This is Us(borne): Shopping for a Cause on February 1

I hail from a family of avid readers. Just last month Mama Virgo passed on a book she finished at my house so that I could enjoy it next (It's Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and if you aren't laughing by page 3, there's a chance your soul has frozen over.). So, it should be no surprise that when I was planning my baby shower (Type A, party of 1), I asked each guest to bring their favorite children's book in lieu of a greeting card. By the time Blue was yanked out into the bright lights of this big world, he was well-stocked with The Story of Ferdinand, The Poky Little Puppy, several Llama Llama books, On the Night You Were Born, and about 15 other classics. We began reading them all immediately. So, why it has taken us over 5 years to jump on the Usborne bandwagon is kind of beyond me.

I remember sitting at a friend's house in Alexandria when Blue was about 2 and her kids were 3 and 1. She pulled out this Usborne book called The Big Book of Trucks and passed it across the table to me. This is an amazing book, she said. And it did, indeed, look amazing. But Blue was still ripping pages, sometimes by accident and sometimes out of straight defiance so I thought let's wait on that. And then I didn't see another Usborne book until last fall when I picked up Ancient World at a consignment sale. I maintain a shelf of "possible homeschooling books" in my closet so it got tossed to the top of that pile. And then a friend of mine had an Usborne party in October and I picked up My Very First Space Book and Raccoon on the Moon, which was Blue's first Usborne paperback (my little boy is growing up...no more ripping pages!). The space book got flipped through a few times and then set to the side until Blue asked Santa for a telescope this Christmas. When the telescope arrived, we already owned the perfect accompanying book for all of his questions regarding stars and planets. My friend, Monica, (who helped me assemble and hold the Facebook auction to benefit Houston families in December) hosted a party right before Christmas as another fundraiser for Houston families. And upon her recommendation, I ordered Nibbles The Book Monster and Outdoor Book: Inspiring Ideas for Discovery and Exploring Outdoors. And that's where our Usborne collection stands today.

However, in preparation to write this post, I asked FacebookLand about what books they would recommend. And I think I missed an opportunity with Blue. I believe I fell into a black hole of Scholastic paperbacks and Dr. Seuss and didn't look up in time to see that other brands are offering high quality books to kids of all ages, which is unfortunate because I spent many miserable minutes trudging through One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Also, there was a time during Blue's infant years when I had memorized and could recite on demand Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. As more friends commented with books they had been reading with their kids from toddler age through the elementary years, I realized that there were so many books Blue would have enjoyed, but I'm just now learning about them. This is probably where you fix it with the second kid, but I guess the cat will have to reap the benefits instead.

When Monica hosted her party in December, she asked if I would host one in 2018, which would further benefit Houston families. So, here we are...Party Week. If we were having this at my house, you know I would welcome you with a glass of perfectly chilled Cupcake pinot or maybe some Nissley's Spicy Red (PA makes great wine for being a state founded on religious tolerance) and a little Amish bread and butter (and possibly some bourbon balls). Then I would shamelessly refill your glass until you wanted all the books and then I would remind you that it's all for a good cause. But it's on Facebook. So, this Thursday night (February 1st), grab your beverage of choice and don't place your order until the bottle is at least half empty. And if you have questions, my party co-host, who I am now referring to as DJ Deanna because if this was at my house she would be spinning the grooviest jams, will be on hand to answer them. I will also be around but we are off to see Punxsutawney Phil predict the weather that night so my presence may be interrupted by periods of driving or eating Spicy Chicken sandwiches from Wendy's.

If you are new to Usborne or, like me, haven't taken a ton of time to look around on the website, let me steer you toward some crowd favorites. There was an overwhelming consensus on several of these books so know that even though you can't lounge on the chaise (read: stained nursery glider) at my house and flip through them in person, you will not be disappointed by what you've purchased. Here are some of the favorites from friends and DJ Deanna:

Baby and Toddler
DJ Deanna says, "These are great for hands-on learning with the flaps and textures. They are bright in color and contrast and simple in design, but encourage imagination and speech." 
1. Slide and See Farm

via Usborne

And here's a handy 56-second YouTube video of a woman flipping through the book, for the visual learners in the room.

