Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover

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The Right Word – Roget and His Thesaurus ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

The Right Word – Roget and His Thesaurus

By Jen Bryant

Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

(Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2014)

Fantastic illustrations reminiscent of vintage nature journals fill the pages of this wonderful book.

Meet Roget and discover his love of list making. After losing his father at a young age, Roget began his lists with his father’s death. Moving often did not allow Roget to make and keep friends, but books made great friends and he didn’t have to leave them behind. Making lists kept Roget’s world in order. Organized word lists helped those searching for just the right word.

The Right Word – Roget and His Thesaurus is the perfect book to engage young readers in the study of words.

KID KANDY:

Make a List

1. Grab a notebook or pad of paper.

2. Think of a theme for your list of words. Some ideas are animals, food, places, sports, school, or toys.

3. Make a list of all things that relate to your theme. You can include how they sound, look, smell, taste, or feel. Think of words that mean the same thing as words you list.

4. Stuck? Ask for help looking up your word in a thesaurus. You will find word lists that could have possibly originated back when Roget was making his lists. How cool is that?

I love making lists. It helps me organize my to-do’s and helps me remember what needs attention. Making grocery lists seems to take up most of my time. Maybe you can help your parents make their shopping list!

P.S. This is the perfect way to add chocolate or ice cream to the grocery list.


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Tornado Choices

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

SO many events and changes going on in our lives right now, I’m having a difficult time choosing what to share. Let me just be honest and tell you that I’ve been avoiding posting just because of the vast plethora of options.

There. Got that off my chest.

It may take me months to fill you in. Or just a day. Let’s see, shall we?

Life in Quantrell Land has been tornado-like in the sense that every day has been consumed with a whirlwind of activities, decisions, stressors, excitement, responsibilities, and cat fur. Truly. At times, we just had to grab something – anything – and hang on!

But it’s ALL good.

Because now, we are living in the RV full-time with 2 insane cats. Which if you want some more truth, makes us the insane ones. 2 shedding, clawing, racing, sneaking, messy, loving, snuggly kitties. In. A. Small. RV.

This classifies as an adventure for sure. I kid you not.

When folks used to show up late for church spouting, “The cows (dog, birds, chickens, pigs, horse) got out and we had to chase them down,” I would nod in agreement. But now I REALLY understand the stress and anxiety produced by such an event!

MONET, the sneak, wants out. Not just a little want, but an all-consuming desire of wanting out. Of the RV. The problem is Tiger, who is resident cat on the property. Tiger is very territorial and has been seen chasing off and beating up other cats. She’s a sweetheart to adult people, but not other cats. So we don’t want the girls out unless we can protect them from each other.

MONET, who cares she thinks. I want out. So she watches the door and our feet and if the door is open, ZIP, there she goes. Oh, the anxiety and interesting language on our part! She is having a great time, but we are watching for the arrival of Tiger and trying to lure the naughty girl back in…

Last Sunday, to connect you to what I was sharing, she did it again. Kevin was being nice to the moth and trying to get it out (before MONET, the best moth-catcher west of the Mississippi, ate it). MONET saw the open door – a mere 3-4 inches – and zip, she was out.

Church day. Big luncheon to prepare. Stuff to take (we still forgot the meat and cheese). A wonderful guest speaker to hear. Responbililty to get there first to unlock the building. And we had a loose cat.

I understand, all of you chasing-of-escapees people! Arrrggghhhh!

We won. This time. Even made it on time (except the meat and cheese, which had to arrive with our son).

So goes our tornado lifestyle. Adventures around every corner and open RV door.

By the way, RV doors are difficult even when not dodging the cat. Narrow, steep, metal shaking steps. I cringe just waiting for one of us to biff the landing and go sprawling face down in the gravel.

But for now, we are good. It’s ALL good.

Because He is good.


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Happy to See This!

Happy to see this new article, Into the World, in Missions Mosaic.

It has been a whirlwind summer!

Selling our home, moving into an RV, fixing the RV set-up, sorting belongings, giving away stuff, acclimatizing the kitties to living in said RV, learning how to cook in an RV, . . .

The list is much longer, but just that much lets you know why I have been lost in cyberspace.

On to fall. The dust is settling, and in just a few more days, we will have only 1 home to care for.

Writing is back on the menu, boys! (Can you name that movie reference? Comment below!)

Into the World

Here is something I’m happy to see, rewards from past labors. I love this magazine, Missions Mosaic, and am honored to write for Woman’s Missionary Union in several different areas.

