Children's books in the Olympics

As some of you know, I've been on a small Scottish island for the last four months

and for the last four weeks, staying with a family. Last night we had a party to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony. I think the UK has to be the only country in the world that would read a passage from a children's book (the part in PETER PAN describing the island, as you imagine it just before you fall asleep) during the opening ceremony....and have it read by another children's book author (JK), and include it and other books in the dancing.

What the people I was with enjoyed most about the ceremony, though, were all the funny bits: the Brits do like to laugh, and laugh at themselves! Even the Queen became part of the humor, though Mr.Bean in a spoof of Chariots of Fire was funny, too.

No one mentioned (and I'm not sure if anyone there but me even knew) that the connection between the National Health Service and Peter Pan is that J.M. Barrie gave all the profits, during his lifetime and for as long as the copyright lasted, to the Children's Hospital -- and bought 20 tickets for the opening night and gave them to orphans.

For many years, Peter Pan was my favorite  book and I was glad to see it featured so prominently last night, and inspired by what I remembered of J.M. Barrie, too. His giving tickets to orphans was not totally altruistic: he was known then for his adult plays and was afraid this would bomb with them -- though pretty sure kids would like it.

a married blue rose girl

Alvina got married!

Don't they look beautiful?

Which is one of the reasons it's been so quiet around here recently! We've been celebrating (as well as working and watching babies):

Anna & Grace (holding baby Hazel) with bride Alvina

But we should all be back soon...

a kid art blog

I'm moving yet another thing to blogger. This is going to be the children's art blog: http://kidsartcreations.blogspot.com/

I think it will be a lot easier for me to maintain. I tried to keep the same look as what I had on my blog. I   am finally figuring out how to use blogger. I never really tried to really use it and make it work for me before. It's just so much easier to have IT resize the images than for me to fiddle around on photoshop for hours!

OLD BLOG - NEW BLOG

I've started up my Fireside Chat again, but this time I've moved it to Blogger. This is so I can write on the couch and when I travel and easily post things without resizing images and worrying about HTML and all of that jazz. But I fear it may need some organization. I really admire the other ladies' blogs. They are very organized and entertaining. I'm not a very organized person. Well, I take that back. I can be VERY organized. Freakishly so. OCD kind of so. I love containers, and things with wheels, and shelves, and labels, and all of that. The problem is that my brain is all over the place. And I have trouble focusing sometimes and I think my blog(s) reflect that. I believe this is why i have ended up with so many blogs all of a sudden. It's some sort of strange attempt to organize. Now I don't know what I"m left with. Probably too many blogs.

Anyway, Fireside chat was always supposed to be about what's going on with me everyday plus some children's book stuff - but not the business - not book reviews - none of that. But I'd still like to organize it somehow. I love how grace has a picture of the week and an on my desk. Anna has a furball friday... So what am I to do? Any suggestions?

This is my blog thus far:
http://meghansfiresidechat.blogspot.com/

West coast book signing with Grace and Anna

Come join Grace and myself in L.A.! We will be reading and signing our books, doing a drawing demonstration, and answering any questions kids have about how to make a book at Pages Bookstore in Manhattan Beach.

Hope to see you there!

Details:
Sunday, July 22nd
1:00 pm
904 Manhattan avenue
Manhattan Beach, ca 90266
pagesabookstore.com
t: 310-318-0900 (if you can't make it, call & order a signed book!)

Dear readers:

As you've probably noticed, posting has been quite sparse this summer. We want you to know that we have not forgotten you and remain devoted to the readers that have inspired us to post for so long. This has been a particularly busy time for all us Blue Rose Girls; I don't think we have ever had a stretch where each and every one of us has been so occupied by other things! Between travel and new babies and wedding planning, I'm afraid blogging has been the last priority on the list. Please bear with us while we soldier on through these next couple months and know that we will be back full force soon. In the meantime, we will post as often as we can.

Below are a few things going on in my world lately.

First plane trip with a toddler:

(she quietly read the in flight magazine for much of our first leg)

First haul of pick-your-own at our CSA:



First visit to a local beach:

Soon we'll be packing up for Alvina's wedding! Can't wait!