Mommy Brain

This week has been better than last week. I’m feeling better from my cold, although my voice has not come back all the way. I’m still pretty squeaky, which is unfortunate, since I was supposed to sing a solo at church on Sunday. But at least the killer headache is mostly gone.

This week has been busy with the usual stuff – homeschooling and chauffeuring the kids to various activities: Tae Kwon Do, Awana, photography and art classes, etc. My freelance work hasn’t picked up, but I’ve found some other ways to make money with my blog here (thanks, Andrea! I owe you a huge hug. ) and my other blog, Books and Movies, has started to take off in the book blog community, so it’s bringing in a little bit, too. If you’ve wondered why I don’t blog about books much here anymore, that’s why. If you miss those kinds of posts, click on over!

Did you watch the Oscars? I loved Hugh Jackman’s opening number – and thought he did a great job of hosting.

Natalie has had two babysitting jobs, will be taking the Red Cross Babysitting Course (with CPR) in a couple weeks, and has the possibility of a two-hours-a-week job starting in the fall. I, on the other hand, am having a hard time believing that she’s old enough to be doing any of this. Of course, being big sister to three brothers has been good training.

Noah is loving his art class and I can’t wait to see all the drawings and watercolors he’s done. Jonathan is hankering for summmer – he’s tired of snow, and ready for camping and fishing, his two favorite things.

Josiah has discovered the wonder of longer books, and is making his way through John Peterson’s series of Littles chapter books. The other morning, he was reading from The Littles’ New Friend and asked if he could stop, even though silent reading time wasn’t over yet. I asked, “Why?” because he never wants to stop reading early. He said, “Something sad happened in my book,” and promptly burst into tears! He crawled into my lap and told me about how Tom Little had met a new friend named Glory, and now they had to say goodbye, and they didn’t know when they’d see each other again. Isn’t that a reader’s rite of passage – the first book that moves you to tears?

Speaking of reading, Kevin, who used to read maybe one book a year, has suddenly become a reader. He is on book four of the Sackett series by Louis L’Amour – and he’s reading them all on his Palm. I, who protest vehemently whenever my husband threatens to buy me a Kindle, am married to an e-book reader.

Kevin and I have been thoroughly enjoying our Netflix membership, catching up on NCIS and Numb3rs – both available on Watch Instantly (I love having a techie husband who knows how to make his laptop play through the TV) – and finding two new series that we love: Chuck and The New Adventures of Old Christine. Tried a couple movies that turned out to be duds. Waiting for some of the Oscar nominees to be released on DVD so we can see what all the fuss was about.

Enough about me; on to the links:

~ 26 Neologisms for Book Lovers: An awesome list by Coversgirl to which any true bibliophile will completely relate.

~ Book Giveaway Carnival: Bookroom Reviews is hosting a giveaway carnival for book lovers – be sure to click over on Monday for the list of bloggers participating so you can sign up to win some books!

~ Deborah Dewit-Marchant: Art for lovers of reading and writing. Hat tip: Carol.

~ The “I Can Read Movies” Series: A collection of faux book covers based on famous movies.

~ Where Fiction Isn’t Allowed to Be Fiction: A post by Literate Housewife about historical fiction – that is, fiction based on actual historical figures. When is it okay to embellish? How much is it okay to embellish? Any opinions?

~ David after the dentist: Hilarious video of a kid who was under anesthesia for a dental procedure and is still feeling a bit loopy. Natalie e-mailed this one to me.

~ Help NASA Name Node 3: NASA is naming a new module for the space station, and so far, the name Serenity is in first place. Any Browncoats fans out there? Click over and vote. Hat tip: Meg.

That’s all for this week – have a wonderful weekend!