Conversations with a 3-year-old

 

The other day I was in the car with Lanie and she started spouting off all the reasons she didn't want to ever, ever leave our house.  I stopped the car and asked her to repeat it while I got my phone out.  Her responses and my list of questions turned into a list of who she would marry.   She's a bit fuzzy on why she shouldn't marry family members.   I am kicking myself that I didn't ask her if she was going to college first.  I've got some girl power in me.  

These aren't new themes; I have posted conversations like this with Lanie before, but since I caught this one on tape, I thought I'd post it again.  It may be just a video for those grandparents hundreds of miles away to love, but I thought it was endearing.   Oh, and spoiler alert - Kendra, if you are reading this, tell Bryant that "Ella's dad" is on Lanie's short list. 

Opening Day

     Elijah officially started Spring Baseball this weekend and it kicked off with an Opening Day parade.  Now, I am new to Spring ball and I had been warned by many people who go back for this every year, that it is: competitive, more expensive than Fall ball, so much time, late games, and interesting.  The last person who told me "interesting" said it with a "you have no idea how crazy this is, but I'm being positive" kind of look.  Because I've been to zero practices, I knew very, very, very little about what to expect for the day.
     The first surprise came with the morning parade. It consisted of each team walking onto a football field holding their team banner.  That's it. Some teams were creative and wore cub ears or donned on pirate eye-patches to match their team name, but Elijah is a Yankee this year, much to everyone's chagrin, and they just walked. No fanfare.
     I feel so bad that I told my girls they would be on cars and throwing candy.  Oops. But, and this makes up for it, I also did not know that there would be an all-day carnival going on complete with kettle corn, cotton candy, sno cones, jumpies, carnival games, hair coloring, silent-auctions, and rock climbing.  Not to mention an exhibition game that was only two innings (30 minutes) instead of a full game (1:20) that we came prepared to watch.  When I say we came prepared, I mean Lydia and Lanie brought a big bag of markers, coloring books, drinks and more snacks.
     I feel silly that I knew so little.  It's unlike me not to ask a billion questions, but so it goes.  After a windy, chilly morning parade, the day ended up beautifully and I got to see Elijah play first base for the first time.   Happily, all three Ward kids left the park with colored sno cone teeth and colored hair.   After this weekend, I think we are all inducted into the crazy that is Pearland Little League, and are all now baseball ready.

Happy Texas Independence Day

     While the rest of Texas celebrated GO TEXAN day last week, our school celebrated today, the day Texas won their independence from Mexico.  And here's a little trivia I heard on the car this morning: Texas was its own independent state for 10 years before joining the Union.  Ten years, that's a long time.  It makes sense why dyed-in-the-wool Texans are so proud. (and they are, I know many of them). 
     While Elijah got decked out in his cowboy hat and kickers, Lydia had to wear her "spirit shirt and comfortable shoes" on her class field trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo where she got to see calves newly born, chicks hatch, and pigs race. It was fun to spend time with her and she certainly liked clinging to me.  I was amazed by her ability to enjoy just about anyone as she bounced between sets of friends. When I asked her teacher who she "played" with at school, she said that Lydia plays with everyone, from the boys, to the different girl groups.  I love that about her and pray her sensitive, friendly nature will continue as the "girl" years get harder and the friendships get more dicey.  For now, I'll take this sweet, little Texan girl who hated that she couldn't wear her pink boots today.

The Fault of the Stars -- review

I had to steal the cover from Amazon. Shame on me.

I created this blog "Love in the Library" originally for a Library Science class I was taking on Web 2.0 tools.  And the name is not merely to address that I love libraries, it's also a song by Jimmy Buffett that I love.

I restarted this blog (after all my classes were finally over - 5 years later) to review books I was reading both to my kids and personally.  And I did review Charlotte's Web, sort of, but unfortunately not every book can be a Charlotte's Web, so I haven't reviewed since then.  So, I tried today.  But then after a few tries, I realized that I'm just not that good of a book reviewer.  And I should have known, I can't re-tell a story to save my life.  If you've ever suffered through one of my "and then he did this, and she did this" stories, you know that it is true.  I can't tell jokes either, heck, I can't even remember jokes.  I think telling jokes and stories out loud is a gift.  I know people who can do it.  They are charismatic in their entertaining.  But me, not so much.  I'm more of your quiet observer.  Either you got it, or you don't.  And I don't.

But, despite my inadequacies at reviewing, I am wholeheartedly giving a thumbs-up for the book I just finished, The Fault of the Stars by John Green.  It's a YA (Young Adult) book and mostly what I read is either YA or lately a lot of memoirs and biographies.  I received my first John Green book, Looking for Alaska, six years ago when I was given an advanced copy from one of my classes.  It was his first novel.  It was a great novel, though I wasn't sure if the content would work for every high school and I was thinking, at the time, about a Lutheran South library. It's very intellectual and very edgy. But, when it comes to putting words on paper, John Green is good.  He's written 5 books since then and his most recent, Fault of the Stars had enough good reviews that I decided to pick it up and try again.

This book is about two teens who have terminal cancer and how they build a friendship/relationship together despite the fact that death is at their doorstep.  Sounds depressing?  I will admit, I did cry.  But don't let the depressing setting scare you away from reading it.  The interactions between these two teens, Hazel and Gus, is humorous, real, and touching.  And for any teen, or anyone for that matter, living with disease, the book is very honest. Their point of few about heaven, for me, is off-putting, but not enough to keep me from loving the book. I think, though I may be wrong, a movie is in consideration right now.  But, really as stated before, don't take my word for it.  I have found lately that my excited "You'll love it!" recommendations often come back to me as, "It was okay, I guess."  But on Amazon, it had 5 stars and 485 reviewers, so that supports my conclusion a bit. Or if you are so inclined, go to this blog.   My go-to librarian, Naomi Bates reviews YA novels regulary.  She will have you checking it out from the library today. (Notice I said library, and not Barnes and Noble - just a plug.)