Day 1: One Moment

Day 1 of "30 Days of Farm Kid Stories"

I’ve been repeating “One Moment.”  

“ONE Moment” I say holding up my pointer finger and stressing the first word.  I’m attempting to convey the subject of patience to a 2 year old. 

No wailing, G.  Please.  I will help you. I will get you what you need (probably.)  But I’m not going to race.  

I want to help G learn.  I think it’s working.  G responds to my “One Moment” these days with his own sincere “One Moe Moe.”

I’m a momma who desires to raise a child….who will change the world.  

The WORLD?  Yes, really.  I just read Andy Andrews book, The Boy Who Changed the World and I feel inspired.

The book is an interconnected story with a simple message: “little things can make a big difference. Everything we do matters.  Every action you take, even small things, can change the world.”

The author writes about Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug who saves the lives of more than two billion people by developing high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties… or as Andrews calls it “super seeds.”    Several lives are connected in this story to create a butterfly ripple effect. 

Book illustrator, Philip Hurst, captures the beauty of light sources. When characters Henry and George go on expeditions in the countryside the pages show a tree backlit by a warm afternoon sun.  Hurst captures the blinding light that peaks between tree branches so well, I literally squint my eyes looking at the page. 

Color blending directs me to the details on the pages:  the emotions, the story characters. Complementary colors splash on rippled water color-like paper.  Reds paired with deep greens. Teal blues friended with oranges.

Andrews is not a new author to our bookcase.  I’ve read The Traveler’s Gift book, and I’ve listened to his own words while at a work conference where he was the motivational speaker. 

Motivated?  Yes I am today. It’s time for G’s bath time and a good book at bedtime.  What are you reading tonight?

Lauren

My Library List:

Preview Day: 30 Days of Farm Kid Stories
Day 1: One Moment
Day 2: Perfect Pizza
Day 3: Our Heartland
Day 4: Pasta Fistful
Day 5: One Fast Grower
Day 6: Farmer Seuss
Day 7: Just One Cookie?
Day 8: Frowns Turn into Smiles
Day 9: BOO-HA
Day 10: Big Red Barn
Day 11: Magic with Vegetables
Day 12: Call to Action
Day 13: BOOM
Day 14: Ponies and Cowboys
Day 15: Value to our Trees
Day 16: Tractor Time
Day 17: Wishing for a Washing
Day 18: United Tweets
Day 19: Popcorn Pops
Day 20: Busy Places
Day 21: Peas Please
Day 22: Thankful

Our blogging host Holly Spangler writes  “30 Days on a Prairie Farm” this month on her blog: My Generation.  

It’s a group party, of sorts!  Please join fellow bloggers as they tell their agricultural stories:

Beyer Beware: 30 Days, 30 Things You Never Knew About Food
Black Ink: Beef’s a Trip – 30 Days from Gate to Plate
Confessions of a Farm Wife: Life on Our Farm
Go Beyond the Barn: 30 Days of Farm Life Blessings
Kelly McCormick Photography: 30 Days of Thankfulness
Le Jardin da ma Vie: 30 Reasons Why I Love Being a Farmer’s Wife
Pinke Post: 30 Days of North Dakota November
Rural Route 2: 30 Days of the Not-So-Glamorous Life of This Farm Wife

30 Days of Farm Kid Stories

Please join me this November for my series called:  30 days of “Farm Kid Stories.”  That’s right.  One post each day about my chosen topic: Farm kid stories.  A challenge for me… for sure.  I love deadlines.

Please also join Prairie Farmer’s Holly Spangler for her 30 day series of “Agricultural Something.”  I can’t wait to read what her subject will be this year.  For the past two years, Holly has picked a farm-related topic and wrote about it every day for the month of November.  This year she extends a warm invite to other bloggers.

And, I’m in this year.

Why do I blog?

• I feel like a momma rock star when I read to my son, G.   
• I record memories when I write about our adventures in reading.
• Finding the “funny” in parenting puts life into perspective.

Farm families could fill bookshelves full of agricultural stories.  It’s a library membership I would want. Please stop by my blog (often) this month and read my farm kid story of the day.

Lauren   

P.S. I send a big Thank You to my county farm bureau office and local libraries who let me borrow books to review.  30 books to be exact.


