Birthday Contest for Children's Writers!

Susanna Leonard Hill is having a birthday contest on her blog! The challenge is to write a birthday story in 300 words or less. The story below is my entry. There are thirteen other entries (as of right now) and the competition is stiff! Head over to her site to read them all! If you're a writer, hurry up and join the contest - the deadline is 11:59 PM EDT on Tuesday, May 22 - that's tomorrow!!

Birthday Surprise!

With Henry's birthday coming up, we planned a celebration.
We thought we'd catch him by surprise and cause a huge sensation!


We hung up streamers, big balloons and cooked his favorite treats,
Then shut the lights and held our breath and waited in our seats.


And when, at last, the doorbell rang, we pictured his surprise.
Imagining the look of shock we'd see in Henry's eyes.


We lit the lights and yelled, "SURPRISE!" with hollers and with hoots,
But Henry had his own surprise - he wore his birthday suit!

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Versatile Blogger Award and Seven Things About Me

Lauri Meyers (Your Imagination is the Limit), nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award!!  Thanks so much Lauri!!  As a winner of the VBA, here's what I need to do:

•  Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy. (done - see above)
•  Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.  (see above again)
•  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)  (this is the hard part - so many have already been nominated!)
•  Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site. (see above)
•  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself. (Unlike my nominator, Lauri, I don't mind telling things about myself - I'm pretty much an open book.)

So, here you go - seven things about me - no guarantee they'll be the least bit interesting.

1 - I laugh at pretty much any pun I hear.  I tend to laugh the most at my own!

2 - I think Chinese and Thai food taste better when eaten with chop sticks.

3 - I love Indian (from India) accents - love their food too. 

4 - I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue. 

5 - I sing all day long - sometimes I whistle.

6 - My favorite city in the world in London.

7 - I really admire policemen and firemen - and teachers, of course!

Here are my fifteen nominated bloggers - use the handy links to visit their sites:
Juliet Clare Bell - http://picturebookden.blogspot.com/
Arlee Bird - http://wrotebyrote.blogspot.com/
Pamela Courtney - http://mylmnopreadstokids.blogspot.com/
Natalie Fischer - http://wadingthroughwords.wordpress.com/
Will Granger - http://anabarauthor.blogspot.com/
Sarah Frances Hardy - http://www.sfhardy.blogspot.com/
Christine Henderson - http://thewritechris.blogspot.com/
Alison Hertz - http://alisonhertz.blogspot.com/
Irene Kistler - http://irenekistler.com/blog/
Penny Klostermann - http://pennyklostermann.com/
Irene Latham - http://irenelatham.blogspot.com/
Renee LaTulippe - http://www.nowaterriver.com/
Kelly Polark - http://kpolark.blogspot.com/
Sharon Stanley - http://www.sharonstanleywrites.blogspot.com/

Beth Stilborn - http://www.bethstilborn.com/

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A To Z Poetry Challenge - Pick Your Favorite

Over on Rena Traxel's Blog, On The Way To Somewhere, to wrap up last month's poetry challenge, she has posted seven 
poems by seven of the participating poets. Visit her site, read the poems, and vote for your favorite.  Voting will close on May 24 at 11:45pm (mountain time) and the winners will be announced on May 25.

Poetry Month Mash-Up: Day Twenty-Six

We've reached the end of Poetry Month and I have mixed feelings about it.  I'll be happy to be free of the pressure of writing a poem every day and putting my post together.  Some days I'm so busy, it feels a bit oppressive, but when I finish, it always feels great!  On the other hand, I'll miss the online communication with the other participants of A to Z Poetry, as well as other bloggers I've gotten to know this month!

One thing's for sure - I'll be writing and posting poetry on a more regular basis now.  Although I'm a rhymer (a habitual one at that), I've never really considered myself a poet - I've always thought of myself as a picture book writer.  But, after a month of writing daily poems in a wide variety of styles on a wide variety of topics, I think I've earned the moniker - Poet!

Thanks to Rena Traxel for hosting this wonderful challenge and to my fellow "poets" for the encouragement and kind remarks - you really kept me going!

Now, onto my Zig Zag poem.

Z is for Zig Zag

For twenty-six days
days I have written
written twenty-six poems
poems about ability and books
books about cento poems
poems about doctors and epigrams
epigrams like fractured fairy tales
tales filled with glee and haiku heroes
heroes and other inspirations
inspirations as simple as jingles
jingles for kids who like limericks
limericks written by Mother Goose about nature
nature filled with onomatopoeia
onomatopoeia plopped in prose
prose, you question, or rhyme?
rhyme used in sonnets
sonnets you tweet
tweet something universal about vampires
vampires who suck words
words you should ixnay
ixnay what you write
write in zig zag
zig zag to the end

Here's how you sign ZIG ZAG:

Here's how to sign THE END:  

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Poetry Month Mash-Up: Day Twenty-Five

Y is for You

I can't believe I made it through the first 24 days of A to Z Poetry Month without missing a day and then I go and blow it on the 25th day!!  So close and yet so far - but yesterday, life just got in the way!  Because we have Sundays off for good behavior, I'm going to post my poem today instead.  


Rena challenged us to "write a poem about yourself".  I have a busy day ahead - again - so I'm going to post an old poem.  The last time I was asked to write a poem about myself was for an English class in my Sophomore year of college - just a few years ago :-)  I wrote it on a cocktail napkin the night before it was due - some things never change (the cocktails and the procrastination)!  Here it is in all it's original glory:

I think I'm too short.

My friends say, "Yes"

My mom says, "No"

I think I'm too fat.

My friends say, "Yes"

My mom says, "No"

I think I talk too much.

My friends say, "Yes"

My mom says, "No"

I think I'll move back home.

My friends say, "YES!"

My mom says, "NOOOO!"

Here's how to sign YOU:

 Here's how to sign NO:

 Here's how to sign YES:
 

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