At Your Local Library...

I am a sucker for a good children's book. I recently heard someone say, "Forget flowers! Bring me a children's book instead" and I loved it. One day I hope to add hundreds of books to our current collection. Since we frequent the library often, I have some current favorites that I want to share:. 

Mo Willems is definitely a contender for my favorite children's author of all time. city dog, country frog is different than any of his other books but it is just as noteworthy. It is simple, tender, and sweet.

There are five books in the Llama, llama series by Anna Dewdney. Anyone with young children will be able to relate to the different situations that Mama and Llama find themselves in. While I have only been able to find three of the five books, Llama llama, Mad at Mama is my favorite.  

Food for Thought is our current Freymann/Elffers read, but all of their collaborations are great. The books are simple enough for the youngest readers, but the illustrations are clever enough for children of all ages--they are made using nothing but fruits and vegetables. 

I know I've already put in a plug for both Mo Willems and the Piggie and Elephant books, but seriously, Can I Play Too? is laugh-out-loud funny. And these are some of the best early readers I have ever seen. 

Grandpa Green received a Caldecott honorable mention this year. It's a sweet story told from the perspective of Grandpa's great grandson.

This wordless book, The Red Book, by Barbara Lehman, has been Maddie's almost-constant companion since we found it at the library a couple of weeks ago. It received a Caldecott honorable mention in 2004 and, in my opinion, is much more interesting and creative than this year's award winner, A Ball for Daisy. 

Also a Caldecott honorable mention, Blackout was an instant hit with my kids. Not to mention that the illustrations are amazing. 

My friend, Hilery, introduced me to Press Here months ago and my preschool students were instantly smitten. It is a fun interactive read that will make you wonder, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Last but not least, my friend, Chrissy, first introduced us to Kid Tea years ago and it is one that we check out from the library time and time again. I think I may have even mentioned it in a previous post. It is colorful, catchy, and even comes in the board book variety (a double bonus if you have a Davis-like reader). 

Now it's your turn. I'd love to hear your recommendations!

January Photos

A few camera phone photos of our life this month:

Watching Chicken Little during Friday night pizza and a movie.

Maddie decorating her new Valentine's mailbox. The only rule with the boxes is the kids aren't allowed to ask anyone to put things in their box (Ike tries to work around this by dropping hints) nor complain if they think their box isn't being filled enough. Thank you Target dollar section! It has been fun to see the kids excited about giving things to one another (and even more excited about getting them).

I guess it's time to show this kid A Christmas Story. This boy told me today that he wishes he could have wheels instead of feet. I wonder if he ever won't be obsessed with cars. 

Just hanging out in the diaper pail.

Looks great in sunglasses.

From the Mouth of My Babe

Isaac enjoying last weekend's snowfall

Maddie, not so much enjoying last weekend's snowfall.

Not long ago Isaac asked me if I would get him a "real" super hero cape. "I made you one, buddy," referring to a cape I made him years ago that he occasionally uses while playing dress up. "No, mom, I mean a REAL cape, like one that helps me fly in the air."

This is my 500th post. I can hardly believe I've been keeping this blog for almost 5 years. I think it's high time I make it into a book or two (or five), no?

Some Recent Video Clips

We got blasted with a couple of feet of snow yesterday. Here is a clip of Isaac enjoying it. When he woke up on Saturday morning he came to me and exclaimed, "It looks like the North Pole outside!"

Davis got this Leap Frog magnet game for Christmas---hello? Why didn't I buy this cool learning toy years ago? It can occupy him for significant amounts of time and it's teaching him his letters with no help from me. Be careful when you listen to him say "W" because you just might die of cuteness.

We couldn't leave Mads out. A friend of mine was in junior primary the other day and told me, "Maddie was made to be a sunbeam!". She seems to love everything about it. Below she sings the song they are learning this month.

Lately...

Maddie had a few friends over to play the other day and her new dress ups got some good use. At one point during the play date I overheard Maddie ask her friend, "Don't you love to play with me, Sammy?" 

• We are all a little under the weather around here (insert hacking coughs) so our MLK holiday has consisted of grocery shopping and taking naps. But hey, Ryan has the day off so groceries and naps is just fine with me. 
• Speaking of grocery shopping, I made my way to Trader Joes this weekend. Have I mentioned how much I love Trader Joes? My current favorite products are their Spicy Chipotle Pepper Hummus, freeze-dried banana chips, and Candy Cane Joe Joe's (Oreos with candy cane bits infused into the creme center---currently on after-holiday clearance!). 
• Like many of you, I have recently become acquainted with Pinterest. While it can be overwhelming at times, there are also tons of great things about that lovely virtual pin board. Aside from being a great place to find and organize new recipes, one of my favorite things so far has been the link I found to homemade laundry soap. Seriously, 9 months worth of laundry soap for less than $20? And it took me about 10 minutes to mix it all together. I can even take Ryan mocking me for it ("You made your own laundry soap?!? Now I know what to tell my co-workers when they ask how we survive on a resident's salary with three children...'my wife makes her own laundry soap'"). I don't think I can ever go back to expensive laundry soap again...Here's the link.
• A friend and I recently started a weekly play date. We rotate between our homes and our kids run around like crazies for a couple of hours in the afternoon while she and I work on a different project around the house. For example, I hosted a couple of weeks ago so she helped me reorganize my spice cupboard. The next week it was at her place and I helped her put all of her Christmas decorations away. I seriously look forward to our time together each week because it's win/win all around: the kids are happy because they get to play with their friends, we're happy because we get to catch up and chat for a couple of hours, AND we get to accomplish something while doing it. Not to mention that it makes the witching hours of the late afternoon fly by. 
• I have been thinking a lot lately about school for my children next year. Kindergarten for Isaac and preschool for Maddie (Should I send her or keep her home?). Our neighborhood school seems wonderful. It was the main reason we chose the neighborhood that we did and I have heard nothing but positive reviews from parents. That said, there is also a Magnet school that I am really interested in because it is dual language--both Spanish and English. Speaking to my children almost (but not quite) exclusively in Spanish has been something that I have really enjoyed. It has also been a bigger sacrifice than I ever thought possible. I fear that if and when Isaac starts school, his Spanish language skills will plummet because he won't have me yapping at him all day and all my hard work will be for not. Putting him in a dual language program would do wonders for his bilingual abilities. We are going to tour the school later this week. If we do like it, we can apply and our application will be put into a lottery. Who knows if he will even be accepted. Weighing the pros and cons of each school is concerning me more than I thought it would. I used to think those parents who worried about where to send their children to school were a little bit crazy. Now I'm one of them.

Ike on a nearby trail riding his new bicycle. The weather was unseasonably warm this day. When it's not 60 degrees outside we have a little bike path set up in the unfinished basement where the kids love to ride, often for hours at a time.