Last night I was working upstairs to prepare lessons for a client.

Caroline was at soccer which is almost always Katherine’s sign that she and I should play a game or read aloud. Unfortunately, she herself has proclaimed that “I don’t know how to play by myself.”

So needless to say, when she stayed in the basement after Caroline left, I wondered. I heard her talking to herself and shuffling around so I decided to let it go and see what happened.

Close to an hour later (unprecedented!!), she came upstairs and said, “I am so proud of myself! Come see what I did!”

I have to admit that I was a tad worried that she had painted the walls or rearranged all the books but I needn’t have been concerned.

She had been downstairs preparing for her clients too.

Monkey do… Of course.

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When I looked at the kitchen floor, I saw the mud and dirt dragged in by our enthusiastic puppy.

When Katherine looked at the kitchen floor, she saw the first letter of her name magically created by two blades of grass.

If only we could always look at the world through the eyes of a six year old.

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Not sure how I got so totally out of control of a schedule I created but it has happened.

Caroline is playing soccer and softball this spring and Katherine is  playing t-ball and dancing. And somehow the practices and games are at all different times on all different days throughout the spring. It is nearly impossible to get in a rhythm. This is not a good thing for a girl like me.

Last night, Caroline was supposed to go to both soccer and softball practice and then do her homework. When she finished soccer, she was hot and tired and begging to stay home.

For a short time I made the ‘she made a commitment to the team‘ speech in my head but I quickly silenced it and kept her at home.

After all, I had made a commitment too. A commitment to raise my girls true to my beliefs and values.

And I value dinner at a table, not in the car between practices.

I value time to do homework before you are exhausted.

I value girls who love to play sports not girls who beg to skip practice because they are so tired.

And I value time in the yard on a beautiful spring playing and relaxing with your family.

If I had piled the girls in to the car and driven across town to softball practice, I would have taught them about commitment. Instead, I taught them that time with their family and listening to yourself when you are tired are more important than your team. And I am proud that of that lesson.

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Oh my goodness. I had heard lots about this The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, one half of the famous Vlog Brothers. I had heard both how wonderful and how terribly sad it was. I bought it awhile ago but have been waiting to read it. I just wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it. It’s about childhood cancer after all. When is a good time to take on that topic?

Turns out the time is on a quiet Monday afternoon when you have more things to do on your to do list then you can even count. I had read more than half the book when I sat down this afternoon and then I couldn’t get back up again. Except to get kleenex. And then more kleenex. I didn’t get anything done. I didn’t answer the phone… Sorry Mom- you called and I kept reading. I was sobbing too loudly to talk anyway. I didn’t cook dinner or prepare for tomorrow’s tutoring lessons or clean up the house.

I am not sure how I feel about The Fault In Our Stars. My head hurts from crying and I lost an entire afternoon.

But I still think I love the book. I love the book for being the kind of book that takes you totally and completely away. I’m pretty sure that every so often, we all need that.

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The girls had spring break last week so we decided to take an off-season trip to Cooperstown. We have since decided that we are a family that loves the off-season vacation. Great hotel room prices (a suite complete with bunk beds for the girls), lots of parking and a quiet museum. Win-win-win.

It was also obviously a win for the baseball fans among us. The museum is full of interesting tidbits and cool artifacts. This was one of those trips though, that the slightly less enthusiastic fan in the family was taking for the team (pun just couldn’t be avoided- sorry!) Or so I thought…

What a pleasant surprise for me that the Baseball Hall of Fame clearly finds literacy to be about as important as our nation’s pastime.

The bookstore was full of children’s books about baseball…

There was a room set aside with books for kids to read as they took a break from walking around called Pastime Pages…

along with a bank of buttons to push to hear a baseball book read aloud.

And as if all that wasn’t enough, Audrey Vernick, author of Brothers at Bat, was at the museum for an event and a book signing.

Brothers at Bat tells the fascinating story of a family of 12 brothers from New Jersey who fielded an all brother baseball team during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

And three of the brothers and one of their sisters was there too… Amazing story tellers, each of them.

Turns out that books and baseball make a pretty amazing combination…

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I am trying very, very hard not to fall in to the big black hole that is Pinterest.

But boy, is it hard to resist…

The adorable image above courtesy of some time lost while browsing some of the many wonderful things to see on Pinterest…

 

 

 

 

 

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I’ve written before about the joy I feel when books that are hyped are actually worth all the excitement that surrounds them.

I had heard and read so much about two books lately that when I saw them in my favorite book store this week, I wondered. Would they be any good at all?

No need for worry…

Green, by the amazingly talented Laura Vaccaro Seeger, is a work of art. Caroline summed it up perfectly when she said, “Those paintings are incredible!” Each page truly is a painting, not a book page or even an illustration but a painting. Seeger takes the concept of green and shows it’s many variations. There are two words per page making the book, after many read alouds (which would not be hard to accomplish), a potential Read Together Book.

