Thankful for old books

I have a large box of old books that my parents gave to me when I had my kids. There are lots of books from the 70s and 80s in there but there are also several that were considered "old" even when I was young. Here is a little treasure I found among them, the book has good pictures but it is the words in this book that make me like it so much. The kids love it too:


A Christmas Party

On Christmas Eve would you believe the forest gave a party.
She asked the little squirrels in and rabbits, fat and hearty.
She called the bear who slumbered there until he heard the talking.
And all the little woodchucks came in couples nearly walking.
She lit the skies to charm their eyes with many Christmas tapers.
She spread the ground with snowy rugs to help their merry capers.
She hung a tree for all to see with frosty chains and pompons.
She spread a feast for scores at least with nuts and carrot bonbons.
They clapped their paws and joined their claws and danced in dizzy measure,
and Santa Claus drove home that way and dropped them each a treasure.
He gave the bear a lion’s share of sweets and Christmas candy.
The rabbits, bows, and no one knows how fine they felt and dandy.
Each squirrel found pecans, a pound, the woodchucks corn and clover,
and Santa stayed to watch a while until the fun was over.
On Christmas Eve, would you believe? And yet I think it shocking,
not one of all the guests who came could hang a Christmas stocking.

Poem by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey 1909.

I googled her and found of that she was born in 1875 and was an American children's author. In 1947 she won a Newbery Medal for her book Miss Hickory.

The “Little Things”

In response to my dear friend Andrea’s blog, I am blogging about the “Little Things”. I can easily list the “Big Things” and even the “Funny Things” but listing the “Little Things” took me more thought.

BIG THINGS
Finding a wonderful church
Family, friends, and my wonderful dog
Time for hockey
The people I work with
Ian and I both having a job


FUNNY THINGS
An Evening with Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood, who we saw last week
Kaiden’s skunk spray (thanks for reminding me about this Celeste!)
The way my cat sits
My husband
Kael’s lack of understanding…


Yesterady....
Kaiden: “Kael, what are your superpowers?”
Kael: “Two”
Kaiden: “No Kael, I said what are your superpowers?!”
Kael: “Two”
Kaiden: “Kael that makes no sense, I asked you what do you have for superpowers, like super speed, or are you invisible?”
Kael: “I’m two” …. this went on for the whole ride to town.


AND THE LITTLE THINGS
Bedtime stories
Hot coco
Scotch Tape
Drop in visits (thanks Piszczeks!)
Playing Tomb with Ian
Putting together puzzles with kids around….

HISTORY!

History! Where were you when Obama was declared the President Elect????

I was in tears last night. A big night for our nation. It is funny because I had somewhat forgotten he was black. Well, I don't think I forgot, my excitement just wasn't focused on it. I just wanted him to be president so badly because of his policies and for the person he is. It wasn't really until last night that this overwhelming joy filled me (on top of my joy that I was already feeling) as to what this means for the African American community.

Donna Brazile, an African American, gave a great visual last night on CNN (she's one of my favorite analysts, probably second only to David Gergen ...man I love that guy!). She was walking down the streets of her town, getting ready to cast her vote, she was talking about the role model Obama will be to young African American kids. That's when it hit me. And as some else said, it's not about Obama, its about possibilities. Some truth there.

The pride, the joy, the hope, the example that Obama is and will be to so many black kids. I imagine I may feel this when a woman is president. But our plight in America, altough a rough one, was not nearly as bad as slavery. So maybe I won't think of it as the same. Thinking back on a time, a time when my parents were young, that blacks were treated by most as second class citizens, and just a few generations before that... slavery. Amazing, disgusting, and heart breaking. But now, the symbol Obama will be. And what a symbol he is. It took a man of his caliber, his grace, his smarts, and his calmness to do it and I am so excited for where he will take us in the next 8 years. Maybe I am all goggly eyes over him, but I just have so much hope for our nation now. My expectation are high.

His policies are my highlight, but his race is like the cherry on top.

Lincoln, New Hampshire

So we took a family foliage trip up north a couple of weeks ago and I am slow to blog about it but I will say that it was very nice. I was just so nice to be together, the four of us. We only went one night but family trips for us are very rare, so I will take one night with my family. Ian and I have work schedules that are like ink and water. Literally.

