RED Goes To Kindergarten

 
2015 will soon be upon us and I'm very excited to be releasing a new book this year! This book has been in my head, in my journal, and in my being for about 6 years, so it is near and dear to my heart.

RED should not make any of my fans cry (like BUD and A SIMPLER TIME) nor will it need to be sung (like the MUFFIN series); but, there is a new twist at the end of this book that I think teachers, parents and Kindergarteners will love and it will also come with a special gift!

I'm honored to have two very special people agree to write the foreword for the book -- Carol McCarthy who is a wonderful Reading teacher in Massachusetts and someone who I admire! Also, my principal at The Manara Academy, Michele Alkhatib, who truly supports and believes in me as a writer and teacher, and I'm truly grateful for that support!

I look forward to moving from editing to illustrations very soon and can't wait to share with you the process of producing a children's book and sharing with you some sneak peeks at illustrations ... which is always a LOT of fun!



Left--editing, my high school English Teacher Miss McCampbell would love to see that! Right--edited and forwarded to my publisher, it always feels GREAT to hit that SEND button!

If you're interested in pre-ordering a copy of

Red Goes To Kindergarten, and receiving a copy from the first printing,

comment below or email me at

thelifeofbud@aol.com

NOTE--no payment will be due until books have been printed

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

Christmas Eve

Tho the weather outside is not frightful, the Fort Worth Nature Center was so delightful. The weather was absolutely perfect for a hike through the FWNC ... enjoy the Nature Center through my eyes. I love the FWNC, it's peaceful and beautiful and a great place to just go and clear your head ....

OMG -- a huge wasp nest down by the marsh!

 

As we walked along the trail ... these guys swam the whole way with us!

 

Animal TRACKS! Above ... raccoon???

Below -- definitely a deer! Muffin and Shadow alerted us to a deer on the

trail -- but he was too far away to get a picture!

 

I just love these leaves! The camera doesn't capture how beautiful they catch the light.

 

MISTLETOE!

I love seeing mistletoe in the treetops!

Just stunning ... I saw this tree from FAR away!

With a dusting of snow this tree would truly be picture perfect!

Me and my buds on the trail ...

Steven with Muffin and Shadow ...

 

I now know they were distracted by the deer that was

along the trail!

 

If you live in the Dallas / Fort Worth area ... the Fort Worth Nature Center has beautiful

trails that are very pet friendly ...

 

Like the FWNC on Facebook

Visit the FWNC 's website -- they will be open on New Year's Day

and there are two Bison Feeding Hayrides that day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



R e s o l u t i o n ....

OR  PURPOSE????

At this time of the year, we are inundated with articles about setting a New Year's Resolution. When I was younger, I had a hard time picking something and then sticking to it for the whole year. I always tried to have one that had a PURPOSE but nothing ever really seemed like I was making a difference. Giving up stuff also seemed not very meaningful to me -- I don't drink or smoke ... so I don't need to stop those. I could lose a few pounds ... but that doesn't seem like something I need to vow to do for the whole year.

A couple years ago, I began something a bit different. I sit back, read through some of my journal entries and decide what my purpose was for the next year. I do not call it my resolution any longer ... I am trying to figure out what is my purpose in life. I also decided that I have to check-in each month and see how I'm doing. As I reflect at the end of each month I'm able to adjust my "purpose", change direction if need be, and decide if what I'm working on is really working. I find that checking in on my "purpose" each month makes me more accountable. Am I smiling at people who look like they're having a tough day? Am I paying it forward?  Am I showing random acts of kindness?

Santa with the Toys for Tots gifts for 2015
Small tree on the bench in the breakfast nook.

As I looked through my journal this year, I noticed that there was a recurring theme: some children have LOTS of things, but there are still many children who will go without during the holidays and all through the year. Many of their parents are out of work, many are single parent families, some families are just down on their luck. I feel that I am very fortunate for all that I have and so I decided to attempt a year long "purpose" for 2015, and also work on some smaller, more personal, month long reflections.  I'm excited to say that my year long "purpose" will be collecting toys for the 2015 TOYS FOR TOTS program. Each week when I go shopping, I will pick up a toy or two that I will donate in 2015! I'm excited to finally have found a "purpose" that will fill my heart with joy each week when I go shopping!

I started my quest in the last week and already have two toys in my arsenal. I'm hoping to have between 70 - 100 items by the next holiday season.

Following are a few pictures of some of my holiday decorations this year ... I used to put up a LOT of decorations. I have uncomplicated my life for the holidays and just put up some of my favorite things and have gone smaller scale ...

Our front porch ... our squirrel is in honor of the squirrels that used to come to our porch in Massachusetts. One-Eye and White Ears were fixtures for years at our Marsden Street house.

We now have this little guy and a small tree.

Ashley made the snowman and I made the wreath!

Our small corner tree. I love this tree! Takes about 10 minutes to set up!

The two decorations on the left, Ashley made in grade school.

Another small lighted tree -- these decorations are on the alcove above the front door.

 

I love Christmas trees, so I think having many small ones around the house make me smile!

 

 

Greenhouse ...

