Weird-o

Well... no one posted any pics to the Flickr group.

Booooooo!!!!!!

I'm really gonna have to start getting people on board here!

So... I'll end Weirdo day with a picture I took today of Levi

*** HEAD'S UP!!!***

Tomorrow is Stand Up To Cancer Day and Swap Ideas Day

Always weird,
Becky

Wonderful Weirdoes Day

Happy Weirdoes Day!

I hope you have all used today as a great excuse to be weird!

I want to see your Weird-o pictures!!

Submit your pics to our flickr group...http://www.flickr.com/groups/1351997@N20/ and I will get them on the blog tonight!!

Literacy Day

Happy Literacy Day!

As promised... I have compiled a list of books that people have given me. Books that they loved. Books that they loved enough sometimes to read more than once. Books that they couldn't put down. Some of these, I'm gonna have to check out! Some were mentioned a couple of different times by a couple of different people. When that happens... you really know you gotta check it out. And if it was my mama that suggested it... well... It'll be in the mail to my house tomorrow. :) I trust that woman with a good book recommendation! Often, one of us will call the other up and the conversation will go like this: "Hey! I'm reading this great book! I can't put it down/can't stop bawling my eyes out/It really touches me/It's thought provoking/whatever... you HAVE to get it!"... Then a couple of weeks later there'll be another phone conversation that goes like this: "Hey! I got that book you mentioned. oh my word! I can't put it down/can't stop bawling my eyes out/It really touches me/It's thought provoking/whatever." and whoever's on the other end of the line will go "I TOLD YOU!!!!!"

I WAS going to list the books and have a link to a website where you could check it out and, if you wanted, purchase the book... buuuut I figure I'd leave it up to you guys as to where you want to buy the book from if it interests you... so I'll just list them.

Ok, in no specific order... these are the Adult books that you guys love:

Same Kind Of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore (a friend had this on her list of must reads... and I agree! I read it and loved it and made Jason read it and he loved it so much that he also bought the follow up book What Difference Do It Make.)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (a classic!)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (I've seen and heard several great reviews on this book and have had it on

reading list for a while. One of these days...)







The Shack by William P. Young (wow. This book is..... a must read. Suggested by several people. Jason

and I have both started this book but haven't been able to finish it. It's so heavy... for lack of a better word... that we feel that we have to put it down and walk away for a while and pick it back up later.)





Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (another classic)

Lafayette by Harlow G. Unger

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (another classic)

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Pigs In Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

The Power of now by Eckhart Tolle

Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates

Atonement by Ian McEwan

The Hours Michael Cunningham

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (I haven't read this book but I really want to ever since I watched the movie with Dakota Fanning)

Ok... remember those have all been recommended by other people. If you get one of those books and hate it, don't blame me. There's some really good ones on that list though!

The Authors that were suggested are:
Mary Higgins Clark
P.D. James
nicholas Sparks
Francine Rivers
Philippa Gregory
David Sedaris
and
Barbara Kingsolver

The series that were suggested are:
The Hunger Game Series
The Anne of Green Gable Series
The Mark and the Lion Series
Harry Potter

And...

... the moment you've all been waiting for...

... my personal suggestions. These are some of my current and all time favorite books...

Crazy Love by Francis Chan (this book will challenge your Christianity. Awesome book!)

A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer (True story. Have the tissues handy)

The Phantom Tollbooth by norton Juster (Technically, this is a kid's book. But every adult should read it too!!)

Bud and Me  (true story about two young brothers who rode their horses across America. Great book!!)

I have a ton of favorite books but those are the ones that immediately came to mind.

Usually, at any given time, I've got at least two or three books going at the same time. Currently, the books on my night stand (or in my purse) that I'm reading are:

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen

Auschwitz by Laurence Rees

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

I hope maybe you've found a new book that you can't wait to get and read!

There were several children's books suggested too but I'm going to save those for a later post. Time for bed.

Oh... and I almost forgot...

tomorrow is "Wonderful Weirdoes Day" which means that tomorrow you have a legitimate excuse to be weird. Use it!!

Happy Reading!
Becky

Salami Day

who celebrated Salami Day??

Sadly... not us. I couldn't bring myself to. I'm not a salami fan. :(

Tomorrow is International Literacy Day. now THERE's one I can get on board with!! :)

I want to know... what are some of your all time favorite books??

Post a comment letting me know and I will compile a list tomorrow on the blog of the books you guys think everybody should read... and I will have a list of my own too. Get to thinkin' about it cause I really do want to know!

Becky

September 7th

We've been pretty lazy around here this weekend thanks to Levi's fever and sore throat. Yesterday was "Be late to something day"... but instead of being late to church, we just didn't go. Decided not to spread germs. You are welcome.

Tomorrow is Salami day. Hmmm...

Toy Test Day

Today was fun.

You can't really beat noshing on peanut M&M's and testing out new toys.



first, we tested out Uno Stacko. General consensus? We LOVED it! Audrey and I played it while Levi was at school. The box says for ages 7+ but my four year old who regularly beats me at regular Uno handled it just fine.

So, the idea is... It's a mix of Uno and Jenga.



The player to go first chooses whichever block they want and carefully stacks it on top. The next player must then either pull a block of the same color or number... or one of the four wilds. There is still draw two's, reverses, and skips, but if you are just playing a two person game then all of those act as draw two's. So basically there's no skipping or reversing in a two player game.



uh oh... she's stumped. can she do it??





she did find one to remove successfully, but shortly after that play, it toppled.