On a Thursday afternoon we took off to Lincoln, New Hampshire. Our first stop was a to Loon Mountain. We rode the Gondola up, which gave us a great view of the mountains and leaves. They were so beautiful! At the top of the mountain there are these “glacial caves” which for me was the high light of the trip. Basically it is a loop hike with 10 side trails that take you off the easy boardwalk path to explore these huge boulders and their crevices. Some tight squeezes but I was impressed because it was something that the whole family could enjoy. I thought for sure I would have to stay on the main boardwalk with Kael while the big boys explored but that wasn’t the case. It was easy enough for our 2 ½ year old (with lots of assistance). Ian and I had to pass him from hole to hole and kind of guide him and remind him to stay low (we did forget one time and he ended up with a big bump on his head). The hike was very easy but with the side trails it made it lots of fun for the kids.

The next morning we took the Hobo trail ride. This was an 80 minute trail ride that the kids enjoyed. They had a great play ground outside too. We got lunch on the train and the kids sat patiently and ate while we all enjoyed the scenery. Very nice.

We then took a drive up through Franconia Notch just to enjoy the views. Ahh… the beauty! It is amazing that this place is just an hour north of us and we don’t spend more time up there. The White Mountains are just breath taking, especially in October! If Kael wasn’t snoozing and Ian didn’t have to be back for work, we would have spent more time up there hiking or just stopping to take it all in. But I was very thankful for the quick drive through.

Innocence

Another moment I just have to write down....

Kael: “Mumma, see that kitty? I saw a kitty! He wasn’t walkin’. He was dead."
Me: “He was dead? What does that mean, Kael?”
Kael: “His legs no movin’. He no have batteries.”
Me: “oh”


And for the record, I think the cat was just lying in the grass, sleeping. I think.

Halloween Party 2008

For the past four years we have had a Halloween party at the house for the kids and their friends. It was a lot of fun this year, as it is every year. Each year there are new faces. I wonder if the kids are getting tired of the same old things… arts and crafts, pumpkin decorating, cupcake decorating, story time, etc. Maybe next year I will add in a candy hunt, where you hunt for clues and it eventually leads you to candy. ... hummmm....

I did add a song this time… the kids enjoyed it. You all sit close together and you sing very softly…

Ghost so scary, ghost so white.
Don’t scare [LEAH!] on Halloween night!

And when you say the kids name you shout and reach out towards them to jump them. They loved that. Leah, Emily, and Geetika especially jumped!

I didn’t give prizes for best costume but there were some good ones there. Leah was an absolutely adorable flamingo and Kaiden’s friend from school was a cute zebra… it makes me so envious of those who can sew! Jacob and Brendon were Legos. We had to keep them separated so they didn't stick together. :-) I also thought it was cute that my son was a firefighter and his best friend showed up as a cat. To the rescue! Although, I did see the cat chasing my son with his fire ax; so I guess times have fully changed.

Honorable mentions: Hanna Montana, Tinkerbelle, Barbie, Venom, cow, giraffe, and a not so honerable mention: my youngest went as a boy who did not want to wear his cow outfit.
The kids ended the afternoon with a Halloween cup (that’s tradition!), some stickers, a book, and a few pieces of candy. Not too much candy, because after all they got to frost their own cupcakes and add sprinkles. I make several colors of frosting in which some kids insist on adding some of each to their small cupcake! It is fun to see the difference this year from two years ago. Two years ago the kids were not patient enough to add frosting. The cupcake was gone before they got around to that. All around, this year the kids were much more patient and there were no melt downs (other than my 2 yr old being, when I said he couldn't have a fifth candy pretzel!).

So if anyone is reading this that made it to the party, thanks so much. I enjoy so much seeing the kids have fun and get ready for next year because I think we will have a scavenger hunt outside and there's already talk from the hubby of a haunted house in the basement. And of course thanks to my parents who help me out so much!

I'm a rock star

A memory I need to write down....

my husband picked Kaiden up from school the other day and like every other day all the girls said bye to him in their very sweet voices. But this day, as Kaiden walked with Ian to the car, Kaiden turned to him and said... "yeah, I'm a rock star".

This just tickles me. I have no idea where he even heard this saying. I didn't even know he knew what a rock star was!