While away at training, we talked about an often neglected part of our children's childhood experience. Nursery rhymes.
Many people have grown tired of hearing nursery rhymes so they don't expose their children to them. We have generations of children who don't know Humpty Dumpty. We have children that don't know fairy tales unless they have seen a Disney movie.
"If children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they're four years old, they're usually among the best readers by the time they're eight (Mem Fox, 2001)."
Nursery rhymes and fairy tales are important foundations for literacy that we introduce to children at the earliest of ages. Keep the magic strong and strengthen your child's literacy growth.
Fairy tales give birth to imagination, creativity, and more. "Fairy tales also contribute to our cultural literacy. A child who has never heard the stories of Rapunzel’s hair or Achilles’ heel is culturally illiterate (Meg Moseley).
SURPRISE! I'm continuing my education!
Well, no big surprise there. I've talked about how I planned on going the masters path since before I completed my bachelors. I'm already in my second week of classes for my first semester.
Can you tell?
It's a bit of a different experience as the school devotes many assignments around spiritual influence demonstrated in your work. I'm quite proud of how some of my papers have turned out thus far and my professors must be too according to the grades I'm receiving.
So onward to higher education!
Another MGA Con meeting this past weekend! If anything, I'm really enjoying getting to know all of the people that are volunteering alongside me. Some of you guys are a real hoot!
Besides that, it is amazing to see what was an idea starting to take more definitive form as we looked at photos and map of the venue. It's that excitement of "THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!"
This is my first time officially volunteering with a convention. This fancy stuff of meetings, brain storming, getting to toss out suggestions has me simply excited. I LOVE IT!
If you want to get on board to volunteer with the convention, great! Stop by Heroes and Villains to fill out a volunteer application.
You don't have to attend all the meetings as a volunteer. You signing some of your time and energy to make this an awesome event are greatly appreciated!
Early Friday morning I received a call from my co-teacher.
The hamsters had escaped their cage sometime between Thursday afternoon and just before she arrived.
It appeared that the green running wheel atop had split open somehow and they managed out of the cage.
Makayla fell into the nearby sink securing her until our arrival.
Sam did not.
All day Friday, there was no hint or sign of Sam's presence.
While I am concerned for Sam, I also will openly say I'm glad that Makayla fell into the sink and not Sam. Sam was full of energy. Sam was the one who could spend hours upon hours upon hours running in the hamster wheel. Makayla hasn't put any of their food in the hamster wheel since Sam was lost leading me to believe Sam was the jerk who would put the corn kernels in there to keep us up all night.
Don't get me wrong, I miss Sam and I hope the best for him. Maybe we'll luck out and his hungry self will pop out today.
Last week's duel was between Kunihiko Ikuhara and Chigusa Sanjouin. Our surprise oponnent climbed out from the world of video games only to get slammed back into her cartridge place.
Round 3, Duel 15:
Kunihiko Ikuhara versus Kaoru Kozue
Again we're presented with Ikuhara, the man behind the animation. This man just doesn't quit! Kozue's determined not to be pushed aside like many of Ikuhara's opponents before her. Who will move on to Round 4?
Alright Avatar fans! Here's a recipe just for you guys: Flameo Noodles!
Ingredients: Serves 1 (super easy to adjust to number of people being served)
1 package of ramen (this number reflects the number of people being served)
1 egg (stays in ratio to the packets of ramen)
Three slices of bacon (or more, this is really your preference on this part)
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Soy Sauce
Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
Stir Fry Veggies (optional)
Directions:
1. Slice the bacon slices into square bits.
2. Put a pot of water on to boil for the ramen only.
3. Start cooking that bacon while the water is boiling. Do not cook ramen and leave it in water before making the bacon! The ramen will soak up all the water and won't be able to absorb any of the bacon flavor. This will make everyone sad.
4. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on your bacon. Bacon loves salt and pepper (almost as much as it loves butter but we're not using butter).
5. Water's boiling! Toss the ramen in there to cook for roughly two-three minutes.
6. How's your bacon? DON'T EMPTY THE GREASE. Drain the water from the ramen and put them in the bacon pan with the bacon and the bacon grease. Stir the noodles in the bacon and bacon grease REAL good.
7. Got your noodles greased up? Put some soy sauce in there. Really, it's your discretion on how much soy sauce you want. I don't suggest an entire bottle.
