What We Found At The Library, #6

Lauren's Favorite: Sleepyhead by Karma Wilson & John Segal (Illustrator)

When I chose this book from the library, I did so because the author is one of our recent favorites. Karma Wilson does wonderful work with which my kids are always pleased: The Sweet Briar series and the Bear series to name a couple. And Sleepyhead didn't disappoint. This sweet story is about a baby bear who wants one more book, one more hug, one more everything before giving in to bedtime. I was happy with its younger tone, making it perfect for Lauren. The pictures are simple and dreamy, the words are rhyming and smooth. “One more story said just right, one more gaze upon the night. Just one more, says sleepyhead. I promise then I’ll go to bed.” Perfect for a nighttime read, as long as you don’t mind your child intoning the same requests when you tell her it’s finally time for bed. Luckily, Lauren was more interested in pointing to cute illustrations than acting out the book, but we weren't so lucky where Mia was concerned.




Mia's Favorite: Claire and the Unicorn: Happy Ever After by BG Hennessy & Susan Mitchell (Illustrator)

In this thoughtful book, a little girl asks her father at the end of a bedtime story, “What made them happy ever after?” She then falls asleep dreaming about the question, and is guided through a dreamland full of fairies, princesses, and wishing wells by her very own unicorn. This story is so full of everything magical that it was sure to be a hit with my imaginative daughter. The artwork is so beautiful, with thoughtful attention to details which catch the reader’s eye and compete with the beautiful words for attention. And those words are quite attention-worthy themselves. As the reader, I appreciated the story because it was well written, making it an enjoyable experience for all of us. I think this is a wonderful book for any dramatic little girl – or fairy-tale loving mama.






Mama's Favorite: Listen, Listen by Phillis Gershator & Allison Jay (Illustrator)

This gorgeous book journeys through the year paying special attention to the specific noises one might hear along the way. Birds chirp, rabbits munch, and ducklings quack during the spring months; Geese honk, leaves swish, and acorns plop during the autumn months. It's full of both educational and whimsical ideas -- the perfect mix for what I wish books to be. Both girls enjoyed the sounds and pictures offered within the pages of this beautiful book, and I never got tired of reading it to them. The pages aren’t too wordy to hold Lauren back, but at the same time, they’re interesting enough to hold Mia’s attention too. As usual, what truly drew me in was the artwork. I suppose I judge a book by its illustrations more often than not. The pages are gorgeously illustrated with the look of a crackled, antique painting. This artist also worked on another of my favorites: I Took the Moon for a Walk – I knew I liked her work. Listen, Listen has made its way into my Children's Literature hall of fame, and I can't wait to find more work by this illustrator and publisher.




Daddy's Favorite: The Big Trip by Valeri Gorbachev


In this story, Pig has decided to take a trip; the only decision left to make is how to go. By bike? Train? Horse? Each vehicle suggestion brings a new round of protests from Goat, Pig’s downer of a friend. He could crash! Get stranded on an island! Be lost forever! Poor Pig gets so overwhelmed with all the ways his trip could go awry just based upon his mode of transportation, that he gives up altogether. He decides travel is too dangerous, and can’t be trusted after all. In a sweet surprise ending, Goat convinces him that any trip would be wonderful – as long as friends were making it together. This book was a close second for Mia’s favorite; she repeatedly asked to read it, and it never failed to entertain her. Trains, Planes, and Automobiles will apparently please the girls too.






Now for the fun part. Tell me: what have YOU found at the library? (And let's just keep our fingers crossed that this works right...)

A Greedy Ritual

When she wakes in the morning, Lauren's perfectly soft hair is feathery and light, golden and wispy, slowly falling over her right eye before she can swipe it back again. It is the first thing I touch when I reach for her. I smooth it around her crown, curling the ends into a smile around my fingertips. I can just imagine the way it will smell if I let that curl wrap up under my nose, but even so, the curl is not my nose's first destination.

With her warm arms reaching around my shoulders, I pause --

secretly --

but quickly, for she is impatient --

and inhale the scent of my waking child.