2.  That's Not My book series

via Usborne

I arbitrarily chose That's Not My Dragon but there are MANY more to choose from...That's not my badger, dolly, unicorn, dinosaur, bunny, meerkat...you get the idea.

3. All Better

via Usborne

This book comes with 5 "band-aid" stickers that can be re-positioned, which is important when your book friends are forever getting injured. Blue would have loved this when he was a little younger!

4. I'm a Dirty Dinosaur

via Usborne

There's a lot of rhyming and mud in this book, which again, would have been endlessly more entertaining to Blue than the 48226718273rd reading of Little Blue Truck. Actually, we may not have missed the boat on this one, especially because there's also an I'm a Hungry Dinosaur.

5. Who's Ready to Play? And Lots of Other Questions

via Usborne

This is a search-and-find-the-differences book, which is great for toddlers and preschoolers. "Who's ready to play" is just 1 of the 15 questions in this book where kids have to spot what's different on each page. 

Elementary Age Children

DJ Deanna says, "These are great to help emerging readers build confidence in reading and writing and to teach life lessons like accepting people for who they are." 

1. Hey Jack or Billie B. Brown

via Usborne

OK, I lied. We have another Usborne book that I picked up somewhere and I had no idea until right this second that it's from Usborne. We have Hey Jack! The Toy Store and we actually read it just last night. It's about Jack wanting some money for a new baseball cards trading folder so he sells some of the toys he doesn't want anymore. Unfortunately, he accidentally sells a toy that he thought was broken - as it turns out the batteries were just in the wrong way. That's kind of a metaphor for my life...half the time the batteries are in the wrong way. Anyway, he has made a mistake and he has to find a way to come to terms with his mistake. We will definitely be picking up a couple more of these on Thursday. 

via Usborne

Billie, I believe, is Jack's neighbor as she also makes a cameo in Hey Jack! The Toy Store. I haven't read any of these, but if they are written in the same style, they are definitely ideal for emerging readers. 

2. Phonics Readers Series

via Usborne

Huh, that's funny...we also have this one. Apparently, our books are a little more dispersed through the house than I realized. It wasn't in his bookshelf an hour ago, but that doesn't mean anything. It goes with us in the car a lot, as well. If you simply can't bring yourself to ask Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? one more time, this is where to go next.

3. Peek Inside and Lift the Flap Series

via Usborne

These books are full of nooks and crannies, flaps to lift and holes to explore. Facts about the theme are sprinkled throughout. There are a ton of themes in this series so if your curtain climber isn't into jungles, there are a bajillion more to choose from. I'm going to see if DJ Deanna can show the inside of one of these on Thursday. There are other YouTube videos with various Usborne reps, but honestly, ain't no party like a DJ Deanna party so we'll just wait for her. (Side note: this is one of the books that received praise from several of the moms I asked.)

4. Can I Join Your Club? 

via Usborne

So this one is fitting for raising a child in 2018. As Duck finds out, there are people who don't want you simply because you're you. So Duck starts his own club, where everyone is welcome. Isn't that a simple truth that we want to pass down to our children? Diversity, inclusion, tolerance...the ducks are going to make this world a better place.

5. Wipe Clean Series

via Usborne

So, shocker...we have this one, too. Although we lost the pen in about 10 seconds, a standard dry erase marker works just as well. And if plain ole water won't erase the pen, vinegar does the trick, too. Blue has a love/hate relationship with letters. He loves the upper case ones and hates the lower case ones. Apparently, they are harder. But these books have helped him develop the confidence to stop spelling cAt.