8. Did you choose to do the stir fry veggies? Now would be a good time to add those in.
9. Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes. It's cool if you don't want them. Don't call them Flameo Noodles if you don't put them in though. Again, how much red pepper is up to you.
10. Cook your eggs all scramble style. Cook them well. No one wants runny egg in their Flameo Noodles.
11. Add your cooked eggs in with your Flameo Noodles and serve it up!
I don't often wear my wedding ring unless it's Open House or PTO night, events like that. My fingers get bloaty-fat during certain times of the month which doesn't feel great for the finger wearing my ring. It gets irritated, dry, and yucky during that time.
Rather than take my wedding ring off during those times, I just wear it for special occasions instead.
My husband doesn't mind too much. He lost his while working on my car engine a couple of years ago.
We talk about replacing them or something but it seems like if we're going to do that, why not renew our vows along with it?
There's no rush for us really. We still love each other. We're still married. Good enough for us.
Plus I can devote an entire pinterest board to awesome wedding rings and no one is allowed to say anything because BOO! I need one anyway.
While I love creating my short stories, I'm signing myself up to try for 50,000 words in one month.
Somewhere I'll do this in between everything else that I enjoy focusing on. Maybe I'll surprise myself in trying a story of length such as this.
So far, Katherine is my longest piece weighing in at over 16,000 words. 16,000 words and I'm going to try for 50,000 in one month?
Does this mean that I won't update my blog everyday? Maybe. But I do promise this much; if I'm so busy typing away at my novel that I can't get a regular blog post up for you all then I will just update Dragon's Wife instead.
If I worked on any of the stories hosted there, which would you like to read more of?
The panic and nerves had risen through my arms as we had waited together. Or perhaps that was the chill in the air. I remember turning on my phone to consider taking a picture of this moment which caused me to look at the clock. I shouldn't have allowed myself to look at the time because all it did was make me start to worry again. I shouldn't have worried then, but I still do it to this day. I was so busy worrying while she smiled excitedly next to me.
Then it approached, she had hugged me so tightly yet so briefly as she jumped toward it.
"I love you!" I had yelled. "Have a good day at school!"
The door closed and she was gone. Off to school.
I always had carried too much panic of missing the bus back then.
Why do I use writing prompts from sources such as The One Minute Writer and Mama's Losing It? Honestly, because some of their prompts truly inspire me to write something and share something with you all. Of course I'm going to credit the people that inspired me to write something.
Using writing prompts isn't something that says that I'm lacking ideas of things to post about (believe me, I have TONS of drafts lined up and waiting for you guys). I also don't use every writing prompt that these two sources post up either, they post a lot of prompts. Seriously, a lot.
I do like these two sources because they actually have a lot of prompts that inspire me to write. They aren't like some writing prompt sources that cause me to turn my computer monitor off instead.
I also get inspired by things that happen in my life or things my friends say.
Inspiration can come from anywhere and anyplace. And I love the inspiration coming my way from all of my sources!
Last week's duel was between Arisugawa Juri and Takatsuki Shiori. The shock of fighting her childhood friend and love lowered Juri's defenses but Shiori's lack of ability with the sword still was unable to penetrate the skill of the fencing club captain. The black rose ring dissolved to ash as Takatsuki Shiori fails to move to Round 4.
Round 3, Duel 14:
We interrupt the previously scheduled duel to bring you a new opponent to the circuit! Facing up against the animation director is The Wicked Queen.
Kunihiko Ikuhara versus Chigusa Sanjouin
Again we're presented with Ikuhara, the man behind the animation. Now we introduce Chigusa Sanjouin, a character only seen in the Sega Saturn game. I've never played the game myself but this is what I know: she's aggressive, manipulative, and rawr nasty. Who will move on to Round 4?
I love love love love love dressing up in costumes! I don't get to do every costume that I want though. Here's a short list of costumes that I'd wear if I had the money for them.
"Describe your first pregnancy...piece of cake or terrible experience?"
Well, um, it wasn't terrible but it wasn't ideal either. I worked in a very stressful environment during that time trying to pull my weight and the weight of other people to try and keep my head above water.
I spent an entire night in the hospital because my back was in severe pain though once I had swimmer's ear after that time I would actually say swimmer's ear hurt worse but the back pain still was REALLY bad.
