R U ready for some football?

Princess and I spent most of Thursday morning on the phone making arrangements
to have Farmer Dad's tires taken care of and then met him at the tire place at noon
to leave his truck and drive him back to work. Happily, the best price I found was
very conveniently located near his job.We then went shopping for a birthday present
for our friends son who has a birthday party on Saturday.We did not find what we had in mind,
so we will look more. Upon our arrival home for a late lunch, there was a message from our friends
who are season tickets holders for Rutgers football. They had an extra ticket.
I called Farmer Dad and asked if he wanted to go, he said yes. I left a message for them.
Princess and I picked up Farmer Dad from work and brought him to the tire store, and
we were talking about going, and he said that I should go instead to spend time with my friend
and he would gladly watch it on tv at home with Princess. Yippee!
The seats were excellent...50 yard line first section..just high enough to see the field.
It was a great night for it too, clear, coolish breeze blowing in, the stadium was packed with fans...actual fans.
It was so nice to see that many people cheering the team on.What a change from all the years when they were not good, when we would go and most people were in the parking lot instead of in the stands.
(Unfortunately I forgot my camera!)
Very exciting! Did I mention I love football? Especially this time of the year...by the end of the season...well that depends on how my Giants are doing.lol I called home to check in during the 3rd quarter, and Princess was very happy to tell me she was fine and had looked for me on tv, but didn't see me.
Turns out they had a wonderful time on their own, dinner out, stopped by a local park to play and even checked out the attached Butterfly Park. She did fall down and skim her knee, but she was fine when I got home.
We read a couple of books to settle down for the night and she fell asleep on my lap.
Oh yeah, and Rutgers won!

Happy Music

Today was stressful what with repairmen needed on home and truck (tires)
and Farmer Dad's company messed up his paycheck which messed up my accounting
which hopefully will end there. :-0
But as I call around getting prices on tires, cheaper ones then we were quoted from our
regular place (fortunately), I hear Farmer Dad playing the guitar in the basement and Princess's
clear sweet voice singing along. They jammed on Donovan, Bod Dylan and Neil Young while I listened
amazed that she was at all aware of the songs she was singing..pretty cool.I wish I could have gotten close enough to record, but I know it would have spoiled the moment.
Hopefully she will be happily surprised with her Birthday gift picked out and ordered by Farmer Dad
the other day.It is a lovely Ovation acoustic-electric guitar..smaller scale of the one Farmer Dad plays.
In black. Just like mr ray.We will try to find a pink "Hello Kitty" strap or just a pink one with sequins or something sparkly and well, girlie.He is a little worried that she will be disappointed that it is not a "hello kitty" guitar or one of those "daisy" guitars shaped like a flower, but they are more than double in price and we are not sure of the quality. I'm pretty impressed with his choice, or that he had one at all.
Sometimes he is a good Dad, and sometimes...he's better.
Now I have to get my tush in gear and plan her party...we cannot agree on a theme, and so I guess it will not have one. Or, I'll just get some Hello Kitty stuff and be done with it...not every thing needs to be so very...clever.
Right?

The Ice Cometh....

The appliance repair man came this morning and a couple of hundred dollars later,
we shall have ice. I think I would have spent less money and pulled out the ice cube trays that
are surely somewhere in the basement, but Farmer Dad does like plenty of ice on the door.
It just feels like all the money is going out right now and not much coming in.....oh well.
This too shall pass.I've been told by a couple of tree people that the rest of our tree will not fall
down anytime soon, so we shall leave it until the "busy season" prices go down.
Hopefully the tire place will have a Labor Day sale so we can get new tires for his truck, and we shall
get over this hurdle. Can you see me sweating about this from there?
The good news is, I just heard ice falling into the ice holder, so it must be working.
Haven't heard that for a while around here.
Maybe I'll make a Margarita with crushed ice later to celebrate.
It was probably worth it to have a big strong man pull the whole thing out from the wall
so I could clean it real well. It's that time of the year anyway.
I did escape for a bit last night to hit our library for some new books. I returned two huge bags
full of books and one of cds. I only carried one bag home with two cds in my purse, so it was very light.
Princess was flipping out because Farmer Dad would not bring her to her friends house to play.
Friday, she flipped when it was time to go home, and he wouldn't take her back because of it.
She calmed down after we ignored her for a bit and we went downstairs to play skeeball.
Then we read our new books and she played with her blocks. I still have not found the other box,
but the small bag is keeping her happy for now. It was a long night, she rarely goes down easy once she hits "fit" mode. I would think it would make her more tired, but it almost always backfires.
She has been busy playing with her magnetic letters and some "Dawn" dolls we got last year at a "free for all".
Did anyone else out there have them as a child? I loved mine.I would not let her play with them at first, she was being a bit ruff for my liking, but I pulled out the case this morning and she has played nicely almost all morning.

