Tuesday's Proverb

Reprove not an arrogant man, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. (Proverbs 9:8)

As Speechless as She Gets

Pippi yesterday at dinner: I feel like I should be talking about something. I think we should be having a conversation. But I don't know what we should be talking about. I can't think of anything to talk about. I'm speechless.

(Most talkative speechless person I ever met.)

Watch Out Lance

My niece and nephew are gearing up to be the next hot cyclists. Check it out over at my Mom's blog, Morning Glory Alley.

Just in Case You Were Wondering

Silly Putty will stain bedsheets when inexplicably left between the sheets of a little boys bed over night. And will cause the sheets to clump together so that the orange stain from the Silly Putty gets spread around a lot.

Not that I have personal experience with this or anything. (And Harry insists he put the silly putty away - despite the obvious evidence to the contrary)

Sigh.

A Pippi Poem

Middle school brings with it new challenges. Not the least of which is gym lockers. Pippi's locker apparently got the best of her today.

My Gym Locker
by KRM*
My gym locker is
small
gray/brown
OUT TO GE ME!
"Pssst!!" I whisper to
it
"Open up!"
I shake the locker.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
"GRR" I moan
Suddenly, I feel
the tug. I turn
it and it opens
"Yes!" I flush.
WHAM
The locker monster
grabs the door and
slams it shut.
I'm warning you
now, my gym
locker is
out to
GET ME!!!

*A note about attribution for Pippi's poems. I'm using my daughters real initials as a means of striking a balance between proper attribution and her privacy.

Harry Says

Harry is putting off doing a homework assignment (to be truthful he's been putting it off for hours, now he is actually finishing it).

He walked away from his paper and looking perplexed said to me "Wherever I look I see my nose."
(I told him it was because it was between his eyes - now get back to work)

Tuesday's Proverb

He who corrects an arrogant man earns insult; and he who reproves a wicked man incurs opprobrium. (Proverbs 9:7)

I read this proverb and immediately thought of election campaigns. Can't imagine why.

Poetry Friday - Fairy Tale Edition

Pippi has a love for fairy tales. And why not - there are a lot of good stories out there. She also likes listening to music from Broadway shows. So the other day she was listening to songs from Beauty and the Beast and started thinking about Gaston - the big guy who wants Belle to marry him. This is the poem that resulted.

Beauty and the Beast
By KRM

I was the big
Big man,
Muscular
Athletic, wonderful.
But she didn’t want me.
She fawned over
A beast locked
In a haunted castle
These years
What did he
Have that I
Didn’t.
Naturally, I started
Pressing her buttons.
But that made her
Hate me even more.
So then I set
Out.
Last straw.
Kill the beast!
A little lie here
A little blood there,
The benefit was mine.
The girl…mine!
But still,
My plan backfired,
Pushed off a
Tower. Landing
KERSPLAT
Down below.
And that was
My story.
My intentions
Started out
Good.
All I wanted was
Beauty
And
Instead got the
Brunt of the
Beast.

The round up is at Wild Rose Reader today. Head on over.

First Day of School

Pippi's all ready to go - dressed in the new school uniform (they have a choice of a few colors) and eager to meet her first day of Middle School head on. She had a successful day and will willingly return tomorrow.

It was hard to get a picture of Harry standing still. He had a little free time before we had to leave so he rip-sticked around the driveway while he waited. Third grade is also off to a rip roaring success - a nice teacher and kids he knows and likes in his class - what more can you ask for really.

Tuesday's Proverb

For by me your days will be multiplied and the years of your life increased. (Proverbs 9:11)

Catholic Carnival

The Catholic Carnival is up and running this week over at just another day of Catholic pondering. Stop by and immerse yourself in some great thoughts and ideas.

Last Day of Vacation

School starts tomorrow and the kids aren't particularly thrilled with the idea - a few more months of summer would suit them just fine. Pippi put her thoughts to paper and asked me to post it.

So here are Pippi's thoughts on going back to school tomorrow.

My Doom is Approaching
by KRM

My doom is approaching
In 24 hours I'll be held
Captive in a strange lodging.

But perhaps I'll
run away and join
the pirates.
I'd call myself "Matey"
and I'd sit in the crows nest all day and....

Or I could wander into
Sherwood Forest.
I'd poach some of the King's deer
and get a grand old price on my head.
I'd run from the law and
play with rich merchant's money....

Or perhaps
I might grow a gigantic
beanstalk that stretches
all the way to the sky.
I'll climb it and
I'll meet giants, fairy folk,
unicorns, you know.

But, my doom is approaching.
In 24 hours I'll be at school.
But there's always the possibility
that I'll be held hostage by
a band of Native Americans....
(I have absolutely no adventure in my life.)

Happy Labor Day

Summer's winding down, but that doesn't mean there wasn't time for a last get together at Ammy and Grampy's house for a swim in the pool (and the hot tub) with the cousins.

Oh - and sorry that I had to turn the comment verification back on. I was getting spammed.

Picnic Time for Teddy Bears

And another Teddy Bear Picnic has come and gone. This was our eighth annual. Sometimes we have a big crowd - sometimes small. This year it was small. We had ten kids who were able to make it - and some of them had to leave early. The biggest crowd we ever had was 23.

