Category Archives: Books

Nov8

TENDER TUESDAYS

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TENDER TUESDAYS

WHO’S the CAPTAIN? BOOK LAUNCH & SIGNING in a Marine Store!

Mary Laudien has been a super engaged author these days! She and Dave Alavoine are busy preparing for their BOOK LAUNCH of WHO’S the CAPTAIN?  The event will be held at Martin Marine  (1176 Welch Street in North Vancouver) on Saturday, Nov. 26th from 12:30pm-2:00pm. Martin Marine is the PERFECT venue to launch their nautical book, as a long established North Shore ‘family business for boating families’.

Dave Alavoine is a long term North Shore resident, sailor, sailboat builder, former British Merchant Marine…and most importantly, Pacific Yachting Magaizine’s nautical cartoonist! Mary Laudien is a  4th time B.C. children’s author and the former proud principal of West Bay and

… Read the rest
Oct28

FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS

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FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS

WHO’S the CAPTAIN? is FINALLY AVAILABLE!

What is FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS?

It’s a Picture Book/ Middle Grade Book Review post that will be shared every other Friday.  I intended to start this much sooner, but publishing WHO’S the CAPTAIN? seemed to take over my life for the last year.  Now that it’s finally available, I can start posting regularly the picture books and early novels that I cherished reading with students when I was a teacher/principal in West Vancouver schools.  I know many of you are always seeking out worthwhile, entertaining reads for you to share with your kids or grand-kids.  That’s the purpose of FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS... to introduce you to KIDLIT that’s FUN! I‘ll … Read the rest

Oct25

TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #8

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TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #8

A COZY MEMORY…

                            ABOARD THE ON EDGE

It’s a rainy, dark October day, and as I write this TENDER TUESDAY post, adding to my collection of early sailboat ownership experiences, it felt like the right kind of day to share a magical New Year’s Eve memory.  (It may just inspire my readers with sailboats to plan a romantic evening on their boats at dock on a cold, dark winter night.)

New Year’s Eve arrived quickly, a few months after purchasing our old/new Catalina, the former Y KNOT (later renamed the ON EDGE).   Husband had been working his way methodically through his TO DO LIST, in preparation of sailing in the spring.

The boat was still moored in North … Read the rest

Oct4

TENDER TUESDAYS

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TENDER TUESDAYS

KOMBUCHA PUSHER

My kitchen has been transformed into a Kombucha factory! Before I know it, husband will be starting up a new business.

kombucha_lab

Some of you reading this may not even know WHAT this brew actually is! Simply defined: it’s a fermented tea, that hasn’t, necessarily, a “proven” health benefit… Nevertheless, husband is holding onto the miracle of hair growth- preferably on the TOP of his HEAD! So far I’ve noticed a significant sprouting of new growth hairs: nose hairs,… nostril hairs,… ear hairs… since he started up his KOMBUCHA production process.

Nonetheless, husband’s persevering, even though he may have just missed that opportunity with his timing. Hopefully it isn’t too late for his fine- haired, balding … Read the rest

Sep27

TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #7

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TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #7

IMPATIENT TO CRUISE

Husband and Prairie Girl couldn’t wait for any opportunity to take the ON EDGE out on the water. Two busy professionals had to scramble to find extended periods of time to take off on their annual two week sailing vacation at the end of each July.  They would be so covetous of their time on the water that they usually chose to ignore the weather warnings.  Sometimes this worked in their favor, and other times…not so much! Prairie Girl ALWAYS trusted husband’s decision-making! (After all, he wouldn’t be trying to OFF his new wife, now would he?) Husband is responsible, but when getting out on the water might mean a delay, his common sense might have … Read the rest

Sep20

TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #6

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TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #6

The Y KNOT Gets a NEW Name!      yknewbottompaint

Husband and Prairie Girl just didn‘t like the name of their new (old) boat. The Y KNOT was just a little too common, even though they could justify it as a cheeky response to their impulsive sailboat purchase, in the first place. They’d had several brainstorming sessions over the winter months, trying to find the “just right” name, but to no avail.

Finally, their scheduled two week cruise mid-summer arrived, and the Y Knot had been provisioned, complete with a new shower bag to use while in anchorages. The crossing from West Van to the Gulf Islands was smooth and everything seemed perfect. (Seemed is the key word here.) They had … Read the rest

Sep12

TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #5

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TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #5

THE FIRST OVER-NIGHTER at ANCHOR

                   … How did he get Prairie Girl back onboard again?

Well, let’s just say, husband didn’t get Prairie Girl back onboard for that entire fall and winter- and not just because she was still traumatized from moving marinas! No it was too late in the season and husband had a TO DO LIST 3 pages long to deal with before setting sail. He was anxious to have the boat updates done before next summer when they’d be ready to go cruising – of course they would be!

yknewbottompaint

So the kinds of projects that husband took on brought the reality of boat ownership home quickly to Prairie Girl. Mooring fees were one thing, but … Read the rest

Sep11

FUN HAPPENS! CHANGES URL

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FUN HAPPENS! CHANGES URL

ATTENTION ALL FUN HAPPENS! FOLLOWERS 

I am in process of moving my blog to a new site: https://www.marylaudien.com

I value your visits to my  WordPress Blog and the comments you leave.  I am hopeful that you will subscribe to my new site of

FUN HAPPENS!:

HUMOROUS KIDLIT & TENDER, SASSY POSTS

You can expect to find two types of posts:

  • TENDER TUESDAYS 

  • FUN KIDLIT FRIDAYS

I’m looking forward to meeting up with you on my new site.  Please copy the URL now, so that we can continue to share fun stories with one another. (https://www.marylaudien.com)- easy to remember if you know my name…

mary_helming

 

… Read the rest
Aug23

TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #4

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TENDER TUESDAYS – PRAIRIE GIRL SERIES #4

YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO TAKE IT OUT ON THE WATER!

Sailboat ownership was new territory for Prairie Girl. She was so busy getting the new school year launched, that she barely had time to perseverate on the fact that they now owned their very own Catalina. Warm, fuzzy feelings descended upon her whenever she’d mention to her colleagues and parents at her school that they were now proud sailboat owners! (Oh yeah, she was still locked into her rosy vision of the beautiful people sailing in white, flowing nautical clothing, sipping champagne in the evening under the stars.) Obviously not grounded in reality! DUH! Instead of seeing a Catalina 27 that had had better days, she was transporting herself … Read the rest

Aug19

I Am What I Read: 5 Ways to Nurture Reading Identity by Paula Bourque — Nerdy Book Club

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I Am What I Read: 5 Ways to Nurture Reading Identity by Paula Bourque — Nerdy Book Club

Over the past few years as a K-8 literacy coach I’ve worked with students to help them create and connect with their writing identities. I wanted them to live “writerly” lives and explore what it meant to be a writer. I wrote a book about that exploration (Close Writing). I know, as writers we […]

via I Am What I Read: 5 Ways to Nurture Reading Identity by Paula Bourque — Nerdy Book Club… Read the rest