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Wow, Wow. . . what a weekend

Posted on October 19, 2008 9:05 pm by TheAngelForever

Thank goodness NHL’s eye is doing so much better. The antibiotic drops really seem to be helping. The croup cough will not go away, so I will likely give a call to the allergists office Tuesday when his doctor is back from vacation. Something needs to help him and perhaps it is using the nebulizer that has been sitting and collecting dust.

Before eating last night I decided to take JSL out of the house. He had been stuck inside all day. I wanted to get to Rite Aid because they had amazing deals on cold care items. There were two entire pages in thier ad of items that were free after single check rebate. I decided it was finally time to try something beside CVS and the ECBs. Below are all of the items that I purchased. The cost up front was about $43, but I should get all of that back in a single check rebate. Not too bad, especially since we are all battling things now.

When JSL and I arrived back home our pizza was ready. NHL had already eaten some and wanted to go watch television. He was so tired after refusing to nap all day. He was too afraid that his eye would close shut again. While JL, JSL and I finished dinner NHL went to relax on the couch. One minute he was chatting away, the next we found him like so:

Something that the boys loved this weekend actually arrived at our door Thursday. It was the Wow Wow Wubbzy giveaway package that I won from 5 Minutes for Mom. Talk about perfect timing! The boys loved watching the A Tale of Tails DVD and each claimed one of the books. Here are all of the goodies that were included. Thanks again ladies!

Something pretty exciting happend to the little guy tonight, details to follow soon.

Categories:
allergies books contests nhl photos sick kid sleep weekend

Loving the library (Aloha 18)

Posted on October 17, 2008 8:48 am by TheAngelForever

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

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My question for this week is inspired by my need to return items to the library:

Do you frequent the library or do you prefer to buy your own books?

I have to admit that I own a lot of books. However, over the last two years I have been going to the library 1-2 times a week. I guess as a tax payer I realize that a lot of my money is going to our local library. Why should I pay an arm and a leg for a book I will likely only read one time? Heck, then there is the guilt if you spend a lot of money on a book you do not like.

As a child I used to go to the library often. My friend J and I would go and spend forever searching for just the right books to keep us reading over the summer. Now I have passed this love for the library onto both of my boys. NHL and JSL both enjoy going to the library. They both have a blast picking out their own books, and even DVDs on special occasions.

So does this mean that I never buy books? Not on your life! Our home library is still growing, just mostly with kids books. I owned a TON of childrens books before having kids thanks to stocking up while student teaching. Let’s just say I love Scholastic Book orders! I have bought a lot of picture and chapter books though the years. I still buy books for my boys and always will because I believe that our childrens home library must always grow.

Categories:
Aloha Friday books web fun

The wonder of Newbery books

Posted on October 14, 2008 7:42 pm by TheAngelForever

This Tuesday 5 Minutes for Books featured Children’s Classics that are Newbery Winners.

As a student in college taking a children’s literature class, we were introduced to many of these great books. I have a lot of these in my own personal collection. While teaching, I read many others and selected many of the Newbery winners and honor books as part of my curriculum. I thought I would list some of the books that I have read with some of my thoughts about the books.

2003 Honor Book: Hoot by Carl Hiaasen – I have been hoping to read this for some time now. So many of my students selected this book to use for their book report projects. I remember reading the reports and viewing their items that were included to show me the book and being fascinated with them.

2001Honor Book: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo – I know that I read this, but I hate to admit I do not recall much more. I know that the kids that read this loved it.

2000 Medal Winner: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis – I own this book and have not read it yet, sad but true.

1999 Medal Winner: Holes by Louis Sachar – I loved this book. The plot was very unique and the characters were very interesting. It was like no other book that I had read at the time. I often wanted to use this while teaching LA, but always opted for other books because SO many of the kids had already read this.

1998 Medal Winner: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse – I read this in college and really enjoyed it, but do not recall many of the details. Sad how that is the case when you read so many books for teaching.

