Sunday, November 12, 2017

Celebrate This Week: Visits, Leaves, Notes, & Books!

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.

When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.
Discover. Play. Build. 

   A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember.

Tough to squeeze in a celebration this weekend, but here goes . . . 

1)  Quick visits!  
My son flew in last night, but he's only here for sixteen hours and that included some important sleeping time.  However, this mama welcomes any visit, no matter how short.  He was on a long flight to Alaska for miles and managed an overnight stop in Seattle.   Soon he'll head back to VA.  I celebrate the time we've had to visit! Next month he (and his family) will return for a longer stay during the Christmas holidays.  

2)  Fall traditions! 
Our deck is covered with yellow maple leaves.  Years ago my daughter and I used to try to find the biggest leaf on the walk home for school. And then each day we compared our finds to the previous day.  I rounded up a few of the larger leaves from the deck yesterday.  Look for the purple paper clip on the first leaf as a guide to the scale of these leaves.  

3)  A parent email
Even though I'm retired, I've worked with our after school book club for the past three years.  This year, our local teen librarian has stepped in to lead the group.  I was lucky enough to join this past week's meeting. And after we met, I got this parent note which was a high point of my week.  

Hi Ramona,

I checked out Train I Ride from the library a few weeks ago, read it, and suggested that ---- read it. Of course, she did not heed my suggestion, but after your endorsement of it in Book Club last week, she picked it up from the coffee table and started reading. When she finished the book, she closed the cover and announced, "That was the best book I've read all year!"

You have great powers over my daughter. I might have to call you one of these days when she decides to completely ignore me!

What a gift this parent sent my way with these few words!

4)  Good reads!  
Ruth's new book Enticing Hard-To-Reach Writers arrived this week!  I sat down to get started, but I was torn between it and the fiction book I was reading from the KCLS Mock Newbery list.  As I sat tucked into my cozy blanket with both books on my lap, I was struck by the pairing of the two books.  
You see, forever, or a long, long time is the story of siblings from the foster care system who find a forever home and learn what it means to be a family.  As soon as I publish this post, I'm off to finish the last 27 pages.  Put it on your WTR (want to read) list.  I promise you won't be disappointed!  And what's a celebration without something to look forward to?  This week is the beginning of #enticingwriters blog tour.  Check out the schedule and follow along.  I love that I've personally met three of the people who are hosting this delightful journey.  
Here are the links for each stop:

11/15 (W) Michelle Nero http://literacyzone.blogspot.com
11/17 (F) Leigh Anne Eck http://adayinthelifeof19b.blogspot.com
11/18 (Sat) STENHOUSE FB LIVE at 1:30pm (CST) with Shawna Coppola and Stenhouse FB Page

11/20 (M) Mary Helen Gensch https://booksavors.wordpress.com

11/22 (W) Jen Vincent http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

11/27 (M) Julie Johnson http://www.raisingreadersandwriters.com
(November Newsletter -Write About https://www.writeabout.com​)

5 comments:

  1. Happy about your son's quick visit, and yes, no matter how short, it's always good. Those leaves are gorgeous and what a happy memory of you and your daughter searching for the biggest leaf. I'll be reading the blog tour posts to see what they say. I haven't finished it, yet, but am reading a few chapters at a time. It is so good! And, I ordered your other title when I saw you share on FB, I think. That note is special, sorry to see that you are not going to do the club anymore. They don't know what they're missing! Have a happy week!

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    1. Linda, I was sad to give it up too. But something had to give in my schedule. I can still drop by the monthly meetings on occasion, but our weekly meetings were definitely something special!

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  2. Ramona, I am delighted that Ruth wrote this book for all teachers who are trying to reach their pupils. All of a sudden I realized that your son lives in VA. Where? My daughter lives in Reston. Maybe someday we will meet up in VA. Have a great week.

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  3. I loved that note - you are a gift to young readers, for sure. I just finished reading Forever...what a fabulous book, right?!

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  4. What a wonderful note! It means so much when we are able to see our impact! :) Off to put that book on my TBR list! I need to get a copy of Ruth's book too!

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