A to Z Challenge: Z is for Zebra

Z is for zebra

in my little people zoo.

It's been so fun to play the A to Z challenge,

but now I am through.

Goodbye.

I really have had fun blogging from A to Z. Almost as much fun as I used to have going to the zoo as a child and seeing real zebras. They were my favorite animal next to the elephants.

I hope you had fun blogging form A to Z too. Hopefully you made it all the way through the alphabet. I almost did--I missed X. I was too busy last weekend to draw that picture and write a post. 

Until next year, have fun coming up with ideas of what you'll blog from A to Z about in April 2014. :)

A to Z Challenge: Y is for Yoyo

Y is for yo yo

that moves up a string

attached to my finger,

it's a curious thing.

I never had my own yo yo  but my older brothers had lots of them. They could do lots of trick with them. They let me try my hand often with their yo yo. Unfortunately, I could never really make them work very good.

Did you have a yoyo as a child?  If so, were you very good at it?

A to Z Challenge: W is for Wagon

W is for wagon.
I can ride in its bed,
or fill it with stuff
and pull it instead.

My red Radio Flyer was one of my most favorite toys as a child. It was a race car and I was the driver. It was a covered wagon for me and my friends to cross the pretend plains. It was a lemonade stand on wheels. And it was a platform for many an amateur float in a children's parade. In fact, it was such a cherished toy, that I still have it. It's down in my furnace room, and it's missing its handle, but I can't bear to part with it. I'm hoping that one day I might have it restored.
Do you have any toys from your childhood still in your possession?

A to Z Challenge: V is for Vacuum

As a kid I loved to play house. One of my friends had a play vacuum and we all loved to use that vacuum and pretend to clean the floor, so much so that often we even fought over the vacuum. Why is it when kids grow up they no longer fight over vacuuming the floor? They don't even pretend to want to do housework.
Oh, well, I don't pretend to like housework either. At least I don't mind vacuuming. I think my least favorite thing has to be doing the laundry.
What's your least favorite part of housework?

Announcing the release of my new book: THE BIG DEBATE

The Big Debate comes out today. Check out my book blog tour and everything else I am a reader not a writer blog has put together to help you find out more about my book, as well as some awesome contests to help celebrate its release.


 

Blog Tour Schedule

 

The Big Debate (Literary Loom #1)

A to Z Challenge: U is for Umberella

U is for umbrella

that's in a small size

to help keep me dry,

or the sun from my eyes.

I had all sorts of toy or small-sized umbrellas as a child. They never really kept me dry in the rain. First of all they were more for decoration and/or to play dress-up with. Second of all, I grew up in Utah. It's a desert. People rarely use umbrellas, especially not kids. When it would rain in the summer it was a treat. Forget the umbrella--we loved running outside and playing in the rain. We wanted to get wet.

A to Z Challenge: T is for Train

T is for train
that pulls lots of cars.
One for coal, a caboose,
and a bear behind bars.

My older brother had a train set and would let me help him put together the tracks, and sometimes even run the train. I loved watching the model engine pull its collection of cars around the figure-eight, oval, or whatever shape we decided for that day. As a child, I also loved visiting my grandmother out in the country. Her farmhouse was close to a railroad track. It was fun seeing the smashed pennies my older brothers would put on the track--without my parent's knowing about it, of course.
Those are some of my favorite memories about trains. What are some of yours?

Release of My New Book, The Big Debate

My newest book, The Big Debate,book #1 in the Literary Loom Series is scheduled for release on April 24, 2013. Help me celebrate with a book launch/signing party at Eborn Books in downtown Salt Lake City this Friday, April 26 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, or drop in on my book blog tour sponcered by I am a Reader Not a Writer.

A to Z Challenge: S is for Slinky

S is for slinky
that curls up so tight
after walking down stairs,
or stretching out of sight.


I loved playing with Slinkys when I was a kid. My favorite thing was to make it walk down the stairs. Unfortunately  my Slinky usually ended up in a tangled mess after a short time, having been stretched beyond its limit or made to do something other than walking down stairs.
What was your favorite thing to do with a Slinky?

A to Z Challenge: R is for Race Cars

R is for race cars
that zoom 'round a track.
They race right away,
but always come back.

