An Homage to Our Public Library

Since we've been weekly library-goers for about 3 years now, we remember the less attractive days, when the walls looked decidedly seventies and the carpets were dingy. The Children's section was tucked back in a corner of the open floor, and the tweedy, textured wallpaper darkened the space. But the decor didn't bother me. It was nostalgic for me to attend Storytime with little Harper in the place that matched my memories, and where damp, book glue smells brought me back to when I was just beginning to read. I thought this reminiscent experience couldn't be topped, but the remodel completed last year has made our time there all the better. We love our library!



The ambiance is beautiful, fresh, and bright. The Children's Library has its own wing, and the decor is tasteful and calm. It's like a library out of the movies or something.

Here's Jack climbing on the padded "books" in the little kids' section.

But the best part of our Wednesdays at the library is the people who run the show, Miss Valerie, Miss Lisa, and Pierre. Here they are singing the greeting song, "I have a friend, the very best, and we read books together. You are my best friend. You are my best friend. You are my best friend, and we read books together."

Pierre is a volunteer for our library. It is clear he loves to read for the kids because he puts on different voices and really engages the audience. He frequently pauses the story to ask the kids to predict what will happen next. When they know, he always asks, "Have you read this before?" with a bewildered look on his face. Never seen without the Seuss hat, Pierre is an animated reader who keeps the kids' attention.


Miss Valerie leads the show. She chooses the theme for the week, finds stories and songs that dovetail and reinforce the concepts, and keeps everyone entertained. But perhaps most important, she loves my kids. She is so good to them, always friendly and cheerful, always glad to see us. She gave Harper and Jack each a Baskin Robbins gift certificate at the holidays. She has given us countless lollipops, spent silly shakers, special nods and smiles when she sees us arive, and book recommendations. She's also given us CDs of great kids' music, and a soundtrack for this time in our lives: how could we do these young years with out "Shake Your Sillies out?" or "I Know a Chicken?" or "The Noble Duke of Books..." and so many others? She's got a talent for her job and it's so nice to reap the benefit of that.


Miss Lisa joined Miss Valerie about a year ago and she instantly fit. Always kind and sweet to my kids, she has helped us search for the right book to fulfill my children's latest curiosities. She is quick to laugh and very animated when leading a song, acting out a rhyme, or reading a story. She ooo's and aaaah's over Harper and Jack's artwork. She receives my kids lovingly; she makes us feel welcome and encouraged.

We almost always run into buddies there, too. Here's a happy Miles, Isaiah, and Harper shaking their sillies out.

"Shake Your Sillies Out" is basically the library kids' anthem.

And here's Harper greeting Jovial another week.
Speaking of buddies, we usually attend the library with Grandma or Grandpa Paul and Grammer Lynda. It is such a help for me to have a grandparent with me-- to keep an eye on the kids, the purse, the book bag, to return the super heavy bag of (usually about 30) books, to search out and find new books for the next week. Gotta keep our "library shelf" stocked each week with new treasures!

Harper loves it when she's gets called upon to have a starring role in the song or activity. Here she is holding up her pig proudly for the "Old MacDonald" song.


And here she is with another fun prop.

Hmmm... I wonder if this is enjoyable?
Look at this rapt crowd of preschoolers!

It's not unusual for this girl to be so excited about a new book that she begins reading her stack before we've even left the building. Here she is reading a book about princesses, one of her favorite topics, on our way out to the car. (By the way, she continued to read this book all the way home, and during our picnic lunch in the backyard, finishing the 127 page book in just a couple hours.)

And here's another program we love: Elf Club. Elf stands for Early Literacy for Families. It's a grant-funded program designed to promote early literacy activities and model for parents how to engage their children with books. Once a month, on a Friday morning, we go over to the literacy center for more fun: books, songs, a craft, a snack, and a free hardback book based on the month's theme.

Here's Harper helping to tidy up so we can begin the story.
Here she is raising her hand to answer a question. That week, the reader asked the class (probably intending for the question to be rhetorical) if anyone knew what a buttercup was. Harper said, "Yes-- a flower!" much to the crowd's surprise. That's my smartie!
We loved this month's book choice-- a rhyming book about a much beloved topic.

The craft always connects with the book. Here's Jack gluing his kitten together before coloring it.
And here is what Harper looks like basically the whole time we're there.

My kids feel at home in this special place and I am so grateful that during my years at home with my young children, we have a weekly routine of going here. We have arranged our kids' preschool hours to avoid library programs-- leaving Wednesdays and Fridays free for the library. It's important for us to be there. And why wouldn't it be? We read books, sing songs, play, color, learn rhymes, hug buddies, and smile a lot at our library. And we take some of that home with us for the remainder of the week as well.

Thank you, library!

Roomies, Playmates, Zoo trip, Easter, and the Garden... Phew!

It's a good thing Harper and Jack love eachother because Jack Jack got a big boy bed in the beginning of March, and he now shares her room! He's proud of his bed, but he's not a master at solo sleeping just yet. He's done great there for naps, but not so great at bedtime. We're working on it.
Sweet Harper has been really great at being patient when he cries out and abruptly wakes her. She's so sensitive and occasionally it makes her cry to hear her brother cry in her room, but she usually calms right down when we get Jack and tell her everything's okay. In a few months, the adjustment will be done and I think they'll enjoy each other's company for a couple years.

