Book Time

I'm home with sick kids. 4 kids with horrible coughs, terrible noses and fevers. They were sick all weekend and on it goes. I've got it too. Tuba is the only one who is completely well. Good for him!

So, I'm home and the kids are being allowed to watch more TV than they ever thought possible. I might as well catch up on my blogging. :)

Book club met last week and we discussed 3 Cups of Tea; One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time. I loved this book! Everybody should read it. Inspirational and educational and entertaining. The best!

Here is one of my favorite quotes in the book. "In times of war, you often hear leaders-Christians, Jewish, and Muslim-saying, 'God is on our side.' But that isn't true. In war, God is on the side of the refugees, widows and orphans." The other is in reference to educating girls and Mortenson's struggle to get more village girls attending school. He says, "Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities. But girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they've learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls". I first read this quote in the book Half the Sky. I highly recommend the book. If anyone ever wonders what they can do to fight poverty, slavery, terror in the world....read both of these books and you will have your answer. We can ALL do something. We cannot do everything but we can do something. So, go do it!

I am book club host for March and I chose Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Thank you Erika for the suggestion...and now, what kind of chocolate would you like?? Send me your address too. I'm excited to get reading this book. Looks great. This is what Publisher's Weekly says about the book.

See's engrossing novel set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends (laotong, or "old sames") Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women and their betrayal by pride and love. While granting immediacy to Lily's voice, See (Flower Net) adroitly transmits historical background in graceful prose. Her in-depth research into women's ceremonies and duties in China's rural interior brings fascinating revelations about arranged marriages, women's inferior status in both their natal and married homes, and the Confucian proverbs and myriad superstitions that informed daily life. Beginning with a detailed and heartbreaking description of Lily and her sisters' foot binding ("Only through pain will you have beauty. Only through suffering will you have peace"), the story widens to a vivid portrait of family and village life. Most impressive is See's incorporation of nu shu, a secret written phonetic code among women—here between Lily and Snow Flower—that dates back 1,000 years in the southwestern Hunan province ("My writing is soaked with the tears of my heart,/ An invisible rebellion that no man can see"). As both a suspenseful and poignant story and an absorbing historical chronicle, this novel has bestseller potential and should become a reading group favorite as well.

Happy Reading!

Poopy Snow

It's another day off from school due to snow.

Here's a snow day riddle for you.

Question: What do you get when one 2 year old poops in the toilet and then puts a whole roll of toilet paper in and then flushes?

What do you get when 3 year old sister decides to help him out by flushing multiple times until the poopy soup runs over, and over and over the bowl?

What do you get when the poopy soup water runs all over the bathroom and then seeps through the floor vents and begins to run out of the light fixture in basement bathroom?

What do you get when poopy soup water is dripping and then splashing all over 2nd bathroom?

What do you get when the mom of these kids has to clean up gallons of poop soup in two bathrooms on her hands and knees?

Answer: You get one mom who really, really, really regrets wishing for another snow day!

Snow Day

When it looks like this outside....

We decided to do this!

Now, Playdoh may cause some parents to run for the hills but I'd rather do Playdoh than bubbles any day!! Bubbles....Blech!!

The kids had a great time. Sis especially likes Playdoh and sat for over an hour playing with it. This is a miracle considering she doesn't sit still for two minutes all day long. At meal time she eats a few morsels of food and jumps down from the table to run around.

After Playdoh we dumped about a zillion little Legos out and made all kinds of ships, and robots. What a fun day!

Truth be told...the kids really wanted to go out and sled. Me? Not so much. The snow was wet and I already took them sledding....back in Nov. :)

Mid Winter Break

The kids are having mid Winter break. So no school Fri. then the weekend then no school Mon. for the holiday and no school Tues. Such fun! We had beautiful sunshine over the weekend. The air was brisk and cold but sunny! Love it. We headed to the big city on Sat. to enjoy the sun and fresh air. We hadn't taken the kids to the fabulous market in a few years so that is where we went.



What a fun time we had. Fish and chips for lunch. Yummo! We took in the sights and walked our hearts out. The highlight of the day was watching a street performer play a harmonica, a guitar, and some maracas, while spinning two hula hoops and singing! Mr. P thought the guy was totally nuts...which he kind of was...but entertaining.

After the market we walked down to the waterfront and looked at the mummies at Ye Old Curiosity Shop. Baby George kept looking and saying...."oh, SO scary". Sis looked and said, "Look Mom, she's wearing a skirt, PRETTY". Yes, the mummy had a piece of cloth wrapped around her waist. What a girl!

I went back and looked how little the kids were the last time we spent the day at the market. Whaaaa! Oh, what little babies! Check them out here.

GRACE FUND

Sit down with your family and watch this beautiful video. The pictures are taken in Ethiopia and many of them are at Layla House which is where our Busy Guy and Sis lived before coming home to us. The video was made to raise awareness and money for the GRACE fund. Please watch it and contribute to this great cause.

Sweetness

Baby George and Sis have been playing together on Mr. P's top bunk. They climb up and then read books together. Today I heard BG yelling and I could hear the word "Mommy". I went in to see if he needed me to get him down. Of course Sis can climb up and down like a mountaineer...but BG isn't so sure footed and needs me to retrieve him. When I got into the room he tells me, "No, not you. I was calling Little Mommy" and he pointed to Sis. Precious. All day now he's been calling her Little Mommy. They are the sweetest. Although now I wonder if I'm going to be called Big Mommy?

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday....usually. This year was not my year. Last year I went all out. See photos here. I had a big dinner planned and my table planned too. But, the day was chaotic and I had so much to do....ie: laundry. So, at 4:30 I was totally overwhelmed (hadn't started dinner, hadn't set anything out for the table and was still folding laundry) and called Cam to say we should go out to dinner. Where can you go at the last minute with no reservation on Valentine's Day?? Pizza! We went to our favorite place and had a nice dinner and nice time together. And we got to come home to a clean kitchen! Yeah!

I did get an amazing Valentine gift from my mom and her husband Bill. Yipee! I LOVE antique Valentine cards and I mentioned it to my mom a few years ago. Well, she surprised me with this fabulous bunch of cards!! They are so lovely. They are in perfect condition. I really enjoyed looking at each of them. I love how Valentine cards were not commercial...ie: Sponge Bob and Transformers (yes, that is what my boys picked out). The antique ones are so much more fun. I bought some picture holders to display them. Someday I'd like to have a table with a glass overlay where I can display the cards. Thanks mom and Bill!!

Here is the update on Sis. Her burn has lost almost all of the charred part. It literally peeled off like a piece of BBQ chicken. Ewwww! I know it! She is very good at letting me put the burn cream on it and keep it covered. It looks to be healing well. I wonder how long it will take the pigment to return? Any ideas?? Leave it in the comments for me.

Now that I've ruined your appetite by talking about her burn I'll make ya laugh. At Target yesterday Sis saw a white dress with green shamrocks on it. Super cute. The dress also came with bloomers with a frog on the tushy. She loved it! I love St. Patrick's Day and of course wanted to get her the dress. The bummer was that it only came in infant sizes. I went ahead and bought her the 24 mos. She is tiny. It fits great! She is in love with it and has been wearing it...and the frog "undies" for two days. Today she is wearing it with red and white polka dot tights and matching red with white polka dot sweatshirt. Spiffy!