In The Library Bag...

This week's library trip was a quick one. Normally, we camp out in the children's section at one of the tables. We take the kids' school work and spend a good couple of hours with our books before browsing and signing out their books.

Today I browsed the display tables. I browsed the young adult section for The Girl Child, looking for something without a lot of sex, drugs, teeny-bopper dramatics, teen angst or mean-girl politics. The kids browsed for graphic novels - but not the Manga kind.

Today's haul was a small one. It's going to be a busy week and we're still reading a couple of selections from last week's selections.

Eldest
by Christopher Paolini

The second in the Inheritance trilogy, which is now going to be a four volume set. I'm reading it to keep ahead of the movies. I enjoyed reading the first in the series Eragon to the kids a few years back. I'm enjoying the story. If I were a more critical reader, I'm sure I would have a laundry list of complaints about Paolini's writing.

The Father Christmas Letters
by J.R.R. Tolkien

Every Christmas season, I try to have a nice read aloud on hand. This one should fit the bill this year. I'll let you know how it goes.

Early Christmas

by Bobbie Kalman

This is a more 'schoolish' book. However, our studies are taking us through Canada's formative years so it seemed relevant. Written pre-Eyewitness books, it's not as flashy, but it's layout is in manageable chunks rather than in pages of text. The kids will pick it up and browse it if I leave it conveniently laying about.

Eat, Shrink and Be Merry
by the Podleski sisters

I've reached my library imposed limit of 3 sign-outs of the 'Crazy Plates' cookbook. I had to return it. I kept finding recipes in it that my kids - the pickiest eaters on the planet - would try. This selection is similar in style and ingredients so I'm hoping for more success and further expanded palates.

A Really Short History of Nearly Everything

by Bill Bryson

For The Boy Child with his incredibly short attention span and low-fiction tolerance. Nice layout with lots of white space.

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And So It Begins...

December first is almost here. That means it is time to get Christmas out of it's box.

Over the years, I've undergone a Christmas transformation. While living at home with my parents, Christmas was always just done for me. I sailed through the holiday season on my mother's coattails. Once I actually had to think about pulling off a Christmas on my own, I started to panic. I hated the holidays and avoided as much as possible. Then the babies came along. What kind of a mother doesn't do Christmas for her kids? So I went through the motions. As the kids got older and I got over myself, I've come to realize that Christmas celebrations are what I make them. If I'm stressed, the kids are stressed. If I'm indifferent, the kids don't want to participate. So this year I feel I'm in a good place to enjoy the holidays. Hopefully everyone else in the A Household will too.

I feel pretty comfortable this year. The calendar is set; I know what I'm doing on each day throughout the holidays. Mr. B and I took a nice day last weekend and put up our one measly strand of Christmas lights. They're all ready to go come December 1. My Christmas bin has been located and, due to an early bath of cookies needing decorative tins, unearthed.

This weekend's company, needing an excuse to make our visit interesting and kid-friendly, attended the local Santa Clause Parade at my insistence. I also dragged Mr. B and the kids to a community lighting of a Christmas tree celebration. It's time to get festive, people! The holiday is about spending time together and enjoying seasonal traditions more than the gift-haul philosophy the local WalMart would like you to subscribe to.

And due to an unfortunate scheduling situation, I need 15 dozen cookies ready for this coming Friday (9doz.) and Sunday (6doz.). The Girl Child is also contributing to one of those exchanges, bringing the A Household take-home amount of cookies to 21 dozen. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking. I'm sure it was something about not wanting to offend someone by declining to participate. I'm not freaking out about the mountain of cookies I will be carting home though. The local library is having a fundraising bake sale in a week or so. Whatever won't fit in the freezer will be contributing to the worthy new Youth Programs.

And so it begins. Hopefully a great holiday season that lasts all through December and into January. I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to it this year!

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Field Trip!

Last Friday, the 20th, the kids and I piled into the back seat of a Honda Civic and journeyed to the Big City to visit the Royal Ontario Museum. I hadn't visited the museum in years and years. The kids had gone in October with my parents. When they came home, they were so excited to go back...and they all figured I should go with them this time.

Our main objective was to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls before the exhibit closes in January. The kids also wanted to show me their favourite areas that they had visited last trip. Isn't that sweet?

Fun times were had at the museum. The best part was watching how excited and engaged the kids were by the place. I think they would have spent the whole day in Ancient China/Korea/Japan. There was a beautiful display of Asian art through the ages. The Girl Child was very impressed. Her Chibi/Manga/Anime interest has some historical roots, she told me, as she was busy noticing all sorts of familiar elements in the artwork. The Boy Child was mesmerized with the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was a little ticked that there was so much exhibit before the actual scrolls. But once the scrolls were in sight, we had a hard time making him leave. He spent time finding the Tetragrammaton, pointing it out to anyone who would listen, drawing it in his Grandpa's notebook. I followed the rules and took no pictures although I was itching to.

We took photos in all other areas until the camera batteries konked out. I think I could reconstruct the entire Gems exhibit in photos. That would be the exhibit I handed the camera off to the kids. So, pics to follow:

REAL Samurai stuff!

Imperial Palace reconstruction.

Trying to find an elevator, we found The Girl's favourite animal.

The Boy takes a pic of himself and a giant geode.

Chillaxin' in the Gem Exhibit.

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