It's getting late so I'll save the moon dough review for tomorrow (since I can't find a "day" for tomorrow)



There's mixed reviews out on the moon dough.

Love each other!
Becky

Happy Last Day of August

A friend on facebook mentioned today that she saw on a website that August 31st is "Eat Outside Day".

I didn't get that message from her until AFTER we'd already eaten lunch inside... and we tried a new diner in Sedalia tonight before Jason had to go to work, so we didn't eat supper outside either. Boooo. I dunno that I would have lasted long outdoors today anyway... it was a scorcher!

So, let's talk about tomorrow! =)

Tomorrow is:

Bison-ten Yell Day
Emma M. Nutt Day
National No Rhyme Nor Reason Day
and
Toy Tips Executive Toy Test Day

First of all... I bought some peanut M&M's today for emma m. nutt day. First things first, right??

I also purchased two new toys for me and the kids to test!! How much fun is that??

I got this:


(red for Levi, purple for Audrey, and of course... orange for me... my favorite color.)

they claim:


(never dries out?? hey I'm all for that!)

and I got this:


So, tomorrow we will test them out and we will let you know what we think.

How are YOU going to celebrate?

Let me know, and I'll put it on the blog.

Becky

Toasted Marshmallow Day

How did you celebrate Toasted Marshmallow Day?

I had this cute vision of having a little bonfire this evening after Levi got home from school. And then I remembered... a.) Levi had football practice tonight, and b.) Jason had to work tonight. So, that blew that out of the water.

We still celebrated though.

Here's what we did...

I put some fat marshmallows on a baking sheet



then I stuck them under the broiler on high



but you gotta watch them cause they heat up FAST!



YUM! Toasted Marshmallows!



A perfect S'More



doubly delicious if you've just spent the hour and a half before at football practice. Just ask Levi!



I couldn't take a picture of me eating mine... but I ate one too...



How did YOU celebrate??

my friend Jeni sent me this link to another way that you could celebrate Toasted Marshmallow Day, and it looks super yummy!!

http://asouthernfairytale.com/2010/08/30/smores-pie/

*** HEAD'S UP!!! ***

I couldn't find anything to celebrate for tomorrow. I guess if you missed toasted marshmallow day today you could always celebrate it tomorrow. But... Wednesday, September 1st is "Bison-ten Yell Day" (if anyone knows what this ACTUALLY means please enlighten me!) It's also "Emma M. nutt Day" (get it?), national no rhyme nor reason day, and Executive Toy Test Day

Have fun! And as always... if you celebrate, let me know and I'll post it on the blog!

Becky

Head's Up!

Tomorrow is national Toasted Marshmallow Day!!

Yummy :)

Second-hand Wardrobe Day

Happy second-hand wardrobe day!

here's my first grader wearing his second-hand shorts on his first day of school:



As I type this, I'm wearing a t-shirt that I picked up at a thrift store somewhere. It says "Country Music Saved My Soul." It's too big for me, so I love to wear it to bed.

Today was also Kiss and Make up Day. I didn't have anyone I needed to make up with... but... when you have this guy around... you don't need excuses to kiss. ;)



Tomorrow is national dog day. I don't even know what this means. hot dogs? puppy dogs?

you decide!

how will YOU celebrate?

Becky

First Grade

I've had this blog brewing in my head for a few days.

My boy starts first grade tomorrow. This year, we are trying public school. I'm torn on this. I loooooove homeschooling, but living in such a small farm town, surrounded by other small farm towns, there's not much support for homeschoolers here without driving an hour and a half in any direction to a city. SO... at the end of last year, I took him in to the school here and had him tested and enrolled him. It was my first time meeting the elementary principal... and I bawled in her office.

*sigh*

This whole thing has had me reflecting on my first grade year. I don't remember much. I remember a little boy pooping in his pants, and that's about it.

but the important thing that I do remember... was my first grade teacher. My first grade teacher was by far my favorite teacher I ever had.

My first grade teacher...



... was my mom. :)

I went to a small Christian academy, and she was the ONLY first grade teacher. But... she still gets a kick out of me telling people that my favorite teacher was my first grade teacher.

love you, mom!

She did teach me some really important things in first grade... like: you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose... but you can't pick your friends nose.

trust me... that one's important.

Tomorrow is also Audrey's first day of her last year of preschool... and she's staying home with me this year. So, I'll still get to do some homeschooling. We are excited. With that... we will resume our daily celebrating. Isn't that the whole point of this blog?? We took the summer off... and it all starts back up tomorrow... which is "Kiss and Make Up Day" and "national Second-hand Wardrobe Day"... which works well for us because the shorts Levi is wearing on his first day are second-hand. Mama ain't scurred to thrift!

I will post pics tomorrow.

how are YOU going to celebrate??

Becky

Bex In The Country

It's no secret... I love my new country life! today I went with my farmer to go check on the cows and check water gaps after our recent thunder/lightning/rain/wind storms. and I took my {new} camera along with me to document it.

Things like this...



Cute, huh? LOOK CLOSER!!



That's my baby on there!! Does he look scared to be so close to a cow that could at any second decide to charge??

anyway... he lived.

In case you were wondering.

Then there was this...



Awwwww.



Got milk?



How cute is that?... all milk dripping off its chin and stuff. A-DOR-A-BLE

Here's my girl, riding in front of me on my four wheeler. This was right before she busted out singing Kumbaya.



Checking cows and water gaps... It's a spiritual experience.