Books for Kindergarten

We have received our books for Princess's Kindergarten year.

Making the Grade Everything your Kindergarten Needs to Know
by Daniel A. Van Beek

and What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know
by E.D.Hirsch Jr.

We will also be using Science is Simple and Art Across the Alphabet.

Not to mention the many library books we will take out and the wonderful children's literature
that is piled in every room of our house.

We have also recently found actual homeschoolers in our general area that have daughters her age!
2 different families. I am very excited for her, because she needs more female friends, and homeschool friends.
The one Mom is trying to organize a "science play group" at her house once a week, which I think is right
up Princess's alley! Hopefully we will all "hit it off" and she will have friends her age, schooling the way we do,
to socialize with. Whew! Now the "social" burden can be lifted and I can get on with the task of educating her,lol. We are also going to make more of an effort to see our homeschool friends from our play group who live here in NJ, but a little bit of a drive from us.Really we are!

I have to re charge my camera batteries, and then I will post pictures.
I also need to get the details for her party down this week....September is just around the corner!

Monday without books....

How did we all survive?
I will post about books on Tuesday this week.
We had a last minute play date with Princess's good
friend.
His Mom is one of mine too, so it was so nice to see them.
Off we went to a new (to us) park and lots of fun.
His little sister gave me the sweetest hug when we arrived!
There was even adult conversation.
We got home in time to meet yet another "tree guy"
and realize that I forgot about calling about our ice maker....
Tomorrow is another day.

If a tree falls in your backyard, and nobody hears it....

will it still crush your pergola ? Why yes, gentle readers, I'm here to tell you it will indeed
crush the pergola you just lovingly planted perennials around with your daughter so she could have a Butterfly Garden of her own. You will look out your window one minute thinking...doesn't my yard look nice even though the August heat has browned so much of it, and the next time you look up and out of said window, the view will be changed forever. The first tree "expert" who showed up,determined the rest of the tree will not fall into my neighbors yard, but into our garden , if it decides to come down. He does not think it is likely.....we are not convinced, and as much as we love this tree, we will have it taken down. Unfortunately , said expert will not do it until garden season is over, because the "stuff" will fall into the garden. Another unfortunate event.....

Miss Potter

Last night, Farmer Dad took Princess over to her friend's to swim
and eat dinner, and I was left to my own devices.
First, I pulled out an old Blue Oyster Cult cd and, after damaging the cats hearing,
I settled down with a cup of tea and some light tomato sandwiches to watch
the movie Miss Potter, based on the author's life.It was very pretty to watch, and I loved
the way they showed her illustrations coming to life,
but I did feel like they left something important out.
I know it's a lot to expect them to really cover her in depth in the space of
an hour or so. It was lovely to see a glimpse of her world.
This morning Princess and I watched it together. She lost interest in the movie
once she was an adult and they had "all the talking", but she picked up her Peter Rabbit book,
and went off to "draw".
I of course sat through the entire movie again, because it is so beautiful.
Now I sit here wondering if cleaning out the ice maker will do the trick, or should I call the appliance repair man
now to make an appointment for Monday. I found one old ice cube tray and filled it, but I need ice.
Is it too pathetic that I can barely deal with the very idea of getting through a day without my ice maker?

Here comes the sun.....