My Library List:
Preview Day: 30 Days of Farm Kid Stories
Day 1: One Moment
Day 2: Perfect Pizza
Day 3: Our Heartland
Day 4: Pasta Fistful
Day 5: One Fast Grower
Day 6: Farmer Seuss
Day 7: Just One Cookie?
Day 8: Frowns Turn into Smiles
Day 9: BOO-HA
Day 10: Big Red Barn
Day 11: Magic with Vegetables
Day 12: Call to Action
Day 13: BOOM
Day 14: Ponies and Cowboys
Day 15: Value to our Trees
Day 16: Tractor Time
Day 17: Wishing for a Washing
Day 18: United Tweets
Day 19: Popcorn Pops
Day 20: Busy Places
Day 21: Peas Please
Day 22: Thankful






Our blogging host Holly Spangler writes  “30 Days on a Prairie Farm” this month on her blog: My Generation.  

It’s a group party, of sorts!  Please join fellow bloggers as they tell their agricultural stories:

Beyer Beware: 30 Days, 30 Things You Never Knew About Food
Black Ink: Beef’s a Trip – 30 Days from Gate to Plate
Confessions of a Farm Wife: Life on Our Farm
Go Beyond the Barn: 30 Days of Farm Life Blessings
Kelly McCormick Photography: 30 Days of Thankfulness
Le Jardin da ma Vie: 30 Reasons Why I Love Being a Farmer’s Wife
Pinke Post: 30 Days of North Dakota November
Rural Route 2: 30 Days of the Not-So-Glamorous Life of This Farm Wife

  

A bath with elephants

Negotiating with a 2 year old brings out creativity and also really bad ideas.  As the sun sets and G’s mood declines, I bring out the deals.

Me:  G, are you ready for bath time?

G:  NO… *shakes heads, rubs tired eyes*

Me:   Do you want to take a bath with elephants?

G: *long pause….. Nods his head YES*

Deal.   We walk toward G’s room with large, booming steps and we pretend to have swinging trunks.  Dad from the other room says “Good luck with that.”

 

To continue the elephant theme, I search “elephant bath” in my You Tube app. 

A 200 pound baby elephant makes a big splash in a water hole.  And so does the little guy in a bathtub who just watched the video clip.  Wet tile. Wet drywall.  We need another towel. 

I make a quick segue to a Lion King song. Hakuna Matata sounds safe.   

 

G and I barter for things.  G runs around with a phone charger in hand. My eyes scan for a worthy object to make a trade.  I present a desirable green combine to G and ask “trade?”  He agrees, and we make the exchange. 

Not all trade bargains go through.  I’ve been declined several times when my end of the deal looks dull.   

Yellow measuring cup.
Black spatula.

Paper Airplane.

 “No No,”  G says and trots away from the kitchen.

This week G and I return books to the library. G runs to the children’s area where he sits at a table with primary-colored chairs. 

This visit was meant to be a short one, but G doesn’t want to leave.  A diversion of carrying a book to the front area leads to success.  Then G quickly runs back to the children’s area where the coloring pages and crayons sit. 

After a few minutes I ask “G, would you like to carry Cat in the Hat to the librarian?”  This time it’s true success.  G carries the stuffed toy to Pat and we exit with library book in hand.   

 

It’s a Caldecott Honor Book called Green Eyes by A. Birnbaum.  In this book Green Eyes the cat frolics through the seasons. He recalls favorite experiences from each season, from climbing out of his box in the spring to playing in the cool grass in the summer. 

The author illustrates animals (Cows, Pigs, Hens!) in thick black outlines.  My favorite page shows fall, “where the leaves turned red and brown

and

      fell

         slowly

                  to the

                      ground.”

The seasonal references, colors and repetition in this book are features I like.   This book might be a good read when G gets a little older.  Old enough to not throw fits.....all the time. 

My G tantrum-defraying tactics also include advance warnings, repetition and simply asking “Do you want to go outside?”

Our morning routine includes telling G several times “Mommy is going to work in a little bit.”  Mealtime includes “No, Ouchy that hurts the table” when G bangs his spoon on the table.  Repeat sentence five + times. 

