SOL 21/31: Glimpses of Grandson Sunshine!

Two of my grandsons arrived this morning with their mom after dropping big brother off at kindergarten. It was rainy and cloudy so they stopped by for a visit. I enjoy these mornings when they pop by with their mom. She made hot chocolate for the two of us. Unfortunately, our days of not including the boys in this indulgence are over. Both boys wanted to join us in our sipping tradition.

Ollie (20 months) was quite vocal about wanting some hot chocolate and not interested in the morning snack in front of him. I tried reading poetry to him. He kept saying, "Back, so I continued flipping back through the book, thinking he wanted to see a certain page again. But when we reached the title page, he replied, "All done."

Jack came over on Sunday afternoon, delighted to share the Irish dancing he had learned in kindergarten for St. Patrick's Day.

We started a 100 piece puzzle (too hard!) of guinea pigs. We're in that awkward spot right now, the 24 piece puzzles are no longer challenging, but 100 piece puzzles are overwhelming. Grandma started it and Grandpa finished it. 

I love this pic of Jack reading to Ollie. 

Jack and Robby (almost four) love listening to podcasts. They have long enjoyed Circle Round, Brain On, and have recently added Spyology Squad to their favorites. Jack has decided that he wants to make a podcast and he and Robby have already made cover art for their upcoming stories.

"The Missing Monster" by Jack

 "The Missing Giant" by Robby

(We might have a series here.)

When Sara saw the finished guinea pig puzzle on the table this morning, she retrieved a 500 piece puzzle of national parks and started it. Ollie crawled up in a chair to help out. I picked three puzzles for him from the cubby: a vehicle puzzle with knobs and two Discovery Toy puzzles from when my children were little with poke-out holes from the back. Ollie called out the names and numbers of items in the pieces as he put them in. And when we finished the third puzzle, he chanted his favorite phrase, "All done."

Daughter captured this pic of Robby and Ollie "fishing" together this morning.

I can't resist sharing a Robby story from last week. Sara was looking through the community center brochure with the boys and circling classes they might be interested in. Robby asked her to explain the Beginning Piano class. Sara told him that it would teach him how to play the piano. 

Robby confidently replied, "You mean better than I already do?" 

There's never a dull moment with three grand boys and their own special brand of sunshine!

SOL 20/31: Sunday Night Giggles

When hubby and I were watching TV Sunday evening, I noticed some of the Easter decor missing from the mantle. There are some open spots in the animal lineup. I spot Yellow Duck with the backward baseball cap keeping watch on Main Street.

I scan the family room. No one is in the bird basket. No one is in the book basket. No one is on the coffee table or the couch or the hearth. I may have to call grandson Jack tomorrow for clues to where the other stuffies have gone. I may need to look downstairs. He was here Sunday afternoon and may be the guilty culprit who took a few stuffies on a Sunday afternoon excursion.

Sunday evening show finished, I come out from under my cozy blanket and push away the footstool, ready to head to bed. And that's when I get the giggles!

For there on the family room carpet, just out of my line of vision when I put my feet up, are three runaway bunnies. I leave the returning to the mantle for Monday morning. Maybe grandsons and I will write The Adventures of Three Runaway Bunnies. Stay tuned. They will be here Friday morning. Our lineup may stay perfectly aligned until then. Who knows what mayhem three boys, three runaway bunnies, and a touch of imagination will create?

SOL 19/31: Book Connections

One of our grandsons was here for a visit this afternoon. When asked about the books he wanted to read, he wanted to read Halloween books. So we went upstairs to where I have the seasonal books on a special shelf. He chose four favorites.

Then it was my turn to choose a book from the basket of books currently checked out from the library.

I was just a few words in when I knew this was a poetic book. When I turned to the last page, I discovered the music for this book/song by internationally renowned Cree singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. It's a "...love letter celebrating seasons, place, Indigenous traditions, and community. Of summer flowers turning fields to sun, and hearts filled with drumbeats, Read it. Sing it. Share it." 

These words from the book jacket resonated with me because Aunt Nan and Uncle Jim often took us to the Tulsa Powwow at Mohawk Park in the 60s. I can still hear the drums, the singers, the shuffling feet, and see the beautiful costumes of the native dancers.

When we finished the book, I asked Jack to guess which animal from the book we saw yesterday on our drive home from the retreat. We started at the beginning of the book, looking for animals on each page. 

"Beavers?"

"No."   

"Geese?"

"No."

"Whales?"

"No."

"Rabbits?" 

"No."

"Buffalo?" 

"YES!"