6. Sticker and Activity Book Series

via Usborne

As we wait for the bus every morning, Blue loves to play I Spy. Although now that he's been in school for 5 months, it's getting a little monotonous. "I spy with my little eye something green." "The street sign." "Yes." This book has 1001 things to spot and 250 stickers. Sold! I'll take 2!  And there's like 1001 to choose from! (Apparently, this is a go-to for a couple of my mom friends when they are out to dinner or on road trips.)

Family Books

DJ Deanna says, "These are all fun to read with kids and the Illustrated Bible Stories book is a beautiful keepsake, great for family devotions." 

1. Nibbles

via Usborne

There are 2 of these, Nibbles The Dinosaur Guide being the other one. When Monica explained that Nibbles gnaws his way through a series of fairy tales so you are reading pieces of the fairy tales, in addition to the story of Nibbles, I was sold.  And it's just as fun as she described! Who doesn't love an adorable monster showing up in Goldilocks and the Three Bears? 

2. Shine a Light Series

via Usborne

I had never heard of this series until this week. Overwhelmingly, this set of books seems to be a favorite among my Facebook friends. Children shine a flashlight as they search for a shy crab hiding under a rock or a parrot playing peek-a-book in the rain forest canopy. There are several in the series and I think I discovered it just in time for Blue to enjoy them for a year or 2 before passing them down. 

3. Illustrated Bible Stories 

via Usborne

This recommendation by DJ Deanna was echoed by several other moms who have enjoyed sharing the stories of Jonah and the Whale, Noah's Ark, Joseph and the Dreams and the birth of Jesus with their kids. But fear not my atheist friends. We welcome everyone (see above mention of Can I Join Your Club?). There is also Illustrated Grimm's Fairy Tales, Illustrated Stories from the Greek Myths, Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare, Illustrated Norse Myths, plus like 3 more. Personally, I will be picking up Illustrated Classics Huckleberry Finn. 

4. Gobble Gobble Mooooo Tractor 

 via Usborne

This is one of those that I think we missed the boat on but Blue would have loved a couple of years ago. There was an animal sounds phase that was amusing at first but ultimately resulted in a series of dreams where I was Farmer MacDonald and Blue was the Lead Cow in a barnyard full of animals, all voiced by Blue. The moral of the story: you can run but you can't hide from the animal sounds phase. May as well embrace it. 

5. Puzzle Picture Books

via Usborne

This is just 1 of 8 in the series. The pages are crammed full of pictures, inviting kids to find the similarities, the differences and all the details in between. I've been told these books encourage kids to strengthen their observation skills and I imagine it's like when I walk into a flea or antique market. If I had grown on up on these books, I would probably be able to quickly home in on the 11th century rice bowl instead of mistaking it for a vase.

Well, if you're still with me, CONGRATULATIONS. If it took you as long to read all that as it took me to write it, we've both had dinner, a glass of wine and a piece of Dutch apple pie. The party takes place here (click on this hyperlink to take you to the Facebook party) on Thursday, 1 February at 8:30 PM CST. So use these next couple of days to peruse the website, ask questions, poll your friends and neighbors and compile a list. On Thursday night, DJ Deanna will entertain and amaze us and we'll rake in lots of orders - all to benefit a Houston family with 3 kids, all avid readers, who lost their books to Hurricane Harvey! The more we order, the more books they receive, just in time to get back into their home! 

Party on, Wayne. 

Party on, Garth.

 

 

 

 

 

When We Can't Do Everything But We Can Do SOMETHING

It is 50 days until Christmas and it has been 72 days since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston. Two more hurricanes, rampant wildfires and one mass killing at a music festival and another at a tiny church outside San Antonio makes it feel like it has been longer. But it was just a little over 2 months ago. In that time, many Houstonians have mucked their houses, trashed their moldy possessions, ripped out carpet and tile and walls and ceilings. And some...have not. But for the Bear Creek neighborhood in the northwestern suburbs of Houston, they are moving toward restoration at a lightning pace, aided by various teams of volunteers and a woman on a mission.

