I work at a library in what is now called the Youth Services department, a department formerly known as the kid's section or the children's department. It is also occasionally known as the "hey, where are the game computers/bathrooms/elevators?" department.
I love books. I love putting the right book in the right hands and having a kid come back to me and say "That was AWESOME! Can you help me find another one?!?!" I love having a parent come in and tell me that the book I recommended was perfect and his or her child who hated to read now wants to read more! longer! better!
I love books of all shapes and sizes. All genres (well, not a huge sci-fi fan, but will read on occasion). I spend more than my fair share of time reading picture books, juvenile fiction and non-fiction, YA, folk tales, poetry. On good days I even read books for grown-ups (currently reading In the Woods by Tana French. Very, very good.) I try to stay as current as I can with not just what is popular with the wee whippersnappers, but also with great books that they may overlook. The book I will have to put in their hands while holding their gaze steady with my serious eyes and promising them "you will love it - I swear!" The book I will have to booktalk like crazy because even though the book is full of awesomeness, the cover is crapolicious (and my goodness there are some doozies out there).
So, on occasion I might venture from stories about my kids to stories about stories. I must admit here that I have a stronger catalog of books to recommend for the 2nd-4th grade boy crowd because I have a boy in that age range. I am also pretty good on all books princess/fairy/mermaid/pink because I have a 5 year old girly girl.
I will be adding links to websites that I like that are full of good book choices. My current fave for boys is Guys Read. I love Jon Scieszka. I love Mac Barnett. Well, not them, per se. But their books. Their writing. Their unabashed boyness. I recently had the opportunity to go see Jeff Kinney speak and he said that after writing the Wimpy Kid books he kept hearing from parents, teachers and librarians about how his books were great for reluctant readers and that he eventually figured out that reluctant reader was just code for BOY. The Guys Read initiative and the authors that contribute to the website and the books (one currently out and more to come!) are doing their best to change that. If you have a boy and you have ever despaired of him reading more than the x-box instructions, then you should check it out. And if you do, all I have to say is "38!".
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Happy Birthday to Kyra
Tonight at 8:37pm EST, my little girl turned 5.
Holy cow, my baby is 5.
5 years of awesomness. 5 years of the sweetest, most beautiful, most exasperating, most challenging child. Totally different from her older brother. She has made me learn completely different parenting skills because what worked with Blaine does not work with her. I've tried dissecting their differences before, but suffice it to say, they are night and day, chalk and cheese, black and white. Yet he is still her best friend, her lovey, her defender. She is also his biggest defender. She will jump up in front of me if she thinks I'm being mean to Blaine (i.e., telling him he has to do his homework before playing on the Wii) and will put her hands on her hips, jut out her obstinate chin and look me dead in the eye and say "You don't talk to my brother like that! NOT NICE!"
I'm not afraid to admit that she is smarter than I am. She outsmarts me on a regular basis and it keeps me on my toes. We've been having issues with veggie eating. She doesn't want to and I try to convince her that vegetables are not going to poison her. Recently, while driving to pick her brother up from school we had the following debate, in which I had my ass handed to me:
Me: Kyra, you know you have to eat vegetables. Barbie eats vegetables and look how smart and pretty and healthy she is.
Kyra: Barbie doesn't eat vegetables
Me: Yes she does! Barbie loves vegetables!
Kyra: Mom...Barbie isn't real. She is pretend and so is her food!
Me: Uh, ok. Well, the people who invented Barbie and make Barbies - they got so smart because they eat their vegetables.
Kyra: You don't know that
Me: Of course I do! Vegetables make you smart and the Barbie inventors are smart!
Kyra: No, you don't know that they eat their vegetables because you don't know them! You don't know what they eat!
At this point I realized I was losing an argument to a 4 year old. So I decided to just end the conversation. And again, I was outsmarted:
Me: You know what, let's not argue about it anymore. You just ride along in the backseat and I will ride along in the front and we will go get your brother and everyone will be happy!
Kyra: I'm not in the backseat
Me: Yes you are. I'm in the front, you are in the back
Kyra: No, you are in the front. My bike is in the back. I am in the MIDDLE seat.
Again she was right. And she knows it. And she gloats. And I wouldn't have her any other way because she is awesomeness.
Speaking of awesomeness, here is a small sampling of her fashion sense. Her clothing choices are hysterical, but they work because she is fearless when it comes to fashion. I love her more than I could ever describe. There are no words to sufficiently tell the story of how blessed and lucky I feel every single day of my life. She was an unexpected pregnancy after I thought I could not have more children and she remains my daily unexpected joy in ways big and small. Happy birthday Kyra.
Holy cow, my baby is 5.
5 years of awesomness. 5 years of the sweetest, most beautiful, most exasperating, most challenging child. Totally different from her older brother. She has made me learn completely different parenting skills because what worked with Blaine does not work with her. I've tried dissecting their differences before, but suffice it to say, they are night and day, chalk and cheese, black and white. Yet he is still her best friend, her lovey, her defender. She is also his biggest defender. She will jump up in front of me if she thinks I'm being mean to Blaine (i.e., telling him he has to do his homework before playing on the Wii) and will put her hands on her hips, jut out her obstinate chin and look me dead in the eye and say "You don't talk to my brother like that! NOT NICE!"
I'm not afraid to admit that she is smarter than I am. She outsmarts me on a regular basis and it keeps me on my toes. We've been having issues with veggie eating. She doesn't want to and I try to convince her that vegetables are not going to poison her. Recently, while driving to pick her brother up from school we had the following debate, in which I had my ass handed to me:
Me: Kyra, you know you have to eat vegetables. Barbie eats vegetables and look how smart and pretty and healthy she is.
