for fun.

and then one day,

he just walked into the room,

picked up a book,

and read it.

for fun.

SAM.

6 year olds.

CLICK:)

learning to read over here.

exciting business!!!

bat

cat

mat

pat

{grandpa was so excited that brennan can read his name}

sat

hat

fat

nat

{we didn't worry about the "g" there}

then he moved onto

pot

dot

then

mop

top

stop

at which point he told me he was done.

and that a 4 letter word was super great reading.

a BIG word.

so fun to watch him go.

and that darn letter C.

not even individual enough to make it's own sound.

i know, C, sometimes we all struggle with that.

but really, you have to borrow K and S?

at least X combines them both.

i'm having flashbacks of LIT1 in college with missy...

hardest class in my entire college career.

with the greatest teacher ever.

mr. allen.

it was just that it required 6 units of work,

but you only got 2 units of credit.

i still have nightmares that i have to take the LIT1 state exam again,

and i haven't studied for it.

that i have forgotten all of the material from when it took the class.

b/c i took it 8 years ago.

or something.

LIT 1.

traumatizing.

that's we what call that.

boy,

i'm sure glad i had to take it.

and boy,

i'm sure glad linsey's mom dropped off these cards to help me remember why i took it.

because there's nothing more amazing than watching your child learn to read.

CLICK:)

book worm

whatever it takes so i can unload the dishwasher:)

1 yr olds are awesome.

if only trees could grow at the speed of my heart.

these kids.

they inspire me.

they make me want to feel the sun on my face,

and breathe the air deep into my lungs.

they make me want to create.

they make me want to smile.

they make me laugh.

they make me cry.

they make me burst from happiness

and frustration

and happiness again.

we're gonna need a tree.

with a rope.

ASAP.

please:)

i wish trees could grow at the speed of my heart.

b/c if they could,

one would miraculously appear in my backyard tomorrow.

complete with a rope.

and a tire swing.

and if we're talking miracles here,

i might as well include a tree house too.

if only trees could grow at the speed of my heart.

"once there was a tree...

and she loved a little boy.

and every day the boy would come

and he would gather her leaves

and make them into crowns 

and play king of the forest.

he would climb up her trunk

and swing from her branches

and eat apples.

and they would play hide-and-go-seek.

and when he was tired,

he would sleep in her shade.

and the boy loved the tree...

very much.

and the tree was happy."

the giving tree

-by shel silverstein-

...

like i said,

we're gonna need a tree...

the very BEST christmas Pageant Ever {or book}

so proud of my little reader:)

i just love reading my book on one couch,

and him reading his book on another.

.......

when i was teaching school i would read
"the best christmas pageant ever"

aloud to my students during the week or two before christmas break.

we would laugh and laugh at the Herdmans and their crazy antics.

it is still my favorite book to read every year before christmas.

and one of these years i hope that i will be able to read it aloud 

to my children and husband, with them all sprinkled around the room listening.

laughing at all of the same parts,

smiling when the christmas spirit fills the room from the story,

and learning about the true meaning of christmas together.

until then,

i will sit by my tree and read my book.

with brennan on the couch next to me and the room all a'glow:)

"The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the Lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker's old broken-down toolhouse. The toolhouse burned right down to the groud, and I think that surprised the Herdmans. They set fire to things all the time, but that was the first time they managed to burn down a whole building. I guess it was an accident. I don't suppose they woke up that morning and said to one another, 'Let's go burn down Fred Shoemaker's toolhouse'...

but maybe they did. After all, it was a Saturday, and not much going on."

"The Herdmans moved from grade to grade through Woodrow Wilson School like those South American fish that strip your bones clean in three minutes flat...which is just about what they did to one teacher after another. But they never got kept back in a grade. When it came time for Claude Herdman to pass to the second grade he didn't know his ABC's or his numbers or his colors or his shapes or his "Three Bears" or how to get along with anybody. But Miss Brandel passed him anyway. For one thing, she knew she'd have Ollie Herdman the next year. That was the thing about the Herdmans--there was always another one coming up, and no teacher was crazy enough to let herself in for two of them at once."