Penelope Moore waited for the rain to stop and then went on a bike ride to get out of the house. Just a little exercise to get the blood moving and hopefully see the sun. She doesn't exercise often because when she does, it usually leads to trouble. It didn't take long for her to find trouble. Her neighborhood was dry, but soon she pedaled into neighborhoods that hadn't been so lucky. She stopped at one house to help and one house led to another, which led to another, which led to 7 more. It started with packing whatever was salvageable (which wasn't much) and dragging what was left to the curb. She wrote a wrap-up Facebook post each night that described the emotional carnage she was witnessing, the devastation that many residents felt and the hope that appeared in unexpected places. And she ate a lot of Nilla wafers dipped in vanilla frosting. (I can't blame her. In times of tragedy I've never known a stalk of broccoli to comfort like a box of brownie bites and a jar of Nutella.) The more Penny shared about the needs of this neighborhood, the more her posts were shared. When Monica (who is my friend I've known the longest, not to be confused with my oldest friend), shared Penny's posts, I was hooked. Here was this woman, running on chemically altered sugar and a loaf of crusty French bead stashed in her passenger seat, bringing workers and renewed hope with her everyday. All she did was show up and ask people to do the same. And just like the loaves and the fishes, the people multiplied.

 This is the neighborhood of Bear Creek where The Helpers are working with residents to rebuild 9 houses. Ten days after the hurricane, some streets in this neighborhood were still 4 feet under water. 

A common scene around Bear Creek for several weeks.

Monica posted about the hurricane relief efforts on August 30 and had Paypal funds ready to spend  the next day. She answered Penny's request for bubble wrap, packing paper and Ziploc bags with those donations from friends and family. I was one of the friends who Paypal'd her some money and I'm not gonna lie, when I found out she was buying bubble wrap and packing paper, I was confused and not a little bit annoyed. I almost texted her, Aren't you supposed to be using that money to rebuild? Why are you buying bubble wrap? But I decided to wait and see. As it turns out, bubble wrap, packing paper and Ziploc bags is exactly what the survivors needed right at that moment. I humbly deleted my pre-written text. I needed to trust my long-time friend - that she would fill the need as it arose. Over the next few days, the need evolved into feeding the workers, providing ice, bananas, delivering catered lunches to the workers. And we kept hashtagging our efforts #Fundthehelpers, an homage to Mr. Rogers' quote about looking for the helpers during scary times. Within a week, all of the helpers were donning hazmat suits, galoshes and respirators. It had gotten bad. It had gotten scary.

The water line, which was not just water. Even as the flood waters were receding from Bear Creek, the nearby reservoir, which was at capacity, was slowly releasing raw sewage into the neighborhood to ease increasing pressure. As if flood waters weren't gross enough...

Although Monica's girls wanted to help every day they weren't in school, most homes were just too unsafe. However, they were able to rescue some Barbies and, at this house, they could remove wood as the men tore it out. 

I wish I could find the post Penny wrote about what happens to drywall after it has been wet for a week but it definitely grows some kind of fur. Anything that was still wet at this point was not only ruined, it was dangerous. While Penny learned to shoo away anyone with an open sore, Monica learned that some Barbies can be saved and some cannot. Volunteers were arriving in time for breakfast and then losing it in the bushes shortly after entering the houses. The heat, the smell, the total devastation created an environment that seemed almost impossible to tackle. But Penny just kept showing up and asking others to do the same.

Monica and Penny finally met.

The days were grueling, but they put on their Texas Strong t-shirts and went to work with whoever showed up. Kids went back to school, volunteer teams went back to work, the curbs cleared, black mold appeared, walls came down, floors came up. Penny balanced out her carb loading with a few vegetables and Monica celebrated her oldest daughter's birthday. Life marched on but every day began with the steady work of ripping it all out and starting all over. After the bleach began to dry, the rebuilding could begin, but they had to find the money.

