reading with the kiddos

i read a blog post about clever books for kids. we have a couple of the books mentioned in the post, "press here" and "the day the crayons quit." (here's the link to that post at justjilly.com.) pbs loves these books!

 we just finished reading "charlotte's web" with pbs. he loved it! i think we'll try "stuart little" or "peter pan" next.

pbs has loved books from about six months old on. we're trying to get hfs to the same place but we have some time. after all, he's only two months old! i guess i can't expect him to start reading just yet. ;)

what are some books that you would recommend reading with young kids?

just "hanging" around

hfs and i are "hanging" out at home while pbs is in preschool and js is at work.

"baby wearing" is such a great way to get things done around the house! hfs is in the wrap/carrier and i am able to write/type this post, do laundry, pick up some clutter, eat, etc. i love it! it's great to get out and go with hfs and pbs, although we haven't done any of that lately because of the weather.

we were given a my baby nest carrier and two baby bjorn carriers when we were expecting pbs a few years ago. we still have these carriers and far the my baby nest carrier works great for carrying hfs around. he seems to like "hanging" out while mommy gets things done.

pbs and lynn marie a few years ago

pbs loved "hanging" out in the my baby nest carrier too. the baby bjorn carrier works better for js and the my baby nest carrier works better for me. 

i'm thinking about trying out a couple of other carriers but i don't know which ones. i've heard great things about the ergo, boba, moby, and k'tan but i also don't want to spend a fortune for something i will only use for a year or two. 

i like the fact that the baby can be forward facing in the baby bjorn and my baby nest. the my baby nest has several different ways that the baby can be carried - forward facing, facing me, on the hip, on the back, nursing cradle, etc. i think that's how most wraps and slings are. i'm not sure how i feel about the baby always facing me. i know that pbs loved being able to see out and look around while facing forward. 

what are your favorite carriers and why? any suggestions for which ones to try or to avoid? 

gotta catch the next wave!

we have been so busy with life the last six weeks or so that i'm not quite sure if i'm coming or going!

we've made two trips to michigan, (we drove both times), to be with family and for a funeral, all within two weeks time. of course with js's stroke there have been the many doctors' and specialists' appointments that have to be scheduled to fit in with the rest of our life at that moment. now with summer coming i don't see much lag time until the end of august/beginning of september! but wait! it will be busy then too because pbs will be starting preschool. i need a break just thinking about it all!

i'm not complaining. just wishing for a slower, simpler time, maybe? i am glad that april is over, but i'm not quite sure what happened during that month or the last couple of weeks either. i can't believe it's the middle of may! i'm barely hanging on by a thread! i guess i'd better catch the next wave and try to ride it as best i can.

here comes that next wave! i've gotta catch it otherwise i'll sink! i'm holding on with everything i have, trying to see what's coming next. i've gotta ride it the best i can to wherever it may take me. i've got to see what's ahead and not worry and stress about it but realize that there's not much i can do but ride it out. gotta catch the next wave!

may the fourth be with you...and other fun stuff

may the fourth be with you! (and if you've grown up going to church, you might say...and also with you!) a funny way to play with words and church practices.

i saw a funny cartoon about may the fourth earlier today. it said something like, "if today is "may the fourth be with you" and tomorrow is cinco de mayo, does that make monday "revenge of the sixth"? (these are star wars references. i'm not a huge star wars fan but these are kind of funny to me.)

these got me thinking about the different sayings about the months, even one about how many days each month has in it. 

     thirty days hath september,

     april, june, and november,
     february has twenty-eight alone,
     all the rest have thirty-one;
     excepting leap year,-that 's the time
     when february's days are twenty-nine.
                              - - - author unknown

then you also have those about each month. i grew up hearing these...

     march comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

     april showers bring may flowers. (i really hope that our "showers" are over and that "flowers" are

     definitely in our future!)

then when we lived on the west coast we heard a couple more that were directly related to the weather...

     may gray

     june gloom

     july fry and august dust (we made these up because it would get so hot in july and august.)

i never realized there are so many poems, quotes and sayings about the months and days of the week. here's one more:

     january cold and desolate;

     february dripping wet;
     march wind ranges;
     april changes;
     birds sing in tune
     to flowers of may,
     and sunny June
     brings longest day;
     in scorched july
     the storm-clouds fly,
     lightning-torn;
     august bears corn,
     september fruit;
     in rough october
     earth must disrobe her;
     stars fall and shoot
     in keen november;
     and night is long
     and cold is strong
     in bleak december.
                         - - - christina giorgina rossetti "the months"

i remember this one from when i was little, about the days of the week.

     monday's child is fair of face,     tuesday's child is full of grace,     wednesday's child is full of woe,     thursday's child has far to go.     friday's child is loving and giving,     saturday's child works hard for a living,     but the child born on the sabbath day,     is fair and wise and good and gay.                         - - - mother goose

i was just curious what i could find and wanted to see if there were more that i didn't know. there were several that i didn't know but i just wanted to focus on the ones that i was a little bit familiar with. 

so "may the fourth be with you"!

are we finished with the emergencies for a while???

since april first we've had something happen every two weeks, and every time on a monday. first was the neighbor's house catching fire, luckily we didn't have any damage. the next thing was js' stroke. he's doing very well with his recovery. the doctors and therapists all seem to be impressed with the rate at which he is recovering. this past monday, js' uncle passed away. it's been an extremely rough and stressful few weeks.

js was very close to his uncle. his uncle taught him how to cook and appreciate the finer things in life. his uncle was diagnosed with liver cancer at the beginning of march. not even two months later we got the call that he was moved to hospice and then he had died.

js is having a pretty hard time accepting all of this. i totally understand. i lost my aunt to breast cancer when i was 20. i don't know that i have completely dealt with it and that is almost 20 years ago. i guess we all deal with death differently.

i'm so happy that it is may now. we're hoping for no more emergencies for a very long while.