The New Arrival by Vanya Nastanlieva: Cute book about a hedgehog moving to a new part of the forest and attempting to make new friends.
The Police Cloud by Cristoph Niemann: Cloud really wants to be a policeman and wear the police hat. First day on the job didn't go so well...
Never Ever Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson
I'm a wife, a mother, an athlete, a very part time employee, a traveler, a friend, a sister, a daughter.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
More Children's book reviews
I haven't reviewed children's books in a while and we've been reading a ton of them. I let my kids pick whatever they want at the library and last week was the first week we reached the max limit for checking out books. 50! I guess when 4 of us are book lovers it was bound to happen.
Here is a list of some recent favorites: (The books in bold are highly recommended.)
I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black. Funny story about a girl who's bored. She runs into a potato who says kids are boring and she tries to tell the potato all the fun things that kids do. The potato is not impressed. Made me laugh, reminded me of all the times my kids claim "I'm Bored!".
The Library by Sarah Stewart. I may have loved this book more than the kids but just because I relate to the girl in the story. A girl loved books and kept buying books until her house was filled with books and she had no more room. So she turned her house into a library to loan out her books to share with everyone.
What the Ladybug Heard by Julia Donaldson. Clever book about a ladybug who overheard some robber's plan to steal the cow on the farm. Ladybug comes up with a plan to throw the robber's off. The book was pleasing to my kids and they liked the cunningness of the plan.
No Such Thing by Jackie French Koller OMG, my favorite book! Such a cute story about a boy who's afraid of monsters under his bed, and a monster who's afraid of a boy on top of his bed. My 6 year old and 3 year old LOVED this book. The ending leaves you hanging which left my 6 year old questioning why the author didn't write what happens next.
Little Cub by Olivier Dunrea. A great book that touches a little on adoption. It's about an old bear who's lonely and has no one to hang out with and teach stuff too. And a young bear who is scared and has no one to teach him how to do things. One day the two run into each other and the old bear takes the young bear in and he's not lonely anymore, the little cub is not scared and the old bear teaches the cub everything he wanted to learn.
The Frazzle Family Finds A Way by Ann Bonwill. Funny book about a family who is forgetful and how they come up with a way to remember things.
Anh's Anger by Gail Silver. My 6 year old still deals with tantrums, by recommendation I picked up this book. It has not helped her with her tantrums, BUT my 3 year old has taken to this story and quotes the book when she gets angry. He speaks of how anger is a monster and you need to calm yourself to get it to go away. I was really impressed how my 3 year old really understood this book.
Timothy and the Strong Pajamas by Viviane Schwarz. My 3 year old is into super heros and super powers, this book was a great read in that the boy in the book had super powers from his pajamas.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead. This was such a heartwarming story. This zookeeper took care of the animals day after day. One day he didn't show up because he was sick so all of the animals came to his house to take care of him. Such a great story, loved it!
Cloudette by Tim Lichtenheld. Cute story, this cloud was tiny and found ways to be happy in the world but she really wanted to do something more. One day she gets her chance. I thought it was such a creative story.
Chapter books:
I'm on the search for chapter books that are challenging enough for my 6 year old 1st grader (soon to be 2nd grader), but still easy enough for her to read on her own. She loves to read before going to sleep and will read into the night after we leave her room. The problem with finding challenging books is that the plot gets more complicated or not interesting to her age so I've gone through a lot of different books. Here are some favorites of my daughter's. (Her choices, not mine.)
Princess Posey series by Stephanie Greene
Daisy Dawson series by Steve Voake and Jessica Meserve
Roscoe Riley Rules series by Katherine Applegate and Brian Biggs
Gooney Bird Greene series by Lois Lowry (these books are a little bit harder so we take turns reading it.)
Uh-Oh Cleo books by Jessica Harper and Jon Berkeley. (Just finished book 1 and she seemed to enjoy it.)
We've tried: Cam Jansen series, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series which she didn't like.
I have picked up a whole bunch of new books from the library to read this summer so more may be added to this list.
Here is a list of some recent favorites: (The books in bold are highly recommended.)
I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black. Funny story about a girl who's bored. She runs into a potato who says kids are boring and she tries to tell the potato all the fun things that kids do. The potato is not impressed. Made me laugh, reminded me of all the times my kids claim "I'm Bored!".
The Library by Sarah Stewart. I may have loved this book more than the kids but just because I relate to the girl in the story. A girl loved books and kept buying books until her house was filled with books and she had no more room. So she turned her house into a library to loan out her books to share with everyone.
What the Ladybug Heard by Julia Donaldson. Clever book about a ladybug who overheard some robber's plan to steal the cow on the farm. Ladybug comes up with a plan to throw the robber's off. The book was pleasing to my kids and they liked the cunningness of the plan.