1998 Honor Book: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine – I used this book in my 6th grade Language Arts class. To segway into the unit that I developed we read different Cinderella Tales from around the world to compare and contrast the elements. When the book was finished, we watched the movie and the kids were then able to see how Hollywood often alters the plots and storylines within books for the movies. This was a great book because you really could see the spin on the Cinderella story and the vocabulary was quite impressive.

1997 Medal Winner: The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg – I loved this book so much when I read it for a report in college. I took this book and created a unit to use in my Language Arts class. This is an unconventional book in that multiple characters tell the story of the group via their own flashbacks. Although confusing for some kids at first it is a fabulous book. The book also shows how children from different cultures/backgrounds met and became friends. One of the characters flashbacks is about his time with his grandparents in Florida and helping to plan a wedding for two people in the retirement community. The talk about a Jewish wedding ceremony. I brought in the video of my wedding to show them what the vocabulary was to make it more real to the kids. Highly recommend this book!

1995 Medal Winner: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech – I own this book, but have not had time to read it just yet. I know many fellow teachers and students that have raved about this book.

1994 Medal Winner: The Giver by Lois Lowry (Houghton) – Fascinating book that really makes you think. I love Lois Lowry and how her books are so differnt. She truly is a wonderfully talented author.

1992 Medal Winner: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – This book was being read by part of the students when I was a student teacher in a 4/5 classroom. I was not in charge of that and admit that I did not read it. I know a lot of interest came out for this piece of literature when it was made into a movie. One day I will read this with my boys.

1990 Medal Winner: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry – The most amazing book that I have read for chilren. The book is a historic fiction about a little girls and her heroic actions during the Holocaust. So many books about this topic are quite graphic and not appropriate for children. This book hits the topics, but leaves it up to the maturity of the audience to take what is best for them. One year I taught this book to my 6th grade class. We spent a lot of time talking about the history of the period (tied in nicely with Social Studies). My only regret was that I was unable to get a Holocaust Survivor to come to talk to my kids. I highly recommend this book to any adult and children that are at least in 4th to 5th grade. In my mind, this is a MUST read!

1986 Medal Winner: 1986 Medal Winner: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan – Amazing book that packs so much into a short number of pages. I made a unit plan based on this book while doing my undergraduate work. I also enjoyed the two sequel books that continued the story of Sarah and her newly formed family.

1984 Medal Winner: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary – When I read this book in elementary school I loved the format of letter writing. It was so unique and telling. It made me want to have a pen pal to write to. This book is great for children to show how authors can write in different ways.

1982 Honor Book: Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary – I think this was one of the first big chapter books that I read on my own as a child. I loved the quirky and fun loving Ramona and quickly found the rest of the series by Cleary and read them all. I can not wait to find my copy of this book to read with my son because I know he will love Ramona as well.

1978 Medal Winner: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson – I hate to admit that I have never read this book. I always wanted to, but found something else that I wanted to read more. When the movie of this classic was released, I promised myself that I would read it before watching the movie (a rule I have). Thanks to my son being born at around this time I never read the book, but had a copy of the movie to watch. One day I will read the book so I can compare the two versions.

1978 Honor Book: Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary – As mentioned above with Ramona Quimby, Age 8, I love Cleary and all of her Ramona books.

1977 Medal Winner: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor – I read this in 7th grade. I think this was one of the first pieces of literature that I HAD to read in school (aside from The Diary of Anne Frank) that I really loved.

1973 Honor Book: Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel – Who does not love Frog and Toad? I have these books and really need to take them out to read with my kindergarten kid, I think he will thoroughly enjoy them.

1968 Honor Book: The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder – I selected this book to use with my 6th grade class to coordinate with their Egypt unit in Social Studies. It was a great mystery with nice vocabulary. It really kept the kids guessing until the end when everything was revealed. Highly recommend this book.

1960 Honor Book: My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George – While student teaching in a 4/5 classroom, I was assigned the 5th grade reading group that was reading this book. I have to admit that I was not in love with this book. It was just not a topic that I loved. Still it taught me a valuable lesson on how to sell books to kids. I found that most of the girls would have easily skipped the books, yet the boys loved the outdoors adventure.

