inside that tower, at night she dreams. What does she dream of, the girl in the castle inside the museum?"</i> How would you like to live in a castle? {forever} how would you feel, maybe lonely sometimes? the little girl in the castle feels lonely, but at the end of the book she has figured out a way to not be so lonely anymore. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I have checked this book out from the library a couple of times to read to my kids. My son, 4 1/2 yrs, really likes this book. I asked him why he likes it, and he said, "because it's really pretty", I think there are other reasons that he just didn't voice so well. My 3 yr old daughter enjoys the book as well.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">On a scale of 1-10, I will give this one a 10. I enjoyed the easy to read story and I think it would be a good jumping off point for an imaginative conversation with a child. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Review by Christy F. @ PrincessPinkk's Ponderings. </span> </span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-28341217859905431172011-02-17T13:41:00.002-05:002011-02-17T14:56:07.284-05:00Love for Books<div style="color: #4c1130;"><b>Anyone that knows me, even barely knows me....probably knows that I love books!! </b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b>I especially love children's books. I am a library assistant in an elementary school, where I have worked for nine years. I handle hundreds of books in my hands every day. Thousands a week. Just since September, approximately 13,000 books have circulated in the library.</b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b>I, also, have over 500 children's books in my home. (to my husband's dismay!)</b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b>Because of my love for books, I would like to share some book reviews with you on occasion. I thought initially I should pick some of my favorite books to review....but how do I narrow that down? I can't. Just can't. I like tooooooo many! So, I decided that the way I would go about doing this is to randomly pick a book as it comes across my desk in my daily work that interests me. No real rhyme or reason, just something that appeals to me. And I will, also, let you know what my children think about the books and even the school kids, too. (I will refrain from reading other reviews of the book before I write mine, so as not to cloud my view of the book.)</b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: #4c1130;"><b>Stay tuned: soon I will be posting a review of the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Castle-Inside-Museum/dp/0375836063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297967692&sr=1-1"><u>The Girl in the Castle inside the Museum</u></a> by Kate Bernheimer. </b></div>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-66539482599119016862011-02-16T01:05:00.000-05:002011-02-16T01:05:18.099-05:00"Babies, Old and Ugly"<b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I went out the other night with some girlfriends to have a few drinks and listen to a band. (First girls night out in Forever!!) Three of us are married/in relationships. One wasn't. So she was "looking". She pointed out to me that there aren't many options in our age group (35-40). She asked me to look around the packed room and tell her what I saw....I looked....wasn't sure what her point was. So, I asked her what she saw and her answer was, "Babies, old men and ugly men", (babies=college boys). Lol, she did have a point. There were some cute guys....too young. Older and unattractive men. Honestly, not many "lookers"/"eye candy" in our age range. I. Am. So. Glad. I'm. Not. LOOKING!! I know that looks certainly aren't everything. But, when you are looking, there needs to be some physical attraction. Again, let me restate how happy I am....that....I'm....NOT....Looking!!! Of course, no lie, I did really enjoy helping her look. It was fun to say, "hey what about that one?", "how about him?", etc., but <u>I <span style="color: magenta;">love</span> my man</u>. And I wouldn't trade him for the world. :)</span></b>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-23528507200566324272011-02-11T12:46:00.002-05:002011-02-16T00:11:11.061-05:00High Standards<b>Really proud of my son, Joey, for posting <a href="http://butters789.tumblr.com/post/3226660556/to-go-with-my-audio-post">this</a> on his blog. For a young man, he really has high morals and is a good Christian. Please take a minute and read his newest <a href="http://butters789.tumblr.com/post/3226660556/to-go-with-my-audio-post">blog</a> entry. It is referring to a song he listened to, Gym Class Heroes/Faces in the Hall. At this time I haven't had a chance to listen to the song, but he explains the lyrics well and what the song meant to him.