The Bean Tree is about a woman who leaves home to get out of her small town and she ends up finding a new family along the way. I tried to read one of her other books, The Poisonwood Bible, a few years ago and couldn’t get into it, but this one was superb. The Bean Tree also has a sequel which I am anxious to get my hands on. Five stars!
Liam loves to play Mah Jong. He would fit in beautifully on a cruise ship with a bunch of retired couples sitting around playing Mah Jong all day. I think next year instead of playgroup we are going to go to find him a Bridge group.
The clown show
Reading an Eye Spy book
Playing a matching game
We had a busy day today. It was Clown Day at Crown Center. We got there a little early so we headed over to the exhibit called Brain Play, which is an exhibit about problem solving and optical illusions. It was more for the early elementary set, but the boys still had fun. We then went outside and had a picnic lunch by the fountains and by the time we were done with that it was almost time for the clown show to start. Liam really enjoyed the clown show. Some of the humor was over his head, but he still had a good time. Colm wasn’t quite sure how he felt about the clowns. He was alright with them as long as they kept their distance. The boys were super tired after all that and they took a great nap this afternoon.
I have read several books by this author and have really liked each one. This book goes back and forth in between the narrator’s childhood and the present. In the present, she is on a plane going to visit her mother she has not seen in 30 years. In the past, she tells the story that leads up to the reason she has not seen her mother in such a long time. Two thumbs up!
There is this great company out of Cananda that makes boardgames for kids and they are all cooperative. In other words, nobody wins and nobody loses. Players work together towards a common goal to win together. For example, we have Bambino Dino where players work together to save a baby dinosaur. These are great for kids who are just learning to play boardgames. They just get to play without worrying about losing. Their website is www.familypastimes.com.
We have been a Wiggles (Colm)/Thomas the Train (Liam)
house for quite a while now. I know all the characters’ names, we have the toys, books, movies, etc. They are growing up though and their interests are shifting. We are now a Oobi (Colm)/Rescue Heroes (Liam) house. I am fine with both of these, but the names…Well, let’s just start with Oobi whose grandpa’s name is Grampoo. Enough said. Then there is Rescue Heroes where they have names like Jack Hammer (I kid you not) and Johnny Blazes. The stories are fine though and they are both very age appropriate so I am not going to complain. It could be worse…we could be a Spongebob house.
I made this for dinner tonight; I got the recipe from Cooking Light and it was great and easy.
Spread 2 tablespoons of hummus on a whole wheat wrap. Put about 1/2 cup of shredded chicken breast on top of that. Put a few strips of roasted red peppers on top of that. Put about 2 tablespoons of creamy Caesar dressing on top of that and then put a little bit of lettuce on top of that. Roll it up and eat it. Yum!
This was a good book. It was about how quickly your life can change. The character is a SAHM and has been for 17 years and then her estranged father gets injured and ends up living with her and her family and her mom. It is a feel good tale of family and the sacrifices that family members often make for each other.
My friend’s son got a set of Wedgits for his birthday. I had never seen them before, but they are so cool. They are so simple that they are neat. The box says that they are for people ages 2-102 and I believe it. You can’t just let them set there. You have to play with them. Go to wedgits.com to see them.
I had to share this because I think it is so cute. My grandma is 87 years old and is definitely what you would call a farm girl. She was raised on a farm and she raised her kids on a farm. The woman enjoys eating liver and doesn’t squirm at the thought of eating cow’s tongue for goodness sake. So, anyways, I was talking to her today and she said that my dad got her some avocados because he got a bunch that were particularly yummy and he thought he would share some with her. Well, she has never had an avocado before but she thought she would give it a try. She hated them!! She said there has never been anything that has passed her lips before ever in her entire life that was so bad that she had to spit it out. She was telling my aunt about this and my aunt informed her that there is a dip you can eat with chips that is made out of avocados. I didn’t have the heart to explain to her that the dip has a name and nearly eveyone in both North and South America knows that it is called guacamole. :) She doesn’t get out much.