Mommy Brain

The Adventure Bible for Young Readers
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The Skull of Truth: A Magic Shop Book by Bruce Coville
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah and James Howe
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Whew - what a week it’s been! But, hey, it’s almost Friday, and the weekend is almost here. Here are some links for your surfing pleasure:

~This comic cracked me up.

~So did this one.

~The Leaky Cauldron has some of the first pictures from the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film. I’m anxious to see how they will fit that monstrously long book into a film. Rumor has it that the plot line involving Ron playing Quidditch won’t be included. It also seems that Emma Watson is the only holdout in signing up for movies 6 and 7. It would sure hurt to have a new Hermione.

~My kids pulled some doozies at age three, but nothing like this.

~In the funny video category, I have Weird Al’s parody of the public service announcements on DVDs warning us against the evils of pirating movies (Hat tip to Angie at A Life in Pages), this spoof on the Mentos and Diet Coke video, this knock-knock joke (I may be the only one who finds this funny - I’m kind of twisted that way.), and some great pick-up lines.

~Spending too much time at the computer and not enough time reading? Have the classics e-mailed to your inbox, one snippet at a time, from Daily Lit. Hat tip to Sherry at Semicolon.

~Have you ever noticed that when a young actress gets a reputation for being wholesome and well-behaved, she decides to do everything she can to break out of that image? Well, Charlotte Church is the latest young innocent to prove she’s - well - not.

That’s all for this week. Hope your weekend is full of as much - or as little - excitement as you want. Personally, I’m hoping for a very quiet, restful weekend. And another Seahawks win, in spite of Shaun Alexander’s broken foot.

“Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn, that season of peculiar and inexhuastible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness, that season which has drawn from every poet, wrothy of being read, some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling.”

from Persuasion by Jane Austen

Here’s a fun idea I saw at Karen’s. Type in your first name and the phrase “last I heard she was (or he was)” and see what comes up. Here’s what came up for me:

Last I heard, she was living in Syracuse, NY.

Last I heard, she was in Chicago.

Last I heard, she was going to be taking a test-run trip to Grenoble.

The last I heard, she was in Texas somewhere.

Last I heard, she was going to go to Saudi!

Last I heard, she was working as a massage therapist in Colorado Springs.

Last I heard, she was in Cambridge.

Last I heard, she was in rehab.

Last I heard, she was happy, and that’s all that really matters.

So obviously, I’m well-travelled, kicking my bad habits, and happy - and that’s all that really matters. Let me know if you do this one, too.

I just love opening up my e-mail and seeing all those lovely messages from you ladies (and guys)! So, in a shameless plug for comments, I have a few questions for you:

What are you reading lately?

I’m reading Persuasion, Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading, The Collected Works of Emily Dickinson, and Orthodoxy. I know, I haven’t added that last one to the sidebar yet.

What TV shows are you enjoying now that the new season has started? Are there any you’re still waiting for?

We’ve been watching House and Bones and the two new shows that follow them: Standoff and Justice. They’ve been pretty good so far. My parents recorded the season premiere of Heroes for me last night, since we can only pick up the Fox network with our antenna. I’ve been looking forward to that one all summer, but I probably won’t get the tape from Mom till this weekend. We’re also impatiently waiting for the Lost premiere.

What music have you been listening to lately?

I just got a CD of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. I had the cassette a long (long, long) time ago, but I’m sure it got eaten by my tape player or just plain worn out.

Seen any good movies lately?

We haven’t watched many movies lately, since we’ve been using our Netflix DVDs to overdose on Northern Exposure reruns.

So, answer the questions in the comments, or post them on your blog. Just be sure to leave me a link so I can come visit!

5:45 Up and shower.

6:15 Sit on the couch with Josiah while I read and eat my breakfast.

7:00 Jonathan gets up. “I’m starving, Mom!”

7:15 Wake Natalie and Noah. We pray, then the kids eat breakfast while I read from Egermeier’s Bible Story Book and Favorite Poems Old and New.

8:00 Natalie hits the shower. The boys had their showers last night, so they lay around, play some Pokemon, and start to get rowdy.

