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Toby has found a lump in his side.  But this time, he is not going to tell his parents.  This time, he is going to be in charge…

not the cancer. 

So, he goes out each day of his vacaton on his bike in spite of his parent’s protests and worries.  One day on his ride, he sees a too-skinny cow and in concern for this cow’s well-being approaches the owner.  This is when he meets 91-year-old Pearl, a poet and a farmer.

Toby is tired of fighting his parents and his cancer and retreats into his morning interludes with 91-year-old Pearl.  Pearl is tired of fighting her daughters for her freedom.  Together they rediscover their “warrior self” and make some needed changes.  This is a quick read – only 116 pages – and errs on the side of simplicity as it revolves around the themes of “standing up” and “friendships” and “freedom”.

But the characters still ring true.  A very quaint story that I recommend to anyone 10 years old and older.   But, have one tissue ready, because you may need it.

Book by Valerie Hobbs

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

George Vernon Hudson (Wikipedia)

But I think the night we spring ahead is just about the the worst night of the year. 

I hate that night.

It is the night that the “powers that be” punish sleep-deprived mothers in favor of…. well, I am not sure what we are actually supposed to gain from SKIPPING an hour ahead. (See? Just saying that… writing it… feels wrong.)

I know what I gained.  

First, my baby is totally thrown off her sleep schedule.  Ya know, the one we carefully crafted and molded into something we could all tolerate. Yeah, well that nano-moment of bliss is over.

Next, I am pretty sure I overdosed on caffeine Sunday morning.  Resulting in the jitters. Which resulted in a lot of pacing around.  Which hurt my foot.  So, now I have a hurt foot. Well, to be fair, my foot already hurt. But now it hurts more.

The whole day reached confusing levels when we kept using the terms “body clock” and “actual clock” back and forth in an attempt to decipher what time it really was.  

And how should we refer to this day?  As a “holiday?  Well, as far as holidays go, this day is really lacking. Really, FLAG DAY is better than Spring Ahead day.  Even LABOR DAY which is a day dedicated to, well, labor, is better that losing that precious hour.  In fact, I am pretty sure this day ranks below NATIONAL CROCHET WEEK and NATIONAL BUBBLE WEEK — which were both last week.  I kid you not.  In fact, here are a bunch of holidays in the month of March that I am sure I would rather celebrate than losing that precious hour of sleep.

March 1 – National Pig Day.  Who doesn’t love bacon?

March 6 – Dentist’s Day (and you all know how I feel about dentists…)

March 9th – Be Nasty Day.  This one actually sounds good, if you can pull it off. I pretty much honor this day each morning in the minutes between waking up and my 8th cup of coffee.

March 10 – Middle Name Pride Day.  Mine is “Lynn.”  Woo-Hoo… Go LYNN!

March 13 – Ear Muff Day, strategically positioned the day  BEFORE Spring Ahead.

March 23 – National Chip and Dip Day.  Now we’re talking!!!  

March 31 – National Bunsen Burner Day.  Dave will love this.  It’s a chemistry teacher’s dream come true!

But my favorite day, the day I most look forward to (and my husband will attest to this) is the day we FALL BACK.  Now, that’s a day I can fall in love with.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

Two weeks ago Dave lost his swim coaching job.  

Now, I know this is not THAT big of deal in the scheme of things.  I do.  I really do.  I have friends right now that are facing much much worse. But it has just sorta been awful dealing with it anyway.

So the last two weeks have amounted to an emotional roller coaster with a dash of personal betrayal thrown in to make the ride even more stomach clenching.  And what we have at the end of it is one more person that we can scratch right out of our wedding pictures (if you are wondering, the scratch count is now at 4…).  And one less job.  

I would love to go into more detail, but that would be a firmly planted footstep traveling down the LOW road and I am trying to stay if not on the HIGH road, than at least hovering somewhere around “middle road” or “trying-to-avoid-feelings-of utter-vengence” road.  

Dave losing this job has taken its toll on us.   It wasn’t enough to watch the athletes left behind sob their eyes out or to feel Dave’s passion for swimming fall on unappreciative-boss ears.  But now we are left with that emptiness that follows an upheaval.  That question of “where do we go from here”?  And none of the answers feel that great.  

