MoseleyWorld

The Texas Library Association created the Texas 2×2 Reading List to encourage reading to and by children age 2 to grade 2. The lists for each year since 2000 are provided. Many of our favorite books have come from the 2×2 Reading Lists. The 2009 Reading List includes links to parent & children reading time activities. Here are some books from the 2×2 List with links to purchase at Amazon.

What are your kids favorites?

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton. Ages 4-8. One of our favorites! Beautifully illustrated! A love-hate relationship between Bear and Mouse turns a clever children’s picture book into a tale of learning to be friendly and making new friends.

The Littlest Llama Jane Browning Buxton. Ages 3 and up. Little llama wants to play but his family is too busy, so he wanders off to find a playmate and finds adventure and a wonderful surprise when he returns home

Quinito, Day and Night/Quinito, dia y noche by Ina Cumpiano, Illustrated by Jose Ramirez. Ages 4-8. Little Quinito and his family take the reader through a day filled with opposites, including short/tall, quiet/loud, and rainy/sunny.

On the Farm Ages 2-6. Beautiful woodcut illustrations and simple humorous verses about farm animals will delight children.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes Mem Fox, Fox, Mem. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Rhyming text compares babies born in different countries and in different circumstances, but they all share the commonality of ten little fingers and ten little toes

How to Heal a Broken Wing Written & illustrated by Bob Graham. Ages 3 and up. Told in small panels, this sweet, gentle story is for all ages with a reminder to take time to care and help in a busy world.

10 Things I Can Do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh. Ages 3-6. Using cutaway pages and one lift-the-flap, Walsh has created an informative and wonderful book for showing young children how they can help conserve and take care of our earth.

Chicken Said, “Cluck!” (My First I Can Read) Judyann Ackerman Grant, Illustrated by Sue Truesdell. Ages 4-8. Pearl and Earl set out to grow pumpkins with the help of a pesky chicken in this story for emergent readers.

Sort it Out! by Barbara Mariconda, Illustrated by Sherry Rogers. Ages 4-8. This little pack rat presents one of the basic science methods by sorting the things he has collected. The pictures have all kinds of surprises in them, including another packrat who turns out to be the sister.

Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic. Ages 4-8. Max the Duck wants to create the “perfect” soup. When he steps out the backdoor to find a missing ingredient, his friends Brody and Dakota fear the worst when they see a feather floating in the boiling soup.

Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius, Illustrated by Bill Thomson. Ages 4-8. Outstanding photo realist-like illustrations combined with clever poetic verse, supercharges young readers with a thrilling game of little league baseball

Jack Wants a Snack Pat Schories. Ages 2- 6. Children will love exploring the illustrations and following this wordless story of puppy dog Jack as he attempts to obtain a snack of popcorn during an outdoor tea party.

No Babysitters Allowed Amber Stewart. Ages 4-6. When his parents go out for the evening, Hopscotch works out his separation anxiety with the help of Mrs. Honeybunch and some good books.

What Can You Do With a Rebozo? Carmen Tafolla. Ages 3-6. Colorful illustrations reflect a simple, joyful family setting and present the many creative ways to use the rebozo, a traditional Mexican woven shawl.

Grumpy Cat Britta Teckentrup. Ages 2-4. A street cat, increasingly grumpy due to loneliness, changes his attitude when a small, abandoned kitten decides to be his friend.

The Doghouse Jan Thomas. Ages 3-5. Cow, Pig, Duck, and Mouse are afraid to retrieve their ball when it goes into the dog’s house, but when they do go in they are pleasantly surprised.

Friday morning’s ear tube surgery for Samantha was as quick as expected. Well, quick once the doctor finally arrived. They required Samantha to be present + accounted for at 6:00 am and the surgery was scheduled for 7:30. No food, no water. Carey said Samantha was not a happy camper.

Saxon and I went to the surgical center to find Samantha doing the strange, coming-off-anesthesia crying we were told to expect. The ENT doc said the surgery went well. By mid-afternoon, Samantha was full of energy and this weekend she seemed more active and more giggly than usual (even laughing when her mom put drops in her ears). Let’s hope this works on a fairly long-term basis.

