Skip to main content

My niece, Carley, is SEVEN years old.

Carley turned seven in late August. Sheesh. They grow up way too fast, don't they? My sister got her a Caboodle for her birthday -- talk about a blast from the past. I didn't even know that they were still available to buy. But, it makes sense, because they are awesome.

*Side note* My grandma used to call my Cabooodle a "Skeedoodle," as she always forgot what it was actually called. Hilarity.

Obvi, a little make-up session took place and Carley did my face (photo not available) and then I returned the favor. Carley was so cute when I started giving her the smoky eye. She's all, "My mommy doesn't let me put the eye shadow on the bottom lash line! I'd better go ask her if this is okay."

I tried to explain that I was giving her a "rock star night time look" and that on NO occasion would she ever wear this amount of make-up in her second grade classroom. Clearly. Or any make-up at all. Because she's SEVEN.

I love her look!
So. Part two of Carley's Birthday Post involves my own gift to her. My lovely mother suggested that I buy Car-bug some chapter books, since she has to read for 20 minutes every night as homework. Bookspice! Aunt Amber loved the idea, and scoured the racks at Half Priced Books to find some Full House and other such MaryKateandAshleyOlsenfromfifteenyearsago paraphernalia.

And then my eyes beheld the most wonderful thing. The Baby-sitters Club books! Oh, sweet nostalgia.

Sigh. They were a little above her reading level, I feared. Ohhh, but then my eyes landed on several books from the Baby-sitters Little Sister series. Score! Happy dance!

I was so excited to introduce Carley to these books. At the party, before she opened her gift, she and I were hanging out in her room when I spotted some random chapter book on her floor.

"So, Carley, I hear you have to read for school every night."

"Yeah, and I hate reading."

"You do? Don't you get to pick whatever book you want, though? Doesn't that make it better, getting to read a book about something you like?"

"No, because if I hate reading, how am I going to like it?"

My heart sank -- for two reasons. She was going to hate her birthday gift from me. Sad! And, she hated reading. Sadder.

However, by the end of the party, she was curled up on the couch. Score one for Aunt Amber.


***********************************
Can I leave you without a bit of Stella action? No way. So, here is my little boo-boo! So stinkin' sweet.







Comments

awwww. loved the babysitters club books!
Laurel Garver said…
Score one for auntie! Sometimes building a reader is just a matter of finding the right book that clicks.

Popular posts from this blog

in which i have a birthday and a giveaway

The blogger as a child. p.s. it's my birthday. And people at Starbucks like me. (I did get this for free, but it was not for the benefit of my blog.)  (Obvi, it was a gift .) There's a cupcake in that box! There's a hazelnut latte in that cup! In other news, I'm having a 100 Followers/ It's my birthday giveaway. You should enter. I'm giving away the following goodies: 1. A $25.00 VISA giftcard. 2. An original poem, which will be hadwritten and autographed on pretty paper. It might be about love, about being a writer, or maybe the winner will be able to choose the topic. We shall see. This giveaway is a bit seatofthepantsspice. 3. A frame from my wedding day. In fact, this very frame: 4. A mystery. The fourth goodie will be a surprise until you open the package! 5. The whopper: I will dedicate a karaoke song to you, personally, and put it on my blog, vlogger style. If you want to enter this smashing contest: leave a comment. 1 entry if you follow and comme...

possessive

I watched Hoarders last night. During the first commercial break, I dared to look around my living room and I thought, oh holy mother of four-letter-word. Color me cluttered. Yes, it's true that most of my mess is hidden and collecting dust in the dark, but I know what's there -- like the 100+ VHS tapes in my bookshelf/ media cabinet, for instance. Yes, I love knowing that should I desire to watch my old school copy of Riding in Cars with Boys or Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or The Royal Tenembaums or Serendipity or Ghost World or Memento or... okay. You get the picture. It's there. If I wanted it, it would be right there. Also semi-hidden? Probaby 50+ copies of this weekly magazine from the late 1960's - early 1970's called Story of Life. My grandma gave them to me. Have I cracked the cover of even one issue? Hell to the no. I don't have time for that type of nostalgia. Plus, I can't even find a link for it with a quick google search. Something tha...

love at first sight blogfest, or, go eat a heart-shaped cookie

Courtney Reese is hosting a love at first sight blogfest, in which writer's write about the icky love stuff. Check it out -- there are already a ton of entries over there. Okay, so my scene isn't really love at first sight for my mc, Laurel (in fact, she doesn't even want it to be) but this is the first time she interacts with her second love interest, David.  Read! Enjoy! Critique!      A sea of southerners filled the lobby of the movie theater. David Winter stood at a neon orange podium in the center of the throng, his head throbbing. He tore off one ticket stub after another, pointed the masses in the appropriate direction. The work was monotonous. Most of the patrons were lost in conversations with one another, and they paid David the same lack of attention that he showed them. He tried not to grimace at the giggling teenage girls, the smug looking guys in gold chains, the overweight middle aged couples: all annoyed him equa...