8:30 Chore time! Noah dusts, Natalie vacuums, Jonathan takes the garbage out. The boys head downstairs to clean up, while Mom does the dishes, sweeps and mops the kitchen, and mops the dining room. Josiah swings back and forth between helping and getting in the way.

9:15 Spanish

10:00 Science. Eagles are the topic today. We learned what raptors, aeries, and talons are. Instead of coloring the pages that go with our lesson, the kids like to turn them upside down and trace the pages through the back. Hey, whatever keeps them listening!

11:00 Short break - I hop online to check e-mail and blog comments.

11:15 - 12:15 Jonathan and Noah start on handwriting while I give Natalie her dictation. Jonathan finishes handwriting and starts playing Pokemon. “Quietly, Jonathan!” I give Noah his spelling test and dictation and finish up Natalie’s dictation all at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking! I sit down at the table with Noah and go over his grammar and math for the day. Then I sit down with Jonathan and listen to him read and then go over his math lesson for the day. Somehow in between all this, I go over Natalie’s map pages with her.

12:15 - Lunch while watching the rest of the PBS video based on David Macaulay’s Pyramid.

12:45 - Putting on shoes and brushing teeth and grabbing school books and library books.

1:00 - Out the door to the library and post office.

1:30 - 2:20 Natalie’s dentist appointment. I attempt to read Persuasion, but instead end up skimming through an Outdoor Life with Jonathan. Noah finishes his math and grammar laying on the floor of the waiting room. Josiah plays with legos from the dentist’s drawers. The dentist says Nan has a grown-up tooth erupting where there definitely is not enough room. He doesn’t want to do anything until we consult with the ortho, so I make an appointment for next Wednesday when the ortho is up from Spokane.

2:30 - 3:00 Errands: bank, payment for our new stove, and pick up the kids vitamins/fluoride tablets at Safeway. Noah reads to Josiah from his latest Pokemon book while we drive around.

3:00 - Ahhh. A short break. The kids are outside riding bikes, so I hop online for a little while.

3:30 - Time to get the chicken casserole ready to go in the oven. Mom and Dad stop by and so they visit with me while I fix the casserole and do the lunch and dinner prep dishes.

4:45 - Kevin’s home - time for dinner. We visit about our day while we eat and then (try to) watch a little Northern Exposure but the kids are in and out grabbing bike helmets and finding shoes.

5:30 Go over Natalie’s math lesson with her, since we didn’t have time earlier.

6:00 Head downstairs to the piano to get worship ready for ladies’ Bible study on Wednesday morning.

6:20 On the computer to type up the song sheet for study. Read my Bloglines.

6:45 Call the kids in.

7:00 Snacks in hand, it’s storytime. Read two picture books and a chapter of Swallows and Amazons. Done by 7:35, so I tell them they can watch 20 minutes of Curious George and hop back on the computer - which leads us to…

Now, 7:51 pm. I’m about ready to have the kids hit the bathroom and head to bed. Natalie will read until 9, but they will all be quietly (hopefully) tucked away in their rooms and Kevin and I can have some conversation and TV time.

Whew! No wonder I’m so tired when evening comes.

And in case our day sounds too idyllic and calm, here’s what I skipped:

Josiah and Jonathan wrestling while waiting in line in the post office, ending with Josiah - for some unknown reason - laying on the floor and licking Jonathan’s shoe. I’m not kidding.

Jonathan whining in the dentist office: “How much longer?” and then arguing when I told him - for the third time - that “No, you cannot have another computer turn when we get back home!”

Natalie coming in to inform me that the 10-year-old neighbor girl (yes, that neighbor girl) is going to get her belly button pierced. Big surprise.

Three out of the four complaining and whining about dinner: “Do I have to eat that?” as if I had cooked stewed cow’s intestines.

Me losing my temper at least three or four times.

But still, it was a pretty good day.

(My apologies to anyone who is completely bored by “A day in the life of…” posts. Of course, those people probably clicked off a long time ago. )

Well, I haven’t heard back from Pennsylvania Progressive, and I want to get the rest of the Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses DVDs to the post office tomorrow, so I drew one more name. The final winner is…

…Lisa!

So, Lisa, I will be e-mailing you soon for your address and the DVD will be on its way to you and Rosie. Congratulations!

I love my husband.

