Christmas Library.

My Christmas Bookshelf.

We already have plenty of white on the ground, and so, for Christmas instead of dreaming of a white Christmas - I will dream of a reading Christmas.  There is something so cozy and peaceful about reading these touching, sweet, and amazing holiday stories. Stories like the littlest angel, Mr. Willowby's Christmas, the Polar Express, the Gift of the Magi, and the Nutcracker.  Tell me about your favorite Christmas or holiday inspired book!

Pickity Place and the Big Bad Wolf.

The road to Pickity Place makes it seem as if you were were heading to an old country cabin. When the road turns from asphalt to dirt and gravel, the thought may cross your mind that you've taken a wrong turn. Soon enough, your car joins several other traveler's to the inviting little red house made famous over 60 years ago. It was the home of the Golden Books illustrator, Elizabeth Orton Jones. She used her sweet home as inspiration for the 1948 Golden Books edition of Little Red Riding Hood.

The entrance and grounds is not meant for a double stroller or any other type of stroller. This said, it can be done. The path into the gift shop and dining area is very bumpy and narrow, but the staff and people are more than accommodating and helpful. My double stroller fit nicely once inside the gift shop and to enter the restaurant and small museum, I had to leave the stroller outside and carry in the car seats. It was a bit inconvenient - but again, the staff was very helpful even offering to help carry one of the car seats. I couldn't make it into the garden and herb garden areas, but we had a good time viewing from the house grounds.

The museum offers a few collectible gifts and the opportunity to view a small room filled with everything Little Red Riding Hood - including the original Golden Book illustration by Jones. The smells coming from the dining area permeated the museum while we visited. While I couldn't dine there that day, I do plan on coming back without all the kids, it is supposed to be amazing.

I am passionate about my children wanting to learn the arts. Music is my passion, and while I hope that my girls will follow in my footsteps; I hope more, that they will find something in the arts that inspires them. This outing was a perfect opportunity to let them experience a piece of the arts. We brought our drawing tools and sat down for 30 minutes doing our best to draw the house Jones used in her illustrations (I will post these soon on their art blog). They did a great job. Nini even continued drawing when a frog crossed her path - it was difficult - but she finished her illustration!

And what to do with two little seven month old boys while we eat our lunch and draw- bring a big blanket, find a nice shaded spot, and let them stretch their little legs. It was a little bit more work than I had anticipated for this roadtrip to Mason, NH and Pickity Place - but well worth the effort for a hands-on experience in the arts.

Have you been to Pickity Place?

About the Author.

Nini came barging through the front door bypassing our house "no shoes" rule and with her jacket and back pack still on. She ran straight up the stairs into my room and said in a very excited yet clear and precise voice, "Mommy, I want to be an author and il-lus-trat-or." She struggled all last year with her reading and has just become comfortable reading full stories and having the confidence to finish what she starts. She wrote her story while at school, with no help, sounding out all the words phonetically.





This was such a huge step for her that I couldn't just pass up the opportunity for our family to celebrate her great job. Taking the idea from all the books we have around our home, Nini and I put together her very own "About the Author" page to showcase her new story. I took a recent photo of Nini and asked her a few simple questions. I used Word to create the page and then stapled several pages together to make a book. We made extras just in case she gets this little itch again. She copied her story, even taking the time to draw and color her photos. I keep it in my room where we can read it together and where she can really know what a wonderful job she has done. She also spent several minutes reading her own story to friends and family. The look on her face says it all!







Something Cute...



Cici and I were snuggled together watching the TLC's A Baby Story. It's one of my ways of preparing the girls for what is to come. It never seems to be too much information for them, they do a great job of absorbing the show and asking me questions if they are too curious about something. The labor and delivery of the baby on that particular show had just passed when she turned to me and said very matter-of-fact: "Mom, I would rather live in a garbage can, then be in labor." That is definitely good to know!





Here are more links for teaching your children about books and writing:





The Babe Ruth Reading Challenge

Learning to read with Dick and Jane

Meeting a real author.

Book activities: Library Mouse

The Babe Ruth Reading Challenge!

Grow your child's love of reading with an

easily customized reading and reward challenge!

Background:

Encouraging my children to read has been a major goal around our home. I have one that loves to read and she's already reading 300 page large print books. She can read without speaking aloud and the words she knows is amazing. My other one has been working overtime to keep up with her classmates and her grade level. She loves so many things, but has so much difficulty liking reading. This little one was the inspiration for this program.

We were reading a grade level 3 book about Babe Ruth. The premise centers around Babe Ruth saving baseball after the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. He told his fans that he was going to make 50 home runs in one year. My daughter thought this was so so cool! After we finished the book, we picked up a bat that her Craig bought for her at the Vermont Lake Monsters baseball game. We talked about how fun it would be to be able to read 50 books the school year and for every book be able to make a mark on her bat.