1953 Honor Book: Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White – Classic . . . enough said! My son has already asked to read this with me, I must find a copy soon.

1939 Honor Book: Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater – Many happy memories of reading this when I was in elementary school. I know this will be another on my list to read with my boys

For a complete list of all of the Newbery winner and honor books head over here.

Categories:
books interesting web fun

Aloha Friday #9

Posted on August 15, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Aloha and TGIF everyone!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

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My question this week is inspired by my love of reading.

What are you currently reading? Any suggestions on new books are always welcome!

Last night I finally started to read Breaking Dawn. There, I admit it. . . I am a Twilight fan! I

If you have no clue what I am talking about, hide your head in shame (j/k). Seriously, Stephenie Meyer’s books Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and now Breaking Dawn are Young Adult best sellers that are flying off the shelves like crazy to adults and teens. Last summer when I was busy nursing my then infant son I wanted something else to read after finish up the last Harry Potter book. I kept reading about the Twilight books and people going crazy about Bella, Edward and Jacob. I cringed when I heard that the premise was a vampire story. Still, I gave it a shot and was instantly sucked into the story line. Meyer does an amazing job telling her story and making you believe in her characters. So thanks to Laura, I now have her copy of Breaking Dawn and am anxiously reading every second I can. After that I hope to listen to my first adult book on CD. I am waiting to "read" The Host by Meyer so I can multitask. I tried reading this and just could not stay with it thanks to the set up. I have heard once into the book it goes quickly.

In addition to this, NHL and I are in the middle of book #6 in the Magic Tree House books (Afternoon on the Amazon). If you have never read this series, I highly recommend them. Mary Pope Osborne does an amazing job mixing history, science, geography and other goodies into these beginner chapter book. They are also great to keep kids and adults interested in what happens to Jack and Annie. FYI – there are already 39 of these magical books.

Happy reading all!

Categories:
Aloha Friday books web fun

Louder Than Words – Book Review

Posted on January 13, 2008 12:09 pm by TheAngelForever

If you watched any talk or news shows this summer then you probably heard about the book Louder Than Words by Jenny McCarthy. As I sat nursing my infant son and worrying about my just 4 year old son with special needs, I listened over and over again to McCarthy explain about her experience with her son Evan’s Autism. The book details from the start her battle trying to find out what was wrong with her son as he had constant seizures, was always ill, would not verbalize, did not socialize with other children and had other "strange" behaviors (arm flapping, watching things go in circles to calm). This book shows how she along with medical professionals (this is key) helped Evan to come out of his shell and heal with his diagnosis of Autism.

I will admit when this hoopla was out in the media, I sat there wondering is my son autistic? Is this why he is having such a hard time with things at school?

Was I freaking out for no reason?

The answer to the last question is YES, but mommies do that from time to time. I even blogged in my hysteria about this in a strange cryptic way. I will definitely credit my fear with finally making an appointment to take NHL to see a developmental pediatrician. If anything at least I would have peace of mind and know what made my child tick the way he did. When we went to our doctor we figured out how NHL is wired. He is a very emotional little guy that often does things his own way (just like his daddy). Thankfully he is not autistic.

So you may be wondering, why did I read the book?

As a mother and educator, the huge increase in autism in our country alarms me. I have met, taught and personally known several autistic children (and parents with children that have this). I wanted to read what McCarthy had to say in her book after hearing so much about it in the media.

Here is the key in reading this book – McCarthy is not a medical expert , this is her story about the journey she went on with her son Evan. Every child is different and what she did that is the most important is to be not on the biggest advocate for her son, but she educated herself and found the best medical professionals to help them. She and the medical professional watched her son and figured out how to treat him. She did not try much on her own without supervision and lab tests.

The scary part with this book (Laura and I have talked about this for a long time) is that MANY people are using Louder Than Words as some sort of Autism bible. That is dangerous to do and should NOT be done. Medical professionals are still unsure as to what is the cause of autism and why the numbers are drastically climbing in recent years. Hopefully with time and money to do further research we will some day know the answer and not have to wonder.