My favorite George Harrison song (he being my favorite Beatle).
Of course, it brought the humidity back with it, so I'm not sure I'm as
happy as I could be about it.
Princess and I have been quietly going about the usual Friday home cleaning
and laundry thing and guess what I found? Her wooden blocks!
Embarrassed to admit they were right under my nose in a box I have been in and out of several
times of late. Problem was they were stored in a muslin bag that was much smaller than I remembered.
I'm guessing that Princess was so little they seemed bigger? I don't know, but she'll need more of them
that is for sure. I will take a picture of them soon.She is in watching cartoons with our friend's son who is
visiting for the afternoon. They are playing with the blocks as they snack and chat.They both patiently wait
for the other to finish building so they can knock it all down.Very cute.
I have gravy cooking in the kitchen and pizza dough rising for dinner.A lovely box of things we received
from a fellow Freecycler on Thursday, that needs to be put away, sits beside my desk.
I will have to take a picture to show Patience especially, for several things reminded me of her immediately.
I hope the sun is shining for all of you as you read this. I need to check my gravy, and then I will take some pictures and post them.~ OK, here are some pictures. The first one is from last night of Princess playing piano,
the middle one is of some of the goodies from our schoolteacher freecycler. The blanket and pillow were made by her Mom for her favorite doll when she was a child. I thought of Patience when I came across the
Pride and Prejudice and Little Women paper dolls. They are put away for now.the rest of the box was chock full of note pads,notebooks,pencils,necklace making materials,chalk,crafts kits and stickers that I did not photograph.
Princess gave her some "beanie baby animals" and some books that we had that were either not to her liking(trucks,etc)
or copies (we have picked up at library sales and from freecycle) for her students. She works in a district where many children do not have their own books, and they have a program where older students read to the younger ones along with a gift of a stuffed animal and a book to keep. The older kids raise money for the books and gifts for community service credits, and
our friend picks up what she can from freecycle to help out.Princess had quite a few beanies from her cousins
and obviously didn't need them all, so we packed up a box for the kids who don't have any.
I had her choose which to give away.I was surprised by the amount she collected.
She is much more generous than I gave her credit for being.

The last picture is of her "singing the squirrels awake" and probably the neighbors.
She likes to do this every morning.

Me, being nice.

I was just given a Nice Matters Award from Angela, at Mother Crone's Homeschool.
I feel a bit like Sally Field all those years ago..shouting.."You like me, you really like me!"
To be given this at all, is so...well nice, but to get it from someone like Angela
is beyond nice. Thank you so very much.
I'm still a bit confused as to how this Jersey Girl got on her list of exceptionally nice blogging friends,
but I'm going to run with it!
Now, I need to pass this award on to five (I agree with Angela here, only 5 is not nice)
other women who come to mind when I think of nice. Since Angela already picked four others I would gladly have bestowed
this award upon, and I know a couple of others who already received it (because they are that nice),
I am going to pass this lovely award on to five women I look to every day for a smile
Yasmina
who lives clear across the country from me, but feels like next door.
Brit
who recently moved almost close enough to share a learning adventure with,
and you know by reading her posts, that every day is a learning adventure at her house.
Cathy
who reminds me that there is so much fun to come as Princess grows older.
She always takes the time to comment on what we are doing, and offer advice
or just a smile.
Jenny
who I am just getting to know, but who feels like an old friend already.
Reading her blog filled with good books, is just so nice.
Heather
another friend who lives too far away, but feels, closer some how.
Her blog is filled with all the nice things she does with her boys.

And then there is my friend Nina.
I hesitated to add Nina up top, because frankly she is one of the popular girls,
and so obviously nice that I am sure she will get this award from at least 5 different people
and with the limit of five, I wanted to spread it around to my different "circles" if you know what I mean.
But although we have never met in person, Nina has (like so many of you) become my friend.
Someone who I may not pick up the phone to tell a story to, but I surely log on and drop an e-mail
to when something funny or sad happens. I have been lucky to find that in so many of you.
Now all of you need to be nice and share this award with five other people you think are nice.
Oh yeah, and Have a NICE Day!!

