Random Ramblings

    Two years ago, I got a writer's handbook called "The Usborne Creative Writer's Handbook." It has been one of the most helpful books on writing I have ever read, and I highly recommend it. You can get your copy here: The Usborne Creative Writer's Handbook. It's definitely worth the money😁

    More books I have been reading lately: 

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Betsy-Tacy books

Understood Betsy

Pollyanna

Elsie Dinsmore

The Borrowers

Vice-Versa

Cheaper by the Dozen & Belles On Their Toes

The Bounces of Cynthiann'

A Woman Named Damaris

Two Are Better Than One

The Five Little Peppers

Under the Lilacs

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Hound of the Baskerville's (A Sherlock Holmes mystery that gave me nightmares)

    Oh, yes, did I ever mention that I like to read? 

    It has been snowing like crazy here lately. I have not seen so much snow in one winter since I was seven!

Around the middle of December, we got about seven inches. Then, the beginning of January, we got six inches. And around the last of January and the first of February, we got twenty inches😱 I mean, we almost never get that much snow! The snow has finally all melted. I was getting a little tired of seeing dirty snow. The past few days, it actually warmed up to almost 60 degrees! My little sister just loves going on stroller rides when the weather is nice. Sometimes we go on two or three walks a day. Let me tell you, it's not easy pushing 35 pounds uphill after walking half a mile!

    Lately, we have been playing a rather weird version of hide-and-seek with the baby. If you tell her to, she will close her eyes for about 3 1/2 seconds. While they're closed, the rest of us run for a previously-chosen hiding place (in the bathtub or behind the door; somewhere where she can find us easily). If you're lucky, you reach the hiding spot before she opens her eyes. If you're not.... well, she sees & follows you straight to your hiding spot. Then she yells "BOOOO!!" as loud as she can, and yanks on your clothes till you come out. Then, she runs to tell Mama in great detail about how she found you, and while she's gone, you run and hide again. So, unless all three of us older ones are hiding in the same spot (which can happen rather often; there being only so many bathtubs you can reach within three seconds from the counting spot) there there are usually two people hiding all the time. This goes on until a) We get tired of running around, or b) someone tells us to stop thundering around so loud.

    It can be fun to play regular hide-and-seek, though. I usually hide with the baby. If you repeatedly whisper to her that she needs to be quiet, she (usually) will be. 

    Another thing the she likes doing lately is coming up behind people and blasting a whistle. I mean, you see her coming, but you're not expecting her to blow a whistle. Then if you scream, she laughs and jumps around, and runs around telling everyone and giggling. She also likes sitting there blowing her whistle while you're trying to do school, which can be rather distracting, especially as spit flies everywhere🤢

    Welp, I've run out of ramblings (for now)

                         

                       ~Caitlyn O'Brien~