In case you missed it, I asked for questions here, and then posted responses here and here.
We are now back to our regularly-scheduled program, after a break I wish I hadn’t taken.
Question #8 comes from Hannah, who I put under some pressure to come up with a question (sorry!): “Are there any foods that Matt or the boys LOVE that make you gag?”
Answer: YES. I can’t think of many things that the boys like that make me gag, but there are a couple, namely fruit snacks (though they rarely have them) and raisins. Oh, how I hate raisins. I found a piece of stem in one as a 5-year-old and that was it for me. Bennett and Jack Henry love them and will eat them by the handful.
And there are several things that Matt eats that totally gross me out. The list includes: any and all fish (he loves salmon, and soups with seafood in them), and he makes himself an egg sandwich on Saturday mornings that looks pretty nasty to me (he cooks the egg waaay too long – think Egg McMuffin style rubbery – and then puts turkey lunchmeat and cheese on it. Oh, and hot sauce.). He also will take leftovers to work and not heat them up, which is so gross to me…I mean, we’re talking casseroles and the like.
Ok, question #9 is from Amanda, another new commenter – welcome! She asked: “What is your favorite children’s book to read to the boys? Do they have favorites as well? Do you end up reading the same book over and over and over AND OVER to them?”
Answer: Amanda, I love that you asked this question! Not long ago I was writing down some of my favorite children’s books (for something else) so I’ve got a list. And, since I’m feeling generous, I’ll link them up to Amazon for you so you can take a peek.
It’s hard for me to separate out my favorites from theirs…if they are really enjoying a book, I usually do too (these books are excluded from that statement).
Here are some of our favorites from my childhood:
*The Monster at the End of This Book
*Panda Cake (this one is out of print, but you can find it used on Amazon…I love this book, and can still hear my mom’s voice reading it to me!)
*Home for a Bunny (I bought this for Luke before he was born)
*Ernie Gets Lost
Now, from my kids’ childhood:
*Any and all of the David Shannon “David” series: “No, David“, with his naked booty running down the street, bad eating habits and nose-picking, is a big-time favorite around here.
*Elmo’s Big Lift and Look Book & Where’s Elmo’s Blanket? (these have taken a beating at our house because they are flap books and because they are so loved between ages 1-3, which is not an age that is kind to books)
*Click, Clack, Moo, Cows that Type
*Bear Snores On – really, any book that Karma Wilson writes and Jane Chapman illustrates is welcome in our home! We have several “Bear” books, and I LOVE “Mortimer’s Christmas Manger.”
*Even though we have a house full of boys, they really like “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse” by Kevin Henkes because it’s a really silly story. He’s written several good books.
*I almost forgot! One of Bennett’s favorites right now is “I Was So Mad” by Mercer Mayer…he jokingly says, “I guess I’ll just run away!” at least twice a week. He’s never pulled that one out when he’s really mad. Yet.
*Mo Willems is fast becoming a favorite author around here, too, as Luke picks one of his books for his overnight book from his classroom about once a week.
I love having a huge shelf full of children’s books! (And it seems like we’re Sesame Street freaks…while I’m fine with the show, no one here has really ever been a huge fan…it’s just that they’ve made some great books over the years!)
And, my last question, from Casey: “I was wondering how you get your video clips on your blog. It takes me FOREVER to download my clips from my camera and then 5 times as long to edit them. Do you have a particular program you use?”
Answer: Casey, I am little help on this one…as I don’t edit my videos at all. It’s too time-consuming with what we have on our computer, and I am not proficient at even that! But, my video clips that are posted on here are all from my point-and-shoot camera so they load pretty quickly to the computer. Then, I just upload them to Youtube and link from there to my post. Sorry to not be more help than that!
Here's the Diehl 
Funny about the raisins! Jessica feels the *exact same way*! It was an experience finding a stem when she was just a little girl and that was it. No more raisins for her.
I will second that “Panda Cake” comment. I can still here it too. One that we will read to our kids…..
The Monster at the End of this Book!!! – I can still remeber laying in bed with my dad on saturday mornings and reading this over and over and over! I love it and have it for my girls – they are a little young yet to really get it – but i know some day they will enjoy it as much as i did/do! Good list – i am going to write these down – i have a ton of books for the girls – that is the one thing i don’t mind them having too many of. I love going to garage sales and finding a box of books marked 25 cents and it’s even better when they are in gently used condition!!! 🙂
Enjoyed this question answer post !
Glad you are feeling better!
First of all, Matt, the egg thing is disgusting!!
Secondly, great books. Korry and I watch Sesame Street every morning. I absolutely hate Barney and forbid her to watch it. She cried one morning when I changed the channel. PBSkids has such cute (language educational) programs!
Cold casseroles….gag.
Tell Matt that I’m sorry I’ve helped you expose all of his disgusting foods. . . and yes, they are making me gag, too. . . as in my 25 random things post, I wrote:
“15. There are certain things that I feel should only be eaten “hot” and I don’t like to think about them or smell them cold. Seafood, chicken, pizza. . . many, many things.”
Casseroles would also fall in that category.
To Casey–I edit my videos. . . (most of the time to take my voice out as much as possible!). . . I use Windows Movie Maker. I think it came with the software on the computer. I’ve just played around with it to learn. . . but you import your video, and you can *split* it. So say you have some good footage, and then some blah stuff. . . you can play the good footage then *split* when the blah stuff comes off. . . and it will split your movie into two pieces. . . and then you can drag the good footage down to your storyline at the bottom of the screen. . . then export it to your computer. . . then download to youtube or whatever. I am sure the software is better at explaining than me, but I hope that helps a little!
Great list of books! I have quite a few of those either in my own collection or in my classroom library selection, but you definately gave me some to go look up.
I’m also a cold leftover eater
Matt, will you make me one of those egg sandwiches next time we’re together? I think I would dip mine in ketchup though, too.
I’m with you Nicole on my intense HATE of raisins and fish. Kayla and Kirk love raisins too and Kirk loves fish. Maybe we could send him and Matt out together?
And Matt – cold leftovers? Gross.
Thanks for the book list. I’ll have to look into a few of those that we don’t have!
Egg samiches….mmmmmmm. I could do without the turkey bird, though. That part is the deal-breaker!
Cold casseroles aren’t that bad. I am a big fan of cold pizza and milk for breakfast, which makes me gag when I think about it, but eating it? Heaven on a paper plate! 🙂
luke just got the monster at the end of this book for xmas. he loves it.
Click Clack Moo is one of our faves here, too! And Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson is a new one from Ella’s scholastic book order that we have been reading every night. We are alternating between that and Corduroy (did I spell that right?)….The Monster at the End of this Book was just introduced last summer to Ella by her Grandma DeeDee- we don’t have it here, but whenever Ella goes to her house, they read it. And when I’m there, I can never read it as good as DeeDee (according to Ella)! Do you remember the Berenstein Bears books? We don’t have those yet, but I’m sure as Ella gets a little older, those will be popular book orders books!