Some highlights:

• 120 water balloons brought and filled by one of the moms!

• handmade beanbags. Pippi sewed them together last night on her sewing machine - today the kids added beans and sewed up the final seam.

• Fun crafts with sticky foam and craft sticks.

• Teddy Bear tag (kind of like freeze tag only getting your Teddy bear back unfreezes you.)

And then - in honor of the Olympics we had a Teddy Bear Olympics.
Events included (these were created on the fly as we did them):

• The Teddy Bear Hoop Jump (throw the bear through the hula hoop - qualifying bears had to get through a moving hoop)

• Teddy Bear Long Jump (which bear can go the farthest when thrown)

• Teddy Bear synchronized diving/tossing. (by far the funniest competition - and we had an uneven number so Harry's bear did a lone synchronized dive)

• Teddy Bear Slide (which bear goes the farthest after being pushed down the slide)

• Teddy Bear gymnastics. Each bear had 30 seconds to do a floor routine on the blue blanket.
  

Everyone got lots of gold medals (symbolized by candy.) Prizes at the Teddy Bear Picnic are always candy - and everyone gets their fair share - but boy you'd think some of these kids had never seen Lifesavers and Smarties before.

And as the song says:
At six o'clock their Mommies and Daddies will take them home to bed
because they're tired little Teddy Bears.

(only in our case they left at 2:30)

Today's the Day the Teddy Bears Have Their Picnic

More later....

Writing Wednesday - What Now?

So last week I blogged that I'd finished the first draft of my new story. So now what? Revisions are on the way - but first I realized that I needed to start the story in a different place. And surprisingly I decided I had to start earlier in the story - usually I end up cutting things and starting later.

I'm not trying to get that perfect and memorable first line - though that would be nice. But I am trying to make sure that the conflict of the story actually shows up on page one. I have a tendency to think that the first page and chapter should be to to set up and introduce the characters - and they should - but I need to remember to make sure that the crux of the story is there too.

That's what I'm working on this week - not high word counts - just making sure I get a good first page.

Big Trucks

We live on what would have to be considered a pretty quiet street. It is one block long and honestly not much happens here. But today we have more activity than this street has seen in decades.

First the street is being paved. Trust me when I say it really needed it.

And at the same time the park people are replacing a swing set they removed in the Spring. So sitting on the car in the driveway Harry had a perfect view of all the activity going on.

Mainly he's waiting for the street to be done so he can ride his ripstick on it.

Tuesday's Proverb

Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding. (Proverbs 9:6)

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry"

Sometimes one of the kids - okay usually Harry - will do something to Pippi - say, for example, kick her in the leg. When she screams that he kicked her in the leg he will say "I didn't mean to."

That may technically be true. But if she is standing in front of him and he swings his leg out in a kicking type of motion there is a certain expectation that his leg might connect with her - and therefore she would be kicked by him. (This can translate to any number of actions that little brothers can commit against big sisters.)

So my question to him at that point is "Did you try NOT to?"

Because the way I see it it's not enough to say you didn't mean for the bad thing to happen - you also have to be trying NOT to do that bad thing. Or maybe even trying to do something good. This works from everything like being nice to your sister to driving a car. "I didn't mean to hit that other car" is all well and good - but can you say you were doing your best to NOT hit it? Hopefully yes - but isn't that the bigger question.

The corollary to that is that although we want to always forgive transgressions doing something bad and following it up with puppy dog eyes and "I'm sorry," isn't really sufficient. An example of what I mean.

Me: Harry go put your shoes on so we can leave for church

Harry disappears into his room - where presumable shoes are being put on his feet.

Me (five minutes later opening his door and seeing him reading a comic book - no shoes on feet): Why didn't you put your shoes on? We have to leave for church.

Harry (with puppy dog eyes): Oh. I'm sorry. I forgot. (the fact that he will grow up to be the absent-minded professor is the subject for another post.)

Repeat scenario with any number of variations throughout the day and suddenly "I'm sorry" doesn't seem like enough. You have to TRY to be good in the first place - not just say a magic word afterwards.

He's eight. He'll learn.

But do we grown-ups sometimes do that too? When we say "I didn' t mean to" can we honestly say "And I wasn't trying to"? Do we say "I'm sorry" as a way of covering up for any transgression we might commit - without going to any great lengths to not make those transgressions in the first place. Do we say "I'm just being honest" or "blunt" and figure that will forgive all hurts imposed?

So for today I'll try to remember the lesson I try to teach Harry: It's not enough to not intend to do something bad - you have to be trying NOT to do something bad - in fact maybe even trying to do something good.

Writing Wednesday - First Draft Finished!

The first draft of my WIP is done. Now it is ready to go into revisions (after a small break.) And for those of you following my progress and wondering what this story is about:

Boston has been under blockade for six months and there are more Regular army troops in the city than civilians at this point, but Abby Prescott and her family try to continue to live their lives as normally as possible. Then on Abby's fifteenth birthday the King's troops skirmish with the rebels in towns called Lexington and Concord. Boston is suddenly besieged by the rebels - trapping the troops and any one loyal to the King, like the Prescott family, inside. Suddenly Abby and her family are part of the enemy - in their own home town.

It needs tons of revisions. But as I said last week - at least I now have the bones in place.