Wednesday, December 30, 2015

New Year, New Look

We've been VERY bad about keeping up with our exploits this past year. With that in mind we set up a new resolution for our blog. There will be several changes over the coming months as we add in book reviews, movie and TV show reviews, game reviews and more! We have to catch you up on the costumes and projects we've done over the past year so we will toss those in randomly but our resolution is to be MUCH better with our blog in 2016!!

 
To start it all off......here's my intro to our book reviews. Stay tuned for more!!

Books are an integral part of my life. It is rare to find me without one. Ask my Mom, I’ve been this way since I was a wee thing. She will tell you about buying Little Golden Books on grocery trips so they would have new books to read to me. There are pictures of a scrawny little girl with big bushy hair sitting on a 1970s green couch with stacks to either side – read and to be read piles. I plowed through The Boxcar Children, Babysitter’s ClubLittle House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, and Cam Jansen. My librarian introduced me to NancyDrew, Sweet Valley Twins and then Sweet Valley High. When I asked for something less, well, girly and more advanced, Miss Amy presented me with Carrie. I was in the fifth grade. It was love at first page. True story.

It’s no surprise that my daughter turned out much the same way. When she was three, Autumn received a LeapFrog Tag Pen and a few books. I cannot say enough about this toy. Autumn taught herself to read with it (because we just weren't going fast enough for her). Many nights Autumn would stay up “reading” until I went to bed. When I walked in to her room she would just smile and say “But, Mommy, I’m reading.” I would tuck her back in and take the pen and books away until morning. It was not long before Autumn began reading to her little brother. And the dog. And, well, anybody who will listen. She was reading street signs and advertisements, the newspaper and my fantasy football magazine. When we went to the library, Autumn began selecting her own books. And we were there weekly. 

By the end of second grade, Autumn had finished the entire Cam Jansen series just for fun. In third grade she read Frindle, polished off Superfudge, How to Eat Fried Worms, and The Forgotten Door. At the end of her fourth grade year, Autumn asked for even more. She wanted to read and write beyond what she was assigned at school. She wanted to be challenged. Autumn and I read Animal Farm together. Actually, Autumn read Animal Farm to me and then we discussed what she learned. She answered comprehension questions at the end of each chapter and ultimately wrote an essay that would make much older students jealous. Autumn has since been to the island with Jack and Piggy in Lord of the Flies, played with Scout and Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird, traveled through memories with Jonas in The Giver and explored the world of PeculiarChildren in the Miss Peregrine trilogy. And that is just a touch of what she’s read in the past year. Much like me, Autumn juggles a few books at once. And she’s always on the lookout for her next read.

That’s why we’re adding book reviews to our blog. Our life may be chaotic but we always find time to read. We won't always post joint reviews since we both read independent selections. We've also got some guest bloggers penciled in. You may even see Maddox pop in once in a while to weigh in but he REALLY doesn't like to write as much as craft and explore the artsier side of life.

We are open to suggestions – email us and we will add them to our list.

Happy reading! 

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