Money was still coming in through Monica's Paypal account, an avalanche of cash at first and then trickling in as the rest of the country only glimpsed Hurricane Harvey in the rear view mirror. But Monica bought the gift cards she could, gave some to residents who were ready immediately, and held on to the rest. Several hundred dollars went to purchase "cleaning buckets" for residents in Rockport, where the hurricane made landfall.

The idea being that needs are evaluated on an almost daily basis and donations are addressing those needs in real time. As Penny determines the next steps for each house, Monica maximizes donations to reach the most residents in the most effective way. And this isn't a stretch for Monica. When we were 8 years old and I was blowing my entire allowance on rhinestone bangles at Claire's, she was trying to find the best value for her dollar. You would not want me to be in charge of spending donations. I don't even clip coupons. But Monica is perfect for this and I know that she is conscious about every purchase she makes. And I think most residents want to pull themselves up by their own  boot straps. But the truth is, I just don't think it's financially feasible for some, especially those without flood insurance.

I'm going to stop here and talk about flood insurance for a second. I will be the first to admit that I was not only on, but temporarily driving, the WHY DON'T YOU PEOPLE HAVE FLOOD INSURANCE Bandwagon. But then, as I was driving to the hippest craft show in the trendiest part of Lancaster (which does boast some craftspeople that don't drive buggies and speak high German), I had an hour-long conversation with Monica about flood insurance. The short version is that, had we been in their shoes, we probably would not have had flood insurance either. How do you foresee the 1,000-year flood happening in your lifetime and the reservoir down the road that had never been a problem before suddenly threatening everything you own? So, I am choosing to save my judgment for the next season of SYTYCD. (Is that still a thing? It took awhile to get through the PBS series about the Vietnam War and I feel like I'm grossly out of touch with mainstream TV.)

So, they had to find the money...because these people don't have the kind of money it takes to start over from scratch (and neither would we). And even if they did have flood insurance, this is now happening. (It's hyperlinked but seriously take a minute to read it. It's eye-opening and more than a little disturbing about just how bankrupt the federal government flood insurance program is.) #Fundthehelpers kicked into high gear and Monica created a pretty spiffy fundraising thermometer using the Texas state flag.

But the truth is, these residents and the volunteers helping them are suspended in the middle, often taking 3 steps forward just to take 2 steps back. And much of it has to do with money.

This brings me to the reason for this post. I would like to host another Facebook Craft Auction the second weekend of December. If you've been following along for awhile, you know I've done this twice, both with great success. We raised thousands of dollars for St. Baldrick's and I know we can do the same for #Fundthehelpers. Here's what I'm asking for:

1. Go to the Fundthehelpers Auction Facebook page and give it a like. I will post the items for auction as they roll in, as well as share posts from Monica and Penny regarding the 9 homes they have committed to rebuilding.

2. Contact me if you would like to donate a craft or service for auction. I am asking that you donate the item and the shipping cost so that 100% of the proceeds go to #Fundthehelpers. I would also like to get at least 25 items for auction. This can include handcrafted items, direct sales items or services that you can provide remotely.

3. Spread the word about the auction and ask your crafty friends for donations - especially anything they make that you've had your eye on for awhile. Just think of it as the perfect intersection between Christmas shopping and charitable giving.

If you would like to see the break-down of how the funds will be spent on these 9 houses, here is the chart (it starts with Mold Remediation at $500/house):

 The auction will open on Friday night, December the 8th and run until Sunday night, December the 10th. Rules for the auction will be posted on the Facebook page.

I know there are a lot of places to spend your money in the next 4 weeks. And if you are a crafter there's a lot to be made in the next 4 weeks. I hope you will find #Fundthehelpers a worthy cause to support. We can't all board a plane for Houston and spend the next 4 days hanging sheetrock, but we can certainly help it get done. On your marks, get set, GO!!!