You might want to check them out here.

Missions Mosaic

Happy reading!

Back to the chaos.


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LILLA’S SUNFLOWERS Plants a Seed of Hope for Military Families (plus a giveaway!)

by Colleen Rowan Kosinski Not long ago I had the book launch for my debut picture book, LILLA’S SUNFLOWERS. It was an exciting, invigorating, and tiring day. Now I am deep into the marketing …

Source: LILLA’S SUNFLOWERS Plants a Seed of Hope for Military Families (plus a giveaway!)

This book sounds wonderful! I love the cover image!


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The Most Excellent Painting Tool

Freshly painted, with assistance from my kitchen drawer.

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

I just finished repainting our shoe shelf with a fresh coat of clean paint. Now it’s ready for storing shoes at the RV. Welcome to our shoe-free zone. Come on in, but plant the shoes right here!

We’ve used the shoe rack for years and it’s been very handy to keep most of the shoes off the ground. But it was ugly. Add paint.

The problem was the paint. Color (secluded garden) was lovely, but as it hadn’t been used in years since the Blue Door Table was painted, the ingredients had separated.

So there I stood, mixing with one of those silly wooden sticks they give you at the hardware store. I think it would have taken hours. It would’ve been faster to drive to Lowe’s and ask them to remix it for me – at least a 45 minute round trip.

Hmmm, how could I assist and speed-up this remixing process?

Aha! I needed to sacrifice a kitchen whisk. That should work.

Oh boy! Work it did! I LOVE my new discovery of the most excellent painting tool. I whisked that paint right back into shape. Perfect!

My new favorite painting tool – a whisk!

Maybe you’ve already had this idea, but for me, it was original. Guess I should check out the rest of the kitchen section before I take on any more painting projects.

What’s your favorite painting tool?


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School’s First Day of School ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

This is the perfect book for back-to-school!

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

School’s First Day of School

By Adam Rex

Pictures by Christian Robinson

(Roaring Brook Press, 2016)

School was new.

He was so new that he didn’t realize children would soon come pouring through his doors. Gasp! Janitor was his confidant and friend and tried to tell him things would be great.

But School was anxious.

And the children came to school. Some were bored (that hurt School’s feelings), some cried and were afraid to stay at school (School was that bad?), and School even had an accidental fire drill the first day!

Would School enjoy being School?

I LOVED this story! Who would have thought about first-day-of-school-new-building story from the viewpoint of the school!

Funny, imaginative, and realistic. School’s First Day of School will lighten the hearts of all readers.

KID KANDY:

Draw a Picture of Your School

Materials: paper, pencils, markers, crayons

1. Use the pencil to outline your school. Maybe you go to a huge elementary school, a small private school, or homeschool. Whichever type of school you attend, draw a picture of it.

2. Decorate your school. Maybe you could name your school, or print the name it already has on the top of the building.

3. Share your picture.

How do you think School felt before the first day? How did the boys and girls feel about going back to school? How do YOU feel about going to school?

I love school! Now that I am a writer and I work from home, I don’t get to enjoy the first day of school as a teacher. I miss school! But I hope to visit again soon and read books with my favorite people – the students.


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Do You Remember Free Towels?

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

I don’t usually dwell on where my towels originated, other than to contemplate how old the ratty ones are and consider if it’s time for a towel shopping bonanza.

As all but the last few ancient, ragged towels are happily ensconced in the RV, awaiting our arrival, we are making due with some threadbare specimens.

No remaining borders, faded designs, frayed edges, thin fabric – this is the state of the towels piled in the cupboard. If my sister saw them, she would zoom straight as the crow flies to a nearby department store and stock us up with new fluffy towels.

But sister, never fear. We have plenty of good towels. They are just living in our other home.

Tonight, as I dried off with one of the antique versions, tiny in size but amazingly colorful, I had a flashback to when towels came free.

In detergent boxes! Do you remember those little plastic encased free towels? I’m not entirely sure that this blue floral number is not one of those freebies. It’s still in use, at least 25 years later.

After an online search, I found several old detergent brands that offered free face cloths, knives, glasses, and towels. Breeze sounded familiar, but the images I saw only offered face cloths. Bonus advertised a full sized towel, but that name doesn’t ring a bell. How fun to look at the old packaging, all the way back in the late 1950’s and 1960’s.

