FBF Winner, and Proof of the Frozen Lacquered Spider

And the Free Book Friday Winner is...

Kim. (From Idaho)

Email me your top three choices from the pics below. brosam (at) gmail (dot) com

1. Remember Debbie/Cranberry Fries' comment after the spider post? About how her hubby and his roommate froze and lacquered a spider? And how I asked for pictures?
If you think that's awesome, you should check out her blog.

2. I just have to come to terms with the fact that I am the mother of boys. I asked Kid C to tell me about his day. He kept saying, "Nothing happened." When I pressed, he said, "Fine. I played with Bill Bill-o-bean."

I don't know what got into me, but I started to growl at my kid, saying this is not a conversation, and if he doesn't know how to have a conversation, then I'm going to go deaf. (This is always my "go-to" threat. My kids think I really go deaf.)

So I say again, "What did you do today?"

Kid C: "Had lunch with Bill Billobean."

I brought the car to a screeching halt, got out and slammed the door. I stood there, arms folded across my chest, full-on pouting.

Then I realized... Brodi you are one girl in a house of boys. There will be no heart to hearts. You're gonna have to deal with it.

I got back in. With one single tear streaming down his face, his lower lip trembling, Kid C says, "I did Math, Mom. That's what I did at school."

I said, "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

3. Kid C has a "girlfriend". Her name's Lauren. He says they kissed.

My first question was, "Where?" I was thinking Lips? Cheek?

Kid C: "Recess."

So when he was saying goodnight, I told him to kiss me like he kisses Lauren. He proceeded to kiss my elbow.

I said: "Good job, kid. That's exactly how you kiss."

4. It's Banned Books week.

My own take (I won't wax prolific on this point because others have done a much better job at it): I loathe the idea of people getting together, deciding what books I should or shouldn't be allowed to read. Downright Un-American. Some of the greatest authors of all time have at one point been banned. (Maya Angelou, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Walt Whitman, Harper Lee to name a very few).

Now we can claim a connection to such an author! Writer buddy Emily Wing Smith's book The Way He Lived has made a list of books that are being challenged in a town in Florida. Read her post about it here.

I am so proud of Emily, and this badge of honor she has earned. I told her I'm going to make her a t-shirt with a Scarlet "B" on the chest to celebrate. I also want to thank Lake County Florida for drawing attention to her awesome book. Please go and congratulate Emily in the comments section on her blog. She'll love it.

Tune in for Friday's FBF. I'm anticipating a signed copy of Shannon Hale's newest Forest Born, and a few of Sara Zarr's latest Once Was Lost. They will both be up for grabs in the pool of books.