Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

On Wednesday I promised my 10-year-old that we’d read together Thursday, since Wednesday got crazy. She reminded me while she was working on dinner–everyone else was already done, because she’s that child in our house–and so we read; I would have stopped sooner, since my throat was trending toward sore, except that we were so close to the end it wasn’t worth it. And so we finished Renee Watson’s (pretend there’s an accent on that middle “e”!) Ways to Share Joy, the third of her ‘Ryan Hart’ books.

My daughter loves them.

For those of you unfamiliar, Ryan is a latter elementary schooler who loves to bake, has an older brother and a baby sister, and who moved into a new (old) house relatively recently because her dad’s job situation changed. Thankfully, she has a loving grandma close by and some solid friends, but life still isn’t smooth sailing; money is tight, there’s a kid who teases her at school, and she and her brother sometimes clash. In other words? She’s eminently relatable. She’s also accessible for 1st or 2nd graders on, depending on their reading ability; the books are easy for my 5th grader, but there’s plenty of emotional depth for her to absorb, and that’s a nice thing. (It’s also lovely that church is a significant part of Ryan’s family’s life–you see that in fewer books nowadays, but it’s something else my girlie can relate to.) If you’ve got a girl in elementary school who’s up for books of 150 pages or more, don’t miss this series.

In the meantime, our membership drive officially ends today, and we have more than 150 PTA members, which is nice. Have a great Labor Day weekend, folks!

Welp–I put in a load of laundry, went for my exercise walk, did my Duolingo, rinsed myself some grapes since I’m feeling snackish, and here I am again. Did I mention that after today, there are only two more days of our PTA membership drive? I’m SO looking forward to not having to be ready for the day by the time I take my youngest to school. It isn’t that I’ll be getting up later–I’m just happier to leave the bathroom to my hubby to get ready for work in while I do some chores first thing. Being up and doing and being presentable to go out in public are two very different things!

Anyway. I actually finished listening to Gordon Korman’s Zoobreak on our first day in Idaho in August–that’s how behind I am! It was a good time, though, and I’m hoping my son will enjoy it. Zoobreak brings us back into the world of Swindle, only this time, Griffin (the Man With a Plan) is helping his animal-loving friend Savannah rescue her stolen monkey. Of course, Cleo (the monkey in question) has been sold to a floating zoo, and since none of the animals in the zoo are being treated well, Griffin’s plan needs to expand.

A lot.

Korman’s Swindle series is shaping up to be formulaic, certainly–a groups of kids, each with his or her own special skill, executing a heist under Griffin’s leadership–but for kids who don’t dive exuberantly into books, that’s not a bad thing. My youngest is likely to enjoy this one, yes, but so is my son, and finding books he’s actually excited about isn’t easy. (Although he did just devour James Ponti’s Framed! trilogy.) The animals’ antics are a standout in this one, and Griffin’s realization about kids and grown-ups at the end is valuable; give the Swindle series to your latter elementary or middle schooler with confidence!

In the meantime, I’m off to do a few more chores. We’ll see if I manage another review today!

I am sick.

This is mostly why I didn’t manage to post until today–I am miserably congested and thus sleeping badly. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one under the weather. My hubby has had an iffy tummy since Thursday or Friday, making him miss our ward (local church group) day trip to Bear Lake. My youngest got fried on the trip (everybody thought someone else had helped her reapply her sunscreen, meaning I’m ultimately to blame) and then threw up when we got home; whether it was a canyon hangover (so! many! canyons!), too much sun, or whatever her daddy’s got, her tummy’s been iffy ever since, and she stayed home from church on Sunday and school on Monday. (At least she’s moving normally again!) My 16-year-old hasn’t been feeling terrific, and my son’s back was really hurting him yesterday. Good times for the whole household!

Still–I told myself that besides going to Ream’s and doing a bit of laundry, I would prioritize book reviews today, because I’m just plain sick of being so far behind. To that end, then, I’m starting with Elana K. Arnold’s Just Harriet, which I listened to before passing it on to my youngest to read. Arnold isn’t difficult reading, but her characters deal with big emotions, and that’s something my youngest girlie consistently struggles with. Whether she’ll relate to Harriet–who’s staying with her grandmother for the summer while her mother is on bedrest–or not, I’m hoping some ideas about how Harriet deals with things might linger. Either way, she’s bound to love Harriet’s cat, Matzo Ball, and I think she’ll enjoy Harriet’s emotional journey. If you have an elementary schooler who will be gaining a sibling or is struggling with the occasional bad habit, this is an excellent read.

I had a productive PTA morning, went to Walmart, and then (with my oldest) was privileged to attend an absolutely beautiful temple sealing this afternoon, so book reviews are going to have to wait; on the other hand, I did grab Brachs ‘Mellowcreme Autumn Leaves’ pack, and I was excited enough that I tried each flavor myself without waiting for my family.

Meh.

The butterscotch was definitely butterscotch-y, but the maple wasn’t very maple-y, and the pumpkin spice was barely there; the caramel apple wasn’t bad, but the spiced cider tasted exactly like potpourri (with the consistency of candy corn). So–I probably wouldn’t bother. And there’s my PSA!

That would be my second girlie who turned sixteen on Sunday, and I’m really not sure how I’m going to live through two more 16th birthdays in the future–I hate teaching kids to drive. I’m scared I won’t do it well, I’m scared they’ll make the mistakes I made, and I’m embarrassed that teaching a necessary life skill is so hard for me to do. On the other hand, she had a few friends over to celebrate the night before and had a blast, so there’s that. (She also invited friends over after lunch to celebrate reaching her temple goal–she wanted to show appreciation for their support–but that ended up feeling more awkward than chill, she said. At least it was the second gathering that went well, so the day ended on a high note! And I’m SO proud of her for reaching that temple goal.)