I start with the air immediately surrounding her temple, breathing her cottony soft fragrance as if it will be unattainable after this one time. And for all I know, it will be. Unattainable. Because she grows and changes daily -- hourly -- therefore her molecular makeup is also undergoing changes. Surely this is played out in scent? Surely I will never again experience this exact combination of air around my child? So I wallow in it.

From there, I move in to place my lips on the spot where her forehead turns into scalp. But not for a kiss; that is about giving when what I am about in this moment is taking. While my lips are planted on her skin, my nose is buried in the most perfect place: the place that seems to be the epicenter of her delicious scent: her part. Her hair is so sweetly parted, probably messily after a snug night's sleep, and that is where I'm aiming for. I breathe so deeply there, so greedily, filling myself up with fuel for another day. I nuzzle and seek and shift until my lungs can expand no further and I am forced to retreat and exhale.

By this time, she is desperate to be lifted from her crib and my olfactory senses are beginning to be satisfied. I can then offer myself to her. I cradle her into my arms as she points down the hallway, chattering through baby's breath about Mia and daddy. We make our way into a dark house, opening blinds so watery sunlight can stream through frosty windows.

When she spies some necessary object on the floor, or needs to race to another room in search of more family members to greet, I let her down. Out of my arms and into the day. But not before one final, compulsory whiff of Lauren.

That curl.

I bury my face in the nape of her neck as she slides away from me, letting that tiny, perfect curl roll past my nose.

Letting that tiny, perfect girl roll through my heart, via scent.

Let's Do This Thing

If you're interested in participating in What We Found At The Library this week -- Thursday, December 3rd -- I'll finally be adding the linky list party. Please join me!

Feel free to write a post (or link to an old one) about any library finds that you or your family have recently enjoyed. Fiction, children's literature, cookbooks, spiritual works, graphic novels, self-help, anything you'd like to recommend to other library loving readers. I'll be doing mine on children's books, but please choose whatever appeals to you -- I can't wait to see what you all are reading.

See you Thursday! (I'll be the excited girl with an expectant grin on her hopeful face...)

Every Snort Begins With Sarah

This commercial is cracking me up. I get almost excited anytime it comes on TV, and nearly roll over with laughter.

Check it out.

The guy's voice as he catches an obviously frightened damsel is my favorite part. "I'm right here..." he chuckles condescendingly. Then his posture quickly changes, his face immediately contorts, and his tone becomes at once terrifying and promising: "And I always will be."

And I keel off my seat.

It's just too much, I tell you.

Do you have any love-to-hate 'em commercials lately? Or even just a favorite, truly good one?

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This

You all are insufferable. I tell a simple story about some ill-purchased boots, and you just hound away until I crumble, forcing me to post pictures of myself wearing the boots.

It's all your fault.

All 3 of you who asked -- no -- FORCED me to give picture evidence of my fashion blunder. So here it is. Don't say I didn't warn you, though: it ain't pretty. If you tell me these boots look good on me, I just plain won't believe it. This isn't the sort of thing I can pull off. I felt mildly goofy in private, and then when I wore them in public (!) it escalated to severe irritation.

The tight pants required to wear the boots with were fresh from the incredible clothing-shrinker, aka: dryer, forcing me into an unflattering pear or apple or gourd or whatever shape fruit it is that people don't want to be associated with.

My helpful husband was all too willing to be the photographer for the occasion. First, he wanted to pose me all perfect and sweet. Instead he got me scowling because I did NOT want to be in a sweet, perfect pose.




Then, he persisted with a glamour-shots-like pose anyway, which I could at least laugh along with.




Finally, we worked on accentuating the fruity shape of my body in the most unflattering way available.



But his best idea, by far, was the leprechaun kick. Are you ready for this action?

Sometimes I frighten myself.

Some Weekend Questions

Yesterday was a golden and glorious day from my husband-at-home, children-were-sleepy, 68-degree viewpoint. We had a wonderfully uneventful day, and I can't say I'd even like to imagine the chaos that some people endured in the wee hours of the morning in the name of shopping.

