Sherry Ellis's Blog, page 106
August 13, 2012
Troll-eating Dog
My home has been invaded by trolls, and my big old German Shepherd, Schultz, doesn't like it one bit. What, you say? Let me explain.
Do you remember those Lucky Troll dolls from the 80s -those ugly things with the funky hair that stood straight up? My kids found a bunch of them at a garage sale, and decided they were the cutest things on Earth. They bought about four of them and brought them home.
They plopped the trolls down on the kitchen table a took off to play in the woods. A short while later, Schultz wandered into the kitchen. He started sniffing around. His sniffer led him straight to the trolls. He took one look at those things and gave a little growl.
"Schultz," I said. "You need to relax. They're just a couple of troll dolls."
I walked away. I probably shouldn't have done that, because the next thing that happened, was that Schultz decided to eat one.
"Schultz!" I yelled when I caught him with a tuft of yellow hair sticking out his mouth. "Drop it!"
He didn't want to, but he dropped that thing.
"Listen here, dog," I said. "Trolls are friends. You will not eat a troll!"
He just cocked his big old head and looked at me like I was out of my mind.
Hmmm. Maybe I should've let him eat the troll.
Do you remember those Lucky Troll dolls from the 80s -those ugly things with the funky hair that stood straight up? My kids found a bunch of them at a garage sale, and decided they were the cutest things on Earth. They bought about four of them and brought them home.
They plopped the trolls down on the kitchen table a took off to play in the woods. A short while later, Schultz wandered into the kitchen. He started sniffing around. His sniffer led him straight to the trolls. He took one look at those things and gave a little growl.
"Schultz," I said. "You need to relax. They're just a couple of troll dolls."
I walked away. I probably shouldn't have done that, because the next thing that happened, was that Schultz decided to eat one.
"Schultz!" I yelled when I caught him with a tuft of yellow hair sticking out his mouth. "Drop it!"
He didn't want to, but he dropped that thing.
"Listen here, dog," I said. "Trolls are friends. You will not eat a troll!"
He just cocked his big old head and looked at me like I was out of my mind.
Hmmm. Maybe I should've let him eat the troll.
August 12, 2012
Pet Wax Worms
My eight-year-old son loves to fish. Lately, we've been doing a lot of fishing. When I take the boy, we're usually armed with bread and lunchmeat for bait. That's because I am not a huge fan of hooking live worms. When my husband takes the boy fishing, he goes to the tackle shop to get worms and other fisherman-accepted bait.
Today, my husband took our son to the tackle shop. He got an assortment of wiggly creatures, including a cup of Canadian Wax Worms. I don't know if you folks are familiar with Canadian Wax Worms, but they're small and white and they look an awful lot like grubs. Not exactly what I would consider cute. But my son had a different opinion.
"Aren't these worms cute?" he asked.
My husband looked at those things and then looked at my son. "No, they're not cute."
"I think they're cute," my son continued. "I don't want any fish to eat them."
My husband shook his head and led the boy out of the tackle shop.
They went fishing, using the night crawler earth worms first. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting.
"Should we try different bait?" My husband eyed the cup of Canadian Wax Worms.
My son grabbed that cup and shielded the worms from my husband. "No, we're not feeding them to the fish!"
So now, ladies and gentleman, we have a nice cup of live Canadian Wax Worms sitting on our kitchen table. More pets for our collection. What should we name them?
Today, my husband took our son to the tackle shop. He got an assortment of wiggly creatures, including a cup of Canadian Wax Worms. I don't know if you folks are familiar with Canadian Wax Worms, but they're small and white and they look an awful lot like grubs. Not exactly what I would consider cute. But my son had a different opinion.
"Aren't these worms cute?" he asked.
My husband looked at those things and then looked at my son. "No, they're not cute."
"I think they're cute," my son continued. "I don't want any fish to eat them."
My husband shook his head and led the boy out of the tackle shop.
They went fishing, using the night crawler earth worms first. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting.
"Should we try different bait?" My husband eyed the cup of Canadian Wax Worms.
My son grabbed that cup and shielded the worms from my husband. "No, we're not feeding them to the fish!"
So now, ladies and gentleman, we have a nice cup of live Canadian Wax Worms sitting on our kitchen table. More pets for our collection. What should we name them?