No Such Thing by Jackie French Koller OMG, my favorite book! Such a cute story about a boy who's afraid of monsters under his bed, and a monster who's afraid of a boy on top of his bed. My 6 year old and 3 year old LOVED this book. The ending leaves you hanging which left my 6 year old questioning why the author didn't write what happens next.
Little Cub by Olivier Dunrea. A great book that touches a little on adoption. It's about an old bear who's lonely and has no one to hang out with and teach stuff too. And a young bear who is scared and has no one to teach him how to do things. One day the two run into each other and the old bear takes the young bear in and he's not lonely anymore, the little cub is not scared and the old bear teaches the cub everything he wanted to learn.
The Frazzle Family Finds A Way by Ann Bonwill. Funny book about a family who is forgetful and how they come up with a way to remember things.
Anh's Anger by Gail Silver. My 6 year old still deals with tantrums, by recommendation I picked up this book. It has not helped her with her tantrums, BUT my 3 year old has taken to this story and quotes the book when she gets angry. He speaks of how anger is a monster and you need to calm yourself to get it to go away. I was really impressed how my 3 year old really understood this book.
Timothy and the Strong Pajamas by Viviane Schwarz. My 3 year old is into super heros and super powers, this book was a great read in that the boy in the book had super powers from his pajamas.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead. This was such a heartwarming story. This zookeeper took care of the animals day after day. One day he didn't show up because he was sick so all of the animals came to his house to take care of him. Such a great story, loved it!
Cloudette by Tim Lichtenheld. Cute story, this cloud was tiny and found ways to be happy in the world but she really wanted to do something more. One day she gets her chance. I thought it was such a creative story.
Chapter books:
I'm on the search for chapter books that are challenging enough for my 6 year old 1st grader (soon to be 2nd grader), but still easy enough for her to read on her own. She loves to read before going to sleep and will read into the night after we leave her room. The problem with finding challenging books is that the plot gets more complicated or not interesting to her age so I've gone through a lot of different books. Here are some favorites of my daughter's. (Her choices, not mine.)
Princess Posey series by Stephanie Greene
Daisy Dawson series by Steve Voake and Jessica Meserve
Roscoe Riley Rules series by Katherine Applegate and Brian Biggs
Gooney Bird Greene series by Lois Lowry (these books are a little bit harder so we take turns reading it.)
Uh-Oh Cleo books by Jessica Harper and Jon Berkeley. (Just finished book 1 and she seemed to enjoy it.)
We've tried: Cam Jansen series, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series which she didn't like.
I have picked up a whole bunch of new books from the library to read this summer so more may be added to this list.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Resolutions 2013 revisited
1) Run 700 miles in 2013.
2) Complete 3 family photo albums on Blurb.
3) De-clutter a few times during the year. Thoroughly purge rooms/garage.
4) Host several dinners for friends. Especially BBQ's in the summer. (I got a bunch of hosting things for Christmas because after last year I realized I didn't have platters etc to host meals.)
5) Read 50 books. It's been a couple of years since I've reached this goal so I'm going to make an effort this year.
6) Try a new recipe a month. I think this is a good one, gives us variety in our diet. Plus I really need to learn how to make a good appetizer or side dish. Whenever there is a potluck I fail on this dish.
Update May 2013
1) I'm at 263 miles so far.
2) Um, not even close to getting an album done.
3) Just took 4 boxes of stuff to Goodwill today! Have also been selling many old baby items online.
4) My neighbors and I have started a Friday dinner swap. Every Friday we can, one family hosts and prepares dinner, the other family brings wine/beer/drinks. Does that count?
5) I'm really behind on this...I've read 13 books so far this year.
6) Not so good on this one either...
TriSlide, my new favorite product!
My new favorite product. I have had an issue with running, I get chaffing at the edge of my short sleeves. This happens whether or not I wear sleeves or tank tops. Must be my running style. I Body Glide up my arms but still get the chaffing. Last October when I ran a half marathon I chaffed really badly. I was fed up. I began looking for a body glide alternative that was liquid/lotion like. I ended up finding this aerosol TriSlide brand at Sports Basement. OMG, I'm in heaven! Day 1 I sprayed on the TriSlide, headed out for a 10 mile run. No chaffing!! Warning...do not spray this stuff near anything, it will make it slick. The floor of my bathroom was slippery for days! Now I only spray this on me outside.
I have run two half marathons and several double digit runs in heat and no chaffing. I can wear my tank tops with no issues. Hooray.
My next race is an Olympic Distance Triathlon so I will see how this fares in triathlons.
I have run two half marathons and several double digit runs in heat and no chaffing. I can wear my tank tops with no issues. Hooray.
