Don't Wake the Baby!

Hey!
We'll be taking your window out today
The building manager came to say
Just a bit of decay, but don't dismay
We surely won't get carried away
A couple of hours and we'll call it a day
Get in, get done, and get out of your way......

Ding Dong....
The window replacement is coming along
But the time frame was just a wee bit wrong
We'll be done before long, we won't string you along
Surely the project won't take a year long
Back in the morning with a day-labor throng
We'll finish the job and then run along.

Knock Knock...
Seems we've run into a bit of a block
The windows we need are out of stock
They are now at the Port, but stuck at the dock
So we'll be back at eight o'clock
We'll throw in the window and seal it with caulk
Tight as a drum and strong as a rock.

Do I feel a breeze?
Sir, may I have a word with you please?
You may want to speak with your new trainees.
Not that I'm doubting their expertise
But they pulled out my window with the greatest of ease
While I stood in my room as bare as the bees.
I guess you could say I'm a bit displeased.

Son of a gun!
Guess what?  You are the lucky one!
All three windows need to be done
Now, calm down...we all know it's no fun
But now that the work has really begun
You'll be the first to have it totally done
And your place will be fine, second to none!

Tap Tap...
OK, now you've done it, I'm gonna snap
I've lived with the bangs and the thunks and the raps
I've humored the bare nekked breeze and the flaps
I've even put up with the zaps and the claps
But listen up, and listen good, you old chap
You've woken the baby, she was taking a nap!

Library Story Time: "Bark, George" and "Mean Soup"

Today was Tuesday Storytime for toddlers at the Viera/Suntree branch of the Brevard County Library System, and the theme of the day was Things That Aren't Really What They Seem.

I was pleased that there were lots of little action songs interspersed throughout the story time because Evie was having a fidgety day and was more interested in hopping, clapping, jumping, and twirling than sitting.  She even had one of her "let me just lay on the ground and laugh like a maniac" episodes, and while the fidgeting is pretty universal in the toddler age group, the "evil laugh like I'm possessed" was a little creepy and bought her a trip to the hallway to practice eyes, ears, shhhh, after which she sat and listened well.  Evie still tests her boundaries with Nana every once in a while, especially when Mom isn't around, but once she figures out that the rules haven't changed she straightens up pretty quickly. 

The first book read was Bark, George, by Jules Feiffer.

First, we listened to the story.  George is a dog whose Mom is trying to teach him to bark, but the only sounds that come out of his mouth are the sounds of other animals.  When George's Mom takes him to the doctor, the doctor reaches into George's mouth and pulls out the animals that are really making the noises.  Once all the other animals are out George is finally able to bark.

Next, the staff pulled out a bag with a picture of George on the front.  The bag was stuffed with laminated animal picture cards and the children got to come up and stick their hand in "George" and pick out an animal card.  They all had fun telling the name of the animal and the sound it makes.

Finally, the activity for the day also was associated with the book.  Each child had an envelope with cut out pictures of George the dog and a few smaller animal pictures.  They were given a glue stick and crayons, and after coloring the animals, they glued George to the front of the envelope and put the other animals inside, so they could take it with them and replay the activity at home. 

This was a great participation exercise, and we enjoyed it very much, although I have to remember to keep my hands off and let Evie paste and color however she wants and not the way it is "supposed" to be!

 

The kids loved Bark, George, but my favorite book by far was Mean Soup, by Betsy Everitt.

Mean Soup centers around Horace who has had a very bad day at school, made even worse by having to be picked up by Miss Pearl who nearly kills three poodles on the way home.  By the time he arrives at home, words can't even describe how angry Horace is, but his Mom knows just what to do...she enlists Horace's help in whipping up a batch of "Mean Soup," with water, salt, and a few special ingredients like screams, and growls, and fiery dragon's breath.  By the end of the story Horace has learned how to vent his anger in a way that doesn't hurt anyone else, and Horace and his Mom have enjoyed some special time together.  The pictures are big and colorful, and the book is a great way of introducing the concept of the child learning to control his feelings and emotions so that they don't control the child.   Of course, I had the most fun making the growling and roaring sounds along with the book, which I am afraid almost bought ME a trip to the hallway with the librarian to practice eyes, ears, shhhh....