Harper and Jack really love playing together, especially outside. They're actually awesome at taking turns with toys. They both love the slide (notice the teeny tiny broccoli plants in the photo, to the left of Harper's head in the moist soil of the garden bed).

Here they are at our neighborhood park. Whatever Harper's doing, Jack's attempting-- and often successfully.


Jack loves the twisty slide.


He looks up to his big sister so much and he really looks forward to her return when she's away at school. They play so well together, largely because Jack's always game for whatever Harper wants to do. Their conversations are hilarious, too.

Wherever Harper is, that's the place to be! Here he is wearing his "scootadoo" shirt. That's what he calls scooters, including Dad's.
And here are he and Harper loaded in the double "strollerler", another case of Jack's adding syllables. I think he does it out of love.


One day, Dad had a great idea to carve the chest freezer box into a house with windows and a door. Harper and Jack had a fun time with it for a while, eating their snacks in there, pretending. We still have it, in the garage for now, ready to be brought back out for a rainy day or when we need something novel again.
Here's a wistful Jack in his cardboard playhouse.
Peeking out.

We just had an awesome weekend that began with a zoo trip Saturday morning. Here are the kids in their car seats, getting pumped for all the animals!

The last time we went to the zoo, Harper was just over 2 (shortly after Jack was born, she and Daddy went there for some special time) and she was still in diapers. She wouldn't get near the giraffes to feed them. We were excited that she'd grown up so much and was brave enough to feed them this time.

We could tell she was proud of herself, too. (She's wiping giraffe spit off!)And, not to be outdone, little Jack was excited to feed the giraffe! Look at him stick his hand out there!
Pretty cool to be that close to such an odd-looking, rad animal! (And to see it from safe-Daddy's arms!)

The birds were particularly friendly this visit. The Australian birds kept swooping over us, back and forth. In the picture below, we were in the Rainforest habitat, and the birds there were awesome. We got up close to a bird who was singing in a very soft, mellow, almost clarinet-sounding monotone. His beak opened subtly each time and I pointed it out to Jack. I looked down to watch Jack's face as he watched this bird, and each time the bird sang, Jack quietly opened his mouth the same way. It was so cute, and so exciting to see that he was quietly taking it all in.

In this picture, these neat birds were swooping by us for a while and then landed soooo close. As you can see, Jack or I could've touched one easily.
Aren't they awesome-looking? The curly moustache was too much! (This photo was taken without a zoom lens!)
We had to do the gorilla photo. Look at those buddies!
It was fun to have them dressed alike for the trip, too. We were in the zoo-going spirit. When we went into the tropical, warm, moist room where they have poison dart frogs and tree frogs, the kids were excited to see the frogs from their shirts.
Both were exhausted by the trip and snoozed on the way home. I still can't get over the sweetness of my kids' faces while they sleep. (Harper named this bunny from Gran "Easter Bluebell Dutton".)


Speaking of Easter, the Easter Bunny visited our house this year and brought the kids Peeps (Harper wanted blue, Jack went with yellow), art supplies, and a bucket full of Easter eggs for Mom and Dad to hide. When the morning warmed up a bit, we hid the eggs for the kids and they hunted in our backyard. Then Harper sat down with Jack and opened them. They each contained a message from the Easter Bunny himself-- all compliments about what great kids they are. Harper liked that, and we parents thought the ego boost was a cool alternative to candy!
We colored our eggs a day late, but better than never! Cat and Jov Jov were here for a playdate. It was nice to have our buddies over on the last day of Spring Break.


Harper really got into painting the eggs with little sponges. I was proud that this year, the mess didn't deter her participation. She went for it!
And the results speak for themselves! Gorgeous!The hands afterward...
Here are the kids painting with their new paper and paints from the Easter bunny. As you can see, Jack sampled the paints, but decided they weren't so tasty.

Jack's work in progress.


Harper's work in progress.

We've got quite a garden going now... it's quite large, but all the plants (besides the lettuce) are babies at this point. So, we're eating a ton of beautiful salads. Here's a bouquet of the various lettuces I stopped to photograph as I put together our salad for dinner last night. The best has been just the variety of lettuces from the garden, along with some chocolate mint leaves, rosemary, sage, oregano, and spearmint leaves, a little feta, some chopped spring onions, and a homemade viniagrette.
The kids love helping in the garden. They each have their own gloves and tools (thanks, Spears!). They really like helping us water the baby plants. I'm actually surprised by how well the kids respect the garden and don't bother the small plants too much. I think they both like to have a role, and feel like they are a part of all of the activity.

In an empty bed, which was waiting for more tomatoes, Harper enjoyed digging one afternoon with Jack's help. Jack loves to be Harper's "little boy assistant", but he doesn't like to get dirt in his sandals so much, so I kept having to pour out his shoes for him ("Mama, yuck!"). Here's Harper making "dirt soup".
Here's Farmer Jack with his rake (see the baby brocolli plants behind him-- they've grown, huh?).And here's one more photo, just because Harper is breath-takingly gorgeous. Wow.

Consolidating

Hooray for one place for the family! Having two kids and writing separate posts about Jack's zoo trip and Harper's zoo trip... well, that's just extra work, right? I'm going to be importing their blogs and everything should be here from now on. The family stuff, that is. Ethan's bread blog and my Milk and Cartoons will continue to exist, since they serve different purposes. But for the purposes of checking in on the family, change your bookmarks/favorites 'cause this is where it's at!