Bite Me, Martha

It has been a while since we had a theme dinner. This one got thrown together on short notice, and rather than center on a movie, it went with a book. This book:

E Mcdo

Or, if you want the back cover:

All these books and...yes, this one again. Because we haven't read it in at least ten minutes.

This has definitely been the book of the week, and was just begging for a meal of bugs to go with it. I'm actually not averse to feeding my kids real bugs, but Walmart doesn't exactly carry them, and as I said, this was last-minute. So, we began the evening with:

Maggots in a hearty swamp sauce, sprinkled with cricket legs and chopped cockroaches.

On the side: individually prepared two-eyed spiders (because Mommy couldn't decide what she was making).

And, of course, the classic bugs on a log. Some had squished flies in peanut butter, others were filled with cream cheese and crumbled grasshoppers.

 Everything was a big hit!

Tasty spider legs

tender maggots

and sweet squished flies.

So how come I'm stuck with mashed 'naners???



Repurposed Storage

Minor continuation of the kitchen/hallway redecorating. Our entire entryway/hallway is a narrow, awkward mess. Muddy shoes get kicked off here  - and then kicked all over as people pass through. There isn't room for shelves on the side, though, and this end is the only spot for the litterbox, so I couldn't put some here - until I hit on the idea of hanging crates:

Mom gave me one, and I found the others for $3 and 50 cents at two different thrift shops. They are perched on screws, so I can take them down easily when I need to relight the heater to the right!

The plastic bag holder is a hanging plant basket I bought for 80 cents and repainted. I bent the chain holders to the side and used those to screw it to the wall.

I also found two brown wicker baskets (not pictured) that look like they might have been bicycle baskets. Those will hang on the wall for hats and gloves this winter, after I give the insides a quick coat of water sealer. Those were 50 cents each.

Have I mentioned I'm a cheapskate? :) And don't you 'love' those handy do-it-for-less articles on Yahoo that think a $100 throw rug is a great deal???

New Toys

Two cute new puppies in the house, and the kids can't tear themselves away...

...from their kennel.

Posers

Tonight I completely abandoned my family when six healthy young men appeared in the yard and started modeling for me.

Larry

Curly

Mo

Jose

Jasper

And...er...Elroy. Elroy was hoping the wet look would detract from his slight dorkiness.

Um...Elroy...scratching yourself in public is not hot.

His buddies definitely knew how to work it, though.

Gorgeous!

The shy look.

The serious look.

Which is better? My left side?

My right side?

Or just all of my gorgeousness at once?

Taking time to stop and smell the...scrub oak.

Kota really wanted to play. Kota was born without a brain.

While I was busy taking pictures of Elroy, I heard a noise at my left shoulder.

Oh! Well...hello there!

Sorry for the blur - neither one of us had time to focus!

While I had abandoned my family, they had not abandoned me. They took pictures from the window of me taking pictures of the male models, and yelled supportive things like, "Mommy, you didn't finish your corn!"

It's probably a good thing I had already finished eating my...well, let's just say those weren't teriyaki beef strips we had for supper. Awkward.



Playin' Outside

When we play outside, we...

Eat rocks.

Busted!

 Smash stuff

The dirt wasn't small enough.

And...actually, I never have any idea what she's doing. But it must be very important, judging from the serious expression.

Then we take baths! And if we want to really soften Mom up in hopes of a bedtime snack, we play sweet big sister:

Hold still so I can get those curls in the back!

It worked, of course. Pardon me while I go serve ice cream.

Summer Reading - Week 2

Did I say last week was busy? Silly me. I meant THIS week. THIS week was busy.

Our story times got so crowded, we finally added another one. We spoke with the director of one of the day camps, and instead of sending 30 or so kids each day, they will send them all together on a new morning, and they will have their own private story time. This will free up some space in the regular story times, and I won't literally be stepping on children (not to mention violating that pesky little fire marshal sign on the wall.)

They were REALLY nice about rearranging their entire schedule, I know it took a lot of shuffling when they had just started getting into their summer groove, and we appreciate it! I know some libraries (just a few) seem to feel like daycares are the enemy, and some won't even allow them to come to programs. That seems a bit counterproductive to me - any groups that work with children should be allies, not adversaries, and if the daycare doesn't bring them to the library, who will? Obviously, their parents work during the day, and I know once I get home in the evening, the last thing I want to do is run back out again, for whatever reason.

That brought us to this morning's family program, magician Tall Paul. Since we wouldn't need tables for crafts, I figured there would be plenty of room for everyone to sit and watch. Wrong. We had...well, let's just say a number that was not quite consistent with the maximum capacity.

Leetle bit crowded. And warm. Very warm! But the kids were all fantastic, and Tall Paul handled the crowd beautifully. Parents had nothing but good things to say afterward, and we will definitely want to have him back.

Next week we have Andy Mason (aka The Pizza Guy), who I think we can safely call a summer reading staple. We are going to try this one outside on the library lawn! Today would have been perfect weather for it - nice cool breeze, families enjoying lunch under the trees. Anybody predicting rain for the 22nd??? We'll make it work somehow! With the city pool temporarily out of commission, we seem to be 'it' for entertainment most days, and that's great. One of our stated goals is to give kids of all ages something free and productive to do over the summer, and the more we can do that for, the merrier!

(But, if any philanthropic millionaires are reading this, we REALLY could use a bigger meeting room.)



Summer Reading - Week 1

Well, we have survived the first week. With slightly more participants than usual reading MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY BOOKS as usual, "survived" pretty accurately describes how everyone feels right now! Story times began Monday, with about 40 on Monday morning, 104 on Tuesday, and 117 on Wednesday. The room seats about 70. We also had a tween program Monday night, movies on Thursday and Friday, and the teens on Thursday night. 

Of course, busy for me means busy for everyone else. Our new reference librarian started Monday, so we finally have most of our full time positions filled. One of our pages is moving into the empty clerk position (congratulations, Jason!), leaving us down two pages - you know, the people who have to put all those thousands of books away every day! The circ staff is doing a great job taking care of the patrons and keeping things running smoothly, but there have already been several suggestions that I get pregnant again this fall - so they can have an excuse to cancel next year's program:)

The only thing I had time to take pictures of was the teens' Glow-in-the-Not-So-Dark Night. We couldn't get the main room dark enough to really make things glow, but we did have a small room to the side with no windows. Some of the teens took turns wearing glo-shades, etc., and striking a pose:

Can you guess who these are?

We also had black tees and tote bags, and glow-in-the-dark paint, and this kept them pretty busy:

Next week, karaoke and board games! We'll also have Tall Paul, the Magician, on Friday - a new performer for us, but one who has had good reviews from other libraries. If you're local, come by the library for the full schedule and to sign your kids up. The two most important points to remember:

1. It's free.

2. We have air conditioning.

See you there!