My next race is an Olympic Distance Triathlon so I will see how this fares in triathlons.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
My list of baby must-have's revised after baby #3
1. Swing
2. Bouncy Chair
3. Crib
4. Crib mobile
5. Crib music soother
6. 2-3 crib sheets, 2 mattress
waterproof pads
7. Sleep positioner
8. Humidifier
9. Nose aspirator (washable!!)
10. 2-3 towels
11. 4-5 washclothes
12. infant bath tub
13. non-slip mat or sticky
pads for bathtub
14. bath toy holder, faucet
cover
15. plastic spoons and forks
(use a plastic toothbrush holder for travel)
16. high chair with at least 2
trays (3 preferable) or a highchair booster seat combo. (Revised after 3rd kid, at first my
hubby didn’t like the booster seat that attached to the chair, but now we hate
that a separate high chair takes up too much floor space. We like the Fisher Price Healthy Booster
Chair. It’s great for travel and
everyday use. Easy to clean and you can
even use it on the floor/ground if you picnic.)
17. plastic bowls
18. plastic bibs (at least 3)
19. changing pad
20. 2-3 changing pad covers
21. lap pads (4-5)
22. cloth diapers/receiving
blankets (7-8) we used them only as spit clothes
23. fold up bottle drying rack
24. snack cups
25. bottle brush
26. sleep sacks
27. Exersaucer
28. Activity Gym
29. Umbrella stroller or jog
stroller.
30. Infant car seat
31. Pack n play (simple unless
you’re going to have it out in your house.
If you use it all the time, then splurge for the vibration/music. If you just use it for travel, don’t need all
the bells and whistles.)
For the Pack n Play, buy the quilted crib sheet, makes it much more comfy for the babies to lay on.
For the Pack n Play, buy the quilted crib sheet, makes it much more comfy for the babies to lay on.
32. Floppy seat cover for
grocery cart/restaurant high chair
33. Ergo carrier (much better
than the Bjorn)
34. Stroller travel
system. If you have two cars and will
both be using strollers, get a snap n go for the 2nd car. I’d buy the snap n go used, cuz you don’t use
it for that long. (Revision after 2nd child, if you need a stroller
in two cars, I’d do BOB revolution w/infant seat attachment in one car, snap n
go in the other. Later on, Snap n go can
be replaced with umbrella stroller.)
(Revision after 3rd child: I think travel systems are out
now. I hear great reviews on Baby Jogger
City Mini for non-BOB fans.)
35. Go go kids carseat roller
(for plane travel)
36. Kiddopotamus Tiny Diner
placemat. If you go out to eat often. (We love this!!)
37. Kiddopotamus plastic bib
(good for travel as well)
38. Something to swaddle. I’ve tried all the swaddle stuff, the
kiddopotamus and ultimate swaddler but I found that regular blankets worked
best.
39. Gripe water (loved this,
especially for my colicky babies), Infant tylenol and advil (advil only after 6
months old).
40. Baby monitor. If you have a big house, and the baby’s room
is far away then splurge on this one.
Our house is small, we hardly used it.
I just leave our doors open and can here her. I mostly use my baby monitor when we travel
to friends/family houses when we’ll be far from her room. (Revised after 3rd child. We remodeled our house and now our master
bedroom is far away from kids rooms so we use monitors all of the time. I didn’t splurge for video monitors so I got
the Phillips Avent Basic Baby monitor with Dect technology. We have brick walls and it works
awesome. We have two one for each kids
room and they don’t interfere with each other.
And I like being able to talk back to the older kids walkie talkie
style, I use that feature quite often.)
41. Glider (not essential,
used in the early years but hardly used now except for story time reading)
(Revised after 2nd and 3rd child, I use the glider for
nursing baby at night in their room.
After newborn phase I didn’t want to have baby sleep in bed with us if
possible. The only way was if I was
sitting up. I would nurse in the glider
then put baby back to bed. Still use it to rock baby to bed or nap every day.)
42. My breast friend or Boppy I like it better than the boppy for
positioning for feeding. But the boppy
can be used to position the baby in on the couch, tummy time etc.
44. Breast pads (tossable ones
in the beginning, washable ones the rest of the time)
45. At least 3 nursing bras
and tanks.
46. Nightgowns with snaps or
button closures for night time feedings or nursing tanks for summer.
47. Car mirror
48. Digital thermometer
49. Pacifier (depends on your
parenting thoughts)
50. Lovey (depends on your
parenting thoughts)
Revised with 2nd
Child:
51. Aden + Anais blankets for
swaddling.
52. For cloth diapers if
you’re going that route, try the Jillian Drawer’s Diaper trial. We went with Bum Genius 3.0 diapers.
53. Bum Genius Diaper sprayer
54. Robeez shoes (helps keep
socks on)
55. Medela Free-style pump
56. Itzbeen timer for keeping
track of breasfeeding times. (Though now everyone has smartphones, not useful
anymore.)