August 10, 2012
Liebster Blog Award
Another award landed at my pad (actually it arrived at both of my blogs, from two different people). Thank you to Peaches Ledwidge, at Conceive Writing, who nominated Mama Diaries, and thank you to Joanne Faries, at Word Splash, who nominated Gone Gardening. Be sure to visit both of these lovely liebster ladies.
What is the Liebster Blog Award?
“The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers.
The Meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.”
When Peaches gave me this award, it didn't come with eleven questions. Joanne's version did. If you get this award, you can choose if you want to do the questions or not. If you do them, just use the same ones I answered. Then do what I've done - paste the award on your post, link back to who sent it, answer the questions, and nominate 5 more liebster bloggers (preferably ones with less than 200 followers).
Here are the 11 questions:
1. Who is your favorite author? This is a tough one, because there are so many great authors. Since I'm a children's author, I'll name a few of my favorite children authors: Mary Pope Osborn, Jane Yolen, Kate Dicamillo, and Rick Riordan
2. What is your favorite book? Tuesdays with Morray by Mitch Albom. I love this book. It really makes you think about what's important in life!
3. Do you give books as gifts? If so, how do you decide which book to give? I definitely give books as gifts for children. I pick books based on age and interests.
4. Who is your favorite up and coming author? I honestly don't have a favorite, but some of the stuff I've read from fellow bloggers here is pretty awesome. Maybe one of you are an up and coming author!
5. What music do you love? I'm a classical musician, so I'm partial to classical music. But I pretty much listen to anything.
6. What art do you love? Impressionists for painting. Renoir and Monet are my favorites.
7. Coffee or Tea? Tea - the herbal stuff.
8. Vanilla or Chocolate? Chocolate. No question about it!
9. Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn? Autumn. I love the cool, crisp air and the changing leaves.
10. Beginning or End? End. I like to know what happens in books, and I like to reach the end in my writing.
11. Why do you blog? I like it. I think it's another outlet for creative writing, and I love meeting all the other bloggers. (Plus, someday it will be fun to read Mama Diaries and look back on all the crazy things that happened in this stage of my life.)
Liebsters:
1. Design Gourmande
2. Scribbles from Jenn
3. Hallie
4. Bethany Crandell
5. Belle
Please visit these ladies, too!
August 9, 2012
Mama Monster
It's the last day of the Monster Blogfest to celebrate Christine Rain's launch of her new book, Fearless. I hadn't actually planned another monster story, but as it turned out, last night, my daughter had a monster in her room.I had gone downstairs to get her water before tucking her in for the night. She waited in bed, arranging her stuffed animals.
I came back upstairs. As soon as I got to her door, she let out a scream.
Concerned, I ran over to her. "What happened?" I asked.
"You scared me," she said.
Huh?
"You were so quiet, I didn't hear you coming. I thought you were a monster."
Yeah. I'm a monster...the Mama Monster. The most fearful monster of them all.
Hee Hee.
August 8, 2012
Bubba's Monster
Yesterday, in honor of author, Christine Rain's book launch, I told you about my monster from childhood. Today, I'll tell you about my son's. His monster apparently lives in the closet. It's no wonder, because last time I looked in there, there were plenty of places for it to hide."Mama," he said to me one evening. "You have to close my closet doors."
"Why?' I asked.
"Because the monster is in there."
"There's a monster in there?" I went to the closet to have a peek. "Is he invisible?"
"No, Mama, I'm serious. You have to close the closet!"
Okay. I understood about monsters. "So, tell me about your monster," I said after I locked the monster in the closet.
"He's a big zombie thing like the incredible hulk. He's green and has a pouch with guns."
Whoa.
My boy had more to say. "There's another one, too. It's a tiny velocoraptor that spits acid."
Okay, I'm not going to spend the night in his room. Way too scary!
August 7, 2012
Childhood Monsters Blogfest: The Monsters are Everywhere!
To celebrate author, Christine Rain's, debut of her paranormal novella, Fearless, we're having a blogfest to talk about those scary monsters who invaded our homes when we were kids. As you might guess, there are plenty of monsters in Christine's new book. Her protagonist, Abby White, kills monsters from children's imaginations (pretty fearless, huh?). Can she and her stuffed hippo, Tawa, save the world from the monster uprising? Well, you'll just have to read it to find out.
Now without further ado, I'm going to tell you about the very bad monster from my childhood. I was about four years old. My bedroom was on the west side of the house, which meant I got the evening sun shining through my window. This wasn't so bad, except for in the summer, when I had to go to bed at 7:00 PM. That was when the scary monster came out.
