We are big readers in this house. Each of us has our favorites. When I am asked what my favorite book is, I produce a list of 10.
Here are my top 10 favorites for the girlies! In no particular order, as that would be waaay too hard.
1. Zen Shorts (jon muth's illustrations and stories are uniformly strong)
2. The Quiltmakers Gift (again the illustrations! the story!!!!)
3. Jamberry (bruce degen transforms the world into berries with the most appealing rhymes)
4. Snoozers (we sing this book cover to cover)
5. The Big Red Barn (Margaret Wise Brown in top form!)
6. The Cat that Walked Across France (great impressionist art, puts small children to sleep - a perfect book, no?)
7. The Runaway Rice Cake (dumplings, noodles, nian gao, oh my!)
8. If You Give a Pig a Pancake (I like this book so much I rewrote it as satire and presented it to colleagues)
9. When Pigasso Met Mootisse - a Moosterpiece
10. The Giving Tree - delightful to read with a small girl who squeaks every last word in the sentence.
Email me your favorites!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Busted
Every person has their vice. Some of us have more than one.
Mine include:
Chocolate - preferably European
Iced Venti Americano from Starbucks
Project Runway
This post is about vice #2. For those of you who knew me a long time ago, you know I was a committed tea drinker. About five years ago, work became waaay more demanding and I found that an iced coffee could keep my energy up. It has since become a serious addiction.
Now, with two small children, I spend more at Starbucks than I do at the movies or on clothes or books. I get ornery when I don't get it. I plot travel based on drive thru locations, I had serious reservations about going to the Outer Banks this summer knowing I would be more than 50 miles away from the closest one.
So, yesterday was a busy morning before gymnastics. Too busy, in fact to make the requisite stop on the way to gymnastics. Juliette has an hour class first, then Evie and I go to Mommy & Me (sidebar: imagine me on a trampoline, yes it is that funny.)
I thought after kissing Juliette - why not find a coffee place close by? I asked a mom, got directions and took off, knowing Evie and I would be back in plenty of time to cheer Juliette through the rings and uneven bars.
Guess who had to go to the potty 5 minutes before I returned? When I walked through the door back into the building, 10 pair of mommy eyes were looking sympathetically at their peer who had been busted sneaking out to Starbucks.
Juliette came out, accusations flew. Thank heavens I had brought along a hot chocolate for her. Forgiveness was granted and an action plan was put in place in case I ever felt the need for coffee again. It would be ok, as long as I notified her in advance.
Mine include:
Chocolate - preferably European
Iced Venti Americano from Starbucks
Project Runway
This post is about vice #2. For those of you who knew me a long time ago, you know I was a committed tea drinker. About five years ago, work became waaay more demanding and I found that an iced coffee could keep my energy up. It has since become a serious addiction.
Now, with two small children, I spend more at Starbucks than I do at the movies or on clothes or books. I get ornery when I don't get it. I plot travel based on drive thru locations, I had serious reservations about going to the Outer Banks this summer knowing I would be more than 50 miles away from the closest one.
So, yesterday was a busy morning before gymnastics. Too busy, in fact to make the requisite stop on the way to gymnastics. Juliette has an hour class first, then Evie and I go to Mommy & Me (sidebar: imagine me on a trampoline, yes it is that funny.)
I thought after kissing Juliette - why not find a coffee place close by? I asked a mom, got directions and took off, knowing Evie and I would be back in plenty of time to cheer Juliette through the rings and uneven bars.
Guess who had to go to the potty 5 minutes before I returned? When I walked through the door back into the building, 10 pair of mommy eyes were looking sympathetically at their peer who had been busted sneaking out to Starbucks.
Juliette came out, accusations flew. Thank heavens I had brought along a hot chocolate for her. Forgiveness was granted and an action plan was put in place in case I ever felt the need for coffee again. It would be ok, as long as I notified her in advance.
Friday, September 22, 2006
The past week
So in the past week the following happened--
Sunday -- We had a birthday party for Evie - never give hairbrushes as a party gift because...
Monday -- We have a lice scare (and treatment) with Juliette - phone calls to all birthday party participants ensue (as well as school)
Tuesday -- Jennifer goes out with friends for the evening. Juliette throws up in Bruce's lap
Wednesday -- Evie catches a cold
Thursday -- Juliette, Evie, and Jennifer go the aquarium in Baltimore to meet friends, see dolphins. Cry! Dolphins splash small children, another parental error in judgement (they really WON'T splash us if we sit here in the splash zone.)
