All posts by Nichole

The mother-daughter book club discusses “Hope Was Here”

01/28/2016 Nichole 1 Comment

January’s mother-daughter book club selection was “Hope Was Here” by Joan Bauer. We thought it would be fun for the girls if we went out again, so we met at a local pizza place for our discussion. The calzone Poppy and I shared was delicious, but the restaurant was a little too noisy for a good discussion. We’ll probably be meeting at home from here on out.

Here’s a synopsis of the “Hope Was Here”:

When Hope and her aunt move to small-town Wisconsin to take over the local diner, Hope’s not sure what to expect. But what they find is that the owner, G.T., isn’t quite ready to give up yet — in fact, he’s decided to run for mayor against a corrupt candidate. And as Hope starts to make her place at the diner, she also finds herself caught up in G.T.’s campaign — particularly his visions for the future. After all, as G.T. points out, everyone can use a little hope to help get through the tough times … even Hope herself.

The main character, Hope, doesn’t like the name her mother gave her at birth, so she renamed herself. One of the things we asked the girls to ruminate on as they read the story was what name they would rename themselves if given the opportunity. I will henceforth use the names they chose (for the most part) in my book club posts. They chose:

Summer, “because it’s lively.”

Scarlet, “I just really like it.”

Story.

Grace.

Wolfelia, “because it has ‘wolf’ in it and wolves represent family and loyalty.”

Liliana, whom you know as Poppy.

And one girl said she wouldn’t change her name. She likes the name she has because it isn’t a common name for a girl. For book club purposes, we’ll call her Syd.

The girls agreed that Hope didn’t miss out on much by being raised by her aunt rather than by her mother, because her mother “could be a little wild” and “didn’t have any motherly feelings.” They identified the book’s main themes as: love, home, family and food.

The moms thought the political aspect of the plot was too detailed and bogged the story down, and one mom found the main characters’ Save The World mentality a bit tiresome. The girls’ opinions were mixed. The lowest rating was Grace’s five kitty paws out of 10, and the highest rating was Wolfelia’s nine-paw rating. On average, the kids gave “Hope Was Here” seven paws.

Previous mother-daughter book club selections

“Serafina and the Black Cloak”

Family matters, sponsored

Tired of fighting the Battle of the Bored? Use these simple strategic maneuvers.

01/26/2016 Nichole 2 Comments

They’ve rebooted “The X-Files,” they’re remaking “Ghostbusters” and we’re back to wearing oversized flannel (well, I am anyway) because every old is new again. So it shouldn’t surprise me to hear my children echoing the phrase with which I tormented my mom lo those many years ago: “I’m booooooored.”

I try not to tell them that “only boring people get bored” and that “when I was a kid, I only had rocks and sticks to play with and I liked it,” which is what my mom told me, because (1) it hurt my feelings and (2) I had a lot more than rocks and sticks to play with. I had a sizable Barbie collection, among other things, but I still didn’t have nearly as many toys as my overly privileged children have. The sheer volume of their toy collections makes the “I’m bored” business especially irksome.

Even so, I sort of understand where they’re coming from. Play with the same toys day in and day out, and those toys can lose some of their luster. So rather than telling them to go play with a rock, I try to employ one of my two favorite ways of combating Toy Ennui: the Ol’ Switcharoo and the Change of Scenery.

The guards of Castle Sidewalk stand fast against the Giant Cat and A Foot incursion.

Changing a toy’s usual landscape is a great way to give it new life in your kids’ eyes. Our big snowstorm over the weekend made the Change of Scenery simple. Pete and Rockford gathered up a bunch of their Star Wars toys and took them outside for some instant Hoth backdrops. It’s nice when Mother Nature lends a hand on this front, but you don’t have to wait for her to step in. Poppy likes to take her Barbies out to the swing set for adventures, for example, and when it’s warm out Pete sets up a car wash for his Matchboxes and Hot Wheels with some soapy water and squirt guns. Any toy taken out of its usual context is automatically more interesting. Unleash some dinos in the driveway! Let Furby flounce in the flowerbed! Send the Slinky down the slide! The backyard, bathtub or basement could be your kids’ oyster.