After spending all day at the aquatic center in Trail, B.C. yesterday, I was worn out this morning. We didn’t even go to church. I used the excuse that two of the boys had the beginnings of a cold, but since Kevin was staying home with them, I could’ve gone. I opted to be lazy and do nothing instead. Well, not really nothing - I did clean the kitchen and start some laundry.

Then this afternoon Kevin decided to take the kids fishing at a friend’s house. Without me. I got to stay home all by myself. I spent the afternoon watching the Seahawks dominate the Giants, crocheting, reading, and relishing the alone-time. That doesn’t happen very often.

Time alone for us moms is important. It doesn’t have to be a lot - just an hour, an evening, an afternoon. I end up feeling rested and am so happy to see my family when we are reunited.

Even if they all smell like fish.

I’ve been doing a lot of reviews lately, and I thought it would be good to make clear my policy concerning book and movie reviews. I only agree to review products that I have a good chance of enjoying. I will not accept a movie or book that I believe I will not like. However, I will be completely honest in my review. I will not recommend a movie or book if it isn’t well-written or -produced, if it includes inappropriate matieral, or if I just plain didn’t like it. I figure I’ll be open about what I think and if everyone stops sending me books or movies to review, so be it. So if you see a positive review on my site, it is because I truly think the movie or book is worth your time. I also review a lot of books I read that I either purchase for myself or get from the public library, so I will always give you a heads-up at the beginning of the review if the book or movie was provided to me by someone else.

It’s been a while since I received a product to review that I didn’t like, so in case I’ve come across as someone who’s willing to say something nice about anything I’m given for free, you can check out these reviews:

The Barbie Diaries
Help, Mom! Hollywood’s in My Hamper
Prime
Help, Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!

(Curious George was provided to me by Special Ops Media for purpose of review.)

If you’re tired of “family” movies that are full of innuendo and crude humor that are intended for adults and that you have to try to gloss over or explain away to your perceptive children, you should watch this movie. It is full of true humor that doesn’t rely on bodily functions or “in-jokes”.

Ted, aka The Man in the Yellow Hat, works for a museum - the dry, crusty, don’t touch the exhibits kind of museum. The museum is in financial distress, and in an attempt to bring a huge exhibit, Ted ventures into the jungle to find a lost statue.

Enter George, the cute, curious little monkey who takes Ted’s hat to use for a game of peek-a-boo. George follows Ted back to New York, and the fun begins.

Everyone loved this movie - from 4-year-old Josiah to 9-year-old Natalie to 33-year-old me, and everyone in between. I love to hear my children laugh, and the first few scenes of George in the jungle blowing bubbles and playing with the hippos had Josiah bending over with his adorable little belly laugh. Throw in some terrific songs by Jack Johnson, and you have a close-to-perfect family movie.

Favorite part: at the opening of the new, improved, hands-on museum, Ted says (paraphrased from my faulty memory), “Anyone can memorize facts and figures. If you really want to learn something, go out and experience it. Let your curiosity be your guide.” Great plug for homeschooling, in my opinion!

The DVD has a lot of extras, including games and activities for the kids and a How to Draw George tutorial.

You can watch a trailer of the movie here, and purchase your own copy here.

….my last posted sounded like I believe my daughter is perfect and the neighbor’s daughter is evil incarnate - I don’t. Natalie is a nice girl, but she isn’t perfect, and I don’t want to come off as one of those moms who thinks the other kids are always at fault. I realize that all kids can be mean at times - Natalie picks on her brothers like the best (or worst) of them - but where this girl is concerned, Natalie always seems to get the worst part of the deal. Anyway, enough about that. I feel better for having got it off my chest.

Busy day! But it’s still Friday here on the west coast for a few more hours, so I guess I’m not too late. Our van was in the shop today, but the repair only cost $59, which was a huge relief! I was half-way expecting one of those oh-by-the-way-the-transmission-is-going-and-it’s-going-to-cost-at-least-a-thousand-dollars-to-fix calls.

Before I get to the announcement and venting, I have a few links to share:

This article at Christianity Today made me wonder how we relate to non-Christians. Do we approach them as the enemy?

This post at Antique Mommy’s about the myth that older-age parents have more patience made me laugh. Hard.

