Audiobook review: ‘School’s Out! Rachel Yoder — Always Trouble Somewhere’

“School’s Out! Rachel Yoder — Always Trouble Somewhere” by Wanda E. Brunstetter
Read by Ellen Grafton
c.2009, Brilliance Audio $14.99 / $20.95 Canada
3 CDs / just over 3 hours

Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez

From the second you step foot outside the door at the end of the school year, you know the next first-day-of-school will arrive again eventually.

…

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Involve the kids in making healthy lunches

McClatchy-Tribune

Before school bells start ringing again, parents should consider doing some homework of their own on nutritious lunches to pack for their children. Since kids often want to eat the same types of food every day for lunch, it’s up to parents to take the lead and put new ideas on the table.

Registered dietitian Dena McDowell, M.S., C.D., nutritional expert for TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), says parents can provide a better range of vitamins and nutrients on a daily basis by following these tips:

• Let kids make the assignments. McDowell explains that a child may feel empowered and more apt to try new food combinations if he or she is part of the planning process.
• Together, find recipes for new sandwiches,...

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  Posted in Healthy eating, school

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Phone fun with the hubby

By Traci Arbios, herdingsquirrels.com

My husband and I work for the same company, in the same building. My work phone has caller ID. Thus, I always know when he calls.

This leaves ample room for hilarity to ensue.

My favorite jokes, of which I never grow tired:

1. He calls me. I answer with, “Yes, this is Traci Awesome, calling from (company name). I’d like to speak to Stephen Awesome, please. Is he available? Hello? Is Stephen Awesome there? Yes I’d like to speak with…” that goes on awhile. MY JOY: It’s just goofy. Also annoying … in that I-love-her-so-much-why-did-I-marry-her-again-kind-of-way.
2. He calls me. I answer the phone, doing the heavy-pervert breathing. He’s stopped calling me on...

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   Posted in Mom foibles, Mom Stuff

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Swimming in the same gene pool doesn’t guarantee friendship

By Jessica Bern, Los Angeles Moms Blog

I have one child. I only ever wanted one child, which is why I divorced. Over time, I have run into many women who said they felt compelled to have more than one kid because they wanted their child to have a sibling so that when they died the children would have each other to turn to.

Whenever I hear this kind of thing, I never say a word but nevertheless feel compelled to invite the women over to see a slideshow of me and my sisters, where we rarely appear in any pictures together and if we do, none of us looks particularly happy to be there. I am the youngest of three girls and since day one, each of us has lived very separate lives to the point where when my oldest sister got engaged I was completely taken aback as I was...

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Ice cream trucks were sent to torment me

By Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County Register

Do your ears hang low? Do they wobble to and fro?

Well, mine do, because they’ve been bombarded with the ice cream truck’s hideous electronic “Turkey in the Straw” 10,000 times this summer, a tune that gets stuck in your head until they’ve laid you in the cold, hard ground.

When I adopted my kids, a friend with six children warned me: Never, ever let them buy ice cream from a truck. Otherwise, they’ll torment you every day all summer, whenever they hear that tinny speaker.
I know, you’re saying to yourself, “That Frumpy Mom is one grouchy lady, she won’t even let her kids get ice cream, a time honored tradition.”

But since I truly believe...

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A little organization goes a long way on school mornings

By Nicole Paitsel, (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press

Jonah Davidson got a little practice going to school last year.

The now 5-year-old attended a half-day pre-kindergarten class three times a week. This year, though, he’s heading to school with the big boys. And mom, Joanna, has made sure he’s ready.

The Newport News family organized Jonah’s room so that his school necessities are easily accessible for both use and cleanup. His school uniforms for Summit Christian Academy in Newport News are kept in a special drawer under his bed, and his craft supplies for homework are stacked neatly in a filing cabinet.

With baby sister Jewel taking up most of mom’s time in the morning, Jonah’s new skills have helped him gain...

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County fair brings back not-so-happy childhood memories

Ah, the annual Lorain County Fair kicks off Aug. 24.

The smell of grease, cotton candy and animals will be penetrating deep into my pores as I head to the fair this week. I think just by smelling the food I manage to gain 5 pounds within one night.

I made my first trip to the Lorain County Fair when I was around 7 years old. I went with my Aunt Chrissy, Uncle Brian and cousins, Sara and Mike. It was a great time … until … I got lost.

Harry Potter names are creative and playful

nameberry.com

The Harry Potter books are a name lover’s dream, author J. K. Rowling being probably the most prolific and creative character namer since Charles Dickens. Her seven Harry Potter books have an enormous cast of magical wizards and wizards-in-training, witches, ghosts, Hogwarts School professors and studentsmost of them named with great gusto, humor, and a genius for witty wordplay and cleverly engineered misspellings, interweaving Greek and Latin roots with skill and panache. Like Dickens, Rowling takes delight in matching name to nature and employs symbolism as well, as for instance calling Harry’s good and pure mother Lily.

A favorite trick of hers is drawing characters’ names from the realm of astronomy, thus producing such...

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How computers have changed the lives of stay-at-home moms

By Jennifer Wagner, 50-Something Moms Blog

I was originally going to call this post “Things have indeed changed since I was a stay-at-home mom”; however, I didn’t like the connotation that brought to mind. You would all be expecting stories of how I had to walk 20 miles in the snow to get milk for my kids. I’m happy to say that when I was home with my young kids, we basically had all the modern conveniences that mom’s have now, except for one very important one, the Internet.

Do moms of young kids today realize all the benefits they get just by having this one invention in their homes? I actually did get my first PC when my kids were 6 and 3, yet the World Wide Web was a mere infant. The benefits that I am speaking of did not yet...

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Lists help keep the moving chaos at bay

By Debra Legg, debralegg.com

Just as Big Guy brings Bear out retirement when he’s feeling out of sorts or overwhelmed, I, too, default to an age-old comforting technique in times of crisis.

I make lists.

In preparation for The Big Move, I have four going, and that might be a record for even me. There’s also a neon green Post-It on the corner of my monitor to remind me of things that will cause the world to end if I forget to do them on a given day. I haven’t listed breathing yet, but check back with me in a week.

I kid myself that it’s because I’ll forget something important if I don’t make lists. I seriously doubt that would happen — the silence in the back seat would tip me off if I left one of the guys...

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