The Ol’ Switcharoo requires some storage boxes, a bit of attention and a place to sock things away. If you notice that your kids aren’t playing with a particular toy very often, stash it away somewhere for awhile. When they get bored with what’s available, pull out the stored toys and put the “boring” toys on the sideline for awhile. Boom! Your kids have a whole newish grouping of toys to keep them entertained. I encourage the kids to keep their toys pretty well organized — action figures with action figures, doll clothes with doll clothes, etc. — so it’s easier to find the toys they seek. It also makes it easier to enact the Toy Rotation.

And when the Ol’ Switcharoo and the Change of Scenery fail to quell the boredom? I give them a rock and a stick and tell them to have at it.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for Pley, which offers your family subscription access to a large selection of toys, including more than 400 LEGO sets and popular robotics toys. More toys are being launched in the next few months. Stay tuned to Pley for updates!

menu plan Monday

A menu plan for the Great Thaw

01/25/2016 Nichole 1 Comment

We ended up getting 11 inches of snow over the weekend. Our average annual snowfall is 13 inches, so that was a pretty impressive amount to fall on us all at one time. We had great fun sledding and flopping about in the snow all weekend, and Rockford and I spent some quality time shoveling our driveway and front walk yesterday. I kind of enjoy shoveling, but it takes a good long while when you’re sharing a shovel. Which brings me to this: There are a few supplies we need to gather before the next snowstorm hits.

Things We Need to Gather Before the Next Snowstorm
Another shovel. Our nephew gave Rockford a snow shovel a few years back for Christmas after we got snowed in and realized we didn’t even own a shovel. The house we were living in then was on a private road, and it was several days before we were able to get out. The road we live on now is a secondary priority on the city’s snowplow schedule, but we still have to clear our own path to get the car out of the driveway. A second shovel would cut our escape-from-the-driveway time in half.

A second sled. We had a second sled the last time we got enough snow for sledding. It was a baby sled, though, and Pete was pretty large for it even then. We sold it in our annual yard sale over the summer, and we are now a one-sled family. In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that I want a second sled primarily because I’m impatient. It takes the kids for.ev.er to trudge back up the hill after a run. Eventually it would be great to have four sleds, but we’ll take it slow. Unless I find some sleds on clearance.

Snow pants for Rockford and myself. The kids are well-equipped for the snow, but Rockford and I have been wearing jeans. Jeans aren’t great for making snow angels or for when you crash your sled and roll through the powder, even when you’re wearing two pair. Which I’ve been doing.

Snow boots for Rockford. I’ve been wearing rain boots with three pairs of socks, but I ordered some half-off clearance snow boots yesterday. They won’t be here in time to tromp around in this snow, but I’ll have them for next time. They didn’t have any in Rockford’s size, so I’m going to have to keep an eye out for a pair for him.

The weather forecast says it’ll be sunny with a high of 49 tomorrow, so the snow will probably be gone soon. Here’s what we’ll be having for dinner while it melts away.

Monday: Breakfast burritos: We’re using chorizo, scrambled eggs and cheddar this time.

Tuesday: Fish sticks & mac: Poppy doesn’t know this yet, but she’s making dinner on Tuesday.

Wednesday: Pizza: It’s Witty Kitty Book Club night. We’re supposed to meet at a pizza place, but I think I’m going to try to talk everyone into coming here and ordering pizza instead.

Thursday: Chicken tacos: I make chicken for tacos by cooking chicken breasts in the CrockPot with a jar of salsa, then shredding it in my stand mixer. Super simple.

Friday: Pizza: Again with the pizza? Yes, most likely. Maybe we’ll even be snow-less enough to get the grill out again.

Did you get to play in the snow this weekend?

More Monday Menus at OrgJunkie!