Mome

This picture is a year old. I picked this up at a garage sale last year to hang in my laundry room, for our purses backpacks etc. (Note that after a year the backpacks still end up on the floor 2 feet from the hook). As soon as it was hung Alan took it upon himself to label each of our hooks. I was so in love with mine that I had to take a picture so I would always remember how he used to spell my name.

I never could correct him because whenever he would write "mome" it was so heartfelt and it meant the world to me. One day a few months later he was reading a book and after a moment sounded out the word mommy. "Is THAT how you spell it?" He asked. Oh how my heart broke that day. I knew that the days of Mome were gone. In fact I'm rarely even Mommy now. Most of the time it is a simple "Mom."
But always I will love Mome.

One Down, Ten Thousand To Go

I found this little bench a few years ago at a garage sale. It was in a little better condition then and I was enamored immediately dreaming of quaint scenes in my backyard with my kids sitting on the bench drinking lemonade. Whatever. I apparently forgot that I have two boys who I am not sure have ever sat on the bench even once. The only thing it was used for was to scoot it against the fence so they could stand on it and spy on the neighbors.

However in my kitchen I have a large, no huge, decorative shelf and it is mostly empty. I decided to repaint it to match the kitchen. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Now I just have to get the ladder out and hoist it up on the shelf. Ha Ha! Who am I kidding? I'm not going to do it. I'll wait for my husband Mr. Muscles to do it. Now on to the other million projects that I have.

While I was taking an after picture of the bench I realised that I never took and after picture of this little thing ( I really don' t know what to call it). I also got this at a garage sale but for free!

The lady was asking 50 cents but she didn't have change for the dollar that I had so she gave it to me for free. I don't even know for sure if I want to keep it. I just wanted to try out a painting technique and what better to do it on then something free!

Remember

Today Alan asked me why we put our flag up. I've never really explained to him what happened nine years ago. Seven years old is so young to have to think about the terrible things that happened that day. I want to protect him forever from the terrible things in this world. I would rather him not know evil that great exists.

I explained to him the tragedy that happened as I struggled to keep my voice even. Trying to not terrify my child I explained to him the tragedy and heroism of that day. And why war is being fought today. Why we need to remember and honor those that died that day. As I finished Alan said "I wish I were this age when that happened." To which I immediately thought 'Thank goodness he was not alive and did not have to experience that.'

Alan continued on "Then maybe I could have done something to help"

"Except ye . . . become as little children"

MATTHEW 18:3

Life's Big Decisions

Though Alan would love to go alone I walk my kids to the bus stop every morning. Not only do I walk them there but as I see the bus coming I make sure to get a goodbye hug and kiss from Alan and Hyrum. Alan would never think on his own to give me a hug and and kiss but he has no problem doing it. It has however become a stressful event for Hyrum.

You see, as a kindergartner there isn't much more important than being the first one on the bus. At first I called the kids over to me to give me a hug but then Hyrum just blew me a hug. Like you might blow a kiss but with a hug. So I then had to start chasing the kids down. The other day as I was giving the kids hugs and kisses Hyrum had the look of indecision on his face. You could tell he was contemplating a HUGE decision. He looked at me, looked at the bus gave me the quickest of hugs and ran off for the bus.

Hyrum is a smart kid though. So the next day as soon as we got to the bus stop he looks at me and says "Mom, I'm going to give you your hug and kiss now so I don't have to do it when the bus comes."

I guess I should just be glad that I'm still getting hugs and kisses.

A Good Book

You should know I love to read. You've probably noticed the goodreads application on my side bar. I love goodreads because I am easily able to make a list of books that I want to read. If I hear a recommendation on a book I quickly go to goodreads and click a button to add it to my list. I love that I can see other people's ratings and reviews as well.

There is on thing that goodreads falls short on and that is a content rating on a book. More than once I picked up a book that had received rave reviews only to find out that it had too much swearing or violence than I wanted to read. It makes me wary to read something unless I get a recommendation from someone I know personally and knows my taste in books.

I have found some remedies for this problem. There are multiple sites that I have found that do content ratings but these two are my favorite. The first is a website called The Literate Mother. I particularly love this website because it has children's books. There are a lot of children's books that are good clean books, but still might be inappropriate for younger kids because they are too intense or have situations that young one's shouldn't have to deal with. They rate each book between 0 and 5 in the areas of Language, Violence, Sexual Content and Adult Themes.

The other site is Squeaky Clean Reads I like this one particularly because it allowes the users to rate the book in each area. This way you don't have to worry about the if the author of the site is too liberal or conservative for you. You can get an idea overall of how general public views the book.

Also I found a great online used bookstore. There were a couple books that I wanted to get for my kids but was unable to get at any of the 3 library systems around here. I knew that one of them would be outgrown in a matter of months so I really didn't want pay the $14 to buy it new. I went online and found Once Sold Tales. Almost all of the books are $3.25 and have FREE SHIPPING! I'll be honest I was wondering if it was a too good to be true deal and that I would never receive the books but they came a week after ordering in good condition.

So good luck with your books and let me know when you read a good one so that I can put it on my list to read.

Summer Reading

Do you have a summer reading program? One where you get tickets to a baseball game for reading a requisite number of books. I never liked baseball as a kid but I loved going to the baseball game. My kids love it too. Despite the fact that the seats are up at the top the kids have a blast singing take me out to the ball game and doing the wave (for them that's the most exciting part of the game). I love that the kids get to earn their way to a baseball game every year.

This year we decided to give our kids some extra motivation to read so we did the city library and the county library's reading program. The county library gave tickets to the Mercury, phoenix's WNBA team. Really they know how to do it. Instead of giving us tickets up in the nosebleeds the tickets were seated in the 12th row! It makes a game more enjoyable when you can actually see the players. Unfortunately during both games I forgot the camera so no pictures of their enjoyment. But great job reading boys!