The challenge:

1. Read a book.
2. Write down the name of the book.
3. Let her put a mark on the paper bat.
4. Have daddy make a notch on the wooden bat with a pocket knife.
5. Earn a dollar.
6. Repeat! Repeat! Repeat!



Customize it:

After seven books, we think that she is catching the book bug and reading more books. My other daughter is not left out! Her challenge is exactly the same, except she is working on the Tutu Challenge; marking all the books she reads onto part of the tutu. Our goal for our daughters is to encourage their reading at their level. We want them to improve at their own speed and encourage their success without force - only encouragement!

Facebook users: Visit the original blog post here!

Learning to read with Dick and Jane.

Reading Dick and Jane - in the car.

You just can't put every child in one basket. This is a realization I experience everyday I spend with my two amazing daughters. Perhaps if they weren't twins, I wouldn't have to spend so much time hitting my hand to my for head and saying "duh" - why didn't I handle the situation differently. Sitting in the parent teacher meeting at the girl's school was the first clear answer I had to why Nini was having so much trouble learning to read. "She reads by sight words, or grouped words" her resource teacher said to me, "sounding words out is very difficult." I knew that she had trouble sounding out words, but I didn't realize that reading success for her would entail more memorization and repetition then seeing the sounds put together to make a word. I was told to start working on Dolch method with Nini and began memorizing 220 of the most common words.

Now to the old vintage Dick and Jane readers, do you remember them? Learn to read from them? They've begun to republish this series in chapter book format. Craig found the one she is reading at Borders books and brought it home to her to read. The most amazing thing happened, this book is over a hundred pages long - and she read it in two days. She even read in the car for hours at a time when we headed to Burlington in February. We purchased another one for her to read and she read it one day - and now she is reading like a pro!

The repetitive nature of these books allowed her to use her gift of memorizing and learn many of the words on Dolch list of sight words. It was such an eye opening experience about how every child is different - that when you find the right learning style for your child and they are ready- they'll succeed - like my Nini!

Did you learn to read with Dick and Jane?
Have you heard of Dolch?

Or any other methods like this one?

Meeting a real author.

My daughters, after reading the Library Mouse, feel that they are authors themselves. They still take white pieces of paper, staple them together and make little books. It's just one of those stories that stays with you! While enjoying the county fair like feel of events in Salem, Mass. the girls were lucky enough to meet a real life published children's book author.

Donna T. Trickett sat with a decorative witch hat waiting to sign her book A Witch with an Itch. We originally passed her up for other activities, but after a short conversation with Cici about meeting a real life children's book author, she was much more enthusiastic about going and meeting her.

A Witch with and Itch, is about Helga a very curious witch that lives in the woods, minding her own business and enjoying life. One day while resting about the leaves, she encounters green shiny leaves in bunches of threes. She likes them so much she takes them home to put in her tea. Helga, soon discovers that these shiny leaves give her quite the itch!

I loved that the girl's got to meet Trickett, maybe just maybe, it might inspire them to be a writer! Have you heard of this book? Any encounters with these shiny leaves?

OMMPD: I approached the girl's teacher today to check-up on the progress of Nini. She told me how well she was doing and couldn't say enough about her. Than she began to tell me about Cici. She said that Nini sometimes struggles with the work at school, but that her sister, Cici, always - "always" tries to stick up for her sister when she see's her struggling. It was really nice to hear that they really do love each other!

What is your OMMPD for today?

Book Activity: No Hugs Till Saturday

The Book: Julie Downing created an amazing and refreshing look at a mother and child relationship. No Hugs till Saturday stars Felix a small dragon who loves to hug his mom. He's active and soon gets into trouble for not listening "Felix, Remember the rule. No playing ball in the house." Felix doesn't listen and the ball is placed high on a shelf. When quiet time was over, Mama was ready for a hug. "No more hugs!" Felix announced. "No hugs till Saturday." "No snuggles?" asked Mama. Felix shook his head. "How about a super squeeze or a monster mash?" Felix shook his head. "No hugs at all." Felix exclaims as he holds up a sign that says hugs with a red x through it.

Soon Felix realizes that it's Sunday and Saturday is a long way away. "What day comes before Friday?" "Thursday, " said Mama. "is that still a long time?" She nodded. "Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all come before Thursday." "Well, I really meant no hugs till Thursday," Felix said.

The Activity: There wasn't a specific activity that we did with this book. It was great talking to them about and it was a source of conversation throughout the week!

What they learned: I love using children's books to help our family. It's true that when my children have toys taken away for varying reasons - they get frustrated with me. I used this book to show them that it's OK to get frustrated or upset at me. But that it shouldn't have to last long - it's OK to still want hugs and kisses and one on one time. When they get in trouble it doesn't change our affection for each other - something the girls needed to understand.

Book Activity: The Library Mouse

The book: This book is one of the gems that really seems to give kids something to think about. What if you were an author of a book of your very own? And what if? People actually read your book! The Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk gave both my girls the excitement and idea that they didn't have to just be read too, they could write their own books.