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Here is Joey's post.....</b><b><a href="http://butters789.tumblr.com/post/3226660556/to-go-with-my-audio-post">to-go-with-my-audio-post</a></b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Any opinions?</b>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-8308463026142160122011-02-09T23:55:00.002-05:002011-02-10T08:15:30.153-05:00Sibling Love....For. Ever. More!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPr9mllRdqSVDChRpfO-pGptLXIzzI63t_pBV_Lee9IZ1jCHeYvbuieo4oI9An391LBroBt5LFypkk1d5DkYmYhrBj8gmbVsCODPhyphenhyphenWo7nOBbAA7_TSSsFDwCb2bLX104-86i9RLMBZlf_/s1600/jakejulzbw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPr9mllRdqSVDChRpfO-pGptLXIzzI63t_pBV_Lee9IZ1jCHeYvbuieo4oI9An391LBroBt5LFypkk1d5DkYmYhrBj8gmbVsCODPhyphenhyphenWo7nOBbAA7_TSSsFDwCb2bLX104-86i9RLMBZlf_/s320/jakejulzbw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(my photo)</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">How long will it last? </span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">My kids are so freakin' adorable *sometimes*, lol! </span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">But, really, they truly love each other. </span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">It just melts my heart sometimes the sweet things that I see them do for each other or the things they say to each other.</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">We really encourage this love in our home. We talk about how we are a team and that we are supposed to love and take care of each other. </span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">Oh yes!!! we do have the "he hit me", "she bit me" moments, but they are also the first to jump up and defend the other.</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">The other day, our 4 1/2 year old had gotten in trouble. On the way home from daycare Mommy & Daddy were fussing at him for his behavior. Our daughter, who is almost three says, "Don't you be mean to my Jake for. ever. more!!!" (not "forever", but she said each word separate)</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">Love them!!</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">What do you do to encourage sibling love?</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;"><br />
</span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c1130;">If you enjoy this post, leave me some comment love. Follow my rss. Read some of my old posts. Thanks!</span></b></div>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-8889081138910287852011-01-31T13:40:00.003-05:002011-02-10T00:04:50.532-05:00Outside the Box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7dAUI1AiB2dIUTwlr70GkiZRuAvNj-jYj86n8fNgnE4Vkv2HcwE2z7N6BmN9AIcPsRQV0YNyHxMcq9vSdvqNHgASOmVt0IpmwAyjiFSJq-oO_-HUcxxnXYD4_YhlfZuP-9v7NJ7lAQh2s/s1600/outside+the+box.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7dAUI1AiB2dIUTwlr70GkiZRuAvNj-jYj86n8fNgnE4Vkv2HcwE2z7N6BmN9AIcPsRQV0YNyHxMcq9vSdvqNHgASOmVt0IpmwAyjiFSJq-oO_-HUcxxnXYD4_YhlfZuP-9v7NJ7lAQh2s/s1600/outside+the+box.bmp" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(my graphic)</span></div><b>Sometimes you just have to step "outside of the box". I think that it is easy for us to get caught up in the routines and the normalcy of life. We do the same thing everyday. We drive the same way to work, eat at the same places, cook the same dinners, hang out with the same friends, watch the same tv shows, wear the same clothes...make-up... jewelry, etc.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Why do we do this? I believe for myself, it's because of the "comfort zone". It's EASY, we know it works, you don't even have to think about it. </b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Recently, I have made some moves to step out of my "comfort zone". </b><br />
<br />
<b>I've gone "outside the box" so to speak. </b><br />
<br />
<b>And I think I like it. :)</b><br />
<br />
