A day with

We've had a few stressful things thrown our way over the past few weeks, so having any down time is a real treat.

As of January first I have become the big cheese of the library used book sales, and while I know someone had to do the job, and I do have a few good ideas for the event, it is definitely an increase in responsibility and time. It helps immensely to have a little boy who is a) so helpful when we go in to work, and b) so keen on reading all the books he can get his hands on (which is a lot in the sale room) when he can't help. Yesterday my dad helped us shift shelf upon shelf of alphabetized books around the room until we had tweaked organization a bit. Today Calvin spent an hour helping me weed through books that have been around a little too long and need to go on "sale" (as if 1.00 for a hardcover wasn't already "on sale"). Thanks, family.

The cold in our house is still threatening a coup, so the rest of the day we spent with tea and books. Some math, some piano, and Calvin was suddenly bent on getting back into our study of early humans so we revisited our "A Day with..." books by Fiorenzo Facchini (Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthal Man, and Homo sapiens). We both love these books—each is full of facts, dates, and images of archeological finds with a short story interspersed to bring those things to life.

Having mapped the human migration out of Africa we are working our way into American history and I'm loosely tapping an Intellego Unit Study for that. I have the American History Volume I studies for both grades K-2 and 3-5 and I'm blending them a bit, picking and choosing the parts I like from each. I think I've said before that I could probably have done this on my own, but I'm finding that there is something to be said for having a basic guide to follow—less late night planning involved.

Today we told each other our own A day with stories about living as hunter gatherers. Calvin decided that Jon was out hunting with a spear and a torch while we were in charge of gathering water in a gourd and collecting berries and tubers. We were in charge of the fire as well. I think this is reflected well in the illustrations he made to go along.

The men are returning...see their torches?

There will be meat for dinner (it's hanging up there) and a woman with a gourd of water...

Now we are back in current times. Chicken soup for dinner again (we will get healthy, we will), and there is snow in the forecast. Actual, honest-to-goodness snow. I hope it comes.

To the center of the earth

Calvin came home with a handful of books from the sale on Saturday that he had selected himself, including A Journey to the Center of the Earth in Troll Illustrated Classic form. After a morning of errands, some more nerve wracking than others, we spent the afternoon resting and reading and taking in tea. Calvin devoured the book, then journaled about it. We also got back into math successfully, and re-watched Becoming Human. We're getting back to somewhere.

Sunday

Yesterday was our library book sale day. It was the first sale for which I was sole coordinator, not that I didn't have gobs of help. Calvin was bent on helping me, so we left home at 8:30 in the morning and he worked with me until noon, offering bags to shoppers and helping direct those who were lost. In between he would sit and read. His dad picked him up at noon, then they came back at three and helped clean up. We a handful of new books, of which Robin Hood, The Frenzied Prince, Household Stories, and The Nightingale (beautifully illustrated by Eva Le Gallienne), are likely to be our favorites.

But that was yesterday. Today was Legos.

That's quite a collection of people at the train station.

They might be headed to the Natural History Museum.

Or to the game.

Wizards vs. Musketeers?

And cinnamon rolls.

And naps, then Snap Circuits.

11 days: Christmas stories

We collect Christmas books. Every year for St. Nicholas Day we give a book to Calvin for us to share together year after year. We write in them each year, inscribing the opening pages with a message of love and a date. We're only up to six books at this point, but we also have a few favorites from our own childhoods that transport us to those early days of Christmas joy.

2006: The Snow Tree, by Caroline Repchuk

2007: The Night Before Christmas, by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Bruce Whatley

2008: Amazing Peach, A Christmas Poem, by Maya Angelou

2009: Good King Wenceslas, by John M. Neale and Tim Ladwig

2010: The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg

2011: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by Charles Santore and the full version, too.

Endings

Yesterday, while Calvin enjoyed the air conditioning at his Gram and Grampa's house, Jon and I made it to the Art Fair for its last couple of hours this year. Though we missed our usual rendezvous with family on the opening day of the fair (because we were up north enjoying cooler temperatures) we couldn't let the year go by with walking through street upon street of booths.

While we were downtown we also made it to the downtown Border's store—the flagship store. Borders started here about forty years ago and though it hasn't been the family owned company it once was for the last twenty of those years, it is still looked at as a part of our community. It has been a part of our downtown longer than anyone else's, and it will be missed. I am torn when it comes to the debate on physical books versus e-books. I understand that e-books are an ecological plus, but I love the feel of a book in my hand—the smell of the paper, the softness of the pages and the way their weight shifts as I turn them. Reaching the end of an e-book has never been as fulfilling to me as turning the last physical page of a novel and plopping it down in front of me with a sigh upon finishing it. And you can't loan an e-book to a friend, or donate it to the library. Have I mentioned that we buy most of our books used? Maybe I'll have to set a new rule for myself—if I can't buy it used, buy it as an e-book, but oh how I will miss dog-eared pages, notes in the margins, and sharing with family and friends.