Thank you everyone for your comments, emails & prayers.

Oh, one more note. Samantha, who turned one last month, has recently been showing more signs of moves toward becoming her own little person. Carey and I marvel at how different two little girls, raised in the same home, can be. One example is how incredibly sensitive Samantha has always been. She has been more likely to squawk if something scared her or if she bumped her head than her sister, Saxon.

If Samantha had a secret service code name, I can guess it might be “destructo.” Books, paper, packages, plants, you name it. None are safe around Samantha. One of Samantha’s favorite targets has been the foam edge protector that surrounds the coffee table. I guess it should not be a surprise since every other toddler, except for Saxon, has been attracted to the padding like moths to a flame, quickly attempting to pry it off, rip it and, what? eat it? who knows.

Yesterday, when Samantha grabbed the edge protector and started pulling, Carey offered a firm, “Samantha, No.” Samantha looked a her mother with shock [as if to say, “i cannot believe you just said that to me. gasp.], marched off crying and buried her face in the seat of a lounge chair. Two more times, the exact scene repeated itself.  Tough to keep a straight face.

Tomorrow (friday, sept 18) morning, little Samantha, who just turned one last month is having surgery. Around 7:30 she will have a myringotomy with typanostomy tube insertion, more commonly known as having “tubes” put in her ears. Samantha has had a ton ear infections for the past six months.

And when she has them, the fluid in her ears affects her hearing, causes pain and also tends to turn into colds (or vice versa). As much as we both hate to do it, we feel it is the best thing for Samantha. Hard to learn to talk when you cannot hear very well. Recent research suggests that protecting the ear from water may not be necessary, except when diving (she’s not there yet) or when being in unclean water (lakes & rivers).

Although she will be under anesthesia for only five minutes, the entire thought of my baby girl being on an operating table creates a great deal of anxiety and worry for me. Can you remember Samantha in your thoughts and prayers?

One afternoon, a few of us trekked over to the Utah Olympic Park in Park City, which served as the 2002 Olympic venue for ski jumping, nordic combined, bobsled, skeleton and luge events. Actually, medals are given in the bobsleigh event to people who ride a bobsled. How’s that for some fairly useless trivia learned on this family vacation? Store it away. Use it wisely at the appropriate time, but do so without sounding like a know-it-all Cliff Clavin .

So, the bobsleigh track (or would it be a bobsled track?!) is still there and used by the US Olympic team as their training ground. Year round, mere mortals can take a ride on the track. In the winter, you can ride one of the actual bobsleds used in the 2002 Olympics. Other times of the year, you can ride a summerized bobsled with tires instead of steel runners.

The Comet bobsled ride at the Utah Olympic park is billed as the "most intense minute of your life. " The sign-your-life-away form included warnings designed to discourage anyone who has ever had back/neck, kidney or heart problems, undergone recent surgeries, have high blood pressure or is pregnant. In big bold print it said the ride is "not for the faint of heart ." After reading this, I quietly asked how many fatalities they had had in 2009. The burly mountain man laughed and said they had only crashed one bobsled, about ten years ago, and that everyone walked away, albeit very bruised.

mimi was glad to hang out with Saxon and form the cheering section.

saxon picking a helmet. sorry kid. you gotta be 14 to ride.

"dad, this is really heavy on my head"

they won’t let you drive, since you have to be pro to navigate the 15 turns at speeds close to 70 mph. that’s mike (above) looking back excitedly. The faster you’re pushed at the start, the faster you zip down the track. Big & strong people make great pushers and brakemen. I was glad someone as strong as Heisman winner and NFL running back Herschel Walker (who finished 7th in the 1992 two man event) wasn’t pushing out sled.

From left to right: von, me (with the wild eyes), teresa (eyes fixed on the helmet in front of her) and the driver guy. The minute I plopped down into the long metal hot dog, panic descended upon my heart and mind for the second time in two days. As a lifelong claustrophobe, the simultaneous reactions of increased stomach acids, the tightening of my chest, nd increased hyperawareness of everything going on around me were unpleasantly familiar.