Every evening, after my mother tucked me in, the monster appeared on my wall. It was a huge shadow thing, in the shape of the bogey man. Terrified, I'd close my eyes and crawl further under my blankets, praying it wouldn't get me. As the minutes passed, I'd venture out from under my covers and sneak another peak. There it was, again! But it had moved. It was now on the ceiling, coming closer. Under the covers I went, afraid to move.
The room darkened as the minutes turned into hours. Every time I looked, the monster was closer, until it was finally above me. By then it was almost dark. I curled myself into a fetal postion under my covers, and didn't move for the rest of the night.
I honestly don't even know how I managed to sleep with the threat of the monster looming over me. But in the morning, the monster was gone. As I crawled out from under the covers, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had survived the night.
So what about you? Did you have any childhood monsters?
And be sure to check out Christine's new book (and all the other bloggers who signed up to do the blogfest)!
Now without further ado, I'm going to tell you about the very bad monster from my childhood. I was about four years old. My bedroom was on the west side of the house, which meant I got the evening sun shining through my window. This wasn't so bad, except for in the summer, when I had to go to bed at 7:00 PM. That was when the scary monster came out.
Every evening, after my mother tucked me in, the monster appeared on my wall. It was a huge shadow thing, in the shape of the bogey man. Terrified, I'd close my eyes and crawl further under my blankets, praying it wouldn't get me. As the minutes passed, I'd venture out from under my covers and sneak another peak. There it was, again! But it had moved. It was now on the ceiling, coming closer. Under the covers I went, afraid to move.
The room darkened as the minutes turned into hours. Every time I looked, the monster was closer, until it was finally above me. By then it was almost dark. I curled myself into a fetal postion under my covers, and didn't move for the rest of the night.
I honestly don't even know how I managed to sleep with the threat of the monster looming over me. But in the morning, the monster was gone. As I crawled out from under the covers, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had survived the night.
So what about you? Did you have any childhood monsters?
And be sure to check out Christine's new book (and all the other bloggers who signed up to do the blogfest)!
August 6, 2012
Dusting Fun
With all the pets I have around my house, dusting is something that gets done several times a week. I can't say it's my favorite thing to do.
Today was another dusting day. I pulled out the Endust and dust cloths and went to work. My son saw me and started watching.
"Mama," he said after a few minutes. "That's not how you should dust."
"Oh yeah?" I asked. What could this kid possibly know that I didn't?
"Here, let me show you." He took the spray and cloth and headed over to the coffee table.
I watched as he began spraying: Y O U.
"What did I spell?" he asked.
I told him, and he quickly wiped it up.
He sprayed some more. M U S T.
We went through the same process. Finally he spelled out, P L A Y.
"Now do you get it?"
"Yeah, I get it," I said. "You have to make it fun."
I guess he really did know a thing or two!
Today was another dusting day. I pulled out the Endust and dust cloths and went to work. My son saw me and started watching.
"Mama," he said after a few minutes. "That's not how you should dust."
"Oh yeah?" I asked. What could this kid possibly know that I didn't?
"Here, let me show you." He took the spray and cloth and headed over to the coffee table.
I watched as he began spraying: Y O U.
"What did I spell?" he asked.
I told him, and he quickly wiped it up.
He sprayed some more. M U S T.
We went through the same process. Finally he spelled out, P L A Y.
"Now do you get it?"
"Yeah, I get it," I said. "You have to make it fun."
I guess he really did know a thing or two!
August 4, 2012
Scaring the Ladies
Today I took my son back to the park where the lake with the turtles was. He still had it in his mind that he wanted to catch one of those things. I showed him the sign that said "Catch and Release Only."
"But I want to keep one if I catch it," he said.
"Sorry, but you have to follow the rules or the park ranger will give us a ticket."
He wasn't too happy about that, but he accepted it. After we visited the lake and spotted a few turtles, we roamed around the park, playing on the swing sets and hiking on the trails. It was very hot and humid, and we were both sweating like crazy.
At the end of our visit, he wanted to stop back at the lake.
"Mama," he said. "See those ducks over there, sitting on the grass?"
"Yeah," I said. "What about them?"
"I'm going to scare them."
"Why? They're just..."
Before I could finish my sentence, the boy charged at a flock of about 15 ducks - all female mallards. They took off into the lake, quacking their little heads off.
"What did you do that for?" I asked when I caught up to him. "You scared the ladies."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't like girls."
"Why?" I asked.