One of my tests came back low so we had to see a specialist for a second opinion. That specialist told us the test results which meant that I might die during childbirth.
I did not carry to term and started bleeding around noon the day that my daughter was born. I called my ob/gyn but they were out to lunch so I worked out the rest of the day and picked up my sister-in-law before going to my appointment.
I never even got thrown a baby shower except a Welcome to the World party that I put together myself for my daughter.
Soo..... It might not be the most chipper pregnancy story but I'm sure it's not the worst out there either. And now I have a wonderful daughter. Plus I do have some funny pregnancy stories that I share with my close friends.
Building a love for writing actually comes from more than writing activities. Here are some other activities to take a look into doing for budding a growing writer.
1. Read Reading affects writing and writing affects reading. These two babies go hand-in-hand. Visit a library, go to the bookstore, read read read. Once a day is not enough, you wouldn't brush your teeth once a day. Reading together at least three times a day can make a difference in your child's literacy skills.
2. Environmental Print Logos, brand names, and more are helping your child with literacy recognition skills that label their world.
3. Label Get a label maker, get tape and paper, get whatever you want and label your house. This gives them plenty of things to write if you have them write around the house.
4. Don't Stress Perfection When your little one is writing, don't stress perfection. Be okay with inventive spelling, don't correct every handwriting error you see, and know when to back off for the moment. I'm not saying to avoid correcting handwriting and spelling, but not every moment has to be about it. Let's focus on making writing happen and get on the handwriting and spelling when the time is right.
5. Tearing Let them tear tissue paper, newspaper, wrapping paper, junk mail, anything (that you don't mind being torn). This helps build those fine motor skills for holding/manipulating the pencil on paper.
6. Play-dough Mash it, tear it, squish it, manipulate it. Work those fine motor skills!
7. Sewing Don't set your little one up with the sewing machine. Hole punch some cereal boxes and let them guide yarn through those. You can buy lacing cards too but I'm pretty sure you've got a box of cereal in your house and the dollar store has yarn.
8. Cutting Even if you aren't big on couponing, chances are that you get coupons in your mailbox. Don't let them go to waste, let your little one strengthen their writing fingers by cutting the mess out of those things! Seriously, it is a mess.
9. String Yarn, string, or floss. These can be used with cereal, noodles, beads, for more finger exercises!
10. Bottle Fun Take an empty water bottle, soda bottle, juice bottle (no 2 liters, please) and fill it with cotton balls or pom poms. Children can take them all out and put them all back in. This is also great for quiet calm-downs. Keep it in your purse for on the go.
11. Shaving Cream On your table or in the tub, shaving cream is always creative scribble fun!
12. Cross Your Mindline Okay, am I talking another language now? Crossing the mindline is about taking one hand to do movements on the other side of the body. This helps to develop those fine motor skills and wake up your brain. Dr. Jean's album "Better Brains and Bodies" is a great start.
Not all children are fond of writing, some children might find it frustrating. Here's a list of ways to make writing an enjoyable experience for your little one:
1. Journals (or diaries, whatever you wish to call them) You can pick up small writing tablets at the dollar store for children to freely express themselves in. It doesn't even have to be words or letters, something that they can freely take a pen or pencil to and just let writing happen however they want it to.
2. Gel Board (how to) Use dull pencils and such to write on your gel board. Alternate between using the gel board and paper for writing activities
3. Pen pals Writing letters, greeting cards, postcards, or thank you cards to send in the snail mail can be especially fun for little ones. Bonus help to the love for writing when people send them letters BACK in the mail. Keep the mail fun going!
4. Become an Author Assemble paper together to make a small book and allow them to become the author of their very own story!
5. Dry-Erase Writing On windows, on mirrors, and even on the bathtub wall! Oh, I guess you could use a dry-erase board too, but the more out of the norm for your young write, the MORE AWESOME!
6. Quill I'm not saying run off and actually buy a quill. Unless you really want to. You can just use a simple feather and watercolor paints. It's super cool and super fun.
7. Write the Room (Karen Cox) Or write the store! Take it to a store let your little one write a list of things they like and don't like in the store.
8. Roll 'n' Write (Karen Cox) Here are tons of neat writing printable games.
9. Musical Words (or letters or sentences) Place the letters (or words or whatever) in a circle on the floor and give them a dry erase board and marker (or clipboard and paper). Turn the music on and have them walk around the letters (or whatever). When the music stops, they writes whatever they're stopped at. This activity can also be used for numbers, shapes, and MORE!