This comic also tickled my funny bone.

Now, the big announcement:

I have two more Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses DVDs for giveaway! My daughter drew two more names from the commenters on this post, and the winners are….

Gem

…and…

Scrappitydoodah!

Congratulations, ladies! Check the e-mail that you use when commenting for a message from me so I can get your mailing address.

Also, a message for Pennsylvania Progressive: I haven’t received a reply to my e-mail for your mailing address. Please respond by Sunday night or I’ll have to draw another name for your copy of the DVD.

Now for the venting. I am having a very hard time being charitable and Christian toward our neighbors. My daughter Natalie is 9 and likes to play with their daughter (I”ll call her K), who is almost 11. I don’t really like it, but it doesn’t happen very often, so I haven’t made a big deal about it. The age difference has always been a touchy issue, and now that K is in 5th grade in public school, where kids seem to mature so much faster, it’s becoming a huge problem.

Nan was outside playing with K and two other neighborhood girls this evening after dinner. She came running in, upset, because K saw her undershirt strap (which Nan wears when it’s chilly out) peeking out from her shirt and asked if she was wearing a bra. Natalie responded with, “No, I don’t need a bra yet.” K said, “Well, I started wearing a training bra when I was seven because it makes you develop breasts faster.” So Natalie came in to ask us if this is true. This is the last thing I want my 9 year old daughter thinking. She’s 9! She shouldn’t have to worry about things like this. So, I responded with, “No, your body will develop when it’s the right time for you, and nothing you do will make it go any faster.”

She was satisified with my answer and went back outside and told K what we said. K responded with, “Well, that’s not what my doctor and the news says!” Now, K has lied to Natalie before, so this is nothing new. Natalie comes in, crying, because now K is mad at her and is stomping in the house, refusing to play any longer.

We comforted Natalie and told her not to worry about it, as long as she knew what was true. Natalie went back outside to play, only to have one of the other little girls tell her that K said that her mom thought we were (expletive)s and that Natalie stole things from her all the time.

This neighbor is nice and friendly to my face, but I’ve always wonder what her real feelings were. She speaks negatively about most of the other people in our neighborhood, and I always try to change the subject and not listen to it. But I’ve seen her turn around and be sweet as sugar to the very same people she was speaking so horribly about. I take what she says with a grain of salt. But now my daughter is upset and crying in my living room because of it. Natalie was more upset with the fact that K’s mom had called us a bad word than the fact that she accused Natalie of stealing.

Part of me wants to march next door and let the old Mama-bear out, and the other part of me wants to move to the country where we have no neighbors and don’t have to deal with this garbage anymore. Why do people have to be so mean? We homeschool, so I really thought we could avoid stuff like this. It just makes my heart break to have my daughter sobbing in my arms because her feelings are so hurt. When I ask her why she didn’t stand up for herself, she said she’s too worried about hurting K’s feelings! She’s such a sweet girl, who would never purposely hurt someone, and I just want to put a wall around her heart and keep her from experiencing anything like this. But I can’t. And that makes me feel so helpless.

Well, I hate to end on such a downer. I do have a review of Curious George to do, so the next post should be happier. Have a good weekend.

In the last couple days, I have become aware of a site called Bitacle Blog Search Engine. They call themselves a blog search engine, but what they are really doing is stealing complete posts from people’s RSS feeds and re-posting them on their site. They have many posts of mine already up.

I e-mailed Homeschool Journal administrator Andrea, and she installed a new plug-in that automatically puts a copyright on each of my posts on my RSS feed. I encourage all of you here at Homeschool Journal to go into your Plug-ins page and activate this feature. The copyright doesn’t show up on your blog page, but it does on your RSS feed, which is where people like this are stealing the posts from. For anyone who isn’t on Homeschool Journal, you should put a copyright on your site yourself.

I’m hoping that by posting this and drawing attention to the fact that what they are doing is copyright infringement, maybe they will knock it off. I also e-mailed Google about the fact that this site is using Google ads on stolen copyrighted material.

Andrea also posted about this at her site. Their help page states that if you don’t want your blog included, you should stop publishing an RSS feed. If you do that, nobody can read your blog through Bloglines or any other feed service. Just a heads up - do what you can.