As I've said before, I'm not big on shopping. I am big on new things to hold in my greedy little hands, but the effort it sometimes takes to get to that point just wears me out and overwhelms my simple sensibilities. So yesterday morning at 4 am, when some of my family members were trekking to their must-shop venues, I was snuggled warm in my bed, with my cold toes shoved among my husband's shins. It was probably blissful -- I don't really know, since I slept through it.

However, I do have shopping on my mind these days. You see, I'm not historically good at getting my Christmas shopping done early. In fact, I've been known to be one of the frantic few shoppers left on Christmas Eve morning, still hunting for something -- anything -- to give as a gift for a difficult recipient. Not that my recipients are difficult, mind you; It's me that causes trouble. I overthink things and get the perfect specific gift in my head, and then end up not being able to find exactly what I had in mind, so nothing will do. And then...gift card. I end up with a plain, boring gift card. Why is it that I SO hesitate to give those for fear of being unoriginal, but I SO love to receive them? How is that logical?

This year, I've made a bigger than usual effort to shop early, and shop often. If I saw something I liked for someone in September? I got it. And I've been collecting gifts pretty regularly since then. Let's just hope I remember where all of them are stashed, and what I've purchased so I don't go buy more gifts than we can afford.

Because of my early shopping efforts, I can gladly say that at this point, there's not much left for which I need to shop. What I do need are a couple of really good gifts for the girls. I have plenty of cute toys and goodies that will provide for more than enough delighted screaming (I hope...), but we still haven't found the one.

The crowning glory.

The piece de resistance.

The big kahuna.

Do you all usually try to have an...I don't know....anchoring gift? Something that's the main attraction under the tree? Or do you stick with a handful of smaller items? Do you just have a few small presents, and you're currently overwhelmed by the unnecessary cost and trouble of a big, messy Christmas morning? How do you handle your gift-giving?

If you do try to have an anchoring gift (and I feel like such a dork for even naming it), what are you getting this year? I need suggestions. I'm trying really hard to not go overboard on gifts for the girls, because I hate to set that precedent. I don't want them to grow up expecting loads of presents, just because they get them now; it's so easy to buy several inexpensive things for toddlers, but as they get older, they quality of items seems to count a little bit more. But the anchoring gift...that I'd like to be good quality and have the ability to stick around for awhile.

So, what gifts are you excited about giving this year? What items will your kids or grandkids or nieces & nephews love the most?

Thank you for your kind attention to my deep thoughts about a shallow subject.

Blessed Thanksgiving

Gorgeous Photo courtesy of AlicePopkorn


Come, for the dusk is our own; let us fare forth together,
With a quiet delight in our hearts for the ripe, still, autumn weather,
Through the rustling valley and wood and over the crisping meadow,
Under a high-sprung sky, winnowed of mist and shadow.

Sharp is the frosty air, and through the far hill-gaps showing
Lucent sunset lakes of crocus and green are glowing;
'Tis the hour to walk at will in a wayward, unfettered roaming,
Caring for naught save the charm, elusive and swift, of the gloaming.

Watchful and stirless the fields as if not unkindly holding
Harvested joys in their clasp, and to their broad bosoms folding
Baby hopes of a Spring, trusted to motherly keeping,
Thus to be cherished and happed through the long months of their sleeping.

Silent the woods are and gray; but the firs than ever are greener,
Nipped by the frost till the tang of their loosened balsam is keener;
And one little wind in their boughs, eerily swaying and swinging,
Very soft and low, like a wandering minstrel is singing

Beautiful is the year, but not as the springlike maiden
Garlanded with her hopesrather the woman laden
With wealth of joy and grief, worthily won through living,
Wearing her sorrow now, like a garment of praise and thanksgiving.

Gently the dark comes down over the wild, fair places,
The whispering glens in the hills, the open, starry spaces;
Rich with the gifts of the night, sated with questing and dreaming,
We turn to the dearest of paths where the star of the homelight is gleaming.

'November Evening' by Lucy Maud Montgomery