10. Game Night You can turn games like Candyland into writing games too. Tape letters (or words, sentence, ANYTHING) to the color squares and they write the letters (or whatevers) when he lands on them. Can be applied to games such as Jenga, Memory, and more!
11. MagnaDoodle (or Aquadoodle or whatever your doodle-fancy is) Again, for the free flowing writing. Doesn't have to be words or letters, just as long as writing is occuring is what is important.
12. Interactive Journals (different than regular journal) Yes, it's a teacher tool but it can be implemented in the home as well! You can give your child prompts, tape pictures of friends and let them write about those friends, events like going to the pumpkin patch for them to write about what they enjoyed about the trip.
Never be afraid to shake things up with a little color pencil action every now and then too. Just a splash of color to perk writing up into something fun.
The One Minute Writer posts writing prompts each day, Friday's prompt being a flash fiction prompt contest. Squee, squeal, excitement that my first entry in also won this week! My winning piece
I barely wrote under 140 words, my piece stood out which makes me feel pretty awesome. Thanks to all my friends for helping me to develop an official sounding author biography to submit in as well (especially Molly).
For more fictional writing nonsense: check out my other blog.
SQUEE!
Last week's duel was between Kunihiko Ikuhara and Chiho Saito. Ikuhara was just more creatively insane in the arena, Saito had no chance of predicting any of his movements. Blank paper scattered through the air as Chiho Saito fails to move to Round 4.
Round 3, Duel 13:
Arisugawa Juri versus Takatsuki Shiori
First duel of round three and it pains me to watch. The strong and masterful Juri, captain of the fencing club facing against the one who holds her heart captive. The person she loves but would never admit. The person who rejects her love when she discovers while simultaneously using it to manipulate Juri. This is where things could get nasty. Will Juri remain focused on winning or will she bowl over to allow Shiori to move on in her stead. Who will move on to Round 4?
I know I know I know I know I know... Another post about karaoke. Can you tell that I really enjoy karaoke yet?
Today we're going to talk about songs that I know not even to bother asking for but I would totally karaoke this if they would carry it.
Just in case you haven't been paying attention... I LOVE KARAOKE! I also love the friends that I go to karaoke with. They're the best crew you could ever hope to get to spend time with.
Here's a few tracks that they sing better than the original artists:
I love going with my friends to karaoke on Friday nights. We all have blast relaxing together and singing. Our karaoke place is AMAZING! They have folders and folders and FOLDERS of songs to sing.
But leave it to me to have a song in mind that they don't have. How do I know? These are all songs that I've asked for.
Here's my list of songs I would rock out if they had them:
Friday nights are karaoke nights. My best friends (the coolest people in Warner Robins) get together and we have a wonderful time together. Here's some of the songs I like to sing when we spend our time together:
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf
Rocky Horror Picture Show - Rose Tint My World
It should be noted that Rose Tint My World is for special occasions only and is dedicated only for Molly. Queen - Killer Queen
These are my favored few, but there are more that make it up there with me to the stage.
First off, HOW AWESOME IS SCOOBY DOO AND THE GHOUL SCHOOL? I know right. It IS that kind of awesome.Only thing that could make it better? Take out Scrappy Doo.
Alright, let's battle it down the list. Let's start with cast:
6 private school girls versus entire high school
Okay, that's an impressive casting on the MH side....
Animation quality:
Pen to paper against computer animation
Okay, so GS is from 1988 but so was The Land Before Time... Going to point it to MH again..
Antagonist:
Revolta versus Cleo de Nile
I think the military school boys are better antagonists but love the Queen Bee Nasty of the high school drama. POINTS ALL AROUND!
Vocal Cast:
Old School fame against Anime Voice Stars
Seriously, look at the voice casting on both of these projects. These people know what they're doing. POINTS FOR EVERYONE!
Puns:
Hanna-Barbera Classic or Fetch Lingo
There are very few lines of dialogue in GS that DON'T contain a pun, while MH makes it flow in a way that sounds like high school kids talking their high school talk. All hip and cool and stuff. POINT TO MH!
DANCE-OFF:
Monster Mash versus Monster High Opening Theme
Monster High takes the point!
