A cure for tantrums

Did you know that if a three-year-old keeps knocking down his baby brother, making him do something nice for that same brother after a time-out will completely fix their relationship?  Little boys are funny that way...and logical consequences (you did something mean? do something nice) can work wonders.  Sometimes, at least.

Hey--these guys are brothers.  Although they're not much like my little guys, except for that they're happy, and one of my sons wore overalls today...

I'm done grading diagnostic essays...

...which means I can start reading the romance novel I've been saving as an editing treat for afterwards!  Also, I've got a whole stack of research for my newest draft of Book Two (Canto 9 of the Faerie Queen, The Arabian Nights, and several nonfiction books on a subject I won't reveal yet), which I'm excited to read as well.  And some more Laurie Halse Anderson.  And Holly Black.  Can you believe I haven't read Holly Black?  My living room floor looks something like this:

Okay, so it's not that bad.  Still, carpet's overrated--and the books I'm reading aren't.  Yay books!

Revisions...

Well, I'm into revisions on my second book--I actually started rewriting chapter 1 today.  And it's interesting, and fun, and I love revision.

Have I mentioned that yet?

But I'm still submitting Swindle Witch--I've finally sent out more than 20 queries total, which is good!  I'm still waiting for almost all of them, which is maybe good, maybe bad, but at least I have kidsschooleditingawesomebooksreadingforfunhusbandwriting to keep me occupied...

And Lego Star Wars.  My three-year-old loves Lego Star Wars.

End of week = relief

Don't get me wrong: I still love my class, reading the first draft of my book went better than I thought, and all of my boys are awesome.  But this video is nerdy and lovely, a nice way to start a (hopefully) wonderful weekend.

I hope they're very happy in their marriage--they've made a lot of people smile!

On grief and writing

There's not much to say until later.  When the shock settles the words will come.  And sorrow is so big--there are mothers, and fathers, and siblings and teachers and classmates, and it's impossible for words to hold them all.

Still, for me words help.

Hope  

Emily Dickinson

   

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Too much rush

Today's been a day where I've spent more time outside the house than I'd like--between teaching and meetings, it's been a busy time.  That's why I've decided to post this video!  It feeds into my laziness, brings up two of my favorite games (Portal and Half Life 2), and allows me to either do finances or run (triathlon's coming up!), whichever I decide to do.

It's very polished, although I still have a fondness for the cake movie.  What do you think?

Stair climbing madness

Baby can climb up our stairs.  However, he doesn't understand the mechanics of going down.  He imagines that diving head first would be fun--and it might be, up until he hit that first hardwood step.  We're in a split-level house, with three sets of ten stairs, so I spend lots of time chasing a crawling crazy up, then catching him when he dives, grinning, into my arms on his attempt down.

At least his cute little head is intact.  And he'll learn to navigate those tricksy steps, someday...