<b>What kinds of things do you do to step "outside the box"? </b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #351c75;">**If you like this post, read some others! Also, follow by email or rss! **</span> </span></b></div><b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-46683246481148055762011-01-20T22:49:00.002-05:002011-02-10T00:03:56.692-05:00Kids or Secrets?<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICCxTOo3uBKIO9Xhh2rylIP6UuEvk31TEuuW7aHW9QJx91ljJ0a-lA_vkYMT45P-cpMGIF_zaRh-prBgfxi3O_0ER1FPEHDjS8DwUJyhxG15-mVc8mRuqX2pmonE3MwtuoEQbGyO5AmZX/s1600/no+secrets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICCxTOo3uBKIO9Xhh2rylIP6UuEvk31TEuuW7aHW9QJx91ljJ0a-lA_vkYMT45P-cpMGIF_zaRh-prBgfxi3O_0ER1FPEHDjS8DwUJyhxG15-mVc8mRuqX2pmonE3MwtuoEQbGyO5AmZX/s200/no+secrets.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(my graphic)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">My parents kept my kids for a little while last night. When we got there to pick up the kids, my mom says, "you know you can either have kids or you can have secrets, you can't have both". </span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Hmmmm, I'm thinking...why is she saying this....</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">So....my mom proceeds to tell us, "Julz told me tonite that Daddy doesn't wear underwear", lol!!! I thought I was going to die! my husband says, "that's not something I wanted my mother-in-law to know". (my daughter is almost three)</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">It's true though....the kids/secret part. I've worked with children (elementary age) for 17 years. One thing I've learned is they will tell you anything and everything. They will tell you things you know their parents would not want being told. </span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Makes me wonder what mine say at daycare, lol!</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Have your kids ever told any secrets on you??</span></b>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-39966573179308551552011-01-19T00:49:00.001-05:002011-02-10T00:00:55.729-05:00TV Time or Not?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN23Hf_GFnWAogdDskVBvd29-Pbje9JM8pjuHEBKFlPwTB_cNBgtgBDMFpY75vFwqwsAjQwtTUQZAq4gknfIvP5Q6Xc1YLno6IqRfNgvxNOzdV_YL8eEexLn7QH5o_mlZTUfhUbZ-LrHBm/s1600/pinktv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN23Hf_GFnWAogdDskVBvd29-Pbje9JM8pjuHEBKFlPwTB_cNBgtgBDMFpY75vFwqwsAjQwtTUQZAq4gknfIvP5Q6Xc1YLno6IqRfNgvxNOzdV_YL8eEexLn7QH5o_mlZTUfhUbZ-LrHBm/s1600/pinktv.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(free clip-art, color change by me)</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I was younger working in a daycare, I can remember parents complaining about how often their children were being allowed to watch tv/movies while in daycare. I thought....what's the big deal. I thought they were really picky parents.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, <u>I'm</u> that parent. </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other day a friend on facebook mentioned how horrible the shows are on a certain tv channel for children....I won't name the channel....but initials are CN...you can guess which channel that is. When my kids were very little I didn't let them watch tv at all. As they got a bit older I allowed a short period of time everyday. I had come across the channel <a href="http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/home/">PBS Sprout</a>. And that is the channel my children still watch. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We don't watch some of the others, because I feel like some of the shows are just so overly "commercialized". I don't need my kids begging for a certain character every time they walk through the toy aisle. I don't want to buy a toy or a book or a piece of clothing just because it has a character on it. I will admit I'm not as stringent about this as I used to be....Jake likes Cars stuff and Julz likes Tinkerbell, but I still don't want to pay double for something just because it has a character on it that my kids see on a tv show. I avoid these toys and clothes.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My kids favorite show is <a href="http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/characters/?preset=caillou">Caillou</a> which I think is such a sweet little show. Of course there are characters on PBS that are placed all over toys/clothes as well....Thomas, Elmo, etc. (By the way....I hate Elmo. Really. I can't stand his annoying high pitched voice. Am I the only mom that feels this way?)