.......

the very best christmas book ever:)

sit! sit! sit! sit!

the sun did not shine.
it was too wet to play.
so we sat in the house
all that cold, cold, wet day.

i sat there with sally.
we sat there, we two.
and i said, "how i wish
we had something to do!"

too wet to go out
and too cold to play ball.
so we sat in that house.
we did nothing at all.

so all we could do was to
Sit!
      Sit!
            Sit!
                  Sit!
and we did not like it.
not one little bit.
...
spring snowy day.
baby with a runny nose.
and a toddler that won't pee.
which better than a toddler that pees everywhere.
less laundry.
summer is sounding very romantic right now.

altAred plans

image

i had just finished reading angels & demons.

definitely nothing "light" about angels & demons.

great book.

i was feeling not so super.

not so super in an, "i have to eat every 2 hours or i'll vomit" kind of way.

in an, "i'm so tired i go to bed at 8pm" kind of way.

the way where if you normally read a few chapters before bed that you skip your reading for a few weeks no matter what you're reading kind of way.

do you remember my post about

mother goose? click here.

rebecca knew mother goose in high school.

she is a popular LDS novelist and children's author now.

she sent me her latest book.

i'm FINALLY reviewing it.

be on the look out for the return of

emilisq's bloggin' bookies!

...

altAred plans.

it took me back to college.

it made me remember how fun it was to live with roommates.

and how exhausting it was to live with roommates.

it made me remember the feelings i had dating the scout master, in his pre-scout master days.

and the other boys i tried to date, but couldn't stop thinking about the scout master when i was with them.

i loved that Caitlyn did not fit the "norm" of mormon culture.

how she opened her feelings and heart to you, but protected it from everyone else.

how she went from hating men (when her fiance left her the day they were to be married for another girl) to loving men...well, ONE man.

and how that man sometimes made her feel like

"her bonnet was on backwards."

how some parts of her reminded me of myself.

the parts that i don't consider my finer qualities in some cases;-)

and the parts that i rather like about myself.

like being strong willed and knowing what you want for your life.

not being afraid to live what you believe.

knowing that staying home with children is NOT a waste of my college degree.

don't get me started on that one.

this book is definitely for a specific audience, and i really enjoyed the stroll down memory lane.

so here you have it folks,

click here to have your copy in "5-10 business days."

now, there's just one more thing i've GOT to know...

was it a true story?????

june/july book club pick!

summer in rome?

yes, please.

i give you
emilisq's bloggin' bookies
book choice for
JUNE/JULY!!!!

MURDER

MYSTERY

LOVE?

how could you not be excited to get started?!

Costco has it for $9.99, so grab it before it's gone;-)

"these is my words": part 2

"I wish the Lord would just knock me over with kindness and goodness and simple purity, because I don't seem to be getting the knack of it on my own."

(pg. 107)