And, I am not good with limbo… with the unknown… with the “what nows?”  In fact, I would venture to say that I am very very bad at handling those things. So, a lot of my OOMPH is gone.  I know I will come around.  I always do. But this is one of those fall-down-scrape-your-knees-and-get-dusty experiences where you just sorta lie in the dirt for a bit, then ya sit up, then you cry, then you crawl over to the grass, then you call your family on the cell phone, and THEN you finally get up, limp home, put the bandaids on, and drink yourself into s stupor before trying again.

But we will try again.  Soon, I hope.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

And there is a border… a wall… or maybe a dome that surrounds the town of Perdido Beach, CA.  A barrier that no one can break through.

And (as if all of that wasn’t enough) the animals are morphing, evolving.  And so are the kids. Developing supernatural powers.

In the vein of The Lord of the Flies the kids don’t all agree on how to survive, who should be in charge, and what they should do to keep order.  The bully from the private school, Caine (aptly named, by the way), soon takes over and rules without mercy due to his developing powers.  Sam also develops powers, but is reluctant to step up and lead — even though he is morally and ethically the “good” guy in the story.  It really gets eerie when the local coyotes start organizing, talking, and then stalking the kids.

As a mom this book scared me to death.  To think that 13 year olds would be in charge of everyone and everything was powerfully disturbing.  And the author stays pretty authentic to how this might play out. Cars crash when the driver disappears, gas stoves ignite fires in homes, children cry for their parents.  It takes the kids a long time to get organized, the candy is eaten first, and they forget to check on the babies…. with tragic results.

Because of the gruesome and also the very scary encounters in this book, I would recommend this for older teens or maybe younger teens who can handle Stephen King-esque storytelling.  However, there is a bit of a disconnect because older teens may not be as interested in a book about 13 year olds, but I think the book will still hold their attention as the book is very gripping and hard to put down, if for no other reason than the original and terrifying paradigm of the story.  I have heard some say that it slows down too much in parts.  But as the first book in a trilogy, I am a bit forgiving as the author sets up the round characters and allows the story to pace itself.  If you or your kids liked Hunger Games, you’ll probably like this one, too.

Book By: Michael Grant

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

For me, I will take anywhere that is not my house.  I’m thinking like down the street in someone else’s house while they are away would probably re-charge me.  But, to be true to my own question, I will say that my dream vacation is a toss up between Italy and Greece.  I’ve never been to either, but I have wanted to go to Greece ever since a college buddy told me about his adventures in Greece one of which involved another friend winding up in the back of some local’s truck and driving off into the darkness after … well… indulging in the local greek beers a tad too much. Of course, that isn’t why I want to go there. He also described the beaches and the food.  And Italy… oh please just get me to Florence where I can feed he English -Teacher-Nerd-Esque part of me by walking where Dante walked.  That and the gelato. And the art.  And the countryside.  I will stop now.

How about you?

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

I first heard this book when it was read aloud by a good friend at her one year old’s dedication.  I then went out and got the book to give to Emme.  

This is a book of power and majesty.  The author tells the story of what happens on the night “you” were born.  All of creation stops and takes notice as the child in the story is told again and again how unique, perfect, wonderful and loved he is.  It is one that sinks deep into a mother’s heart, and still remains relevant to the child — it doesn’t go above a child’s head, but instead simply reveals each child’s profound place in the world.  And, of course, to mom and dad, that child IS the whole world.

This book is a poignant reminder that God’s creation is, indeed, for each of us.  And each time a new “you” comes into the world, there is reason to celebrate.   This book would make a beautiful gift for any mom and it is a wonderful addition to a child’s library.  Its message of love is too special to pass up.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

It wasn’t an easy thing to decide to bring another child into an already bustling family of 6.   But, to be honest, my heart would not rest… I could not stop yearning for another baby.  We found out that I was pregnant on the 4th of July 2008.  And to be honest, we were not 100% prepared for the news.  To say she was “unplanned” would be acting like  a teenager  – in other words, we knew what we were doing.  But, the news still had a bit of a “wow” factor to it.