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have read many studies over the past few years that bring me to the conclusion that tv isn't such a great thing for my kids. So I limit it. PBS Sprout, maybe some Nat Geo Wild and movies occasionally. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Will I always be this picky about tv? Probably to some extent. Even when our teen was growing up....we limited tv time/computer/video games. (oh, and video games....my kids don't have any yet. I do sometimes bring home ipods to let them play on, but they only have educational games on them.)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This comment might not sit well with some people, but I think that tv is used as a babysitter with a lot of children. I can see where this would happen, it sure is easier for me to run to the basement to flip the laundry when the kids are glued to the tv, easier to clean the house, easier to get dinner fixed, etc. But, I would rather my kids sit in the floor and play with their Hotwheels and race track, build with their Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys, play their musical instruments (wait....why did Santa think a drum was a good idea? lol), pretend to be mom & dad with baby dolls, "cook" and serve food at their kitchen/diner, read a book, etc. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How do you feel about tv for kids? toys/clothes with characters? anyone else an Elmo-hater?? lol</span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-54522975071873770882011-01-17T23:18:00.002-05:002011-02-10T00:01:51.666-05:00Little Boy Shoes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oAIkx98zBxk9ZtgvpYfnYLbs_UWurl3sI7MPCFfCfC7rSCrvuYbcw6gSci4gJORuFX3y5NhPqRyE99Lg8lvLFer1H6v3-8xJzrLVC3KRM_R1NwOazvNSrSwO50j_96ngl6iBw-2J_3Hp/s1600/shoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oAIkx98zBxk9ZtgvpYfnYLbs_UWurl3sI7MPCFfCfC7rSCrvuYbcw6gSci4gJORuFX3y5NhPqRyE99Lg8lvLFer1H6v3-8xJzrLVC3KRM_R1NwOazvNSrSwO50j_96ngl6iBw-2J_3Hp/s200/shoes.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">(my photos)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;">How is it that I look at my son on a daily basis and hadn't noticed it. 4 years, 8 months, 10 days. He's no baby anymore. But, he will always be my baby. My first baby. Shoes, that's what it was. Shoes. I just happened to walk by and glance down at them. Empty. Not wrapped around my son's little piggies. Not little shoes. It just hit me. These are the shoes of a boy. Not a baby. Not a toddler. w.o.w. Such a simple little thing, but it just jumped up at me. Where has the time gone. I will be sending my baby to kindergarten in eight months. Blows my mind. I will cherish every kiss, every cuddle and every "I love you, Mommy". Especially the cuddles. :)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTyE-LkqHt27MiR3T_4Wv8nHtLO4YtARn1H3j_aqtcramlBxVPt2qfred7Vrm54FRRWCjfOiZScs7qYalEufWh2eXt0PbyYur69hGLf1pZHQMYXq06Pb89QutR0Gs4rN4fZvI6kJpbcvm/s1600/DSCN1458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTyE-LkqHt27MiR3T_4Wv8nHtLO4YtARn1H3j_aqtcramlBxVPt2qfred7Vrm54FRRWCjfOiZScs7qYalEufWh2eXt0PbyYur69hGLf1pZHQMYXq06Pb89QutR0Gs4rN4fZvI6kJpbcvm/s200/DSCN1458.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where it all started,<br />
his sweet little baby toes.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Was there ever a moment where you just realized your kiddos weren't babes any longer?</span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-59145949784956590192011-01-17T12:22:00.002-05:002011-09-25T23:19:04.240-04:00Inked<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"> New obsession? I could spend hours perusing the internet looking at other peoples ink. Tattoos. I love them. I'm curious to why people permanently have certain images on their body. I love when people post a description of their tattoo and why they got it. One of my fav sites to look at is <a href="http://www.checkoutmyink.com/">Check Out my Ink</a>, people are uploading new pics every day.