Anyway. Her birthday meals got pushed back a week because half the family had meetings on Sunday morning and we went to my in-laws’ for dinner Sunday evening, since my sister-in-law and her youngest were in town from Hawaii. She did open presents, however, and because she had friends over Saturday night, I decided (at the last minute or so) to take the chance to preview the graphic novel I hoped would make a good birthday book. I managed to read the whole thing Saturday night without falling asleep, which is impressive, and thus today’s review is of Christina Soontornvat’s The Squad, which turned out to be a lovely choice for a birthday gift. Like its predecessor, The Tryout, it’s more of a graphic memoir than a straight graphic novel, and knowing that makes all the feels about Christina’s not feeling like she quite belongs anywhere that much more poignant. She and her two non-art friends are once again trying out for the cheerleading squad. Will they make it this time–all of them? What happens if only some of them do? And how might being on the cheer squad change their school experiences? You’ll have to read to find out!

Okay, maybe that was cheesy, but it does feel like the sort of book where giving away too much, too early, is a bad idea. All I can say is that my girlie gave it 4 stars and I’ll likely do the same thing. Graphic novel fans, don’t miss this one!

By which hole, of course, I refer to the backlog of books I need to review (not to mention the new recipes I’ve tried). I may still be beat today (there’s no may about it, actually), and I may be looking at two weeks of PTA-ing in the mornings (because membership drive), but I really have to start accomplishing SOMETHING blog-wise. And so…

First, a recipe, because it’s still in a tab taking up memory on my computer, and I made it recently enough that the leftovers are still in my fridge. Last Tuesday I woke up at 3:30-ish in the morning and didn’t manage to do anything but doze between 6 and 7 for the rest of the “night”; while in bed not sleeping, I went looking for a dinner recipe and found this BBQ Chicken Pasta. I ended up being WAY too tired to make it that night–or the next night, as I recall–but we did have it for dinner on Thursday, and more than one child was a fan. (I think the lowest vote of the four was thumbs middle, which is solid.) I doubled the recipe and used coarsely grated carrot instead of bell pepper, since that’s my family’s preference, and it wasn’t really weird with the chilies as I was afraid it would be. (Probably because it does go nicely with BBQ sauce.) I don’t cook with Rotel as my youngest doesn’t appreciate the heat; I instead used a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, a 4 oz can of mild diced green chilies, and a little extra BBQ sauce to compensate for the slight reduction in liquid. (Technically, a little water as well, but that was to get the last of the BBQ sauce out of the bottle.) Doubling it made quite a lot, actually, but we’ve been eating the leftovers, so that works. I’d definitely make it again!

On the book front, I finished reading Patricia MacLachlan’s Painting the Game aloud to my youngest while we were in Idaho, and it was just the sort of gentle, wholesomely sweet read that made MacLachlan amazing. The description on Amazon implies more conflict than is really there; what you have with Painting the Game is a family making itself work despite both parents’ non-traditional jobs, as well as the daughter of the family overcoming uncertainty with a combination of determined practice and support from both her family and some excellent friends. Sure, it’s a baseball book, but it’s the characters that matter (and anyway, as much as watching baseball tends not to excite me, I can read about it just fine.) Bottom line? It’s a lovely short read, and my girlie and I both enjoyed it.

And now I’m two steps out of the hole and signing off for the day. Wish me luck for next time!

Seriously, though. We spent the first week in August in a whirlwind–my nephew’s wedding on the 2nd, church and Clearfield family dinner (including half of our family’s birthday desserts) and a drive to Idaho on the 3rd, time in Idaho with family (involving, among other things, two double batches of zucchini bread in a faulty oven and a bigger project for my mother) on the 4th, 5th, and 6th, driving home on the 7th, and PTA plus my oldest making temple covenants as an adult on the 8th. The 9th saw my older girls and I in Clearfield for a bridal shower, but the 10, thankfully, was a little bit more chill.

Then came the second week.

Back to school night was Monday, and after taking my youngest to what turned out to be a ROUGH therapy session in the morning, I was busy with PTA from noon to 6:30. The first two hours of that was prepping cotton candy as membership rewards; after that I made a whirlwind trip to Walmart before picking up my younger girls to join my oldest at the elementary school. We set up tables, we got t-shirts ready to sell–and then Back to School night started, and it was madness. Tuesday was a day of laundry and prepping for school starting on Wednesday, and once the kids were in for the first day (and two were emotionally struggling, so that was a little rough), I was at the school (and then the bank) for three hours. Yesterday I stayed home and did laundry and cleaned (I did pick up library holds), and today was August wedding #2. I was going to post a recipe and I have three completed books waiting for review, and I’m so tired that I’m putting it off until next week.

How’s your August been?

I actually opened up this page to write this post last night, only I got distracted (I’m fairly certain my children were involved) and so here you have me. We have a wedding to attend in Logan today and back-to-school night is a week from Monday; normally that wouldn’t be a big deal, except that now I’m the PTA president and so it is. Really, what I’m saying is that I’m unlikely to post this coming week, and I wouldn’t count on the next Monday either.

See you when the kiddos are back in school?

(By the by, the title of this post says weddings, plural, because there are two more happening in August.)