Repetition is annoying for us parents. Dad says “ok, I think he heard you” after my fourth “G we are going to take a bath soon”.   But did G really hear me?  What is going on in this toddler mind?  I’m not sure.  It’s a fun age.  (An exhausting age that tests my patience)

Shortly after G dumps a handful of spaghetti on hardwood floor, he gets the broom and “sweeps” noodles around. I immediately say “Ok, let’s go outside G” 

And my helpful child agrees.  Outside is fun.  Not as many rules.  No need for negotiation.

Do you have any negotiation tactics that work in your house?

Lauren

a big TWO years old

Dump Everything.  My little G turns a big TWO years old later this month.   I scurry this week to celebrate (in construction-style) and remember this time in our lives. 

G words that make us smile:

• Bombine.  Broken.    (Grandpa fixes a combine in the driveway)
• Tank you  (Thank you)
• Pweas  (Please)
• Awww Choo (pretending to sneeze)
• Trackter    (Tractor)
• Babhoe  (Backhoe)
• Wagon
• HOT Fwwwww Fwwww
• BOOM  (thunder)
• Un….Tree (One Two Three)
• All gone
• Ryan (G’s buddy at our sitters)
• MilllllK
• Baaaa Bye Momma

G likes to help. He mimics me, a lot.  Saturday mornings find us cleaning.  I run the vacuum and G pushes a dry mop around the house.  He thinks this is fun, bless his heart.   One dust rag for momma; one dust rag for G.

Do we clean the house twice as fast?   Ahh.. no.  But if I catch G pushing his small table and chairs across the house and pretend mopping where it once stood…  I chuckle.

 

G makes us do that a lot.  Smile.  Laugh.  Dad asks me the other day, “Why are you throwing G’s sippy cups in the trashcan?” and I say: “I’m not doing that… Hmmmm.”  We both look at G. 

I stamp the missing coffee carafe lid mystery… SOLVED.  I give up hunting, and call Cuisinart customer service the next day. Sifting through things thrown away becomes a new habit. 

G shows interest in gardening.  Small yellow hoe in hand, he helps me attack and pull weeds.. and also the flowers.  “No G, don’t pull THAT one.”  I quickly replant the white Iris and give the soil a good pat. 

 

G laughs  when:

• Dad challenges him to a staring contest
• I step, push and bounce on a shovel to dig a hole in the garden
• We eat corn on the cob and make funny faces
• Dad tunes into the opera radio channel, and we lip-synch 
• We wear colanders at hats

In the past year G learned to walk, run, jump and dance. 

G’s favorite activities:

• Climbing the gravel pile
• Riding in the tractor
• Mopping with a broom  (all the time)
• Drawing with chalk
• Building Legos
• Feeding cattle

Exciting new things G does:

• Follows two part directions (as in:  G go get the truck toy and bring to this room)
• Eats with a spoon and fork (mashed potatoes brings out the default finger pick up)
• Gives his opinion (snack time,  book selection)

Speaking of books, I’ll tell you a secret.  I ordered three for G’s upcoming birthday:

Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce.  Based on Academy Award-winning animated short film, this book was released recently in June 2012.  A terrible wind blows away Mr. Morris Lessmore’s personal library, and he find meaning in caring for the books.  I haven’t read any of these books, but I think this will be my favorite because it’s filled with literary and film references (and I think the front cover rocks)

 

Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.   I immediately love the oversized, old-fashioned lettering on this book’s cover. Leonardo is a terrible monster who is not that good at being terrible. He’s not big, doesn’t have hundreds of teeth, and isn’t even weird.  He decides to find the most scaredy-cat kid and “scare the tuna salad out of him”. 

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog another one by Mo Willems. When Pigeon finds a delicious hot dog, he can hardly wait to shove the entire thing in his beak.  But, then he sees a hungry duckling who wants a bite. Who will be the more clever bird?  The reviews of this book sold me.  It’s a favorite by many who commented.

I plan to pick my favorite book out of the three and write a special letter for G in the front cover.  I can’t wait for these reads to arrive. I can’t wait for his birthday.

 

I especially look forward to reading these books to my TWO year old.  What books are you reading?

Lauren

Sleep the Olympic Event

I don’t like to “talk sleep” with other moms.  Sleep is sacred.  I love sleep. I miss it. When we go a week sleeping through the night, I forget what it’s like to wake with bright stars in the sky. 