Wait! I found it. Breeze is one of the detergents that included free towels. Check out my Pinterest board (For the Home) and scroll to see the Breeze box. Angie’s Pinterest Boards

Ahh, memories. I truly am not old enough to buy detergent in the 50-60’s, but let’s try the 70’s. Back in the good old days. . . free stuff when one went shopping!

I still love free!

I’d love to hear your memories. Were you ever the recipient of free towels? Glasses? Dinnerware? Green stamps (you could buy all sorts of wonderful items with green stamps)?


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A Tiger Tail (Or What Happened to Anya on Her First Day of School) ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

A Tiger Tail (Or What Happened to Anya on Her First Day of School)

By Mike Boldt

(Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016)

When Anya woke up one morning, her first day of school, she discovered that she had grown a tiger tail overnight!

One can imagine how embarassing it would be to trot into school with a tiger tail trailing along behind! Anya was devastated. Would she even be allowed to go to school with a tiger tail?

Anya, being a very creative and problem solver type of girl, tried several different avenues to take care of the situation. NONE of which worked.

Which meant, Anya had to go to school, tiger tail and all.

Once Anya made it to school, she discovered that having a tiger tail was not so bad after all.

A Tiger Tail (Or What Happened to Anya on Her First Day of School) is a hilarious cleverly illustrated and written picture book. Problem solving, anxiety over the first day of school, and seeing how others are different are some of the issues found in this delightful book.

Readers both young and old will love Anya’s tale. Er, tail.

KID KANDY

For Fun: Make a Tail to Wear Around the House

Materials: a long sock, newspaper, safety pins

1. Crinkle newspapers into small balls and stuff the sock. Leave an inch or so at the top.

2. Ask for help! Pin the sock to the waistband of your pants. Now you have a tail. Try and wear it all day. How did you do? Any problems? Would you like to go to school with a tail?

For Real: Plan for the First Day of School

What makes you really nervous about the first day of school? Some things that made me anxious were new classmates, a new teacher, not knowing where my class was, wearing new clothes, and getting on the right bus to go home.

Choose 1 thing that makes you nervous. Plan how to take care of it before school begins.

1. New classmates? Look for one person you know from last year. Or your neighborhood. Walk up and say hi. Plan to play together at recess. Now you have at least one friend!

2. New teacher? Some schools host a meet-the-teacher day. Ask your parents to take you to meet your teacher. Whew! Now you know what he/she looks like. You might even find your desk.

3. Find your class. If you visited the teacher, you will already know. Otherwise, a parent can walk you in the first day, you can ask an adult at the school for help, or you can ask an older student to help you. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. I’ve noticed that most people love to help!

4. Choose your first-day-of-school clothes and hang them out, ready for the big day. Now you don’t need to worry about what to wear.

5. Riding the bus? Your teacher will help you. Or any of the other adults who work at your school. You can even ask the bus drivers. If you are going to kindergarten, you will probably wear an address tag with a bus number. Learn that number! But remember, there are many people just waiting to help you find the right bus!

Now – go out there and enjoy your first day of school.


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My New Favorite Packing Tool

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

This girl has some hard-to-wrap-and-secure items.

Enter plastic wrap. It’s my new favorite packing tool.

Not only can I easily see what is packed inside the wrapping, the items are secure (should a moving earthquake occur and miniature items move around), the glass is held firmly in place, cords are stuck together instead of trailing around, and I always have plastic wrap on hand.

It’s a win-win strategy!

You’re welcome.


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Moving

 by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

The box that was filled with flyers listing our home as FOR SALE is empty. That doesn’t mean we are done with this whole moving process. Not at all.

For instance, as I tidied and prepped, boxed and bagged, I discovered that I had 3 of those old fashioned hair dryers.

You know the ones. The type that comes in a hat-type carrying case, with a long hose leading from the base to the plastic hat, and the lovely plastic hat that one puts on over curlers. Or, in my case, over my plastic bag wrapped deep conditioned hair. It really works.

But 3? Who needs 3 hair dryers of that sort? Last time I checked, I only had (and still have) 1 head.

What can I say? This scenario has been repeated several times with different items as I’ve cleared out closets, drawers, and cupboards. Hoarder? Yard sale hound? Bargain monster?

I prefer to call myself a collector.

The good news is, we can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Piles of this and that for various people have mostly been sent to their new homes. The debris is disappearing a little more every day.

The adventure continues! How to fit everything we need – or think we need – into an RV. It’s a never-ending puzzle.

Hair dryer anyone?