Even as a girl, I loved racing those little cars around my brother's race track. It was fun seeing them zoom around the oval, or figure-eight--whatever configuration my brother came up with. But that's where my fascination with race car ends. Today, you couldn't pay me to go to a race track and watch actual cars race around a track. Maybe it's because I'm purely a spectator. I never liked that part either as a child--I always wanted to have one of those control sticks that let me drive one of the cars. I guess I'm not the spectator type.
How about you? Would you rather be a spectator? Or a participant?

A to Z Challenge: Q is for Quilt

Q is for quilt
just right for a doll,
made of patchwork and pink,
and sized extra small.

When I played dolls as a child, I always had more fun making their clothing then playing with the dolls themselves. That's when I first gained my love for sewing. I made a few doll quilts during those "play sessions." I've made a lot more people-sized quilts since those days--as well as a host of other articles. With those sewing skills that had their start while playing dolls, I've gone on to create a manufacturing business based on sewing.
What kinds of childhood interests have blossomed into adult skills for you?

A to Z Challenge: P is for Puzzle

P is for puzzle,
each piece fits in place
to make a cool picture
of a good-looking face.

My fondest memories of puzzles, were of putting together a picture puzzle on New Year's Eve with my father. Before I became a teenager--and had "better things" to do on that night, my dad would set up the card table in front of the fire place and we'd stay up until we completed the puzzle. The completion of the puzzle was the pinnacle of the night--not the clock striking midnight.
What are some of your favorite memories concerning puzzles?

A to Z Challenge: O is for Origami

O is for origami,
and art form of old.
I can make a fun bird
out of paper I fold.

I never thought what I was doing origami--I didn't even know what it was as a child. But I used to fold my secret messages into a tiny envelopes to send my friends. I also made a super speedy paper airplane. And I can't forget all those six-pointed snowflakes I love to make. All of those are a form of origami. And though they weren't toys in the same sense as a doll, they gave me hours of entertainment as a child. Is that not the definition of a toy?
What kinds of things did you make out of paper as a child?

A to Z Challenge: N is for Numbers

N is for numbers
I stick on the door
with letters that match
to help me learn more.

Did you ever play with those magnetized numbers and letters? I didn't have them as a child, but I purchased them for my own children. They loved to play with them on the bottom half of the refrigerator door--the upper half held their art work. What would we do without those built-in magnet boards we also call refrigerators?

A to Z Challenge: M is for Marbles

M is for marbles,
colorful and round.
They roll from up high
way down to the ground.

I don't know if kids still play marbles like I did as a child. Of course, it was mostly boys that brought their bags of marbles to school, at recess drawing a circle in the dirt with their finger, and then shooting their marbles at their opponents' prize spheres of glass. Sometimes they'd win more marbles, sometimes they'd loose their own prize marbles.
My grandson is part of a new generation. He plays marbles by building a colorful maze work of plastic tubing, and then racing his marbles from the top to the ground.
What is your favorite way to play with marbles?

A to Z Challenge: L is for little people

L is for little people,

so colorful and small. 

They ride in my toys,

'cause I'm way to tall.

I never played with little people when I was young. I don't think they existed back then. Either that or my parents were too poor to buy them. I do remember that my younger brothers and sisters played with little people, but they were basically a cylinder of plastic with a round ball for a head. Little people have come a long way since then. My grandson loves to play with them. I don't blame him, as they are so cute and colorful now.

Did you play with little people when you were a child?

A to Z Challenge: K is for kite

K is for kite

I sail in the sky

with a string and a tail

to make it fly high.

I loved flying kites as a kid. I was never very good, but my older brother was. He sent back for mail-order kites and got all sorts of unique ones, including a box kite. One time he rigged up a light on one of his kites and flew it at night. He told me and my sister it was a UFO. I was so young I believed him and that made his kite flying all the more fun for him.

Did you fly kites as a kid?

A to Z Challenge: J is for Jack-in-the-Box

  J is for jack

that hides in a box

'til I crank him out

with music that rocks.

Now that I'm older, I hate the anticipation of cranking the handle and making the jack pop out. But as a kid i loved it and wondered why my mom didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

What kinds of things do you find annoying that you once thought of as fun?

A to Z Challenge: I is for Ice Skates

I is for ice skates
I wear on my feet
to glide on the ice,
then fall on my seat.