"They smell bad. And they're bossy."
Do you think he was trying to tell me something?
"But I want to keep one if I catch it," he said.
"Sorry, but you have to follow the rules or the park ranger will give us a ticket."
He wasn't too happy about that, but he accepted it. After we visited the lake and spotted a few turtles, we roamed around the park, playing on the swing sets and hiking on the trails. It was very hot and humid, and we were both sweating like crazy.
At the end of our visit, he wanted to stop back at the lake.
"Mama," he said. "See those ducks over there, sitting on the grass?"
"Yeah," I said. "What about them?"
"I'm going to scare them."
"Why? They're just..."
Before I could finish my sentence, the boy charged at a flock of about 15 ducks - all female mallards. They took off into the lake, quacking their little heads off.
"What did you do that for?" I asked when I caught up to him. "You scared the ladies."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't like girls."
"Why?" I asked.
"They smell bad. And they're bossy."
Do you think he was trying to tell me something?
August 3, 2012
Shopping for School Suppies
It's that time of year again - time to shop for school supplies. I can't say I'm a big fan of this activity. Judging from the faces of some of the other moms I saw shopping in the school supply aisle, I'd have to say that my sentiments were shared.
Why is that? Well, for one thing, the supply lists are so darn particular. Under pencils, for example, it said, "Four packages of 10 pack number 2 pencils, sharpened." Four packs? Seriously? And I could only find 8 packs and 12 packs. What do I do ? I thought. Should I get 5 packages of 8 packs or 4 packages of 12 packs? I went with 4 packages of 8 packs, because what second grader is going to go through 40 pencils in less than a year?
Then there were the folders. The list said, "Six two-pocket folders. One red, one yellow, one green, one blue, one purple, one black."
"But I want a Pokemon folder," my son said.
"Sorry, kid. We have to follow the directions."
"But Pikachu is yellow."
"Yeah," I said, "and Pipwup is blue, but I don't think that's going to fly with your teacher."
"Aw, come on!"
"If you got an issue with that, tell it to the teacher!"
Poor kid. Isn't school supply shopping fun?
Why is that? Well, for one thing, the supply lists are so darn particular. Under pencils, for example, it said, "Four packages of 10 pack number 2 pencils, sharpened." Four packs? Seriously? And I could only find 8 packs and 12 packs. What do I do ? I thought. Should I get 5 packages of 8 packs or 4 packages of 12 packs? I went with 4 packages of 8 packs, because what second grader is going to go through 40 pencils in less than a year?
Then there were the folders. The list said, "Six two-pocket folders. One red, one yellow, one green, one blue, one purple, one black."
"But I want a Pokemon folder," my son said.
"Sorry, kid. We have to follow the directions."
"But Pikachu is yellow."
"Yeah," I said, "and Pipwup is blue, but I don't think that's going to fly with your teacher."
"Aw, come on!"
"If you got an issue with that, tell it to the teacher!"
Poor kid. Isn't school supply shopping fun?
August 2, 2012
A Little Too Much Sugar
So where was I? Oh, yes...I was off to eat cake and ice cream for my birthday, yesterday. No sooner had I gotten finished with the post, there was a knock at the door. It was one of my son's friends.
"Is it time to eat cake?" he asked.
"Why, yes it is," I said. "You're just in time." (Isn't it funny how kids have the uncanny ability to know when cake is served?)
We all sat down and had cake and ice cream.
After we were finished, the friend wanted to have a sleepover. My son did, too.
"Okay," I said. "We'll just make this a big party."
I made some popcorn while the kids had pillow fights. Then they chased the dog. Then they found some coon-skin caps and toy guns. They chased each other while the dog chased them. It was a regular three-ring circus.
When I finally got them settled down and tucked into bed, the buddy gave me a big grin. "I didn't know old people birthday parties could be so fun!"
"Is it time to eat cake?" he asked.
"Why, yes it is," I said. "You're just in time." (Isn't it funny how kids have the uncanny ability to know when cake is served?)
We all sat down and had cake and ice cream.
After we were finished, the friend wanted to have a sleepover. My son did, too.
"Okay," I said. "We'll just make this a big party."
I made some popcorn while the kids had pillow fights. Then they chased the dog. Then they found some coon-skin caps and toy guns. They chased each other while the dog chased them. It was a regular three-ring circus.
When I finally got them settled down and tucked into bed, the buddy gave me a big grin. "I didn't know old people birthday parties could be so fun!"