Both are great reads and it would probably be pretty easy to incorporate an activity lesson to go along with Mean Soup that introduces the concepts without even to have to use a stove or boiling water.  After all, that is what imagination is for!  You can check them out at the library, or here are a couple of links to Amazon if you'd like to buy them for your own home library.  I did not see either of these books available in downloadable format from the library for those of you who have jumped on this wonderful opportunity.  If you haven't heard that many libraries now have the ability to lend books electronically to apps like kindle or other e-reader or audible type devices, here is a link to my library's eLibrary Catalogue as an example.

Proudly linked to

69 Things To Do To Avoid Writing a List Post

When my creative faculties seem to be blocked, I find that there is nothing more motivating than an overwhelming desire to avoid something that appears to be even more loathsome and repulsive.  Procrastination is my muse, and today's activities were undoubtedly divinely inspired. 

Today I....

1. Read today's assignment thoroughly, including all of the linked articles given as examples.
2. Sent 10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits to my daughter.
3. Read all the linked posts from 10 Steps to Writing the Perfect List Post.
4. Rolled my eyes while reading the posts about exercise.
5. Wondered if I could come up with better things to do when stuck for a blog topic than Darren.
6. Thought of the friends I know who probably would have spent $10 for one of those domain names.
7. Jumped on over to twitter to play with the 10 Twitter Tools that Help You Work Smarter.
8. Got annoyed with the guy who is sending endless tweets about his erotica reviews.
9. Deleted him.
10. Decided to make a list of all the Mom Loop twitterers I'm following.
11. Decided I should make a favorites folder for blog tips.
12. Did that, then went back and added all the links to the folder.
13. Received and acted upon an intuitive thought that I should put up the computer for the day.
14. Decided the weather was so nice that I should clean off my porch.
15. Went to Ace Hardware to buy an adapter to hook up my garden hose to my sink faucet.
16. Bought the wrong one.
17. Spent 30 minutes trying to hook it up anyway.
18. Cursed.
19. Went back to Ace Hardware with the aerator tip this time.
20. Bought the wrong one again.
21. Still attempedt to hook it up.
22. Created a "fountain park" atmosphere in the kitchen everytime the adaptor popped off.
23. Use a variety of expletives.
24. Gathered hose and all adaptors and threw them forcefully onto porch.
25. Slammed door.
26. Cursed some more.
27. Considered trying out some of the exercise tips I read about.
28. Took a nap instead.
29. Decided it was a good day for a picnic.
30. Went to Publix to buy picnic food.
31. Took Evie out to the playground with picnic food.
32. Carried food around because she didn't want to eat.
33. Decided we should put the food back and get bread to feed the ducks.
34. Marched to the pond with the bread singing "The Ants Go Marching One by One".
35. Discovered I could make duck call sounds by holding my fist up to my lips and blowing.
36. Experimented with that until the ducks swam over and the neighbors got annoyed.
37. Discovered that if we threw bread first to the right, then to the left, we could make the ducks race back and forth.
38. Did that while humming the theme song from "Rocky".
39. Finished the bread.
40. Followed Evie the two year old around the pond to the pool gate.
41. Attempted to convince her that I didn't bring the pool keys.
42. Allowed myself to be frisked for pool keys.
43. Stated it was time to go home.
44. Attempted to convince her that without pool keys we could not get past the gate.
45. Cajoled.
46. Pleaded.
47. Begged.
48. Counted.
49. Picked up screaming toddler and carried her back home.
50. Decided ice cream was a proper reward for carrying a screaming toddler.
51. Ate ice cream for dinner.
52. Thought about writing my list post, but remembered my intuitive thought.
53. Decided to work on my vision board instead.
54. Cut out pictures from magazines.
55. Used the entire glue stick that I had pasting pictures on to poster board.
56. Spent 30 minutes trying to find the other glue stick that Evie had been putting on her dolls as "chapstick".
57. Gave up and went to Walgreens for more glue sticks.
58. Ran into a friend at the checkout who was buying an entire bag of stuff for 45 cents because she is an avid couponer.
59. Decided that I should buy a Sunday paper and start couponing.
60. Spent 30 minutes in the parking lot talking to her about couponing.
61. Went home and worked on my vision board some more.
62. Lost the cap to the glue stick.
63. Experimented with various materials to keep the glue stick from drying out.
64. Decided on a piece of the plastic Walgreens bag as a glue stick cap.
65. Checked the receipt to see if I got the sale price on the glue sticks.
66. Thought about going back to the store to demand the $1.12 I was overcharged.
67. Decided it wasn't worth it.
68. Figured I'd better work on improving my blog since I'd probably be a lousy couponer if saving $1.12 didn't seem like that big a deal.
69. Pulled out the laptop and wrote 69 Things To Do To Avoid Writing a List Post!