I never really did much ice skating as a child. But I did learn to roller skate quite well. I remember the days of roller rinks with organ music, and the old fashioned skates with four wheels. I loved roller skating.
What do you like better, ice skating or roller skating?

A to Z Challenge: H is for Horse (on a stick)

H is for horse
I ride on a stick.
I grab his black reins
and give them a flick.

I love horses--as long as they are on the other side of a fence. Several years ago, when I was eight months pregnant, my two dogs ran off, and I finally found them in a pasture barking at a horse. I struggled over the barbed wire fence with my big pregnant belly to retrieve my naughty pets. As I approached my dogs, and thus the horse, the huge animal reared up on his hind legs and came down, braising my thigh. Terrified, I ran, rather waddled away as fast as I could. As I spoke with a horse-owner friend of mine later on, she told me that the horse was just playing with me. She admitted the horse could have trampled me if he'd wanted to. That didn't make me feel any better. So, for that reason, I look at those magnificent creatures in awe of their beauty, but always from the other side of a fence.
What are your feelings about horses?

A to Z Challenge: G is for Games

G is for games
with cards, men, and dice,
and colorful boards
that I think are nice.

I loved playing board games as a child. I remember playing Monopoly with my older brothers. They would ask me if I wanted to trade my gold dollars for their pink ones. Of course I willing--I loved pink. It wasn't until a few years later that I realized I was trading a 500 dollar bill for a 5 dollar bill. Oh, well, I had fun.
What was your favorite board game as a child?

A to Z Challenge: F is for Fire Engine

F is for fire engine
with its ladder so long,
I push and I hear
its siren-like song.

Being a girl, I never had much desire to have my own fire engine to play with. But I lived in a small town where we had a volunteer fire department. We also lived close to Main Street and could hear the siren blaring as it called in the volunteers to race to a fire. A lot of times my dad would gather us kids in the old green DeSoto station wagon, and we would follow the fire truck to the fire. I loved that.
Have you ever followed a fire truck to a fire?

A to Z Challenge: E is for Elephant

E is for elephant
that I love to hug,
with its cuddly long trunk
that's so fun to hug.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I wasn't much of a doll person, but I loved my stuffed elephant. My daughter is a big fan of elephants, and so my grandson has a variety of elephant toys and decorations for his room.
What is your favorite non-pet animal?

A to Z Challenge: D is for Doll

D is for doll
to dress in new clothes,
or pretend she's asleep
as I kiss her cute nose.

I was never much of a doll person. As a child, I seemed to prefer teddy bears over dolls.
Which did you gravitate toward as a child, dolls or stuffed animals?

A to Z Challenge: C is for crayons

C is for crayons,
I love red, green, and blue,
and coloring pictures
when they are brand new.

I loved crayons as a kid. Unfortunately,  my memories of coloring for hours with all those cool colors are older and harder to remember than recent memories. As a mother, I hated scrubbing them off the walls, vacuuming broken pieces out of the carpet, and the ultimate bummer experience:  crayons left in the car with the windows up, parked out in the sun on a 100 degree plus summer day.
What are your memories of crayons?

A to Z Challenge: B is for Balls

B is for balls
that bounce really high,
or hit by a bat
to fly through the sky.

I used to love to play softball when I was in high school and college. But now my joints won't let me. Getting old sticks. What have you had to give up as you have gotten older?

A to Z Challenge: A is for Airplane (and Arlee Bird)

Before I talk about Airplanes, I wanted to thank Arlee Bird, (another A word) the founder of the Blogging A to Z challenge. This is my third year participating. I've always had so much fun with them, and I'm not planning on this year being any different.

For my theme this year, I have chosen toys. Last year I did animals, and I created rhymes for each one. A lot of comments came in, asking me if my posts were part of a children's book. This year, that is going to be the case. I have brushed up on Adobe Illustrator, wrote, and illustrated a picture book for my grandson last Christmas. Now I'm going to use the A to Z challenge as a spring board to create my next picture book. I will post the page as it will appear in my children's book, and then add a little grown-up commentary below.

Today's post is A is for Airplane.
I've always enjoyed flying. My husband hates it. He always feels accordioned  anxious, and airsick. I don't mind the lack of leg space or the ups and downs of the airflow under the wings. I see it as a chance to read a good book and not feel guilty that I'm not doing something else, like the dishes, or the laundry--because I literally can't do anything else.
What's your feelings about flying on an airplane?