What's the big deal about "Stuart Little"?

That's right, people.  I thought the book Stuart Little stunk.  I hardly ever say this about a book, but I liked the movie better.  The book was very disconnected, the characters weren't very likeable, and even Stuart made some decisions that I completely didn't understand. 

In the spirit of full disclosure, I saw the movie with Geena Davis first.  I thought it was cute and heartwarming, a bit cheesy, but overall a good family flick.  The only parallel I can draw between the movie and the book is that the main character in both is a mouse who lives with a family named the Littles.  That is where the similarities end.  In the movie, Stuart is adopted; in the book, he's born to Mrs. Little and just happens to be small and look like a mouse.  In the movie, a main plot point is about Stuart's parents and what happened to them; in the book, the main plot point is Stuart pursuing his friend who is a bird.  They are nothing alike! 

One very weird part in the book is when Stuart comes to a town during his road trip in pursuit of the bird and he asks a 2 inch tall girl who happens to live in the town out on a date.  When his plans to take her on a canoe trip are thwarted when some kids ruin his souvenier size canoe, he throws a fit and doesn't even want to hang out with the girl so she leaves.  The book ends with him driving off into the sunset (okay, actually he's driving north) still looking for the bird Margalo.  That's it.  Did E.B. White just get bored with writing the story?  That's how I felt when it ended.

We had a Trumpet of the Swan lined up to read next.  I had some qualms about it after the Stuart Little experience, but we read through Chapter 2 yesterday and so far so good.  Let's just let it be known that I'll read Tom Thumb Charlotte's Web and I'll probably read him Trumpet of the Swan (based on what we've read so far), but we'll pass on Stuart Little as a read aloud.  Bring on the movie and some popcorn.

This week science---next week China!

Red is in science day camp right now.  She was in it last week and this week.  She seems to be having a good time, but I'm convinced that she won't be doing it next summer.  Going the full day seems to be too long for her (she's kind of crabby around dinner) and she really wasn't into going at the beginning of this week.  One week probably would have been enough.  Too bad they didn't offer that as a choice.

We bought a pass for the month of August to our city's recreation center so we can use the pool.  Red has been scared of water for quite a while, despite the fact we had her taking parent-tot swim lessons at 6 months old.  She has taken swimming lessons fairly consistently since then and still has a lot of fear.  We have set up with our regular babysitter (who also is a lifeguard at the center) to give her lessons twice a week for the next three weeks so we can work through some of her issues.  We've gone swimming there three days in a row now and she seems to be a bit more comfortable.  She actually put her face in the water yesterday!  That's a HUGE improvement.  Her first swimming lesson is next Wednesday so we'll see how that goes.

Unfortunately, we're not jetting off to China next week; however, Tom Thumb and I went to the library this morning to check out some books on China. We'll be doing some reading, DVD watching, crafting, and cooking this coming week. I'll put up a more detailed post once we get underway.

Now that Red's going to be home again all week, I want to get back in our groove.  My plans are to have breakfast, go to the pool, come home and have a snack, do some housekeeping, have lunch, put Tom Thumb down for his nap, and in the afternoon do some fun projects with Red.  I'm hoping to do our geography stuff (can't wait to cook!), some reading lessons, a bit of math (I want to cruise along a bit so we can get to some more math games in the book), and work on lowercase letters.

On a separate note, I have gotten mixed reviews from friends and family about our choice to have Red attend 1/2 day afternoon kindergarten.  My family (who were skeptical of homeschooling) has obviously been very happy.  The reaction of my friend who is a homeschooling mom of seven was "OH NO!"  Most of the other responses have been somewhere between those two extremes.  My stand on it is we will take it one day at a time.  I do not view it as a permanent decision and we will see how it works.  If it doesn't, I am strong enough to bring her back home.  No qualms.  If it does, I'm not going to let what other people think influence our decision.  What I have learned through this process is that I am not going to let my personal pride get in the way of what will be best for each child in our family. 

See you in China!