lit*chick

a headstart

"Some trees are naked, the ones that aren't are forevergreens." - said by Caleb on the way home from school...

Here is my list for children's Xmas books - I am delighted every year by the discovery of new ones. Please suggest more favorites if you have them.

during WW I when a group of  British and German soldiers put aside their differences for one day.

This is my surprise find - about a boy who does his father's hardest chore- milking cows - as a gift to him.

looks like a sweet story.

a fun rhyming story to read aloud.

saw this at B&N - the nativity story from the camel's perspective. looks adorable.

another discovery - an illustrated reprint from 1955 of various Christmas stories, verses, etc.

I like Cynthia Rylant.

this is only available used, but it's worthwhile to track it down.

I love pop up books. Unfortunately, they have a short life in this house. For those of you with a gentle touch, this looks good.

This year I'm going to put a different book title in some of our advent calendar pockets and that will be our Christmas book before bed. Of course, I must include candy too or there will be an uproar.

The End.

details, shmetails

i forgot to mention -

the drawing for the 3 calendars (one from modernarteveryday, one from happify, and one from ilee - all on etsy) will be this Monday Dec. 3rd.

if you are participating in the layout challenge - you have until midnight, Sunday Dec 9th (the Owen's birthday) - to enter your scrapaliciousness. the winner will be drawn sometime Monday Dec. 10th. the winner gets a calendar made by the super crafty elise.

if you don't know what I'm talking about look at the post below:

The End.

One for me, Three for you

One of the best parts of Christmas getting the mail. Mainly because I'm such an online gal, but I love getting little surprises every day. What will come today? I can't even begin to guess.

I am addicted to calendars - Laura & Elise are doing nothing to help either.

So it's time for some giveaways, yes -plural.  You're gonna have to work for this one (kind of). Leave me a comment and tell me:

1. what is your favorite xmas gift? (past)

2. what do you most want this xmas? (present)

3. what are you excited to GIVE? (future) 

The giftaways are calendars of course! I'll choose 3 winners. Ready set go.

If you are a scrapper , turn these A Christmas Carol questions into a layout and I'll have a special giftaway just for you :) - a limited edition elise blaha handmade calendar.

After 2 weeks of waiting, my Scrapbooker's Almanac came yesterday. I wanted to savor it alone which meant I had to wait some more, while it beckoned me all evening. And I am happy to report - IT IS AWESOME. Full of ideas for days of the year I didn't know existed. One of my favorites is E.B. White's birthday. If you want to see for yourself - go order one. They are on sale (now) at the Simple Scrapbooks website.

And the person ahead of me in the drive thru Starbucks line today bought my drink. It made me smile.  Go make a stranger smile today.

The End.

a mini list

just a quick bit of enabling to get you through hump day...

did you know vera bradley has clothing, oops, i mean pjs? miss joni could make them too,right?

with slippers to match.

this shirt made me laugh out loud - fight club for word nerds.

our new pack a day habit: thomas' cranberry bagels.

i don't know about you, but my favorite parts of movies are the shorts:

so this works for me.

i got this for Caleb so he can help me the next time we pack for vacation.

i love wooden food play sets:

and this game from Haba with the cute grocery bag -  plus more wooden food.

i'm hoping to see imogene's jewelry in person this Saturday.

The End.

Looking forward to...

...Charm City Craft Mafia holiday heap this Saturday - all kinds of temptation (if anyone wants to come with, email me at mdheiser@comcast.net)

...happy mail in the form of gifts, etsy, books, and Christmas music

...baking scones

...wrapping presents - thinking of hosting a gift wrapping party, anyone interested? i'll provide tape, ribbons, hot beverages & scones

...making a gingerbread chalet with the kiddos (kit from Trader Joe's)

...reading something good - I may be onto something with Mister Pip

I finished The Faraday Girls, The Beautiful Miscellaneous, and Casting with a Fragile Thread. All had their moments, but I found them to be average. No wow moments. The Faraday Girls reads like a  Maeve Binchy book, but more lengthy and set in Australia.  Each character was a one dimensional extreme stereotype and it was hard to relate to any one of them. The Beautiful Miscellaneous started strong, then lost it's steam.  A portrait of unrealistic expectations hoisted upon a son by a head in the clouds physicist father. Interesting in parts, but in the final 1/4 I was ready for it to be over. The moments that should have had an impact, were just a whisper. I continue to be swept up by memoirs of growing up in Africa, so add Casting with a Fragile Thread to the list. Again, it was good, but not what I expected. It was an accounting of the author's childhood, but without the reflection and insight that I would have liked. Her family had a tumultuous story but she seemed like an observer rather than a participant. Maybe that was her role, but it doesn't serve the reader very well.

