Forever My Little Boy

Do you want a small gift for a new parent of a little boy?  Tuck this in with a little Onesie and a small contribution to his college fund, and you've thought of everything. 

I love this book.  Karen Kingsbury's simple writing leads you through many of the milestones of childhood from birth through marriage and beyond.  She has a way to just touch the parent's heart in a few sentences.  The illustrations by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff compliment the writing perfectly.  They are so, so adorable.

From the very beginning, we see that our children are not really ours to keep.  Even right after birth, the doctors have taken this little baby (presumably to do tests and poke at him a bit).  It's a super-bittersweet book for parents of adult children.   

I'd keep the book far away from anyone who has ever lost a child, however.  I have a good friend who has lost a child and could not imagine even letting her peek at the cover.  Flipping through the book and made me think of all the things he will never get to do.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

KC 1% Tax. It's for the Kids or Something.

Reporters followed Kansas City Mayor Sly James like overeager puppies recently as he walked through the ritzy areas of town tooting the "benefits" of a citywide earnings tax.  (Start the video around the three-minute mark.)  That's right; they skim 1% of your gross income just because you live or work in the city.

They always say they'll lay off police and fire fighters if they don't get what they want. But they never mention laying off anyone's brother's uncle's cousin who got a job because he knows someone but doesn't really have any work to do.  Or God forbid they have to stop handing out cash to corporations via TIF and other mega-tax breaks.

And the argument about the tax supporting great schools?  HA!!  Show me a person with an income over "on the edge of homelessness" who voluntarily sends their kids to Kansas City Public Schools, and I'll show you a crazy person.  This is the school district in which children are routinely raped in bathrooms and in which a white kid was doused in gasoline and set ablaze because he didn't properly respect Black History Month.

I hope this proposal to extend the tax goes down in flames on Tuesday, but last time and forever and ever every time the issue comes up, people keep voting it through.  I think it's because most of the people voting for it aren't paying much into it.  This is certainly why Sly James is running around the areas of town in which people actually have a positive cash flow, begging them to pretty please vote for the tax.  Elections being what they have been of late, things can be decided on the basis of a very small number of votes.  I don't blame him, but sheesh, I'd sure love to stop paying 1% of our income and getting absolutely zero back.

Hello!

We've been doing a bunch of crafts, making food in the kitchen, and taking trips to the library and the nature center this spring.  All our required school hours are done until July so I'll often do a math exercise with the children and a bit of reading or something... and then it's off to do stuff and go places.  :)

Political Facts.

During dinner, I made the mistake of asking my children what they thought of certain political candidates.  They seemed to know only about one Republican presidential candidate in particular.

"Donald Trump got on the TV and told everybody that he has a big butt!" Rose burst out giggling.  "An' he has LOTS o'money and built a Greaaat Waaall!"  Here, of course, she had to gesticulate with her dribbly bagel to show me just how big the wall really is.

"And he is rude to everybody," Woodjie interjected angrily.  "Know where he was born?  It was behind the wall in Mexico.  Because that's part of our territory."

Yep, the kid is ahead of his time.  They watch too much news or not enough, depending on your perspective...

Missouri K-8 Chess Champion!

Celebrating at our hotel.

Emperor won all his games in the K-8 Division of the state championships held in Columbia, Missouri, this weekend.  He shares the title of state champion with one other person because there were so many participants in this tournament that even after six rounds, there were two undefeated players.

Elijah, God's Mighty Prophet

I think your child is going to love this book because it's full of action-packed pictures and of course, retells the exciting story of Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal.  It includes the tale of Elijah being fed by ravens and later living with a widow and her son, helping them through the famine in the land with a miracle from God.  In other words, it's a great introduction of the Biblical story.

This Zonderkidz's "I Can Read!" Adventure Bible story was illustrated by David Miles.  I love the contrasting colours used throughout the story.  You can see how the fire and darkness contrast on the cover illustration, but each picture inside sort of "jumps" at you in the same way.  The facial expressions on the people are also nicely detailed.

It's definitely a book for a smaller child, although my 9 1/2 year old son read it for homeschool and enjoyed it very much.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Rose was a good sport and let me take her photo during the special dinner we made.  Home-made pizza on bread and sugar cookies.  The children worked hard in home ec today and had some time outside to blow bubbles in the afternoon.