When we passed buffalo on the drive home, I immediately broke into the chant from my high school days: "Go, you mighty buffaloes, go, go, go!" We were the Buffs. 

Once I shared the buffalo pics with Jack, we looked at the song lyrics at the end of the book. I commented that maybe his dad would play it for us. Grandpa suggested that we ask Siri to play it and sure enough, quick as a wink, we were listening to the song by Cree singer/songwriter/author, Buffy Sainte-Marie.

Still This Love Goes On prompted these connections: 1) a memory from my childhood, 2) sharing of yesterday's buffalo sighting, and 3) listening to the song by Buffy Sainte-Marie. This song/book, beautifully illustrated by Julie Flett, will encourage you to think about the people and places you love most. It would be interesting to pair it with All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Mike Wimmer for a companion book study.

SOL 18/31: An Illustrated Haiku

This is the first time we've met for our book club retreat in four years.

 

Mountains and sunshine

delicious food, books, and friends

nourish connections

 

 

This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March.  Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life. 

SOL 17/31 & Poetry Friday: Book Spine Poetry with Board Books

It's Slice of Life and Poetry Friday. After my book spine poem earlier in the week, I looked around and wondered if I could compose one from board books at our house. Only two of these are library books. Guess which book is the all-time favorite? (See answer below the poem.)

 Heavy Haulers

Oh My Oh My Oh Dinsosaurs!

OLIVIA counts

Ten Little Ladybugs.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

Into the Ocean.

Digger Man 

For Your Smile.

Time for Bed

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Digger Man is the all-time favorite of our twenty-month-old grandson. Sometimes we read it five times. One of his favorite words is "Again! 

Here are a few pics of our little guy enjoying books. I captured the last pic of him reading to himself at his brother's birthday celebration in January.

This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March.  Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.  

SOL 16/31: Will I Be Able to Stop at Three?

Come scroll with me. It's my favorite day of the challenge! We've passed the half-way mark. Woo hoo!!!

I open my computer to a seven year old marvel! I saw Fran's post last night and had no words to capture what I felt as I looked at her granddaughter's list of words. So I stopped my scroll right there and went to bed.

And then I read newtreemom's post with its list of comments from naysayers about her upcoming workshop at Highlights. Put those folks in the rear view mirror, Diane!

Trina's Rambling Autobiography will leave you wanting to try one. Did she really do this in three minutes? I loved using Linda Rief's Quickwrites in my classroom. Trina's reference to Linda Rief's newest book made me break a promise to myself to not buy any more professional books. (I've been retired for nine years.) I'm trying to not buy ANY books (the operative word is trying). When we moved last year, I got rid of so many books. And my shelves are full of books I still want to read. 

BUT ... 1. A book with an alliterative title... 2. by an educator I love... 3. about poetry! It's a triple and I can't resist. 

And there you have it! Three stops, three comments left, three posts shared, and one post written. I'm off to pack for tomorrow's book club retreat. It's our first since 2019. And this year marks our 25th year together!

This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March.  Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.   

SOL 15/31: Kitchen Memories

Funny how easily I can be transported into the kitchen where I grew up. It was U-shaped and  tiny by today's standards. We had a small eating area off the U-shaped kitchen work space. That space included a stove, a counter, the kitchen sink, a tiny bit more counter that always held a red dish draining rack, and a harvest gold refrigerator that stood on the wall opposite the gas stove. Refrigerators weren't built in then, they just jutted out in the middle of the room. There was one small window between the refrigerator and the tiny bit of counter. 

My dad was almost always outside either in the garden or his workshop. He mounted a bell on the outside wall of the house. Then he drilled a hold that held a wire that you could push from inside the house to ring the bell. That's how my mom called my dad to come inside for dinner, or a phone call, of if someone needed him. Necessity was the mother of invention. We didn't have cell phones in our pockets then.

Two of my favorite items in that kitchen were the pull-out dough board and the square tin of flour in the cupboard just beside the sink. I think my dad built that pull-out board where thousands of biscuits and hundred of pie crusts were rolled out. He was good at building things, especially when they made life easier for my mom. The square "tin" of flour could hold 25 pounds of flour. My dad built a wooden lid with a round drawer pull on the top to fit securely into the top of the metal canister of flour.

Shortly before the pandemic began, I decided it was time to have containers that held more than five pounds of sugar or flour. I ordered two circular bins with screw top lids. It's brought a wonderful sense of satisfaction to know that I have plenty of flour and sugar for my baking needs. And I feel a bit closer to that kitchen I grew up in with it's metal flour container with the wooden top that could hold 25 pounds of flour! 

This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March.  Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.