Playing,reading and being

We have this down to a fine art around here. Some days I'll ask "Princess, what would you like to do today?"
and she'll answer "let's just be today Momma".
We have not had one in a while. It has been cool and rainy here...not normal for N.J. in August by any means.
We have been inside for too many days.Small forays to pick dripping tomatoes do not count in her book.
Some of the boredom was relieved Yesterday, when we picked up a stack of "new to us" games from a
nearby freecycler.We played the "Monsters Inc " version of Life for hours.
Last night Farmer Dad got a chance to hang out with some men folk and play guitar....drink beer..eat subs.
Princess and I dropped him off and picked him up for his "play date" as she called it.
I dropped her off at my sister's to make cookies and play with the puppy.
I had the house to myself. I put some Bruce on the stereo and cleaned out a closet and moved some books downstairs. I started some bread dough and roasted some tomatoes. The house smelled good and it would have been perfect with only the addition of one of those Bass Ales my DH brought with him to jam.
But, oh wait I was the designated driver...no beer for me.I made a hot cup of tea instead.
It was almost as satisfying. ;-)
After picking him up we stopped to drop off some tomatoes to our good friends and return a tent they had
lent to us, and she told us some very bad news. Her sister-in-law who has been fighting cancer for a couple of years, was just told it has spread and she has maybe 3 months to live. She has two little children and a husband
(and family and friends) who love her. Her children are just a bit older and just a bit younger than Princess.
7 and 4. I lost my mother at 21 (also cancer),and I still feel it. How will they manage?
My mother was just about Princess's age when her Mom died (also cancer) and she grew up not having many
memories of her, not remembering her voice...things like that haunted her into adulthood.
It is just painful to think of what these children (and all the others who love her) will have to go through.
As we baked our bread last night, and watched our Deadliest Catch tape, I just wanted to hold her and cry.
We picked up our toys from during the day and cuddled on the couch to read and played yet another game of
Hi-ho Cherry -O!, and I stopped being annoyed by the calls for "one more game Momma, one more book Momma.." and just enjoyed being her Momma.

Random shots from a life well lived

Farmer Dad and Princess check on the fish.
They look happy and healthy to me.
Princess runs in to get her umbrella.
There are several "volunteer" tomato plants in our flower bed.

Picking some cherry tomatoes for Daddy while he's at work.

Books from our bookpile...

Well, it's Monday, so here is a list of some of the books we are reading from our local library right now;

Frederick by Leo Lionni
What's not to love? Adorable pictures and a story sure to warm your heart as winter's chill sets in!
Princess really enjoyed that he was telling them a story, as she enjoys storytelling herself.
Thanks to Nina for another great book idea!

I believe it was Nina who told me to run , not walk to get Miss Rumphious by Barbara Cooney
to read to Princess.We shall be forever grateful!We loved the story, the pictures.
The idea that you need to do something to make the world more beautiful is such a lovely one to give our children. It also made me think of Mariposa.

We also took out Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets on her recommendation.
This was a very sweet story about a little girl who finally gets the animals to stay near her, by being quiet
and still. Princess may never truly learn this lesson, but she did enjoy the story.


In the Garden,who's been here? by Lindsay Barrett George, is right up our alley!
"Something's been eating the seeds in the middle of the sunflower. I wonder... Who's been here?"

We've been going through a lot of this, "who's been here?" around our garden this year.
The pictures alone are worth getting this book.

Dancers In The Garden by Joanne Ryder with illustrations by Judith Lopez
is a delightful book about hummingbirds visiting a garden.
We have not seen one in our garden since we started reading this book, but we have been looking.


It is still raining here, so we will cuddle under a soft blanket and read together.
Just me, my little girl, and a pile of books.......

Some Sundays.....

you just want to lie in bed, and this was one of them.
We did not.
Farmer Dad drove us over to the Lowes
home improvement store and we picked up some bags of mulch and
a couple of light bulbs for our new ceiling fan for in our 3 season porch.We also looked at some perrenials we would like to add to our yard when they go on sale.
We then stopped off at a little discount store for a coloring book and a candy bar
that Princess wanted to buy with her own money.I also picked up a scrapbook for the coming "school year"
(.99)and this really cool pad of WRITE ON CLING SHEETS (2.00) they are easel sheets 27"x 32 1/4"
that cling to the wall without tape. They are made by Avery and I'm looking forward to using them
this year.Then we stopped off at Chilis for lunch. We do not often go out to eat, so Princess was giddy with glee over this treat.
Her only complaint was that I stayed with them, and she would have preferred having Farmer Dad
to herself. Next time I promised her.
Once home, we learned my sister had returned from picking up her eldest daughter,so we headed over to visit her.
Princess stayed for dinner with my Grandmother, my sister, two of her daughters,and the one daughter's boyfriend.And Chulo, the dog who just turned 1 year old Yesterday.
Then I left Princess with them and headed home until they called that she was ready to be picked up.
She loves hanging out with her cousins!
We watched some Animal Planet until the Giants pre season game started.....now she is playing
while I watch the game.

