Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary!

I must start off by saying "I love books!"

You don't need to know me for long to learn this.  :)
And I love kids books - the REALLY good ones, the memorable ones.  And the ones I read as a child.
One of my favorite books was Ralph S. Mouse, by Beverly Cleary. What a happy surprise to come into the kids' room at the library and see the display celebrating the author's 100th birthday!  And she is still alive to enjoy it!

What I did not realize was that she has written SOOOO many books!  More Ralph books!  And the whole Ramona series!  Which, sadly to say, I never read -- so I am reading my first one now, Beezus and Ramona.  I love it. So I challenge all of you out there, if you've never read something by Beverly Cleary, do it!  :)

You won't be sorry.  :)   :)


(The Penguin books are not written by Beverly Cleary.)


 

 


READ ON!  



Sunday, April 24, 2016

Spring Chickens!

Spring has sprung!  The time of year when everything is new and alive!  And that means baby chicks!!  Especially for my "nanny family"!  It's time to add to the coop!  Already having four grown chickens, they now have three new babies!  So cute and fluffy, and growing fast!  Their cute little chirps will someday (soon, most likely)  turn into clucks and squaks.  But they are fun and cute, and it's not everyday that you have the opportunity to see fuzzy chicks growing into sleek chickens.  And it's my unofficial motto - to enjoy whatever life brings your way and experience it to the fullest.
So, allow me to introduce ..... Snowy, Blackie, and Spaz.  Yes, the brown one is spaz.  : )



Now, in this picture we have Snowy, Blackie, and two of their siblings who went to live with another family.   Very fuzzy!! 
Notice the tip of Snowy's head.  Already she is curious!! 


Come here, chickies!!  


Snowy, Blackie, and new baby Spaz, about 2 weeks later.  
Bigger, but still chirping!! 


Spaz and Blackie at preschool show and tell



Still growing!  Snowy is ever the curious one, always the first to approach you when you come near their pen.  Which they will soon outgrow!  Gone is the "baby light" already!  I will keep you all posted and share pictures when they are big enough to join the other four chickens in the outside pen!  

Enjoy springtime, and all the blooms and blossoms!  
Til next time!! 






Saturday, April 23, 2016

Miranda Sings..... ???

Okay, so this is a little weird.  Or a lot weird.  Two 10 year old girls I met recently made me aware of the existence of a Youtube character called Miranda Sings.  And while she sometimes does sing (and used to pretty much only sing, 4 years ago), now she just does..... pretty much whatever comes to mind.  Eating bananas (or trying to), making pancakes (or trying to) and teaching us how to pet a cat.  All in her nasally voice, wearing bright red lipstick, and so on.  So silly!  But I'm hooked.  And she has 4 years of videos that I need to catch up on.  So thank you Ch----  and G------  (and A---)  (names omitted) for introducing me to this wackiness!  If you need a bit of insanity, go ahead and check it out.  As with most comedians, from time to time she can be a bit inappropriate, but most of the time, she is just plain crazy.
 This one is clean - so silly!  The Pancake Challenge. Just copy and paste in your browser if you want to check it out. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44w2RPxIz5s


Take time to laugh today!

Monday, April 11, 2016

A Windy Day Story

     Once upon a time, there were red-head twin sisters. They lived in a cozy house surrounded by flowers and trees, that had a wide porch and a loft to play in.


    But one day, the wind blew, and blew and blew, harder, faster, stronger.  And the wind made it so the cute house surrounded by trees had no electricity.  The sisters couldn't turn on the light in the bathroom.  Mom couldn't run the washing machine.  Dad couldn't turn on the dishwasher.  Big sister couldn't use the electric pencil sharpener to sharpen her colored pencils. They couldn't watch their cartoons.
But this was okay - they knew it would only be a matter of time and the electricity would be fixed.  It was a bit more of a problem that, since the house's water was run by electricity, no one could take a shower.  And they could not flush the toilet.  That was bad news.
      So when the nanny came over, and mom and dad were off to work, and big sister was away at school, the nanny decided that, since it was a bright, sunny day (though still a bit windy), the three of them would pack up a picnic snack and go to play at the girls' favorite park.
      Yes! The girls agreed that that was a wonderful idea!  They happily chose their favorite snack foods, put on their play shoes, grabbed their jackets, and were off!  They sang songs during the drive to the park, and enjoyed the bright spring sunshine.
      Now, at the park, the nanny knew that it was always a good idea to take a potty break as soon as they got there, before they went off to play.  This was especially true since the park was in the process of building a new water play area, and they had torn down the old (nasty) restroom building.  In the meantime, they had set up 2 port-a-potties, at the opposite end of the park from the play area.
      But.... on this day, the strong, strong wind had blown those port-a-potties right over on their backs!!  What an unusual sight!  Well, they had to go check it our before going off to play, of course.  When something unusual happens, you just have to appreciate it!  It's not every day that you get to see what a port-a-potty looks like laying on its back.  Or two of them.



 











   That was a very fun thing!  Then it was off for a picnic snack, which wasn't an easy thing because it was still pretty breezy.  Then running around in the play area, swinging on the tire swing, and climbing up the climbing wall.


      But the nanny was concerned, because the girls had not been able to go to the bathroom.  So, when the sisters came to her and said the the breeze was making them cold, even with their jackets on, she suggested that they all go to her house, which was only a few blocks away.  Then we could get warm, and use the bathroom!
      The sisters once again agreed that this was a good idea, so they packed up their snack things and drove the short distance to the nanny's house.  Much relief to be able to go potty!  Then, since there was only about an hour left until it was time for the girls to go home with their momma, the three of them spent the rest of their time together reading fun stories in the big comfy chair!

                                                                                The End