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"> I only have two tats, so far. My first one I got when I was 19. I went with my exboyfriend. I wanted one, but I didn't want it to mean anything. I was young and didn't know what would be meaningful to me when I was older, so I just went with meaningless. I decided to get colorful bubbles, on my ankle. I drew them on and walked around with them for a day or two to be sure I liked them. Oh my gosh....wow, it hurt!! Not to mention the tattoo artist who was very well known in the area, was an ass to me. (The night before when Tony got his tattoo, I watched this man have about five to six people hanging out in his space while he was tattooing. When he did mine, he wouldn't let Tony or Rocky come back with me. He said there wasn't enough room. Until I almost passed out, then he let them come be with me. He also mentioned that I'd apparently never given birth or the tattoo wouldn't be pain to me. Like he had any idea what childbirth felt like. Ass.) </span><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Almost 20 years later, I decided on another piece, that actually meant something to me. I'd also been through natural childbirth twice (no drugs). And the tattoo was still painful. But, I handled it much better this time. I chose to have my new tat on my back. When you work in a school, you have to be careful where you put stuff like that! I had an idea in my head of what I wanted, took several pics with me to the tattoo artist at <a href="http://www.asylumstudiostattoos.com/index.html">Asylum</a> and she drew up a design for me. After that I tweaked it a bit to my liking, decided on colors and placement then we made our appointment.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgJNzLLz-kEfmCidDT3-018-J3gV4FmseIQHbeP-Sl9IjQlM1GllFtrVRGfbKCYR78tyLD9C0xV9r5mBwzLE5X-1d_uZMjPp4zp5XeCHPfyQp1LoPEhpZOfH0SEvkP8vJ3X64ac4lDhcS/s1600/001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIgJNzLLz-kEfmCidDT3-018-J3gV4FmseIQHbeP-Sl9IjQlM1GllFtrVRGfbKCYR78tyLD9C0xV9r5mBwzLE5X-1d_uZMjPp4zp5XeCHPfyQp1LoPEhpZOfH0SEvkP8vJ3X64ac4lDhcS/s320/001.jpg" width="232" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Drawing done by tattoo artist</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihctIOdhl4zM79Id9p9D_2TyeKPt7v-G3EvCcDRqYAv7dJSNUHs4v2te8ZkPTKUXRIWSZnix6zWKaO9FW9E2Wx4RYIumXRb24WK0_XJgZFBEIp4KwFZMDFdbPh1J1LzPH7fJVA8zl2b7QM/s1600/foleytat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihctIOdhl4zM79Id9p9D_2TyeKPt7v-G3EvCcDRqYAv7dJSNUHs4v2te8ZkPTKUXRIWSZnix6zWKaO9FW9E2Wx4RYIumXRb24WK0_XJgZFBEIp4KwFZMDFdbPh1J1LzPH7fJVA8zl2b7QM/s320/foleytat.jpg" width="297" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Design after I added some more limbs, leaves and a circle</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kMKkku1p2Z9bkSUiiv8kdy0DgwNm-SlmSMo87GGhshzRyFOvN4XhrYfSfvEKJgwVpXn9N0uuGlnmCnzwoczlCT8yAzEtis1JOn2us83ts3HH0ktdpZve1BcGjAOBJvuxXzor_VRWDY3t/s1600/DSCN9652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kMKkku1p2Z9bkSUiiv8kdy0DgwNm-SlmSMo87GGhshzRyFOvN4XhrYfSfvEKJgwVpXn9N0uuGlnmCnzwoczlCT8yAzEtis1JOn2us83ts3HH0ktdpZve1BcGjAOBJvuxXzor_VRWDY3t/s320/DSCN9652.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgScxdbsKqSQUXxLeszk5Pxx4BrZ4-v7DTOKyz8wFkOhs3GLuM97fU7aSknx7D61rELrzsJmOmcPQ0_Mxa4Ov-N8FengBrj1ewxGJEhoezbI21U2-PMZPkFqOl8YPBc49ZkrBnNaQTKYV/s1600/IMG_2342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimgScxdbsKqSQUXxLeszk5Pxx4BrZ4-v7DTOKyz8wFkOhs3GLuM97fU7aSknx7D61rELrzsJmOmcPQ0_Mxa4Ov-N8FengBrj1ewxGJEhoezbI21U2-PMZPkFqOl8YPBc49ZkrBnNaQTKYV/s320/IMG_2342.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Leg0RaVoWtJCJRRtEmtp1QpRRe15DYKlRLL4z-kqCxgQivLkRdi0Ru_589p65negDoxSd7GP_c0qGG6FN5y0THQ-h7jJs48XLqfpiWuGrTlUV45t1XPNxNH_S50lOV1N1p5UzFxt2amj/s1600/DSCN9651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Leg0RaVoWtJCJRRtEmtp1QpRRe15DYKlRLL4z-kqCxgQivLkRdi0Ru_589p65negDoxSd7GP_c0qGG6FN5y0THQ-h7jJs48XLqfpiWuGrTlUV45t1XPNxNH_S50lOV1N1p5UzFxt2amj/s320/DSCN9651.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">still smiling!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"> I chose a tree of life pattern to represent family, family tree, roots, mothering & sheltering your family. I decided to only use color in this tat, since most all tats have black outlines, I just wanted something different. Lots of pink since that's my fav color, and the initials JAF to represent my babies, see my other post about their <a href="http://princesspinkksponderings.blogspot.com/2010/11/whats-in-name-jaf.html">names</a>.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJaXeWqNeXADEjjFARJnNbws1AKs8zjoAg5QmZqESNvP6-igI7ijBSgZk7iAmiBT7Diw1KGjuItlNHE-FyGRpRk8T-b-tanQiu1SuJMtzNX9o0l6L4_QR_Z0Iv8D4-bVyJCwG35z2RTJ1/s1600/DSCN9666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJaXeWqNeXADEjjFARJnNbws1AKs8zjoAg5QmZqESNvP6-igI7ijBSgZk7iAmiBT7Diw1KGjuItlNHE-FyGRpRk8T-b-tanQiu1SuJMtzNX9o0l6L4_QR_Z0Iv8D4-bVyJCwG35z2RTJ1/s320/DSCN9666.