You Capture-Things that Start with the Letter "L"

Beth from I Should Be Folding Laundry sponsors this great weekly event to encourage us all to take pictures.

This week's theme was Things that Start with the Letter "L".





A Ladder in my mom's yard; the Light switch in Tucker's room, and a Lamp in my room

Daybook

For today...Tuesday, February 8, 2011

On My Mind...looking to replace my camera after issues with the battery and now can't transfer pictures to the computer. Can't find the receipt and paid cash so Target won't take it back so I will use this one still because it works but am thinking of getting a Canon Power Shot or going back to a Kodak EasyShare; going to do some more research on it and hope to get something by the end of the week...please continue to keep our niece in your thoughts and prayers.

Outside My window...rain! Thankfully we got the rain part of this storm today so maybe some more snow can melt!

What we're Reading...I've been reading Oliver Twist and now that I've gotten somewhat used to the language, I think I'm actually following the story--lol......with Tucker, we finished From the Mixed-up Files and read Encyclopedia Brown: The Case of the Treasure Hunt, The Story of Snow, and Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad. Because I'm all about themes, we'll be reading about Abe Lincoln, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and George Washington for the rest of the month.

What We're Listening to...I listened to Pippi Longstocking on the way to my friend Joan's yesterday and looking forward to starting Gingerbread Cookie Murder (a Christmas present from Joan) .

What we're Watching...not really keeping up with any shows other than American Idol..lately watching anything on History or Discovery; we especially enjoy American Pickers and Pawn Shop.

I am Hoping...the snow stays away-lol!!!!!...that my gyn gives the all-clear for me to return to work on Mon!

In the Kitchen...chicken and risotto tonight, pot roast, chicken and biscuits.

Around the House...clothes waiting to be folded and more to be washed...definitely needs some picking up!

Coming Up This Week...gastro MD f/u today...car to garage, f/u with gyn, and chiropractor tomorrow...family movie night at Tucker's school Fri night...Tucker's friend Andrew is sleeping over Sat.

A Picture Thought...I definitely need to put some updated pictures on here of Shrek and Fiona! Shrek is getting so big! I think Fiona is going to stay this size.

You Capture-Red

Beth from I Should Be Folding Laundry sponsors this weekly themed event. This week's theme was: RED.

I had all kinds of plans this week and saw all kinds of beautiful red items; however, my camera and I had some issues (which may or may not be related to the operator of said camera). we were happily able to resolve our issues this morning but this left me with very little time to take pictures.

Luckily I had taken some pictures at the beginning of the week.

I found a cardinal in the trees; my favorite RED sign; and some red slippers in Target.

How Many of these Kids' Books Have You Read?

Dog-Eared and Bookmarked had this great list of 100 BEst Kids Books from TeahersFirst.com. I thought it would be interesting to see how many I have read.... (I put an asterick next to what I have read)

Books for All Ages

*The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

*Where the Sidewalk Ends: the Poems and Drawing of Shel Silverstein by Shel Silverstein
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
*The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Books for Preschoolers

*The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
*Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
*Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin, Jr.
*The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
*Corduroy by Don Freeman
*The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
*The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise
*Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Books for Children Ages 4-8 -

*The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
*Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
*The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
*Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
*Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
*Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
The Mitten by Jan Brett
*Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
*Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
*Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola
*The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
*How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
*The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
*Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault
*The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
*If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
*The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
*Are You My Mother? by Philip D. Eastman
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
*Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
*The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus
*The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
*Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
*Arthur series by Marc Tolon Brown
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
*The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
The Art Lesson by Tomie De Paola
*Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
*The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch

Books for Children Ages 9-12

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
*Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
*Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The BFG by Roald Dahl
*The Giver by Lois Lowry
*James and the Giant Peach: A Children's Story by Roald Dahl
*Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner
*Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Matilda by Roald Dahl
*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
*Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
*Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
*Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
*A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Books for Young Adults

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

Random thoughts on a Tuesday night

-I didn't get around to doing my Daybook yesterday and I don't feel like organizing my thoughts tonight.
-We had another snow day today but it didn't really snow-it was more like freezing rain.
-We're expecting more freezing rain tonight into tomorrow so there will probably not be school again tomorrow.
-I'm pretty sure that last thought is not grammatically correct but I'm not going to fix it.
-At the risk of sounding like a bad mom, I'm wishing Tucker had school tomorrow. this staying home thing is for the birds on days like this. Other snow days he's played outside because it was snowing but freezing rain is just not fun to play in1
-We haven't had a full week of school in well over a month due to the snow. Last week, Tucker pointed out we had an early dismissal, a 2 hr delay, and a snow day and wondered when we would do that again!
-I am feeling much better and looking forward to returning to work on Valentine's Day. Although I am really tired which one of my friends at work had warned me about. So even though I'm not having any pain, I do feel the need to take a nap/rest in the afternoon.
-I took down the snowmen and put Valentine's Day up. Besides the fact that is was time to do this, I also felt like it was encouraging the snow Gods to send more snow. I'm going to attempt to climb the snow bank and change the flag out front. The mini-Christmas flag is buried under a four foot pile of snow and probably won't be seen until spring (if that ever comes)
-We keep postponing celebrating my birthday with the family due to the snow. We are supposed to do it this Sunday but we're expecting another snowstorm Saturday so we're on standby. I told my m-i-l tonight that we could celebrate it with Tucker's in April-maybe the snow will be gone by then-lol.
-Tucker and I finished reading From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler tonight and I really enjoyed reading it with him. We took turns reading it. He asked a lot of really good questions and we had a lot of good discussion about it! We're planning a summer trip to NYC this summer and he's looking forward to going to the Met.
-I finished The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest over the weekend and actually enjoyed it. I think my favorite of the three was the second one.
-I read Lord of the Flies which I remember seeing in high school in my psychology class. Not sure if I ever actually read the book; I had a copy for years and then must have gotten rid of it. I found one for $1 at a used book store.
-I'm trying to focus more on reading the classics this year as well as a few reading challenges. You can check out what I'm reading at my book blog. Today I started Oliver Twist for a read-along (and also because I was curious about Dickens, having never read him before, other than A Christmas Carol, which I just read.)
-Tucker's second session of indoor soccer starts this week. The whole team is returning so we should have another good session! these kids also play spring soccer together. Tucker is wanting to continue in soccer and maybe do baseball too. His fall soccer coach had told him he could play games in between the baseball games if he wants to and I think we may take him up on that. He's really liking both sports.
-Even though it's only 8:30, I am so ready for bed!