End Credits:
As much as I love Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School, taking the time to watch Monster High I have to admit: It's a really cool show. Whatever that they dress as they do, they're representing HIGH SCHOOL. Though I don't know about you, I wore a lot of jeans and t-shirts in high school. There's not enough fem characters representing me. Though Ghoulia and Laguna are MY FAVES!
Don't judge me until you sit down and watch an episode.
UPDATE:
Finally made it to Volume 3. Can I just say how much I love Abbey?
Last week's duel was between Shinohara Wakaba and Kaoru Kozue. The innocent heart of Wakaba stood no chance against the rage of Kozue's.... sword. Black rose signet dissolved into ash as Wakaba fails to move on to Round 3.
Round 2, Duel 12:
Kunihiko Ikuhara versus Chiho Saito
Fourth duel of round two. Animation director versus manga artist. In most cases, the mangaka creates the manga and then it's picked up for an animation. In Utena we have two versions of the story as both created their own dynamics of the Ohtori Academy scene. Many of the homosexual tones were removed completely in the manga interpretation and many characters from the anime never appeared in the manga either. Mystical, magical Ikuhara versus the earthy Saito; who will progress to Round 3?
Found a cute little blog with writing prompts. I like it, it's better than most places that are like "write a short story" or "a picture's worth a thousand words, write a thousand words for this picture."
I like writing prompts that make you think, make you focus, and motivate you.
One of my favorites from recent months was "make someone fall in love with your favorite smell."
Now between musk and AXE? Um... I dunno. The scent of musk has always confused me. But I know I don't like AXE. AXE smells like teenage tools. Is Old Spice a musky scent? I like the smell of Old Spice on a man. Have I smelled musk before? Isn't that what guys smell like when they're sweaty and haven't showered? I don't think that I understand musk enough to appropriately answer this question....
"The heels they all wear are completely impractical. How do they run after the bad guys in those!"
I seriously cannot stand reading garbage like that when discussing super heroes. From She-Ra to Wonder Woman. From Emma Frost to Sailor Moon. It is NOT impractical. Do you have any idea the strength and balance that wearing heels utilizes? These are SUPERHEROES, not your average tomboy who can't balance in a one-inch clog. If I can run around for hours of jumping, hopping, skipping, playing, and dancing in six inch heels, this is not an impractical idea to fight villains (or heroes) in kick-booty shoes.
There are a number of models and celebrities who actually work out in their stilettos. There are stiletto workout videos but some of these gals actually hit the gym or their home equipment while sporting their fave heels. They run on the treadmill in these babies. And guess what? Their bodies end up looking as SMOKING HOT as any animated super gal I've seen.
So these "unreal" body images and "impractical" shoes and not really so. Maybe they aren't practical for YOU but some people actually have the strength, stamina, and agility for that. Real people, not just mutant superheroes.
Now some of the hairstylings and outfits might be more of a problem. Shoes are not.
I'm member of a Seasonal Book Club. It's really nicely paced. Once, every three months, we meet to discuss a book and pick out another. It really affords well to leaving us time in other areas of our life and to read other books of our choosing in the meanwhile.
We met up this weekend for our fall meeting to discuss:
Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Category: Teen, Apocalypse, Fiction
Summary: "After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up."
Favorite quote: "Not bragging too much, but I had to be careful never to smile while I drove: It had the capacity to blind oncoming traffic."
AND
"When I wake up the next morning, there's a Hershey's Kiss sitting on the table beside me."
The review: All book club members agreed that while the change in first-person perspective between characters gave a clearer understanding of events and goings-ons it was also agreed upon that the author could have been more clear in the perspective change. The first occurrence leaves the reader confused about what is going on until the perspective change becomes clear and even when you get used to it, you still have to solve the mystery of Which Character Is It at the start of each segment. Also, watch out for plot holes.
Would I recommend this book for read: Not to other adults. I did create a fun game to find how you would die if you were in the book. The game requires two ten-sided dice; one with one's and one with ten's. You roll these two dice to find what number you have (10's dice: 70, 1's dice: 3 becomes a 73). Find where your number falls on the chart and that is how you will meet your demise. (or you can go here and click d100)
Some years ago, we started a little tradition in our home for the month of October. Every day for the entire month of October we watch Halloweeny movies. From horror creepy to family-friendly Halloween.
