LJ's very good day

If running errands with Grandma Kate is a good day, LJ had a good day.  We started off the day at library story time.

We stopped at the bank to get a copy of a money order the State of New Mexico Vital Statistics says it never got.  Found out it had been stolen and cashed at a "speedy loan" kind of place.  Guess that's why I never got the birth certificates I ordered.  LJ was remarkably good-natured during the long wait.  Like those blue lips from the bank's free DumDum?

Next we went to the county sheriff's office and found out we needed to go to the city police station instead.  That shows about how much police contact I typically have, i.e. NONE.

We finally got to the right police station and waited outside after pushing the button, then calling through the little round microphone thing that amplifies the voices through the glass.  I guess it was turned on inside after all.  Happily, there were lots of toys in the waiting room.

Our last stop before home was a stop at Costco where I managed to keep it from becoming not the "dollar store," but the "hundred dollar store" for once.

Finally, lunch and a nap.  What a morning!

Happy birthday to me!

I didn't plan anything in particular for my birthday, but had a pleasant day of doing what I wanted (shoe horned in around work, of course).

I started off the day with breakfast at IHOP, or International House of Pancakes, as I like to call it.  I had a coupon for a free stack of pancakes, but invited David to come along and he treated me to the hot chocolate, even offering me to order the Lumberjack Special and forget the birthday pancakes.  The pancakes were great and the hot chocolate was nicely piled with whipped cream and the waiter brought me a second one as a birthday bonus.

 

 

I had three books to return to the library, so that was next.  Yes, I'm a geek; I like to read Consumer Reports, so I always read it in the library.  I read the whole September issue, then checked out a couple of books for Conor.

 

 

The library is in the same complex as a Goodwill thrift store, so I stopped in for a quick look in my favorite departments (housewares, linens, children's clothing) and spent a grand total of $1.79 for a new canning jar and a pair of shorts for my grandson.

Once again, I have to give a shout out for my library.  I have a great system for getting good books to read.  I read a review online or in a magazine or newspaper, then get online with the library and reserve the book.  When it comes in (24 hours to 9 months), I get an email letting me know I have 7 days to come in and get my book.  It's already been pulled for me and is waiting on a shelf near the self-check out.

[Local readers might recognize the name of one of the other users.]

I took my two books, checked them out, returned the girls' books . . .

. . . and was back in the car in 90 seconds. 

This is a wonderful way to conveniently and cheaply read the books others are talking about.

Newbery Award-winning books!

For a few months now I've been thinking about my assorted Newbery books, wanting to gather them from various shelves in couple of bookcases, match them up with the years of their awards, write that year on the spine, and line them up in order.

Today was the day!

I stood in front of the girls' bookshelves and pulled all the books I thought might be Newbery winners, then stacked them up in my office.  Next I went to the ALA website for a list of all the Newbery and Newbery Honor winners from 1922-present and started matching them up.

A surprise was one of my favorite authors, Laura Ingalls Wilder, had no fewer than FIVE Newbery Honors from 1938 to 1944.  I hesitated, trying to decide if I should keep my Little House books together in a set or break them up and put them in the Newbery set, and decided on the former.

 

Here is my new Newbery shelf with about fifty books on it.  There are several other books floating around the house that will join the set in the next few days.  I'm pretty pleased with it.

 

 

Great low-tech library activity

Several Saturdays a month our library had a good kids' activity.  Here is the prep for it:

 Put up some tables, including one lying flat on the floor with its legs still folded up.

Put out lots of bins FULL of Lego pieces. 

Let the kids create.

After the children make their pieces, they put them on that library cart behind Caroline and they go into a display case.  The next time we go to the library we'll be able to see the girls' creations.  And although we will be going back on Thursday anyway, you can bet the girls will not let me forget!

A magic show!

Now that the girls are out of school I'm paying attention to what is going on at the library and at other places around town that have kid-friendly activities in the summer.

Today we went to a magic and comedy show at the library.  It was an hour long and really fun for the kids as well as the adults.  Caroline was the first of four children picked to be his assistant during the show.  She was delighted beyond excitement and stood up grinning ear to ear.  The first thing the magician told her was that she had to give a bigger smile.  Then told her it needed to be bigger.  Really, that was impossible and he and she both knew it.  Her trick involved red foam balls that appeared and disappeared.

After she helped him he made her a balloon animal--a parrot.

[picture here after I recharge the battery :-) ]

Library book-pulling service

Does your library offer this?  Whenever I hear about an interesting book, I get on my library's website, bring up my account, find the book online, and request a hold.  When the book is available they tag it, put it on these shelves in alphabetical order by last name (of course--it's the library), and shoot me an email to tell me it's available.

I can park the car, walk into the library, get my book, use the self-checkout, and be back in the car in under 60 seconds.

I find out about books to reserve three main ways:

--my monthly book club selection
--book reviews and "top 10" lists that are published in newpapers and magazines, especially at the end of the year
--author chats on NPR

Great library activity

I misread the poster at the library and thought I was taking the girls to a magic show.  It turned out that was in the morning and the afternoon session was for ages 10+ and was how to DO some of the tricks he had shown the children earlier.  So it's not true that magicians never reveal their tricks. :-)

 

The girls were fascinated as he showed, then taught them how to do card tricks, rubber band tricks, and rope tricks. I learned to do them too.

Jut for a chuckle, I took a picture in the window of the car that was parked next to ours.  Oy vey!

Library haul

This afternoon the children and I went to the library.  I had a notice that the book for my book club had come in; in addition, dh had finished reading my book from last month and I had to get it back.

My girls usually like to color a picture while they are there.  They introduced Zachariah to that.

You can see we expect to be enthusiastic readers (plus watch a DVD) this week!