69 Things To Do To Avoid Writing a List Post

When my creative faculties seem to be blocked, I find that there is nothing more motivating than an overwhelming desire to avoid something that appears to be even more loathsome and repulsive.  Procrastination is my muse, and today's activities were undoubtedly divinely inspired. 

Today I....

1. Read today's assignment thoroughly, including all of the linked articles given as examples.
2. Sent 10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits to my daughter.
3. Read all the linked posts from 10 Steps to Writing the Perfect List Post.
4. Rolled my eyes while reading the posts about exercise.
5. Wondered if I could come up with better things to do when stuck for a blog topic than Darren.
6. Thought of the friends I know who probably would have spent $10 for one of those domain names.
7. Jumped on over to twitter to play with the 10 Twitter Tools that Help You Work Smarter.
8. Got annoyed with the guy who is sending endless tweets about his erotica reviews.
9. Deleted him.
10. Decided to make a list of all the Mom Loop twitterers I'm following.
11. Decided I should make a favorites folder for blog tips.
12. Did that, then went back and added all the links to the folder.
13. Received and acted upon an intuitive thought that I should put up the computer for the day.
14. Decided the weather was so nice that I should clean off my porch.
15. Went to Ace Hardware to buy an adapter to hook up my garden hose to my sink faucet.
16. Bought the wrong one.
17. Spent 30 minutes trying to hook it up anyway.
18. Cursed.
19. Went back to Ace Hardware with the aerator tip this time.
20. Bought the wrong one again.
21. Still attempedt to hook it up.
22. Created a "fountain park" atmosphere in the kitchen everytime the adaptor popped off.
23. Use a variety of expletives.
24. Gathered hose and all adaptors and threw them forcefully onto porch.
25. Slammed door.
26. Cursed some more.
27. Considered trying out some of the exercise tips I read about.
28. Took a nap instead.
29. Decided it was a good day for a picnic.
30. Went to Publix to buy picnic food.
31. Took Evie out to the playground with picnic food.
32. Carried food around because she didn't want to eat.
33. Decided we should put the food back and get bread to feed the ducks.
34. Marched to the pond with the bread singing "The Ants Go Marching One by One".
35. Discovered I could make duck call sounds by holding my fist up to my lips and blowing.
36. Experimented with that until the ducks swam over and the neighbors got annoyed.
37. Discovered that if we threw bread first to the right, then to the left, we could make the ducks race back and forth.
38. Did that while humming the theme song from "Rocky".
39. Finished the bread.
40. Followed Evie the two year old around the pond to the pool gate.
41. Attempted to convince her that I didn't bring the pool keys.
42. Allowed myself to be frisked for pool keys.
43. Stated it was time to go home.
44. Attempted to convince her that without pool keys we could not get past the gate.
45. Cajoled.
46. Pleaded.
47. Begged.
48. Counted.
49. Picked up screaming toddler and carried her back home.
50. Decided ice cream was a proper reward for carrying a screaming toddler.
51. Ate ice cream for dinner.
52. Thought about writing my list post, but remembered my intuitive thought.
53. Decided to work on my vision board instead.
54. Cut out pictures from magazines.
55. Used the entire glue stick that I had pasting pictures on to poster board.
56. Spent 30 minutes trying to find the other glue stick that Evie had been putting on her dolls as "chapstick".
57. Gave up and went to Walgreens for more glue sticks.
58. Ran into a friend at the checkout who was buying an entire bag of stuff for 45 cents because she is an avid couponer.
59. Decided that I should buy a Sunday paper and start couponing.
60. Spent 30 minutes in the parking lot talking to her about couponing.
61. Went home and worked on my vision board some more.
62. Lost the cap to the glue stick.
63. Experimented with various materials to keep the glue stick from drying out.
64. Decided on a piece of the plastic Walgreens bag as a glue stick cap.
65. Checked the receipt to see if I got the sale price on the glue sticks.
66. Thought about going back to the store to demand the $1.12 I was overcharged.
67. Decided it wasn't worth it.
68. Figured I'd better work on improving my blog since I'd probably be a lousy couponer if saving $1.12 didn't seem like that big a deal.
69. Pulled out the laptop and wrote 69 Things To Do To Avoid Writing a List Post!