I think we all do:  displace the memory of sleepless nights and do a happy dance when baby doesn’t “beat the alarm”. Lately G does sleep, meaning wakes up once or twice a night.  Getting him to go to bed is a bit harder. Most nights it’s an Olympic event of reading, bouncing, and finally tucking in for the evening.  Except instead of cheering from the stands, I growl “Go to bed G.”

G sleeps in his own “big boy” bed these days:  A short, twin bed squeezed into the corner of his room with a crib sized mattress on the floor to catch him if he rolls off (or feels like jumping like a kangaroo) So far this is working out… and with a recent addition of a side table and lamp this makes the perfect bedtime story area. 

Lately G really likes Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Slide and Find.  He actually wants to sleep with this book, but the problem is….. it’s not exactly snug-able.

This read is a hunk.  A hefty board book that I believe will someday give me a small injury.  Momma at eye level, little guy holds book and swings arms without looking. If ordering this book online, consider dropping a box of Band-Aids in your shopping cart.   

G loves to open the slide windows to look what each animal will see.  Brown Bear. Red Bird. Yellow Duck.

Pages 10-11 give G great frustration. “Augh Augh Augh.” G points to the blank right-hand bottom  corners and shakes his head.  No slide to move on these pages. Let’s write a letter to author Carle to let him know of his great mistake. 

Thinking back to my last blog post “G’s list of Ag Books”… I have 10 books on my list, and my goal is 50.  If you comment on my page giving me a book suggestion, I’ll enter your name into a drawing to receive one of the books on the final list. 

I just choose the prize:  How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food by Christine Butterworth.  The vintage artwork on the front cover makes me want to read what’s inside…. right now.  This book recently won The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture’s Book of the Year 2012.

When I get to 50 books, G will draw a winner, and I’ll mail you this book.  Sound good?

Here we go:

Seed, Soil, Sun by Cris Peterson
Grades:  1-3

Amazing Grazing by Cris Peterson
Grades: 4-6

Farms Feed the World by Lee Sullivan Hill
Grades: K-3

Kids Gardening; A Kids’ Guide to Messing Around in the Dirt by Kevin Raftery
Grades: K-3

Life on a Crop Farm by Judy Wolfman
Grades: K-3

Portrait of a Farm Family by Raymond Bial
Grades: 4-6

How Did That Get in My Lunchbox?: The Story of Food by Christine Butterworth
Grades: K-3

I pulled the above books from a couple of neat websites: National Agriculture in the Classroom's national resourse directory and Boys Mills Press website and the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture.

Since I haven’t read most of the books on my list, I decide to request several through a local inter-library system.  Although our local library is fantastic, it is small. The library network proves useful: I can get my hands on books from area libraries in about 3 days. 

I go online to a website, search for a book, and with a click I send my request for a loan. My favorite phone call lately is from librarian Pat saying:  “Your book is here at the library.  We are open until 7 tonight.”

When talking to a mom of a newborn or a teething child, I try not to ask how the sleep thing is going.  I really should just offer her a cold Mountain Dew. I think the reason I avoid discussing sleep is because it’s unique per child, and it’s personal.  Maybe I’m just a bear without my 8 hours of snooze time.

Speaking of sleep, it’s time for the bedtime event.  We are going for the gold tonight (bedtime in less than 30 minutes). 

Do you have a children’s agricultural book you would like to read?  Please give me a suggestion for the list!

G's list of Ag Books

I enjoy making lists. Then I quickly lose them.  I painstakingly print grocery lists on bright post it notes, arrive at the grocery store and promptly need to “wing it”.  No note can be found.  I end up at home with five cans of French onion soup I didn’t need. (true story)

Part of why I like lists is the marking off.  The quick slash through an item feels good. 

Surely I can’t lose a list posted online.  So here it goes

My list of books to read to G in the future:  Topic Agriculture

1. Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
2. Fantastic Farm Machines by Cris Peterson
3. Oh Say Can You Seed?: All About Flowering Plants (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library) by Bonnie Worth.  
4. Who Grew My Soup? By Tom Darbyshire and C. F. Payne
5. Cattle Kids: A Year on the Western Range by Cat Urbigkit
6. Corn by Gail Gibbons
7. Farming by Gail Gibbons
8. Extra Cheese, Please!: Mozzarella’s Journey from Cow to Pizza by Cris Peterson
9. Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens
10. The Cow that Went Oink by Bernard Most

I gathered ideas from a couple of cool sources. A blog called Small Nebraska Farming: The Smaller Guy You Don't See shared a fun post called Top Books for Farm Kids. Also Minnesota's Agriculture in the Classroom lists a children's literacy book bundle with fantastic reads. 