Friday -- House cleaned - Hurray! Mommy and Evie go to story time at the library and she isn't the wildest child in the room (double Hurray! Mrs. Huggins is working!!!) Juliette and Mommy go to Borders and read books. Highlights include Angelina's Halloween (Mommy is a sellout) and Sleeping Beauty (disney claptrap).
What will the weekend bring for pestilence, famine or plague? Stay tuned.
P.S. You haven't lived until you have heard the Manise sisters sing I've Been Working on the Railroad. Rush to the phone and dial us before they grow out of it!
Sunday -- We had a birthday party for Evie - never give hairbrushes as a party gift because...
Monday -- We have a lice scare (and treatment) with Juliette - phone calls to all birthday party participants ensue (as well as school)
Tuesday -- Jennifer goes out with friends for the evening. Juliette throws up in Bruce's lap
Wednesday -- Evie catches a cold
Thursday -- Juliette, Evie, and Jennifer go the aquarium in Baltimore to meet friends, see dolphins. Cry! Dolphins splash small children, another parental error in judgement (they really WON'T splash us if we sit here in the splash zone.)
Friday -- House cleaned - Hurray! Mommy and Evie go to story time at the library and she isn't the wildest child in the room (double Hurray! Mrs. Huggins is working!!!) Juliette and Mommy go to Borders and read books. Highlights include Angelina's Halloween (Mommy is a sellout) and Sleeping Beauty (disney claptrap).
What will the weekend bring for pestilence, famine or plague? Stay tuned.
P.S. You haven't lived until you have heard the Manise sisters sing I've Been Working on the Railroad. Rush to the phone and dial us before they grow out of it!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
OT-
What I should be blogging about is the first week of school. The fact that on the first morning I broke into the house looking for my keys when I had been sitting on them. How Evie cries and tries to escape when she gets dropped off - but she's made it!
Instead, let's talk about pop culture a bit.
Television
Project Runway-Gotta love this show. It is my destination television.
As is Charlie Rose - who always makes me interested in delving more into whatever topic he is covering.
Books
The Places In Between - by Rory Stewart. Just finished it and LOVED it. Although I found myself getting frustrated with him about halfway through his walk across Afghanistan. Will be reading The Prince of the Marshes after my birthday.
Magazine I most want to read-
The New Yorker article on the Clinton legacy.
Magazine I will most likely read-
Cooking Light
Movies
Little Miss Sunshine - the only movie I have seen in the theater for the past six months. Those of you who know me well, know I saw40-50 movies a year pre-children, premarriage.
Cache - a rental, but a thoughtful one. This little French film with two big actors Juliette Binoche and Daniel Autiel sticks with you. You wonder what just happened?
Next up--
Work, work and more work.
Instead, let's talk about pop culture a bit.
Television
Project Runway-Gotta love this show. It is my destination television.
As is Charlie Rose - who always makes me interested in delving more into whatever topic he is covering.
Books
The Places In Between - by Rory Stewart. Just finished it and LOVED it. Although I found myself getting frustrated with him about halfway through his walk across Afghanistan. Will be reading The Prince of the Marshes after my birthday.
Magazine I most want to read-
The New Yorker article on the Clinton legacy.
Magazine I will most likely read-
Cooking Light
Movies
Little Miss Sunshine - the only movie I have seen in the theater for the past six months. Those of you who know me well, know I saw40-50 movies a year pre-children, premarriage.
Cache - a rental, but a thoughtful one. This little French film with two big actors Juliette Binoche and Daniel Autiel sticks with you. You wonder what just happened?
Next up--
Work, work and more work.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Top 5 Things Evie Doesn't Like
5. Time out - while she tolerates it pretty well, she is getting more and more obedient when we start counting. There are still days where she spends more time in the time out chair than in the real world. You all can report me for that.
4. Loud noises - ambulances, motorcades, low airplanes. She has no problem MAKING loud noises, but that is another story completely.
3. Vegetables. Why is it that little girls from China are such fantastic vegetable eaters until they are two? Is it because they have had the sweet ambrosia of Chik-fil-A once too often? Is once a month too often? Hopefully this is a stage.