A few months ago we finished building my brand new GREENHOUSE! I am so excited because it has an automatic vent that opens with the warmth of the sun -- it has a double door so the top of the door can be opened to let fresh air in. It also has gutters so I will buy a rain barrel in a few months so that when the Spring rains begin, I can save some water for use inside of the greenhouse. We added a WIFI thermometer so I can monitor the temperature in the greenhouse from inside the house -- it is currently 82 degrees inside of the greenhouse!  Here are some pictures of the greenhouse right after it was built.

An empty greenhouse -- still too HOT in Texas to put any plants inside.

A view from inside of the greenhouse.

It was about 120 degrees inside and about 95 outside!

This was back in September.

 

By the end of October,

I added shelves, indoor/outdoor carpet, a heater and of course PLANTS!

Japanese Cherry Blossom seeds ... we will see what happens!

 

Basil sprouts! I planted these as seeds the week of Thanksgiving.

I'm looking forward to giving friends and family fresh and dried basil next year!

Strawberry plants -- I got about 7 strawberries last June, hoping to get at least a dozen next summer!

 

Other plants in the greenhouse!

 

A prickly pear cutting ... if pieces fall off, I plant them in dirt and

they are pretty resilient and will root -- but need to be in a pot for about

a season before they are put into the ground ... I LOVE PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS!

 

Steven taking pictures of me taking pictures of plants in the greenhouse ...

 

As you all know -- I love nature and I hope you also enjoy seeing pictures of the wonders of life in my greenhouse!

 

 

 

 

DAY 1 - Kentucky Book Fair

I have been trying to get to the Kentucky Book Fair for the past three years ... it just never worked out. I was grateful Connie Crowe has remembered me for all these years and this year was once again chosen to attend and ACTUALLY COULD! 


I left the C O L D of Fort Worth ... to arrive to the C O L D of Frankfurt, KY on Thursday, November 13. I was very fortunate and had the pleasure of being driven from Louisville to Frankfort by a LIMO! I told Dan that I'm a children's author and needed to take his picture so he could appear on my blog ... he had fun posing! We even took a selfie!!!!  THANKS DAN for being a good sport and Executive Car Service and Connie for setting it all up!!!

The drive from Louisville to Frankfort took about 50 minutes and I was hungry and tired ... I arrived at the Capital Plaza hotel and looked out my hotel window and saw the Capital Bldg. For those of you who have forgotten your U.S. capitals -- Frankfort is the Capital of Kentucky!!!

 

On Friday morning, I was getting ready when all of a sudden this L O U D alarm went off -- I thought it was just in my room, until this voice comes on the P.A. and says to evacuate using the stairwell!

LO and BEHOLD ... it was the fire alarm and yes ... the Firemen came to check it out!

 I met Knox and his mom Alecia in the restaurant on Thursday night .... he is from New York and she writes Young Adult books ... they were in the room across from me and Knox was a little nervous at first ... but in the stairwell I said ... THIS FIRE DRILL is KIND OF FUN!  and he said "YAY IT IS!"

And when he got to meet the FIREMAN he was really pretty happy!

 

After that minor setback, I went and finished getting ready, had breakfast and went off to the convention center!

 

My FB Friend from Ohio ... Aileen Stewart is at this event and it was great meeting her in person!

She has the FERN VALLEY SERIES . Super cute books for kids.

 No ... she's not posing for me!  lol!!!!!!   Yes she is!

Her next book will contain recipes too!  That will be a must have for me because Miss Aileen is always whipping stuff up that looks so delicious in FB posts!!!!!

 

The children have arrived!

The Kentucky Book Fair has a children's day and children from Frankfort and surrounding areas come on Field Trips to the convention center.

They hear authors talk, ask questions and buy books!

 

 One group of students came all the way from Louisville, KY.

The kids who read 10 or more books over the summer were rewarded with being able to come

to the Book Fair!  They were so excited to look at all the books!!!!!

 

Let's see what this book is about?

Trying to decide if she wants to use her KID money on a Muffin book!

 

 Two new little MUFFIN fans!

 

 

Miss Aileen gave me my own little mini loaf of

Butterscotch Oatmeal Zucchini Bread

OMG!!!!  YUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

 

If you are in the Frankfort, KY area, you have NOT missed the festival ... Come on out to the Frankfort Convention Center on Saturday, November 15 from 9am - 4pm

where the Kentucky Book Fair

will be open to the public!  There will be 150 authors there!

Stop by and say HI!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

CONTEST! CONTEST! CONTEST!

I spent almost 1 hour yesterday in my tomato garden (2 gargantuan plants) yesterday picking ________ tomatoes ....

While picking, my eyes were seeing RED and my mind was wandering!

I decided to do a CONTEST!!!!

 

In honor of my upcoming book -- RED Goes To Kindergarten, I've decided to give away

ONE book to the person who GUESSES the number of grape tomatoes in these two NORMAL sized colanders AND

ONE book to a person who comments about their FONDEST memories of Kindergarten

(RED Goes To Kindergarten release date -- Spring/Summer 2015)

 

You can guess the number and write a memory ....

 

You must comment here on my blog!

 

HAVE FUN!

 

Winner will be chosen Tuesday, November 11 at 8:00 pm Central Time

 

 

 

And ... for your information .... some of these tomatoes are in the fridge and some are simmering on the stove for another batch of Laura's Homemade Sauce!  : )