When Sam the library mouse decides to write his own book he takes paper, staples them together, and starts in on drawing a picture book. He poses in the mirror to see how he should draw his pictures, makes a cover page, and places his little book in the bookshelves of the library. Sam's mind was filled with facts and information and images of far-away places, and his imagination brimmed over with wonder and fantasy. One night Sam decided that it was time he wrote a book of his own. Sam begins with a picture book and moves on to a mystery chapter book. The children in the library wait in excited anticipation for his next books. When they finally find who is writing these books, Sam has a little surprise in store for each child.


The Activity: We folded paper together and stapled them just like Sam in the book. Since the girls have not learned to write their own stories yet with words, I asked them to draw pictures of their story. I than filled in their story as they recounted it. We read each story to each other and than, to make it official, they placed their books on our bookshelf, prominently displayed in our front living room.

What did they learn: I am still surprised at how much the absorbed from this book. They continuously talk about how they wrote they made their own story and talk about wanting to make word book or chapter books when they learn to spell by themselves.

Have you heard of this book?

Book Activity: Katie meets the Impressionists.

The Book: This book has turned out to be a wonderful addition in the girl's book collection. Katie meets the Impressionists starts when Katie's grandmother is treated to a day at the museum by Katie; where her grandmother's favorite impressionists paintings are being shown. "Look at the flowers in the paintings," said her Grandma. "I can only see spots," said Katie. "The pictures are made up of dabs of paint and color," said Grandma. "But when you stand back, the dabs make a picuture." Katie wanders to the next painting wishing she could give some flowers to her grandmother. She is soon transported into Monet's painting The Luncheon and meets his son Jean. Her quest to find flowers takes her to more of Monet's paintings; and also, Degas and Renoir.

The Activity: With a few canvases, paint, and brushes, I told the girls to paint using dots or small brush strokes and to use as many colors as you can. We all held the book's pictures close to our face and pulled it slowly away to see all the colors and strokes come into focus to make a beautiful painting. They painted for about 30 minutes from start to finish (with a few reminders to use tiny strokes and "no" we couldn't paint a skateboard yet).

What did they learn? After work, without my encouragement gave Craig his own lesson on impressionist paintings. They held their paintings up to their faces and described how you could only see dots, but when you brought it away from your face "you can see my picture!" It was so cute watching them explain their painting - I wish I had snapped a photo! Thanks Cristin for your book a day idea!

Have you seen this book?

Nini and the rocket...

...and the blue tutu.

Isn't this the sweetest picture!

We are saying goodbye to the Rocket today. This box was once used for carrying in Cosco groceries, but was quickly taken captive by Nini, who is a lot like the little girl in this old book Christina Katerina. This box went through many transformations, which included the use of at least two roles of tape, two glue sticks which were gutted and the insides used as handles, two more boxes, paper, and pens.

Although I would love to keep, it's been in our family and used in every room since Thanksgiving, and it's time to say goodbye! The goggles were her idea and she even wore them to McDonald's tonight for dinner! I just love her style and she has never ceased to give me great ideas for children's books!

Cici is sporting her tutu and leotard for ballet! I took them both out of ballet as not to push them in too many directions when they started kindergarten this year. The ballet classes here drive me crazy. They block off any view of your child while he/she is dancing and won't let you even peak. It's the same for Nini's gymnastics she starting on Tuesday. The blue tutu indicates that she has graduated from 3 and 4 year olds -where they have them wear a pink leotard with a pink tutu! I have a cute litte video of her dancing - but I couldn't get it to download.

Goal Update:
I am happy to announce that I made it to Thursday this week -getting up every morning before the girls go to school and running or walking. Monday I walked and ran, Tuesday I walked, Wednesday and Thursday I ran both days. Thursday afternoon, however, I realized that my body was not taking too kindly to my new exercise. I was diagnosed in 2003 with something called Myofasical Pain Sydrome - basically a fancy title for lots of pain in certain areas of your body and no real way to overcome it. I haven't noticed it much lately, but Thursday, I realized that my recent activity had caused my body to become tense and I've been dealing with the inability to sleep well, nausea, and lots of pain and stiffness in my back and neck. Anyway, it's not much fun - but I'm hoping that if I continue to exercise, my body will adapt and not ache so much.

My goal to organize and gain order in our house and household is going well. We took about 15 bags (including the 5 bags of toys) today to donate! It was such a great feeling! I didn't do much on Thursday and Friday because of the pain I mentioned above, but I did sit and get our desk in order. My next goal is to organize my make-up and what my husband likes to call "primping stuff". Any ideas? We don't have storage in our bathroom or room to put anything or the ability to change it, since we are renting. I've been using the top drawer of our dresser in our bedroom - but it just makes a mess. I'm looking around for different ways to organize this clutter - what are your ideas?

Thank you to everyone who answered my questions! Have a great weekend :)