Confession Number Two

Here it is, the other confession (I knew there was another one at least!) And this confession, I fear, will offend many.

I used to cook a lot with cream of _______ . Especially in college when I lived with Kristen C. and we roommates all cooked together. (I could never really get it to work, the "let's all take a night" thing, unless I lived with Kristen. I tried. It just never worked without her.)

Anyway. Cream of blank. Used to use a lot of it, but gave it up about the time I got married and realized that 1) Cream of blank is just a poor excuse for a good white sauce or cheese sauce 2) Making those big casseroles with cream of blank was doing nothing for my hips and 3) I find cream of blank rather disgusting, the way it slurps out of the can. SLURP! So good-bye cream of ______. Gave it up, haven't looked back. We manage.

So a few Sundays ago, the women's group at church needed a sign-up for a dinner they were hostess-ing. The last thing on the list, oh yes, funeral potatoes. When I balked at bringing them, the Sign-er-upper said, "Oh, it's easy. I'll give you the recipe. It's just hash browns, a tub of sour cream, a can of cream of chicken, and a few other things."

Hash browns, sour cream, cream of chicken. That's nutrition!

I had to explain, with a straight face, that, oh, I could figure out how to make them. I just didn't like to do it. In the end, I found a mix for Scalloped Potatoes at SaveMart, did my duty, and took the dish on time. Hot.

But I didn't eat it.

Blech.

P.S. Eric and the kids liked it though, when I left some for them as I went to deliver it. Later, I will teach my boys that scalloped potatoes should mean real potatoes, some cheese other than Cheddar, and milk.

P.P.S. Let me add, as a final note, that I will use cream of _________. When camping. With a Dutch oven. Then I think it's just fine. But there better be some real vegetables in there.

The vacumm cleaner and the legos. A good place to start.

I'm going to be posting some new stuff on the blog. Still books, but more about stuff.

Just stuff.

I have all these writing ideas, and I need someplace to put them. Seems like this blog is as good a place as any. For example, I've had this confessions trailing around in my head for ages:

I enjoy buying my five-year-old son new legos. It makes me feel good to nurture his spatial development. But I also enjoy vacuuming the legos up on days when I'm sick of picking them up or stepping on them. It's the GRRR! CRUNCH! sound they make in the vacuum cleaner that I find especially cathartic.

See? I just needed a place to write about that.

There might be more of those random things coming. Get ready.

More for 1st grade readers

Time to resume book blogging!

I found more series you might want to try for beginning readers. These might be too easy than what Amy is looking for. I'd put these right with or right before the Julie Jones series difficulty. So see what you think about:

1. The Fox books by James Marshall . . . one is Fox on the Job for example.

2. The Morris books by Bernard Wiseman . . . one is Morris has a Cold.

3. The Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant. . . one is Harry and Mudge and the Starry Night. You can't always trust Rylant's YA literature, but I'm sure she'll keep it tame with these.

Non-kid fiction to follow soon. I would say "Adult Fiction" but that would imply hubba hubba fiction and I don't do that.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. Amy's request cont.

And how could I forget Mrs. Piggle Wiggle? Thanks, Malissa, for reminding me of her.

Sorry, Mrs. P.

Answer for Amy's 7 year old

Thanks, Jenny, Sarah, Amy, Denise and Anjanette for your help with suggestions for Amy's daughter.

Here's my two cents, in addition to the great comments that were on the last post.

First of all, I agree with Jenny that every kid is different in terms of what they can handle with content. The best thing is for parents to be very involved in what their children read in terms of subject matter. But kids should read what they like---I took lots of teaching reading classes and the conclusions were all the same: kids learn to read by reading. Kids should read what they like to read, especially at this age. (Amy, I know you agree. I'm preaching to the choir. Just wanted to say I agree with Jenny, that's all.)

You want to catch a 2nd grader and hook him or her onto reading because there really is good stuff coming up: Amy for your daughter, I'd eventually suggest the Shoes books by Stretfield and the All of A Kind Family books and all of FHBurnett and GCLevine and Richard Peck, but she won't be ready for those for a little bit.

I checked out the Katie Kazoo books to see what your daughter's teacher is suggesting. Love Amazon.com where I can look inside the book! I don't have an opinion about KKazoo, but it gave me a gauge as to the level of your daughter's reading. So here's my top five authors/series suggestions:

1. Beverly Cleary. Love this woman for this age group. The Ramona books are great. Start with those, and then see if your daughter would like the rest. I just requested the Ralph books on CD for my boys. Can't wait. Cleary is such a nice, witty grandmotherly type. I bet she makes a mean oatmeal cookie and gives large candy bars to trick-or-treaters. What a sweetie.

With the next three, I don't know the series thoroughly, but well enough that I'd say you should peruse them and see what you think.

2. Box Car Children.

3. ABC Mysteries.

4. Magic Treehouse series.

5. And lastly, I would suggest some good non-fiction. Find a topic she likes, and see what your library has in her grade level.

There are lots of library websites that will suggest books for this grade level, but you can't tell about content. For that, if you get a minute, I'd suggest perusing some home school mom blogs about their curriculum for this age. Find a homeschooler who has values that match ours, and see what she has her kids read. Gotta LOVE homeschooler mom blogs for their resources---and once they find a good thing, they like to share.

Happy reading! If none of this works, message me again and I'll keep looking. This should get you started.

2nd or 3rd grade. Squeak. Squeak.

My friend Amy is looking for books for her 2nd grader, age 7, who reads above her grade level.

Amy wants squeaky clean books. Judy Blume was recommended to her, but you know about Blume. Good writer, can't trust her content. (Are you there, Reader? It's me Blume, and sometimes I'm sketchy.)

I have some ideas, but I'd love some more before I post a list for Amy. Can anyone with kids this age give us some ideas?

little this

I've been in a "little this, little that" mood, reading here and there. Garlic and Sapphires, Guernsey . . . the kids have been sick and I've been having a short attention span.

But long enough to read Harry Potter 7.

Which was good.

Again.

More books to resume soon. Soon I'll be able to think more than just, "Who sneezed? I know that was a BIG sneeze, now where is it?