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">DONE!! woohoo! I love it!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"> </span></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">We actually made it a family affair, lol. My stepson, Joey was turning 18 and we had promised him that he could get a tat when he was 18. So the three of us went together as well as Joey's girlfriend, two other friends and my bff. We took over the tattoo studio, lol! (that was good for me, comfort zone) There was a minor snag in the event, the tattoo artist I had been talking with was unable to do my tattoo, she had gotten behind and it would be very late if I waited for her to be done, so I lucked out and the owner, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/DANIELJONESTATTOOS?sk=photos">Daniel Jones</a>, of the shop was able to do my tat! </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_pqv7Ux4dU8SgkFPfmLpZ22tU0TejeXQNiSNYeZ8XVUBkkvSU_SYt6QTwQXaB-uecKo5hLawn32Cf6vjOvZw2hXMFbl75b7JHPt7Mk0DBq0CQB0qdU6aOC5mZSg2V9gRK29CtZozFazQ/s1600/DSCN9642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_pqv7Ux4dU8SgkFPfmLpZ22tU0TejeXQNiSNYeZ8XVUBkkvSU_SYt6QTwQXaB-uecKo5hLawn32Cf6vjOvZw2hXMFbl75b7JHPt7Mk0DBq0CQB0qdU6aOC5mZSg2V9gRK29CtZozFazQ/s320/DSCN9642.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Joey's new tat (verse from Bible)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8js9dWuRLxFw0yT_qqxE1I78gihXEc6_sHEXOOHlyUZYT_j0f9gCBjO9GAnEkqyca4150Kz5nF8WbOKJK82EoL6QjVpKFKta4BZGROguzx-RB4QvFT9iqArlrKoK3x6-PXPMhHX1EANwg/s1600/IMG_2363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8js9dWuRLxFw0yT_qqxE1I78gihXEc6_sHEXOOHlyUZYT_j0f9gCBjO9GAnEkqyca4150Kz5nF8WbOKJK82EoL6QjVpKFKta4BZGROguzx-RB4QvFT9iqArlrKoK3x6-PXPMhHX1EANwg/s320/IMG_2363.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Lee's new tat, also has JAF in it, can you see it? Tattoo designed by Joey.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"> Do you have any tattoos? what kind? any special meanings?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e06666;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e06666;"> </span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-8056096997727368922010-12-14T15:12:00.000-05:002011-01-17T10:26:22.590-05:00Jingle Bellz & Jolly Elves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: red;">Do you know about </span><a href="http://www.elfontheshelf.com/" style="color: red;">Elf on the Shelf</a><span style="color: red;">?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: red;"></span></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXCg12ab8lgqCfQSrmZfJ4Lf7SbqYfHhtPJCu3v3mynV_a_uAEhdZ6HuGTdH6vbQJABnN8zd-cZDqtf76u9YrATB58b0IVEfcAdfEBOHJVpzsbEbNW60PYI7dL0yZCUuWy4w8_yVuyUuEw/s1600/DSCN0180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXCg12ab8lgqCfQSrmZfJ4Lf7SbqYfHhtPJCu3v3mynV_a_uAEhdZ6HuGTdH6vbQJABnN8zd-cZDqtf76u9YrATB58b0IVEfcAdfEBOHJVpzsbEbNW60PYI7dL0yZCUuWy4w8_yVuyUuEw/s320/DSCN0180.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: red;">Do you have elves living at your house?? We do! at least for the holiday season, then they will head back home to the North Pole to hang out with Santa. </span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: red;">Santa sent ours at the beginning of December, we came home one day and they were waiting at the front door for us! <span style="background-color: white; color: lime;">Jingle Bellz</span> and <span style="background-color: white; color: lime;">Jolly Elves</span> are the names my kids bestowed upon them. We even registered them in the Book of Elves on the <a href="http://www.elfontheshelf.com/">Elf on the Shelf website</a>. And then Santa sent us a letter! (one you could print out) (Jingle Bellz is actually a reincarnated elf that grew up with my father, I added a little pink felt.... and *bam*, it's a Girl!) My children have a great time with these elves living in our home! I have caught them reading to the elves, tattling to the elves, leaving candy and toys for them! It is so much fun to figure out where they are hiding and to wonder what they have been doing. Also, seems like their behavior has been pretty good since they fear the elves will tell Santa if they are Naughty! </span></b></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: red;">If you have an elf in your house, what's his/her name and have your children enjoyed tradition?