book pick: Commander Toad

by Melissa

part of me hopes you know already of the "brave and bright, bright and brave," the preeminent Commander Toad. the greater part of me hopes you don't so that i can have the pleasure of introducing you.

Commander Toad is at the helm of Star Warts, a "lean, green" spaceship that star-hops through "deep hopper space." he is the creation of the equally preeminent Jane Yolen, one of the most prolific and talented children's authors out there (or down here). you may know her best for her How Do Dinosaurs... series, or perhaps Not All Princesses Dress in Pink, or Owl Moon, or any of the over 300 books she's authored. (did i mention she's prolific?)

there are seven Commander Toad adventures, each riddled with pun-ishing humor (the best kind, in my DNA-driven opinion. anyone else out there appreciate Pearls Before Swine?). one of the books, for example, is called Commander Toad and the Dis-Asteroid. bah-dum-ching!

the series is illustrated by the wonderful Bruce Degen, who is the author-illustrator of another favorite of ours, Jamberry. he also illustrated The Magic School Bus series of books. i love his interpretations of Yolen's descriptions.

these are exceedingly fun read-aloud books. i've endeavored to give each character a unique voice, with emphasis on the goofy aspects that get the girls giggling. we've read these enough that they now join me in proclaiming together "COMMANDER TOAD!" a'la "Pigs in Space" when appropriate (complete with trailing off, yes. we are wonderfully ridiculous readers).

in any case, i hope you have the pleasure of meeting Commander Toad and his stal-wart crew soon (snigger), or perhaps remembering your own toadally fun adventures (snigger) in deep-hopper space with the "brave and bright, bright and brave," COMMANDER TOAD!

ps... there apparently was a really horrible tv show made based off the books. i saw a clip on YouTube and had to stop it, it was so bad. it's not remotely like the books (different characters, including one made into a human, no puns, ugh!), so on the off-chance that's how you've heard of Commander Toad, do your best to forget it forever and find the books for the real story!



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Hand-washing song

by Melissa

Everything is easier with a song! Here's one of our favorites that (I think) we made up, to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"...



Keep in mind this is a demonstration of the song, not of hand-washing (I'm usually helping) nor of singing (except maybe the munchkin's cute li'l voice).

Scrub, scrub, scrub our hands
Scrub them every day
Scrub, scrub, scrub our hands
Scrub the germs away
Rinse, rinse, rinse our hands
Rinse them every day
Rinse, rinse, rinse our hands
Rinse the soap away
[and then we...]
Dry, dry, dry our hands
Dry them every day
Dry, dry, dry our hands
Dry the water away!
[Yay!]

book pick: the day the goose got loose

by Melissa

you know those stories where one thing leads to another -- that mouse chasing a cookie, for example. sometimes i feel i'm stuck in one of those. the Small One slept in. so she didn't take a nap. so i didn't get all my work done. so in goes the movie so i can. which pushes back dinner. which means more leftovers the girls refuse to eat. which means crying and whining until, finally, bedtime. and then, of course, "Mo-m-my?! I ha' t' go PO-TTY!"

the day the goose got loose is an elevated sort of tale, and not just because it involves migrating geese. this rhyming tale is by Reeve Lindbergh, who until this post i did not know was the youngest of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. the words are wonderful, and delightfully over-the-top. but it's the illustrations by one of our favorites, Steven Kellogg, that are a key reason we come back to this book time and again. he has a wonderful talent for interpreting stories and taking them to the next level.

in this book, a goose gets loose (you probably got that part). and then all hell breaks loose. "When the goose got loose / She caused a riot. / Nobody ever thought she'd try it! / There wasn't any more pace and quiet. The day the goose got loose." and what can come at the end of such a day? a dream, a dream of something rather wonderful.

and now that my own two daughters are in bed dreaming, i have the space to remember that a part of me will miss loosey goosey days such as these.



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flipping out? flip a coin!

by Melissa

it doesn't seem to matter what i make. unless it's a hot dog or some other talent-less dish, my girls generally refuse to eat. Sweet One complains. Little One just dumps her milk over everything. for the most part, i don't care. don't want to eat? fine. next meal is breakfast! still, it would be nice to see some of that nourishment reach their bellies. enter my friends to the rescue...

my friend Julie shared this strategy recently on Facebook (where else?) that her ever-silly husband Jason came up with, and it's too good not to share.

The kids were not into eating their dinner, so Jason grabbed a coin out of his pocket and made a game "Heads; 1 bite, Tails; 2 bites" the kids totally did it - and when they started to lose interest he had one of them call it and whoever won took 1 bite and whoever lost took 2 bites. I love how creative he is with the everyday struggles. You're the best Jason! I am so glad God made us partners in raising our children. Oh! and did I mention he let me leave for the last 1/2 of the game so I could go tanning. Seriously love the man!

i could see this working in a lot of whiny situations, as long as it's not overused. put on jacket or coat first? go for a walk or blow bubbles in the backyard? let mommy go tanning or send mommy off to her room with her book club book...? oh, wait...

photo credit: "Uncertainty" by Nicu Buculei via Flickr

book pick: Peanut Butter Rhino

by Melissa

i may be an quilt-appreciating gal of two little princess-loving daughters. but around this house, we appreciate a good butt joke. and poop. boogers. snigger, snigger.

enter this week's book pick, Peanut Butter Rhino, a simple and colorful brite from Scholastic ca. 1994 and written and illustrated by Vincent Andriani. Rhino is going on a picnic with his friend Elephant. but along the way he misplaces his peanut butter sandwich. his jungle friends try to help him find it. in the end, the squished sandwich is found. but let's just say it's not edible anymore. snigger, snigger.

meme mommy: peanut butter jelly time

by Melissa

you know where it at, yo.

my husband and i have been having fun flashbacks introducing our girls to the one-hit wonders of our youth (and sort-of youth). because this is easy, downright ridiculous (and because it's what lazy bloggers such as myself do), i'm turning it into a new feature called "meme mommy."

this started because of the success of the song that inspired that dancing banana. we've been hearing lots of "peanutbutterjelly, peanutbutterjelly, peanutbutterjellywithabaseballbat" from our girls since i started layin' it down over an actual peanut-butter-jelly sandwich (although along with the dancing banana, i'm thinking our Mr. Rogers snack might be a good pairing as well).

the Peanut Butter Jelly Time animation came out in the early 2000s but didn't catch on right away because, believe it or not kids, smartphones (as we know them) didn't exist yet -- so things moved at a slower pace back then. but, oh boy, once it did catch on...



it went with a song by The Buckwheat Boys who had one other hit off their lone album, about cake and ice cream, which sounds remarkably like their other hit.

what memes of our era have you relived with your kids?

book pick: The Flea's Sneeze

by Melissa

eg'scuse be. i think i goddo sdeeze. it's that time of year, so this book pick seems appropriate. first it's Sweet One. then me. then Small One. then Sweet One again. her poor nose. but there's an endearing quality to it, you know. that gargantuan pile of tissue, only one tiny corner of each sheet used before a new one is pulled from the box. her little sniffling nose. i just smother her with kisses for it all. and then, of course, i get it again...

enter The Flea's Sneeze, where barnyard animals are bedded down in the barn for the night, all sleeping peacefully -- all, that is, except for the flea. "No one heard his garbled plea, / 'Does eddybody hab a tissue for be?'" it goes without saying that soon all his friends are awake with him, including "the mouse / He used for a house; And the rat, and the cat, / And the black-eyed bat..."

soon enough they all get back to sleep. "Everyone slept just like a log-- / Except the hog..."

now. does eddybody hab a tissue?