Introducing ...

THE MARSHMALLOW MAN!

Run, run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me ...

I'm the marshmallow man!

I'm happy to introduce my upcoming book, THE MARSHMALLOW MAN. It's a silly new twist to a classic old story. Follow the little old lady and all her hungry friends through the forest as they chase the mouth-watering man made from marshmallows. Will it end like all the others?

I was inspired to write this last year after the boys and I finished a week long study of The Gingerbread Man. Over the week we read 5 different versions of the story, including The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Baby and The Cajun Gingerbread Man. The boys compared the stories and did some fun projects to go with it. At the end of the week they made their own gingerbread men cookies. This got us talking about other versions and THE MARSHMALLOW MAN was born!

Stephen Macquignon is illustrating the story and he's given me permission to show you his first sketch of the little guy. Isn't he absolutely adorable? Stephen is a wonderful illustrator who has just recently finished another book called Angeline Jellybean, written by Crystalee Calderwood. It should be released soon, so I hope to have a review shortly. Stephen did a fantastic job illustrating it, so I was thrilled to have him bring THE MARSHMALLOW MAN to life. This book will not be out until late 2009 or 2010, but I couldn't wait to share it with you. It will be published by 4RV Publishing, LLC.

Run, run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch him ...

he's THE MARSHMALLOW MAN!

Poor Neil ...

The day after Thanksgiving, my six-year-old came down with a tummy bug. Poor Neil spent the entire day on the couch and in bed. He only ate one saltine cracker and had a couple sips of water all day. It's so hard seeing your babies sick like that. Being nauseated is the absolute worst feeling in the world and it always breaks my heart when my kids feel that way. He is feeling better now and is munching on saltines and drinking apple juice. He just told me that he "grew out of being sick", so I'm hoping he's on the mend. I am also hoping no one else gets it, but you never know. We're all just kind of waiting. This picture was taken in 2004 when he was 2 years old. It was taken at the National Oregon/California Trail Center in Montpelier, Idaho. We stopped there on one of our trips to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I love this picture, but can't believe how much Neil has grown in the past 4 years.

Day of Discovery ...

Yesterday was a day of discovery at my house. It started off in the morning as I got out our Thanksgiving decorations to set the table. I found everything but the one thing I wanted most. Last year I made a Pilgrim Hat Centerpiece from Family Fun Magazine. It looked really cool with an autumn collection of flowers in it, so I wanted to use that as our centerpiece again. Rick & I tore through the downstairs closet, but didn't find everything we were looking for. Then I tore up the upstairs closet while Rick looked in the garage. Still, no centerpiece. Going through our downstairs closet is like Christmas to my boys. They had 3 or 4 huge boxes shoved in there with various toys that were never officially unpacked or that had gotten thrown in there out of frustration. They discovered all sorts of treasures like oodles of Hot Wheels cars, race tracks, GI Joe's long lost boot, and stuffed animals they thought they couldn't live without. Who needs Christmas when you have a closet like mine? Upstairs I made a huge mess in the hall, which you now couldn't walk through. I found my latch-hook rug kit. Remember those things? I loved doing them when I was younger. I have a huge leopard rug that I started years ago, but never finished. I knew it was in there, so it wasn't that big of a discovery, but at least I got it out so I can start working on it again. Way in back was the box where the roasting pan was in, so I pulled that out. I pulled everything out, but no centerpiece. Now the house was in shambles and we were trying to get our meal started, I was getting irritated. I went back downstairs to the closet of treasures, because by this point, that was the only place it could be. Sure enough, in a huge unmarked box, there it was. I also discovered our turkey games we made last year, one of which I posted a picture of yesterday. Inside the box was also a nativity the girls & I made during school many years ago. It was so unlike me to mix my holidays like that, but I guess that was the only box I could find for those big items. Anyway, I finally found my Pilgrim Hat Centerpiece and I got my table set, so all was well. The picture above is of the centerpiece from last year, but this year's looks pretty much the same.

The other big discovery for me yesterday was NaNaWriMo. I did it! I wrote 50,000 words in less than 30 days. I even had 3 days to spare. When I first began this project, I thought there was no way I could make that word count. I have only written picture books that range from 500 to 1000 words. The only exception was my one middle grade novel, which topped at 10,600 words. I thought there would be no way I could reach 50,000 words, but I did it. I received my winners web badges and printed up my certificate from NaNaWriMo, so that was cool and gave me a sense of accomplishment. Of course, the manuscript is long and drawn out and rambles, but with time I hope to clean it up and make it presentable. Just being able to reach my goal was a big discovery for me. And finally, the day before yesterday I began working on my upcoming website. Just getting this started and learning how to use the program was a discovery in itself. I hope to have the site up soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. Don't forget to play some games like the Pilgrims and Indians did. Here's Neil with his "feed the turkey" game that we made last year. Nice jammies, huh? Happy Thanksgiving everyone and stay safe this holiday weekend.

Got turkey?

One thing we have a lot of in our yard are turkeys. They're all over the place. Just recently I counted 22 turkeys wandering around. Turkeys are fun to watch. Unlike domestic turkeys, wild turkeys can fly. It's quite a sight to see one fly by the house, or see one perched high up in a tree. Toms are interesting because they're a lot more colorful than hens and they can be huge. Their heads are reddish, but can turn a vibrant blue in minutes when they are excited. They have a wattle on their neck and that funny thing hanging over their beak is called a snood. Those fleshy looking "things" on this turkey's neck are called caruncles. When the toms are excited they become engorged with blood and swell up -- ick. One cool fact about turkeys is that they can have 20,000 to 30,000 feathers -- that's a lot of plucking! Males have a beard of feathers than hang from the chest and can be 9 inches long. Toms can be heard gobbling up to a mile away. Hens can gobble, but they mostly yelp to let the toms know where they are. Turkeys have incredible eyesight. Because of this, I have a heck of a time getting good pictures. They take off running at the first sight or sound of danger, even if it's just me with a camera. It's commonly believed that Benjamin Franklin wished the turkey to be our national bird because of it's courage. Franklin said the bald eagle was a bird of bad moral character and that it didn't earn it's living honestly. I've seen bald eagles steal food from other birds, so I can see Franklin's point. Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same with a bald eagle on a platter. What kind of stuffing would you use? Does eagle go well with cranberry sauce? Sorry Ben.

Nicole's Artwork

Nicole loves to read, write and draw. Whenever I do fun theme weeks for the boys in school, I usually have Nicole do some sort of drawing and poem to go with it. Some of these were from those weeks. She didn't want me to include any of her self-portraits, but those are really good. One that I really like in particular is of part of her face as seen in a small mirror. She really has a talent and I hope she keeps up with this. I posted this slideshow on my Multiply site last week, so I thought I would share it with you here too.

It's good to be king!

Have you ever tried King Leo soft peppermint sticks? Oh my gosh, these are so good! I remember buying them when I was little. I would find them at Kmart and they came in a little plastic bag. The other day I went into Staples to buy envelopes and I saw a big display of King Leo peppermint sticks in tins for $8.99 each. I bought 2 tins -- one for us and one for Rick to keep on his desk at work. If you like peppermint and you like candy canes and buttermints, you will love these. I know you can find them in places like Cost Plus World Market. I even saw a small box of them at TJ Maxx last night. Walmart sells little bags of soft peppermint sticks by the company called Bobs, who also is one of the biggest producers of candy canes. These are okay, but not anywhere close to King Leo's soft peppermint sticks. Also, if you like peppermint, Lindt Chocolates has a limited edition peppermint truffle that is pure heaven. I have a weakness for peppermint, obviously.