Although I love books that feature farm animals such as Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin, the portrayal of a farmer feels somewhat cliche.  Do all farmers wear a straw hat, bib overalls and a scowl on their face? I suppose if playing Pictionary and my topic was television, I would definitely draw an old box TV with two V-shaped antennas (not a flat screen) Nostalgic image… I get it. 

If I ever became an author of a children’s farm book, my main character will sport dirt-covered, holes-in-the knee blue jeans, college T-shirt, and seed corn hat with red Gatorade in hand.  Just saying. 

A recent video on You Tube called “Farm It Maybe” parody to "Call Me Maybe"  displays a young farmer doing what he loves: working on a dairy farm.  My favorite verse of his song: 

"Yeah, I'm a Farm Boy

And here's my Holstein

It's just a heifer

It has no baby"

Great job representing agriculture in a fun and educational way littlefred2008!

Let’s go back to my list.  It’s only 10 books long, and my goal is 50.  I need some help here.  What’s your favorite ag-related kids’ book?  

I’ll keep adding books to my list… and when we get to #50 there will be a prize involved (meaning G will get a new book for his library… and so will someone else).  Stay tuned!

Lauren

great moments of "pow"!

I gravitate to Dr. Seuss books.  If I get to choose what to read, a Seuss book it will be.  The rhymes and what I call “great moments of pow” catch my busy son’s attention.  I can get G laughing too, if I really get into the story. 

Doing a little research online, I found Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote most of his books in anapestic tetrameter.  (huh?)   Wikipedia.com describes this as four rhythmic units, each composed of two weak syllables followed by one strong, syllable (the beat)    

Aha… The POW!  Often the first weak syllable is omitted or an additional weak syllable is added.   Seuss also slips trochaic and amphibrach tetrameter in his stories.  Whatever he is doing, it sure sounds great reading aloud. 

These days my little guy doesn’t sit still for long.  He didn’t walk early, but now he GOES.  Literally while tooting “GO GO GO ” under his breath.  Seuss books are great to catch the attention of this 22 month old who sweeps with a broom one moment and then immediately stirs a Lego stew with a spoon.  "Oh hey momma, were you reading to me way over there??”

I can vouch Mr. Brown Can Moo saves us on a long car ride and will keep all passengers in a good mood.    “Buzz Buzz,  Stomp Stomp”  *Silly gestures from mom in front *   G forgets the constraints of the car seat.  Seuss books lend for good noises, where I can create a STOMP with a hand slap on the truck console.   

A person at my workplace told me about how his daughter came home from school frustrated at Seuss because he used words, that weren’t really words.  His story makes me smile.  I am certain I’m mispronouncing these Seuss words too.  They are sure fun to try to say, especially when reading fast. Really fast.  

“They took him to Boston, to Kalamazoo,

Chicago, Weehawken and Washington, too;

To Dayton, Ohio; St. Paul,  Minnesota;

To Wichita, Kansas; to Drake, North Dakota.

And everywhere thousands folks flocked to see

And laugh at the elephant up in a tree.”

Our favorite Seuss books are:  The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham,  ABC book,  Mr. Brown Can Moo,  The Grinch who stole Christmas.  Most of these books were found at the Covered Bridge Festival last fall in Bridgeton, Indiana.  What a neat place to find treasures.   I plan on going again this fall.

Earlier this week Grandma Pat brought over a G-sized table and chairs set to our home.  I love this piece of furniture because its seen three generations of crayon, puzzle and toy time.  I sat at this table as a child, and so did my father when he was little.  I envision years of future reading on top this vintage charm.  Perhaps our “let’s read it fast” Horton Hatches the Egg.

I now “get” why hundreds of Pinterest pins are devoted to Seuss birthday parties, decorations, food, costumes and crafts.... including an idea to mod podge book pages onto canvas to create Seuss art.  Fabulously Flawed blog gives directions on how to create this, although it might be heart-wrenching to cut apart such a good read!  

This Seuss-thing is pretty catchy.  What are your favorite Seuss sayings? 

Lauren