Saturday in the Backyard.....

The weather was delightful today. We took full advantage of it by
hanging out in the yard from about 10:30 am until
3:30 pm. I pulled her easel outside along with the bubble table ,some snacks,
and a stack of magazines for myself, and we just hung out.
We painted,blew bubbles,played on the swings and in the sandbox
and even read a book or two while Farmer Dad worked on repairing our
front stairs and some driveway cracks.
For lunch we had some warmed up in the sun home made pizza left over from last night.
We cuddled and watched the clouds float by while listening to some children's music
we borrowed from our library.Then we came inside and Princess played doll house with her Dad
while I took a shower to get all the sand, paint and soap bubbles off of me.
Now she is watching a play put on by a group of kids in our local rec.department on our local cable station
while I catch up on my mail.Now we will need dinner.....

Pictures from Friday

We had fun Friday playing outside while the weather was nice,
and hiding inside from the thunderstorms that hit in the late afternoon.
Here are some pictures of Princess in her sandbox, chalk drawing on
the brick patio,making bubbles with Dad
and just running around being crazy.....

Fun Friday!!

Princess and I woke up like any other day today and wandered out to put some music on the stereo and crank up the computer. I headed for the coffee maker and freaked when the door from the garage to the kitchen opened up behind me. No, it was not a "home invasion", but Farmer Dad who had decided to take the day off of work on his drive in to work. Princess was very excited by the news of a day with Daddy!
I was still concentrating on starting my coffee, so you'll understand gentle reader, that I was a bit less so.
We were going to have a "messy art day", so we'll see what happens now.
Farmer Dad claims he will not "be in our way" as he has plenty of work to do around here (which is very true),
but we'll see. He is not a huge fan of "paint fumes".
Maybe I'll pull out the glue instead.
I promise to post some pictures of our efforts!

Chinese food and undivided attention

That is how we got through our Wednesday around here.
At about 2:30 in the afternoon, Princess decided she would like some Chinese food,
she had nothing to eat all day (since her toast came back up at 6 am),and would only drink water.
I ordered the food just in time for the "lunch" prices (which pleased me very much!)
and within a half hour it was at our door.She ate a little, and was fine. Clearly the illness had passed.
We played the Memory Game and checkers and tic tac toe.
Farmer Dad came home and we ate the rest of the Chinese food for dinner.
I passed on going to the Moms Night Out that was scheduled for our play group's Moms.
I miss hanging out with these ladies without our children, but I was too tired, and I
would have just been worried that she would "get sick" again, and unable to relax and enjoy myself.
Princess spent some time with Dad, and some with me, and we watched some
Blue Planet ,which we have been enjoying, and made up some card games of our own.
My sister called to let me know that her boyfriend and his family were all safe after the huge
earthquake in Peru.
Our thoughts are with those who were not so lucky. I was very happy she had called when 15 minutes later we
heard a blurb on the news and Princess asked if that was where her Luis was.
Have I mentioned how much she loves Luis? I told her he had called her Aunt and was safe
and she said "he should come home now that Peru is broken"...indeed. Come home Luis!
We miss you.
She finally went to bed a little after 11:00pm. Way earlier than I expected.
This morning, she woke up at 7:30, feeling fine and ready to go.
I'm feeling tired, but hopefully my coffee will kick in soon.
We were going to go see the" Lizard Guys" at our local library today, but
I think we will pass just in case she has any germs to pass around.
They come there a couple of times a year, so we'll see them next time.
Instead we will tackle some tomatoes and play around the house.
This morning I noticed Harold and the Purple Crayon was going to be on HBO,
so we put that on and Princess watched while drawing on some long white sheets of paper
with a purple crayon. Then we re read the story. This is truly one of her favorite stories
of all time (so far).She never gets to see it on tv , we always see it's going to be on and miss it,
so she was very excited.I was happy to have time for my coffee to brew. ;-)
Here is a picture of Luis and Princess playing soccer on Memorial Day, long after the sun had set.