"A Frog in the Bog"

So, today was Thursday story time at the Suntree/Viera branch of the Brevard County Library system, and as seems to be the emerging trend, I appeared to be enjoying the books more than the toddlers. I really don't think it was fair that I had to move so the little kids could see, but I did anyway. They could have stood by the door so they could be first in the story room just like I did, but whatever...
The theme of the day was frogs, and my favorite book was A Frog in the Bog, by Karma Wilson. A Frog in the Bog has plenty of rhyming and a catchy meter, and when merged with a repetitious theme mimicking "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly", it had all of the elements necessary to catch and hold the attention of a two year old. Well... the two year old was still singing row, row, row your boat, but I was enthralled, and by end of the book I could almost remember that the fly had swallowed ONE tick, TWO fleas, THREE flies, FOUR slugs, and so on...

In the belly of the frog
On a half-sunk log
In the middle of the bog

Now, you know you want to say that over again, don't you? Go ahead, no one's watching, and I won't tell!
Of course, there is a HUGE plot twist that you never see coming, but I won't spoil the surprise, you'll have to either check it out from the library or pick it up on Amazon if you want the rest of the story.

*signs off*, murmuring "in the belly of the frog, on a half-sunk log, in the middle of the bog"

"A Frog in the Bog"

So, today was Thursday story time at the Suntree/Viera branch of the Brevard County Library system, and as seems to be the emerging trend, I appeared to be enjoying the books more than the toddlers. I really don't think it was fair that I had to move so the little kids could see, but I did anyway. They could have stood by the door so they could be first in the story room just like I did, but whatever...
The theme of the day was frogs, and my favorite book was A Frog in the Bog, by Karma Wilson. A Frog in the Bog has plenty of rhyming and a catchy meter, and when merged with a repetitious theme mimicking "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly", it had all of the elements necessary to catch and hold the attention of a two year old. Well... the two year old was still singing row, row, row your boat, but I was enthralled, and by end of the book I could almost remember that the fly had swallowed ONE tick, TWO fleas, THREE flies, FOUR slugs, and so on...

In the belly of the frog
On a half-sunk log
In the middle of the bog

Now, you know you want to say that over again, don't you? Go ahead, no one's watching, and I won't tell!
Of course, there is a HUGE plot twist that you never see coming, but I won't spoil the surprise, you'll have to either check it out from the library or pick it up on Amazon if you want the rest of the story.

*signs off*, murmuring "in the belly of the frog, on a half-sunk log, in the middle of the bog"

What's This Thing In My Bed?

What's this thing in my bed
Under the sheet?
It jumped on my leg
As I started to sleep.

It's skinny and long
With fur on each end,
And it's shell is quite hard,
It surely won't bend.

I don't want to look,
I am really quite scared.
I don't want to move
Until it's ensnared.

Oh, what shall I do
And where shall I go?
So I grabbed my left shoe
And dealt it a blow.

I turned on the light
And gazed at the bed.
Thank goodness, I'm saved!
The Q-tip is dead!