Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

* Yesterday we finished reading The Mitchells: Five for Victory.  We did it as a read-aloud and it was perfect over breakfast -- went very well with both cereal and waffles. And coffee.  We love Hilda Van Stockum, but somehow the older girls and I had never gotten around to the Mitchell series.  What an oversight! We all adored this book. The characters are very real and funny, and the book is quite touching, too.

Here is Alicia's Love2Learn review, which nicely covers a topic that might be upsetting for young or very sensitive children (I did need to reassure Ramona, in a few instances,  that all would end well.)

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* Why are ads for tattoos turning up in the sidebar of my Gmail?

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* We'll be dissecting critters today. My house will smell like a biology lab. Maybe we should eat out tonight.

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*Back to the Mitchells ... one of the funniest and most endearing subplots has to do with pets. I won't tell you what happens, as I don't want to spoil it, but everything about the family's animals is perfectly executed.

And on the subject of pets, we've had plenty of them -- we currently have a cat (I call him Mr. Putter here, though why I gave the cat a blog name is beyond me), and a hamster named Blanche. (We thought Blanche was a girl -- the kids named her after a Regina Doman character. Turns out Blanche is a boy, but we still call him her.) We've had other hamsters: Ralpie, Fluffy I and Fluffy II. And hermit crabs (can't remember if we named them -- I just never got extremely attached -- can you imagine? Though I did really appreciate the fact that they never woke me up in the middle of the night.) We also had betta fish that were named Evelyn and Dorothy despite the fact that they were males. Anne-with-an-e and Betsy were just 8 and 6 years old, and "Evelyn" and "Dorothy" were the dreamiest names they could imagine for anyone, including fish.

And now?

We're going to get a dog!  Cheer with me, people!

6 comments:

Jennifer said...

Well if you've had a Dorothy and Blanche, I vote that the new dog is named Sophia or Rose. Or both. I hope you find a sweet dog for your family. And I think it's so charming that you gave your cat a blog name.
We loved the Mitchells too. Great characters.

Danae said...

WHAT???!!!! Oh my goodness! How did you convince Atticus?

Doreen said...

woooo hoooo! You can look forward to doggie kisses, and hilarious frolics!!
Be sure to pray as a family for the right choice in your new furry family member...it makes all the difference!
have fun!

Sarah N. said...

We love The Mitchells here! I'm almost done reading aloud the third book in the trilogy - Friendly Gables. My girls (3 and 6) have two beta fish named Fire and Volcano Jello (not sure where the 3yo got that one) and they are always referred to as "she" despite the fact that they are male. Congratulations on the dog. The girls and I would love one. Perhaps someday my dh will cave to the idea :)

Karen Edmisten said...

Jennifer, the dog may already have a name if the shelter dog we're looking at pans out. But, I do love Sophia and Rose, and Sophia Rose.

Danae -- I dunno. Could have been the puppy dog eyes the girls cast upon him. But it took many years of puppy dog eyes.

Doreen -- you're so right! We have been praying for the right dog for our family ... we'll know more after this weekend.

Sarah, you'll notice that my youngest is now SEVEN ... it took that long for Atticus to cave. :) And I just ordered a cool old edition of Canadian Summer! Love the name Volcano Jello!

Anonymous said...

huzzah.