</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TcoaVMbTSlhYqHosgCt6QDOx3dlt68vQ1poL602jooJnyG0EbRkVdNNs1JujhTHGw7eVuLq3sMBDQv80C58e0ri0VzyNQOQwoy8Qn1UENlX6gSqm5KGUoGgF8On78Lt34vzb3nvyBPjV/s1600/DSCN9780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TcoaVMbTSlhYqHosgCt6QDOx3dlt68vQ1poL602jooJnyG0EbRkVdNNs1JujhTHGw7eVuLq3sMBDQv80C58e0ri0VzyNQOQwoy8Qn1UENlX6gSqm5KGUoGgF8On78Lt34vzb3nvyBPjV/s320/DSCN9780.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The elves brought the kids candy canes one day</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln28xu511rD4lOUYRvoNVgUT2Gbllwgk8pIjkr88e1y3T5DaSkV9Lp8R-Uo6ZrLBiv10so4OWh4xNfow7riHGdl_3wN0B-DoNMmvcPh6gqQpfgbAXTI3AAjoWreQ5zjis4bFOCme6I2T5/s1600/DSCN9887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiln28xu511rD4lOUYRvoNVgUT2Gbllwgk8pIjkr88e1y3T5DaSkV9Lp8R-Uo6ZrLBiv10so4OWh4xNfow7riHGdl_3wN0B-DoNMmvcPh6gqQpfgbAXTI3AAjoWreQ5zjis4bFOCme6I2T5/s320/DSCN9887.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One day Jake's elf brought him a hotwheel and Julz's elf brought her Tinkerbell <br />
undies since she has been doing such a great job potty training!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TcoaVMbTSlhYqHosgCt6QDOx3dlt68vQ1poL602jooJnyG0EbRkVdNNs1JujhTHGw7eVuLq3sMBDQv80C58e0ri0VzyNQOQwoy8Qn1UENlX6gSqm5KGUoGgF8On78Lt34vzb3nvyBPjV/s1600/DSCN9780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br />
</b></span>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-18504443796329800342010-12-14T14:59:00.000-05:002010-12-14T14:59:28.162-05:00When You Can't Fix It<b>Recently, my husband was wrongly accused of doing something that could make his business look bad. He had two upset people calling him one night. It was so disheartening to hear my husband on the phone with these people trying to make things right. At one point he was hung up on. After that I begged him, "please let me call them." Which he finally conceded. And I did. Did it help? I don't know. Did it make it worse? I don't think so. Did it ruin our night? yes.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>I came away from this experience knowing that one day, in the future, when someone does one of my children wrong, and I can't fix it.....it will be a very bad, sad day. I'm a fixer. I like for everyone to be happy. I don't want someone to be upset with me or someone I love.</b>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1675150179352287240.post-24469162845397909532010-11-07T23:36:00.000-05:002011-01-17T10:27:37.006-05:00Take Me Home Country Roads<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9.02778px; width: 425px;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="quotes" style="color: #990099; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-align: justify;">(Journal Prompt: List 10 things that arouse a fond memory of the past.)<br />
<br />
One of the biggest things that brings memories to my mind is music. There are many songs that will instantly take me back in time.<br />
<br />
*"I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. Our song. My first dance song. When I hear it, I remember the first time that Lee told me, "I love you"<br />
<br />
*"Free" by Zac Brown Band. Jake's "best song". When I hear this song, I think of my Jake singing. I will always remember this as his first "best song".<br />
<br />
*AC/DC music. High School. Angela Boitnott. Cruising Williamson Road. Carefree fun days.<br />
<br />
*"Dirty Dancing" movie soundtrack. High School. Angela Tolley. Sitting on top of the motor home. Stalking the neighbor boy. Silly string.<br />
<br />
*"Take Me Home Country Roads" by John Denvar. When I hear this song, I think of my grandparents, Freda/Clemmer Smith. I remember singing this in their living room. It is also recorded on tape. :)<br />
<br />
*"Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down. My sis. Paula Layman. Two boys we were babysitting. Driving down Main St., Salem. Singing at the tops of our lungs. Fun times. (Cayman)<br />
<br />
*"Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. When I hear this song, I think of my baby girl, Julz. She is my brown-eyed girl. My beautiful, Julz.<br />
<br />
*(incomplete at this time....too tired to think of other songs right now.)<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Christy F.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18404197679623335502noreply@blogger.com0