2. Men with beards. She seems to be improving on this, but is not a fan of the fuzzy face.
1. HER PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM! It is the same as her Sunday classroom. Evie is NOT a fan of the nursery. It is pretty chaotic and crowded, and I completely understand where she is coming from on Sunday morning. Her two year old mind can't separate school from Sunday morning. We visited today and she clung like a barnacle. This is the same child who held a strangers hand from an office building across the parking lot to the car today. The same child who I had a stranger stop from running out in traffic on Tuesday - she has no fear except of the things listed above and her Sunday classroom. It is going to be interesting to see if she overcomes this.
Pictures and an update Monday.
On another note. Juliette cleaned her room herself today and did such a great job (even the shoes were put nicely in the closet.) She clearly takes after her father's side of the family.
4. Loud noises - ambulances, motorcades, low airplanes. She has no problem MAKING loud noises, but that is another story completely.
3. Vegetables. Why is it that little girls from China are such fantastic vegetable eaters until they are two? Is it because they have had the sweet ambrosia of Chik-fil-A once too often? Is once a month too often? Hopefully this is a stage.
2. Men with beards. She seems to be improving on this, but is not a fan of the fuzzy face.
1. HER PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM! It is the same as her Sunday classroom. Evie is NOT a fan of the nursery. It is pretty chaotic and crowded, and I completely understand where she is coming from on Sunday morning. Her two year old mind can't separate school from Sunday morning. We visited today and she clung like a barnacle. This is the same child who held a strangers hand from an office building across the parking lot to the car today. The same child who I had a stranger stop from running out in traffic on Tuesday - she has no fear except of the things listed above and her Sunday classroom. It is going to be interesting to see if she overcomes this.
Pictures and an update Monday.
On another note. Juliette cleaned her room herself today and did such a great job (even the shoes were put nicely in the closet.) She clearly takes after her father's side of the family.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Bikini Lust
Probably there is no more frequent post on a parental blog than that of the quest for HER. The perfect babysitter.
Too serious in her studies to go crazy for boys, not overburdened with extra curriculars, loves kids. Won't burn down the house or do drugs. We know she exists, out there somewhere. We've heard of sightings in the upper Northwest area. We have yet to experience her ourselves.
Instead, we lust. Wherever we go. After teenage girls. At the pool, we know them by their bikinis. Everyone we categorize - too revealing, too sparkly, too come and get me, etc.
We meet parents with children our age. While only too happy to share the latest about college funds, the best pediatricians, where they go shopping for the baby's shoes, the same parents suddenly clam up and edge away when asked about who watches their kids when they go out.
At the mall, the teenage girls travel in packs. We ask people slightly older than us about their teenaged daughters. With the mall crowd and the friend's kids it is more difficult to discern if they would invite their boyfriend over or go through our stuff whereas the bikini tells us everything we need to know.
Last night we went out to dinner with my parents, the restaurant we were at lost power due to the storm. While everyone in the restaurant waited for the lights to return, one of the hostesses started playing with Evie.
Then, like manna from heaven it happened. "Do you ever need a babysitter?" She asked us. A college student, with serious glasses, no visible tattoos, studying child development psychology asking to watch our children. We exchanged vital information after I picked myself up from the floor.
Is it perfect? No, she lives too far away - but it could happen a couple of times.
Dinner and a movie. Not with her, but together. Blissfully together.
Alone.
Too serious in her studies to go crazy for boys, not overburdened with extra curriculars, loves kids. Won't burn down the house or do drugs. We know she exists, out there somewhere. We've heard of sightings in the upper Northwest area. We have yet to experience her ourselves.
Instead, we lust. Wherever we go. After teenage girls. At the pool, we know them by their bikinis. Everyone we categorize - too revealing, too sparkly, too come and get me, etc.
We meet parents with children our age. While only too happy to share the latest about college funds, the best pediatricians, where they go shopping for the baby's shoes, the same parents suddenly clam up and edge away when asked about who watches their kids when they go out.
At the mall, the teenage girls travel in packs. We ask people slightly older than us about their teenaged daughters. With the mall crowd and the friend's kids it is more difficult to discern if they would invite their boyfriend over or go through our stuff whereas the bikini tells us everything we need to know.
Last night we went out to dinner with my parents, the restaurant we were at lost power due to the storm. While everyone in the restaurant waited for the lights to return, one of the hostesses started playing with Evie.
Then, like manna from heaven it happened. "Do you ever need a babysitter?" She asked us. A college student, with serious glasses, no visible tattoos, studying child development psychology asking to watch our children. We exchanged vital information after I picked myself up from the floor.
Is it perfect? No, she lives too far away - but it could happen a couple of times.
Dinner and a movie. Not with her, but together. Blissfully together.
Alone.
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