She came into this world and immediately changed it. When I look at my two babies, I can say I love them the same amount.  That my depth of love for Ty and for Emme both runs deep, fathomless, to the heavens and back again.  But whereas my love for Ty could be described as moonlight — all mystical and magical and mysterious — my love for Emme is a sunrise — bright and celebratory and joyful.

Emme at 1 Week Old by Jessica Nichols

She has taught me many many things. 

Lately she has taught me that no matter how often I sweep and mop (even with my uber shark steam mop) she will find that infinitesimal speck from 20 feet away, crawl her chubby little bum right off to get to it, and consume it before any of the 6 of us can stop her.

Mostly, she has taught me that no matter what I “expect” she is going to suprise me.  She put me into labor only 6 hours before my planned (yes, the “no labor” planned) C-section.  I can put her down in the crib WIDE AWAKE and walk away from her and she will roll over and go to sleep for 14 hours.  This still has a shock factor for us.  

Although my husband was overwhelmed and worried about bringing another child into our life, he took one look at her and fell madly in love.  She is drawn to him to the exclusion of others.  She will smile so big sometimes that I think her face is going to break.  I have never smiled like that.  And, I am sure that I have never felt the joy that she feels, the exuberance for life that she exudes from all her little chubby, yummy parts.  She literaly and figuratively spreads her arms wide and grabs hold of the world around her and then devours it… me… with her smile, with her sense of hope, with her pure sweetness.  

I did not expect any of that.  I did not expect that I would love her so much.  I did not expect that there would once again be a person in my life that I cannot live without. 

I did not expect that Ty would want to suck on her toes and calls her “his baby“.  Or that Jade would stare into her eyes, turn to me, and exclaim, “We are so lucky to have her!” Or that Izzy would invent games to teach her how to put that darn Cheerio into her mouth.  Or that Lily would crawl around on the floor, following her around the house just to keep her safe.

So, today is Emme’s birthday. 

We named her Emme because the meaning of her name is “complete” or “whole.”  And that is what she made this family…complete….whole.

Emme Rose

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

I don’t want anyone … me included… to forget about Haiti.

As I was out and about on the internet today, I found this site called Wild Olive Tees that is selling T-shirts to raise funds for Haiti.

Please consider checking out the site and purchasing a T-shirt.  The other T-shirts they sell are amazingly cool, too.

Jade’s 14th birthday is coming up and I think I just may spring for one of these. There are a bunch more to choose from.  Click here to check them out.

And then there is Chile.  Habitat for Humanity  is on the move there, trying to provide housing for people who have lost their homes.  And The Salvation Army has pledged to provide food and other relief.  Please consider donating to help out.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

Ah man.  I am so glad someone told me.

So glad.

Here is how we celebrated:

She said, “Hey, this girl doesn’t even flinch… wow!”

I guess, technically, Izzy isn’t poking HERSELF in the eye.  But, it was the best we could do.

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.

I had no intention of liking these books. None.  But because I like to keep up and read alongside what my kids are reading, I went ahead and dove into this one.  And, frankly, it hooked me.  So much so that I finished the whole series in a little less than two weeks.

I really had to get used to James Patterson’s way of writing.  He rights in quick sentences, no fluff, not a lot of detail.  And because this book is told in 1st person from the perspective of a 14 year old girl, he writes in the vernacular and jargon of a sassy teen.  And Max often talks right to the reader. Sometimes I feel like Patterson nails the voice of a 14 year old girl — just gets right in that sweet spot with the cadence and the language.  And at other times, the voice is painfully not the voice of a teenager; it almost yells to the reader “middle age white guy trying to sound like a teenage girl.”  During these passages, well, lets just say some of them are cringe-worthy.  Especially when Patterson — through the voice of Max — gets preachy about responsibility and global warming (yes, you read that correctly, there is a anti-global warming thread throughout this series…).

But if you can put all that aside and read on, you have yourself a solid story that winds up to be compelling, interesting, and a fun read.  Teenagers will love it (mine sure did).  I even think this one would grab the attention of teenage boys, even though it is told from the point of view of a female.  The story spins from one intense moment to the next and the characters are easy to care about.

I recommend this book series for boys and girls age 11 and older.

Author: James Patterson

©2010 MamaBloo. All Rights Reserved.