Celebrate the Small Things and Grammar Friday!!!

The wonderful Vikki over at Viklit sponsors this weekly meme to help us remember the small things in life. Yep, it's those tiny wonders which happen every single day that make life worth living.

This week, I'm celebrating:

1) Goats. Yep, our new friends on the farm. I mentioned these Wednesday, but thought you'd like at least one picture. This is one of the babies. Isn't it cute?

2) Candied apples! Since the kids are now on school break (YAY!), we have to find fun things to do. So one of our 1st activities was making candied apples. They were delicious.

3) My son changed our spark plugs and wires! It's his pre-father's day present on my husband. I'm so proud of him. Guess those kids do grow up after all.

4) My daughter is finding tons of four leaf clovers. The other day, she even found a six leaf one. Double the luck? She seems to think so. Now, I have a whole tiny vase full of the wonderful luck bringers.



And now, before you go out into the field and search for your own four leaf clovers, it's time for. . .

As you may (or may not) know, we're stuck smack-dab in the middle of semicolons. We know they're used to combine two independent clauses. We know we can use them in lists to help against comma disasters. Is there more?

You can bet your momma's britches there is!

Today, we're looking at a third rule (yep, let those little jiggers of excitement roll through you.) Did you know that semicolons can help you introduce a list into a sentence?

You didn't! Well, then you're about to find out how!


Sometimes, we want to combine two sentences, the second which has a list of things directly related to the first sentence. I know, that sounds awful confusing, but as usual, an example will clear it up.

When George goes camping, he needs to take several things with him. A tent, sleeping bag, food, rope and a flashlight are necessary.

The 2nd sentence is directly related to the first, so I want them to stick together like glue. To accomplish this, all I have to do is add a semicolon and a cute, little introductory word.

Like this:

When George goes camping, he needs to take several things with him; for example, a tent, sleeping bag, food, rope, and a flashlight are necessary.

Notice, there's our buddy, the semicolon! To help him introduce the 2nd sentence, we use an introductory word or phrase like namely, however, therefore, that is, i.e., for example, e.g., or for instance.

These introductory words are ALWAYS set off with a comma.

Got it?

Here's one more example to make sure.

There are many different types of tea. Cylon, Assam and Orange Pekoe are among the most popular.

There are many different types of tea; however, Cylon, Assam and Orange Pekoe are among the most popular.

What about you? What is your favorite type of tea? Do you love to go camping? Going to roast marshmallows? What wonderful things happened to you this week? Is there such a thing as 8 leaf clovers?