Feeling Better

Thanks to everyone who left a comment or sent an e-mail of concern
and well wishes for Princess's recovery, she finally woke up after sleeping for
three and a half hours and says she is fine now.(no doubt we will be up very late tonight)
She did keep water down (which she was unable to do earlier),
but has been unwilling to have anything else.
We played "grocery store", taking turns being the customer
and cashier and then we drew some pictures.
I especially enjoyed Princess's "fairy", because she pointed out
that only part of her wing is visible because it is behind her arm.
Now we are moving on to playing with cars and her "jenga" blocks.
Yes, Jenga blocks, I have been unable to find where in this house I stashed her
set of wood blocks when she started throwing them around the living room,
so she has taken the Jenga game hostage to use in their place.

Time with Dad

Princess and I had a pretty nice day of reading and coloring on Tuesday.We made another loaf of
"yellow squash bread" and then
we ran over to Target for a couple of things and noticed while we were there that they now sell those Kumon books so many of us have been chatting about lately.We didn't get one, I have some B&N gift certificates to use for books, so we'll wait. After a short visit with our gas and electric meter reader, we had lunch and Princess played with her small animal collection (we found a Bison on clearance at Target)and her Jenga blocks.
The afternoon passed by pleasantly and then my friend dropped her son off on her way to work for an hour or two until his Dad got home from his job.Princess hasn't seen him in a while, and they played nicely while watching Robots on dvd. The kids were disappointed at how quickly his Dad arrived, so the two Dads took them out back to run around and play on the swings for a while. I took the chance to run to the library and back to Target with my sister to pick up the correct size shorts for Farmer Dad while they were still on sale.What kind of man still wears the same size pants at 41 that he did in High School? It's not natural, people think I don't feed him!
Naturally , I forgot to bring the wrong size back, so that will wait for another day.
I arrived home to find everyone gone. Farmer Dad and Princess went home with our friends to swim in their pool and eat dinner. I was on my own. Now, you are all probably thinking I got a lot of things accomplished. Finished cleaning out closets, laundry, weeding. I did nothing. OK, I read a few blogs, answered a few e-mails, had a quiet dinner with nothing but a library book to keep me company. I even listened to music of my own choosing!
They came home in high spirits and we all snuggled down in the living room together.
Princess went to sleep at a reasonable hour and woke me up at a quarter to 5 this morning with a "my tummy hurts". Not ten minutes later she was throwing up. Not much came up, but it continued every time she had some water or toast until she fell back asleep at 8:15 or so. Poor little thing. Fortunately, Eloise was on cable, so that kept her spirits up a bit. I'm hoping she will feel better when she wakes up.
For now, all plans are put on hold until we know she's all well.

Cooking together

Princess and I love to cook together. We have been very busy in the kitchen lately
with our garden bursting at the seams and the weather taking a turn for a bit of coolness.
We had a lovely afternoon today making a bruschetta pizza with goat cheese.
We used a variety of heirloom tomatoes that Farmer Dad grows in our garden
some were green,some yellow,some red,some purple...all were delicious!
We enjoyed a taste test on crackers while the pizza cooked
and it was terrific.I was doubtful that Princess would eat it, but she loved it!
Here are some pictures.....

100 Books you should have read....

Here is the list (I copied from Nina)
The books I've read are in RED

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
I Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Oh! The Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
Thank You Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Crunching Carrots, Not Candy by Judy Slack
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willlems
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Tacky the Penquin by Helen Lester
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (this was a big favorite of mine as a child!)
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type Doreen Cronin (we love all her books!)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park (not a huge favorite of mine)
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
Olivia by Ian Falconer
The BFG by Roald Dahl
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
Bunnicula by James Howe
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom DeLuise
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
Is Your Mama A Llama? by Deborah Guarino
Jan Brett’s books
Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
No David! by David Shannon
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
The Empty Pot by Demi
The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown
The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Now I see we still have some reading to do.
How many have you read?
I'm going to have to make my own list and maybe I'll try to get Princess
to make her own as well.
If you make your own list, be sure to let me know, I'd love to read it!