But I had no time to dwell upon these thoughts because off we went. Realizing we did not have seat belts because we didn’t need them. With 5G’s (that’s 5 times the normal pull of gravity) in the turns I would be pinned to the bottom of the sled if I didn’t follow the instructions. Push against the inside of the sled with my arms as hard as I could and hold your head and neck up with a stiff rigidity to avoid being a life-sized bobble head doll.

Away we went. Faster and faster with each vertical drop. At the turns, it felt like my body had become metallized and the world was a giant magnet folding me in half. The first 30 seconds were exhiliarating. Truly the most intense 30 seconds of my life seemed like a split second.

Unfortunately, the turns started coming so fast that my delicate inner ear thought we were on a dinghy in ten foot seas and sounded the motion sickness alarm. At this point, I could only think of crying for mama. The last 30 seconds [thank goodness the entire ride was less than a minute] seemed like an eternity.

I don’t look very green, so maybe we took this one before the ride!

here’s Saxon sitting on a luge. does her size give you an idea of the scale of tiny saucer people ride down the mountain at close to 100 mph?

teresa tries it on for size.

mimi (above) and teresa (below) in one of the 2002 US olympic team sleds

mimi and saxon wondering why daddy is face down on the pavement after his bobsled ride.

Life has been busy at MoseleyWorld. So, doing my best to catch up here with the second part post of our summer trip to Park City/Deer Valley, Utah.

the view from the house’s front porch. that’s deer valley ski resort, where the 2002 Olympic freestyle mogules, aerial and alpine slalom events were held. Bald Mt (9400 ft) is the highest peak. Deer Valley has been named the #1 ski resort in North America by readers of Ski Magazine for three years in a row. But we didn’t see much snow.

we ordered fresh-caught rainbow trout, grilled them and served them with their heads still on, which I found out later wasn’t a big hit with some.  Oh well. Sorry. Stay away from the Far East, where I hear some fish are plopped on your plate alive and flipping.

little patrick, son of ashley and mike, is the newest cousin.

catered dinner. private chef. yum.

One day we went to Park City Mountain to participate in their summer activities.  Here’s christy and mac on the alpine slide waiting out a rain delay.

Saxon and her cousin Mac

saxon was incredibly patient during the long delay (45 minutes? an hour? hour and a half? oy vey!). I utilized cloud gazing, biofeedback and meditation to remain calm. Once it stopped raining, the ride operators plopped a blanked down in front of a sled and dried the track so we could proceed. High tech. When we finally got the green light, it was a lot of fun. But not nearly as fun as the alpine coaster, which looks just like a roller coaster but with single cars. Saxon and I zipped down the 4000 ft track at speeds up to 30 mph.

christy attempted a grandparent/grandkids portrait. our little samantha wasn’t ready for her closeup.
After a day of full activities, everyone was still out [doing more activities] and Carey yelled downstairs mentioning she was going somewhere. I was downstairs and couldn’t quite hear, but I thought she asked if I could watch Saxon. about ten minutes later, i came upstairs looking for Saxon. No Saxon. Then I went up another set of stairs to the family/kids room. No Saxon. Back downstairs to check the media room and all the other rooms on the level, including the garage. So, I go all the way back up to the third level. No Saxon.

So, just before panic descended, I called Carey’s phone, thinking she must have said, “I’m taking Saxon.” The second thought to enter my head was wondering how I would explain losing Saxon. After what seemed to be a long wait, the phone rang at almost the exact same time that Carey’s phone, which was sitting right in front of me, rang as well. Doh.

The panic I mentioned was now causing my heart to race as I scrambled from room to room bleating, “Saxon. Saxon? Saxon!” I knew this was not the case of her winning a serious game of hide + seek since Saxon is still the age where she replies to a “Where’s Saxon?” by blurting out “in the bathroom” or “in the closet.”

After covering almost every inch of this almost 7000 sf house, I noticed the door to the front balcony slightly ajar. The next thing I spotted was this sweet little girl, pictured below, who had decided to take advantage of a beautiful day in the mountains and take a nap outside. Whew.

Mac playing a game mimi invented called “find the pine cones.” we used to play that when I was growing up, but it was called “rake the yard.”

pyrotechnics. father-daughter style.