My favorite quotes, thoughts, and lessons from the book:
...
1. "...Papa says that there Pheonix was hotter than the devil's frying pan." (pg. 2)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmen.
2. "...they was sure surprised when I took my rifle and Rose and went past the trees and brought back a deer for venison stew." (pg. 8)
does costco count?
3. "Before the first light is clear, we hear whooping that comes from the open gates of hell. It is much more terrible than my brothers a playing in the yard. We have our rifles ready and begin firing back as arrows rain in on us...I think I was screaming too but it is too awful a noise to know and I am lading along side Mama..." (pg. 11)
sheesh.
4. "My heart aches bad. I asked Papa couldn't we just turn back and go home. He set his hand on my arm and said, Girl, there's never any turning back in life." (pg. 12)
5. "We are low on food and he needs to go hunting..." (pg. 14)
i think i take the grocery store a bit for granted on most days. you?
6. "My face feels all pulled down and I declare I don't think I know how to smile no more. Mama is crying saying it is her fault for letting us go but it is not...Ernest raised himself up and told me I done a good thing and God surely knows it." (pg. 16)
when doing a good thing feels awful:-(
7. "Our axels don't match, but our wheels are turning." (pg. 24)
such is life, don't you think?
8. "Mama would say that the heart is what is important, but I think if I was shorter and filled out more and prettier I would like that just fine." (pg. 26)
the grass is always greener on the other side. AND how the popularity of certain features changes over time!
9. "The Meyers are camped too near us again and they are eating cold mush and sniffling the air as if their noses could eat it. Mrs. Meyers says out loud how she don't 'low no cooking or working on the Lord's Day and we just turn out backs. I guess we been through some hard times and all are pretty thin especially Ernest who looks like a stiff wind would send him to the Territories ahead of us all, and if the Lord is going to grudge us a quail for dinner well then that's that." (pg. 30)
hahahahaha, let this be a lesson to all of us on not being judgmental;-)
10. "Accustomed is what the scarlet velvet woman was. She was accustomed to her sorrows it said, as she had been accustomed to great riches and fine foods. We are accustomed to Indian wars and sorrows and traveling fast and folks dying." (pg. 35)
what am i accustomed to?
11. "I talked to those Mormon sisters...Now I know why people don't want the around as they are pure addled and claim they are all married to the same husband." (pg. 41)
oh, this is not good for our defense in not being polygamists is it....sigh.
12. "I am almost full grown now, and need to have more room in my blouses up top..." (pg. 41)
hahahaha, i laughed so hard reading this!
13. "I wish I had a gift for my family but I don't, so I went to everyone this morning and said Merry Christmas and hugged them and told them they are my Christmas present just being alive." (pg. 43)
i want this simplicity.
14. "This wagon is a treasure chest and I am suddenly struck greddier than ever in my life. I want it so bad I am just beside myself. All these words to read and know is more than my insides can stand and I am trembling all over with excitement." (pg. 44)
every reader's dream!
15. "Well, I don't know those things but I tried to tell him to just wash his face and hands and comb his hair, be an honest man and a good sport and kind hearted to her feelings, and if she doesn't like him he has got to go slow, and bring her flowers and such and tip his hat." (pg. 55)
so cute.
16. "The Army is back from Tombstone and today the soldiers are pulling away with the rest of the few wagons who will go on to Tucson and most of them except the Mormons want to stay there. Maybe those sisters will get tired of traveling and stay too, and find them each a husband but I will likely never know." (pg. 70)
haha, oh dear...
17. "Imagine having twenty-nine dollars to spend on a dress." (pg. 79)
how much do YOU spend on groceries per month???? i know i spend MORE than $29.
18. "He challenged some gambler, and although it was against the law to wear a gun in town (Tombstone), the man had a Colt in his belt..." (pg. 84)
have i mentioned that "Tombstone" is
MOVIE OF ALL TIME???? "i'm your huckleberry" "you ain't no daisy" "oh johnny, i forgot you were there, you may go now."
19. "Lord, tell me this is the last one I will ever have, and I will be forever grateful. If I had any idea, I would have never married as long as I lived...I never understood why a girl would choose to be an old maid, but now I do." (pg. 120 & 121)
E-P-I-D-E-R-A-L.
20. "Every minute of my day and every last thing I do is tied to this little someone else. I am scared to death I will do something wrong, and she will die or grow up meager or sickly...how will I know how to teach her not to be selfish? And how will I teach her to be honest? And how will I know if she has a sickness when she is too little to say what hurts?" (pg. 121)
anyone else ever had these thoughts before? me too.
21. "Tell her I love her, will you? I began to let tears run down my face...But Jimmy said, No, you have to write her and tell her I love her, please...Write her? Tell Miss Ruthanne I loved her always, and he let out a long breath and died." (pg. 127)
good riddance jimmy. i hope you burns down there. curse you jimmy, curse you!
22. "April has become an artist. She got into the blueing bottle and finger painted the white pine floor...made little smears and lines and hand prints." (pg. 137)
it's too quiet in here, what is the toddler into???? i love how later on she talks about not washing it off b/c this may be the only child she has and she wants to remember the blue hand prints. so cute. so loving. when brennan does that to my floors i'll remember this:-)
23. "So I priced a few other things, and decided I would put my soap money in a jar and save up for myself some ladies' niceties that were never before considered as useful as white paint and new saddles had been." (pg. 142)
i LOVED how she said this, what a scream! hahahaha
24. "That man makes me feel like I have my bonnet on backwards." (pg. 148)
my favorite line of the entire book.
25. "But Savannah hugged me and said, Don't you change one little bit...I know Mama and her were crying for love, and for all their dear feelings for our families. They don't know I was crying b/c they are wrong, b/c I am not good like them, nor sweet tempered and loving. I was crying because I felt like they didn't see the real me inside, and if they had they wouldn't shed a single tear at all over me." (pg. 152)
sometimes i feel this way...i'm glad my thoughts are left to me and me only. sometimes i feel like a fraud, but other times i feel like i'm trying to improve and i'm just a work in progress and that can't be so bad.
26. "Also, there is now an ice factory in town and it was so wonderful to have a cold, cold drink in the warm afternoon." (pg. 178)
another thing i take for granted.
27. "Never, never, he said, pay for a man's dinner. Your contribution is simply being company." (pg. 179)
i love these gentlemanly things.
teach your daughters goddesses, teach your daughters;-)
28. "Every time I think I have been just as scared and horrified as a body can be, I ind there is new terror I am to become acquainted with. What is the use of that God?" (pg. 192)
now that my moles are not cancerous, what will i be afraid of next? how about just trying to not worry myself over things like that?! ok, good idea emily, good IDEA emily;-)
29. "It is funny how much more proud people can be of themselves if they never step back and take a good look in a glass." (pg. 226)
30. "Pretty soon Savannah's other baby started to cry, and she covered her chest with two babies and we fixed a shawl over her." (pg. 272)
it's the arizona territories 'HOOTER HIDER'! oh dearie me, twins, nursing twins!
31. Toobuddy being Charlie's walker as a baby (pg. 299)
32. "He said wisdom is not a path, it is a tree." (pg. 317)
33. "It is like some other part of me made up some rules about happiness and I just went along with them without thinking." (pg. 318)
that's how i feel about joining a sorority. yes, alpha gamma delta was the one.
i felt like i had to have those experiences to be happy, but then i realized it wasn't what i really wanted.
34. THEMES: courage, education, perseverance, love, romance, strength, hard work, honesty, Independence, trust, integrity, freedom, renewal.
35. "They will have to ask the star itself where it goes and why it is not content to stay." (pg. 384)
...