Thursday meanders into Friday

Wednesday night we had a lovely visit from two of our
favorite nieces. It was brief, but lovely to see them both.
Princess loves all her cousins very much.
Thursday passed quickly from a "crafty" type of day, to an all out
"rip all that stuff out of the closet and move it around day".
I pulled a good deal of Princess's room apart trying to
make more room for her current favorite toys.We made piles to freecycle and
a pile to send over to my cousin's daughter who is having a baby boy
in a couple of months.While I was cleaning, Princess played with her "see and spell",
colored,played with her water table, dressed all her stuffed animals in doll clothes and fed them a feast
in her play kitchen and ran a "marathon race" in the living room with a stuffed bunny on a leash.
While cleaning out her closet I found a huge stack of books that we received from a fellow freecycler
that I completely forgot about! I was reminded of my lofty goal of "organizing" all the books in our house, so I know that I have it on hand when I need it.
Princess helped me carry them downstairs and we will get the shelves better organized down there
later this month.
She was happy to look around her room this morning and see it was "much more tidy".
I even got some of the piles of "homeschooling stuff" in my kitchen more organized.
I still have more to do, but I'm making headway.
Princess had a very early (before 8 pm) night due to not feeling well.
Summer cold? Allergies? Not sure, she has a runny nose and her eyes were tearing, but no fever.
She slept through the night until 7:30 this morning when she woke up to tell me of her fanciful
dreams of being a "naughty" dragon who chased little Alley, (our cat)around the yard.
We had some breakfast and she is watching a bit of television and playing with her Polly Pocket
dolls in the living room while I check my mail and post a bit.
We were supposed to head over to the sprayground today, but it is raining again.(somebody cue the Supertramp).This is the second time this week that this play date has been put on hold due to weather.
I am sure Farmer Dad is smiling in his lab right now thinking of his squash drinking it all in!
Tonight we will try to head down to Princeton to hear Princess's favorite musical performer this side of Bon Jovi
sing, mr ray.
Rain or no rain, mr ray rocks!
Hopefully I will get more organized and be able to post about the curriculum we'll be using for Princess's Kindergarten year starting in September very soon.

Jersey Girl picks Jersey Corn!!

WooHoo! The Jersey corn is here...and it is delish!
Tuesday was pretty quiet here, Princess and I took a ride to
pick up a pretty apron from a fellow Freecycler, and then stopped off at Barnes N Noble
to look for a book for her Kindergarten Curriculum (they did not have it, so we'll order it),
she played on the train table and we read some books before heading home, where we hung out playing "Hi-HO Cherry-O!" and "Trouble" before heading down to the basement to do laundry and play some Skee Ball until Farmer Dad got home.
Then, we picked our first ears of corn and within a few minutes
it went from our yard to our table, now that's fresh veg!
After eating dinner, we headed over to our municipal complex for our
local police department's National Night Out festivities.
Princess had a great time (she is something of a police officer "groupie"),
meeting the various police officers from our town. The "Water Rescue Team",
"Animal Control","SWAT Team" and her favorite...the "Motorcycle Unit"!
Whenever we see them on the road, she is fascinated. I thought it was the Harley, but after seeing
the guy under the helmet, I'm thinking she just has very good taste in boys!
Yes, boys..he was much closer to her age, then mine.
She sat in the rescue boat,the D.A.R.E. car (a bit like Knightrider-lol)
and a fire truck. She played games and went in the bouncy house and bouncy
obstacle course. She collected many of the officers "autographs" in the little booklet they handed out
and won a glider plane ,stuffed animal, "police badge" and "tattoo" .
They had free hot dogs,Italian Ices (water ices to some of you),cookies,popcorn and pencils
and stickers for all the kiddies. I'm sure they had some stuff we missed, because we kept going back by the motorcycles (I swear it was Princess's idea!).