And then there is Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky‘s Z is for Moose. The reading specialist in me makes me a tough critic of alphabet books. In fact, there are few that I truly love. I find that people try too hard with them and as a result, they are often useless for teaching the alphabet. While Z is for Moose isn’t quite a straight forward alphabet book, it is so clever and so funny that I love it. In fact, I laughed out loud standing in the store while I read it.

So there are two more books to add to your shelf… Enjoy!

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I discovered the Nie Nie Dialogues in 2008 shortly after the plane crash that left Stephanie with burns over 80% of her body. At the time, Stephanie’s sisters were writing updates about her condition and the blogosphere was abuzz with talk and ways to help.

Somehow, as blogs will tend to do, Stephanie’s fell off my favorites list. I haven’t read her writing in years but as soon as I saw the cover of this week’s Parade Magazine, I remembered the feelings that I had while reading her story and later her writing.

I am in awe of the Stephanie’s strength and love. Her story is one of true inspiration. If you haven’t read this Sunday’s article or her blog, do follow the links above. It will be time well spent.

But first, let me highlight my favorite part of this weekend’s article.

Stephanie’s young children were understandably overwhelmed by the physical changes in their mom following her accident. And what finally brought them together was reading aloud. I have told countless stories here at the blog, in seminars, classes and at cocktail parties (yes, I’m that one!) about the power of reading aloud but I have never heard or told one like Stephanie’s.

She writes:

“Claire, let’s read Stuart Little,” I suggested. Claire ran to her backpack and pulled out the book.

“You’re going to read, Mom?” Ollie asked as he climbed onto the couch next to me.

Jane wandered in, too. “What are you reading? she asked Claire.

“Stuart Little,” I answered.

“It’s about a cute little mouse, Jane. I think you’d like it.”

She shrugged and sat down on the floor by Nicholas.

“Nicholas, you want to read with us?” Nicholas shook his head and looked back at his toys.

“When Mrs. Frederick C. Little’s second son arrived, everyone noticed he was not much bigger than a mouse,” I began, and Jane looked up.

“The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way.”

Claire giggled. “Look how cute he is with a little hat and shoes.” It was more than Jane could resist. She climbed up on the couch next to Claire. When Jane said something about the doctor examining Stuart Little, even Nicholas climbed on the couch, next to Oliver, so he could see the illustrations, too.

I was sharing the couch with all four of my children. I wanted this moment to last forever. Hoping nothing would break the spell, I read one chapter after another. When we finished chapter four and Jane said, “Oh, Mom, one more chapter. Pleeeease,” I was thrilled.

“Another chapter. I’d like nothing better.”

Another chapter, indeed…

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Dear Katherine,

Today you turn six. It is true that when your ‘baby’ turns six, it makes you stop in your tracks. There will no longer be a little kid in our house. You are growing and growing and growing. It is hard to call you ‘the little one’ anymore. You have become such a grown up.

You are a laugher, a singer, a dancer, a runner, a swinger and a talker.  In fact, there are some evenings when I swear the air is filled with your voice for non-stop hours. You love playing with your baby dolls as much as love playing monsters on the playground with your friends. You love the color pink and say that red is your second favorite color because it is almost pink.

You are such a helper with the little ones at Montessori as you create your own amazing work- paintings, the bead chain, your workbook and long vowel words. At Somerville you listen excitedly to read alouds and you are independently reading more and more advanced books each day. Just the other night, I listened as you read entire books aloud to me. You know that made me smile.

You are an amazing little sister, almost always patient when Caroline is grumpy as if you can sense the space she sometimes needs. You are an amazingly loving daughter, telling me again and again that I am the best mommy in the whole world.

Mommy and Daddy feel so lucky to call you our sweet girl.

Happy, happy day…

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The other day I spoke with my friend Donna over lunch about the amazing website, Married With Luggage. I have mentioned them before as Warren helps me often with the behind the scenes here at this blog. I was talking jealously about Warren and wife, Betsy, who are traveling the world and writing about their adventures.

“Think of all the experiences they are collecting!” I said.

And Donna, often wise, reminded me that I too am collecting experiences. Different experiences but experiences none the less.

I sat down tonight, tired and at a loss for what to write. When this happens, I scroll through the pictures on my phone for inspiration. As I scrolled, I saw that Donna was right. Since I last sat down to write, I have in fact, collected many amazing experiences.

I took the girls to the park on a gorgeous spring day.

Daisy played with her sweet friend Tucker.

We dyed Easter eggs.

We were with Rob’s family as his grandfather turns 95 this Tuesday.

And we celebrated Easter.

It seems that maybe Donna is right.

We are indeed collecting experiences…

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