Kyra: Barbie doesn't eat vegetables
Me: Yes she does! Barbie loves vegetables!
Kyra: Mom...Barbie isn't real. She is pretend and so is her food!
Me: Uh, ok. Well, the people who invented Barbie and make Barbies - they got so smart because they eat their vegetables.
Kyra: You don't know that
Me: Of course I do! Vegetables make you smart and the Barbie inventors are smart!
Kyra: No, you don't know that they eat their vegetables because you don't know them! You don't know what they eat!
At this point I realized I was losing an argument to a 4 year old. So I decided to just end the conversation. And again, I was outsmarted:
Me: You know what, let's not argue about it anymore. You just ride along in the backseat and I will ride along in the front and we will go get your brother and everyone will be happy!
Kyra: I'm not in the backseat
Me: Yes you are. I'm in the front, you are in the back
Kyra: No, you are in the front. My bike is in the back. I am in the MIDDLE seat.
Again she was right. And she knows it. And she gloats. And I wouldn't have her any other way because she is awesomeness.
Speaking of awesomeness, here is a small sampling of her fashion sense. Her clothing choices are hysterical, but they work because she is fearless when it comes to fashion. I love her more than I could ever describe. There are no words to sufficiently tell the story of how blessed and lucky I feel every single day of my life. She was an unexpected pregnancy after I thought I could not have more children and she remains my daily unexpected joy in ways big and small. Happy birthday Kyra.
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| 18ish months. She started dressing herself at a young age. |
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| See? Awesomeness. |
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| You know you wish you could pull off this look as well as she does |
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| Cheese face |
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| With her hero and big brother, Blaine |
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Hot Fresh Now
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| My patio table, under about an inch of ice |
If you have watched the news in the last few days you might have heard something about a snow/ice storm that hit and paralyzed the South. Yes, make all the jokes you want but Southerners do NOT know how to drive on snow and it is for our own safety that a state of emergency is declared (no shit, they really did!) and school is canceled and the library where I work is shut down and YAY SNOW DAY.
Except there really was no snow for us. Just ice. Lots and lots of ice. Yucky ice.
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| Blaine, "tasting" the snow/ice |
So, the dreams of building a snowman and having a snowball fight in the 4 to 6 inches we were supposed to get went out the window. Monday morning, with no school and no work and no snow to play in, the kids and I were pretty much trapped at home. And then Blaine said "hey, you know what would be great on a cold, cold day like today? A Krispy Kreme Hot Fresh Now Donut! Can we go get some?" After explaining to Blaine that driving on the inch or so of ice would undoubtedly land us in the ER, I fired up the computer and a few Google hits later, had a Krispy Kreme taste-alike recipe. Instead of going out and braving the roads for a Hot Fresh Now, we just made them ourselves. And they were pretty damn awesome.
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| Sous Chefs |
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| Blaine is an awesome donut roller |
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| Cutting them out |
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| The first few were huge, so we downsized our cutter |
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| Lots of glazing and tasting going on here |
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| Woks - not just for stir fry! |
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| Sugar Rush |
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| He declared them delicious |
Monday, January 3, 2011
Parkity Park Park Park
Subtitle: God I love the Hipstamatic for iPhone app.
Today was a beautiful, clear and a wee bit cold day. The kids and I decided to get out of the house (well, since I'm the one with the car keys and the ability to reach the gas pedal, I guess I decided and they agreed). We ran a few errands and then stopped at the park to run around and play for a bit. Our Christmas break is coming to an end. I go back to work and Kyra returns to school tomorrow. Blaine is out of school until Thursday and will spend tomorrow with my parents on the farm.
Since it was our last day just hanging out, I took a ton of photos at the park to mark the end of our great staycation.
My favorite random photos from today are below. If you have an iPhone and don't have Hipstamatic, my only question to you is WHY?? It's awesome. Some lens/filter combinations are better than others, but overall? I love it.
Today was a beautiful, clear and a wee bit cold day. The kids and I decided to get out of the house (well, since I'm the one with the car keys and the ability to reach the gas pedal, I guess I decided and they agreed). We ran a few errands and then stopped at the park to run around and play for a bit. Our Christmas break is coming to an end. I go back to work and Kyra returns to school tomorrow. Blaine is out of school until Thursday and will spend tomorrow with my parents on the farm.
Since it was our last day just hanging out, I took a ton of photos at the park to mark the end of our great staycation.
My favorite random photos from today are below. If you have an iPhone and don't have Hipstamatic, my only question to you is WHY?? It's awesome. Some lens/filter combinations are better than others, but overall? I love it.
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| And my kids wonder why I call them monkeys |
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| Best friends |
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| Goofballs |
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| OMG, a natural smile for a change! |
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| Don't hate the hairbow. Hairbows are AWESOMENESS! |
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| Kyra caged |
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Equal Time
Here's the thing about having two kids...what you do for one, you have to do for the other. So, since I started with a post featuring Kyra, I figured I should follow-up (and quickly!) with a post featuring my son, Blaine.
Awesomeness. Back in my day, this type of photo would have been taken by a rock band's tour bus. My poor kid. Being raised by a wanna-be librarian has warped him and he is geeking out over a book tour bus. I made sure we listened to the Ramones on the trip home just so everything evens out. Hey, ho, let's go!
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| Rock on, Wimpy Kid! |
Random Tales and Nonsense
It starts with a picture.
This picture:
This is Kyra. Why is she wearing her brother's sparring gear and screaming? Well, because we were going through a carwash. And the squids were out to get her. Naturally.
This picture:
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| AHHHHH SQUIDS ARE GOING TO GET ME! |
This is Kyra. Why is she wearing her brother's sparring gear and screaming? Well, because we were going through a carwash. And the squids were out to get her. Naturally.
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