More on Master Pip later, I have Great Expectatations for it. ;)

The End.

A Sad Day

for Redskins fans.  And like much that happens in this world, seemingly senseless.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18

Y'all are Crazy

You crazy get up at 3:30 in the morning to go shop on Black Friday people. I say this with a mix of amazement and awe. I just hope it was worth it, although I can't imagine how - unless they are selling nanny baristas on the cheap. Seriously, I am morbidly curious, as one who shops 80% online, what you found on your crack o' dawn adventures...so please share. About the only thing that would cause me to wake up that early is 1. if i never went to sleep to start with and/or 2. if i were camping out for coveted front row tickets to see u2 in concert, the idea alone leaves the hubs mortified I'm sure. I'd be so much better at it now that I'm old...but I digress.

Well, here are some good things about being sick the last week or so.  I've read a lot of books. I've lost a few lbs. I've gotten a ridiculous amount of sleep. I haven't had to cook or clean. All good stuff here. Except for the coughing fits. I'm on the mend which means by tomorrow all of the above benefits will be erased. A good reminder to slow down AND continue to shop online.

This brings me to the 6th(?) day of enabling -

bright october has free shipping over $60 and if you enter the code snowflakes you get an extra 10% off. they have neat-o wooden/handmade european toys. A little pricey, but if my kids were builders I'd be getting them this.

i'm a little ga-ga over this at Williams Sonoma. i think the kids would like me to have one, no?

I seriously love this author and this book is lovely in every way:

a pleasure to read aloud to the kiddos over and over.

this appears to have songs from those Xmas kids movies - Burl Ives here we come.

Many thanks to my pregnant sis in law for cooking up A LOT of yummy food yesterday. MMmm tasty!

The End.

Putting the P back in nuemonia

Don't be alarmed, I don't have pnuemonia (at least not yet). But I'm still sick. I remain thankful that I am not hosting Thanksgiving. I'm sure everyone else involved in preparations for tomorrow's big meal is thankful as well.

Here is my somewhat late list of Thanksgiving books.

Caleb's teacher is adamant (and rightfully so) that the kids understand the Indians were here first, and this book has the rare Indian perspective:

highly recommended on Amazon, no longer available, but at the library no doubt.

In our house a holiday isn't a holiday without some Charlie Brown.

there's also a couple companion books -one about a boy and one about an Indian.  I like these merely to show my kids that the early settlers life was no picnic.

a little bit gross, but totally appeals to my 3rd grade son.

wonderful illustrations, lovely story.

for you really ambitious parents, of which I am not one.

a good place to start :)

it's not just about the food...

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ...And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:15, 17

Be safe and have a blessed Thanksgiving!

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on my wishlist

Some books I think look interesting:

i love memoirs.

great title

  what your favorite fairy tales were doing before they fell down the hill, climbed the beanstalk, you get the idea...

  anyone know anything about this? it looks cool.

the first sentence "bad things can happen on email" caught my eye.

looks like a treasure trove.

Any books on your Xmas list? Which ones?

Blur

This weekend was a complete blur - a lot of activity and then I got sick. The school Christmas bazaar was fun - I got lots of used books on the cheap and discovered a jewelry making middle school girl. Naturally I told her mom about etsy, and hopefully her stuff will be available there soon.

I spent all yesterday in bed - the bizarre cold (a dry cough, hurts to swallow, no fever) finally got me. And today it has the Owen.

And to those who thought the bday post was for my birthday, I'm afraid I accidentally misled you. I'm a January bday girl. I should have titled the post the b-list.

While I hope everyone is enjoying the 12 days of enabling lists, when I got my Worldvision catalog I knew I had to post about it.  It is a catlog, similar to Heifer Int'l, and you can choose from several different "gifts" in a variety of price ranges.  You can give soccer balls, school supplies, medical supplies, animals...you get the idea. So go today and find something meaningful for your family to donate to this Christmas season. 

The End.