57. Jumperoo
Revisions/additions after baby
#3.
58. Register for a carseat for after baby has outgrown infant carrier. They can outgrow them before a year old and those suckers can be $$. I like Britax but I’ve heard great reviews on Gracos.
58. Register for a carseat for after baby has outgrown infant carrier. They can outgrow them before a year old and those suckers can be $$. I like Britax but I’ve heard great reviews on Gracos.
59. Double strollers…I really
like our BOB revolution double, especially because I can have all 3 kids ride
at once if need be. But I am a runner
and use it for that. We mostly use our
BOB double for zoo’s/amusement parks, etc.
Day to day we just use single BOB revolution and can have 2 kids on it
if need be. I hear people rave about Baby
Jogger City Mini double strollers if you’re not wanting the hefty BOB.
60. I really like Pediped
shoes, very sturdy sole yet flexible for growing feet.
61. Bum Genius diapers…I’ve
been using them now since 2009, I still love these diapers. They have lasted well over the years and I
haven’t had any issues with them. The Velcro
ones are getting a little worn but the snaps ones are lasting well. The only downfall with snaps is when you have
a wiggly baby it takes longer to get them in.
As for detergent for the diapers, I use either Kirkland Free and Clear
or Trader Joes Free and Clear.
62. Used clothes…I can’t express
how fast kids go through clothes, after baby #1 I realized used clothes are
totally fine and actually use my local mom’s group for those resources. The clothes I try to buy used all of the time
are snow clothes/boots. You usually only
go a couple of times to the snow and pay so much for new stuff. The stuff used is barely used and marked down
way low. And I double the boots as rain
boots for my kids so I don’t buy two pairs of boots.
63. I like Kushies on the Go wet/dry bag for
cloth diapers, wet/dirty clothes holder, great for pump parts storage if you
pump at work, I got tired of using Ziploc bags everyday so used this bag. Just throw in the washer to clean.
64. Itzy Ritzy zipper snack
bags for snacks.
65. Diaper bag/backpack. If diaper bag, get one that clips to
stroller, I hated lugging them around.
66. JJ Cole Bundle Me. I love this, it’s great for Bay Area
babies. I use it when running or working
out in the winter with the jog stroller.
Also great for just pushing baby in regular stroller out and about.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Resolutions 2013
I haven't really thought it thoroughly so here's a rough outline .
1) Run 700 miles in 2013.
2) Complete 3 family photo albums on Blurb.
3) De-clutter a few times during the year. Thoroughly purge rooms/garage.
4) Host several dinners for friends. Especially BBQ's in the summer. (I got a bunch of hosting things for Christmas because after last year I realized I didn't have platters etc to host meals.)
5) Read 50 books. It's been a couple of years since I've reached this goal so I'm going to make an effort this year.
6) Try a new recipe a month. I think this is a good one, gives us variety in our diet. Plus I really need to learn how to make a good appetizer or side dish. Whenever there is a potluck I fail on this dish.
1) Run 700 miles in 2013.
2) Complete 3 family photo albums on Blurb.
3) De-clutter a few times during the year. Thoroughly purge rooms/garage.
4) Host several dinners for friends. Especially BBQ's in the summer. (I got a bunch of hosting things for Christmas because after last year I realized I didn't have platters etc to host meals.)
5) Read 50 books. It's been a couple of years since I've reached this goal so I'm going to make an effort this year.
6) Try a new recipe a month. I think this is a good one, gives us variety in our diet. Plus I really need to learn how to make a good appetizer or side dish. Whenever there is a potluck I fail on this dish.
Resolutions 2012 Completed
The Resolutions:
January 2012
1) Cook a new recipe once a month. (And post them here if I like it.)
2) Run 500 miles. I have already signed up for 2 half marathons (One in April and one in May)
3) Lose the 7-8 lbs I'm still carrying of baby weight.
4) Try new classes. Look for groupons or deals to experiment with different fitness classes in my area. I've already started a boot camp class that I bought on groupon.
5) Read 50 books. (I'm on book two right now.)
6) Host several dinners for my friends, especially the ones I haven't seen in ages.
Resolutions revisted.
1) I know I tried at least 12 new recipes if not more, it came in bursts so it wasn't monthly.
2) I ran 612.21 miles this year so I surpassed my goal by far.
3) I lost all the baby weight, woo-hoo!
4) I tried bootcamp, and I signed up to teach BOSU so kinda half completed this goal in my opinion.
5) I totally failed on this resolution. I read 36 books. I tried lowering my goal to 40 books but couldn't even reach that. I guess if I didn't run the extra 1,000 minutes I could have used that time to make my reading goal but maybe working out was a better choice?
6) Host several dinners, I can name perhaps a handful of dinners I hosted for people I haven't seen in a while, but several with friends I see often.
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