Mommathon

The other day Sean and I both received pamphlets in the mail from Dennis Moore.  Mine has a mother on the front gazing lovingly at her toddler.  On the inside there are numerous pictures of children and families.  The topics that are covered include:  child-support payment legislation, consumer product safety legislation and info about the children's gasoline burn prevention act.  All of these topics are important and pertinent to many people, including mothers. What I thought was interesting was the difference between what I received in the mail and what Sean received.  Sean's had info about the Gas Price Spike Relief Act, transportation equity and alternative enery supplies and there were pictures of cars, subways and an oil field.  Interesting.

The Bean Tree is about a woman who leaves home to get out of her small town and she ends up finding a new family along the way. I tried to read one of her other books, The Poisonwood Bible, a few years ago and couldn't get into it, but this one was superb. The Bean Tree also has a sequel which I am anxious to get my hands on.  Five stars!

Liam loves to play Mah Jong.  He would fit in beautifully on a cruise ship with a bunch of retired couples sitting around playing Mah Jong all day.  I think next year instead of playgroup we are going to go to find him a Bridge group.

The clown show



Reading an Eye Spy book



Playing a matching game



We had a busy day today. It was Clown Day at Crown Center. We got there a little early so we headed over to the exhibit called Brain Play, which is an exhibit about problem solving and optical illusions. It was more for the early elementary set, but the boys still had fun. We then went outside and had a picnic lunch by the fountains and by the time we were done with that it was almost time for the clown show to start. Liam really enjoyed the clown show. Some of the humor was over his head, but he still had a good time. Colm wasn't quite sure how he felt about the clowns. He was alright with them as long as they kept their distance. The boys were super tired after all that and they took a great nap this afternoon.

I have read several books by this author and have really liked each one.  This book goes back and forth in between the narrator's childhood and the present.  In the present, she is on a plane going to visit her mother she has not seen in 30 years.  In the past, she tells the story that leads up to the reason she has not seen her mother in such a long time.  Two thumbs up!

There is this great company out of Cananda that makes boardgames for kids and they are all cooperative. In other words, nobody wins and nobody loses. Players work together towards a common goal to win together. For example, we have Bambino Dino where players work together to save a baby dinosaur. These are great for kids who are just learning to play boardgames. They just get to play without worrying about losing. Their website is www.familypastimes.com.

We have been a Wiggles (Colm)/Thomas the Train (Liam)

house for quite a while now. I know all the characters' names, we have the toys, books, movies, etc. They are growing up though and their interests are shifting. We are now a Oobi (Colm)/Rescue Heroes (Liam) house. I am fine with both of these, but the names...Well, let's just start with Oobi whose grandpa's name is Grampoo. Enough said. Then there is Rescue Heroes where they have names like Jack Hammer (I kid you not) and Johnny Blazes. The stories are fine though and they are both very age appropriate so I am not going to complain. It could be worse...we could be a Spongebob house.