goddesses,

what were your favorite quotes, thoughts, and lessons?
tune in monday to see what the June/July selection will be!

let's just say, it's gonna be a GREAT summer:-)

"these is my words": part 1

goddesses!

it's that time of the month,

and i'm NOT talking about THAT;-)

i'm talking about,

emilisq's bloggin' bookies!!!

...

"The first thing I must do is become more religious. I will have to learn to be a 'righteous example of piety and purity, virtuous to a fault, kind and sharing,' if I am to be the Happy Bride in the book. 'Bible study is the first importance of being a wife.'...the book doesn't say what to do if you have slept in your underwear on top of a soldier in a wagon during a rainstorm."

(pg. 87) today will be questions for all of you,
tomorrow will be a more in depth discussion of what our favorite parts and thoughts were.
i've been ITCHING to hear what YOU'VE been thinking;-)
without further ADIEU, here's some questions for YOU!

...
1. How old was Sarah at the beginning of the book? at the end?
(i'm hoping someone has already done the math for us???)
2. What happened to Lockwood?
3. Would you have wanted Blue Horse delivering one of your babies?
4. What were your feelings towards Sarah's way of life?
5. Who was your favorite character? Why?
6. Which character did you most relate to?
7. Why did Sarah marry Jimmy?
8. What was the significance of Jack and Sarah exchanging time pieces for their wedding gifts to each other?
9. Sarah was in awe of Savannah. What person are you in awe of in your life? How has that shaped you as a person?
10. Sarah was a true heroine in this story in many ways. What is one heroic thing you have done in your life?
11.What themes did you see in the book?
12. What did you think about how the book ended?
"They will have to ask the star itself where it goes and why it is not content to stay." (pg. 384)

What meaning/symbolism did this line hold?
...
tune in tomorrow to hear some thoughts from the other goddesses and yours truly;-)

don't forget to go back and see what the other goddesses have written from the day before!
including some of my favorite lessons and quotes:-)
part 2 is on it's way AND i can't wait to hear more from you!!!

book thief

so i'm in this cute little book club.

LP

is hosting tomorrow night.

i am on pg. 253

out

of

552 pgs.

so, today i will be doing

this

and

only

this.

reading, that is.

the book thief

is about a 9 yr. old girl in nazi germany

who learns to read

and steals books to fulfill her new found reading passion.

throw in foster parents, death, and hiding a jewish man,

and you've got one heck of a page turner.

have you snagged my button yet?

it's new today.

so put it on your page already!